Chapter 3

The last six months had been a wild ride for Leo. Everything had been strange since the day of his car accident.

He had spent some time in hospital recovering from his injuries and had missed the date with his crush. For some reason he hadn’t been too bothered about it despite looking forward to it with all his heart before the car accident.

The car accident had been odd too. There had been a video of it caught on a traffic camera nearby and the car should have hit him head on judging by his position and the natural trajectory of the car. He was lucky that somehow it had caught his side instead.

There were more things as well. Even though he had been looking forward to meeting new people at university and having the chance to find romance, he had turned down everyone who had asked him on a date so far.

What was wrong with him?

Leo groaned and massaged his stiff shoulder. His fingers accidentally probed the raised scar on his shoulder from the car accident. That accident had cursed his romantic life for sure.

“Are you having an existential crisis again?” his best friend asked. 

They were sitting in the cafe at the university with their tablets in hand. There was an upcoming essay that they were supposed to be working on, but Leo’s mind was elsewhere.

“Brad, why am I single?” he groaned.

Brad sighed openly at him and looked back down at his tablet. “Because you reject everyone. Your actions don’t match your words.”

“I don’t know why I reject people. I’m into them and they do what I want them to do which is ask me out. Then I don’t want them,” Leo explained.

His best friend looked bored and more interested in their dull essay topic than listening to him. It was fair, he regularly talked about his dry love life. Brad was taller than him with shoulder length black hair tucked behind ears and wasn’t bothered about dating.

“I think the barista who starts his shift in five minutes is into you,” Brad said unexpectedly. “How about saying yes to him when he asks you on a date?”

Leo nodded in admiration. Brad was normally right about these sorts of things because of his sharp observational skills. He had thought the cute barista was into him. It was nice to have some confirmation.

He waited patiently for the barista to start his shift. He was called Adrian and he had floppy brunette hair and a dazzling smile. Adrian had his orders memorized and knew what his order would be once he said the first word.

Once he had confirmed Adrian was behind the counter and the queue was non-existent, he walked up and smiled at him.

“Hi Leo,” Adrian said brightly. “What can I get for you today?”

“A mocha-”

“A mocha with extra cream and caramel drizzle,” Adrian finished. “Did I guess right?”

“You did,” Leo confirmed.

Another fact about his newfound dry dating life was his inability to ask anyone out himself. Every time he thought about expressing interest and asking if a man was single, his mouth would close tight and something in his heart told him to stay quiet.

Right now he wanted to move things along and flirt with Adrian. Instead there was a twinge in his heart and he didn’t feel he could ask.

“I’ll get it started now,” Adrian replied after he had paid. “Do you want to chat while I make it? There’s no one behind you.”

That was a good sign. Leo balled up his fists. He could do it, he could say yes. He was going to.

Adrian started at the coffee machine and didn’t speak whilst he was dispensing the shot of coffee due to the shrill noise. Once he had moved onto the quieter steps, he was very flirty.

“So, are you single?” he asked with his back turned.

“I am,” Leo confirmed. “Single since birth unfortunately.”

Adrian turned back and looked at him. “You’re quite good looking, I am surprised to hear that.”

Leo’s cheeks flushed red and Adrian chuckled. 

“Um thanks,” he said quietly. 

He was itching to ask if it was the same for Adrian, but as usual, his lips were shut.

“How busy are you with university work right now?” was the next question.

An availability question was a good sign. Leo perked up. It was coming. He had been asked on enough dates to recognise the hints.

“I’m free in the evenings this week. Next week is going to be tough, I’ve got two essays due.”

By now Adrian was facing him and his drink was almost finished.

“How about meeting in the evening tomorrow?” the barista asked. “There’s that new restaurant close to campus that just opened up.”

This was the moment. He could do this. He took a deep breath and was ready to accept. His response was ready in his mind.

Different words came out of his mouth instead. “I would like to go out to try a new restaurant with you as a friend.”

Leo bit his lip once he had realised what he said. What was wrong with him? He hated himself as he watched Adrian’s face fall.

“I guess I can do that,” he said slowly. “I didn’t mean it as a friendly outing though. I did think you knew that.”

Adrian slid his drink over and Leo picked it up after some hesitation. He should just try being honest.

“I want to date, it’s just complicated. I got hit by a car last August and I’ve been odd ever since. I don’t want to be single, but every time I get asked out, I can’t bring myself to turn them down.”

The barista listened silently and Leo wondered if he should stop coming to this coffee shop for a while. It was perfectly situated on the campus for him, but there was always the other one on the other end of the campus.

“Did you hit your head at all?” Adrian asked. 

“On this side a little,” Leo pointed. “I had scans and everything. There was no damage. It’s just odd.”

