The stream of curses coming from the mouth of the young woman rushing down the hallway didn't suit her appearance in the slightest. With long, straight brown hair, brown eyes, and a figure that belonged in a magazine, she looked like she should be in a modeling campaign, not running through her house with a vocabulary of curses that could rival a sailor's. She stuffed her keys and wallet into her purse as she made her way to the door, only to swear once more and pull her keys back out of the bag. As she was opening the door, her hand flew to her neck. She swore again as she turned around to grab a scarf from the hall closet, and when she finally left the house, the door slammed shut behind her loudly enough to be heard from the street.
Wind bit at her cheeks as she ran down the steps of the porch and over to the driveway, the chilly November temperatures already promising that there was a cold and long winter ahead. Ignoring the weather, she got into her car, backed out into the street, and threw the vehicle into drive. It didn't take her long to traverse the small-town streets, and after about ten minutes, she pulled into a space in front of a coffee shop. The sign above its door read "The Beanery," and through the windows, she could see that its tables were packed. Cursing silently to herself, she got out of her car, locked it, and made her way across the sidewalk and into the shop as quickly as possible.
The hum of conversation greeted her—although she would say that "dull roar" was probably more accurate a term—as the door shut behind her. Her view from the street hadn't lied. If she didn't know any better, she would have said that half the town was there. It was unsurprising, as most people frequented The Beanery if the weather was cold, but as she caught sight of a young woman with dark hair smiling and pouring coffee for an elderly couple, she internally cursed the residents of Mystic Falls for their predictability.
She hurried into the back room before anyone could say anything to her, shrugging off her coat in the process. Once she was safely ensconced in the room that functioned as break room, storage, and changing area, she hung her coat and purse up on an empty hook and removed an apron from another one. The burgundy cotton was the same color as the paint on the front counter and the outside of the building, and her name was stitched in a curling white script on the front pocket—Elena.
She only paused long enough to pull her hair out from underneath the neck strap of the apron before she let herself out of the back room to the area behind the counter. The dark-haired young woman had retreated there as well in the time it had taken Elena to take off her coat and fetch her apron, and she raised her eyebrows as Elena began to tie the waist straps of her apron.
"Someone's running a little late," the dark-haired woman said, though her green eyes crinkled to signify her lack of anger.
"I'm so sorry, Bonnie," Elena said. "I was up late trying to come up with an idea and I couldn't and I overslept and I didn't mean to make you cover for me—"
Bonnie laughed. "It's fine, Elena. You're hardly ever late, and besides, I'm not about to fire my best friend." Her expression sobered a moment later. "Still having problems with the writer's block, then?"
Elena groaned. "You have no idea. It hasn't been this bad since I was fifteen and we had that project for English. Remember?"
"You were so concerned about that thing and it took you until the night before it was due to actually come up with a good idea and write it," Bonnie said, chuckling. "And you still got a better grade than the rest of us." She glanced out at the tables. "It looks like Mrs. Montgomery needs another refill. You man the counter, yeah?"
"Of course," Elena said.
Bonnie picked up a pot of coffee and made her way out from behind the counter as Elena began to organize the dishes and mugs that sat within easy reach of her position. The conversations that filled the room faded into the background as she hummed to herself, and she allowed her mind to wander until the sound of the bell above the door broke her out of her reverie.
She looked up just as the customer approached the counter, only to do a double-take. Strangers weren't common in Mystic Falls, and it was immediately apparent when someone wasn't from the area. Everyone knew everyone else there, especially if they'd grown up in the town as Elena had, so the dark-haired, blue-eyed man walking through the shop was obviously out of place. The image was only worsened by his choice of clothing. Nobody in Mystic Falls wore all black unless they were going to a funeral, but it seemed he hadn't realized that—well, he hadn't realized it, or he just didn't care. Nevertheless, Elena smiled at him when he reached the counter—Bonnie's policy was service with a smile.
"Hi, and welcome to The Beanery," Elena said. "What can I get for you today?"
"A black coffee, dark roast," the stranger said.
