Just Twin Fire Signs, Four Blue Eyes

Chapter One

  I had a totally different life a year ago. Just one year was all it took for my life to be completely flipped upside down. I was just starting my new job, unpacking in a new city and singing for fun in my bedroom. Now today I'm walking the streets of New York with a man I'm hopelessly in love with, heading to his next press conference, and feeling the phone in my pocket vibrate, alerting me that I just hit 1 million followers on TikTok.

In just 365 days Sebastian Stan had changed my entire life.

I should probably start at the beginning, New York City exactly one year ago. I've been on my own for about 10 years now, just trying to find where I fit in. I think I've moved a total of 7 times since leaving home. I just never found a place that I loved. I would stay in a city for a while, but then something would happen and it would feel suffocating to stay there. I'd move, feel comfortable for a while in a new place and then the cycle would repeat itself. That is, until I found the tiniest apartment in New York City, barely bigger than a closet, and still the most expensive place I've ever lived in. But it felt like home in a way I had never experienced before. I couldn't wait to wake up every morning and explore the city.

It didn't take me long to find a job. I had experience in just about every type of job. It wasn't much, and didn't pay as much as I'd like, but it would at least cover rent and the necessities.

I had three days left before my first day, so I woke up early to try and get as much done as possible. I spent a few hours unpacking and decorating around the small space. I took a break around 10 to go grab some breakfast. I grabbed my keys and dashed out of the apartment. After popping in an earbud to drown out some of the street noise, I set on down the road. I hadn't thought of a place in particular that I was headed to, I figured I'd just walk until something smelled good. I ended up at a coffee shop about 20 minutes away. I ordered and paid for my drink and stepped to the side to wait. It wasn't too busy at this time of the morning, which was nice. As I waited for my drink, I could see people out of the corner of my eye lining up against the window of the shop. I turned to see around 20 people with their faces pressed up against the window, some with cameras in their hands taking pictures. I couldn't figure out what they'd be looking at inside a random coffee shop.

"I'm sorry, it's pretty startling, huh?" I hear a voice say behind me. As I turn to respond, I bump into his arm and my wallet crashes to the ground.

Shit. I thought to myself. I can hear him apologizing as I bend down to pick up my stuff. He bends down next to me to pick up a few coins that had tried rolling away. As I reach out to take them back from him, I met his eyes. Bright blue, so piercing I'm afraid he may be able to see into my soul. I feel my blood turn ice cold, and I'm afraid my legs might give out. He seems stunned too, for a second, until he stands back up, dusting his jeans off as he does. He reaches his hand down to help me off the ground, and I'm thanking every force out in the universe that I was able to stand back up and not embarrass myself any further.

"I, uh...thanks." I manage to mumble out.

"Anytime!" He smiles. Seemingly unfazed while I still feel like my universe is completely faltering around me.

As I start getting feeling back into my fingers, I realize why there were so many people outside. It's because I just completely embarrassed myself in front of none other than Sebastian Stan. I swear I'll never be able to live this down.

I hear the barista call out my drink and leave it on the counter. I walk up and grab the cup, looking around for a straw.

"Oh, that one wasn't for you, it's for him. Yours will be ready soon." the barista behind the counter says, pointing behind me.

Just my luck. As if I haven't drawn enough attention to myself already. I turn around to hand the man behind me his drink. I'm yet again met with those damn blue eyes. This time they're accompanied by a cheeky side grin.

"First you attack me, and now you're trying to steal my drink?" He says with a small chuckle.

My mouth went dry. I stutter out an apology and hand him the drink. I turn towards the door and start walking out. I'm officially done. I didn't need the coffee anyway, and now I've embarrassed myself so bad I don't think I'll ever be able to show my face at this coffee shop again. I'm almost to the door when I feel his hand on my arm.

"Hey, wait, I'm just messing with you! You don't have to leave." I turn around to see he's got a look of concern on his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Oh no, you didn't upset me! I should be the one apologizing. I didn't realize that was your coffee."

He gave me a small smile. "No need to apologize, it's an honest mistake."

I mumbled 'thanks' and gave him a smile. I walked up to the counter as the barista called out my coffee. "This one is mine, right?" I asked. The barista chuckled at the slight panic in my eyes and nodded. I turn once more to leave and he's there in front of me for a third time. For a split second, I'm a little annoyed that he didn't leave after getting his drink. Couldn't he see how embarrassed I was?

"I'm glad you finally got your drink." Sebastian said with a laugh.

"Thanks." I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Hey, maybe next time I'll attempt to steal your wallet instead."

He let out a loud laugh as he stepped aside to let me walk out the door. "Sounds like a date, doll." He called out after me.

My cheeks immediately flushed pink and I'm so glad he was behind me at this point and couldn't see. I spend the walk back to my apartment replaying the entire event in my head, thinking about everything I could have done or said differently. By the time I made it home, I was completely mentally exhausted. I spent the rest of the night mindless scrolling on social media, hoping it would take my mind off of it, off of him. For a while it was actually working, until I came across a video of me. I almost didn't recognize myself, the video was slightly shaky and hard to focus on; but then there it was, a snippet of me standing next to Sebastian Stan. The video pauses on us, and large letters replace the screen.

"Who is Sebastian's mystery coffee date?"