Itsthewritergal

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Mastlists: 

Golden Trio Era 

Draco Malfoy 

George Weasley 

Fred Weasley 

Marvel

Bucky Barnes

Stranger Things

Eddie Munson 

The Bear

Masterlist and other parts :) xx

Y/N woke up to the sun on her face, squinting a little she shuffled under the weight of Carmy’s tattooed arm. 

He’d stayed. 

Fuck. 

She didn’t expect that. 

Her eyes glanced over the time on her phone, still an hour before she had to be up. Resting her head back down on the pillow she closed her eyes and settled into Carmy’s slowed breathing pattern. After a few minutes he pulled her tighter as his breathing sped up a little. 

“Fuck” His whisper was breathy in her ear, Y/N stirred a little dragging herself out of her groggy half sleeping mind. 

“You okay?” 

“Shit did I wake you?” 

“It’s okay” She said softly, turning in his arms to face him. “You stayed” She said bluntly, 

“I did” He said the words settling into his brain “Is that ok?” 

“More than okay. I’ve not slept that well in weeks” 

“Me neither” He chuckled along with her, 

“Breakfast?” 

“Sure, yeah. What’s the time?” 

“About five” Y/N answered waiting for Carmy to make his apologies and disappear out the door, 

“I’ve got a couple hours still” He said, Y/N smiled and climbed out of bed. 

“Good” Y/N said padding over to the kitchen, Carmy had never been so grateful for studio apartments as without moving a single inch he could watch her shimmy into a t-shirt and stand by the counter top. “So I have cereal, or uh…” Y/N paused checking the cupboards “Or cereal?” She said holding up a box of off brand cornflakes. 

“Cereal’s great” he said,

“Breakfast in bed?” Y/N suggested as she filled two bowls with cereal and milk and handed one to Carmy who was still yet to get out of bed. 

They sat and ate in almost silence, firing a handful of meaningless questions to each other when the silence got a little too loud.

“Richie can’t know” Carmy said quietly, once he had finished. Y/N swallowed tightly, 

“I know” 

“Nobody can know” 

“They won’t” 

“Okay” Carmy nodded, suddenly shuffling awkward at how domestic it all felt. Y/N sat crossed legged in front of him, him letting the pink sheets pool around his waist. It was too much. “I need to go” He said quickly. 

“Yeah of course,” Y/N said quietly like she was a little shocked from the change in pace, within a handful of seconds Carmy was dressed, “I’ll see you at work?” She offered. 

But Carmy didn’t reply before he was out the door. 

Y/N couldn’t wait to be at The Bear, her classes had been long and ridiculous and she hadn’t managed to find time to have lunch or even a coffee. But the thought of a slightly cold family meal that Carmy plated for her gave her the strength needed to finish her commute. Pushing the backdoor open Marcus and Luca nodded a greeting to her as they continued prepping for service, pulling her hair back she padded into the kitchen. Carmy lifted his head, and then looked back down at his prep work, no smile, no nod, no gesture that there was a meal saved for her. Nothing. Almost as if they didn’t fuck the night before, like he wasn’t still in her bed just hours ago. Y/N slowly walked past the office but there was no plate made up for her, shaking her head to push the anxiety away she stepped into the dining room. 

“Y/N!” Richie greeted her with a hug, “How were your classes?” He asked, 

“Good, long” 

“You eat?” 

“Didn’t have time” 

“I’ve got a protein bar in my locker you want it?” 

“Would kill for it” 

“Well no need to do that, it’s unlocked. Go enjoy it” He smiled. It was something he’d started doing since Y/N had dropped the plate, keeping snacks she wouldn’t notice were for her around the restaurant and offering them to her where he could. He was aware she wasn’t eating, unsure if it was because of time or because of money, but he’d do what he can to support her. 

