Chapter Three: Hot Dogs

Lara Jean and Peter walked in silence for a few moments. They took turns sneaking glances at the other. Lara Jean thought Peter looked taller and his hair had grown out slightly. The hot dog stand had a small line and they both spoke at the same time.

"So.."

"I-um,"

They both stopped speaking and laughed nervously. "You go," Lara Jean said and then she pretended to be really interested in looking at the toppings available for her hot dog.

"Is it super weird me, popping up like this?" He started.

"A bit yeah," Lara Jean smiled gently.

"Yeah. It is huh?" He started rubbing the back of his head nervously and Lara Jean could sense the doubt in him, which was something she wasn't used to.

"Not- I mean - it's not a bad weird though. I just didn't expect to see you here…at my shop…two times in the same week. I mean it's been what?"

"2 years." He spoke and Lara Jean thought she heard a hint of regret in his voice.

"Probably closer to three," she mumbled.

"Listen, Lara Jean, we never—I never got to explain what happened,"

"Oh look it's our turn!" Lara Jean exclaimed and moved to the front of the line.

Peter sighed but followed Lara Jean, "Ah, two please," Lara Jean was digging through her wallet, "My treat," he said and handed money to the vendor.

"You sure? I could Venmo you, I thought I had cash." They moved to add their toppings.

"Don't worry about it," he said, "Consider it a thank you for the cupcakes."

"Right." She remembered that it wasn't just him that she gave a cupcake to.

"They were delicious by the way, thanks," She just smiled.

"There's a park right there, we can find a bench and eat."

"Sounds good," he said and they walked together in silence a little longer. Peter not waiting, took a large bite of his hot dog. "MMM, this is definitely my favorite part of living in New York. The street food. Mmm."

"It is definitely a perk," Lara Jean replied as he took another bite and nodded happily. "So...did your ah, girlfriend enjoy the cupcakes?"

Pater choked a little, "Girlfriend? God, no. I mean yes she enjoyed the cupcakes, but she is not my girlfriend."

"Oh...you seemed...close". That's an understatement, she thought, internally cringing.

"Would you believe that was our first date?" They approached a park bench and sat on opposite ends. Lara Jean finally took a bite of her hot dog and looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Seriously," he continued, "my buddy is dating her best friend and they've been trying to hook me up with her for a while."

"Ahh, well she seems like a really nice girl, Pete." she tried to contain a giggle and she saw him flinch.

"Oh my God," He rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly, "You heard that huh?"

"Mmmhmm," she said chewing.

"I don't even look like a Pete!"

,

"You're definitely a Peter. Kavinsky, I think, is the most fitting though."

He grinned at her, "Anyway...I won't be going out with her again. I swear she mentioned wedding plans…" He finished eating and simply stared at her. She noticed this and focused on her hotdog to prevent the blush that was forming from full-on appearing on her cheeks. "So, what about you? How have you been?"

She finished chewing and looked at him, " I've been good! Um, I work at the shop a few nights a week just for the extra cash and I love it, " she glowed, "and then I work for a non-profit called Footsteps. We create affordable housing for the elderly,"

"So like an old folk home?" He asked.

"Kind of, but we like to consider ourselves more of an elderly community. We don't want it to feel just like an 'old folks home' you know. We foster independence and make sure that they still feel like functioning parts of society. I mainly deal with planning and events but help out wherever else I can...I'm sorry, I'm rambling." She looked down shyly.

"No, no. I like hearing about this. I like seeing you happy and excited about what you do." He moved slightly closer to her encouraging her to continue.

"Maybe you should come to one of our events some time, see what we do."

"I'd love to!" They were silent again, "What about your family? I bet Kitty is breaking all the hearts and taking names."

Lara Jean made a mental note to mention to Kitty that he asked about her specifically, "Of course she is. She's going to school to be a doctor. Let's see, Dad and Trina are good. They got another dog. Dad swore no more pets and now they have three dogs," Lara Jean laughed.

"One for each daughter maybe?" He laughed.

"You know, I said the same thing...Oh, Margo's engaged! To Ravi! They're actually living together in Philly. I've been helping her with the planning a bit."

"Wow, that's great, and of course you're helping. Anyone would be lucky to have you on their wedding planning committee! You should bake the cake."

"Oh I am! Well at least one of them. It was decided that there would be multiple."

"Would it be a Song-Covey event without multiple desserts?" Peter laughed.

"Absolutely not," Lara Jean raised her head pridefully before laughing.

"I miss those Song-Covey events." Lara Jean stilled when he said this, "For all those sweets, you know?" He added quickly sensing her discomfort. She nodded but their brief moment had been ruined.

"So...what are you doing now?" She asked fiddling with the hem of her jacket before looking at him.

"I work at a high school. I'm a guidance counselor."

"Wow, that's awesome. I bet you're really great with that.

"Thanks. I'm trying," he laughed. "I actually just started so I'm trying to get my footing. This is my first job in the field since I finished my master's program."

"I'm sure the kids are gonna love you," Lara Jean reassured him.

"I hope so. I wanna be someone the kids will really talk to you know?" His face lit up.

"You're gonna be the cool counselor. Mr. K."

"Mr. K? I like it. It sounds like I'm the cool teacher,"

"They're gonna be like 'Hey Mr. K can I get a hall pass, I'm late for class," Lara Jean attempted to do a high school boys voice and giggled at how ridiculous she sounded.

"What teenage boy sounds like that?" Peter asked doubling over.

"Plenty of them," Lara Jean laughed harder we Peter raised an eyebrow, "None. No one on earth sounds like that. I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"I think you owe all teenage boys an apology for what you just did. "

"All of them?"

"All. Past, present, and future." This made Lara Jean laugh more.

