Til' Death Do Us Part

Chapter Six

    I was in the middle of listening to Rome sing before he'd suddenly stopped. He took a step to face my direction before I seen it. Tears. There were tears all over his face and they glowed in the neon lit room. He rubbed at his face as if he was tired before yawning lazily.

    "I can't do it." He half smiled, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'd prefer to sit with you if you'd be so kind." Rome only stood there before I realized he was waiting for me to tell him what to do. I looked at him slightly confused but quickly noticed he didn't want to come off wrong.

    "Of course, just come and sit. By the way-" I started, listening to the steps he took in his pace-the way his shoes tapped against the floor sounded nice. He'd put his hands in his pockets just before he'd sat down and glanced at me on my phone before looking at the neon lights.

    I sighed. This outing was certainly a fluke. We had absolutely no connection to each other and I'd completely ruined the night, "You wanna go with me to the store?"

    "Huh?" Rome looked at me confused before nodding with a certain face, "Yeah, we can. What for?"

    "Blue popsicles." I shifted my position with a grin. The only thing that couldn't go wrong on a night like this was blue popsicles.

    When we'd gotten to the store, I'd nearly raced to the freezer section. It was nearly the end of the month and I would've been devastated if they were all gone again. I'd just run out of them in my freezer but I'd forgotten to go and buy some all week.

    I couldn't hide the excitement on my face as I practically skipped to the freezers. It was the last box, but it was there and ready for the taking. I grabbed the box giddily before holding it up in the air in victory.

    Rome pointed to the box and looked at me nonchalantly before saying, "You know those are really bad for you, right?" It took me a second before I realized he was trying to make a joke. The slightest hint of a smile graced his face.

    "They make up for it in taste." I suggested as we headed to check out. We were both quiet until we were walking outside minutes later. It was pitch black outside already but it was probably only nine. The moon wasn't out and neither were the stars; they were all hiding behind the clouds like a safety blanket. The night had always scared me too. I couldn't blame them.

    "I've never seen anyone get so excited over something and not indulge themselves in whatever it was." Rome chuckled quietly to himself.

    "That's because I don't want to drop them."

    "Ah. Right." Rome seemed to understand, "It only makes sense for me to do this then." He turned on the flashlight of his phone which I'd assumed at this point didn't exist.

    "Thanks." I smiled for a moment before pointing towards one of the benches, "Let's eat them over there then."

    "But the others will melt?"

    I snorted, "I can just refreeze them. It's not that bad." It started to rain and so I hurried towards the bench, egging Rome on who just followed compliantly.

    "We're going to get all wet if we go back out there." Rome looked outwards to the rain after we'd sat on the bench and in the dim lit area I could see him look with disdain, his features slightly altered.

     "Then we can get wet." I opened the box readily, excited to dig into these popsicles. This market was the only store in town that sold them and I was surprised we'd gotten to in time. It was my only comfort food when Caleb had gotten kicked out of the house and our parents threatened each other that year for divorce. There hadn't been enough food in the house so occasionally Caleb would buy these blue popsicles for me and Harper, our younger brother. It was what I went to when things went wrong.

    I handed Rome a popsicle before opening my own, "This outing went to shit rather early, eh?"

    "I wouldn't phrase it like that per say."

    "But you agree?"

    "Oh, I definitely agree." He laughed and yet, for the first time all night, this laugh seemed genuine. He didn't seem so closed off for now.

    That rainy night was one of the best nights of my life and yet also horrible. The hangout I'd planned went from a total disaster to 'we might just do this again' in just fifteen minutes. In all, we'd only been out for forty-five minutes yet it seemed like a lifetime. I felt like I knew Rome just as well as anyone else. He was kind and I knew I could trust him.

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