(For everyone that hasn't read my old status, the reason I've been absent was school, but now that I'm on summer break I'm backkkk. x)

*******

I stare up at the sky, partly out of pure boredom, and partly because I'm trying to ignore the security guy's eyes on me. I can't blame him though; after all, it is past midnight, and I'm leaned against a building of a not-so-ordinary club. Of course he'd look at me suspiciously.

I try to find anything interesting to look at, although the small street isn't giving me much options. I'm sure I won't have to do it for much longer – her shift is supposed to be over by now – but just standing here and doing nothing still feels awkward. And cold. The only thing that could make it worse is if it started snowing right about now.

As I shove my cold hands in my pockets, I hear the nearby door open and can just hope it's her. I've already heard the door open and seen strangers walk out enough times to become completely hopeless.

However, I can barely fight the urge to pump my fist in the air when I spot painfully high heels, a leather jacket, and skinny jeans worn by an even skinnier pair of legs. The long, curly and definitely untamed hair is just another reason why I should be sure it's whom I've been waiting for.

The body guard is still looking at me as I make my way toward her, while she's just standing with her hands in her pockets as well, and looking up at the sky. "Worried about the weather?" I speak up, the fact that I've been quiet for nearly half an hour making my voice croaky.

Angel immediately turns her head to her left, a smile on her face – and I'm sure it wasn't there just seconds ago; she lightly shakes her head, now looking at the ground and starts walking away from me. She leans against the wall and raises her leg so her foot is against it too. "What are you doing here this time?" She asks, looking down at her jacket as she pulls out a lighter and what only looks like a cigarette.

"Hello to you too," I mumble when I'm standing right in front of her. "Came here to ask if you would go to prom with me."

She breathes out a laugh, removing the thin object from her lips to properly look at me. "Aren't you like a year late?"

I shrug, "More like half a year, but you were close."

Angel nods, and watches her hand as she flicks the ash off her joint. "That would've been nice, actually. I didn't go to my prom."

"You didn't?" I move around so I'm leaning against the wall next to her, my body toward hers, and she shakes her head in confirmation. "Well, if it means anything," I continue, glancing at my sneakers. "I would have totally taken you to my prom if I knew you back then."

She begins chuckling before I've even finished my sentence, and I instantly know I'd said the right thing. Maybe dumb, but right. "That's sweet," She says, and blows out the smoke. "Now I'm sure you were as annoying six months ago as you are now."

"How is me taking you to prom annoying?" I narrow my eyes at her, and I'm sure she would find it amusing if she just looked at me. Instead she just shrugs again, and keeps looking at her joint.

"You would be trying to do what you're trying to do now," She starts, "Get me to be with you. You do know we can't be together, right? As in... together-together."

For a few moments I just stare at her with my lips parted, not even blinking. Too much information, I guess. "Okay," I say slowly. I decide against asking why – the tension has increased enough without me asking obvious questions. "Is it because I'm younger than you?" Still, I can't help but guess.

Angel purses her lips as if thinking about the answer, "No. Not really, anyway. I just want someone who's stable, you know?"

"I'm stable."

I mentally slap myself across the face multiple times, as soon as the words leave my mouth. But at least I can tell from her laugh that she finds it funny. "No, I mean... someone that has a job, and... and can support themselves, and has a place to live-"

"So financially stable?" I interrupt her, and shake my head lightly. "That's overrated."

"How is wanting to be safe overrated?"

"I'm pretty sure you're safe on your own," I say in an amused tone, though I'm being completely serious. "You've probably made more money tonight than I ever had."

"I'm guessing you work at a coffee shop, then."

"Used to. I also worked at a supermarket until a few days ago."

"What do you do now?"

"Nothing," I say rather bluntly – could be because of the smoke from her joint – and she nods like she was expecting that answer. "But even if I did something, I still wouldn't be as safe as you are."

"Yeah, well," She starts again; I'm really interested to hear her excuse now. "It's nice to have someone take care of you, from time to time. You're a guy, you wouldn't understand that."

I frown but nod curtly, and clear my throat. The words are almost begging to leave my mouth, but I've already said enough dumb and cheesy things to her as it is. "Again, if it means anything," I carefully begin after a minute of silence, "I'm sure there's someone who'd love to take care of you. From time to time."

"If that person was smart at all, they'd stop thinking like that," She retorts in a casual tone, though I know she knows whom I'm talking about. "Because they're never going to be in the position to take care of me."

"What makes you so sure of that?" By now I don't even care that we're obviously talking about me.

"The fact that I told them that we can't be together-together barely two minutes ago."

