The first meeting [Cale and Anya's Past; Part One]

OOC: This FF has been realized by me and Anya, hope you'll like it! <3


A fairly long time ago, Cale was working as an employee in a nice coffee shop in the centre of London: he was 20 and so it was almost two years since he had started to live on his own.
'Goodbye forever, adoptive family: I won't regret this choice. Better to live under a bridge than with you.
Luckily he hadn't ended up living under a bridge. Sure, his studio flat wasn't a castle, but it was good enough for him, and with his work he could take care of himself, and have also enough money to go out with friends a couple of times every week.
Cale was lost in his thought, thinking precisely about where he could go that evening, when his boss called him.
"Hey, 'sleeping beauty', time to stop dreaming! The customers are arriving!"
Oh, sure! It was 12.00: the 'rush hour' at the coffee shop. And here they were: the spoilt, snobbish girls that usually came in the local, the students from the prestigious school of 'St Madeline', for rich girls.
It was the kind of situation that he could watch only from afar, he was only able to just work there because it was only a coffee shop for students: they're parents most likely couldn't stand someone from such a low class as their waiter... Cale couldn't help but turn up his nose: he hated them so much... but, work was work. Silently he started to take the first orders...

A few hours into Cale's shift, a family of three entered the shop, they were the typical upper class families that he really disliked, the parents had clearly come to collect their daughter from St Madeline's and were now treating her to afternoon tea. He grimaced, they were even worse than most, with their supposed "manners", despite the fact they were rude to most of those below them. As his boos told him to serve them, he moaned a little, annoyed at his bad luck. He took their order and served them as nicely as he could, given the circumstances. However, when they had finished, something weird happened.

He was busy with a lot of tables and, when he had to take them the bill, he dropped it on the table by accident after nearly tripping over the father’s walking stick which he had left lying precariously in the middle of the floor. He gave an unfelt apology and turned as if to leave their presence. The family instantly became outraged. They had no tolerance for that kind of behaviour, they were shouting at him. At their attitude Cale forced himself both to not laugh at them and to not kick them, instead he repeated an annoyed “Sorry”, but it wasn't enough. They wanted to talk with his boss.
"Such impertinence! We refuse to pay after such poor service!" Announced the father.
Cale's boss tried to calm them, but without any luck. Following their comments, there were many insults aimed towards Cale himself and his class before they left the building, Cale was fuming, more annoyed than he thought it was possible to get with upper class people and their nonsense.
Also, thanks to them he was going to have problems with the boss...
It was only a few moments after they had left that he noticed their daughter still stood there, looking ashamed, embarrassed, angry and a little bit sick. "Sorry..." She apologised in a small voice, she pulled some notes out of her pocket, "Thank you for your service tonight..." She left hastily, he barely even got to see her face but he vaguely recognised her because she had been in a few times before. Counting the money, he realised it was enough to cover the bill and she had also left a substantial tip for him. *Bonus!* He thought and smiled; now he could go home with a decent wage, and even his boss could close an eye this time!

