"2 hot chocolates to go!" I heard someone say.
"I didn't order anything," I said, not bothering to look at the person setting the cups in front of me.
I had been sitting alone for an hour now, thinking things through in silence. After learning what Thawne did, I couldn't go home and pretend I wasn't working with the man who ruined my dad's life.
"I know I just thought you could use one. On me!" He said in a cheerful tone.
"Thanks," I replied, expecting him to go away.
I finally glanced up at the boy standing next to me, it was the same boy that was staring at me during Brent's interview with mom.
"Uhm-"
"Are you okay?" he asked before I could say anything. " Because usually you're not here by yourself this late. And this isn't your usual spot, I never took you for the back of the coffee shop type, and I noticed you didn't order anything." He chuckled nervously with a smile.
"Were...were you watching me?" I asked.
"No, no, no." He replied. "You're just here a lot... I mean you're not here too much or anything, it's just that you're what we call a "usual customer," and I've seen you come to jitters often... not that I was watching you..." He said nervously.
"right." I said with an awkward smile.
"I'm sorry, I just..." He paused mid-sentence and took a deep breath. "I'm Jeven by the way." He said reaching his hand out.
"Dawn." I said shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you Dawn." he replied." I wanted to know if you were, okay?"
"I'm... I'm fine." I said.
"That didn't sound like a confident "I'm fine," he said with a small smile that I did not reciprocate. "If you want to talk, I'm known to be a great listener." He said trying to convince me." and this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, that I don't offer to just any customer, only the "usuals." He said with a cheeky grin causing me to chuckle.
"Okay. "I sighed as he took off his apron and sat in the chair next to me.
"Cindy, I'm going on break now!" He said to the barista girl.
I thought about what I could tell him without mentioning the future, and my dad being the flash or Thawne.
"Have you ever had a big secret that you couldn't tell your parents-"
"I don't live with my parents." he interrupted." I live with my grandparents, my parents had me super young and left- sorry, not important, continue!"
"Okay...that you couldn't tell your grandparents because it's someone else's secret, and they don't want you to tell anybody. However, this secret probably shouldn't be a secret anymore, especially since this secret hurt someone."
"Okay..."He said thinking about what I said.
"I'm sorry if that was a lot-."
"-No, no," he took a deep breath.
"I probably wouldn't tell." he finally said." it's like the time my cousin broke my grandma's vase and instead of telling her, we glued it back together before she got home."
"but don't feel guilty about not telling her." I replied." What if that vase was special to her? or something irreplaceable? Yes, your cousin was the one that broke it but you've been lying to her face ever since. So that makes you an equally bad person."
"Oh." he grumbled. "She still hasn't noticed the vase..." his voice trailed off." Uhm, it seems like we're talking about something much deeper than a vase," he said.
"ugh."I sighed in frustration burying my face into my hands.
"Okay, here's my advice to you because it looks like you could use it." he started. "I didn't want to see my cousin get in trouble but I didn't want my grandma to lose her vase either. I thought the right thing to do was to Fix the vase. This meant that he didn't get in trouble and grandma didn't lose a vase." he finished. "So, my advice to you is to find a center"
"Find a center?" I muttered to myself.
"Yeah, common ground, so everyone is satisfied. " he shrugged.
"Thanks, Jeven." I said.
"No problem." he replied staring at his watch." My break is over, but if you ever want to talk while I'm not working-" he said grabbing a small notebook and pen from his apron." here's my number."
"Thanks-" I replied taking the small piece of paper.
"So, this is where you've been this entire time." Nora said walking towards me.
"Nora?" I said." What-what are you doing here?"
"Mom and dad sent me." Nora said staring at Jeven.
"Hi." Jeven said.
"Hi..." Nora said hesitantly.
"Do you guys know each other?" Nora asked.
"Uh, yes, I mean no, sort of..."I stuttered.
"Jeven, I could use your help with unpacking the new shipment." Cindy said.
"Right, I forgot about that." He said rushing away.
"Who is he?" Nora said with a smirk once he was gone. "He's kind of cute."
"We should leave before mom and dad get worried." I grabbed Nora's hand, leading her to the door.
"Bye Jeven," I said as I walked past.
"See you later, Dawn." he replied.
"Aaaww, he said see you later." Nora mocked. "Your secret boyfriend is so sweet." She said as I pushed her through the door.
"He's not my boyfriend." I shot back.
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We sped back to S.T.A.R labs with me ignoring Nora the entire time.
"So now you're mad at me?" Nora said as I walked ahead of her toward the cortex.
"I was just joking." she said." and after what you said in front of spencer you should consider us equal. "She said jokingly." Dawn? Dawn? slow down!"
"I'm not mad about Jeven."I said over my shoulder.
"Why else would you be mad?" She asked speeding in front of me." Look, I didn't mean what I said about your secret boyfriend-"
"I'm not the one keeping secrets, Nora." I said walking around her.
"What do mean by that, Dawn." She said as I kept walking. "Dawn? can you just talk to me?"
"Why should I?" I turned to face her. "You didn't talk to me after you found out what Thawne did to grandma Nora."
Nora looked around before phasing us into the time vault. The lights instantly turned on, almost blinding me. She refused to look at me and settled with keeping her eyes planted on the ground.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
"-I don't know." Nora replied. "I forgot-"
"-Tell me the truth, Nora." I begged." Please."
Nora went quiet as I waited for an answer.
"I thought about when you first met Thawne and how you didn't want his help-." Nora finally said." I knew you would be mad and probably not want to work with Thawne anymore-"
"I -"
"But before you make that choice." Nora talked over me." I want you to know, that I understand how you feel, But I think Thawne has changed. He's not the same person that murdered grandma Nora, He's different-"
"That doesn't change the past." I interrupted." What He did to our family, to our dad-"
"I know but..." Nora's voice trailed off.
The room went silent as I thought about what Jeven said earlier. I knew what I wanted to do and it was something that would benefit everyone.
"We don't have to tell mom and dad but... I don't want to work with Thawne anymore." I spoke up.
"We need him to save dad and stop cicada-"
"-No, we don't" I replied." We've been doing this for months; we can figure it out on our own." I explained." We can stop Cicada and save dad from disappearing. I just need you to trust me, okay?" I said as Nora stayed quiet. "Nora-"
"But what if it doesn't work and we make things worse-"
"Then I'm telling mom and dad everything." I replied." I can't keep lying to them about what we are doing."
She sighed before reluctantly nodding in agreement.
"And I need you to promise to always tell me the truth." I added." you said it yourself, we are a team so we need to work like one."
"Dawn, I-"
"Promise!"
"I promise." She said.