(3) Not the Same: An All Time Low Fanfiction Romance

Chapter 6: Would

        My alarm woke me up the next morning, but the last thing I wanted to do was go to work. Craig had kept me up much later than I'd wanted, insisting that I watch a movie with him after we ate. I agreed, keeping in mind that I'd have little time to spend with him today and tomorrow, and his flight on Friday was early in the afternoon, which meant there wasn't much time between when he woke up and when he had to go to the airport.

        Forcing my eyes open, I reached over to turn my alarm off before it woke Craig up. I pushed my sheets back and stood up lazily, fixing my shorts where the ends had folded up during the night.

        My work uniform, black pants and a black t-shirt, were hanging over the back of my comptuer chair, already looking warm and uncomfortable. I grabbed them, along with underwear and a towel, heading for the bathroom, hoping the air conditioner at the shop was working better than it had been earlier that week.

        I managed to leave on time, which was earlier than I might normally have to leave if I wasn't going to be fighting traffic the whole way there.

        The shop was open and busy, and Icould see one of my coworkers, Alyssa, rushing around behind the counter by herself. She was supposed to be working with someone else, James, I thought, until I got here, but I didn't see him.

        Alyssa saw me walking behind the counter and immediately looked relieved. "James left early for a family emergency or something, and we couldn't get anybody else to come in and cover him," she said, as I tied my apron around my waist.

        "Did you try calling me?" I asked. I hadn't checked my phone or the apartment phone to see if there were any missed calls, my phone died last night and I forgot to charge it.

        "I wanted to, but after everybody else said no or didn't answer, boss said to just wait until you got here," she explained, before we turned to customers to take more orders.

        I felt bad for Alyssa having to work by herself, although I didn't know exacly how long, the mornings could be kind of tough. There was always a good number of people coming in and out for coffee to go, or sitting down to actually eat breakfast. It was practically non-stop for a few hours, between making orders an dkeeping everything clean, which is why nobody liked working mornings, but somebody had to do it, and it was usually the people who'd been working here for the shortest amount of time.

        I'd been working here long enough where I didn't have to come in bright and early, but I didn't always get the hours where there were little to no people. Alyssa had started working af ew months ago so she and James usually got the morning shifts; they were both in college, like I was, but they were a year or two younger than me.

        The next hour or so flew by, as it always did when you were constantly moving around, and when things started to die down, Alyssa started checking the time nonstop, knowing her shift was almost over and I would be here alone for the next few hours. When she did leave she left eagerly, leaning with only a short wave and a quick, "bye." My assumptions was that she was meeting up with friends or her boyfriend, spending the day at the beach.

        The shop was a lot calmer now, only a few people left sitting by the windows and a couple people coming in quickly for a drink. I had a few more hours and I was sure they would drag on until I found myself looking into a pair of chocolate brown eyes.

        "You're up early," I said to Craig, seeing that it was still mid-morning. I was only working until one, so I'd expected him to be asleep when I got back to the apartment.

        "I got called into work for the afternoon," he told me as I turned to make his coffee. I nodded, filling his cup and snapping on a lid before handing it back to him, exchaning it for money.

        "See you later," he said, raising his cup as a goodbye before heading for the exit. I watched him, hearing the bell as he opened the door. He didn't step out onto the sidewalk, though. He stood back inside the shop, next to the door, holding it open for two people walking in. I pressed my lips together to stop my mouth from dropping open.

        Craig nodded politely at the two people as they thanked him and then slid out the door, letting it shut itself behind him. I watched the girl look back at Craig as he left, her profile showing her eyebrows rasising in surprise. Beside her, the boys eyebrows were bent the other way, eyes narrowed at somebody that I'd expected him to hate.

        Stella finally turned back to me, smiling softly as she stepped forward with Alex behind her, his hand resting on her lower back.

        "Was that?" she asked softly, and I stopped her sentence with a nod. Both she and Alex already knew who it was, but she wanted clarification, making of who she'd seen.

        "I was hoping you were working today," she smiled happily, moving on. "Alex didn't believe me at first when I said you worked here, so I told him I'd bring him by as proof, even though he believed me anyways. Alex, you remember Lauren," Stella wrapped her arm around Alex's torso, clutching onto the fabric of his shirt. His arm was around her shoulder now, his hand resting on her arm. He nodded shortly, smiling gently in a way that made me unsure if he resented me for what I did.

        "It's good to see you," I said meekly, wishing they hadn't come by today. "Can I get you guys anything?"

        "Sure, I'll have a Vanilla Crème Frappuccino," Stella said, ordering what she normally did. We both looked at Alex, and he shook his head, "Nothing for me."

        I turned away from them, stepping towards the machines to make Stella's drink. I wondered if they felt the tension I felt. It was worse than when I'd first seen Stella. Alex wasn't acting at all like I'd done anything, but I could wonder if it was because Stella was here, or it wasn't, would he even think it was worth his time, after all these years.

        I turned and handed Stella her drink, taking her payment with the same chrome card she had before. "Have a nice day," I said quietly, receiving a verbal goodbye from Stella and a smile from Alex. As they walked away, they leaned toward each other, talking softly.

        They seemed perfect for each other, in practically every way. I was happy for them, that they were still together and now engaged. I'd always thought they were good together back in high school and during our freshman year of college. Even then, I could have pictured them being together for the long haul. Before they even started officially dating, there was something between them, and Alex had found himself in deeper with Stella than he thought he'd ever be. She was the first girl he'd ever told he loved her and truly meant it.        

        Seeing them now, made me think about if I'd ever pictured Zack and me staying together for all these yars. Would it have been possible for us to make it, between their touring, my college work and everything in between? Could we have lasted like Stella and Alex had? Would we have broken up years after, like Rian and Kara, after our relationship ran its course? Or would I still have been the one to mess everything up like I did?