Andy laid on Daniel’s couch, staring at the ceiling. Daniel sat across from her, waiting for the right moment to start asking questions. Did the date suck or something? How bad did it suck for her to come here and mope about it? Just as he opened his mouth, Andy abruptly sat up and snapped her head towards Daniel. He jumped and quietly cursed to himself.

“Before you say anything, think to yourself, ‘hey is this any of my business?’ and then don’t say anything.” Andy laid back down and shooed him away.

Okay, whatever bitch…I just wanted to be nosy I guess. You’re the one staying at MY house. Daniel scoffed and retreated to his bedroom.

Nara woke up early in the morning and looked around the apartment, only to realize that Andy was nowhere to be found. She checked her phone and noticed a text from her from last night. At Daniel’s. I think we need some time apart. Nara stood there in disbelief. She slowly tried to remember what went down last night but she only recalled glimpses of Andy's face. After a few minutes of mental struggle, she grabbed her things and headed straight for the coffee shop.

Andy was wiping down the countertops when Nara burst through the door, making everyone in the shop jump. Nara slammed her hands on the counter, her cheeks flushed red and breath heavy.

“What the fuck do you mean time apart?!” She yelled as she angrily pointed her finger in Andy’s face.

“First of all, get that finger out of my face. Second, stop causing a scene and come with me.”

Andy went around the counter to grab Nara’s hand and dragged her to the break room. When they were out of sight, Nara ripped her hand out of Andy’s grip and fought to hold back her tears.

“Why do you want time apart? What did I even do?”

“You seriously don’t remember?” Andy scoffed. “You basically treat me like some dog that always listens to you and belongs to you like some kind of possession. I’m always there for you when you’re at your worst and cheering you on at your best, yet you see me as some sort of accessory. You’ve never asked me how I felt or what I wanted. You know what? Just leave. I’ve got work to do.”

“No!” Nara grabbed Andy’s arm as she began walking towards the door. All of her memories from last night rushed back to her as Andy was speaking. She couldn’t let Andy leave yet. “I- I don’t understand what I’m feeling right now. You’re so important to me and I don’t see you as some sort of possession. You’re literally everything to me, and after hearing that you went out with some guy, I started getting scared. Just…be patient with me give me time to process this.”

Patient? Andy couldn’t get more patient than this, seeing how she waited thirteen years so far. Frustrated, Andy pulled Nara close to her and held the back of her neck, looking deep in her eyes. She softly brushed her lips against Nara’s, slowly pulling her in deeper until she suddenly released her.

“Go ahead and process that. I’m going home, so don’t come unless you’ve really thought about you want,” Andy said quietly as she made her way to her office to grab her things and left without once looking back.

Nara sat back on the couch in bewilderment. She felt so stupid that she didn’t see how Andy felt this whole time. She was truly selfish for relying on Andy without regard to any of her feelings. Her entire face was beet red, all the way down to her neck. She didn’t even know where to begin thinking. For starters, did Nara feel the same way? Wait, Andy likes women, too? No, that wasn’t the important part. She needed to apologize, but Andy didn’t want to see her until she knew what she wanted. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a light knock on the door and a head peeking through.

“Hey…sorry to interrupt your time of brooding, but there’s someone out here looking for you,” Daniel said nervously, his eyes shifting back to the front counter behind him.

Nara stepped out to face a tall, broad shouldered man with curly brown hair. She felt all the blood leave her face and slowly fill back up with rage. Ah, shit. This is her ex. Oops. Daniel cowered over to a corner and immediately dialed Andy. Not even a minute later, Nara started yelling at the man.

“Why are you here? Don’t you have that cute little rat back at home waiting to rub your balls for you?” Nara was fuming, and she grabbed a dirty dish rag to throw in his face.

“Ooh kay, not good,” Daniel quickly rushed over, grabbing the towel from her hand. “How about we take this outside, hm? Oh and Gerald? You can eat shit.”

