In Time

Meeting

                                    Layla woke up the next morning and rolled on her side to see Squidbreak on the floor, curled into a ball. Layla smiled and stood up as she got dressed and walked out the door and went to the square. She walked around for a few minutes before getting tapped on the shoulder by the one Inkling she'd never expect.

                                    It was Rider... "O-oh... hello..." She said to him as she could feel her face heating up. He just looked at her for a few seconds and she stared into his eyes, they were Yellow-Green, like his ink color and she got lost in them in less than an instant. 

                                   

                                  "Hey.. I'm Rider." He said with an emotionless expression. "N-nice to m-meet you... I'm L-layla..." She stuttered as she was shaking a little bit. Rider seemed to take notice of her reaction and spoke up. "Are you alright? You're shaking." He asked, looking at her up and down. "Y-yeah! I'm fine! Just a little cold I guess." She replied. It wasn't entirely a lie, she did leave her jacket at home and it was Fall.

      

                                 Without a second thought, Rider took off his black inky rider, revealing the red short sleeved shirt he wore underneath, and handed it to her and she froze. Why was he giving her his jacket? They'd only just met and he's acting really nice for someone who's reputation is being emo and rude. She took it anyways and put it on as she smiled. "Thanks.." She said as she stopped shaking. "No problem..." He replied as a little blush appeared on his face as he looked at her.

                               Rider and Layla exchanged smiles as Rider blushed wildly and looked to the side. "Rider? Is everything OK?" Layla asked, stepping a little closer to him. He looked at her and nodded a little before a gust of wind blew and he shivered, rubbing his arms. "Do you want your jacket back.?" She asked as she began to unzip the jacket. "Nonono.. You keep it on. I'm fine without it." He said as he was still shivering a little and Layla stepped forwards and hugged him into her warm body and his face heated quickly. "W-what are you doing..?" He asked as she just hugged him tighter. "You let me wear your jacket so I'd be warm, so I'm returning the favor!" She said with a bright smile.

                             After a minute or two, other Inklings and Octolings started to take notice of the two and whispered amongst themselves. "Wait, does Rider have a girlfriend?" "I think I would have heard about it by Aloha on Inkstagram.." "So what are they doing? Why does he seem like he likes it??" The whispers turned into conversations loud enough for the two to hear and Rider buried his face into Layla's shoulder as she still hugged him. 

                           "Hey.. Layla... Would you um.. maybe want to come over to my place..?" He asked as Layla's face lit up. "Yeah sure!!" She replied as she stepped back to see Rider smiling. "Ok then, follow me!" He said as he started walking towards his house, and Layla followed close behind.