Robbers

twenty - seven

// twenty – seven //

On that Friday afternoon, Ryan drove them both to the usual coffee shop down the road after school ended. As he ordered a triple shot of espresso and she a medium cappuccino, Ella was reminded of the last time they had been in this coffee shop. A million things had changed since then, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about any of it.

They hadn't spoken about the gun since that Wednesday. Ella had given Ryan the duffel bag that contained the pistol and rolls of money, and they'd both decided to move past what had happened. After Ella had nearly fallen apart in Ryan's truck, neither of them had wanted to fight anymore about how she had stolen the gun and he had lied about the fact that it was real.

Now, they were nestled in the farthest corner of the coffee shop, tucked away from the counter and entrance door. The tiny two-person table only allowed for a few centimeters between their mugs, but Ella was grateful for the close quarters. Ryan's knees were brushing against hers, and there was a flower of warmth blooming in her stomach that wasn't caused by the coffee.

"Do your ribs still hurt?" Ella asked, her hands wrapped tight around the ceramic mug. She was only asking because he had complained about them last night over the phone, when she'd been speaking to him in hushed tones to avoid waking up her parents.

Ryan set down his mug after taking a sip, running his tongue over his bottom lip to get the last traces of the espresso. "Nope, they're fine now. It's only when I lie down for too long." His face broke out into a small grin as he added teasingly, "I told you they weren't broken."

She chose to roll her eyes and drink her coffee, rather than voice a sarcastic retort. His black eye had faded completely while the cut on his lip was barely detectable, but Ella still hadn't forgotten what it had been before. She wasn't quite sure she would ever forget what his face looked like after it had happened.

There was a minute of silence that fell between them unexpectedly, one that wasn't awkward or uncomfortable but simply calm. Ella drank her cappuccino and Ryan took small sips of his espresso, their knuckles occasionally brushing together due to the small span of the table. Nothing but the quiet chatter from customers and hiss of coffee machines filled the air, and Ella felt so peaceful that she wanted to close her eyes.

"We should probably talk about what to do next," Ryan began reluctantly. His voice was quiet so only Ella could hear, and he added almost as an afterthought, "But I don't really want to."

Ella's lips split into a smile, her right eyebrow arched slightly as she eyed him through the steam of their drinks. "We don't have to. We can be normal for today."

Ryan laughed out loud, but the sound of his outburst didn't carry very far. "I don't really know what normal is, to be honest."

"It's usually boring," she told him. "If we're going to do it, we'll have to talk about the weather."

"The weather's shit. What else is there to say about it?"

Ella snorted into her mug, and she usually would have been embarrassed but she wasn't. She was as comfortable around Ryan as she was around Rosie, and she hadn't ever felt that way towards anyone other than her sister before. It was an odd feeling, but Ella didn't want it to end.

Of course, Ryan and Ella were able to pretend they were normal only for so long. Both their carefree moods didn't last longer than twenty minutes, because someone entered the coffee shop and distracted Ryan. Someone Ryan knew all too well, and someone Ella had never laid eyes on.