After Cas dropped me at home, I was left alone to think about, well...everything. So much had happened in such little time, and I quickly became overwhelmed trying to understand what Ryder meant when he said he was alone too...

*****

The repeated ringing of the sound of the oven broke me out of my reverie as I pulled out the warmed pie for a customer.

"Here you go. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you."

I must have seemed pretty shaken because Mo pulled me aside with a concerned look on her face.

"Ro, have you been sleeping?"

"Yes, Mo. No need to worry," I said widening my eyes a bit and straightening my back, trying to seem more awake.

She gave me a drop-the-act look with her arms crossed. Behind her tough exterior, Mo was as a sweetheart and I knew she meant well, so I easily caved, knowing lying would be useless.

I told her everything. From Broken Windshields being back in town to the conversation with Ryder last night. And honestly, I was so tired and exhausted, it all felt like a dream, I barely felt my mouth forming words.

When I was finished, Mo stared back at me for a minute, before a smile broke out on her face.

"This is so great!" she exclaimed.

I gave her a puzzled look as I began, "Mo, did you not hear what I just said...he's back..."

She mellowed down a little, a small smile resting on her lips, "Yes, I heard you, and honestly I'm a bit conflicted."

"I feel like it's pretty cut and dry. Ryder came back...and everything changed..." I explained a little concerned.

"Yeah, but for better or worse?" Mo said. I tried to respond but she stopped me, continuing on to say, "You're right honey, that everything got messed up and started to change in the few days Ryder's been back, but something incredible happened."

"What?" I asked.

"The music came back. You performed, and you enjoyed it. Your first big stage in nearly two years..." As Mo revealed everything that I had overlooked, I was taken aback. She was right. Caught up in Ryder's return, I forgot to be scared and wary of performing. I was too confused to be self-conscious or regretful or even feel guilty and I finally felt the music again, and not like performing at Artist's Prison, but for real.

And I couldn't say if it was because of Ryder and Broken Windshields, or if my sudden bravery was just due to timing, but Mo was right that some things were maybe a bit better. 

But moving on would be harder than celebrating one day. I had to make a choice about forgiveness.

Mo continued, "I'm just proud of you. This is huge!" She threw her arms in the arm, pulling me into a hug. "But don't think I'm not mad that I didn't get to see you sing. So mad," she said giving me a stern look. "But I'll get over it, because, I'll be there next time...Right?"

I chuckled, saying, "Of course, I promise!"

"Okay good." I didn't really want to talk about this anymore, Mo had given me enough to think about already, but she didn't let me loose then. She looked at me seriously again. "I am happy Ro, but I don't want you to think I don't see how difficult this is for you. I just wanted to remind you to look at the good and not the bad."

"I appreciate it Mo. Seriously. I hadn't noticed that last night was a big deal because what came along with it was memories of the past and the heartache."

I was trying to seem positive and grateful, but I clearly didn't convey that as Mo pulled me into a hug again, this time filled with pity. "No Mo, I'm fine, seriously don't worry, it wasn't meant to be sad. Life's just a two-sided coin..." I said trying to explain.

"When did you grow up to be so pragmatic," Mo asked a tinge of sadness in her eyes. I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to answer. "Clearly you don't need my advice, seeing how mature you are," I laughed at that, knowing how much of my shit I didn't have together. "But here's what you need to remember, when someone is in your life, if they bring more bad than good, then you need to let them go."

"How do you decide?" I asked.

"That's up to you."

The solemnity of the situation made me catch my breath. I awkwardly chuckled saying, "Damn Mo, giving me too much to think about at nine in the morning."

"That's what we serve up in here," she said giving me a wink. "But seriously, try and have some fun, and enjoy life." Her sunny disposition was enough to lift the tension as she hollered, "Now get back to work."

Gotta love Mo. And like she said, I got busy as the breakfast rush filled in. It was a fairly busy day, filled with all the regular customers, plus some tourists. The work made the time pass quickly, and soon enough, Cas and I were sitting at the counter, downing milkshakes, enjoying our break.

"So Mo made me completely question my life this morning," I said dipping fry into my ice cream.

Cas gave my fry a disgusted look before saying, "Hey! That's my job."

"I know," I said rolling my eyes.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked, chomping down on several fries.

"Nah. Done talking about it all." And Cas being the best friend she was, knew not to push anymore.

"I want to do something fun with my best friend. Get away from all the drama. Got any ideas?" I asked.

"I'm glad you asked, my dear bestie" Cas began shuffling through her purse, "because I have the perfect thing." The clanking in her purse continued as she mumbled, "I know it's in here, I put them in here this morning...damn it....oh wait!...there they are!"

She pulled out three crumpled tickets with a wide smile on her face. "I got tickets to the summer carnival! Let's go! Me, you, and Jules. We'll make it a girl's night!"

"Ooooh, that sounds like so much fun Cas!!" I said grabbing the tickets from her. "You're the best. What did I do to deserve you?" I teased giving her an adoring look.

And before she could answer, I heard the smooth voice of a familiar drummer ring in my ears. "What can I do to deserve you?"

"Get as far away from me as possible," Cas immediately responded while Xander grabbed her shake and took a sip. "Ew gross Xander! That's nasty, I don't want your sleazy germs!"

Dylan approached from behind and took a seat next to me. Laughing, he said, "Are you sure Cas loves you Xan?"

