Page 201 of Falling for You

‘Yes, you did! We had a great time and then you just palmed me off with a shitty “sorry I don’t want to see you again”.’

God. Way to play it cool, Annie.

‘Ah,’ he presses his thumb and forefinger against hiseyebrows, ‘you’re right. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry. I suppose I’ve blown it now, haven’t I?’

‘Yes,’ I say at once. ‘You have.’

He nods, the playful spark in his eyes that I saw last time we were together nowhere to be seen. He drops his chin. ‘Understood.’

This is the part where I turn on my heel and storm off, with my last shred of dignity and an impressive story to tell my friends. But something stops me. He looks so sad.

‘You haven’t answered my question.’

He looks up. ‘What question?’

‘What are you doing here?’

‘Ah.’ He tucks his hands in his pockets and then looks up at the blinking announcement screen. ‘Well, I think I live here now.’

‘In Gloucestershire?’

‘On this platform.’ He gives me a goofy smile and I feel myself soften.

‘Are you going to give me a real answer?’

‘Oh, it is my real answer.’ He runs his fingers through his hair. ‘I thought it would be fun to come down here for the day and escape London – it’s whereThe Holidaywas filmed and Mom insisted that I went and found it while I was in England. She’s not doing so good, so I thought it would cheer her up if I sent her some pictures. But it turns out that you people can’t deal with snow and all the trains home are cancelled, and I have zero signal to get a taxi, so now I’m stuck here …’ He pushes a small patch of sludge with the tip of his shoe. ‘On this platform, at one with the pigeons.’

I look around. Sure enough, we’re now the only people standing on the platform. The snow is spiralling out of the sky, hitting us in all directions, and in place of where the trains are normally announced are the flashing, ominous words: NO TRAINS.

‘Come on,’ I say, cocking my head as I turn on my heel.

He looks up. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I can’t just leave you here,’ I say, nerves tickling at my body as I hear the words before I register them. Shit, am I really going to do this?

‘No, honestly. It’s fine.’ I turn back around and see him standing in the same spot, his hands firmly pressed in his pockets. ‘You’re right, I’ve been an asshole. You don’t need to help me.’

I raise my eyebrows at him. ‘I’m not going to just leave you out here in the snow, am I? I’ll find you somewhere to stay.’ I start walking towards the exit, finally locating my train ticket in the depths of my pocket, but he doesn’t follow me.

‘I’ve tried,’ he says lamely. ‘It’s just, the signal here is so bad and my phone …’

‘Are you still standing there?’ I place a hand on my hip. ‘I’ll help you, now hurry up. It’s freezing.’

‘Really?’ he says. ‘You don’t have to … I’m sure I can … thank you so much.’

I laugh wryly as he finally catches up with me. ‘Don’t thank me yet. You have to meet my parents first.’

CHAPTER THIRTY

Nate

It’s like I’ve stepped into a fairy tale. The sky is white with thick, silent snow falling around us like powder and sitting on top of the sidewalk like icing sugar. All the noise I could hear earlier of cars, clinking pint glasses and laughter has vanished. It’s like it’s only me and Annie left in the world, making our way down yet another street full of cottages with thatched roofs and square windows, sparkling yellow with the life and light of everyone inside them.

And then there’s Annie. I couldn’t believe it when I turned around and there she was. I’d been stood on the platform for hours, silently panicking. My train had been cancelled, as had the ones before and after it, and my phone was playing a game of cat and mouse with the single bar of signal it managed to pick up all day. There were no Ubers around, and the taxi office at the front of the station was closed. I was paralysed, trying to work out whether it was better to wander back down into the town and see if a pub would take me in for the night, Mary and Joseph style, or to stay put in the hope that a train may turn up or someone who ran the taxirank. Basically, I was waiting for a miracle. And that’s when Annie showed up.

With everything that has happened this week with Mom and Stevie, I’d almost forgotten how it felt to be around Annie. How I felt lighter, freer, a bit brighter. My smile was bigger, always waiting to grow on my face, my eyes constantly looking for her. I can’t believe I didn’t message her again. Why didn’t I message her?

But it doesn’t matter now. Even though she’s saving me from sleeping on a bench in the snow, I’ve ruined it. Someone like Annie doesn’t need to be with a flake like me. She deserves someone who knows how brilliant she is.