Sly. "Very well then." I clear my throat again in an attempt to compose myself, "Can we be just together, then?"

As she raises her hand to scratch the back of her neck, I notice another smile on her lips; that assures me that I've asked the right question. "Aren't we already?" She asks back, and I'm pretty sure that's the best answer she could have given me.

I grin at the side of her head, "Good. Well," I lean off the wall to get a better view of her, "Are you free for the next hour?"

"Depends," Angel responds, finally throwing the remains of her joint on the ground and stepping on it for a couple seconds. "Are we going to walk?"

"No, I stole Seth's car for the night," I smile. "And I brought my drivers license with me this time."

"So you do have a license?" She asks, pushing herself off the wall and beginning to walk down the street, with me beside her.

"Yeah, I just forgot it last time when I drove you home."

Angel nods, and puts her hands in her pockets again. "I'm all yours, then."

Music to my ears, those words. "Cool," Is all I say though; I don't need her to know that she makes me feel like a teenage girl. I'm actually positive that she already knows that. "Is there any place you'd wanna go to? Or should I just... drive around?"

Angel only shrugs, and doesn't answer until we're both sitting in Seth's car. "You could drive somewhere. Saves gas," She mumbles the last part, and I breathe out a laugh as I buckle my seat belt.

"Don't really care about the gas," I say through a sigh as I start the vehicle, "It's not my car."

"Won't Seth be mad though?"

"He doesn't even know."

"So you literally stole his car?"

"Yeah, but we're even now," I defend myself, "He ditched me at a party because of a girl, I stole his car because of another girl."

"That's... beautiful," Angel comments, and I nod in agreement. "Still, just in case we run out of gas. You could take us downtown."

"What's so interesting downtown?"

"There are some cafés open at this time," She explains, wiping the fog off the windshield with her hand. "And I'm really in the mood for green tea."

"Alright," I sigh, and contemplate whether or not to turn the radio on for a minute. "Do you want to eat anything?"

"No, just green tea."

"You sure?" I glance at her in the rear view mirror before continuing, "I think I could afford a salami sandwich, or something."

I hear Angel sigh and lean back in her seat and I can barely contain my laugh. "Natasha has a really big mouth, doesn't she?"

"At least everything she says is useful." I grin at her, but she doesn't even acknowledge me as she keeps staring out the windshield. Something I should be doing. "So, how about that salami sandwich?"

"Still no."

"Okay."

I look away from the road again, just to see her laughing. Probably at me. "I don't understand, why do you even try so hard?"

I definitely don't want to come off as a softie throughout the entire night, so I just shrug, more casually than I usually would've done it. "Dunno. Since I don't have a job, I wanted something to keep me occupied."

But she's already so good at seeing right through me. "You know," Angel begins, in a tone that assures me she's going to embarrass me any second now. "Guys usually go inside of strip clubs to keep themselves occupied. They don't wait for the dancers outside."

"It's interesting how you called it a strip club and then called yourself a dancer."

"That's all I do in there," She defends herself immediately, "Other girls flirt with customers, throw themselves at rich men after giving a lap dance, blah blah. I'm only focused on the pole the entire evening."

I nod at that, trying to contain my laughter at how worked up she's gotten in less than a minute. "Okay-"

"And, sometimes some of them even leave the club with those rich men. Whereas I just left the place with a university student in a stolen car."

"Alright!" I raise my voice, the word coming out through a laugh. "I get your point. Jesus. I actually don't get your point, how does that make you different from the other strippers?"

She rolls her eyes at the word, that I may or may not have purposely used. "The fact that they enjoy doing what they're doing, and take advantage of it."

"And you don't?"

"Obviously not."

"Why not?" Knowing her – which I don't really – she might have taken that to offense. "I mean... if you have the chance to be safe, why not do it?"

Clearly I wouldn't want her to just go home with some rich guy one night, but we were talking about how she wants safety and stability a few minutes ago, after all. And now she basically tells me she regularly passes up a chance to have that.

Angel keeps quiet for a minute or so, just looking out the window to her side. I glance at her more than once, the constant silence making me think that maybe, I'd said the wrong thing. Or maybe just used the wrong words.

"We're... here," I say slowly, after assuring myself that the café I'd parked in front of is still open. Then I look over at Angel, to see her staring straight ahead of herself, presumably not even thinking of leaving the car. "Angel?"

"That's not exactly what I want," She suddenly speaks up, and I actually have to recall what we were talking about a few minutes ago. "If I did what the other girls do, I'd have safety for one night. Then I'd have to wonder if the rich guy is gonna ditch me after breakfast, or be a gentleman and do it after lunch."

