temporary fix || n.h. au

12

I looked over to see the blonde, Irish boy in the seat opposite of my best friend. I snapped my focus back to Kate who had a small smile on her face, and a light blush creeping up her cheeks.

"W-woah," I stuttered, "what in the world is happening?" I slammed the menus down and placed my hands on top of it, leaning onto the table.

I quickly glanced between the two, Kate was smiling like a damn idiot while Niall gave her a look that basically says 'I want to fuck you right here on this table'

"Hey!" I raised my voice and snapped my fingers in front of Kate. A few people who were around us turned their heads to look over at me. I quickly stood up straight and took out my notepad and gave them a small smile.

"Yes?" Kate finally focused on me. I widened my eyes and looked over to where Niall was sitting, not wanting to speak for the fear of raising my voice and receiving bad looks again.

"Yeah, that's Niall." She smiled. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "Mind explaining?" I said through a fake smile.

She put her hands down onto her lap and straightened out her dress, "We can catch up later, babe." She dismissed my question, leaving me with my jaw agape.

I shoved my little notepad back into the pockets of my apron and walked over to the little designated area for waiters and waitresses.

Why the hell is she here with Niall? What happened to her and Jake? My mind was spinning with what was happening just a few feet away from me. My coworker, Wes, came up to me and asked if I was okay.

"Have you ever tried to wrap your head around something but couldn't?" I questioned him.

"Literally: no. Figuratively: all the fucking time." He laughed. "What's wrong?" he leaned against the desk where the cash register was.

"I honestly don't fucking know," I laughed, "can you do me a favor? Can you please take over my last table? I'll do anything, please." I locked my hands together and slightly shook it back and forth, begging Wes.

He gave in eventually and I thanked him repeatedly. I gave him a hug, got my stuff from the back, and walked out of the restaurant without looking back once.

I decided not to go home since Kate would know something is up because the servers have changed. I went to mall that was not too far from where I worked.

The way that Kate reacted towards Niall kept going through my mind. The way she blushed just by him staring at her. The way she stupidly twirled one strand of hair in front of her.

And the way that Niall stared at her, a stare that was full of want and desire. I wasn't jealous; I didn't like Niall like that. It just caught me surprise that my bestfriend and my ex-fake-boyfriend were on a date, and it sure as hell didn't look their first one.

I shook my head, hoping to shake out my overthought thoughts. I was too busy thinking about Kate and Niall that I completely walked by the mall. I decided to go into the next Starbucks and maybe relax there for a while.

I was welcomed by the smell of coffee, cookies, brownies, and other sweet stuff as I walked through the door. I shrugged off my jacket and hung it over my arm as I lined up to order.

I was looking at the 'new' section on the boards as I walked up to the counter to order.

"Welcome to Starbucks, what will you have today?" I heard the barista greet me.

I slowly dragged my eyes away from the menu and looked back at the person behind the cashier.

I gave him a small smile to greet him back. His eyes focused on me, his eyebrows narrowed making him look a tiny bit angry. "Uhm," I looked back up at the menu trying to avoid eye contact, "can I have a green tea latte please?"

He was still staring at me as I directed my attention back to him. His face now held a concentrated look, like he was trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle on my face.

He finally registered that he's been staring at me and looked at the cash register, punching stuff in rather harshly. I swiped my gift card when it was time to pay.

"Samantha, right?" he asked as he was about to write on the cup.

Now it was my turn to narrow my eyebrows at him. I cocked my head to the side hearing this guy I don't know say my name.

"Uhm.. yeah." I twisted my hands under my jacket that was draped over my arm. I walked over to the waiting area as he started my drink.

I leaned up against the wall and decided to go through my phone while I waited. I would occasionally look up when a drink would be placed down, and every time he was staring at me.

When my drink was ready and he called out my name I called him out. "Hey," I said before he turned his back on me, "why do you keep staring at me?"

Now it was his turn to cock his head to the side. "What?" he laughed.

"You've been staring at me," I slightly laughed, "and you know my name. So that's kind of creepy."

"My bad," he scratched the back of his head, "I didn't realize. I'm just trying to think of where I saw you before."

A drink was placed beside mine and the other barista called out a lady's name. I grabbed my drink and moved to the side while he followed me.

"What's your name, stranger?" I asked playfully.

"Nate."

"Jake's friend?" I nearly spit out my latte. He was the guy who spilled his drink on me on the dance floor, the guy I ditched Niall for the night we first met.

"Yeah, how do you-" he quickly stopped, "Kate's friend!" he exclaimed and we laughed lightly.

He looked better in this lighting, and he had an appealing vibe coming off of him. Nothing like how he was when we first met.

As soon as we finished laughing, a cold breeze hit me from behind as bells from the front door opened. I turned around out of habit to see who it was; to my surprise it was Jake.

He messed with his hair before looking up. He looked around the small shop before finally landing on me and Nate. I gave him an awkward wave.

His eyes widened and his body stiffened as he laid eyes on me. And all color and emotion that was once on his face were quickly gone.

A/N:

hey guys :) tysm for whoever still reads this!

idk where I'm really going with this bc my main focus is on The Model lol but I'll still continue this!

btw did yall watch the music video for history?? I'M IN TEARS OKAY. It dropped when I was in lunch and I was crying with my friend on the table omg.

hope you enjoyed this chapter :) pls don't forget to vote and comment!