You stood against the brick wall, waiting for twenty minutes or so before a car pulled up. You had calmed yourself down by then, but your hurt had now turned into hatred for Alex.
Just as it started getting chillier, you saw Roger pull up in his car next to the sidewalk. He stopped it and got out, and you immediately ran towards him. You all but jumped on him as your wrapped your arms around his neck and he tried to catch his balance.
"Thank you Roger" You whispered, still holding onto him.
"It's no trouble" He spoke and pulled away. He looked down at you with concern in his eyes "What happened?"
"I-I just had to get out of there" You said, looking down at your feet "My date didn't really go too well"
He put his hand under your jaw and tilted your face up towards him "What's wrong? Are you crying?"
You drew in a breath when you realized how close he was. You weren't crying. Alex was just an entitled asshole.
"I'm not crying" You said and stepped away, pushing away your hurt "I'm okay, can you just take me home?"
"Of course I'll take you home, but not until you tell me what's wrong" He said sternly, determined to find out why you were a mess. Whenever he had seen you, you had always been a calm and composed person.
"Roger, please. I'm freezing" You said and he nodded. He took your hand and you got in the car with him. You got in carefully, making sure your dress didn't ride up as you sat next to him.
He turned on the heater and then turned towards you. Apparently, he wasn't going to start the car until you spilled all the details.
"I guess I just have bad taste in guys. He turned out to be an ass and the date just went sour really quickly" You spoke, looking down at your hands.
"It was more than just a bad date, wasn't it?" He asked, concern laced in his every word and the sheer genuineness of his behaviour made you look up at him in surprise. You had never seen this side of Roger.
"Can we not talk about it right now?" You said, your gaze returning to your hands. Your nose was still sniffling, from almost crying or the cold, you didn't know. Probably a combination of both. He must have realized this so he stopped pushing you. You looked outside the window, you didn't want to be so vulnerable in front of Roger.
"Roger" You spoke, keeping your hand on his arm "It's not that bad, let's just go please"
He looked back at you and you noticed something unusual in his eyes. He nodded. Your chest tightened at the fact that he cared so much.
You sat in silence as Roger drove until after a few minutes he spoke again "With a dress like that, no wonder your date went bad. What were you aiming for? The opera?"
You gaped at him and smacked his arm with your hand "Shut up! It's an amazing dress, you just can't appreciate the good things in life"
"Keep telling yourself that" He spoke, grinning and you felt like hitting him again.
"I'm starting to regret calling you" You spoke.
"Well, I'm glad you did. I wouldn't have missed a chance to see you cry for the world" He said.
"Ugh, I wish you hadn't. You'll hold that against me forever, won't you?"
Roger laughed and turned to you "Of course I will, you look so ridiculous when you're not sassing everyone around you"
"Were you busy when I called?" You asked him.
"I mean, depends... Kristina was doing all the work" He said.
"Gross. Shut up, that's information I don't need" You said and he laughed again. His free hand was resting on the space between you and he started drumming a beat. You hummed along softly, resting against the seat. He took a turn that you didn't recognize. "Where are we going?"
"I'm kidnapping you" He spoke with a smirk and you narrowed your eyes at him.
"Roger" You said.
"God, I'm taking you to a diner. Can you relax for once in your goddamn life and let someone else control it for once?" He said, turning to you.
"I would relax if it were anybody else behind the wheel but you" You laughed "I'm not sure I trust you with my life"
"Yet I'm the first one you called when you were in trouble" He said, proudly.
"You don't know that..." You said "Maybe you were the last"
He scoffed and you knew that he was right. Roger stopped the car and pulled up next to a small cafe.
"It's almost midnight, why are we here?" You whined.
"Just shut up and follow me Y/N" He scolded you and you nodded, getting out of the car. It was freezing cold by now and you glared at Roger for putting you in this situation.
"What are you looking at me for? You should've brought a jacket" He said and you groaned.
"Stop being such an ass" You said and hugged yourself to keep warm. You entered the diner with him and it was almost empty, save for a few people. He led you till a booth and you felt extremely silly in your sequined dress. You kept your head down, and the few people that were there stole glances at you. You sat down across Roger and he beckoned a waitress.
The girl approached your table and smiled at Roger, leaning forward.
"Roger! What can I get you?" She asked, and you rolled your eyes at her tone.
"The usual, love" He said "But get an extra spoon"
The waitress beamed at him and then turned to see you. Her face fell and she sauntered away.
"The usual?" You asked.
"Mmh" Roger nodded.
"Is this where you bring all your dates?" You asked "And what did you even order? I don't have the best appetite"
Before Roger could answer you, the girl came back and put a plate of cheescake on your table.
You looked at it and raised your eyebrow at Roger.
"The best cheesecake in all of England" He said and offered you a spoon. You took it from him and broke off a small piece. He waited for your reaction as you popped it into your mouth.
"Well?" He asked. It melted in your mouth and left behind the most amazing aftertaste. The crust was perfect and you instantly wanted more.
"It's so good" You spoke and immediately dug in for another bite. His face brightened up at that and he joined you in eating.
"I figured you hadn't gotten dessert and I know this is something that would instantly fix your mood" He explained as you all but attacked the plate. You fought over the last few pieces and then scraped off the plate.
"I hate to admit it, but you were right" You told him, leaning back and sighing.
"Of course I was" He laughed. You were surprised Roger had done this for you. You would never have expected him too. You hadn't realized that you were staring right at him.
"What are you thinking?" He asked, catching you off guard.
"Nothing, I just never would have expected this from you"
"I'm not that bad, I used to bring my sister here on her bad days" He explained and you felt guilty for thinking so low of him before.
You were back in the car as he drove you home.
"So what did you tell your girlfriend?" You asked, after a while.
He looked at you confused for a moment before realising you were talking about Kristina.
"She's...not my girlfriend" He said "Just someone to keep me company"
"Does she know that?" You asked him.
He nodded "She knows it's nothing serious, I'm not into that anyway"
You nodded and looked back out. He pulled up into your neighborhood and asked "Where's your apartment?"
You realized he doesn't know you're living in a trailer and you're not sure if you want to tell him.
"Um, it's just across the street" You said and he stopped the car. Just as he was about to get out, you put your hand on his arm and stopped him "It's a few minutes away, I can make it on my own"
"At 12 in the night, looking like that? Not happening" He said and unlocked his car door. You felt a panic rise up inside you. Maybe your ego was too high to tell him your living situation. Maybe you were too ashamed. Maybe you had just had a horrible night.
"Roger!" You cried and pulled him back inside the car.
"What the hell?" He asked and looked at you in the passenger seat.
"Honestly, just go. I can get home on my own"
"No you can't" He argued. You didn't know what to do or say. There was no way in hell you were letting him see your shitty trailer and living situation. He would never let go of it.
"Why do you wanna walk me home? What do you think will happen? I'm not going to invite you inside and shag you, if that's what you're hoping"
The words were out of your mouth before you could stop them. Roger stared at you blankly and you looked down. That was a horrible thing to say.
"Is that why you think I did all that? To get into bed with you?" He asked, with a break in his voice.
"I don't know Roger, it's in your nature" You replied. You could make up for this later. Right now you just needed to get him away from here.
"Fine, if you truly think so little of me, leave" He said and turned away. You nodded and grabbed your purse. You would do damage control later. You unlocked the car door and put one leg out.
"Thanks for coming to get me" You spoke softly.
"Leave" He said, no emotion in his voice and refusing to look at you. You nodded and got out. You felt like utter shit walking away from the car. The dumbest thing was, you felt way worse than you did when you had left the restaurant.