July 14th, 2005
—————————

      As the crowded car pulls up to the fair, Bob is jolted awake by you. You nudge his shoulder. "Bob? We're here."

He grunts a little bit and opens his eyes, wishing he was asleep at home right now. Lila parks the car, and pulls the key out. She turns to everyone. "Okay!" She claps her hands. "Everyone meet me back here at 10pm! No later!" She looks at Skid and Pump. "And son? Please be safe." He smiles. "Okay mom!"

The two boys burst out of the car yelling "YAAAYYY" and running away as quickly as they could. Everyone else exits the car, and Lila looks at June.
"...Wanna go grab a drink?"

June nods. "You know it girl."

Lila looks to you and Bob. "You guys wanna join?" You shake your head and point at the tallest rollercoaster in your sights. "Actually... I'm gonna go ride that." Bob looks to where you're pointing after you say "that".

Oh. It's really big.

"Bob?" Lila looks to him. "Do you wanna drink with us?"

Bob looks down at you. "Ah.. thank you ladies, but I think I'll stick with (Y/N) for now."

Lila shrugs. "Suit yourself." Her and June link arms and walk away, talking amongst themselves. Bob didn't want to hang out with them anyways. He really only came so he could be around you. And by be around you he means watch you so he can use you. Yes. No other reason.

Bob turns towards you, and you're already looking at him with a smug smile. Oh?

"Come on the coaster with me please." You say, grabbing at his sleeve. Oh no. Bob didn't really...like...rollercoasters. If this was going to happen, he needs to gain something from it.

He looks down at you, an evil grin on his face. "Alright darlin'. I'll come on the coaster with you only on one condition." He lazily points to a building across the way. "You have to walk through the haunted house with me."

You look over to where he's pointing, and there is indeed a haunted house. Isn't it July??????
Looking back at him, you grin and stick out your hand. "Deal." He grabs it, and you pull him towards the coaster.
———

One horrific ride later, and Bob is ready to collapse. He sneaks a peak at you. Your eyes are glittering with delight, and your hair is messed up. He notices something.

"(Y/N)."

You turn to him. "Hmm?"

Suddenly, Bob is picking at your hair. He grabs a leaf and flicks it away. You look up at him and smile. "Thanks!"

He just nods. Your hair is extremely soft. He wonders how it would feel to run his hands through it? Distracted by that thought, Bob doesn't notice you staring at him expectantly.

"Uhh.. you okay? Did that coaster knock you out or something?" You ask, tilting your head and a smirk on your face.

Bob leans down and gets close to your face, his voice low. "You ready to get scared, doll-face?"

Aaaannnddd he's really close now. You're not sure how to respond to... that...so you just laugh and shove him away playfully. "Sure. But I don't get scared easily." That was a lie.

Bob is still close to you. "I can change your mind." He whispers.

You let out a squeak as he grabs your hand and pulls you (albeit a little roughly) towards the haunted house.

Why's he acting all flirty and weird all of the sudden? Oh well. You won't comment on it. As long as things don't get serious it should be fine. Right?

As you're pulled closer and closer to the house, you see that there's mist coming out of it. The lights are low, and there is a spooky laugh track playing in the distance. You're not one to get scared about things like this, but you hate being jump-scared. It gives you a mini heart attack every fucking time. You both walk in.

Preparing for the worst, you grab Bob's hand in yours. He doesn't grab back at first, but after a second he does, encasing his large one over your much smaller one. As your hand is in his, you feel a scar that runs all the way across his palm. Instinctively you run your thumb across it.

Bob's face blooms tomato red, and he's glad you can't see his face in the darkness. He wants to let go of your hand now. But he also wants to pull you close and-

"RAHHHHH!!!!" A scare actor pops out of a hole in the wall. You gasp and jump, slamming straight into Bob's ribs. He didn't expect you to slam him with such force, because as soon as you hit him he loses his balance and falls on his ass, dragging you down with him.

You fall on his lap with an "oof!" Not sure what just happened. Regaining your train of thought, you become aware of your surroundings once again. You're on Bob's lap. His thighs are warm, and his left arm is around your waist instinctively.

Mortified, you shoot up, nearly kicking him in the stomach. "I'm sorry!! I'm so sorry!"

Bob is speechless. He's once again left wondering why you make him feel this way. He looks up at your hand extended down to his. Grabbing it, he lets you help him stand.

Looking away, you mumble another apology and continue walking, ready to be done with this already. Bob follows after you, his footsteps loud. You guess he'll let you hear him when he wants you to. Not wanting to deal with this anymore, you turn to face Bob.

"Can I uh.... Walk behind you?" You ask, shuffling your feet on the ground. "I don't really wanna-"

Bob cuts you off. "Sure." He doesn't look at you as he steps in front of you, holding his hand out. You take it, and he leads you both out.

Along the way, you get jump-scared some more, and Bob knows this because every time you jump you clutch harder on his hand. Fuck. He wants to be done with this now.

Finally, after facing an axe-wielding maniac, you both reach the end. Bob's face red, and you clammy and shaky.

