The crowd finally thinned as they got near the octopus tanks, and Jessie felt something tight inside her uncurl for the first time since they’d arrived at the Seahaven Aquarium. She hadn’t realized it would be this crowded, but she should have, she guessed. The place was lousy with families trying to entertain kids who, like her, were out of school for the holiday week.
She desperately wished she had chosen somewhere quieter, maybe the art museum, or hell, what was wrong with an old-fashioned movie, except that her date preferred to watch at home where he could turn on the closed captioning.
Her date. That was new. Date. The word sounded odd in her head. At the same time exciting, exotic, and silly. But that’s what this was. A date. Her first date, actually. She wasn’t sure she was doing it right.
She was pretty sure that dates were supposed to be fun, but so far, she was miserable. The crowds were making her nervous, something that she’d never experienced before, but Winter had told her she might have some weird anxiety after —
She flinched away from those thoughts. From remembering. From reliving. PTS-frickin-D. That’s what Winter was calling it. The nightmares. The flashbacks. This fun new anxiety.
Her pulse sped to a breakneck pace and she felt dizzy and like there suddenly wasn’t enough oxygen in the building. She pressed her head against the cool glass and started counting. Counting her breaths. In and out. In for three, out for three. Over and over until the urge to bolt passed, or at least stopped for the moment. It never seemed to go away.
A heavy weight crashed into her side as two little boys jostled to the tank, and her hard-won control flew out the window. A sound somewhere between a squeak and a shriek escaped her lips, and her hand flew up to cover her mouth.
Fitz stepped between her and the kids. “Oy! Ankle-biters! There are other octopi right over there. Check them out. Now.” He gestured across the room far from Jessie, and the kids, cowed by being talked to by a strange man, went with little fuss.
“You all right, love?” He watched her closely, concern writ large across his handsome face.
Jessie gave the barest of nods and lowered her hand.
Fitz shook his head, and he carefully gathered her into a gentle hug, long, strong arms wrapped protectively around her shoulders. “No, you’re not. But you will be.”
Jessie sank into his embrace, her nose wrinkling a bit at the scent of cigarettes on his jacket but craving his warmth and strength. She hadn’t felt safe since the vineyard except when she was with Fitz.
She wasn’t normally a hugger, or really much of a toucher at all, but she never minded when it was Fitz. His arms around her had become her sanctuary and her shield.
Now that was a corny thought, but it was true all the same. She knew Winter wasn’t thrilled that she’d taken up with the deaf wizard, but Jessie wasn’t sure she would have made it through the last few days without him.
“You want to go home?”
Jessie felt tears well up in her eyes. Her first date and she definitely wasn’t doing it right. “But you wanted to see the aquarium.” Her voice sounded small in her ears and she hated herself for it.
Fitz checked his phone’s talk-to-text app since Jessie wasn’t angled so that he could read her lips, then laid a gentle kiss on her head. “I wanted to spend the day with you. The aquarium was mostly a pretext. I would be just as happy to spend time with you out at the House. We could pick up some carryout, slip into something more leisure-oriented, and while away the day talking and depleting Winter’s rather extraordinary wine collection. What do you say? No more crowds today?”
Jessie wasn’t sure she’d ever heard a better plan. She raised her head and nodded. “Are you sure that’s okay?”
Fitz beamed a rakish smile at her. “I never pass up good food, good booze, or time spent with a beautiful woman. This way, I get all three.”
Jessie smiled despite herself. And there it was. Fitz’s superpower. Even when she was scared, his charm and his kindness could break through and make her feel safe and happy. She leaned up on her toes and kissed his stubbled cheek. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”
If you liked this story, check out our other free short fiction and all things Seahaven at https://www.aelowan.com.