Coming Home

[Felix Nicholas]

Returning to the warmth of Glenhaven felt like far more then simple desire or a tiredness of the bright lights of New York; It had been a need.
The near enough constant social lifestyle had taken it's toll, that and the heavy weight of responsibility placed on his shoulders not by himself but by his family, had become too much. He wanted to come home, no, needed to return to the bright rays of the one place that had felt somewhat like home. He'd been away for some time, and yet as soon as he stepped of the plane he already felt more settled then he'd ever felt surrounded by the tall towers of New York... There was something about this place. 

Grandma Susie's Kitchen was all the name implied and more; As soon as Felix pushed open the door he was met with
a rush of warm cinnamon, and a bright, light hearted atmosphere accompanied with vintage 50's sounding music seeping from an old jukebox and filling the restaurant with it's sweet sound. It was busy, excited conversations held by families, couples... Plates, piled high, were balanced expertly by staff. 
While the place alone was surely enough to lure in many hungry patrons, it wasn't merely just the restaurant's baked confections which brought the young man to the diner... No, there was a a far more important, personal need to visit the premises.
He stood for a moment near the door, scanning faces of hurrying staff through his dark sunglasses for one familiar face; And when he caught sight of the young woman in question he felt an unpreventable goofy grin stretch across his lips and his breath catch slightly in his throat. 

Erika. She looked just the same as ever, stunning, with an adorable smile that was catching. She'd always managed to make him feel utterly at ease, and simply being here now with her filled him with warmth; He'd missed her.

Felix quietly slipped into an empty booth, taking a menu from it's stand and opening it up, in order to hide his face from view. He pretended to skim through the items, glancing up over the menu to catch where his best friend was, before hiding his face again. She'd come to his table soon enough... Here's hoping she'd recognise him.

[Erika Clarke-Davis]

At first, when Erika had started working at the diner, she had been terrified of the owner. The owner, Susie was over seventy years old and was by far, the scariest, but also the most impressive woman she had ever met. Susie was the kind of person who demanded respect regardless of where she was and from what Erika had gathered, the old woman usually got it too.

It was one of those busy times of days, but thankfully, Erika's shift was almost over. She'd been working nearly every single day all summer in hopes of earning some cash for classes this fall. She couldn't rely on her parents and she quite enjoyed working here, even if the pay wasn't the best. She supposed that liking your work was far more important than the amount of money you earned - even if money was quite important.

Brushing her hair away from her forehead, Erika puffed her cheeks out as she placed the dirty dishes she'd gathered on the roller. She felt her body tense as Susie walked up to her, patting her on the back. "There's a youn' looker over at table seven," the old woman said. "Better hurry before one of the other snatch 'im up," she continued with a smirk. It was nothing new - Susie had been harassing Erika about her personal life for quite some time now, claiming it was such a shame that such a bright young lady was single and unaccounted for.

The idea of having time for anything like that was laughable, but the brunette did as she was told regardless. Stepping up to table seven, the young woman furrowed her brows slightly at the customer seemingly hiding behind his menu, but she shrugged it off, put on a smile and flipped open her notebook. "What can I get you?"

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix felt a small flurry of child like glee when the waitress approached his booth, settling back in his chair and casually folding one leg over the other. Would she realise it was him? Would she recognise him outright? He could spot her a mile away, even now, when they'd spent so long apart. He'd know that smile anywhere... If anything had made him realise that coming home had been the right decision, it was this moment, this giddy, silly moment.
He didn't dare glance over the menu again in case she sussed him out immediately, the grin on his face only stretching further into his trademark lopsided smile; He could barely contain his excitement, like a giddy schoolboy.

He gave a soft hum of consideration when Erika spoke. "It all sounds fantastic. Lemon Meringue pie... New York cheesecake... Waffles..." He mused. "What would you suggest?" He then left a pause, pulling his dark sunglasses off with a flourish as he moved the menu from his face. He gasped a little, then furrowed his brow, narrowing his eyes at her, jokingly pretending to not recognise her. "You know... You look just like someone I used to know..." He then snapped his fingers, pointing at the waitress with a grin. "You might know her, actually. Long, dark hair... Catching smile... And this laugh, sometimes, she'd laugh so hard, she'd snort and it was just the most adorable thing." He then ran a hand through his hair, chuckling warmly as he gave the young woman a playful wink. "... So, you miss me, Eri? Please tell me you didn't forget this face."

