midnight rain - walker scobell

chapter thirteen; deja vu

"a different girl now, but there's nothin' new; i know you get deja vu," deja vu by olivia rodrigo

I TAP MY foot impatiently as I wait outside the small cafe. The cafe Dylan and I plan to meet at. After breakfast, I went back to my hotel room to shower quickly and get ready. I kept my hair natural and kept my makeup simple. I wasn't that nervous when I was getting ready, but now I feel like someone opened my stomach and filled it to the brim with butterflies.

I glance at my phone. It's ten minutes past one and I have no text from him. I'm about to text him when I hear a boy call my name.

"Gwen!"

I look up from my phone and see him. Dylan.

Dylan jogs over to me. "Hey, I'm so sorry I'm late. I got held up."

I give him a small smile. "It's okay."

I take note of what he's wearing. Black sweats and a blue graphic t-shirt. A t-shirt that Walker has. He wore it when we went to the beach.

"I can't believe it's been so long." Dylan scratches his neck. "You look good."

"Thanks, so do you, Dyl." I mentally pinch myself. Dyl? A nickname? Already? That's what I called him when we dated.

"So, are you ready to go in?" Dylan asks.

I nod and we enter the coffee shop. We find the end of a small line and read the menu.

"What are you getting?" I ask, once we're closer to the front.

"Iced latte," Dylan replies. "And you an iced chai?"

I blush. "Yes."

He laughs. "I knew it! Every time we went to get coffee, you would get chai. And it had to be iced. You would never drink it hot."

"It's better iced!" I defend. "You just have to try it."

"Next!"

We step up to the front. I say, "I'll get a medium iced chai latte."

"Okay, is that all?" The lady at the register asks.

"And a medium iced latte." Dylan pulls out his card. "I'll pay."

I frown. "Dylan, there's no need."

"It's no issue. You can pay if we get ice cream." Dylan pays and we find a table.

"So, anything you wanna see in the city?" I ask.

Dylan thinks for a second. "I think we should walk around downtown and just shop. Maybe we could go to the beach?"

I nod. Our names are called and we go and collect the drinks before leaving the store.

"Okay, there's a ton of stores down here."

I lead the way, skipping a few stores that aren't very good. I come across a jewelry store and rush in. I love all jewelry, so I know I'm not leaving without something.

"Oh! Dylan, look at that necklace!" I point to a silver chained blue pendent. "It's so pretty."

"It is," Dylan hums.

I turn away from it and start to explore the rest of the store. I didn't say it, but the pendent is a perfect match to someone's eyes.

I brush that thought away and interest myself in a bracelet.

I turn around when someone taps my shoulder. I gasp when I see Dylan holding a bag from the store.

"You did not!" I exclaims. He grins and leads me out of the store.

Dylan passes me the bag. I pull out a velvet box that holds the silver necklace.

"Oh my gosh, Dylan." I meet his eyes. "Thank you."

"Of course," Dylan replies. "Let me put it on you."

I pass him the necklace and turn around. I hold my hair up and let him loop it around my neck. Once it's on, I let my hair fall and grab the pendent.

"Come on, let's go there." Dylan points to a store and we shuffle over.

I open the door to the boutique. My eyes dance around the store in excitement when I notice all the dresses and cute tops.

I turn to Dylan, a hopeful look on my face.

"Go crazy," he laughs.

"DYLAN, I SWEAR!" I squeal as he splashes water at me.

After a little bit of shopping, Dylan and I decided to go to the beach. The same beach Walker and I went too. I try not to think about that as Dylan dunks me under.

"Jeez, Gwen." Dylan grabs my arms and pulls me up. "Don't drown."

Our eyes meet, neither of us looking away. A wave a deja vu washes over me and for a second, Dylan reminds me of Walker. But then I look into his eyes and remember Dylan's aren't ocean blue.

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yayayayay beef. see the whole time gwen is with dylan she's thinking of walker. y'all just trust me on this. i'm gonna eat this up. comment and VOTE. too many of you are ghost readers.