Meori Apeuda

Chapter 5

In all the shambles I hadn't registered that Chan hadn't said Goodbye to me. When the group started to walk away he stayed next to me. Felix turned around to see where he was, but Chan only gestured him to go on and said "I'll see you there, mate.". Felix nodded, smiled at me and turned back around.

"Erm...what are you doing?" I asked, turning to him. He looked at me as if I had asked a really dumb question. "Bringing you home safely of course?! Duh!" He made it sound like it was the most normal thing in this world.

My old distrust piped up again in my head, asking if he only wanted to know where I lived to come back and break in or something. But I shut it down immediately. He hadn't given me a single reason until now to distrust him in any way.

Chan had already taken a few steps down the promenade, stopped now and looked back at me. "You're coming?" he asked and smiled. Then he scratched the back of his head again and laughed embarrassedly: "Because I have not the slightest idea which direction to go..."

I smirked, caught up to him and pointed down the street: "Down the promenade and then left, at the souvenir shop ." He nodded and we started walking. Neither of us said something at first, but it wasn't a bad silence, it was much more...a comfortable one. One of these silences, where you didn't feel the need to fill it with conversation. I liked it.

While we walked, Chan turned his head, looking at the ocean. "The moon makes the water look as if it's crowned with diamonds..." he murmured, smiling absentmindedly. I followed his gaze and nodded. "Yeah, I had a similar thought earlier this night. It looks amazing." We looked at each other, smiled and looked away simultaneously, cheeks flaming.

'What the hell? Don't do that Kaylee, it's not going to end well. Not with your history, not with you being you!' I scolded myself quietly, but couldn't help feeling my heartbeat speeding up a little bit when I looked at Chan again out of the corner of my eye.

He had stuffed his hands into his pockets, his hoodie bound around his waist, looking at the concrete as if he was very deep in thought. I turned my gaze ahead too again and took a deep, conscious breath of sea air. Chan looked at me and again we smiled at the same time, causing us both to giggle awkwardly.

"Could you stop copying me, mate?" I teased, pushing his shoulder gently. He chuckled: "Hey, you should stop copying me! I mean, I know, I'm quite awesome" - he acted as if he was pushing his hair back dramatically - "but there's still only one of me, gurrrl!"

Both of us dissolved into laughter. We were now rounding the corner of the street, which led directly to my B&B. Suddenly there was a loud bang and a shattering sound and I squealed, letting go of the bag with my food, pressing my back to the wall of the house we just passed. My hands balled into fists, my field of vision narrowed, my heart racing. In mere seconds I had switched into defence mode, ready to face any attack coming my way.

"Kaylee! Hey, calm down!" Chan's voice sounded as if he was very far away, only slowly reaching my consciousness. He was walking towards me, his hands outstretched, palms up, in a reassuring gesture.

"Calm down, it's okay! It was just a cat, throwing over a trash can...breathe, girl, it's alright..." Ever so slowly I let my shaking hands sink, trying willingly to relax my muscles and slowing my heartbeat.

Chan took another step towards me and - slowly and pronounced, giving me time to back away if I wanted to - laid his hands lightly on my shoulders, turning me to face him. "That's it, breathe, nice and slow... Are you okay?" he asked and after a few seconds I nodded. I exhaled sharply and rubbed my forehead. "Sorry. That...caught me off guard..."

He nodded, still checking me out, looking worried. I patted his lower arm, forcing a smile on my face, feeling myself that it probably didn't look right. "Chris, I'm okay, honestly. I'm just really, really jumpy..." He didn't look 100% convinced but finally let go of my shoulders, picked up my bag, which was luckily unscratched and we continued our journey.