The Ex | Open Starter
The Sioux Falls bar was loud, the food smelled amazing, and the music was decent. Between the sound and the liquor, there was a comfortable buzz in the air, and maybe that was enough to cover up when Bern's eyes trailed after a man looking in the windows as he passed by on the street. Maybe it was enough to miss their disappearance seconds later.
If one did investigate, the search would lead outside, where voices were raised in the alley beside the bar.
"What are you doing here!?"
"What the fuck did you do to your hair!? I told you to quit dressing like this, you look like a guy!"
The man locked in an argument with Bern was lean, average height, fair-skinned and blue-eyed with hair that couldn't decide if it was dirty blonde or light brown, much like Dean's. His face was nothing short of livid as he stared the hunter down. "I'm gone for six months, and look what you've done to yourself. Why did you leave? Who the hell are you in there with?"
"Who I'm with is not what you should be worried about, you should be worried about me." Bern was almost shaking with rage, and the stranger didn't seem to like their resolution, and tried a different tactic. "Do you know how worried I was? How much I missed you? How long it took me to find you? Bernadette, I thought you died."
"How did you find me?" Bern's voice was wary, and his eyes hardened. "By chance. I'm in town on business, and you're still driving that piece of shit Ford parked up the street. It's still got the dent in the door." Bern's lips pressed thin, and they inhaled hard through their nose. "... What the fuck do you want, Cody."
"My girlfriend back, for a start. Maybe grow your hair back, and fix your clothes, and stop running away from me. We both know you'll come back, you always do."
"Not this time." Bern took a step back, shaking their head. "I'm not your girlfriend. I'm not even a fucking girl."
"Oh, DON'T start with-"
"Don't start with WHAT!?"
Both began to talk over each other with increasing volume until some low threat was delivered, and Bern grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him hard against the brick. "You are NOT. Going to RUN ME out of my OWN TOWN. You PATHETIC little man. I've met actual flesh and blood monsters with more humanity than you." He stared for two tense beats, and then tried to take a swing that was dodged with ease.