I nod slowly, and continue watching her; I love how she's actually talking to me, telling me about things, explaining them. Of course, she's going to keep doing that for as long as the topic isn't her. Once it becomes too personal for her, I know that she's going to become mute. "I get it," I nod again, "That's not the kind of safety you want. You want it to be permanent."

"Yeah."

"With someone that you care for."

"...Yeah."

"And someone that cares for you just as much."

This time she gulps and looks somewhere else; when I follow her gaze, I catch her looking at me in the rear view mirror – though as soon as my eyes meet hers, she's clutching the door handle. "You said we're here, right?" She tries to make her voice sound casual, but I can tell that all she wants is to get out of the small space she shares with me.

I guess this is what happens when the conversation gets too personal. "Yeah, I think I passed four cafés and this is the only one that's open." Then I look back at her, looking at the small shop. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you know what?" She begins as she opens the door – just now I notice that she didn't have her seat belt buckled the entire ride. "I think they're about to close, so I'll just get our drinks and we can have them here."

"Do you want me to stay in the car?" I almost stumble over my words, and she nods. "Then..." I reach in my pocket, "Here you go-"

"No, my treat," She smiles, now already standing outside. "Tonight was a good night. Just tell me what you want."

I blink a couple times, "Um, alright. A latte. A large one, if they have."

"You got it."

I feel like she's only being nice and polite and basically everything that she is not, so I would stop asking questions. And if that's really the case, then she's just wasting her acting skills.

"When you say..." I begin as she returns to the car, and take the tall cup she hands me. "When you say 'tonight was a good night', what does that stand for?"

I bring the cup to my lips and look over to her, to see that she's just holding hers and looking around. "Well, basically, it means that I got more money than I usually do."

"How much do you usually get?"

"Around two hundred. Between one-fifty and two, on most nights."

"And tonight?"

"Four." Angel finally takes a gulp of her tea, which gives me a chance to raise my eyebrows in slight surprise. "Four hundred and twenty dollars, to be precise. It can go up to six hundred on really good nights."

"Can you tell me something?" I ask, and she just turns her head to me, her eyebrows slightly raised as well. "Do you happen to know how much male strippers earn per night?"

She breathes out a laugh, and shakes her head just the slightest. "If you're looking for a new profession, I doubt you'd be successful in that area. You're pale, and skinny." Then she looks down at me, "Although I think that lesbians would like you."

"Right, that's all I need to know," I say under my breath, earning another laugh-like breath from her. "How's your tea?"

"Warm, and... there's plenty of it," She says, looking down at her tall cup, making me smile. "Just the way I like it. And your coffee?"

"Same," I reply and she nods a few quick times. When she keeps looking outside, I take that as a chance to look at her; I can't help but notice that she's, say, friendlier tonight than she usually is. Maybe it's because 'it was a good night'. Perhaps it's the tea. Or just the fact that she's gotten slightly used to me, my dumb questions, cheesy lines and basically that I'm in her life now. Then again, she could still be acting.

"Can you tell me another thing?" I ask, after a couple minutes of comfortable silence. Angel looks at me again, without saying anything, and I take that as a green light. "That bruise you had the other day, on your cheek. Are you ever gonna tell me where it came from?"

As soon as the word 'bruise' leaves my mouth, her expression changes, and now it certainly looks like the Angel that I'm used to; cold, unreadable and a tad bit angry. "I already told you."

"Yeah, and what you told me was a load of horseshit, so..." I shrug, trying to ease the sudden tension – or at least pretend like it's not there, but my poor choice of words obviously isn't helping.

She sighs, and looks down at her cup again. "Probably not."

"What?"

"You asked if I'm ever going to tell you where it came from. Probably not."

This time I sigh too, and shift in my seat so I'm facing the road in front of us. "Why not?"

"You're most likely going to lose interest in me long before I even start to think about telling you."

I've rolled my eyes even before she finished that sentence. "Does it look like I'm gonna do something like that?"

"No, but-"

"Then what's the big-"

"Just trust me," Angel raises her voice, and after that it's silent in the car for a long few moments. "Trust me on this one. You may think you're gonna be around forever, but that won't happen."

"What makes you so sure-"

"I just know it, okay? Now drop it."

To her obvious surprise, a chuckle leaves my mouth after her last statement. "Babe, you're just as clueless as I am. I don't know if I'm gonna be around forever, and you don't know if I'm gonna leave at some point."

"If we're being realistic, the latter is definitely going to happen."

With a long sigh, I lean back in my seat and look out the window on my side. "Fine."

"See? You're already giving up."

