Sanity ↬ LeafyisHere

three - pine

I wound up staying at Ruby's, eating four pizzas between the two of us and watching over five movies. By the time we actually woke up, which was 12:15, I was in a panic.

"Ruby, Ruby, I have to be there by one and I still have a 25 minute drive home, need to shower and get dressed, and then drive another 15 minutes to get to the Wendy's!" I'm running around her apartment trying to find my phone, which she pulls out of her pocket.

"Calm down Parker, you have stuff here just use my shower. I have a spare toothbrush behind the mirror, love," she hands me my phone, and grabs my shoulder, giving me a small hug and walks past me into the kitchen. I nod, running towards her closet to find the clothes that I left here.

A pair of ripped black jeans and a plain white shirt, ya that'll do. I quickly jump into her shower, setting a new record of six minutes and start rushing with my needs so I don't smell and look like I just walked out of a dumpster, even though I am one; let's pretend I'm not.

Finally settling on my look, I glance at the time and see 12:42 light up on my phone. Not too shabby, but there's still the ten minute drive from here to the Wendy's and that's without traffic, praise Ruby for living in the city.

"Hey, thanks Ruby, I'm gonna head out!" I announce, grabbing my bag and rushing toward the door.

"Yeah, send me a text and let me know how it goes!" her voice echoes through her apartment and I shut her door locking it behind me and rushing to my car.

Why, why do I have to do this to myself all the time.

The traffic isn't too bad, and I end up pulling up to the restaurant at 1:03, so good I'm not too late.

It's not too busy, and I quickly glance around, not seeing his face in the small crowd of people.

So he blew me off?

A deep sigh leaves my mouth, and I shut my eyes for a moment to think. Should I bother to eat while I'm here?

I go to turn around, when my body hits someone else, knocking me backwards although I never actually hit the ground.

"Sorry I'm late."

I look up to see his eyes staring straight into mine, his arm is wrapped around my torso, supporting me so that I don't fall backwards. I lift myself up and give him a small smile.

"It's okay, was starting to think you were going to pull a no show for a moment," a smile spreads across his face, followed by a small chuckle.

"Nah I would never, just was caught up with some work. Let's order?"

I wind up getting my usual chicken cesar salad and soda, not being allowed to pay from Calvin who swats my money away. "I never said you would be paying, now did I?"

A sigh escapes my lips, and I shake my head, tucking my wallet back in my bag, "Next time you come to get coffee it's free then."

"Or, if we do this again, maybe I'll let you split the bill."

A smile forms on my lips, we've barely been together for twenty minutes, and I could already do this all again.

"I'll remember you said that," I respond playfully, and grab my usual booth by the window.

The sun hits his hair directly, showing the true color that covers his head. A deep brown that I just want to run my fingers through.

"You really do stare a lot don't you?" he questions, and a small laugh escapes my lips. Do I want to take a risk here?

"Sorry, I can't really help but keep my eyes on you, it's hard to not."

A small smirk plays on his lips before he starts eating his food, and I do the same. It's a comfortable quietness until he makes a small noise, earning my attention.

"So, tell me about yourself."

I wipe a napkin along my lips, and meet eyes with him a second later, "I haven't lived here my whole life, I used to live with my parents out of country. I moved here with my grandmother four years ago, and followed the family business."

"Not that, at least not yet. I want to know you, your hobbies and weird interests," His eyes showed pure curiousity, and it looked like he actually meant what he asked.

"Well, I really like old music, like stuff from the seventies. I wear a lot of denim jackets, whenever we go to a bakery, I usually um, take one of those little pins and make one for every one I've been to."

His face brightens, and he cocks his head to the side, "That is probably one of the weirdest things I've ever heard somebody confess to, yet it makes you so different, and even more beautiful."

Heat rushes to my face, and right before I'm about to ask about him, his phone dings, and he looks down almost alarmed.

"Shit, I'm so sorry this has to end so soon, but I've got to run. I'll text you okay?" He looks rushed, and I nod, standing up and turn right into a hug from him. The sweet smell of a pine type of cologne plagues my senses, and I can't deny that I love it. He parts away, quickly grabbing my leftover food things to throw out and heads out himself.

Was that fake? Did I do something wrong?

Curiousity fills my head, as does worry. Hopefully nothing serious happened that he missed out on for today.

My ride to the shop is quiet, since the 2:30 hour is usually quite quiet; my head is racing through thoughts that are probably over exaggerated.

"Hey, I'm home," I greet my grandmother with a kiss on the cheek, and recieve a smile in return.

"How was your night?" she asks and I stretch my arms, taking a seat on the sofa to chat.

"It was good, needed a night with a friend again to do basically nothing," I laugh and she does the same, give me a small back rub and returns to reading her book.

My mind is still wondering the millions of different things about what could have happened, and I give in to check my phone. Two new messages, both from Calvin. My fingers instantly press the unlock key, and my eyes graze over the small typed words on the screen.

Hey, I'm sorry for the quick leave earlier, I didn't mean to cut it short.

I had to go visit the hospital, I was told my mother was put in when we were at the restaurant, they're not sure what happened but for now they say she just had a heart attack.

My eyes widen, and my fingers go to respond, a short answer of 'I'm sorry, let me know if you ever need to talk, and I hope she gets better.' Until another message from an unknown number lights up on my phone.

"Hello, Parker."

You guys are probably the best people in the world, your support is crazy and I love you all so much, thank you for the amount of love that is shown to this story. x