Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Luis was not afraid to admit how much he loved to watch romance movies. Ever since he was a kid, he found warmth and solace in watching two people overcome hardships to end up together.

What he wouldn’t admit, though, at least not out loud, was that his favorite setting for his romantic fantasies was in coffee shops. He spent a lot of his childhood and teenage years at his family’s coffee shop, working behind the counter. The shop was small and old and didn’t get terribly many customers, so Luis had plenty of time to daydream. Most of their customers were regulars, but Luis dreamt of the day that a really attractive newcomer would come by for a coffee and strike up a conversation with him, maybe fall in love at first sight while they were at it.

It never happened, though, and Luis eventually found a better paying job elsewhere that would help support his family more than working at their own shop would. It was a bit of a commute, but Luis didn’t mind. Working at a security consulting company was much more beneficial for both him and his family than working at the shop was.

A few weeks in at his new job, Luis made an incredibly important discovery: there was a barista named Scott at the coffee shop down the street who was, in Luis’s eyes, unfairly attractive, with chocolate curls and gentle blue eyes whose warmth put the sun to shame. To make matters worse, he had laughed pretty hard at Luis’s idiotic “Can you beam me a vanilla soy latte, Scotty?” joke from their first conversation. He was really cute, and he had a stupid sense of humor? Luis was screwed.

It became a sort of regular thing for Luis to go to get coffee there either on his way to work or on his lunch breaks. He would ask Scott questions about the different drinks, though he already knew the answers to all of them, just to hear the barista’s sweet voice. It almost made him forget that he didn’t actually like coffee.

And, if he was interpreting the signals correctly, he was pretty sure that Scott was at least interested in being his friend. Why else would he give such clearly incorrect answers to Luis’s coffee questions with such confidence? Unless he really thought that he was right, but Luis could tell that Scott was caught off guard by each question, so he doubted that.

His suspicions were confirmed one day when he asked Scott the difference between cafe au lait and caffe latte.

Scott sighed and gave Luis a resigned look. “I have no idea. I actually do not know a single thing about coffee, except how to make it, kinda. I just didn’t wanna look like a dumbass to you, but here I am, I guess.” He shrugged, picking up a cup. “The usual for you, then?”

“Actually,” Luis smiled sheepishly. “I don’t really like coffee, you know? I just, uh. I felt kinda weird askin’ you all these coffee questions and not gettin’ coffee. I’m more of a tea guy, I really love all those fruity teas.” He watched as Scott turned and bustled about, half wondering if he was still listening. “Also, I just asked all those questions because I didn’t know what else to say but I really wanted to have conversations with you, like not in a weird way or anything but, you feel? My family actually owns a coffee shop, and I used to work in it and stuff, so I got loads of questions that people used to ask all the time.”

Scott returned to the counter, and Luis felt something cold press into his hand. He looked down to see a cup of iced tea with a phone number scribbled on the side.

“Whoa, bro, is that your-- that’s yours??” Luis looked back up in surprise. “”Like, that’s your number? Those are your digits??”

“Just-- Yeah. So you can call me or text me or something if-- was that weird? Is that weird? I’m sorry, let me just scribble that out--” Scott reached for the cup again, but Luis pulled it away.

“Ohh, no, no, man! These numbers are in my hands now! No take backs!”

Scott stared incredulously at Luis. “...Wow, we kinda played ourselves, didn’t we? You drank coffee every day for the past, what, two months? And I looked and sounded like a complete headass, probably. Oh, geez.” He rubbed his face in his hands. “I am so...freakin’ embarrassed right now, please leave me to die here.”

Luis shook his head. “Not a chance, bro! I mean, I gotta leave ‘cause I gotta go to work and stuff, but I’m not leaving you to die! I have your digits now, That means I’m gonna check up on you and stuff. And also probably text you when I’m bored, if we’re being honest. Which I think we are right now, considering we both just admitted to doing some dumb stuff just to have conversations, you know? And-- Oh, shit, I really have to get to work! See you later, Scotty! I’ll text you!” He waved and hurried out, leaving a mildly bewildered Scott to take care of the customers that had just entered.

Well, all things considered, that seemed to have gone well.

Luis made it to work with a few minutes to spare, so after greeting his coworkers Dave and Kurt, he settled in at his desk and typed the number on the cup into his phone, then began the treacherous journey of composing a message to the guy he’d been crushing hard on for the past two months.

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[hey, scotty! it’s luis!]

No, crap, that was too short. Too simple.

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[from the coffee shop.]

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[wait that makes it sound like im the one who works there thats not what i meant]

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[anyway its me! now u have my number too!]

God, this was way too many messages.

