more than friends//joshler

chapter 15

tyler didn't bother to use the car, he knew he'd be getting drunk later and no matter how much he hated himself he wouldn't put other people in danger like that. his heavy footsteps echoed over the snowy streets. they were fairly empty, only the occasional car coming from one of the side streets. he clicked his pen inside his hoodie pocket to the beat of his footsteps. 

if you get between someone i love and me, you're gonna feel the heat of my cavalry. the thought came randomly as he was walking, and he couldn't shake the idea out of his head. probably because it's true. 

starting his long night, he opened the door of whatever cafe was right next to where he had been walking. he sat down at one of the tables nearest the far corner, staying as far away from people as he could be. digging around in his pocket a bit, he fished out the pen and the small notebook. he set it on the table gently, making as little noise as possible. flipping to a random empty page, he clicked his pen back out. the pen hovered over the blank canvas as he thought of what to write. while he was still waiting for the ideas to come forth, he heard footsteps click loudly on the tiled floor, seemingly getting louder. 

"hello, do you want anything to drink?" the blonde-haired barista asked. tyler knew for a fact this wasn't a sit-down place, so this must have been her feeble attempt at conversation. tyler also knew for a fact, though, that without buying anything he could get kicked out of the restaurant for loitering. 

"uh, yeah, sure, what about a pumpkin spice latte? a small?" he sighed out, turning his head back to his work. she opened her mouth briefly, then closed it again. 

"alright," she said somewhat uncertainly. "that'll be two dollars and fifteen cents?" she raised her voice at the end, like it was a question. tyler sighed once more, dropping the pen to the empty sheet of paper and reaching into his pocket once more. he drew out his wallet, handing her a five. 

"keep the change," he blurted out before she could say anything. she nodded, walking back to the counter to make the drink. he tapped his pen against the paper gently, tainting its clean surface. after watching the black dots cover the corner of the sheet, he started to do it purposefully, filling up about a fourth of the paper before the barista finally returned. and she had two cups. she set one down in front of tyler and kept the other in her hand, taking the seat across from him as hers. 

"what brings you here?" she asked, taking a small sip of her hot coffee. 

"i-what? why do you care?" tyler asked, suddenly apprehensive. he slammed closed the top of his journal, grabbing his drink for warmth. she simply shrugged, her piercing blue eyes finally managing to meet tyler's. 

"just wondered. you did come in in quite a hurry, and choose the seat farthest away from all of the people in here," she pointed out. she did have him there. 

"fine. if you really must know, my friend is having a cute date night with his girlfriend in our apartment," saying it left a sour taste in his mouth that he tried to wash away with the sickly sweet taste of pumpkin. the girl across from him nodded, to which he snorted. "like you get it."

"no, i really do. my best friend got a boyfriend once, it was the worst year of my life," she kind of laughed in a tense way. "anyway, the name's jenna. yours?" 

"tyler," he responded simply, studying her face. she had a very calculated style, like every little detail of everything she did was planned out meticulously. she placed her elbow on the table, extending her hand towards tyler as if to shake. he blinked down at her hand, but quickly realized she was stubborn, begrudgingly putting his hand forward as well. she grabbed it of course, shaking his hand in a pretty odd manner.