The next day I was up an hour earlier than I had to be. My mind was in overdrive. I was still slapping myself for agreeing to meet up with Brett, but another part of me was excited to see him again. Excited to just hear his voice again. The same voice that used to lull me to sleep back in the day. This was all foolish but I could not stop myself.

Even though I was exhausted, I got out of bed twenty minutes later. We should have agreed for a later time, as I was moving pretty slowly to the living room. Even though we were meeting up for coffee, I started a pot. I could never have too much coffee.

As the clock ticked closer to ten, I became more nervous. I quickly showered and washed my hair. I wanted—no, needed—to look somewhat good. I wanted Brett to see what he has missed out on. Crazy, I know.

I spent a good twenty minutes going through my closet to try and find something nice to wear. I knew I was thinking too much of it so I finally just decided on something simple. Dressed in a pair of light blue skinny jeans, a quarter-sleeve maroon shirt, a pair of black flats, and I was good to go.

I left my hair down my back in soft waves and added a little bit of makeup to hide my tiredness. I forced myself not to change again and grabbed my purse, ready to go. Before I left my apartment, I gave myself a small pep talk.

This is nothing serious. Just a simple coffee meet-up with a guy I used to have feelings for. Yeah, nothing serious, I silently chanted to myself.

Peete's Cafe wasn't that far from the hospital so the car ride didn't take long. Parking my car, I took a deep breath trying to steel myself. Don't be a weirdo, Kayla. Just act normal. Knowing I couldn't stall much longer, I finally got myself out of my car and headed for the door of the cafe. I silently prayed he was already here so I didn't have to sit at a table alone.

Heading inside I scanned the crowd, trying to find the familiar face. The place was pretty busy, with it being Saturday. Right when I thought Brett wasn't here, I spotted him in the corner. I weaved around tables until I finally made it to his.

"Hey," I breathed. His head snapped over in my direction and a wide small spread across his face. He quickly stood up.

"You made it." Seeing his smile made me glad I did come.

"I did." I sent him a small smile before taking a seat across from him. I noticed there were two coffees and two muffins on the table already. When he noticed me looking at them, Brett spoke up.

"You still like your coffee with sugar, right? And I got muffins in case you haven't eaten yet." Brett brought a hand up and rubbed the back of his neck. I grabbed the big coffee mug and wrapped my hands around the warmth.

"You still remember how I like my coffee."

"Of course. You are the only one who likes their coffee with so much sugar someone could get diabetes from it." I laughed softly at that. I did like a lot of sugar in my coffee, more than I probably should.

"Better than just black bitter coffee." Brett rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

"So...you've been out three months?" I asked after a few minutes. I sipped my coffee as I waited for him to answer. The coffee was perfect, just how I liked it.

"Yeah, my tour was up."

"You didn't want to re-enlist?"

"Two tours were enough for me."

"What made you want to re-enlist a second time?" I found myself asking.

"Well..." He was quiet for a moment before he answered. "My entire team was re-upping and I felt it was a good decision." I noticed the look in his eye when he answered. A look passed over his face that let me know something happened over there.

"How was college? Did I miss out on amazing parties?" Brett quickly changed the topic and I let him. He clearly didn't want to talk about his time overseas.

"Of course, you'd want to go to all the college parties." I rolled my eyes at him. Typical Brett. "But no, you didn't miss out on 'amazing parties.' They were just a bunch of kids getting drunk, humping against each other, and/or cheating on someone."

"You sound like you know what goes on." He raised an eyebrow at me, a mocking grin on his face. I could recall going to a few parties back in the day, but they weren't spectacular.

"Yes, I went to a few but they weren't really my scene. My roommate mostly dragged me to them, only to be the designated driver."

"Sounds like Kayla Winters. Being the responsible one."

"Hey! As I recall, I saved us from plenty of stupid things back in the day! If it wasn't for me you would have gotten caught." I pointed out.

"Like I would have gotten caught." Brett scoffed. "I am loved by all."

"Still the cocky one I see," I teased, sending him a smile over my mug.

He didn't bother to reply and instead asked another question, "What happened beside going to tons of parties?"

"School work and studying." I gave him a look. "I studied my butt off to graduate in four and a half years. Got an internship at the hospital and have been there ever since."

"I thought you only had to go for four years?"

"I took an extra internship for half a semester before graduating," I explained.

"Always the overachiever." I knew he was just joking and I stuck my tongue out at him. Being around him made me feel like I was seventeen all over again.

"What about you? What have you been up to?" I asked, leaning back in my chair and staring at him.

"Been in the Marines," he deadpanned.

"I know that, but anything else? What are you doing now?"

"Well I learned how to repair some things over there, so me and a buddy of mine are starting up our own handyman business."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. We only just started a month ago but we have quite a few clients already."

"Well that is great. I'm happy for you." And I meant it. I was glad to hear he was doing okay and starting his own business. When we were younger, all he wanted to do was play football. Maybe make it to the pros one day. It was great he now had something to do now that he was out, even if it wasn't his dream of being a football player.

We were quiet for a few minutes. Casually sipping our coffees, me taking a few bites of the muffin he got me. It was only slightly awkward as we sat there but I enjoyed being near him. It was something I thought I'd never get to do again.

"Am I going to expect an angry boyfriend to come in here and demand why I am hogging all of his girlfriend's time?" Brett asked suddenly. I blinked at the question. I was torn between wanting to laugh and demanding to know why he cared. I stayed quiet for a few minutes longer, letting Brett fret for a moment.

"No. I don't have a boyfriend," I finally answered. Funny how everyone kept asking me the same thing.

"Oh." His green eyes widened at my answer. "Why no boyfriend?"

"Haven't really had time to date these last few years." I shrugged. And it was the truth. I had been so busy with work, I couldn't even think about finding a steady boyfriend. It really wasn't worth the hassle anyways.

"Should I expect an angry girlfriend to come running in as well?" The words tumbled free before I could stop them. I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to that. If he did have a girlfriend, I was pretty sure my heart would break into even smaller pieces. Although, for the life of me I could not tell you why it still mattered or why I cared.

"No girlfriend." While his answer made me happy, I frowned. How could he not have a girlfriend? He looked even hotter than he did eight years ago.

"Why?" He asked me, why not ask him the same thing?

"Can't really date when you are always busy or over in another country." I was quiet, not really sure what to say. Although inwardly, I was jumping with joy.

"Anyways, tell me the craziest hospital you have."

***

While our conversation was kind of awkward, it felt like old times—like we were just catching up after a long day at work. I wasn't going to deny that there weren't some awkward moments of silence or palpable tension from the questions we wanted to ask one another, but never would.

There was so much history between us, and being around Brett just made me feel like I was that young girl again. The girl who wasn't heartbroken and always working. It felt nice to feel that way again after so long.

The two of us ended up spending a good two hours at the cafe before Brett had to get going. When we both walked awkwardly outside, not sure if we should say goodbye, Brett suddenly spoke up.

"I know this is so sudden but...will you go out with me tomorrow?" He even looked nervous as he spoke. Him asking me out made me pause. Was that really a good idea? This was fun but I could already feel my old feelings coming back; feelings that I knew would be hard to get rid of once they surfaced.

"Um, Brett, I don't know."

"Just one date, Kayla. After that, we can part ways if you want." With those green eyes staring right at me, I knew I would say yes. I could never say no to him.

"Okay, fine. Tomorrow."

"Good. I'll come pick you up around eight." After giving him my address and him sending me a wide grin, he said goodbye and went to his car.

Did I really just agree to go out on a date with my ex-boyfriend? What is wrong with me?