Beside You

6//coffee dates

"Where are you?" Maria's voice echoed through my phone.

"I'm outside the pharmacy, exactly where you told me to meet you!"

"Why can't I see you then, you idiot?"

"Because you're blind? I'm right next to the entrance! It's not hard to miss!"

"I'm at the wrong pharmacy." She hung up abruptly and appeared round the corner momentarily.

"You took your time," I teased as she approached me, her arms open for a hug.

"Leave me alone, you bully," she pouted, sticking her bottom lip out like a child. I accepted her embrace and followed her into the pharmacy, trailing her as she expertly navigated the aisles to the boxes of hair dye. "Right. I want to go darker blue because I'm hard and this sky blue just doesn't do me justice at all." She sent me to investigate the other end of the aisle as she made a start, and eventually we met in the middle with an armful of options each. She took her time deciding but eventually came away with a navy dye.

We proceeded onto the face masks and pore strips, Maria choosing a range of interesting masks, including a destressing one, a cocktail scented one, and a super berry exfoliating mask. Then, having thrown all her stuff into a basket, she took my hand and dragged me to an aisle stuffed away at the back of the store.

"You have to choose something otherwise we're not leaving," she instructed, and I shook my head.

"Absolutely not. No way."

"Please. You don't even have to use them, just have them as a just in case."

"I'm not going to need them."

"For fuck's sake," she sighed, picked up a random box of condoms, and stuffed them into my hands. "Please." I rolled my eyes and followed her to the cash desk where she purchased her dyes. A cashier called me and I placed my box on the counter. She gave me a pointed glance, and I shot her a glare back, as if to say that she had no business judging my purchase. I paid and stumbled out of the store after Maria, shoving the box into her bag to conceal it from the public.

I trailed her into a small independent coffee shop where she chose a booth and dumped her bags before sidling in after them. I picked up a drinks menu as I sat and flicked through, trying to decide whether to stray from my normal black coffee order. However, before I could say anything, Maria got up and went up to the bar to order our drinks without asking me - she was either going to get me a normal coffee or something strange, and I couldn't tell what it was based on her mood. She returned shortly afterwards with two steaming mugs, and set one down in front of me.

"Drink," she instructed, and I took the tiniest sip, nervous at what she'd ordered. It clearly wasn't a plain black coffee - it was too frothy - and it didn't smell familiar at all. The taste rolled over my tongue and I frowned, trying to decipher what I'd just drunk. I took another, larger sip, letting it sit in my mouth for a moment.

"What is it?" I asked as I swallowed.

"Caramel pecan latte," she smiled, sipping her drink. I drank mine, intrigued by the taste although it was far too sweet for me.

"So, how are you and Caleb?" I asked, bored of talking about me and Luke, especially given that all Maria wanted to hear was that I would sleep with him.

"We're good, we're really good," she grinned. "We're going to adopt a puppy."

"Woah, woah, why wasn't I consulted?" I demanded. "This is my family too!"

"Bon, me and Caleb are getting serious now. We've been together two and a half years, that's a long time at our age."

"Yeah, I get it. It's just weird like, we're getting grown up. I'm going into the army, you and Caleb are getting a dog... it's strange."

"I get where you're coming from, but take it from someone who moved out as soon as they turned eighteen, adulthood isn't all it's made out to be. Hold onto that last bit of youth as long as you can," she advised, wise beyond her years.

"Jesus Christ that's getting deep," I chuckled, trying to stray from the pregnant silence that gripped us momentarily.

"Sorry! Anyway, back to my favourite couple. Now you're officially protected, when are you going to be fucking?"

"Stop it!" I exclaimed, kicking her under the table. "What happened to clinging onto my last bit of youth?"

"Yeah, that bit involves humping like rabbits."

"You're annoying," I informed her, to which she grinned widely.

"That's my goal," she said, nodding proudly, causing me to roll my eyes.

"You know what, I'm really glad the boys didn't come with us. I love having these catch up sessions, we don't do them often enough."

"I swear I'm with you every other day," Maria frowned, and I paused as I thought of how to rephrase my statement.

"I mean, like, sitting down over coffee. Not having anything on in the background sort of thing," I said, and she nodded.

"I get you. Not enough face to face time," she agreed.

"We need more like... lunch date kind of things." She nodded at my idea, watching me grin. "Especially if I go away with work."

"Don't, I can't even think about that. You'll be so far away," she sighed. "Will you even have a phone?"

"Phone calls are usually once a week but we can always write letters," I told her. "But that's not for ages yet."

"Good," she said, exhaling deeply, reaching across the table to hold my hand. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," I said, looking into her eyes. "But before I get too depressed, let's go." We tidied the table up before a waiter could come and sort it and stepped out into town, heading for the bus station. We hopped on a bus to take us back to my house, where Maria would change and get a different service. The bus shook and rattled the whole journey home, making serious discussion very difficult, and when we hit our stop, Maria's bus was already waiting. She left me with a brief hug, running to catch her connection before the doors shut, and I watched as she was driven far into the distance.

I went into my home, up to my room, and shot her a quick text.

love you. see you soon x

*****
hello dudes i am depressed
in other news i started listening to the welcome to night vale playlist again and it's great, also me n Fallon2000 are going to all time low in march how fun

lauren out x