To Be Young And In Love In New York City

Chapter 26:"A Freaking Greek God"

Before Colette knew it, morning arrived.

Her eyes fluttered open and squinted immediately, the bright rays of morning sunshine piercing into them. Once they adjusted to the light, she looked around. The familiar posters on River's walls greeted her, his faint snoring filling her ears. She turned her head to the side to see him sleeping peacefully, his half-naked body lying bare with nothing to cover it. The blanket was entirely wrapped around her. River gently tugged at the blanket in his sleep, attempting to get a share of it. She should've warned him of her bad habit of hogging the blanket.

Meh.

River opened his eyes and squinted instantly at the sight of the sun, but she could see the irritation in them. "Why don't you take blanket all for yourself?" He retorted, harshly pulling it towards himself. "Elephant."

Colette's eyebrows shot up. "What did you call me?"

"I called you an elephant," He replied louder.

"Pig," She shot back.

"Cow."

"Monkey."

"Chimpanzee."

"King Kong."

"Godzilla."

"Guys?" Jesse's groggy voice cut through their name-calling argument. Colette almost forgot that he was sleeping on a cot on the floor next to them. "I'm glad you can name every animal from the Central Park Zoo, but can you both shut up? It's 6 a.m. in the morning for fuck's sake."

"Sorry Jesse," Colette apologized.

"She started it," River stated and Colette glared at him.

"You know what? I don't even feel bad about hogging the blanket anymore." She turned away from him and he slipped under the blanket next to her, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck.

"Like you did in the first place."

A few hours later, Colette woke up once more and decided to get a milkshake. She wanted to wake River so he could come with her, but she didn't have the heart to disturb his sleep, especially when he was snoring loud enough for the whole apartment complex to hear him. Instead she recorded him snoring, making a mental note to play it for him later so she could watch his face go red.

She brushed her teeth, put on her jacket, grabbed her wallet and keys, left a note for River to meet her at her apartment for lunch on the nightstand and exited the apartment.

Walking down the streets of New York City, she glanced over at each coffee shop, contemplating whether to go in or not and finally decided over the coffee shop she always went to. Trying new things was definitely not her thing.

Her body relaxed when she opened the door to the coffee shop, the heat blasting in her face. Cold was also not her thing which was ironic considering she lived in New York City. She waited in line for her milkshake, when a familiar face greeted her.

"Jay?"

Jay looked surprised. He was dressed completely in fall wear, holding a coffee cup in his hands. "Colette?"

Colette smiled at him. "Hey."

He smiled back. "Hey, Colette."

Colette knew that nothing had happened between them and whatever happened between him and Niki had no reason to affect their friendship, but she could feel the tension between them. She knew Jay could sense it too, but neither of them said a word about it.

"You want to sit down?" Jay offered and Colette nodded. They chose a cozy table at the far end of the shop, away from the crowd and chatter.

Jay settled his cup on the table, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. She noticed how tired his eyes looked, as though he hadn't slept in days. A part of her felt that sleep wasn't the problem.