Chapter ~ Two

It was not the usual circumstances, Sawyer walking to college with a strange bubbling sensation. The excitement ready to escape, what once was dread weighing him down was now swarmed with them butterflies helping him practically float down the path to college. This was all caused from a long text based conversation keeping Sawyer up till 3.am. Just the thought of carrying on that conversation will push him through the day, luckily for him he is only in until Twelve.

Sawyer took one class in college, vocational Art was his only choice. That did not mean any less work for him, course work building up, while thoughts of Hudson built up in his mind. Entering his class, the teacher already preparing her long speech. He slid into his seat, trying not to pull any attention towards him.

"Coming to the end of term, your Easter holiday will unfortunately not be work free." The sentence itself killed some of the butterflies inside. "I can finally announce the theme for your next project." All eyes bounce from the teacher to each other. "Any form of mental health, now begin taking notes." Ideas filled Sawyers head, something abstract, metaphors. Maybe a serious message filtered by bright colours. The main idea had already bloomed to the top of his mind. "I'm looking forward to seeing your ideas, remember the deadline is April 20th!"

His ideas only grew stronger but got defeated by the thoughts and feelings of the strange boy that hugged him and his heart.

College quickly came to an end, Sawyer had one last thing to do before he could spend his evening texting away.

Now, what do you buy a 20 year old? That day was the only time Sawyer had to buy his sister something, he was leaning towards the idea of new clothes. Maybe a super-wet hoodie. That was her favourite brand. Sawyers eyes got dragged to every part of the store, everything was just so nice to him. Attracting him like magnets, a white hoodie with the Super-wet logo splattered along the chest area by blue paint absorbed all his attention.

The dreaded moment, socialising. "Hi, are you okay?" She takes the hoodie out of his hand. He avoids eye contact while pretending to reach for his card knowing full well he was already prepared. "hi...yes thank you. " She tells him the total and they wait for the machine to give him permission to scan his card. The signal is given and he presses down his card.

*Card declined* Sawyer's grip strangled the life out of the pale hoodie. His body freezes, not being able to control his reaction. "Sir, it's declined." His body shaking the ice off.  He backs up, throat tightening and lungs compressing. His ears block out the alarm sirens as he tumbles out the doors with the pale hoodie in his arms. The figure of a tall, heavily built security guard followed him out. "Sir!" The wave of his voice pushing Sawyer more across the floor. "Please don't touch me." The floor continued to carry him. Thousands of eyes towered over him. 

"Everyone move!" A boy disperses from the crowd. He grabs the hoodie and gives it the security guard. "Place it on the counter i will pay for it." Hudson stood over him. Before Sawyer knew it his head was resting on the denim of Hudson's pants. "Hey, breathe. You're okay. I'm here." Soon as Sawyer recognised the voice he instantly felt less pressured.

After a few deep breathes, Sawyer finally started to calm down. "What are you doing here?" Sawyer questioned the slightly tanned boy who's eyes looked upon him. A small reply of "Just shopping." Finally realising the hoodie was gone. "wait what happened?" Sawyer attempted to sit up. "It's okay, I sorted it out."

Sawyer reaches for his wallet. "I must pay you back." Hudson pushes his hand back down. "Or you could buy me coffee instead?" The sentence lifted Sawyer from the ground waking up the butterflies. "Okay,deal!"

The walk to the coffee shop, consisted on the basic introduction conversation.

Hudson opened the door for him, letting him enter first. They both joined the queue.

"How about we order each other a random drink?" The suggestion itself added to the fear Sawyer was feeling.  Not knowing if this was even a date. "Yeah sounds great. " Sawyer awkwardly replied. Hudson may of been the cure to his bad moods and anxiety but now is becoming the cause at the same time? Although I think it's just being straight up insecure. Now how to decide on what to order him. Looking at Hudson's smirk following his eye contact to the menu neatly hung up on the wooden wall dimly lit up by golden lamps hanging over the boards. 'Spicy cinnamon coffee' shouted out to Sawyer and that is what he ordered.

An iced caramel macchiato sat before Sawyer which calmed down the mood as it did become his new favourite drink. "So,what happened earlier." The question that has been awaited. "I suffer with social anxiety, long story short, I just panic with interactions that go out of control like my card getting declined. How was i supposed to react?" Hudson sensed the panic build up again. "Hey, I understand, you don't have to explain yourself". The comfort fought the panic away instantly.

The spoon clashed on the table breaking the Silence, both reactions was to pick up the fallen spoon. Sawyers hand wins the race but Hudson's wasn't far behind, stacking on top of the awkward hand confused on how to react. Sawyer looks up the see the frozen face staring behind him, Hudson's body looked empty, lifeless. His hand stayed weighing down Sawyers, on-top of the spoon. Confused, Sawyer waved his free hand to try and break the possible day dream Hudson was deep in. But the stature continued to stare in the distant.

"So, do you have a part time job?" Hudson snapped back to reality. The question once again broke the Silence, acting like that whole situation didn't just happen. Sawyer had no idea what just happened, but he just let it slide answering his question. "Yeah..I work in that small restaurant in town. Corner court?" Hudson just nodded recognising the place. "Speaking of work I am going to be late if I don't go home soon." Sawyer slips a smile to end the date on a nice note. A blunt, emotionless "yes " followed by the unexplained standing up and walking straight out of the cafe with no eye contact or dialogue, leaving Sawyer alone and confused. Maybe he offended him? Sawyer's mind started the cycle of overthinking, what did he do to cause this reaction. It never left his mind, not once for the rest of the day.

Finally getting home from a long night at work, his dad and sister were talking in the kitchen. Planning more on her birthday. She sees the bag with her present in. "Good job I hid the shop bag in my bag isn't it." Her eyes followed the bag that cuddled his shoulders. The daily question of "Any new boys I need to know about?" The dad asked. "Nope" Well not yet anyway, Sawyer decided to keep that to himself. Sawyer's brother enters the room with the usual 4 cups balancing in his hands. "Shame you haven't met any nice girls yet Sawyer" The dad carried on the conversation with a slight twist, hiding the obvious from the brother. Sawyer went along, it was the easier solution. "Yeah, no girlfriend yet." His mood dropped ever so slightly.

The night ended with a call to Hanna giving details about the whole Hudson event from that day. Ignoring the strange parts of the so called date, Sawyer knew he was already catching feelings...