Ongoing Cycle

44

She was foolish.

     Since Kuro decided that they'd meet up at the restaurant, [Y/N] had her mother drive her there. In a flowy, long-sleeve, white dress, she had entered the restaurant full of nerves and excitement. She found the reservation he booked for them, but he wasn't there yet. No worries. She had come on time, but she was fine with waiting a couple minutes for him.

     Sitting there alone at a table for two, she jiggled her right leg up and down repeatedly in anticipation. With a stupidly hopeful and expecting face, she waited there. As minutes dragged on and on, her smile soon disappeared and her face flamed up in embarrassment. Multiple times, she checked her phone and was even desperate enough to text Kuro. There was no response from him. The couples that sat at the other tables made her feel incredibly lonely. The waiters and waitresses that noticed how her date had not shown up and how long she'd been there for, shot her pitying glances. Her face lowered and her hands tightly scrunched the fabric of her dress.

     It was all fucking foolish.

     An hour later, she finally left the restaurant. She had not eaten anything there, but she bought food to not seem rude. Now, she was standing outside in the dark, holding a bag of food that she did not want.

     Tears threatening to spill, she made sure to hold them in, because crying in public would be a bad idea. Hugging her jacket closer to her, she realized she didn't have a ride either. Kuro was supposed to be her ride.

     She would hate to call her parents for a ride back home. They'd get suspicious, because she had told them that her boyfriend would drive her home. She had to keep her parents from suspecting that their relationship was anything other than perfect.

     Luckily for her, this area was more urban-like, so there were a lot of taxis driving around. Walking to the nearest parked taxi, she approached the yellow vehicle. Leaning down to the car's height, she lightly knocked on the window a couple times. The window rolled down and she was met with a middle-aged man.

     "You need a ride?" he asked her.

     "Yes please," she quietly responded. He nodded, and taking that as permission to get into the car, she climbed into the backseat. She shut the door and turned to the driver to give him her destination.

     And no, it was not Kuro's house. She did not want to see his face right now.

     Staring out of the window as the engine started moving, she watched the beautiful city lights and the pedestrians walking down the streets. It could've been such a nice date tonight, but....reality bit her. He had ruined it for her.

     Her tears overfilled the eye's rim and she silently cried. At least she wasn't totally in public anymore.

     Why? Why did her boyfriend not show up to the date that he planned out?! At the very least, he could've contacted her to save her time, embarrassment, and money, but he couldn't even do that. Not only that, but it crushed her hope when she realized he wouldn't show up.

     Her vision blurring, she leaned her head against the hard glass and closed her eyes. Sniffing and breathing out slowly, she counted numbers in her head to distract her. Then, in the corner of her eye, she saw that the driver was wordlessly holding a box of tissues towards her. Flushing ashamedly, she quickly took the box from him and retreated back to her corner.

     The driver turned the radio on and she softly smiled. This guy was nice. He even noticed how embarrassed she was that he helped to cover the sniffles. Blowing on her tissue as quietly as she could, she felt a tiny bit better.

     When the long and silent trip home was over, she had dried out her face in time. Paying him the money and thanking him for his kindness, she got out of the car. Standing in front of her house, she waited until the taxi drove away to head up the driveway. But instead of heading inside, she walked to the side of the house.

     Her shoes crunching against the snow, she leaned against the side of building. It may be cold, but she was going to have to stay here until eight. Once again, she had to do anything to keep her parents from getting suspicious. If she came home too early, they would think that something went wrong.

     Thirty minutes passed by and the entire time, she stared at the dark clouds looming above her. Shivering, her entire face reddening, and her fingers and toes freezing, she wondered if she should just go inside. A thirty minutes difference wouldn't matter too much, would it?

     She took a few steps, but her phone began vibrating. Taking it out of her pocket, her face soured when she saw who it was. It took her a few more rings to decide whether to answer it or not, but in the end, she did. She was curious and wanted answers too badly to ignore this call.

     Putting the device next to her ear, she could hear Kuro's raspy voice. "[Y/N]?"

     Before he could even come up with his stupid excuses, she interrupted him. Her voice trembled both in anger and hurt. "How could you do this to me?!"

    "W-wait—"

    "You're such an asshole! Do you know how long I fucking waited for you?! An hour!!! And yet, you couldn't even give me a single fucking call to let me know that you weren't coming. This was supposed to be our first date, Kuro. Was this not important to you? Why?! Just....why?" she screamed through the phone. Her voice was beginning to crack and she could almost feel more tears welling up. Dammit.

     "I'm so sorry," he whispered, his own voice shaky. "I know I fucked things up, but if you could just let me explain—"

    "I need time. I don't want to see you and I don't want to hear your shitty excuses. I can't even fathom to think that there'd be any excuses for me to forgive you."

    "I'll...give you time then."

    Jamming her finger against the red button, the call ended. Gritting her teeth furiously, she threw her phone onto the ground. Breathing raggedly, she stood there for a few moments. She shouldn't have answered the call. She didn't even get the answers she wanted, because she kept on interrupting him. The only thing she got out of this was hearing his voice and getting angrier by the moment.