CAPTURE THIS (Updating regularly)

Chapter 11

No one said anything when Alex got into the car. Without looking at Amber, he turned on the engine and twiddled with the controls until the car exhaled a pleasant gust of warm air. Amber shivered as it met her cold skin. 

"You'll be warm soon," Alex commented, staring down into his lap. 

Amber nodded, not knowing quite what to say. She shifted in her seat to get a better position in front of the heating. 

"I... I felt needed to talk," Alex told her hesitantly, shifting in his own seat so that he could face her. "When we met in the forest, I never would have guessed you were still in school. When you mentioned classes, I thought you were talking about university, not sixth form... never sixth form." 

Amber felt her heart sink to her stomach as she heard the desperation in his voice to have her believe him. "It never occurred to me that you would be sixth form teacher. I thought you taught art classes to adults." 

Alex sighed and ran a hand though his neat hair, allowing the unruly strands he had brushed back to come free. "I just wanted us to talk about what we're going to do from here but I didn't think it would be this hard." 

Amber laughed humourlessly to herself. "Talking about it seems harder than just pretending like we don't know each other in class."

His eyes slowly slide up to find her own. "But I do know you. I feel like I know you better than some of the closest people in my life Amber. I really don't want to lose that."

Her breath caught in her throat as she fell into the pools of his steel blue eyes. "I know we've only known each other for a few weeks but I don't want whatever it was that we were doing to end."

"Whatever it was that we were doing," he repeatedly slowly with a shadow of a smile etched on his face. "What were we doing? We weren't dating, that's for sure." 

His boldness in his choice of words startled Amber and she dropped her gaze f

rom his. "We were just getting to know each other."

It was a loaded sentence. Both of them knew full well that it was more than just learning about each other. They were on the verge of dating. They were tethering on that very fine line until they had run into each other in the classroom that Monday. 

"All I know is that I want to get to you some more, Amber," he commented quietly, gazing into her hair as she refused to look up at him. 

"I want to get to know you too," she mumbled as her cheeks matched the now humid temperature of the car. "We can be friends... nothing wrong with that, is there?" 

Alex knew that they would be breaking rules by just being friends but he nodded anyone, burying his conscience in the dark depths of his mind. "Right, friends."

They paused for a moment, digesting the conversation. Friends... Amber could handle that. She wouldn't have to ignore him any more. They could proceed as normal. 

"So, how about we get some coffee and pick up where we left off when you came over?" Alex suggested, transforming into the Alex that Amber was familiar with. 

Amber allowed herself to return his uneven smile and nodded. "I'd love that." 

***

Alex chose very small secluded coffee place on the outskirts of their town. They sat in a fairly shielded booth by one of the windows. Amber watched as Alex made their orders at the front of the shop. She absent-mindedly thought over the time they had spent together. From their first meeting in the forest to lunch in the poshest restaurant she had ever been to, to his apartment talking about his fake girlfriend, to having dinner with his cousins. Everything had been so easy with him. There was no worry of being seen together in their small town, no worry that that he would get fired just for having an innocent conversation with her. They were just able to enjoy each others' company. She missed not having to feel so uneasy around him. The tension in the car was enough to cut with a knife.