Date: 8th June, 2017.

Wohoo, we're at #172 in Short Story.

Caiden sat opposite Fayth in the booth, the former's gaze fixated on the latter, trying to decipher her out.

Who was Fayth Rena Sinclaire?

She was a mystery. To him, thats all she was–– a mystery.

As Caiden looked at her, he couldn't help but look through her facade and see how tired she was, how drained she felt and how she wasn't at ease. At all. She was completely jaded. She was dead on her feet.

And for this stranger, he felt something.

He felt empathy. He wanted to help but he didn't know how.

So he did one thing he knew would make Fayth laugh.Pick up lines. They always lightened the mood.

"Some angels are destined to fall. Just grateful you fell in front of me," Caiden smirked.

Fayth exhaled a breezy laugh, rolling her eyes at his sudden remark.

"Boy, are you software update? Because not now," was her comeback.

The elder boy sat there, stunned. Nobody had even rejected his pickup lines before, not that he had tried them on a lot of girls.

"I'm not a hoarder but I really want to keep you forever," Caiden tried again, smiling slightly.

Fayth just laughed, not bothering to reply but her stomach fluttered. She could feel the butterflies in there and heat flooded her cheeks, making them red.

Caiden loved that reaction. It made him happy that he could make her laugh and blush.

"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

"No, but I did scrape my knees a couple of times crawling up from hell."

Caiden's mind went blank for a millisecond and then he said, "Oh! That's why you're so hot!"

Fayth smiled, entertained. "You win this one."

"Okay, I have one more," Caiden rubbed his hands together.

"Are you Jamaican? Because Jamaican me crazy!"

Fayth had a straight face on. That was so bad.

"No, I'm Finnish. Finnish with this conversation," Fayth answered in a bored, monotonous tone with a blank face, showing no amusement.

"I admit that was lame," Caiden laughed and Fayth vigorously nodded her head, agreeing whole-heartedly.

"Okay. Okay. One more."

"Are those space pants? Because your butt is out of this world."

"No, they're prison pants. And it's time for me to make my escape," Fayth started stood up, making a beeline for the counter to order another coffee.

"Okay. That was terrible," Caiden whined, jokingly. She laughed and turned around.

"I think thats all. For now," Caiden said when she got back, a cup of coffee for Caiden, too.

"Yeah, these are terrible and we both suck."

Caiden had succeeded. Fayth did look less tired and lighter. Fayth felt very carefree. She was happy. This complete stranger had managed to do what Kabir and Michael couldn't do, in a snap of his fingers. He had relieved Fayth of all stress. She'd almost forgotten about her paper. Almost.

"I need to use the bathroom. I'll be right back," Caiden said, as he excused himself.

Fayth whipped out her cellphone and texted Michael, who was majoring in the same subject as Fayth. He was her best friend.

To: Michael

Hey, are you done with the English assignment?

His reply was almost instant.

From: Michael

Yes, I'm done with it.

And done with life, haha.

Fayth laughed and punched in a reply, explaining how she had completely forgotten about the stupid assignment and how she was out, having fun with some stranger in Bits & Bites and she didn't want the night to end.

Michael's reply, however, made a smile appear on her beautiful face and she thanked God; what an amazing friend she had.

From Michael

Don't worry, babe. Have fun, I'll do your assignment :)

To: Michael

OMG! Thank you. You're the best. I owe you.

Just as Fayth sent the message, Caiden returned to the booth, smiling slightly seeing Fayth in such a happy mood. As Fayth explained to him she didn't have to worry about the assignment as her best friend was going to do it for her, Caiden felt relieved. He could spend more time with her, without her feeling guilty.

"That's nice to know," he said with a genuine smile.

"So tell me about your family."

"Well, I'm the only child. Mum and dad both work together so they're always busy. I don't mind that, though. I understand. They need money to send me to the University."

"Tell me more," Caiden asked, interested.

"Well, my mum's name is Violet and my dad's Robert. I was supposed to have a younger sister but she was a stillborn, so yeah. That's all that's interesting," Fayth ended with a shrug.

"Tell me about your family?" Fayth asked, hesitantly.

"My mum's name is Thea and my dad is named Xavier," Caiden started out, simply but his voice wavered.

"Well, my parents are divorced but they get along pretty well. It's been, like, five years. It was a mutual agreement; guess they just fell out of love, I don't know. We all meet for dinner once in a week, though, whenever it is convenient for all." 

Fayth nodded and urged him to carry on. He took a deep breath.

"My mum is remarried. His husband is Theo. They have a daughter from Theo's previous marriage. She's called Casey and she's six years old."

"What is Casey like?"

"Well, I've known her for a very little time but she's really sweet. She's like my own sister as I'm the only child too. She loves to play with dolls. She's obsessed with trampolines and its really fun to hang out with her. They have a kitten walled Whiskers, too."

"Aw! I have a dog!" Fayth exclaimed. "But he's back home because dogs aren't allowed in dorm rooms."

They talked about things that did not matter, until they came to the topic of colours.

"Okay, so, guess my favourite colour," Fayth told Caiden, her eyes lighting up.

"Uh, black?" He lamely guessed.

"Correct," she smiled.

"Yours is blue, isn't it?" She exclaimed and Caiden agreed.

But between you and I, Caiden didn't have a favourite colour.

She exclaimed 'blue' in such an excited tone and her smile reminded Caiden of a child. So he told her that she was right. And since then, Caiden has never seen blue the same. It was anywhere and everywhere.

He could probably live in it now.