Dear Mr. Pessimist {Completed}

~6~ Bite Me, I Bet I Taste Amazing

I was the bigger person and agreed to let Zey drive me to work the next morning.

He had sounded so sincere, so grateful that I had accepted his apology, that I wasn't going to just kick him out the window. Of course I wasn't going to forgive him either, not entirely.

"Do you want me to walk you in?" He asked when we pulled up. I thought about it for a second, questioning whether or not I wanted to actually face Bennett by myself after our conversation last night.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the ride." He leaned over to kiss me, but I opened the door and stepped out before he could, "I'll see you later, yeah?" I asked, curious if he was just going to run off and get hammered with his crew.

"Yeah, babe. Don't let either of those guys mess with you, okay?" I rolled my eyes, fighting the urge to snap at him.

"Sure, Zey. Bye." I shut the door to his Challenger before jogging toward the door and walking inside. I was happy to see Mrs. Banks in front of the register beside Bennett. Her being here meant that he'd at least be a little considerate.

"Sydney! Hello!" She clapped her flour covered hands together, sending the powder all over her son beside her. He muttered something as I approached, his lips pulling into a tight line.

"I'm so glad you came in early. I have to head out for an interview and was hoping you could take my shift today?" She gave me a sheepish smile, wiping her hands on her apron.

I glanced toward Bennett in front of the register, gulping when I saw how pissed off he already was. And it was only the beginning of the day, the whole day I'd have to spend with him.

"Of course." I agreed, taking my apron from behind the counter.

"Thanks, love." She slipped by and back into the back room before I could say a word. I stood awkwardly beside Bennett, not sure if I should ask him about last night or not.

"I bet you wish you were stuck with Tristan all day instead of me." He finally said, a sarcastic smirk creeping on to his face. I leaned down on the counter, staring down at my chipped nail polish.

"I do." I replied, shrugging. He seemed a little taken back by my response, as if he hadn't expected me to agree with him.

"Sorry to disappoint you then." Was all he muttered before going back to stocking the napkin holder.

"I'll see you two kids later! Have a nice day and make sure he behave yourself Ben!" Mrs. Banks was out the door before I could respond, earning a sigh out of me as I walked back into the kitchen to grab the pastries, praying that today wouldn't be as bad as I thought it would be.

*

The day dragged on until Bennett finally exploded on a very irritated looking Tristan around three.

"I don't care! You can't, dude. I-"

"And I can't stay here and work at this place for the rest of my life like you, Ben! I actually have a fucking life you know!" He whirled around, pointing at me. I could feel my cheeks warming up now that I knew they were sure I was watching them.

"You can't even treat a girl with respect. Just because Molly messed you up, doesn't mean you have to take it out on every girl, man. Syd isn't a bad person. If you'd just get-"

"How would you know if she's a bad person or not?" Bennett growled, shoving his friend back, "You barely even know her!" I let my eyes drift back to Tristan, waiting to hear his response.

"Maybe I don't." He finally snapped out, backing toward the door, "But I know that she's got a good heart, I know that she can make someone smile when they feel like utter shit. Anyone other than you of course." He started to turn around to leave, but Bennett went on before he could.

"You like her or something?" He said, a lot calmer then he had been only a few seconds ago. The only sign that he had been angry and screaming was his red face.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But I'm sure as hell not going to stick around here and listen to your whiny ass complain about your horrible life." I blinked in surprise when Tristan walked over and checked the clock beside the register.

"How about we get out of here? It's only a couple hours until closing, I'm pretty sure Bennett can handle it himself." I nodded slowly, trying to ignore the glare that Bennett was shooting in our direction.

"My mom asked her to stay." Bennett finally spoke up after I'd hung my apron on the coat rack in the back room.

"I'm sure she won't care, bro. You coming, Syd? I've got about twenty bucks we can go blow at Starbucks." I grinned, grabbing my purse from the ground and slapping a blue sticky note on the counter in front of Bennett, making sure that he could see it and would actually take what it said to heart.

**

Once I had finally talked Tristan into dropping me off at Zey's, I was ready to pass out.

"Thanks for everything, Tristan." I reached for the door handle, but his hand on my arm stopped me from moving any further.

"Look, Syd. Don't take the way Bennett acts personally. I've known him my whole damn life and I haven't seen that guy smile more than a few times. He. . . he's lived a completely different life then me, then you. I'm not saying this to excuse him, I'm saying it because I want you to keep trying. I don't want you to give up on him, to stop it with the sticky notes." I stared at him in shock. How did he know about them? Had Bennett told him?

"I. . . I won't." I whispered, "I guess I kind of understand why he's such an ass." Tristan started laughing, a cold and sarcastic kind of laugh that I knew I could hear out of Bennett anytime I wanted.

"You don't know the half of it, Syd. And I'd like for you to keep it that way. Just. . . I've seen a lot of girls get hurt by Ben and I don't want someone like you to be one of them. Just keep giving him the notes and leave it at that." I sighed, opening my door and climbing out of the car.

"You need to know something, Tristan." I said, leaning in through the window. He cocked an eyebrow at my words.

"Oh yeah? And what is it that I need to know, Syd?" He replied, smiling a little.

"It doesn't matter how hard Bennett tries to beat me down, to push me away. I'm Sydney Hale, Tristan, and I never give up."

***AN**

Hey guys, I'm sorry for the short filler chapter! 

The next one will be a lot better, I promise! 

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the book so far!

Let me know what you thought!

~ChasingMadness24