Coffee Shop Soundtrack (Marianas Trench)

Chapter Thirty Eight

“Ashley?” Matt asked cautiously as he entered his work. The petite girl looked up, quickly wiping her face and smiling. 

“Matt, hi.” She sniffed. “You’re early.” 

“Only a little... are... are you okay?” He questioned, dropping his bag near the counter as he stood opposite Ashley, who looked down to make her hair cover her face. 

“Yeah.” She looked up and smiled, but her face crumpled and she frowned. “No, not really.” 

“What happened?” 

“My boyfriend – my fucking boyfriend of two years, for god’s sake – just broke up with me, but it’s fine. It’s okay. I’ll be fine.” She wiped again at her face. “God, I’m so stupid.” 

“No, don’t say that, you’re not stupid. It probably just wasn’t right for you. You can find someone who’s perfect for you, okay?” 

“It’s funny.” She rolled her eyes. “He cared more about his appearance and his ‘reputation’ with his friends than he ever cared about me.” 

“Hmm, I had someone like that once.” Matt raised his eyebrow. “It’s probably good that it’s broken off.” 

Ashley took a deep breath and raised her hands. “I can’t believe it happened, though. What do I have to do to make it better?” She exclaimed, waving her hands around dramatically. Suddenly, she yelped in pain, holding up her left hand to see a long gash – bleeding quite heavily already – on the back of it. It seemed she’d caught it on the sharp edge of the tape dispenser. She tutted, scrunching up her face as she looked on the verge of tears again. “Of course this had to happen, today of all days. I’m so fucking stupid!” 

“No, Ashley, you’re really not. It was an accident, okay? C’mere.” He tapped the counter, motioning for her to sit up on it. he sat next to her, extracting the little first aid kit from his bag.  

“You keep a first aid kit in your bag?” 

“Mhm. Used to have a lot of accidents.” He said non-descriptively as he opened a pack of gauze. “Hold your hand up.” He commanded, and he pressed the gauze to the wound. “Keep it up and put pressure on it, alright?” 

Ashley nodded, and watched wonderingly as Matt prepared antiseptics and a plaster. “You seem to know a lot about this.” 

“Yeah, well, like I said, I used to have a lot of accidents, Ashley.” He said bluntly. “Give me your hand.” He removed the gauze, wiping it over with the antiseptic wipe – wincing when Ashley hissed at the sting – and unwrapping the plaster to put on top. As he firmly pressed down on the adhesive sides, Ashley caught him by surprise by surging forward and kissing him roughly. He squeaked and tried to pull away, but Ashley just kept kissing him. It was all wrong; her lips were too soft and she had looped her hand around Matt's neck to counteract the height difference. She was not what Matt wanted and the whole thing made him feel uneasy. 

“Hmph – Ashley.” He mumbled, breaking away sharply and holding her away at arms length. “What are you doing?” 

“You’d be perfect for me. You’d look after me.” She stated as if it were obvious.  

Matt furrowed his brow and shook his head. “No, Ashley, what the hell?” 

“Matt?” A voice called softly from the door. Matt's head shot up to see Josh standing there, Matt's phone in his outstretched hands, and a pained expression on his face. 

“Josh. Oh my god.” Matt muttered, jumping off the table and standing up. 

“Who... who’s this?” Ashley asked nervously. Angrily, Matt glared at her. 

“This is my boyfriend, Ashley, god.” He said, rushing over to get Josh. 

He spoke in a small voice. “I... you left your ph-phone at home. I thought you might want it.” Josh looked as though he was going to cry.  

“Thank you, baby.” Matt said softly, taking the phone and sliding it into his pocket. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t what it looked like.” He reached over to grab Josh's hands, but the tall man flinched away like he was being burned. 

“Really? ‘Cause it looked an awful lot like you were kissing your co-worker.” 

“It wasn’t that.” Ashley pointed out, suddenly a lot closer. “I cut my hand. I kissed him. It’s my fault.” She held up her hand as proof and Matt glared at her. 

"Josh, please just let me explain this-" 

"It's pretty fucking self explanatory." Josh scoffed, defensive even when he was on the verge of tears.  

"You really think I would cheat on you?" Matt said in a small voice. 

“I…I gotta go pick up stuff for Tux. I just... I gotta go.” Josh said brokenly as he turned to leave again. 

“Baby, please don’t go. I can fix this.” 

“Just leave it. It’s fine. Have a nice day at work.” Josh said as he left, and Matt watched through the window as he huddled in on himself and walked away.  

Matt ran a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. 

“You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend!” She exclaimed from behind him. “Heck, you didn’t even tell me you’re gay!” 

“I didn’t want to!” Matt cried. “And I didn’t think you’d just kiss me like that!” 

“Why didn’t you want to? You could have just said!” 

“I thought you would hate me because I like guys!” 

“Oh my god.” She muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. “How fucking prejudiced do you think we are? Danny’s gay, for god’s sake!” 

Matt grabbed his bag and began clearing up from the table. “And I didn’t know that. But I wouldn’t just kiss him out of the blue like that.” 

“I’m sorry.”  

Matt just shook his head and looked at the floor. “I’m putting my bag out back. D’you want anything?” Ashley shook her head numbly. He headed to the staff room and put his bag in his locker, bashing his head against the metal and groaning. Pulling out his phone, he texted Josh.  

To: Josh 

I’m sorry. I love you. 

He didn’t expect a reply. He knew he fucked up. Now he just had to get through the day, and then he could go home and try and explain himself to his boyfriend.

A/N: My friend 'double donkey doughnut dared' me to ask you guys for feedback, so what do you think is going to happen? Also I really want to know what you think is going to happen in the next chapter. Let me know!

Also I just had my heart ripped out by television shows I think I need a break!!!