That's When ~ Adopted by Elizabeth Olsen

Chapter 3: (she) could change (her) mind at any given minute

Lizzie leans back in the surprisingly comfortable chair. She's visiting Scarlett in New York, but as much as she loves spending time with her and Rose, sometimes she could use a moment to herself.

She glances back up at the counter where Quin and that other kid, Zeke is what she remembers his name tag saying, are whispering about something.

She really shouldn't watch them, it's creepy. But she is curious. What's a kid doing by herself in New York at ten pm, grocery shopping? It just didn't seem normal. So it's only natural that she be curious. Maybe her parents are doctors who work night shifts. Maybe she was picking up some extra cash doing doordash or whatever. She also seemed far too young to be working or going grocery shopping. But who is she to judge someone's parenting skills? She's not a parent.

A few minutes later she looks up and sees Quin, standing by the counter with her backpack and coat, glancing around as if she's trying to find a spot to sit. The cafe isn't exceptionally full so she's not really sure why she's just standing there.

Lizzie decides to go up and grab another napkin, more as an excuse to get close enough to invite her to sit down without having to yell. She can already hear Scarlett pulling her aside after dinner and telling her not to get attached. But she's not getting attached, she's just curious to know someone else's story, that's normal.

"Looking for somewhere to sit?" Lizzie asks gently as she walks up to the side of the counter to grab another napkin and a coffee stirrer.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I mean I know— I mean yeah, I am," Quin mumbles, staring at the ground as she finishes what she deems to be an embarrassment of a sentence. But she's probably being too hard on herself, per usual. "I mean, I was planning on doing some work so I can't decide if I need a table or no table or a window, or... no...window...?" she rambles on, jesus christ this is embarrassing.

"You can sit with me if you'd like," Lizzie offers, trying not to sound like some kind of creep. "It's more of a chair with a table and less of a chair at a table," she adds as she glances back at where she was sitting, "and basically this whole place has windows."

"Ar- are you sure? Cause I don't wanna be a bother if you're trying to get some work done," Quin asks after a moment, nervously fidgeting with a necklace that she's wearing.

She seems so sweet, Lizzie thinks when she hears her response. "Yeah, I mean I wasn't getting a lot of work done and I'm technically supposed to be on vacation," she replies with a bit of a laugh at the end and Quin smiles in response.

"I mean, I guess- If you really don't mind..."

Lizzie smiles. "Great!" she says as she walks back to her spot with her napkin and coffee stirrer, walking so that she can kind of see behind her to make sure Quin didn't just drop off or something.

Quin carefully sets her bag down on the floor beside her, placing her jacket over the top of the chair and glancing up at Lizzie anxiously every couple of seconds as if she expects Lizzie to change her mind at any given minute. Lizzie smiles gently at Quin again, stirring her coffee before tentatively opening her laptop. She was hesitant to open it though, she wanted to see if Quin would talk but she also didn't want to pressure her into it.

Quin rummages through her backpack, pulling out her english book and flipping through the pages, it looked like she was counting them, before sighing dejectedly and throwing the book down on the table.

"Not in a reading mood?" she asks, shutting her laptop most of the way.

Quin glances up at Lizzie, she seems surprised that she wants to talk.