T. W. O

~ADRAIN~

I handed out water bottles to the girls, not bothering to smile. It was pretty much dark out now, and the lanterns they hung across the street were glowing.

The conversations and loud music seemed to float over my head. Nobody was standing by my table. Nobody had tried to make conversation with me except to get drinks or snacks. Well, apart from my cousins, who took turns making sure I was still mentally okay for this.

I hated that they worried so much. I felt like such a burden to them. And most of all, I hated being here.

I slid in my noise-canceling earplugs and just stared around.

Among the semi-excited and chattering crowds, I met eyes with Olivia, one of my cousins. She gave me a look as if to ask if I was okay or needed a break, but I shook my head no and just gave a somewhat sincere smile.

I might not be having fun, but I sure as hell wasn't going to drag my family down with me. Besides, it's close to midnight, so I'm sure by maybe 3 AM, this raucous party will be over.

I let out a defeated sigh, sitting back in my chair. Through the now muffled noise, my eyes started to droop, and I let out a loud yawn before resting my head against the wall and closing my eyes...

"I didn't think anyone could sleep through such a nice festival."

My eyes shot open.

It was still kind of dark out, but the one feature of his face that seemed to stand out among the sea of low lights was his eyes.

I'm not going to lie; his eyes are stunning.

A shade of light purple that I've never seen before, with thousands of tiny dots inside them, like a purple galaxy with tiny little stars.

I've never seen eyes like that before.

I mean, his other features were dangerously hot too, like his long, silky black hair tied in a bun, his soft-looking dark pink lips, and his smooth skin that seemed to reflect in the lights.

"Like what you see?" he gave me a smirk, and I blinked a couple of times before giving him a sneer.

He might be hot, but I'm not about to flatter his ego.

"Don't flatter yourself, bud. I've seen better," I retorted, but he just chuckled.

"I don't doubt it; you're quite hot yourself," he replied, catching me off guard, and I didn't know how to respond.

After a moment of awkward silence, with me thinking, 'What the heck am I supposed to say to that?', I decided to change the topic, "Thanks. What can I get you?"

He put his hands in his coat pocket and shrugged, "I honestly have no idea."Then he stepped closer until the only thing separating us was the table.

"What do you recommend?" he asked, maintaining eye contact, despite the list of refreshments he could clearly choose from.

What the hell was up with this guy?

"Well, there's a list of the stuff we have. Just pick anyone that interests you," I responded, sliding the paper card to him.

He didn't look at it. "What do you think will be nice? Just give me anyone, and I'll try it."

At this point, I didn't know if I should be worried for my life; this was giving off creepy vibes. Or maybe I was misinterpreting the signals. I'm not really good at understanding cues. He might just be trying to be friendly, or perhaps he saw me standing here all alone and wanted to be nice.

Or maybe he singled me out because he's been stalking me, knows I'm awkward around people, have no friends, and thought I'd be an easy target.

Jesus, I really need to lay off the true crime documentaries.

"So? What do you suggest?" His extremely sexy, deep voice, which I didn't realize had an accent, interrupted my thoughts, and I blinked.

I really need to stop zoning out and just staring at people blankly.

Alright, time to put my makeshift detective skills to work. I don't have them, but I'd like to think I do.

I stared him down, looking for qualities that might determine what he might like. His hair was up in a bun, and he was mostly in dark clothes, wearing a turtleneck long-sleeve shirt, black soft jeans, and high boots, completed with a black raincoat, even though it wasn't going to rain today.

From what I gathered, he was the mysterious type and looked well-off. He was either rich or pretending to be. But he seemed quiet and reserved. He wasn't from around here either, given that nobody seemed to recognize him.

"I would recommend the rich dark chocolate shake with no added flavor. Would you prefer that?" I suggested, and his eyes widened a bit. He smiled at me before nodding.

"That's usually what I go for anyway. I'm impressed," he said, giving a little clap.

Ha! Detective Adrian strikes again!

