"You're quiet today." She covered his hand with her fragile fingers. "Usually you're full of stories after a day like yesterday."
Raine gave her a small smile. "I haven't got much to add to everything Sammy and Sasha already told you."
Rosa had come home a few days ago and would stay there for a few weeks until her next chemo would start. They'd made a schedule to decide who stayed with her, although Raine had practically moved in with her. He could deal better with her sickness than his father and little sister, and he knew it caused Rosa less stress.
"They didn't tell me why you keep checking your phone." Her lips curled into a weak smile and her eyes lit up a bit. "You met a nice girl?"
"Actually I did. You know that Fox I was stuck in an elevator with? I saw him yesterday – and his roommate liked me. Sammy knew her too; she does those puppet shows in St. Thomas."
"That's great! And you're waiting for a text from her now?"
"Yeah... I didn't ask for her number."
He actually thought she would've texted him by now. He wondered how Blaise felt and if he still believed that he wanted to turn him into a rat. His last words just refused to leave his mind. He hated how the day had ended. He hadn't seen him on the terrain again, and Sammy told him Skye had gone home quite early.
"And, does your date have a name?"
"Blaise..." he answered a little distracted.
"Blaise?"
He felt his cheeks flush. Did he really say Blaise? "No I mean – her name's Skye," he said quickly. "Blaise is her roommate."
She had always been an observant girl; this time was no exception. She raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Why don't you tell me something about Blaise?"
"What? About Blaise?" he responded confused.
"You're not smiling, Raine. It's not that girl who's occupying your thoughts."
It was hard to lie to someone who was so ill – besides, he had no reason to lie. It wasn't that much of a big deal anyway. She had been pushing for more serious conversations lately, as if she wanted to turn the ones she loved inside out, before she had to say her last goodbyes to them.
"I hung out with Blaise for a couple hours yesterday," he explained. "I don't know what it is – we just get along very well. At least, that's what I was thinking – but suddenly he became all angry, snapping at me that I was trying to turn him into a rat." He shrugged his shoulders. "It bothers me. I thought that we... I dunno, that we were becoming friends. Skye told me he doesn't have a lot of friends which makes him paranoid. She said she would talk to him, but I haven't heard from her since."
"I'm sure she'll text you. Maybe Blaise wasn't in the mood to talk yet."
He took in Rosa's face. Her cheekbones were sticking out, her lips weren't as full as they used to be. Her dark curls, she had lost a long time ago. In the beginning, it had been hard to get used to it, but by now it symbolized her persistence, her fight.
"He suggested to organize a fundraiser myself. To raise money for the families of terminally ill patients who live abroad. Like our family. So they could see each other one last time."
Her smile gave him a warm feeling, low in his stomach. "What a beautiful idea."
"Yeah," he said softly. He thought back to the moment Blaise had shared his idea; sitting at the table, a hotdog in his hand. The look in his eyes had been so... compassionate it'd made him swallow. His brain had started to process ideas immediately – mainly, he had been looking for things Blaise could participate in, too.
Whether these things would still happen, remained to be seen.
. . .
Later that night, he got a text from Skye. 'Hey handsome. You got something to do tomorrow night? X'
To his surprise, the smile he had expected didn't show up. Instead, there was a nagging feeling in his stomach because she didn't mention Blaise. Did it mean the man was still angry? He didn't want to show her how much it bothered him, so he sent back: 'Not yet. Just tell me where and how late and I'll be there. ;)'
They decided to go to the movies first and grab a drink afterwards.
The date went differently than he anticipated. Although she had obviously flirted with him when they first met, something seemed to hold her back now. However, the genuine interest in her eyes when he told her something and the ever-present smile around her lips, gave her a natural charm.
They were late for the movie, so there wasn't much time left to talk. Frankly, there was only one question burning on his lips: had she talked to Blaise? He was careful asking her, although he didn't know why. Something told him it was better to wait until the girl brought it up herself.
After retreating to a quiet corner of the bar, they ordered a drink and discussed the movie. When their drinks were served, Skye sat up a little straighter. With her elbows leaning on the table, she swirled the liquid inside her glass around.
"What kind of type are you, Raine?" she asked. "Are you looking for a serious relationship or are you more into flings?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'll just see what comes my way. I'm open to something serious, but to be honest – my life is already chaotic enough without a girlfriend," he said, giving her a small smile. "What about you?"
