Lust, Life and Death.

The first time Grace met Tom she had just turned 19. It was a Friday night, the busiest night of the week. The bar was packed full of people sitting around tables, standing by the Pool Table, huddled around the Fruit machines or hunched over the bar.

Grace was rushed off her feet being one of the three bar tenders working that cold October evening. It was around eleven o'clock and the barking of orders from the clients on the other side of the bar was in full swing.

Grace handed a boy who looked just a little older than herself his beer before walking over to the next slug slowly creeping across the bar.

"Can I help you?" Grace asked in her load bar voice as she looked at the boy wearing the dark hoodie with the short brown hair. He looked up from his phone before smiling politely at Grace which she returned sweetly. He ordered his drink and she brought it back to him quickly. He didn't more from the bar for a few hours. He would order a drink and drink it quietly by himself.

From that night, the boy started to become a somewhat regular. Every night for about a week and a half he sat by himself at the bar tapping away silently on his phone and sitting, looking as if in deep thought. He would always stay until either Grace or one of the other bar workers rang the bell signaling the last call for drinks.

One night, a Thursday to be exact, he stayed right till closing time. He was the last one left after the old alcoholics and the people wanting nothing but to drown their sorrows had left.

"What's your name?" Grace asked in the now silent bar.

"Tom." He said quietly as he took another sip from his drink. "What's yours?" He looked up at her sweetly.

"Grace" she smiled. The two shared a comfortable silence as Tom took another sip from his beer and Grace continued with the various things she had to do around the bar. "So, Tom, what brings you to this shit hole?"

"Well" Tom started. "My band where on tour, we finished our tour last week now we're just hanging around staying with our bassist parents. I wanted to get away for a while. We've all just spent the last few months together living in a bus, it's nice to get away from everyone for a while." He set his beer bottle down and looked over to Grace who was now cleaning tables.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You could put the chairs up onto the tables?" Grace suggested. Tom simply nodded in response. "So, you're in a band?" She asked as she cleaned yet another table.

"Yeah, we're called Architects, you probably never heard of us, we're pretty small and we're not exactly top 40 material."

Grace simply laughed "Yeah I've heard of you, Nightmares, Ruin, split with Dead Swans, Hollow Crown right?"

"Yeah" Tom laughed.

"I'm not a stalker, I'm just quite into my metal" Grace giggled.

"Ah cool, what sort of stuff are you into?"

"Mostly UK stuff, American voices annoy me. I love Rolo Tomassi, Your Demise, good bit of Skindred and Parkway Drive. What about yourself?" Grace asked now ready to leave the bar.

"Pretty much the same." Tom smiled as Grace pulled on her hoodie and picked up her bag.

"Are you done?" She asked looking at the now empty, lonely bottle sitting on the bar.

"Yeah." Tom smiled. "Can I walk you home maybe?" He suggested as he picked up his things.

"Uhh.." Grace was understandably unsure about letting this stranger she met at the bar walk her home.

"I'm not some creepy stalker, I won't rape you I promice." Tom smiled.

"Do you promise?" There was something Grace saw in Tom, something that made her trust him. She wasn't sure why but she felt like she could get along with him.

"Yes, I promise I won't stalk you or rape you."

"Okay then, let's go." It was raining outside so Grace pulled her umbrella out of her bag and pulled it up over her head as they stood outside. She handed the umbrella to Tom as she locked up before standing close to him under the small umbrella to protect themselves from the rain.
"So where are you from originally?" Grace asked as they stepped away from the bar.
"Brighton." Tom smiled.
"Ah cool, I love Brighton, my mum used to live there."
"Cool. So you're from around here then?" Tom asked as he narrowly missed a puddle.
"No, I'm from Plymouth originally, I moved down here to get away more than anything." Grace's flat wasn't far from here. She and Tom stopped in front of the door and Grace handed him her umbrella. "You need it more than me." Tom thanked her and said goodnight. Grace open one of the heavy glass doors to allow her into the building and headed upstairs to her apartment not before glancing round once more to see Tom turning away from the building and walking away with her bright purple umbrella.