Cassidy needed half a second to process his command when she answered.
"I'll see you around, Iry," she didn't move a muscle when he spoke again.
"Both of you" he let a pause sink in his words and let out an exasperated sigh. "I'll give you a ride."
Isabelle was about to turn him down when Cassidy started to push her to the front seat, hopping in the back seat. Isabelle hugged her backpack after fastening her seatbelt, him looking at her intently the whole time.
"T—Thanks." Her voice came out higher than she expected, adding more to her nervousness.
Finally, he looked back at the road and started driving.
"Sure. Where are you going?" he asked casually after stopping at a red light. His voice was deeper than what she remembered.
"The mall a few blocks from here." He just nodded, trying to focus on the road and not so much on his hammering heart.
The ride was silent; the three of them could touch the tension that had built up since they got in. He didn't like that. All he wanted was an excuse to be near her and this was the only thing that came to his mind; that after hearing a random dude in front of his car telling he thought Isabelle was cute and was going to ask her out. The guy didn't have the time to get to her because Allen got there first. But being so rash didn't give him time to think about what to do when she was there.
Allen started getting anxious at the thought of pushing her away by mistake, so he cleared his throat and grabbed the wheel with both hands, squishing it hard.
"Something interesting there? At the mall, I mean."
"Not anything new… But it has a bookstore we really like." Her voice came out more naturally this time. She thanked the Gods for it.
"So you like to read". He took a mental note of that.
"A lot, yeah." She smiled shyly. Immediately, she felt the burning gaze of her friend stuck at the back of her head, making her look down.
"What kind of book do you guys read?" Cassidy was surprised that he asked her too, so she took the opportunity to speak.
"We like all kinds of stories as long as they have a good plot." An evil thought crossed her mind, so with a soft, sweet tone she added "Iry specially enjoys fluffy romance stories, though."
He couldn't control his eyes as they traveled unconsciously to her face. She was blushing, covering half her face with one hand. Cassidy laughed, patting her shoulder.
"You can laugh if you want." She said, shaking her head, but with a small smile on her lips.
His lips curved up for a second, but as fast as it came, it turned into a flat line again.
"I don't find it funny," he said in a neutral tone. "Just cute."
This last word made Cassidy's eyebrows lift, a huge grin on her lips. She was afraid that the guy was a total jerk to Isabelle, but it looked to her that he might be a little interested. There was the possibility of him being nice only to sleep with Isabelle again, but she was no one to judge. She was going to keep an eye on him for a while.
"I find it kind of pathetic, honestly. But I just can't help it!" she said proudly.
"Pathetic? Why?" he is not a chatty guy, but the more he heard her voice, the more he wanted to keep her talking.
"Because those kinds of love stories aren't real. That extremely sweet and perfect love can only be found in fantasy; movies, books, series. Not in real life." She said, her voice wavered a little, making him look at her from the corner of his eye.
"You sound disappointed". He didn't plan on saying it, but when he noticed the words had already spilled out of his mouth, it was too late. He looked over the rare mirror to see her friends' reaction, but she was on the phone texting something furiously and didn't hear him say a thing.
"Hmm… I believe we all, deep down, want something like that too," she smiled up at him, closing her eyes a little. "An unconditional, perfect love doesn't exist." She looked to the front again and sighed. "Love, in reality, is much more difficult."
He felt the weight of her words. His stomach revolted inside him, making him feel weird and dizzy. Before he could manage to answer something back, they had already arrived at the mall. He parked in front of the main entrance.
"Thanks for the ride!" Cassidy said, opening the door. He just nodded before she got out.
Isabelle looked at him for a moment while opening the door.
"Thanks," she grabbed some air as if she was about to say something, but ended up giving him a half smile. He couldn't react at first. Watching her up close again left a new feeling lingering in his mind. "See you around." The last word coming out more like a question.
He noticed the uncertainty in her words, the hesitation in her voice. He then realized the facts of what actually happened between them; what the terms were supposed to be after it all happened. That was all a deal between them, and it was already over.
And he hated it.
She made her smile a bit wider and turned around to get out of the car, when she suddenly heard movement behind her. He stood up from his seat and stretched his body over her. Her heart skipped a beat when she felt hi, pressed against her back, his cheek slightly brushing hers as he grabbed the door's handle and closed it again in a swift move. He didn't move and neither did she. Still with his hand on the handle, he moved a little to the side to look at her better. She turned around slowly to meet his gaze. Isabelle could feel his breath tickling her face, the sudden proximity making her stomach tighten.
His blue eyes darted from her eyes to her now red cheeks, then down her lips and back to her eyes again. Her presence was drawing him in, asking him to just steal a kiss from her sweet lips; something her wild thoughts were hoping for, too. That was not his intention, though, so he took all his might and looked at her lips for a couple of seconds before finally looking aside.
"About what we were talking about…" he paused for a moment, making up his mind about whether he was going to look at her or not. He ended up fixing his eyes on hers again. "It does exist, you just have to find the right person."
He didn't wait half a second before pushing the door open for her, going straight back to his seat. He was just too embarrassed after saying something like that. This is ridiculous, were his only words of regret. And that was not only because he said something embarrassing to encourage her after hearing her so sad about it, but the fact that he was getting his almost non-existing hopes up. Hopes he was sure were a waste of everyone's time. Even so, if he could turn back time, he would still say those words, wishing they would mean something to her.
He heard her giggle, and found her covering a little smile with her hands. Her playful eyes closed a little.
"You might be right," those words lifted his spirits, making him smile softly at her. She got out of the car and watched as he drove away.
Cassidy was there, just watching. She decided not to speak of it and ruin Isabelle's sudden good mood.
After a couple of hours inside the bookstore and after buying a couple of books, they walked around the mall, having ice cream and trying out clothes in different stores.
Both of them oblivious to the prying eyes looking at them on the other side of the glass.