The sun burned bright in the sky, making her short golden hair glow. The city buildings rose high on her sunglasses' reflection, hiding her steel-blue eyes. Some people would pass by and greet her as if they were old friends, asking about the cafe and her studies. She always answered with the same sweet smile and positive words. They would go on with their lives and she would resume her walk through the white stoned pavement.

Only when she reached an old building with large windows did she stop, entering as if she owned the place. Her sunglasses rested on top of her head, and she absorbed her surroundings as the door closed behind her. Every single detail of the large place, from the worn out carpet to the tall bookshelves.

Her eyes landed on the dark-haired man whose gaze found the door once he heard the bell ring. She offered him a bright smile with her head tilted to the side, peeking at the mess of papers that was the table where his arm rested.

"Hi," she greeted, wondering why would he be staring.

"Hey," he said with a small wave. "You must be Rita."

Realising he wasn't gawking without a reason, she walked to his table and sat in front of him. Now, she was the one curious. No matter how much she tried to think, that man did not fit any of the descriptions she had heard before.

"And you are?" she asked, raising a brow.

"Andrew," he told her. "I'm a... friend of your sister."

Rita noticed the hesitation behind the word "friend" and smirked. She leaned against the chair, glancing at the almost empty store. Someone should've taken her order already, and yet no sight of a waiter.

"Isn't this her shift?"

Andrew glanced at the kitchen door, hearing the faint sound of the blender. The girl was still watching him, curious about why had she never heard his name before. Either he wasn't important or Nicole was hiding something, and it wasn't the latter for sure. They hid nothing from each other. One sister's secrets were the other two's secrets.

"She's in the back, making Gio a drink." The boy's dark eyes met hers again, a deep shade of forest green. Her own widened a little at another unknown name and she tried to figure out which of the clients sitting there would be the receiver. It wasn't the group of girls in a faraway table, nor the child colouring a book by the counter. Maybe he was the boy upstairs with a fiery red head and a paper in hand or the blond with blue glasses, focused on his studying.

"Is she alone?"

He nodded. "The girl who does this shift with her is sick."

The door to the kitchen creaked open and Nicole came out with a milkshake in hand and two plates with toast and muffins in her shaky arms. She distributed orders between clients, swirling from a table to the next. The blond boy, who Rita assumed to be Gio, was the only one with who she stopped to exchange few words.

Rita's gaze was now focused on Nicole. In her dark circles and tired expression. If there was one thing that made them look different at that moment, it was how much older Nicole looked. Life had taken a harder swing on her, one she accepted when she could've avoided if she wasn't so stubborn.

Her sister only spotted her when she reached the table to check up on Andrew. She had forgotten about the bell she heard in the kitchen and didn't think to check for a newcomer, but what really surprised her was to see Andrew and Rita sitting together.

"Oh, hey," she said, looking between the two of them. "I thought you were coming tomorrow."

Rita rolled her eyes but got up, leaving her purse and jacket on the chair. "Is that how you greet your sister after months?"

She pulled her into a warm hug, feeling how tired Nicole was by the weight falling on her. How she held her as if she'd fall. How her shoulders were low with the pressure of several hours of no sleep.

"I thought you were done pulling all nighters to study."

Nicole half smiled, pulling away and supporting herself on the back of the sofa by them. She couldn't hide it even if she tried. Anyone who had seen her before knew she was a shadow of her former self. What they didn't know was that her sleepless nights weren't all school.

"Not everyone's got daddy's support," she bit back.

Rita sat back down with a frown. "Get over it already. You were the one who left us. By the way, your boyfriend is cute."

Andrew, who had got distracted by Liz waving heart drawings behind Nicole, turned back to them, blinking. "What?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Nicole argued.

"Yet," Andrew and Liz added.

The raven-haired girl grabbed her colouring book and jumped from the sofa to the floor despite the waitress's complaints and stared at Rita, narrowing her eyes. The blonde swallowed and looked at her back, confused.

"Why are you in my seat?"

"I... uh... I thought nobody was sitting here."

Liz rolled her eyes and turned her back at the girl. "Typical." She put her book on top of Andrew's university papers and pouted. "Witty! Can you get me a chair?"

Nicole didn't give him the time to react as she had already pulled a third chair for the girl, which she gladly took. Liz pushed it closer to Andrew and showed Rita her tongue, making him smile.

"You didn't tell me you had a twin," Andrew said, looking at Nicole.

"That's because I don't."

"We're triplets," Rita added. "Don't tell me she didn't go over the family tree yet! What a terrible girlfriend."

Nicole was about to stress one more time that they weren't together, but sighed instead. Maybe they weren't official, maybe they were taking it slow, but she knew her own intentions very well, even if she wanted to deny them. And she was almost sure she knew Andrew's.