His voice sent a shiver down her spine, but she kept the smile on her face as she reached for a mug. "Coming right up."
She filled the mug and passed it across the counter to him in a smooth, practiced motion. He took it from her with a nod of thanks and made his way to the back corner of the shop without another word. There was a table there, visible only from behind the counter. As such, hardly anyone ever sat at it, as the majority of the residents of Mystic Falls preferred to stay where they could make conversation with everyone else.
"Who's mister dark and handsome?"
Elena jumped at the sound of Bonnie's voice, as she hadn't noticed that the other woman had returned to the area behind the counter. "Dunno," Elena said, shrugging. She glanced at the man quickly. "I can't help but feel like I've seen him before though."
"No, I know what you mean," Bonnie said. "You'd think with the number of strangers we get around here, we'd at least know where we'd seen him."
Elena made a face. "I'm not going to worry about it too much. I'll drive myself mad if I think about it for too long."
"You and me both," Bonnie said. She glanced at her watch. "The good news is, it should start clearing out here in about an hour, and then it'll be quiet until everyone's done with work and comes in for their post-labor latte." She eyed Elena. "You're sure you don't mind working a double shift today? I hate asking you to do it, but I've got to—"
"You need to go clear out your dad's house, Bonnie," Elena said. "You've been putting it off too long, and with Caroline there to help, you won't have any trouble sorting through everything. I really don't mind staying here. Like you said, it'll be quiet until everyone comes in later, and then they'll all be out of here by five and I'll be able to sit and try to work until closing. It's not a big deal, as long as you don't mind me stealing a sandwich for dinner."
"You're the greatest best friend ever, you know that?" Bonnie asked.
Elena grinned. "I do, but you can feel free to keep reminding me so that I don't forget."
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I'll be sure to do that. We can't have you forgetting, can we?"
"No, we definitely can't," Elena said. She laughed when Bonnie made a face at her, and reached out to lightly push the other woman's shoulder. "I'm going to get myself a coffee."
"Of course you are, since as we both know, the only reason why you work here is the unlimited supply of free coffee for employees," Bonnie said.
"Yeah," Elena said. "Well, that and the company, anyway."
Bonnie raised her eyebrows, and Elena grinned at her. The two devolved into giggles a moment later, and they laughed for a minute before Bonnie calmed herself down enough to pick up a fresh pot of coffee so that she could go make rounds and top everyone's mugs off. Elena busied herself wiping down the counters and putting the dirty mugs and plates into one of the dishwashers that was hidden behind the counter. They wouldn't run them until after closing, as the sound didn't add to the ambiance of the shop, but Elena tried her best to load the dishes when they came in instead of piling them in one of the dish tubs to be loaded later.
True to Bonnie's earlier statement, people began to clear out as the hour wore on. By ten-thirty, there were only a few patrons left in the shop, and they all greeted Elena and engaged her in conversation as she made her way around the room to wipe down the abandoned tables. She greeted them with a smile and responded to their questions as she worked. It was all harmless small talk that she could engage in without really having to pay attention to what was being said. Nobody ever really had to go into the details of their personal lives because secrets traveled fast in Mystic Falls as a general rule. Everyone had a few, the whole town knew that, but if the secrets weren't known by everyone within a few weeks, they were ignored and left alone.
At a quarter past eleven, everyone had left the shop, save for the stranger back in the corner. Bonnie made it her mission to top off his coffee until he asked her to stop, and Elena wasn't about to deny her best friend her fun. Bonnie had opened The Beanery just after they'd graduated from college with the help of the inheritance left to her by her grandmother, and had run it on her own until Elena had moved back to Mystic Falls a year and a half previous. Her whole reasoning for opening the place had been that they had never really had anywhere good to go for coffee or to hang out during high school. The Grill was great and all, but it got a bit boring after spending every weekend and Friday afternoon there for three years, and Bonnie had vowed to keep The Beanery interesting and known for its great service so that patrons would keep coming back. She hadn't failed in her mission, and it only helped that she switched up the menu every few months so that there was always something new. The classics stayed, but there were always seasonal specials that, when paired with the baking efforts of both women, made for a fantastic lunch, quick date, or post-work or school snack.