***

It was late afternoon, almost evening: the coffee shop was closing and Cale couldn't wait to finally come back at home. He had decided what to do that evening: he had an appointment with the TV, the sofa and a beer; he was too tired to go out.
He was crossing the park as a short-cut to save time, it wasn't a safe place at that hour, but he wasn't scared, he could take care of himself: he was already looking forward to the idea of himself lying on the sofa when suddenly something captured his attention. Not too far away there was a small group of people: 4 boys and... a girl... Cale frowned: she was shouting and seemed really scared.
Cale shrugged and looked elsewhere, continuing to walk: her bad. What was she doing there at that hour? It was her own fault. She shouldn’t be in the park so late.
But her voice, he could tell she was trying to sound feisty, pretend she was alright but in reality he knew she was so scared. She soon gave up the pretence and her voice became pleading, it didn't want to leave his mind...
He snorted angrily to himself, turned back and walked quickly towards the group.
"Hey, haven't you heard her? Let her go."
"Oh, look! What have we here? Who are you? Her boyfriend?" Replied evilly the one that seemed to be the boss of the little group, making the others laugh. "Come on punk; go back on your way..."
Cale closed his eyes for a second, breathing calmly. Words were useless with them...
It was a split second before he reopened his eyes and punched the boss hard on his nose, breaking it.
For a few minutes everything was a mess: while the little boss was falling on the floor, almost in shock, the other three, overcoming their surprise, jumped on Cale and for a while it was a so complex tangle of fists and kicks that was impossible understand who was the winner. He was positive he even saw the girl he had been protecting hit one of them hard in the crotch.
But after a couple of minutes, all of the gang were on the floor. Cale was bleeding from the nose and from a cut on his lips, but he was ok. He didn't need to say anything: in a couple of minutes the little group was gone.
Cale sighed in annoyance. Why had he started to fight with them? Oh yes, the girl...
He turned to search for her and there she was, a few steps away, trembling like a leaf, her eyes wide opened in fear but also with determination, her fists clenched and arms held out in front of her, as if she could protect herself. It was clear she couldn't.
He looked closer at her: where had he seen her? Then it hit him. The spoilt daughter from the coffee shop. When he realized who she was, he almost regretted to have helped her... But she had been the one to apologise for her parents and gave him the money... He sighed and approached her. "Hey, are you alright?"
She jumped a bit, still on edge, and then nodded.
Cale had managed to stay calm until that moment, but all of a sudden, his anger came out. "What the fuck were you doing here at that hour?! Don't you know that is dangerous?!" What were you thinking?!"
Instead of crying, which many girls of her age and class would have done, she simply stared full on towards him, she was doing that thing again. Pretending she was okay. He could tell she wasn't. Her eyes were so focussed; it was almost like she was staring right inside him. Cale sighed again, uncomfortable.
"Ok, so... Be careful getting home..." He said turning away from her and restarting to walk, he half-expected her to beg him to stay, most girls would have, but she didn't. She re-asserted the strong look in her eyes and began walking in the opposite direction. He stared after her; a bit amused she could be so naive, she should've left the park and found an different route home. Sighing, he followed her. "Hey!" He shouted and pulled her back.
"What?" She raised an eyebrow and actually looked rather angry with him, Cale was taken-aback. He had saved her! And she was annoyed at him?! "Never mind then! if you’re going to be like that," Cale was pissed off now and it had taken all his effort not to swear at her.
"... I'm sorry." The girl sighed; she dropped her guard a bit and looked at the floor, guilty and clearly a little upset. "Please... those guys could be still here somewhere..."
Cale sighed, massaging his temples with two fingers."Is your home very far?" He asked, clenching his teeth, she nodded shyly and he snorted. ‘Just great’ thought Cale with sarcasm.
"Come on, move. Sooner I take you home, sooner I can leave..." he replied rudely, but the girl seemed not to notice his tone, she smiled relieved and was starting to walk when, suddenly, she felt a drop on her head, followed by another, and another one, and another one...
Cale frowned. "In retrospect... better if you come with me..." He replied noticing the rain that was starting to come harder and harder every minute: he took her backpack and her hand and started to run, Anya following close behind. She was a little nervous, she had no idea where he was planning on taking her but his hand was so firm and reassuring, for some reason, she didn’t feel all that scared.
After 10 minutes, Cale was opening the door of his studio flat: they were both soaked, and she was trembling hard. He looked both at her, and at the room, it really was a mess: he knew the sort of place she had come from and he was feeling so uncomfortable... so judged... Anya, however, smiled around the room; it was nice to be somewhere homely for once, instead of her pristine country house. “This is lovely.” She murmured in a small voice as she took everything in from the comfy looking sofa, to the underpants lying in the middle of the floor. She giggled. Cale looked a little shocked that she thought his studio flat was ‘lovely’ but after all he didn't care too much... though he was quite pleased that she hadn’t judged him: it was quite unusual for an upper class girl.
"Maybe it is better if you take a shower..." Cale suggested, still uncomfortable. She nodded trembling from the dampness of her clothes. He took a big towel and gave it to her, then he pointed her towards the bathroom... not that actually she could really get lost in his house... When she entered in the bathroom he sat on the sofa, watching the TV... he hadn’t imagined his evening to turn out this way...
He was slightly annoyed: why did he have to save that girl? She wasn't his business... usually he didn't care about those kinds of things, he wasn't a hero... Well, it was true that he didn't usually meet naive girls in really bad situations... even he had a limit to his selfishness...
After half an hour she opened the door of the bathroom again and Cale looked up. Anya had a lot on her mind, she wasn’t really thinking about what she was doing until she noticed Cale’s face and realised that she was dressing in the same soaking dress. Cale almost laughed and she blushed. ‘Damn it!’ She thought. ‘Now he thinks I’m an idiot.’
"Don't you have a dry dress, girl?" Cale asked, suppressing his laughter a little when he saw how embarrassed she looked. He watched as she approached the backpack and searched inside; looking through lots of different dresses, but everything was wet. Cale sighed, rolling his eyes and getting up off the sofa, he approached his closet, then took a shirt and a pair of trousers and threw them to her. "Put on these." She looked at him surprised, then nodded and went again in the bathroom. Anya struggled inside the bathroom, the clothes were massive on her body, she was curvy but not curvy enough to fit in a man’s clothes, the trousers she definitely had no hope with, they were constantly slipping down. When she came out, she had to hold onto the trousers to they didn’t fall down. This time, Cale couldn’t help it, it looked ridiculous, he laughed out loud and Anya blushed more so than before.

