March 30th, 2012
7:00 p.m.
Coffeebeans.

In exactly two hours, Katie would be able to lock up this place and go home to her husband, a.k.a. the love of her life. Friday nights were always her night to close up, go figure. She had great workers though, a few not so great workers that weren't terrible enough to fire, the woes of having a business. But this place, the ring on her finger and the bed filled with the man she loved? They all served as a reminder, the fresh start she was given, her second chance at a better life.

She had quit school in the middle of a semester, told the teachers she couldn't go back and they withdrew her from her courses, she had packed up and moved back home, she had signed up for a match making company... all because of him. Trever Arnold, the boy who had her heart and tore it apart all in the blink of an eye. It just wasn't fair, but life wasn't fair and she had to move past it. She packed up her bags and took out a loan, purchasing the foreclosed coffee shop in her home town.

This place, this was her home and she loved every square inch of it. This was her place and if she felt like coming into work with a band t-shirt or in slippers, she could do just that and get away with it. But tonight, she wouldn't wear slippers, tonight was her open mic and despite the fact that she wasn't performing tonight, she didn't want to look like a slob. Three performers had been on but Katie couldn't bring herself to stop thinking about what Beau had said, just yesterday while she was here, Trevor had come to her house.

That meant one thing and one thing only, he was looking for her and it would only be a limited amount of time until he found her. He had come looking for her, after what he did. It just... it made her sick. Once upon a time they were in love, that perfect couple, once upon a time she thought she'd get married to him and become Mrs. Arnold, but that was all before she got pregnant, before she told him about it, and before he pushed her down a flight of stairs, that was all before he killed their baby.

She wanted nothing to do with him, and if he stepped anywhere near him, she honestly didn't know what she would do. At least when she was home, she'd have Beau to protect, her own protective wall to keep the bad guys out, but here when she was out in the open, she had nobody to protect her except herself and she didn't know if that was good enough. She wasn't afraid of him, she was afraid of what he was capable of, and she'd seen him at him most craziest and she didn't want to relive that ever again.

With her hands holding two pots of coffee, she refiled the table over by the window, not even noticing the door open over the noise of the band performing. She set the empty pots on the counter, the sixteen year old taking them to wash in the back. It wasn't until she turned around to watch the band that she noticed a new addition to the coffee shop. There he was, standing less than five feet away from her, and she could feel the color flush from her face. She didn't know what compelled her to move, but she started moving forward, her fists clenched as she faced him. ”What are you doing here?”

Trevor whistled to himself as he made his way down the pleasant streets of Evergeen. He was in a particularly happy mood. He'd be wed soon. And at least she was brunette. He could work with this. Sure, it wouldn't be Katie but at least she could shaped more like her, right? Well, he supposed he would find out and for the moment that satiated him and his...urges. That seemed to be the best way that he could phrase it. His needs, urges...wants. Alright, enough of that! The man paused for a moment as he realized just where he was. Coffeebeans.

Alright, it would be silly to even pretend that this was an accident. But then he hadn't realized he'd already made his arrival. Ah well, he could use a coffee. With a sharp turn, he made his was into the establishment the aroma of fresh coffee greeting his senses like a punch in the nostrils. Ah, what a fantastic smell. Second to only the shampoo that Katie used back in college. The kind that he may or may not still keep around the house or ocassionally use. But that was another matter. He'd heard some rumors about this place. That one Katherine McCabe had left school to buy this place up after her unfortunate accident. The truly unfortunate accident.

Really, Trevor had just been hoping to be someplace that she held dear besides at home with that husband of hers. God, he hated that man's stupid mug. Whatever did she see in him? Well that mattered not since Trevor managed to score a lot more than he bargained for. Not only was he in her coffee shop but so was she. His dark eyes set on her immediately, somehow managing to pick her out of the crowd with a remarkable and practiced ease. Despite all the commotion of the patrons and performers, he was zeroed in on Katie. And even better still, she had noticed him now, too! Could this town get any better? He seriously doubted it. "Is it illegal for a man to get a cup of coffee around here?" He countered cooly. "Just sit anywhere? Is that how it works here?" Trevor let his eyes roll around their surroundings for just a brief second as any second they weren't on Katie was a second wasted.

"Didn't you hear? I moved into town a few days ago. Surprised to see me? Go ahead, you can tell me how much you missed me." He didn't waste any time at all. The man went in for the hug, making sure to trap her arms at her sides for the moment, "I see you've moved on." He added in more of a whispering tone in her ear.

Trevor whistled to himself as he made his way down the pleasant streets of Evergeen. He was in a particularly happy mood. He'd be wed soon. And at least she was brunette. He could work with this. Sure, it wouldn't be Katie but at least she could shaped more like her, right? Well, he supposed he would find out and for the moment that satiated him and his...urges. That seemed to be the best way that he could phrase it. His needs, urges...wants. Alright, enough of that! The man paused for a moment as he realized just where he was. Coffeebeans.

