lovely. // h.s. au RANDOM UPDATES

two.

I pull into the small parking lot of the quaint, red-bricked café, Jo's Place as "Headache" by Carnival Club is about to end. I sit in the car to hear the end as I reminisce about the past.

I discovered this place a few days after I first moved to Seattle, almost a year and a half ago. It was my fifth full day here, and I had finished unpacking my belongings. So, I decided to explore.

It was on that day that I met Aria. The café was packed with people; however, one table with two seats remained. Aria and I both approached the table trying to claim our stakes on it, her getting there a few steps before I did. Surprisingly, she took one seat and offered the other for me.

From there, we began talking and became best friend almost instantaneously. It's one of my fondest memories, and I'm so grateful I stopped by here on that day of exploration and discovery.

I walk into the building and surely enough, Aria is sitting at what we claim to be "our table" with two drinks and two little pastry bags. I always get the same thing, so Aria always knows what to get me.

Strolling over to my best friend, I admire her simple beauty. She has dark brown hair that contrasts beautifully with her pale skin and vibrant green eyes. Her nose is slightly upturned and she has a small infinity hoop going through the right nostril. She has full, pink lips and a killer body that makes any sane human drool.

"Hiya, baby doll," I greet her as I sit down and she glances up at me from her phone screen. I assume she's texting her girlfriend, Alice. I came up with the ship name Arialice, which is fittingly beautiful for a couple as gorgeous as they are.

"Hi, gorgeous. I got you a chai tea with almond milk and vegan chocolate croissant toasted," she tells me.

I sip the drink and thank her. I'm not vegan, but Aria is and I actually enjoy most vegan foods that I've tried because of her. She's made me consider it seriously, I just haven't followed through with it yet.

"So what's new, boobaloo?" I ask her.

"Nothing really, except I think I may ask Alice to move in with me," she tells me and I widen my eyes a bit, although I'm not too surprised. "We've been together for almost a year now, and she hates where she lives right now. Her roommate is a complete dick."

"Do you think she'll say yes?" I question.

"I sure as hell hope so. I've hinted at it before and she seemed open to it. I'm going to ask her on our one year anniversary next month."

"I hope it goes well, oh my god. I'm so excited. Do you know how you're going to ask her?"

Aria explains to me that she wants to have Alice go on a scavenger hunt with locations that mean something to them and their relationship, like where they had their first kiss and things like that. Each location is going to have a different word in a scrambled order and a clue. At the second to last location, she will have all the words which read out "Will you move in with me?" and from there, Alice will have to go to Aria's apartment to give her the answer and have a cute dinner and night in.

"That's so cute, I love it." I tell her truthfully.

Aria then asks me if I will spend the day and help navigate Alice to make sure it all goes smoothly.

"Oh my god, babe, of course I will! I am absolutely honoured. This is going to be amazing."

"You really think so?" my best friend asks timidly.

"Yes! She loves you and she'd be insane to say no." I reassure her.

This cheers Aria up tremendously and we continue to talk for a few hours until she has to go get ready for date night with Alice.

—•—•—

a/n: this one was a little bit longer. chapter length is honestly going to vary based on what information i have to fit in it. sorry.
still no harry, but he's coming soon i promise. i just wanted to develop Zayla more, as well as introduce Aria (and kinda Alice too) a bit because they'll more than likely have important roles in this story ☺️☺️