Something Else

Chapter 1: Drury Lane

It's not me, it's you. It's not me, it's you. It's not me, it's you. The thought kept repeating itself in Chrissy's head as she walked towards the park. She was dressed for her normal morning jog, having an emotional war inside her mind. She found the bench she normally stretches at and was happy that it was empty around the park, save for a few runners. She sighed as she put her headphones in and started her routine stretches. She had just been dumped via text message and it was eating away at her, she stretched down touching her toes. She sighed, pulling her back length hair up into a ponytail and jogged in place for five seconds. She stepped onto the path and was immediately knocked over, landing on her back. She closed her eyes as a ripple of pain shot through her lower back as she landed on a flat rock. She gasped in surprise as a hot body landed on top of her but they braced their hands on either side of her head to avoid crushing her completely. Her eyes opened slowly and they were met with the bluest eyes she had ever seen. His face had 'sorry' written all over it. He leaned back helping her sit up as he sat on his knees.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to get in your way", Chrissy apologised. She looked at the man in front of her and he seemed to not have heard her.

"Are you okay?"He asked when she opened her mouth again. She closed her mouth, going over what he asked in her head. She nodded.

"I'm okay, I think. I don't feel like I'm hurt. I'm so sorry for getting in your way", she repeated. She stood up and leaned down, holding her hand down to him. He smiled and grasped her hand, letting her feel like she helped him up. In reality, he could have pulled her right back down. She seemed to realise who he was then and her eyes widened.

"Oh! Mr. Collins, I'm so sorry! I didn't recognize you, I uhm...I'll just leave you be", she said seeming to freak out. She turned on her heel and quickly jogged off, leaving a stunned man standing there. He stretched his legs quickly and jogged after, easily catching up. She was going a bit faster than a power walk. She didn't seem to notice him as she continued jogging, her breathing soft. He saw the biker ahead of them, but he noticed she hadn't noticed him as she turned to look at Misha. Her eyes widened and he quickly lunged at her, pushing her out of the way of the biker, and for the second time that day, Chrissy found herself on her back under the blue-eyed man.

"I'm sorry", she said with a flinch. He frowned and stood, helping her onto her feet. She flinched again and that's when he realised she was hurt this time.

"Are you okay? What happened?" He asked. He felt so unintelligent in that moment, he is the reason she got hurt and he had the bright idea to ask her what happened. It wasn't until she spoke to him that he broke out of his train of thought.

"I think I may have sprained my ankle", she said as she sat up. She went to walk to the bench but she limped mostly. He walked up behind her, putting a hand on her lower back to steady her.

"Let me take a look at it", he said as he helped her sit on the bench. He kneeled in front of her taking her ankle in his hands. He untied her shoe and pulled it off as carefully as he could. She was wearing black socks with blue polka dots on them. They were ankle socks so he wouldn't have take them off as he looked at her ankle. Sure enough, it was a sprain. It was swelling a bit. He looked up at her and she was watching him, her brown eyes curious.

"It is a sprain, but you should take it easy", he said. He eased her shoe back onto her foot and retied it for her. He stood and offered his hand to her, smiling when she took it. She stood and then tried walking when her ankle gave out on her, and sent her tumbling into him. He caught her around her waist and he heard a soft whimper. He took her arms and wrapped them around his neck as he picked her up bridal style. Her noise of protest died in her throat when her eyes locked with his, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.