All of the following is complete and total fiction. Not a word of it occurred, nor would it.
Always
Starring Lili Reinhart
(MF, Oral, Cons)
By MrMaxLord
"I really needed this," Lili said as the hot water cascaded over her body from the shower spout. She loved going back home to see her family, but being an aunt to some really excitable little ones led to more exhaustion than she bargained for no matter how many times she'd thought she was prepared.
Now that things had finally quieted down it was time for a bit of relaxation. While she would have preferred a long bath, a nice hot shower was more than acceptable. As that hot water ran down her exhausted body, her mind began to think about who else she was going to see while she was in town. There were a couple old friends she always saw, but then that name always entered her head. A name attached to a face that she'd avoided so far. Austin.
He was her first love. That first, real deal love. There were way more positive thoughts than there were negative. His smile, his laugh and how he always knew how to make her do the exact same thing. They just meshed in away she usually didn't. And maybe never had, considering how her most recent relationship ended.
But that was the rub, wasn't it? She and Austin had broken up as well. It wasn't even a bad break-up. It didn't end with a huge blow out fight full of screaming and names called that could never be taken back. It just ended. She went to California and he let her go without a peep. That was what hurt. That something that was so full of that raw, primal affection of first love could end with a whimper. Anger she could forgive, but nothing? Nothing was unforgivable.
Still, he was always present in her mind whenever she came back to Cleveland. Or even when she was in her apartment. And at work too. They'd both achieved so much since they'd parted. She'd hit it big. She was a paid actress with a steady job and was actually having a book of her poetry published. Austin had opened a restaurant. Not just any restaurant, but the one of his dream. A classic style diner with his own menu of standards and experimental fare. Lili had to smile when she thought of it. On Riverdale a lot of her time was spent in a fake classical diner and the man she once thought of as the love of her life ran something similar.
Would it really be so bad seeing him again? she asked herself. Sometimes she even thought she was being petty about the whole thing. It'd been years. She was mulling over something she'd already made up her mind about.
*******
The McFly Diner. That's what the sign said in big pink neon lights. It was a tip of the hat to Austin's favorite movie and a hint to the kind of food he served at his diner. Classic but always with a look back to the future. Lili smiled to herself as the flashing pink light shined in front of her. She checked out her reflection quickly in the glass door in front of her before stepping in. She had gotten dressed rather quick. Her hair was dry enough and the simple t-shirt and jeans combo she put on looked fine. She wasn't dressing to impress but she still didn't want to look sloppy. However, she also knew that right now she was just delaying the inevitable. It'd been too long. She took a deep breath and open the door.
When she stepped in it was exactly what he would have expected from Austin. The interior was somehow more garish than the decor of a TGI Fridays but somehow lesser because it wasn't a bunch of corporately styled attempts to look random and cool. Posters from films and musicians from the 50's to the current date. A trophy rack full of famous toys. Video game artwork. All placed in such a way to look completely random, but if you knew Austin like Lili did you could see that it was all very deliberately and diligently designed.
Lili looked over those walls and the booths, smiling at the filled booths. The place wasn't crazy busy but it was fairly hopping for a Tuesday night. She looked at a wall divided into two sections. One almost filled to the brim with pictures all under the label of "Food Fails" and the next section, far less populated under the heading of "Gods of Grub". The alliteration made Lili chuckle a bit. This was one of the things Austin had used to get the attention of the travel and food shows she'd seen him on. The Gigantor Sandwich. Finish it and you get a t-shirt and your picture on the wall of fame. It was a typical ploy, but the taste seemed to be what kept people coming back.
"What are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked. Lili turned around to see that voice's owner, Dwayne, Austin's older brother, standing behind her. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't too happy to see her.
"Hi Dwayne," Lili said. She turned around to see his usual, grim demeanor. He resembled Austin a great deal. He was much taller though, and Austin's deep brown eyes swapped out for fierce blues among other differences. "Good to see you."
"Can't say I feel the same." he replied. "Since I don't have much else to say to you, what are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd finally check this place out."
"Yeah, finally certainly is the right word. You know, whenever you come back we always hear about it. You always seem to skip seeing Austin again."
"Well, that's obviously not the case right now is it?" said Lili. "I actually came to see him. He in?"
"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't." Dwayne answered. "I personally think you should go."
"Look, Dwayne, I didn't come here to start anything. I just...I wanted to see him."
"Well as his older brother I don't want you to. And as the co-owner of this place, I think I'm going to have to say you have to leave."
Lili shrugged and breathed deep. She didn't want to cause a scene and was ready to leave when Austin came out from the back and stopped in his tracks when his eyes fell on the beautiful blonde blast from his past.
"Lili?" he asked, stopping right in his tracks.
"Hi Austin," she said, her smile drawing him in just as the slightest hint of his was drawing her. "Just...wanted to say hi."
"Oh...yeah...anything else?" he asked.
"Well, thought we could talk a bit."
"Of course," he said, finally making his way to where she and his brother stood. He took her hand and memories came rushing back for them both. "Dwayne, you think you can handle it out front for a bit?"
"Yeah, sure." Dwayne replied. He wasn't too pleased about it, but his brother was an adult and could make his own awful decisions.
"Great." He looked to Lili, struggling not to have word vomit come spewing from his mouth. "Let's go talk in the back."
Lili followed him to the back of the house into a storeroom that was connected to his office.
Once they were alone, their party was crashed by a group of butterflies that took up residence in both of their stomachs.
"It's good to see you," Austin said. "It's...it's been a while."
"Yeah," Lili nervously said. "Sorry about that."
"Eh, don't be. It's not a big deal."