“How many turns tonight?” She asked tying the apron around her back whilst she munched on the protein bar 

“Three” 

“Fuck”

“We’ve done worse” 

“Not much worse” Y/N mused as she took a swig of water and then yawned. 

“We’ll be fine” 

And they were, service was almost flawless, the kitchen however was less fine. Things were burnt, utensils were dropped, tickets were missed. It was a mess, and nobody could figure out why. Not even Carmy who’s head was wrapped up in thoughts of Y/N’s body moving against his own the night before. 

“Two tables left Chef” Jess called, to Carmy who continued plating the scallops. 

“Chef” He nodded, his eyes drifting to Y/N and Tom who stood waiting to take the plates. “Hands” He said as he placed the garnish on the top, 

“Chef” Tom said taking the first one, Y/N followed and took the second one. 

Bursting out the back of the restaurant Carmy lit a cigarette trying his best to calm his shaking hands down, he didn’t know what was wrong with him. He’d finished service, the rest of the team had started closing the kitchen down for the night but he couldn’t do that. Not right now, he needed something, a moment, a breath, just something. The cigarette helped. He wasn’t sure how long he had been out there when Luca pushed the door open 

“Chef” 

“Chef” Carmy replied 

“You good?” 

“Just need a minute” 

Luca took the cigarette off of Carmy and took a long drag before handing it back. 

“What’s going on?” 

“Nothing” 

“I’m calling bullshit” Luca said 

“I fucked her” Carmy said 

“Who?” 

Carmy let the silence grow for a minute before he whispered her name. 

The words fell heavy in the cold Chicago air, and dropped down like a stone through water. “Fuck” Luca shook his head “So are you—”

“No, it was just a…” Carmy trailed of, he didn’t know what it was. Labels weren’t his strong suit, and he didn’t even know if he wanted to categorise it as anything other than friends right now.

“Have you spoken to her?” 

Carmy stayed silent 

“Well how did you leave it?” Luca pushed, 

“Left hers this morning,” 

“You stayed all night?” Luca let out a defeated chuckle “Shit man” 

“We’re just friends” Carmy huffed

“Does she know that?” 

“Of course she does, I’m sure of it” 

“Maybe you should ask her” Luca said, 

“Hey fuckers, you gonna come clean or what?” Richie said banging the door open and pushing Carmy out of his spiral, 

“Yeah we’re fucking coming” Carmy snapped. 

He followed Richie in to the kitchen to find Y/N stood in the locker room brushing her hair out of her ponytail. 

“Good service?” She asked, 

“Yeah you?”

“Yeah fine” Y/N answered, 

A silence fell across the two of them and Y/N half assumed that Carmy would just leave. But he didn’t. He stayed. Awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other, 

“Can we talk later?” 

All other parts

Y/N had scrubbed her entire apartment, it wasn’t much. But it was the least she could do to make it a little more welcoming to Carmy, the water damage from the previous tenets left the roof looking worse than she would have liked, but it was something. It was home. 

As promised Carmy turned up at six on the dot, wearing a blue soft sweater and carrying a brown bag of groceries. He smelt a little like cigarette smoke and Y/N imagined that he had gotten to her building early then six to have one. His eyes crossed over the small studio flat and settled on the kitchen. Well, the excuse of a kitchen in his eyes, a small under counter fridge, an oven that was definitely not up to regulations, a two cooker hob and two cupboards. He could make it work. 

“Sorry it’s small” Y/N said quietly, suddenly thinking back to the places Carmy had worked, this was certainly not up to his standards. 

“It’s perfect” He said squeezing her shoulder, it was a physical touch that she wasn’t expecting but enjoyed nonetheless. “I bought these for you” He said handing the bag of groceries to Y/N, “I got an idea for what to pair the steaks with” 

“Thanks” 

Y/N said softly, it all felt a little too comfortable. Carmy being in her apartment. Rifling through her kitchen cupboard trying to find what he needed, 

“How was your day?” He asked, 

“Good, I managed to get ahead with some reading for class” Y/N said quietly, standing awkwardly next to Carmy as he darted around her kitchen expertly. 

