Imperial Coffee

Between: Part Twelve

The drive back was both more normal and more unusual than either of them expected it to be. They weren't completely sure what they expected, but things had happened in those three days—a lot of things.

Cinder saw her sister deathly sick, without any indication of when she'd get better, if she'd get better. Cinder and Kai stayed in the same hotel room, something more casually intimate than either would admit. Kai met Iko in person for the first time; Cinder saw Iko for the first time in months. They went to a beach, and the Getty, and Kai got Cinder to wear matching shirts. They stayed up to 4 am. They'd shared their first kiss. And as of a few minutes ago....

As of a few minutes ago, they were dating.

Kai wasn't completely sure if he could believe it yet. Sure, he'd asked her in part to avoid Levana, but that was more of the last straw. He'd already been meaning to ask her again.

He wanted to say it on the balcony, but it'd been too much at the time. He'd already admitted to too much.

The real question was, what now? What did dating even mean, really? He dated a few times in the past, though he'd always been so busy and never very interested. He stopped at some point when he realized he was hurting the girls, even though he'd accepted at first because he couldn't bear saying no.

Being a couple...that meant giving gifts, right? And maybe holding hands? He couldn't really imagine holding hands with Cinder. Going on dates? Movies? Did this mean she'd meet his friends? Would she have to meet his parents? How would they tell people? How would they tell the public?

What about pet names? Getting to know each other better? There was so much he didn't know about her. There was probably even more she didn't know about him.

The long drive to the Bay Area was just long enough to think of questions and try to answer them, but not enough to make any decisions. His head swam. He wanted to talk to Cinder, to ask her what next? But she probably didn't know either.

They bought dinner at an In-N-Out drive-thru, and Kai attempted to keep driving while simultaneously eating a burger. He was failing spectacularly.

"Want to pull over at the next rest area so you can eat? I think there's one nearby," Cinder said, putting her own burger down in her lap. "The sun already set, so there's no rush anymore."

The sunset was Cinder's favorite part of the drive. It always seemed to last forever, a drawn-out darkening of the sky, a glimmer of colors over the fields, an open road ahead and behind. Just them, the car, and the sky. But between one blink and the next the colors bled out, and they were in the dark.

It was 6:40, and they anticipated another hour or so of driving. Cinder could tell Kai was exhausted, even though he seemed to be pushing through well. She didn't know what was going through his head, but she imagined he had a lot to think about.

He never told her what exactly he needed to return to, but it had to be pretty big if he cut their trip short right away. And, of course, there was the matter of...

Well, the matter of them dating. That was the word, right? It seemed so strange to her. Her. Dating. For the last 12 years, Cinder Linh had been pretty convinced she'd die alone. Not in a particularly sad, helpless way. She was resigned to it. It was a fact.

But there was a guy in the driver's seat, only a foot away, and he was watching the road, and it was very possible he was thinking about her, and here she was, thinking about him too.

That wasn't even the weirdest part, really. He was the son of a huge CEO. He was rich, had sway in the world. When he did something big, people paid attention—also partially because he was attractive and single. She'd done a quick search of him on her phone, a little guiltily. She could've just asked him, but she didn't want to admit how little she knew.