Alright, it would be silly to even pretend that this was an accident. But then he hadn't realized he'd already made his arrival. Ah well, he could use a coffee. With a sharp turn, he made his was into the establishment the aroma of fresh coffee greeting his senses like a punch in the nostrils. Ah, what a fantastic smell. Second to only the shampoo that Katie used back in college. The kind that he may or may not still keep around the house or ocassionally use. But that was another matter. He'd heard some rumors about this place. That one Katherine McCabe had left school to buy this place up after her unfortunate accident. The truly unfortunate accident.

Really, Trevor had just been hoping to be someplace that she held dear besides at home with that husband of hers. God, he hated that man's stupid mug. Whatever did she see in him? Well that mattered not since Trevor managed to score a lot more than he bargained for. Not only was he in her coffee shop but so was she. His dark eyes set on her immediately, somehow managing to pick her out of the crowd with a remarkable and practiced ease. Despite all the commotion of the patrons and performers, he was zeroed in on Katie. And even better still, she had noticed him now, too! Could this town get any better? He seriously doubted it. "Is it illegal for a man to get a cup of coffee around here?" He countered cooly. "Just sit anywhere? Is that how it works here?" Trevor let his eyes roll around their surroundings for just a brief second as any second they weren't on Katie was a second wasted.

"Didn't you hear? I moved into town a few days ago. Surprised to see me? Go ahead, you can tell me how much you missed me." He didn't waste any time at all. The man went in for the hug, making sure to trap her arms at her sides for the moment, "I see you've moved on." He added in more of a whispering tone in her ear.

Whatever sick and demented game Trevor was playing at, Katie didn't buy it one bit. Once upon a time she would have jumped into his arms, kissed him and just plain loved him with all her heart, some time ago she would have believed everything he told her, just because she had no reason to think otherwise. But he had shattered that trust the moment she told him she was pregnant, stupid of her to think that they could actually be a family or something, maybe get married and have a little house somewhere but no, that was just out of the question.

She wasn't happy about this, she wasn't especially happy to know that he went to her house, saw Beau and knew where she lived. That was her little refuge, her small little house in the suburbs, close to her dad and with a man she loved. And, Trevor had the ability to ruin that, he could just ruin everything. There were certain things in her life that she did not want him to know, especially after everything that had gone on. She kept her end of things, the only person she had told about that night was Beau and that's all who needed to know.

But this? He came into her coffee shop acting all suave just like he did on campus, and it bothered her. As much as she hated him, he had been her first love and it hurt, this situation hurt. She didn't want this scene, she didn't want it here in her coffee shop, these were her customers, and they didn't need to see her get upset. His words were threats, a little tease to see how she'd react, his words taunted her as she knew what they meant, he was here and he wasn't leaving.

She let him hug her, put on her happy act but as soon as he let go, her hand went to his wrist, dragging him past the counter and into the back hallway where a small office was held next to a closed closet and a bathroom. Once inside her office she shut the door and released her hand from him. ”I don't find this funny, Trev. I really don't.” She sat on the wooden desk, watching his reactions as she spoke, any sudden change of mood, attitude. ”Especially after what happened in the fall...” She let her words trail off, he knew full well what she was talking about.

But Katie had a problem accepting that people were truly evil, and even though she left, she wanted to believe that Trevor wasn't a monster, just a person with problems. What if he wanted to change, start over in this town, maybe get married like her? It could happen, people could change. ”But, it's nice to see you.” She had missed him, the good in him but she didn't miss the monster lurking underneath. ”Why Evergreen? I mean you could to Indianapolis with your degree and get a great job, this place... it's good for falling in love and settling down.”

Trevor was all smiles. How could he not be? The very reason he was in Evergreen was right in front of him, in his arms. So close! He could smell her hair, the shampoo not necessarily the same as when they were in school but oh, it was just as good. Though his little fantasy was a bit broken since Katie was not at all pleased to see him. Okay, maybe that amused him a little bit. It was cute when she acted tough. He held up his hands in mock surrender, though he just used that as a guise to play with a loose strand of her hair before tucking it behind her ear.

Oh, she wanted him. Why else had she dragged him into the back. A public romp, huh? The man leaned in ever so slightly so that if she wanted to get away, she'd have to back up, into the wall...that he was so casually leaning against, a hand pressed against the opposite side of the hallway and coincidentally right above her shoulder. This way he could use his arm as a barrier between Katie and escape back into the coffee shop should this go any further in a direction he did not approve of. But he had to laugh. Oh, silly girl. "I'm not here to be funny, Katie." He assured her with a smirk. Oh, he did remember last Fall. When she lost their baby.

