What's Better Than E?

■56 - I Owe You Three Apologies■

Ethan laughed hearing her call him "Bob". On any other day, he would have cringed so bad but coming from Laurel, he liked to be called Bob. However, he would never admit it out loud to her.

He saw her wide grin and immediately felt at ease, forgetting all about his nervousness. He felt better. So much better. "I… wanted to surprise you," he replied, keeping the "apology" part for later on.

"Oh?" She arched an inquisitive brow at him.

"Yeah…" He trailed off unsurely. "Anyway, you… up for a walk?"

Laurel didn't miss the hesitance in his voice and so she nodded her head. As much as she was sarcastic and bold while chatting, she was quite the opposite in person, especially if it involved someone she had never talked to before.

As they were walking side by side in silence, Ethan noticed how quiet she was. He sensed that she was feeling awkward with the way her head was hung low and her hands were stuffed in her pockets while she kicked some lone pebbles here and there. It was an endearing sight, if he was being honest.

A gentle smile formed on his lips before he looked away. What was even more aggravating was that he could feel his face getting warm.

"You were there in the park that day, weren't you?" She asked him after moments of walking with no words exchanged between them.

"What?" Ethan asked, taken aback.

"Your cap," she said, pointing a finger toward his baseball cap with a blank face. "It gave you away. Oh, and the rose too… I guess."

"Wha… how?" He asked her with a furrow between his brows.

"Well, I thought that I might be wrong when I saw the rose in your hand but I am pretty sure that you were wearing this same black Adidas cap. Besides, I did get a view of your brown hair from behind and I had seen you throwing away the bouquet of flowers," she replied, shrugging but she felt bad that he had lied to her. It was as if he didn't even want to see her after seeing her.

Ethan cleared his throat and nodded. He felt too mortified to utter a response. The rose in his hand suddenly felt heavy and he didn't know if he should give it to her or not. It was as if the invisible thorns were starting to prick his fingers.

"Is that rose for me?" She asked him confidently after seeing the ashen look on his face and his fingers fidgeting with the rose.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Yeah, it's for you." He held out the rose for her with a blinking hope and it soared further when she accepted it with a cute smile.

"Thank you, Bob," she teased him to loosen up the tension in the air and it seemed to have worked when she heard him chuckling again.

"I hope you do know that I don't like to be called Bob, you witchy Pixie," he joked, loving the fact that she was lightening up the mood. He was exhilarated when she laughed at his words. It was a beautiful sound to hear and he smiled to himself.

"Yeah, right. I thought you were over your "don't call me Bob" phase. And you don't want me to call you Bobby eith-"

"Okay, please. As if that's supposed to be any better. Bobby is like the worst!" He whined, rolling his eyes.

Laurel just smirked at him when her eyes fell on the same park they were to meet at a few weeks ago. Ethan followed her gaze and sighed internally. He was about to suggest going somewhere else when she looked up at him. "Wanna go in there?"

He didn't have the heart to decline her request because she was looking up at him with such hopeful eyes that he said, "Sure."

After a few minutes of just walking around aimlessly in the park, they found a secluded spot and sat down. It was a different one than when Laurel was sitting at the last time. She sat cross legged on the grassy patch and stared at her fingers.