I sat there, not knowing what or how I was supposed to react. Somehow, I found the mouth to say, "Shop was just about to close."

"Didn't seem like it," he stared at the glass in my hand as if judging my choice. "I didn't know you loved coffee. That explains your amazing smell, I guess."

"What are you doing here?" Now that was not the right way to answer a compliment but at this stage, I didn't care. Sure, he hadn't been a backstabber in the way Sandra had put it. But he was a backstabber anyway, telling me things about Sandra I was sure he hadn't told her.

He took off his jacket and hung it on the chair opposite me, then he grabbed the chair and sat down. "I figured it's weird you miss school so I thought maybe it's your leg, but apparently you're here. Care to explain?"

I chewed the last little of my doughnut, stood and turned around. "Welcome to Mister Pat's, what can I get you?"

He chuckled and shook his head. I kept my lips pressed not stifling at least a laugh. He stood up and walked toward me and I took in his orange scent. "I didn't come here to be served by you, Emery. Just wanted us to talk."

"If you don't want anything, please leave. I need to close and go see my mum." I turned off the light in the coffee shop as well as the main switch that controlled the three fans on three sides of the room. Now it was just the jalousie providing the right source of air. I proceeded to close them too.

He grabbed my hand and spun me. I flinched my hands away. "Emery, what's with the attitude lately?" There was a dirt stain on his sweatshirt. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No. I'm sorry if you think I'm acting weird. I didn't mean that." There was a noise outside, and a chilly breeze rushed in. The hem of my dress blew and so did King's jacket, resting against the chair.

"We should get out of here before it begins to rain," I said and close the door.

"We could stay and chat. There's no escaping the rain in any way," he countered. "Listen can we talk, please? What happened there in the corridor, I really don't understand why you reacted that way."

"I said I'm sorry, okay?" I could hear the spattering of rain on wood, the breeze was even more chilling. I stared at my shoe, a bit embarrassed to explain myself. "I thought you had lied to me about the whole part event, and all, I don't know. I guess... I guess I just got mad because-"

"Because we're getting close?"

I looked at him. "Excuse me?"

"Please tell me I'm not the only one feeling this, Em. I like you. Like, like-like you." He inched forward and took my hands in his. My dress followed the direction of the wind, dancing around.

There it was - things that I had thought of, something I had imagined doing with King. Slowly, he'd take my hands in his or tuck my hair behind my ears, he'd tell me how much he loved me and then we'd kiss.

Now? It all felt wrong. Kimberly's words were floating around: King and Sandra are the closest things I've seen... Everyone knew that. They were together, most times, pretty.

Of course, I'd lied to Kimberly when I said I didn't know what Sandra was getting all jealous about. She liked him, for a long time now, breezily expecting King to throw her the 'will you be my girlfriend?' question.

Yet, here he was, telling me he liked-liked and holding my hands in his. King stepped forward and leaned down slightly so that our faces were on the same level.

"Do you feel the same way?"

His eyes stared at my lips pleadingly. I stared at him, I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. It was erratic. The rain splattered even heavier.

He tilted his head and leaned closer to me. Our noses were centimetres away from each other. His lips were there, I could just kiss them.

"No." I pulled back and let go of his hand. This felt too wrong; King had to know that Sandra loved him, right? "I... I don't feel the same way."

If only my words were true. "Go date Sandra. And please, leave the shop, now."

My phone rang as if it knew I was in dire need of any form of distraction. It rang through my purse, cutting the silence in the shop which was surrounded by the noise of rain and the whoosh of the breeze.

Mum displayed on the screen. I accepted the call, held the phone between my right hand and ear and began to close the windows. "Hey, mum."

She talked about a lot of things; surely mentioning how worried she was when I didn't come home last night until Rowan informed her that I was having a sleepover at Sandra's house. I did need to thank Rowan, truly.

"I'm sorry mum, didn't mean to scare you. I'll tell you next time before making any plans."

Then she told me she was going to stay a few more hours at dad's, to see if the rain would stop. I hummed and nodded, turning off the main light. I headed into the kitchen to get the key-it was on the refrigerator-and when I got back out, King had gone, him and his jacket. I sighed, downed the coffee in a go, headed back to the kitchen and placed it in the sink.

Francesca would wash it later, I guess.

"Sure. It's okay. How's dad and Gianna, Jayden, Quinn?"

"They're all fine."

"Nora?"

"She's enjoying the company she gets and she's happy. Even better now. She has a lot of better companies now, in and out of school. She's here now too, would you like to speak to her?"

Could I say no to the person who filled me with excitement?

I walked out of the shop and locked it, all while speaking to Nora. She told me all about her new school and her friends and all the fun activities she enjoyed. I stood at the brick-floored entryway of the shop, below the roof, so I wouldn't get soaked by the rain, while I waited for a taxi to get by.

One did, thankfully, and I told him my address, got in and he made his way to my house. I kept talking to Nora hoping it would get my mind off things.

