Me before you

chapter 12

By the time Sana arrived at Granny's Saturday morning, Chaeyoung was already waiting for her outside, hands buried deep in the pockets of her thick tan coat. Sana felt a surge of gratitude for her friend.

Last night, after Louis was tucked soundly into bed, Sana had found herself picking up her phone and texting her old college roommate for a catch up – the thought of being left alone to deal with whatever may or may not have been happening with Y/n was dangerous. They hadn't really spoken for a few weeks anyway, and since Louis was spending Saturday morning with a school friend for a project, it worked out perfectly.

She'd been trying hard not to overthink the Y/n situation. Frankly, she'd been failing.

Breathing in and firmly putting all thoughts of the quadriplegic from her mind, Sana flipped a dark wave of hair behind her shoulder and conjured up a smile. Chaeyoung met it easily, motioning her over as she approached. "Morning, stranger." Her friend greeted. "How are you?" She paused, eyes searching. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'm doing better," Sana assured her truthfully, after a brief pause to consider. "Shall we go in? I don't remember you mentioning how cold Lincoln gets in your sales pitch."

"Oh, this is nothing." Chaeyoung smiled, rolling her eyes slightly and following Sana up the steps to the steamy glass-paned door. The bell chimed as they walked in. "Wait 'til February."

Inside, Sana sighed as a wave of warm, coffee-scented air hit her skin. There were already half a dozen people occupying scattered booths and tables, filling the air with a low buzz of conversation out of time with the clinking cups and cutlery. It wasn't Granny or Jisoo behind the counter today – thank God. Today was not a day for small talk with Y/n's ex-friends. She pulled her leather gloves off one after the other, flexing her stiff fingers. December had well and truly settled into the little town.

She followed Chaeyoung into a booth by the foggy window, sliding into the far seat and fastidiously unwinding her black wool scarf. While Chaeyoung started up the polite small talk that seemed to precede all of their conversations, Sana shrugged out of her coat and folded it neatly on the seat beside her, untucking her hair from the collar of her blouse. It was down past her collarbones now, the longest it had been since she was at college – she wasn't sure whether she liked it or not. She could feel Chaeyoung watching her.

Sana shot her a look, smoothing her scarf between her hands. "What?"

"You're avoiding something." Chaeyoung stated, ridding herself of her own white knit scarf. When Sana opened her mouth to protest, the blonde's thin eyebrows shot up half an inch, effectively cutting her off. "I've known you since you were eighteen, Sana, I know when there's something on your mind." She paused, with a slight sympathetic tilt of her head. "Is it Wonwoo?"

Sana had to physically suppress a laugh.

"Good morning, ladies, is there anything I can get you today?"

Sana looked up from the Formica-topped table, relief washing over her at the sight of the beaming, red-aproned waitress standing over them, notebook and pen poised in hand. She cleared her throat and fixed on another casual smile. "I'll have a black coffee. Medium."

"Black coffee," The waitress nodded, before turning to Chaeyoung.

"Yeah, can I get a flat white? And a feta salad panini." She paused, turning back to Sana across the table. "You sure you don't want to get anything to eat? The food here is to die for."

"I'm sure," Sana declined graciously, with another smile. How many was that now? Maybe Chaeyoung wasn't so wrong in her psychoanalysis.

The waitress nodded and disappeared behind the counter, returning not long later with a tray bearing two steaming teacups and Chaeyoung's sandwich. Once she'd left, Sana waited a beat before raising her gaze back to her friend: Chaeyoung was sitting looking at her, evidently unconvinced. There was a moment neither of them spoke. "Seriously, Sana." Her friend urged. "What's up?"