"Better?"
"Mm." I quickly licked my lips. "Much."
The hot chocolate warmed me up a lot. My toes were still cold but there was nothing I could do about that for now. I nodded inquisitively in the direction of his tea as I took another sip from my drink.
"Yeah. Much warmer, yeah." PJ murmured.
We had been sitting in the coffee shop for a while, sipping from our mugs of hot beverages, and very often had been glancing out the window or clearing our throats unnecessarily. There was an awkward silence between us. The initial, fairytale type running through the rain with a complete stranger into an adorable coffee shop feeling had faded. Now we were just two people who knew little of the other, drinking tea and hot chocolate together.
PJ drummed his fingers on the table, before picking up the teaspoon he had previously been using to stir his tea and twisted it between his fingers. I watched his fingers, long and elegant.
"The rain's calming down."
He followed my gaze out the window to his left. There were dark clouds overhead, but the sun had found an opening through which to shine. Wet leaves were stuck to the ground and to the bottom of shoes of passersby. One man in an overcoat took out a handkerchief and blew his nose, and walked off, stepping in puddles reflecting the sunshine.
"I love that. When the rain's stopped and the sun is coming out again."
He looked at me curiously, smiling a little.
"What else do you like?" he asked.
I thought for a moment.
"The traditional, pathetic stuff. The smell of freshly cut grass and new books. Eating the food I've been craving all day. Defeating a boss on Super Mario Galaxy after days of trying to."
"How about drinking a hot chocolate with a handsome stranger?" He raised his mug and took a sip from it.
"Especially drinking a hot chocolate with a handsome stranger," I said with a grin.
I asked him what he liked. It was everything I expected. Creating content, telling stories, drawing, comic books, Zelda. I told him about my fear of clowns.
"Wiggles isn't on the list of favourites then?"
"No no, he's there. He scared the crap out of me initially but then I remembered it was just you beneath that makeup. Not so scary then."
Smiling, PJ tucked his legs into a cross-legged position on the squashy chair he was sitting on. There were no awkward silences or pauses now. We talked about Christmas and summer, what TV shows we liked and what movies we thought were rubbish in comparison to the books.
"It's weird, being able to talk to you without typing the words."
"Weird in a good way?" he asked.
"Weird in a great way," I replied. "You replied to one of the comments I left you on a video once though. I asked if you were going to Summer in the City."
"So I met you last year?"
"Yes. I was a bit too excited to meet you; I think I accidentally punched you on the arm."
His eyes widened a little and he laughed.
"I remember that. I'd forgotten until now, but I remember."
We smiled at each other for a second and then his phone started to ring. He shoved his hands into his pocket.
"Sorry, just one sec." He cleared his throat. "Hello? Oh hi! No I just didn't recognise your voice, you alright?"
I didn't want to seem nosey and so I turned my attention back out the window again. There was a sparrow ducking its head into the same puddle the man in the overcoat had trodden through. It hopped about a bit before shaking off his feathers and flying off to somewhere I couldn't see. I took a few more gulps of my drink and wrapped my hands around the mug to keep them warm.
"What, now?"
I looked at PJ. He was frowning and looking down at the table, pinching a sachet of salt between his fingertips.
"Fine, yeah okay. See you in a bit then." He locked his phone and put it back in his pocket.
"That was my friend, I have to go." His eyes didn't meet mine when he said this; instead they were on something behind me, though it didn't look like he was paying any attention to whatever it was.
"Oh." There was no masking the disappointment in my voice.
"This was nice, erm..." he stood up, brushing off his lap and tugging his t-shirt down a little.
I looked up at him and smiled faintly. "Thank you for the hot chocolate."
"Thank you for a lovely chat," he said warmly.
"I'm sorry for punching you in the arm."
"Are you coming to Summer in the City this year?"
"Just try and stop me."
"I'll see you there then. I'll remember you."
And with that, he walked off. I was left staring at the spot where he had just been standing, a thick lump in my throat and a knot in my stomach. Looking back down to the table, I heard the bell above the door as it opened and then a click as it closed shut. There was still some tea in his mug. It was wobbling about a little bit from when PJ had knocked into the table as he stood up. I watched it until it calmed, swigging the last sip of hot chocolate from my mug before walking away from our table and out of the shop.
