Maddy had always known that her best friend was conniving. Sly, fiendish and mischievous, she had seen it in her eyes the first day they met, and yet, somehow, over the last few months she had managed to forget. She's glad of the opportunity to remember.

~

"I'm telling you Maddy, my cousin is perfect for you." Thea says, following her friend along the counter.

Maddy laughs under her breath, already feeling her cheeks blazing. It happens every time Thea brings this up, and today is no exception.

"Oh Thea, stop. You know I can't." Maddy says.

Thea smiles devilishly, her eyebrows raising as she taunts her best friend.

Maddy knows almost nothing about this guy, other than he's important to Thea. In all honesty, that's probably all she needs to know. Maddy trusts Thea's judgement implicitly, and she would be lying if she said she weren't a little curious.

But she also isn't lying when she says she can't. Her anxiety makes the very idea of meeting this guy completely out of the question. Her palms are already sweating just thinking about it.

Thea has been nothing but supportive of Maddy and her anxiety. Taking the time to listen and understand when no one else would meant the world to Maddy. Thea seems to have a sixth sense, knowing when to give Maddy the little pushes she needs to get her out into the world again, without ever making it seem scary or impossible.

Thea, however, is also like a bloodhound, and it doesn't take her long to sniff out Maddy's hesitance.

"Do you want to know about him?" Thea asks and Maddy sighs.

She places her cup on the table, settling into her chair. Thea perches in her own place, to Maddy's right, her small green cup wobbling on the table as she leans forwards. The look on Thea's face makes it clear that Maddy is going to hear about him whether she likes it or not. The problem is...she does want to know.

Maddy acquiesces, smiling when Thea beams.

"He's tall, very handsome, his eyes are a sort of..."

"Thea, you know I don't care about that stuff." Maddy points out.

Her best friend rolls her eyes, but nods.

"Fine. He's kind, very giving and compassionate, and can put up with me so he's patient too. He's charismatic and funny, always trying to make people smile."

Maddy smiles faintly, wondering if Thea knows that she's also describing herself. They must be very similar, Thea and her cousin.

"He loves books..."

This piques Maddy's interest immediately, suddenly sitting upright in her chair.

"He loves books?" She asks, her heart thudding a little louder in her chest. Thea watches her reaction with a mischievous grin, which only results in Maddy's cheeks burning hotter.

"He's a big Dickens fan, but he also like sci-fi and nonfiction." Thea says.

Maddy nods, glancing at her hands. She loves Dickens too.

"Not everybody likes the classics." Maddy says quietly.

"He has good taste," Thea says, "wish I could say the same about his fashion sense." She adds, in a grumble, but Maddy doesn't pay that any attention.

She's already fantasising about a book swap, discussing their favourite titles and authors, and how maybe his eyes shine just like hers do when he's talking about something he loves.

She wishes she wasn't, but she can't help it.

Maddy is a true romantic at heart, and Thea knows that.

"Thea..."

It's a weak protest and she knows it. Instead of pushing, her friend simply lays her hand atop of hers. Thea's expression is understanding and kind.

"Let's not talk about it anymore, just think about it? If you want to meet him, I can set it up!" She says and Maddy nods, knowing she'll never take her up on it.

It's easier to fantasise. To live in her own lonely world and pretend that true love stories only exist in the pages of her books. You don't get hurt that way. Or disappointed.

"Ok, thanks Thea."

"No problem. We're still on for this weekend right?" She asks, moving on brusquely.

Maddy nods, smiling more confidently. She loves their weekend plans together, lives for them. Whether they're rifling through charity shops, trying out a new brunch spot, or just coming to Coffee Club for a latte and a chat, it doesn't matter. Maddy wouldn't miss it for the world.

"Of course."

Thea nods slowly, looking at her a little curiously.

Then she grins.

"Great, I'll see you here on Saturday. 1pm sharp, and don't be late. We can stay and watch the sunset."

~

Thea had never made it to Coffee Club on Saturday. After collapsing at home on Monday night, she never did another thing again.

It was a brain haemorrhage. It was also sudden. So sudden. And absolutely world-ending.

When Maddy had seen the post on Facebook from Thea's family, she thought it was a sick joke. But her messages remained unanswered, and the phone calls she made were never picked up, and all of a sudden, this awful joke became reality.

Thea had died. Her best friend had been there one day and was just...gone the next.

Gone in every sense of the word.

Thea's family lived in Barbados, and when she died, they flew her body back to be with her family, to be laid to rest. There was to be no funeral in the UK, she was never going to be here again. Maddy would never see her again.

