𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐲𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧 ~ 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠

Though I was incredibly hesitant about going there, I had Topper drop me off at Heyward's. When I couldn't find Heyward in the store, I went to the balcony. His back was to me.

"Mr. Heyward..." I spoke. He turned to face me. "Oh, Aspyn. If you're lookin' for Pope, he went back to school today-"

"No, I know. Cleo told me," I cut him off. "I'm actually here to see you,"

He looked confused. "Me?"

"It's a long story, but I don't have anywhere to go," I explained. "I'm not asking to stay with you, I know Cleo already is, but I was wondering if I could hang out at the shop for the day? It's really hot and I need somewhere to go,"

He just looked at me for a moment with an expression I couldn't read.

"I know it's weird for me to come to you after Pope and I broke up, but I seriously have no other option," I sighed. Tears pricked into my waterline but I blinked them away. "Please, Mr. Heyward, I won't be any trouble. You can put me to work, I won't just sit around. I know you're big on getting things done-"

He interrupted me. "Aspyn, I would never deny you help just because you and my son broke up. You can always come to me, alright?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir,"

"You've been through a lot, honey. I know you don't have much family, and I want to be there for you when you need someone," He continued. "I don't ever want to be your last resort again, you hear me? You're always welcome here,"

Tears threatened to come to my eyes once again but I held them back. Giving a soft smile, I nodded once again. "Yes, sir,"

"Now, if you could start cleaning up inside that'd be great," He told me. "Cleo should be back soon. She's out doing some deliveries. You can help her with some things when she gets back,"

I nodded. "Yep, sounds good. Thanks again, by the way,"

"Anytime, honey," He said.

I tidied up the shop, as I had been told to do until Cleo returned. It wasn't too bad actually, I wiped down the counters, did some sweeping, and even helped out a few customers. Throughout my life, work was never something I needed to do, but now that I was experiencing it, it felt unexpectedly rewarding.

When Cleo got back, Heyward sent us outside to clean up the balcony. Though, we got done pretty quickly so we ended up just sitting out there for a bit.

"So, we gonna talk about what happened on the ferry?" She questioned, taking a seat on top of the picnic table.

"Sure," I sighed, leaning against the handle of the broom I had been holding. "I'm sorry about that, by the way,"

"You don't have to apologize, girly," She assured. "I just wanna know what's goin' on,"

"To be honest, my emotions were high and I wasn't thinking," I admitted. "I miss Pope, and in all honesty, I don't think I'll ever find someone like him again. He was my person and I fucked it up,"

"Pope misses you too, girl," She told me. "He's always talkin' about how he overreacted and how he should've handled it differently,"

My heart skipped a beat. "Really?"

"All the time," She confirmed. "Y'all got something special, you just have to talk to each other,"

"He wants to talk to me?"

She nodded. "He's just scared you don't wanna talk to him,"

"Well, what about you?" I questioned. "Are you alright? I kissed you, then I told you how much I'm in love with someone else,"