A cure to rust

Chapter 3 - Ride

(Arthur's POV)

The long ride to campus was awkward, filled with silence and made me and the other guy feel uneasy. How did this happen in the first place? I just needed to get my car repaired and now I'm hitching a ride with a guy that I don't even know. He might've been part of some gang and wanted to take my organs to sell, or hell even just a straight up murderer. Still, though, the silence was oddly comforting in a way that wasn't bad.

The silence felt uneasy, sure, but there really wasn't anything I could do. I was betting my life on him breaking the silence even if the chance was slim. Cedric was it? The guy seemed nice and all, knew his way around the city it seemed like. I could even hear his breathing with how damn silent this ride was. God, I just had to break the silence, but how exactly was the question.

"You said you were a med student right? How is it?" Cedric spoke, breaking the fuzz in my mind. I was so thankful that he did what seemed to be an impossible job for me.

"It's alright, I guess. Aside from the large stress on my shoulders, but I'm used to it already." I curtly replied, looking at him now. This was definitely a much better view than outside, almost getting red as I quickly turned back to the window

He must've caught me staring since he snickered. "Take a picture, it'll last you longer." Oh God, that was so cheesy but why did it make me feel like I had butterflies in my stomach? I just kept staring out the window, cheeks bright red and seeing his goofy grin from the reflection.

Cedric just turned the radio on, but I couldn't really focus on whatever was playing. The only thing I could think of was the fact that this Adonis was teasing me. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, now hearing the department store ad that was playing on the radio. I was still bright red of course, but it was fading as the time passed on. Screw blood and the fact that they could go up to your cheeks.

"Do you have a fever or something? You're looking a bit red." He teased, making the butterflies in my stomach go into overdrive and definitely made me feel worse.

"I- It's just." I tried to reply without making a fool out of myself. Really couldn't say that I was ogling at him, we just met for christ's sake.

He chuckled again, stopping the car in the campus parking lot outside. "I kid, I kid. We're here already." He said looking at me. "Call me when you're done, alright?" He said, using his hand to emulate a phone over his ear.

I didn't even notice we were here already since I was too preoccupied with him. I just nodded and shyly said my thanks, getting out of the car and waving him off as he drove away. I just tried to compose myself while looking at the ground in utter shame, taking more steps forward as I slowly looked up and seeing a certain girl with the flowing black hair tied up in a ponytail and fair skin that glistened. It was Amanda that was supposed to be waiting for me in the parking lot, her mouth agape. Fuck. I was not surviving today, wasn't I?

"Arthur fucking Roland who was that man you were with?" She asked, looking ecstatic more than disappointed. Her baby Arthur finally found a man and one that drove him to class at that.

"Just uh..." I needed to find an excuse and fast. The unfortunate timing was not appreciated and oh God was this a pain. "It's almost eleven so uh..." I replied, looking anxious as ever. Amanda just smirked, patting me on the back. "Don't you dare think we're done with this conversation young man, you are so telling me more later, now come on let's go already." Amanda said as she pretty much pushed me all the way to the lecture hall we were both in, quickly taking our seats, mine being a bit in the front while she sat next to me. The clock almost hit the 11 mark after a few minutes of students shuffling around. Professor Larson walked in through the door after a while, walking to the front and smiling at us as he started the lecture.

Normally I'd be fantasizing about the Doctor in front of us, but now it was definitely different. I was still staring at Dr Larson, but I was thinking of someone else. That Auburn hair and the fact that he smelt so good. Manly that made Axe body spray pale in comparison too. I just shook my head for what seemed like the 3rd time today since my mind kept on clouding up, taking my notes like the good student I was. Doctor Larson just kept on giving his lecture, his gaze looking over at us between topics, resting upon our area of the hall just a bit longer. It was a bit weird, but I assumed he just had something in his mind. He gulped something down, readjusting his tie and continued on.

The rest of the class was smooth sailing, happy with the amount of notes I had and the fact that Amanda kept her gaze at me most of the time as if she had something in her mind. It was about 3 pm by now and my legs already felt like hell. The students rushed out like getting out of class was their saving grace, I just stood, Amanda immediately grinning. I knew what she was thinking, and the 4 hour grace period I got didn't feel like it was enough.

"Outside in 10 minutes, we have a lot to talk about." She emphasized, turning a heel and leaving. I just sighed, gathering the rest of my things and realizing that I was almost one of the people left in the room, Doctor Larson almost leaving. I quickly bolted as soon as I zipped my bag up, heading outside to find Amanda. I headed out the main building and out into the courtyard, seeing Amanda right there waiting with a wide grin.

"Hey." She spoke in some sort of condescending voice. "Don't think you're safe yet. I need all the details, mister." Oh God why. I sighed, deciding to be honest since I didn't really have a choice with Amanda, did I.

"Just..." I groaned, not really wanting to talk about it since Cedric was already the one in his mind for the whole class earlier. "My car broke down and he was the mechanic that came by. Offered to take me here since I was in a rush and gave me his number to call him after so he could finally fix up my car's bark plugs or something."

"Spark plugs." She corrected. "Wait, you have his number?!" She said, looking amazed. Holy shit was she amazed.

"Yeah yeah. I just need to get home and finally call him to get my car fixed. Nothing else, he's just there to fix my car, okay?" I said, dread setting down on me. Just my mechanic? Yeah. Nothing else.

"Alright then, but don't blame me if he asks you out or something. I'll drive you home." Amanda said, the smirk lingering as she took her keys and lead me to the parking lot. The courtyard wasn't that far of a walking distance away from the parking lot, but we passed by some other side buildings on the way to the outside parking lot.

Some other students were hanging out in the gravel lot, some sitting on the trunks of their cars, while some just hanging out in general. We were almost in the vicinity of Amanda's car until a grey pickup truck almost cut us off. Amanda cursed under her breath, livid that this guy almost run us both over. The truck parked nearby, a person getting off. The one and only... Cedric. Fuck. Why the hell was he here? Amanda's mood switched from hell fury to being absolutely cocky.

"Cedric?" I asked, looking at him through the window. "Why are you here?"

He looked at me from the window, a bit relieved. "I realized you didn't have your car, so I decided to just pick you up when I was done with work."

"Well, it looks like you found your ride." Amanda said, slipping away. Nice. She left me here.

"Well do you wanna go, or do you have anything else to do?" He asked. I could really just look at his face, which let me see his freckles. They added more charm to him.

"I really don't have anything else to do so let's go then." I nodded, Cedric turning and leading me to his pickup truck. He only wore a black tank top and green overalls that weren't on his shoulders anymore but were just draped over the pants. The pant legs were rolled up to reveal his work boots. He opened the door for me, closing it once I got in which gave me some time to look around. This was definitely a different truck from the one earlier since it looked less dirty and less worn. Was it his? Cedric soon got in on the driver's seat, staring at me for a while. "Better buckle up." He said before turning back. What a tease... We just drove off after I put on my seatbelt, a slight smile growing on his face as we did.

(That concludes this chapter! Probably a bit of spice next chapter, no one knows.)