It All Leads Back to You

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One: Red Velvet

Wednesday nights were usually slow at Buttercream Dream, which meant that Lara Jean could experiment with new recipes. On this night she had been working on perfecting a Sweet Potato cupcake with a brown sugar buttercream frosting which she knew could be the great "Cupcake of the Week" next week as it was right on time for Thanksgiving.

Most people wouldn't like being alone at a shop at night, but Lara Jean loved it. She didn't have to make small talk with other employees and could be in her element, baking. She had been working at Buttercream for about 6 months part time in addition to her full time job as a program assistant for a nonprofit elder home, called Footsteps.

It seemed kind of perfect that she would find a job similar to her volunteer position in high school, but with more responsibility. She was in charge of activities and outreach, so combined with her baking gig she was able to flex all of her creative muscles and pay her rent. Although she enjoyed working at Footsteps and her coworkers, working at the small bakery really was when she felt the best.

Buttercream was a little brick building and on the lower level of a two story building, and the owner aptly named Sugar, lived on the second floor above the shop. Lara Jean learned early on that if Sugar wasn't working, she was rarely home and even if she was she didn't come down to micromanage and made sure that her employees knew, "Just because I live upstairs doesn't mean I'm always here." She would point to the floor, "This is my work" and then flip her hand to point to the ceiling, "that is my zen. Don't come banging on my door over spilled sugar!" She laughed thinking of her own name. "I would lovvvvvveeee to live far, far away from this place, to better find my work life balance, and to stop gaining the extra pounds from coming down here to eat the reject cupcakes when I have the midnight munchies," She smacked her butt and jiggled it for emphasis "but, I got a great deal on this building. It's hard to come by that nowadays in NYC."

Lara Jean knew this to be true first hand. The reason she even took the job at Buttercream was because one job was not enough to survive. She had been living on her own for two years since graduating college, and the independence was liberating, but also expensive.

She found the job by accident when her and a coworker, Sarah, went out for lunch. After they had finished eating they still had a lot of time to kill, "Omg! I know this great little cupcake shop. You like cupcakes right?-psh of course you do, you're a baker! Come on."

When she entered the shop for the first time she was surprised with how cozy and cute the shop was. From the outside it was just a brick building but on the inside it was Sugar's paradise. The walls were painted a warm mustard yellow with gold cupcake decals and sayings like "butter + cream = the dream team" and "everyday is cupcake day". The space was bigger than it looked on the outside and was able to hold the white vintage wooden table sets and there were a few chocolate brown arm chairs that would be perfect to sink into with a cup of hot chocolate and a book from the bookshelf that was fully stoked. The lighting was soft and the speakers gently played "Midnight Train to Georgia". The first time she stopped in with Sarah, Sugar was running the shop and wiping the counter.

Sugar, like her name, was unique. She had brown skin and her blonde dreadlocks were piled onto her head in a messy bun. Lara Jean couldn't count the number of piercings she had and on that day she had chosen to wear an earring that connected a chain between her ear and nostril. Her jeans were more ripped that stitched and she wore an olive green tank crop top.

"Welcome to Buttercream!" she announced as they walked in. "Want to try our cupcake of the week? Strawberry Short-cupcake"

"Oh, definitely" Lara Jean nodded enthusiastically. "Do all your cupcakes use buttercream frosting?"

Sugar put a hand on her hip, "Is there any other kind?"

Lara Jean laughed, "Right!?"

Sugar pointed a her, "I can smell a fellow baker from a mile away." They immediately hit it off and Sarah had to practically drag Lara Jean out of the shop. Before she left Sugar handed her a piece of paper, "Hey if you're interested, I'm looking for some extra hands around here nights and weekends. I promise I don't pay only in cupcakes."

"The way these taste, I think I would be ok with that." Lara Jean replied folding the application into her satchel, "Thanks, I'll definitely be back"

"Just fill that out and when you bring it back you can show me what you got," Sugar gestured back to the kitchen. Lara Jean did just that and was hired to start immediately.

Tonight, Lara Jean was closing the shop, which meant she was going to have dibs on whatever treats she wanted to take home and the 2 red velvets that were left were definitely calling her name. She looked at clock and it was 7:30. The store closes at 8, so she decided to get started on cleaning. The sweet potato wasn't perfect yet but she could work on it tomorrow.

At around 8:50 the kitchen was clean and Lara Jean was busying herself cleaning up the front. She was just about to put the two red velvets cupcakes to the side when she heard a group of people getting closer to the shop.

"Let's all split a lyft. We can fit. I'm gonna call it" a girls voice said.

"Oooh cupcakes. We should get some! How long before the lyft comes?" Another girl spoke a short time later.

The first girl replied, "5 min. You know I'm on a diet. I'm good"

"Will you go in with me?" She asked someone else

"Sure. Let's go" a male voice replied and Lara Jean froze and looked out of the window. She couldn't make out the figures clearly but that almost sounded like-

"Alright, you guys got four minutes now. Hurry up"

"We'll make it quick" the male voice spoke again.

It couldn't be, Lara Jean thought. The door opened shaking the small bell attached to it, and the couple walked in.

"She can be such a bitch sometimes" a blonde girl said as she walked in with her arm linked with a taller guy who just shrugged before he finally looked up.

"La-Lara Jean?!"

"Peter." she said almost breathlessly.

