27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kat
We hadn’t moved. It was pouring rain, and we were still there. On the ground. In the alley. Clinging to each other. I could barely breathe he was holding me so tightly.
And in this moment, I didn’t care. I knew for a fact that at this EXACT moment, it was better for him to be right here. Not anywhere else. Not far away from me, not searching for happiness elsewhere.
Right here.
But it was also another reason why he needed to not be near me in general right now. Because he was starting to have a panic attack. I could feel it in his breathing and I knew it had to hurt his ribs like no other.
I leaned back, cupping his face in my hand. I reached up with the one in the sling, ignoring the ache, and pushed his soaked hair out of his face.
“Hi,” I started softly. Just trying to get him to focus on me. This, I could do. This, I had done a lot.
“Hi,” he breathed, his eyes finally finding focus on my face. I smiled gently, encouragingly at him, stroking his cheek with my thumb.
“I’m okay, Henry,” I whispered. He nodded jerkily, smacking his forehead against mine just a little.
“You’re okay, too. Just breathe with me, okay?” I asked, fiercely blocking out every time I’d begged him to breathe that night. We could NOT spiral like that right now. He nodded again.
We just sat there for a few moments, looking at each other. Breathing. I could feel the moment that seized feeling in his chest relaxed. I smiled at him again.
“There we go,” I whispered. He smiled back at me. It wasn’t lost on me that it was usually him saying that to me.
“You followed me,” I said softly, unable to keep it in. I wasn’t angry, though. I was curious. After everything I’d said, he’d said, I didn’t understand it. He nodded.
“I’ve gotten sick of listening to what you’re saying when your face is telling me you’re lying,” he said bluntly.
He wasn’t calling me out or being cruel, I could tell.
I looked down briefly to where our chests were moving in sync, slowly breathing in and out.
I knew I had an expressive face. And I knew he could read me better than just about anybody else.
But I had been trying so hard to get him to walk away.
And he’d seen through it the entire time.
“I’m sorry I ruined your birthday,” I said in response, unable to say anything else. He shook his head, then buried his face in my hair.
“You didn’t ruin anything,” he mumbled into the sopping mess. I just stroked his equally soaked hair, noticing not for the first time that he needed a haircut. It must’ve been driving him crazy, constantly falling into his eyes.
“You’re sitting in an alley in the pouring rain. How is that not ruined?” I asked lightly. He mumbled something else into my hair, and all I caught was the word ‘you’. I didn’t push him to repeat it. He pulled back, looking at me tentatively.
“What?” I asked, suspicious.
“So, I wasn’t alone,” he started. I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Andrew was with me. And when I found you, he called a car,” he continued. Of course. Of course, Andrew was with him, too. I sighed. He nosed my cheek.
“He wants to talk to you. I told him he can say he’s sorry but everything else he has to save until tomorrow because it’s my birthday and I make the rules and I’m not letting you cry anymore if I can help it,” he stated firmly.
I laughed a little at him suddenly claiming his birthday now that he wanted something. It was cute.
“So, you want to get out of the rain, hmm? That’s what you want for your birthday?” I asked, teasing him slightly because he still seemed very unsure. He grinned at me sheepishly.
“Not exactly,” he said, hesitating. Back to suspicious. I was very suspicious. Because the look on his face told me my answer was a firm ‘fuck no’.
But it was his birthday.
“How would you like to have a drink, somewhere dry?” he asked tentatively. I knew it wasn’t the whole story. I knew he knew that I knew it wasn’t the whole story. But he seemed to be waiting for an answer.
“I will be having a drink somewhere dry no matter what, tonight. But I have a feeling you had a specific place in mind?” I poked. He nodded slowly.
“Now, before you answer, remember it’s my birthday,” he started.
I knew he was going to say more. I figured there would be other people there.
I looked like a drowned rat. My hand and probably my knees were bleeding.
My makeup was running and my eyes were puffy and my nose red. But that didn’t matter.
“Okay. Let’s go.”