Frost

16. December

"Summer."

Summer turned around behind the counter of her busy shop and looked at the person who called out her name. In front of a row of impatient customers, none other than Nick stood, looking at her remorsefully with baggy, bloodshot eyes. At least he had showered and put on some fresh clothes. However, the look on his face and the way he squinted his warm brown eyes in the harsh light told the tales of the massive hangover he was currently nursing.

"Nick," She hesitantly said, surprised to see him there. She hardly knew him, he was Jack's friend. What was he doing here? "What can I do for you?"

"Well, if you could be kind enough to accept my sincerest apologies for last night..." He started out and pulled a little grimace. "I think I might have gotten somewhat drunk and said some things I probably shouldn't. It's all a blur, but I remember your face being there and trying not to vomit in the back of a car. I'm assuming that was your car."

Summer tipped a little on her feet. "Uhm, yeah. It was."

"I'm truly sorry," He said and gave her an apologetic smile. He then sighed and looked down, ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

He was so handsome, Summer thought. Then how come she felt nothing? Sure, she felt warm around him, but not in any affectionate way. Just... friendly. Like he was an old friend she hadn't seen in a long time. He had that kind of aura around him.

"It's alright," She assured him and offered him a smile. "No harm done. Just maybe lay off the nog the next time."

He chuckled a little, but then winced, his head clearly pounding by the effort. "Yeah. That's probably not gonna happen, but I'll try to hit it easier next time."

"Are you two going to yap all day or can the line move along?" An impatient lady barked behind him.

"Hey, it's Christmas, take it easy," Nick barked back. "If you don't behave, Santa won't bring you any presents."

Summer hid her smile behind her hand when the customer got a sour expression on her face and looked at Nick like he was crazy. She couldn't blame her.

"Anyway, where was I?" Nick continued and turned back to Summer. "Oh, right. I need to talk to you about Jack." He said more seriously.

Summer froze up for a second. The look on Nick's face told her it was something important. She therefore gave him a brief nod. "Uh... alright... hold on a second then. My colleague Andrea is just bussing some tables. I'll call her up and tell her to man the desk for a few minutes."

"If you're too busy, it can wait till you get off," Nick offered, but Summer shook her head.

"It's okay," She said and gave him another quick smile. "Just give me a minute, I'll be right there. Why don't you find a table?"

Nick found a seat while Summer called up Andrea. She told her she was taking her break early so she could talk to Nick. Andrea was her back-up worker if any of them got sick longterm. In truth, she was just one of Bev's friends who had volunteered to work there to earn some extra money if they ever needed a hand. Summer had gladly accepted. The more the merrier, right?

After a minute or two, her and Nick were sitting opposite each other at one of her tables inside the shop by the window. The sky was quiet today, but snow coated the streets outside. It was chilly and the wind nibbled, told the tales of the cold night that would follow. Summer had therefore poured them both a cuppa' joe on the house to ward off the cold. After all, Nick didn't seem to have the same cold-resistance as Jack.

"It's cold as balls out there," He told as he rubbed his hands together to generate some warmth. "I never did like the cold, but like Christmas, it has to come each year."

"I wish it wouldn't..." Summer silently muttered and sipped her coffee.

"The cold or Christmas?"

"Oh, I don't mind Christmas, it's just the cold that bothers me."

"Because of what happened to your parents?"

Summer's eyes flipped up to Nick and found him staring at her. "Excuse me?"

"Jack told me some," Nick carefully said. "I hope you don't mind. He only told me because he was worried about you."

"Worried?" Summer echoed and pursed her lips. She somehow felt like he had lost the right to care about her when he ended things between them
abruptly and without a better explanation that 'he didn't have time for her problems', like she was some car he didn't have the time to repair. "I thought you said you wanted to talk about Jack, not me."

"I do, but this has to do with you, too," Nick told and sighed. He looked at his coffee for a moment, then continued, "Jack is... special." Summer could agree with him on that. "When he first met you, he saw a sad soul he wanted to cheer up. When he found out he couldn't, it brought him down; He felt like he had let you down."

"Did he ask you to come here and tell me this?"

"No, I came here on my own initiative. He'd probably whack me with his cane if he knew I was here doing this," He said and chuckled to himself, shaking his head.

"So why are you?" Summer asked. Was he hoping he could fix them up again? Because as far as that went, she believed the ship had sailed. It was a ship that was never supposed to sail in the first place. Looking back now, she saw how stupid it was, what they had started. 'I want to keep you warm.' How silly and juvenile.

"Because, somehow we started out with one broken person and now we have two," Nick said and watched her closely. He tilted his head slightly to the side when Summer looked down. "Now ain't that a shame during such a merry time?"

Summer pursed her lips a little. He had a point, but what was she supposed to do? Jack didn't want anything to do with her and she didn't want his explanations. He had ended it and therefore it was better for her if she moved on as well. "I'm sorry. I can't. My break is over now," She told and stood up in a rush. A lump had formed in her throat. "I'll see you around, Nick."

"Summer," He said and stood up when she was about to rush off. Hesitantly, she turned her head around and looked at him. "The coffee was delicious."

For some reason, Summer felt like crying. Instead of replying, she simply gave him a nod, then turned and walked away.

• • •

I write most of these chapters on sleep deprivation, by the way. I hope they make somewhat sense and don't totally suck.