Amelia doesn't want to go to work. One of the first times in such a long time, she doesn't want to see her sister either. She loves working with Maddie, absolutely. The other day though still burns inside her mind. Of course she regretted every word she said a few hours after she had gone home, but that didn't stop the fact that Maddie didn't even seem open to changes or suggestions about the whole party idea. It would be cool to do, and she has no idea how her sister ever managed to figure out she wanted to have more time to get to know Ivan. Psychic or something.
She sighs and opens the door to the shop, spotting Madeline finagling with the machine, cleaning it or making coffee, she's not sure her sister knows it's her that has come inside. She goes to the back without a word, barely locking eyes with Madeline to know she knows she's there. The awkwardness only get worse from then on out. They work silently next to each other, not asking for certain items that the other could easily get for them. It's cold.
Amelia doesn't like it. She hates not being able to talk with Maddie, the one person she's told every stupid thing she's ever thought of since she started speaking. The apologies get lost on her tongue, not knowing how to word the different sentences that she wants to say, needs to say. Maybe Madeline is right, maybe she is a coward.
Lovino makes it to the front of the line and Maddie already has his typical coffee order ready. Amelia rings him up and tries to smile. Lovino pauses with his coffee halfway to his mouth. He glances between the two of them and lets out a disgusted sigh. He points to the table nearest the counter.
"Sit." He commands. Amelia jumps at his command. For the first time that day her and Madeline look at each other, both confused at Lovino's order. She looks down quickly.
"Now," Lovino commands again and they both shuffle from around the counter to go sit at the table. Amelia shifts in her seat as Lovino sits down with them, chugging a gulp of his piping hot coffee. She glances up at his scowling face but doesn't say anything. Suddenly he points at her.
"Shut up," He says. She glares at him and almost speaks to negate his comment when he turns his accusing finger to Madeline.
"Talk," He leans back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the table. Madeline shifts at the sudden attention on her. She sighs and sniffles.
"I didn't mean to snap at you," She whispers. Amelia swallows down the lump in her throat.
"You're not a coward." She takes a shaky breath and glances over at Madeline who looks about to cry.
"I don't really know why I freaked out about the party idea. It just. It was so sudden," Madeline hangs her head a little more and Amelia drops hers too.
"I should have asked you," Amelia says back to her. Really the party idea had been spur of the moment for her. She rushed to get ideas down on paper and then to print out flyers. It didn't even occur to her that it might not be the best idea. Somehow she thought Madeline would be all for it.
"It wasn't fair to spring that on you," She tacks on as an afterthought. She takes another peek at Madeline who still looks to be on the verge of crying. She whines and lunges at her sister to wrap her in a tight hug.
"I DIDN'T MEAN TO YELL AT YOUUUUUU," She cries out and nuzzles farther into Madeline's neck. She lets out a pouty noise when Madeline laughs lightly at her antics, petting her head lightly to accept the sort of apologies they made to each other.
"So party," Lovino prompts and takes another sip of his coffee. Amelia grimaces and takes out one of the flyers she shoved in her pocket. Madeline takes it and flattens it out on the table.
"I'm not comfortable hosting a party for so many people," She says. Amelia twists up her nose in thought. She should have thought about her sister's disposition for large groups.
"Well maybe we can make it a staff and friends thing?" She offers with a hopeful smile. Lovino raises an eyebrow at that.
"We could do it that Sunday when most people are out instead of the actual day so this way it's easier on customers?" Madeline shrugs her shoulders. Amelia makes a 'hmm' noise in thinking. Most students are leaving to go home for the winter break, so it'd be less detrimental on their income and Monday's are pretty slow so they could open later to make it easier on everyone yet again.
"That'll work, I can make new signs so people know what days and times we're changing? Maybe we can still do a celebratory deals thing to bring in revenue on the actual day," Her mind is crunching numbers. If they bring in enough extra from the actual day sales then they could easily afford to miss the revenue possibly gained from the few people who come in during those late night hours.
"I'd be okay with a small thing, just friends, to relax," Madeleine sighs and rubs at her face. Amelia puffs up her cheeks. Madeline has been up for about 12 hours now, it's getting close to her actual sleeping time. She smiles brightly and wraps an arm over her sister's shoulder.
"It'll be totally fun with just a small group!" She cheers and shakes her sister just a little. Madeline manages a laugh and smiles up at her, their argument fixed and forgotten.
"So when you said Ivan writes me letters what were you talking about?" Amelia whispers to her. Madeline snorts and Lovino rolls his eyes.
"Don't tell me you haven't heard those super ridiculous love letters over the radio?" He barks at her though not unkindly. She blinks at him and then realization hits.
"Ohhhhhhh wow," She says and Madeline laughs at her. Amelia covers her face with her hands.
"That's so embarrassing," She whines. They pick themselves up after Amelia is done having a mini freak out. With one huge hug Madeline goes home and Amelia is left waiting to see if Ivan is going to come in. They talked about a small list of invitees and she wouldn't deny wanting to ask him to come. Madeline wants to invite the non emergency line officer that drives her home during the early mornings, and Lovino barely managed to convey the message he wants to invite some random person he's been seeing. Though when Madeline figured that out she teased him greatly.
Amelia hums to herself, now in a far better mood after talking things out with her sister. Ivan walks in and she feels the energy bubbling through her.
"Hey there big guy, what can I get for you?" She asks though she knows his order by heart now. Ivan smiles uneasily and fiddles with his wallet in his hands.
"Just a small coffee, please," He says as best he can and Amelia smiles brightly, ringing up his order. She glances over her shoulder as he takes a seat in his typical spot. She makes the coffee carefully, not wanting to spill as she walks it over to him like everytime before. This time though, she takes a seat across from him as well as putting his coffee down in front of him.
"So hey I wanna ask you something," She says with bubble of excitement inside her. She nearly giggles at the first flash of panic that crosses Ivan's face, like she might ask him something weird.
"Me and Maddie and the other workers are going to hold a little party chill out thing on Sunday," She says in explanation, wondering if Ivan will piece together what she's going to ask before she actually says it. He tilts his head and blinks dumbly at her and she laughs.
"I was wondering if you'd like to come? With me specifically?"
He's gotten so much better at talking to her. He can now order his coffee without dropping all of his change or stuttering over his words too badly. He still has to think about what he's going to say twelve times even though it's the same sentence he says everytime he talks to her.
"Hey there big guy, what can I get for you?" He blinks at her and the bright smile on her face as if he didn't understand the question she just asked him. There's only one thing she could have asked but still it takes him a moment to swallow down his nerves to talk.
"Just a small coffee, please," He forces out. She giggles and rings up his order. He pays easily as he can, not turning back as he heads to his chosen table in the corner to look out the window. There's not many people in the café this early. He's been able to come in later, now having the ability to ask Amelia herself for coffee instead of Madeline. That push to talk had been a terrible event, but in the end it turned out okay.
He hears the steps of Amelia getting closer and prepares himself to thank her but instead of going back to the counter like she normally does she takes the seat across from him with confidence. He stares at her in confusion once more. She smiles up at him and he's a little caught off guard by the sweetness in her smile, still surprised she gives him such an expression.
"So hey I wanna ask you something." Ivan goes into a brief panic mode. Is she going to ask him something weird? He doesn't know how to word normally, there's no way he could answer a question on the spot. She nearly giggles at him and his embarrassment grows more.
"Me and Maddie and the other workers are going to hold a little party chill out thing on Sunday," She tells him. He tilts his head, not understanding why she's telling him this unless for some other reason.
"I was wondering if you'd like to come? With me specifically?" She asks. His reaction is immediate. He can feel the heat rising to his cheeks and eyes going wide when the question registers in his head. He lifts his hands to his scarf and hides his face in the cloth. She asked to hangout with him, specifically, to go somewhere. Questions burn inside his brain and her laugh echoes around him. He jumps a little when he feels her next to him.
"You don't have to if you don't want to, but I'd like it if you did," She reassures him. He gulps and moves his scarf just enough to peek at her. She kneeling down next to his leg, one hand placed on his knee to balance herself. That same bright smile on her face. His breathing is ragged and he realizes he can't talk. Instead he nods his head in a short jerky motion.
She giggles happily and stands. Just as he thinks he's out of the clear she leans over to kiss his cheek sweetly. His eyes trail after her as she walks back to the counter, a complete starstruck look on his face. He absent mindedly places a hand over his cheek, still feeling the press of her lips on him. When she notices him staring at the counter, she winks at him. He jolts in his seat, turning back to his coffee and trying not to hide his face in his scarf again.
Very slowly he drink his coffee, an undeniable happiness bursting inside him. A small smile comes to him, mind now full of happy thoughts that she actually wants to do something with him. That is until he realizes he now has to prepare to be social with her in super close proximity for a whole night. He has plenty of time to panic over what to do later. Right now he just wants to enjoy the idea that when he takes small glances over at her, that she's already smiling and looking back.
AN: Hah, she asked him on a date. Thank you to Tiana13, SuperLeaf, Inky-Paws, and itspeep for reviewing. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.