Dedicated to Ashley bc I'm still psyched about her reading this and leaving all those long, awesome comments that I honestly don't deserve. Thank you so so so so so much <3 

Chapter 11

As soon as we stepped into Coffee Overdose, the smell of brewing coffee and buttery pastries made me forget every bad thing that happened so far.

Coffee Overdose had always been a cozy place. The lights were dim, casting a soft orange glow on the whole café. It wasn't too big, neither was it too small and there was always something playing over the speakers. Usually something soft and mellow, just like the rest of the place. While I usually hated sappy love songs, some were bearable enough when paired with some coffee and bagels. 

Behind me, Austin had the same reaction with the aroma. He looked around the place, as if surveying his surroundings, and seeing him do that compelled me to do the same. I let my eyes roam. I'd always loved how the walls were painted with different quotes and words and random sentences, all written differently and randomly. Some were in cursive, some were in an imitation of a font, some were simply handwritten. The words overlapped and added a genuine uniqueness to the whole place, along with the small paintings and drawings and weird illustrations covering the spaces that didn't have words.

Standing there in that warm, kind of fuzzy place, I had almost forgotten what we came here for anyway. I was only reminded of our mission to find the Idiots when Austin shifted beside m. "You think they went here?"

I wasn't positive for sure, exactly, but Tori happened to find the barista here cute, so she often went here with me. "Maybe."

"Their coffee any good here?"

I smiled. "One of the best."

He didn't seem to take my word for it, but we moved closer to the counter anyway. 

The tanned, good-looking barista greeted us with a smile. "What can I get you guys?"

Austin ordered his coffee black, which surprised me for some reason. I wasn't sure why, but I just didn't think our similarities extended to our coffee preferences. I ordered the same, trying to ignore the slight questioning look Austin sent me.

"Is that everything?" The barista looked at us with a polite smile on his face.

"A red velvet cupcake for me," Austin replied before turning to me expectantly.

I was still iffy about letting him pay for my coffee, let alone ordering something else along with it, but the smell was tempting, and so was the prospect of eating something to take a break from the stressful night and relax. Almost reluctantly, I ordered a bagel.

Then, before I forgot, I said, "Oh. Also, is there any chance that you might have seen my friend drop by earlier?"

The barista looked at me. "Your friend?"

"Asian girl. She was with a guy."

His eyes narrowed, brows slightly creasing together as he contemplated this. I tried not to take note of how scrunching his face like that didn't make him less good-looking, but it was so glaringly obvious and hard to ignore.

His face cleared, but when he spoke, he sounded reluctant. "I think I might have seen her."  

Austin seemed happy to hear this. "Really?"

The barista nodded. I could feel him looking at us doubtfully, but he was masking it behind a polite smile. 

I tried not to sound too eager when I asked him if he had any idea where they were headed. 

He thought about it for a long time. Plagued with anticipation, I began to tap the floor one foot to a fast rhythm, as if the action would make him think faster. He was taking so long, I had to wonder if this another dead end again. I wasn't sure I could handle that.

"Sorry," he finally said, and I felt like collapsing on the floor. "I don't know."

I was feeling depleted—as though the fact that we still weren't even a step closer from where the Idiots were after all this time only dawned on me then. I took an involuntary step back from the counter. "Oh."

The barista shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry."

When he started fixing our orders, I was still staring at the menu on the counter, completely dumbfounded, trying to come up with more theories for our next "plan of action."

I wasn't sure how long I just stood there until Austin nudged me and dragged me to a table. 

"Might as well enjoy our orders."

"How can you be so calm about this?"

"One of us freaking out is enough, thank you very much." He pulled a seat out for himself and unceremoniously took a seat, looking away almost immediately as if to make sure I got the message that he wasn't exactly planning  to talk to me.

I, almost reluctantly, sat down as well.

I stared at a chip in the wood of the table in front of me. Lifting a hand, I fiddled with it and tried to come up with possible plans for now. Austin seemed to be wary of me too. 

Every so often, I would catch him looking at me like I might suddenly get an idea, only to look away with a slight shake of his head.

Neither of us said anything as we waited for our order.

There must be another hint somehow. I refused to believe in the possibility that we might not find the Idiots just because we reached this dead-end. As soon as the coffee arrived, however, something between Austin and I had shifted. It must have been the familiar scent of coffee and the mouthwatering sight of the bagels, but in any case, we both relaxed as we thanked the barista. 

