"Fine, you're hired. Whatever."

I didn't think it was going to be this easy.

After I returned to campus with my bag of fancy leftovers, I walked around looking at all the news boards and peering into the windows of all the stores I knew. I was particularly interested in clothing stores. It might even give me a stronger resume in the fashion world if I ever was in the front lines, fending off bad choices from clients who didn't understand their body types or complexions as well as I could. Alas, none of the ones nearby had any vacancies, and I wanted to work as close to the campus as possible because soon I wouldn't be able to afford moving my Beetle out of its parking spot.

The two places I could find that were actively looking for employees were the Magic Cafe and the school souvenir store, which was closed that day. The cafe opened 24/7 and it was one of the most popular hangout spots in campus. That had to translate to good tips, so I walked into the place, announced my interest in the vacant position to the guy who looked to be in charge, and was hired on the spot.

Still, I ran my big mouth by asking, "Are you sure you don't need to run my credentials or something?"

After all, I was going to be handling food and drinks.

He snorted, "You look clean, so that's good to me. I'm Matt, the first shift manager."

Matt extended a long, bony hand that I shook. "Um, Addy."

"Welcome to Magic Cafe, Um Addy."

I cringed at the disdain in his voice. If I had to describe Matt, I'd say he was a wannabe '90s grunge kid who was born in the wrong decade. Check on the long, unkempt hair that he mostly had tamed into a ponytail. Check the torn jeans, studded belt and shit-kicking boots. Check the tattoo sleeve that must have cost him a fortune that I spied from shoulder to wrist, thanks to the torn up sleeves on the purple t-shirt with white cursive displaying the name of the establishment.

I wondered if they had one my size.

"When can I start?" I asked him as he motioned me behind the counter.

He bent down and rummaged through some stuff until he pulled out a binder. After rifling through it he offered me a sheet of paper from it and a pen.

"Fill the application form and I'll get someone to get you trained. We need all hands on deck pronto."

I looked around us. The place was packed. I saw two servers on the floor, one dashing with a jar of water from one table to the next and the other one taking orders. The voices were as loud as the clanking utensils. There was a table close to the door with people who acted more like they were in a football stadium than at a place to get some lunch. From the corner of my eye I saw the jerky motion of someone stand up too quickly and toppled the jar of water from one of the server's hands, drenching someone else in the process.

Was I really about to do this?

And then I remembered my father's threat. Coming from him, it was actually a promise.

Sighing, I bent down and started jotting my details down the application form.

"We're getting killed out there," a waitress said as she came over.

Matt responded to her with, "Don't worry, more help is coming."

Me. He meant me.

Or so I thought, until I heard a familiar voice over the cacophony of noise say, "I'm back, bitches."

I looked up so fast I could've snapped my neck. Then I gasped.

"Ayrton?"

I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but no. That was indeed one of the most beautiful boys I'd ever met in my life, in the flesh. He turned heads at the same rate as his twin did, with the difference that Ayrton bloomed under the spotlight of such attentions. The other difference was that Ayrton had a completely different look from Ash's nowadays, with a whole lot of metal in his ears and hair up to his chin in a warmer chocolate color than his original near black.

He pointed at me and I did the same in return, which immediately sent us into peals of laughter.

"Oh my God, we look like the Spiderman meme," he said as he crossed the distance between us and pulled me into a hug. "It's been forever since I last saw you."

I laughed, not just because his head ended up tucked under my chin, but also because that was a flagrant lie. "C'mon, we were together at the concert in Tampa last month."

We'd hung out at the VIP section of Casual Friday Funeral's backstage, watching our friends kick ass and bring the house down while Ayr and I got our liquor game on. I didn't think such escapades were going to be possible for me any longer, and at that thought something twisted in my chest.

Ayr's clear grey eyes twinkled as he pulled away. "Oh, that's true."

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" I asked him, knowing that he was going to film school in Tampa.

"I should ask you the same."

