The Prince

Part 18

Working his way through the afternoon, Noah was glad that he'd finally gotten two tables to wait on. The tips were great, but obviously not as great as Skye's dad's, who seemed to be the highest tipped among all of them. He was surprised that Skye didn't want to be in front, but he flatly refused every time they asked him to switch positions. It was clear that Jackson had a natural talent for customer service, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy interacting with people. Meanwhile, the rest of the staff struggled to keep up with his pace and charm.

Despite this, Skye remained firm in his position as a back-of-house worker, content to work behind the scenes. He obviously took pride in his ability to create new things, always striving for perfection in every item he created. As the day wore on, the restaurant began to fill up with more customers, and pressure mounted on all of them to keep up with demand.

Clearing his table, he looked up surprised when he heard his name.

"Hey Noah, it's nice to see you again," Tsukasa smiled warmly, looking genuinely pleased to see him.

"Oh, hi Tsukasa, what are you doing here?" He regretted the question as soon as he'd asked it. What would anybody be doing at a bakery and coffee shop other than getting food?

"I thought it was time that I looked around town a bit. I'm glad I got to run into you, though."

"You are?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" His smile lit up his face, making it difficult to look away.

Why wouldn't he indeed, Noah wondered himself. Where was all this attention coming his way from? Not that he minded one bit, but to look at a guy that was this hot was intimidating.

"Do you want to take a seat?" He blushed, remembering that he was supposed to work. And now he was going to be around Tsukasa for however long he was going to stay. Was it a curse or a blessing?

Taking Thukasa's order to the kitchen he kept himself busy so that he wouldn't be tempted to go out and openly stare at the angel that was currently sitting at his table.  Once everything was on the tray, he carried it extra carefully, since he didn't want to make a fool out of himself.

He'd almost made it when the tray started wobbling precariously, while his momentum carried him forward dangerously. Before he could even think of falling a strong arm reached around his chest, crushing him in place, while another hand shot out to stop the wobbling trays, fingers interlacing with his as everything stopped moving. He wanted to blow out a sigh of relief before a voice in his ear whispered.

"One day you're going to break your neck." Skye lifted the tray out of Noah's hand, then let go of him. Setting the food on the table, he nodded at Tsukasa and turned to leave.

"Are you okay? It looked like you were going to fall for a minute." His concern was clear on his face, which confused the hell out of Noah.

"Yes, don't worry about me, it happens all the time," he grinned in embarrassment.

"Well, maybe next time I'll have to catch you," his pearly white teeth shone brightly as he grinned.

Oh god, what do you say when a totally over-the-top hot guy says he wants to catch you when you fall? Would yes please be enough? Wait! What am I thinking? I can't go walking around with my tongue out, he thought in a panic.

Just act cool, maybe he was only a really nice guy who was friendly with everyone. No need to read too much into it and no need to jump to become one of his groupies. Yes, playing it cool was the best way to go.

"Eh, yeah," he blushed, not quite meeting Tsukasa's quiet, dark gaze. His eyes were so unlike Skye's, where his gaze would drill a hole in your soul, digging through every secret, Tsukasa's was warm and comforting. Giving one more smile, left to find his saviour.

"Eh, Skye?" He stood behind him where he was making intricate sugar flowers and airbrushing them until they looked too realistic to eat. He was quite impressed with his skill, but what would you expect from the highest-scoring student at school? He was probably perfect at everything, Noah thought sourly, not quite happy that he had to be saved again.

"I didn't do it for you. You were going to make a mess and somebody would have had to clean it, so saving you was the most efficient way of preventing a Noah-sized disaster," he preempted.

"You know, I was about to say thank you, but suddenly I have the urge to dump a cream cake on your head." He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep calming breath. Why did Skye always get under his skin so easily?

"Anyway, thank you for saving me again, my Saviour." He did a bow and looked up grinning. "I salute your awesomeness."

"Go do your work, you dork. I might not be there next time to save you."

Walking out, Noah could have sworn that he saw a smile on Skye's lips, but when he looked again, his stony, expressionless mask was back in place. He wondered if he'd always been so serious and detached from the world, but then again at home, he was different. He had so many questions.

When Tsukasa left, his nerves settled some. He'd stayed longer than expected, trying to make conversation between his order and topping up his coffee which always seemed to go cold before he could drink it. Tsukasa seemed like a really nice guy, unlike the monster that was hiding in the back. Although it was difficult to talk to him sometimes, Tsukasa always set him at ease.

"Are you ready to go?" Skye surprised Noah again at the end of their shift, standing next to him, waiting.

"Oh, sure, thanks. I'll quickly grab my bag," he rushed, knowing how impatient Skye could be.

Looking sideways at Skye, he thought it was kind of nice of him to offer to travel together. Maybe having him as a saviour wasn't such a bad thing after all. He did turn out to be a surprisingly good friend, even if it looked like he was ready to die at the thought.

As they were walking, Noah thought about what Travis said about Skye being the crown prince of two major companies, but it didn't add up. Their family lived like regular people and both he and his dad worked at the bakery. He didn't know what his other dad did, but it must be earning him tons of money. But still..." he chewed his lip throwing another glance at Skye's silhouette.

"Spit it out, what do you want to ask?" Skye turned his eyes on Noah who immediately started squirming under his direct gaze.

"Nothing, I don't want to ask anything," How could he have known; was he some sort of mind reader? He wouldn't put it past him, being so perfect and all.

"Well, you've had your chance," he sat down on the bench and stared into the distance, his thoughts shut away behind the mask that was his face.