What if...? (Chris Sturniolo's Version) | Collection of One-Shots

What If... Chris liked his local barista?

"One latte and two hot chocolates for Nick!" A feminine voice called while three drinks were being slided on the counter.

"Thanks," Nick said as he took the drinks and handed them to each of his brothers. "Have a good day, bye!"

"You too, see you soon!"

Working at a small coffee shop in Los Angeles, Rose wouldn't trade her life for anything else. She'd had a job at the Beachwood Café for nearly a year and she didn't see herself anywhere else. One of her frequent customers, Nick, was often coming with his two triplet brothers named Matt and Chris. Since they'd started living in LA, Nick had discovered this cute coffee shop near the beach thanks to his friend Madi. Since then, the triplets were used to coming there every once in a while. Right now, given that the weather was getting colder, they were drinking warmer beverages.

Waving at the oldest triplet, Rose smiled before going back to making orders. She didn't have too much to do as it was early in the afternoon and most people were either at work or in school for the younger customers. She loved when she would see people coming back as it showed that what she was making was good enough. Recognising customers was one of her favourite things and she liked remembering what they were used to getting so that they'd feel special for such a treatment.

Therefore, this was how she acted with the triplets as well. They'd usually get similar things and it was easy to remember their order although there were technically three of them. Most of the time, they'd come all together like today, but sometimes, only one would come to order. It would mostly be Nick or Matt, as Chris had never once come alone to order. Rose never dwelled on it as she thought that he might be nervous or simply only ever came there because his brothers liked the place. Although the latter had been true at first, it turned out that the former overcame it and became the main reason. Truth be told, Chris was indeed nervous to go talk to Rose alone as he may have developed a small crush on her in the past couple of months. Qualifying it as "Chris's version of Matt's Panera girl", Nick and Matt had been trying to convince their younger brother that it wouldn't hurt to try and talk to her as Rose was very friendly. "Next time", Chris always said as he would eventually chicken out when it was about to happen.

"You can't keep liking her from afar Chris", Matt semi-scolded before taking a sip from his hot chocolate.

"I can though," Chris mumbled in reply. "No risk of getting rejected if I never try."

"Why on Earth are you so pessimistic?" Nick sighed at his brother's mindset. "I'm sure she'd love to get to know you. She's already used to Matt and I, so what's one more?"

"Correct", Matt agreed as he had always found Rose nice and professional when he'd come to the coffee shop.

"Well, she doesn't strike me as someone swinging my way if I can say that without being offensive. And also, I'm a bit – to not say extremely – scared of being heartbroken."

"I get that second point," Nick replied with an understanding nod. "But the first one is to be verified – it was not offensive by the way, don't worry."

"Nick is right," Matt said. "Not every gay person needs to have piercings or tattoos or dyed hair. She might just like it."

At that, Chris raised an eyebrow at Matt before motioning to Nick who fitted the exact description.

"You just proved my point!" Chris exclaimed.

"What if she's bi or something like that though," Nick wondered. "Then you still have a chance. You'll never know until you actually go talk to her."

"Next time," Chris once again promised. Sensing his brothers' doubt, Chris repeated himself with more confidence. "Next time, I swear."

~~~