hot chocolate | maxiel

2

Max came home after an hour. His first instinct was to call Lando, check if his best friend was available for a talk. He decided to send Lando a short text and changed into some sweatpants, kicking off his tight skinny jeans.

He startled at the sound of his phone ringing. He smiled, picked up his phone and sat down on his bed before accepting the call. The sight of his curly-haired friend never failed to make him happy.

"Maxy!" Lando cheered, a smile on his face as usual. "How are you, your text seemed a little urgent."

Max frowned. "How could you tell?"

Lando chuckled. "It was short, no emoji. That's it." He explained, using some weird motions with his hand.

Max laughed. "Well, okay you're right I guess. I hung out with two guys I have classes with, Charles and George."

"Sweet, how was it?" Lando interrupted him, immediately interested in Max's story.

"They basically forced me to get coffee with them." Max told Lando. "So I did, but you know I don't like coffee... well, I hate it." He spoke. Lando chuckled. "I told the barista in embarrassment and he was kinda cute. He came up with the hot chocolate and gave me free apple pie."

"Oh my god!" Lando gasped, covering his mouth with his hand. "You guys are soulmates!" He commented, his mouth open in shock.

Max shook his head, smiling. "He's too good-looking for me, god Lando he's amazing. He has these messy curls and his smile oh my god."

Lando grinned. "Aw Maxy!" He said. "Are you planning on acting on this?" He asked, genuinely wanting to know.

"Probably not. I can't imagine him being single." Max admitted, blushing lightly.

"Who knows." Lando said.

—

Max didn't know what he was doing. It was quite early in the morning and he was making his way over to the same cafe he went to yesterday. The overpriced hot chocolate was barely worth it, but he wanted to see Daniel.

He knew he was desperate, but come on it's not like a cute guy like Daniel walked around the campus. He didn't even know if Daniel was working right now.

Max opened the door, flinching when a bell rang. He didn't remember that from yesterday. He closed the door behind him and his eyes immediately fell on Daniel. He swallowed deeply and walked over to the desk. He hated how all eyes were on him now.

Of course the only person in line was done with ordering when Max arrived. He wasn't even sure what he was gonna say, or even order.

"Hey, you're back!" Daniel smiled as usual. "Another hot chocolate?" He asked, already tapping on the screen in front of him.

"Yeah." Max mumbled, blushing lightly. He looked down at all the pastries behind the glass. "Wait, could you add cheesecake to that?"

"Sure thing. It's your order, mate." Daniel said.

Max paid for it and found himself a seat. It didn't take long for Daniel to stand next to his table. He put the cup and plate down in front of Max, but he didn't leave. No, he sat down in front of Max. "Hi."

Max frowned, reaching out to grab the hot cup to warm himself up. "Hey." Max greeted. "Don't you have to work?" He asked, sounding more rude than he wanted to sound.

"Hmm, there's no one here to help and no colleagues around." Daniel replied. "So I'm gonna sit here to talk to this cute guy if he wants to speak to me." He added.

"Sure. I'm not really interesting though." Max shrugged, carefully taking a sip of his drink.

"I'm sure you are." Daniel spoke, tapping his fingers against the table. "I only know your name."

"Well I'm 21 years old, study law and... that's it." Max told him, now taking a piece of his cheesecake.

"Interesting." Daniel hummed. "Wanna know something about me?" He asked, having a smile on his face that Max couldn't say 'no' to.

Max only nodded, not wanting to speak with his mouth full of cheesecake.

"I wanted to become a race car driver, but ended up here." Daniel told him.

Max frowned, not really knowing what to do with this information. "Oh."

"Yeah. I like it though, I get to meet lots of people, maybe judge them a little." Daniel said, grinning at his own joke.

Max pushed the plate away from himself to the middle of the table. "I used to do go-karting, but it was too much pressure." He told Daniel.

"Really? That's cool." Daniel commented. "Why too much pressure?" He asked, making sure to be careful.

"My dad wanted me to end up in Formula One, just like him, but it's not what I wanted in life." Max explained. "Not that I wanted to study this, but it's alright I guess."

Daniel mumbled something. "Sorry about that." He whispered. He lightly patted the top of Max's hand before grabbing the empty plate. "Gotta get back to work." He informed Max. "Have a great day Maxy." Daniel said before walking away.

Max smiled at Daniel and whispered a short, "Bye." He stood up himself too, grabbing his cup and his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder before leaving the cafe.

As soon as he entered the school Charles was next to him. He had no idea how he managed to find him that quick. "Mate, you got the cup I recognize." He pointed at the branded cup. "Wait... did you go there because of the barista!" Charles basically squealed.

"Yeah." Max just replied, knowing Charles wouldn't let this go.

"Aww yay! Can I be your best man at the wedding?" Charles spoke, wrapping an arm around Max's shoulder.

Max scoffed. He would keep that spot for Lando, but he won't tell Charles that.

"Alright then, can I arrange a date then?" Charles tried again. He sighed when Max didn't react. "Fine." He mumbled. "Was he even there though?"

"He was." Max replied. "We spoke, that's it."

"That's a good start." Charles commented. "Just don't shut him down, he likes attention." He said, winking at Max before walking away from him.

Max's eyes widened. He wasn't sure what to think anymore.