And I'm bleeding in love,
you're swimming in my veins
You got me now
Been breaking for a lifetime for you
Wasn't lookin' for love 'til I found you
— Liam Payne, Rita Ora, For You

AUTUMN

My first thought was going to the bar across the street but I stopped myself, knowing that would be the first place he went, considering we both went there on the first day we arrived here in New York and established the bar as one of the places for us to drink. I heard faint footsteps, which probably belonged to Tyler, so I quickly put my coat on and walked faster.

New York was truly the city that lived twenty-four-seven. Even past midnight, there were still people partying and walking down the street. I jumped into the middle of the crowd and followed them closely.

I knew it was stupid to run from Tyler but his words really hurt me. I had no idea what the hell just happened. He was the one who lied, he was the one who went to see his ex-girlfriend behind my back, yet I was the one attacked. Not only that, but he also brought up things from the past. Things that I'd like to store in the back of my mind.

He dragged them all back to the front and made me feel horrible about my past. He made me feel awful about myself and it was the worst feeling. I hated my past, and I hated what I'd done but I didn't want to be judged for the rest of my life by my mistakes. Nobody's perfect.

I knew how much he hated what he has done too and that was why I never brought up his past in the conversation. I just wished he would've done the same thing.

My mind has kept me busy that I didn't realize I'd ended up in a totally different zip code. I looked around to see the sign on the street and noticed that I was a few blocks away from the building where Ty and I lived.

There was a McDonald's on the corner of the street which was still open at this hour. I wasn't really hungry but I figured that some French fries wouldn't hurt so I walked across the street, careful to look around before crossing the road, and headed towards the yellow and red fast food restaurant.

I pushed the heavy glass door open and moved to the counter. Only two counters were open, instead of four, and I queued behind a blonde woman who looked like she just got out of a party. Her lipstick was smeared down to her chin and I caught a strong smell of alcohol from her.

I pretended to look at my shoes while subtly taking a step back. Alcohol mixed with perfume didn't smell so good. I honestly had no clue that people would have a party on Monday. I mean, it was the first day of the week, and even hours felt longer on Monday.

The people in the front moved to the right to get their orders and our line moved forward. A tall Indian guy was getting his orders taken, and behind him was the blonde woman. I pulled out my wallet from my pocket and hoped that I carried enough cash.

Since my credit card days, I had a bad habit of not carrying too much cash around. I knew I could pay by card but it just felt wrong to pay one dollar seventy cents using cards. Plus, I didn't think they'd allow card transactions below ten bucks. The previous guy finally got his order so the Indian guy moved to get his while the blonde woman in front of me got her orders taken. I took five dollars more and stepped forward.

"Temptress?"

Only one person on the planet would call me that. I looked up and saw him carrying two McD paper bags in one hand while the other hand was shoved into the pocket of his sweatpants. I frowned. This was the first time I saw him wearing something that didn't come from the GQ catalog. I moved my gaze from the white running shoes he was wearing to the dark blue sweatpants hanging low on his hips, up to the white sleeveless shirt beneath the thin black jacket, and all the way to a pair of hot charcoal dark grey eyes. A faint of redness appeared on the apple of his cheeks.

He cleared his throat and stared back at me. "What are you doing here? Girls shouldn't be out late at night." His brows lowered, showing his disapproval.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yet here you are."

"But I'm a guy. It's different." He closed the gap between us in two steps. "What're you getting?"

I showed him my five bucks as I replied, "French fries."

Phraser shook his head and let out a deep sigh. He reminded me a lot of Steven when he saw me being silly but was too tired to scold me. "Come on." He nudged his head towards one of the empty tables at the back of the restaurant. "I'll give you some chips."

I glanced over at the blonde lady. It looked like she was going to take a while considering she was a bit drunk and kept saying she wanted pizza. I turned to Phraser who was waiting for me nearby the self-service counter and walked to him.

"How do you eat your chips?" I lifted one eyebrow, unsure of what he just asked. He looked at me and rolled his eyes. "Your fries. Do you take salt, pepper, or ketchup?"

"Oh." Sometimes I forgot that he was British. He hid his accent so well that he spoke like a true American. Unlike his brother, Corbin, who sounded so Irish. "Ketchup and salt, please."

He grabbed two packs of salt and poured a decent amount of ketchup into the small plastic cup. We walked towards one of the empty tables and he put everything on the table.

"I thought you were gonna eat that outside." I pointed at the two McD paper bags.

He gave his shoulder a little shrug. "You're here. Might as well." He opened the paper bags and took the contents out.

Three burgers, two large French fries, and one large Coke. Boy, he does eat a lot! I stared at the food on our table with widened eyes. "You eat all of this alone?"

"Yeah, why?" He unwrapped the burger and lifted the bun to peer inside. "Blimey!" He cursed under his breath.

I stopped tearing the salt package and looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot to tell her not to put the pickles." He put the burger on the table, opened the bun, and took out two slices of pickles stuck in between the bun and the meat. He was about to throw it inside the paper bag but I caught his wrist just in time. Looking up with a confused look on his face, his gaze slid to my hand holding his writer and then back to my face. "I like pickles. Put them here." I moved some fries to one side and pointed at the empty spot.

Phraser looked at me for several heartbeats before doing it as I asked. "How can you be British but hate pickles?" I asked once I chewed the pickles and swallowed them.

