Fresh Start

F o u r

   "We'll get the drinks." Kaylee annoces, turning and walking away towards the counter at the front of the cafe, Alex chases after her, catching up. I glance across the table, meeting Maia's eyes who simply smiles.

After about an hour of youth group we-as in Kaylee and me-found out Maia and Alex knew each other which of course led Kaylee to invite-cough cough force-us all to coffee. I didn't really mind though, I was still curious to find out what I was already feeling towards her.

"So do you live here?" I ask curiously.

She nods slightly before squinting and shrugging, "I'm from Milan but I'm in UF so I'm living here while I take classes." I let out a small 'oh' as I nod understanding. "What about you?"

"Gap year, Kaylee and I are from Illinois, after high school we...uh we wanted to travel." I say, deciding to leave out the nasty details. "Not much too it." I state before moving on, "How do you and Alexandra know each other?"

Maia shrugs slightly, "Not well, I know her a bit from the few classes we share." She explains, "What about you and...Kaylee-right?" I nod simply, waiting for her to continue, "High school?"

"Uh yeah, we've been pretty close since ninth grade, along with Kieron-Kaylee's boyfriend- but he's going to Harvard."

She makes a 'ooo' sound as she smiles, "Boston huh? I've always wanted to visit."

"Yeah, well actually he's staying in NYC with his sister but he's heading up there this weekend I think." I explain, "Kaylee really misses him."

"Makes sense, long distance is really hard." Maia agrees, nodding her head slightly.

I squint at her, noticing how her words seem to feel deeper somehow, "You know from experience?" I ask, hoping to find out the meaning behind it.

"Something like that." She states, staring at the wooden table between us, "So Illinois, were you born there?"

"Yeah, I lived there all my life, never even traveled before coming here." I explain, "Though when I was nine I moved from Springfeild to Chicago."

She nods a bit, seeming to be actually interested, "Siblings?"

I squint a bit, confused by her question, "Sorry?"

"Do you have any?" Maia clarifies,

I nod a bit, "Yeah a baby brother, he's almost a year old."

"Aw" She coos, smiling, "What's his name?"

"Theo, or uh Teddy." I say, "You have a brother too, right? What's his name?"

"Aaron." Maia answers, "We're twins." She tells me.

"Seriously?" I question, watching as she nods, "I always wanted a twin." I say truthfully.To be honest I just wanted a sibling, twin, anyone really, just someone who could go through everything with me, we could be jerked around the foster system together instead of alone.

"Well it's not as glamorous as it seems." She tells me and in return I simply give her a questioning look to which she replies by continuing, "I'm younger out of the two of us, by like six minutes...but still my mom's always babied me and still does, Aaron hates it."

Despite her words I find myself smiling softly, purly at the fact of how easily she talks to me about stuff, and it's the same for me, I've known her for under three hours and still it feels so natural to talk to her. "Yeah I get that."

"It really hurt her when me and my brother moved here, she's all alone now andI kinda worry about her." Maia confesses.

I nod a bit, "Do you visit her a lot?"

She shrugs, "We try, I mean it's a pretty short drive and I share a car with Aaron so we go back as often as possible." She explains, taking a deep breath before continuing, "I miss her a lot. It sounds stupid but she's like my best friend."

"You sound like a good daughter." I mirror the small smile that appears over her face from my words. We just sit there, looking at each other and smiling to ourselves, it reminds me of that trust exercise as I find myself studying her again.

Suddenly she squints slightly, and opens her mouth to say something but before any words leave her lips her gaze shifts elsewhere as her grin grows a bit. I give her a questioning look but she doesn't notice as her eyes stay fixed on something else.

"Hey." A deep voice says from behind me, drawing my attention to a guy whose attention was purely on Maia. I watch as he hesitantly sits in the seat next to her, easily connecting their lips.

When their lips disconnect after what feels like an all-to-long kiss Maia's eyes stay on his before glancing over and remembering I'm sitting there. "Oh, Josh this is Kris." She states, before speaking again, "This is Josh...my boyfriend." Boyfriend. Oh, Fuck me.