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Emily entered the coffee shop and tried to shake the cold from her bones. She shed her heavy coat and walked up the counter.
“What’ll you have miss?” the barista asked.
“Just a hot chocolate please."
“That’ll be $4.25."
“Oh…” She hadn’t realized it would be so much.
Suddenly a tattooed hand appeared out of nowhere and said, “Add her to mine. I’d like an Earl Grey tea”.
She turned and saw a heavily tattooed man standing behind her. He had two chocolate brown eyes nearly obstructed by his long shaggy brown hair.
“Thank you”, she breathed as he set his hand on her lower back.
“Anytime luv." He paid for their drinks and they stepped off to the side.
“I’m sorry that you had to pay for my drink, it’s just…I don’t get paid for another week."
“Like I said, anytime luv. What’s your name?”
“Emily”.
“Oliver, but my friends call me Oli”.
Their names were called and they picked up their drinks. They walked over to a table and Oli took off his heavy coat, revealing his arms and neck that were covered in tattoos.
“You have so many!” Emily gasped.
“Covering nearly every inch of my body."
“Can…can I ask why?”
Oli took a deep breath. “I use to do drugs. My arms were covered in tracks”.
She slid her sleeve up and showed him her arms.
“How long you been sober?” he asked her.
“4 months. You?”
“Couple years”.
“How do you fight the urges?”
“I’m in a band, so I channel it into my music”.
“A band, hmm? Have I heard of them?”
“Unless you listen to heavy rock music, I’d say no. My band is called ‘Bring Me the Horizon’”.
“Sounds cool. I’ll have to come see you perform sometime”.
After that, they finished their drinks in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other’s company.
Emily stood up to leave.
“Let me walk you home”, Oli said.
“Oh, I’m not going home just yet. I was going to go for a walk in the park. It just started to snow”, she said.
Oli looked out the window to find what she said was correct.
Soft snow was falling over the city of Sheffield.
“Can I join you?” Oli asked.
“Sure”, Emily said smiling at him.
They threw away their empty cups and Emily took Oli’s hand in hers as she led him down the street.
Oli smiled, liking the feeling of her hand in his.
After a few minutes, they came to a stop at the entrance of the park.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Emily asked him, “I’ve always thought the city was at its most beautiful after its snowed”.
Oli looked over at her.
Her pale cheeks were flushed from the cold and a light breeze blew tiny strands of hair around her face.
“Yeah”, he said.
Emily pulled him into the park.
Due to it snowing, the park was completely empty and silent.
It was the most peaceful thing Oli had ever experienced. He’d love to come back here sometime and write. He could only imagine the lyrics that he could come up with.
Emily watched as Oli looked around the park. Looking at him, you’d never know he was a tortured songwriter. As she stared at him, she realized just how cute Oli was.
He looked adorable in his winter coat, his pale skin standing out against the fur that lined the hood of his coat.
Emily couldn’t help but smile.
Oli looked over at her and realized she was staring at him. “What?”
She shook her head. “Nothing”. She leaned up and kissed his frozen lips as the snowflakes fell silently around them.
Oli’s gloved covered hands came up to hold her cheeks delicately as he kissed her back.
They were both recovering drug addicts just looking for a purpose in life.
Oli had it in music, but Emily had no idea what she wanted to do with her life.
All she knew was that she wanted Oli.