Pumpkin Spice Lattes

A Coulson/May Story

By Brown Eyes Parker

Author's Note: This is for the Philinda October Challenge on tumblr, my prompt was Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I rewrote this three times because I wasn't satisfied with the way it was going. Finally, yesterday I put them in an AU and wrote ALL day just because I didn't want to quit.

Rated: K+

Warnings: Out of character, maybe. All over the place? Most definitely!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Phil Coulson liked to buy pumpkin spice lattes for his best friend, Melinda May. He would pick her up early so they would have time to stop by Starbucks before school. He'd ply her with caffeine, Washington apple pound cake, and her favorite indie pop songs just to see her smile because she hardly ever smiled. He would be rewarded with half-smiles that were distinctly her and quick pumpkin pie spice kisses on the cheek when nobody else was looking.

The summer before they were seniors, Melinda got a boyfriend, he was a sophomore in college and he was a little more stoic than she was. She stopped driving with him, opting to sneak into homeroom just before the bell rang. There weren't any more indie songs on his car stereo or trips to Starbucks for early morning pumpkin spice lattes. Except for smiles across the hallway and notes passed during math class, they barely had any interactions at all.

She had become somebody else entirely; she wasn't somebody that he knew really well anymore. She morphed into a different person overnight, a person who pretended to like black coffee, the Who, and combat boots. Overnight, she morphed into a loner, clutching her iPhone and texting furiously, one of those girls she despised so much. The one who clung to her boyfriend because she was afraid he would dump her.

Phil watched desperately as she drifted further and further away from him, completely out of his reach until one rainy afternoon when he saw her walking home, shoulders hunched as she tried to avoid the rain and cold. He stopped his car and honked to get her attention. She looked up and sighed in relief when she saw him waving her over.

"Need a ride home?" He asked as he rolled down the window.

Melinda nodded. "That would be nice," she answered, coming around to the passenger side and getting in.

She threw her messenger bag into the backseat and he turned the heat up to chase away the chill and dry her off. He noticed her lips quivering and the way she tried to stop her shaking hands, so he stopped at Starbucks and ordered her a decaf pumpkin spice latte without even asking. She accepted it gratefully and they sat in the parking lot, sipping their drinks almost in silence, the words of a Sleeping At Last song filled up the quiet spaces.

"It's been a while," Melinda finally said, putting her cup between her knees and rubbing her hands together.

"It's been a really long time," Phil agreed the taste of pumpkin tasted sour on his tongue. He knew what was coming, the inevitable nail to the coffin that was their friendship.

"Ike doesn't like it when I talk to other guys," Melinda told him, wrapping her hands around her cup.

"You've changed," Phil said in response. "I hardly know you anymore."

"Everybody changes eventually," Melinda said, looking at him like he was a child who didn't know anything.

"Sure," Phil agreed, dropping his cup into the console between them, not thinking his stomach could handle liquid and an argument. "But you shouldn't change just to keep a guy around. Especially when he doesn't deserve you."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Melinda snapped. "You're just a band geek. You've never even had a girlfriend before!"

Phil released a breath and started the car again, nodding a little bit. "You're right."

For a second, Melinda looked stricken, and then she looked out the window and didn't say anything else for the rest of the drive home.

The next day she wasn't at school. Phil felt his stomach drop a little, but he ignored it and went about his day. After all, it wasn't his fault that she didn't show up. He hadn't been the one to hurl insults at her. He hadn't been the one to walk away from their friendship. He had been left behind in a cloud of Ike dust.

But by the end of the day, he had changed his mind. So, he went to Starbucks and purchased a pumpkin spice latte as a peace offering and drove to her house, ready to do whatever she asked of him. Even if all she wanted was for him to leave the coffee and go.

Her mother answered the door as soon as he knocked; it was an odd thing for the older May woman to be home. She was usually on assignment somewhere across the world. Phil's stomach twisted but he forced himself to smile, thankfully she smiled back.

"Come on in Philip," she said, moving aside from the door and waving him inside. "Melinda is upstairs."

"Is everything okay?" Phil asked tentatively.

