Niles, as usual these days, was giddily excited to go to work. The weekend had been a painfully long break from almost constantly hanging out with Miles. He briefly considered their forming codependency but resolved to forget about it for now and talk to him about it later. After all, we aren't even dating yet.
Niles was on his way to Starbucks before work. It had become something of an unspoken ritual that the pair would at least sit and talk there together before their shift, if not flirt shyly over coffee. Niles was unconsciously smiling as he entered the cafe, but his smile dropped quickly.
Making clear eye contact from across the room was Austin. Niles tried to turn and leave, but Austin had taken his chance and was now striding across the Starbucks.
"Hey, been a while," he said in an inappropriately friendly tone.
"Yeah, it has," Niles responded simply, clocking the brown lanyard with sunflowers dangling from Austin's pocket. He met Austin's eyes and smiled, avoiding reacting to what he had noticed.
"I'm sorry about last week. I was being pushy and I should've just shut the fuck up." A pang hit Niles' already racing heart as he realized Austin's apology was just a shitty excuse to guilt trip him.
"No, actually, that's okay–"
"I really should've been more aware of your feelings. Probably should've been friends with you longer before asking you out." Austin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, and Niles flushed with anger and disgust at what looked like an insincere copy of Miles. "I guess I'm just that much of an idiot," Austin glanced at Niles coyly.
"Yeah, dude, I guess you are."
Austin faltered. "Niles, I said I'm–"
"I don't associate with people who pressure me like you did last week." Niles exhaled nervously. "I don't want to associate with you anymore."
"But–"
"Come back with a better apology next time, asshole." Niles turned and left before Austin could get in another word. He walked fast to the office, not bothering to look back.
Thankfully, when Niles made it to the file room, Miles was already there. "Hey," Niles said and let out a sigh of relief, setting down his bag.
Niles was met with no response other than a glance and a nod. Weird, Niles thought, but whatever. He decided just to start on the work instead of pushing it.
A good fifteen minutes later, the energy in the room was still tense. It was quiet. Painfully quiet. Niles glanced around the room wondering why until he noticed what the unusual silence lacked. Miles was sitting on the floor behind him, not fidgeting at all.
Niles nervously tried to make conversation. "I didn't see you at Starbucks."
"Yeah," Miles didn't even look up from what he was working on.
Niles' smile dropped. "Hey, are you alright?"
Miles glanced at Niles, expressionless except for a faint look of boredom and tiredness, then returned to his papers without a word.
"Miles, what's wrong?"
"Who were you talking to in there?"
Niles' heart dropped. "That was just Austin. He's just some kid in my class."
"Oh. Right." Miles returned stubbornly to his papers.
"What's going on? Did I do something?"
Miles glared at Niles. "He obviously likes you. I saw it."
