There are days, you just have that feeling that nothing will go your way.

Being the overachiever that she'd never stopped being since her days in elementary school, Jane was yet again staying late for work. No matter what she did, she always wanted to make sure it was as polished as could be, that the finished product was something to be proud of.

Ryan had long since stopped trying to dissuade her. Overtime became more common whenever they'd get too close to the tight deadlines typical of video game design, but still. Ryan would always mention how he wanted his employees well and functional, not zombies, and that their mental health was just as important as anything else. Something that Jane appreciated greatly, considering that to this day, not every boss, especially in this kind of workplace, would be as understanding.

But old habits were hard to break. And so, she stayed late, despite Ryan's concerned looks as he left the office. Jane knew he did overtime from home too, so it only motivated her more to give it her best.

A funny thing had happened recently though. Unless they were close to deadlines and all the team pitched in, she'd now gained company during her usual late hours. It had been a month since Cole had arrived, but it still felt strange to hear another set of fingers tapping quickly on a keyboard, the scratch of a pen on a graphic tablet or paper, the creak that came from his chair as he leaned closer to his screen. Strange, but not as... lonely.

At this time in the evening, it should've still been light outside the window next to Jane's desk, but the sky had muddled and turned into a forbidding mix of gray and dark blue. She grimaced when droplets flattened on the glass and thunder started to rumble in the distance. Suddenly, the faint glow that her desk light and her monitor emitted felt more comforting than anything else. She just hated going out in the rain.

But late hours or not, she still had to go back home at some point. Thankfully, there were always some things that she could look over from home on her laptop. With a sigh, Jane saved what she was working on, turned off her computer and gathered her things. She pulled her hood over her head and picked the umbrella she'd brought with her this morning.

Sure enough, Cole was on his way out too. They usually left around the same time so this didn't come as a surprise to her. She didn't bother waving at him just like he didn't try to say anything to her as Jane opened the front door of the building. Ever since their respective discussions with Ryan, some sort of truce had been established. It didn't prevent them from being frostily polite to each other, but they spent less time actively trying to annoy each other with bad pranks.

Which was why she stopped and frowned when he caught up to her, his dark jacket glistening with raindrops wherever his own umbrella couldn't reach.

"I didn't take you for a stalker," Jane muttered under her breath.

"I heard that," Cole groaned, moving forward without waiting for her. Which, of course, made her almost slip on a puddle in her hurry to resume walking. She flushed, hoping to hell that he hadn't seen her stumble like a moron. "I could say the same to you, y'know."

"I was going that way before you were."

"So what? As far as I know, the whole street doesn't belong to you. That's childish."

"Uh huh. You know what's childish?" She said, pointing at him accusingly. "Last week when you removed my shortcuts and switched my background for a fake blue screen."

He snorted and looked up at the sky as if sharing a hilarious inside joke with the dark clouds above them.

"Stop laughing," Jane insisted. "People used to do that like ten years ago. Get with the times, old man."

"Pfft. I'm only two years older than you. With that logic, you're getting old too."

"Wow, real clever," she said, refraining from rolling her eyes at him.

"Well, you do make it easy for me."

As they kept walking, Jane realized that this was the longest they had spoken to one another out of the workplace. And that realization made her quiet, enough to let an awkward silence settle between them. Now, only the sound of their shoes stepping into puddles, of cars rushing through slick, wet streets filled their abrupt pause in their chatter.

Jane bit her lip, wondering what else to say. She couldn't help herself. She hated lulls in conversations in general. It made her incredibly uncomfortable, no matter who she was with.

"Did you park your car far from work?"

"No, I actually didn't take my car today. It's under repair. What?" He smirked. "Have you been watching me? Maybe you're the stalker after all."

"The hell? No, I just assumed—" She cut herself off before she could say more. I just assumed, since you're filthy rich, that you're above people like me who take the subway to work. But she couldn't say that and she just hoped he wouldn't push it.

"You assumed? What did you assume?"

"Nothing, really. Must be rough, all that traffic to get through every day."

He shrugged. "It's not so bad. You get used to it. Part of the daily routine. But it's tiring."

She wanted to ask why he hadn't just called for a taxi or a rental car since he obviously had the means for either, but she shut up, knowing how that would've sounded.

Once they were inside the station, Jane wondered how often someone like him would use the subway, if ever.

He sighed, looking exasperated. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, just wondering."

He rubbed at his jacket's sleeve to remove some of the rain on it. "You're thinking really loud. It's so annoying."

"I'm not!" She protested, clutching her subway card with indignation.

"Yeah, you are. Everything you're thinking about shows on your face and sometimes it's entertaining, but right now, it's not."

"And why is that?"

"Because you look like you're wondering what the hell I'm doing here. As if I look out of place." He shook his head as if the idea sounded especially stupid.