The way I clammed up had him narrowing his eyes. He glanced around and found Matt. After whispering something with the other boy, Ayrton motioned at me to follow him. He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked a door that was just off the entrance to the kitchen. It was a small, windowless office with a metal desk and a ratty chair, lots of file cabinets and a mountain of papers.

"Sit," he said, rolling out the chair in my direction and leaning against the desk.

I jerked a thumb towards the door. "How do you have keys?"

"I'll get to your questions after you answer mine." Ayrton folded his arms. "Why is a rich girl like you filling in the application form to work at a place like this?"

I followed the line his eyes made to the paper sheet still in my hand. After letting out a breath, I figured I might as well get everything off my chest and I knew only a handful of people I would trust this with. Fortunately for me, Ayrton Winters belonged to that exclusive club. He released a string of curses as I gave him the play by play of that fateful brunch with my parents and by the end of the story angry tears were streaming down my face. I wiped them with the backs of my hands as best as I could, and Ayrton took a second to leave and come back with a wad of napkins.

"I feel you, honey." His eyes rolled. "I'm very familiar with shitty parents and I don't wish this situation on my worse enemies. I'm so fucking pissed you're going through something similar."

I offered a watery smile. "If this is a contest, your dad still gets the award of Florida's shittiest father."

He shrugged one shoulder. "Mom isn't much better."

That was true. Ayrton had the misfortune of being born from a conservative politician and his porcelain doll of a wife, both of whom threw him out of the house and the family's will upon finding out that Ayrton was gay. He'd high tailed it to Sarasota for a bit during our senior year in Trinity to live with his aunt, who was a far more loving and accepting person. At least he had a twin brother who loved him and protected him. I didn't have anybody in my corner like that.

"So that's why you need a job," he said after the pause. "You're hired."

I dabbed at my cheeks, chuckling. "Matt already said so."

"I knew he didn't have rocks for brains."

"But why is it that you sounds like you're in charge?" I asked him.

Ayrton spread his arms wide open and did one twirl. "That's because this is my new realm. I'm transferring to Rollins."

"What?" I jumped to my feet. "Since when? Why am I just finding out?"

He wrinkled his nose. "It was sudden. Aunt Jem bought this cafe even though she doesn't want to leave the beach side, so someone has to keep an eye on it."

"Holy crap, the band's going to be so happy-"

Ayr shushed me and looked around, even though we were firmly locked in the office. "Let's not talk about the band. I somehow managed to convince everybody I'm just a lookalike and not at all related to Ashton."

"Is that why you changed your look?"

He grinned. "A bitch has to survive, you know."

God, I was so glad that he was here that I went in for another bear hug, even though I wasn't precisely the biggest fan of PDAs. That decision proved to not be so sound when Matt opened the door and saw us. A certain suspicion flared in his eyes that made both Ayrton and me start laughing. And laughing.

"Oh honey," Ayrton said while he gasped for air. "You should know better than anyone else I'm the gayest gay in this town."

Matt rolled his eyes but there was no mistaking the flush that crept up his neck.

I gave my friend a complete indiscrete look that he returned with a wiggle of his eyebrows. So these two had history already, huh?

Damn, Ayrton had left a string of broken hearts across the east coast already. And there I stood, wishing I could break someone else's heart for a change instead of always getting the pieces of mine shattered into smaller and smaller bits.

"Whatever." Matt cleared his throat and jerked his chin at me. "Are you done with the application? We have no time to waste to start getting you up to speed."

"Um, yes," I said, handing him the paper back.

"Good, follow me," he grumbled, clearly unable to get over what he'd seen quite as fast as he should.

Turned out they did have a t-shirt my size. I put it over my favorite dress and by the end of the day, both were soaked through with sweat. Every bone in my body hurt and I fell in love with the place. If every day was as hectic as my first one had been, I would never have time to think about the fact that I was a rudderless boat. But then again, the heavens had given me an extraordinary gift. While one of my best friends was touring with her band all around North America and the other one was studying in Seattle with her boyfriend, I now had Ayrton with me.

I didn't feel so alone anymore.

a lot of you were hoping to (re)meet Miguel this chapter but instead Ayrton's like: