3k views, ahhhh! Bella, it's okay, we all feel the same! I hope this helps! Guest, yeah she is but it's also Adri's fault... and realisation is spelt with z in North America and Canada but with an s outside of that area! The English language technically accepts both... MG, thanks! I'm not sure about adding Kinney, I wouldn't want to write him wrong! But perhaps he can make a cameo... Cindy, I'm sure Cinder would thank you for the support! Kai POV is after three cinder chapters! Sara, sorry for the wait!

Chapter Ten: Bag

"Oh for star's sake!" Cinder groans as she trips over something.

"Hey, watch it!" Pearl snaps, frowning.

"Leave her alone, Pearl," Peony mutters, but she's somehow powerful enough to make her sister huff and stalk downstairs.

"Thanks," Cinder says as she stretches her ankles, trying to get rid of the tension in her muscles.

"Do you, um, do you want some help?" Peony asks shyly.

Cinder pauses, then shakes her head. "I'm fine."

"I'll take that as a yes."

Before Cinder can open her mouth to protest, Peony has picked up the box she'd dropped and secured the lid, making sure it won't open again until she wants it to, and the two of them are walking side by side to the laundry room.

"Thanks." Cinder tries her best at a smile.

It must work because Peony grins. "Do you want anything else?"

"No, I'm good. But thanks," Cinder mutters, already throwing the boxes on the shelf, albeit neatly.

It's not that she really cares about the fate of the box, but she does care about her fate, and the last thing she needs is an extended house arrest. Especially when it would prevent her from seeing a certain, copper-eyed barista.

"Peony! Get in here!" Adri yells from somewhere, apparently expecting Peony to recognise the room she's in with absolutely no information whatsoever.

Cinder can't avoid sighing to herself as she slides to the floor in the laundry room, sinking down so that she can rest her head on her knees and have her back to the door. She shuts her eyes, the warmth of her eyelids acting as a rather tiny and almost useless source of warmth.

She glances at the clock, her eyes stinging with regret as she realises where she'd be if Garan had warned her: she'd be flying a kite with Kai. She knows, she knows that mournful yearning and wishful thinking don't get you anywhere - and most often do exactly the opposite - but how could anyone not daydream about the bubbly barista who might as well be royalty?

"I can't-" Cinder stops herself from listing all the things she can't tolerate as she pushes herself upwards, sighing aloud as she stretches because she can't hold it in. "Never mind. I kind of have no choice. Even if I would rather not be here."

"Are you talking to someone?" Peony asks from behind her.

Cinder jumps, stifling a string of curses. "Why are you here?"

"I live here?" Peony offers, but she's clearly joking. "I, um, there was this guy at the door, and I suppose he was for you."

"What makes you say that?" Cinder asks coolly, her heart secretly beating with hope.

"Pearl hates all boys and I'm not allowed guy friends over," Peony explains, "and I highly doubt he was here for Mother."

Cinder snorts to herself, but she frowns again when she thinks of something. "Was he, uh, was he... sad?"

Peony smiles softly. "Yes."

"Oh."

"But I don't think he was angry sad. It was more like confused sad. Anyway, he left something for you!"

Until then, Cinder's heart had been sinking deeper and deeper into hatred but with those five words, her aching organ learned how to rise up and float once more.

"Here. I'll leave you to open it..." Peony sends her a final reassuring smile before shuffling out of the room and leaving Cinder with the paper bag.

And Cinder discovers she hadn't been imaging that distinct aroma of coffee.

He'd sent coffee for her. He'd actually sent a warm beverage from his cafe for her. A strange, caramel-topped black coffee with a single white marshmallow on top. She grins at the beverage and takes a small sip, shutting her eyes as the glorious taste fills her mouth and soothes her throat, as well as her unease.

As she goes to crumple the bag and stuff it in the depths of her pocket so that Adri would never find it, she realises that the paper bag hadn't contained only the single cup of coffee. Wrapped in an insanely large amount of tissue paper is some kind of soft edible item. Carefully, she unwraps the food and grins when she recognises it.

A cinnamon roll.

Of course he'd send her a cinnamon roll, of course he would. Cinder can't wipe the smile off her face as she carefully nibbles at it, finishing it just before the washing machine - that also acts as a dryer - she'd loaded starts beeping.

Rolling her eyes at the clueless machine, she quickly finishes dumping the clothes into either an ironing basket or the to-be-folded box. Once done, she finishes her coffee and dumps that in the bin, knowing that it'll be hidden by the countless other coffee cups. And Cinder thanks her lucky stars that she hadn't thrown away the bag because otherwise, she might have missed the small piece of paper that flutters out and falls to the floor.

"What...?"

Scanning the calligraphic writing, Cinder's heart swims in an ocean of emotion; Kai's explained that he's sorry if he'd made the wrong impression and he'd like for them to keep in contact even if Cinder didn't want to fly kites, but he was absolutely okay with giving her privacy and backing off totally.

"You're supposed to be mad at me..." Cinder whispers to the paper, knowing that a processed tree can't make up for the barista, but it can make a reasonable substitute in desperate times.

She just wishes she had a way to tell him that it isn't his fault, and preferably a way to tell him before the end of the weekend.

She groans in frustration as she pockets the letter and picks up the to-be-folded box, carrying it to the other room so it's easier for her to sort through the clothes and see what belongs to who. All day, she can feel the paper as if it were red hot against her skin, happiness and guilt spreading like an argument through her mind.

At one point, she goes to throw away the bag and then decides against it when she sees how Kai's neatly written her name on it with a small heart, and a ridiculously smiley smile surrounded by doodles as if Kai hadn't realised what he was doing. Cinder decides to keep the bag for as long as possible, loving how it smells of coffee and cinnamon and compassion.

Naturally, she's so exhausted by the time she's finished that she can't even plan a way to sneak out. She doesn't even change before flopping onto her head, sighing and yawning as she lets her eyelids droop. She's already thinking about what to tell Kai by the time she remembers to throw something at the light switch to switch the darkness on, and she's half hoping to figure something out the next day.

Despite everything, she sleeps contently, knowing that Kai isn't annoyed at her.

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