Day 6

"Eleanor!" Adrien breaths out, as if not sure it's actually me, as his wide enough eyes to pop out of its sockets take me in.

Of all the people it had to be Adrien. Of all the hotels in this god damned city, he had to show up at my uncle's hotel.

I inhale sharply as I look anywhere but his face. "Adrien," I say as a way of greeting him and start chewing my bottom lip anxiously.

I just want my coffee and maybe a little sleep, or even better, my Harry Potter book.

I take a step back and then another.

"I can't believe that you're actually here," he says. I glance up at him, the corners of his mouth is turned upwards.

I want to take another step back and to just walk away, actually run back to my room, but that would be awkward, and not a very adult thing to do.

"One might even think you've followed me," he jokes and slips his phone into his jeans pocket.

I sum up all my energy, or all that's left and glare at him making him chuckle. "I've been dying to say that for a very long time." He admits and continues with his chuckle.

I blankly stare at him.

I really don't want to be around him.

His eyes narrow, all the laugh leaving his features. "We need to talk," he says with complete seriousness.

I inhale a shaky breath, he leans down slightly, "I need to talks to you," he states.

"There's nothing to talk about, Adrien," I say.

If I was braver, I might have said that I don't want to talk to him, I don't even want to see his face.

"There's a lot to talk about," he stubbornly says.

"If you want to talk about the party, it really doesn't matter what happened," I've gone through worse than that, by you. I replay the words I said out loud in my head to make sure I didn't say anything wrong and then add, "And the rest is in the past," and it should stay in the past, including anyone related to it, meaning you too.

I glance up, his burrows are furrowed, he takes a step towards me and I instinctively take a step back and wrap my arms around myself.

Please just let me go.

His Addams apple bobs, and the next moment his features turn stone cold as he stares me down, "I have to talk to you," he takes a step towards me, before I can back away his hand reaches out and his fingers wrap around my upper arm, just above my elbow. "Stop running away from me."

I just wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole instead of being in this position.

I wiggle out of his grasp, my palms sweating, and my heart racing. The only thought in my head is to get as far away from him, and this situation, as possible.

I try to come up with words to say, to tell him to let me be but my head is empty of words, my mouth dry as a desert, my feet glued to the spot. It feels like everyone in this place is staring at me. I can feel every cell in my body jittering.

"Eleanor," my uncle's voice surprises me as he stands next to me, "Is something wrong?" My uncle's voice falls like a calming blanket on me, soothing me. He puts his hand on my shoulder and relief washes through me.

My mind slowly starts pushing away the fog of panic and anxiety away.

I look at my uncle, a fresh surge of confidence and ease pumps through my veins, "No uncle," I say and offer a small smile, but it doesn't stop him from looking suspiciously at Adrien. I swallow hard and push myself to continue, "We were classmates for a very long time," I offer and he slowly nods his head.

Adrien holds his gaze, though I do notice him rubbing his thumb and middle finger together, he always does that when he's either thinking or nervous.

"Tom Evans," Uncle says, offering his hand to him.

Adrien's signature smirk crawls to his face, his stance immediately changing to a relaxed and confident one, "Adrien Clark," he says and shakes hands with uncle.

"Clark," uncle repeats, narrowing his eyes slightly, thinking or maybe trying to recall something... someone.

A smug smile takes place instead of his smirk as Adrien says, "Yes, Harry Clark's son," and uncle slightly raises his eyebrows in comprehension. Apparently he knows Adrien's dad... though a lot of people do, especially the ones who have anything to do with business and Wall Street.

"Welcome to my hotel, Mr. Clark," Uncle says.

Adrien's smirk falters for a moment, his eyes momentarily widen before going back to his normal indifference stare. "Thank you... sir," he hesitantly says.

Uncle looks back at me, "If you need me, you know where to find me," and with a final glance at Adrien he walks away.

"So you can technically throw me out of here in a blink of an eye?" Adrien muses, shaking his head.

"I can," I confirm and start to walk towards the elevator.

