"My problem is desserts. I am obsessed with desserts." – Sofia Vergara

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Fletcher's POV

"Waffle Cones is closing down."

The words rushed out of Fletcher at once, having built pressure against his sealed lips for days. Even so, the sentence was barely above a whisper. The weight of the news had anchored down his spirits so much that he couldn't say more than a sentence at a time. Words hardly left his mouth, and those that did were starting to have a bad taste.

"What?!" The other side of the call shouted as Fletcher hung up. He couldn't bear to hear any more devastation, having listened to enough gripe from his co-workers. Fletcher tossed his phone in the general direction of the couch, which he hadn't yet burned since Erin and Alex tainted it with their gooey romance. The phone landed with a thump, making a dent in the blankets on top.

"What was that?" Upon hearing the sound, Alex poked his head into the room. Dark bags decorated the dim blue of his irises, his blonde locks disheveled. Stray hairs stuck out in every direction, like they wanted to jump off his scalp and find a new home on a tidier head. His appearance paled in comparison to Fletcher, who probably resembled a trash can since he had not left the room for days, but Fletcher had no urge to grab a mirror and see.

Alex's appearance reflected the collective emotions of the Waffle Cones employees. His effort to appear presentable had evaporated since Melanie announced the shop was closing down, to make space for an enterprise which wanted to expand their business. Since the entrepreneurs practically bathed in cash, they bought the land which housed Waffle Cones and other stores, which gave Fletcher an urge to find them and break their noses.

"Just broke the news to Emily," Fletcher chirped, attempting a cheerful tone to raise their spirits. Alex was clearly not convinced by his nonchalance, but didn't comment on it either. "She seems disgruntled."

"Disgruntled is a mild way of putting it," commented Scarlett, a co-worker and cousin of Erin. Her mahogany hair swished past in loose waves as she trailed her mop across the floor, which had become stained from age. "Besides, why does she care so much about this store? She doesn't even work here."

"Who asked for your opinion?" Alex retorted, eyes throwing off blue sparks of annoyance. Scarlett almost skidded over a puddle of water while Fletcher's jaw dropped at his outburst. Alex was the ice angel to Erin's fire demon, the one who always kept his head screwed on the right way, so neither Scarlett nor Fletcher had seen him lose control before.

Scarlett directed her hurt expression at the patch of floor she was mopping. The perky hum which started up when she joined the conversation was snuffed, as quickly as a gust of wind extinguishing a candle. The tension was thick enough to cut through with a butter knife, but none of the three had gathered enough courage to break the silence.

"Guys," Fletcher eventually said, a nervous edge to his tone. "Lighten up. There are loads of other places we can find jobs at, so this isn't the end of the world. I'm sure Emily will cool down soon. In the meantime, can you two stop being at each other's throats?"

Alex and Scarlett exchanged worried looks, as though their argument moments before had never happened. "Fletcher, you can't hide out from this forever." Scarlett chose her words with precision. "I take back what I said. I know Emily means a lot to you, and I'm sorry for doubting that. You should talk to her."

"Scarlett, don't worry. I'm fine," Fletcher reassured her, but he inhaled a breath of doubt. The realization that he had broken the news to Emily began to settle in. Anxious jitters erupted in his stomach.

"You're not fine," Scarlett deadpanned.

"Yes, I am."

"Call Emily and talk this out with her."

"No."

"You're an idiot."

"No."

"Don't confess your love to Emily and don't kiss her with fireworks in the background."

"No," Fletcher said with the stiffness of an automation, his gaze fixated on the faded pastel walls of the store and his thoughts a thousand miles away. Alex tried to stifle a snicker, but his laughter soon burst out, piercing the gloom which hung in the air. His laughs were infectious, and Scarlett soon chimed in with her high-pitched giggles.

"Scarlett, that was brilliant!" Alex snorted, struggling to keep himself upright. He soon succumbed to gravity and leaned down, hands clutched to his sides. Tears of mirth formed at the rim of his eyes as he held up a hand for a high five, which Scarlett returned. "He didn't suspect a thing!"

