I sighed as I watched the trees go from dense undergrowth to thin sparsity as we drove into town. There was a small grocery store next to an auto-repair shop, and next to that a flower emporium. I wondered how anyone could live in such an empty town. There were only few people walking down the streets, but the ones that I saw looked pretty happy enough. They were smiling and they seemed to all know one another. It kind of reminded me of those fake towns from movies where everyone knows everyone and there's this bakery lady who sticks her nose into too many mysteries, and then someone gets murdered and she is somehow smarter than the cops. With Rowen around, I wouldn't have been surprised if such a story were possible in this town, only less family-friendly.

"What?"

I glanced at Rowen and frowned. "What what?" I asked.

"You were smiling," Rowen said matter-o-factly.

"So?" I asked.

"Well..." He smiled softly himself. "You don't smile around me often."

I was slowly growing uncomfortable with where this topic was going. "What's your point?"

He shrugged. "It's a nice change," he said. "You're pretty when you smile."

I was about to glare at him, but his expression gave me pause. He was looking ahead at the road, no smirk or snide grin like he normally had, just a simple smile to paint his usually sharp features.

It took me aback and I stared at him. Then I looked down, cheeks pink. "I'm not pretty..." I mumbled, failing to think of anything else to say. "That's for girls."

I thought he'd reply with some cocky comeback, but instead he remained silent, his smile fading. Somehow, that was far worse. In a way, I felt the uncomfortable tension was my fault. But at the same time, Rowen was the one being weird. Rowen had seemed more sedated than usual, making it hard to gauge what I could say. It was creepy. But not creepy in a funny way, creepy in a way that sent chills down your spine and made you feel like something bad might happen.

Anxious to clear the air, I suddenly said, "My mom thinks I have horrible fashion sense, so you're going to have to help me pick something out."

Rowen appeared pleasantly surprised by my statement. He hesitated on his answer for only a second. "Okay, Princess, but I'm making you try on a dress," he said.

I slapped his arm. "I'm not wearing a dress," I said. Though I acted mad, I was actually relieved to see him being himself again. Dick Rowen wasn't great, but at least it wasn't as weird as sentimental Rowen. Whatever had prompted his odd behavior seemed to have run its course for now.

As soon as we parked the car at the town's tiny mall, I jumped out and breathed a sigh of relief. Glad that was over. Another awkward moment in the car with Rowen and I might have suffocated.

"It's not much, but it's this town's best redeeming quality," Rowen said, hopping out of his truck.

I scanned the old building with my eyebrows drawn together, skeptical as usual. "It looks like something from a horror movie," I said, looking around the empty parking lot. A bag blew by in the wind and got caught on the side of a cart. "Are you sure it's even open?"

Rowen had also noticed the dilapidated parking lot, but was choosing to be more optimistic. "They were open last time I was here," he explained.

"When was that?" I asked.

He grinned. "Last summer."

I rolled my eyes at his unhelpful explanation and walked towards the front door. "Well, let's at least look. If it's not open, we'll have to find another means of getting me clothes."

"Okay, but let me grab my rewards card out of the center console. It might be expired, but couldn't hurt to try," he said. As he went back to the car, I continued towards the mall. He would catch up.

I wrapped my fingers around the handle and pushed. Astonishingly, it actually swung open. I was so genuinely surprised I almost fell over in the doorway. Tripping over my own feet, I stumbled forward face first into someone exiting the mall.

The person grabbed my shoulders and steadied me. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

It took me a second to register that someone was actually shopping in this crumbly old place, but after regaining my balance, I blink the surprise from my face. "Uh... Yeah. I'm fine," I mumbled, stepping back to let him pass. "Thanks."

The stranger smiled politely. "No big deal," he said.

He stepped around me with a wave and walked out of the store. I watched him go, and soon he had disappeared around the corner. Rowen caught up to me as I stood by the doors. "Who was that?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No idea. Just some guy."

"I thought I recognized him," Rowen said. However, if he had known the man, he didn't seemed too concerned with hunting him down. Instead, he started dragging me around the mall, forcing me to try on millions of shirts and several pairs of pants. Some weren't too bad, but others were so awful I could tell Rowen was messing with me.

I sighed as I looked at the t-shirt he was holding out. "Haven't you picked out enough?"

He was positively pleased with himself. "Do you want to choose something?" he asked.

I headed for a rack a little ways away. "Stay here. I'll be right back," I said.

I hurried around and grabbed a pair of blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt. I wasn't really a fancy guy when it came to clothes. I much preferred simple colors, normal tones, and plain designs. Once I had a couple of outfits of the same nature in varying colors, I nodded and headed back to the dressing rooms.

Rowen was sitting in the chair just inside the door of the stall we'd been occupying. He glanced at the clothes in my hands. "Want help?" he questioned, leaning towards me from his chair.

"Not hardly," I growled, and I shoved him out the door.

I locked the stall and quickly slipped into the first outfit. The pants were a little baggy, but I was used to that. I had always been too skinny for my size, so my clothes were usually a bit big on my. The shirt was the same, slightly over-sized, but still comfortable and pleasing to the eye. I nodded and ran my hands through my messy hair before exiting the changing room. "How's this?" I asked.

Rowen looked up from the game of pool on his phone and grinned. "Looks great on you," he said, putting his phone away.

I turned back to the mirror. "I could wear a smaller pair of jeans, but I'd rather them be loose around the waist than too short at the ankles, you know?"

Hearing Rowen enter the stall behind me, I glanced back at him. "I have to change back into my clothes, so can you like, get out?" I said.

"What? No way," Rowen said, looking smug. "I've got you all alone, where no one can get to you. I think I'll have some fun."

He lifted his hand up and I shuddered as he brushed the back of his fingers along my cheek. Though he was being cocky and arrogant, something felt off; it felt like when we were back in the truck and he had been smiling at me. I tried to step back, but he moved with me and leaned closer. "Where are you going?" he taunted.

As his face moved to be mere inches from my own, I clenched my eyes close and gripped my jeans. I felt his breath on my neck, hot and close, before suddenly the presence of his body vanished.

When I opened my eyes, I saw he had backed up to the door. His amusement seemed to have vanished as he cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Got you," he joked. He smiled his usual quirky smile, but it looked regretful. "There was some fuzz," he said.

"What...?" I asked.

His smile faltered, but only for a second; it was just barely noticeable, if I hadn't been staring at him, I would have missed it. "I saw the fuzz and it gave me a chance to make you flustered." He winked. "It worked, didn't it?"

He didn't give me the chance to call bullshit before he stepped out of the changing room door calling, "I'll be by the front. Meet me when you're done dressing so we can buy your clothes. We still need to go to the grocery store before we head back, so hurry it up."

Still baffled by his actions, I found myself further floored by his abrupt departure. Something was up with him, and that was never a good thing.

*******

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