[Erika Clarke-Davis]

The voice - the oh so familiar voice was all the brunette needed to hear in order to know exactly whom she was dealing with. Looking up from her notebook, Erika tilted her head, attempting to keep her expression as neutral as she possibly could. On the inside, though, she could feel the jittery glee of seeing her childhood best friend after such a long time apart well up.

She had missed him dearly - she would, nor did she think she could, never lie about that. His expression though, told her that he found this incredibly amusing. He was teasing and poking fun at her and well, two people could play that game.

Furrowing her brows in mock confusion, Erika shook her head. "Who... Who are you?" she asked, though, the neutral mask quickly fell and was replaced by a toothy grin. Barely able to contain the gleeful squeal, the young brunette opened her arms and practically tossed herself at the young gentleman, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck.

Which, in hindsight, probably wasn't the wisest thing she could have done, seeing as how she was at work. But right now, she was far too happy to see her friend again to really care. "When did you get back?" she asked, her voice muffled against the skin of his neck. Then, the brunette's head quickly snapped upwards. "I do not snort!"

[Felix Nicholas]

Erika returned the teasing, much to Felix's glee; How he'd missed her... Missed this, the childish, light hearted silliness they'd thankfully, never grown out of.
He pouted his bottom lip when the waitress pretended for a fleeting moment to not recognise him, before her smile caught him and a wide, lopsided grin found it's way onto his expression. Before he could react further, he gave a loud laugh as the young woman practically threw herself at him, with such vigour that he nearly toppled backwards in his booth. Felix wrapped his own arms tightly around his friend, hugging her close. "Hey, it's like you've not seen me for years!" He joked, giving a soft intake of breath and sighing, resting his cheek against the top of her head; He then pulled back when the waitress suddenly snapped her gaze upwards.

Felix blinked at her, feigning innocence, before raising one hand and measuring out a small distance between his forefinger and thumb. "Only a little bit," He mouthed, before poking her lightly on the nose. "But don't worry, Miss.Piggy, it's adorable." He paused a moment with a chuckling sigh. Going into his reasons for returning and what far from dazzling lights New York had brought him right now wasn't going to be the best option; It was a heavy subject, and despite how comfortable Erika instantly made Felix feel, it wasn't exactly the right time to be bringing it all up... No, right now, he wanted to focus on Erika Clarke Davis.
"I only just got back not long ago... And I intend to stay for the foreseeable future," He answered quickly. "And I just had to come here, I think you know why..." Here he left an overly dramatic pause, "...You see, I hear they do this amazing key lime pie..." He then gave another chuckle. "... And I suppose there is this one waitress I MAY have missed more then I'd like to admit. How have things been, Eri? I feel like I've been so out of the loop of Glenhaven..."

[Erika Clarke-Davis]

She rolled her eyes; She did not snort and that was severely uncalled for. But alas, she was going to let him get away with it for old times sake. Call her sentimental, but she was happy about seeing her very best friend after such a long time apart. There was a million questions swirling around in her head and she wanted to know everything.

"Asshole," she chuckled, her head shaking. She quickly looked around before taking a seat opposite of him. She folded her hands on the table, her fingertips running around the edge of the menu. "Well," she began, pursing her lips. "Things haven't really changed all that much. People are still as power hungry as ever, coming here and to Los Angeles in the hopes of becoming biiiiiig stars," she finished with a dramatic tone and a roll to her eyes.

"But other than that... Life's just as you left it." He hadn't really missed much. Well, not that Erika was the right person to ask, anyways. It wasn't as if she was in the loop herself. All she ever did was study and work.

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix of course blinked with undying innocence at her insult, but let her have it with no further teasing reply. His gaze never left her as she moved to seat herself opposite to him, leaning across the table as he quietly listened to her Glenhaven update. It seemed as though little had changed, which warmed Felix's heart; He'd missed the place more then he'd realised before, and knowing now that it for the majority was the same ol' sunny place filled with people desperate to have their name in lights it was always been was comforting.