Just after one, the bell above the door rang to signal the arrival of another customer. Elena lifted her gaze from the notebook she was writing in to see who had entered, and when she saw who it was, she allowed her pen to fall from her hand. The blonde woman smiled and held up a paper bag as Elena made her way out from behind the counter.
"I come bearing lunch from The Grill, ladies," the woman said.
"Caroline, you are a lifesaver," Bonnie said as she came out from behind the counter as well. "I was trying to decide if I wanted to be the nice best friend and go get it myself, or if I wanted to be the mean boss and send Elena to do it so that I didn't have to." She grinned when Elena wrinkled her nose. "It's cold out there, and I didn't know if I wanted to suffer through it."
"Well, now you don't have to, because I brought everyone's favorite," Caroline said. She set the bag on the counter and pulled out a few take-out containers. "Elena, that's for you, and Bonnie, that's yours. This one is mine."
They each took a seat on one of the barstools at the counter and opened their lunches. For a few moments, the only noise in the room was that of them chewing, the clink of the stranger's mug as he placed it back on its saucer, and the quiet hum of music in the background. Eventually, Elena spoke.
"I thought you were supposed to be working today, Care," she said.
Caroline waved her hand dismissively. "The beauty of being self-employed is that I can take a break whenever I want. I'm ahead on all of the events that I'm planning, and Stefan was freaking out, so I decided to go see him and then bring you ladies some lunch so that you wouldn't have to go out and get it yourselves."
Elena's brow furrowed. "Stefan's freaking out? Why?"
Caroline shrugged. "Something to do with his family," she said. "I didn't get most of the details, but I'll let him tell me when he's ready." When Bonnie and Elena both stared at her, she narrowed her eyes. "What?"
"Care, you press about everything," Bonnie said. "Patience isn't exactly your strong suit when it comes to waiting for people to give you the sordid details about their life events."
"I'm his girlfriend, and I need to be supportive," Caroline said primly. A moment later, she made a face. "I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't dying to know what's happening, though. I never see him this rattled."
"I'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready," Bonnie said.
"You're probably right," Caroline said. After a momentary pause, she shook her head. "Enough about that, though. How's the writing going, Elena? Have you got anything done yet, or are you still stuck?"
Elena groaned. "Don't even get me started on that. I get a call from Tyler every Sunday evening in the hopes that I'll have something new to give him, and every single time I have to tell him that I haven't gotten anywhere." She pushed her salad around with her fork. "I don't know what I'm going to do. If I don't come up with something soon..."
"Maybe don't push it so much?" Caroline asked. "You always used to tell me that I needed to let things happen as they would when I was getting ahead of myself in high school."
"Letting things happen as they happen is all well and good when you don't have deadlines to meet," Elena said. "As it is, I've already had to get three extensions, and I really don't know how many more they're going to give me. I've got until just before New Year's to come up with something, or I'm going to be having a rather unpleasant conversation with the execs about why I failed to meet the terms of my contract."
"You'll come up with something," Bonnie said. "You always do."
Elena smiled slightly. "If only I had as much faith in myself as you have in me." She shook her head. "I'm just going to have to hope that I come up with something that isn't completely terrible soon, or I'll be getting a lot of phone calls that I really don't want to have to deal with."
"If you need to take some time off, you can," Bonnie said. "I managed before you got here, and I can manage if you need to focus on coming up with something."
"Please no," Elena said. "I'll drive myself crazy if all I'm doing is pacing around my house trying to come up with a new idea. I need to come here to stop myself from over-thinking everything. It never works when I over-think things."
"You and the rest of us," Caroline said. She grinned a moment later. "On a completely different note, I had an idea the other day, and I need you two to agree with it."
"Tell us and then we'll see if we can actually go along with whatever your insane plan is," Bonnie said.
"I was thinking that none of us have any plans for the summer, and seeing as we're all our own bosses or in charge of each other, we can take time off whenever we want, so..." Caroline paused. "I think that we should take a couple weeks off in July and go to Europe."
