The Swordfish Club (Kellic)

Chapter 16

I pulled my beanie down over my ears as I followed Emmeric through the crowd, trying to keep up with his pace. It was late at night and we were in the park near the high school, which was a great place to set off fireworks since there was a big lake in the center of it. Some classical music was blasting through speakers put in the few trees standing here and there. The fireworks will begin in a few minutes and I could feel the anticipation radiating from everyone here. There were some families with children, group of friends and some couples; everyone was speaking with animation and the happiness surrounding me was making me feel genuinely joyful. Even if Emmeric was inspecting the place since we arrived ten minutes ago to find the best spot to see the fireworks. Actually, I found him really cute as he stopped sometimes, furrowed his eyebrows in concentration before shaking his head and waving his hand at me to follow him. He was taking the fireworks really seriously, I already listened to him earlier about all the work the artist went through to do it. He documented himself a lot about it and I loved his eagerness. Me, on the other side, I was just here to simply enjoy my time.

We were on the sloping ground side of the lake. Emmeric wanted at first to be at the top of it but everyone had invaded it to have the better view, so we were now pacing around at the bottom along the lake.

"There, the perfect place," smiled Emmeric, finally gesturing to a spot a few feet away.

I nodded and scanned the spot he has chosen. The place was less crowded there and a lot of calmer. Other than that, what the spot got that others didn't? No idea, Emmeric was the artist here and I was sure it was clear in his head.

"Thank you for bringing me there tonight, it's really nice," I said as we stood side by side right in front of the lake.

"No problem, I just want you to be happy and you know, forget..." he trailed off with a timid smile which made me wince.

Right, forget about my stupid thoughts, that was the plan all along. Stupid father, stupid Vic; assholes. I've promised myself to not bring it up in my mind this weekend. However, spending an entire Saturday without intrusive thoughts has been proved impossible. So impossible that I've messaged Emmeric all day, trying to fight it. Eventually, the conversation turned into a phone call and him, as a psychic, he figured out something bad had happened with Vic yesterday. I felt so bad for exposing the situation to him but he was so good at understanding things, well, not this time though. Still, he listened to me carefully, telling me sweet things like Vic didn't deserve my sadness or that I was too good for mean people. The comforting words were great and warmed up my heart so I had let Emmeric do it, agreeing with him.

"Hey, what I told you earlier?" inquired Emmeric with a pout, bringing me back to the present.<

"Sorry, it's just...difficult," I sighed.

The wince that crossed his face for one second made me feel bad. He shouldn't witness me thinking about Vic when he invited me to see fireworks. It wasn't fair to him, I knew he was trying really hard to make me feel better. I was feeling better, it was a fact, I just zoned out for an instant, that was all.

"You're cold?" asked Emmeric.

"A little," I shrugged, giving him a curious look.

"It's just... you keep rubbing your hands together," he clarified.

I lowered my head, gazing at my hands, I didn't even notice that I was rubbing them together. He was always so observant, looking after me. However, when he took my hands in his own, enclosing his around mine, my head shot back to his. I wasn't expecting this kind of move. His eyes were set on the lake and he kept brushing his fingers against my cold hands, like nothing. I knew better though, it was all but a kind gesture, it was more for him, I could feel it and I wasn't okay with that.