Solangelo Oneshots

The Cute Barrister With The Pride Pin

Coffee: the only thing keeping Will alive. His nursing classes were driving him around the bend and he still had to study for finals. He managed to drag himself into the coffee shop that Kayla had been pestering him to go to ever since it opened a year ago. It was only around the corner but he had always had some excuse up until last weekend when he walked past the window and happened to glance at the barrister.

Now, Will wasn’t a shallow person. In fact, he was well known for being a chatty, bubbly kind of guy who put people at ease and sometimes overshared. However, this barrister had gotten him going in to the coffee shop three times this week just because he saw the guy working.

Clearing his throat, Will fluffed his hair up and opened the door with a soft ding.

“Hey there,” he said in an odd mix between attempted smoothness and his usual chirpy demeanour.

The barrister glanced up from under his cap, deep brown eyes alight with recognition although the rest of his face remained neutral.

“The usual?” he asked, his tangle of black curls falling over his sharply angled face.

Will nodded, his slightly dazed mind allowing him to do no more than that. Lost deep in thought, he continued to watch the back of the barrister’s head as the coffee was made.

In his head, he was reaching out the stroke his jawline and to take off his cap and mess up his hair whilst he grinned, chucking and kissing Will's cheek.

In reality, he said, “One fifty please.”

Will blinked. “Ah, yes. Sorry.”

He slid the money across the counter and took his coffee, daring to wink. The barrister rolled his eyes but the corners of his thin lips turned slightly upwards.

-

“So? Did you ask him?” Rachel questioned eagerly. Will groaned and flopped onto the sofa. His roommate raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“He’s so pretty, Rach!” he complained. “I keep trying to ask him out but the words won’t come out of my mouth. What if he’s straight?”

Rachel snorted.

“Alright,” Will grumbled, “but what if he just doesn’t like me. That would be worse.”

“What if a bomb goes off in the coffee shop?” Rachel teased. “What if the roof caves in? What if he turns out to be a secret military spy who wants to trick you into trusting him with his devilish good looks so he can drag you behind the shop and club you to death?”

“First of all, that’s called a honeypot,” Will informed her. “Second of all, that was alarmingly detailed.”

Rachel chucked a pillow at him, tucking her fiery red hair behind her ears and setting her eyes on him with such intensity he nearly fell over to edge of the couch trying to back away.

“Look, I’m coming with you next time,” she promised. “If you don’t ask him out, I’ll do it for you.”

There was no talking Rachel out of it so, the next day, Will had to bring her down to the coffee shop. Her presence didn’t stop the typical lovesick grin from spreading across his face when he saw the  barrister.

“Oh!” Rachel exclaimed, clapping her hands and jumping up and down so obviously that Will had to lay a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “Is that him? The cute barrister with the pride pin?”

Will looked closer and saw that the barrister was in fact wearing a pride pin. His heart did a flip.

“Yes,” he hissed. “Now, shush and don’t embarrass me."

Rachel gasped and held a hand to her heart.

“Embarrass you? I would never.”

“Brought a friend?” the barrister said as they approached. Rachel looked like she was going to explode but Will ignored her. Six years of being close friends and three years of living with someone means you get better at drowning them out when you’re trying to get a date.

“A black coffee for my friend,” Will said, clasping his hands together to stop them from shaking. “The usual for me... And a question.”

The barrister paused in the middle of making a drink. His eye held a curious mix of hope and amusement.

“A question? Ask away.”

“What’s your name?”

Rachel swatted Will’s arms at him chickening out. The barrister seemed mildly disappointed for a second.

“Nico.”

“That’s a pretty name,” Will commented, cursing himself for how stupid he sounded.

“Oh yeah?” A wicked grin lit up Nico’s face. “Like that? My phone number’s even prettier.”

Will stated gobsmacked for a moment as Rachel burst into laughter. She composed herself enough to hold her hand over the counter for Nico to shake.

“Well played,” she congratulated him. “Excuse my friend. He’s going into a catatonic state of bi panic but he would love your phone number.”

Nico scribbled his number down on a piece of paper and handed it to Will.

“Figured it was taking you long enough. I’m asexual, by the way. Not a problem, right?”

“No!” Will’s mouth finally decided to start working. “Thanks. I’ll text you.”

He smiled as brightly as he could and walked out of the shop, shaking his head in disbelief. A few seconds later, Rachel caught up to him and nudged his side playfully, holding out a cup.

“You forgot your coffee, dumbass.”

-

A/N

Hey, loves! Thank you to @ilovereadingmp  for the prompt and for all of your comments that never fail to make me smile. I hope you enjoyed.

Ash x