PIERCE
"I saw you, guys! You were holding hands her hands last night! What is the meaning of that, huh?!"

I frowned. Early this morning, Theo immediately called and asked me about Sapphire and me. Theo is a maniac, the heck, I just met her last night.
"For the fiftieth time, Theo, I told you that she is our new neighbor. NEIGHBOR! I met her last night. Is it bad to befriend her?"
"N-no, it's fine ..."
"About the hands, I didn't even realize that I was holding her hand. But, on our way to your shop, I grabbed her arms. That's why!"
"Gosh! How can you be so in denial, bro? Are you even sure that you don't feel something about her? I mean, don't you find her attractive?"
I went silent but chose to respond, "Well, to be honest, she is attractive. I admit that, but please, Theo, let us not make it complicated and there is no malice in that. Fire and I are just friends and for the peace of your soul, there's nothing more than that. For Pete's sake, I just met her yesterday and she is just being nice. I am just being friendly."
"It is so obvious, Pierce. And what did you just call her? Fire?" he laughed hysterically, "What a lousy name, dude! Then, what did she call you? Did she call you Piercey?"
"It's not funny, dude, and I am quite serious here. Can you please act accordingly?"
"Okay, okay!" he surrendered, "Here it goes. To be honest, the first time I saw you two, I can say you two are a match. I see you guys that you're perfect for each other, but there is slightly a problem. Maybe then, you will gradually fall in love with her but think of this. Everyone knows how much you love Lara and they knew you were broken for over one month. I can also see that you are still affected by what happened to the both of you."
"And your concern was?"
"Well, as your friend, I'm just concerned because I don't want to see both of you have regrets and end hurting emotionally."
I was quiet there. I've been wondering about this lately. Am I developing a crush on our new neighbor who I just met yesterday? I went to the window where I could see their house which was quiet as if there was no one there.
"Pierce, hello? Are you still there?" I was brought back to reality when I was still talking to Theo on the phone, "Hey! I remembered that I am quite busy right now. I have lots of customers!"
"Take your time, dude. By the way, Fire and I have a plan later. We kind have a da — I mean, we will just hang out," I said.
I almost told him that we were dating even though we weren't. What am I thinking?
"Okay. Have fun —" I didn't let him finish and immediately hung up.
Suddenly, my cell phone vibrated, indicating that someone had texted me, so I read it:
From: THEO
I hate you, bro! You hung up on me! Well, anyways. You're a grown-up man already. See you later, lovebirds! Enjoy your date!
I don't know but I just find myself smiling while reading his text.
SAPPHIRE
I quickly got out of the house while pushing the stroller where my son, Cooper is sleeping.
I just thought that I can visit Pierce so we can go to the coffee shop together.
I just arrived at their place and I pressed the doorbell. A couple of seconds later, the door was opened and it was Max Harret. I can see that he's eating as he was still munching his food into his mouth.
"Sapphire?" he asked, surprised. He probably didn't expect me to visit at this time, "Oh, are you looking for Pierce?"
"Yeah," I responded, "is he home?"
"Yeah, he's probably at his rooms upstairs. Wait, I'll go get —"
"I'M HERE!" I heard a voice calling out and I saw Pierce running down the stairs and going to us, "Dad, Sapphire, and I are about to leave. We're going to Theo's place."
Max just laughed and nodded, "Okay, son. Take care the both of you."
"Yeah, we will," Pierce responded and I just smiled as he left.
Pierce turned to me, "Hey. I thought we were going to meet at the shop?" he asked and he closed the front door and we left his house.
"Well, we can go there together while walking and talking at the same time," I said.
"Oh, okay," he said and immediately spotted the stroller, and I can see that his face was enlightened, and hurried towards the stroller, "Awww. You brought Baby Cooper with you."
"About Cooper, I hope it's okay for you to bring him. It's just that my parents went back to Davao to get our other things, so I have to babysit him."
"It's fine with me, Fire! Your baby brother is so adorable! You know what? He looks a lot like you, but he doesn't seem to get the looks of your parents, based on my observations."
I remained silent as he continues to stare at my son's face while he also played with him at the same time.
Cooper did get different features from me, but he looks more like his father. He resembles my ex-boyfriend that much.
"Yeah, he looks like me. Hmm, let's go?" I tried to change the topic to reduce the awkwardness that was building up in me.
He looked at me and nodded.
We just walked around and talked about stuff, not until he said something really funny, "You know what, Cooper and my sister, Priscilla is perfect when they grow up."
"What do you mean?"
"Take a look at this, about 20 years from now, I'm sure that they will become a great couple then they will prove that forever actually exists in the world! Oh! I will lead the creation of the Harret-King love team fan page!"