"Where did this come from?" Elena asked. "Three weeks ago you were all about the Caribbean."
"I was flipping through travel magazines and I remembered how much I loved Paris and I want to go back," Caroline said. "So I figured, why don't we make a group trip out of it? It would be a million times more fun that way."
Elena and Bonnie exchanged a look, and then Elena shrugged. "I'm in if Bonnie will let me off work. I don't have anything better to do."
"I haven't left this town since I got back from college," Bonnie said. "You can't get me out of here fast enough. Consider it done, Care."
Caroline clapped her hands together, a broad grin forming on her face. "Excellent. I'll start sorting out our itinerary and we can deal with the flight information in a few months." She glanced at her watch. "Oh, I'm going to be late to pick up samples for the Chamberlin party if I don't leave now. See you in a couple of hours, Bonnie?"
Bonnie nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for lunch."
"It's very much appreciated," Elena said.
Caroline smiled. "My pleasure. See you ladies later."
She put her coat on and made her way out of the shop, her purse hanging just perfectly from the crook of her arm. Elena watched Caroline go and shook her head as soon as the door closed.
"I love her, but sometimes I wonder how I ever ended up becoming friends with her," Elena said. "She's just so..."
"Caroline?" Bonnie asked, laughing. "Yeah, she is. As for how we ended up becoming friends with her, we've known her since we were pretty much in diapers and didn't really have a choice in the matter. I'm not complaining, though, since she plans all of our vacations for us and we always have a great time."
"That's an excellent point," Elena said. She glanced at the clock and then looked back at Bonnie. "You know, if you want to leave, you can. It's not like it's busy in here, and there's no point in both of us sitting around doing nothing."
"If you're sure," Bonnie said. "It's going to get busy in a few hours, you know that."
"Yeah, I do," Elena said. "I've done it on my own before, Bon. I'll be fine."
Bonnie looked at her for a moment and then pulled her into a hug. "Still the greatest best friend in the entire world."
"I'm glad you think so," Elena said. She gave Bonnie a gentle push. "Go. I'll clean up lunch."
Bonnie gave her a grateful smile before disappearing into the back room. Elena gathered up the takeout boxes that had contained their lunch and threw them into the trashcan behind the counter. She had just begun to wipe down the counter where they had sat when Bonnie came out of the back room, sent her another smile, and left the shop.
Everything was quiet as Elena made her way around the shop to straighten the chairs and tables before the post-work rush arrived. The stranger still sat at the table in the back corner. He'd cut off Bonnie's attempts to refill his coffee nearly an hour before, but hadn't left despite the fact that his mug was definitely empty. Instead, he sat there with a laptop open in front of him, an indecipherable expression on his face.
Elena steeled herself and plastered a smile on her face as she made her way back to his table. He barely looked up when she stopped beside it, and she forced the smile to remain on her face as his gaze returned to his computer screen.
"Would you like another coffee or a muffin or something else?" she asked.
He was quiet for a few moments, and when he looked up, the sight of his blue eyes nearly made her smile falter. She met his gaze despite its intensity, careful to keep her smile in place.
"A muffin would be great," he said eventually. "Chocolate chip, if you have it. And a water."
She nodded. "I'll be right out with that."
He looked back at his laptop screen as she walked away from his table. She felt her entire body relax once his gaze was no longer on her. It didn't take her very long to get him the muffin and a glass of water, and he didn't look up when she placed them on the edge of his table. Instead, he murmured a barely-audible thank-you, and she nodded in response before she returned to her place behind the counter.
She sat there with an open notebook on the counter in front of her, but her thoughts were on anything but the contents of the notebook's pages. Instead, her mind wandered as she attempted to figure out where she'd seen the stranger's face before. She didn't know how she could have forgotten eyes like his, but apparently she did. Her thoughts continued to drift until her phone rang, the song it played muffled by the back pocket of her jeans. She pulled her phone out and slid her finger across the screen to answer the call without looking at the name that flashed there.
"Hello?" she asked.
