Caged (Tronnor au)

Chapter 6

CONNOR

I looked at my phone to check the time. Ten past eleven. He was running late, he always did. Lucky for him, I had one more hour until my first classes, so I wasn't in a big rush. I chose the only free table, from which I couldn't even see Hannah, so I had nothing interesting to do. To fight a boredom, I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures of the coffee in front of me. In few quick moves, I made a composition out of a bouquet of peonies, two lattes, and a bagel. Was that the right angle? Perhaps I should've stood on the stool...just for a second, no one's gonna notice. I stood on the chair, put a camera to my face and...

-Oh, hell no!- The familiar, surprised voice came to my ears and I lost my balance at a surprise. The chair underneath me squeaked. My arms flew up in the air. I kept in mind not to break the camera. All my efforts were for nothing, though. I was going to fall and I knew it. In my last attempt to save the day, I made a big step down the chair and tried to stop my body from falling forward as much as I could. I made a few steps and fell into the arms of blue-haired boy.

-Whoa there, tiger!- Tyler laughed. He pulled me up so I could stand on my own two feet.- At least buy me a coffee first.

He was a little bit shorter than me, and so I could support myself without no trouble by putting one hand on his arm. I recovered from the fall in no time and tried to do so as graceful as I could.

-Did I hurt you?- I looked at him to search for any signs of pain. He smiled, though and looked at me with amusement in his eyes.

-I've been worse.- We hugged briefly and went to the table.- Sorry for being late, by the way.

-It's nothing.- In no way could I complain, now that I have almost crushed him.

-But like, seriously. Did you really have to stand on a stool, or was it for the looks?- He looked around to make his point. There were two girls smiling at us from the other table. One of them waved her hand at me. I just shoot her an awkward smirk and turned back to Tyler.

-A little bit of both, I guess.- He gave me a disapproving look and shook his head.

-Yeah, right. Hope Hannah doesn't mind.

-Hannah plays drunk "floor is lava" on these stools, I don't think she'd mind anything.- I smiled at the mental image.

-It was one time, Jesus!- The voice came from the back of my head. I felt two gentle hands on my shoulders.- Sup, gents?

-The one and only Hannah herself.- Tyler stood up, ready to embrace. She wrapped her arms around his waist, so tight Tyler let out a tiny little squeak of surprise. He quickly recovered, though, and they both turned back to me, Ty's arm still on Hannah's shoulder. He looked at her. - Will you get into troubles for being here?

-Nah! Mamrie's here, she'll manage.- Hannah smiled. Her eyes were still wandering to the counter and back, though.

-I'm glad. Loving the new aesthetic, by the way. Especially this cute little apron.- He giggled and poked her side. If not for the fact each of them didn't have any interest in the other's gender whatsoever, I'd swear they were flirting. That was the way they were, though. Neither of them was of the serious kin. Being around them was always loads of fun, particularly when they both got a little tipsy.

-Thank you, dear. I'm sorry, I'd stay for longer, but I think I should go there and impress this blonde girl with my "cute little apron".- She drew quotation marks in the air and was already going back to the cash register. She turned back for the last time to wink to us both.- Enjoy your coffee!

Tyler smiled back at her, sat down on the chair beside me and took a sip from his cup. He looked at me and smirked. He was about to get me interviewed on my whole existence. I put my cup down and got ready for whatever he was about to say.