To Be Young And In Love In New York City

Chapter 13: "Mr. Grumpy Pants"

The moment the warm New York sunshine hit River, his entire body relaxed. Pulling up the window, he stuck his head out-just a little-and melted into the sun's warmth. Weeks of stress wore off instantly, and the tension he didn't know was built up in his forehead ceased.

A cool breeze followed, making his hair fly and tingling his ears. Standing in Colette's bedroom, he felt at peace. Just like at Central Park, eating a sandwich with Colette, he felt serene.

The pain caused by his father's words had not gone away, nor did it make any effort in trying to. It had lessened, of course, time had an interesting way of achieving that, but its stains remained on his heart.

After the night of Dery's event, for the first time in his life, it wasn't anger he felt, rather loss. Loss of a childhood that could've been delightful had his parents not turned him into their puppet, loss of a brother who would've been just that-a brother-and not a competition, loss of parents who should've only been his parents, but were everything but.

His heart stung a little. Inhaling deeply, he let go of the thoughts.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning, they were hours away from making it to the woods and camping, hours away from two days of nothing but fun, and he wasn't going to let anyone or any thoughts ruin it for him. Instead, he was going to focus on something-or someone-that felt special to him.

Bringing his head inside, he turned around to face Colette, lying lazily across her bed, engulfed in her white sheets, lost in her dreams and to the world.

A smile appeared on River's face.

Colette Savannah Gracie Abernathy. Or was it Gracie Savannah? He never knew.

What a stupid name it was. But it belonged to her, so it was special.

From the day he met her at the writing session to then, a lot had changed. Even how he felt about her. She was intriguing, and funny at first but she didn't make his heart skip a beat as it did at the moment. When it had changed, he didn't know, but he was glad it did. The universe had taken away his family from him but gave him something that was far better than all three of them combined and it was her, Colette.

From attending the writing session together, to showing her his secret hiding place in a coffee shop, to asking her to accompany him to the event and her agreeing even though she barely knew him, to being there for him when his family hurt him and stealing a cupcake for him, to having lunch with him and the Korean family, getting ice cream together, offering a loan for the restaurant, watching a horror movie, working for weeks to bring the restaurant to life, going shopping to buy decor and supplies, cooking, making a mess of her kitchen, fighting and then apologising, going to the MET, having lunch at the Central Park and also having their almost-kiss and to finally, going on a date, she had done a lot for and with him.

And, he was grateful. Grateful that he had met someone who made his pain more bearable, made him laugh, made him want to tease her to make her laugh, did fun things with him and was always there for him.

The date was a success, but was she willing to take it further? He had to find out, but before that, he had to wake her up, and that's what he did.

"Colette?" He gently shook her shoulders. "Colette, come on, it's time to wake up."

Her instant reaction was to groan and bury herself in her pillows, the faint smell of her shampoo clinging to them filling her nostrils.

"Colette, come on. If you don't get up now, we won't make it on time." Not that it mattered to her.

"No. I want to sleep."

"You can sleep in the car. Come on now, please wake up."

"No, go away."