With two long strides, Adrien places himself in front of me, making me stop again.

"Can I please talk to you?" He asks, stressing the word please more than necessary.

I open my mouth to decline but before I get to utter a single word, he raises his hand and says, "I owe you an explanation," with his eyebrows slightly raised.

I wish he would stop. What does he want to gain with this? I don't understand why he's doing this.

I shake my head and take a step back, he smirks at me and adds, "And a Clark always pays its debts."

Before I can stop myself I roll my eyes and he wiggles his eyebrows, his smirk turning into a smile.

Annoyed and too exhausted to think better, I scoff and blurt out, "If you happen to think that you're like Jaime Lannister, I can assure you, you're not."

He starts chuckling, his index finger pointing at himself, he says, "I know, I am more handsome and way smarter,"

"Your looks are a Tyrion Lannister and your brain a Jaime, goodbye," I say, sidestepping him and walk away.

"I am officially offended." He says as he puts his hand on his chest, pretending to look hurt.

He easily keeps up with my pace, walking next to me. I hug myself tighter and fasten my pace, but it doesn't budge him.

"This is the first time you're running away from hearing an answer, Evans." He pointedly says.

I really want to be alone.

"I will keep following you and bugging you until I get what I want... and I'm not asking for much, just for us to sit and talk," he says and I press the elevator's button. He adds, "Like adults," as I wait for the elevator to come.

I'm being rude, very rude, but at the same time, I just want to be alone.

I shift uncomfortably under his gaze, and start chewing my lip.

I rub my brow and with a sharp inhale I gather my courage and look up to him, "Fine, but only until I order my coffee and finish it I'll sit and listen to you, after that you'll leave me alone." Please.

"Whatever you say," he says with a satisfied smile, and we turn around and walk towards the area specified for breakfast servings.

The place is somewhat crowded and one of the workers spots me and hurries towards me, "Is there anything that I can get you?" He asks.

I nod my head and slowly answer, "Black coffee," with a small smile, and thank him. He nods and glances at Adrien, unsure.

"Same," he says and the man walks away and we find an empty spot and sit.

"I take it you can sit here as long as you like?" He asks just as he sits across from me.

I nod my head. He opens his mouth to say something but I interrupt him, "How about no talking and questions until my coffee comes," I say.

He opens and closes his mouth a few times but no words make it out, finally, he gives in and sighs "Fine,"

As we sit in complete silence, I can't help but think, there are almost 14000 hotels in this city, and the possibility of him staying at the same hotel as me it's almost 0.0071 percent and yet here he is. Here we are. Ironic.

I might one day be able to title myself as the goddess of being unlucky... and since I'm this unlucky, the possibility of someone showing up to become the goddess exists, because I'm unlucky enough to not even receive the title.

"Where were you coming from anyway?" His question brings me back to reality. I blink a few times to process what he said, with a tight-lipped smile he adds, "You look like hell."

I inhale shakily, I don't want to answer his question and unfortunately, I'm not coming up with any excuse or lie. And I don't know what to say to his remark.

I fiddle with my fingers and chew my bottom lip, bouncing my leg nervously. That's when it crosses my mind, "You weren't supposed to ask questions until my coffee comes," I point out.

He scoffs and crosses his arms in front of his chest, "You're not the one-night stand type of person, that I'm sure of... it's only natural to feel curious."

I fix my gaze on the far wall behind him, after a long pause I decide to say, "I was coming back from a walk,"

He narrows his eyes suspiciously at me, not believing my explanation.

Before he gets to push farther, the same man walks to our table and places our coffees.

Immediately after the man leaves I take a sip from the piping hot drink. The scent fills my senses and the bitter taste wakes my cells, the warmth of it spreads through my body and slowly I feel my mind sharpening with each sip.

I look up from my cup to see Adrien's gaze is fixed on me. I arch an eyebrow at him, questioningly but he shakes his head and takes a sip from his drink.

A long moment of silence passes between us.

Adrien's voice draws my attention away from my coffee. "So... what are you doing here?" He asks.

