"Paper or plastic?"

"Paper."

The cashier gave me a bored look. "We're out of paper. Is plastic okay?" "I guess so," I responded with a dry smile. If he knew there wasn't any paper, why did he even give me a choice? The cashier quickly placed my groceries into two plastic bags— one for the meat and vegetables and the other for the non-perishables. I made a face when I realized he had put the bread under the bananas. Didn't he know bread was supposed to either be on top or in a separate bag? "Have a nice night," he said, handing the bags to me. My face fell the tiniest bit. Instead of going grocery shopping around three o'clock in the afternoon like I was supposed to, I had decided to go on the computer, thinking I'd just quickly check my Tumblr and e-mail. But no, Tumblr has an uncanny ability to make you lose track of time so when I finally decided to stop scrolling to check the time, it was already six. Hence why I was now at the grocery store while it was pitch black outside. To top things off, my mom had our only car so I had to walk home. As soon as I stepped into the outside a chilly wind whipped by me, nipping at my exposed skin. I shivered, pulling my coat closer around me. I started on my way home, keeping under the streetlights, feeling a little nervous. Since the world was so messed up, I knew it wasn't safe for a young woman to be walking the streets by herself at night. All the terrible things happened in the movies happened to those women. And right now, I felt like I was one of them. To my luck, the one dark, ominous ally on the way home was one I didn't have to go through. As I grew closer, I strayed further away from the mouth. Just as I was about to step out in front of the entrance, a low groan came from inside it. My breathing hitched and I froze, listening as hard as I could. All was silent, except the sounds of a few people breathing heavily. It sounded like they were right beside me. I slowly stepped away from the mouth, pressing my back against the brick building beside it. "Aren't you going to fight back?" an angry voice demanded, carrying all the way to me. "I told you," another voice responded in a calm manner. "I don't fight anymore." A snort echoed through the ally. "Yeah. Like I'd believe that. If you don't fight back, then you're just letting us beat the shit out of you." "Whatever," the other man responded. "It's not like feeble punches from you will actually harm me." My mouth opened slightly in surprise from the calm man's comeback. Did he want to be attacked? Whoever the other guy was, he sounded threatening. I took a step back away from the ally mouth. If there was going to be a fight going down, I didn't want to be around to see it. But if I ran away, what was going to happen to the calm man? It didn't sound like he was going to fight back. If something happened, wouldn't I get in trouble for knowing it was happening and not trying to stop it?Was that a thing? "Suit yourself," someone, neither of first two men though, grunted. There was the quiet, distinguished sound of knuckles being cracked. Throwing all caution to the wind, I built up all the courage I had and stepped into ally. "Wait!" I demanded, looking in the direction the earlier voices were coming from. My breath caught in my throat as I took in the sight my eyes fell upon. A small group of five, thug-looking men were surrounding one other man. The man in the middle had his back turned to me, so the only thing I could make out was his messy brown hair. He tensed, keeping his back to me while the five other sets of eyes snapped to me. I froze like a deer in headlights. Stupid, stupid move, I told myself, biting my cheek in admonishment. Why not call nine-one-one? Why not be a sane person? "Well what do we have here?" one of the five intimidating men questioned, a small smirk spreading across his face. "A pretty, young girl? What are you doing out here so late?" "It doesn't matter why she's out here so late," a bald man next to him said. "She probably heard us talking and came to see what was up, right?" I blinked when I realized he was addressing me. My heart thudded in my chest as I stared at the bald man, trying to think of a response. Why had I jumped out in front of these thugs again? Who knew what there were capable of. I really was one of the horror movie girls. "Well then, missus, you can watch the first punch to this man's pretty face," the guy addressing me continued when I didn't respond. "You think my face is pretty?" the man being surrounded commented in an amused tone. "That's cute."

One of the men stepped closer to the calm man, bringing up his fist. The calm one didn't even turn to look at his attacker. When the attacker brought his fist back, I dashed toward him, swinging my grocery bag filled with non-perishables. I knew it had struck gold when I heard him cry out in pain.

