Contact: A Legacy 1.5 by LeahT
"Oh, yeah she slept there last night," Dylan mumbled to himself when he crawled out of bed. "Did we...? Nah, she doesn't even know what that is... We just kissed, right?"
Peach began to stir and Dylan did his best to look casual. He didn't want to seem like a stalker, watching her while she slept.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Peach looked at Dylan who was still standing awkwardly at the end of the bed.
"Isn't it a beautiful morning?" Dylan asked looking towards the window.
Peach followed his gaze and said, "You can see through closed blinds? Is that a superpower humans have?"
"Uhhh... something like that... haha..." Dylan said nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "So, do you want to do something today?"
"Can you take me to get a job? Like the grocery store thing you were talking about yesterday..." Peach asked. "I want to help with the money issues as long as I stay in this... beautiful place."
Dylan could tell she was lying about the compliment, but it was nice she was going to try and help out, "Sure thing."
Dylan and Peach approached the grocery store and her eyes widened at the books out front. She picked one up.
"These look like the ones you have at home except they don't have naked ladies--"
"Here we are!" Dylan interrupted nervously. "You can apply at the register. Just ask the nice person for an application. I'll just wait out here."
"You're going to wait with your books?"
He sighed, "These aren't my books, Peach. I haven't bought them."
"And they don't have naked ladies on them."
Dylan covered his face in his hands, "Please... I read plenty of other books. Like when you saw me in the library... Just... go inside and ask for an application."
Peach obeyed.
Nonchalantly, Peach exited the grocery store. She glanced over to Dylan and gave him a raised eyebrow.
"What are you looking at?" she asked.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Did you get the job?" he said slowly as if she were stupid. "That's kind of why you went in there... I didn't give you a shopping list or anything."
She looked down over her shoulder, "They... might have been hiring."
"That still doesn't tell me anything."
Peach grinned, "Yeah, I did. I didn't know they would hire a foreigner."
"I'm not going to ask and I don't care! You got a job!" Dylan hopped over to her and gave her a huge bear hug as a congratulations.
It was when she went in for a kiss that Dylan pulled away. He put up his arms in defense and took a step backwards. The look on Peach's face was none other than hurt. He didn't mean for that to happen, but he couldn't be seen kissing her in public.
"I'm sorry, Peach, not in public," he said quietly.
"But... why? We kissed last night. I thought that meant..." her gaze fell down to the ground. For the first time, her bubbly personality wasn't so... peachy.
"Peach... I..."
She ran off before he could say anything else.
Dylan knew he should go after her. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that if he left her alone, something bad would happen. Instead of listening to his instincts, he just watched her go. She'll come back, he told himself. Any moment, she'll turn around.
But she didn't turn around. Peach kept running with tears in her eyes. Dylan watched her disappear around a corner and just hoped she knew her way home. She'll come back, he chanted in his head. She'll come back.
Peach didn't stop running until she got to the dock at the beach where she originally crashed her spaceship. She caught her breath and looked around. A few people were hanging around the beach, doing human things. Peach smiled before a few more tears trickled down her cheeks. Why doesn't Dylan want to be with me? she wondered. Is it because I'm not his kind? He's completely fine when we aren't around anyone, but as soon as we're in public, he acts as if we're just friends. Maybe he isn't interested after all...
Even though she was treated terrible on her home world, she was never faced with heart break. This was an entirely new feeling for her.
Tears kept flowing and she fiercely wiped away at them. This was no time to be crying! I should never have escaped, she thought. I wouldn't have caused Dylan so much trouble, and I wouldn't be dealing with this pain in my upper torso region. On her planet, they normally had arranged unions with the hounds, much like arranged marriages. At this time, she would have preferred that to what she was feeling at this moment. It was misery.
Maybe that Doc Brown guy has my ship done. If he does, I can find another planet and set up there. Dylan won't have to deal with me anymore... ever again.
She straightened up and tried to think where that guy's house was... while she was thinking, another round of tears threatened to pour down her cheeks. I hate this...
"UGH! I can't find that cat anywhere! I'm supposed to be a part of the special hunting forces, but I can't find a single cat on a planet a small as Earth?! I'm going to get punished for this one!" Rovotz, the hound, fumed.
His nose twitched and he started sniffing the air.
"That better not be a house cat, as it was last time... I think..." he smelled more and followed his nose, ignoring strange looks from civilians, "thats... Mazyna!"
He spotted her on the beach and grinned from ear to ear.
"Finally," he growled. "I have never been so happy to see a cat in my life!"
The hound jumped off of his perch and behind the bushes to go meet her, hoping she would not see him in the process. Luckily, her tears fogged her vision. Rovotz found it the perfect time to strike.
Back at Dylan's apartment, he was worrying about Peach. It was getting late and she still wasn't home. Maybe I should have just kissed her. It's not like too many people were around and they probably weren't watching, he thought. He suddenly got an idea.
He dialed Doc Brown's number and put the phone to his ear. It rang a few times and he anxiously awaited him to pick up. When he didn't, he dialed again. This time, the old man answered.
"Hello?"
"Doc! I'm so glad you picked up! I have a question. Is Peach there?" Dylan played with the seam of his shirt, hoping she had gone to his house.
"No, I'm sorry Dylan."
His heart sank, "Oh, that's... oh."
"But, I have good news! I think I got the spaceship to work. I can put it back in the capsule and take it over first thing in the morning," he said cheerfully.
"Yeah. Thanks," Dylan said softly.
"Dylan? What's wrong?" Doc asked, concerned.
"Peach left after she and I had a little... mishap in town and hasn't come back. It's getting dark outside and I'm afraid something might have happened to her, you know, with the hound."
"Mishap?"
Dylan was silent.
"Dylan... I'm like an uncle to you. Tell me what happened."
"She tried to, well... kiss me in public and I pushed her away. She ran off in tears and hasn't come back," Dylan blushed. It was so embarrassing, saying this to an old man.
"Oh," he said in a wise voice. "You hurt her feelings."
He rolled his eyes, "Duh. But why? We had only kissed once before, and..."
"Was it at home?"
"Yeah, but..."
"She thinks you're ashamed of her. You don't want to be seen with her in public. She thinks it's her, not you."
Dylan's brow furrowed, "But... that's not it at all. I really, really like Peach. I might even..." Dylan's heart felt like it was going to stop. He couldn't let her leave Earth. He couldn't be apart from her. He had to find her. "Doc, I'll call you back."
Peach, I'm sorry. I hope I'm not too late...
Dylan ran past the TV where the program of the lovebirds was playing. A tear rolled down his cheek as he remembered her asking all those questions and how they cuddled on the couch. He hoped he could do it many more times.
You can't leave me, Peach. I don't want an empty house anymore.
The hound crept up on Peach. He tried not to make a noise and as far as he could tell, he was being as silent as he had learned to be in his training days. She stiffened, almost as if she had heard him, and Rovotz stood still, but Peach did not turn around. He let out a breath of relief and kept creeping towards her. This was it. He was just about to get her in his hands. Once he got home, his Master would reward him with treats and a day at The Hound Spa. He couldn't wait and almost lost his cool for almost a moment. Almost there...