"So," Austin said, taking his cup and bringing it closer to him. "Any ideas?" 

Reaching for my cup, I took a deep breath and answered as honestly as I could. "I'll think of something."

He didn't seem particularly happy with my answer, but he gave me a curt nod and took a tentative sip of his coffee. 

The lighting here wasn't as bright as the one in that music store, but it was still enough to accentuate his features. I tried not to look at him for too long as we sat there, but it was actually incredibly difficult not to do so when he was there, just right in front of me.

Every now and then, my eyes would dart over to him, but I tried to focus on my coffee and food instead. The silence between us was starting to make me feel slightly uncomfortable, and I found myself breaking it.

I cleared my throat. "Thanks. For this." I raised my cup a bit and gestured to the bagel in front of me.

"Sure," he replied simply. 

"What about you?" I eyed him carefully. "Any idea where we could find them?"

He sighed, shaking his head and slumping in his seat. "Beats me."

I was about to say something about this attitude of his, but then I realized the normal look of disdain on his face was missing. Sure, he still seemed bored, but he didn't seem particularly constipated. He just seemed tired, not irritatingly complacent.

Trying to calm my nerves, I took another sip of my coffee, reveling in the soothing taste of its simple bitterness. "This would be easier if we had phones." I gave him a puzzled look across the table. "This would be a really good time for you to say that you actually have a phone all along and that you only said otherwise to piss me off."

He looked at me with a blank stare.

"Really," I said. "I wouldn't be mad if you just tell me now that you do have a phone."

"Well, I don't have one."

"Who doesn't have a phone?"

"Right now, you don't."

"That's—"

"Red," he said, "really. Drop it."

I scowled focused my gaze on my coffee instead. "Why did I have to be stuck with you anyway?"

From my peripheral vision, I saw him shift to look at me. "Maybe because I was kind enough to—"

"Kind?"

"Look." He heaved a sigh. "Sorry I'm not your precious Tyler, but I'm not exactly happy being stuck with you either."

My eyes snapped to his. "Well, sorry I'm not that redhead in your wallet."

He drew a sharp breath. I didn't look away when his dark eyes zoomed in on me with a calculating look. I leveled my gaze with his and waited for him to say anything.

He didn't.

Averting his gaze, he turned to see out the glass wall instead. I followed the direction he was looking at and found nothing but Georgina in the parking lot. There were some late night passersby walking on the sidewalk, at least every now and then, and I was reminded of the fact that I might as well stop searching and just go home now.

He downed the rest of his coffee and stood up. "Take your time eating. I'll be right outside."

Before I could even say anything, he was already walking away without so much as a glance at me, the door swinging shut behind him.

---

Austin's weird behavior was something I couldn't fully wrap my head around.

The redhead, obviously, was a touchy topic, but this, along with all the other moments that sparked my curiosity, wasn't enough for me to actually know what this was all about.

It took me longer than necessary to finish eating, and no matter how much I could try convincing myself otherwise, I knew it was because some part of me knew he needed some time alone. I had never been considerate to other people, except for Tori, but for some reason, I couldn't help but feel as though I'd overstepped a line.

That in itself was ridiculous. A line was never drawn. He blindly brought up Tyler into the conversation and I merely did the same by dragging that redhead in it as well. Technically, it wasn't really that big of a deal, but there was something about the way he reacted that let me know I did take it too far.

By the time there were nothing but crumbs left on the white plate on the table, I was mentally scolding myself for letting Austin's behavior bother me. All this time, I could have been thinking of our next "plan of action," but instead I'd been thinking about things that shouldn't even matter to me.

I knew it was pointless to stay seated there forever, but I could have done just that if I wasn't so worried about having to find Tori. I stood up, clapping my hands to get rid of the crumbs sticking to my hands, and headed for the door.

Right before I could go out, I heard the barista say "Hey."

I stopped and turned to him.

"Here." He placed a brown paper bag on the counter. "On the house."

"Oh." I shook my head. "You don't—I can't accept—you really—"

He smiled. "I insist. You seem to be in a bad situation."

Hesitantly, I walked over to the counter. I wasn't really one to accept free stuff, if only because I doubted people a lot, but it was mostly because it felt like I owed them. But he was smiling at me, and his teeth were perfect and straight, and I blamed that smile as I reached for the paper bag.