“Sit down, I’ll tell you if there’s anything you can do to help” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Go sit” He instructed, flipping one of her pink tea towels over his shoulder. 

Y/N did as she was told and tucked her feet underneath herself on her sofa. “So tell me about your reading” He said,

“It’s for this module where we have to write responses to famous authors, so I picked Shakespeare, I’m just not sure what I want to write a response to yet.” 

“The sounds interesting” Carmy said, and for once Y/N really felt listened to. They chatted back and forth as Carmy prepared a three course home cooked meal that Y/N couldn’t even fathom starting to make, 

“This is incredible” Y/N said softly as she and Carmy sat down at her table to eat. 

“It’s not much, but it’ll keep you full for a while” He said softly. 

“Do you cook like this for yourself a lot?” She asked, imagining him dancing around his apartment as he thought up new menu items for The Bear 

“No, not really. I usually prefer cooking for people” He said 

“I can’t imagine you’re a ready meal kinda guy” 

Carmy let out a laugh, 

“Definitely not, I’ll cook for myself just nothing elaborate”

“So no ten course tasting menu?” 

“No,” He chuckled “not every night” 

The rest of the dinner was gentle, the two of them testing the waters of their new friendship. Y/N opened up about her family and her life outside of her course and Carmy did the same, slowly they began to grow in comfort around each other. 

“I’ll wash you dry?” Carmy offered, as he collected the plates, 

“No it’s okay I’ve got it” Y/N said, “You don’t need to do that” 

“I know, I want to” He said calmly. 

Y/N sat on her counter, tea towel in hand, drying each utensil, plate and pan that Carmy had used for their dinner. Every now and then Carmy would accidentally brush her knee with his hand as he handed another plate over, and each time it would send butterflies to her stomach. They chatted mindlessly about nothing Y/N really cared about, but it was perfect. 

“I should get going” Carmy said making no move towards the door, 

“Early day tomorrow?” 

“Promised Syd I’d go to the market with Tina before service” He said taking a small step into Y/N, who breathed in the smell of his old cigarettes from his jumper

“That’ll be fun” 

“Are your classes early tomorrow?” 

“Mid morning, but it takes me at least an hour to get there so I should be up early” 

“So we should really go to bed” Carmy said, reaching out and taking Y/N’s hand in his own, 

“We really should” Y/N agreed twisting her fingers around his, 

“I don’t want to go yet Y/N” 

“I don’t want you to either” 

Masterlist

Strays

Hands - strays part two

“Jesus fuck” Carmy whispered under his breath as they pulled onto the street that Y/N’s apartment was on, Carmy knew of it more than he knew it. It was rough, one of the roughest streets in all of Chicago. Y/N tucked herself further into her jacket at his comment. 

“It’s just this one on the right” She said quietly, 

Carmy held the rest of the comments to himself, but if he wasn’t worried about Y/N before he certainly was now.

“This one?” He asked pulling up on the side of the road 

“Yeah” Y/N nodded, fishing around in her bag for a key, “thanks for the ride” 

“Let me walk you up?” Carmy said, it was a pathetic excuse to make sure she was safe inside. 

“No thank you, you have already done more than enough” 

“I’d like to” 

“No,” Y/N said, it was a step too far even for her. She knew what kind of building it was, she knew the street she lived on. She didn’t need Carmy seeing the inside of it. It was better staying in his imagination for now.

“Y/N look I know I was a fucker at service today but—”

“I’d really appreciate it if you’d drop it? I have classes in the morning and I really just want to go and sleep” 

“I’ll take you in to your classes?” He suggested 

“No thank you” 

“What time” Carmy said, he was clutching at straws but something in his body told him he had to protect her with everything he could. 