He looked around nervously while attempting to subtly unlink his arms from the blonde, "Long- long time no see. What are you doing here?" he stuttered rubbing his hand through his hair.

Lara Jean was amused by how frazzled he seemed to be, but also internally freaking out herself.

"I work here…. part time," she added swallowing nervously and forcing a small smile at the blonde who looked annoyed.

"I'm guessing you too know each other?" The blonde asked.

"Yeah, Chloe um this is Lara Jean, my um-"

"Friend. Old Friend. We went to high school together. And it has been forever hasn't it?" She turned to Peter cocking her head to the side a little, "How have you been?"

His eyes were searching hers and he hesitated, "I've been alright. I didn't know you were in New York...How are you?"

"Never better," she croaked and they stared at each other without speaking for a moment.

"Um hey, Pete, I think the lyft is almost here. We should hurry up" Chloë said interrupting their exchange.

Pete? Lara Jean thought.

"Right, yeah um let's see, are there any you recommend?" He looked up from the display case through his eyelashes at Lara Jean.

"Well we have some of our cupcake of the week lemon-l-"

"Oh! Red velvet that's my fav. Can we get those two that are left?" Chloe cut in.

"...Sure. Coming right up!" Lara Jeans hand was shaking as she boxed the cakes. She brought them over to the counter and noticed that Peter as opening his wallet. "Don't worry about it, On the house."

"You sure?" He asked smiling finally.

Lara Jean suddenly felt warm all over and smiled back, "Yeah. Buddy discount."

His smile fell slightly, "Thanks, Lara Jean. We should...we should catch up sometime."

"Babe we gotta go." Chloe was tugging his arm gently and giving Lara Jean a fake smirk, "It was nice to meet you!"

"You too."

"I guess I'll see you around?" Peter chimed in

"You know where to find me." Lara Jean gave a small wave as they left the shop. When she heard a car door close she hurried to the door and locked it. "Oh my god, oh my god oh my god." She put her hand to her forehead "You know where to find me? Really?" She spoke to herself trying to make her heart beat return back to normal speed. She ran to the back to get her phone from her purse.

She quickly found the group chat between her sisters and sent a message:

Lara Jean

SOS! I just saw Peter.

Kitty

Whaaaaat? Where!?

At Buttercream!

Margo

Please tell me you're kidding. What was he doing there?

Kitty

How did he find you?

Lara Jean

I think he was on a date

With a blonde

Margo

Call us. NOW.

Lara Jean

Closing the shop. Be home in 20.

Lara Jean sent a quick text to Chris who had a similar reaction as her sisters only with more swear words. She had to count the cash in the drawer three times because she was so distracted.

It had been years since she had seen him and the last time had not gone well. During their junior year of college, and they were going through a rough patch. It was a busy year for both of them and they had not been able to visit each other as frequently as before. It seemed like they would have some sort of fight every time the spoke over the phone. Even though she knew things were not the best, Lara Jean though they were just experiencing growing pains. The last argument they had was because Lara Jean wouldn't be able to come down to UVA for Peter's homecoming game. She had promised she wouldn't miss this game, but something came up. At least that's what she told him over the phone. In reality she was going to surprise him and bring his favorite cookies.

She had it all planned out. What she hadn't planned on was seeing him wrapped around another girl in his bed, with very little clothes on. She broke up with him after that and ignored all of his calls, texts, and attempts to contact her. Even Kitty couldn't help him fix it.

It had been almost 3 years since then, and after this encounter, she realized she still wasn't ready to face him. On her way home, she replayed their meeting again over and over, mentally kicking herself for not saying….anything. When she got home she gave a rushed hello to her roommate and went to her room and closed the door.

Sighing, "I didn't even get my red velvet cupcakes" She plopped on her bed and closed her eyes. She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and knew that it was her sisters and Chris waiting to hear more. She didn't feel like talking about it anymore. She text them that she would fill them in tomorrow despite protests.

Laying in bed she opened Instagram and hesitated. She typed in Peter's name and nothing came up. She was about give up when she realized that she had blocked him after the cheating scandal. She went to her settings and reversed this and took a deep breath before navigating to his profile. His latest photo was a selfie at the gym. She rolled her eyes and scrolled to find more selfies featuring his goofy grin. A few pictures were with friends and his mom even made an appearance. None of them contained the blonde, not that she would actually admit that she cared. Catching up with Peter's life through Instagram was starting to make her head and her heart hurt. She couldn't bring herself to follow-him and didn't like the thought of him following her and seeing her wild life featuring her clients from Footsteps and cute pictures drawn in the foam of her hot chocolate. God forbid he see the new book she's reading. She quickly blocked him again and locked her phone.

She needed to shower and prep her lunch for the following day, "Pull it together Lara Jean. He's just an ex…your only ex." Since Peter, Lara Jean had dated casually, but hadn't had another boyfriend. There had been guys that tried, but she would always end it before it got too serious. She made herself believe that it was because she was focused on her career or family and friends, but if she was being honest, it was because it never felt right. Not since Peter.

After showering and meal prepping she returned to her room and pulled a familiar blue box from under her bed and opened it. She pulled out a floral notebook with a matching pen. Crossing her legs she opened to a blank page.

Taking a deep breath, she wrote:

Dear Peter,

…...

A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read, please comment and let me know what you think so far. While you're here, check out my other story "I Hate this But Not You".

Peace,

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