#g2c1p1

“You made it?!”

He nodded, wiping his clammy hands on his jeans. “The colors kinda reminded me of you. Gold, an’ orange…” He cringed. That was too much, and still not enough. If he was telling the truth, he’d admit that he’d picked the shades that matched the way her hair glinted in the sunlight.

Autumn seemed unfazed by his confession, smiling up at him in that way that always made his heart stop. “I love it.”

“Good. Took me fuckin’ ages,” he teased, and the moment passed. There was so much more he wished he could say. 

He’d tell her, one day. 

Autumn waited for some sarcastic comment, but it never came. She glanced at Cade and saw him staring back, stunned into silence.

“Okay,” he said, after a long moment. “So let's get to know each other.”

“Sounds like you already found everythin’ out online.”

“Not the stuff I wanna know.”

“Like what?”

“I was looking for your art,” he confessed, looking a little shy for once. “Thought you might sell it somewhere.”

Autumn grimaced. “Hell no. I ain’t that good.”

“What d’you paint?”

Reluctantly, they left their table, hands still intertwined, their shared confession wrapped around them like a blanket. 

Over the noise of the music, Autumn could hear a faint tune from Cade’s pocket. “Is someone callin’ you?”

“Nah, I set an alarm so I could make sure you weren’t late back.”

His words hit her square in the chest. A tiny gesture that showed he really did care for her; he didn’t see her as some prize to be won. He wanted to make her laugh, make her happy.

After their third lap without any stumble or injury, the pair decided their luck was probably due to run out, and they made a quick exit from the rink.

Sitting down with a smoothie should have felt safer, but Autumn's heart raced faster now than it ever had while she’d been twirling in her skates.

“D’you skip school much?”

“We’re not skipping school,” Cade snorted. “It’s only practice. You never ditched class before?”

“Shut up,” he grumbled, but he was laughing too, which only threw him more off-balance.

“I thought you were bringin’ me here to show off!”

“No. I know you like dancing, so…” he inched closer, sighing when Autumn caught his hands in hers. “Can’t take you to a club. This was the next best thing.”

Autumn hoped the swirling patterns thrown by the disco ball would hide her pink cheeks. “That’s kinda cute.”

“This ain’t a date.”

“No, if it was, you would’ve worn a cute dress and done something nice with your hair.” He paused, taking a moment to let his eyes roam over the tangerine sundress, the tiny braids scattered through her copper waves, before they widened in fake surprise. “Oh wait…”

She wouldn’t admit that he was right, but she’d spent all morning agonising over what to wear, hating how much she cared the entire time. “It’s an old dress. Nothin’ special.”

Autumn rolled her eyes. Disgusting. She didn’t need to hear any more details about her parents' relationship. “I definitely ain’t gonna marry Cade.”

“You’re fourteen, no one’s expecting you to,” Josie said, still chuckling. “Is he nice to you, at least?”

Autumn paused. She thought about how he’d warned her about Scottie and Skye, offered to help her with her homework when she was stressing about it, picked the museum for their date because that’s what she liked to do… Maybe he was nicer than she gave him credit for.

His silence said it all. Autumn laughed bitterly. “If you really wanted to be with me, you wouldn’t turn us into some dirty little secret. You’d fuckin’ own it.”

“I’ll tell ‘em all. If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it.”