But the way King held my hands and interlocked our similar eyes, the way his lips looked oh-so-soft and tempting, how sweet and protective his big pale hands holding mine seemed, the way his 5'9'' body thoughtfully leaned to meet my petite body, wouldn't stop running across my mind.

It was like my heart was mocking me for rejecting such a wonderful opportunity with King Isnaul.

And then, somehow, dancing alongside King in my head, was Crypta Domroyante handing me a rose.

***

The rain got heavier by the time I got home. It was still a little before seven but it was dark outside. I shut my window, pulled down the curtain, put in my cosiest pair of purple pyjamas, turned off the light, turned on the fan, tucked myself in bed and got comfortable.

I was just about to enjoy the wonderful weather when, without an invite, my door swung open and Rowan walked in. I ignored him but no, Rowan pulled the blanket off me.

Was this punishment for everything I have been doing?

"Rowan!"

"What?"

"I was just about to sleep." I sat up. His dark hair was wet and looked untamed. "Can I help you?"

"Emery, we need to talk about you..."

"About me?"

"Yes," he sat on my bed so that my back was to him. He stared at the floor as if observing me. "Where did you spend the night at Emery? Don't lie to me."

"I already told you-"

"This is so unlike you, Emery." He sat there, avoiding all eye contact. "You never stay out, certainly not without informing anyone. And mum?"

"I thought I'd already apologized!" I shifted to go sit beside him. "And mum called, Rowan, I told her I was sorry. I mean, I'm home now, aren't I? Nothing's wrong with me."

"I just want to know where you've been, Em. Who you've been seeing. Her name? His name, anything?"

"I promise, Rowan, I'll tell you when I want to." He pressed my thigh and stared at me. I stared at his hand and the black mark on his skin. "For real, big brother. I promise."

He sighed and bent his head. "I'm going back to the university this Friday. Gotta get back, catch up on shit, might even stay there through the Easter I don't know. I guess... I guess I'll be back before Christmas or something."

That was good because then I wouldn't have to worry about his prying self. "That's good."

"Not exactly, Em. Nora's gone. She used to keep mum company, keep her happy and shit. If you're too busy doing... Whatever it is you're doing, staying out at night, mum is going to worry as hell..."

"I'm not going to let that happen-"

"Easier said than done..."

"But I mean it, truly." I glanced at the mark on his thumb in his left hand. "What exactly happened to you?"

"Hmm?"

I kept my eyes rooted to the burn. "Here?"

He retreated his hand from my thigh and clenched it. Releasing it, he let it fall between his two open legs. "It was a fire accident."

"I know, that was the much you told me." I laid back in bed, much more relaxed than before. "Want to know when, where, how?"

"Twelve years ago. In the kitchen. You were playing with the stove."

"I was playing with the stove?" My eyes shot up but I rested on my bed still.

"Yeah. You'd turned it and brought a wooden object close to it. I was coming down when I saw you freaking out. You were staring at something, you'd thrown a flammable object to Clark, caught his trouser on fire and..." He trailed off and stood up. I sighed.

"This is the perfect weather for some pretty good movies. You up, Em?"

"I'm not a fan of movies-"

"I'll put in some chick lit if that's going to get your arse up and out."

I rolled my eyes. "Is this some plot to spend time with me?"

"Maybe... We doing it?"

"Fuck yeah."

"Swearing, are we?"

"Hey... You're the one who's a bad influence." I chuckled and turned off my light and fan. "Let's go!"

Rowan had settled on the couch. He was going through the movies. "What kind of thing d'you wanna watch?"

I got out a wine from the fridge and two glasses from the shelf. The kitchen door was open and I could see the changing of light as he scanned the TV. I walked out with the wine. "Thought we were going with chick-lit?" I huffed. "Your stupid note is still on the worktop."

The lights in the living room were turned off and it was still raining, giving the area a chilly, homely feel.

"Cool, did you read it?" He finally settled on a movie. I was greeted with a black screen and a bloodred logo as it zoomed on the TV.

"Hope this isn't a violent-clad movie?"

"Maybe." I sat beside him and pushed myself to him. "Are you using me as a comfort?"

"Maybe." I pouted and rested on his shoulder. "Of course, I read your stupid note. King almost kissed me today."

"Shh. The movie's about to begin... Wait that skirt-chaser tried to kiss you-?!"

"Shh. The movie's about to begin," I threw back his words and made myself comfortable.

A man in a knight dress appeared on the TV. He reminded me of the guards of the royals. Without letting me off him, Rowan opened the wine and poured it into both glasses then took a sip from his glass. "You could have just brought me good alcohol, Em."

"I'm sure you'll catch up in the university. You and your girlfriend."

"We fucking will." He wrapped his left hand around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. "And I'll miss you."

And I knew, Rowan was the best thing I wanted to be close to forever. And I would miss him too.

.

Sorry I'm late. No excuse actually, just got caught up with other things unrelated. Don't forget to throw in a vote if you enjoyed this!