Looking back, that little coffee shop on the corner of 8th and Macdougal Street had always been there through the good times and bad. It had been there when your father passed away when you were eight and the barista gave you a hot chocolate on the house when she saw you crying. It had been there when you started high school and needed a place to study, and there for you when you had broken up with past girlfriends and celebrated good times. But most importantly, it was there when you met her.
I think that possibly, maybe I'm falling for you.
Yes, there's a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you.
Her name is April O'Neil, and it's weird how you were there at the right place at the right time when she waltzed out of the snow and into your life. You remember how she took down her hood and shook off the snow on her hair, the smile she flashed to no one in particular when the smell of coffee hit her nose, and how her nose crinkled at the heavenly scents of the coffee shop you had fallen for yourself as a child.
You hadn't thought much of it at the time, but after you had gone back to reading, your thoughts were interrupted by a sweet voice from the most unlikely person. "May I sit here?"
She sat down across from you and you felt as though you had been blessed by an angel. Now that you were closer to her, you could see how bright and blue her eyes were and the numerous freckles that kissed her face.
"Thanks, I can't believe how packed it is in here." She smiled. "I'm April, April O'Neil." You smile sheepishly and tell her your name, and looking back you wonder how you didn't lose your nerve right then and there.
I've seen the paths that your eyes wander down,
I want to come, too.
I think that possibly, maybe I'm falling for you.
It was the start of a beautiful friendship, or at least relationship of some kind. It became a habit of yours to come at the same time every day, and sometimes she would be there as well. You both would talk for hours on end about science and math, about the loss of your parents, and frustrations you both had with the world. Even though you had only known her for a short time, it felt as though you've known her your whole life.
No one understands me quite like you do,
Through all of the shadowy corners of me...
Your meetings became the thing you looked forward to the most. After a long day of school, your job, a bad day...it was always guaranteed to turn around once she waltzed through the front door with that little sway of her hips that she had.
Once she smiled, your day always became brighter and, suddenly, nothing and no one else mattered in the world when it was just you two. You grew to adore her quirks, her stories, and her rants. She never failed to NOT have a story, whether it was something simple about a failed test to how she beat up a Purple Dragon gang member.
I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop
I love so much.
All of the while I never knew,
I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop
I love so much.
All of the while I never knew...
Though despite how you felt, you insisted you didn't have a chance with this girl you've come to call your friend. It was a reminder through the times she talked about a man named Donnie, or when a guy named Casey Jones would stop by to pick her up and head out.
I think that possibly, maybe I'm falling for you.
Yes, there's a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you.
She's beautiful, and there's no way she'd fall for someone like you. Or at least, that's what you believed. You had always had a hard time with relationships, or even dating. They either ended horribly or the person just wasn't interested, and the idea of losing the special moment you had with April and this coffee shop was almost too painful to think about.
I've seen the waters that make your eyes shine,
Now I'm shining too...
But when she came in with tears in her eyes and that smile skewed, you knew you had a special place in her heart. April would always tell you what had gone wrong, whether it was something immature that Casey had done or a dick move on Donnie's part. Or even something bad at school, she would never fail to tell you what had happened.
She never really did cry, she was too tough for that. But you could still see the water behind April's eyes that she blinked back, letting anger set in rather than sadness. You always admired that fire in her, a fire you wish you had.
You wouldn't consider yourself to be the most aggressive person, you had only been in one fight your whole life and it was to show a bully in the 5th grade that he had taken your lunch money for the last time. But for her, you would hit anyone who made her sad.
Because, oh, because
I've fallen quite hard over you.
It was in the softness of her voice, the gentle caress of her fingers over yours and how small her hand was in yours that made you believe that maybe, just maybe you really did have a shot with the beautiful April O'Neil.
If I didn't know you, I'd rather not know...
If I couldn't have you, I'd rather be alone...
You didn't want to think about this Donnie guy, Casey, or...well, anyone. Outside of your coffee shop, the world was a fragile and scary place that meant anything could happen. But here in this coffee shop of yours, you had the world to share in your grasp with April and only April.
I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop
I love so much,
All of the while, I never knew...
I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop
I love so much,
All of the while, I never knew...
Winter would become spring, spring would melt into summer, summer would grow into autumn, and then autumn would freeze into winter. The seasons would fly by quicker than a blink of an eye, but it never mattered.
April was always by your side through the thick and thin. Your coffee shop world spread to the ice rink a few blocks down, the Italian pizzeria on E. 14th Street, and the arcade in Chinatown. And by the end of the day, you always returned to that cozy little coffee shop you loved so much.
April had become your life, your best friend, and the person you loved with all your heart. You snuck kisses with her in the open, held hands at night, and gave her a look of longing not caring who was or was not watching. She was yours, and that's all that mattered.
You'll never understand the magic of that coffee shop, how it always managed to be there for you during the good times and the bad or how it led you to meet the person you couldn't live the rest of your life without. Even when you sit there alone, either waiting for her to show up or to contemplate when she's with friends, you couldn't help but wonder why it had become so special over the years. But when April's beautiful face popped into your mind, you knew.
All of the while, all of the while,
it was you