The Springs

[Nightlily]

Serenity looked out the window, it was raining. It seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
"Miss?"
She looked back to her customers, "Oh! I am SO sorry!"
The lady smiled, "It's not problem dear, could we please get more drinks?"
She nodded, "Of course! I'll be right back with that." She headed back to the kitchen, she needed to more careful and not get distracted at work anymore. It seemed so hard to concentrate on work today though. 'It must be the cold weather, I am just not at my peak unless it is warm and sunny out.' She sighed as the new glasses were filling up, 'I wish something interesting would happen.'

[Miss Gates]

Haven Skye was the bus boy of the restaurant. He cleaned the dishes. It was really no big deal in his mind. Haven had kept to himself while he had listened to his iPod. People knew of his story; the one who killed and got away with it. Haven was able to transform into another human being, but from self defense. One day a homeless shape shifter broke into his home and tried to attack his sister. In self defense, Haven had killed the man and now he was able to transform into other human beings.

Still...People looked at him weird. Even though they knew that he had to protect his sister, they looked at him weird. Normally, the ones who killed their own kind went to jail. However, Haven was innocent, and people knew it. Haven loved to wash the dishes because it meant that he wouldn't have to feel the stares of other people. There was one girl at work that he had begun to like.

And that was Serenity.

She was so nice to him. Haven hadn't talked to her much, but the first couple of times they had spoken she had been nice to him. It was like she could see that he was innocent and that made him feel accepted. Haven washed the last of the dishes and went back to a prep work station. He started to prep the food and waited for an opportunity to talk to Serenity. He looked around and noticed that she was refilling some drinks.

In the mean time, more people were at the register and Haven could tell that they were getting impatient. He walked up to the register and said,

"How may I help you?"

The customers sighed heavily. One said about an icee and another one wanted a meal or two. Haven wrote it down and handed it to the other workers. He turned to Serenity and said,

"Need a hand there?"

[Nightlily]

Serenity looked up to Haven, "Hi there!" She almost spilled one of the drinks about to try to wave.
"Oops!" She placed the drinks down on the soda fountain, "Sorry, I have been having a really off day, something about the rain."
Smiling widely at him she waved now. Haven hadn't been working at the restaurant long, but he was a really hard worker. She couldn't help but admire that about him and he was just so... Awesome.
"Hey... I have to get back to work, but do you want to hang out after work for a bit? We can go anywhere, or just go to the park or something if you want."
She suddenly got really nervous, it all just kind of came out, she didn't think about it. She really hated rejection though, from anyone, 'It's ok Serenity," She thought, 'The worse thing he could do is say no.' She let a little breath out.

[Miss Gates]

Haven's heart had skipped a beat and his green eyes lit up with delight. Someone had actually wanted to hang out with him and Serenity was one of those people! He felt like he had hit the lottery, but he had needed to play it cool. Haven was a very stoic type of guy. He was known for being the silent type, but once you got to know him he was very out going. Haven smiled widely and said,

"Sure. I'd love to." He paused. "Do you want to have dinner?"

[Nightlily]

Serenity felt a little silent squeal go off in her chest. She nodded quickly, "Alright, that sounds good, probably better than the park since it's raining." She giggled a bit.

The rest of her shift seemed to fly by since she was looking forward to going out. Finally at the end of the day she went to the bathroom to change into normal clothes and freshen up. She normally wore dresses in case she shifted. Usually she could get into the same dress by positioning herself correctly when she changed, but sometimes she had to run from dogs or foxes, so she always wore a small pouch around her wrist. The pouch had in it a silk dress that folded into it, then if she had to ditch her other dress she always had something to wear when she shifted back. Sometimes she wondered where the dresses went if they were gone when she went to retrieve them.

Giving a final look at herself in the mirror she though, 'Alright, I think that's good." She had on a tan and black steamish (the genre) looking dress and had a black overcoat on. Her mascara and other face makeup was all brushed up. She went back to lockers waiting for Haven to show up.

[Miss Gates]

Haven finished is shift in silence. Even though he had a vacant expression on his face as he had worked, he enjoyed himself. Haven's mind drifted into deep thought; some of those deep thoughts had included his parents. That was odd, he had thought to himself. He hadn't thought about his parents in years. His parents had died of old age and Haven was left to raise his sister while he was just a child.

He always had to be the responsible one. Haven wasn't use to having a life, friends, and fun. What if he messed up with Serenity? What if for some reason she hated him in the end? Haven couldn't bare to have that. He was so scared of himself that it wasn't even funny. He knew what he was capable of; killing his own kind. What if he felt like he was defending himself and he had even hurt Serenity?

No, Haven thought strongly. That was not going to happen.

Haven refused to believe that he could hurt someone like Serenity. It was not in him. The man that he was, was not capable of hurting an innocent. After his shift was finished, Haven walked to the Men room and changed into his street clothes. Haven had tan skin with long hair and some people often took him to be an emo kid, but he was not. Haven had a good life and he was happy. He just preferred a darker type of clothing style than most his age.

