Title: Lonely
Series: Fic-For-All Fanmix
Author: Jmaria
Rating: Pg-13 (suggestive talk)
Disclaimer: Joss owns Xander, Katims owns Ava
Pairing: FfA #365 Xander / Ava (Roswell)

Summary: 20 songs, 20 pairings. Lonely by Brian McKnight
Part Summary: Two lonely people meet in a coffee shop

Lonely

Xander shook the rain out of his hair, wiped his feet on the aging welcome mat. The brightly lit sunshine yellow diner was nearly empty. Only one waitress manned the counter, and the cook was in back, reading a Stephen King novel. The waitress fumbled with her order pad when he took a seat at the counter.

He grinned at her, as best as he could. His eye patch was chaffing him and he really wasn't in the mood to grin. He'd been attracting demon chicks lately, and well, it kinda sucked being nearly devoured every time you wanted to take a girl out to dinner.

"What can I getcha?" The waitress blurted, keeping her eyes down.

"Cup a coffee'll do," Xander smiled.

"Right. Coffee. It - it um, still pourin' out there?" There was an accent to her voice, one he could kinda place. "You ask me, ya gotta be half outta ya head to be out in this weather."

She spoke over her shoulder while pouring the coffee for him. She turned back and set it down. Xander's eye dipped to the name tag. Ava. She smiled at him, brushing back a dyed purple strand of hair. She waited for him to answer.

"Kinda. Gotta get someplace, and I'm not a big fan of planes, so I opted to drive."

"Really? Where you headed to?" Ava leaned forward on her elbows, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"New York."

"Oh, I'm from New York," There's a tinge of sadness in her voice, and her eyes cloud over for a minute.

"I've only been there once. More of a West Coast boy, but not in a whole rap feud kinda way," Xander replied, plastering that grin back on.

"Yeah, could tell by your accent," Ava grinned.

"Say, you wanna join me for a cup of coffee? Or will that get you in trouble with the Man?"

"Who, Caesar? He's 'bout to take his nap - who's he gonna rat on me to?" Ava laughed, more than she had since Zan died. She'd been lonely for too long, and here was this smiling, happy man who wanted to have coffee with her. "I'd like a cup a coffee."

"Great, my name's Xander by the way," he grinned back as she slid on to the stool next to him.