“I said no” 

“Y/N please” 

“I’ll see you for service” Y/N wasn’t fighting anymore, she turned on her heel and walked towards the building. 

Carm didn’t mean to be weird about it, but he was. There was something about Y/N that made him worry, a knot in his chest he couldn’t get rid of. So when it was time for family and Y/N wasn’t there again he portioned a plate out and put it in the office. Away from prying eyes or sticky fingers, just for Y/N, no big gesture. But it was his way of keeping an eye on her. Once she stepped through the door Carmy pulled her to the side and sat her down in the office with the plate of food without an argument. Y/N thanked him quietly and began eating. The way she ate was cautiously at first, like she was waiting for him to step in and take the meal away and then it was hungry. Carmy had seen it before, it was the kind of hunger where he could tell she hadn’t had a hot meal for a few days at least, weeks maybe, and he didn’t like that. 

It bothered him all service. 

“I want to give bonuses to the servers” He said to nobody in particular 

“With what money?” Natalie answered 

“Sug, please I think they need it. They hold service up and we don’t ever thank them” 

“Well I actually agree” Richie quipped thinking about his strays that needed that food more than they needed extra hours. 

“We don’t have the money” 

“Then a care package, we can parcel up some food, left over steaks, dried pastas that kind of thing” 

“Where is this coming from?” Sugar asked 

“It’s just something I’ve been thinking about for a while and I think we should do it” 

“I will look into it” Sugar said, 

“We’ve got left overs from tonight, why don’t we just package them up and give them to the servers now” Carmy suggested, 

“Fine do what you want with your leftovers, but keep my budget out of it” Sugar replied with a sigh, Carmy was going to do whatever he wanted, he’d made that clear. And so each server went home with a parcel of food, except Y/N who sat hers in her locker and looked at it quizzically. 

“You good?” Carmy said, 

“Do you want this?” She asked quietly, 

“Something wrong with it?” Carmy asked, but he knew there wasn’t. He’d packed it specifically for her

“I don’t know how to cook with any of this, wouldn’t even know where to start” She mused, handing it to Carmy. 

“How about I come over and cook for you?” He suggested, 

“I couldn’t ask you to do that” 

“I’m offering” He said with a smile “Sunday good for you?”

“Yeah,”  

“Perfect, I’ll come over then. Just keep it in the fridge til then yeah?” 

“Okay” Y/N nodded, 

“Are you coming in tomorrow?” 

“No, I asked Richie for the extra shifts but clearly someone else got there first” 

“You need the extra shifts?” 

“Not desperately, it would help but I’m fine” 

“I’m down a pot washer tomorrow if you wanted the hours” Carmy offered, 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, you need to be here for family though” 

“I can do that” 

“Good, I’ll see you tomorrow then” He smiled, 

“Goodnight chef” 

Y/N took the hours gratefully, she washed each dish meticulously. Laughing a little with the other pot washers as she did, but she made an effort to keep her head down and make sure Carmy didn’t regret giving her the chance. At the end of service Y/N pitched in as the others detailed the kitchen, making sure it was up to standard for the next day. 

“Thank you for today chef” Carmy said softly, coming up to Y/N as she stood at her locker 

“Anytime” 

“I was thinking. I can still come over tomorrow and cook up that steak for you, but I’ve got two portions of lamb left over from today’s service if you fancied it?” 

“I don’t know what you’re asking me” 

“I’ll cook it for us, you come to mine?” 

“I can’t ask you to do that” 

“You didn’t ask, give me a few minutes to finish my station and lock up and we’ll go” Carmy said certainly. There was no room for argument. 

Y/N stood in the staff bathroom and splashed a little water on her face, she was sweaty and tired and her eyes looked more sunken in than usual. She was tired, and hungry. The gnawing in her stomach was almost unbearable when she thought about it, but most of the time she had it settled down to a quiet hum in the background. But with the tuition fees and her rent and the bills she could barely afford a full meal each day, Carmy’s offer was nothing short of a sweet gesture but the idea of a warm, home cooked meal almost made Y/N sob. A knock cut through the bathroom 

“Ready when you are” Carmy said, 

Y/N exhaled tightly shaking herself a little to get the hunger out of her head before leaving the bathroom and following Carmy to his car. 