"Thank you," I said. "I really think you shouldn't have—"

"It's okay." He started to wipe the countertop with a dishcloth. "And give those to your boyfriend. It'll make him feel better."

The protest was already out of my mouth before I knew it. "He's not my boyfriend."

He just smiled and said nothing, and for some reason I found myself simply walking away without protesting again.

Austin was leaning against Georgina's trunk when I made it outside. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets and he was kicking at something with the toe of his Vans. He didn't see me yet, seemingly deep in thought, and I found myself studying his profile. The expression on his face was still blank and it bothered me somehow.

I cleared my throat and stepped into view.

He looked up, not even startled. His eyes fell on the paper-bag I was holding. His eyebrows rose. "What are those?"

I hadn't actually checked them before. "I'm not sure. I got them for free." I might as well check on whatever the barista had given us, so I unrolled the top of the paper-bag to look at the contents.

"Thought of our next plan yet?" he asked just as I saw what was inside.

There were two garlic cheese croissants inside. These were Tori's favorites. All of a sudden, a random thought struck me. Tori loved eating these at the park. We'd always go there to drink our coffees and eat whatever we bought.

"This is completely unsupported by anything other than past experiences," I began, looking away from the croissants to meet his steady gaze. "But you think we should try the park?"

He pushed himself off of Georgina. His face was still blank. "Why so?"

"Tori likes eating there. We've claimed one of the benches there as ours," I said, slightly smiling at the memory. "When we have some food to eat, we usually go there."

"That's... weird."

I shrugged. "It's where we first met."

This seemed to satisfy him somehow. He looked at me for a second longer than necessary, as if to confirm whether or not we were going to go through with this plan. I headed for the passenger side door.

"What are we waiting for?"

The ride was strained, filled with uncomfortable silence. Our previous argument still had its effect on us. Sure, we'd been doing nothing but argue all night, but the last one felt different. This time, it was more than just something unimportant. It was clear I brought up something that I clearly shouldn't have.

Neither of us attempted to turn the stereo on, which made the silence seem louder than it actually was.

Sighing, I gave up and turned to him. "Look." It wasn't easy for me to do the talking, but I was feeling awful about the whole thing—which was something new for me. I hardly cared about other people's feelings. "About earlier."

I watched for his reaction, but he seemed unfazed. "What about it?"

Forcing myself to continue, I looked away and focused on the dashboard instead. "I wasn't sure what happened there, but I'm sorry."

This time, his eyebrows shot up as he turned to me. I wasn't sure if he was surprised that I was apologizing or if I was actually talking about this in the first place. To be honest, even I wasn't sure why I suddenly let go of that stubborn side of me and actually apologized to him.

I cleared my throat, feeling uncomfortable. "I just wanted to get that out."

Sure, I wasn't expecting an actual apology from him or anything, but I also wasn't expecting this silence. I should have kept quiet, I thought bitterly to myself, wishing it was possible to take back words. Mentally, I was hanging myself up for being an idiot. I never should have opened my mouth to say anything.

"All right," he said so abruptly that I almost wasn't sure if I heard him right or not. "At least that's one."

I looked at him. "What?"

There was an amused look on his face now. "You owe me a lot of apologies."

"What?"

"First, my shirt. Then for ruining my handkerchief. For being quite a pain in the ass. See, what else?" The teasing was back in his voice, and as much as this annoyed me, it was better than his silent brooding. "Oh, you also nearly got us pounded by the Hulks, which—"

"First off, you spilled coke on my shirt too. And I'll be more than happy to return the handkerchief to you," I added. I couldn't help but feel my lips tug into a small smile.

"No, thanks," he said, his nose almost automatically wrinkling in disgust. "You can have it."

"Also, you're a pain in the ass too." Arguing about this seemed pointless, especially compared to that little argument we had back at the café. "And the Hulks were your fault entirely."

He shook his head. "No, you were the one who decided to go back there, knowing perfectly well that some manic jocks are out to get me."

As much as I hated to admit it, being back to this kind of banter was actually much better than that pissed off silence earlier. I didn't even want to ask myself why, exactly, I felt this way, so I pushed past the thought and ignored it instead. "Bottomline is," I said. "I don't owe you any apologies."

"Uh, yes, you do."

