A Side Order of Fate

Chapter 5

Conrad

They ended up wandering the streets for a couple hours. There was plenty to see in their town, as old and small as it was, it had some great sights. The sunset over the river was one of Conrad’s favourite’s in particular.

It reminded him of sunnier days and campfires. Alex was a welcome addition to the little group, he thought. He made up for the lack of conversation between the two. Not that he ever expected a response.

Alex was the kind of person who could happily talk to himself or keep up a one sided conversation. Conrad and Ella walked idly by as Alex filled the empty air with happy chatter.

It was more than an hour before they got back to the diner. Alex waved goodbye to them and he went on his way to meet his parents for dinner. Conrad knew that he wasn't looking forward to the dinner. Alex's parents weren't his favourite people, Alex had always complained about how they wanted him to get into med school. He never had the marks to make it in and his parents were disappointed.

Alex didn't much like them, but Conrad would have happily traded them for his own. Neither of his parents cared for him. No matter what grade he came home with, even if it was a 96 percent, they'd always been angry. He'd worked so hard to keep his grades up and he even gotten a 99 percent for a final mark for a chemistry course.

What did they say? Not, 'Good job Con, we're so proud of you!' It was, in an uncaring and distant voice, 'What happened to the other one percent?'

Needless to say, he didn't care about them either. Alex's parents on the other hand were really great people. They wanted him to get into med school so he could make good money and earn a living for a future wife and kids. He'd take them over his own parents in a heartbeat.

"Conrad?" A voice interrupted his thoughts.

He looked up to see Ella staring intently at him, "Yeah?"

"I was just asking what your plans for this evening were."

Conrad cocked his head, he didn't really have any plans and he told her so. When Marie left him he'd been a bit of a recluse. He didn't quite know where he stood in the world, so he kept to himself, never getting out.

"If you want to come over, I'm making dinner for Mikey tonight, it's enough for three people." She shrugged.

He nodded, if he went home he'd end up ordering take out, which he hated. He had no experience whatsoever in cooking. He could barely make Kraft Dinner.

"Do you mind if we pick up Mikey first, though? School just ended for him and he hates walking by himself."

"That's fine," Conrad followed Ella and matched her pace. He felt his hand brush against hers, and a spark rolled through his body like an electric shock. Ella jolted away as if she’d been burned. He didn’t blame her, he didn’t much like himself either.

Ella

After dinner, they sat in the living room. Conrad got very quiet and distant, Ella was worried so she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Conrad jolted, “Hmm?”

Ella cocked her head at him, “You completely zoned out there. I asked if there was anything wrong.”

His face turned pained and his nostrils flared. “Your couch. It smells like lavender.”

Ella was taken aback, did he have something against lavender? His reaction seemed off as well, he got rather angry when he mentioned lavender. Ella loved the smell of lavender, she found it calming and it settled her nerves.

“No it’s just... She always smelled like lavender and it was overpowering. I grew to hate the smell. But this... This smells good. It’s just the right amount and it doesn’t smell gross. I don’t get it.”

She? Who was she? Oh, his girlfriend, Marie, maybe. Ella was still confused, his sentence didn’t make sense. It was jumbled together and sounded like the thoughts that ran around in her brain, not coherent and never a full sentence. She decided to drop the topic of lavender and forget what he had said, but she did ask, “Who’s she?”

Conrad stood and Ella watched his lean frame saunter, deflated, to the front window. She sat stone still, not wanting to make a noise, lest he get afraid and not share. She had to admit, she was curious and really wanted to know who Marie was.

“Her name was Marie. She was beautiful and I loved her so much. I should have been in the car the day she... If only I hadn’t been such a jackass and stuck her with my shift. I would’ve taken her place! I should have taken her place. Why can’t we go back in time, I should’ve been there. I should’ve been there.” He sunk to his knees and put his head in his hands.

Ella finally worked up the courage to go to him. She sat down beside him and pulled his hand away from his head, squeezing it with both of hers. She sat there with him for a long time, just being there for him. She felt like she was falling asleep when he turned and pulled her close to him. She rested her head in the crook of his neck and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He stroked her hair, and mumbled into it, “Why are you still here? Why do you still care?”

“I care.” She said simply, not answering his question directly, but also not averting it.

“I don't want to screw this up, too. I don’t want to lose this. Stay with me. Please.”

She nodded into his shoulder and pulled away slightly, to look at his face. Something was shining in his eyes, sadness and grief. But also hope, a new kind of hope that she hadn’t seen before.

He traced her face with his hand, and she closed her eyes and pressed into his warm hand. She kept her eyes closed when something other than his thumb pressed against her lips. She sunk into his kiss and smiled softly to herself against his lips, trailing her fingers lightly through his hair.

They stayed like that for a long time before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

Finally something happens. Woo! So do you think that he actually feels something towards Ella, or is it just grief and a way of getting out his feelings...? It's funny, cause on Word this was like four pages, but on Wattpad it's only one... That's annoying. Please, please, please comment and vote and fan! I love hearing your thoughts!!!

XxEmmy.

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." -Oscar Wilde