The Hate Between Us (Percabeth&Solangelo)

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Girl in the Coffee Shop

Piper POV:

She came to my coffee shop every day over summer. Always at a different time; I think she liked the way I waited for her, got impatient for her arrival, smiled so broadly when she entered. The first time she did it, it was a surprise. I hadn't known she was in England. But there she was, and I had never been happier.

The bell to the coffee shop gave its usual ding. Nothing different or peculiar about it. I didn't look up from the till. There came the click click click of her heels against the old stone floor, the same sound that followed every customer. But then she said: "Hey, can I get a latte to go please?" and my heart simply melted in my chest.

"Shel!" I exclaimed, practically diving over the counter to engulf her in a hug. A few of our customers looked up from their tables, concerned. I blushed and returned to my station, neatening out the folds of my apron. "Shel!" I whispered furiously. "What are you doing here?"

"Good to see you too!" She grinned. I smiled at her, marveling over the fact that, even after five years together, I was still in awe of her beauty. Her short brown hair sat messily on her head, her warm brown eyes that seemed to glow in the café lights, her smooth dark skin that wrinkled only slightly by her eyes to show that she laughed a lot, her pretty freckles and rhinestone nose piercing and full, rouge lips curved into a smile. The way she stood up with confidence and charm. The way her body curved against her cute shirt. 

The only difference I saw between the time that we first met and now was me. The hair I liked to run through my hands, the eyes that glowed when they saw me, the wrinkles by her eyes because she laughed at me, with me, for me. The lips I longed to kiss every second we were together.

"Gods, I love you so much," I exclaimed, unable to control myself. A few of my customers began to murmur. I lowered my voice even more. "You're going to get me fired."

"What have I done? I only asked for a latte," she smirked. "Oat milk-"

"-One sugar," I laughed. "I know... but how is it you've come all the way to London for a coffee?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "The baristas in Manhattan weren't as cute."

I shook my head and giggled, choosing to make myself busy lest I piss off any more of my customers by staring at my girlfriend for too long. Once I had finished making her coffee – just as much a fumbling mess as the first time I met her – I asked my co-worker for my lunch break and sat with Shel at the table by the window.

"I didn't think you'd be here until the end of summer," I smiled at her again.

"Disappointed?" She teased.

"You're joking," I laughed, taking her hand in mine. "I couldn't be happier. But I thought you were going travelling with your sister. Don't tell me you cancelled your summer plans for me."

She shrugged again. "Oh, you know Chloe, she meets some new boy and suddenly her life is all about him. She came to me a week ago asking whether she could go travelling with him instead. I didn't complain too much – if anything I was relieved. As soon as I found out, I booked the next flight I could to London. Pipes... it's been too long. I was beginning to go mad without you."

"Good," I smiled even more deeply. "Because, as you can see, I've already gone mad."

"That much I knew already," she chuckled, leaning in to give me a kiss.

The last few years had been a struggle without her – not seeing her every day. But we had made it work. Most summers and winter breaks we spent together, and sometimes – when we could afford it – we even managed to make short-term trips to see each other when we had a week off of Uni. But, even with the skype calls and constant texting, it never made it easy to say goodbye. Sure, I wasn't worried that we would meet an end – I knew, unequivocally, that what Shel and I had was stronger than distance or time. But, all the same, I was counting down the minutes until we both finished Uni and would finally start our lives, properly, together.