Before December

Chapter 15: We were getting along

Lydia POV:

The second we stepped out of the uniform shop, I turned to Theo.

“Coffee.”

He frowned at me. “What?”

“You said if I behaved, I’d get coffee.”

Theo looked at me. “Did you behave?”

“I was practically perfect.”

“You spent half the fitting making fun of me.”

“That was me being restrained.”

He shook his head. “You’re exhausting.”

“And under-caffeinated, which is worse.”

“Come on.”

He started walking again, and I hurried after him with a satisfied smile. At least this time he wasn’t marching through town like I was slowing him down. A few streets later, he pushed open the door to a small café tucked between a bookstore and a shop filled with handmade soaps and candles. The smell of coffee hit me the second I stepped inside.

“Oh, thank God.”

Theo laughed. “You’ve been without coffee for about three hours.”

“Exactly. It’s been traumatic.”

“Americans.”

I ignored him and studied the menu above the counter. There were enough syrups, iced drinks and unnecessarily complicated coffee combinations to make me feel slightly more at home. When it was my turn, I ordered a large iced caramel latte.

Theo looked at me like I’d personally offended him.

“What?”

“That’s not coffee.”

“It literally has coffee in it.”

“Barely.”

“And what are you getting, coffee expert?”

“Americano.”

I stared at him. “Of course you are.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re predictable.”

Theo laughed and reached for his wallet when the girl behind the counter gave us the total.

“I can pay for my own,” I told him, already reaching into my bag.

“Too late.”

“Theo—”

“You wanted me to be a gentleman, remember?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m going to regret ever saying that, aren’t I?”

“Definitely.”

We collected our drinks and headed back outside. I took the first sip of mine and practically sighed.

Theo gave me a sideways look. “That good?”

“You have no idea.”

“It’s sugar and milk.”

“Don’t ruin this for me.”

He laughed and kept walking.

For the next hour or so, Theo showed me around town properly. He pointed out the shopping centre Mrs Henderson had mentioned, along with a cinema, bowling alley and a gym that, according to him, Sean practically lived in. There was also a park tucked behind one of the main streets, with a wide stretch of grass and a small river running alongside it. The farther we walked, the more I realised how different everything felt from LA. Nothing seemed designed for cars. People wandered from shop to shop, stopped in cafés or sat outside chatting as though they had nowhere particularly urgent to be.

We crossed an old stone bridge, and I stopped halfway across to look over the side. The river below wasn’t huge, but the sunlight caught the surface and made it shimmer between the trees.

“Okay,” I admitted.

Theo stopped a few steps ahead. “Okay what?”

“This is pretty.”

He glanced around. “It’s a bridge.”

“It’s not just a bridge.”

“Looks like one.”

I rolled my eyes. “You don’t appreciate anything, do you?”

“I appreciate things.”

“Name one.”

“My car.”

I snorted. “Of course.”

He looked smug about that, which was irritating considering I’d practically handed him the answer.

We carried on through the park, passing children running across the grass while people sat beneath the trees with books or takeaway coffees. A couple walked towards us with an enormous fluffy dog that immediately started pulling its owner in my direction.

“Oh my God.”

Before Theo could say anything, I crouched down as the dog bounded towards me.

“Hello, gorgeous.”

The owner laughed and let me fuss over him while Theo stood a few feet away watching. When they eventually carried on, I stood and brushed my hands on my jeans.

“What?” I asked when I caught Theo looking at me.

“Nothing.”

“You’re looking at me weird.”

“Didn’t know you liked dogs.”

“Who doesn’t like dogs?”

“Plenty of people.”

“Well, they’re wrong.”

Theo gave me a look that suggested he was trying not to laugh. “Noted.”

It was strange how easy the morning had become. Yesterday, I’d wanted to throw something at him. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. I’d wanted to throw something at him several times since meeting him. Today, though, we were somehow getting along without either of us trying particularly hard. I wasn’t sure when that had happened, and I definitely wasn’t convinced it would last.

Theo led me down another street filled with independent shops, stopping occasionally when something caught my attention. He complained when I spent too long looking through a window filled with vintage jewellery, then somehow spent even longer inside a sports shop debating between two almost identical pairs of sneakers.

“You realise they’re basically the same?” I told him.

“They’re not.”

“They’re both white.”

“One has a different sole.”

I stared at him. “Massive difference.”

“It is.”

“Obviously.”

He ended up buying neither pair.

“An entire fifteen minutes of my life I’ll never get back,” I complained as we stepped outside.

“Now you know how I felt in the coffee shop.”

“That took five minutes.”

“Felt like fifteen.”

I bumped my shoulder lightly against his as we walked. “Asshole.”

“Invader.”

I stopped.

Theo made it another step before realising I wasn’t beside him anymore and turned around. The amusement left his face the moment he realised why I’d stopped.

“Don’t,” I said.

For a second, he didn’t answer.

Then he looked away. “Yeah.”

That was it. No apology, no explanation, but something in the way he said it told me he knew exactly why I had stopped. I started walking again, and a few seconds later he fell into step beside me. Neither of us mentioned it.

We kept going until we reached a small square surrounded by cafés and shops, with a fountain in the centre and almost every bench occupied. I took out my phone to check the time.

12:42.

“Oh, crap.”

He glanced over. “What?”

“My gallery tour. I’m supposed to meet Sebastian at one.”

Theo paused for a fraction of a second before pulling his phone from his pocket and checking the screen.

“I’ve got somewhere I need to be.”

My mind immediately went back to the phone call I’d overheard outside his bedroom.

Lydia has the stupid art gallery tour. I’ll meet you then. We should have about an hour.

Right. His mysterious plans.

“Now?”

“Yeah.”

I looked at him. “Where are you going?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Just asking.”

“And I’m not telling.”

Of course he wasn’t. This was Theo. Trying to get anything personal out of Theo was like talking to a brick wall, and apparently asking where he was disappearing to wasn’t going to be any different.

“Fine.”

Theo nodded down the street. “Mercer Gallery is straight ahead, second left. Big white building.”

“I can manage.”

“Debatable.”

I gave him a look. “Go do your mysterious thing, Henderson.”

Theo shook his head and took a step backwards. “I’ll meet you at the gallery in an hour.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t get lost.”

“I’m seventeen, not seven.”

“With you, I’m not convinced there’s much difference.”

“Asshole.”

Theo gave me a brief grin before stepping away.

“See you in an hour, Wild.”

I watched him disappear into the crowd before heading towards the gallery. I made it halfway down the street before curiosity got the better of me and I glanced over my shoulder. Theo was already gone. Whatever he was doing, he’d planned it before we even left the house. And now I really wanted to know what it was.