Not Expecting to Collide (COMPLETE) - ABP Fanfiction

Chapter 78 - Chase

October reminded Rainy of the rules before she stepped inside and set up her laptop. Rainy remained outside to meet her friend in front of the coffee shop. His name was Chase, she had told October. They met when Rainy was shopping at the pharmacy a few weeks ago. Chase recognized her from the TV show and asked her to go for ice cream.
When they came inside, October understood what Rainy was attracted to; green eyes, dark hair with fringe that fell over his left eye. He was tall - taller than Bam - and he walked with a bit of a swagger.
As he and Rainy sat down two tables away, October was optimistic that perhaps he wasn't only interested in 'that' as Rainy had said. He had decent manners and he didn't sound like a complete moron when he spoke but he talked mostly about himself and all the stupid stunts that he and his friends had pulled - not uncharacteristic for a young guy October reminded herself.
Sipping on her peppermint tea, she checked her stock photography sites and caught up on some correspondence. There were a few clients that wanted to book her services, which was difficult when she didn't know her exact date of return home. She would need to talk to Bam about that. Yes, it would put more pressure on him to find a job in a timely manner but she had paying work waiting for her as soon as she could get back to Calgary and it would be disappointing to leave that on the table, especially with a baby on the way.
October glanced over the top of her computer at the couple two tables away. Rainy excused herself to go to the washroom and surreptitiously waved at her while flashing a bright smile. Movement from the corner booth caught October's eye and she watched as two boys of similar description to Chase walked over and stood by the table Rainy had just left.
"You didn't say she was so young." One of them said to Chase without so much as a greeting. "She's jail-bait." The other added.
All hope that October had for Rainy's new friend was dashed when he opened his mouth to respond.
"Oh I'm not going to hit it." Chase leaned back and grinned. "I'm just seeing if I can get on TV."
Internally October seethed.
"Yeah but still, you might as well get some action while you're doing that. Doesn't she have an older sister?" The shorter one asked.
Chase shrugged. "Not gonna go there - you should see her older sister. She's definitely not the pretty one."

Looking back on it later, October almost felt sorry for him - almost. He didn't even see it coming. The peppermint tea in her hand seems to have a mind of it's own as it launched itself across the room and collided with his chest. "What the f*ck!" He yelled jumping up from his seat in shock. His eyes were wide in surprise as he swiped his arm across his face and twisted to look at the source of the mess.

October stood from her seat with a stoic expression. "Oops, so sorry about that. I must have tripped."

"You stupid bitch!" Chase screamed vehemently. A loud gasp came from the other side of the room. Rainy hurried over and put her hand on October's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

October nodded and replied to Rainy without taking her eyes off Chase. "Yes, I was just introducing myself to Chase here and reminding him that it's not polite to toy with other people's emotions." She put a hand on her hip. "Especially little girls who could be considered Jail-bait."

Rainy glanced between October and Chase, a confused expression clear on her features. "Chase?" She asked timidly.

"Was just leaving." October supplied. "And he apologizes that he can't see you anymore." She raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. "Isn't that right, Chase?"

There was a short silence while Chase weighed his options. Then he stood up, ran his fingers through his wet hair and threw a guilty look in Rainy's direction. "Yeah, that's right." He nodded, motioning his friends to follow him. "Sorry." He mumbled as he stalked past Rainy and out of the coffee shop.

Rainy stood motionless while October apologized to the waitress and helped wipe up the tea mess. She gathered her things and put her arm around Rainy's shoulders as they onto the sidewalk. "Rainy, my girl. We don't need to mention this part to your brother."

~*~

Rainy was very quiet for the rest of the afternoon. She was disappointed in her own lack of ability to judge character. She felt stupid for falling for Chase's tricks. She was embarrassed that October had been witness to it as well, even though she was thankful that she had been there. No matter how October tried to cheer her up, it was to no avail. Rainy remained lost in her own thoughts as they finished their shopping and errands around town.

It didn't seem very long until it was time to meet with Bam and Birdie in front of the café near the library. "How did it go today?" October asked as she brushed her hand across Bam's cheek. Bam caught her hand with his and placed a kiss on the palm. "It went well. I applied for four more jobs. Birdie found me one posting for the South end of the city, near the house. It is for landscaping maintenance and snow removal so I would be at the mercy of the weather."

"Which is no different than living here." October supplied. Bam nodded. He hadn't thought of it that way before but what she said was true.

"Did you two have a good afternoon?" Bam asked, noticing that Rainy was not her usual chipper self.

He didn't miss the glance October gave Rainy as she nodded and answered. "Yes, we had fun." Rainy said flatly. Rainy's eyes moved up to the storefront window and back to Bam. "Can we just go home?" Bam looked at Birdie, who shrugged. October shook her head slightly at him.

"Sure." He put one arm around October's waist and one arm around Rainy's shoulders. "Everything okay?" He asked with a bit of trepidation.

Rainy nodded. "Yeah, I'm just tired and I want to go to bed." 

Bam knew there was more to tell but it was obvious Rainy didn't want him to ask. He would talk to October about it later.

~*~

Rainy disappeared to her room as soon as they arrived back in Browntown and didn't even emerge at supper time. October remained rather tight-lipped about the events of the afternoon. Bam didn't get a chance to talk to her about it until later that night in the trapper shack while they readied themselves for bed.

As he stroked the hairbrush through her golden curls, he asked her gently. "So are you going to tell me what happened today or do I have to keep guessing?"

October sighed heavily before relaying the entire story to Bam about the events that took place at the coffee shop that afternoon.

"You dumped your tea on his head?" Bam smirked and stopped brushing.

"No, it was more of a throw than a dump and he deserved it! The guy was a jerk." She defended herself.

Bam laughed and kissed the top of her head.  "I won't ever doubt that you can handle yourself or worry about Rainy when she is with you again."

October turned around to look at him. "But that's not the problem, Bam. When Rainy is alone is the time to worry about her. She doesn't know enough about people to tell whether she can trust them or not. She's too wide-eyed and innocent."

Bam nodded. "She's just a little girl. She should be wide-eyed and innocent."

"Bam, she's fourteen years old." October reminded. "She's not a little girl. Who is going to look out for her after we leave here? Matt and Amber are working on their own future. All of Bear's attention is on Rosanna. No offence, but Gabe and Noah aren't the most constructive influences a teenaged girl could have."

"What about Birdie?" Bam interjected.

"Birdie is not going to be here for long." October countered.

Bam frowned. "Why, has she told you that?"

October shook her head. "No, she hasn't said a word. It's just a feeling I get when she talks sometimes. I just don't want Rainy to get lost in the fray." She stood from the bed and turned off the lamp.

"I won't let that happen." Bam said determinedly as October slid under the covers and snuggled in close to his body.

"That might prove difficult when you aren't even in the same country." She murmured sleepily against his chest.

Long after October's breathing evened out in her slumber, Bam's eyes remained open to the darkness as worries about his littlest sister swirled in his mind.