Espresso wished he could crawl into a hole and die.
Or the floor could swallow him up and he would disappear for all eternity. That didn't seem too bad.
At least it would be better than facing the loud, arrogant and most of all dumb boy in front of Espresso.
"Can I please go get something to eat?" Madeleine begged.
"No!" Espresso snapped. He jabbed his pencil at the textbook, a rare thing for Espresso to do since he hated damaging books, but Madeleine was getting on his last nerve. "If you want to get better grades, do not let inferior things like food and sleep distract you."
"So you don't eat or sleep then?" Madeleine said with interest.
Espresso rubbed his temples. "Eating is needed for survival, so I do manage to eat at least two small meals a day, for I do not want to die. However, sleep is not on my schedule. It is not compulsory for human survival."
Madeleine stared at Espresso. "Do you have insomnia or something?" he asked.
"No. I just prefer to keep my body and mind running on caffeine instead of wasting time sleeping." Espresso said.
God, how long had it been since he had had a coffee? Four hours?
His eyes started to shut, but he rubbed them before he could doze off. That would be humiliating, especially after he had said he didn't need sleep. Truth be told, he knew every human needed sleep to survive. Not sleeping would only lead to madness.
However, caffeine provided plenty of energy for Espresso, and that was enough.
Unfortunately, Madeleine had noticed his drowsiness, and that gave him yet another infuriating excuse to leave.
"Hey, the library comes with a café." he said.
Espresso knew what he was going to say. "No, Madeleine, we are not going to go to the café." he said sharply.
"Well, I don't want a sleepy tutor." Madeleine said, shrugging.
"I'm not sleepy." Espresso said, inwardly fuming. Though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, Madeleine least of all, he did need a coffee. Preferably an espresso.
yes cannibalism lmao
"What do you say we go grab something to eat? And drink. I'll pay." Madeleine offered.
"Fine." Espresso agreed grudgingly. He didn't want to be seen in public with Madeleine, but he desperately needed more caffeine.
Madeleine grabbed his hand, tugging him along. Espresso flushed at the touch, which sent unexpected butterflies through him.
Fucking hot jerk.
Espresso had to endure 5 minutes of the other boy holding his hand, as Madeleine didn't seem to know where the library café was. Espresso knew, but he didn't dare tell Madeleine because...he liked it when their hands entwined together.
No, that couldn't be it. Yes, Madeleine was hot. But he had no personality at all.
Encouraged by this thought, Espresso pulled his hand away, ignoring his own disappointment at the lack of Madeleine's warm hand in his own, or the fact that Madeleine looked slightly hurt.
Stop it.
Madeleine was a jerk. And Espresso hated jerks like him, especially overconfident, optimistic jerks.
No, Espresso hated Madeleine.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Once Espresso stepped into the café, he wanted to leave.
For starters, there were too many people, too much socializing for his taste. The café was crowded and noisy, the exact opposite of the library just a few steps away, and a hundred other things Espresso hated.
"Let's just leave." Espresso muttered, backing away. He could survive without coffee for a few more hours if it meant avoiding casual chitchat.
"But I'm so hungry." Madeleine pouted. To prove his point, his stomach gave a loud rumble.
Espresso wanted to snap that he didn't care. However, the last bit of him that did acted up at that very moment, and against his own will, Espresso merely sighed and sat down at a table.
Madeleine sat down opposite him, waving for a server. After quite some time, an ancient woman hobbled over, looking like she was ready to drop dead any minute.
"I'll have a double cheeseburger and fries, and cola, and ice cream." Madeleine said cheerily.
"This isn't McDonald's, dumbass." Espresso hissed across the table.
Eventually, Madeleine settled for a crossiant and soda instead. Espresso ordered an espresso without milk. Madeleine stared at him again.
"What are you staring at?" Espresso snapped, shifting in his seat and feeling himself grow an uncomfortable red.
"You don't add milk to your coffee?" Madeleine said curiously.
"That's a completely disgusting idea!" Espresso protested. "Besides, that's what Latte does, though I simply do not know why."
"Somebody call me?"
"Oh, hi Latte!" Madeleine grinned, jumping up from his seat and giving her a hug.
Espresso grew uncomfortable at the sight of Latte and Madeleine hugging.
He had read about something like this ago, in some shallow novel. It was called...jealousy?
Shaking his head at the stupidity of his thoughts, Espresso turned to Latte for a distraction. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
Latte raised her eyebrows. "I might ask you the same thing, 'Spresso. What are you doing here? Finally got the courage to ask him out?"
Madeleine choked on his soda.
"What? I-Of course not!" Espresso sputtered. Only Latte would be so direct.
"Shame." Latte shrugged. "To answer your question, Espresso, I wanted some fresh air and merely wandered out for a stroll."
Espresso said nothing, looking up at her suspiciously.
Latte sighed. "Okay, you got me. A little bird told me that you two had a dat-I mean 'study session' here." She made air quotes, rolling her eyes. "I thought I might...see how you two are getting along, maybe some flirting, eh?"
"It is just simply a study session, Latte." Espresso, while usually calm and composed, wanted to hit her with something, preferably Madeleine, perhaps. "Get that into your head."
Latte shrugged again. "Whatever you say, Espresso." she said with a wink. "I see the room's heating up already, so I might as well leave you two to it."
With that, she walked away.
Madeleine broke the silence.
"That's a funny joke, huh Espresso?" Madeleine looked at Espresso somewhat nervously.
Espresso's fists were clenched.
He didn't want to believe what Latte said. Madeleine was too happy for his own good. Better to go back to hating him, which would make things much easier, than to start noticing small things like the lighter flecks in his blue eyes, or his perfectly toned chest.
"This study session is over." Espresso said wearily. "Go back to your dormitory, Madeleine."
YOU ARE READING
when lines blur | espresseleine
Fanfiction[ humanized espresseleine - university au ] espresso hates madeleine, but when madeleine asks him to be his tutor, two very different people are thrown into a rollercoaster of emotions. what's worse, neither of them can deny the sparks flying everyw...