Mrs. May looked upstairs and nodded. "I'm sure it will be soon. It has something to do with her college boyfriend, he didn't drop her off after school yesterday and when she did come home, she went right to her room and hasn't been out since then. She isn't acting completely like herself, Philip."

"She hasn't been," he muttered.

"Excuse me?" Mrs. May asked.

"Nothing," Phil answered. "I was just wondering if I could go up and see her."

"Sure! I'm sure she'll be happy to see you!" Mrs. May replied. "Go on, you know you're way to her room."

"I do," Phil said, taking the stairs two at a time. The door to her room was closed, but he went right in without knocking, like he usually did.

She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, wrapped up in a big sweatshirt and her Thor blanket. She eyed him and sighed. "Did you come to gloat?"

"What's there to gloat about?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and holding out her lukewarm coffee.

She accepted it and took a sip before sighing again. "Ike broke up with me. He said he found a junior or something like that."

"In high school?" Phil asked lamely.

"No, in college!" Melinda answered. "I know I shouldn't be upset, you were right, he wasn't that great."

"I never said he wasn't great. . ."

"But you said I shouldn't change for him because he didn't deserve me. And you were right, like always. I changed for him and he wasn't even worth it."

"Why didn't you come to school today? Are you really that heartbroken?" Phil asked.

Melinda shook her head. "Mostly I was embarrassed because of the way I treated you. I should have never said what I did about you being a. . . band geek."

Phil shrugged. "No hard feelings. I'm sorry Ike broke up with you."

"No you're not. You're probably saying I told you so over and over again in your head," Melinda said, slouching down.

Phil put his hand on her knee and shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"Like I said, it doesn't bother me that he broke up with me as much as it bothers me the way I treated you. Especially yesterday."

"I'll live," Phil told her. "Band geek isn't the worst thing I've been called. And it won't be the last time somebody calls me names."

"We're still friends?" Melinda asked tentatively, hopefully.

"It's like it never happened," Phil told her and meaning it truthfully. "I should go now, I'll see you tomorrow."

"You don't have to. . ."

"I have a lot of homework," Phil said. "And a major piece of Bach to learn before my piano lesson tomorrow."

Melinda nodded, understanding that maybe he just wanted to give her space. Thinking that maybe he didn't really want to be around her and everything wasn't okay between them like he had said. "Okay, thanks for the coffee."

"Of course, always!" Phil answered, smiling at her before closing the door behind him.

She didn't know why, but watching him leave was harder than getting the call from Ike telling her that it was all over.

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The next day, he was leaving his piano class when she saw her leaning against a lamp post, with coffee in both her hands and an uncertain look on her face.

"This different," Phil said. "You haven't ever brought me coffee."

Melinda held out his cup. "This is an apology."

"I told you that everything was okay," Phil answered, taking the beverage and studying her evenly. "But I guess you didn't believe me."

"I. . . I didn't," Melinda admitted. "I'm not this kind of girl, Phil. I'm usually confident and sure of myself. . ."

"And you still are," Phil assured her. "I promise you, everything is okay between us. We're still friends. If it makes you feel any better, I do forgive you for the other day. Come on, I'll take you home."

Melinda sighed in relief and fell into step beside him. "That's a pumpkin spice latte, you better enjoy it. I hear there won't be many more of them this season. Before you know it, it'll be Christmas."

"Don't rush it Mel, it's just the first of October today!" Phil replied, nodding to the park across the street. "Let's go and sit for a while. Enjoy the cooler weather and the foliage while we drink our coffee. We can take a chance and really catch up. It's been a while."

"It's been too long."

So, they crossed the street to the park, found an empty bench and got caught up over pumpkin spice lattes.

And they both knew that everything was going to be okay.

_Fin_

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Author's Note II:

I'm not going to ask you what you think or for validation, or something like that. I know this is not my best work. Hopefully I can write something better next time. I am thinking about making this into a series, because I have a lot of other ideas for fall related words. Fingers crossed that it goes better with the other stories! Anyways, if you want to review then please do so!

Love,

Holly 10/1/2014_

P.S

I tried to work the cover into the story, but I couldn't and I didn't want to force it. So, in the end, I just used the picture because I loved it.