The journey was short, and silent. The two of them decompressing from service, Carmy hummed a little to the radio as his tattooed fingers drummed mindlessly on the steering wheel, Y/N wasn’t sure if it was nerves or an anxious tick but she smiled at how human it made Carmy feel, sometimes in service he acted similarly to a robot so seeing this side of him was nice. 

Inside his flat was strangely homey, despite the lack of much furniture and the scribbled notebooks on the table, it felt comfortable. Like somewhere she could spend hours at a time with a good book. 

“How was service for you?” She asked softly as Carmy began flitting around the kitchen expertly. 

“Good, today was surprisingly smooth” He chuckled “How was the back of house for you? You like it?” 

“I prefer talking to people, but it was fun. Change of scenery and all that” 

A small silence settled over the two of them, 

“So how is—”

“What was the—”

The both cut the silence together 

“You first” Y/N said 

“How are your classes?” Carmy asked, realising he knew very little about her life outside of the restaurant. 

“Busy, fun mostly, its a lot of specialisms and extra reading but I do love it” 

“What are you studying?” 

“English” 

“Wow” He mused as he chopped some vegetables, 

“I always wanted to be a writer, so I thought the most I could study of other writers the better I would get” 

“How’s it working?” 

“Considering I don’t have any time to write, with balancing classes, and work… really great” 

“You’ll get there” 

“Thats what everyone says” 

“Must be true then” He said dipping a spoon into the sauce he was making on the stove “Try this,” He held the spoon to her lips, she had to hold back the moan that tried to escape her lips, 

“Fuck” 

“Good?” He asked, studying her face intently, “What does it need?” 

“So good,” She said letting the flavour linger on her tongue for a moment “Maybe a little salt?” 

Strays part one

Carmy was on edge, more than the tight knot in his stomach that usually sat there, his anxiety was clawing through his throat as he sat with the chefs and the servers at family. Y/N wasn’t there, her name was on the rota and Richie had mentioned to one of the other servers that she was covering her usual section so why wasn’t she there. Carry cast his mind back to the other family meals but he couldn’t remember if she had been at any of them, maybe he’d made her feel so uncomfortable before that she hadn’t come to any of them. But he couldn’t remember, he usually used family as a time to discuss the menu with Syd and the reservations with Richie, he never cared enough to actually interact with the servers. 

Carmy was prepping for service when the back door banged open, after hearing a few mumbled hellos he turned and saw Y/N pulling her hair up into a ponytail, she looked tired. He gave her a minute before swallowing his pride prepping for his apology. 

“Y/N” He said gruffly, she lifted her head as she tied her apron around her waist, 

“Hi” The words caught a little in her throat but she shook off the awkwardness quickly 

“I’m sorry about yesterday—“

“Don’t” She lifted a hand up and waved him off “It’s okay” 

“It’s not, I’m sorry” He said, Y/N smiled and nodded knowing it wasn’t worth another argument she turned back to her locker. 

“Cousin, quick bothering my servers” Richie said. 

The next few dinner services went off without any issues, Carmy’s temper was in check, the customers was mostly fine, and Y/N was staying out of everyones way. It had been at least a month since the argument in the kitchen and Richie had been keeping a close eye on Y/N. 

As the weeks went by she was looking more and more tired, everyone had started picking up on it, but nobody dared to say anything. That was until the dinner service where everything went wrong. 

Y/N came in just after family, as usual. Her classes finished too late to allow her to get there in time for the meal, she was pulling her hair off of her face when she first heard Carmy’s usual frustrated shouts. She ignored them and opted instead to sit in the dining room away from the rush just before dinner service, her head was throbbing and the lectures she’d just finished were swimming around her brain. 

