It had been a cloudy day, so when it came time for the dreaded sun to set the clouds aided in the friendliness of the night to set in sooner. Victoria had been restless lately staying in the mansion. She wanted a night out on the town so she set out to the city and all of its possibilities. There was always something to see if nothing else. Different people doing different things, signs always changing, new stores opening with new items to sell.

Like this ice cream shop. It looked friendly and inviting. A place families would come to enjoy their time together and enjoy various flavors of ice cream and tell stories.


Victoria had no memory of doing such a thing with her parents. She had been literally kept in the darkness her whole life. Now it was all she knew and loved, but yet she stood there daydreaming.

How on earth could he have forgotten it?!?

Bailey raced down the street, pulling on his coat as he sped around corners. It was dark outside, and there was probably nothing going on that would mean any sort of danger, but he would not slow down. He had to get there before something bad happened to it!

How, exactly, he had managed to forget his phone at work escaped him. He went everywhere with that little thing. Everywhere. It resided in his pocket at all hours of the day, and it stayed next to him when he slept. Typically, he was either using it to listen to music, or to play some sort of addicting game. His entire life was on that thing, not to mention the notes for the test he had to write in three days. If something happened to it, then most of his personal information, photos, and entertainment would be lost. 

Yet somehow, he had left work without it. He had walked his usual route without any sort of music in the background, and he hadn’t even noticed. The thought of it all just seemed wrong.

So, he had jumped out of bed in the middle of the night to rescue that piece of technology. He had gotten a few annoyed sounds out of his brother, but he didn't care. This was his mission, and it had to be completed.

Eventually, he reached the ice cream shop, out of breath and his heart ready to pound out of his ribcage. He barely even noticed the blonde girl about his age looking in the window as he shoved the key into the lock and swung the door open.

The teen raced inside and jumped over the little divider that separated the customers from the employees and went straight for the back room.

He was coming for his baby.

Imagining what it would be like to enjoy the experiences of an ice cream shop, Victoria nearly jumped when a taller boy rushed to the store front unlocked the door and then rushed inside disappearing behind the counter. She glanced around to see if maybe he was being chanced? No, no one was running in her direction. There wasn’t an alarm ringing out either. What was the urgent rush?

Cautiously the girl stepped just inside the doorway and knocked on the open door. “Hello? Is everything ok? Are you alright?” Something had to be wrong for someone to be in such a rush. Right? She hoped everything was going to be ok.

Waiting for a reply she began slowly walking and looking around the store more now that she could see everything in a closer view. The aroma was sweet as if someone had been baking. There were little advertisements for various treats they could make, and all of them looked delicious as did many of the names of ice cream flavors.

Bailey's eyes scanned the little back room for his phone. At first glance, there was no sign of it, but he refused to be disheartened. He began to frantically search through the stacks of paper, behind any sort of object, and through any and all drawers. It had to be there somewhere.

The only noise in the store should have been the sound of the teen rifling through the various items in the backroom. So, when the voice of a young girl reached Bailey's ears, he was more than a little confused. He shot straight up to his full height and cocked his head, sure that he was imagining things. It was late, after all, and he'd had a long day. 

He shook his head and furrowed his brow. Surely it wasn't real... was it?

Bailey balled his hands into fists and placed them on his sides. It probably wasn't real, but it was worth checking, just to be sure. It wasn't like he was going anywhere, after all.

He walked out into the main part of the store and glanced around. Sure enough, there was a blonde girl standing in front of the display case. He blinked at her, entirely confused.

"Uhm... Hi?" He began slowly, unsure of exactly what to say to the girl who had just materialized in the closed shop.

The names of some of the ice cream flavors sounded really good. There was even a cheeseca….a subtle greeting interrupted her thought as she looked up at the slightly taller boy. He was looking right back at her.

“Oh! Hello. I’m sorry for entering your store, but you were in such a rush it looked as if something was wrong.” Victoria looked the boy over as best she could from the other side of the display case. He didn’t look injured. That was good. Another quick glance looking behind him. Still no signs of any problems. “Is everything ok? Were you being robbed or something?”

What could possibly cause this boy to have to get to the store in such a hurry? It had to be something super important. Maybe a new secret ice cream flavor being delivered?

Bailey glanced at the girl rather sheepishly. No, there had been no injuries, no robbery, and no real emergency. Well, there had been, in a way, but it wasn't exactly something he wanted to admit. He turned a little red and then glanced at the backroom quickly.

"I... uh... left my phone here. I wanted to come back to get it..." he trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. As he explained the situation to someone else, it all seemed a little bit stupid. Why had he run? He could have easily walked, or just swung by to pick it up on his way to school the next day, but no. He had run several blocks and entered after the shop was closed just to get it back.

"I still haven't found it yet, but I'm sure it's in here somewhere. Anyway, I'm Bailey," he finished brightly. He finally allowed himself to get a good look at the girl. The lighting wasn't great, but he could've sworn that her eyes were red. Strange. 

