Like gold ink, her hair spilled into the wind as the breeze passed, the winter air sending chills down her spine as it nipped at her rosey cheeks. 

His curious, baby blue eyes watched the girl sitting outside the cafe. 

"Why don't you ask her to come inside? She's going to freeze to death," one of cashier girls asked, leaning against the counter to face him.

He shook his head, black hair shifting to the side once he turned to moved his torso towards the cashier.  "She's been doing that for the past three months, just go take her order and suggest for her to come inside."

"Adrian, go ask her yourself."  She pushed herself off the counter and walked in front of him, grabbing him by the arm. "You don't want the poor girl to freeze to death, don't you?"

"Of course not bu-"

"No buts! Go!" She pushed him by his side, urging him to move. Adrian ruffled his hands through his hair, taking a deep breath as he headed out the exit doors.

"She's just a girl right? Just a really pretty girl."  He opened the doors, blinking back slightly when the bitter wind slapped his forehead.

The girl outside the cafe closed her eyes once a group of four boys her age passed by.  Memories of D.C. reached clarity in her mind, a wave of nostalgia hitting as the experiences ran through her head like a movie. 

She was a pawn in a game of chess. A sheep in a room full of wolves and she fell straight into a trap like little red riding hood.

If only she knew better everything would have been avoided.  Her heart would still be intact and she would have been stuck in a social hierarchy that was ruled by manipulators and liars.

"Pardon me, Ms.?" Her thoughts her interrupted by a deep voice.

Opening her eyes, she stared at the boy that stood in front of her with a dimpled smile on his face. Amusement sparked in her chest once she weighed the thought of how scared he looked, his front teeth biting down on a pink nervous lip.

"Are you okay?" She couldn't help but ask him when he kept ruffling his hands through his hair.

"Yes, yes. I just- God, I've been noticing you go here outside this cafe for so long and I feel like shit that I'm only going to talk to you now. It's freezing and I was wondering if you wanted to go inside, I can buy you coffee or like what do you want? I mean like-"

The golden haired girl laughed. "You ramble a lot ?"

Adrian sighed, wanting to call himself out on how stupid he sounded. "No, I'm just nervous."  More honesty poured out of his mouth. 

"Now why would you be nervous?" she said, a smile written on her face.

"Because of you."

"Me?" she questioned, quirking an eyebrow up as she answered.

He nodded, "You're making me nervous."

Before she could answer back, rain started falling from the sky and droplets of water landed on both of their faces. "Do you want to go inside?" he asked, out stretching a hand for her to grab.

She nodded, taking his hand and standing up.

The two of them fast walked into the cafe before the rain got worse. He walked her through a seat by the window, the one she always took when she sat inside.

"I'll just get you a cup of coffee, wait here," Adrian told her, disappearing into the back of the counter.

Nodding, she looked outside. Puddles were forming and people were running to shelter, a guy had his jacket over one girl as they ran through the rain.

She didn't want to be bitter but her past still haunted her.  Carter and Maddox made her doubt everything about who she is, about who to trust and who to not trust.

London was her saving grace, it kept her apart from them. That doesn't mean, it kept her apart from her thoughts. No money in the world could spare her from the nightmares she has every night.

"It's been months, Quinn. Get them out of your head," she muttered to herself.

"They're still in your thoughts?" Her head faced the owner of the voice so fast it was a miracle her neck didn't break.

He sat across from her, the boy she once loved but also the boy that betrayed her and lied to her.

"Karim," she whispered.

"Yes, Quinn. Wait, don't bolt, I have something to say to you," he told her, sliding a cup of coffee her way as Quinn's eyes filled with anger, her hands clenching into fists.

"What are you doing here?" she seethed, she thought she was finally away from them.

He smirked, one that could've made her heart beat a little quicker but now made her want to puke. "You left so suddenly, didn't even say goodbye."

