'A chance encounter of circumstance

Baby he's a mantra, keeps your mind entranced

He could be the silence in this mayhem, but then again

He'll never love you like I can, can, can'

"A cherry milkshake?"

"No, two, to take away!" I couldn't help the tickles in my cheeks and maybe in all my body with the excitation and some remaining sparks from last night, though I wondered if it was that obvious when Nellie replied,

"You have a date with Blade?"

"How do you know?!" This time I sold myself out with my eyes as wide as a deer caught in headlights, but I had reasons to be shocked.

Nellie had never met Blade, and even if everyone was talking about us around, no one bothered with his name. He was the 'criminal' or 'murderer'.

Had Rachel gushed about my secrets?

"Pete may have told me about you two," the old woman sang out before disappearing behind the kitchen swinging door, and I just had time to catch the glint in her eyes and on her whole face actually. Was she...?

"Yes, she's been blushing and giggling since a few days already," Rachel confirmed what I'd seen as she appeared beside me with a tray full of dirty dishes in her hands. "Since an old bearded man is coming every day."

"Pete?!" I blinked my large eyes as my brain slowly connected the dots, yet the image it formed still appeared so improbable.

"Yes, that's his name." Rachel nodded, abandoning the tray on the counter as she turned curious eyes to me. "You know him?"

"Yes, it's Blade's uncle. I told him to come here because Nellie has the best milkshakes, but I didn't expect him to find something else to his taste!" I laughed lightly as the picture finally appeared in my mind.

Nellie and Pete, it was improbable, but so evident at the same time. They were some of the kindest people I knew, and they deserved so much happiness and love with everything they'd been through. Besides, there was no age for love.

"It looks like you're a real matchmaker!" Rachel giggled, her smile a little too wide for just a gossip about her boss.

"Speaking of matchmakers... This scarf is new?" I watched through a knowing sideways glance as she readjusted the piece of fabric like she usually did with the glasses on her nose. "It's really hot today though..."

"Okay... I might have a love bite," she whispered, the last word so quiet that I almost fell from my stool as I leaned closer to hear her over the faint Sunday late afternoon hubbub. "We shared a few kisses on the lips and in the neck, but nothing else." She accentuated with a firm gesture of her hands, making me smile down at my own fingers, where I'd taken off the purity ring as soon as I'd left my house.

"And he also asked me officially out!" she added excitedly with a grin and a blush, of course, a lot like Nellie seconds ago.

Though I knew I couldn't laugh at them when my own cheeks were starting to tingle.

"He's now my boyfriend and he–"

"Did I hear the word 'boyfriend'?" A head popped up between us, making us both jump, and this time, I had to grip the counter to not fall, while Rachel gasped, a hand over her chest.

"Please, Travis! We were–"

The real shock happened when she took in who was standing here, tall and strong, with a buzzcut in the same color as her golden ponytail, a familiar curious look in his darker eyes, and a shoulder swathe and sling holding his left arm... Her brother was back, safe and sound, at least, alive and wincing a little when Rachel hugged him tightly.

"You're here?" She blinked her glistening eyes, still keeping an arm around her brother's waist, and only someone who had seen the tears staining her cheeks a few days before could understand how precious this moment was.

"Yes, I just got off the train, and I had to come here first for what I missed the most... the best milkshakes!" He smiled as Nellie put my two cups on the counter, and when she noticed him, her reaction was pretty much the same as Rachel's and I's.

It was a miracle the milkshakes didn't end up on my outfit today.

"Travis! You're back! Oh, free milkshakes to celebrate, and let me get you triple extra cream!" She rushed back into the kitchen on those words, making Travis's grin widen before he looked at Rachel.

"And my little Shel, of course!"

"That's not fun. I was so worried," she protested but didn't fight as he hugged her again, and I just breathed in the warmth that emanated from all these people around: the love, the happiness, the extra cream...

It was little things to savor, especially as they never lasted long, and quickly, Travis's smile fell down into a serious frown.

"Now, did I hear the word 'boyfriend'?"

Rachel instantly stiffened in his arms, readjusting her scarf again, even though the piece of fabric couldn't hide the red flushing her skin from there until the tip of her ears.

"Er... no, it's Dorothy! D-dorothy's boyfriend, we were talking about because he's... he's taking her on a date today, right?" She turned to me, and between her puppy eyes and her brother's inquisitive gaze, I was left cornered, the warm atmosphere becoming slowly suffocating.

"Y-yes... by the way, I should get going! He'll be here soon."

It was the truth, wasn't it? Except for the detail that Blade had never asked me out officially, I had no reason to avoid Travis's eyes as his frown eased off. Yet my hands were already reaching for the two cups on the counter, something in his military bag or maybe just in his warm smile making me rush before I could blurt out the truth.

