THREE YEARS LATER
Clementine's gray eyes shined with a radiated joy as she watched people from behind the counter, a smile as wide as possible lighting up her face. She finally felt like the diner was hers.
The drab gray walls that once taunted her were now a light red and the counters that were pitch black now held a dark green granite. It wasn't what her mom had put in place but it was an updated version of what she would have wanted, it was Clementine.
"Babe people really love this place, it's amazing," The blonde's lips form a kind and formal smile as she turns to look up at the man who caused most of her happiness. "You're amazing." She plants a small kiss onto his cheek before turning to look up at a new addition to the diner's decor.
Her lips turned downward, a hurt in her chest as she looked at the present that once made her heart flutter. It was the original 'Mel's' from the old sign her mother had painted, sat proudly in a picture frame as a reminder. Clementine had received the package less than a week ago, a small note inside that she couldn't bring herself to read. She knew who it was from.
Clementine hadn't seen Harry since their fight three years ago, and even avoided hearing his name most times. It wasn't an easy task, he was an international pop star after all. But he was always her what if.
She had always wondered what would have happened if she didn't storms out of that a[artment or if he had ran after her and not let her leave him?
"Clem you alright?," she snapped out of her daze quickly as she looked up at her boyfriend, guess she would have never met Jackson if Harry hadn't broken her heart.
She gave him an easy nod before her eyes catch someone else's, "Oh there's Jonathan and Maya I will be back," Jackson watches her run off in the direction of her best friends with a frown. His eyes look up at the sign holding firm on the wall above him, he knew exactly who it was from.
"Hey guys!," Clementine immediately felt joy radiate through her body as she looked at the new addition to the group, "Hey little man, how's my Tuck today?," she started to make funny faces at the baby while he grabbed at her hands. Jonathan and Maya had gotten married over a year ago, and just recently she had given birth to Tucker. Even after all the trouble Maya used to put Clementine through they still elected her to be his God Mother and she was an amazing one.
"How are you doing Clem? Business looks really good," she gives him a curt nod as his eyes zero in on Jackson. "Still dating that dweeb?"
Clementine gave Jonathan a glare as she smacked the back of his head, "Hey he might be a little...um...safe....but he is really good to me," she knew that Jackson was a little much on certain occasions but he was the opposite of the other people she had dated. He was too incredibly nice, so nice it was almost as if he were a door mat.
"He may be nice and all but is he Harry Styles," her eyes widened as she looked back to make sure Jackson hadn't heard what he said. There was no worth in the fact that Harry was famous but there was some worth in that he was the most attractive man she had ever been around.
The bridge of her nose heated as she turned to walk away, "I will be back when you're done being a pain," she waved a hand before disappearing into the kitchen where Jackson was making a checklist of supplies needed.
"I never got to ask you Clem...," she let out a low hum as she signed some of the paperwork that she needed to file, it was weird being the boss. "Who did you get that sign from?"
Her hands freeze in place before her eyes slide up to Jackson who had his arms crossed, a nervous look was plastered across his face. "An old friend," it was true they used to be good friends so it technically wasn't a lie.
"Would that good friend happen to have written an entire album about you?," she immediately turned to speak but the words caught in her throat. An entire album?
She turned back away from him and continued signing the papers, "Listen Jackson I was in a super power hungry relationship with jealousy and all that before, I won't do it again. Whatever I did before you is not really any of your concern anyway."
Clementine didn't want to be rude but she was also not going to put up with the invasion of privacy he was always trying to pull. He was incredibly insecure in himself and it made him doubt whether the relationship was actually truthful or not.
He was too nice to really ever say anything and when he did his hands shake, and his eyes flutter anywhere but Clementine. "Listen just don't worry about it," she tries to give him a smile but it doesn't reach her eyes.
"Don't worry about it?," his eyes travel all over the blonde before he lets out a deep sigh, "So why did he call you two nights ago?," Clementine's eyebrows pull down into anger as she turns to look up at her partner.
She hadn't received any calls from him?
"What are you-," her head turns slightly as she lets out a exasperated sigh, "You deleted it didn't you?," her words were calm but she felt anything but. How was she supposed to trust or be in a relationship when all men did was lie to her?
She pinched the bridge of her nose and looked out at the diner, Jonathan catching her eye as he pretended to push his glasses up and have buck teeth. He was no doubt making fun of the man behind her but she let a small smile crawl onto her lips, "Jackson just please don't touch my stuff, and just trust me."
For Jackson it was a little hard to believe that a woman like Clementine would ever even be attracted to him, so when HIS name popped up onto her phone the other day he panicked. How could he ever compete with a man who wrote a world famous album about her? And why would he be calling in the first place?
The man's heart raced as he watched the blonde grab her phone and push a button, a shy smile playing on her lips as she talked to the person on the other line. He could never make her smile like that.
