Let Me Be The One To Save You

"Hey Lucas," I smiled at the coffee shop worker as I did every morning when I entered.

"Hey Ciara," He replied and began making me my usual- a caramel machiato. "Are you ever going to go to school?"

I shrugged as I handed over the couple of dollars for my coffee and took the hot beverage from him. "I duuno Luke, I don't think I'm ready."

The young man just nodded his head. In the couple of weeks that I had been coming to the coffee shop he had never once pried into my private life or asked why I moved to New Jersey. He just accepted the fact that I didn't want to tell him. It was one of the many reasons I liked him.

"See you in a bit," I waved at him with my free hand and headed towards my usual spot behind the bookcase.

On my way I passed him again. Since that first day I had visited the coffee shop he had been here every morning when I arrived. Often as I'd pass, he'd smile and I'd blush. Today was no different. My cheek burned beetroot red and I hid behind my hair as I hurried to my usual spot, opposite the mysterious guy.

I had been sittig there for almost a half hour, just drawing. I had found that sketch I had done of the local playground and decided it was time to finish it.

"That's pretty good," A soft voice spoke from in front of me.

I jumped and my pencil flew across that page, ruining my drawing. I sighed angrily and pulled out an eraser to try and rectify the problem.

"Oh I am so sorry," That same male voice said, and this time I looked up.

It was him . He was standing in front of me, a sheepish smile on his face and a mug of coffee in each hand.

"I didn't mean to startle you," He said. "I just came over to say hey. But when I saw your sketch I had to compliment it. It's really good."

I smiled shyly up at him, "T... T... Thanks."

"No problem," He held out one of the mugs of coffee. "I got Lucas to give me your usual."

He placed it in the table I was leaning on and sat down next to me. I mutters a thank you and continued to try and fix my picture.

"My name is Gerard by the way," He told me.

I looked up at him again. Gerard . It suited the handsome young man. He smiled nervously at me and I realised that I was staring at him again. I blushed and looked away, letting my purple hair form a curtain between us.

"I'm Ciara," I replied softly as I continued with my drawing. I didn't look up to see if be had heard me.

"Yeah I know."

His statement surprised me and my head popped up out of curiosity, "Huh?"

He laughed at my expression, "No, I'm not stalking you! My best friend, Ray Toro, told me about you."

I nodded mutely before looking back down at the table. I was feelin very self-conscious. Why did this stranger feel the need to talk to me.

"Oh by the way... You're out of milk."

It took me a moment or two but I got the joke and laughed a little.

"You're pretty when you laugh," He observed.

I blushed again and was thankful I had worn my hair down, so I could hide behind it. This guy
had and affect on me like noone else. He was making me act like a shy, blushing, school girl with her first crush. I wasn't anything like that normally.

We sat in near silence for a few moments, the only sounds to be heard were the scratch of my pencil against the paper and the slurping sounds Gerard made as he drank his coffee. Occasionally I'd chance a look up at him and he'd smile at me, a twinkle in his hazel eyes, making me blush all over again.

"You should drink your coffee before it goes cold," His voice startled me again but, luckily, I had no pencil in my hand this time and so my sketch remained unharmed.

I looked up at him and smiled as I grabbed the mug from off the table, "Thank you. You didn't have to buy me one."

I took a small sip. The coffee was perfect, Lucas really knew how to combine caramel with coffee. I savoured the sweet drink before swallowing it.

Gerard shrugged, "I don't mind. I like doing nice things for people, good karma and all that jazz. What I don't get though is how you can drink that sickly sweet shit."

His face was priceless. He looked almost horrified at the thought of my caramel flavoured beverage. The glare I was about to direct at him dissolved into a giggle.

His face relaxed at the sound and he let a small smile grace his perfect features, "I'm serious though, why would you mess with the perfection of black coffee?"

He lifted his own mug and sipped from it as if to demonstrate his point. His slightly immature ways and stupid jokes amused me and I found yet another smile creeping it's way onto my face.

