The Smell After It Rains

18.

I followed her back down the hallway and out of the door, into the warm morning, the light so bright that my eyes hurt in contrast to the dark living room.
"So... how are you?", Claire said awkwardly after a few minutes of walking in silence.
I didn't mean to blank her, but my mind could help but drift towards what her mother had said. Partly about the whole 'Claire is fragile' thing, although mostly about the way Elaine had spoken about Claire's reaction to my return. The words 'I haven't seen her so happy since before John died" sticking in my mind. Half of me felt warmed by how she felt about me. I still didn't understand how she could care so much considering the fact that she hadn't bothered to contact me in seven years, but hearing what her mother had to say made me realise that maybe she genuinely did feel that way about me.
My issue was, that however happy that I should be, any positive emotions were overridden with guilt, which seemed to fill every inch of my body. Because now, it meant that I'd really betrayed Anna, and if Claire found out about her, which was inevitable, it would hurt her even more.
"Earth to Jamie?"
"Hm?" I was quickly tugged out of my thoughts by the sound of her voice.
"What are you thinking about?", she asked.
"Nothing", I said, probably too quickly.
Her face fell into a frown as she looked over at me. She put her hand on my arm and stopped me walking, looking straight up at me. Her eyes sparkled blue, the light shining on her hair, making so many colours appear it looked like someone had painted a sunset around her head. The concern etched onto her features made my heart burst, and the emotions I felt towards her right now were like nothing I'd ever felt before.
"Ok well if it weren't already sure it wasn't nothing, I'm one hundred percent certain now"
"Seriously, don't worry about it", I said, putting on a smile, desperate not to ruin the day. "I'm just overthinking some things"
"Well would you like to overthink out loud? Believe it or not I'm actually very good at listening", she said, smiling slightly in a way that made my chest hurt.
"I'm fine", I said, a genuine grin appearing on my face. Luckily, that seemed to convince her, as we began to walk towards the train station, me trying my hardest to push the conversation with Elaine from my head.

The train pulled into a small station that looked positively massive compared to the one in our village. Instead of a tiny hut, there was an actual building, albeit a small one, big enough for four worn out chairs and a desk, behind which an extremely bored looking woman sat, reading a paper.
The town itself was fairly large, with a large high street lined with shops, and several side-lanes running off of it, the library on the corner of the road standing taller than the rest of the buildings. Claire and I dawdled along the street, passing a variety of buildings including a post office, a bakery, several clothing shops, more cafes than you could count, department stores, restaurants, drugstores and more. It made our village green look like a toy-town.
We headed down the Main Street, before following a lane to a small collection of cafes.
Creamy's was in the middle of the lot, it's once-colourful sign faded from the daylight.
Booths lined the walls, and wooden tables were scattered over the remaining space, with matching chairs tucked underneath them. The walls were white, with colourful paintings hanging from hooks, giving the room a sort of 50's diner feel, and just to add to that vibe, an old jukebox sat in the back corner.
The cafe was pretty full, with almost every table occupied, people of all different ages laughing and talking with mugs and glasses in their hands.
"Ok this takes me right back", Claire said as we walked through the door, her smile reflecting how she felt.
We headed over to the back of there room, where we found an empty booth, just big enough for two tucked away in the corner.
Sliding down the padded bench, I took my seat directly opposite Claire. I took in her face, how the bags under her eyes had begun to decrease and how she was beginning to look more awake, and how even though she was wearing minimal make up, a lot less than she had been yesterday and the day before, she still was the most beautiful person I'd ever laid eyes upon.
My mind flitted back to a memory from when we were younger, one that I'd forgotten about until now, one that made my heart ache.