Bob lets go of your hand and turns to you, smiling. "I don't get scared easily." He says in a higher pitched voice, quoting you from earlier.

You force out a laugh and shove him playfully. "I may have been...lying... a little." You smile sheepishly. "I don't like being jumped at!"

Still smiling, Bob laughs heartily. It sure was entertaining seeing you so scared. He wants to see you like that more.

A spark in his eyes, Bob looks at you once more. "Is there anything else you wanna do?"

You think, humming to yourself and holding your chin. Maybe....

"Maybe a game?" You ask. "I've always wanted to take home a plushie from the fair."

Bob thinks back to how many plushies he unpacked from your moving boxes and isn't surprised that you'd want another one. "Ah, Alright. I can help ya." He side eyes you. "If you want."

You puff out your chest. "Thanks, but I don't need it." All those years of your life not being able to enjoy your childhood, you were extremely excited to be able to play a fair game. Your parents never let you do anything except study. You grin and point to a balloon dart game. "Let's do that one!" You say, rushing over to it. Bob follows you lazily.

You stand in front of the booth, gazing up at the brightly colored stuffed animals. One catches your eye however; it's a bright blue cat. And it's fucking HUGE. It could be the size of your torso. Watching you, Bob follows your gaze. Oh. Of course you wanted the biggest one.

You smile and look at the worker. "How many points for that one?" You ask, pointing at the stuffed cat. The worker, who looks like he wants to die, sighs.

"200 points."

200 points? That should be easy.

He points to the smallest, farthest balloon. It's bright red, and has a small "200" labeled on it. You gaze at all the other balloons. Some say 10, or 5. You quickly realize that in order to get that cat, you'll have to hit the 200 balloon.

"You get three tries." The vendor says monotonously. Shit. Okay! You can do this.

Handing the vendor a dollar, you are handed three small darts. You wipe your palms off on your shorts, getting ready to throw. Bob is watching you.

Don't fuck this up-!

You throw the first one. It careens over, hitting a 10 point balloon.

Frowning a bit, you grip the second dart. Your hands are sweaty again. Sticking your tongue out and leaning forward a bit, you throw the second dart. It lands right on a 5 pointer.

Nooo!! You only have once more chance!

You look at the dart in your hand. "I can help ya. If you want." Bobs words ring through your head and you look at him. He looks down at you, eyebrows raised. You quickly place the dart in his hand. "Okay you can help." You say. Stepping back, you don't give him a chance to object.

Bob eyes you, and then turn backs to the game. Okay, guess he's doing this now.

Closing one eye, he raises the dart.

In one expert throw, he sends the dart flying straight through the 200 point balloon.

Holy shit! He did it! You clap and jump up and down, laughing and smiling. "Yes! You did it! Thank you!" Bob is smiling now, and looks down at your happy form. Okay that was worth it.

The worker grabs the plushie and hands it to you. "Here you go..." you grab it, saying a quick thanks, and walk away with Bob.

As you both walk away, the worker turns to take the darts out of the board. As he goes to take out the one Bob threw, he notices something. The damn thing went all the way in. It's shot out completely to the other side.

—————-

"Wow! That was an extremely expert throw! I honestly didn't expect that from you." You smile.

Bob laughs. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh uh.. it's not an insult or anything. I just didn't expect such a big guy like you have the ability to be so precise."

Okay??? That doesn't make anymore sense but Bob doesn't say anything. He just ruffles the top of your hair. "Glad I could help."

You both meet back up at the car with Lila, June, and the two boys. Lila looks at you holding the giant plush.

"Holy shit (Y/N)! Where did you get that?!"

You point at Bob. "He won it for me!"

Lila and June exchange surprised looks, and then shrug. Everyone once again clambers in the car, and Bob is definitely ready to go home. Still.

As the car starts up noisily and Lila drives off, it's not too long into the car ride that Bob notices you fell asleep. You're cuddling the plush, your head resting on it.

Cute...

No! Not cute! Bob looks away.

He cannot be thinking this way about you. He needs to do something to you. Something to make you terrified. Maybe that'll remind him that you're nothing but a toy to him. An object that can be used.

Bob looks out the car window and sighs.

Soon, Lila pulls up at her house. Everyone's asleep except her and Bob. She turns to the two kids. 

"Skid? Pump?" She shakes their shoulders gently. "Time to wake up kids. We're home."

Everyone gets out of the car, and you wave bye to Lila and June.

As you walk towards your house with Bob, slowly you yawn and stretch, rubbing your eyes. You look at Bob, who is already staring at you.

Smiling sleepily, you say, "I had a lot of fun tonight. Thank you for coming along with me."

He nods and looks down at you. "Thanks for inviting me, darlin'."

You're opening your door, ready to go inside.

Before you close the door, Bob says one more thing.

"Sleep good tonight."

You smile and nod, mumbling a "you too" and close the door. Walking over to your couch, you collapse onto it. Well that was fun. You think back to the haunted house and how you literally managed to knock Bob over.

God that was so embarrassing... maybe you'll do something to apologize to him tomorrow. But for now... it's sleep time.

Undressing and crawling in to bed, you fail to see the set of eyes looking at you through your bedroom window.