It was silly, to feel angry, but Maddy couldn't help it. Her best, and only, friend had been taken from her. Stolen, lost, completely removed, and in some of Maddy's darker moments, she had taken to wondering if she had dreamt Thea up completely.

Photographs, memories and silly mementos kept her sane, for the most part. But also sad.

Thea had been so vibrant. So technicolour and full of life, that Maddy had never even considered the prospect of a world without her. It would be like removing the sun, or the ground beneath her feet. Like removing all colour, and the world existing in black and white. It wouldn't make any sense. Something so essential, so alive, couldn't just disappear. But she did.

There would be no goodbye. No chance to say everything she had ever left unsaid, no final hug or reluctant farewell.

When Saturday had rolled around and her phone had helpfully reminded her of her plans at Coffee Club, she had felt the blood in her veins turn to ice. She couldn't go. Couldn't possibly face the moment when Thea wouldn't show.

And yet, with no funeral, no final goodbye, Maddy almost felt like Thea might just be there. Thea would have hated being stood up, and despite the fact that Maddy knew Thea was gone, would never show up, she felt like she had no choice.

Maddy had vowed to find ways to honour her friend for the rest of her life, to remember her, to give her the time she should have had. It was the only way she knew to postpone this goodbye.

So she would start with keeping her appointment.

The thought made her exhale heavily for what felt like the first time in days.

She had a purpose again, even if it was only an appointment with someone who'd never show. That was alright.

Maddy had nothing but time.

She dragged her heavy body to the cafe, to the spot they agreed, and sat at their table.

_

Tristan had wanted to laugh when his parents had told him to sit down that Monday night. Their faces had been tight, though, which had given him pause.

His parent's faces, which were still quite youthful for their age, were always carefree and laid back. He'd be willing to bet that's why they still looked younger than their years.

But that night they had been tight. Shoulders tense and lips pursed. He should've known.

Sometimes he thinks he's still sat at the dining room table. He can feel the hard wood of the chair beneath him. The moment replays in front of his eyes all the time, making his stomach churn as he feels the memory etch its way a little further into the walls of his mind.

All of the breath had been stolen from his chest when he found out that Thea was gone. He often finds himself gasping, as though he still hasn't quite found out how to breathe again since. His world stood still that day, earth-shaking and dream-shattering.

He'd been furious when her family had shipped her away from him.

She belonged here. With him. This was her home and he was her person. No one in this world knew her better than he did.

He didn't have the money to attend her funeral, or the will to follow her. He didn't have dreams or friends. He was a coward walking in an empty shell, trying desperately to fill the shadow he's always cast.

Being robbed of his goodbye had felt like the final straw, and he felt himself break. Fracturing to his very core, the words on his tongue, that had always come so easily, lost.

Going to Coffee Club on Saturday had been muscle memory. He had arrived before he realised that no one else was going to, operating on autopilot. Jerome made his drink without meeting his eye, and Tristan had wondered if they'd ever see eye to eye again. He wondered how he was ever supposed to be ok with that.

He sat at their table without thought, staring at the empty chair, and willed the sun to set so that he might find some peace.

_

Drawing her mind back to the present, Maddy watches Tristan's face as he finally puts the missing pieces together.

"She told you the same thing? 1pm Saturday?" He asks.

"We'll stay until the sun sets." She adds softly, nodding.

He's silent for a moment, watching her with a blank expression, until he too cracks a smile. He laughs, shaking his head.

"She never did take 'no' for an answer." He says fondly, his thumb brushing his bottom lip. He looks lost in a thousand memories.

She knows the look, because she's been there too. Here, more than anywhere else, and for the first time she realises how grateful she is to Thea. Whether it was by design, or completely unwittingly, she had brought them together when they had needed each other most.

Together they had created a safe space. A haven from their solitude, a place to grieve and mourn, a place where they didn't have to be alone. Thea's parting gift to them had been each other.

"Losing her is the hardest thing I've ever known." Maddy says softly, but she isn't afraid, because she knows Tristan understands.

"You make it easier." She adds.

His eyes are knowing pools, soft and full of comfort, and she sinks into them. His hand brushes against hers softly, until their fingers intertwine.

"You saved me." He admits softly.

She looks at the green mug, steaming gently beside them. She knows that this won't be the last time they come here. In fact, she'd like to come here for the rest of her days, but it will be the last flat white that goes cold.

Together they had found warmth, a place to shelter from the storm. The memory of Thea will stay there, bright, vibrant, and alive, long after the sun has set.

_

Fin