back to you//[a.k.]

★ 𝗼𝐧𝐞 ★

"awsten?!" i exclaimed. i felt my heart race and my face heat up. i hadn't see him in a decade and i hadn't spoken to him since we broke up when long distance began to become too much.

"i had no idea you moved to LA, how have you been?" awsten started conversation, sitting in front of me. i tried to form an accurate response without losing my mind. i had missed him so much over the years and i had always wanted to reach out and here he was, right in front of me.

"yeah, i moved here about a year ago. i've been good, i live in a small one bedroom apartment with my boyfriend of seven months and i work at a diner that's a couple blocks away." i rambled. i realized i was rambling and i stopped immediately . "but yeah, how have you been? what's life been like for you?"

"oh, uh, i've been good. i live here in LA too but right now i'm touring with my band, waterparks, and we're only back here because we had a few shows."

he was in a band?! i had wondered if i ever heard their music.

"oh shit, a band? that's insane, i'm really happy for you. you always said you wanted to make music."

"you remembered that?" awsten asked me. i smiled.

"of course i did. we were best friends long before we dated, aws. i'd like to think i know you well...even if it has been 10 years since i last saw you." i replied. i frowned a bit at how long awsten and i had gone without seeing each other.

"well, now that we found each other and we live in the same city, we should stay in contact." awsten said, starting to smile. i smiled back.

"that'd actually be great. i can put my number in your phone if you want."

awsten unlocked his phone and handed it to me and i put my number in. i put my name in too, but he stopped me.

"i've got that. i don't put any of my contacts as names, only emojis." awsten told me. i laughed.

"weird, but i'm not surprised. it's such a you thing to do." i said. he raised an eyebrow.

"are you bullying me right now?" he joked. i pushed him.

"no, i'm just saying i know you so i'm not surprised that you do that."

we both laughed and we eventually settled in comfortable silence for a moment.

"so, tell me about your band." i said.

"well, as i said, we're called waterparks. i'm the lead singer and my friend geoff is our guitarist and my friend otto is our drummer. we've got a little over a million listeners on spotify so you might not have heard of us." awsten explained. i nodded in acknowledgement.

"i haven't but you guys are getting big. i'm happy for you." i told him. he smiled.

"oh, and you remember jawn right?"

"how could i forget? he was like your best friend besides me when we were in high school."

"he's our photographer. we're still close and he even has a girlfriend named daphne now."

"oh that's nice! what about you?"

"what?"

"do you have a girlfriend or partner?" i asked awsten. i knew it was probably weird to ask my ex boyfriend if he was seeing someone while i had a boyfriend myself. but, i was just curious.

"oh, nah. i dated this one chick but she cheated on me so i've just given up on the whole dating thing." awsten told me. i frowned.

"i'm sorry. you deserve better than that." i apologized.

"hey, don't apologize it's not your fault. it was a while ago and i didn't really have that strong of feelings for her. not like i did when..." he trailed off and i realized what he was about to say and why he stopped. it would have made things awkward. "anyways, my band and i are done touring in about a month and when we get back, you and i should totally grab coffee again. we can catch up more."

"yeah, that sounds good. i'd like that." i smiled. he smiled back at me.

"but, for now, i should probably get back to my hotel. we leave LA super early in the morning."

"okay, just text me whenever if you want. it was nice seeing you."

"it was nice to see you too, y/n. i'll talk to you later."

awsten got up and walked away while i stared at my full cup of, now cold, coffee. i had just seen my ex boyfriend/ex best friend that i had never thought i would ever see again. but now, here i was, about to have him back in my life.

it was like a fever dream.