"I like the mixture of the sweet caramel with the bitter coffee," I replied simply, taking a drink from my own mug.

My drawing suddenly caught my eye and a slight mistake bothered me. I placed my mug back on the table and grabbed my pencil and eraser before getting to work on fixing the small error.

"Can I show you how to fix that?" He asked, obviously noticing my struggle with the drawing.

Usually I wouldn't allow anyone to touch my artwork but Gerard seemed like he knew what he was talking about.
I shrugged and muttered, "Sure," before handing him my sketch book.

He scooted over to show me what he was doing. He was close enough that I could catch a whiff of his distinct smell. It was like a nice mixture of coffee and cigarettes and I found myself wondering if he smoked instead of listening to him as he educated me in art.

"So there you go," He handed me back my book and I snapped back to reality after hearing none of his little lesson.

"T. . . Thanks," I stuttered a little and blushed.

He grinned, showing off a perfect set of teeth, "No problem."

I put the little book back into my bag and stood up to leave but Gerard placed a hand on my arm to stop me.

"Stay?" His hazel eyes looked like a lost puppy's and my heart melted a little. "I was hoping we could chat for a bit."

There was no way I could deny those eyes. I sighed and sat back down beside Gerard.



Gerard and I sat in the coffee shop for a few hours just talking. He was an interesting person and I found that we had a lot in common. He liked art and coffee. His music taste included everything from The Misfits to The Beatles. He admitted to being a smoker but did not seem proud or the fact, saying "I'd quit if I thought I could handle the withdrawals." He was also quite funny, making menlaugh with his snide and sarcastic comments about the other customers that entered the little coffee shop.

"So do you go to Belleville High?" Gerard asked me as he fiddled with a few strands of his raven black hair.

"I'm supposed to," I shrugged. "But I don't quite feel ready yet."

He nodded, "Why not?"

I looked away, not really wanting to discuss anything with this guy who I still considered a stranger. "Just stupid things. Shit happened before I came here and I guess I'm just not over it."

Again he nodded, but this time said nothing. I was grateful, I didn't want him prying any more into my life.
We didn't speak again for a few moments and I distracted myself by nibbling on the rainbow cookie Gerard had bought me. He had taken no need of my protests and still bought for me.

"I don't like going to school either," He smiled. "I just can't seem to do well."

I laughed awkwardly, unsure as to whether he was joking or not.

"Hey, why don't we do something crazy and both go to school tomorrow?" He laughed and it sounded so childlike and carefree.

I shook my head, "Uhm. . . I don't think I can Gerard."

He shot me those lost puppy dog eyes again, "Why not?"

Despite the fact that he barely knew me, or I him, Gerard could wrap me around his little finger. He knew how to get exactly what he wanted from me.

I looked away from his intense gaze and muttered my answer, "I don't want to start over. Things were perfect but then they were taken away and now I have to try and rebuild it all in a completely new place. It just doesn't seem worth it."

It was only as I uttered those words to him that I realised how true they were. Everything had been perfect back home; I had my best friend, Fergal; my best girl friend, Rachel; a sweet boyfriend, Aiden and a reasonably normal one parent household. But when Fergal had taken his own life he had also taken away the most important things in my life. I didn't blame him, I could never do that, but it was what he had inadvertently done.

There was a slight pressure placed on my shoulder and I looked up to see Gerard with a soft smile on his face, a hand squeezing my shoulder comfortingly.

"I'll tell you what," He said with that same pitying smile. "How about I pick you up tomorrow and bring you to school? You can stick with me all day and if you still want to leave early I'll bring you home.

I opened my mouth to protest, there was no need for this guy to be so nice to me.
He held up a hand before I could make a sound, "Don't even think about arguing with me. C'mon, I'll walk you home."

He stood up and held his hand out to me. I was hauled to my feet but once I was up he did not remove his hand from mine. Instead he just flashed me another smile and began walking with me, out intertwined hands swinging between us.