"Run!" I screamed, grabbing the young man's hand and tugging him away from the group, whom were all standing around like statues, shocked from my surprise attack.

I began sprinting in the direction of my house without a second thought. The men in the ally shouted after us as we fled. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins as I hurtled down the street, keeping a firm grip on the man I was towing along. When we made it to my street I dug my free hand into my pocket, searching desperately for my house key. The handles of the grocery bag slipped down to my wrist, where they hung digging into my soft skin.

After a few terrorizing moments, I finally managed to find my key. Without any further ado, I slammed it into the lock and opened the door. I shoved the man behind me inside firs and pulled my key out, slamming and locking the door behind us. Breathing heavily, I tried the lock again to make sure we would be safe. The door didn't budge. With a deep sigh, I sunk to my knees, trying to regain my breath.

After a few minutes my breathing finally returned to normal, but my heart was still pounding. I stayed on the ground for a little longer, trying to calm my heartbeat.

"Are you okay?"

A gasp of surprise left my lips and I started. It had completely slipped my mind that someone else was with me. Embarrassed, I slowly pushed myself to my feet, wiping off my sweaty palms. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"Couldn't be better."

I was tempted to look at man behind me, but first I wanted to make sure the thugs weren't outside waiting for us. Standing on my tiptoes, I peered through the window out into the night. A shadow danced across my lawn and my heart skipped a beat in alarm. I almost laughed when I realized it was just the shadow of one of the trees in my yard. There was no one out there.

"Looks like we lost them," I commented in relief, turning around now.

"Looks like it."

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped when my gaze finally landed on the man before me. When his eyes landed on my face, he inhaled sharply, a look of shock passing across his face. Surprised by his response I took a step back away from him, against the door. We stared at each other for a few minutes, taking the other person in.

Standing before me had to be one of the best-looking guys I'd ever seen. Sure, it sounded cheesy, but there was no other way I could describe him. He was around a foot and a half taller than me and had a strong looking physique— slender, yet muscular. His face was perfectly chiseled with a sturdy jaw. Messy, umber colored hair framed his perfect features, falling into his eyes the slightest bit-- his piercingly grey eyes.

He mumbled something incoherent, his eyes never leaving my face.

"What?" I asked quietly, my mouth feeling incredibly dry.

The man shook his head slightly. "Nothing," he told me, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Okay..." I responded, staring at him again. It was really hard to pull my gaze away from his eyes.

"Are those guys gone?" the man inquired, crossing his arms over his chest.

I slowly nodded my head, growing more and more awkward by the second. It was now catching up to me that I had practically forced this handsome stranger into my house.

The young man before me nodded too, relaxing his position. "Good. It wouldn't have been too great if I had been caught fighting again." Again? I watched the man warily. He caught my cautious gaze and raised an eyebrow. I shook my head quickly, looking away from him. "I should probably go then," he mused, frowning slightly. "Already?" As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted them. What was I doing? I didn't even know this guy! He chuckled deeply. "I don't want to impose." Nodding in agreement, I looked back up and gave him a small smile. "You wouldn't be... But I am afraid of what my mom would say if she came home and found a strange man here." "I'm not that strange." I laughed quietly. "No, you were just going to be beaten up in an ally like any other average person, right?" He cocked his head to the side, an amused smile slipping across his face. Slowly he started moving toward me. "You should be one to talk. Coming out of nowhere and shouting at them in your girly little voice." "I do not have a girly little voice," I responded, slightly miffed. He was only about a foot away from me now and I was finding it hard to think. "A-and I really thought they were going to beat you up!" He shrugged, holding up his hands defensively. "Well thanks anyway, but as a tip, don't try to stop anymore fights. You might get hurt." With that, he reached around me, going for the door handle. "Wait!" I demanded. He paused, his face inches away from mine. "What?" "What's your name?" I breathed. "It's a secret," he responded with a smirk, pushing by me and opening the door. "Have a nice night."