A Twist Of Fate (PREVIOUSLY A Purple Garden)

Chapter 9

"It's German roast," Lucas explained as he placed the steaming mug in front of Sydney.

Looking around at the small apartment, he watched her observe the mostly bare spaces that he had to fill with things. "You have a nice place. It's so clean and neat. It honestly looks untouched."

"I literally just moved in," he chuckled. "I haven't really been here long enough to break the place in yet."

She leaned toward the cup to smell it and then leaned back, making a face. "It smells strong."

He smiled as he took a seat in the chair across the small kitchen table from where Sydney sat. "It is," he agreed with a light laugh. "It's supposed to be."

Swallowing the mouthful of coffee in her mouth, her face twisted from the bitter taste. "Do you always drink it this way?"

Amused, he laughed as he watched her face. He shook his head. "No. But with all the stuff you were saying, I thought that you needed it that way to sober you up."

Looking at the mug and away from him, she took a deep breath and pushed the cup forward a few inches. "I told you, I wasn't drunk. I was tipsy. I'm gonna remember everything I said." She paused, looking up at him as their eyes met across the small table. "Lucas, I meant everything I said."

He stared back at her, biting his lip as he watched the desire in her eyes.

"I really, really liked you," she told him again, her voice barely a whisper.

He hesitated before exhaling. Moving his gaze down and to the table, he watched the steam roll off his mug. "Syd, I was crazy about you," he confessed quietly. Lifting his head up, he met her surprised eyes before looking back down at the table.

He hesitated for a moment, giving her the chance to fill the silence but she remained quiet. He had spent years wishing he had said something when he had the chance. And finally, right here right now he had that chance. He wasn't gonna waste it.

"I loved being around you," he began quietly. He closed his eyes as he tried to calm his nerves. "I loved the sound of your voice. Simply seeing you made every day a thousand times better." With his finger, he thoughtfully traced small figures on the table as he spoke. "I thought of you as my best friend, for so many reasons because you were. You were the first person I wanted to tell everything to. You were the person I was always most excited to see everyday. I was always so comfortable with you that I knew I could tell you anything. I could trust you with anything."

He sighed softly before continuing. "I didn't understand what it was we had at the time but I loved it."

Moving his eyes to where she still sat at the end of the table, he watched her carefully. Even in the dim lighting that poured in from the light above the stove, he could clearly see the blush on her cheeks. "And then there was the time we kissed, when everything truly shifted, and I remember thinking in that moment that that was it. I thought about that for the longest time. I read so much into it. More than anything though, I remember the torment that followed me afterwards." He paused as he ran a hand through his hair. "But it was worth it and I would've done it again," he said in one breath.

She stared back at him. "I had no idea you felt that way."

He found that hard to believe but at the same time, he had convinced himself that she hadn't felt anything towards him either. "If you had known then, what would it have changed?"

Her expression softened. "It could have changed everything."

"I think that's what I was afraid of," he said, looking away. "I was afraid of losing what we had in case you didn't feel the same way. I was confident you didn't feel the same way."