Low-key | ✓

24 | Better Luck Next Time

"YEAH, SURE. Better luck at fooling me next time Marais." I snickered, even though my heart was nearly beating out of my chest.

Sure enough, the brunette boy with crystal blue eyes tried to fool me, and he almost did. At the rate that my heart was beating, no doubt, I almost believed him.

"Aw, come on!" He whined, rolling his eyes at me.

The action reminded me of how much fun I had with the band when I was still with them. However, I had to go ahead and forget about those memories, they were but fragments of the past that I cannot bring back.

The coffee shop was buzzing with people that even Jonah and I's noise wasn't bothering anyone. My eyes remained focused on the boy. The familiar clean cut hair that Jonah used to have is now long gone. In its place was a fluffy mop of light brown hair that looked soft enough to touch. His usual white shirt and black jeans was now replaced with a pair of light wash jeans, a camo print shirt rolled up the sleeves, and a pair of white converses. His fingers were adorned with gold rings of different designs. One, however, stood out from the rest. It was a golden sun ring on his middle finger. Maybe it was just a coincidence that he had one, I wouldn't want to assume that it was because of me.

I gave the boy a scrutinizing glare, "What are you doing here?" I clicked my tongue.

He pursed his lips and playfully narrowed his eyes at me, "I could ask you the same thing."

I breathed in a sigh and turned towards the menu on the table, trying to distract myself from the awkwardness that ensued between the two of us. Jonah was the last person that I had expected to see during this blind date that Chickee and Four had set up for me. I was trying to forget about them, why would my two trusted friends lure me into a trap like this?

"What can I get you two today?" I heard an unfamiliar voice ask. I looked up to see one of the cafe's new waitresses that Carrie hired when I left my job here to work full time in ATC.

I gave the menu a once over and turned back at the red headed waitress whose nameplate read Rebecca. "I'll have a--"

"Double Ristretto Venti Half-Soy Nonfat Caffeinated Organic Chocolate Brownie Iced Vanilla Double-Shot Gingerbread Frappuccino Extra Hot With Foam Whipped Cream Upside Down Double Blended, One Sweet'N Low and One Nutrasweet, and Ice." Jonah finished for me, and mouth went agape.

"I'll have a dalgona coffee with two shots of cinammon please." He added.

"What would your food be?" The waitress smiled at us kindly.

"Two blueberry cheescakes and two oreo cheesecakes, please, and thanks." And with that answer from Jonah, the waitress walked away to fix our order.

My eyes were still wide and my mouth remained agape as I stared at the boy in front of me.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow at me, smiling ever so slightly.

"Jesus Christ, Jonah, I never-- wow. How did you memorize my order?" I asked him, genuinely surprised.

He smiled and shook his head. "I have it as my ringtone." He pulled out his phone and played a recording of my voice saying my very order during the boys' and I's second meeting, before everything was chaotic, at Javalogy.

"I recorded it." He confessed. "Your order was interesting, and it's the only recording I have of you." His eyes went downcast, seeming ashamed of what he did. "After you left, I missed your voice so.. I put it as my ringtone. If you want me to delete it, that's okay."

"No." I surprised both him and myself when I said that. "It's okay. Keep it as your ringtone."

He nodded, slightly turning red, "Okay, thank you."

Rebecca, the waitress came back with our orders and Jonah and I thanked her before she left.

"Your cheeks are red." I found myself poking Jonah's flushed cheeks that had little freckles littered across them.

He turned a shade darker, "Um, I- they are? Uh, I didn't know that."

I giggled, "Do you still have a crush on me?" I joked, watching his cheeks flush even more. I took my coffee and took a huge gulp out of it.

"Yes." He confessed, making me choke on the coffee I was drinking. I started coughing uncontrollably, and Jonah was about to go to my side and help me, but I held a hand out to him, as if to say no. The coughing came to a halt, and I found myself with my own cheeks flushed red.

"Uh, w-wow okay." I managed to stutter out. "So how have you guys been?" I tried to make small talk, diverting the topic once I recovered from his confession.

I looked at him fidgeting in his seat. He shrugged, "Same old, same old. You?" He looked at me in question.

I pursed my lips, "I've been here and there. Running the company and whatnot."

He nodded in understanding as he took a sip of his dalgona coffee, "So I've heard. Four updates us about you every once in a while."

"He does?" I questioned, my mouth agape at the newfound information. I didn't know that Four still had contact with them, but then again, he is Corbyn's brother.

His eyes met mine as he looked up from his coffee. "Yeah, how does it feel to be the owner of ATC?"

I pursed my lips, "It's a lifestyle I'm still adjusting to."

He hummed in response, nodding as he did so. "Asti, if you don't mind me asking.. what happened?"

My brows furrowed, "What do you mean?"

He clicked his tongue, "The boys and I-- we've been free to live our normal lives again for a long time now, but, we don't really know what happened to us. Why Cyrus came after us, why Christina kept us locked up in England, why Four was involved, how it all ended, and everything in between. We don't know anything about that."

His sudden question caught me off guard. My hands suddenly became clammy and I felt as though there was a lump in my throat. "I don't think this is the right time and place for us to talk about something like that." I clasped my hands together, wanting to divert the topic to a less complicated one.

"We could talk about it somewhere else. How about at my place?" He offered, crushing my hopes of diverting the topic away.

My brows furrowed at his term, 'my' place. "Don't you and the boys live together?"

He shook his head no, "We're on a two week break before our 12/12 tour, so the boys and I decided to relax for a while."

My head tilted to the left, "So you live alone in New York right now?"

He pursed his lips, "Well, yes and no. The boys visit once in a while, since we all own the apartment I'm staying in." He shrugged.

I nodded in understanding, "I see."

"Well, do you wanna come over to mine and talk about.. everything?" Jonah brought the topic back, looking at me with his crystal blue eyes.

I sighed out loud, "Alright, but let's get this food as take out."