The Coloured World You Showed Me

Given chance

The wind was blowing strongly and the trees swayed with it, the leaves rustling every time they touched each other. On this windy day, Jace was sitting alone on a boulder close to the usual fast food place he went with his friends, except this time he wasn't waiting for friends but his girlfriend. They had promised to go eat together because they hadn't seen each other that much because of college exams.

Jace turned to look up to see the dark clouds creeping on the sky. It was obvious that soon it would start raining but even if it, Jace wasn't going to go inside before Serene arrived. He wanted to wait for her, to make her happy.

"She's a bit late, which is unusual of her." Jace muttered as he looked down at his phone's black screen which he turned on to look at the time. It was 12:13 PM, thirteen minutes past the time they had promised to meet at.

As Jace started to stuff his phone back to his hoodie's pocket, a cheery but short sound echoed through the air. The sound of a message arriving to his phone. He swiped the screen and it opened the message automatically. It was from Serene. She was saying that something came up so she couldn't come after all.

Jace closed the phone, its screen turning black once more. He sighed and started to get up to leave when he caught something in the corner of his eye, a brunette. Seemed like this person had noticed him too, because his amber eyes widened with fear and surprise.

The both males froze for a second as their eyes met. The amber eyed boy stopped in the middle of walking. He was obviously going to the food place but he quickly turned to the opposite direction. Without even having a chance to think it through, Jace's body moved on its own and he was running towards this other boy.

"Wait! Wait, please!" Jace yelled out to this person and he stopped in his tracks. He slowly turned to face the boy who was running towards him with full speed. Jace stopped right in front of the other boy who looked troubled. The scent of vanilla surrounded Jace as he breathed in close to this other boy.

"W-what?" The brunette asked as he averted his amber eyes away. For some reason this made Jace feel slowly and he wanted those eyes to look at him again, even just once.

Jace struggled to find words so for a minute he just stood there with a gaping mouth. But the other boy didn't make anything to move. He either wanted to hear what Jace had to say or he was too shocked to move, maybe both.

"I wanted to... I..." Jace muttered, searching for the right words when the moment was interrupted by a low growl. The both of them had forgotten the fact that they were going to go eat and now their hunger helped them to lighten the mood. They both cracked up.

"How about we get something to eat, for now?" The other boy asked with his eyes still shining with amusement. Jace just stared at his eyes and nodded. Every colour he had seen for the first time in his whole life didn't even compete against those amber eyes. Or at least in Jace's eyes nothing did.

The two boys headed to the fast food place together without changing any words. The silence continued until they had ordered their food and sat down. At that moment, Jace finally had it in him to say something.

"So, you... Your name! I don't even know that! I'm Jace Cline!"

"It's Ethan, I'm Ethan Britt. It's nice to meet you, Jace."

"S-same! I mean... It's nice to meet you too, Ethan." Jace jabbered as a reply as his cheeks flushed slightly. Like mirroring what Jace did, Ethan got nervous too and his whole face flushed in the deep colour of pink. Both of them just sat there, being all flustered.

They once again returned to the calming silence until the waiter came with their hamburgers and fries. This gave both of them time to think what to say next so they both accidentally spoke out when the time came.

"So- You can go first- Um-" They both blurted out followed by them both getting flustered, again. Silence fell once again but Jace didn't let it stay for too long.

"I guess this situation is surreal for both of us. I-"

"How's your girlfriend?"

Ethan cut Jace off with his question before he could even finish what he was saying. Jace's hand, that had been reaching for one of his fries, stopped. He casted his grey eyes on Ethan whose eyes didn't have any trace of happiness that they had been filled with only a while ago.

"That- She's... She's fine." Jace answered with hesitation. He knew it wasn't right for him to hesitate telling someone that he was taken but for some reason saying those words to Ethan hurt him more than anything had before.

"That's good, she seems like a nice person." Ethan acknowledged as he reached to grab some of his fries. Jace did the same, filling his mouth with salty fries. The chatter from the other tables filled the air around them as they ate their food.

Ethan was the first one to finish and, without even waiting for Jace to finish his own, he left the place after dumping the trash. Jace was left alone to think about the situation. His heart ached as it longed for those amber eyes and that smell of vanilla. Without dumping his trash or even finishing the rest of his food, Jace was out of the fast food place. He easily ran up to Ethan because of all the years of being a basketball player.

Ethan almost lost his balance when something was thrown at him. Jace had thrown his leather jacket, that he had been wearing until that moment, at him. The brunette turned around to question what was happening but he was silenced by the sight in front of his eyes. Jace looked to be out of breath, like he had ran with all his might.

"I heard... it will rain soon, so... you can use that. It works as a raincoat." Jace sputtered while still trying to catch his breath.

Ethan looked confused and he moved closer to the other boy. He wasn't sure what to say but e decided to speak up anyway.

"Are you-"

"I don't know! I don't know what I want from the future or from you. I don't know what I should do but don't walk out of my life just yet." Jace announced, cutting Ethan off. His voice was loud and few people turned to look at them and exchanged some words by whispering.

"That jacket has my address and my number. Keep it until I've figured everything out. That way you can't just walk out of my life."

Ethan's eyes widened as he looked at Jace like he was doing something totally crazy.

"You can't say that. I could just throw this jacket away and-" Ethan argued but he cut himself off. His face took an uncertain expression as his hand moved to the collar of the leather jacket. He squeezed the piece of cloth in his hand. The scent of leather came together with the scent of vanilla and something made Ethan feel warm on the inside.

The brunette turned around, turning his back to Jace. He put the jacket on himself properly before turning back to Jace. He only turned his head so their eyes didn't meet but Jace's face lit up with new kind of happiness and hope. He knew that this was Ethan's answer, he was going to keep the jacket until the time came.

Ethan turned his head forward and he started to walk forward. This time no one chased him, not that he thought someone would. As he walked out of Jace's field of vision, he squeezed on the sides of the jacket. In the scent of leather, Ethan could smell a slight fragrance of sweetness. His heart skipped a beat and he shook his head.

There's no time falling for random people you meet, He thought to himself as he made his way home before the rain would start.