A/N: Faberry coffee shop au requested by StarOfLightning . Thank you for the request and thank you for the motivation! Love you dude!
Quinn Fabray stood behind the counter at Topped Off, wiping down the counter and ignoring the customers at the counter. It was unfair of her father to make her work a job to start to pay off her college tuition. Yale University was expensive and her father agreed to pay for half of her first year's tuition, leaving Quinn to work to pay off the rest. "Excuse me? I'd like to order a coffee?"
Quinn pretended to be interested in the dirty rag she was mopping the already clean counter with. "Now." A shrill voice demanded.
After throwing the towel in the sink, Quinn turned her best scowl towards the customer first in line. The girl in line seemed to be college age with dark brown flat-ironed hair and an obviously Jewish nose. Nothing really worth her attention. "Yes?"
"A triple venti, soy, no foam latte."
"Coming right up." Quinn rolled her eyes as she headed to the latte machine.
"I didn't ask for attitude with my coffee." The customer chirped.
Quinn pressed her lips together tightly. "Here's your coffee."
"My name is Rachel, by the way." The customer said as she passed five dollars across the counter. "Keep the change."
Quinn forced a smile on her face. "Enjoy."
She watched as the customer, who she now knew as Rachel, sit down at a table in the back and pull out a laptop. Topped Off was a hipster coffee shop with brick walls and succulents sitting in the windows. Dappled sunlight spilled through the windows, filling the room with a warm light. The light bounced off Rachel's hair, giving it shine. Her warm beige skin seem to glow in the sunlight. She couldn't see Rachel's eyes, but she was sure that the sunlight made her dark, wide eyes glitter.
Quinn began to feel her heart pound. Shut up, she thought and started to swab down the counter again.
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Quinn was busy wiping tables off when Rachel walked into coffee shop the next week. Rachel had come into the coffee shop every day the previous week and Quinn studiously ignored her every time she attempted to order. Although she hated to admit it, the annoying girl was growing on her. Quinn smiled to herself and strode over to the counter. "What can I get you today?"
"Triple venti, soy, no foam latte and a cup of green tea for my friend." She nodded to the man standing a little behind her.
Quinn's smile faltered. The girl she liked was not supposed to have a boyfriend. "Coming right up."
She frowned as she walked back to the coffee machines. Why am I so unlucky when it comes to love, she thought. It had always been like this, even in high school. Quinn Fabray was a cheerleader in high school, the most popular girl in the school, but she could never manage to keep a guy. She always managed to screw things up somehow. Like Finn. He was the star quarterback, we were made for each other. Until I cheated on him with his best friend. Quinn sighed. "The coffee!" Rachel exclaimed from the other side of the counter.
Quinn's eyes grew wide as she stared down at the large pile of foam on the coffee that Rachel specifically didn't order. "Sorry, I guess I'm a bit distracted." Quinn apologized and started to make Rachel her coffee over.
After carrying the coffee and the tea over to the counter, Quinn said the price of the order and waited for Rachel to pay, but to her surprise, the man behind her paid. "Kurt, you don't have to pay. It's on me."
"Yeah, but I'm the one who dragged you here to talk about what to get Blaine. It has to be special, it's his birthday and our first year apart." Kurt worried his lip. "What if he hates it?"
Quinn didn't pay any attention to Rachel's response. Rachel whoever she was was not dating Kurt. "Actually, they're on the house." Quinn interrupted.
A slow grin grew across Rachel's face. Quinn felt her heart crashing against her rib cage. Rachel is really cute when she smiles, she thought. Quinn grabbed the rag from the back of the coffee shop and ran a bucket of hot water. She added soapy bubbles and started wiping down the counter, while watching Rachel talk with her friend. Rachel sat in her usual spot by the window near the succulents. Quinn was disappointed that the sun was completely covered by gray storm clouds; there was no sun to shine on Rachel, making her look like a goddess. Quinn, is that seriously the best you can come up with? Goddess? She put her elbow on the wet counter and leaned against her hand. Rachel was too busy wildly gesturing to notice Quinn staring. Too caught up in her thoughts, she didn't even realize her elbow started to slip until she fell forward onto the counter. Quinn swore that her eyes were bugging out of her head when Rachel and Kurt both turned to look at her.
I don't owe them an explanation, Quinn told herself as she picked up the soaking rag and began to drag it across the wet counter. She tried to make it look as though her heart wasn't hammering; Rachel couldn't know she was staring at her.
Rachel must have noticed Quinn was staring because she was heading towards Quinn. Quinn threw the rag into the soapy water and headed into the back storage/break room and shut the door. She strode to the far end of the room and looked into the mirror on the wall. "Take some deep breaths." She murmured to herself.
Quinn hadn't seen herself so worked up over a person since Finn. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and her golden ponytail bounced back and forth. Quinn grabbed her purse and reapplied her lipstick and mascara. It gave her time to think. She had to deal with Rachel when she walked back into the shop. I would rather just stay in the break room with all the coffee bags and fridges. But Quinn was the only one on shift since the shop was small, so she eventually ambled back into the shop.
Rachel had gone back to her table, but as soon as Quinn walked back into the shop, Rachel practically ran over to the counter. "Were you staring at me?" she demanded.
Quinn subtly took a deep breath and wrote her number down on a sticky note and passed it across the counter to Rachel. "Maybe. Call me and I'll top you off any time." She teased with a wink.
Quinn had no idea how good it would feel to see Rachel's mouth drop open, rendering her speechless. She smirked at Rachel and turned on her heel to clean out the latte machine. A minute later, she heard Kurt whisper to Rachel, "Come on, let's go," and lead her out of the shop.
She felt her phone buzz in her jeans pocket. Quinn pulled it out and looked at the message. She didn't recognize the number, but the text read: 'dinner tonight?'.
Quinn quickly typed back 'If this is Rach, then yeah'.
'Yeah this is Rachel. Meet me at Little Italy at six tonight?'
Quinn smiled and felt a blush creep across her face. 'I'll see you there.'
