Quick Disclaimer- Hi sorry for not posting in 2 years I've jumped around a bunch of fandoms and if you followed me for A3! content there probably won't be any more of that as the EN server shut down and I don't feel like reading TLs forever.

I posted this on all my platforms, but I needed to get all my thoughts out of my head on this AU. I am still in the design process, and I will probably redesign the characters more for this AU, but the jist of it is that Alice moved to the big city. Living away from the rest of society as she grew up in a rural area, she wanted to move to the big city and chase the big dream of becoming famous. She currently works for a tabloid company and has to act like a paparazzi to get some new material for work. When she finds out that an old diner was getting demolished to make room for a mysterious figure to rebuild over it, she wants all the inside scoop to be ahead of her competitors and co-workers.

She stalked outside the demolition crew's fence and waited until she could chase after someone who had just finished off their shift. Though she waited longer than she thought, she stayed there waiting longer than she would've stayed if she was just in the office. Many construction workers and demolition crew passed by her, but most terrified her as they didn't have the friendliest expressions or had no desire to be a part of such a thing. As she was about to give up, she noticed that there was a man she'd seen working a bit earlier by peaking through the fence. What stood out to her was the scar over the man's eye and the "piercing" on his nose.

He seemed the least scary to her visually, (and potentially the only one that would be willing to talk to her cause all the other ones tend to walk off immediately.) so she mustered up the courage to go over to him while he was on a lunch break. He just stared at the blond awkwardly as she greeted him, her previously neat and tidy ponytail was now messy due to the heat. He almost mistook her for a solicitor and was just planning to never respond and wait for her to eventually back off, but he realized how desperate she seemed for this interview and felt bad for her.

He understood, in a way, how much she needed the interview, as he also had to do what he could to make ends meet. I'd like to think that Alice would stop by every week and soon make excuses to come by every other day to talk to him. She wouldn't realize at first that she fell for the guy she just wanted information from, making excuses that she just made extra lunch that happened to include some bread he mentioned he liked eating once.

Norton would try returning her favors by trying to make something; though it wasn't the best, Alice always appreciated them. Soon, her visits to ask for inside information about the construction and demolition company turned into an "I just wanted to visit a friend." I'd like to think Alice was the one who pulled the official first date move by asking him if he'd like to go to a local cafe sometime and him being too oblivious and overthinking her asking him to the cafe, then realizing what she meant when she brought him a flower and a mole keychain I put on his toolbag in the drawing.

Norton would eventually ask her out officially after a while, and Alice would ask, "Are we not already dating?"