"Turn right here." I surveyed the streets before looking back at Austin. "If anything, you're the one who owes me apologies, Dick."

He shook his head. "Oh, Red." He sent me a sideways glance, a one-cornered smile on his face. "I'm too sexy for apologies."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Sexy. That's definitely the word for it."

He frowned, but his eyes were still lit with amusement. "It is. We both know it."

"The only one who thinks you're sexy is yourself," I pointed out.

Then, he smirked, completely taking me by surprise. "Then why do you keep checking me out?"

Appalled, I turned to him, wide-eyed and thoroughly taken aback by this particular question. "I've never checked you out. Not even once throughout the whole night."

"Not even once?" His voice was full-on mocking now. There were no traces of that guy back in the café, who walked out the moment I mentioned that redhead. "Back at the party, you were totally checking me out. Then at the—"

"That is not true," I said with as much conviction as I could. I didn't blush easily, but I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks at that moment. I was glad it was dark enough inside Georgina. "Stop making things up."

"I'm not making things up." I could hear the laughter in his voice. It was slightly infuriating, especially as I sat there, blushing and feeling more than just slightly uncomfortable. "Admit it, Red."

I turned to the window. "I was not—"

I was cut off when he slammed on the brakes. I hadn't put my seatbelt on, so I had to brace a hand on the dashboard on instinct to keep myself from face-planting into it.

"Fuck," he hissed, already taking his seatbelt off.

"What happened?"

He opened his door and stepped out without answering. I looked through the windshield and saw nothing. Surely, we hadn't hit anyone, right? It didn't feel like we did. I didn't hear a thump or anything remotely close to what it must sound like if we hit something.

I watched Austin walking in front of the hood and I felt a wave of panic.

Sure, I wanted to kill Tori and Austin, and maybe McKenna as well, but my murderous intent didn't go as far as some innocent person crossing the street. I reached for the metal handle of the door to leave and check for myself.

Austin was crouching when I got out. Shit, did we really just hit someone? I half-ran towards the front of the car, trying to push down the wave of panic.

"Did we just—" I cut myself off when I stumbled upon the sight of him petting a dog. "Oh."

Vaguely, I could hear him talking to it, mussing up the fur between its ears. I checked for signs of injuries anywhere, but the dog seemed fine. In fact, it seemed to love what Austin was doing at that moment. I'd never been big on pets, so I wasn't sure what kind of dog he was, but I did like dogs a lot.

Slowly, I walked over to where the dog was sitting down. The movement must have caught its attention because it turned to me, its tongue hanging out as Austin kept petting it.

"Hi there, big boy." I crouched down, reaching for the spot beneath its ear. "Are you lost?"

"Big boy?" Austin quipped from beside me.

I sent him a slight glare but he merely smiled and looked back at the dog. "Seems like he's lost. Seems really old too."

I let my hands travel to its neck, searching for a collar under all that fur. I felt a leather strap and leaned closer to look for a name. "What are you doing out so late"—I read the name on the collar—"Hunter?"

He nuzzled closer to my hand when I called his name.

"Is there an address?" Austin asked me, also leaning forward to get a better view of the metal paw-shaped pendant dangling at the collar.

"I think so." I flipped it over to check. My stomach dropped when I saw that there was a number, but no address. "Shit."

Austin shifted closer to see.

It was only then that I realized how close we were. His hair was touching mine, our faces just inches apart. He looked up at me, locking eyes with me, and we both jolted away with a start.

Trying my hardest not to look at him. "What—what now?"

He cleared his throat. "Right. Uh, we, uhh, we need a phone."

"Like we haven't established that two hours ago already." I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest. "Should we ask around? Hunter probably lives nearby."

"Or we could take him out on a walk at the park," Austin suggested. "We might miss the Idiots if we don't hurry."

"They might not even be there," I reminded him, still unable to actually look at him.

"Might." He straightened up as well. "How far away is the park?"

I looked around, recognizing the streets. "Not far. Just five minutes from here if we walk."

"I'll just find a better parking for Georgina and let's walk the rest of the way." He looked down at Hunter. "Ready for a walk, buddy?"

- - - 

A/N: It's 3 am my eyes are closing and i didn't get to edit most of this bc my eyesss. sorry i just wanted to squeeze out a chapter today bc i'd be busy later until monday so yeah, i swear i'll edit this better when i have more free time. thank you for reading, as always, and ily <333