"Can't a guy move and not get scolded for it. I'm tired of playing the dating game." It really was just that for Trevor. A game. Get the girl, fuck the girl, break the girl, toss her aside, find a new toy. He never really thought of himself as the kind to settle down but then, he sort of needed to if he was ever to be taken seriously! But none of those girls were Katie. Even if he was an abusive ass to her, too, it was never tot he degree that these other girls got. No, even then, he'd known that Katie was something special. But then she had to go an ruin everything. Luckily, Trevor was here to make everything all better, one step at a time. "Speaking of which, you've got a nice little thing going on here." He was taking extra care to not allow his voice to drip with envy or annoyance. She wasn't supposed to be happy without him. "I just want that, too."

He tucked the hand he wasn't currently using to trap her into his pocket, fingers brushing against the cool metal of a folding knife he always had on him. Maybe it was just because he had to wander into the bad part of the city from time to time or because he liked the cool metal...or he just liked feeling dangerous, he almost always had it on him. "Your husband seems like a real nice guy." He added, though he doubted he would ever be as memorable as Trevor was for Katie. "Lindstrom. Nice." Trevor shrugged nonchalantly. "I have my entire life to get that great job. But what good is a great man without a great wife?"

There were things about Trevor that Katie never understood, sure it was a given that he was a little into himself but there was a lot of guys like that, and maybe there were the moments that he seemed a little off but that was to be expected, nobody was perfect nor did Katie strive for a collection of perfect people. Regardless of the fact, she had loved Trevor and a little smudge of her heart still did but the fact remained of what he did to her, and that prevented that little sliver of feeling from growing any larger.

Really, she would have thought that they would have gotten married, surviving a nice chunk of time together, she thought that Trevor was the man for her, until he just snapped and that night she was sure she could handle his anger problems, the argument was nothing but it was the violence and he had put his hands on her once and that one time was the last time he'd ever do such a thing. She wasn't strong, but she was strong willed to an extent. She wouldn't be out there protesting with a picket sign but she'd sure as hell leave a man that harmed her.

She didn't understand why Trevor was here, and despite the fact that she didn't want to believe his reasoning about wanting to settle down, and as self-centered as it may have seemed she was pretty sure if not positive that Trevor was here for her. The fact that he knew where she lived and where she worked limited her options of where she could hide, this had been her town, her place to run and be safe in and now he was here and her security blanket was shattering to the ground.

She wondered if he even cared that he was invading her personal zone, her hometown and despite the fact that it was a town, she had made claims on it, and Trevor was ruining it. She would deal with it, she couldn't exactly just run somebody out of time for just basically being a bad person because Trevor really wasn't bad... he was just crazy. She listened to his words, watching his reactions to see what type of mood he was in, and to her surprise he seemed fine. Maybe he had changed since the accident, maybe he finally had learned.

”Yeah, my husband is a really great guy, he treats me like a man should.” She didn't care how he took that, she wanted the message loud and clear, that she was with someone better, someone who wouldn't hurt her. Trevor had always been a charmer, a big enough one to charm the pants off of Katie quite some time ago and here she was, starting to buy into his little act. He was here to get married, settle down in this town and if he truly was for only that, maybe that wouldn't be so bad, it wasn't like he would live by her or anything.

”I'm happy with Beau, sometimes terrible things lead to something great.” She was stupid, giving him the opportunity to block her in. He was blocking her only exit, which she tried to ignore. ”It's actually pretty funny, the fact that I was set on marrying you up until that night and now months later I'm married to someone else.” Sure, she was testing him, but what was he going to do? She was just testing him, to see how genuine he was about being here, ”Could you imagine? Mrs. Arnold.” A smirk formed on her face, ”I still prefer Lindstrom.”

Trevor's fingers still trailed over the blade of the knife in his pocket. He liked the way that the razor sharp edge felt grazing his skin, not cutting it but just the threat of it.The prickle of the edge pulling against the fingerprint of his index finger. Maybe it would have caused most people to feel distressed, scared. But it was soothing to him. The danger, the raw power, all the potential that the one little knife had. It didn't look threatening but it could certainly kill and he knew out to do it. Flay, slice, stab, all the blood.

He carefully closed the knife, not wanting to tear a hole into his pocket and lose the contents, that would be unfortunate. Now he was a little less distracted by his own thoughts and could better focus on his captive audience. Even though she was trying to get under his skin. Didn't she know it didn't work that way? He was the one in control here. He was the one who visited her and caught her by surprise. He had the upper hand, even if she had the home field advantage. No, this was his game and he was going to play it his way. And she was going to play by his rules whether she wanted to or not. Or if she even knew.

