Frost

17. December

That very late Saturday evening was inventory count for Summer. She was officially closing it down for the holidays, so she wouldn't be back there again before Christmas was over. Hopefully. She needed a break. From all of it.

As she looked around in the darkness of her coffee shop, a note of nostalgia hit her. She thought back to when she first opened it. She had started it because... well, it was stupid actually. The one thing she always remembered her parents praising her for was how she made their Saturday afternoon coffee. She was just a child and maybe they were just being good parents telling her sweet things, but still. She remembered how she had felt whenever they sipped her coffee and both said that warming 'mmm'. It made her want to share that warmth with the rest of the world.

So there it was. The birth of her coffee shop, Summer's Coffee. A very unoriginal name, but that was truly all there was to it. Her coffee. It was all her, all over that coffee shop. It was all she had left in this world to truly wake up for; Coffee.

The irony was not lost on her. Summer shook her head a little and turned around to continue folding the cloths she had washed and cleaned. She made sure everything was in order before she left, so that when she returned, it would be all neat and orderly.

A chill all of a sudden went through her body, making her tremble. Not a moment later, she heard the door go. She thought she had locked it. Even though she didn't turn around, she knew exactly who walked through the door. Maybe that's why the room felt oddly cold, yet charged with electric heat.

"Can I help you with something?" She asked without looking at him.

She heard him blow out a small breath, then sigh. "How I wish you could."

She closed her eyes and swallowed her fears, then turned around and met his piercing blue eyes. They cut into her heart, especially because they held that look. The sad, but somehow cold look, like he was distancing himself from her, and it showed in his eyes.

She sucked up her emotions and hid them under her shirt instead of wearing them. "So what are you doing here then?"

Jack looked at her for a moment, but then as if coming to think better of it, he shook his head. "I guess I just wanted to stop by and... make sure you were okay."

She wasn't okay. Him coming here and asking her if she was okay was like all those songs, all those cliches; breaking her heart, then asking her if she was okay afterwards. It just seemed cruel.

"I'm not," She said, not bothering to lie. He pressed his lips tightly together as he heard her say it. "So now that you know, you can go. Please, Jack."

"Summer..."

"You were the one who ended it, who didn't want to see me anymore, so why are you still here?" She said and finally met his eyes when he looked at her. For two whole seconds, she drowned in those icy pools. Then she was shocked back to life when he looked away.

He was withdrawing, yet still coming back. Bipolar came to mind. Still, Summer felt as if there was something else. Something he wasn't saying.

Hell, his whole being was a mystery. She knew nothing about him and it had always bothered her. He didn't open up, not that he was supposed to, but what he was doing now, it made her think even more that he was hiding something from her. Something she already knew he would never tell her, but it was why he came back. Why he truly chose her that day in her coffee shop. She wasn't the only beautiful women there that morning and yet he still chose her.

Why?

She wasn't certain she wanted to know. Whatever it was, she didn't need to know. Except she did.

"I heard that Nick came by to talk to you."

Summer got pulled out of her thoughts when he suddenly spoke. She looked up at him again and found him still not meeting her gaze. Coward.

"He did," Summer curtly told. She gave him as much as she got.

"He talked about me, didn't he?"

"So what if he did?"

Jack gritted his teeth and met her eyes. "Damn it, Summer. What did he say about me?"

Should she tell him? That would be too kind, wouldn't it. What her and Nick talked about was innocent and frankly none of his business, yet she still wanted to see his reaction if she told him. Why did he care so much?

"He told me you're special," She said and eyed him out for a response. All she got was the same impassive face, but something by his jaw ticked. "And that you were worried about me."

"He was right about the last one," He confessed and looked at her again. After a moment of thought, he took a step closer. "I worry about you, Summer. Will you ever be warm again?"

She blinked perplexed when he kept coming closer. Summer? Warm? What did he mean? Why couldn't he just give a straight answer? "It's like I told you when we first met; I might be alone, but I'm not lonely, and who the fuck are you to judge me, Jack. Other than Nick, I don't see you running around with a posse of friends either. You're just as lonely as I am." Summer snapped, realizing how long she had kept that in.

Jack stopped up in front of her behind the counter and leaned his cane up against it. He seemed unfazed by her speech, but again, that nerve in his jaw ticked. "You're angry inside."

"No shit!" She barked. "You're just figuring that out now?"

"You need to let it out."

"The hell I do. Please leave, Jack. I don't want you here." She told truthfully. She didn't like how close they were standing. Emotional rollercoasters weren't her thing and if they did anything stupid in her coffee shop...

Well then it would take a whole lot longer to clean up.

But Jack didn't make a move. Instead he just stood annoyingly close to her as if to provoke her. But she didn't back down. This was her goddamn shop. He couldn't just come in her and think he owned it.

"I tried fixing you with warmth," He then suddenly spoke, his voice having lowered into something darker. "Maybe that was my mistake. Maybe I should've used the opposite. Maybe I should've been cold as ice."

Summer swallowed a breath. She looked up into his icy eyes as they intensified, almost glowed in the dark. He took another step closer and made her heart accelerate. A part of her knew that what they were doing was a bad idea, but hell, when had the two of them ever made a good decision together?

"Maybe you should," She agreed and swallowed again when he leaned closer. They were now only inches apart. "Or maybe I should never have let you warm me in the first place."

"Maybe not."

And then all bets were off, just as the clock struck midnight.

• • •

Which basically means all the action will be tomorrow, because I'm too tired right now to continue. Cheers.