ix. WHAT ABOUT BREAKFAST AT TALLULAH'S

wednesday, january 13th

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WHILE AWSTEN WAS STILL SITTING on Jasper Beck's couch, his phone buzzed.

  When he picked it up, he saw a text from Lula.

  i need to talk to you

  "Fuck," he cursed. "Fuck, Jasper, what does this mean?"

  He turned his phone around and Jasper read the message. "Call her maybe. Actually, no, she doesn't like phone calls all that much. Ask if you can go back to her place and talk." He paused. "Then maybe after you guys are talking, you can talk."

  So Awsten texted her back, can i come back to your place to talk?

  sure, she sent back immediately.

  She sent him the directions, and Awsten drove to Lula's apartment for the second time today.

  It was so late, but he wanted to tell her about Jasper, and about the party.

  But once he was about three blocks away at a stoplight, he wondered if it was too late. But before he could figure it out, a car behind him honked their horn, and he realized the light was green and started driving again.

  As he made his way to the next stoplight, he could see police lights flashing, and his mind automatically went to the worst thing that could happen.

  Lula, he thought. No, no, no.

  But obviously, it wasn't about Lula. It was, however, a pretty bad car accident, meaning no one could use this intersection.

  He could use a different route to get to Lula's place, but he took it as a sign from the universe that he should just go to bed.

  So he texted Lula. bad car accident, he said. could we reschedule this for tomorrow morning? maybe get some coffee and breakfast?

  yeah, i saw the accident, she texted back. Lula really wanted to talk to him in person tonight, but she thought that he was right, and it was best to move to the morning when she was refreshed.

  So she said, and yeah, we can get some breakfast

  night tallulah

  night, knight

  As Awsten made his way towards the hotel he wsa staying at, and away from the car accident, he didn even notice Lula's use of his last name.

thursday, january 14th

i wrote that song 'debra' @jasperbeckisamilf
2 days until my birthday

Lula Sparrow woke up refreshed and ready for breakfast with Awsten the next morning.

  She texted Tom and asked if she could have the morning off, and since she had closed up the other night, he told her she could.

  where do you want to go? Awsten asked her. you know all the best places, i bet

  At first, she wanted to take him to a small diner that she, Beth, Winn, and Jasper really like. But she ended up inviting him over to her place again.

  i'll make some pancakes, she promised. or waffles? whatever's chill with you

  So Awsten came over, and the two of them made some breakfast food.

  Spoiler Alert: It was pretty awkward. Lula wanted to tell Awsten she knew he was Awsten Knight; Awsten wanted to tell Lula they had a mutual friend.

  But they both stalled.

  Lula didn't know how to tell him she knew of his fame, and Awsten just didn't want to go first.

  He still hasn't fully realized that Lula used his last name in a text the night before, and Lula still hasn't fully realized that she sent it.

  So she decided that instead of telling him she knew he was famous, she would get him to admit it himself.

  She just didn't know how. She could do 20 questions, or truth or dare, but she didn't know how to ask him without being obvious.

  "You wanna listen to some music?" she asked him.

  "You gonna play the Taylor Swift album again?" He raised his eyebrows.

  "What's your deal with her," she laughed. "You hate her or something?"

  "God, no, she's a genius."

  Lula set up her Bluetooth speaker, and hooked up her Spotify. "I saw you lookin' for the side door / You didn't want to stick around for / The rest of the night / I guess that's alright"

  "I have a suggestion," Awsten smiled.

  Lula looked over at him and bit the inside of her cheek.

  "No," he shook his head. "Nevermind, it's lame."

  "What is it? Tell me," she laughed and he continued to shake his head, laughing too.

  "No, it's lame. It's dumb." After a moment, he gave in. "Okay, fine, I'll tell you." Awsten rubbed his face and laughed again. "Agh, this is stupid...Do you want to sit on the floor and eat?"

  "That's not stupid," she grinned. "That's a good idea, that's cute — I mean, cute in like...not like that. In like a...not like that."

  "Not like what?" He knew what she meant, but hoped he wasn't getting friend-zoned straight away.

  The air in the kitchen instantly changed.

  Something about how Awsten was looking at Lula like that: One side of his mouth turned up in a smirk, his eyebrows raised ever so slightly. He dropped the smirk and let his mouth fall open the tiniest bit.

  And it also had something to do about how Lula was looking at him: Her eyes so wide and curious. She bit down on her bottom lip so hard she could almost taste the blood.

  "Not like what?" he repeated in a hushed tone.

  "Awsten..."

  Lula set the bowl of batter that she had been holding down, and took a few steps towards him.

  "Lula..."

  He took a step towards her as well, and his hands fell to her waist. Lula's hands ghosted over his torso and she eventually rested them on his shoulders.

  She raised one, and brushed a thumb across his cheek which instantly turned hot.

  In an attempt to hide his blush from her, Awsten leaned in a bit, and both of their eyes fluttered shut.

  And then, "At least it's all about you / I think the blondes are done with fun"

close to me by dayglow (featured in this chapter) is so good?????