Hello friends! Bit of a shorter chapter for today. Things will pick up soon!

-

October 7th, 2005
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For the past two days, Bob has stayed at your house. He wakes up next to you, goes to work, and promptly returns to you after his shift. Because his shifts are so late, he normally returns to your house when you're sleeping. And you don't mind - considering you gave him a copy of your house key.

But today is different, because today... is Saturday. Which means that Bob gets to spend the whole day with you. He shifts in bed, looking at your sleeping face once again. You look so peaceful. No trauma... no anger or sadness... just pure bliss. He wants you to be able to stay that way all the time. However, it is noon. He supposes you should get up.

"Sunshine." Bob mumbles, shaking your shoulder gently. You groan, turning away from him. He smiles at your antics. Your back is to him, so he slowly inches his hand up your shirt, feeling the smoothness of your skin.

You grumble a little more, slightly alarmed by the foreign touch on your back. It's warm, and nice, but not what you were expecting. You shoot your eyes open, turning over to determine the culprit.

Bob is looking at you, a lazy grin on his face. "Hi. It's noon."

You glare at him. You hate being woken up. "Ah. Okay."

Bob notices your angry disposition, and pushes a strand of hair out of your face. "You're so cute when you sleep."

Your face flushes red. "You watched me sleep?"

"Only a little."

You sit up, stretching. Bob watches as your shirt lifts, exposing your stomach. You look at him. "You don't work today, huh?"

Bob shakes his head, sitting up as well. "Nope. I get to spend the day with my favorite person."

Oh my goooodddddd. You turn from him, face red. "You're funny." You stand. "Can we do pancakes this morning?"

"Heh, sure."

"...and strawberries on top?"

Bob sighs. "If you want that, you need to cut them."

You pump your fist in the air. "Deal!" Fuck yeah! Bob's cooking is your weakness.

Bob watches as you run out of the bedroom giggling like the little gremlin you are. He follows you shortly after, watching as you grab the strawberries from the fridge, mumbling to yourself. "Mm yeah... and maybe whipped cream? That'll be good..."

Bob can't handle it. You're just too cute. He sneaks up behind you, leaning over your tiny form. "...talking to yourself?"

You jump, nearly hitting your head on the fridge. Bob is directly over you, blocking you from moving away. "Well...I'm just excited." You say, smiling at him. He pulls back, letting you close the fridge door.

You lean closer to him. "I just simply.... Love..." you trail your fingers up his chest, watching him get red. "....your cooking, Bob." And at that, you bop his nose playfully.

Holy shit. Bob cannot take this anymore. He smiles, grabbing the hand that previously touched his nose. He brings it up to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss on the back of your hand.

Now it's your turn to be flustered. You laugh, playfully hitting him on the arm. "Okay! Okay! Let's get breakfast started already." You say, grabbing the strawberries and dumping the container in a bowl. Bob watches as you hum a little tune, cutting the tops off the strawberries.

He smiles, turning to get the pancake mix. This is... strangely domestic. He never imagined himself having this kind of relationship with someone. He sneaks a peek at you. You're swaying your hips slightly, a small smile on your face.

He got lucky.

"Hey, you know," you start, "I guess this means that we're a couple now, huh." You say, eyes on the berries.

Bob pours the pancake mix in a bowl. "I guess so." He snakes his hand over to where you're cutting the strawberries. He goes to grab one, but you smack it out of his hand.

"Woah! You have to wait. Otherwise...." You squint, thinking. "Otherwise you have bad luck for seven thousand years."

Bob raises his eyebrows. "And who says that?"

"Me. I say it."

"Ah. Right." Bob quickly snatches a strawberry from the bowl, shoving it in his mouth.

You gasp. "Bob! I told you! Seven thousand years!!!" You laugh, playfully pounding your fists against his chest. He giggles, grabbing your wrists.

"...nobody lives that long, (Y/N)." He says, smiling.

"Okay. Seven hundred years then."

Bob laughs, still holding your wrists. "Did you know-?"

...

You pause. "...what?"

That voice.... That certain line....

Oh fuck! Bob needs to save himself. "I uh, I was gonna tell you a fun fact about strawberries." He's still holding onto your wrists, looking into your wide eyes.

You gulp. "Oh. Okay." You loosen from his grip. "Sorry. I just... you reminded me of..." you trail off, not wanting to offend him. Bob stands there, silent, waiting for your answer. You look in his eyes. "Never mind."

...

"Strawberries are the first fruit to ripen each spring."

"...huh?"

Bob is still looking into your eyes. "The fact. about strawberries." He says, finally peeling his eyes away from yours. "That was the.... Never mind."

It's suddenly tense now. The room is quiet as Bob slowly whisks the pancake batter, not looking at you. Great. You feel bad now.

You grab his hand, and Bob looks down at you, eyebrows raised. "Sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the moment." You run your thumb along the top of his hand. "It was a very interesting fact. Thank you."

Bob grabs your hand, holding it in his. He knows exactly what you were going to say earlier. Who he reminded you of.

He needs to be more careful.

"Don't fret Darlin', nothing is ruined." He says, squeezing your hand gently. You smile, reassured.

"Okay." You turn back to the strawberries, cutting them.

The minutes pass, Bob finishing up the batter and pouring it in the pan. The cakes sizzle, reminding you of how hungry you are. The smell is heavenly as Bob puts a few on a plate, sliding it towards you. Your mouth waters as you put a few strawberries on top, as well as the whipped cream from earlier. It looks absolutely delicious! You take a bite, sighing in content. It tastes as delicious as it looks.

Bob watches you with a small smile. "Taste good?"

You nod, your mouth full. "Yes, thank you!" You say, swallowing.

Bob smiles, grabbing a plate of his own. "Good. I slaved away just for you." He sits down next to you, side eyeing you playfully.

You giggle. "Awe." You shift in your seat. "Um, Bob." You start, turning to him.

He looks at you, pancakes in his mouth, eyebrows raised. "Hmm??"

You stifle a laugh. "Okay listen. Last night, I had this really really weird nightmare." You say. Bob watches as you shift in your seat nervously. "I'm gonna tell you what it's about but please don't be offended." You say, holding up your hands.

Now he's intrigued.

"Okay so..." you start, avoiding Bob's gaze. "Last night, I dreamt that you were the Red Devil Killer." You say, nervously pointing at his chest.

It's quiet for a moment. But soon enough, Bob cracks up laughing. "Oh Darlin'!" He says between laughs, putting his arm around your shoulder. "...Is that something you worry about?"

You're quiet as you nod slowly.

Bob looks at you, smiling. "You have nothing to worry about. It was just a nightmare."

You look up at him. "...yeah, okay. I just thought it was really weird. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I'm not offended."

Bob feels bad lying to your face, but there's not much he can do in this situation. He simply plants a kiss on your cheek and goes back to eating.

-

"Hey, have we gotten permission to search that restaurant yet?" Jack asks, leaning over the desk.

John sits across from him, arms crossed. "Not yet. The search warrant should be approved tomorrow."

"...What are we even looking for, anyway?"

John sighs. "Anything incriminating. If my hunch is right, we should take samples of the hamburger meat and send it back to the lab for testing."

Jack nods, leaning back. He really hopes that Bob isn't the killer like John suspects. Because if that's the case, you'd be in real danger. He wouldn't know what to do with himself knowing that he let you hang around a killer for months.

Not to mention the fact that he had a picture of you in his office.

Jack shudders, remembering how off putting Bob was when him and John spoke with him the other day.

...let's hope that everything turns out fine.