my ex's best friend , hudson

THIRTEEN

★          ★          ★

serena sent an annoyed look to the two paparazzi outside. it was almost two in the morning, so she and chase thought that they would be free of paparazzi, but they were wrong apparently. she anxiously twisted her rings around while chase was at the counter, waiting for their order.

serena had told chase that she was anxious about her song dropping, so he had suggested that they go out somewhere. that was honestly the last thing serena needed because going out just made her even more anxious, but it was nice to be out. the two drove around for a while before finding a 24 hour coffee shop, and since serena is the biggest caffeine fiend to exist, she forced chase to stop. chase pointed out that coffee would make her anxiety worse, to which she responded with "shut the fuck up". chase knew she would never give up, so he listened and followed her inside.

and now here they were, waiting on their coffee. chase got a bland iced coffee while serena got a not so bland vanilla cold brew with cold foam. chase sat down in front of serena, breaking her out of her thoughts. as soon as he sat the drinks on the table, serena grabbed hers and took a huge gulp.

"god, this is amazing," rena wiped away her cold foam mustache, "how's your boring drink?"

chase rolled his eyes, "not everyone likes vanilla and ten pounds of sugar in their coffee, rena."

serena shrugged, "it's okay, chase, not everyone has taste. it's nothing to be embarrassed of."

chase wordlessly stuck is middle finger at her. serena sent him a dirty look in return. the two sat in silence for a bit enjoying each other's company. a white flash went off outside of the window, causing serena to grip her cup even tighter. chase didn't seem as bothered, but he did watch serena carefully, making sure she didn't walk outside and yell at them.

"i hope they got my good side," serena mumbled dryly, finishing off her cold brew.

chase just gawked at her, "you're done already? i'm not even halfway done with mine."

"maybe if you ordered something different, you would've finished faster," serena was staring at his "bland" coffee in judgement.

chase snickered, "that's what she said."

it was serena's turn to flip chase off. the pair fell into another comfortable silence for about five minutes before serena spoke up, "can we go now?"

chase noticed the table bouncing from serena bouncing her leg and nodded. he grabbed his half empty cup and serena's empty cup and started walking over to the trashcan before serena snatched chase's cup out of his hand. rena must've noticed his confused facial expression because she spoke up, "i'm not letting you waste perfectly good coffee, emo boy."

"rena, you don't need anymore caffeine," he responded sternly.

"who are you? my father?" serena scrunched her face in disgust after taking a sip of his drink.

"no but you can call me da-" chase was cut off by serena smacking his arm.

"you're done. you're done," was the last thing serena said before putting on her mask. chase followed suit and opened the cafe's door. as soon as they stepped outside, fletcher walked up to the pair and greeted them.

chase felt serena tense up from nerves and chase grabbed her hand, hoping that it would ease some anxiety.

"hi, chase. hi, serena," fletcher said.

"hi, fletcher. how are you?" serena's voice shook a bit as she spoke.

"i'm good, what about you?" fletcher responded, following the pair with his camera.