I stood in front of the sleeping figure of Tay wondering how I could possibly go pick up the coffees Jaime had told me to get. It was nearly 10 and Tay and I had had so much fun during the day that she fell right asleep at her bedtime. I figured I could carry her to La Bonne, since it wasn't that far. But at the same time, she was pretty heavy, even for a four year old.

Sighing, I decided that suffering the weight would be the better option than leaving a four year old unattended for an hour, so I picked her up gingerly. She slumped over, resting her head on my shoulder, mumbling something incoherently. I wondered for a moment what she was dreaming about. Then I grabbed my bag, slung it over my shoulder and walked out the door.

As I walked, I realized that this was a terrible idea. I should have just called Jaime and told her to pick the coffees up herself. The more steps I took, the more this seemed like a horrible, horrible idea. But then, I saw the lights of La Bonne. Breathing a sigh of relief, I quickened my steps and reached the door. Pushing it open using my knee and hip, I stepped in.

With a grunt, I set Tay down in one of the plush booths and stood up, rubbing my lower back. When I stood up straight, I realized that the cafe wasn't empty like I had expected it to be. There were three occupants: Jim the future music producer, Serena, and...Caleb.

Caleb?

"Hey," Serena said, smiling at me.

"Umm, hey," I replied, walking up to her. Caleb was actually sitting across the table from her. He glanced up at me when I walked over.

"How are you?" she asked.

"I'm all right," I said.

"Did you kidnap Tay?" Caleb asked me, nodding his head at the sleeping girl.

"No, I offered to watch her for Jaime. She had to work a late shift tonight," I said. He nodded. I looked at him a moment, blinking.

"I'm just picking up some coffee..." I trailed off.

"That's usually the reason people come into a cafe for," Serena piped in.

I looked at her, forgetting that she was there for a moment. Then I registered the scene that was before me. Caleb and Serena were sitting at the same table and had been chatting before I got there. I was fairly certain that I had introduced the two to each other that one night about a week ago.

"Yeah..." I said lamely. Then I backed up slightly, my gaze still on Caleb, whose eyes stared back at me. I turned completely and went to the desk to order the coffees from Jeanette. It was strange, though, because Jeanette wasn't there. Instead, there was a bitter looking man that had an eye twitch. I ordered the coffees and heard someone come up behind me. I didn't have to turn around to see who it was.

"Are you meeting with Jaime tonight?" Caleb asked. I nodded, turning to face him.

"She has to pick up her kid. And we have some things to discuss," I said. He nodded.

I studied his face for a moment. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept since that night at the hospital. His face was pale and the dark circles under his eyes were more prominent than ever. His hair hung limply around his face and his eyes raged on and on and on...

"How's Liam?" I asked. He looked down at his scuffed up shoes.

"He's better," he replied, but I knew that he was lying.

"That's good to hear," I said nonetheless. Caleb looked up sharply and suddenly, as if he couldn't belive I fell for his lie.  But when he met my gaze, his expression softened.

"Will you be at work on Wednesday?" I asked.

"I kind of have to be," he said. I nodded, understanding. Bills to pay, food to buy, shelter to keep. It was the way our lives worked, living life paycheck-to-paycheck. We looked at each other a moment longer before the old man came back with my drinks. I thanked him and then another realization fell over me. How was I going to bring the coffees back and hold Tay at the same time?

"Want a ride?" Caleb asked, as if reading my thoughts. I looked at him with wide eyes. This time, I couldn't refuse. I nodded. He looked at me, his eyes lightening a little bit. Then he turned around and went back to Serena.

"Hey, I should probably get going. But thanks for listening," he said to her. I looked curiously at the two. What had he told her?

"Anytime," Serena responded, a small smile on her lips. She looked at me and beamed and I attempted to smile back at her. Caleb picked up his jacket and swung it on. Then he went over to Tay and picked her up effortlessly.

I followed him out of the coffee shop and out to his car. Caleb set Tay in the backseat, putting a seatbelt around her. She fell over to the side, still fast asleep. We both got into the car, silent as always.

"You know, I've been going to La Bonne ever since that one night that you showed it to me," he told me.

"It's a really great place. Especially at night," I said.

"It sucks, though, because Jeanette was telling me that business wasn't doing so well," he said. I nodded.

"I've known Jeanette for three years now. She's the sweetest. And La Bonne is everything to her," I said.

"Serena goes there every night, too," he said.

"She's a recent regular customer. I had never met her until a few months ago," I said.

"She's different," he said. Different. I guess that's what you'd call her.

Silence fell over us again. I looked out the passenger window, wide-eyed and completely awake. It was nearly 11 now. The night was darker than ever, typical for the winter. The clouds obscured the light from the stars and moon, so the only light that was visible was from the dim street lights, which molded together as Caleb drove by.

"Caleb?" I said, my voice penetrating the stillness in the air.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Are you all right?" I asked, not knowing why. I turned my face towards him now. I had wanted to ask when we were at La Bonne, but I was just afraid. I guess right now, I just wasn't thinking.

Caleb didn't look at me. He kept his gaze fixated on the road ahead of him, but his hands clutched the wheel tightly. His lips were drawn in a thin, straight line and his hair covered the rest of his face. I wondered what he was thinking.

He didn't answer my question, so I let it drop. I should have known he wouldn't say anything. I didn't even know why I had asked the question in the first place. I guess it was because the distant look I had seen in his eyes at the cafe was so familiar to me. It was a look I woke up to and went to sleep to every morning.

Another reason may have been that I always had my guard up, picking and choosing my words carefully every time I spoke. But for some reason, Caleb always caught me off-guard. Maybe not in his words, but definitely in his actions. I was uncertain around him, not knowing what he'd do or how he'd react.

Caleb pulled up in front of my apartment complex. I didn't thank him or saything anything else. He got out of the car and picked Tay up from the back. I realized that he would have to enter my apartment this time. There was no way around it. With the coffees in one hand, I couldn't even manage to drag Tay inside. He was going to have to come inside.

I knew that even though I hid the pictures and memories from the past, that they were still very much present in that apartment of mine. Their presence was still floating around in the air, like a ghost unable to leave the spot where it died.

Caleb followed me silently up to my floor. I stuck the keys inside the door knob and pushed the door open to reveal an apartment immersed in darkness. Fumbling for the switch, I turned the lights on and entered. Caleb remained standing at the door, his gaze kept down.

At first I was confused by this, but then I realized that he was giving me my space. He knew I wasn't ready to talk, I wasn't ready to reveal what had happened to me to make me the way I was. He was respecting that, just like he expected me to respect his decision for not telling me anything. We had both inadvertantly and silently agreed to not tell each other about our lives, but at the same time, we were somehow involved.

I set the coffees on the countertop in the kitchen and went back to retrieve Tay. He took a step back so that the view of my apartment was obstructed. Without looking up, he turned to walk away. I watched his retreating back as he walked away. He stopped at the end of the hallway and turned, a storm of emotions evident in his eyes.

"I don't know," he said.

And I knew he was talking about the question I had asked earlier.

Without another word, he disappeared around the corner. I stood staring at the dim hallway for a few moments longer before going back into my apartment.  I set Tay down on the couch and looked at her sadly.

"Don't ever love, Tay. It hurts too much," I whispered.

                                                                   ~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, sorry it took so long. I was talking to Steve," Jaime said when I opened the door for her about twenty minutes later.

"It's all right. I just got back, too," I said.

"Coffee still warm?" she asked.

"A bit," I said.

"Eh, it'll do," she replied, snatching her cup from the counter and taking a big gulp. She winced at the bitter taste. I didn't know why, but Jaime loved the bitter black coffee with no flavor.

"Is Tay asleep?" she asked.

"She's been out since 9," I said.

"Oh, wow. How'd you manage that?" she asked.

"No idea," I replied. We moved into the living room. I shifted Tay so that she was sleeping in my bed. At least someone would put some use to it, since I rarely did.

"You ok?" Jaime asked after a moment.

"I'm fine," I replied.

"You're oddly quiet," she said.

"I'm always quiet," I said.

"Yes, but you're moreso than usual," she pointed out. "What's up?" she asked.

"Nothing," I replied. She gave me a look. Then she studied the apartment around her.

"You put away all the pictures," she noted.

"They're in the drawers," I replied.

"Is that what you're upset about?" she asked.

"No," I answered.

"Nicole," she said flatly.

"I really don't want to talk about it, Jaime," I said. Her gaze lingered on me a moment longer. Then she sighed and sat back against the couch, kicking her shoes off and pulling her legs up underneath her.

"You know how my parents only stopped talking to me because I married Jared?" she asked.

I nodded. That's what I liked about Jaime. She wouldn't press a subject for too long.

"Well, somehow, they found out that we got divorced and that I had a child that I was trying to raise by myself," she said.

"Oh? How'd they find out?" I asked.

"Someone sent them a picture of Tay," she said.

"Who?" I asked.

"Well, that's what I was wondering," she said, looking at me sternly. I blinked at her a few times, wondering why she was looking at me like that. Then I realized.

"Wait, what? You think I sent them that picture?" I asked, incredulous.

"Well, who else knows Tay that well?" she asked.

"Umm...everyone at the diner?" I replied.

"Ok, let me clarify. Who else knows Tay that well that also knows my parents?" she rephrased. I frowned.

"Me," I mumbled.

"See?" she replied.

"But I didn't do it!" I exclaimed.

"Then who else could have?" she asked, raising her voice. I shushed her, reminding her that Tay was asleep.

"I don't know," I said. "Who else knows about your parents besides me? Maybe it was a family friend who found out and then they told them," I said.

"That's a possibility. They could have seen me in the park with her or something," she said. I nodded.

"Well, what's the big deal, anyway?" I asked.

"The big deal is that they want to help me raise her," she said.

"I don't see how that's a bad thing," I said.

"Nicole! We're talking about the people that ignored me for six years because I married a guy they didn't approve of! You of all people should understand that," she said.

"At least your parents are trying to make ammends," I said.

"Nicole," she said, guilt creeping over her face.

"It's whatever, Jaime," I said, not wanting to talk about my parents. "So what did you say?" I asked.

"I told them I'd think about it," she said.

"What were they offering?" I asked.

"To pay for her nursery fees," she answered.

"That would help you so much, though! Especially after having to pay off all of those medical fees," I said. She sighed.

"I know, but it's like admitting defeat, you know?" she said.

"Admitting defeat to what? You're not the one admitting defeat; they are. Since they're the ones that cut you off. But it's them that came back to you first, right? So you win. And as a bonus, you get money from them. I don't see what the problem is," I said.

"I guess I didn't think about it that way," she mumbled, putting her now empty coffee cup on the table.

"Call them tomorrow and talk to them. It'll be good for you. And think of Tay, too," I said. She nodded.

"You're right. I will. Thanks, Nicky," she said. I rolled my eyes.

"No big deal," I said.

She leaned back against the old cushions of the couch.

"Oliver and Reese, huh?" she said. I leaned back, too.

"Who would have thought?" I replied.

"It's so funny, because I couldn't imagine Oliver with anyone. He just seems like the kind of guy that would be a bachelor his whole life," she said.

"But Reese is perfect," I said.

"Yeah," she yawned. "Perfect."

_____________________________________________________________________

A/N: There's chapter 15! Hope you enjoyed it! I have decided that I will under no circumstance update this story until after Thursday. I have to refrain from using Wattpad for the next three days because I need to study, study, study for this test because it's literally going to kick my ass. So sorry, but as always, my studies and grades come first.

Let's see...what question can I ask you this time...

Oh, I know!

Who do you think sent the picture of Tay to Jaime's parents?

Speculate away, my friends!

Keep those votes coming! I got 60 votes on the last one. Let's make the goal 60 for this chapter, too. =)

XOXO