"Goodbye? Who should I say goodbye to? When none of you mattered to me?" She was about to stand up when he grabbed her hand, forcing her to sit back down.

"Look, don't pretend none I never mattered when we both know, I did. Just sit there and let me finish," he told her, taking a sip of coffee from his cup and setting it back down when he was done.

"Why now? I've been gone for months, why do you come back into my life now?" Quinn questioned, so many questions she wanted to ask but plenty of answers she didn't want to hear.

"I missed you, is that so wrong?" Quinn got the cup of coffee, wanting to throw it at his face but she restrained herself, pushing it back to his side, refusing to drink it. She wanted to get up again and he noticed that.

"Stay, I'm not yet done."

"What is there to say when I have nothing to say to you? You were using me as revenge, you were going to use a poor innocent girl, those aren't redeeming actions, Karim." she was filled with anger, her eyes would have turned red if it were possible.  Karim was one of the few she thought she could trust but even he had used her as a spawn.

"I explained to you before yet you still don't understand. I was trying to save you too," he looked at her with sincerity, he grabbed both of her hands but she flinched back, taking them out as soon as his skin touched hers.

"It doesn't matter now, why are you really here?" She had no time for bullshit, no time to relieve her past. All she wanted was to get away from them, from everyone that was involved in the events that destroyed her life momentarily.

"Baby Dupont," he muttered.

This time her eyebrow quirked up, "Constance?"

Karim nodded, "She's dating someone I know, Archer. At first, I wanted him to break her heart like her brother did to my sister bu-"

Quinn didn't let him finish as both of her hands slammed on the table, a few people staring at them. "You what?!"

He shook his head. "Calm down, let me explain."

"What is there to explain? You were going to use someone to take revenge again. You are as messed up as-"

"He fell in love with her." He cut her off, "It made me realise that, you were like that. You were pretending to be someone you weren't and you fell in love but this time, I was in control that if I wanted, his feelings aside, Archer would've crushed her heart as Maddox and Carter did to yours."

Her heart pounded at the emotions she felt. Karim's words were not making sense.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't want to be like him. I didn't want Archer to play baby dupont like a rag doll like they did to you that I was going to do it before you left and look what happened." 

"You lied to me, you were too focused on getting your revenge you made tommy take her out that night didn't you? And then, I stopped you from getting your revenge last time, you were going to do it a second time but this time I was gone," she laid out the story, the thoughts that ran through her head.

He looked down, ashamed. "Yes," he confessed.

"Why should I even bother talking to you right now?"

"Because for all that it was worth, after you left, I was angry. I was angry because you were gone and I wasn't able to hurt Carter the way I wanted too but most of all, I felt sick when I realised I was going to do the exact same thing they did that they used themselves to manipulate girls into thinking they love them and felt attracted to them," he trailed off, looking out at the window as the rain drops fell onto the glass.

"Archer's happy with her, Carter doesn't know what he was supposed to do in the beginning to his sister but even then he didn't mind him. He looks too innocent you know, too much of a good guy and that's why I thought he was perfect."

"Where is this getting, Karim?" her patience was running low, Karim was dragging his words around in circles and it was starting to get annoying.

"I'm going back to Qatar, I didn't want to go back knowing you'd hate me. Last time I left, we didn't share any bad blood but blissful memories. I want that again," he said, his facial features softening and he looked at her with hope.

Quinn shook her head, "I can't do that, Karim. You were one of the few that made me feel alone, you were there at first and I thought I had somebody to rely on but you weren't. You used me and I can't forgive that," her voice was getting softer, she stared at the boy who once had her heart. "if I forgive you, it meant I would forgive them too."

He sighed, the hope disappearing from his eyes. "Habiti, I never once lied about my feelings for you."

"It doesn't matter, Karim. You should've stayed in Qatar, you should have never came back when I was at war." it pained her to tell him this because both of them did love each other once, and he was one of the few she thought she could trust. Carter made her realise that even he, had different intentions.

