The Inbetween

She blinked as the harsh light flooded her eyes that weren’t even open yet. She didn’t even need to open them to know where she was, though; lying on concrete. She groaned and forced her eyes open. Every year, every single damn year, on September seventeenth, she woke up in the same damn spot on the same damn road in the same damn town in the same damn country.

Huffing, she rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself to her knees using the palms of her hands. She made it to her feet and stretched, feeling her back crack the whole way down. She shook her head as if to clear away a bad image, her dark brown wavy locks falling around her face. She looked from left to right, already knowing which way she was going to go. Moving her fringe from her eyes she spun around and headed to her left, crossing the street, but just as she reached halfway across the road, a car came zooming by. She jumped back in fright just in time for it not to hit her.

“Watch it!” She yelled after the small black car, but she knew it would do no use as she watched it continue on its journey. “Arsehole,” she muttered and hopped up onto the pavement, pulling her long cardigan around her and crossing her arms despite never really having felt the cold before in her whole life. It was more a comfort thing than anything else.

She wandered along the road she knew so well in silence, ignoring everything going on around her at this early hour. She found the small quiet café that she’d always loved and walked in just after someone left, making her way over to the corner where it was difficult to be seen by anyone. She dragged her hands down her face and sighed before lowering her head into her arms. She blinked several times at the shiny table, her eyelashes sweeping across it. The little bell that she’d always found rather cute tingled but she didn’t bother lifting her head, not even when she felt the backseat of the booth beside hers gently thudding, indicating someone had sat down.

It was only when she decided to leave the café that she lifted her head and stretched her arms out in front of her and glanced beside her. When she did, she let out a small gasp. A leather jacket hid him from the mild chill outside, a stripy scarf hugged his throat to keep him from getting a cold, and his brown hair was swept under a grey beanie, which made a difference from his usual of caps.

It wasn’t who she saw exactly that caused this reaction – Hell, she saw him a lot about town – but it was the fact she saw him there today. It was the fact that she saw Nathan Sykes there today when she hardly expected him to ever come back to this café after what happened here five years ago.



“I honestly can’t believe you didn’t hear him, Seev,” Max said as he spooned some cereal into his mouth the next morning.

“My room’s furthest away from his, though,” Siva pointed out.

“Yeah, but it was pretty terrifying,” Jay mused.

“What, the situation or you stubbing your bloody toe?” Max smirked and Jay flicked some milk at him.

“What do you think? The situation, you cock, and, by the way, my toe still fucking hurts.”

“Well today is the seventeenth...” Siva said as he sat down beside Jay with a mug of tea.

“Yeah, I figured that out last night,” Jay yawned and dropped his head into his arms. “Five fucking years,” he mumbled, then repeated, “Five,” as if to emphasise his point.

“I know. He’s always so torn up...” Siva stated, “But, this is different for him,” he suddenly said, nodding his head towards the note that read one word.

Max leaned over and picked it up, rereading the one word ‘Café’ over and over again, “Why would he go there of all places?”

“Beats me,” Siva said. “Jay, are you okay?”

Jay straightened up. “Yeah, I’m just tired. And well, y’know...” he trailed off and both Max and Siva nodded. Max pushed his half-full bowl away from him.

“So, should we go get him then go see her?” he asked, not waiting for an answer as he picked his bowl up and binned the contents before rinsing it with water and leaving it in the sink. “I’ll meet you guys out front in half an hour.”

“I’ll drive!” Siva called after Max as he jogged out of the kitchen and up the stairs. “Right, c’mon,” he slapped Jay’s back and they both stood up, Siva taking his tea up with him, although he figured he might need something stronger to start the day with. This was going to be a tough day, and the only thing stopping him from starting his day with something stronger than tea was simply the fact that he had to drive.

But still, he was so fucking tempted.