We'll meet again

Chapter 1

Birds chirping
People chatting
The first order of today
One cappuccino to go!

Atlas' pov

It's 6 am
Every day I wake up to the same sound, the beeping reminds me of a bomb which reminds me of my situation. I shake the thought out of my head as I make my way to the bathroom. A cold shower, it's one of my favorite things to do in the morning. The ice cold water constantly dripped on my bare skin making you feel every single water droplet, it made me feel alive. After 15 minutes I step out of the shower, I pick up my towel that had fallen down on the ground. I rub the soft cloth over my wet, dripping body. I suddenly got flashbacks as I dragged the towel over my arms filled with now healed scars, feeling each bump on my skin. I quickly finished drying myself after that to get it out of my head.

Breakfast isn't really my thing so I tend to skip that. I walk back into my room to change clothes. It's the start of autumn and the weather is getting colder so I put on a hoodie to keep myself warm. The leaves on the tree outside my bedroom window have started to shift from green to red, yellow, orange, and brown colors. My room is a mess, there are clothes everywhere and you can see the dust on the shelves. I used to like cleaning, but now I barely have the energy to leave my room. I lay myself down in bed and... 'I fell asleep? What a pain', I thought to myself, the clock is now 11 a.m. and I force my body to get out of bed once more. I put on a brown turtleneck along with a pair of dark gray pants and a coat since it's so cold outside. I say goodbye to my brother in the kitchen as I make my way out of our house.

One of the few things I manage to do every day is go to the cafe, but the coffee isn't the main reason.

—————————————————————————
Gale's pov

It's a calm day today at work. I work at a cafe called Mister Cafe (for some reason). I've never understood the meaning of the name, even though I've worked here since I was 15. I'm 23 years old now and I still enjoy working here.

I look at the clock, 'hmm, he hasn't arrived yet, that's strange, he's never late' I think to myself 'Or late, it's not like..' my thought got interrupted by the bell sound that the door makes when somebody enters or leaves the cafe. "Aaa, there he is," I whispered so nobody but me could hear what I said.

He walked up to me and was about to give his order when I spoke before him "A strawberry latte with extra cream, right?" I said while smiling sheepishly. He looked a little taken back, but quickly regained his posture as he nodded in agreement.

After a few minutes, his coffee was done so I reached out my hand and for a moment, our hands touched. His skin was dry, ice cold but at the same time so soft like they had never been touched. We both quickly pulled away our hands, I noticed him blushing slightly, but I brushed it off, "Have a good day!" I said, "Thanks, you too!" he replied with a big smile on his face.
He's been coming here for almost 2 years and for the past few weeks, he's been here every day, always at 11 am. But this time was different, he was late. I didn't notice him at first but these past few weeks, his appearance has changed, but not much at all. He just seems more... tired, I guess.

—————————————————————————
Atlas' pov

I sat myself down at one of the tables, and I noticed that there were fewer people than usual which made me feel calm, listening to the vague music in the background as the staff members continued doing their work. The calm aura in the cafe made me feel safe as I watched him working, I never seemed to catch his name. My eyes only fell on his big, beautiful emerald green eyes, his light porcelain skin with hundreds of freckles, some big and some small, perfect in their own way. His soft-looking lips, just the right color, and his hair, his dreamy, fluffy, strawberry blonde hair that seemed as soft as a cloud. I love everything about him, yet I know nothing. All I know is that just by seeing him, my heart felt whole again. But he'll never like me that way, never.

For the past few years, the only reason I've been alive is because of him, yet he knows nothing about it, he has no idea how important he is to me, a complete stranger, I don't even know his name for God's sake.

My daydreaming was interrupted by a skinny figure standing in front of me, 'he must have noticed me staring, fuck'. His lips parted, meaning he was about to say something, but I blurted out "Sorry!" before he had the chance to speak. His eyes widened in surprise and took a step back as he didn't expect me to speak up before him. "Sorry for yelling" I apologized before I continued "I shouldn't have stared at you, I guess I didn't notice," I said awkwardly. "No problem, I just wanted to ask if you were okay" "You just seemed a little down to me, that's all," he said while putting on the most heartwarming and cutest smile I've ever seen. My heart started to pound faster as I searched for words. "I'm fine, thanks for asking, it's very nice of you," I said smiling back. Before I knew it, he'd turned around making his way back to work. I flew up from my chair "I'm Atlas, by the way," I said without thinking, saying the last part a bit softer as I noticed myself speaking a bit too loud. He turned around, and with the brightest smile, he said "I'm Gale!," while waving his hand. I found myself staring again and started to blush so I covered my face with my hands, "Nice to meet you, Gale," I said shyly. "Well, this isn't exactly the first time we've met but, nice to meet you too," he said, still with the same beautiful smile. He turned around to get back to work as I sat down smiling like an idiot to myself, finishing my coffee.

I got up and said goodbye to Gale and got ready to leave the cafe. Every time I stepped outside I could feel my emotions drain out of my body, and I felt nothing. But this time, when I stepped outside, I felt a warm breeze surrounding me, throwing my hair in every direction possible, the breeze filled my body with energy as I closed my eyes and took in the rare moment of happiness. It was the first time in a very long time that I'd felt this way, it felt like a new beginning, the start of a new life, a turn for the better.

————————
A/n
Hi, I hope you liked this chapter. Feel free to comment on advice or any ideas, or if you liked something :)