Cry Until You Bleed

37- Ice Cream

*Extra update because the Blue Jackets dominated the Penguins earlier today :D

“So do you want to talk about Monday?” Niles asks me as he’s driving us in Sophie’s car to wherever it is that he’s taking us.

“No,” I say quickly, blushing at the awful memory and I look out the window to hide my face from him. I’ve had time to recover from Monday though, so I’m not still bent up about it but I’d like to not rethink all of it because I might lose my good mood if I start thinking about what had happened then and I don’t want that.

“Ana, you know that you can tell me anything,” He says in a small, assuring voice as he looks over at me when we’re stopped at a red light and he offers me a smile with his eyes boring into me. He’s giving me that stare that usually makes me want to spill my guts to him but I look away before it really works.

With a side smile, I turn to look at him but avoid eye contact. “You’re beautiful eye-stare thing won’t work this time.”

“My what?” He chuckles, starting to drive again when the light flicks green in front of us.

“That thing that you do with your eyes,” I remind him. “And you just kind of stare at me until I answer your question or spill my guts. I don’t like it, really, and you should stop doing it.”

“I don’t think I have an eye thing,” Niles denies. “I think that you’re talking about when I look at you. No eye trick or special stare, I’m just looking at you, Ana.”

“I don’t think so,” I shake my head. “Because other people look at me too but I don’t tell them anything personal but you have some kind of super power and it’s not fair. I think it should actually be illegal, really.”

“Nope. You’re just weird,” He teases as he pulls up to a small building and around the small building, there’s a bunch of picnic tables with people sitting down. Most of them are families but others are groups of teen friends and they’re all eating ice cream, which makes sense because the sign in front of the building reads “Tammy’s Ice Cream Shop”. “Do you like ice cream? I guess I should have asked you that before I brought you here.”

“Is that even a real question?” I scoff. “Of course I like ice cream.”

“Good,” He smiles as we both get out of the car and start to head toward the window where there’s a lady standing, taking the orders of the people in line. “The menu is up by the window if you want to look at it.”

Standing at the back of the line, I can see the menu and if I squint, I can read the small letters and I immediately know what I want. Even though the list of different flavors of ice cream is incredibly long and detailed, I know exactly which one I want without even thinking about it. “Cake batter. That’s my favorite. Definitely that one. But… I don’t have any money.”

“I’ll pay for it, Ana,” Niles tells me with a small grin as if I should have already just assumed that part of the deal, which I didn’t but I guess it’s the only way that it would get paid for considering all I have to my name is this pair of jeans, this black shirt, and the underwear underneath of them. And I’m not about to sell my clothes for ice cream, that’s for sure.

“Okay then,” I sigh. “If I ever get money, I’ll buy you food then, so that we’re even.”

“Don’t worry about it. Really,” He assures me as we move up in the line. I guess summer is the busy season for ice cream, so the line is pretty long and the picnic tables are all occupied so I wonder where we’re going to go to eat this ice cream but I don’t bring it up yet.

“Whatever you say,” I sing. “What flavor are you getting?”

“Coffee and donuts,” He tells me and when he sees me giving him a weird look, he laughs. “It’s really good- it pretty much just tastes like chocolate coffee.”