Alright, so that was getting under his skin a little. But that was just for now. He allowed his hand to slide from the wall to trail his fingers against her soft cheek, trying to to imagine the knife there as well. Her face was too pretty for that. Much too pretty, she was lucky there. "I didn't just come here to talk. How hard is it to get a coffee here? Or do I have to sit back here and drink it?" He inquired with a slight smile. The smile that was more dangerous than a scowl or a frown.

"Boot seems pleasant enough. None too bright, though. I bet he couldn't find he way out of a paper bag." Corn fed, barn raised and still couldn't put together a book shelf or whatever the fuck he had been trying to piece together. He brushed some hair out of his own eyes before leaning back. "Though I would appreciate if you joined me. We have so much catching up to do. I'd love to hear about the wedding." And there is was, that genial and friendly demeanor. Like he was just making small talk with an old friend and not the girl he almost killed.

The last thing Katie wanted at this moment was to be socializing with Trevor Arnold, especially after he came to her house and interacted with her husband. She had the roughest idea that her husband wouldn't be especially pleased with the fact of this impromptu meeting, and she especially should have been more wise and shouldn't have been here. But, honestly what else could she do? Through him out? Have him arrested? There was grounds and in doing any act of that manner could have dire consequences for her that she wasn't looking forward to. He had money, he had brains and he knew how to use both of them to meet his needs.

She knew what he could do, she'd seen what he could do and she didn't feel like playing with crazy Trevor, for the time being he seemed like he would play nice, it was only right that she should do the same. Katie wasn't a terrible person, Trevor was. It just didn't make sense that being around him made her want to punch him in the face. She felt sorry for whoever he was getting married to, but on the flip side, she was also happy that he'd find someone else to play with.

He was dangerous when he was quiet, he was also dangerous when he spoke but before she could even say anything he had his fingers on her cheek. ”I wouldn't make you drink back here...” She pushed his hand away from her, the smile on his face was enough to make her cringe. The thoughts behind him were more disgusting than his fingers on her face, she didn't like him, she didn't like the game he was playing either. Still, she couldn't help but find herself forced into whatever little game he was playing.

”Beau,” She said, putting the emphasis his correct name. ”Is my husband, regardless of his brain.” She couldn't reason with him, it would be next to useless. As stupid as she might have been, he made her lower her guard. ”I guess it wouldn't kill me to have coffee with you.” Despite her logic arguing with her, she couldn't just be mean, maybe Trevor had changed in the past few months. Leading him out of the office, she returned to the nearly empty coffee shop. Only three people left plus the workers. She gestured to an empty table in the middle of the room.

”I think I still remember what you take.” She said softly, going behind the counter momentarily before bringing back two cups. She sat down, opposite him and for the first time she was face to face with her ex-boyfriend and she had actually lowered her guard. ”So...” She said awkwardly, taking a sip of her coffee, ”You've seen my life for the most part, how has your life been these past few months?”

Had Trevor really wanted, he could have kept his hand firmly planted where it was but he didn't want to display his plumage yet. Not too much and not so soon. No, he had a plan and all he had to do was stick with it and everything would work out beautifully...for him. Maybe not so much for Katie but that was going to be an entirely different story and one he didn't want to spoil. The male just smiled, tucking his hands into his pockets. "That would be mighty kind of you, Miss." He told her, making sure his voice was full of a country accent though attempting to make it more hill-billy like as if to mock her husband of Georgian roots.

So he was an asshole but Katie had to have know that by now. But lucky for him she wasn't turning him away. Sure, he always wanted a cup of coffee but when didn't Trevor have some kind of ulterior motive? "You're right, I apologize." The man responded to Katie with the most sincere look he could muster though the apology continued onto a different route in his thoughts. 'I'm sorry, you're right. It isn't like you picked him or anything.' His gaze rested on the table she'd selected, vaguely considering why she had slected this one. Because it was in the middle of the room so that no one could ignore them? But didn't this leave her feeling exposed rather than safe? Clearly the wall was the better choice of seating...but then that would be too private.

Trevor's fingers left the knife in his pocket before settling with flourish into the chair he'd selected to be his. It was facing the door, and the counter where her workers were busy and better yet, he could keep an eye on the majority of the other patrons. The fact that she remembered his coffee preferences rather made him smile. See? Trevor was never going to be forgotten! And he completely planned on reminding her of this. He picked up the cup he was brought with a vague thanks as he took a sip. It was perfect. Not too sweet, not to milky. Perfect. "Me? Oh," He shrugged vaguely. "I finished my degree and worked for a newspaper in new York for a bit but city life isn't as glamour and exciting as they always make it out to be." Trevor loved the big cities So many broads to pick from. But he had to make his motives for being in Evergreen a little more innocent.

Which Trevor was not. "Oops!" He murmured as he somehow managed to let his coffee cup slip from his hand, said object clattering to the table before spilling out onto the table...and right across the table to Katie's side. "God, I'm so sorry." He muttered, 'embarrassed' by his clumsiness.