The third time Alice found him was an accident. She had just wanted coffee. It wasn't an outrageous demand, and it certainly wasn't impossible to find without running into your classmate. Normally. She wasn't avoiding them, per se, but it certainly wasn't her intention or desire to run into them. Since she had the car anyways, she went out of her way to drive to the Starbucks on the very edge of town.

Her decision to come to this Starbucks in particular had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that she knew it was by Ace's house. Nothing at all. It wasn't as if she had plans to bring him a croissant, and it certainly wasn't as if she wanted an excuse to see him after last night's date.

She just liked the atmosphere of this Starbucks in particular. Yes, she liked the way that the… it had a certain… there were many reasons that she could have liked it! And none of those reasons had anything to do with a certain red-eyed boy. Absolutely nothing to do with him and the possibility that she could see him if she found the courage to deliver a croissant.

Ha! As if!

Alice rounded a corner a few blocks from the Starbucks and promptly slammed on the brakes.

The car, though still in relatively good condition, protested such an action. Loudly.

She wasn't going to stop in time.

Red eyes met hers through the windshield, and then vanished.

She closed her eyes, felt the car slide to a stop, and prayed that she had not seen what she thought she had seen. At least, she thought, she had not felt a bump. Had not, in fact, felt anything at all after the initial jolt of stopping.

Encouraged by this though, Alice opened her eyes just a crack and gingerly stepped out of the car. There did not appear to be a person (or what remained of a person) under her car. There was no one in front of her car. The street was completely deserted. She could have sworn that she had seen-

"BOO!"

Alice yelped, stumbled, and fell directly onto the pavement that she had been examining for possible sings of a vaporized human.

"What-" She tried, her voice breaking in the middle of the word. "What the hell did you think you were doing?!"

"Oh, don't be like that, Alice. I was just crossing the road."

"Just -just -just crossing the road?" Alice spluttered. She looked him over, checking for any sign of injury.

"Yes." Said Ace.

Her eyes narrowed and her teeth clenched. So this was how it was going to be. "You were 'just crossing the road' when the sign indicated -very clearly! – that it was my right of way? You were 'just crossing the road'? Hmm? You could have gotten yourself killed, you complete idiot!"

"Nah, I rolled out of the way in time." He grinned, and then changed the subject. "What're you doing all the way up here, Alice? I thought your house was on the other side of the city?"

She felt her cheeks warm up, and tried to convince herself that it was the anger. "Don't you dare try and change the subject on me! You nearly got yourself killed!"

Ace whistled, spinning around to look at his surroundings. "Well, since you feel that bad about it, you could treat me to Starbucks. There's one around here."

Oh. Oh, he did not just –" You nearly got yourself run over with my car, and you're inviting me to treat you? Think again!"

"What? Alice, are you mad? It's not your fault, don't worry -you had a turning light!"

"I -you -this -I KNOW I HAD RIGHT OF WAY THAT'S WHY I'M MAD!" She would not stomp her foot. She would not.

"So I take it you're not going to treat me to Starbucks."

"No." If Alice clenched her teeth any more, she was certain that they would shatter.

"Well, then, it's decided!" Ace said cheerfully, sitting himself down in the driver's seat and adjusting the mirrors.

"Excuse me? What's decided?" Outrage and confusion vied for dominance.

"Since you won't treat me, I'll treat you~." Ace grinned at her from the driver's seat, one hand slung over the wheel.

"What? No. No one is treating anyone -you're going home -or better yet to the hospital!" Alice said, clenching her fists in frustration. Then, with sudden clarity, she grasped the severity of the situation. Ace was sitting in her sister's car. With the keys. Her sister's car, which she had promised to return without a scratch on it. Not a scratch. "What are you doing? Get out of my car! Hey!"

"Don't worry~. I'm a good driver."

"Do you even have your license?"

"You should get in the passenger's seat."

"Do you have your license?" Alice asked again, panic rising in her throat.

"Of course -I would never get you in trouble driving without one. See?"

Swallowing her trepidation, Alice stepped into the car. When he set his mind to something, there was only one way that it ended -with him getting what he wanted. Resigned to her fate, she gave him a reproachful glare as she fastened her seatbelt. "If you scratch my sister's car, you're paying for rushed repairs before she gets back."

The car lurched forwards. She hoped that this wasn't a sign of what was to come. "Like I said, I'm a good driver."

"Okay." Said Alice, entirely unconvinced. "Turn left at the next intersection."

"Gotcha."

"Turn left." A pause. "Ace, turn left. Turn left! No, wait -your other left. No. Hey!"

"Sorry~. But there's a shortcut if we just-"

"No."

"We could maybe-"

"No."

"If I just-"

"We're going around the block. You're going to listen to my directions, or I'm getting out of the car and reporting it as stolen."

"That's not a very nice thing to do~." Ace whined.

"I haven't been a nice person, right from the very start." Alice retorted. "Turn right."

Ace was not, as he had said, a good driver. In fact, Alice was beginning to wonder if his style of 'driving' had anything at all to do with hers. But he did not so much as touch the paint of the car, and really, that was all Alice needed.

They reached a Starbucks in a record thirty minutes. Not the Starbucks that they(Alice) had initially intended on going to, and certainly not the one they(Alice) had been getting directions to, but a Starbucks nonetheless.

They sat at a table near the entrance, Alice tentatively sipping her mocha while Ace stared intently into his latte, as if it would reveal the secrets of the universe if he looked at it in just the right way.

Alice smiled at the crease between his eyebrows. "Penny for your thoughts?"

And suddenly, his face bloomed into a smile. "Alice, I like you a latte."

She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. "It must be hard with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line."

I like you the mocha.

Author's Notes:

I'm so so so sorry. It's been a year. I'm so sorry.