I Like Me Better when I'm With You (COMPLETED)

I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love so much

Notes: Chapter title from Falling In Love at a Coffee Shop by Landon Pigg

Nico stepped in, greeted by the soft jazz music and the warmth of the coffee shop that was filled with the nice heavenly smell of coffee. Someone behind the counter lifted his head up and greeted Nico with a warm smile.

"Hello! Welcome to The Oracle," the guy behind the counter greeted, his blond hair softly glowing under the yellowish light from the lamps.

Nico walked to the counter. He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head a little, making small droplets of water splattered from his head.

"How are you today?" The blond asked him as he took a step to the cash register where Nico was standing.

His smile was bright. His eyes were smiling too, like the bright blue sky on a lazy summer day.

And maybe Nico should not have done it but Nico was just so so done with the world today, that the simple question suddenly snapped something inside of him.

"How am I doing today? You ask me how am I doing today?"

Blond eyebrows in front of him shot up, almost touching curls of golden hair. But Nico already continued. It's like a dam inside of him suddenly just broke down and his bottled frustration for the day just burst out.

"Today has been shit. My housemate has won another award of the most annoying housemate when it was not even 8 in the morning today. My TA was anything but good, and my classes were fucking shit. I planned to stay in the library but they kicked me out because they are closing earlier today for god knows whatever reason was it, which means I have to go back to my apartment that I share with someone whom I could have sworn born and raised in hell. But of fucking course, if you haven't noticed it yet, it's raining now when I don't even have an umbrella with me. Not like I have one, anyway. So yeah, if you ask me how am I doing today, I am doing fucking great, thank you very much."

Nico was half-panting as he looked up at the barista.

Which made him go from the state of having an emotional outburst, into a state of confusion.

That smile that the barista had was still there. Like the emotional burst that Nico just showed was something that he normally had as part of his job. The smile was still there and it was still a gorgeous bright one. The only thing that changed about his expression was only the look in his eyes, that got softer. Like he understood. Like he wanted to offer some comfort.

Really, it was confusing. The barista's reaction was just something Nico could not understand.

So confusing, Nico could not find any word to say.

Or maybe he already ran out of the maximum number of words to say in front of a stranger for today.

The barista nodded lightly.

"Okay," he said. "That sounds really sucks dude. Now what can I get you?"

Nico exhaled a sigh and ran his hand over his head.

"Can I get a large iced coffee, please? No sweetener, no creamer."

The barista arched an eyebrow as he picked up a plastic cup. The corner of his lips twitched.

"What?" Nico asked sharply. "Now you're also questioning my choice of drink?"

The barista laughed. He fucking laughed.

Just a small laugh. But still.

A small part of Nico's mind thought that the laugh was so warm, Nico almost forgot that it was raining outside. But the rest of Nico's mind got even more confused.

"Oh, no, not at all," the barista said, shaking his head. "I think iced coffee suits your inner soul. Dark, cold, without any fake artificial sweetener."

Nico's jaw fell open, and he really, really wanted to say something worthy enough as an excellent response. But he failed to say anything.

So he closed his mouth and shook his head again, almost desperately. He huffed.

"Can I get an espresso shot in it, please?" Nico asked, this time in a lower voice. He didn't even look at the barista's eyes.

"You surely can."

The barista scribbled something on the plastic cup. Nico stubbornly fixed his gaze on the surface of the counter, but when he risked a quick glance, he could see the small smug smile curled up at the corner of those lips. Nico hated that smile. And he hated it even more to realize that the smile made something flutter gently in his stomach.

"It would be 3.25, please."

Nico inserted his card into the card reader quietly and took it out once the process was done.

"Do you need your receipt?"

"No, thanks," Nico mumbled.

"Alright, it will be right up," the barista said. He cleared his throat. "And... Uh..."

Nico lifted his head up, finally bracing himself to meet the barista's eyes.

Damn. Was someone even allowed to have eyes which were so blue like that?

"Uhm. I hope...well.. I hope your day got better," the barista said. He was still smiling. But this time it was a tentative one. Like he was not really sure whether he was allowed to smile. And the look in those blue eyes was there again. A soft, gentle look, that was sincerely offering comfort.

Nico brushed away some of his hair from covering his eyes.

"Thank you," he said quietly. The barista nodded and perhaps it was just the trick of light, but those freckled cheeks look a bit brighter than a moment ago.

It must be the lamp above him playing some trick.

It must be the lamp above or the heating system in this coffee shop that suddenly made Nico feel a rush of heat on his cheeks.

Nico hastily walked away from the counter, and took a seat in a vacant table by the window. Leaning back to his seat, Nico stared at the window. It was still raining outside even though it was not as hard as before. Nico absently wondered why that barista could still had such a warm smile even in this kind of rainy weather.

"Iced coffee?"

Nico's head snapped back to the counter. Another barista with curly dark hair flashed him as a grin as he placed a plastic cup on the counter. Nico's eyes darted to the register, where the blond guy was now taking the order from another customer. Nico chewed his lower lip as he stood up. He quickly walked to the counter and picked up the cup, along with a straw that the barista put next to the cup.

His brows furrowed down a little as he noticed that there was a brown paper sleeve around the cup. A small folded paper was stuck on the sleeve with a small tape. Nico walked back to his table and sat down. He took out the paper and unfolded it.

The handwriting on the paper was neat, in small round letters.

I'm sorry that your roommate sucks. If you're thinking to find a new one, my friend is looking for a roommate.

Below those lines, the name Jason Grace was written, followed by a series of numbers.

***

(Author's Notes: I would love to know what you think about this :). I am still so new on Wattpad so I am still trying to figure out how things work here.)