Bailey watched as he glanced longingly at the ice cream display. He totally understood why, too. It smelled really good, and it looked even better. Even after working there for months, his constant hankering for ice cream hadn't died. There was no harm in taking a little bit late at night, right?

"Want some?" He asked her with a grin, nodding to the display. 

He seemed a little nervous for a moment, as if unsure why he made it appear to be an emergency. “You rushed because you forgot your phone here?” There was a bit of a pause. “Well that makes sense. I would’ve done it too I suppose.” Not that she had a phone, but she tried to help him feel a little better.

“I’m sure you’ll find it. Maybe you could call it from the store phone.” That sounded like a pretty good idea. Wouldn’t that make it easier to find? Unless it was on silent.

Victoria grinned slightly when Bailey looked her over a little more. She was used to people looking at her so it didn’t make her nervous at all for a strange to look her over with more than a glance. She did the same. He’s cute…did he just offer her ice cream?

“Are you sure it’s ok? I don’t want you to get in trouble or anything.”

"That's a great idea! I'll do it after some ice cream," the teen decided. He hadn't thought of calling it before, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. It was on vibrate, but still. It was a better idea than searching around blindly. 

He wanted ice cream first, though. That was the new priority. "Nah, it's fine. I know how to scoop it so no one'll ever know... unless they look at the security footage... Eh. It'll probably be fine. I mean, no one really looks at that anyway, unless they've got some good reason to. I haven't set off any alarms or anything, so we're probably fine. Worst comes to worst, they make me pay the $6 or something."

Bailey winked at the girl and then gestured to the many flavours they had in stock. "Alright, girl-whose-name-I-don't-actually-know, pick a flavour. Any flavour. Just not bubble gum 'cause it's gross."

He had his sights set on a maple flavour that he used to always have back home in Canada. More often than not, it was what he got, and it never failed to disappoint. 

Victoria grinned and gave a nod of acknowledgment as Bailey accepted her idea. She was very glad to help even in the slightest. That was something she always enjoyed. Helping when and where she could, especially her friends. Though she wasn’t sure where any of her old friends were now.

But now was a time for ice cream! The idea was met by Victoria’s own excitement. “You really sure?”, she enquired as she looked back down at the various ice cream tubs. “I’ve never had ice cream from an ice cream shop before. This is exciting!” Bailey’s shaky response to possibly being caught, but he seemed pretty sure everything would be ok.

“I’m sorry. My name is Victoria. I’m very glad to meet you Bailey. I’ve never heard a name like that before. I like it.” She gave him a friendly smile and a slight shoulder shrug. “What flavor are you going to have? There are so many, and they all look so good. I’m not sure what to try.” She looked and pondered and looked some more. “How about that one?” She had pointed out the mint chocolate chip.

"Course!" Bailey exclaimed. It wasn't like he was about to renege on his promise. Besides, he would feel bad about just taking ice cream just for himself, especially when the girl so clearly wanted it.

"Wait, never? Never ever? You never went as a kid?" The idea seemed completely foreign to Bailey. When he was younger, he and his friends had gone to a ice cream shop after school almost once a week before screwing around near a little river. Those were some of his favourite times. He simply couldn't imagine someone not having experienced that before. "How come you didn't go before this? Allergy or something?" Well that didn't really make sense. Why would she come now if she had an allergy? He shrugged off the idea.

"Nice to meet you too, Victoria," Bailey continued with a raised eyebrow. She had never heard the name Bailey before? Sure, it wasn't that common, but it also wasn't uncommon. The girl was getting stranger by the second. "Can I ask where you're from that you've never had ice cream from a shop or heard the name Bailey?" Well that was rude. He smacked himself internally, but it was too late. The question was out there.

He decided to just cover his rudeness by talking about the ice cream, "mint chocolate chip is a great choice! My favourite is the maple, but that one's probably a close second." He attentively began to scoop the ice cream onto cones, stacking it in perfect, practiced spheres. He finished off the first one and handed it to Victoria, then prepared another for himself and took a good lick. 

Bailey’s confusion over the girl not having ice cream from a shop actually made her blush a bit. She was truly embarrassed. The emphasis in his voice almost made the act sound like every kids given right, and yet she was devoid of such a pleasure. Her childhood was not like most others. “No, I’ve never ever had ice cream from a shop like this.” She continued on with his other questions. “I lived a very sheltered life when I was younger, and yes you could say I have an allergy which used to prevent me from enjoying such a wonderful treat and then running around with friends or going to the park and watching the clouds.”

She thought about his name a little more. True she had never heard a name like that before, but perhaps more people shared his name than she knew. She kind of felt bad that he was the only Bailey she had ever been introduced to. Maybe there were other Bailey she didn’t know of?

Her thoughts were reeled back in with Bailey’s next question. Though she was slightly confused that he asked where she was from based on the lack of knowledge of his name rather than her accent. It was almost silly to her for some reason, but she kept her composure as she watched him scooping the ice cream for them.