Having more self-pride than to let a man laugh at her, she re-entered the bathroom and shut the door once more. Cale laughed even harder, and left her do what she prefered, even if he couldn't help but wonder what she were doing again in the bathroom.
When Anya re-entered the bathroom, she got undressed and lay the trousers to one side, she threw on the shirt over her underwear and stepped outside, it was like a short dress. Girls of her age usually were dresses that short, but girls of her class never did, not that she was a typical upper class girl, clearly, as she was now stood in front of Cale in nothing but his shirt and her underwear.
Cale looked at her, raising an eyebrow, was she really stupid enough to leave the bathroom half-naked in front of a perfect stranger? When girls were dressed like that in his flat, it usually only meant one thing... he had to admit she was rather nice looking, but she was a child, only sixteen, so he preferred to avoid any comment on how she was dressed.
He sighed and got up off the sofa, pointing at the backpack, he coughed before speaking. "Want help with that? If we lay them out in the bathroom, they will be dry in a couple of hours." Anya smiled and nodded, he was being helpful, she could tell that was unusual for him from his persona, so best just to go along with it.

After another half hour all the dresses were in the bathroom, drying, and Cale and the girl were sat together on the sofa: he had asked her twice if she wanted call someone, but she had refused both times, saying that she preferred to wait for the rain to stop and walk home alone, even if it was nearly night..
"So... I don't think that you told me your name..." He said giving her a beer that she however refused.
"I'm Anya, and you?" She replied politely, her accent was beginning to annoy her, it was stereotypically upper class and she hated the fact that it was so poignant. She coughed before trying to speak more middle class. “Sorry, I don’t drink beer.” She smiled and shook her head towards the bottle.
"Cale." He responded, shrugging when she refused.
"Cale... I don't think that I have thanked you already, so... Thank you. For everything. I mean... you know...,"
"That's ok, girl, no problem..." He interrupted her, then, taking a sip of his beer, he asked: "Hey, Anya right? I'm just curious... Why did you have so many dresses with you?" At the question Anya looked elsewhere blushing: it was really simple now understand what her intentions were...
"Oh..." Cale looked astounded and a little worried, not necessarily for her, but more for himself, this could get him in a whole load of trouble.
"Please, don't call the police..." Anya looked up at him; her eyes were so large and pleading, so innocent. He turned away, he couldn’t look at her, he needed to think. She was a minor, Cale should probably call the police... maybe her parents were worried, maybe they were searching for her, maybe he could even have problems keeping her there... Would they think he kidnapped her? He turned back to face her, to tell her that he had to call them, but her eyes captured him: her expression was so tender in that moment... He sighed. "I won't, but you have to leave as soon as the rain stops." Anya smiled at him, relieved and nodded at his last request.
"Thanks... again!"
They waited together a couple of hours, but the weather wasn't getting better and soon it became too dark and too late to let her walk home at all. Cale sighed: she had to stay the night... *Great... reminder for me: never help someone again...* He ordered a pizza and prepared his bed for her, putting a cover for himself next to the sofa.
"You sure that you don't want to call someone?" He asked hesitant: after all she was a rich girl, surely used to sleeping in a better place than his little studio flat... But she shook her head: she preferred to stay...
Anya was looking forward to sleeping the night, it was the first time she had actually felt like she was in someones ‘home’ and not just a ‘house’. She really loved it and was happy here. Cale looked at her, he didn’t realise what exactly was going through her mind but he knew she felt comfortable and even if he would have loved to send her back home there and then, he wasn’t that mean. He sat next to her on the sofa, watching the TV. At the beginning he felt really uncomfortable with her there, he wasn't used to having guests, and especially guests so silent! She didn't speak for a long time, and this was getting him really bored and slightly annoyed. After a while he finally decided to talk.
"Hey, do you know how to play poker?" Cale asked, Anya raised her eyebrows questioningly.