"It was nice seeing you. I'm glad you're better."

"Have fun, and say hi to Spencer for me!"

I almost nodded, force of the habit, but it was stopped, along with my fingers on the cups, by the painful skip of my heart, and during this long second, Rachel updated her brother,

"He isn't her boyfriend anymore."

"Yes, we broke up." My hands finally grabbed the cups, and I put back my smile, even if both were a little too stiff.

Unexpected blows tended to have this effect; they were always the hardest to recover from, and I really hadn't seen this one coming. People in town had all got the news digested, and I, myself, had got used to it, as today, there had been no hint of bitterness since I'd entered the large room steeped in our memories.

It was progress, though I still couldn't take the look that went from wide to sorry when people learned the news, and it gave me one more reason to rush away from Travis.

"I hope it's not because of the green hut incident at your birthday?"

I was already turning away, my gaze on the door and my body in motion, but then, there were only Travis's words, the shock, pity, and a concern I wasn't used to in people's usual reaction, another jump of my heart, and the milkshakes crashing on my chest.

I didn't even know how; I didn't even glance at the cold mixture I felt seeping through my shirt and sticking to my frozen skin, and I didn't take the napkin that was pushed into my hand. All my attention went to Travis, and I hated how my feet were rooted into the floor while I cut off their 'sorry' and 'are you okay?'.

"How... Who... What?... Why?"

Only three people knew about this exact detail: Spencer, me, and Diane. So how did he know? Who told him when he'd been on the other side of the world all this time? What did he know? And why did he know?

"I was there."

At my birthday party? I knew Rachel had been there because the whole cheer team had been invited, but I didn't know Travis personally; I hadn't even been aware he'd been in town at the time, and I doubted he could have helped my dad's business.

"It was my last day of leave," he explained, as apparently, his military training helped him read through the mess of my mind and the questions rushing in every direction before I could even catch them.

"And I was there to deliver your gift."

My heart spasmed on that last word, making me realize it had stopped at some point, and it still wasn't beating as I choked,

"My-my gift?"

"Yes, the horse, and I stayed, since she's wild, and with all the noise and people, it was safer," he continued with a shrug as if explaining the earth was round, while he was turning my world upside down.

"Wait, Gem?" Rachel voiced out what my heart had already jumped to.

Gem, the wild horse that had saved me last Sunday, the one with whom I'd felt an instant connection... Gem.

"Yes, her– wait, you didn't know? I thought..." Travis stopped, his gaze sliding from me to Rachel, and weighing if he'd said too much or too little.

It was too much, yet he needed to say more as my heart was hanging to the line of his lips, still pending to restart or crash, and I wasn't sure which movement of the head I did, but it convinced him to continue.

"I thought... Spencer's worked so much, doing extra hours to buy the thoroughbred, and he was so impatient for you to see her. He wanted to surprise you with a ride, all dressed with the gear." He lightly shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his lips like you would tell with nostalgia an old story, though his voice dropped when he took in whatever expression was frozen on my features.

"He said 'because you're his..." he didn't finish as if knowing the word would break me.

'Princess'

Yet the echo that I could still make out in Spencer's voice was already cracking something slowly inside like a stream wearing down the rock.

"He was in the green hut to change, and I was waiting a little behind with Gem, so I basically saw everything... the girl that sneaked in, and I would have stopped her if Gem hadn't gone wild. The horse even ran away when she heard the girl's shrieks about a necklace stuck or something like that. When I managed to calm her down, I rushed there, and that's when..."

I didn't hear the rest. The faint stream had broken through the rock into a tidal wave, all the images of that day that I'd replayed a thousand times already crashing with it... The overwhelming pit in my chest, the numbing pain, my shaky fingers, the stain on my outfit, the need to escape it all, and...

"Oh, sorry, are you okay?" That same voice full of warmth and concern brought me back to the present time, and I blinked my eyes to take in that strong blurry figure exactly as in my memories.

Travis had been there; he'd been the one I'd crashed into that day.

Now, I remembered, and it made sense, of course. Yet I still shook my head frantically from side to side as I answered his question, and mostly, I tried to deny what he'd said.

Travis was honest, and he had no reason to lie. Everything he'd revealed matched perfectly, contrary to every broken piece of my heart I'd never been able to put back together.

"Why didn't you tell sooner?!" Rachel scolded, her voice louder than usual, though maybe it was just because she jumped to wrap her arms around me.

"I thought they'd explained. I didn't think..."

He didn't think it could break us. We were Spencer and Dorothy, after all.

"It's not his fault. He had other worries." If someone had to feel guilty, it certainly wasn't Travis, and even if it all started with Diane's sick ploy, even if Spencer's explanations had been clumsy, the burden of guilt was falling on my shoulders, crushing even my voice as I added, "It's only mine."

