inferno • lrh (ON HOLD)

two - cigarettes and coffee

they had made a b-line for their favourite coffee shop just outside campus, somehow picking up a wandering calum on the way. malory never really knew how he ended up hanging out with them, the dude just seemed to appear at any given moment, practically scaring the shit out of her. she would think he was stalking them if not for the lost look he always had on his face.

"are you paying-"

"not a chance calum. get your own fucking coffee." a pout appeared on his lips as he stared down at malory, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "i knew you had a favourite."

sticking her tongue out at him, malory motioned for zara to place her order with the barista first, but calum seemed to have other ideas seeing as he pushed both of the girls out of the way, ordering whatever he wanted for himself and paying.

"you ever heard about ladies first?" zara snapped at him as she shoved him out of the way. her foul mood was more tangible now than it was this morning, and if she didn't get more coffee in her it would just become worse. malory did not want her to become the spawn of satan before the day was done.

it was a few more minutes of standing at the counter with zara and calum bickering away before the three were finally able to choose a seat, their warm coffee's held between their cold fingers. the days we're getting shorter as they moved closer to the end of fall, bringing the colder winds and rain with it. malory definitely preferred this weather to that of a more warm climate. she may have been born and raised in california, but camberidge, massachusetts and its more temperate climate had her heart.

the weather wasn't the reason that she picked to go to harvard rather than any of the innumerable colleges and universities in california or the surrounding states. no, it actually wasn't even something she had considered when making her decision.

her parents parents held the top spot when it came down to influencing where she would go to college.

pulling out her chair from under the table, malory slumped down into it, careful not to spill any of her hot chocolate over herself. she had been tempted to order a coffee but with the sun already setting over the horizon she had decided against it. sleep was something she needed tonight, so no more caffeine for her. the same couldn't be said for her two companions, who were both currently sipping out of large coffee mugs.

"how are you doing after friday night? still want to pounce on that bitch that threw the drink on you?" malory looked over the rim of her mug as zara spoke, her green eyes rolling at the mere mention of the woman from friday night. she was the reason that mal had spent all weekend trying to wash the smell of gin out of her hair.

"as tempting as that sounds, i don't think that trying to jump her would be that good for my job. sienna brought me into the office on saturday before i started my shift and lets just say that if i do that agin, even if it is well deserved or not, there won't be a job for me afterwards."

calum and zara shared a glance as malory talked, annoyance clear in their eyes. everyone knew that their boss, sienna, was a bitch. she was only two years older than mal and zara, and a year older than calum, but she acted as if she had years and years of experience on them, which she didn't.

"ugh, i hate that bitch. can she just graduate already so one of us can be made manager?" zara's comment was as blunt as the blonde herself always was. she was never one to beat around the bush, which was something malory really appreciated about the girl. "not you though, cal. you'd make a shit manager."

"really feeling the love right now girls. it's like you only invited me here to belittle me." placing a hand against his chest as if to feign he was hurt, calum proceeded to flip him off with his pother hand.

"that's the thing hood, we didn't actually invite you."

"that's a mere technicality."

glowering at the older boy, both mal and zara rolled their eyes. they were well used to his antics by now, seeing as all three of them had been working together since zara and malory had arrived at harvard two years ago. his snarky remarks and jokes were actually quite endearing, but they wouldn't ever tell him that. it would only inflate his ego more than it already was and nobody needed that.

"don't try and deny it cal. we always end up running into you being your antisocial self and you then end up tagging along with us wherever we're going." zara had a point. they did tend to just find cal at random points in the day and en up hanging out with him for hours and hours afterwards.

"i am not antisocial. i have friends that aren't you two."

"we'll believe it when we see it cal." the two girls chuckled to themselves as calum proceeded to glare at at the two of them yet again.

"i hate you two."

"oh we know, but deep deep down inside you actually love us." mal smirked over at their curly haired friend, lifting her up up to her lips after a moment to hide the slight quiver of a laugh on them. "and you would never be able to live without us."

"yeah, well, if you had payed for my coffee i would agree. but you didn't, so therefore i hate you and could definitely, without a doubt, live without you two." his lips had begun to tug up slightly as they continued their banter, a sure sign that he was enjoying the jabs as much as malory and zara were.

"mhm. we believe you." the bout of laughter that bubbled up from all of them was unintentional, but none of them could hold it in anymore. this is why they liked each other. calum, zara and malory could be as mean as they wanted to each other without a worry because they all knew that it was a joke. there was no question about where their true feelings for each other lay. they could crack jokes at each other's expense and make sarcastic comments about one another, and at the end of the day would still all curl up on malory and zara's couch and watch one of those reality shows that zara loved so much.

they just got each other, and that was enough.

or well, it was enough in that moment. in the future? who knows. things happen and people change, right?