I Thought I Needed Saving..

Chapter 3: Collision

I pulled up to the curb on the street, near The Heights, idling beside the road with my knuckles white on the steering wheel.

​Serena was standing by the sidewalk, waiting. We couldn't meet at her house-- her parents were locked in another screaming match this morning, and she’d walked out on them. She slipped into the passenger seat, closing the door softly, but the air inside the car instantly turned suffocating.

​"Explain yourself," I snapped, turning to face her, my pulse pounding against my throat. "What the hell did you mean on the phone? What did you do to the condoms, Serena?"

​She shrank back against the door, her hands slightly trembling in her lap, looking nervous. "Cole... please don't get mad at me--"

​"Don't f*****g tell me not to be mad!" I growled. "Tell me what you did."

​She swallowed hard, tears already pooling in her eyes. "I... I poked them with a needle. I poked holes into them and called you over."

​The words hit me like a physical blow.

"Are you out of your f*****g mind?!" I yelled, slamming my palm against the wheel. "Are you f*****g insane, Serena?!"

​"I was scared!" Serena sobbed, wiping her face with her sleeve. "You’ve been distancing yourself from me, and I thought... I thought if I had your child, you'd want to stay. I thought you'd start loving me!"

​"Loving you?!" I echoed, staring at her in utter disbelief.

​"I didn't want this to happen! You made me do it, Cole" she cried out, her voice breaking completely. "But my parents were screaming at each other again this morning, and I sat there watching them and realized... this could be us in a few years. My child seeing all of this because you refuse to claim me as yours! I don't want my child to be like me, Cole."

​"You will never be mine, Serena!" I spat, the words dropping like lead between us. "I never once considered dating you! I don't have feelings for you. I never did!"

​Serena flinched like I’d struck her. "Then why?" Tears spilling over her cheeks. "Why did you take my virginity in the first place if you were never going to make me yours?!"

​"Because it was just s*x!" I shouted.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

I breathed heavily as I watched the tears stream down her face.

Gosh, why did she have to make such a stupid decision? F*cking Serena!

​Her voice dropped, thick and heavy with raw grief. "It wasn't just s*x to me, Cole. Well, s*x has consequences. You took my virginity, and I caught feelings. You used me, and now... now you might be a father. We might have a child, Cole."

​I squeezed my eyes shut, rage and cold terror twisting inside my chest. "You better pray to God you're not pregnant," I spat out, my tone lethal. "Test yourself. Contact me the second you know for sure if you're pregnant or not. Now get the hell out of my car."

"It doesn't work like that, Cole. I have to wait for some time, it's too soon to test," her voice came out drained and tired.

"Whatever, I don't care. Just tell me the results after you test." I dismissed her for the final time.

​Serena stared at me, her eyes full of heartbreak. She opened the door and stepped out without another word, slamming it behind her.

​I watched her figure retreat in my side mirror, walking fast, turning the corner over the block until she disappeared from view.

​"f**k!" I roared, throwing my head back against the headrest, cursing into the quiet cabin of the car. I gripped the wheel, taking deep, ragged breaths, trying to force my heart to slow down.

She's fine. She won't get pregnant. She can't be.

​I threw the car into drive, still pissed off by the whole situation with Serena. But before I could go far my eyes caught something through the windshield.

Across the street, outside the same café from a few days ago, sitting with her hair pulled back and a book in hand-- Café girl.

My foot hit the brakes so hard the tires screeched against the asphalt road.

​The fight with Serena, the fear, the anger-- all of it got drowned out by the sight of her sitting there, sipping her coffee like she had no idea she'd wrecked my thoughts for days.

​The way she sat-- back straight, legs crossed like she was cutting the world off-- she was daring someone to try. She wanted someone to break through; she just didn't know it yet.

​And lucky for her, I was desperate for a distraction.

​I threw the car into park by the curb and hopped out, laser-focused on the girl who had brushed me off like I was nothing.

I crossed the cafe like I owned it. That's half the game--acting like the universe shifts just because I decided to show up. Girls eat that up. I can feel the stares on me already, the not-so-subtle nudges between friends, the fluttering lashes. But I don't care about any of them at this point-- I only care about one person.

But when I get closer, she doesn't even look up. Just turns a page.

I stop at her table and tilt my head, flashing the lazy smile that's gotten me everything from phone numbers to hotel keys in under thirty seconds.

"Book must be good if it's competing with me," I said, sliding into the seat across from her without an invitation.

Her eyes flicked up, unimpressed as ever. "You."

"Me," I said, leaning back like I owned the place. "I was just driving by, minding my business, when the universe decided to bless me with another glimpse of you. Who am I to ignore fate?"

"Fate?" She arched a brow. "More like bad luck."

"Bad luck?" I pretended to clutch my chest. "And here I thought we had a connection."

She set her book down slowly. "You don't even know my name."

"Correction." I leaned forward. "I don't know your name yet. But give me time, princess. I'm a quick learner."

She smirked faintly, the first crack in her armor. "And what exactly do you think you're going to learn?"

"Everything," I said easily. "What makes you laugh. What pisses you off. Your favorite drink order, so I can surprise you with it when you're having a rough day."

"Wow." She tilted her head. "You've rehearsed that, haven't you?"

"Maybe." I shrugged. "Doesn't make it less true."

Her eyes lingered on me, sharp and calculating, like she was trying to solve a puzzle. Then she said, "I don't do casual flings."

And just like that, the table between us shifted.

I leaned back, grin still plastered on my face, but something in me jolted at her words. She said it so firmly, like a line drawn in permanent ink.

"No casual flings," I repeated. "So you're more of a… what? Long walks on the beach, meet-the-parents type?"

"I'm more of a genuine connections type," she said. "I like real conversations. People who care about more than what they can get out of someone for one night."

I whistled low. "That's a tall order these days."

"Not really. Just takes patience."

Her gaze pinned me, and I felt that rare sensation I hardly ever did-- like she was seeing right through me. Past the grin, past the cocky one-liners, past the mask I wore for everyone else.

It was uncomfortable. And addicting.

I laughed it off, leaning forward again. "Good thing patience is my middle name."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

She went back to her coffee, clearly dismissing me, but her words kept ringing in my ears. Genuine connections.

It was my first time hearing those words from another person. They sounded so.. foreign. Does anything like that even exist?

Can I genuinely ever have a connection with someone? Like.. can it ever be more than just sleeping together?