Pete twirled the pendant of his choker between his fingers, leaning with his elbows on the counter as he watched the last customer leave with their things. It was two minutes until closing time, Hayley was cleaning the last of the tables while Pete turned off all the machines before going to the back room to retrieve his bag. He just so happened to find Tyler there, --who was half an hour late for work this morning-- sitting in a chair and staring at his phone. He never did much at work but he still somehow managed to get things finished.

Pete grabs his bag from the hook beside the door then gives Tyler a questioning look, wondering why he was staring so hard at the phone atop the table. "Uh, you okay, dude?"

Tyler jumps slightly, looking up at his coworker, apparently he didn't even realize Pete had walked into the room. He sighs in relief once his heart rate returns to normal. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you waiting for a call or something?" Pete asks, taking a seat in the opposite chair.

"Something like that." Tyler mumbles, looking back down at his phone. "I met a guy this morning and I gave him my number."

"Really? That's awesome!" Pete says, becoming very interested in Tyler's personal life. If there's one thing that Pete unknowingly does all the time, it's gossip and get into everyone's business. "How'd you meet?"

"The little shit stole my cab." Tyler says nonchalantly, like he said it so many times that he wasn't upset about it anymore. He sighs and slumps in his chair a bit, still gazing at the device before him.

"Are you waiting for him to text you?"

Tyler nods. "He said he gets done with his shift at six-thirty."

Pete furrows his brow, checking the time on his own phone just to make sure it was six o'clock, closing time. "Um, dude, it's six. He doesn't finish for another half hour."

At that, Tyler looks up at Pete. His expression is blank but Pete can tell that on the inside Tyler is punching himself in the face, multiple times. He glances at the phone, looking almost miserable, before quietly speaking, "I feel stupid now."

Pete chuckles a little. "I'm sure he'll text you or something when his shift is over."

"Yeah, okay." The lanky man sits up in the chair then gets to his feet, grabbing his phone and tucking it away in his pocket. Pete stands as well, smoothing out his skirt then readjusting his bag.

"See you later, Tyler."

Tyler shoots Pete a quick wave, muttering out a "Bye." as Pete exited the room and headed out to his car.

***

Pete unlocked the door to his apartment and pushed it open, tossing his car keys into the little decorative bowl set upon his coffee table. He shuts and locks the front door, immediately lifting his leg up so he could reach the boot on his foot and yanks it off, doing the same with the other. Not even bothering to pick up the shoes from the floor, Pete ventures off to the kitchen in search of something decent to eat other than cereal.

The light inside the fridge shines on his face as he bends down to see what was inside. There wasn't much he could make with milk, lettuce, and a jar of expired mayo so he closed the refrigerator and stood up straight to check what was in the freezer. Nothing in there except for ice.

"I really need to go shopping." Pete muttered to himself as he closed the freezer door. He guessed he could order out tonight, maybe some pizza or Chinese food, sit in front of the TV and watch a movie or something.

Pete exits the kitchen and heads down the hall to his bedroom, taking his phone out of his shoulder bag and tossing it on the bed before hanging up the bag itself. He changes out of his skirt and crop top and into an oversized Cage the Elephant tee that stopped just above his knees --he accidentally bought it in the wrong size but didn't see the purpose in returning it. While he's in the middle of cleaning his face, his phone rings just as he finishes wiping off his lipstick. He exits the bathroom and goes to pick up his phone with Joe's name shining on the front, just like it did this morning. Pete rolls his eyes before picking up the device and answering.

"What do you want now, Joe?"

"I'm outside your door, let me in."

"What the hell-"

"Come on, dude, open up."

Pete groans in annoyance, hanging up and going out to unlock and open the door for his friend. At this point, Pete is wondering why Joe can't ever call ahead of time or maybe wait for an invitation. As the door swings open, the curly haired man before him holds up a brown paper bag with a red logo printed on the front.

"I brought Chinese." Joe announces with a knowing look on his face. They've been friends long enough for Joe to know that Pete will always let him into his home if he has food or coffee. No one turns down free food.

"You're lucky I'm hungry." Pete steps aside to allow Joe entrance into his home, closing the door while his friend places the brown bag on the coffee table. They both take a seat on the couch, Pete turning on the TV and flicking channels until he finds an old rerun of The Walking Dead to watch.

"I got your usual," Joe says absently as he reaches into the bag. "And I gotta tell you something." He hands Pete a container of food, chopsticks, and a plastic fork --although Joe was the one who normally used chopsticks. He pulls out his own food before taking the chopsticks back. "I've got a friend visiting tomorrow, we're gonna have lunch at the cafe."

Pete shrugs then speaks with a mouth full of chicken and broccoli. "And you're telling me this because...?"

"Because I want you to meet him."

Nearly choking on his food, Pete puts his container down and looks over at the man beside him. Meeting new people wasn't something that Pete enjoyed, it made him uncomfortable and awkward and they always gave him strange looks. He hated interacting with strangers and Joe knew that. "Absolutely not."

"Just hear me out for a sec," Pete sighed and Joe took that as a sign to continue. "He's gonna be in town for a few days and I've told him all about you-"

"You what?!" A look of anger takes over his features as his heated gaze bores into Joe's face. "You don't just go around telling people who I am!"

"Dude, we tell each other everything just like you and I do. He's my friend and I wouldn't even mention it if I knew he would be an asshole to you."

Pete's expression softens a bit, he's still a little peeved at his best friend but he trusts him. If he says that this person wouldn't act like a jerk upon meeting Pete then he guesses he'll give it a shot. "Okay fine. But if he's a dick, I have the right to push you both off a cliff."

"Fair enough." Joe smiles like the little shit he is as he and his best friend go back to eating their dinner and watching television.