Heroic Acts

Thirty Two

***

Andy sat in the café where Caroline was working, quietly typed away on his laptop, and occasionally sipped on some tea. He was clearly very invested in his work, not really looking up much from his computer. He was also wearing glasses, which was a very new thing. He was dressed in his more 'normal' clothes now; he ditched the hoodie for a nice short sleeved button up, but he decided to keep the dark jeans and a better fitting pair of converse. Despite all things, he was a real cutie pie.

Caroline watched him from a distance, for reasons she did not know. She was very interested in Andy in general, probably because of recent events. He was confusing, he was complex. One minute he was being charged for assault, another he was the sweetest person she had ever spoken to. She knew she probably shouldn't get too invested in him; he could be dangerous. No, she knew he was dangerous, or at least, he had been before. Still, something was drawing her closer to the boy.

This in itself confused her as well. She wasn't sure if she liked Andy or if she liked Andy. She didn't really catch feelings for people, she was too focused on her career and school work. If she wasn't, she probably would have ended up having a little crush on Seth, which obviously would have gone no where in the first place. She had only ever had romantic feelings for someone once, and that was in high school. It had been a few years, and the feeling was still blurry and unfamiliar.

She wanted to study him more, figure him out. She wanted to spend more time with him. Ultimately, she decided she was going to, but not before consulting Seth and Darien. Those two came before anyone in her eyes. She knew they wouldn't necessarily like the idea, but she wanted to make sure they wouldn't hate her for it.

She found herself glancing back up at Andy, and her eyes met his blue ones just seconds later. She panicked and looked away, knowing damn well he knew he made eye contact with her. Her face flushed red just a little bit, and she focused on the café work to distract herself.

She suddenly heard a quiet, "excuse me, miss."

She looked up to see Andy there, a charming grin across his face. She smiled shyly at him.

"Yes, sir?" She asked sweetly.

"I was wondering what you were doing after your shift," he said, mostly joking around. Mostly. Caroline giggled at him and looked down.

"I think I'm free, except I have a lot to study for again," she admitted.

"You study too much," Andy said. "You need to give your brain a break! Every time I see you outside of class, you're studying or working."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," she admitted.

"Don't get me wrong though, bookworms are cute," Andy said sweetly. She smiled to herself.

"I get off work in about an hour if you want to do something," she said.

"I'll be here. Probably for the whole rest of your shift too, if I can get this paper done in that time," he said and chuckled.

"Let me know if you need anything," she said kindly.

"I do believe I'm almost out of tea," he said quietly. She laughed and nodded.

"I'll bring you some more."

Andy smiled and found his seat and began typing again. It was on, he really had only an hour to complete his paper. His fingers danced around the keys, editing and forming paragraphs. Caroline walked out from behind the counter and filled his tea cup. She looked so cute in her little apron.

"Can I get you anything else?" She asked politely.

"No, I'm good," Andy said, almost eyeing her up and down. "Thank you."

Caroline giggled, covering her mouth as always, and made her way around the room checking on other customers before she headed back to her station. She was just so damn beautiful.

Maybe I can ask her to that Fall Festival thing, Andy thought. The Festival was supposed to happen the weekend after the ball, but everything was postponed due to Z's appearance. The Dean didn't want to put any students in danger, so he decided to hold off on events. The new date for the Festival was coming up quickly. He'd also have to meet with the Dean to be sure he was allowed to go to school events again.

With a few more words, Andy finally wrapped up his paper, barely 50 words above the required word count. It'll do, especially since he wasn't all that great at speech in the first place. He was happy with how the paper was, ultimately, so he decided it was complete. Right on time, Caroline stepped out from the back, her bag in her hand. She was back to her normal clothes.

"Hello, Andy," she said. God, her voice was like magic.

"Hi, Caroline. Would you like to go for a walk?" He asked her.

"That sounds really nice!" she said and smiled. He offered his arm to her, and she took it with a little giggle. He put his laptop bag over his other shoulder and escorted her out of the café.

They walked down the street for a bit, admiring the weather and each other's company. Andy felt the butterflies in his stomach again, and began to contemplate whether or not to ask her out. He swallowed hard and decided the worst she could do is say no. At least, that's what he had hoped.

"Caroline, I've been meaning to ask you something," he finally said.

"Yeah? What is it, Andy?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Well, I was just wondering-" he began.

Suddenly, the ground shook. Purple streaks of lightning began to take over the sky, and the sound of explosions grew louder and louder. The once sunny sky was now black, the purple lightning provided the only source of natural light. Buildings were shaking so hard, they might crumble any moment. It was hard for anyone to even keep their balance.

"Andy, what the hell is going on?!" Caroline shouted, throwing herself into his chest. She was terrified.

"I don't know, but I've got you," Andy said, holding her tight as he looked around for the best place to find shelter. "I've got you."