I frown, "Yeah, I'm giving up on arguing with you," I say, my voice slightly louder, but the little smirk on her face – that she's obviously trying to hide – is letting me know that she's just teasing. "I don't wanna argue with you. Not when you're full of shit."

"You can't tell me that there's not even a tiny part of you that believes I'm not talking bullshit."

"Then why are you here?" I ask, and look over at her just in time to catch her opening her mouth to say something, and then pressing her lips together again. "Why do you let me waste your time if you're so sure that we're not gonna last?"

"You're saying that like we're together."

"Answer the damn question."

I wanted our little meetings and 'dates' of some sort to be fun, for both of us, but now she's just confusing me. It's as if I went out with my girlfriend and she started talking about how we're going to break up one day; just, why would she do that?

"Because it's fun," Angel says, through a sigh and clearly annoyed, but that doesn't stop a smile from appearing on my face. Now I'm definitely confused.

"This is fun to you?" I ask, my smile still present. "This? Then I really don't want to know how-"

"Not this," She cuts me off, now surely pissed off. I definitely didn't want my words to make her kick the inside of Seth's car out if frustration, but that's what she's doing. "I mean in general, being with you. It's just- it's not the kind of fun where it matters what you're doing with someone, but the kind where you're with someone and being with that person is enough for you to have a fun time doing whatever the fuck."

She smooths out her jeans, rather urgently. "Fucking hell, don't talk to me. Don't even look at me. Don't even think about me."

I tried not to smile like I've just won the lottery, but her annoyance is getting a little too hilarious now. "Where does that leave me?" I ask through a light laugh, while she's still sitting with her arms crossed, her cup of tea empty on the dashboard.

"Just... drive me home."

"But it hasn't been an hour yet."

"Really?" Angel snaps, turning her head to glare at me, but I can tell that her 'anger' is wearing off now. "'Cause it feels like it's been five."

"Okay, okay," I mumble; and even though we're probably going to part soon, I can't say I wasted my time tonight. I definitely can't say I wasted my time.

I carefully pull my phone out, before turning the engine on. "Here," I hand it over to Angel after opening Maps, "Find your apartment."

She huffs, but still takes it from me. "It's like you've lived in Chicago for two days."

"Fun fact, I couldn't find my apartment until my second day here."

I smile, as I hear her laugh. By now I'm pretty sure that one of her favorite things to do when we're together, is to laugh at me. "What? How is that even possible, where'd you sleep?"

"I didn't," I reply slowly as I take my phone from her, earning another laugh from her. "I didn't have enough money to get a motel room, and I was too scared to sleep on a community bench. Which reminds me, don't ever drink two Red Bulls in one hour. No matter how tired you are. It'll destroy you."

And if she could, she'd be rolling on the floor in laughter right now. If she could. "Oh my God," She breathes out, and I just continue driving. "I don't think I've ever met a bigger nerd than you."

"Nerds are smart." I look at her in the rear view mirror, "And what I did was dumb."

"Well, I didn't wanna call you a dumbass. In case you got offended."

With a small smile, I shake my head. "Thanks for that," I mutter and check my phone one last time, to make sure I've parked in front of the right building. "I think this is where you live. I think."

"Yeah, you got that right," Angel says through a small sigh, and takes the cup in her hands. "Thanks for the tea."

"But you bought it with your own money."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have been able to, if I didn't have a ride."

She turns to me and gives me a smile, and I'm starting to wonder if she's back to being friendlier than usual. "So thanks."

"It's alright," I nod, and shift in my seat. "When can I see you again?"

"Whenever you find me."

I grin at her and yeah, this is definitely friendlier-than-usual Angel. "What-what are you- no," She places her hand over my face, as I lean forward. I frown again; her hand is only covering my mouth and nose, so she can see my expression.

"What do you mean 'no'?" I mumble, my words barely sounding coherent with her hand still over my mouth.

"I mean, no." Is all she says before opening the door, and stepping out of the car. Well then.

"Why not?" I ask before she can close the door, and outstretch my arm to hold it open, just in case. Angel lets out a small sigh, though she seems fairly amused. I don't even have to wonder why.

"I guess you'll have to earn it."

"Earn it?" I repeat, as if she's just told me I'd have to swim home for the holidays. "Is that even possible?"

She licks her lips, and I just know that she's going to say something unbelievable. "I'll let you figure out that one by yourself."

"But-" But, she's already closed the door. The last thing I see before she turns away from me is her bright smile and, yeah, tonight was definitely not a waste of time.

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Dedicated to @i_believe917, I hope you've found the perfect quote :) and the next update is going to be super soon so vote/comment for a dedication! x