A few days had gone by until Maude came back, she peeked her head in a glanced at me questioningly. “I’ll be back” I mutter to Minho. It is a little weird to be excited to see her, but Maude is fun to hang out with, even if she tends to offend people. “So what brings you here at three in the morning?” I ask her as I step out in the hall.

“Noah and Alfie are being annoying, so I wanted to go out, but I didn’t want to be by myself.” She says while shrugging my shoulders. “You’re one of the only other people I don’t hate to be around.”

I find myself nodding my head and saying “Wait here, I’ll be ready to go I in few.”

Minho is smirking at me with a knowing look plastered on his face. “I take it, something came up?” He asks watching as I grab a hat and jacket.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I call over my shoulder waving to him. Maude is leaning against a wall waiting for me while scrolling on her phone. “So what did you have in mind?” I ask stopping in front of her.

Maude’s eyes dart to look at me; she then shrugs her shoulders as she sends me a lazy smile. “Late night snacks are fun.” Pushing off the wall she leads the way. Walking to catch up I find myself being slightly mesmerized by her. She certainly isn’t a wallflower, everything about Maude just demands attention, despite her not wanting it. While she isn’t short, Maude still isn’t taller than I am, her long hair sways as she looks around, an annoyed look on her face as she pushes pass a group of kids.

“God, kids like that should be locked up in a jail cell until school, then returned promptly after.” She mutters glaring at more kids.

“Aren’t you the picture of sunshine?” I say smirking, Maude’s gaze is deadly, but quickly softens. “So why exactly are you up at three in the morning?” I ask curiously as I fall in step with her.

Shrugging her shoulder Maude glances at me before pressing her lips in a tight line. “I finished the piece I was writing for a newspaper back in America on life in Korea,” She shakes her head in annoyance it would seem. “Alfie and Noah come barging into my room full on wailing” She says grimacing as she continues explaining. “Latching onto me they start going on and on about how hard it is going to be for them to be away dancing with you, took me hours to calm them down enough for me to run out of the apartment and to lose them.”

“What are they going to do when I leave to go on tour and take them with me?” I ask smirking, Maude rolls her eyes. “You don’t seem too worried, won’t you miss them?” I ask her suddenly seeing her so calm.

“Well yeah, but we already decided to set up Skype days and everything, and when I have the time I’ll fly out to see them, I’m not worried about losing them as friends.” Maude says confidently. “I’m worried about them doing stupid stuff without supervision.” She says jokingly.

“I’ll be in Korea for a while anyways, just the odd show out of the country every now and then.” I say trying to comfort her. Maude seems to relax slightly when I say this.

“So I was shopping yesterday” Maude says changing the subject after a while. “I saw you face plastered on this wall. It was really weird.” She comments smirking at me. “Turned the corner and there is a cutout of you. They make you a bit taller in them.” She comments taking a step out to size me up.

“They do not; we are the exact same height!” I say in mock hurt, she shake her head. “Well I’m taller than you.”

“You have more tattoos too.” She says smirking at me, after a moment she stops to look at my arm curiously. “I guess they aren’t the tackiest ones either.”

Shooting her a look Maude grins at me. “I think you secretly like them.” I declare as we enter a small family restaurant. Taking a seat in a booth, Maude and I glance over the menu. “You so love them.” I joke after she sets her menu down.

“They grow on you.” She says settling, she’s something else. Maude, as I’ve just noticed, is striking. Minho commented that she’s cute, but that’s not her. Maude isn’t cute, she’s attractive, a young woman who knows what she does and does not like. Maude won’t put up with ; she’ll deal it right back without caring one way or the other.

“You’ve been staring at me for a while; it’s getting awkward even for me.” Maude says while waving her hand in my face.

Blinking I realize I spaced out. “Sorry, just got lost in thought.” I say trying to recover. Instead of pestering me like anyone else would have, Maude just nods her head accepting the answer easily.

“While you were off being a space cadet, I ordered for you. Figured you’d eat just about anything.” Maude says motioning to a waitress coming back with two plates of pancakes.

I grin at her appreciatively. “You have good taste.” I say simply as the two plates are sat down in front of us. “Have you been writing for the last three days?” I ask curiously after we start eating.

“A couple nights ago, the first day and today I spent sleeping, did some final edits earlier and sent it in.” She says with a dream-like face. Maude’s expressions seem to be more animated tonight. “And you?”

“Just been getting ready for some performances coming up, shows and whatnot.” I say dismissively.

Maude cuts her pancakes as she eats, working her way through them. We’re both about half way through when she looks up at me and smirks. “You don’t seem as depressed this time around.” Before I can even say anything she smiles. “You seem less wrapped up in things, more relaxed now.”

“You seem more upbeat.” I counter, Maude looks at me as though she’s considering it, she smirks at me a nods her head.

As we finish eating and talking Maude glances at her phone. “Well I am dead tired now, I’ll be heading home.” She says getting up, glancing at me she smiles. “You should get some rest too. Thanks for coming Jay.” She says grinning at me before returning to her normal indifferent façade.

