You sighed and smiled in content as you walked down the vintage streets of London.

Your college in (s/n) (state name) had offered a "Traveling Abroad" program, so you were going to continue your studies in London for the rest of the year.

You couldn't stop smiling, and your best friend had teased you all morning since they had joined you in your schooling endeavor.

"I heard there's this new bakery that opened up last week," your best friend told you.

"Really?" you inquire curiously. "Do you know where it is?"

Your best friend shrugged, not really sure.

"I'm sure we can ask," (b/f/n) answered.

You nodded in agreement, feeling slightly hungry yourself.

You two asked for directions, and that mental map soon led you two to almost a run down kind of place.

"Whoa," you said, taking in the dull, pink, blue, and purple paint. "This place is a mess."

The once cheerful colored paint was peeling off of the wooden walls, some of the windows were cracked and dusty, the curtains on the inside were tattered, everything looked dark on the inside, and even the name of the bakery, "Sweet Dreams," scared you.

"Not very inviting for a bakery," you went on over your friend's silence.

"Eh, I'm sure it'll be okay," your best friend smiled. "Besides. If no one is in here, that means we can search for ghosts and stuff!"

You rolled your eyes, knowing how obsessed with horror and paranormal based things your friend was.

The door opened before either of you could knock, and that worried you even more.

"Oh, hello there!" a man greeted cheerfully. "Sorry for prying, but are you two lost?"

"Yes."

"No."

You and your friend looked at each other with confusion due to your mixed responses.

"Is that a "yes" or a "no," poppets?" the man giggled in amusement.

"Uh, well," you started off awkwardly, "we were told that a bakery was down this way. However, the directions led us here. Sorry for the intrusion. We can just go to another-"

"Oh, no!" the man grinned, stopping you and your friend from leaving. "You can come in. I'm sorry for the mistake. The poor bakery has needed some new paint lately. I will admit that it's not as inviting as I would like it to be. You can come right in."

You looked at your friend with hidden worry, but your friend just shrugged in answer like they had before.

"Please?" their (e/c) eyes asked. "I'm really hungry."

You sigh a little before nodding in agreement, slowly following your friend into the building.

I don't like this one bit, you thought, looking around the now cheerful bakery.

It reminded you of a diner or an ice-cream shop from the old TV show "Saved By The Bell," and you began to wonder why it looked so much nicer on the inside than the outside.

Even the friendly man scared you.

His bright colored clothes matched the pink, blue, and purple color scheme that seemed to hint at something that you couldn't figure out, and you could see an odd hint of neon pink among the neon blue of his eyes.

"I'm Oliver, by the way," the man introduced himself, breaking you out of your thoughts.

"(Y/n)," you replied, shaking his hand. "That's (b/f/n). We're going here for college."

"Oh, that's lovely!" he answered. "Close friends, I would take it?"

"Since preschool," you nod, slightly cracking a smile.

"There's no need to be so scared, poppet," he laughed. "I'm not going to hurt you."

One can never be too careful, you disagreed, walking up to your friend.

"Do you just want to grab something real quick?" you asked them in a quiet whisper. "I really don't like this place."

"Yeah, that's cool," your friend agreed, wanting to respect your worry. "I was just teasing you before, anyway."

"I know," you smiled, putting your (h/l) (h/c) behind your ears. "I shouldn't have been so mean, though. It's nice to try new things, right?"

"Obviously," your friend laughed, getting two chocolate cupcakes for you two.

You forced yourself to smile and wave at Oliver, secretly relieved to be away from the strange man.

"That was the weirdest thing I have ever been through," you commented. "Please don't make me do that again, okay?"

"Okay," your friend chuckled, taking a big bite out of their cupcake.