“Maybe the near death experience messed you up mentally,” Adrian said. “I like to think you met the Grim Reaper himself and traded your life in for being cursed to be single forever.”

Leo laughed at the joke. His car accident hadn’t quite been a near death experience. He hadn’t lost consciousness at all, it had all been very quick. One moment he was walking and the next he was on the ground. 

“Maybe I did,” he grinned. “No awkwardness between us?”

The barista held his hands up and smiled back. “I guess not. You were honest. See you around.”

That was his sign to go. Leo returned to his table and sat down. Brad didn’t look up at him and was deep into reading a very yawn inducing looking article on his tablet.

“You were right, Adrian did ask me out,” he told him.

Now Brad looked his way. “And?”

“I couldn’t do it and turned him down,” Leo frowned. “I explained and he is fine with it. He even made a joke.”

“I think you’re doomed to be forever single then,” Brad concluded. “Stop being bothered with it and focus on your university work.”

It was harsh, but admittedly true. Leo picked up his tablet again with a sigh and read over the required criteria for the essay. He sipped at his mocha whilst he scrolled. He needed to get over his lack of a dating life. Maybe things would pick up in the summer when he had finished his first year.

***

The months flew by with essays, long hours hunched over his laptop in his room or in the library and exam revision. Before he knew it, the month was August and it was the one year anniversary of his car accident.

Leo had no intention of crossing any roads today, he was staying at home. He wasn’t particularly superstitious, but he felt like he shouldn’t tempt fate today. He had been extremely careful when crossing roads all year and always felt idiotic waiting at crossings for the lights to change when other people had just darted across the road and saved time. Safety was his priority.

Nothing happened during the day, he spent it catching up on reading fiction instead of scholarly articles and journals. He prepared to go to bed at around 11 o’clock and was tucked under the covers with a book in his hands by half past the hour.

His bedside lamp started to flicker repeatedly and he put his book down to stare at it. The power supply was normally stable. He turned it off for a few seconds in case that helped it return to normal and switched it back on.

There was a man standing by his bed. He yelped in surprise.

The man was very handsome with long gray hair and long black cloak, but that was negated by the fact that he had appeared in the dark and was creeping around his bedroom at night.

“Good evening, Leo,” he said formally and bowed. 

Leo was completely lost for words. He turned off the light for a few seconds and this man appeared. Then it turned out that the man knew his first name. Did he have a stalker? His parents were across the hallway, all he had to do was call for them and they should come.

“I have come back in a year’s time as I promised,” the man continued. “Have you been well?”

As he spoke Leo noticed that the man didn’t look real. His figure was translucent and more ghostlike than human. His voice had an otherworldly quality to it. That all added up to one thing.

“I’m dreaming,” he murmured. “Who are you?”

“I am Nocturne,” the man replied. “Do you not remember me?”

Leo shook his head. He would remember meeting a man like this. He wasn’t scared of him though. Nocturne didn’t feel threatening. There was a kind look to his eyes.

“I am the ruler of the underworld,” Nocturne explained. “You died last year when you were hit by a car and we made an agreement because you wanted to keep your life.”

The blond felt like his world had been turned upside down. He had died in the car accident. He was only alive because he had agreed to something with Nocturne. Adrian’s words from months before came back to him.

“What did I agree to?”

He was dreading the answer.

“You offered yourself to me, I wanted to take your soul,” Nocturne said with a look of fondness. “You said I could marry you. You were very persuasive.”

Now Leo knew the reason for his singledom. He had made an agreement with the Grim Reaper to marry him.

“I’m dreaming,” he told himself. “I’m in my bed and I’m asleep.”

Nocturne leaned forward and pulled at the shoulder of the loose t-shirt he wore to bed. He pointed to a scar just below his collarbone.

“I marked you as proof of our promise. It is an N to represent my name. Didn’t you ever wonder about it?”

Leo shook his head. “I’ve got lots of scars from the car accident.”

Nocturne sighed. “This isn’t going how I thought it was going to. I thought you would remember.”

This was a dream. Leo was sure it had to be. He just didn’t like how it was making some kind of sense. He hadn’t been right in his mind since the car accident. The hospital staff had been confused about his odd scar as well. It was on the left side and he had taken all the impact on his right. All his other scars and marks had been on the right side of his body.

“About marrying you?”

Nocturne nodded and reached out in the direction of his hand. Leo moved away automatically and the man looked heartbroken.

“I will come back another time. I see I am not welcome here,” he said. “However, I will still marry you.”

Nocturne clicked his fingers and disappeared as swiftly as he had come into existence. Leo was left confused and hoping it was all a dream.