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[sorry for sendin so many msgs my bad man]

Luis decided to set down his phone before he could do any more damage. He took a sip of the drink-- which, he discovered, was a delicious passion fruit tea-- and set it down, then picked it up for another slightly nervous sip and set it down again, and was about to pick it up again when his phone vibrated.

From: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[hi luis!! don’t worry, i don’t mind a bunch of messages from you! :) ]

Damn, it was going to be a really good day.

Chapter Text

It took a few weeks for Luis to stop being nervous about texting Scott, but soon enough it was part of his routine. Every morning before he got out of bed, he would check his phone, and every morning, without fail, there would be a message from Scott. And every night, he would lie in bed and text Scott until he fell asleep.

It gave him butterflies.

But none of that could amount to the feeling Luis got when he received a very special message from Scott one morning:

From: Scotty (coffee emoji)<3
[morning! i was wondering, would you like to see a movie or something with me sometime?]

Luis couldn’t help but grin widely, clutching his phone to his chest and rolling around in his bed before settling back into place and typing up his response.

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[i’d love that bro!! i love movies :)]

From: Scotty (coffee emoji)<3
[great! when are you free? is tonight too soon?]

Tonight? A movie with Scott?
Luis rolled onto his other side, kicking his feet a little in excitement. He couldn’t believe this was really happening.

To: Scotty (coffee emoji)<3
[tonight works great man! i get off work @ 5:30]

From: Scotty (coffee emoji)<3
[i’m off at 6, what movie do you wanna see?]

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[im cool w anything! maybe not horror tho im bad w those]

From: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[Haha, ok! there’s an action movie that just came out if that’s your kind of thing? superheroes and stuff. 7:30 showing?]

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[sounds great!]

Wait. Was Scott asking him to just hang out? Or was this a date? What was it that made something a date?

Nah, he couldn’t be lucky enough to be asked out by the world’s cutest barista. The world’s cutest person. The cutest human being in the whole ass world.

There was no way.

This was just gonna be a hang out. It couldn’t be any more than that.

Scott wouldn’t settle for him.

From: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[perfect! it’s a date!]

Oh, shit.

From: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[unless that’s weird and you don’t want it to be]

From: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[it can totally just be a hang out]

From: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[sorry i didn’t mean to make it weird]

From: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[but i guess now that it’s out there, yes, i did ask you with the intention of it being a date]

From: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[i’m gonna shut up now]

Luis felt his heart squeeze in his chest.

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[its a date :) ]

__________________________

The day dragged on. Luis couldn’t even think of a clever retort when Dave and Kurt teased him about having “a hot date, or somethin’?”, and then he accidentally revealed to them that he did, in fact, have a hot date, which only made them tease him more.

5:30 finally came around, though, and Luis was free. He hurried home to shower and change into the clothes he’d taken the time to choose in the morning before he’d left, and headed to the movie theater he and Scott had decided on. Even though he made it with half an hour to spare, Scott was already there, standing outside and fidgeting nervously.

Luis straightened his shirt, taking in a deep breath and letting it out before approaching Scott, a smile on his face.

“Heyyy, Scotty!! Sorry, were you waiting long?”

Scott looked up, his eyes lighting up when he saw Luis. “Hey!! No, not long! I got here too early anyway, oops.” His gaze flicked down and back up in a not-so-subtle once over, drawing a blush to Luis’s cheeks. “You look great,” he said with a timid smile.

“Oh, whoa, thanks, man!!” Luis’s heart fluttered at Scott’s words. “You do too!” They stood there for a moment, sneaking glances at each other, until Luis let out a nervous laugh.

“Let’s go in early so we can get good seats?” he suggested, glancing at the line that was beginning to form in front of the theater. Scott nodded, and together they got in line.

Once they got their tickets and entered the theater, Luis gestured towards the concessions stand. “Popcorn’s on me?”

Scott pouted. “Hey, you wouldn’t let me buy my ticket, at least let me buy the snacks!” Unable to resist the power of The Pout, Luis gave in and let Scott buy popcorn and drinks. They entered the theater together, quickly finding their seats and getting settled in.

The movie was good, but Luis was sure that there were very few things in the world, if any at all, that would be able to hold his attention when Scott was sitting right there next to him. He honestly wasn’t sure if he would be able to tell anyone what happened in the movie at all, considering he had been working up the courage to take Scott’s hand in his own almost from the moment they sat down.

He didn’t manage to do it, though, until about halfway through the movie, after they had finished their snacks and had nothing else to keep their hands busy. It started off with his pinky inching towards Scott’s and linking with it, then after a deep breath in and out, he took Scott’s whole hand and laced their fingers together, which, of course, was followed by Luis’s heart threatening to burst of his chest and Scott shifting to lean comfortably against Luis’s shoulder.

