Chapter One:

It was another sleepless night where Aaron had no idea what kept him up. He stared up at the ceiling, his right leg crossed over his left, right foot bouncing lightly. His arms were crossed behind his head, short black hair scratching the skin lightly. Blue eyes blinked slowly, and he sighed, moving to his side. His shirt rucked up slightly as he stretched and closed his eyes, possesing sleep to come and take him away.

Outside, the wind blew gently, a branch scratching lightly against his window. Somewhere, an owl hooted, and an insect buzzed some song only it knew the tempo too.

Listening deeply, Aaron sighed again, pushing himself up from the bed. A hand reached up to brush a few strands of hair from his forehead, and his eyes strayed over to his alarm clock. Red, blocky numbers shined back, 04:23. He turned his head, watching as the early morning darkness covered everything in dark shadows. Another sleepless night, work was gonna be hell, he knew that much.

"Ugh, Kat's gonna fucking kill me..." He licked his lips, heaved one more sigh, and moved off his bed, making his way towards the bathroom. Turning on the light, his eyes scrunched as the fluorescents assaulted his sensitive eyes. Everything was a blur, his glasses sitting, forgotten, on the nightstand. Stumbling towards the shower, he turned the water to hot, and started taking his pajama's off, throwing them in a basket near the door.

Stepping into the shower, he quickly washed himself, and allowed the inane thoughts in his mind to wander. One thing was for sure. It was going to be a shitty day today, and he was in no mood to deal with it.

**********

At exactly 0800, Aaron stood in front of a door marked Cafe Java, stereotypical, he knew, but a coffee joint none the less. Four employees were rushing behind the counter, coffee cups, and other various containers in hand as they rushed to move the long line of customers through. Kat stood at the front of the counter, long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, and fake smile plastered on her overpowdered face. As her fingers moved quickly on the screen, her green eyes darted to the door, sending a look that Aaron knew all to well.

He sighed again, adjusted the hat he was wearing with the shops name sewed in white, and pushed the door open. He made quick stepsntowards the counter, entering the back through a little half door, and walked over to Kat.

"I've got this, why don't you go to the office and do whatever managerial shit you've got to do." He pointed towards the office, then gave he a little shove before turning to the next customer in line, greeting them and jumping into the morning mad rush for coffee.

A few hours later, and he was wiping down counter tops. Others were milling about, talking amongst themselves as Kat sat in the back, filing paperwork and tapping on the computer with whatever she needed to do.

The bell on the front door tinged, Aaron ignoring it as he scrubbed at a particularly caked on stain from an overfilled drink. He only looked up when the inate chatter stopped, and he couldn't believe who he saw, standing at the doorway.