She graciously accepted the cone he handed her and looked it over a little. Again, her inner excitement building up. Then she tasted the froze treat. It was amazing! The cold and then the mint making her mouth feel a bit cooler and the sweetness of the chocolate as it melted and mixed with the mint flavor. Victoria closed her eyes for a brief moment savoring the deliciousness. She felt she should answer the boys question because she didn’t want him thinking she was ignoring him. “I came here from Estonia. Umm, Northeastern Europe. May I ask where you are from?”

“Oh wow, that’s far. I guess that makes sense with the whole accent thing and all. It’s not exactly American, is it?” He wanted to hit himself over the head. Of course she was from some far off place. He just hadn’t put two and two together to assumed that. “I suppose they don’t have a lot of Baileys over there. It’s a newfangled name and all. Not quite as bad as Hashtag or something. I’ve heard people are naming their kids stuff like that now.”

He shrugged and took a big chunk off of his ice cream. He was getting to be an expert at eating it without getting brain freeze.

“I’m from Canada. Southern Ontario, eh.” He added the ‘eh’ on the end as a jab at the typical Canadian stereotype, not entirely sure whether or not she would catch on.

He closed up the ice cream containers and sealed it shut as he always did when he closed the store. They wouldn’t need anymore, and he definitely didn’t want to leave it open for the night. That would be tricky to explain to his boss the next day.

“Can I ask what your allergy is? Dust or something? That makes it hard to go outside, I know. Especially to parks where there’s dirt and stuff.”

Nodding in agreement to both the distance of where she came from as well as acknowledging there weren’t many Bailey’s in said area, Victoria took a few more licks of her ice cream. She almost chocked when he told her what people were naming their children. “Are you serious? They might as well call them numbers or something else silly.” For a moment she pretended as if talking to a kid, “Hey Hashtag where’s Three?” She couldn’t help but giggle.

“Canada huh? So, we’re both from similar climates then. Do you like maple syrup on most things?” She shot Bailey a playful wink and smiled. She knew he was messing around by adding the ‘eh’ to his sentence as he hadn’t said it previously like it was a habit.

Her allergy? Victoria licked her ice cream slowly because she was in deep thought. Does she flat out tell him and hope he doesn’t think she’s weird? Maybe he’ll just think she’s pulling his leg by saying ‘Oh, it’s no big deal. I’m just allergic to the Sun.’ Who says something like that and is viewed the same way afterwards? Then again, there wasn’t really any other way around it.

Victoria lowered her hand with the ice cream cone and looked Bailey in the eyes in a rather sheepish manner. “I. Umm….I am allergic…to the Sun.” Her fight or flight senses were on edge waiting for his reaction.

The teen chuckled and nodded in agreement with her statement about kids being named after numbers. "I mean, there are even worse ones than that! Like, look at all the stuff that celebrities are naming their kids now! Blanket, Apple, Zuma... Oh, and don't even get me started on Jamie Oliver. Dude named his kids Buddy Bear and Daisey Boo." He shook his head and chuckled a little more. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like to grow up as those kids, even if they were stinkin' rich.

Bailey tipped his ice cream cone toward Victoria and grinned at her. "Oh, all the rumours are true. This is maple ice cream, and I put syrup on whatever I can get my hands on. Has to be the real stuff, though. Otherwise it's no good."

He nodded slowly thought about the allergy that she had just told him. It made sense, considering she was out in the middle of the night staring at ice cream shops. It also explained why she seemed a little naïve, if it meant that she didn't get out all that much. It was a little crazy, but well within his threshold for stuff like that. He could, after all, stop a mutant blast six feet in front of himself without lifting a pinky. 

"Wow. I think I saw a documentary on that once. Do you get like skin rashes and stuff? Have to stay inside at all times? That must suck. How do you go to school? Do you have to wear a lot of clothes? Sorry, that's a lot of questions. You don't have to answer them if you don't want to." He bowed his head awkwardly. He was always running his mouth like that.

Victoria almost spit out her ice cream in shock at the names. Luckily, she managed to cover her mouth and pause herself long enough to finish the bit of ice cream in her mouth. “Oh my those are terrible names!” She couldn’t help but giggle along with Bailey. “Those aren’t much better than if they were named Tree and Car.”

Still semi giggling about their discussions, Bailey kept things going with the maple topic. ‘Oh my goodness!” She laughed at his reply. “It sounds like you’re as bad as people who love ketchup on everything.” She thought for a second. “What is something you don’t put maple syrup on?”

The topic of her allergy ceased her giggling. That was a much too serious topic for her. After all, it was literally life or death. “No.” She shook her head. “I don’t break out in a rash. It’s much more severe than that. Have you ever had a really bad sunburn?” Victoria paused momentarily. Partially because in a way she hoped he had experienced such discomfort only to be a reference to help guide her point. “Well, if you have then try to imagine that one hundred times worse and only taking seconds instead of hours. The sun can literally burn me to death if I were to be exposed for too long.” She set her hand down on the counter still holding the treat in her grasp, but her own description actually terrified her of the reality that it was true.