"She is terrible," he agreed. "She doesn't like The Princess and The Frog. Who doesn't like it?"

Liz looked at her in a way that said "He's got a point", making Nicole roll her eyes at both of them. Even Rita nodded in agreement.

"The movie is fine, I just don't like that she needed a husband more than her dream. It's stupid. Why do her priorities have to be wrong, just because men aren't that important to her?" she explained. "Plus, those are some big words coming from someone who had never watched a Disney movie until Liz made you."

Rita's eyes widened, staring at him in awe. "You had never what?"

Andrew sighed, sick of the judgement. "What about it?"

Liz took Rita's hand in hers, looking at her with her puppy eyes. "I'm teaching him the best I can, but the poor kid had no childhood."

She looked at him, and he glared back, defying her to say a word. She was curious about him, but backed away either way. That afternoon was about spending time with her sister, not going through her friend's life.

"So," she turned to Nicole, "when does your shift end? I want to go get ice cream."

"I just started, I have a couple hours here still," she answered. "We have ice cream here, though."

Rita rolled her eyes. "I don't really want ice cream, I just want to hang out with you."

Her sister shook her head and said, "Sorry, I got plans after this. We'll catch up tomorrow."

"Of course you do. Well, I'm going to your place. Keys?"

Nicole went to the backroom to get the keys as Rita grabbed her stuff and smoothed the wrinkles of her dress. It was icy outside, despite the sun peeking through the clouds, so she closed her jacket tightly. She didn't feel like going into the cold.

"Well, children, it was nice to meet you, but I'll be off now. Have fun."

Andrew took a long sip of his coffee as Liz made an entire argument against calling her a child. It left Rita speechless for long enough for Nicole to come back and hand her the house keys.

"See you later," said Rita and walked up to the doors. She smirked at the blond boy in blue glasses who had been eyeing her since she arrived, and left.

🖤🤍🖤

The door bell resonated through the house when she pressed it, filling the silence with its annoying tune. Nicole waited outside, hugging the cream coat tighter to her body. It was a specially chilly night and she couldn't wait to get inside.

The enormous door in front of her opened to reveal Andrew standing on the other side. He hadn't bothered to change from the clothes he wore on the cafe, or maybe he didn't have time, but he still looked handsome as always.

She had peeled off the jam smeared and coffee smelling clothes she wore at work as soon as she got home and stayed in a shower for a long time reconsidering. If her roommate hadn't forced her, she would probably have cancelled.

"Hi," she said with a shy smile playing on her lips. "I know I'm a little early but Carol and Lucas kicked me out."

"It's fine, I was just finishing dinner." He moved out of the way, letting her in, and closed the door behind her.

She let him take her coat and put it on a hanger nailed to the hall's wall, and asked, "Can I help?"

He shook his head, leading her into the leaving room. "No, I'm almost done. Do you want to wait here or-"

"Of course not," she scolded him. "I can't believe you want to leave me alone on our first date, Andrew."

He rose a brow at the name. His actual name, not Witty. Maybe it was on purpose, or maybe she hadn't noticed, but it made him smile. He had got used to the nickname, even if it was a way to mock him, but he felt seen when she used his name.

"Sorry, I assumed you wouldn't want to be in the kitchen." He shrugged.

"Don't assume," she said, "ask."

Nicole had had enough people "assuming" her thoughts and opinions every day of her life, and she didn't hate it. The last thing she wanted was to have Andrew doing that same thing. They didn't know each other well enough for him to know what she wanted.

"Sorry. You're right."

She followed him into the terribly immaculate kitchen and sat on a chair by the breakfast table. Her memory wasn't the greatest with her blurred nights of one too many drinks, but she recalled the white space well enough. Or at least the polished countertop once dirty with spilt drinks and empty cups.

"It smells good," she told him, her eyes on his back.

He flashed her a smile before looking back at what he was doing. "I hope so. I don't want you giving up on me because my cooking sucks."

She rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward. "No offense, but I'm not expecting Mr My Dad Is A CEO to know how to cook. So I'm happy with anything as long as it isn't burnt."

"Then you're in for a surprise."

Nicole rose a doubtful eyebrow. "Don't tell me they paid for your cooking classes too?"

"No. I spent most weekends alone with our cook, Emmy, and I ended up helping her sometimes." He washed his hands and turned to her, leaning against the counter. "Plus, I have lived alone for the past 2 years. I could either cook or live off delivery food."

"What about your sister?" she asked.

"What about her?"

She shrugged. "You said you were alone. Why wasn't your sister with you?"

