Like We Used To

I grabbed my bag when the car refused to go any farther. I grabbed my keys from the ignition and kicked the tire after closing the door. I started walking towards the city, grateful that it was cloudy.

I ducked into a small café right before it started raining. I ordered a small coffee and looked around. Of course there were no available tables—it was just my luck. I sighed and turned to leave. “You can sit with me.” I turned.

The boy smiled and gestured for me to sit in the empty seat across from him. I slowly walked over and sat in the seat. I stared down at the table, unsure of if I made the right decision or not. “I’m Nick,” he offered.

I looked up at him…His messy dull orange hair… I froze when I looked into his bright green eyes. “Zane,” I managed to answer.

“Wake up,” Nick whispered. I blindly reached for his pillow, grabbed it, then hit him with it. He laughed as he straddled my waist. “Zane, wake up.”

“Coffee?” I mumbled before hitting Nick with his pillow again. He pulled the pillow from my hands and held both my wrists in his hand.

“It’s brewing right now. Wake up!” Nick pleaded.

“Will you kiss me?” I asked, a small smile forming on my lips. He let go of my wrists and caressed my cheek before pressing his lips to mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled when he pulled away. “I’m up.” My cheeks flushed tomato red when I opened my eyes and saw Nick hovering over me.

“Do you know what next week is?” he asked, grinning.

I thought for a minute. “Niiiick!” I squealed after a minute. “I gotta go potty!” He started laughing before he let me up. I crawled out from under the covers and scurried into the bathroom. Once I was done, I washed my hand and splashed cold water against my face.

How did the time go by so fast? When he first told me he was going on the OP tour with Boys Like Girls, I couldn’t be happier for him… Then he told me that I was going, too. My heart shattered the minute I found out The Maine was on that tour. I didn’t know if I was ready to see Garrett again.

“Zane,” Nick called. “Coffee’s done.” I drew in a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was too short for my liking—but it was still dark brown. My bangs hung in my eyes and were generally clipped back.

I let out the breath that I realized I’d been holding and left the bathroom. I slowly walked to the kitchen and jumped onto the counter. I glared at the pot of coffee on the counter across from me. “I blame you! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning. Why are you so addicting?” I asked.

“Are you talking to the coffee, or me?” Nick asked as he handed me a mug of coffee.

I took a sip of the steaming liquid and smiled. “Both.” I took another sip.

He handed my cell to me next. “Your phone’s been going off for the past ten minutes,” he chuckled.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it’s either really important, or you’ve been texting me to say you love me.” I smiled as I put down the mug and his hands fell on my hips.

“Only one was from me,” he promised. My knees were on either side of him. “And Halvo is coming over in twenty minutes, so you can scare him with your bedhead and morning breath.”

I gasped. “Are you saying I don’t look good with bedhead?!” I picked up my coffee and took another sip. “No kisses for you, then.” I stuck my tongue out at him, put down my mug, pushed Nick’s hands off my hips and jumped off the counter. “If you need me, I’ll be taking a shower.” I started to walk away. “So don’t need me.” I winked before leaving him to stare.