"Right? I didn't know he was that gullible," Scarlett snickered. Her giggles rippled through the dusty air, an angelic chime which was almost too fluid to be called laughter.

Fletcher knitted his eyebrows together as his mind spun, trying to figure out what he was missing. His brain usually made connections at lightning speed, but this joke stumped him, although he knew their laughter was at his expense. "Do you two mind explaining this inside joke to me?"

"I used your lack of attention to my advantage, Fletcher." Scarlett paused, a smirk forming across her stained rose lips as she waited for Fletcher to react. Observing him was a waste of her time, however, because the explanation drew a blank in his mind. He was not familiar with attention span, nor the manipulation of it. That was psychology, and he was not willing to go anywhere near that with a ten foot pole. Any branch of science sent shudders down his spine. He always pictured surgeons slicing his skull open and ripping his brain out.

"In English?" Fletcher prompted.

"I stated scenarios which you would obviously say no to, so when I mentioned a different one at the end, one which you would've said yes for, you were accustomed to answering a string of nos. Pair that with your subpar attention span, and the trick begins. You fell for the bait, Fletcher. Hook, line, and sinker."

"I tried it on you when you were moping about your argument with Emily, but it didn't work," Alex added, quirking an eyebrow at Scarlett. "You must know some black magic."

Fletcher was struck with disbelief at being tricked, since he was usually the trickster himself, but before he could retaliate, another voice spoke from the doorway.

"Do you people mind telling me the joke too?" Erin drawled, leaning against the doorframe with an arched eyebrow. She dipped her head to greet the group, casual interest upon her features. Her strawberry curls were tangled as tree vines, black mascara smudged around her eyes, cheeks as rouge as a drunkard. "I want to be in the same boat as you guys."

"The boat just tipped me out of it," Fletcher said with a bite of accusation, but humor was evident in his tone. He left the back room once Erin walked in, leaving Scarlett and Alex to tell the tale. Waffle Cones was identical to its usual state, since they had not begun packing up the supplies and decor. No one was prepared to rip the plaster off yet.

Fletcher glanced over the flowers which lined the interior edges of the shop, an artistic choice which added to the cheerful vibe of the store. Daisies bobbed up and down as their yellow centers grinned at him, while deep plum orchids swayed in the warm breeze. Bouquets of snowy white and scarlet roses rested at the center of each table, complimenting the mint walls. The blank canvas they purchased had been injected with color, breathed new life. Fletcher soaked in as much as he could before it was taken away.

A sharp twisting in his gut flashed Fletcher back to one year ago, when he stumbled upon the synthetic white shop, a mannequin yet to be dressed. Melanie stood at the entrance, mimicking other employers with her marketing strategies, but the same could not be said about her demeanor. She rocked a sleek monochrome pantsuit, authority emanating from her stature. Melanie had not shouted advertisements, but was simply rooted to the ground for hours, not once cracking a smile on her sculpted face. She was striking, Fletcher noted, which drew him towards applying for a job there.

Not long after came Erin and Alex, two polar opposites who found work and romance at the same store. Calm Alex, who helped old ladies cross the road, who gave up his hours to serve hundreds of customers, even though he had no need for the money. Dramatic Erin, stubborn to the core. She only took the job because Scarlett insisted upon it, but she found love there, so she had no regrets.

Erin and Alex were prime examples of opposites attracting, which struck Fletcher with hope that he and Emily could end up the same. Maybe love was not in vain. Maybe fate was watching the duo, munching on a bowl of popcorn and shaking its head at their denial. Maybe his life was just a ridiculous soap opera, watched by lonely teenagers on Valentine's Day and those moms who argue about being on Team Edward or Team Jacob.

