RUSH

Ch. 33: Park²

-Mason-

We ended up parked at a nearby park.

By then, the drizzle had escalated to a vicious downpour, and the silence was easily overwhelmed by the dramatic racket of the water crashing down onto the car. The thumping of the rain was ceaseless, stretching across the roof and down the windshield as the rain found its way to us, making its presence loudly known.

I quietly signaled to him while lowering back my seat, chuckling when he quickly followed suit, still cozily wrapped up in my hoodie as he settled back. I watched curiously as he let out a small yawn and stretched out on the seat, melting against the leather. And in that quiet comfort, we chatted about nothing and everything.

And it all felt so easy.

Bennett seemed to open up gradually, becoming more animated as time went on... like he was slowly defrosting. So, I leaned into this, of course, enthusiastically nodding along to his rambles while doing my best to follow along. It was an endearing kind of refreshing, his eyes lighting up whenever he rambled about something he found interesting.

I focused on the way he'd meet my gaze to make sure I was actually listening. And the way he'd grin contentedly when he realized that I was, as if I could ever willingly look away.

And without the awkwardness of first meetings looming over us anymore, it finally felt like we could... exist. I relaxed against my seat as well, letting his bright voice flood the car as he rambled on about this one superhero anime he adored. I'd watched the first two seasons of it too, and mentioning that was enough for him to gasp in excitement, questioning me about my favorite characters immediately. He even shyly hinted at the fact that he shipped the protagonist and deuteragonist together, which was more than I'd expected him to share.

With anyone else, it might've been annoying; however, Bennett seemed so sincerely thrilled that I couldn't help but try and match the enthusiasm. I was entirely biased, but seeing him so eager was so refreshing.

After some time of going back and forth on how we thought the show would end, I off-handedly inquired about his classes, wincing sympathetically when he complained about how stressed he was about the upcoming finals, particularly when he muttered the name of the same spiteful professor that I'd had a few years back for another science class. More than anything, I was surprised the old rat was still teaching at our campus.

"Oh, he's a bitch," I agreed, shaking my head in disbelief. "But don't worry about the final. It'll be open notes. He's swearing up and down it won't be, but that's just to intimidate you. You can even look it up on his online reviews. He pulls that lie every year with the freshmen."

His eyes widened. "Y-you sure?"

I nodded my head, signaling for him to look it up himself and pettily snickering as he grumbled when he found the evidence online. He shook his head in disbelief, rubbing at his temple. "Wow... I've been stressing out for nothing."

"You tend to do that," I joked, chuckling when he flicked me in the forehead. I froze before frowning over at him. He'd picked that up from me.

I flicked him back, of course.

"Yeah, yeah."

He laughed at the light flick before slipping his phone away into the front pocket of my hoodie. It was most definitely too big for him, so much so that he looked like a head atop a pile of black clothes; though, there was no way I was taking it away from him.