"What, no warm greeting for your favorite little brother?"
She straightened, a smile making its way onto her face. "Jeremy! I didn't know you were planning to call me today."
"I'm supposed to give you warning before I call now?" he asked. "Wow, Elena, thanks. I'm glad to know I mean so little to you."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it. I'm just not used to you calling me unexpectedly. I'm still waiting for you to walk through my front door unannounced like you have ever since I moved back here." She leaned forward to rest her weight on the counter. "How's New York treating you? Are you learning anything interesting?"
"It's good," Jeremy said. "It'll give me plenty to work with when I leave, but I have to say, I'm looking forward to getting home." He was quiet for a moment. "Is Bonnie there?"
"Oh, now I get it," Elena said. "You're only calling me so that I can put you on the phone with your girlfriend. I see how it is."
She could practically see Jeremy rolling his eyes when he responded. "I was just asking, but I'll take that as a no, so forget I asked. How's the writing going?"
Elena covered her eyes with her hand. "Is everyone going to ask me that?" She dropped her hand. "Nothing's changed, unfortunately. I've been trying, but I've got nothing so far."
"Maybe you should come up here and visit me," Jeremy said. "It might give you some ideas."
Elena shook her head, only to remember that he couldn't see her. "No, I can't do that. If I go to New York, Tyler will get wind of it somehow, and then he'll be dragging me into meetings all the time to try to explain why I don't have anything ready yet. Trust me when I say that it would only make things worse."
She heard Jeremy sigh. "It'll be okay," he said. "You're trying, at least. I'm sure you'll come up with something soon. Don't stress over it too much, okay? You only ever make it more difficult for yourself when you do that."
"Thanks for the pep talk, Jer," Elena said. The bell above the door rang, and she glanced up to see a young couple walk into the shop. "I appreciate the call, Jer, but I've got to go. Someone just came into The Beanery and since I'm the only one here right now..."
Jeremy laughed. "I've got it. Talk to you soon, Elena."
"Definitely," she said. "Bye."
"Bye."
She ended the call and slipped her phone into her pocket as the couple reached the counter. With a smile on her face, she said, "Hello, what can I get for you?"
After she served them, the couple remained in the shop for the better part of an hour and left just before three. After a cursory glance at the stranger in the corner, Elena made her way into the back room so that she could use the employee restroom. When she emerged, the stranger wasn't there anymore. His glass, mug, and muffin plate were stacked neatly on the end of the counter, and there was a bill shoved in the previously-empty tip jar by the cash register, as well as another bill on the counter. She put the ten-dollar bill on the counter into the register to cover everything he'd drunk and eaten, and then pulled the other bill out of the tip jar. Her eyes widened when she saw the twenty, and she stuffed it back into the jar after a moment.
Whoever the stranger was, he was a damn good tipper, and for Elena, that was enough to make her stop wondering where she'd seen him before for the rest of her shift.
A/N:
Hello friends! I bet you weren't expecting to see me back with a TVD story, but here I am. I started watching it in January and I am officially hooked and I kind of hate myself for it, but I had an AU idea and this is it, so here we go (Plus there aren't anywhere near enough AH AUs of these two idiots so I felt the urge to write another one).
Also, I am working on my Scorpius/Rose fanfic. I'm halfway done with it. I just need to find the inspiration to finish it. I have an outline and know exactly what's going to happen, the urge to write it just isn't quite there. I'll be done with my first year of college on April 23rd and after that I should have plenty of time to write, so expect Heartbeat And Bone sometime during May or June, probably.
I hope you guys like this. Please R&R so that I know how I'm doing, and I'll be back with the next chapter soon, probably (I'm on spring break right now, so I've got more than enough writing time at the moment and I'm going to try to stockpile some chapters for when I go back to classes so that I can still update regularly).
For excerpts of later chapters before they're posted, you can find me on Tumblr (the URL is the same as my name on here, unicornstarfighter), and you can also find me on Twitter for sporadic statements about stories and life (My handle for my account is ACStarfighter).
Peace and love x
~AC