Found

Coffee

Lizzy

I watched as the milk swirled around the brown liquid in front of me. It was rather transfixing, watching it dance around the mug, so beautiful - I should watch it more often. It seems rather unfortunate to have to stop the festivities in the cup, but the spoon had demanded it.

"Liz." Ben waved his hand in front of my face, stopping my daze from continuing further. "You were in a daze again." He looked down into his cup, becoming quiet once more.

"Now you're in a daze," I laughed at him, "Are you okay? You seem more out than normal."

He took a deep breath in, then released all his trouble in a breath out. He looked up at me from his cup - sighing as he put his hands in his lap.

"It's Josh." He gulped not wanting to talk about the sensitive topic, yet he knew he had to. So did I.

"Yes, he's been acting - strange." I sighed just like Ben had, not really wanting to discuss Josh, but we had to; Josh needed us to.

"I hope, I hope it's just, just stress." Ben looked quite deflated, he knew that Josh was under pressure about getting a Job, to support Grace and himself whilst he recovered. He felt so guilty it was eating him alive, crawling up his skin like spiders chasing a bug ready to kill at any moment.

I reached over the table, a grabbed his shaking hand in mine. I smoothed over the top of his hand with my thumb, relaxing him - It's not his fault.

"Liz - I just want ev-everything to - to be okay," he breathed looking up to stop the tears that threatened to tumble from his Nordic eyes.

"It will be, everything is falling into place... you're..." I stopped there, not wanting to bring up the therapist with him.

He read straight through me - I could not trick him any longer. "I know, I - I hope I'm getting better."

"You are getting better." I grabbed his other hand, enclosing his in mine as I continued to stare into his eyes. "We can all tell." A small teardrop fell down his face, but I quickly wiped it away, almost as quickly as it had arrived. "You. You are so, strong."

"I'm - I'm just scared he's going to come back. Take me again." He chocked on more tears, his breath becoming quieter with each word until he was talking in barely a whisper. "I won't go back there."

My lip trembled at the thought of losing him again, I couldn't lose him again - not after I just got him back. "You are safe now. He's never coming back. Ever."

He nodded his head, staring back into his cup as his milk finally settled down masking the dark coffee. I raised my hand to his cheek, using my thumb to dry them. He nestled his head into my hand, as he placed his hand over mine- not wanting me to move it.

"Everything will be okay?"

"Everything will be okay."

-.x.-

We gathered our belongings as we exited the small coffee shop we had ducked into as rain tumbled from the sky like the tears fell down Ben's face. It had finally broken, allowing us free passage back into the outside world. The October wind blew against our backs, willing us down the roads. Coloured smudges blew around our heads as they were ripped from the trees that lined the streets of the city.

Ben pulled his hand from his warm coat and placed it in mine instead. The welcomed warmth filled my body with tiny sparks. I still had a helpless crush on him, despite being together from a few months now - small gestures like this still made me fill with electricity. I could feel his love pumping around my body traveling around my heart, making me fall more helplessly in love with him each day.