"I wasn't expecting you to show up anytime soon," I said as I looked at the boy in front of me, who was tapping the table with his fingers.
"I've been worried about you, Alyssa," Caspar said softly, a sincere smile on his face. "You're like my annoying little sister."
"I'm not annoying," I tried to stay serious, but I found myself laughing at his statement. I looked down at the menu in my hand before looking back up at Caspar. "What are you ordering?"
"What do you think I should order?"
"Cheese pizza?"
He looked up at me slightly alarmed before he raised his eyebrows. "Can you read my mind?"
"No, I'm just in the mood for a good old cheese pizza," I admitted, watching as he smiled before lifting his hand to wave the waiter over. A boy around Caspar's age came over and smiled at me shyly before looking at Caspar. His smile immediately faded and I looked over at Caspar, who was watching the boy intently.
"Actually, can you give us a few minutes?" I asked the boy, who simply smiled and nodded before walking away. I watched as he left to go check on another table, before turning towards Caspar. "What's wrong with you?"
"Did you see the way he was looking at you?"
I let out a sigh before placing my hands on the table. "He was just trying to appear friendly, Caspar!"
"I know a flirty smile when I see one," he started off and just as he was about to continue.
"I get that you're just trying to look out for me and you're also trying to look out for Joe, but we're over, Caspar and nothing's changing that," I stated quickly, before getting up. "I'll be right back, I think I forgot my phone in the car."
"Can I order for you?" he asked, before looking at me intently. I nodded quickly and grabbed my keys from the table, looking down at it as I walked towards the entrance of the restaurant. As the wind hit my face I was thankful for the grey hoodie that was keeping me warm.
It wasn't just any grey hoodie, it was his grey hoodie.
I pushed the thought away and looked up, my eyes scanning over the parking lot to try and locate Zoë's car, which surprisingly, she let me use without hesitation. When I reached the car, my hands fumbled for the unlock button on the key and within a few seconds I had the car door open and half of my body inside, as I looked throughout the car for my phone. I pressed the button to open the console and my hands closed around my phone. When I lifted my hand, my phone wasn't the only thing that I had lifted up. I turned the small picture over in my hands, my eyes immediately looking at the scrawly print.
Joe and Alyssa <3 - December 2015
I turned the picture over and looked at the image, my hands shaking as I did. There we were, Joe and I, as happy as we could be. I remembered the day clearly, it was the day we first met. The day where my life changed forever. Where I met the boy that I was still hopelessly in love with.
I tore my gaze away from the picture and ducked out of the car, closing the door behind me. I was still clutching the picture in my hands tightly when I opened the door to the restaurant and bumped straight into someone.
The picture fell from my hands, turning in the air twice before it hit the ground. I looked up at the person who bumped into me and expected to see a total stranger but instead Caspar was looking rather alarmed as he stared at me.
"I was just coming to check and see if you were okay," he explained quickly before looking at the ground, his eyes widening as he saw the picture on the floor. Before I could do anything, he was already bending down to pick up the picture off the floor. He looked at the scrawly print and as I watched him, I swear he smiled for a split second before turning the picture around.
His eyes scanned the picture for a moment and then the picture was suddenly in my hands. I didn't know what was happening at the time but before I knew it, Caspar Lee was embracing me tightly in the front of the pizzeria.
"I'm sorry, Alyssa," he whispered softly into my ear as I found myself burying my head into his chest, tears pricking my eyes. I forced them back and lifted the picture behind him, looking at Joe's smiling face before I replied.
"I am too, Caspar."
+
"The last time I had pizza that was that good, it was in Barcelona."
"When did you go to Barcelona?"
"When I was filming Hit The Road with-" he stopped for a moment and looked at me up quickly. I let out a sigh and parked the car before turning to look at him.
"You're allowed to say his name, Caspar. I'm not going to burst into tears every time I hear it."
"Sorry," he apologized quickly although there was no need to. I let out a soft laugh before jumping out of the car and pulling out the picture, looking at it once before I slipped it back into the pocket of the grey hoodie.
Once we reached the door, I knocked on it and hoped that Zoë wasn't out walking Nala. The door swung open and when I looked up, Zoë was standing in the doorway looking back and forth between Caspar and I. She opened the door wider and let the two of us in before she shut it quickly and leaned against the door.
"What's going on? Why-" I stopped as I looked around the room and saw someone exiting the bathroom. Our eyes met and his mouth dropped wide open, as did mine. He looked back and forth between Caspar and I before speaking.
"So this is what you're up to, isn't it?" his voice was soft as he spoke and I could tell that in that moment he was talking to Caspar. "You told me that you were going to meet a 'friend' in Brighton, not her!"
"Just because you did something incredibly dumb and you hurt her, doesn't mean that I can't still be friends with her!"
"You lied to me, Caspar."
"Just like you lied to me, huh?" his voice came out in a low growl and the only thing I could was watch as they hashed things out. "I should've known that you were going to do this. You've been waiting for this moment ever since she dumped your sorry ass!"
"It took me bloody ages to convince my own god damn sister to let me in! So, I'm going to do what I came here to do."
"If you even think that I'm going to waste my time and talk to you, you're out of your mind, Joe."
"Let me explain, Alyssa. Please."
I looked back at Zoë who was watching everything go on from her place at the door. She nodded softly and walked towards me quickly. "Just hear him out, Alyssa. Then you can go and do whatever the hell you want."
"It's been three days, Zoë. I was going to call Troye-"
"You still can, but I'm begging you, Alyssa. Talk to him, even if it's just for a minute."
I let out a soft sigh and looked back at Joe, who was watching me intently. Caspar took a step back as I took a step forwards towards Joe and pursed my lips together. "5 minutes."
"Can we go somewhere more private?"
I looked at the door that led to the drive way and motioned towards it. I let him pass me before I turned around and began walking behind him. He opened the door for the both of us, letting me pass through it first before he shut it behind him quickly and shoved his hands into his pocket.
"I made a mistake, Alyssa."
I let out a bitter laugh and ran a hand through my hair. "You made a choice."
"Alyssa-"
"No, you were the one that made the choice to cheat on me."
"There's nothing that I can do to change what I did, Alyssa. I left you that day because I was only thinking about myself. About how you leaving me would affect me only. I didn't take you into consideration at all, I didn't even realize that it would be as hard for you to leave me as it would be for me to say goodbye."
I stayed quiet and looked down at the floor as he took a pause and reached out to grab my hand. I flinched away from his touch and moved away from him, my eyes averting up to the sky as I felt a drop of water on my shoulder.
"Then I made a choice, that I'll regret for the rest of my life. I lost you."
"Why did you do it then? If you were so scared of losing me, why did you do it?"
"I wasn't thinking straight. I was drunk out of my mind and I-"
"I don't want to hear this anymore."
"Alyssa, wait-" he pleaded as it began to pour.
"As soon as you left me in the rain, I should've ended it right then and there. Maybe it would've saved me all the pain that I felt when I saw the look on your face when I walked in."
"Alyssa-"
"Your five minutes are up, Joe."
And with that, I left him there as he stared at me in complete and utter shock, and I left him there just like he left me.
Standing in the cold, wet rain.
+
I know that this chapter is so long overdue but school's been crazy hectic since it's just starting and I've been trying to adjust to it the best way that I can. I hope you all understand!
Username: Regenerated and Hit The Road USA is coming out soon and I'm so excited for both of them.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and you're not going to want to miss the next ones to come. I've decided to extend the book a little to around Chapter 44 - 45 so keep an eye out for the next chapters to come!
-Angelina