"Well, I am sorry. I don't know where that came from."

"I think they'll forgive you, just bake them a lot of cookies." Lara started to calm down from laughing.

"Seriously though, I think the students will love you. Does the school have a lacrosse team?"

Peter grinned, "Nope., but I'm working on it. My plan is to get in good with the kids and see who's interested to get a team started. It'll be like my special project."

"I guess I kind of have a special project too at the shop."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Cookies!" Peter smiled but looked confused. "I'm trying to get my boss to let me sell my cookies in the shop. Right now we only sell cupcakes."

"Great cupcakes at that. But I think that's a great idea. You already know how I feel about your cookies."

Lara Jean smiled, "Yeah well hopefully Sugar feels the same way."

"She will." Peter looked at her intently

Lara Jean was suddenly nervous again, "...well I- She's gonna give me a trial run. After Thanksgiving. So I guess we will see. I have a few new recipes I want to make sure are perfect."

"Well, I'm happy to be a taste tester. I can even take a batch up to the school and get the other teachers to feedback if you need a focus group or something."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." There was silence between them.

"So..we've talked about your family..your jobs…what about you?"

"What do you mean? That's all me." She laughed.

"I mean what about your personal life…you know, like are you seeing anyone?"

Lara Jean bit her lip nervously, "why does that even matter?"

"Hey, you asked me first!"

"I did not!" She crossed her arms.

"Oh come on, Covey," he said rolling his eyes, "Casually asking me if my girlfriend enjoyed the cupcakes. That's a backwards way of checking to see if we were actually together."

"I wasn't checking anything. I mean I was pretty certain anyone calling you Pete had to be your girlfriend. Why else would you allow that?" Lara Jean was trying very hard to hold back a smile.

"You're not gonna let this Pete thing go huh?"

Shaking her head, "No way."

"Fine. But I still think you were fishing for info and now so am I...so are you dating?"

Lara Jean gulped, "I am.. I have a boyfriend." What are you thinking?

Peter's face visibly fell, "Oh wow. That's awesome. How long have you been together?"

Lara Jean was screaming at herself on the inside. Why are you lying to him about this? "A while," stop it!

"Cool, cool… you seem...happy. Are you?"

"I am. We are," she smiled politely. Right, you and your imaginary boyfriend are so happy, right now.

"I'm really glad Lara Jean. I hope you know that I mean that. You deserve to be happy."

"Thanks"

Another silence.

"Lara Jean...in college… when everything happened. I was an idiot, I was going through a lot, but that doesn't make me less of an idiot."

"Water under the bridge," she said cutting him off. But it's not! I'm not over this

"You say that, but what I did was unforgivable." Damn right.

"Well, I forgive you," When did that happen?

"You haven't even heard me apologize yet."

"I don't need to. We were both young and it's been years. I've moved on, you've moved on. Water under the bridge," Ok, I guess I'm committed to this lie now.

He was hesitant, "Are you sure, cuz I have this whole speech planned."

Last chance LJ, Lara Jean nodded, "I'm totally, totally sure," she mentally kicked herself totally?

"Ok….well I'd like it if we can try to be friends again."

"Me too," she said earnestly. Ok, at least you're honest about something here.

Peter's signature grin returned to his face, "Awesome. I mean we're both in New York. We should be hanging out!"

"Well, now we will!"

"And I can meet this special guy you were talking about."

Lara Jean laughed nervously, "Yeah soon," she checked the time, "We should head back. I gotta help close."

The both stood at the same time and they were standing face to face. Before Lara Jean could react Peter engulfed her into a bear hug.

"It's good to see you, Covey. I'm glad we could catch up."

Lara Jean smooshed into him inhaled his scent becoming dizzy, you still smell the same, "Me too," she said muffled.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, letting her go.

Straightening herself, "It's fineS" she smiled up at him

"Shall we?" He motioned towards the shop and they began to walk back.

When they reached Buttercream there were a few customers inside but Lara Jean stopped in front of the store before going in.

"This was nice."

"Yeah it was," he replied stepping slightly closer.

"I guess, I'll see you around then"

"Definitely." He replied and they stood awkwardly for a moment.

"Alright…see you later," she gave a small wave before turning around.

"Hey Covey, one more thing.."

Reaching for the door she turned around.

"Do you think, you could unblock me now?"

The blood immediately rushed to her cheeks, "uh I- About that, I don't even really use-"

"Hey, no explanation needed," He raised his hands in surrender, "I would have blocked me too. I just think since we're friends now…"

She pulled her phone from her pocket and waved it at him, "I got you."

"Do you, uh, still have the same number?" He asked.

"I do, do you?" He nodded. She remembered she had his number blocked and made another mental note to update that, "I'll text you."

"Cool," Peter turned to walk away.

"Peter," he stopped and turned around.

"I'm glad you came by tonight."

"Not too creepy?"

"I think it's just the right amount of creepy."

He laughed, "See you around Covey.

He walked away and Covey entered the store just as the few customers were leaving.

As soon as Sugar saw Lara Jean coming in, she smacked her hands on the counter and said, "Tell me everything!"

Lara Jean plopped down on one of the chairs and sighed, "It's a loooong story. First, though, do you know anyone that could pretend to be my boyfriend?"

A/N: Friends again…. But is it really a friendship if Lara Jean is already lying about her feelings and about having a boyfriend? What was Peter going through in college? Will customers like LJs cookies? Stay tuned to find out the answers to this and more!

As always thanks for reading! There was a little delay on this chapter because I hit some writer's block this week, but I'm back in action! Let me know what you think. I love reading the comments and getting you guy's perspective.

My goal is to update at least once a week (probably towards the end of the week/on the weekends), and if I feel inspired I will do more.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Peace,

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