Introduction:
Katy was just 18, she'd started renting a cute little apartment in LA. She wanted to start fresh, determined to find a job, meet people and be successful at the same time. One thing that stood in Katy's way was her past, she suffered from anxiety & therefore found it hard to connect with people easily. Katy liked to live in her own little bubble and was happily independent - most of the time. Her escape mechanism was music, whatever mood she was in, she'd listen to her favourite tunes on full volume, sometimes disturbing the neighbours, or she'd write some lyrics that later formed scraps of songs.
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Katy had been living in LA for a couple of weeks now, yet to find a decent paying job. She sat in her car tapping at her steering wheel. It was Friday which meant she had a takeout for dinner. She finally choose what she wanted and made her way to McDonalds. It had been a tough day of interviews and paperwork so she wasn't in the best of moods. As usual, the restaurant was bustling with teenagers, young families and the odd creepy loner. Although one person caught her eye, he was a tall guy with muscles, his skin looked soft, he was wearing a skin tight white t-shirt which made his figure appear nicely and pale blue jeans. Katy was yet to find a partner, she was young and was still a virgin too. For a few minutes she went inside her mind and thought to herself how oh- he was so attractive. He just - oh. "Hi can I take your order please? Miss?!" Katy quickly came out of her daze, she could feel her face heat up with a deep blush. The cute stranger laughed to himself, realising what just happened, he was sat in the front corner, nearest the counter. He carefully watched her order her 6 nuggets & medium fries with a vanilla milkshake. She hesitantly waited at the counter, fingers tapping her purse quickly. Her anxiety liked to show her up when it could. She could feel eyes watching her, she didn't look to see where but she could sense it, it wasn't harsh staring, just curious. In what felt like forever, the worker gave her a tray with her food on. "Thank you," she hastily took her tray and walked to pick up her tomato sauce and straw for her milkshake. She then turned round to look for a table, still feeling eyes watching her. * is this my anxiety is someone really watching me?*. Her eyes scurried the room in search for a table when suddenly a man ran into her side, her order flew off of her tray and onto the floor. The stranger quickly apologised and ran out of the restaurant. She looked up with a deep red blush overcoming her, she felt hot, eyes wet with tears. People were staring and an awkward silence tensed the room. She looked up, the cute guy in the corner caught her eye and he was smiling brightly, she scowled at him holding in her tears and ran out of the McDonalds. When she got to her car, she realised she'd locked herself out, the keys were on the floor of the car. They must've fallen out her pocket when she stepped out the car. Rain hit her face harshly, burning her already wet skin from crying. She didn't know what to do, she folded her petite arms, hands on her shoulder and wept, no hope. Although it seemed stupid because someone had knocked away her food and embarrassed her, to Katy it was worse, her anxiety seemed to make everything seem worse. She looked and the highway, cars rushing by everything seeming loud she felt dizzy & faint. She hadn't had a panic attack for so long *what's happening to me?*. Katy fell unconscious to the ground. The cute guy from the restaurant saw her fall and ran to her panicking. "Are you okay?" Thoughts filled his head, the girl laid unconscious in his arms. He took coat from his backpack and wrapped it around her shoulders, in hope of warming her up.
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Everything was black, a ringing filled her ears, no escape from the whining noise. She felt hot, then suddenly cold. The noise became louder and formed the sound of a kettle boiling. A lightness started to appear as she felt able to open her eyes again. Disoriented and confused, she hastily sat up. No one was in the room, unsure of what was happening she sat up on the sofa. Shivering. Weaping. The cute guy entered his lounge with the softest blanket Katy had ever seen. No words were said, no words were needed. She sat still, trying to compose herself. He took the now soaking wet coat from her back and replaced it with the creamy blanket. She gave the smallest smile as a thank you. She had no energy to talk, to even move. He walked into the kitchen (the downstairs was open plan so she could see easily). He poured the hot water into two white mugs. Katy quickly caught on what he was going to do next, she stood up "thank you but I think I should go," the next think he know Katy was pathetically searching for her shoes. He walked over to her, placed his hands around hers to attempt to stop her shaking. He looked into her eyes and caught her attention. She looked into his, her heart slowing to a normal rate. *he's even more gorgeous close up* and oh-. He held her hand and guided her back to the sofa. He sat close next to her, not to close as to make her nervous though, the perfect distance. She felt comfortable. Something she didn't think she would feel, seeing the circumstances. "Hey. It's okay" his words filled Katy's ears, calming her. He held her hand to her knee, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. She looked into his eyes. She whispered a small "thank you." into his eyes. "Am I okay to ask, what happened," his hand moved from her hand to in between her shoulder blades. Her spine tingled in his touch and oh. "I. I. I'm n-not real-ly s-sure" she coughed, weak from her faint. He didn't speak, he just watched her. "S- sorry to b-bother you," he wrapped his soft arms around her,pulling her into a hug, "th- thank you" she cried, not really knowing why. She was just emotional. "I can take you home, if you'd like that?" Katy sniffed "um, y- yes please" he stood up quickly, grabbing his keys, she tried to follow him although as she stood her knees gave way, he watched her and was quick to save her fall. She was weak. "There, slowly now. I got you" he lifted her up, bridal style. She wasn't hesitant, it was almost as if she's gained his trust. He kept the blanket covering her petite body, afraid to let out the little heat inside of her out as they step into the deathly weather outside. He set her into the front passenger seat. Leaning over her to clasp her belt. Katy's eyes scanned his face as he did so, thankful for him. He saw and looked back into her eyes. They stared closely at one another as if the weather wasn't stormy. He flicked back into reality and ran to his side of the car, turning on the ignition. "Where do you live?"
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Katy regained some of her strength on the 20 minute journey. When they arrived she took the key from inside the pretty hanging basket next to the door number. The cute guy watched her do so, he looked at how pretty just the door way was. It was an apartment but it was Katy. The door number was golden with the number 45A written in silver, with pretty pink petals drawn around it. All of the others were simple black and white numbers. She opened the door and leaned straight onto her marble kitchen work top. He could see she was still weak. He lifted her up into his arms. Her legs gripped around his waist loosely. Her hands pathetically tried to grip his shoulders. Eventually he found her bedroom. It was cosy, the curtains were silver and so were the bed covers, what looked like scrap paper filled with dainty words covered the floor. Make up covering her vanity, pictures of London's landscape and memories covering the white walls. He carefully laid the sleepy girl onto the bed, he pulled the black ugg boots from her feet. She was very sleepy, her eyes where half shut, but she was able to see what was happening. She watched him with a small grin pulling her cheeks. Then he pulled the sheets over her body and up to her chest. As he did so Katy grabbed his hand, hers cold against his warm fingers. He looked into her eyes and she looked back "don't leave," she whispered "stay, please." He stepped back, head in thought "of course, if you'd like that, I can help you get better." She smiled at him, eyes lighting up. "I'll sleep on the sofa, sweet dreams." He started walking out of the room. "Wait," he turned around. "What's your name?" Katy questioned. They met around 2 hours ago, been to each other's house yet neither of them knew one another's name. "Orlando, my names Orlando" *its perfect for him ohh* "well are you going to tell me yours?"
"Oh yeah, sorry. Katy, my names Katy" she grinned, copying him.
"Katy. Nice to meet you Katy." She rolled onto her side, still looking at him. "Nice to meet you too Orlando,"
