C'est Toi • Shawn Mendes (Coffee Shop AU)

Chapter FIVE

Sunday - January 20, 2019 - 17:26

I had oat milk for the first time today. I think my life has been changed? Am I being overdramatic?

___

"So," Jack's thumb stopped scrolling on the screen of his iPhone as he looked up at me, "We can either take Waterloo to Bank, to Moorgate, and then Barbican. Which is twenty-one minutes" I cringed just thinking about all the stops, "Or we take the Jubilee line to Baker Street and hop on the Metropolitan line until Barbican. Which is twenty-six minutes."

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. There was nothing worse than switching tube stations three times even if it had the shorter ride. And it was only a five minute difference. If you calculated how much time we would be waiting at the stations, the twenty-one minute ride could easily turn into a half hour or longer.

"Let's do the second one," I said with a shrug, "Might be a bit longer, but we won't waste so much time waiting."

Jack nodded his head and clicked his phone off, sliding it in his back pocket, "Alright."

Once our travel route was decided, we walked into Waterloo station, tapped our oyster cards on the machine, and waited on the northbound platform of the Jubilee line for the train. It was silent between us, not an awkward silence, but a silence I wouldn't want to be stuck in for long.

"So, how–––"

But everything Jack was starting to say was drowned out by the train car on the tracks, screeching to a halt, the sound echoing off the walls. As the train car flew past us, the wind picked up my hair, whipping in my face. I couldn't help but smile.

When the train came to a complete stop, we let the people off the carriage first, and then hastily walked on, moving to the far back to hold on the rails. The ten minutes on the tube was spent how it always should be; in silence. There was the occasional chuckle between us when Jack showed me a funny tweet on his phone, but other than that, we didn't speak a word to each other.

Once we got off at Baker Street, we weaved our way through the station to get to the eastbound platform of the Metropolitan line. I looked up to see how much time we had to wait for the next train; 6 minutes.

"So," Jack cleared his throat, "How are you adjusting to London?"

I stopped scrolling on my phone and looked up at him. There was a slight tug of a smile on his face, as if he seemed a little unsure of himself, but his eyes were flooded with sincerity.

"Okay, I guess," I dropped my phone into my bag to give him my full attention, "You and Ella have made a huge difference." His smile grew wider at the mention of his name, with his cheeks turning a twinge of pink, "Classes are...Well it's university."

Jack knitted his eyebrows together, "Having trouble?"

I shrugged because that's all it was; university. There were some classes that I breezed through and others that had me bent over a textbook at two in the morning near tears.

"I'm taking an environmental science class because the credits easily transfer back to my school in the States," I explained with little interest, but Jack was eagerly nodding along, taking in every word I said, as if he was studying for his own exam, "And it's just...There are so many rocks and type of dirt."

Jack tipped his head back, laughing softly, before looking into my eyes with a gentle expression, "You're smart, Mick," he spoke confidently, "One of the smartest people I know––"