"That's because you do," she retorted before she could stop herself. She didn't cover her mouth, but she was really, really tempted to. Her eyes widened as he gazed at her, his expression carefully neutral.

"What? Because my family is rich? Is that what you're thinking?" His voice had turned icy.

She tried to make a joke out of it. "You can't just say that kind of thing here." She glanced around them. "You're practically asking pickpockets to steal from you." She laughed nervously.

"Right. If you have nothing more interesting to say, I'll be on my way. That's my train."

He didn't wait for her. Not that Jane wanted him to. Good riddance. A shame that it seemed like they were heading towards the same line. Though, it certainly didn't mean that they would need to talk to each other during the ride.

They ended up in the same car since, as usual, even at this time in the evening, most of them were filled to the brim. Jane didn't love crowds, but they didn't bother her much either. She'd only need to plug in her earbuds and she could watch the anime episode she'd downloaded from Netflix to watch on her way back home. See? Problem solved. No awkward, painful, forced conversations with Cole. Everyone would be happy.

She focused her whole attention on the episode of My Hero Academia. The air whooshing by outside the train and the hum of people talking to each other surrounded her like a soothing blanket. This, she was used to. Not Cole and his horrible personality. Jane tried to ignore the warmth she could feel from being pressed a little too close to him, but she felt absorbed by the action on the screen of her cell enough to put it into the recess of her mind.

Then, the train slowed down until it stopped. Some people exclaimed their surprise, others, unprepared as they were still in the middle of a tunnel, just tried to grab onto the people next to them, seats or anything else solid. The lights overhead flickered and became more subdued, softer, probably emergency lighting.

Jane couldn't know for sure. Her glasses had slipped from her nose and down to the floor. Without them, she couldn't see much, especially not then. Her earphones had slid out of place. It took her a moment to realize that while she had stumbled, she hadn't fallen on her knees like the woman a few feet from Jane. No, an arm had slipped around her and prevented Jane from diving to the ground. Not anyone's arm either.

Cole. Cole had reacted without thinking, caught Jane and steadied her, so she would be safe.

Which she would've thanked him for. Truly, she would have.

But then another thought crossed her mind.

The train had broken down. They weren't moving anymore. At all. How long would this take? Would they remain stuck for fifteen seconds, five minutes, an hour?

As it set in, the fear that they wouldn't get out of this suffocating, small car for who knew how long, Jane forgot to breathe. This couldn't be happening. The last time had been a year and a half ago. Why now?

She could feel her own heart racing faster and faster, her breathing getting out of control. Why now? She couldn't stop herself from imagining the worst scenarios, straight from horror movies, as unlikely as each of them were to happen.

Jane could hear someone calling her name. She forced herself to open her eyes, but this made her take in her surroundings, making the whole situation all too real. She quickly shut them again, ignoring Cole's questions and concern about her wellbeing.

Then, she felt a soft, comforting warmth wrap around her hands. Hands. Cole's hands. He squeezed hers in support. Not that it did much to reassure her. How much time had passed already? Why was the car still not moving?

"Jane," he whispered, his voice calm, composed, only loud enough for her ears. "Look, it's going to be ok. The train will move again soon. It's not going to last. They're probably already solving the problem." He paused. "I promise you, it's going to be ok." And despite all those sweet words, she couldn't make herself believe it.

"Ok. Let's do this. Top ten best animes you've ever watched?"

She frowned, unsure how to answer that. Why did he want to know?

"Come on, you can tell me. You always wear t-shirts with anime characters printed on them. I know you love them. No way you don't have at least ten favorites."

"I don't... why...?" She took another difficult breath.

"Give me at least one."

"Spi... spir..." She inhaled deeply before trying once more. "Spirited away."

"Cool. What's it about?"

Her frown deepened. Why the hell did he want to know? What did it matter? Why now? But since it was better than thinking about their current situation, she complied.

They went back and forth for a few minutes. She'd just mentioned her number three on the list when their car jerked forward, startling the rest of the crowd again. Jane opened her eyes, gripping Cole's hands as if it were a lifeline, as if she would collapse by letting go of them.

The pre-recorded voice on the intercom announced the next stop.

"You ok?" Cole asked, his eyebrows creased with worry.

She gave a brief nod, feeling drained.

Ok? Understatement of the century.

                                              ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I was so inspired for this chapter, but somehow, whenever I was about to write it, my mind just went blank... despite knowing exactly what would happen in this chapter. 😭

By the way, just wanted to take a second to thank you guys for the likes on this story... which, I know, for some might not be a lot, but for me, who published this thinking that at best, one or two people would read it? That's just incredible. I can't thank you all enough for giving this story a chance. 😊

If you've enjoyed this chapter, please like and/or leave a comment, it would mean the world to me!