I stare at him blankly, what sort of a question is that?

He sighs and continues, "Don't look at me like that! I asked you that night what your plans are and didn't mention traveling, I'm curious... plus I'm trying to communicate."

I shift in my seat, trying to ignore my already on high alert nerves, ready to make the situation worse than it is.

"I thought it would be nice to travel," I slowly say, and replay the words in my head until it feels like a pretty lame answer.

"Weren't you the type that always planned everything beforehand?" He asks with surprise and a hint of a smile.

I can't help but feel annoyed, not at him but at myself, why am I so predictable? why do I have to be so boring? "I thought it's about time to change," I answer.

Again he raises his eyebrows in surprise but nods his head anyway.

"So what's your plan?" He asks and takes a sip from his drink not breaking his gaze from me even for a moment

I shift uncomfortably, rub my sweaty palms on my jeans and nervously chew my bottom lip, my right leg bouncing faster with every passing second.

I start fiddling with my fingers and keep my eyes on them and reply, "Well... I want to travel," I look up only to see he's looking at me incredulously, I sharply inhale and add, "Travel the world, I want to travel the world for the rest of the year,"

He chokes on his coffee and starts coughing, then clears his throat, his wide eyes fixed on me and I feel like I might spiral down into a mild panic attack, or my heart burst out of my chest.

I try to calm my racing heart with slow and deep inhales.

He opens and closes his mouth a couple of times, as if words are failing him, he again clears his throat and settles on asking, "Alone?"

"Yes," I say a bit harsher than I intended to and guilt wraps its claws around my throat.

I think I sounded like an angry teenager and instantly feel embarrassed, I take a sip from my coffee as a distraction.

He nods his head slowly a few times and then leans forward, "Where will you be going?"

Now I feel stupid too. I hold the cup lesser than an inch above my thigh and stare at the now half-full cup.

"No shit!" He suddenly says and leans back into his chair, looking amused, his eyebrows still raised and his mouth open agape, with its corners turned up.

I hope he doesn't start making fun of me or come up with his usual way of embarrassing me, that's the last thing I need right now.

I shift uncomfortably in my seat and force myself to look at his face, I can't stop my brain from wandering to the times he used to bully me, or his friends shouting names at me. I feel myself sitting more tightly to take lesser space as if trying to somewhat hide from sight.

"I honestly can't believe that you're doing something like this! Of all people!" He says with a surprising amount of astonishment.

This isn't a good sign, anytime he's like this, he comes up with something awful, though I wish he would just get it over with.

I feel his gaze burning holes into my brow, I glance up to see he has narrowed his eyes. A complete serious expression over his face as he starts rubbing his chin with his thumb and index fingers. Then rests his chin on his thumb and the rest of his fingers half curled in front of his mouth.

I wonder this time how hurtful of an insult he's digging his mind to come up with.

A wicked smile crawls to his face, slowly turning the corners of his lips upwards and I feel like I'm back at our high school's hallways.

"I have a deal for you," he says, intently looking at me.

Surprise and a small amount of relief wash through me. I shift again, the thundering beats of my heart echoing in my ears as I swallow hard and focus my gaze between his eyebrows.

He leans forward and before I can stop myself, I subconsciously lean farther back into my chair.

My action causes a momentary pause in him, a fleeting emotion flashes in his eyes, too fast for me to understand what it was, but I'm guessing it was either annoyance or maybe pity... I don't know, after all, I do think I look pathetic.

"Traveling the world... that also alone! It's going to be a different level of boring and since I have nothing better to do either, I'll join you." He says in a way that I'm sure when Einstein came up with relativity, he didn't have this attitude towards his solutions and equations.

I fail at hiding my surprise, and immediately start shaking my head no.

I push my glasses up with one hand and with the other start drawing my thumbnail up and down my cup's handle, "No, no, no. You will not."

"Why not?"

I fix my gaze on him, trying to push aside my anxiety I open my mouth to say something but words fail me again. Embarrassment and anxiety fog my brain, "Because..." I manage to say but he interrupts me.