But what perhaps was more so was that Erika herself hadn't changed... Or barely had. "Same old? And here I thought this place would have all closed up without me," He joked, before glancing round the warm, friendly diner. "How is this place treating you?" Felix asked brightly, wanting to ask so many more questions, wanting to just take her away from the diner and tell her everything... But she was on shift, and the last thing he wanted was to get her in trouble with the woman who ran the place. So he bit his tongue, deciding that simple, easy to answer questions would be best for the time being; He'd only just met up with her again, he didn't want to weigh her down with everything that had happened, as much as he wanted to. He hadn't told anyone else just yet, aside from his family... And his Father, of course, was far from happy with his decision, but then Felix doubted anything he did would please him at this stage; He'd never truly approved of Felix's friendship with Erika either, even when they were children, but Felix had long shown he'd no intention of ever tossing Eri aside on the whims of his Father.

[Erika Clarke-Davis]

"You're not that special," Erika countered with a smirk. She could see his excitement. It almost vibrated off of him. Luckily for Felix, Erika only had a few more minutes of her shift before she'd be free to answer all of his questions and hear all of his stories. "I can't really complain," she shrugged lightly as she looked around. "I've been working nearly every day all summer so I can save up for college. The pay is nice and the people here are even better." In truth, there was little to complain about. She loved working here - she always had.

"I'm off in a few minutes, so let me go get changed and meet me outside so we can have a proper conversation without the boss glaring at us from the kitchen." With that, Erika turned her head slightly, offered the old woman an apologetic smile. "You're gonna get me in trouble, old dog," she whispered with a faint chuckle as she rose to her feet, offering Felix a grin and mouthing the word 'whoops', before she moved towards the changing room, fully expecting Felix to be right outside waiting for her.

It wasn't as if she offered him much option, anyways. They had far too much to catch up on for him to bail on her.

[Felix Nicholas]

"Ah, true, that's all you," He replied brightly, giving her a playful wink. Then as if the powers that be decided to answer Felix's whims, Erika let him know she was due to come off her shift anyway. Felix felt his breath catch just a fraction, before he followed his best friend's gaze to catch the stern eyeline of the restaurant's proprietor. He cast her one of his trademark goofy grins, followed by a polite wave, before turning that same grin to Erika, pouting and raising his hands defensively as he feigned innocence. With that, she got up to leave, to disappear into the back.
Felix watched her as she left, his gaze never leaving her as he sighed gently; It was truly as if they had never been apart. With most others, given a long period of time, no matter how close Felix would likely feel some degree of unease or nerves upon meeting up with someone he once knew so well, but with Eri, it was different. It always had been.

Felix slipped out of the booth, standing up and again throwing a sheepish smile the boss's way before exiting the way he'd come, stepping out into the warm heat of the early Glenhaven evening. He casually leaned his back against the wall of the diner, taking in deep breaths of the sweet cinnamon ebbing from within; He missed so much of this... Of Glenhaven, of Eri... Out of everyone he'd spoken to, and those he still needed to tell, it was Erika whom he feared the least in speaking to. He knew no matter what, no matter how she took his leaving New York and quitting his business degree, it would her who would understand, who would give him no disappointed sigh.

[Erika Clarke-Davis]

Once Erika had finished her shift, she'd gotten changed out of her uniform and said her goodbyes. At last, she walked through the doors and looked around, quickly spotting her old friend. A smile formed on her lips as she walked towards him. She took the short moment to look him over; He hadn't changed much, though, looked a little more mature. She supposed that came with the territory. They had gotten older, after all and even though it hadn't been that long, she still noticed all the small changes.

Felix seemed happier. That was the first thing she noticed. As if he'd come into his own as a person. Which, naturally, made Erika happy. He deserved to be happy. "Hey," she cooed, putting an arm around the taller man's shoulders before offering him a toothy grin. "What's a guy like you doin' around here?" she slurred dramatically, "Rich Avenue is further down the street," she added with a smirk.