I laughed at him and playfully hits his arms, "Wow. That's the craziest idea I've ever heard. What if they love someone else? After all, nothing lasts forever in the world. Everyone breaks up."
Suddenly, the smile on his lips disappeared and he nodded, "Well, you're right. There's no forever, so that is why we're going to enter the Hugót Cafe."
I looked at the street and it turns out that we have arrived at the Hugót Cafe, why does it seem so fast?
Pierce opened the door, and we are about to be greeted by their famous tagline, "Welcome —"
"Yeah, yeah! You're welcome too," Pierce ruined the tagline and Theo just grinned, "Please, can you tell Uncle Tim to hire someone new? You're already a nuisance to my sight, there's no thrill anymore."
Theo immediately frowned at him and rolled his eyes, "Way to ruin the moment, Harret. Come on you guys — OH! What a cute baby!" Theo was surprised and pointed at Cooper at the stroller, laying down.
"May I introduce to you my baby ... brother? He is Cooper King."
He was surprised at first, and now he is delighted and even grabbed my son from the stroller, "Awww. I didn't know you had a brother. You didn't say you had a brother, I asked you about it."
"Oh, my bad. But now, you already met him. I tag him along since my parents are out of town."
"Oh, that's fine."
"For your information," and now, Pierce spoke, "Cooper is single, but committed. Committed to Priscilla."
Just then, Theo and I looked at each other and burst into laughter.
"You're ridiculous," I nudged him and he just giggled. I smiled and looked him in the eye and he did the same. I suddenly felt the time stop and felt the sparks again.
"Alright," Theo broke the silence, "Why don't you two find a seat and I'll take care of this baby."
We nodded and find our way to the table where we sat last night.
THEO
I can see that Sapphire and Pierce are good at hiding their feelings. Denials!
As I was sitting and playing with this baby, I heard the bell ring. It means that someone had just entered the shop.
I was about to speak the tagline, but I was stunned as I looked at the beautiful woman entered our shop.
She is tall due to her heels, and she looks hot in her crop-top outfit with pink pants.
"Hey babe," the woman greeted and kissed me on the lips.
Yes, she's my girlfriend.
She was looking at me and then smiled when she saw the baby, "Don't tell me that this baby is your son, because I'm going to kill you."
"Of course not, babe!"
"That's good because I can't hate this adorable baby. Can I have him?"
"Sure, he is Cooper. Sapphire's baby brother," I handed her the baby and now she played with him.
The baby was entertained since he keeps on giggling every time someone makes faces and the baby talked to him.
My girlfriend suddenly looked at me with a confused look, "Who is Sapphire? Do I know her? Is she special to you?"
"You're the one who is special to me. Besides, she is new at our school and kind of Pierce's new girl, though they kept on denying it. She is the one sitting over there with Pierce," I pointed at them.
She looked at Pierce's behavior and squealed slightly, "Awww, I'm happy for Pierce being happy right now! Come on, I have to talk to them!" I nodded as she thought about approaching them.
SAPPHIRE
"Who is that?" I asked while pointing to the girl who had just entered the shop, "she looks kind of familiar."
"Oh, that is Nicole Woods, Theo's girlfriend. She is one of the most popular girls in our school as she is part of the cheerleading squad," I gulped as I realized she was a cheerleader.
Why am I surrounded by people involved in cheerleading? Is it a sign that I will go back to being a cheerleader? Is it time for me to conquer my fears?
"Is that so?"
"Yeah! You know, she used to be very rude and she doesn't have any friends before, but now she changed because of Theo."
"Wow, that's nice," I said.
I spotted Theo's girlfriend coming to our table with a smile on her lips, "Hi everyone! You must be Sapphire, right?"
"Yeah, I am," I replied.
"Great! I am Nicole, by the way," she even shook my hand and I accepted it since she looked so nice and I see that we will be good friends.
"Nice, it's nice to meet you."
"Likewise! Your brother is so adorable," she said.
"Thank you."
"I'm happy for both of you!" I looked at her surprised but she immediately turned at Pierce, "Hi, Captain! I haven't seen you in practice for a month."
He shrugged, "Yeah, I feel bad about that. But no worries, I'll catch up."
"That's right," Nicole said and nodded, "I'm sorry for what happened. It's good that you've gotten over Lara and are coming back. Welcome back, Captain."
Pierce's face suddenly became serious and he looked at me. He cleared his throat and glanced at Nicole, "No problem. Thanks, Nic."
After a little talk, Nicole also left and returned to where Theo is and continued playing with my son.