He's American (Trames au)

Chapter 6- Tristan's POV

I've spent almost all of today feeling sorry for myself, but that's not much of a change from usual. I'm used to it, and the feeling that I won't ever be happy, but it's not fun. It feels like I can't even talk to my boyfriend without a fight now, and in a way I'm glad that I haven't heard from him for a couple of days. At least I can be in denial about how badly he treats me, I'm not quite brave enough to face up to reality.

I've had a fairly quiet day today, and I think I needed some time to myself. I did think about going out, but i wasn't in the mood. There's always tomorrow, plus the weather was horrible today. A nice chill day seemed the best option. I did at least get dressed though, I do have some standards.

I'm just loading up Netflix to find something when all the lights cut out. We have power cuts quite a lot around here, I guess this one must be due to the weather. There goes my plans for the evening then. I'm just wondering what to do when my phone buzzes. I go to pick it up and see that James is calling. "Hello?" I say.

"Hi!" he says brightly. "Are you in the dark too?" His accent makes me smile every time I hear it, maybe because I don't know many Americans so it's a sort of novelty.

"I am." I say. "The whole building probably is, it happens sometimes."

"Oh, ok." James says. "I didn't know if it was just me. I don't know what I'd do if it was, I'm not that good at that sort of thing."

I smile. "That's ok." I'm about to hang up, but then realise that I'd actually quite like some company. "Are you by yourself?" I ask.

"Yeah." he replies.

"Do you want to come over then?" I ask. "I'm alone too."

James laughs. "Ok. 96a right?"

"Yes." I tell him. "I'll see you in like 1 minute then." I hear him laugh again before hanging up. I barely even know him, yet here I am inviting him to hang out with me. Still, he seems nice. Sure enough, James arrives quickly. "I know this is random, but I was lonely, so..." I say as I let him in.

He smiles. "I was by myself too. I'm kinda annoyed though, I was halfway through a movie."

"A movie." I say. "Or a film as we call it."

"A movie." James insists, though he is smiling. "Oh, hang on." He turns around and I see that he brought a bag with him. 

"You came prepared." I joke.

He blushes. "Not really. It has snacks in, I hate showing up empty handed." He sits down beside me on the couch and hands me a blue bag of sweets. "American candy. The cherry ones are the best."

"You always bring me food." I say. "I'm not complaining though, those cookies were good."

He smiles. "I should have brought a flashlight."

"You mean a torch." I say. "Do you want a drink? I have soda." I put on a fake accent for the last word, then immediately cringe- why did I do that? 

Luckily James laughs. "That'd be good." Using my phone torch, I head to the kitchen to get us both a drink. I haven't spoken to James much before this, and I'm surprised how chill he is. All I'd previously got from him were loud American vibes. I bring our drinks back, and he uses his phone light to see where to put it down.

As there's now tv, I guess we'll have to talk to each other. "How long have you been here for?" I ask.

"A few weeks." he says. He then starts explaining about how he's a photographer and came over for work. 

"That's cool. I say. "I have a really boring job, I'm a shop manager."

"What's your hobby then?" James asks. "Don't say you don't have one." 

"I'm in a band with a couple of my friends." I say. "I play drums."

James' eyes widen. "That's awesome! I play guitar, but I'm not that good. It's fun though."

"Maybe we should play together." I suggest. I don't know why I'm making plans with someone I don't really know, so I change the subject before it gets awkward. "Do you like England?"'I ask.

James nods. "I didn't know what to expect at first, but it's nice. It's not like home though."

"You're from California, right?" I say.

"Yeah." he says. "I'll show you some pictures, hold on." He opens his phone gallery and starts showing me pictures of the beach, the city, and some people I assume are his family. "That's my mom, that's my sister, and you can't really see my dad but he's there." he says, pointing.

"It looks nice there." I say. "Does it ever rain?"

"Not a lot." James says. "It's rained more here in the time I've been here to be honest." I laugh, and I'm surprised how relaxed I am. Sitting in a power cut with someone I don't really know telling our life stories shouldn't be as chill as it is. But I'm glad for the distraction and company, it's what I needed.

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