Bonjour, mon amis...! Welcome to chapter four! I have some cool news: I just wrote the final chapter, so it is now official: This fanfiction is going to be eight chapters long. I'm really pleased with the reviews this is getting: I KNOW it's weird, and I KNOW it's different, but that's the whole point! Not many people write modern Kel fics, which is a shame (to me, at least) and I just thought I'd try it out. So, thanks for all the reviews, and hope you like this chapter (it's quite long, because it covers three days). I'm preparing the next chapter for upload right now, but I'll post it tomorrow. Hope you enjoy, and please review... ¡Adios!
"You're later than usual," Neal pointed out from his usual seat at their table as Kel walked over with her coffee. She didn't say anything in reply. "Couldn't bring yourself to get over here after tasting the rich wealthy flavour of the exquisite delights created by my coffee maker?"
"No, I was just so excited about being bothered by you today that I forgot half of my books," she replied sarcastically, examining the grubby coffee cup in her hands with an expression of disgust. "Well, I feel wide awake now I've seen that." She pushed the mug away and looked out the window absent-mindedly.
"Hey, you aren't wearing your glasses today," observed Neal.
"Maybe I just wanted to know how much you were staring at me," she said, watching the antics of a dog dragging its owner down the street. "Or maybe I'm wearing contact lenses."
"I've never seen you wearing contact lenses before."
"We only met on Monday. Funnily enough, that wasn't that long ago. Please stop talking to me, or people might actually think we're friends."
Neal drew in a sharp breath. "Ooh, she's mean." Kel scowled at him, an exact mirror of the scowls she'd given him on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday's light-hearted jokes were gone. She tugged a book out her bag, identical to the one she'd read before but smaller and thinner. Once again, the dust cover was plain midnight-black. She held it as though it were delicate, her slightly calloused but none-the-less beautiful fingers holding it gently. "What are you reading now?"
"None of your business," she grumbled, shifting in her seat.
"Let me see," Neal requested, reaching forward and snatching the book from her grasp. He twisted it so he could see the words. Romeo, Romeo, where art thou - (A/N I've never read Romeo and Juliet, so I'm not sure if that's the exact words... Sorry!)
"Shakespeare!" he spluttered, bursting into laughter. "Romeo and Juliet!" Crimson crept into Kel's face and she tried to grab it from him.
"Give that back!" she cried.
"Ooh, you're such a romanticist at heart, Kel... I'd never have known..." Kel snarled at him and he handed the book back with a mortified face. She shoved it back in her bag and stormed out the shop. Neal cast a wistful glance to his coffee before rushing out after her.
"Hey! Kel, come on, I was just joking!" he called, seeing her gleaming bun bouncing as she strode away from him. He broke into a jog, squeezing between the crowd and muttering apologies to the people who shouted for him to watch where he was going. "Kel, stop!"
"You're so goddamn nosy," someone muttered behind him, and he twisted to see Kel had tricked him: she'd ducked into the crowd and sneaked up behind him.
"Hey, hey, I'm sorry! I just want to know more about you." He shrugged and watched her hazel eyes survey him.
"Whatever." She smoothed her hands over her hair to check it wasn't messed up and looked away from him. "I have to go to the library. Overdue books."
She didn't wait for a reply before strolling off.
"Kel! Hi!"
Kel looked up from her book and raised her eyebrows in amusement as Neal almost tripped over someone's chair. In a most un-Kel-like manner, she even raised her hand and waved to him. Someone's in a good mood... Neal decided to avoid his usual black coffee and went for a Coca Cola instead, and then headed for the chair that he'd sat in since Monday.
"Hey, Neal, hang on!" Kel said quickly, struggling to stand up and grab his arm before he reached their table. "Be careful, don't want you to trip over any more chairs or anything..."
"You in a good mood, then?"
"It's Friday. The weekend starts tonight. I get to make up for that lost sleep you caused me. Pillock."
"Well, I'm going to make you jealous. I have a day off today... SO THERE!" Neal stuck his tongue out at her playfully and slumped into the chair. Kel took her seat too.
"Big mistake, Neal. I can make you more jealous than... uh... jealousy itself! Number 1 - I am no way NEAR as clumsy as you. Number 2 - I don't have to talk to complete strangers to make people think I have friends. Number 3 - Don't doctors get insane amounts of work? Number 4 -"
"Hey, hey, I surrender! Sheesh! I'll remember not to make you jealous ever again!" Neal took a swig of his coke. "So, you still on for Monday?"
"Monday...?"
"You know, coming round my house for coffee again."
"Oh. Yeah, whatever."
"Hmm." Neal leaned forward and squinted at her. "You make out that you're not bothered, but I bet you cannot wait. I'm a doctor. I know these things."
"Uh huh." Kel brought a look of disinterest onto her face, grabbed her coffee cup and began to circle her finger around the rim. "Didn't you say your birthday is some when soon?"
