Coffee Shop AU

Dammit, Jared

The bell rang, a sound Connor was sure was now integrated into the corner of his mind until he died. He turned, Alana still scribbling onto what looked like the fifteenth napkin, and felt panic rise inside of him like a bubble.

Evan. On the dot. Because why would the universe want to do him any favours?

Connor spun back around in his seat so fast he felt his neck would break, and began grabbing as many of the ink-covered napkins as he could. Many of them ripped, and scrunched up under his hands, but he didn't care.

"Hey! Connor, wha-" Alana spluttered, her pen being ripped from her hand, and looked up to see Connor shooting his arms out, snatching things from across the table.

"Not now Alana. Sorry, but You-Know-Who," he nodded to Evan across the room, "just walked in. We need to hide these."

Alana looked over at Evan. She could tell the boy was handsome, despite her lack of attraction towards him, and really did want to help Connor. She wasn't attracted to boys, sure. But she wasn't attracted to shoes either, and she knew when a pair looked good. Connor needed an anchor in his life, someone to hold him and make him feel better, and maybe give him kisses on the side. And 'Evan' didn't look like the type to scarper after one date.

Alana looked back at Connor, frantically shoving as many napkins into his pockets as physics would allow. She frowned, and carefully reached out, grabbing the final napkin from the table. Connor looked up at her with worried eyes.

"Good," he nodded sharply, "thanks. Now let's throw these in the bin before he finds them."

Alana didn't say anything. Instead, she got up, and walked over to his side of the table. She gave him what she hoped was an apologetic look, and without thinking about the consequences, dug her hands into his pockets.

"Hey! Alana, what the fuck are you-"

"Connor, trust me."

Gathering as many napkins as she could before Connor could retaliate, Alana held them in her hands, and moved to the opposite side of the room.

"No. No, Alana, NO, WAIT!"

It was too late. Connor watched helplessly as she tapped Evan on the shoulder, who flinched somewhat dramatically, and handed him the napkins. There were about ten, in total, each covered corner to corner in inky words, on both sides. They were a little bit ripped, and the ink was slightly smudged from their sweaty hands, but still readable.

Connor's stomach plummeted.

"Here," Alana said, handing Evan the napkins. "A gift from the boy over there, Connor. He's a barista here, he's served ou before, and we hope you can read out handwriting. Anyway, I won't tell you what these are for, hopefully you can figure that out on your own, but if you can't just talk to me. Or talk to Connor, that would be a big help. Bye."

And with that she turned and left the cafe.

Evan watched her leave, feeling slightly startled, and looked down at the paper in his hand. He almost picked one up, then realised he was standing aimlessly in the middle of the room, and went to find a seat.

Once he had sat down, avoiding everyone's eyes, he picked up a napkin, smoothed it out, and read it.

'Guess what i'm wearing? The smile you gave me'

Evan frowned. That was... strange. Why would Connor give him this? It was a nice compliment, a little silly perhaps, but nice. He turned it over.

'Nice shirt. Can I talk you out of it?'

He looked down at his shirt. Did Connor not like it? Was it disturbing the other customers? Was it too blue? He picked up another one.

'I'll kiss you in the rain so you'll get twice as wet'

Ah. Well then. That was... naughty. Bloody hell. Evan felt his face grow red. He turned, and saw Connor, staring at him from the other side of the room. Perhaps staring was the wrong word. Watching, perhaps?

Evan couldn't help but admit that Connor was a little... attractive. With his long hair, and tattoos, and earrings. But Evan had only just realised he was bi, this was all new territory for him.

"Hey, Ev,"

Evan flinched, and turned to see Jared strutting towards him.

"Hey, Jar."

"Whatcha got there?"

Oh god. This was bad. Could there be a worse place to be found than sitting at a table with pick-up line covered napkins? Some of these were really naughty, Jared would never let him live it down.

"Noth-nothing." Evan lied, and quickly began shoving the into his backpack. Jared frowned, looking slightly hurt, and Evan sighed.

"Just... promise you won't laugh?"

"Promise." Jared gave the brownie sign, and Evan laughed. It was stupid but, somehow he believed him.

Jared picked up a napkin, and read off of it.

"'Are you Google, because you're everything i'm searching for'" Jared pulled a face. "Evan, buddy. If you're going to ask someone out, use better lines than these."

From across the room, Connor frowned.

"Here, scooch over," Jared sat down next to Evan in the booth, and dug a pen out of his pocket. "Who are you asking out?"

"They're not mine!" Evan protested, feeling a bit ashamed. He wasn't sure why. "They were given to me from a barista."

Jared wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.

"Ooh, a secret admirer?"

"Hardly. I know who it is."

"Who?"

Evan turned, and looked back at Connor, who was now scrolling through his phone.

"Him."

Jared followed his line of sight, and let out a low whistle.

"Damn. I'd tap that."

"Jar, you're aro/ace."

"Well, he's aesthetically pleasing, i'll give him that."

Evan sighed. Again.

"What do I do?"

"Here," Jared scribbled something onto the napkin. "Give him this."

Evan took the napkin from his friend, and made his way over to Connor.

"Here," he went a bit red. "This is for you. From me. Obviously, sorry i don't know why i said that. Sorry."

He almost smacked the napkin onto the table, and spun around, running back to his seat.

"So, so what did you write on there anyway?" he asked. Jared gave him a smile.

Connor looked down at the napkin, and read outloud.

"'We're like marshmallows and hot chocolate. You're hot, and I want to be on top of you'"

From across the room, he heard a voice scream, "JARED, WHAT THE FU-"