With the finishing touches, Haven walked out of the bathroom and looked for Serenity.

[Nightlily]

Serenity found herself swirling her waist length white hair while she was waiting for Haven, she had never gone out with someone after work before and she was pretty nervous. She starting looking in the mirror looking for any imperfections on her pale white face.

Her eyes flickered up to her grey eyes. They were so... Beautiful. Most people thought they were pretty odd since they were so rare, but there was a reason they were grey. After all, there were very few eye colors rabbits had, it was only natural. She had been trying to hide that secret, so many people knew though, even her boss. Haven though...

'He can be trusted, after all look at what he has been through, so much. He wouldn't judge me, or think I was a freak or scary.' She smiled to herself, 'For all I know they all already know and they don't talk to me about it.'

She frowned a little before catching a glimpse of Haven in the mirror. Immediately she turns around smiling and blushing, 'Well that's a little embarrassing.' She waved again, "Hello! Do you know where you want to head?" She pulled her umbrella out of the locker.

[Miss Gates]

Haven smiled at Serenity and nodded. "Yup," he said and paused. "How do you feel about dan---Italian?"

He was going to suggest a dancing club, but Haven wasn't sure about that. He hadn't known her yet. It was best to get to know her first. Start off slow, and work it out. He didn't have to rush anything and he didn't have to push. Just take it slow, Haven. He told himself that over and over in his mind.

[Nightlily]

"Oh! I love Italian food! Have you ever been to Zion's before? It's amazing." She was so happy, Italian was her favorite, but she hadn't had a reason to go out for months. Haven looked really good out of uniform, she looked into his green eyes. It felt like electricity was running through her body.

She wanted to jump up and down, 'No, that's not normal, you can't do that.' Suddenly she got really worried, what if she got too overwhelmed and shifted? No, it's just dinner, nothing is going to happen she reassured herself. She did feel better, after all like she thought, it was just dinner.

[Miss Gates]

Haven was pleased with her enthusiasm. He shook his head at her question; he had never been there, but he had heard of it. He had heard that it was a good restaurant and that people enjoyed their time there. Haven would be more than happy to pay for the two of them. He held out his arm for her.

"Will you be my date tonight young miss?" Haven asked her with a smirk.

She was beautiful and it seemed as though her personality had sparked a little humanity within him.

[Nightlily]

Serenity blushed, "It would be my pleasure sir." She linked arms with him.

He was so warm and seeing him up close she realized he was very cute too. Sparks were flying in her chest, she had never gone on a date before. A few guys asked him in high school, but she was never very interested in it.

Even though it was raining she would rather walk than drive. After all, it was in her nature to want to be outside. "Do you mind if we walk? It's not very far." She looked up at him hopefully.

[Miss Gates]

Haven smiled at Serenity and shook his head in response. "Not at all." He told her.

His heart was pounding in his chest. Her arm had linked his arm. She was touching him, and he was touching her. Haven felt as if he were standing on the edge of a cliff and he had never felt more safe in his entire life than he was right now. From what he had noticed of Serenity was that she was a good person. He had never seen her do anything evil.

She was the complete opposite of him and she was so pure and good. A sting of pain flew through his heart. She was pure and good whereas he was not. What if he corrupted her? Haven wondered. He pushed those thoughts aside as quickly as he could. He tried not to frown in front of her, but his smile had turned quickly down. No, he was going to be fine, he told himself.

Haven turned to Serenity and said, "Lead the way?" He had wanted to start walking. Walking helped him relax and helped him forget what a monster he was.

[Nightlily]

Serenity had been staring out at the rain, when she looked back to Haven he appeared to be frowning slightly. "Umm, yeah alright." She started strolling down the street.

Confusion swept over Serenity. Was he uncomfortable with linking arms? Or maybe he did not like walking?

"Hey, are you alright?" She smiled at him trying to let him know she did not mean any harm.

[Miss Gates]

Haven hadn't wanted to tell her what he was thinking about. He hadn't meant to send her negative vibes. He enjoyed his time with her. So he blocked out his memories and smiled at her. He nodded positively and said,

"Of course." He paused. "I'm fine, I promise."

Haven tried to think of what to say to her. Should he begin with small talk or dive right on into the deep conversation? No, he had decided. Better save that for dinner. The bigger the conversation was, the easier it was to talk about over food. That way there would be no pressure about talking about the deep stuff. Haven decided to start with small talk. Go for the colors, he thought. He turned to Serenity and said,

"My favorite color is green." Haven chuckled nervously. "What's your favorite color?"

[Nightlily]

Serenity felt better now. Haven seemed to relax a little and she did too. It was so nice to be going out some where with someone. Ever since high school ended she felt like she did not have any friends. She could not help but feel hopeful that she might have someone to talk with and hang out with again.

Pointing to her hair, she grinned and said, "White. It is very special to me. What is your favorite animal? Mine is a rabbit... I don't know if you understand why..."

She was nervous, she did not think even if Haven did know that he would judge her, after all that happened with him. She felt bad thinking about how people treated him. At least she was glad that no one at the restaurant seemed to have any problems with him.