Blessing in Disguise

Extra 2

Around two in the afternoon, both of them got in the car, ready to go meet Pam.

It had been years since Nyx had been in this city.

As James drove his car through the streets, memories that she had once tried to forget resurfaced, making her feel emotional. Her head was turned the other way, hiding her expression from James as she looked outside the window.

Nyx had been quiet the whole drive, only talking when James asked her something. However, when they drove into James’s hometown, Nyx wouldn’t even respond to him. It was like she had fallen into a daze, as if she wasn’t even in the car anymore.

With his eyes on the road, James reached out and took her hand into his, interlocking their fingers. This finally got Nyx’s attention who turned her head to look at him.

Her amber eyes were glazed from whirls of emotions that were stirring her heart.

“Are you okay?” James asked her softly, his voice low and gentle.

Nyx looked outside the window, not answering him right away. She chewed on her lip for a bit before talking. Yet her words had nothing to do with James’s question. “I haven’t been here in five years. It feels strange...”

It felt strange to come back to the place where everything started and ended. Nyx wasn’t sure if she missed the place or not. So many memories were made in its streets, and parks and shops and so many other places... so many memories that were so sweet back then, but the sweeter they were, the more they hurt when everything went south. Nyx had tried so hard to run away from them, to lock them up in a dark corner of her mind so not to hurt her heart.

Even now that James was by her side, holding her hand, those memories still hurt. Maybe they would always hurt... maybe Nyx would eventually forget about the pain that had stained them and recall these memories with a smile on her face one day... maybe... but right now wasn’t that day.

“When was the last time...”

“Since after my surgery.” Nyx answered.

The voice was distant and cold, but James now knew that the only reason it sounded that way because Nyx was subconsciously locking up her heart, trying to hide her worries, fear and sadness. Still, James didn’t like it when this happened. He would start panicking, being reminded of how his ex-wife coldly treated him near the end of his marriage. Nyx felt so far away whenever she talked like that.

The car slowed down as the traffic light turned red.

Taking advantage of those one or two minutes until the traffic light turned green again, James tightened the grip on Nyx’s hand and turned his body to look at her. “Kiss me? Please?” His voice was low and heavy with shyness that was nowhere near enough to hide his anxiety.

Nyx looked at him, caught off-guard by such a soft pouting voice. Only when she saw the pout on James’s lips, looking like he had just gotten bullied, did she realize that she had scared her little rabbit.

A smile finally showed on the corner of her lips as she leaned over and placed a damp kiss under the side of his chin before pressing her lips to his. The sweet lily scent of her perfume seemed to intoxicate him, like a drug that he couldn’t get enough of. The cold metal of the piercing sent shivers down James’s spine as a soft shaking sigh escaped his lips. That sigh was caught by Nyx who bit his lower lip slightly before releasing it and going back to her seat.

“I’m sorry. I’m just a bit in low spirits. I’m not mad at you.”

The tip of James’s tongue poked out, licking the lip that Nyx had bitten. His eyes were unfocused, looking like his head wasn’t inside the car at all. He absentmindedly hummed softly with a hot face. “Mhmm...”