“You okay?” Richie asked softly taking a seat next to her, 

“All good, just got a headache” 

“You need to go home?” 

“No all good,” Y/N declined knowing that they were already short staffed for the service. 

“Sure cause we’re packed tonight and I can’t stop service if you pass out” He chuckled but there was a slight severity to his words. 

“I’ll be fine” 

Y/N wasn’t fine, her head was all over the place, menu items swirled with lecture notes and her dwindling bank balance. And by the second turn her head was pounding. 

“Hands” Carmy called, Y/N took a step forwards and grabbed the plate but she didn’t move in enough time and bumped into Carmen. 

“Fuck sorry” She muttered pulling back away from him quickly, 

“You good?” He said turning around and assessing Y/N face quickly. She held his gaze firmly, 

“All good chef” She nodded, 

“Okay” Carmy said stepping out the way for Y/N to take the dish. He wanted to argue but he couldn’t, he didn’t have the time. He knew that. The whole fucking kitchen knew that. But he just didn’t trust her. But without a moment to think, Y/N took the plate and had headed out the door. 

Carmy heard it before anyone could tell him what happened, a plate smashed. Silence fell across the kitchen and the dining room. That didn’t happen, not in this restaurant.  

“What the fuck” Carmy snapped as the door to the kitchen was swung open, 

“I need another table five entree” Richie said to Syd. Table five entree was the one that Y/N had taken not even two minutes before. 

“Two minutes chef” Tina said quickly putting another serving of pasta in a pot 

“All okay?” Carmy called, 

“All good, all fine” Richie said, it was a lie. Carmy knew that much, Y/N was overworked, tired and letting herself collapse in broad daylight. 

“Who was it?” Carmy asked, already knowing the answer, he needed the confirmation. 

“Y/N” Richie said, 

“Take her off service” Carmy said firmly, his words falling flat onto silence in the kitchen. 

“Carm” Syd said stepping in for a moment 

“No” 

“She can’t be in there she’s a liability”

“She tripped, she’s fine” 

“Take her the fuck off” 

“Don’t tell me how to run my service.” 

“I said take her the fuck off” Carmy said at a dangerously low volume. 

“No” 

“One entree, chef” Tina said passing the plate to Richie, 

“Thank you” He nodded before leaving the kitchen with a fuck off mumbled under his breath. 

Y/N swallowed a smile as the last customer left the door with a wave behind them. She had apologised more than she thought was possible in an hour and half service. Richie kept brushing her off, but she knew it was bad. She knew it because each time she stepped into the kitchen all of the eyes would fall onto her. Syd threw her a sympathetic smile and Y/N hadn’t felt more like a child in years. 

“You got classes tomorrow?” Marcus asked Y/N as she stood at her locker 

“Full day, like usual” Y/N said tightly 

“How’s it going?” 

“Busy, but good” 

“You feeling okay after today?” It was the dreaded question that Y/N didn’t want to answer, 

“Fine, just stupid. Slipped out my hand, and I couldn’t stop it” She said 

“Been there” Luca nodded with a smile patting Y/N on the back, “New day tomorrow” 

“Yeah” Y/N said except she didn’t believe it, each day was becoming a carbon copy of piling up university work, rude customers and endless bills. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow” Marcus said as he and Luca left the room. Y/N turned to see Carmy and Richie stood behind her. 

“I know I fucked up” She said turning around to meet them,  

“Want to tell me what the hell is going on?” Richie said 

“Nothing, the plate slipped” 

“You look like shit” Carmy said blankly looking at Y/N. 

