You Changed Me

9. The Forest and the Coffee Shop

"A little nap won't hurt..." he told himself, getting closer to the tree. He lifted himself easily into the branches, climbing high enough to be off the ground, but low enough that, should he accidentally fall, it shouldn't hurt too much. He pressed his back to the wide trunk of the tree, his legs dangling off either side of his chosen branch, and let himself sag against it. He looked up to the sky, through the branches above him, and smiled a little, before dozing off to sleep.

...

Ethan sighed, running his hands down his face. His head throbbed as he stared at his screen. He couldn't believe how horrible he was feeling, slow and laggy... Don't get him wrong, Ethan was usually trying to slow down, mind going miles a minute and body not far behind, but this? Having that normal (for himself, at least) speed stop rather abruptly was not doing it for him. It was like a flip had been switched, but with no preparation for the consequences. He sighed again as his eyes flickered down to the bottom of his screen to check the time.

3:28 PM.

A groan fled his mouth and his head fell back, 32 more minutes before I can leave. He leaned forward at his desk, blinking his eyes. The screen blurred in and out for a few moments as he tried to refocus his mind on the task at hand. His mind felt like it was full of cotton, and made anything he tried to do take three times as long, and look three times worse than normal.

He rubbed his eyes a little and yawned, wishing the day would be over already... He looked back to his clock and sighed. 3:29 PM.

He looked back at his current work and frowned. He hated what he was looking at, his slow mind finally catching up to the fact that it looked bad. Very bad. He shook his head and started trying to fix whatever he had done before. Which was almost all of it. He hated feeling slow so much, it was distracting. He shook himself a little, blinking a few times to focus on his work, before beginning to edit the current design.

By the time Ethan was happy with the few frames he had completed, he was even more tired than he'd been before. He checked the time again, this time groaning in frustration at himself. It was 4:12 PM, which meant he had stayed almost fifteen minutes late. Granted it wasn't overly late, and he'd done worse, but on a day like this one... He sighed and pouted a little, slipping out of his chair.

He slowly made his way to the staff locker room, his mind still trying to catch up with home time as he went. When he arrived in the locker room he slipped over to his locker, sluggishly grabbing his jacket and phone from it, before locking it back up. As he slipped on his rather thin jacket he noticed another man in the room. He looked vaguely familiar, frosty blonde hair hanging in front of sharp, blue eyes. Though, for the life of him, he couldn't remember why.

Ethan's chest hurt a little at the color of the other man's eyes, for some reason they reminded him of Jack, his blue eyes flitting across his vision, distracting his already distracted mind. He missed Jack so much... no, stop. You can't think about him right now, it's not good, remember? He's not worth missing so much, he was only living on your couch for a few weeks, and you barely saw him, having to work... It's not like you knew him very well anyway!

A sigh left his lips and he turned away from the blonde stranger. He didn't remember the man, but that didn't mean much. He could be new, or from another department. He turned back to give a polite goodbye, his eyes falling to the name tag on the man's shirt. Felix. Wasn't that one of Jack's friends' names too? Gah- no, stop that! What is wrong with you Ethan?! Not everything is about Jack, you moron. he berated himself. He almost, almost, slapped himself too.

He managed to restrain himself, though, lifting his hand in farewell, "Have a good night," he said, before slipping out the door. A shiver climbed up his spine and he pulled his thin jacket closer to himself. He walked down the street, blinking every now and then to focus himself. The fog seemed to intensify in his mind a few moments, before clearing a little.

Ethan slowed his pace a little as his mind began to clear. Must've needed some fresh air, he thought, taking a few deep breaths as he let his feet guide him. He stopped, after a few minutes, and looked up to the familiar store sign that hung above him. A smile graced his lips before he slipped into the little cafe he always visited. The bell above the door rang cheerful as he stepped in, and his smile grew. A deep breath brought in the comforting smells of fresh pastries and home brewed coffee. As he wandered closer to the counter, he found Kathryn coming out from the back to stand behind the counter.

"Hey, Ethan," she said, "Your usual?" her head tilted a little as she began grabbing his cup before he could answer.  A soft chuckle slipped past his lips and he nodded.

"You know me so well," he said. He rubbed at his head a little, slipping into a window seat while he waited for his coffee. His head had been foggy all day... no, not all day. It started after I got to work... a flash of blonde hair and scary blue eyes came into his mind again, before flitting away. He shook his head a little, I just hope I'm not getting sick.

"One cuppa' joe for a Mister Ethan Nestor?" Kathryn called, holding his cup over the counter for him. Ethan smiled, pushing himself up from the table to grab the coffee from the counter. He took a sip and practically moaned, the coffee perfect, as always. I needed that, he thought to himself.

"Thanks, Kath," he said with a nod, "I've gotta get going now, though. I've got some work to do when I get home," he smiled to her and turned toward the door.

"Alright, Eth. Don't be a stranger, alright?" Kathryn said to him. As he reached the door he glanced back to her, nodding in acknowledgment as he took another sip of his coffe.

"Trust me, I don't think it's possible for me to not come here," he said, "See ya later, Kathryn!" he said, opening the door and waving a farewell before stepping back outside with his coffee, the bell ringing once more for his departure. Then he began down the street, sipping his coffee as he went.

He slowed as he got closer to his home, stopping at an intersection. His attention was drawn in the opposite direction of his home. There was a park a few blocks up, with a trail. He liked walking through it to clear his mind sometimes. He glanced back toward where his apartment was, not that he could actually see it, before looking back to the direction of the park. He shrugged his shoulders, a few minutes to wander won't be too bad.

He turned toward the direction of the park, taking another sip of his coffee. His shoulders slowly began relaxing as he got closer and closer to the park. The fog in his mind cleared more and more, and was practically gone by the time he stepped beneath the canopy of trees, and onto a familiar little trail. At this point, Ethan couldn't tell if the fog had lifted because of the walk or because of the coffee, but he didn't quite care. As he walked further along the path he began to slow, turning to stare into the woods.

He didn't know why, but suddenly he was walking off the path, making his own trail as he went. It was... calming. Being somewhere not many went, less and less of civilization visible with each step he took. It got quieter too, leaving the rustling of trees and the chirping of birds, the crunch of the leaves and twigs under his feet to be the only sounds Ethan could hear.

He stepped over some fallen branches, before slowing to a stop. His eyes gently shut and his head lifted to the sky. His arms spread out a little, careful not to spill the remainders of his coffee, and he breathed deeply. Looking behind him, he could just barely make out the trail he'd come from. A smile flit across his face, and he looked up to the sky through the branches. He took another sip of his coffee, before jumping into the air with a startle. A loud noise came from behind him.

He turned around, but there was no one there. His heart pounding, Ethan waited with baited breath. There was nothing but silence, until... The noise repeated, and while it still spooked Ethan, he recognized the sound to be a snore. Someone was sleeping nearby. He looked, but he couldn't see any hint of anyone in the area, until the sound happened a third time, distinctly coming from above. Ethan's head shot up, and he almost dropped his coffee in shock.

He recognized the blue hoodie the figure in the tree wore, and he swore he could see green bangs peeking out from the hood. His eyes widened, and he could only hope his mind wasn't playing tricks on him.

"Jack?"