hot chocolate//fionn whitehead

12

the next day, amber woke up to an empty bed and a text from fionn on her phone.

hey, just headed out to brunch with gwen ttyl:))

amber could feel the familiar squirming in her stomach, but pushed it down, telling herself not to become the jealous girlfriend. If she couldn't trust fionn simply meeting with a friend, when could she trust him?

eventually, amber let her protective thoughts go, she had so much work to accomplish still. she had never before put so much thought and effort into a project before. when fionn was gone, she sometimes had a hard time remembering why she was using all her energy to make this article perfect, but every time she walked to work and saw fionn's face through the windows of the cup, she remembered how important this was to him, and therefor it was important to her.

after falling into her normal morning routine of getting ready and then making a coffee, amber was back on her way to work.

She passed the coffee shop and she felt her heart drop a little. Inside, was fionn, lounging next to gwen, laughing at something she must have said. if amber were brave, she would walk in there right now just to prove that she was still alive and beg for the attention she desired.

instead, she simply stared through the window, and took a deep breath, pushing down her jealousy. she continued on her way to work, trying not to think of what a great time her boyfriend must be having right now. although she was having trouble diverting her attention.

right now he was probably delicately brushing the hair out of her face.

now he was probably leaning in closer towards her.

and now he must be kissing her and-

bam! amber was literally knocked out of her thoughts from running into a poll.

"shit!" she yelled out loud, rubbing her throbbing head. now officially in a bad mood, she stormed into work, ignoring anyone who tried to talk to her.

a few hours of angrily smashing her keyboard eventually seemed to calm her down, as she was now calmly writing while listening to some of her favorite music.

"hey amber! how's it going?" her boss exclaimed loudly, sauntering up to her desk.

"great!" she said, smiling up at him. "busy as ever."

"well, you're about to be even busier! I just got got notified that there's an opening in next week's paper, perfect for your whole coffee shop shabang." he said, along with his signature jazz hands.

amber sighed, she hadn't even finished her second draft, and now she was expected to turn it in in less than a week. despite all the stress she was feeling in the moment, she put on a smile, "perfect, thank you." she told him.   

amber, once again pushed her glasses up to rest on her nose. a throbbing headache hid behind her eyes, begging her to close the computer and take a nap. she decided to call it a night before the words on her screen started blending together.

while packing up, amber decided that tonight would be a perfect time to go visit her boyfriend and take a long awaited break. it was crazy to her how after all these months, he still managed to engulf her attention.

the familiar lights the coffee shop called to her from across the road, a CLOSING sign was plastered on the glass window, taking away from the aesthetic of the place, but amber hoped that would be fixed soon.

it was no surprise to her to see fionn standing in his usual spot, in front of the register, when she walked in.

he glances up, but his expression did not change upon seeing her.

"hi amber. hot chocolate?" he asked as soon as she came up to the counter.

"coffee actually." he nodded and wrote down her order.

amber frowned at the awkward silence that rarely came between them.

"look fionn," she spoke carefully, bringing the bad news. "I'm going to have to reschedule tonight. my deadline's been moved and-"

"you're too busy for me," he spoke, showing no emotion. "I get it."

amber could feel her words in her throat, wanting to shake fionn and reassure him that that was not at all what she meant. however, for some reason they wouldn't come.

"we can do something tomorrow," she said, pleading that he would say yes.

instead, he just shook his head. "forget it."

"can i talk to you outside please?" amber was the kind of person that hated leaving on a sad note.

in response, he rolled his eyes, "let me finish up this order."

amber had to fight back the urge to roll her eyes and instead, grabbed her coffee off the counter and strutted outside.

fionn joined her on the sidewalk a few moments later. "hi," he said, playing with his hands to avoid making eye contact.

amber let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and began to talk, "look fionn, i get why you're annoyed at me but you have to understand that I'm doing this for you!" he exclaimed, her voice cracking unexpectedly at the end.

"well maybe you should stop!" he said, raising his voice, a very rare thing for him to do.

fionn's words felt like a jab in her heart. taking her a few more seconds to think of what to say next.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been the best girlfriend right now but can't you just be supportive? like I'm being to you!"

"i was supporting you, until this article took over your life, one that might not even do anything!"

amber cursed her sensitive nature as she was already beginning to shed a few tears. "if you can't understand that I'm doing this to help you, maybe you should just leave!" amber regretted her words the second she saw fionn's eyes change from anger to sadness.

"ya. i think that might be best," he mumbled, and walked back into the cafe.

only now, with her face flooded with hot tears, did amber look around to see worried glances for other citizens. she quickly hid her face and sprinted home.

-

for the next few days, amber contemplated completely scrapping her whole article. however, she decided she would be going back on all her promises. and despite, the heartbreak it caused her, being forced to think of fionn everyday, she went through with it.

after a whole week of endlessly righting and occasional crying, amber finally hit the send button, keeping fionn in her heart as she did so.

GUYS IM SO FUCKING SORRY I HAVENT UPLOADED IN SO LONG feel free to yell at me. it's not really an excuse but school started and I've just been really uninspired. also I think there will only be one more chapter but if you have any ideas for another fionn fic please tell them to me.

thank you so much for reading and again I'm sosososo sorry!!!!!

nora