Behind him, he heard the fading voice of Joyce greeting Carmen and then the opening and closing of another door which was probably the driver’s side of the car. And then he heard the engine start.
Asa closed his eyes and shook his head to himself. Tonight wasn’t the right time for them to talk anyway. It was too crowded, too chaotic. It was a freaking school game for heaven’s sake. They would’ve felt rushed and in a hurry to get the conversation over with. They didn’t have the entire night to themselves.
He’d have given her this night though, if she’d only asked.
Asa didn’t hear the sounds behind him until the footsteps had caught up with his, but before he could turn around, a body brushed against his side and a hand was pressed flat against his chest, stopping him in his tracks.
Carmen’s eyes were shut as she inhaled deeply, looking completely out of breath and struggling to regain her composure.
Asa’s eyes widened and his head whipped around to look over his shoulder where he saw Joyce’s car pull out of the parking lot and disappear from view.
After blinking several times like a complete idiot, he turned back to face Carmen. Midnight hair, eyes that reminded him of rainy skies and the occasional skip of his heartbeats. God, it really was her.
“What…what are you doing?” he asked hoarsely, his disbelief ringing clearly throughout his voice.
“You didn’t answer me,” she told him, still sounding a little breathless from running all the way towards him.
“What?” He stared at her.
“I asked you if you were staying by my side out of courtesy and because it was the considerate thing to do,” Carmen explained, referring to when they’d been waiting for Joyce. “And you didn’t tell me that I was right.”
Asa stared at her harder, wondering if she’d truly lost her mind.
“That’s because you weren’t right,” he eventually told her, his shoulders still tensed from the shock of seeing her come back. “You were wrong. I just wanted to spend whatever little time I had left with you. Not because it was the considerate thing to do. I don’t look at you as a burden, Carmen. Never have, never will.”
He watched Carmen swallow, watched her blink a few times and then she let out a short, nervous laugh. “Okay,” she breathed, almost muttering to herself. “Okay, that’s good. I was hoping that was the reason because then… Then it means that you won’t mind giving me a ride back?” She ended it questioningly, almost as if she was afraid to come to conclusions about his feelings for her anymore.
“Why?” He couldn’t help but ask that. He was so confused right now. He didn’t mind, of course he didn’t, but he just couldn’t understand what was going through her head right then.
Carmen smiled at him, but it looked nervous, very unlike the usual steady ones he’d seen her offer him before. “Just…just go with it for now? The small steps first? I, uh, I don’t know how to put it, but—”
There was a sudden flash of lightning, and Asa saw Carmen’s eyes instantly shut. He didn’t react to it though; he was already looking right at the eye of the storm—fallen in love with it even. Then came the ear-splitting crack of thunder, and with it, the sudden downpour that the past few hours had been showing signs of.
Asa didn’t stop to think twice. He grabbed a hold of Carmen’s arm and began pulling her towards the other end of the parking lot where his truck was, the droplets of water pelting down on them and everyone else who hadn’t left the venue yet.
“It’s just rain,” he heard her say from behind him as he picked up their pace. She sounded like she was smiling.
She really was insane.
“I prefer getting soaked under my shower, not in the middle of a parking lot,” Asa said.
“You’re no fun.” She sighed contently, her words and her tone not at all in sync with one another.
“I don’t want to catch a cold either,” he pointed out.
“Wimp.” Carmen sniffed, and Asa stopped dead in his tracks before turning around to look at her, finding that cheeky twinkle in her eye he hadn’t seen since forever.
“What did you just say?” He snorted, letting out a disbelieving laugh.
“Nothing,” she quickly said, and then nudged his foot with hers. “Don’t you want to keep moving? We’re only getting more soaked.”
“I’m not a wimp,” Asa grumbled under his breath before beginning to walk them towards his truck again.
A part of him wondered if this had to be wrong on some account. If it was even considered normal for the two of them to be able to banter this way after all that remained unspoken between them. After all the pain and the misery that had happened. But Asa also couldn’t deny that it was only so, so natural for them to fall back into step beside each other, in every sense of the way.
He wondered if someone watching from the sidelines would understand, and then he realised it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t. Whatever transpired between Asa and Carmen remained between them, and the rest of the world didn’t get to have a say in it.
Asa stopped in front of his truck, digging the keys from his pocket and hesitating when he was about to unlock the door. The rain didn’t pause along with him; it kept pouring down in torrents, but he didn’t care right then.
“Asa?” Carmen asked with a small frown, looking at him quizzically and blinking away raindrops
