Say you'll stay - Channing Tatum

P.15

The door closes behind us and the warmth from inside the shop is replaced by the sun.

The warm summer weather which was here a few weeks ago has changed. There's a chill in the air and the surrounding looks different somehow.

I look up, catching his green eyes in the process.

He looks away for a second before he finds my eyes again.

"What?" I ask.

He rises his eyebrows and a small but charming smile shapes his lips. "Nothing. You just haven't said a word since we started our walk."

My gaze on him lingers. I smile. "Neither have you."

I don't know why we're doing this. He was the one who came to talk to me a few days ago, accusing me of something I didn't do and that's where we left it. I was hurt by what he said and the fact that I was the first one who came to his mind as the one to blame. From a different standpoint, he could've just left it there and gone on with his life. It's not like we were friends before all of this and he now has to try to repair what we once had. 

He silently gives me one of the coffees with a careful smile.

"Thank you." I quietly say, smiling down at my feet as I watch them move. I thought I would be angry when I would see him the next time, it being on tv or at the cover of a magazine, but here he is, next to me and I don't feel an once of anger. I'm just glad he came back.

We walk past the new opened coffee shop and all their costumers. It seems to be going really good for the owner. All of the chairs are taken and every table has some type of food nicely put on a plate. It makes me wonder for how long our twenty year old one is going to hold, they are too close to each other to both be open and running.

A woman with a dog walks past us, followed by a couple and their two daughters. None of them seem to notice who the man walking beside me is, which makes me thankful, for his sake.

I look up to meet his eyes and I'm struck by how different they look from last. They hold more life now. He looks happy and it makes my heart warm.

Isn't it scary how much your own mood can depend on someone else? That someone else even being someone you don't know or even have ever talked to. A mention of them is all that's needed for you to feel some type of way, and the way you feel about it will be a part of how you're defined as a person.

It's scary, but that's how we work. We feel, not only for ourselves, but for others equally as much.

I let my gaze fall on the trees to the left as we walk in silence. I don't know where we're going and I don't think he does either, we're just walking. It's a comfortable silence between us as muffled conversations are heard from a distance.

"I thought about what you said."

I turn my head to look at him. One of his hands is in the pocket of his hoodie and the other one holds the coffee. He looks so relaxed it's hard to imagine him as the man media tries to paint him as.

I bring the mug to my lips. "What?" I smile. "I say a lot of things."

He laughs before he turns to look at me. "I mean what you said about putting the blame on the right person."

The sound of our footsteps against the concrete is the only thing that's heard for a few seconds.

"I know it wasn't you." He says, throwing his now empty mug in a bin. "Everyone who was at our house that night probably understood that we wouldn't hold."

An emotion flashes over his face and I quickly look away. 

"I'm sorry." He catches my eyes. "I really am. You apologized for something you didn't do and I feel like an asshole."

"Don't." I shake my head. "You were hurt and still am. I don't blame you for anything, I'm just surprised you didn't take it further." I pull a face and smile.

It makes me happy to think that he came all the way here to apologize to me. He could easily have forgotten about it and just moved on. It wouldn't have changed anything for him, but he made a difference for me by coming.

"I would've, but it wouldn't have been a fair match." He says.

I raise my eyebrows. "Oh really. I thought you were braver than that." I say and earn a laugh from him.

He brings his arm around me and pulls me in to his side as both our laughs fills the air. He then holds me there as we walk down the pavement and past all the cars that are lined up after each other on the road.

My eyes flutter close every other second due to the sun shining in between the trees and in my face. I love summer, but there's something about fall that I'm really fond of. Lighted candles and early morning coffees are what comes to mind and I hope I can spend them in the building on 32nd street.

His phone suddenly makes a sound and he picks it up to read the message.

"Meeting in thirty minutes." He reads out loud, followed by a sight. I move my arm from around his waist and we let go of each other.

He apologizes again and I shake my head. He has a big heart. I haven't known him for long, but it isn't hard to tell.

He leans down for a hug and I wrap my arms around him before I watch him walk away.

This time, I'm not expecting him to turn around.