Reality || L.H.

Chapter 26

"Isn't it weird how two years ago, you wanted to push me off a cliff and now we're getting coffee like nothing ever happened?" Blake grins as he takes a seat across from me in the booth, setting his americano on the table in front of him.

I laugh as I take a sip of my latte, pulling up the sleeves of the dark red sweater Mali gave me last Christmas. It's finally cold to justify wearing boots and sweaters and coats and beanies and I am so excited. Cold weather is my heaven. "Well when you put it like that," I say with a smile as I set my drink back down. "No, it honestly doesn't bother me. We were always good friends; it's kind of nice to be friends again, cheating matters set aside."

My ex gives me a small, surprised smile. Running a hand through his dark hair to get the last few raindrops out of it, he says, "I'm really glad you asked me to this, actually. Even though, you know, I still have feelings for you and you're back together with Luke." Before I can say anything, he holds up a hand to cut me off. "I'm really happy for you guys and I don't want to come between you again, so don't worry, I won't expect anything other than friendship from you."

I nod slowly. "Thanks for understanding," I say softly. "I know this isn't easy for you and I want you to know that I really appreciate it."

Blake dips his head to accept my thanks, waving his hand in the air dismissively. "But enough of that." He leans forward across the table, brown eyes alight with curiosity and mischief. "Are there any parties I should know about going forward? I do love a good keg stand."

"Not that I know of," I laugh, "but I can arrange one soon for you, if you'd like. I'm sure the boys would be down to throw a party, or see what ones are going on around campus."

"Yes!" Blake exclaims, throwing his hands into the air. "Maybe you can introduce me to any hot friends of yours," he jokes, winking at me.

I chuckle as I take another sip of my latte. It's mostly whipped cream and creamer and sugar - not much actual coffee, which is the way I like it. I hate the bitter taste of it, but I love the sweet rush of caffeine, especially when I'm running on only a few hours of sleep. I blush as I remember what I stayed up until four am doing last night...

"Speaking of hot people," Blake says, interrupting my train of thought. "Where's that boyfriend of yours?"

"Luke's with Calum at some pick-up soccer game on campus," I say.

He hadn't wanted to go with Calum, since he's not the best at soccer because he always has a tendency to trip over things, including the ball. But Calum really wanted someone to go with him and Ashton was stuck working today and Michael would rather "trap himself in an elevator with Justin Beiber" than play soccer, so Luke had reluctantly agreed. But it was nearly forty degrees out and rainy - I'm starting to worry about whether they're going to catch colds.

Blake wraps his hands around his coffee cup. "Luke plays soccer? I remember Calum was on our school's team in high school, but I didn't know Luke played too."

"Oh he doesn't," I say with a smile. "He's terrible at soccer. He just went because Calum practically begged him to and everyone else said no."

He laughs as he adjusts his glasses on his nose. He'd gotten them recently and it was still weird to see Blake wearing glasses. Besides, he kept dropping them and forgetting them in random places. "It's kind of cold out, don't you think?" he asks as he gestures outside over his shoulder.

I nod again, pulling my sweater tighter around myself. I'd borrowed my mom's car since it's too cold for me to comfortably walk everywhere I have to today. The coffee shop Blake likes to go to is all the way across town from my apartment and campus. I'm here to kill some time before I have to go back to the other side of town to get Luke and Calum from their soccer match and take them to our apartment. Michael, Ashton, April, Cassidy, Calum, and Liv had all agreed to hang out at my and Luke's place tonight to just... hang. We hadn't done that since Luke and I had broken up and I missed that group.

My phone buzzes in my back pocket and I pull it out, giving Blake an apologetic look as I accept the call. "Hey, what's up?" I say.

"Can you come get us now?" Luke asks, his teeth chattering. "The game's over and I'm freezing. Calum so owes me after this." Talking to someone else, he shouts, "No, don't start another game! Don't twerk on the trees either!" Addressing me again, he says, "Please hurry, Kat, I just want to take a warm shower, I can't feel my toes anymore. I really hope they didn't fall off."

I laugh into the phone. "Hold on, I'll be there as soon as I can." Hanging up on him, I look back at Blake. "That's my cue to go get them. Maybe we can do this again sometime soon?"

He nods as he gets to his feet, smiling as he walks with me to the front door. "Yeah, totally. I really miss hanging out like we used to. It's nice to be friends again."

I wave bye to him over my shoulder as I cross the street to my mom's car, sliding in behind the wheel. It's a relatively short drive to the fields on campus. When I pull up, there are indeed a few fratboys twerking like strippers on some of the trees. I laugh as I spot Calum grinning as he runs around in circles, holding Luke's coat and shirt close to his chest.

Luke yells a long string of curses as he chases Cal, his torso completely bare. He glances over when I walk onto the field, looking relieved. "Kat!" he exclaims, rushing over to me. "Tell Calum to give me my clothes back! I'm freezing!"

I smile as I wrap my arms around Luke, trying to warm him up. He shakes with cold, clinging tightly to me. "C'mon, Calum, give Luke his stuff back! We gotta go - Ashton and Michael are probably waiting for us."

Sighing, Calum reluctantly hands Luke back his shirt and coat as we start towards the car. Luke gratefully pulls on his shirt, shivering as he slides on his coat. I shake my beanie off of my head and reach up to pull it down over Luke's hair.

"Thanks," he chatters as he rubs his hands together.

I slide an arm around his waist as we walk to the car, leaving the twerking frat boys behind in the cold. "Let's just get you warm."

"I call shotgun!" Calum shouts excitedly, breaking into a sprint.

"Hey, no fair!" Luke yells as he takes off running after him.

I smile as I walk after them, shaking my head back and forth.