fragile

20

Colton and Mira were at the movies.

A horror movie, to be precise.

Colton glanced over at the Indian girl sitting beside him, one hand covering her eyes. Her fingers created a slit so that she could peer through them, and he refrained the urge to snort in amusement.

Watching her antics made him realise how stupid he was in high school. He was so caught up with himself and his dumb reputation that he had missed out on an opportunity to befriend her properly.

How would things have turned out then?

He found himself wondering that every night before bed.

Would their relationship have been different?

Would he have ever met or married Avery?

Colton shook his head and turned his head to the screen, not that the movie was any good.

He cleared his throat; it was mostly because he wasn't even paying attention to whatever was going on. He was hyper-aware of the presence of a particular woman he was starting to develop a soft corner for.

It was strange because he was never one to fall for a woman that easily.

Especially not a woman like Mira; she wasn't his usual type but it would make a lot of sense. The fact that he would always watch her and kind of hope she would appear. The relief he would feel when she appeared in his line of vision.

He found himself staring at her again.

This time, she noticed.

"Are you scared too?" Mira whispered, softly. "Is there a jump-scare or something?"

She was completely oblivious to his strong gaze. Colton shrugged, opting to be honest, instead.

"Don't know. Probably?"

Mira shot him a questioning glance but turned to the screen. Almost a second later, she let out a yelp before covering her mouth with both hands. Colton's lips curved into a wide grin as she stared at him, both eyes wide.

She looked so innocent and pure, free from all the sorrow and pain that her eyes always held ten years ago and even now; he noticed the vacant expression that would appear briefly on her face when she thought he wasn't looking.

It hurt him to see her in so much pain — pain that he could have stopped if he had been less selfish.

It was nice to see her enjoying herself now though, at least even a little bit.

She deserved every piece of happiness in the world, just as much as everyone else.

"You should have warned me," she whisper-yelled, leaning closer to him unintentionally and breaking into his thoughts.

He found himself enjoying the slight warmth that she was providing and subtly leaned in, craving more.

"Sorry," he said with a shrug and a grin, not really sorry at all. "Guess I wasn't paying attention."

She shook her head, but a sense of confidence and pride rose within him at the smile that tugged at her lips.

Albeit it was a ghost of a smile, but it was a smile nevertheless.

And that alone was like being gifted the whole world to him.

***

"Would you like to come in for some coffee?"

"Coffee?"

Colton cleared his throat. "You're right. Coffee at night is a dumb idea; I don't know why I asked you that. Just forget i—"