"Yeah. Ten days time." He paused and looked thoughtful. "Hey, I'm cooking dinner and some of my friends are coming - do you wanna come too?"
Kel pretended to choke and said, "You really do have friends!"
"Why don't you come and find out?" Neal suggested.
"But I'll have to get you a present... what the hell would I get someone as boring as you!"
"I don't know - a pair of socks, maybe? I like socks..."
"Oh - hang on, I'm going to see my parents for a while - I don't know if I'll be able to go..."
"You are coming. Tell your parents to go stuff themselves - my birthday is way more important than some stupid family you've known for more than two decades." Neal found himself talking to his bottle of Coca Cola, and forced himself to look up. Kel was tapping a finger against her mouth thoughtfully.
"I guess I could only stay there for a few days. It's not like I can't go see them some other time. So - yeah, okay."
"Before you do, there's no need to thank me - I'm just setting you up with some contacts here - they're really cool guys -"
Kel made a coughing noise which sounded oddly like "GEEKS" and smiled forcefully at him when he glared at her.
"Oh dear," he said, glancing at his watch. "I have some moping around to do - you gonna be ok here on your own?" Kel scowled and turned away from him to cast her eyes out the window.
"See you on Monday. I'll come down to your apartment, I remember the way," she said absently. Neal nodded slowly as though he thought she could see it and left.
"Gah!" Neal threw himself to the door and pulled it open. "I was so close... and then you knocked on the door..."
"Huh?" Kel frowned at his dishevelled state and removed her coat.
"My tie," Neal explained, brandishing the strip of material half-heartedly. "I'm really bad at doing these things up."
Kel rolled her eyes and walked up to him, snatching the tie and whipping it round his head. "You're lucky this happened today, and not tomorrow, or you wouldn't be wearing a tie to work." Without realising, she was standing incredibly close to him, making his breathing come harder. He was staring right down into her fresh-smelling hair while she examined the tie and began to do it up. Each movement she made was precise and well-practiced as though she was always helping other people do up their ties, but somehow elegant. Slowly, she slid the tie up and neatened his collar. "There." She stepped back and didn't seem to realise that Neal was staring at her intently.
"So, you gonna make some coffee or something?" She looked around the apartment as though she'd never been there before and turned back when Neal hadn't moved. "Uh... hello? WHAT! Why are you STARING at me!"
"Oh - uh, sorry, spaced out a bit there..." Neal gestured for Kel to go sit on the sofa, and he walked into the kitchen. "Must be a Monday thing," he said, stabbing a button on the coffee maker.
"Mmhmm..." Kel was once again sliding off her shoes - today she wore ankle boots with light blue jeans and a simple green top. She brought her knees up to her chin and gazed at the ceiling dreamily. "Tell me about next Monday (A/N That's Neal's birthday, that's when he's cooking dinner, in case you're confused). I don't have to dress up, do I?"
"Yeah." Kel grumbled something and Neal leaned over the kitchen worktop to shoot her a funny look. "What! I'd like to see you in something nice; a dress, maybe."
"Doesn't mean I like wearing them though," she shot back, stretching out. "Never knew you were a chef."
"I'm not."
"Oh, great. I just can't wait to force myself to swallow something burnt and lumpy..."
"If it's that bad, I'll order pizza," Neal said, handing her a mug and dropping onto a seat opposite her. "You're so sarcastic."
"Oh, and you're not?"
"I'm not as sarcastic as you," he answered, glancing down at the carpet, looking up, and then doing a double-take. "Hey, where's your dog?"
"He's with my friend." She frowned at him and said, "And don't even think of doing that 'You really do have friends?' thing."
"I wasn't going to! Of course you have friends! Of course."
"Is that the best you can come up with? You're hopeless."
Neal snorted comically. "At least I don't read Shakespeare at 8am in the morning slap bang in the middle of a coffee shop."
"Probably better than anything you like reading..." Kel replied.
"Ok, ok, I think we should stop insulting each other now - it gets a bit monotonous." (A/N Ha, I love that word...)
"You don't say." Kel was once again surveying the room. They sat in silence for more than five minutes, then started up another long conversation on books.
"WHO! I've never even heard of them," Neal smirked, draining the last of his coffee.
"The best authors are often unheard of."
"Well, I still can't believe you read Romeo and Juliet... I mean, you! Keladry Mindelan! Romeo and Juliet!"
"If you're gonna be like that, I'm leaving..."
"Hey, no, don't go!" Neal protested, shooting up from his seat.
"I have to go anyway," she told him with a shrug, tugging on her boots. "I'm driving down to my parent's place tonight, so I won't be at the café all week." Neal's face must have fallen, because Kel laughed, a sound which made Neal feel slightly giddy. He made himself promise he would make her laugh again, just because it made him feel good. "Yeah, how will you survive without me... but I'll get down here on Monday for your birthday thing - what time should I get here for?"
"About seven pm. Be there, or be square."
Kel smirked at the stupid saying as she tugged on her coat and waved to him as she opened the door and left.