"Are you happy here?" He asked her, sincerity leaking through his voice.

"In a way. I am far away from everyone that causes me pain and that makes me happy," she said truthfully, Karim nodded at her answers.

Both of them shared a moment of silence before he spoke up.

"I am sorry you know, I wish things turned out differently."

"I don't," Quinn said.

Karim scrunched his eyebrows, confused at her statement.

"Everything that had happened was for a reason. If it didn't happen, I wouldn't have found out who I truly had by my side, myself. If it didn't happen then I wouldn't have gone to London, I wouldn't be taught a lesson."

"Lesson?" he asked.

"I craved the gold rush feeling too much, the feeling of power and rulership and the feeling Maddox and Carter gave me but in the end, after the goldrush, I was left with nothing but dust," she said in one breath, closing her eyes for a moment to take in what she had just said.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

She took a peek at the black haired boy, who looked at both of them by the counter, two mugs of coffee in his hands. She smiled at him, mouthing 'a few more minutes' and went back to face her past. A past she so desperately wanted to close.

"You were one of the few that momentarily destroyed my life back there and with the experience that I've just been through, it made me realise that you need simplicity once in awhile that no amount of riches can buy trust and loyalty, and true happiness. I had none of those." She stood up from her seat, Karim doing the same.

"Now you do?" he said, watching as Quinn glanced at Adrian.

"I might have the chance," she stated, she began walking Karim to the exit in which he complied but before she could get the handle to open the door, he grabbed her hand.

"Wait, take this." He went to the side were one of his bodyguards stood and came back, a box placed on his hands.

"You deserve this," he said, handing her a box wrapped in gold paper.

"What-"

"Open it .. when I'm gone," he requested. He smiled at her and kissed her cheek, lingering for a few seconds before pulling away. Quinn was going to say something but he shook his head, stuffing his hands in his pocket and walking out the door.

Quinn knew that would be the very last time she would see him.

She sat back down, this time Adrian went back to sit with her. A freshly brewed cup of coffee in his hands.

"Was that your friend?" he asked her.

Quinn took a sip from the coffee he gave her, her tastebuds liking the taste of Caramel Macchiato. It was the one she had been ordering every time she went here.

"He was a past I needed to see one more time."

"Before you head on to the future?" Adrian finished for her. She looked at him, he watched her patiently, occasionally taking sips of coffee from his own mug.

"Shouldn't you be working?"  she asked, wondering why he had so much free time to sit and talk to her.

He smiled. "My dad owns the place, I work here just to help out."

"You have a heart of gold, don't you?" she muttered out loud, his blue eyes almost staring brightly at her. He looked and acted differently from the boys from her past, he was someone she hadn't had the decency to meet in her life and now she did.

"No but you have a box of gold," he said, trying to be humorous. "Okay, I'm sorry that's lame- I'm lame, fuck. Uh, I just wanted to be-"

"Shh," she cut him off. She looked down at her lap, opening the lid slowly. Golden Louboutin Pumps stared back at her. A memory, she thought. Karim didn't want her to forget about them but to move on from what happened, the shoes were a peace offering. An apology.

"I'm going to end up rambling again, I'm so sorry. I just-" he took a deep breath, "I'm just really happy I got to talk to you."

Quinn knew he wasn't aware he was flirting or maybe he did but it made her smile, something she hasn't been doing in a while.

"If you want to talk to me, then let's get to know each other," she said.

Adrian nodded, in his head he was marking this day as one of the few, he would cherish. "I'm Adrian Flynn."

"Hi Adrian, I'm Quinn Barton."

"Uh, what's your favorite color?" He mumbled, it was the first thing that popped into his head.

Quinn smiled, before it would've been red then it changed to gold but now? "It's silver."

And for the first time in months, Quinn looked at Adrian like he was the future she was looking forward too that he could be the silver lining she needed.

The silver in her life.

Because in the end, nothing gold can stay.