He finished one burger and crumbled the wrapper before putting it inside the paper bag. "I'm not 100% British." He grabbed his second burger and started to unwrap it. "My father is—"

"A big and tall Irish man. Yeah, I know." I finished his sentence and reached for another fries.

He paused and looked like he was trying to figure out how I knew that but the frown on his forehead cleared up after a while. "Corbin told you."

"Yep," I replied with a nod.

Phraser took out the pickles and put them next to the fries. "What else did he tell you?" He raised the burger to his mouth and took a big bite. Somehow, even though he ate like someone who hasn't eaten for weeks, he ate with effortless grace. It was almost as if he grew up learning about table manners.

"Not much. He said your dad got married to his mom and they had him." I took his pickles and plopped them inside my mouth. I chewed and then swallowed them. I probably should stop eating since my throat began to feel dry and I didn't buy any drinks. He seemed to notice that as he put the straw in and put the Coke in front of me. "What about you?"

"I'll drink your leftover," answered him like it was no big deal. "So, what else did Corbin tell you?"

I took a sip. "He said your accent isn't showing as much as his." I reached for another fries and dipped them into the ketchup before sprinkling some salt on top of it. "He has a very thick Irish accent," I added.

Phraser chewed and swallowed as if giving it some thought. "Probably because he spent his childhood in Ireland." He put the second wrapper inside the paper bag. Boy, not only does he eat a lot but he also eats very fast.

"And you didn't?" I asked out of curiosity. Although they were brothers, they didn't look alike. When I first met Corbin, I would never guess that he was related to Phraser. One had the most innocent face I've ever seen while the other had the most mischievous.

"No." He shook his head lightly. "I was sent to an all-boys school in London. St Paul's."

I would never guess that either. "So that's why you're a womanizer," I recalled him being flirty with the brunette in the JJ Dining Hall but making out with a blonde the night before. "You had to live with boys and no girls for god knows how many years."

Instead of getting embarrassed, he smirked. "I didn't live celibate even then." His smile turned dangerous as he leaned forward in his chair and put his elbows on the table. "We didn't spend twenty-four-seven at school." His gaze made me feel a little nervous.

I cleared my throat and broke the connection. "I think I'm done." I pushed the leftover fries to the center. I took one last drink and then put the Coke in front of him on the table.

He finished up his last burger really fast and in ten minutes, we were already outside, walking on the sidewalk. "What are you doing, Temptress?"

I turned and shot him a dagger. "I've told you not to call me that." I dropped my gaze to the ground as I continued, "I'm walking with you. Can't you see?"

One hand caught my arm, preventing me from moving further. I looked up and leveled his gaze. "I'm serious. What are you doing late at night out here alone instead of sleeping in your bed at your house?"

I knew what he meant when he first popped the question, I just wished he would drop the subject. "I had a fight."

There was a moment of silence before I heard him asking, "With?"

"With my boyfriend." I looked at him, waiting for him to say that if it were him, he would never fight with me. I was waiting for the 'I told you so' and a long speech about how he was better than Tyler. But he didn't say anything. And he didn't look happy either, his expression remained unchanged.

As I realized he wasn't going to do that, I waited for him to start asking questions. People always asked questions like, 'what happened', 'what did he do', 'what did he say'. Yet nothing.

When he finally opened his mouth to speak, what he said was totally unexpected. "Where are you going now?"

I froze. I haven't thought about it. Whenever I had a fight with my boyfriend, I always ran home and locked myself in my room. But now that we shared an apartment, where would I go? There was no place to hide.

"Listen," said Phraser looking down at me from his lofty height. "I'd love to ask you to crash at my place but I know you're gonna say no. So, why don't we just stay outside?"

I raised my brows as I couldn't believe what I just heard. "We?"

"Yeah." He looked at me as if I was asking the obvious. "There's no way I'd let you wander around alone." He shoved one hand into the pocket of his jacket. With a lopsided smile appearing on his lips, he dangled what looked like a car key in front of my face. "Where to?"

I laughed. "I thought you were out jogging." I pointed at his dark blue sweatpants. "You even put a proper running wear."

"I was!" He sounded a little offended that I laughed. "You've been to my house. You know how far it was from the city, there's no way I jogged my way here from home."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Then why did you come here? You could jog at the park nearby your house." He didn't have to go to Uptown Manhattan just to jog when there was a nice park nearby his complex.

"I had a feeling that someone lied to me when I asked her if she was okay and I couldn't get it off my head since," he muttered under his breath. His voice getting lower and lower that I couldn't really catch what he was saying.

I frowned. "What? Say that again?"

"Nah." He put his usual smirk back up again. "You're here, it's good now. Anyway, where do you want to go?" He led us to the sleek black sedan parked across the street.

I was trying my luck when I asked him, "Can I drive?" I knew he would probably say no. I've been declined by many guys when it came to borrowing their cars. Typical boys and their toys.

So when he tossed his keys at me, I was unprepared and had to bend forward to catch it before it landed on the asphalt. I stared at the car key in my palm and then back at its owner. "Are you sure?"

He shrugged without care. "Yeah, why not."

I grinned and unlocked the door. We both got inside and I still couldn't wipe that grin off my face as I sat behind the wheels. Tonight's ride might just be the balm I needed.

♥
What do you think, my angels?
Do you like how their friendship turned out?
Let me know your thoughts!

Do you think Tyler is wandering around and looking for her? Or do you think he will sit right and wait at home for her to come back?

♥

loads of pizza,
your noob neighborhood author,
agatha x

[for TBCN re-readers:
there's no change in this chapter]