I walked into work on Monday with a new wave of confidence.

I had broken Bennett down to at least somehow getting my number and sending me a text. It seemed ridiculous and not that big of a deal to Jess, but it was a huge deal to me. Even if it was small, it was still a fracture in Bennett's hard shell and I was going to take what I could get.

"You look happy today." Tristan commented when he heard the bell above me ring.

"I am." I answered, reaching for my apron as I swung around the corner and behind the counter.

"Why? Did Ms. Optimistic finally break down Mr. Pessimist?" He asked, a joking tone in his voice as he glanced over at me. I shoved a five dollar bill into the register before taking a cupcake from the case.

"Haven't you heard that opposite's attract?" I asked, smiling as I unwrapped the paper from the cupcake. Tristan rolled his eyes, laying one of his hands on my shoulder.

"Well, Ms. Optimist, I hate to inform you, but Ben isn't exactly someone that can't be broken down easily. Especially not when it comes to chicks." I frowned at his words, leaning down on the counter.

"What do you mean? Did some girl screw him over?" That would explain why he was such an ass to me.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Tristan responded, looking over his shoulder to make sure Bennett wasn't listening, "But it isn't my place to tell you his business. If he wants you to know, then he'll let you know." I nodded, wanting to sigh.

I had been with a guy that got screwed over by his girlfriend sophomore year. He hadn't changed exactly, not with me at least, but the next year I found him with some French exchange student and they were still going strong now. So maybe, maybe I could squeeze what happened to Bennett to make him the way he was out of Tristan.

"Have you seen the way he talks to me? Tristan, come on, I just want to know why he treats me like absolute garbage." I gave him a pleading look, but he shook his head, dropping his head so he could pretend to read our order form down in front of him.

"It's not my place to tell you, Syd. I'm sorry." I sighed, propping my chin up on my hand as I watched the door for any customers.

It seemed like hours before someone actually came in around noon, then everyone seemed to come. From adults on lunch break to kids after a softball match, we were nearly out of the mixes by the time that Bennett showed up, looking as if he had just come back from a trip to Vegas.

His eyes were dark and had even darker bags under them. He was watching Tristan and me with a strange look on his face as he edged closer to the register.

"Slow day?" He guessed, gesturing toward the couple that sat in the back of the cafe.

"It was actually pretty busy, man. You look like shit." Tristan replied bluntly.

"Thanks, bro. I just got back from Daves for your information." My head perked up at the name.

"Daves? You mean the music shop a couple blocks away?" He nodded slowly, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"What's it to you?" He grumbled, back to his usual self.

"Nothing, I just. . . um. . . never mind." I sputtered, whirling around so neither of them could see just how embarrassed I was.

Why was I about to tell them where my ex worked? Why would they even care? Why did I even care?

"Now you've got me curious, Syd." Tristan said, nudging me with his elbow. I opened my mouth to spit out some lie when the bell rang from across the room, causing all of his to look up. I groaned, burying my face in my hands when I saw who it was.

"Syd!" I jumped at the exclamation, wanting to bury myself deeper in my hands.

"You didn't answer any of my texts or calls, babe." Tristan took a startled step back when Zay dropped his helmet on to the counter, along with his keys.

"Maybe there was a reason for it." I shot back, finally lifting my head to meet his eyes.

The biggest mistake I ever made was agreeing to go out with Zay Daniels. He'd asked me out my Junior year of high school, after he'd just graduated. It hadn't taken him long to get picked up by a BMX crew and I had found myself becoming nothing more than his distraction from work.

"Yeah, I thought about it. I thought about how hard to get you act sometimes." He leaned forward, ignoring the two shocked boys beside us, "It's what I like about you." I pulled back, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Did you come here for something to eat? I'm working." I lied, knowing very well that I could have left over an hour ago but had stayed to keep Tristan company.

"Sure, I'll buy you something too, Syd. I want to catch up, see how you're doing." I shrugged, my eyes falling on the ground in front of me.

"I really don't want to talk to you right now, Zay. I'm not-"

"Look, Syd. I know what I did was bullshit, but I want to try and explain myself." I slammed my hands against the counter, surprised by the action a second later.

"Bullshit? That's all you have to say about it? About leaving me in the middle of no where so you could run off with that bitch? Okay, Zay. Explain why the hell you did it." I gestured for him to go on, seeing Bennett stare at me in shock out of the corner of my eye.

"Syd, I was hammered and Liam-"

"Don't throw this all on that damn idiot, Zay. He wouldn't know how to treat a woman if he were to come back as one! Now get out of this store before I call the police." He moved forward so he was level with me, his jaw clenched.

"All I want is to talk, Syd. Alone. Just you and me." He growled, his eyes softening a little. I let out a shaky sigh and nodded toward the door.

"Come over to my house in a couple hours. My mom is having some guy over for dinner, you can join us." He nodded, grinning.

"I promise you won't regret giving me a chance, Syd." He started to back away, sliding his helmet back on to his head halfway out the door.

"God, he was a fucking douche." Tristan muttered once he was gone, turning to look at me, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I replied, smiling reassuringly at him.

"Why'd you invite him over if he cheated on you?" Tristan asked, confused.

"M. . . maybe he has a reason for what he did." I whispered, trying to convince myself that what I was saying was the truth.

"Well, I better head out. You have my number if anything happens, right?" Tristan went on, touching my hand gently. I forced a smile on to my face again, nodding.

"Yeah. I'm sure I'll be fine though." He said something to Bennett before he grabbed his things and left the empty bakery.

"I can clean and close up if you want to go." Bennett muttered, sounding exhausted.

"I can help." I said, swallowing the lump in my throat.

"No, really. Go." He said, waving me off as if I were nothing more than a fly that was bothering him.

"Bennett, I said-"

"I said go, Sydney." I blinked in surprise. Had he just said my actual name?

"Okay." I finally gave in, pulling my apron off and hanging it up behind me. I tossed my hairnet in the trash and grabbed my purse, feeling Bennett's eyes on me the entire time. I pulled the envelope out of my purse, taking the sticky note out of it and sticking it against his chest as he walked by.

"Hale, wait." I jumped when I felt Bennett's cold hand wrap around my forearm, my eyes wide.

"Yeah?" I mumbled, not knowing whether to be confused or shocked.

"Give him a chance to explain, he might actually have a decent reason." Then he dropped my arm and walked toward the back of the store to clean up the trash. It wasn't until I was out of the bakery that I understood what had been hidden behind what he said.

He was speaking from experience, he had cheated or been cheated on.

*

When I got home, I sat in my car for a few minutes, knowing that my mom had probably already let Zey in.

"Mom, I. . . oh! I. . . I'm sorry!" I dropped my jacket and covered my eyes, disgusted. My mom was on some man's lap, his hands under her shirt and his tongue down her throat.

"Sydney! Oh, sweetie! I didn't. . . we. . ." She was bright red as I hurried down the hall.

"No, I'm sorry. I should have knocked or-"
"Zay is in your room." She blurted, obviously trying to divert the conversation. I nodded, wanting to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

Once I was in front of the door, I reached for the knob and took a deep breath, scared to see what I would have to face the second I opened it.

***AN***

Hope you guys enjoyed!

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~ChasingMadness24