Luis was so distracted, he almost didn’t notice when the movie ended.

Luckily for him, though, it seemed like Scott was in the same boat.

“That sure was a movie,” he said as they walked out, hand still securely in Luis’s. “I really liked the part when the main superhero, uh. Saved those people, you know?”

Luis snickered. “It’s okay, bro, I was distracted too.” He swung their linked hands together, his cheeks reddening a bit. Scott gave him a timid smile, and they left the building, Luis holding the door for Scott before following him.

“Hey, where’d you park? I’ll walk you,” Luis asked, giving Scott’s hand a little squeeze.

“Oh, I walked here,” Scott replied with a shrug. “It’s like a 20 minute walk from my apartment to here, I’ll be fine.”

Luis stopped short, blinking in surprise. “Whoa, let me give you a ride home, man! It’s late now, I don’t want you walkin’ by yourself that far!” Scott started to protest, but Luis cut him off. “I promise I’m not some creep or anything, and I won’t kidnap you or do some crazy shit or anything; I just wanna be a hundred percent sure you get home safe, know what I’m sayin’??”

Scott laughed, returning the squeeze to Luis’s hand. “Thank you, Luis, I really appreciate it; I’ll take you up on that.”

They talked about favorite movies on the way to Luis's car, then to Scott’s apartment-- rather, Luis nervously chattered on about his favorite movies, and Scott listened intently. When they made it to the apartment, Luis trailed off, a little sad that their night was ending.

“Thanks for the ride, Luis,” Scott said, smiling softly at him.

Luis shook his head, reaching over and touching Scott’s hand. “It’s not a problem at all, Scotty; like I said, can’t have you walkin’ all by your lonesome this late at night, you feel? And thanks for inviting me out, bro, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a real fun date.”

Scott took hold of his hand and lifted it, then lightly rested his cheek on it for a moment. “Thanks for agreeing to come,” he mumbled. “I was kinda worried you’d think I was too full of shit to be worth your time or something.”

“Oh, Scotty, you’re way more than worth my time, especially because you’re so full of shit.” Luis laughed, letting his thumb brush against Scott’s cheek. “After all of your, you know, super valiant efforts to educate me on the mystic coffee arts, how could I not want to see a movie with you, you know what I mean?”

Scott blinked in surprise, then burst out laughing. “Oh, man, well that’s a relief. There’s plenty more where that came from, if you’re willing to stick around long enough to hear it.” He reluctantly let go of Luis’s hand, turning to open the door. “I’ll see you at the shop?”

Luis nodded, beaming. “Of course, man! Every day, ‘til you’re, like, sick of me and stuff!”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Scott said, so softly that Luis almost didn’t catch it. He got out of the car, turning and leaning down to the window to wave. “Let me know when you’re home safe!”

“Sure thing, Scotty!” Luis smiled, waving back and waiting until Scott was inside before starting the drive home.

If Luis was being entirely honest, he didn’t remember the drive home at all. His mind was full of that sweet, sweet smile and those soft, sparkling blue eyes, the feel of Scott’s touch still lingering on his hand.

When he got home and parked, he sat there for a moment to collect himself. As much as he wanted to keep thinking about holding Scott’s hand, about the warmth of his slightly scratchy cheek when it pressed to Luis’s hand, he had a duty to fulfill.

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[hey scotty!! just lettin u know i got home safe man!]

The reply came impossibly fast.

From: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[great! See you tomorrow! :) ]

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3
[cant wait bro! :) :) ]

Okay, duty fulfilled. Now he could put his full focus into thinking about Scott and his cute soft hair again.

That night, Luis dreamt of holding a warm hand. He wouldn’t remember too much of the dream in the morning, but when he woke up, the strong feeling he had felt in the dream carried over into the waking world:

He didn’t want to let go of that hand.

Ever.

Chapter Text

Luis was on cloud nine. Dates with Scott had become a fairly regular thing, and he felt like he was floating about each day. It made his heart soar when he noticed the little hearts and smiley faces next to his name in Scott’s neat scrawl on his cups. What really utterly defeated him, though, was when Scott started dotting the “i” in “Luis” with a heart.

He walked into the shop one morning, going up to the counter with a smile, but was surprised to be greeted by Scott’s coworker, Hope. “Oh, hey, Hope! Is, uh. Is Scotty here?”

Hope shook her head, giving Luis a smile that told him she knew about whatever was going on between him and Scott. “No, he called in sick this morning. What can I get for you?”

