Until We Meet Again

26

"Subway," he shakes his head, "of all things you could've picked you picked Subway."

I look at him like he just committed murder, "Are you telling me you don't like Subway?" 

He looks at me, takes in my surprised look, and then glances at the building. His face turns a bright shade of red. "Uh," he gives me a small smile, "I mean it's not my favorite." 

I take that as his nice way of saying no he didn't like it. I shake my head, getting out of the car. "You are one weird kid." 

"Not as weird as you," he mumbles under his breath. 

I ignore his little comment, leading the way into Subway. Ah, I take in the smell of freshly baked bread and steaming meatballs, this is why I love this place. Their meatball sub has to be my favorite thing ever. 

"So what do you get when you're here?" I ask him as I take my place behind some dude dressed up in a suit, who the heck wears a suit in eighty-degree weather. 

"Well when I do eat here, I usually just get a turkey sub." He's looking at the menu hanging on the wall when I turn around. 

"A turkey sub?" I raise an eyebrow at him, "really that's all you get?" 

He nods his head, not getting my point. I shake my head, letting out a chuckle. "You have a long way to go," I place a hand on his shoulder without thinking. He looks at my hand and then back up at me, his cheeks red. I can see him take a huge swallow and his eyes staring a hole into me. I remove my hand, watching as he returns to normal. 

"Hey, is he bothering you?" An all too familiar voice comes from behind me. 

I close my eyes, not wanting this to be real. I can't be running into him this early, I plead to the universe for it to not be him as I turn around slowly. My eyes slowly open, taking in the familiar blue eyes. 

"Alex?" His eyes go wide at the sight of me. Trust me, I know how you feel. 

I give him a nervous smile, "Hi." 

"Hi." 

I can feel the awkward tension between us, jumping back and forth. This has got to be the most awkward I have felt since coming to this place. 

"So, do you two know each other?" Austin breaks the silence. He's moved into space between us. He looks back and forth between us, obviously sensing something. 

"Austin meet my ex," I mutter. I didn't even know if it was registerable but Austin lets me know that he head it clearly as his eyes go wide and he looks at Ethan. Ethan smiles at him, looking him up and down. 

"Hi, I'm Ethan." 

Austin looks at me and then back at him. Don't you do it, I warn him inside my head. Don't you dare shake his hand! I watch intently as Austin continues to stare at Ethan's hand. The longer he stares, the more uncomfortable it's getting. Then Austin surprises me by leaning towards me and whispering in my ear. 

"Hey, you want to get out of here?"  

I nod my head, and Austin grabs my hand, surprising me even more. I let him lead me out of the building and to the car. I thought I was ready to see him, but by seeing him I opened up so many feelings I had once buried. I don't even notice as Austin buckles me in, and drives us back to the dorm. He shuts the car off and just sits there. I can tell he's wanting to ask questions but is holding himself back. So, we just sit there in silence for what feels like hours. I look at the window, not looking outside or anything at all. I can hear him in the distance unbuckle and get out of the car. A minute later he's at my door, opening it and helping me out of the car. I didn't ask for his help, some part of me didn't want his help but I was grateful he gave it. I let him lead me into the building and up the stairs to our room. My eyes look at nothing in particular as he unlocks the door. Why did I put myself through this? 

He pulls me into the room and leads me to his bed since it was the only one clear of stuff. I climb under the covers without thinking of what I was doing. He sits on top of the covers, not saying a single word. I don't know why I did it but I scoot closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. He doesn't argue but instead starts to rake his fingers through my hair. The feeling was comforting and allowed some kind of peace to creep back in. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. 

Thank you Austin, I don't know if I said it out loud or in my head, but I didn't have the strength to care.