Trying to keep my overachieving tendencies under control, I searched for his drink and handed it to him. He took it from my hands, still smiling as he offered a 'thank you' before taking a sip.

I expected him to leave, but he was still here, giving me a cute ass smile for god knows what reason.

"So, are you a big fan of this festival? It seems pretty fun," he asked.

Oh my freaking God, is he trying to start up an actual conversation with me?

I blinked twice, each time expecting him to disappear from my view, but he was still here, tilting his head to the side curiously.

Against my better judgment as not to engage with him, so he would go away, and I wouldn't have to deal with another awkward human interaction, I still replied, "Depends"

"On what?" he twirled the bottle in his hand, not breaking eye contact.

"On if you're a big fan of this festival," I replied, not wanting to get into a conversation about how great this festival was and how lucky I was to experience and share this moment with them.

I knew he didn't live around here, but that didn't mean that he might not be from around here, and my words might upset him.

He chuckled, "No, I'm just visiting here for a vacation, so I have no idea what's even going on. I'm not from Canada, unfortunately," he sighed, taking a large sip of his drink.

"Let me guess, you're from the great country of Ireland?"I tilted my head.

He looked at me in surprise, "Yeah! How did you guess?"

"The accent. It's mixed with another, but it's definitely there," I pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I am originally from Ireland, but I moved to Britain with my family when I was 13. The accent just stuck with me, added with the British accent, and people keep struggling to figure out where I'm from," he informed me, turning to stare at me.

"Not a lot of people can figure it out. I have to say, you've impressed me so far," he leaned closer.

"You're one smart cookie, ain't you?"

I just shrugged, "Thanks, I got it from my aunt"

"But back to my original question, are you a big fan of this festival?"

God, I thought we were over this topic already.

"No, and honestly, I'd rather be in my bed than here," I replied honestly. I was never one to sugarcoat things, so I preferred not to talk at all than to say something that might upset people.

"Well, nothing is stopping you now. People are way too drunk to notice you're missing," he suggested.

" True, but I still have a job to make the people even more drunk if they want. So I can't just get up and leave"

He nodded in agreement, his eyes seeming to drift off for a moment before he suddenly looked at me with what I'm sure was his signature smile.

"What about I stay with you? You look too cute and too bored to be on your own. Plus, I'm having a lot of fun hanging out with you," he proposed.

I couldn't help but feel a bit surprised at this. Most people just leave me, so someone willing wanting to spend time with me is kinda of rare.

"Uh, sure, if you want," I mumbled, not sure if I made a mistake or not.

"Great!" he said enthusiastically, walking around the table and pulling up a chair next to me. " My name is Alex, by the way. Alex Blackwood"

"Adrian," I replied, offering a small smile. "Nice to meet you, Alex"

We continued talking, and surprisingly, I found myself enjoying his company. Alex was a pretty chill guy, and we had a lot in common. I soon forgot about my initial reluctance to talk with him and had a little fun.

We talked a lot, and despite my initial awkwardness, I found that Alex was easy to talk to and genuinely interested in what I had to say.

As the festival started to wind down, I let Alex know that it was time I started packing up. I wanted to do it alone, but Alex refused and insisted he wanted to help me.

I just let him have his way, it's way too late to argue.

By the time the party was over we had already gathered everything and he helped me pack the stuff into my aunt's shop. I ignored the looks my aunt and cousins were giving me as they watched the two of us unload every into the storage room.

I was praying to any density out there that Alex didn't notice my embarrassing family as I practically dragged him out of the shop.

It's currently 4 a.m., and everyone has gone home. I smiled at Alex as he prepared to leave.

" Thanks for tonight Alex, I kinda had a great time"

"As did I" he smiled before handing me his phone "How about you make it even better with your number?"

I hesitated at first, but in the end, I decided 'Why the hell not' and texted in my digits.

" Great!" he gave me a bigger smile when I handed his phone to him.

" I'll be in touch okay, I promise" he gave me one smile before turning around to leave.