“Thanks” She snapped back at him, “I just didn’t get any sleep last night and I was in classes all day and—”

“You need to go home and sleep” Richie said, “Thats what you need, I’ll take you” 

“You’ve got to drop Tom home it’s the total opposite way” 

“I’ve got it” Carmy said, “If you don’t mind waiting for me to finish cleaning, you can nap in the office while you wait” 

“I can walk” 

“No” Richie said, 

“I’ll be fi—”

“I said no” 

Hello!! Welcome to my Carmy masterlist :) xx

Strays

Hands - strays part two

Good? - Strays part three

Go Sit - Strays part four

I know - Strays part five

Richie collected strays. It wasn’t something that started on purpose but now it had started he couldn’t stop. 

Tom was the first, the short quiet freckly boy who goes quiet an hour before he gets cut from service. Richie started driving him home and quickly realised the change in Tom the closer they got to his house, he never spoke about it but kept an eye on Tom’s father’s rage. 

Kelly was next, young Kelly who Richie offered the server job to without an interview because he could see that she was at her wits end. Only condition, no booze, no drugs, and she stayed clean. She’d called Richie a handful of times as a sponsor and he would talk her through the early hours without a second thought. 

There were more, Billy, Jules, Imogen, Rachel, William. And the others who had passed through the Bear and moved on. 

And then there was Y/N, who walked into her interview dressed professionally explaining that she needed a job alongside her Masters Studies. Richie hired her instantly. But she wasn’t a stray. At least she didn’t start off as one. 

“Table twelve has a birthday, they’ve asked if the candles can go on dessert?” Y/N said handing Richie two garish pink birthday candles that Carmy would hate. Richie nodded and tightened his jaw 

“Do you want to go and tell Chef?” He mused 

“Absolutely not” Y/N laughed 

“Fucker” Richie mumbled as he pushed the door to the kitchen open, ready for a fight. 

Y/N returned to her table with a smile and quietly told them that it would be no problem at all, ignoring the tension raising between Richie and Carmy. It wasn’t any of her business and she would stay out of it if she could. 

By the end of service Y/N had ducked out of two fights in the kitchen, had been hit on by four customers, complained at by three and was finally wiping down the tables ready to head home. 

“You need a ride?” Richie asked, Y/N shook her head 

“I’ll walk” She said softly, she didn’t need her boss to know that she lived in the roughest street in Chicago because it was the only place she could afford, that conversation could be put off until it had to be discussed. 

“It’s cold” He said 

“I’ll survive, I’ve got a lecture I need to finish listening to anyway” She said, 

“Well get going, don’t need you walking home any later than you have to” Richie nodded waving her off of wiping down the tables 

“You sure?” 

Richie nodded and Y/N knew better than to argue, she wouldn’t complain for the extra half an hour, she had a mountain of work that sat on her desk that she had to get through before the end of the week, and working as much as she did to survive wasn’t helping the work load. 

Y/N pulled off her apron and placed it in her locker, tugging on the sleeves of her coat she meticulously did up the buttons making sure she was wrapped up as much as possible before the beating cold air. 

“Have a good night” Carmy hummed as he brushed passed her to his own locker, 

“You too” Y/N said, she hardly interacted with him if she could help it. His quick temper and perfectionist stance wasn’t something that Y/N dared to intrude on. With a nod goodbye she pushed the back door open and started the long walk home. 

Y/N flitted between the tables making sure the cutlery was perfectly aligned, the chairs were neatly tucked in and the menus were perfectly parallel to the knives. Natalie watched from afar 

“She’s good, is she new?” She asked, 

“Couple weeks, she’s a lifesaver. Ever since we lost Orion and Ellie we needed someone to come help out” Richie said as he started flicking through the bookings for the day, 

“How does she get on with the chefs” 

“They all like her enough, polite, smiley. Good with customers” 

“She’s a keeper then” Sugar said with a nod before taking the receipts into the back office. 

“Are you ready to go through the menu for the day?” Richie asked the servers who all nodded and pulled up chairs in front of him. Y/N listened meticulously making notes where she could and ensuring she remembered each item perfectly. 

