Fallen

Chapter Five

Blaine and I spent the next few weeks meeting at the café for lunch. He'd bring The Book Thief and I'd bring Dracula and we'd take up the half an hour discussing the books and chatting with each other about anything and everything. It was the time in my day that I looked forward to the most. Each time Blaine smiled or brushed his hand against mine on the table it elicited a wild excitement in me that I'd not experienced before. By spending so much time together, there was something I noticed more and more each time we met up. Blaine was a very private person. When I'd bring up his friends or his job, a part of him would disappear. His smile would fade or his body language would go cold. Just for a moment, but it was enough for me to pick up on. In a way, I understood. His job was tough and he'd sometimes say that he'd seen things very few people had seen. He didn't want to dwell on it, and I certainly didn't want to make him. So his job became a topic we rarely talked about, but we made up for it with lots of other things. We clicked and it was something we'd both started to admit to.

As my break neared one morning, I expected Blaine to walk in and order his usual lunch. I took little notice of the group of people coming in and taking a seat at one of the booths opposite the counter. I went to clean down a table before they came up to order, but I stopped myself when a familiar pair of eyes met mine. Blaine was one of them in the group. He smiled at me and gave a small wave. I waved back and watched him say something to his friends before approaching the till.

"Hey, you," he said, elbows resting on the counter.

"Hey." I smiled. "What can I get you?"

"Two Americanos, a mocha and my usual pot of tea please."

"Sure. Do you want me to bring it to the table?"

Blaine glanced over his shoulder to his friends. "It's alright, I can take them."

"It's okay. I don't mind meeting your friends."

"You sure?"

I nodded. Blaine bit his lip and drummed his fingers on the table.

"Alright. I'll see you in a second."

Danielle had just finished her break and helped me make the drinks. She winked at me as I picked up the tray and approached the table. My heart was thumping with nerves and I did everything I could to make sure I didn't spill any of the drinks. I let out a quiet sigh of relief as I placed the tray on the surface and looked up to meet the eyes of Blaine's friends.

Two guys and a girl sat around the table with him. One of his friends with floppy brown hair and fashionable large-framed glasses had his arm draped around the girl's shoulder. She flicked back her dark brown hair and smiled at me. Blaine's other friend had jet black hair and two arms covered in colourful graffiti-style tattoos. Blaine was smiling at me from ear to ear which soon caught the attention of his friends.

The floppy-haired friend nudged Blaine roughly in the side, glancing at me and then back to him. "Now I know why Blaine suggested this place for lunch."

Blaine shot him a glare and soon the guy grunted and began rubbing his leg under the table after Blaine kicked him.

"Anna, I'd like you to meet my friends and roommates. This is Jason."

Jason outstretched his colourful arm and offered me his hand to shake.

"It's nice to meet you, love."

"This is Maria."

I shook her hand too before my eyes fell onto the final friend. He had stopped rubbing his leg at this point.