My Autumn with April

Nine

~Elliott~

I hadn't seen someone move as quickly as April did on Friday night. It made me think it was a bad idea. Not kissing her. I don't think it'd be a bad thing to taste April. I just think right there, with everything going on around us, with her wiping blood off my skin. She was so fucking soft under my hand though. I could feel her heat pounding against my fingertips and even now, the pulse is still vibrating through me. So fucking fast it was making my own follow suit. 

I have never wanted to seize a moment like I wanted to seize that one. To put my other hand on the other side of her face and kiss her right there. Eventually pull her up onto my lap and slide my tongue into her mouth, listen to her breathing deepen and pull her closer on my thighs. 

"Elliott?" I blinked quickly, looking down at the 15 year old stood in her apron. I'd completely forgotten what I came back here for. 

"Sorry Harper. What were you saying?" 

"We needed change." 

"Change. Right." I pointed at her. "I'm on it. Anything else?" 

"April was just in. Got some raspberry ripple, some-" 

"Brownie peanut butter?" Harper nodded. "Any mint?" 

"No."

"Can you box me some up whilst I grab your change? I'll catch up with her." Harper nodded, turning and going back out to the front of the store. I grabbed the change Harper needed and came back out, emptying the bags into her till and taking the polystyrene box out the shop. I know that Autumn hadn't left the B&B this week and the chances of her having ventured far were slim to none. So I headed that way, hoping my morning runs were enough to catch up with April's speed walking. 

It didn't take long. Like I thought, she'd only just reached the edge of the pier and was carrying straight along the boardwalk. Her hair pulled into some fancy - thing- at the back. 

"Police called-" April snapped her head to me as I managed to catch up, holding her fast pace without a struggle. "Apparently someone left the shop without their favourite ice cream and it was so despicable they made it a new law." 

"What, you have to buy your favourite ice cream even if you don't want any?" 

"Mhm." 

"Pretty rubbish rule."

"Yeah, but I didn't want you getting arrested so I righted the wrong." I held up the ice cream tub and April fell to an abrupt stop. 

"I did-" 

"I haven't seen you around town this week. How's it been?" 

"I didn't want the ice cream Elliott."

"You're a terrible liar." April crossed her arms at me. "Just take the ice cream, Love." 

"No." 

"Fine." I shrugged and started walking towards the B&B. If she wasn't going to take it from me then I'd sit with her until she either told me what was wrong or gave in to telling herself she didn't want the damn ice cream. 

"Where are you going?" 

"B&B. You've got Autumn's and Maya's ice creams and I'm guessing they still haven't ventured that far outside of either Autumn's bedroom or the library or at a push, the beach. Figured I'd tell them you refused the ice cream and see if they thought it was weird too." 

"It's not weird that I don't want some ice cream." Except the fact that it was. April's favourite things were in this order. Her third favourite thing in the world was the smell of freshly baked bread. Her second favourite was specifically pumpkin spiced lattes made by Maya. No one else had ever quite done it right. Her favourite thing in the world was ice cream. This ice cream in my hand. Baking didn't even cut the top 3, the whole fall season didn't even make the top 5.  But this ice cream? She once told me she'd sell her soul to the devil and never eat another thing ever again if she could exist solely on this ice cream. "Elliott. It's not weird." 

"If you say so." 

"I just don't want any ice cream." 

"Hm." She grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop and forcing me to look at her too perfect face. 

"Take it back to the shop." 

"Or I could fol-" 

"I don't want the fucking ice cream!" I smiled and watching her scowl get more intense as her face turned red had to be one of my favourite things. She's too cute when she's mad. It's like when a tiny puppy gets frustrated with it's toy.

"This isn't about ice cream so what's going on?" 

"Why does something need to be going on because I don't want ice cream. You're pissing me off. There's a reason I didn't tell you I was stopping by. I wanted to grab Maya and Autumn some ice cream to cheer them both up. That's it. There's nothing else to it. I don't need ice cream to survive. I don't need it a few times a week. I went 5 years without the stuff and I don't need it now." 

"Hey, what-" She sighed, closing her eyes for a second before they looked up towards the direction of the B&B still a few minutes away. 

"You don't need to treat me differently because you feel sorry for me or whatever. You don't need to pity me. I'm fine." 

"Pity you? April, Love, what are you-" She scowled again, sticking her hand into the pocket of her shorts and swapping the box in my hand for the note. 

"There. I bought it. Keep the change as a tip. Bye." April walked off, upping her pace and practically running up towards the B&B. 

I don't understand what went wrong there. Pity her? I didn't pity her. There was nothing to pity. Sure she'd been dealt a shitty hand but April had worked her ass off to get herself where she was. That girl has a work ethic that only Autumn matches with her million jobs. I didn't treat her different, didn't feel sorry for her. 

Okay. So maybe I treated her a little differently but that's because she is different to me. She deserves to be treated correctly. She deserves to - to be loved and doted on for just existing. That girl is fucking perfect and shouldn't be treated in anyway less than so. 

But clearly whatever it was, she was pent up right now. So I took a breath, grabbed my phone from my pocket and did the only thing I could. 

Me
Hey Maya, just bumped into April
she's pissed about something but won't 
tell me what. Will you lemme know
when she leaves you guys later? 
I'll call around to hers and see her. 

Maya
Sure. If she tells us what it is, 
I'll let you know

Me
Thanks. You know how she is though, 
I doubt she'll tell anyone what's up. 

Maya
She's worse than Autumn sometimes
for bottling shit up. Seriously. Are we 
the only people on this island that
are open about their shit with their 
friends?

Me
Starting to think so yeah