Started With a Tube

Started With a Tube - Chapter 6

Started With a Tube - Chapter 6

A ding of a bell lifts my attention from the book I'm reading for only a fleeting moment, before I focus back on the story. I don't look up until a figure takes a seat in the booth in front of me.

"Alec Jameson," I say, and I feel a slip of languor settle upon me. His hair is slicked against his forehead, and his jacket is splattered with large droplets of rain. As I allow my eyes to look towards the window, I do indeed see sheets of water falling.

"I thought I'd catch you here," he says, hazel eyes glinting, but there's a look glazing them which I can't quite put my finger on. "You didn't reply to my messages." I lift my phone from my bag, and there are as promised, a list of unopened texts. "I was worried, I thought something might have happened."

"Sorry," I apologise guiltily. "I just had a rough night. Needed to, uh, get away for a bit."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks, rubbing circles on the handle of his coffee mug.

"Not really," I admit. "I'm okay, I just needed some time to think."

"Are you sure?" he asks, eyeing me dubiously.

"Yes," I say, but even to me it sounds feeble.

"C'mon," he says, leaving his mostly full coffee mug abandoned on the table top. He stands and rakes a hand through his damp hair.

"Where are we going?" I ask, unmoving.

"I'm going to cheer you up," he says, as if it's obvious.

"I don't need cheering up, I'm perfectly okay-"

"Cat, that's a lie and we both know it." And I look down.

"It's okay, really."

"You're coming with me," he says, a smile toying on his lips. I try not to meet his eyes, but can't help it and once my eyes are locked on the soft hazel of his, I sigh. Throwing my things into my bag, I swing it onto my shoulder and stand up.

"It's raining," I state, looking out the window. Alec walks up behind me, standing close.

"You didn't happen to bring an umbrella, did you?" he asks.

"Nope."

"Well then, Cat, I hope you're prepared to get wet."

And I do indeed get wet. We both do. After only racing down the street in the rain for a few minutes, we're soaked to the skin. Alec leads me away from the coffee shop, his hand wrapped around mine, and tugs me away from the city. We arrive at a park. Not a little kid park, one of those big garden parks, with trees and grass and paths winding throughout. It's got a slight incline, which settles as a hill. He tugs me to the top. When we reach there, he spins me around so I'm facing him.

His hair is soaked, and his eyelashes are wet with crystals of rain. Droplets fall from his black hair and onto his cheeks, and he licks his lips before he speaks. I'm looking up at him, because he's taller, and there's nobody about. "Cat, scream."

"W-what?" I ask, through a stutter. My body is shaking, from the cold or our close proximity, I'm not sure.

"You bottle things up," he says, his eyes darting back and forth between mine. "You're the type of person who'd rather not tell anyone when something's wrong, because you don't like the attention. You don't like people knowing that you're hurting. But that's not fair."

"Alec-" I start with a sigh, but he cuts me off.

"No, Cat, you need to understand this," he says, his eyes filled with a mixture of hope and pleading. "I care. I do, I care about you. And I don't like seeing you upset, because you deserve happiness."