t h i r t y
" do you kiss every
nice guy like that? "
-

-

Adela felt oddly satisfied waking up next to Lewis, not that they'd done anything beyond kiss a few times.

After the wine and long night, most of what Adela wanted to do was sleep. She'd tried to stay awake for him, but he told her to get some rest and that he'd still be there in the morning. At that, she'd given him that smile he liked, her face glowing in the moonlight, and let her eyes shut as he pulled her close.

For the longest time, she couldn't sleep. Ignoring his presence was seemingly impossible, but she eventually fell into a deep sleep that carried through until the morning sun rose from its own slumber to highlight the winter streets of London. Ran around every corner, bouncing off every window and into the world because the world is its oyster and no one could take that away.

Lewis was still sleeping when Adela woke up. For a moment, she looked at him in wonder of how she'd gone from completely and utterly heartbroken to sleeping in the same bed as a very nice looking dog-walker and company co-owner.

The instance was shattered as her phone began to ring. Not wanting him to be woken unnecessarily, Adela quickly got out of the bed and answered the call, knowing it would be Alice without even needing to look at the caller ID.

"Hello?" She said groggily into the phone as she rubbed a sleep from her eye, walking into the small kitchen.

"Mornin' sunshine!" Alice replied with pep in her voice. Clearly, being away with Harry seemed to have lifted her spirits. Adela didn't like to think about why that could be at all. "So, what happened after I left, then?"

"Not a lot," Adela said, slipping onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "We left not that long after you did."

"We?" Adela could imagine the eyebrow raise and the thought made her laugh to herself ever so softly.

"Yeah, Lewis and I left together." Even saying it aloud didn't make it feel like any less of an illusion, a dream.

"And?" Alice craved gossip like a child craved sweets. "Did you make use of the mistletoe I stuck up on your door?"

"It would've been rude not to," Adela joked, her mouth hurting from the severity of her smile. "Besides, he's a nice guy."

"And he's good for you. Much better than... never mind, we don't talk about him anymore," Alice said, clearing her throat. "Right, I've gotta go, but I'll talk to you later maybe? Call me if you end up getting it on with Lewis because, well, you know... Okay, bye!"

And with that, she hung up.

"A nice guy, huh?" Lewis smirked from the doorway, leaning against the frame, dressed in some of Simon's old clothes he'd never come back for and Adela had never had the heart to throw out.

While Adela's cheeks blushed a voluminous red as she spun around on the stool to face him, she held her ground. "I guess so," She said, shrugging her shoulders. Under his gaze, she was thankful she was wearing such an oversized shirt.

"You guess so?" Lewis laughed, shaking his head as he crossed the room and sat on the stool beside her. "Do you kiss every nice guy like that?"

"Shut up," Adela grumbled, playing with the hem of her t-shirt, but she still smiled.

And that was enough for him to know he wasn't chasing nothing. That she was slowing down for him, taking a moment to breathe and forget about what other ugly things chased her. To focus on him and to smile like that at him.

"Hey, I know this is kind of spontaneous but do you wanna go out on a proper date? No dog walking or exes involved?" Lewis asked, scratching the back of his neck.

Adela immediately looked up, right into his hopeful eyes. For the briefest of moments she found herself hesitating. For some ungodly reason, she felt guilt. Simon felt no guilt, he was in a new relationship after all, but there was a part of her that didn't want this.

And that part of her was irrational fear of being dropped again. But in spirit of the previous night's events, Adela let herself grin as if he'd just told her she'd won a fortune.

"I'd love to," She replied, already itching to call Alice up and inform her of the news.

-

-

Christmas had been and gone. Now, it was just the strange point in time where no one really knew what day it was or what they were doing, but just went along with whatever everyone else was doing.

Simon was fortunate to not have to work between Christmas and New Year's. He thought he'd be, but Cal had emailed him telling him that they all had two weeks off, if they wanted to take their holiday time now.

Of course, Simon accepted and had just come back home after a week visiting his parents.

The drive had taken longer than he thought it would thanks to traffic and it was made even worse by not having anyone in the passenger seat to keep him company. Catherine had hardly spoken to him since the Christmas Party disaster.

He cringed even thinking about the questions from his mother about where 'that lovely girl Adela' was. Both his parents adored her and hearing the way they spoke about her only made him miss her, which he wished he didn't especially with the feelings he had towards Cath.

He'd been thinking about everything the entire way home.

After pushing the door open, he hadn't expected to see Catherine stood there. She wore her long coat, scarf wrapped around her neck and her hair pulled up into a high pony tale. The cold had gotten to her features, painted her nose red.

He'd spoken to her the night before, telling her he was coming home the next day, but he hadn't expected her to be there to greet him.

In her gloved hands, he saw the familiar glint of a silver key.

"Cath, what're you doing here?" He asked with a smile, ignoring the sad look upon her face. Features folded into several creases, all highlighting a different emotion each.

A sweeping sensation of anxiety rushed over him at the sight. With no idea what she was going to say to him next, he could do nothing but hope for the best.

"I wanted to come and talk to you because, well," Cath glanced away for a moment, searching for the right way to break his heart. "this isn't working."

"What d'you mean?" Simon asked, but he knew. He always had a horrible feeling it would end like this.

Maybe it was the universe's cruel way of getting its own back on him. Revenge for what he put Adela through with his sudden desire to get out of a relationship he felt like he was suffocating in. Trapped within because it was beginning to feel like all he'd ever known. That was no way to live, but that didn't mean he didn't regret leaving her. Truthfully, he'd thought all he needed was a break, but it turned into something much more.

It was the 'much more' that he found himself regretting now, but a snippet of that 'much more' stood before him now, doing exactly what he did to Adela Chase.

He couldn't help but revel in the way things had managed to come full circle.

"I mean us. I don't think you're as invested as you'd like to be because you're still stuck in the past. And I don't think that's good for me to be second best to someone who you're clearly still very much in love with," She explained, shrugging her shoulders softly.

Catherine walked towards him and took his hand, gently putting the key into his palm. It was cold against his clammy skin.

Simon stared down at it, wishing it away.

"Goodbye, Simon," Catherine said. "I hope the new year helps you move on, somehow. You deserve it."

"Bye, Catherine," He replied, eyes stinging with tears.

And, just like that, she left his life, shutting the door softly behind her. He was left alone once more, deep in thought of what he truly wanted.

That was when the text came through from Cal, inviting him out. Without hesitation, he agreed and left his dark, empty apartment to get wasted.

-

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21.1.18