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The gentle background buzzing of a coffee shop washes over him, soothing him, as soon as Theo steps foot in the small cafe. A deep breath let’s him take in the smell of rich coffee beans and slightly fruitier tea aromas, it puts a smile on his face when he steps up to the counter.
Yes, going out to study instead of trying to block out his roommate's obnoxiously big TV and the general stuffiness of their dorm room had been a good idea.
Theo smiles at the very cute Barista. No, we can't concentrate on this now, brain, not even if he has eyes like that...
“Hi, I would like to have a black coffee, one sugar please.”
When the cute Barista with the blue eyes who takes his order brings it over to Theo he gets a brilliant smile on top of the caffeine.
He asks for an hourly refill, head already deep in his folder of the day.
Theo looks up when the sun already went down, leaving the street outside the window front of the shop tinted in a rose-orange hue. A glance at his phone tells him that it's way past dinner time and his grumbling stomach speaks the same language so he starts collecting papers and pens while yawning every so often. After he stuffed everything back in his bag, Theo gets up and stretches before walking up to the counter. A bored girl with chin-length sandy blond hair is looking up from her phone when he approaches. Blue Eyes already gone, huh?
“Finally", she says, “thought you would be here all night.”
“Well, this is a 24 hours cafe right?” Theo grins but the girl doesn't change her stony face so he sighs, “alright, I had four black coffees and I would like to take a salami sub to go please.”
“That will be 28,95$.”
Yeah, he really misses Blue Eyes...
~♤~
Theo comes back to the small coffee shop the very next morning, after breakfast and a rerun of the fifth (and best, if you believed his roommate) Game Of Thrones season. He immediately spots the Barista from the day before and an unwilling smile appears on his face.
“Good Morning, I would like-"
“A black coffee, one sugar?”
“Wow, you're good", Theo laughs at the eagerness of the answer, “but yes, plus hourly refill again, if possible.”
Blue Eyes’ smile and lightly blushed cheeks with small dimples on either side spook through his head even after he opens his folder back up.
~♤~
His daily visits stretch longer and longer. Sometimes Theo goes right after breakfast staying the whole day, sometimes he arrives in the afternoon coming straight from the gym and he sits in his booth until it's dark outside, only his subjects changing as exam week approaches with big steps.
Everything else in the small coffee shop stays the same. The soothing atmosphere and quiet music, the aromatic flavour of his coffee and the cute Barista with the blue eyes who always smiles at him and makes his heart flutter in a way Theo doesn't dare to think about right now.
There are only two weeks left to his first exam when it happens. The four cups of coffee turn to five and then he continues with herbal tea because he won't die of a heart attack until after those exams, thank you very much.
What gets Theo to look up from his script is the lack of sounds, for a moment it feels like he is the only living being in the coffee shop, all the other tables vacant and cleaned. Then the blue eyed barista steps out of the kitchen and throws a smile in Theo's direction “Still here?”
Theo fumbles to put his things away, slightly embarrassed to be called out like this, he downs the rest of his tea and shuffles towards the door.
“See you tomorrow”, he mumbles instantly freezing in place as soon as the words slipped out.
The barista only smiles his sunshine smile and answers “We will!”
From then on it becomes a habit.
Theo strolls into the cafe around noon, sometimes later, he orders his first coffee and starts studying, one or two hours in a second cup is put down in front of him, along with a plate that usually contains a sandwich, a bagel or one of the adventurous looking quiche pieces that seem to be the speciality of the cook. The food is always delivered by Blue Eyes and his face never fails to make Theo smile back as he thanks him.
Most nights he is the last customer until a few insomniacs start to rise from their beds later on and it is almost crazy how special that makes him feel.
~♤~
The interactions he has with “his” barista are short and limited to small talk but Theo made a mental list with things he knows about him.
• blonde, unruly hair and Ocean blue eyes that always seem to glow a little
• Is also a student
• prefers the afternoon/evening shifts over nights
• seems to like cinnamon because he always smells a little like it
• looks cute when he makes drinks
• looks even cuter when he smiles and makes Theo's stomach flutter
Things Theo doesn't know :
• his name
• if he smiles at everyone the same way he smiles at him
~♤~
The last exam rolls around like a long feared summer storm, finally ready to release his terror over all of them. Theo stays extra late the night before, trying to cram as much as possible in his brain. He savours the last hours in his peaceful little study oasis, the calm before the storm.
When he finally leaves the night shift long since took over from Blue Eyes and so Theo is saved from the decision that kept on distracting him - how to say good bye to someone you don’t really know but feel so familiar with?
Because how could he say “See you tomorrow “ when exam week is over and he has no need to come back?
He pays for his orders one last time and even the grumpy girl seems to understand that this isn’t the time for snarky comments because all she says is “Good luck" when he exits the shop.
To his own surprise the exam went pretty well and for a few days Theo floats through life, in that blissful state of in between; ‘no classes anymore’ and ‘not quite time to get home for summer yet’.
He goes out at night, laughing with his friends and he wastes the days away with gaming, eating and sleeping relishing his brief freedom to the fullest.
But no matter how hard he tries, he can’t forget his barista, the blue eyes haunting him whenever there is a quiet minute and he knows that this is borderline creepy – hell, he never even got the other guy's name! - but still...
Two hours later he enters the familiar cosy cafe, his gaze already roaming around but Blue Eyes is nowhere to be found.
The tall, dark haired guy with a tattoo sleeve that took over the counter gives him a kind smile “Hi! What can I do for you?”
“This might sound weird”, Theo answers sheepishly while stepping up to the counter, “but I was searching for your usual afternoon barista? Like, the one who is always here this time around?”
“Oh? You mean Liam? I am sorry but he got the day off... maybe you could try again some time?”, still smiling, the man shrugs apologetically, “we aren't supposed to give employee data to customers, safety and all, I am sure you understand.”
Theo's shoulders sack down. Of course he isn't here.
“Of course. Thank you, but I will be on my way home for the summer by tomorrow so I won't be able to come back. But really, thank you for your help.”
Slowly he makes his way over to the door, well that was a waste of time, but at least I got his name? Not that it matters, by the time I am back he probably forgot all about me...
“Actually...”, the man's voice rips him out of his thoughts, “we are searching for a second day shifter, and you are here so often I am sure you know the menu by heart at this time... what do you think?”
~♤~
The bell over the door jingles happily as Theo steps out on the street.
He looks back at the coffee shop and for the first time he reads the name.
See you tomorrow is mounted to the wall, in confidently swirled letters and a bright blue colour. A smile dances on Theo's lips as he turns back around.
Yes, we will.