"I'm working on it..." he said under his breath. "You hurt me Cas. You know, one day, I might just stop trying..."

"I'm desperately waiting for that day," she winked back, again breaking Xander's heart.

Mo came over to greet Dylan and Xander. "And who are you two fine gentlemen?" she asked, laying it on thick.

Cas rolled her eyes, as Xander puffed his chest a little bit. "I'm Dylan and this idiot here is Xander."

Mo gave them a smile. "I'm Mo-"

Xander, a bit wide-eyed, began "As in Mo's Diner?"

"Duh, obviously," Cas said cutting him off.

"Let the boy speak Cas," Mo said giggling.

Xander gave Cas a smirk, and said, "Don't worry Ma'am, I'd let Cas shut me up anytime."

That line put Cas over the edge as she leaped over the counter reader to chew off Xander's head. All the while, I held her back as everyone else laughed, as Cas fumed.

"You two remind me of when Daniel and I met," Mo said, nostalgia misting her eyes.

"Who's Daniel?" Dylan asked, still laughing at Cas who was staring daggers into Xander.

"Oh nobody...," Mo went over to help customer yelling back, "Just my husband of 10 years."

"That's not us!" Cas yelled just as Xander cooed, "Oh look at that, we're soulmates." I could barely make out the conversation between the two as their bickering continued. I looked to Dylan for help, but it was a lost cause.

"So what are you two doing here?" I was curious were Ryder was, but too proud to ask.

Dylan seemed to know what I was implying though as he smiled back and said, "Xander and I just wanted to get out. Ryder wasn't really feeling it, exhausted after last night." He gave me a pointed look, waiting for me to explain or add, but resigned after I attempted to look coy.

"Cool. You want some of this goodness," I said, offering him an ice-cream-dipped fry.

He took it out of my hand and laughed. "You too huh?" I gave him a confused look as he explained, "Ryder does the same thing. Ice-cream and fries. His staple."

"What are the odds," I said awkwardly laughing, avoiding Dylan's penetrating gaze. He clearly knew something was up, but I was giving him nothing.

But to be fair, I invented ice-cream-dipped-fries.

*****

Ryder, being the troublemaker he was got us both in detention. Mrs. Gildstein already hated us, our incessant giggling and whispering always getting on her nerves. He just had to make it worse by passing notes.

"Hey...psst...Rosie....read this..." he loudly whispered, shoving a piece of paper on my desk.

I pushed it away, saying "Stop it, Ryder. Mrs. Gildstein is watching us like a hawk. We're gonna get in trouble."

But he was persistent. "Just read it and I'll stop."

"Fine," I whisper-yelled. And just as I was about to open the note, a hand grabbed the note from my desk. My heart quickly dropped as Ryder and I both turned to see Mrs. Gildstein's veiny hands holding his note.

She read in her raspy voice, "Let's ditch the old goober and the vein on her forehead. We can play hookey. -R." I swear I never saw a vein pulse more furiously in my life. Mrs. Gildstein started us down, steam coming out of her ears, as she hollered at us.

And that's how we ended up in lunch detention. I was pissed, forced to eat lunch at the dingy table in the back of the cafeteria near the trash cans. Mrs. Gidlstein couldn't tell who wrote the note so she gave me and Ryder both detention. Honestly, she had it out for us, but I still blamed Ryder.

"Rosie, still ignoring me?" He asked trying to break me. I was ready to give him the silent treatment for the rest of my life. "Please Rosie, I'm sorry."

I turned away from him, eating on my burger. "Okay, okay, I get it you're mad. What if I give you my ice cream for the rest of the month?" He pleaded.

Still angry, I turned back and gave him a small smile, before grabbing his ice cream and shoving a handful of fries into it. I laughed a little seeing Ryder's jaw drop, a disgusted look forming causing him to scowl. "Rosie! Why'd you do that? You ruined my ice-cream."

Still not talking, I just shrugged my shoulders and continued to ignore him, proud of my little sabotage. But soon after, I heard a loud munching and slurping. Ryder being food-crazed didn't let anything go to waste. He continued to munch on the fries, coated in the melted ice-cream.

He had a deer-in-the-headlights look plastered across his face as he stared back at me. "It's actually pretty good." He held up a fry, offering it to me. "Try it, I promise it's not bad. You don't even have to talk to me."

I pushed his hand away just as my stomach let out a loud grumble. "You're hungry Rosie. You barely ate your burger. Just eat this, it's good." He pushed the fry into my hand as I gave it a good inspection. My stomach continued to grumble, as my mouth watered, filling the silence.

I put the fry in my mouth. Expecting a sickly taste, but what followed was a creamy, salty creation that danced on my tastebuds. The crunch of the fry with the smoothness of the ice-cream was perfect. The salt and sugar were so well-balanced. 

I'm definitely exaggerating the flavor, but from what I remember, being that hungry, it tasted like heaven.

I grabbed Ryder's ice-cream and dunked my fries in, chowing down. "I told you, didn't I?" he smirked back at me.

I nodded back at him and gave him a singular fry dipped in ice-cream. "The rest are mine."

A/N: Hey Reader! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!!! It's a bit of a filler, but I hope you liked the little memory at the end. More action to come :)) What do y'all think of ice-cream and fries, yay or nay???