"Long relationships aren't exactly my strong suit," she admitted. "I think I quickly feel... trapped. I've had a few jealous boyfriends, and two girlfriends who were mainly interested in a threesome with my roomie," she said, laughing.
"And? Were they lucky?"
She chuckled and shook her head. "No, Blaise didn't like 'em. Although I think he was trying to protect me, afraid that he would get more attention than I."
"Or he was afraid he couldn't handle two chicks," he smirked.
She laughed. "Oh believe me, he knows how to handle two girls. When we were still in a relationship, we did a threesome every now and then. Only with girls, by the way. Although doin' it with two guys is still on my bucket list," she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively up and down.
Her bold comment made him chuckle. "Is this an invitation? Does Blaise know?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Sometimes it's better to surprise Blaise."
Smirking, he thought back to the panicking expression on the guy's face when Raine had asked him if he wanted to experiment, when they were stuck in the elevator. "Yeah – think you got a point there."
Skye shoved the straw of her cocktail between her lips, started to suck and looked up to him. "What about you? You're only into girls?"
"I guess," he said. "Never been in love with a guy. Although I kissed one when I was dead drunk." The memory made him chuckle. "It was during my patch-in party. They promised me the hottest girl in the club, but they got me drunk instead and I ended up with a guy in my room. Thank god we were too drunk to take off a single piece of clothing. It happened six years ago, but they still like to tease me with it."
He didn't care about it much. Everyone did stupid things when they were drunk.
"Sounds like you want to keep your options open," she winked.
"There's no harm in that, right?" He drank his beer. "Your last relationship... was it with Blaise?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I've been single for a year now."
"Why did you two break up?" he asked curiously. Since they were still sharing a house, he assumed there hadn't been a heated fight. "Or was he one of those jealous boyfriends?"
"Blaise and I know each other too well to be jealous of anything. I don't know... we are so close, we were both curious if there was more than friendship alone. But after a few months, we both agreed we didn't love each other like that. How long has it been since your last relationship?"
"Also around a year. I moved from Addersfield to Bridgewater, she stayed behind... My sister was sick, I had too much on my mind to maintain a long distance relationship and she didn't really understand."
"Didn't understand what? That you needed to care for your sister?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "She had her own problems. She said I was picking my sister over her. Which I did – in some way." He let out a bitter laugh. "Not that I had much of a choice. There were some mental problems goin' on – and I'm not saying that's not rough – but my little sister had been diagnosed with metastatic cancer; she had a one year old kid and a father who couldn't handle it at all... It was never a choice for me. Guess it was for the best. I had enough on my plate, there was just no room for a girlfriend."
"But having someone by your side can be a huge support, too," Skye said.
"Yeah... if it's the right person." He paused for a moment as he thought about Elin. No – he didn't miss her. He hadn't thought about her in months. His thoughts wandered off to Blaise, who had been so concerned with him since the first moment. Someone like him would be nice. Someone who wanted to help him, who came up with ideas to make things more bearable for his family.
"Did I hit a nerve?" she asked quietly, clearly seeing his thoughts wandering off.
He shook his head. "No, you didn't. I have some good friends who are a great support." He twisted the ring around his thumb. Then he asked the question that had been bothering him for two days. "Did you talk to Blaise?"
A smile crossed her lips. Something told him she had waited until he brought it up himself.
"Yeah... I was right about him. His insecurities got the best of him, he suddenly couldn't think of a reason why you would want to be friends with him. Trying to turn him into a rat made the most sense, according to him."
He couldn't think of a reason why I would want to be friends with him... The demons inside his head were really strong and it didn't leave him indifferent. He was a great guy, he should be convinced that everyone would want to be his friend.
"He still believes that?"
She shook her head. "No. My pep talks guarantee an 'I'm on top of the world' feeling," she grinned. The seriousness returned to her eyes. "But he feels ashamed now. I gave him your number, but I don't think he dares to text you. So I can give you his number... or we could go to my place and have a drink there. I think he'll come around easily – the moment he realizes you're not mad at him."
Raine wasn't a big fan of postponing things, so he went with the second option. "Fine with me. Let's go to your house."
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