Service was slow, there wasn’t anything wrong with any of the servers but it was slow. And it was killing the kitchen. 

“Hands” Carmy called, but nobody was there to hear him “Hands!” He bellowed again, slamming his hand down on the counter furiously as yet again nobody was there to pick the plates up for him. Y/N stepped through the door to the kitchen with another server close behind her, “fucking finally, take these table three” He said exasperatedly, 

“Yes chef” Y/N said blankly, not appreciating the tone that Carmy held. But paused for a moment “This is cream sauce” She said 

“Congratulations you know the dish” Carmy said “Just fucking take it out there” 

“Table three has a dairy allergy” She said. 

“Bullshit” 

“I know my customers” 

“I know my fucking tickets” Carmy snapped 

Y/N knew the workings of The Bear and she knew that arguing with Carmy wasn’t a good way to keep her head down, but she couldn’t serve this. Not after knowing the little girl with the dairy allergy was so worried when she ordered and asked Y/N about each of the items specifically. She wouldn’t take it out. 

“Cousin” Carmy called tightly, Richie stepped through into the kitchen, surveying the area for a moment before looking at Y/N who stood plate in her hand unmoving. 

“What’s happened?” 

“Why is your server telling me how to run my own fucking service?”

“What?” 

“This has cream sauce, Table three has a dairy allergy, I’m not serving this” 

“Bullshit its’ not on the ticket” 

“It is, I specifically wrote it down” Y/N said, 

“Bullshit” 

“Okay, lets just all calm down for a moment” Sydney said stepping in 

“I’m not serving this” 

“Carmy just make another one without the cream sauce” 

“Fucking servers they’re all the same” Carmy snapped offhandedly as he turned back to his station. 

“A sorry would be appreciated”  Y/N replied harshly “Not sure ignoring allergies looks good on a review, but do what you want” She snapped turning on her heel and leaving the kitchen. 

Y/N was still pissed, service had ended a few minutes ago and she didn’t want to stay any longer. Her classes were dragging her down, she was exhausted and now the one place she had away from all the stress was bringing her more stress. She huffed as she began tidying the dining room staying out of everyones way as much as she could. She needed this job, even with it she was barely scraping by, she couldn’t afford to be pissing off her boss. 

“I’m sorry” She said tightly to Richie, 

“About what?” 

“The kitchen earlier” She said swallowing her pride. An apology wasn’t something that came easily to her, 

“Oh that was nothing, I’ve seen cousin get more pissed off over a stain on his shirt. You’re okay” He said, 

“It won’t happen again” 

“No bad blood, just come in and start fresh tomorrow” Richie said patting her gently on the shoulder, 

“Okay” 

“You need a ride?” Richie offered “I’m taking Tom and Kelly home, there’s one more seat” 

“No I’m okay, I’ll walk—”

“Listen to those lectures?” 

“Yeah”

“See you tomorrow” Richie smiled, “Go get your things and head home” 

Y/N nodded grateful for the early dismissal. 

Carmy had a weight on his chest, he’d checked the ticket after the argument and Y/N was right. Dairy Allergen in big bold letters. How could he miss something so important. Rubbing his hands over his face he came to terms that he had to apologise to her. He didn’t usually care about the servers, much less know their names, but this time he was in the wrong and if he was going to try and be a better person an apology was needed. 

“Cousin" He called out to Richie 

“What do you want?” 

“That server, what’s her name?” He asked 

“The one you fucked off?” Richie asked with a chuckle “You don’t even know her name?” 

“No I don’t” Carmy said frustratedly, he was trying to make it right and Richie wasn’t helping. 

“Y/N” 

“Is she still here?” 

“No sent her home, she’s got early classes” 

“Fuck” 

“You finally grow a conscious?” Richie said 

“I just want to apologise” 

“Better do it tomorrow before service, I don’t need her quitting on me” Richie said bluntly before leaving the office with a huff.