Cry, Wolf, Cry

Ch.11 - Theodore & Caiti's First Date

   Caiti stood under the awning of The Center and waited for Theodore to pull up. Originally they had planned to go on a walk in the woods and Caiti feared that she'd have to tell him about her leg right away, but it ended up raining and he asked if she'd rather go for tea and sit in the café or maybe do some shopping or something. She said that tea sounded good, especially for a cold rain and asked if he wanted to meet at The Center.

She smiled when a car pulled up and Theodore got out, opening the door for her. "May I offer you a ride?" He grinned.

She smiled and slid into the seat, "Thank you kind sir."

He got back into his seat and turned the heat up, "I thought you might like a warm ride. Apparently the café changed their hours so they're not open right now."

She shrugged, "Go figure. That place is always changing hours it seems. Probably because they can't keep anyone hired in there."

"Which is because the managers yell at them all the time and the staff don't get trained which means customers complain and it's just a never ending cycle. Anything you can think of that you want to do?"

She smiled, "You had mentioned shopping originally. What type did you have in mind?"

"Mostly just walking around the store and talking. I wasn't sure how you'd feel about shopping for tea or anything or if you felt comfortable seeing where I live."

"I wasn't sure you'd be comfortable seeing where I live. Why don't we just walk around for a bit in the store and see what comes of it?"

He nodded and turned the heat up again before checking his mirrors and pulling onto the road, "To the supermarket it is! Tally-ho silver!"

She laughed, watching him and turning her phone to vibrate.

Theodore pulled up at the store and turned off the engine, grabbed an umbrella and got out to open Caiti's door for her. He even held his arm out for her to grab hold of.

"It's been a long time since I've been treated like this."

"I can't see why that would be. You're a great person."

She blushed, whispering "thank you" before she started walking towards the building.

He kept his arm at a level that was easy for her to reach, prompting her to ask "Do you hold your arm out like this for all the girls?"

He shook I head, "Only the ones I want to know I care. Which at this point makes very few because of the circle of friends I have and my lack of family," he grinned.

She smiled sadly, "I don't have contact with most of my family. After what happened the only one I hear from now and then is my sister and even those times are few and far between."

"Fewer people to worry about bad things happening to I guess," he shrugged, walking into the store with her. They walked straight to the aisle with the tea and paced, talking about the different ones. Theodore knelt down to get a better look at one of the teas and picked a box up for Caiti to get a better look at. He found a few he wanted to purchase and Caiti said they'd have to make tea together some time and talked him into carrying his bag of tea and she'd carry the umbrella. He agreed.

She ignored the minor pain in her leg from where her brace was starting to dig. She had tightened it too much when she put it on and couldn't adjust it until she could get to a bathroom. She planned on asking him about one once they figured out what to do next. As they walked back to the car Caiti's leg gave out and she ended up falling in the middle of the aisle, just out of Theodore's reach.

"Are you alright?! What happened?"

She nodded, wincing as she tried to get up on her own, "I'll be fine. I think. This happens from time to time."

He reached his hand out and she grabbed it, but even her good leg wouldn't cooperate enough to let her stand, even with Theodore's help. He handed her the bag and umbrella, "Here hold these."

She blinked, looking at the items, "Why do you want me to hold thESE?!" Her question turned into a slight scream as he picked her up off the ground.

"That's why," he grinned, "why don't I take you home? Maybe I could make you a nice cup of tea and we could talk? I'd like to learn more about you."

She blushed, nodding as he slid her into the car.

~A cup of tea each later~

"This isn't how I wanted you to find out," she said, staring into her cup of tea.

"Find out about what? You fell. It happens."

"Yes, but I didn't fall because I tripped or something. I fell because my leg gave out. Had I been able to get up on my own I would have been able to get my cane out, but I'd still have to tell you."

"If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. I accept you no matter what and no matter how many times you fall as long as I'm around I'll gladly pick you up," he said as he covered her hand with his.

She smiled up at him and turned to the side, pulling up her pant leg and started talking off the brace as she spoke, "I'm 24 years old and since I was 21 if I want to walk around without crutches I have to wear this brace on my leg. Sometimes I'll synch it too tight and it keeps blood from properly flowing through my leg. I was in an accident of sorts and the end result was severe nerve damage as well as some bone damage. They fixed most of the bone issues, but there wasn't anything that could be done about the nerves."

They sat in silence for a few moments before she continued, "I don't like talking about the incident, so if you don't mind I'd rather not go into details right now."

He nodded, "That's fine. It's your story to tell. You mentioned a cane?"

She nodded, "I have a collapsible cane that I keep in my bag sometimes. I hadn't carried it for a month or two and ended up sitting and talking to your friend, Liam, for a long time and my legs fell asleep. When both legs work properly it's just a matter of balancing and you can wake your legs up as you walk. It's harder since one of my legs doesn't really work. I need something to lean against until my good leg wakes up. I've never found a good way of explaining it."

"Essentially what happens is the brace on your left leg helps you stand and walk, but if your good leg falls asleep then you can't really feel it and you don't know what's happening so you can't balance or compensate with it for the work your left leg would be doing if you hadn't been injured. Right?"

She nodded, "Yes. You're the first person who's actually stuck around long enough or even paid enough attention to understand it."

"Then you probably haven't been around too many good people. Or you hadn't found your words yet," he smiled at her and she blushed. He asked, "are you free, say, day after tomorrow?"

She blushed, blinking, "Uh um, let me check my calendar," she pulled out her phone and looked at her calendar, "looks like I am."

"How about two days after that?"

"It looks like I'm free for a while. Students are on vacation of sorts and want family time. I believe in being flexible for it."

"Care to go out again? Maybe I can show you where I live and we can have tea. Maybe watch a movie?"

"I'd really like that, Theodore."

"I'll text you with my schedule when I get back to the house. For now, I think you could probably use some rest."

He lifted her hand and as he lightly kissed it she leaned over and kissed his cheek, "I'd... Would you like to sit and watch a movie?"

He smiled, "It'd be my pleasure."