That moment I'd seen him with Diane had felt like a bullet straight through my heart, and it turned out I'd been the one holding the gun all this time.

I should have known Spencer was too good to do something like that. I should have listened to him. I should have read his letters. I should have trusted him. So many 'should have' that were too late.

"What will you do now?" Rachel asked softly, brushing a paper napkin on my cheeks to wipe the tears I hadn't even felt slipping out in the whirlwind.

"I don't know..."

Except messing my outfit, messing Rachel's outfit as she tightened her hug, and messing everything, apparently.

"Does it change something?" She was trying to help me out before I was drowning completely, but she didn't know I was already fully carried away.

It changed everything, everything except the jump of my heart when I heard the roar of the now-familiar motorbike.

So much had happened in one month. Blade had happened. Every tie we'd grown together like the branches on the hand I'd accepted one month ago until last night and even this morning had happened.

An abyss had happened between Spencer and me, filled with only the echo of each of his stuttered explanations and harsh words that had been screamed until his vow from this morning. 'I'm gonna fight for you', it was what resonated the loudest, surely because it was so fresh.

Those words that could have melted any girl's heart were twisting my core and setting a bad feeling so deep that I had to clutch my stomach. The same way I had seen the images of a naked Spencer covered with Diane replaying a million times, I could still see his large bouquet, his white Sunday shirt, and that dangerous spark in his eyes. Maybe even he had changed...

It was too much I wasn't ready to face, and when the rumble of the motorcycle echoed louder, I let it engulf everything until the flashbacks remained like some disaster silent movie.

"I have to think about it. But for now, I have a date, and Blade's planned everything." I straightened up, wiping my cheeks with the back of my hand, and taking in a deep breath that sounded as choked as if my lungs were crushed underwater. "It can wait a little bit more."

Could it?

One month of bottled-up emotions, unsaid words, new memories, little moments, passing days, and meaningful seconds, and in spite of the pressure straining throughout my whole body, I recklessly pushed a little bit more on this time bomb as I pulled out of Rachel's embrace and nodded to Travis.

"Thank you."

They didn't get to reply, surely wondering why I was thanking them as I walked away like a mess once again. It was almost all that I'd done in this one month: running blindly, and I was still doing it as I blinked my eyes desperately, trying to dispel the tears and the flashbacks with each step.

There were too many, and my eyesight only cleared when I arrived in front of the two wide crystalline eyes.

"Hey, Shooting star, is that some kind of romantic nostal– fuck, what happened? You're okay?" The playfulness in Blade's words ended in a deadly edge as fast as his gaze jumped from the stain on my outfit to my face.

Just like on our first encounter, he was piercing through me, and even if today, the mess was a little less obvious – thanks to Rachel and her paper napkins – his gaze had sharpened to reach deeper as he grabbed my chin.

I couldn't lie.

"I had a little accident with the milkshakes..."

Yet I couldn't tell him the whole truth either, not now.

"I'm sorry. We won't have any for our date," I added as his eyes flickered behind, several meters away, at the shiny storefront where the late afternoon sun was reflecting, and it was surely more to see what had happened there than for the milkshakes.

"But maybe we can find some on the road, it depends... where we're going?" I tried to distract him, or myself. I wasn't sure as my hands instinctively reached for his, tracing the inks there in a silent demand, and his gaze came back all over my flushed freckles.

He knew I wasn't telling him everything, and I could see the battle under his etching frown. Yet I wasn't ready to let everything out; I wasn't ready for the explosion.

In this instant, I only wanted one thing, and he once more granted my wish as he heaved out a defeated sigh through his nose, his features relaxing into the hint of his wicked smile on one side of his mouth.

"Nice try! But don't worry, I don't need anything else than my little cherry." He tugged on my hand to bring me closer and slowly pecked my lips until all I could feel were the bad intentions and magic in his smile.

"Are you ready, Dorothea?"

My gaze traveled from his tall and dangerous figure to his motorbike as he led me to climb behind him. It was one of the memories from that day that would never change, and although today, he wasn't wearing his leather jacket, and my red capri pants were more comfortable for the ride, something told me I still wasn't ready for what was to come when the engine roared back to life.

Dun... Dun... Dun... So Spencer never cheated on Dorothy 😳 He was preparing for her gift: a horse! Did you expect this? 😏

I know there's gonna probably be two teams from now, but what do you think Dorothy should do? What will she do? 👀

I want to know all your thoughts!! And don't forget to vote ⭐ if you liked this chapter and are excited for what's to come 😘

Personally, I'm so excited! 😁 And I love when you share your excitement with me!