Page 50 of Entering a New World

Nix nodded.

“Well, now it feels like I have two lives; the one I had before coming here, and the one I have now. And… Well, I guess I’m not sure how they fit together. Or if they do at all.”

I couldn’t just abandon everything and start over, right?

I’d turned on my phone when I’d picked it up from the police station, but the hundreds and thousands of notifications had punched the air out of my lungs, so I’d put it in airplane mode and shoved it back into my pocket like the coward I was.

Nix blew out a breath, biting his lip. “That sounds rough. Do you… want to talk about it?” He turned his head, eyes constantly shifting around, never focusing on a spot for more than a second.

“Sure,” I said, a smile tugging at my lips. “I wanted to grab a coffee and some of Herb’s pastries, anyway. Do you want to join me?”

Nix flinched like I’d just slapped him, his face falling. “Oh, uhm…”

“I’m buying,” I quickly said, giving him an over-exaggerated wink. “After all, I need to celebrate that I got all my stuff back.” At his confused look, I added a short explanation. “My stuff—including my wallet—was stolen.”

“Oh.” Nix nodded. “And you want to celebrate getting it back by… spending all your money?”

“Why not?” I giggled. “Better me than the thief.”

That made him smile, at least for a moment.

Come on, I thought, just accept the invitation.

Nix hesitated, eyes shifting around for a while, until they finally focused on me. “Okay,” he said, sounding hesitant. “If you’re sure.”

I was. And, looking at him, my resolve to buy him as much food as I could without him noticing only got stronger. Not only was he still wearing his torn clothes, but he looked even thinner than the last time I’d seen him and it’d only been about a week. Still, his cheekbones had become even more pronounced, and he looked paler than last time. The dark circles under his eyes looked unhealthy, the purple-ish colour giving the impression someone had punched him.

After talking with Herb for a few minutes, agreeing to come back in tomorrow to teach his employee how to work the coffee machine, I got another plateful of pastries, free of charge. Herb said to consider it part of my payment.

Plate in hand, I turned my head, searching for Nix. My heart stopped for a moment when I couldn’t find him.

Fuck.

Had he taken off? I didn’t have his number, hell I didn’t even know his full name. I’d never be able to find him in Balwood. Then again, I doubted his name would be of any help. If he really was new in town and was, as I still suspected, homeless, he probably didn’t know anyone here.

Except for me.

So I was basically the only person who could help him. And I’d just lost my chance.

Dammit.

With a sinking feeling in my gut, my eyes swept through the café for one last time, just to make sure he really wasn’t here anymore. If I asked Rhett to come here asap, would he be able to pick up Nix’s scent? Would he be able to follow it and find him?

Would it be okay to a) ask him that question and b) use my boyfriend as a makeshift search dog to find Nix?

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and turned my head. Relief hit me so strongly it felt an awful lot like dizziness. There, hidden in the back corner of the store, sat Nix, the hood of his sweater pulled as far over his face as the fabric allowed.

Hurriedly, I walked over to him, placing the plate of pastries between us before sitting with my back to the room. His eyes flitted to me, then to the plate on the table.

Scrunching up his brows, he shook his head. “That’s too much.”

I shrugged. “Take it up with Herb. He’s the one who gave me all this stuff—for free.”

Nix pursed his lips, looking at me with distrust edged in his features. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to show his employee how to use the new portafilter machine Herb bought. The pastries are my payment.”

Hesitantly, Nix reached for the plate, his pale fingers shaking a little. “That’s nice… of both of you.”

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