Friends, Lovers, or Nothing

Chapter Thirty - Stop This Train

"And so I told him there was no way in hell I was going back to his place if... Blake? Blake, you there?"

I refocus my eyes and look to Hudson who's staring at me with a pointed gaze, "Hmph?' I mutter out.

"See, I knew you weren't listening to me."

He says it in a playful tone and I thank my lucky stars he's not actually mad at me. I've noticed how often I've been zoning out lately and how heavy my eyelids feel. I feel like I could sleep for 48 hours straight and still be tired. I've reached a new breed of tiredness.

"I'm sorry, Huds, I'm fully listening this time, I swear," I give him a sympathetic smile and keep my eyes focused on him as he begins to recount his crazy night out.

"Okay, so it all started when Allie called for the Uber. We were gonna take the T originally but then..."

I hear the bell above the door ring and I promptly sit up straight anticipating a customer. But when I look up and see Aidan walking towards us, and with purpose, I must add, my heart skips a beat. I haven't seen him since the party almost two weeks ago and I wasn't trying to rehash all the gory details while slumming it at Pavements.

With each passing day since Halloween things have been getting easier. But it would be a lie to say that a single day has passed that I haven't thought about him. Not that he's made it very easy to forget him, he only calls about twice a day just to fill my voicemail box with apologies and bribes for me to come back home. I don't even think he anticipates me picking up the phone anymore, each of his tireless regrets destined to be met by an automated machine.

It's not that I haven't considered picking up one of his various calls, he makes it feel almost impossible to stay mad at him, but I made a promise to myself that I come first this year. If Jaxon was able to destroy my heart and soul in all of two months of knowing each other imagine the risk I'd be taking to let him back in. I didn't have a good enough reason to call him back. At least not yet.

Luckily for me before Aiden can get a word in, Hudson steps in front of me to address him head-on, "No loitering at the coffee house, bro. Customer's only."

Aiden comes to a stop in front of him, seemingly sizing him up before replying, "And who says I'm not a paying customer? You and I both know I'm in here all the time."

Hudson pauses, a flash of irritation passing his face before shaking his head dismissively, "Whatever, man. I think all of us know why you're here and I'm not up for the antics today. And neither is she."

Aiden huffs in return, "Yeah, whatever's right, Blakey here can make her own choices," Aiden meets my eyes over Hudson's shoulder, tilting his head towards the side hall, "Right, Ashby?"

Hudson turns towards me, his eyes communicating that I don't have to follow him if I don't want to but reluctantly I turn to Aiden and nod. There's no point in avoiding Jaxon and his friends forever.

Hudson leans in close to my ear, "You sure?" I nod again and mumble a reply about being back in a few minutes to help him close up.

I reluctantly follow Aiden to the hallway that leads to the backroom, standing a decent foot away from him as he leans up against the brick wall.

"I'm sorry about that," he ushers towards Hudsons who is now standing behind the register taking the order of one of our last customers of the night. Aiden's eyes linger for a moment before he turns back to me. I'll remember to ask Hudson about that later.

"It's fine, I guess," I say awkwardly, "We close soon though so can we make this quick? I don't wanna leave Huds with all the work."

Aiden takes a deep breath, "Look Blake," I perk up at the use of my first name, "I should have come by earlier to talk to you but I've just been too chicken shit I guess." His sentence lingers in the air for a moment, neither of us saying anything right away.