"Come on Evans! There are like, thousands of reasons why I should come with you."

No there is not! The voice in my head screams but not strong enough to break the lock on my lips caused by anxiety and voice it out loud.

Please don't do this to me! I want to tell him but how?

"Think practically Evans! You want to travel alone for a whole year! That's boring as hell and it's not safe. Eventually, you'll get sick of it and go back to New York, but if I come along, you have to admit it, it won't be as boring. Plus, if I join you, your horizon of the places you can go will widen considerably." He finishes, holding his hands high up as if to show such an incredible idea this is.

I can't help but feel like he's advertising himself which is weird and doesn't make sense. Why would he want to come along with me?

What would he gain from this? It's not like he can't do it himself, with his own friends.

I place the cup on the table and rub my right hand on my left upper arm. "What's in it for you?" I slowly ask, fearing his reaction.

His smile falters a bit and he shrugs, "Seems like the right thing to do."

I narrow my eyes, furrowing my brows. I might be a complete loser but I'm certainly not that dumb to believe this. Adrien is not acting like himself... it's making me anxious.

He huffs and leans back to his chair, after a long moment he says, "I have my own reasons," looking at the far distance.

I don't know what to say to that, but that's not a good answer, and most importantly, I don't want him to come. I don't know how to say that without being rude and my veins bursting from anxiety.

He clears his throat and looks at me with a weird expression, "There are things I need to know, want to know, and need to find out... questions that have stayed unanswered for far too long, it's about time to find out their answers." He says, his voice heavy with an emotion I can't identify. A moment later it all disappears and he smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes, "Plus, when will I ever get the opportunity to travel the world? I certainly won't do it on my own, what better opportunity than this?"

I stare at the table, the equation is not working out, he's not making sense. What does he want to find out? Does it have anything to do with me? It might...

He's definitely up to something, but what?

He might be planning to hurt me... but that's ridiculous, I haven't done anything to him... but then he used to bully me back then for no particular reason.

But on the other hand, whatever he said also was right... but I don't think I can spend that much time with him.

I don't want to constantly worry when he's in his bullying mode or the okay one, I can't constantly be worrying when he's going to hit me with an insult that it'll engrave itself in my mind and take me years to move past it.

How pathetic I must look right now! Considering my high school bully's offer to save myself from being alone.

But thinking about the tone of his voice and the look on his face all along our discussion, makes me feel guilty even considering to decline his offer.

"Okay," I slowly say, my voice barely more than a whisper, but he hears it and instantly a smile wide enough to crinkle the corners of his eyes and show his dimples plasters across his face.

"Great!" he says, then leans forward and continues, "To make it even better, we can go around with my friends,"

Why am I so stupid! Why did I agree in the first place!

"No!" I'm done! I start shaking my head, "Not at all, I'm not going anywhere with you and your friends," I say and push back my chair to get up.

"Wow wow wow hold on!" He reaches out, putting his hand on my hand and I immediately pull my hand away.

His Adam's apple bobs, he looks at me, "I meant Arianna and Dylan," he slowly says as an explanation.

I repeat the names in my head until I find their faces in the dusty archive of people's faces that I longer see in my mind.

They were one of the few kids who didn't bully me back in high school... I mostly didn't exist for them which honestly was a bliss for me back then.

Arianna... and it suddenly hits me, she's thei- his cousin, she never hurt me because she knew I was close friends with Jaceon and Dylan followed her suit... but we were never friends, we never even talked.

I sigh.

I don't know what to do.

I'm already a broken and lost person... it can't get worse than this... and not only two hours ago I was contemplating whether to leave or not.

"This is going to be the best trip of your life." He says, his smile widening. "This year is going to be exceptional."

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((Sooo, I had a lot of fun writing this =)) I hope you enjoyed it, if so, don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts on Eleanor and Adrien, any guesses what Adrien wants to find out? And Eleanor's second guesses... anyway who do you prefer? El? or AD?))

Special thanks to @hellorslsbcbdhjsd