Fletcher shook his head to rid these irrational thoughts. There was no point daydreaming about romantic endeavors when Waffle Cones was going to be ripped apart by a bulldozer. He plunged a scoop into a tub of vanilla ice cream, dumping it on a crisp waffle cone and topping the concoction with a flake. He knew Melanie would find out and force him to pay for the cone, but Fletcher deserved a treat to lift his spirits, especially since his source of income was going to vanish soon.

As much as Fletcher wanted to drag his thoughts away from Emily, his mind insisted on reforming memories of their conversations every time he waved them away. There was no point fighting the urge. Fletcher flitted back to the idea of future conversations with Emily and could hear the determination in her voice, as though she could delete the idea of the shop closing down with sheer willpower.

Fletcher also wondered what would happen to their friendship once Waffle Cones closed down. What would happen when the reason they met was going to be mowed down like a patch of grass? What would become of their banter if the ice cream phone was no more?

After all, that phone was the property of Melanie. Fletcher had no clue whether she would allow him to keep it, and even if she approved of the idea, she would want cash in return. Far too much cash that Fletcher was not prepared to spend. However, he knew deep down that this was far from the truth, as he would mine all the treasure in the world for a future with Emily. Perhaps he could use the logic of Alex to work out where the treasure was, and ask Erin, the reigning champion of the Waffle Cones arm wrestling contests, to dig. Scarlett could polish the diamonds, since her delicate touch was a trait none of the others possessed.

Nostalgia framed the twist of his lips as he broke into a smile, though it did not reach his eyes, laced with sadness. With the smile came a realization that as long as his ragtag group of friends remained intact, Fletcher could live. If Erin and Alex remained a mushy couple, Scarlett came around often to visit, and Melanie reprised her role as his strict mother figure, Waffle Cones closing down was not the end of the world. If Emily was by his side, maybe Fletcher could be content.

He spared a glance at the back room, where the others had initiated a game of cards. They roared with laughter as Fletcher watched from afar, the twisted smile never leaving his face. A twinge of hope struck his heart, during which he decided that even though there was a bittersweet sting to his realization, it was the only lifeline left to grasp.

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Emily's POV

"Waffle Cones is closing down."

"What?!" Emily screeched down the phone, her heart pounding against her chest at a hundred miles an hour. Her breath mimicked the shallow gasps of an Olympic sprinter as jumbled sentences caught in her throat, none escaping her mouth. The gears in her mind pumped with renewed vigor as she bounced from word to word, trying to arrange them in a coherent order, though her emotions could not be any farther from coherency.

Emily was suddenly jerked out of her thoughts by a sharp noise. She stared at the darkened screen of her phone, fingers numb with shock that Fletcher had hung up on her. A stretch of silence passed before a low groan rumbled in her throat. The news settled in as quickly as dust collected in an abandoned corner. Every bone in her body wished Fletcher was playing a prank, but she knew he had not faked the heartbreak in his voice.

She leaned forward as her chair creaked in complaint, scribbling 'save Waffle Cones' on a sticky note. Emily stared at the words for a second, soaking in their implication, before tacking the paper on her bulletin board. The board was already peppered with notes, but Emily arranged them so the Waffle Cones one was spotlighted at the center.

Every other aspect of her room was picture perfect. She was surrounded by teal walls, and lacy white curtains decorated her window. Stacks of books were arranged based on subject, while her stationery found homes in various drawers. In contrast, her pinboard was so erratically covered in bits and bobs that some notes were buried beneath others. Tiny plastic roses bordered photos of Emily and her family. Emily, being piggybacked by her father. Emily, being taught how to use a hula hoop by her mother. Emily, being awarded for outstanding academic achievement, her parents seated in the front row, grins brighter than the summer sun.

She could not imagine how Fletcher could cope with losing a parent, nor being stuck with a mother who wanted to throw away his only source of happiness. Now she would get what she wanted, since Waffle Cones was closing down, and as much as Emily racked her brain, she could not figure out why.

