Watercolor Road ✔

Chapter 5: Austin

Cars traveling in the opposite direction sped by Julia's window as she stared out at the endless, flat Texas landscape. Rory had assured her that Austin was a great city, but so far on their journey, Julia remained unimpressed.

Despite closer offices and hospitals, Julia's doctor in California referred her to a doctor in Austin to continue her treatment. Julia didn't mind, her curiosity about the city and how it compared to cities in California got the better of her, but she also didn't want to spend an hour and a half of awkward silence in the car with Rory.

And yet, that's what was happening. He focused on the road and occasionally asked her something about school or how she was settling into the town, but other than one- or two-word replies, Julia said little. Instead, she kept her headphones over her ears and tried to entertain herself with the passing landscape.

Eventually, houses and small neighborhoods began to break up the never-ending fields as they reached the city suburbs. Looking straight out the windshield, Julia could see the faint outlines of tall buildings in the distance. It was only now that she realized how much she missed living in an urban area—there was always something new and exciting happening. A faint smile crossed her face, just for a moment.

She didn't see, but Rory glanced over at that exact moment, and a slight smile crossed his face as well.

The buildings grew as they approached the city, and it wasn't long before Julia had her phone out and navigated Rory through the city streets to the doctor's office. While different from California, Julia still enjoyed seeing the tall buildings and multitude of people walking along the street, everyone seemingly in a hurry. It made her feel more at home than she had felt in a long time.

The doctor's appointment went quickly. They took the bandages off, she wasn't even going to need physical therapy as long as she took it easy for a bit, and then Julia and Rory went on their way. Because her leg had only been wrapped up for a short amount of time, Julia could walk normally for the most part.

"Do you want something to eat while we're here?" Rory asked as they exited the office.

"I'm okay," Julia said.

"I saw an ice cream place not far from here," Rory pressed. "There is some pretty good ice cream here in Austin."

"Fine." Julia wasn't looking for an argument. "I guess we can go."

"Walk or drive?"

"I'm actually looking forward to walking without those stupid things," Julia said.

Rory nodded and headed down the sidewalk. "Good, good." His words trailed off, his mind somewhere else.

Rory and Julia walked side by side to the ice cream shop a few blocks away. It was small, but they had a good amount of seating in their back patio. Large signs promoted that the ice cream came from a local business, which made Julia even more excited to try it, even if she wouldn't admit it to Rory.

Despite her uncle's insistence, Julia only got a small cup of mint chocolate chip for herself, and she and Rory sat in silence as they both ate.

"Julia," Rory said, breaking up the quiet.

Julia looked up from her ice cream but didn't say anything.

"Look," Rory continued, "I, uh, I don't really know how to bring this up. I guess I wanted to wait until you got your cast off and settled into school." He paused.