I wave to her as she leave me, paying for both meals before going and then out on the streets. Maude sort of just strikes people, when she’s done she’s done.

~~~

“So you’ve been pretty busy talking with Maude lately.” Minho quips as Alfie and Noah leave, we’ve just gotten back from Busan. “You haven’t pestered me about Lexi in a while either.”

Glancing at Minho I nod my head in agreement. “She’s just kind of fun to talk to, once you’re able to decipher what she is actually saying to you.” I mutter the last part. Maude will say a lot of things in context of something else, making it difficult to understand what she’s trying to say to you. It’s like when she apologizes, it doesn’t sound like one, and she doesn’t sound quite so genuine, but it’s all there.

“You’re getting a bit focused on her.” Min says gently while smiling. “Anyways, we can work on some stuff tomorrow; you should just get some rest.”

I nod my head as I head towards my car parked, waving to Minho as he gets into his own car. While driving I think about what Minho had said. About me not really paying any mind to Lexi and Nichkhun; me not being so bummed out about it.

'You’ll meet a nice girl, you'll move on'

Lexi had said that to me once, back when she was telling me it’d be Nichkhun and not me. As I get out of my car and walk up to my apartment with my bags I think more about that day. I’d gone through a few bottles of soju, felt like total crap, and hated myself for not being there enough for Lexi. She’d needed more, but it wasn’t from me, it was from the guys.

I find myself texting Nichkhun, asking him to meet me at that same café from when we’d talk about Lexi. Taking a quick shower and changing into fresh clothes I head over, walking the short distance. As I get there I see Nichkhun reading a paper inconspicuously near the back of the place.

Sliding into the seat across from him I smile hesitantly. “It’s been awhile.” I start awkwardly, Nichkhun smirks at me. “I know, we should skip the awkward bits.”

“No, it’s nice to see you fidget.” He jokes in English. “So what’s got you all flustered?” He asks curiously while leaning on the table.

“A girl, obviously.” I say while rubbing my arms nervously. Lexi always seemed to know things, how things would work out; at least it feels like it. “How’s Lexi?” I ask absently.

Nichkhun quirks a brow at me. “She’s been busy running a division at some local company” He answers frowning. “Good though, complains that she rather do something else.” He says chuckling; Khun looks at me curiously again. “You didn’t call me here to talk about Lexi, did you?”

I shake my head and smile. “Polite conversation, you know to open the floor.” I joke grinning at my old friend.

“So you met a girl I take it.” He says adding on, he chuckles. “You have no idea what to even think.”

I nod my head, rubbing my face slightly agitated by actually thinking about it now. “She’s really different, distant and a bit rude.” I say trying to describe Maude. “It’s like she as her own set of rules to the world, the only ones she seems to know, and her own problems that she won’t lead on about.”

“Maude?” Nichkhun asks genuinely surprised, as am I by Nichkhun knowing about her. “Minho told Lexi about her, he told her that it was friend of two new dancers. Lexi said that she made quite the impression on Minho.”

“Well yeah, she’s kind of out there.” I mutter smiling to myself. “I just, I’m not sure how exactly to process being around her. She’ll say things and I’ll just forget about everything else.” I say while leaning back in my chair.

“It’s because she’s nothing like Lexi.” Nichkhun ventures hesitantly, I look at him and furrow my brow. This only seems to confirm the suspicion. “You love Lexi; you’d been in love with her. It’s just now that you’ve said something about another girl, it seems like you’ve moved on.”

“Moved on…” I mutter chuckling. “Well I figured, it’s just she really isn’t anything like Lexi.”

Nichkhun chuckles this time and kicks me lightly. “Does she have to be? Lexi is herself, polite, wants everything to go well, loves being around people, and misses them when she can’t. Maude from what I’ve heard isn’t exactly a people person, she’s independent in a different kind of way than Lexi, impolite in an endearing kind of way, and comfortable it would seem being who she is.” Nichkhun says mimicking my stance and leaning back in his own chair. “I think you like her, but Maude is odd enough to put you off. But I think you know it already too.”

“It wasn’t hard to put together.” I mutter while shaking my head. “I just don’t know how to say it to her. Her best friends went postal on me for just going on a long lunch with her, they’re protective of her.”

“I have five of Lexi’s best friends nagging me, I think you can handle the two of them and figure out what to do.” Nichkhun says amusedly. “But it’d probably be a good idea to be friendlier with her, work your way up to whatever happens next, Lexi thinks she doesn’t respond well to change.”

I nod my head thinking about how Maude rarely leads on to how she feels about anything that does change something around her. “I should get going.” I say glancing around worriedly; if Nichkhun and I get caught talking together it’ll be a huge upset. “Thanks for meeting me.”

Nichkhun nods his head. “It’s good to see you from time to time, Jay.” Khun says smiling at me. “Lexi misses you, she won’t say anything to you or anyone about it, but maybe you should talk to her more or something.” Nichkhun suggests while getting up, taking the paper with him. “She cares about you a lot, and worries.”

I nod my head and smile. “I’ll give her a call sometime.” I say heading off first. Walking out of the café and back to my apartment I think about Lexi and I find that it doesn’t hurt as much, I’d rather think about the mysterious Maude, the girl who likes to have pancakes at three in the morning and to leave abruptly after finishing her food, the dancer turned writer, and all the crass attitude she displays almost always.

Merry Christmas~!
I'm back.
I'm hoping to get back on a semi-regular updating schedule, but we'll see.