"She could go out with her friends. I couldn't. I had to stay home doing homework, even if I didn't have any."

Nicole blinked, wondering what was wrong with his parents. She knew some things about Andrew were weird, like the way he never got mad, even when he should, or the way he wouldn't start a conversation with anyone he wasn't comfortable with unless he really had to, but she assumed it was just his personality. The more she learned about him, the more she thought something didn't add up.

"I hope you're hungry 'cause dinner is ready," he said, taking the food to the table outside.

She followed him through the door and stopped there, looking at the picnic table where he had laid a white tablecloth and put his super fancy plates and cutlery on. Even broke, he screamed rich, and it was upsetting. All she could think about as she sat down and grabbed her fork was that selling that set would probably cover one month's rent. One month without taking double shifts. One month without money on her mind.

"It's prettier like this," she said, looking at the pool, "without everyone's mess."

"Without everyone burning my grass?" he asked with a cheeky smile.

She rolled her eyes. "Your grass was already dead."

And it still was. Despite his attempts to grow it back, weeds he had cut the best he could had covered the garden. They circled the swimming pool that lit up its surroundings with the built-in lamps. Even the loungers weren't as elegant as they once were, but they served their purpose. Everything was a shadow of what it had once been, but to her, it was just pure luxury.

"You don't know that for sure," he argued.

"I do, though. My mum was a gardener."

Her mum's job was irrelevant, because anyone with eyes knew there was nothing there, but it seemed to shut him up. Maybe it was because he recognised she was right, or maybe because she was sharing something personal. He always quieted down when she talked about those things, knowing it was hard for her. She appreciated how he always danced around the subject without making prying questions, yet she wished she could answer them without feeling the suffocation of knowing she didn't have a home. Of knowing she wouldn't come back to her mum's loving arms.

"Ok, fine, you win."

She grinned, and he wished she did it more often. There was annoyed Nicole, angry Nicole, and tired Nicole, but only on rare occasions would he see happy Nicole. She was playful sometimes, mocking him or joking with him, but he could tell she wasn't always happy in those moments.

"I know."

Andrew rolled his eyes at the arrogance, but moved past it. He served both of them and leaned back in his chair, taking in the sight of her. Nowadays he only saw her at work, smiling despite how tired she was. Hiding the pain behind a mask of politeness and sweetness.

"You look beautiful." The words escaped his mouth before he could think them through.

Her eyes met his, and she bit his cheek, unsure of what to say. Accepting compliments wasn't her forte. Telling the people to fuck off was. But she couldn't say that to him, so she just averted her gaze to the pool again, thinking about a reply.

"I think we should set some boundaries," he broke the silence, making her look at him again. "I know you want to go slow, so I need to know what makes you uncomfortable. If saying you're beautiful makes you uncomfortable..."

She stared at her plate, shaking her head slowly, "No, I... It doesn't make me uncomfortable, I'm just not used to it." She paused, trying to find the right words before looking at him again. "When I said I wanted to take it slow... You have to understand I'm not ready to be in a relationship, I'm not emotionally stable and I have a lot to work on before getting into a commitment again. I don't know what I am or am not comfortable with, I only know that I don't want to feel trapped again. So I guess we'll have to test it out. I know you don't want to be in this mess, I'm sorry."

He shook his head, holding her hand in his and squeezing tight. "I do. I'm here for you and for your mess, because I like you. So don't you dare apologise for something that is not your fault."

Nicole squeezed back. She was incredibly grateful for him. The past year hadn't been easy for her, having only Miguel to lean on, but now she had him and she was rebuilding her relationship with her sisters. Deep down she knew it was going to be okay, she knew they would pull her out from the bottom of the well.

"Thank you," she muttered. "Now let's end the cheesy talk."

"What do you mean? I got an entire night of cheesy things prepared," he joked.

"No, you don't."

"Fine, maybe I don't, but I got The Notebook and the guy from the store said chicks dig it. I don't know about you but I consider cuddling under a blanket to watch a movie a cheesy activity."

She almost told him he had to stay on the other end of the sofa, just out of spite, but chose against it. Tonight wasn't about annoying him, it was about making official whatever their relationship was. It was about being with him because she wanted to and not because he liked at her workplace.

"Who says I like The Notebook?"

"The guy from the store. Weren't you listening?"

She laughed and shook her head. "You're lucky my mascara is waterproof."

I posted another chapter... but at what price?

I'm so sorry everyone if this chapter is not that good, I am fighting my procratinating vein the best I can.

What are we thinking so far? Are Nicole and Andrew gonna be endgame or nah? What do we think abt Rita?

Thank you so much for reading if you're still here. Please vote and comment, your feedback is appreciated