The Donut Shop | Robsten (ON HOLD)

Chapter 5: Snowy Grey

Third POV
NY, NYC

"Oooooo, Rob you're quite the lady's man!" Chandler joked as he shoved a donut into his mouth. Rob only rolled his eyes dramatically, clearly not amused at his roommate.

"At least I get lady's, unlike you." With that Chandler glared at him, almost choking on his donut. Robert laughed as he patted Chandler's back gently, "God what are you, three? Swallow your food."

Chandler listened, gulping down the rest of his delectable dessert. He burped loudly, getting up and walking away. Rob watched as his roommate exited the kitchen while limping a little; he's drunk ok? Every night after Chandler comes home from work both of them will have a few beers, but Chandler tends to get more tipsy than Rob does. The photographer is pretty alcohol tolerant, while Chandler can get drunk off a few sips. It's pretty amusing.

Rob got up a bit later, wanting to make sure that his roommate gets to bed without doing anything stupid. Once he found him asleep on the toilet with the shower running for god knows what reason. From the day on, Rob always makes sure when that Chandler is drunk he gets back in BED, not anywhere else.

He walked into the tiny room that chandler called his, amused to find him sprawled out on the bed. Rob figured that it was good enough, flicking the lights off before he left the room.

Ding ding ding ding! Went the bell to the door of the shop as it jingled continuously. The song " Jingle Bells" ringing throughout the tiny space. Customers traveled in and out of the shop in a hurry, the morning rush of work starting. Robert had the day off, well sort of. His boss had sent all the employees out into the city to find some promotion opportunities, fearing that if their company doesn't start to grow soon they'll have to go out of business.

Rob kicked the excess snow off the bottom of his worn-out boots, feet desperately aching to get new and more insulated ones. He brought his hands up to his mouth, exhaling his warm breath to heat them up a little. His eyes scanned the store, brightening when he spotted the person who seems to be on his mind every second of every day.

Kristen felt Rob's intense stare from the corner of her eye, giving her something to smile about. She had to admit that she really loves his presence; he always knows how to make her laugh. She enjoyed his company more than anyone else's, well besides her sister of course.

Kristen waved him over to where she was standing, currently wiping her hands down from all of the baking and cooking she's been doing all morning. Rob shyly strutted over, occasionally slipping due to the wet floor. Kristen found this amusing, leaning against the counter slightly in a daydream state. Soon she realized that if she doesn't dry the floor he'll probably hurt himself.

She turned around and grabbed a nearby broom, skillfully tossing it over to Rob, he didn't skillfully catch it however. The broom flew past him, which ultimately made him fall on his bum.

The donut shop owner quickly rushed over to him, pulling him back up to a standing position.

"Wow you can't catch." Kristen laughed lightheartedly. Rob could only laugh along with her, trying to avoid the embarrassment that was evident inside of him. Luckily most of the customers from earlier had left, only a few of them still in the store. Most of them ignored and didn't seem to care much about the situation in front of them. Seeing Rob fall was a mere action that didn't faze them.

"Yeah I'm ok thanks for asking." Rob stated sarcastically. Kristen only shook her head with a big smile, leading him to the back so they could start working.

"I think that's it!" Kristen said proudly, wiping her hands off on her apron. Rob smiled at her cuteness and watched as she held up the poster they had been designing for the past hour. It was a joint photo of their donut shop and Rob's work place, with a cute little donut logo in the middle; the same one that is all over their store, (the one on the story cover 😉).

"It looks perfect." Rob said, staring at both Kristen and the poster.

"Now all we got to do is to hang them up." Kristen jumped up and down, causing a huge grin to spread across Rob's rosy face. The cold weather isn't doing him justice, but just being in the little shop made him feel a million times better.

"Here I'll do it, you still have a cafe to run."
Rob laughed, causing Kristen to shake her head gently, "We usually aren't busy these days of the week so leave it up to me."

"Hmmm," Robert hummed, "let's both do it; it will be faster and more fun." Kristen's eyes lit up for some reason that rob didn't know. It could be from the fact that Rob agreed to let her help or that she gets to spend time around him. He didn't know about her, but he already knew that being able to spend time around her was his source of happiness everyday.

Robert held the posters as Kristen started to stick them to the windows. Her face contorted into concentration as she stuck her tongue out a bit, a habit that Rob already found adorable. Her nose and cheeks were tinted a bright pink, outlining her cute freckles. She definitely couldn't tell the way she made Rob blush since his face was the same color as her's.

He could feel the way his feet grew colder the longer he stood in the snow. He really needs to get some new winter clothes or he'll definitely catch frostbite. Maybe if he cuts down the groceries and works extra hours this week he'll have enough to buy a better coat. These types of thoughts only stressed him out, deciding to turn his attention back to Kristen while pushing those thoughts to the back of his head.

Her face was still holding that expression from earlier as she tried to find the end of the tape. Rob chuckled lowly as he held out his hand, "Need help?" She mouthed a "thank you" and handed him the roll of tape.

Rob watched her out of the corner of his eye, noticing how she shuffled cutely back and forth. She was engulfed in a coat that was a few sizes too big for her, which made her even cuter to him. She looked so squishable and fragile.

The said girl shivered slightly, bringing her glove covered hands up to her arms, rubbing them in an up and down motion. Rob frowned at this; she's wearing so many layers yet she's still freezing. He started feeling bad for making her come out here.

"You're cold. Go back inside." Rob gently said to the shivering girl. She only looked at him with confusion, eying him up and down slowly, "What about you? You're cold as well, don't think I didn't notice?" Her tone was stern and a bit annoyed. Rob stepped back a little out of surprise. He nodded hesitantly and went back to putting up the posters quietly, an awkward silence brewing between the two.

"Hey Kris—" a voice started, but didn't finish. A thud sounded through the bustling streets of NY; the source of it was Nora slipping clumsily on the ice.

Rob acted on impulse, dashing towards her, being careful of the ice as well. He bent down slowly to the fallen girl on the ground, putting his hand on her shaky shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" Rob whispered, concern laced within his voice. Nora could hear the way it trembled slightly due to the cold.

In that moment everything froze; Nora and Rob not daring to move. It was the first time either of them could look at each other up close. It was the first time that Rob was able to see her piercingly bright grey eyes, something that he found so extraordinary and enchanting. Her features resembled Kristen's a lot, but they were so unique at the same time. For one, she doesn't have as many freckles as Kristen does, or as pointy of a nose. Everything about her seemed to remind him of Kristen, but he felt wrong comparing her to her sister like that.

In that moment, Rob was finally able to embrace her beauty. Not as Kristen's sister, not as the other one, but as Nora. His once closed off heart opened up to stare back at hers.

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