“Uhh, I don’t actually know the name of the drink ‘cause Scotty always just makes it for me, but that passion fruit-y iced tea you guys got? That’s the stuff, man-- I-I mean ma’am-- that stuff’s real good, you know what I mean?”

The only indication that Luis didn't offend or irritate Hope was the slight upward twitch of the corners of her lips that eventually turned into a little smile as she spoke. "Sure, /man/...I think I know what you mean. Coming right up." She rang him up and made his tea, and he thanked her and headed to work, worry for Scott at the forefront of his mind. As soon as he got to work, he sat and texted him.

To: Scotty (coffee emoji) <3:
[ mornin scotty!!!! hope said you called out sick, are you okay?? lmk if you need anything bro i will drop everything and rush to the rescue!! :) ]

Was that too much? Probably. But he wanted Scott to know he cared.

Luis couldn't help but check his phone every few minutes, getting more and more worried as each glance at the screen showed no response. When his lunch break came around, he headed to a nearby cafe he frequented and ordered a bowl of vegetable soup to go.

It wasn't until he was in front of Scott's door that he realized… maybe this was weird. Scott hadn't answered his texts, and it had definitely slipped Luis's mind to text that he was on the way with soup.

Well… he was here now. And he had the soup. No going back now, he told himself, knowing fully well that he absolutely could turn back and just have the soup himself. He knocked on the door, nervously shifting his weight back and forth from one foot to the other as he waited.

There was a small clatter from inside, and rushed, thudding footsteps, then the door opened, revealing a very disheveled Scott in comfy clothes and a plaid bathrobe, his face flushed and eyes a little puffy.

"Ohh, whoa...hey, Luis!" Scott's words were slow and careful, like he had to Really Think™ about what he was saying.

Luis's brow furrowed. "Damn, bro, you okay?? You like like shi-- nah, you're still really good lookin', I just mean-- You must be really sick, Hope said you called out so I got all worried, know what I mean? So I got you some soup from my favorite cafe, the chef makes a /mean/ minestrone!!" He held up the takeout bag. "Mind if I come in and stuff?"

The entire time Luis spoke, Scott had just nodded and smiled, clearly not fully processing what was being said. When Luis asked that last question, he noticed that Scott just kept nodding and smiling, and he wondered if he'd even heard what he said.

"Okay, Scotty, I don't think you're doin' so hot… Come on, let's get you back to bed and stuff." He reached out with his free hand to gently touch Scott's shoulder, then guided him towards his bedroom. Scott seemed to have other plans, though, stopping in the living room and plopping right down on the couch.

“Movie night!” he announced, looking up at Luis expectantly with those irresistible blue eyes.

What was Luis supposed to do? Tell him no?

Soon enough, they were watching a cheesy romcom, Scott bundled up in blankets with his soup on one end of the couch, and Luis relaxing with popcorn on the other, periodically checking to make sure Scott was doing okay. Partway through it, Luis saw that Scott was nodding off, his bowl of soup balanced precariously in his hand. He moved the soup to the table and gently readjusted Scott’s blankets and pillows so he wouldn’t hurt his neck, then got him a damp towel to cool his face off a little before sitting next to him again to finish the movie, picking up his phone to text Dave and Kurt.

To Group: da squad:
BOSSMAN: [hey guys i wont be able to make it back to work today, sorry!]

HACKER™: [I have hope everything is okay bossman. Will seeing you tomorrow.]

BABY DRIVER: [ooo hope ur all good man see u tmrw]

Luis set his phone back down on the table and turned his attention back to the movie. When it was over, he turned off the TV and cleaned up before carefully waking Scott.

“Scotty? Pssst, Scotty…let’s get you to bed, yeah?”

Scott blinked groggily. “Mmm….’kay.” He slowly got to his feet, holding the blanket around himself and scooting his way towards his room, Luis close behind him to make sure he didn’t trip or anything. Once Scott was safely tucked into bed, Luis made sure he had water and medicine on his nightstand.

“Hey, Luis..?”

“Yeah, Scotty? What’s up?”

“Did I make you miss work..? Scott sounded so guilty, it made Luis’s heart sink a little.

“Nah, man, don’t worry your cute little head about it! I wanted to drop by that cafe for some soup anyway, know what I mean? And your place is pretty close, so I figured, y’know, why not bring Scotty some soup? All good, all good!” He was talking too much again, he knew he should stop. “Anyway, I’m just a text or call away if you need me, ‘kay? Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite!” He ruffled Scott’s hair and headed out.

The next day, he woke up to a text from Scott saying he was feeling better and thanking him for the soup.

He also woke with a sore throat and stuffy nose, and a bit of a headache.

But you know what?

It was all worth it.