Coffee Shop Lover

She waits for me, sipping a coffee and reading her sparknotes, a coffee shop that’s seen too many tears shared between us. You used to be so ashamed of me, like a bad habit or a secret you can’t let out, you wouldn't even look at me if your friends were around. I stuck around anyways, too scared of the ‘what-ifs’ to walk away, and too stupid to realize it was toxic to me. I danced around the facts, played it cool and tried to hold a place in your heart. You entertained the idea, maybe your just cruel, maybe you actually believed in me for a second or two. But your heart wandered far away, snatched up by another, and I sat in the shop alone, sipping a coffee that went cold two hours before, just watching the world turn underneath my feet. You would visit me, sometimes, but mostly just to say hello, make sure I was okay. You even found someone to visit me, too, but they walked away just as quickly. Every time I tried to walk out you came back to visit, it was impossible to ever leave. I stayed, watching the world turn, and I saw you just outside the glass, turning to look at me, but never sure of what for. Maybe you needed me after all, you can’t decide. I tell myself that I love you, but it withers every day I wait, watching you live a life better than mine, never looking back. The coffee's all gone, I can feel the cup slipping out of my hands, I’m walking to the door, turning back to say goodbye to the world I occupied for so long, and then, there you are. Greeting me at the door, asking me why I’m leaving. And we take a seat together. And we laugh, and we cry, and we hold each other tighter than we ever have before. I buy us both a drink and we stay a while, sometimes just looking into each other’s eyes, looking for dreams, but you could only see yourself. You could see the last petal falling, withering away, collapsing under the weight of everything I’ve tried to give, causing my heart to gasp, but my smile never faded away, lying to you by never showing how much it hurt seeing you beyond that glass. When you saw yourself, you were scared. You were terrified, how could you be what I was dreaming of. You had nowhere to turn, the room was empty of everything but you and I. You knew I never left, you knew I waited, you knew I loved, you knew all these things, but I knew you didn’t want those things from me. Now we’re here, waiting, watching, waiting to see if the flower dies, waiting to see if the dream in my eyes comes to me, waiting to see if you walk out beyond the glass for the last time, waiting, waiting for love, maybe, or maybe just a chance to move on, or maybe just a few more tears. One day, the petal will fall, I just hope you’re their to catch it.