Tend To My Heart

09

Evangeline

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Is that Hayden Carter?" Cooper gasped.

"No way, not the Hayden Carter!" Thomas chimed behind him.

"Mr. Carter! I love you!" Maya squealed like a fan girl and I couldn't hold back my laugh.

"Alright, as Mr. Carters personal body guard, I'm gonna have to ask you all to back up" Lucas stepped in front of the three before whipping around to grin at our little brother.

"I get dibs" he said before swooping Hayden up to sit him on his shoulders.

"You guys are so lame!" Hayden giggled, unable to hide the joy in his eyes.

"Lame? Us? Since when?" Maya gasped, walking over to the stool next to Hayden's.

"He's just called me old too" I shook my head.

"That part's true" Cooper smirked making me flip him off.

The boys turned around to head to their booth before completely stopping in their tracks.

Shit.

"Hey T" Thomas broke the silence, giving Tristan one of those bro handshakes.

"Tommy, how's it going man?" Tristan smiled and I could feel my palms get sweaty.

It was like both of my worlds were colliding right before my eyes. Worlds I didn't realize I had until right now.

I glanced over at Maya who's eyes were already on me and she raised her eyebrows. I gave a her a shrug before we both turned to look over at the boys.

"Just got out of class, you?" Thomas answered and I could feel the awkwardness build up until it felt like I was drowning.

"Doing some psychology homework" Tristan shrugged, keeping the smile on his face, almost like he knew the boys were suspicious of something and he liked to watch them squirm.

Should they be suspicious?

Oh god, not now.

"Right on..." Thomas nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets.

I didn't have to see their faces to know Cooper and Lucas were glaring daggers into the side of Tristans head. It was like they were watching his every move.

Tristan suddenly gave me a quick glance and as quick as it was, the boys still must have caught it because the three of them turned around to look at me.

"Why did you guys suddenly get so weird?" Hayden broke the silence and I felt my entire face get hot.

Stop being awkward, nothing was going on.

Lucas slid Hayden off of his shoulders, ushering him back to his stool to finish his work and I just kept trying to shove the voice as far away as possible.

"I'll catch you guys later, this essay has been nothing but a pain in the ass, I deserve a break" Tristan chuckled, packing up his things and sliding out of the booth.

He gave me a look and I couldn't help but be grateful. If he stayed any longer, I'm not sure what would've happened. Although, I knew that an immediate freak out was going to happen as soon as he left and I almost wanted him to stay...

"We're throwing another party at Hunters this weekend so, spread the word and I'll see you guys then?" He informed, scanning the room before his eyes landed on me.

Lucas and Cooper took the opportunity to create some kind of human shield in front of my register making me actually face palm.

Way to be subtle, idiots.

"We'll see you then T" Lucas nodded.

I could hear his chuckle after he said his final goodbye and walked out.

The group faced me, pretty much expecting an explanation as if I had one.

"Don't even start..." I mumbled, pretending to look like I was cleaning up the spotless area I must've cleaned a millions of times today.

"What the hell was he even doing here?" Cooper scoffed, retreating to the booth, the other two following behind him.

"Has he come here before?" Thomas asked and I just looked at the three of them, then at Maya who's managed to not freak out on me yet. She looked as if she was trying to read me before she does decide to freak out.

"Yes, just like every other college student that's been in and out of here" I shrugged.

Their eyes filled with concern and even Hayden noticed when he took a look around the room.

"He was nice to me, he offered to buy my hot chocolate" Hayden spoke up making me sigh and hang my head in defeat.

"What? He talked to Hayden? Why was he talking to Hayden, Evangeline?" Lucas asked, using my full name in his big brother tone.

I lifted my head and saw the sympathy in Hayden's eyes. I gave him a reassuring smile, letting him know it was okay. He was only trying to help me and I just absolutely love him for that.

"Alright, I made it very clear yesterday that I've got it handled. I don't want to fight with you guys about it. Half of the people that walk in here are students or businessmen and that's only if the nearest Starbucks has a line wrapped around the building. It was only a matter of time someone like Tristan waltzed in here, right? There's no need to worry, you all know him better than I do, you just agreed to go to his party! If anything, I should be worried about all of you" I ranted, watching their eyebrows slowly raise as the words spilled out of me.

I let out a huff and heard Thomas giggling like a school boy in the corner of the booth.

"Okay V...we got it" Maya finally spoke up, cracking a smile.

"There's no need to be so dramatic" Cooper joked and I just let out a breathy laugh.

Lucas still looked on edge, which is expected coming from my brother but he seemed to let it go.

"Are any of you good with fractions?" Hayden suddenly blurted making us laugh.

"Cooper" we all answered in unison, Cooper standing up to approach Hayden at the counter.