Coffee - Kuroken

Chapter 16 - Past

~One month later~

A few days ago, I got a text from Kenma that he wants to try to get back together again, that he missed me, and that he thinks that after the time we spent away from each other, it's time to start dating again.

And so I was walking down the street, ready to meet for dinner at a restaurant that we had both been to multiple times. I was trying to hype myself up for it, and I was also a little nervous to see him again, worried I might make another mistake.

I walked into the restaurant, and I could hear a bell above the door ding when the door closed. I was there 5 minutes early. I grabbed a small table, and took out my phone, anxiously waiting for him to get here.

My eyes kept darting between the time on my phone and the door, my heart rate going through the roof. At last, I saw him walk in, and he looked around for a solid 15 seconds before he saw my table.

Awkwardly, he walked over to the table, and sat down.

"Hey" He waved, averting eye contact.

"Hi," I answered, more quiet than I wanted to.

"How are you?" He asked a simple but complex question.

"I'm fine. You?" He nodded, and I motioned to the counter where you get the food. Without words, we both stood up, and walked to go get the food. Once he was in front of me in line, I was at ease for a few minutes.

~blah blah blah food ordering~~~

We sat back down, and dug into the food we just ordered. The air was tense. This was a lot more awkward than it needed to be.

"So how's AP art?" I asked, knowing that it was his favorite class.

"Fine, I guess. I'm working on something right now where we have to use charcoal, which is tedious and annoying." His brows furrowed, and He looked down at his food.

"That sounds interesting." I tried to keep the conversation going, but I was terrible at small talk.

"So... How are your classes?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"Nothing much, I suppose." I wasn't lying.

"Nice." He poked at his food.

An uncomfortable silence descended upon us. I tried to think about something that could break it, but the thinking extended the silence for longer.

"Kuroo, I-" He broke the silence. "I don't think that this will work." Those words felt like a punch in the gut.

"I think we can figure it out." I tried to save the conversation, but something inside me knew that he was right. "If we give it time, then we can get back to normal."
"I don't think it will be the same." He looked up at me regrettably. I shrugged it off with fake confidence.

"Just give it time, I promise. We can get back to where we were." I smiled, and he rolled his eyes.

"We can give it a shot. But, no promises." He was skeptical, and I knew why. I just wanted a chance to make this right.

"Anyways... I'm gonna go. I have to go to a meeting with someone." I stood up, and walked out of the cafe, immediately feeling a weight off of my chest as I did so. I walked to my car, and once I got in I just sat there.

Sat there with my head on the wheel, my mind going crazy, and my whole life spiraling. I turned on my music, and started driving, going the long way for a moment to myself.

I was driving through a back road in the woods, trying to recollect my emotions. I didn't know what to do, honestly. I just cranked up the music and continued until I was getting tired, then deciding to drive home.

I walked into my house, and my mom was sitting on the couch.

"How was it?" she asked, the skepticism obvious in her tone.

"It was good, I guess." I lied, not wanting to worry her again.

"That's great. You should get some sleep." She dismissed me, and I walked up the stairs and into my messy room. There were clothes everywhere, and I felt claustrophobic just looking at it. I took a deep breath, and changed into something more comfortable before laying on my bed.

"We got back together. Everything's fine, Kuroo." I said to myself, and I pictured what it used to look like. How we were so happy, and there wasn't a need for this much effort to make things work.

I thought too much. I thought about what it could've been like if I never mentioned the future, and I also thought about how I never worried about this until now.