“Cale, I am not playing strip poker,” Anya shook her head, she had heard her parents speak of the game and how typical lower class it was, she cringed at their arrogance. Cale laughed, but actually he was slightly pissed for the insinuation.
“It’s just a card game, rich girl, you don’t have to strip! Not more than this, however.” Then, before she could reply, he continued, nicer “Here, let me show you...” They started to play cards, Cale teaching Anya different games and tactics. After a while, all the tension of before melted away and they both began to truly enjoy themselves, neither Cale nor Anya had laughed so freely in ages, both because of their different circumstances. For the rest of the night they played cards, talked, watched some movies, ate pizza and finally, fell asleep on the sofa, side by side.

In the morning he woke up, as always, at 5 o’clock to get prepared for work, when he was dressed he woke her up. "Hey, girl, it's morning... what do you want to do?" He asked her, offering her a coffee. Anya looked at her bag: last night with those boys... if Cale had not have helped her... She sighed: maybe after all it was a silly idea run away from home..."I think... that I have to go to school..." She replied with a sigh, she actually really wanted to stay here. Cale nodded, without commenting, he just asked, "And how will you do with your parents?"
"I'll... I’ll tell them that I forgot something at school... I came back... and... when I was about to leave, it had started to rain, luckily I bumped into Anastasia and spent the night at hers.”
"Will they believe it? Will they not check with her parents?"
Anya nodded to whether they would believe it and shook her head at the checking with Anastasia’s parents, they didn’t care enough to do that.
Cale helped her to prepare her bag and re-pack it with all the dresses, then she changed her clothes and they left the flat together. He accompanied her to the school, not that was actually that big of a deal; the coffee shop was right next to the school.
When he said goodbye, she smiled and waved before meeting up with a group of girls as they all walked through the gates together. As he watched her, he couldn't help but think that the night hadn't been so bad after all. Not that it mattered whether he had enjoyed himself or not... He was just an employee at a coffee shop, she was an upper class rich girl.
He would never see her again.
Well, that's what he had thought. Walking home from work the day after, he noticed a girl stood beside the door of his place, clutching two pizza boxes in her hands, he squinted before realising... it was her. He was speechless! Why would she have wanted to come back to his flat?
"Hey! Can I come to you for dinner? I have brought Pizza!" Anya called out to him. Cale opened his mouth, ready to tell her to go back home, but instead, when he saw the beaming smile on her face, he sighed and gestured towards the door with his hand.
“Well... if you bought pizza... How can I say no?”

Awww! That was sooo cute! <333 It actually makes me believe that Cale is a nice, sane guy 8D If only he was like that in the actual RP >.>

But, THIS WAS JUST SO CUTE!!! X3 *loves AnyaxCale* <3333

I loved how you wrote their relationship and chemistry!! It was so well done!! And yes I'm now an official Cale/Anya supporter!!