The shop was always overflowing with customers, and for good reason. Emily was convinced their ice cream was crafted by angels, because no mortal could possibly conjure such a perfect concoction of sugar and cream. Love for the shop and its desserts danced across her tongue every time she tasted their products, exploding with unique flavors upon each bite. As she reimaged the bliss seeping through her bones in those moments, her anger was simply reinforced.

A frustrated shout, so close to leaving her mouth, was interrupted by the spasms of her phone. Emily jutted out her bottom lip as a sigh replaced her scream, the air flow of which she redirected towards the stray hairs resting on her cheekbones. She picked up the phone, voice dripping with irritation. "Hello?"

"Hi Emily!" chirped a voice she never expected to hear again. The surprise sent a shock wave through her spine, knitting each bone together and forcing her to sit up.

"E with a van?" Emily asked incredulously. Her eyebrows shot upwards and out of sight.

"The one and only," Evan chuckled, his laugh so contagious that Emily found herself giggling too, though guilt soon clouded her mind. She choked her next chuckle down her throat. There was no room for laughter when Waffle Cones was closing down.

"What's up?" She propped her feet on the desk, struggling to keep the grin off her face.

"Not much, I–" Evan was cut off by white noise. Emily strained her ears to differentiate voices within the blur of sound.

"Hello!" A female voice shouted, distinct and above the hum which Emily had become used to. The volume of the voice made her wince and yank the phone away from her ear. "I'm Maddie, and Evan wants to ask you–"

"Let her breathe, Mads," a male voice drawled, sarcasm rippling through his speech. "Here," he said with brisk impatience. "Let's do a Chubby Bunny challenge to shut you up."

"Wait–" Maddie protested, but her next words came out garbled, because the person seemed to have gagged her with a handful of marshmallows. "Mmph!"

As entertaining as they were, with these newcomers came exclusion, and Emily was soon left in the dust. She was the outsider, a loose thread in a knitted sweater, and the awkward feeling strengthened as chatter continued on the other end of the call. Emily cleared her throat. "Is this a bad time?"

"No!" Evan was back with haste. The loud scrummage became a murmur as footsteps tapped away from the noise. Emily assumed they belonged to Evan, who must have left the room. "Sorry about my friends, it takes a while to get used to them. Trust me, I know."

"It's fine, they're cool," Emily reassured him.

"Anyway," Evan continued, voice crystal clear since he abandoned the commotion. "Did you enjoy the birthday party we threw for you?" He spoke with the enthusiasm of a puppy whose owner agreed to play fetch with him.

Emily stifled a giggle at the thought of Evan woofing eagerly and chewing a dog bone, before she replied, "it was great, thanks so much! I can't believe you guys went to such lengths to celebrate my birthday, but why did you clear off so soon?"

"We had to go back to our hometown. It's a couple hundred miles away from Westerden, and none of us wanted to drive in the dark. We only visited Waffle Cones because we heard they had great birthday promotions," Evan said, an apology laced within his tone. "It would've been nice to see you, but maybe we can hang out some other time."

"Yeah, that'd be fun," Emily grinned. Her fingers ran up and down the bumps of her sushi pendant necklace, a birthday gift from Fletcher, though he had not personally given it to her. He had given it to Melanie, who handed it off to Erin, who dumped it in the possession of Alex, who eventually delivered it to Emily. Even so, happiness bloomed in her chest when Alex revealed the present with a flourish. The chain was a simple gold, but the pendant itself was another story; a plastic circle of white rice wrapped in rough seaweed, with cucumber sticks and avocado chunks packaged neatly in the middle.

It was actually the symbolism behind the pendant which made it her most valuable possession. It validated her nickname, raised memories of their late night conversations as the silver moon hung above their windows, a luminous pearl among the heavens. The romantic factor increased exponentially once Emily learned that Fletcher had the necklace made especially for her. As Alex fastened the necklace around her neck, the coolness of the metal seeping through her skin, she knew she would give anything for Fletcher to be clasping the necklace instead.

