The Heartbroken - S01 E148

Story 2 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E148

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 148

I felt ashamed for waking him up, especially

because I had no idea why exactly I’d

decided to call him, and I knew that if he

was the one who woke up me up in the

middle of the night, I probably wouldn’t be

taking it as well as he was.

“Nothing. Sorry. I’ll just—um—sorry for

waking you up,” I said. “I’ll just hang up

and let’s pretend this never happened.”

“Nope,” he said, and I heard the

unmistakable sound of a door creaking

open. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Really,” I insisted. “Forget it. Go back to

sleep.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can.”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

I heard the sound of jingling keys and the

sound of a door shutting close.

“Because I’m already on my way there.”

—

I pushed the car door open and let myself

out, closing the door just as Seth shut the

trunk close.

“You need any help?” I asked, eyeing the

large backpack slung over one of his

shoulders, the paper bag in one hand and

the acoustic guitar in the other.

“I can manage.”

We walked side by side in silence as I

looked around the deserted beach. I shoved

my hands deeper in the pockets of my

jacket, trying to ignore the cold bite of the

sea breeze surrounding us.

“Why did you bring me here?”

When I paid him a sideways glance, he was

giving me a thoughtful look. “If you want to

go somewhere else, just say the word and

I’m all for it.”

“No,” I said. “No, this is fine. It’s a good

place as any.”

He smiled and I felt like I had to literally tear

my eyes away from his face.

We stopped just a few feet away from the

shoreline, Seth setting everything down on

the sand. He unzipped the backpack and

fished a blanket out, and I was vaguely

reminded of the time we had a picnic at the

park.

It seemed like such a long time ago now.

Back then, I never would have called Seth in

the middle of the night just because of a

bad dream, and I never would have thought

that I would ever learn to trust him to the

point that surpassed the way I trusted Hail.

Was it the same for him? I couldn’t tell.

When he was done splaying the blanket out

across the sand, he sat, stretching his legs

in front of him. He smiled and patted the

space next to him. “C’mere.”

I kicked my slippers off and obeyed, trying

to ignore the tingles I felt where my arm

was pressed against his when I sat down. I

hadn’t thought of changing out of the

denim cutoffs I was wearing when I left,

and the cold air bit at my bare legs, so I

pulled my knees to my chest and hugged

them close.

He reached for the paper bag and fished

out three containers from it.

I raised an eyebrow as he opened each

container. One held a mix of sliced fruits,

another had chocolate chip cookies and the

last one had a variety of chips.

When he saw the look on my face, he gave

me sheepish look. “What? I’d love a

midnight picnic anytime.”

“How did you prepare all this?”

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” he

said and reached for his backpack. He dug

around for a while before taking a silver

thermos out, along with two white mugs. “I

brought hot choco.”