“The fu-? How about you stay out of our business, little twink? Babe, do you even know this guy?” Gerald laughed, jabbing his finger into Daniel’s shoulder.

Nara and Daniel were both fucking pissed. Little twink? Babe? Who let this guy speak? They shoved him out the door and simultaneously started shouting in his face. Andy, who only lived a few minutes away, ran all the way to the shop in time to see Daniel land a punch on Gerald. She rushed over to pull Daniel away with one arm and hug Nara with the other. Gerald stepped back a bit, but his attitude was still at the same level.

“Gerald. You need to leave or else we’re gonna have a little replay of what happened a few days ago.”

“What did she do?” Daniel whispered to Nara.

“She beat his ass with a chair…”

The color drained from Daniel’s face a little as he looked up as his cousin and then at Gerald. That guy was huge, but he never realized that Andy was quite tall and super fit, too. Andy let go of Daniel and Nara and took a step towards Gerald. His cocky aura depleted the moment he saw her, and it just kept going down the longer she glared at him. She cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders, warming up to hand him his ass again.

“Okay okay I get it! I just wanted to get back together but I forgot you had this damn guard dog on you all the time.”

“Aw, but at least you eventually remembered me! So why don’t you take your little chicken dick and run on home before I call the cops?” Andy said with a deathly glare.

Gerald walked away without another word and Andy turned back to the other two. Daniel recounted everything that happened, with slight dramatic effect, while Nara looked down at her hands the whole time. Andy looked at her every now and then, her heart throbbing from seeing Nara so down.

“Thanks for being here for her, Daniel. I’m gonna bring her home now so go back inside. It looks like the other employees are getting antsy.”

Andy and Nara arrived at the door of Andy’s apartment, and Nara suddenly wrapped her arms around Andy’s waist and cried into her chest. Andy stood there for a moment in shock, then sighed and stroked her hair like she usually would.

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry. I should’ve paid more attention. I should’ve thought of you more. I’m so selfish. Why am I so stupid?”

As Nara was crying and rambling, Andy kissed the top of her head. Then she kissed her damp eyelids, her cheeks, her nose, her lips. As Andy pulled away, Nara held her face and brought their lips together again. Andy fumbled to get the door open and they rushed inside, still glued to each other’s faces. As they were ripping off each other’s outer garments, Andy’s phone started buzzing like crazy. Daniel spam texted her and then proceeded to call her as if that wasn’t enough. This fucking kid.

“What do you want? Ah-” Andy tried to be angry, but Nara was nipping at her neck.

“I’m totally gonna ignore that. Um, Jess somehow slipped and fell in the kitchen and broke her arm, so they’re shipping her to the hospital now.”

“Don’t say they shipped her, that’s so weird. Send me the address, I’ll be on my way. Bye.” Andy hung up immediately without giving Daniel any room to say anything else.

Andy leaned her back against the wall with her eyes closed and brought Nara into a tight embrace. She didn’t want to leave her, especially now.

“Come on, you need to go. I’ll wait for you.” Nara hesitantly looked at Andy.

“I love you. More than you’ll ever know,” Andy sighed and threw on her coat. She kissed Nara’s forehead and ran out the door.

“I love you, too…” Nara sighed into the silence.

A year has passed, and the shop was as busy as ever. Nara sat at the seat by the window, watching her lover scramble to finish all of the orders. She turns to look at the snow outside, admiring the lovely white blanket that she used to hate so much. She's suddenly met with a kiss on her cheek, then on her lips.

“Wanna go for a walk?” Andy smirked, motioning her head toward the door.

“Don't you have to work?”

“It'll be fine. It died down a bit so I think they can handle it.”

Andy kissed Nara's hands and pulled her up. They strolled down the street hand in hand, taking in the fresh, cold air nipping at their cheeks. They teased each other and laughed, completely oblivious to the world around them. There finally came a winter where there was nothing but happiness.

This was exactly what they both wanted.