"How's Waffle Cones doing?" Evan snapped Emily out of her daydream. She tumbled from cloud nine to the ground, where the shock of the Waffle Cones dilemma, which had briefly shuffled behind the necklace memory, slammed into her chest with the force of a monster truck.

"Uh, not so good," Emily heard the wince in her own voice. She waited for three seconds to let the impact of her words sink in. Evan seemed to pick up on her tone as his breathing shallowed, though the serious moment was punctuated by faint noises. Shouts hummed in the background. Emily could just decipher a feminine voice screaming various expletives at the rest.

"What do you mean?" Evan asked hesitantly.

"They're closing the shop down." Saying the words aloud only consolidated the truth.

Evan was so overcome with indignation that he could only voice a series of splutters. A minute passed before he managed to force out a coherent sentence. "What? There's no way they're closing it down. It was swarmed with customers when we visited!"

There was no doubt that Waffle Cones must have touched his heart too, warmed as easily as chestnuts roasting over an open fire. A twinge of jealousy tugged at Emily. The store was her second home, even though she had never visited it, and the thought of someone else being attached to the shop was an insult. Emily waved these irrational thoughts away. She was being ridiculous. Rather than voicing her opinions, she went for, "I don't know why it's closing down either."

"How are Fletcher and the others doing?" Evan asked, voice thick with concern.

"I don't know," Emily said softly. "When he broke the news to me an hour ago, he hung up in an instant. I haven't heard from him since, but I didn't call back. He's probably not in the right state of mind to talk."

"I think you made the right choice," Evan delivered his opinions amid arguments about blue shells and rainbow roads. "Just give him time. He'll talk to you when he's ready. I don't know for sure, though. Guys are weird, which is ironic of me to say, but it's true."

"I know, but–" Emily paused as her chest heaved a sigh. She knew what she wanted to say, but her thoughts refused to be converted into coherent sentences. They were a game of Scrabble inside her mind, letters which floated around with no purpose until she used them to create language. "I just want to help."

"You have to let life work its magic, Emily." Evan sounded like he was reciting from a fortune cookie. "Patience is key."

Emily was seized with an urge to protest that she was not known for her patience, but restrained herself before she said so. "Yeah, you're right. Um, I also have to go now." She actually did not have any obligations for the rest of the day, but as morally supportive as Evan was, Emily decided she would rather be alone with her thoughts. "Maybe we can chat some other time?"

"Sure," Evan responded, though a hint of disappointment swam under his voice. "We'll talk later, okay? Good luck with Fletcher. He may be a downer at the moment, but his heart is in the right place. I'm sure you two can ride off into the sunset together soon."

"Wait, what?" Emily frowned, but Evan had already hung up. She huffed out of the corner of her mouth, a strand of hair suspended momentarily in midair before flopping back down. Although Evan confused her with his last words, she returned to the more pressing matter. How could she wait for a miracle to happen? Especially since she was not certain that it would even occur? What if Waffle Cones actually closed down for good? She could not let that happen. Not at any cost.

Emily held her phone with quivering fingers and hesitated, before punching in the familiar number. Snakes writhed in her stomach for an agonizing eight seconds before the rhythmic beeps ceased. A background hum told her someone had answered. Anxiety stole the air from her lungs, but she managed to ask, "Fletcher, are you there?"

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Whoo, that was a depressing chapter! What did you think? What are your theories about Waffle Cones now? Do you think the shop is going to close down for good, or will it be saved? How would they save it? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Let me know if this writing style is readable, by the way. It's way more eloquent than the original, but I'm aware my chapters are difficult to wade through now.

My winter break begins next week, so hopefully I can get the rest of this story up once it begins! I do have university applications and loads of studying to do during the break though, so I can't guarantee anything yet. I'm also super sleep deprived as of the moment, so I may wake up the next morning and not remember writing any of this, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! This rewrite alone took eight hours *sighs*

Make sure to leave votes and comments if you're enjoying this story so far! We only have ten or so chapters left, so the end is near. Thanks for reading! <3