She looked at him; he seemed sincere, another odd character trait that wasn't typical for Ronnie.
"I miss you," he said, taking a step forward and laying a hand over where hers rested on the bar top.
She suddenly felt a burst of something dark inside of her, causing her to jerk and Ronnie to pull back his hand with an astonished look on his face.
"Sorry," he laughed. "It doesn't have to be that intense. I just.." he shrugged. "You know, catch up as friends. If nothing else, I miss our friendship."
If nothing else, he misses their friendship.
When she had been reading too much into his actions and his time, dreaming up something more colorful than friendship, he had somehow once again made sure she knew that's where he was.
That darkness inside of her bubbled, overflowing, and she couldn't name what it was, but it was strange and she knew she'd never felt it before.
Eloise was watching them covertly as she cleaned.
"Yeah?" he pressed, a confidence in him that she recalled clearly.
"Oh," Tilly shook her head, hoping she wasn't coming down with something, though this thing inside of her was less physical and more of a feeling. "Okay. Dinner as friends. I can do that." They made vague plans that she didn't remember as she thought of Jen's face when she'd told her he was back in town.
As he walked away, she felt the dark bubbling inside of her subside and she let out a slow breath.
"So, who was that?"
Eloise was propping her chin in both hands staring at Tilly with a smirk. Tess joined her, a tray of hot, clean mugs she started putting away.
"That was Ronnie. He used to live here, and then he moved for work. He and I dated. Ish. We...hung out." She thought of the evenings spent together, hours in front of the television, gettingtakeout, moments of deep conversation. "I don't know what we were."
Eloise nodded slowly, the understanding clear in her amber eyes. "He hurt you."
Her sad smile felt bigger than it should. "Yeah, he did."
"Guys can suck," Tess mumbled. Tilly and Eloise nodded.
"And he's back," Eloise said.
"And he's back."
Tess leaned forward with a curious look on her cute face. "I thought you liked hottie chief."
Bess wandered over, sipping from a mug of something steaming. When she saw Tilly and Eloise giving her accusatory looks, her eyebrows rose. "What?"
"Her and the chief," Tess said.
"Oh, right," Bess said sheepishly. "I might have told Tess about Chief Fang."
Eloise snorted, then dropped the smile when Tilly threw her a glare.
"Well, since everyone seems to be talking about it, I can't like," she looked around then lowered her voice to a near-whisper, "a vampire."
Everyone leaned in and Tess said, "Ooo, why not? Is it the teeth?" She gestured to her teeth. "Are you scared of needles?"
Tilly's face took on a look of horror as she replied, "Yes. I hadn't even thought of that!"
"Oh," Tess replied. "Sorry. But, then why can't you be into a vampire? I'd think a witch and vamp make sense."
"Because he sees her and it's scary." Jen sat next to Tilly, reaching across the bar to take Bess's mug for a sip before handing it back. "God, I'm tired."
"On it," Bess said, moving to the espresso machine.
