Il libro di Jaylos

your lips look so lonely, would they like to meet mine?

taken from: scribblers on Ao3

"I'm going to Starbucks, do you want anything?" Evie asks, poking her head into Carlos's room. He's curled up in the corner of his bed with his laptop in his lap, large headphones over his ears, and his dog burrowed into his side. Evie rolls her eyes and walks into the room. She stands in front of Carlos's bed with her hands on her hips until Carlos finally notices her and tugs off his headphones.

"I'm going to Starbucks, do you want anything?" Evie asks again.

"A boyfriend." Carlos mutters in reply. Evie sighs. Carlos has been in a funk since his boyfriend Anthony Tremaine broke up with him, and with Christmas fast approaching and him all alone, she doubts his mood is going to improve.

"Something chocolatey and full of sugar. Gotcha. Mal's in the living room if you want to sulk with company." Evie says, and leaves Carlos's room.

Evie grabs her coat and scarf from the couch that Mal is lying on, and then gets held up for a few minutes by Mal's kisses. But eventually Mal pushes her away and tells her to go get the coffee. Evie chuckles, because Mal acts like it wasn't her fault that Evie isn't in the Starbucks already, but obeys her girlfriend's wishes.

Evie can't stop thinking about what Carlos said as she walks down the street to the nearest Starbucks. She knows that he meant it as a joke, but there was an undertone of bitterness to his words. She knows that he misses Anthony more than he lets on, and he already lets on a lot. Evie sighs as she turns the corner. She just hopes that he'll be feeling better by the time the holidays roll around.

The second she steps into the Starbucks, she sees him. He's sitting alone at a little table with a perfectly pristine laptop open in front of him, his fingers flying across the keys. There are two empty coffee cups strewn behind his work station, and a third that's still half full sitting next to his laptop. And he's gorgeous. Long brown hair tucked into a winter hat even though they're inside, dark skin that almost seems to shine, and his jawline... damn.

"A boyfriend." Carlos's voice seems to echo in her mind. Even though he's sitting down, Evie can tell that the boy is tall. Adorable height difference scenarios flash through her mind. She also notices the sweatshirt he's wearing. He goes to their college. And he plays some sport she's never heard of called Tourney. She imagines Carlos dragging her and Mal to a sports game to watch his boyfriend play, and she nearly squeals aloud. The final straw is the single sticker she spots on the back of his laptop. It's advertising Until Dawn, one of Carlos and Evie's favourite video games. This boy is perfect for Carlos, Evie decides.

"Hi." The Starbucks employee says.

"Hi!" Evie says cheerfully. She quickly orders for herself, Mal and Carlos.

"Is that all?" The man, Doug according to his nametag, asks.

"Uh," Evie glances over at the boy, quickly assesses his appearance again, and says, "Another peppermint mocha, please. Same size as the other one. Evie for the name again." Doug scans her gold card and then sends her to wait behind another bunch of people at the drinks counter. Evie keeps glancing at the boy while she waits. One time, she catches him checking out the other Starbucks employee, Chad's ass and nearly jumps for joy, because even if he and Carlos would be a perfect match, she can't force the boy to be gay. But if he's checking out other guys, then he really is perfect. Evie couldn't be happier, and nearly skips up to the drinks counter when Chad calls out, "Evie, Carlos, Mal, and another Evie!"

"Thank you." Evie says, smiling sweetly as she scoops up all four drinks.

"Happy holidays." Chad says distantly, eyes trained on Doug. Evie chuckles.