Chapter Text
A ringing of the bell perked George towards the shop door.
“Just a moment!” He called out, scribbling down this annoying lady’s order. It was handed to his friend and coworker, Nick, but just Sapnap they called him.
They all had nicknames at the shop. Nick was Sapnap, Zac was Skeppy, and Darryl was Bad. The nicknames were what was placed on the name tag, but George was still new, so he didn’t have one, yet.
“Hi, what can I do for you?” George looked up to the man covered by his hoodie. He wore a face mask, but freckles dotted his cheeks and hazel eyes stared at him. God, this guy again?
“Um... I’ll just have a black tea?” His voice was deep and musky. Kinda cute and spicy, George smiled.
“Anything else?” George coughed the smile away, writing the order on a cup.
“Yeah, how about a number, cutie?” The hooded man chuckled, smiling back under the mask.
“Dream. No.”
“Name?” He begged.
“Will you just be having the tea?” George sighed, scribbling the only name he knew on the plastic cup. “Dream”.
The nickname, he assumed, came from the regular constantly saying “I can be your dream.” to George, which was really annoying and cute. His real name, and basically everything, was a mystery to the employees.
“I suppose, if I can’t have you,” He gave sad puppy eyes at George as he rung up the order.
“Six, seventy seven.”
“Keep the change,” Dream smirked, handing him a ten dollar bill. Who was this guy?
George watched as he walked to a seat, startled by Sapnap putting a hand on his shoulder.
“That guy, again, huh? Get his number yet?” Sapnap laughed, looking at Dream, where George was staring. George shook off his hand.
“No! I’m not gay, Sapnap!” He yell-whispered, slightly blushing under his own face mask.
“Sure~. Bad believes you, but you’re only fooling him.” Sapnap walked away to the drive thru, to help a new order. Skeppy worked drinks, calling out Dream’s name with a playful smile in his eyes.
Dream took the cup of tea, still pouting at George. He looked at his cup with surprise, then to Skeppy who waved bye. George was suspicious, but payed attention to the next customer in line.
////
Dream smiled down at the cup, seeing something written on the inside, slyly. It was an American number, followed by a winking face. Different handwriting from George’s, so he assumed it was the man that made his drink.
He sat in the car, placing the cup into the holder next to him. A phone was pulled out. A contact was added. He didn’t know the cute cashier’s name, so he just added him as “coffee cutie”. A text was sent. No reply was received.
Dream was a little disappointed, but possibly phones weren’t allowed during work hours. The light brunette took out his car keys, starting the car, and driving home.
////
Something buzzed in his pocket. Not many people had his number, only Sapnap and a college friend. His parents, too, of course, but no one else. Sapnap was working; he hadn’t talked with Karl in months... Was it his mother?
George stepped off the floor, pulling out his phone as Skeppy took over. He pulled out his phone, and it was a random number saying “:)”.
He sighed, getting rid of the conversation from his phone, and going back out to help the others.
////
Maybe another text? The smile he had sent was possibly too obscure, especially if the cutie wasn’t aware he had his number. Dream fiddled with the keyboard in the texting app, laying in his bed in nothing but the light of his computer and phone. He cat, Patches, sat at his feet, purring in her sleep.
“i can be your dream” He decided on, hiring send with a running heart.
////
George laughed, smiling at Sapnap from his dumb joke. Bad was closing the store with Skeppy’s help. The other employees were enjoying a bar of cookies and cocoa, a holiday treat for their contribution. George’s phone on the bar buzzed softly. Then again. And again.
“Damn, bro. When’d you famous?”
“Probably just my mother.” He grabbed the phone, and to his surprise, it was the number from earlier.
‘i can be your dream’ 16:45
‘you there cutie?’ 17:30
‘um in case you didn’t get my hint’ now
‘i’m your favorite regular’ now
‘:)’ now
It was seven in the afternoon. How long had this guy been waiting for a response.
‘do you miss my eyes? you stare into them a lot’ now
Sapnap watched George choke on a cookie as his phone continued to buzz. It must’ve been the plan sprouting into action. He had given Skeppy George’s number so he could give it to the flirty regular.
“Who you texting?” Sapnap peered over his shoulder. George snapped the phone onto the table, aggressively clicking the power button.
“Nobody! Have you been handing my number out?”
The plan had worked.
“Of course not. You can trust me,” Sapnap lied, sliding next to George on a bench.
George watched disapprovingly.
“Let me see how it’s going!” He begged, reaching out for his friend’s phone.
“No!” George yelled, holding his phone out of reach. Skeppy and Bad stood in the doorway of the break room. Skeppy smirked.
“What did you do?” Bad looked at Skeppy curiously.
“I gave his number to that flirty regular.” Skeppy answered, plain and simple. He was proud of what he’d done.
‘hey? i can see you’ve read my texts’ now
George stared down at the screen as Sapnap watched.
‘Hi. Dream?’
‘you remember me :)’
‘How could I forget?’
‘what’s your name, cutie?’
George stuttered.
‘George. Is Dream really yours?’
‘it’s all you need to know :)’
‘are you still at work?’
He looked around, startled by Sapnap looking over his shoulder.
‘Yes. GTG’
‘aw bye’
////
“That was adorable!” Sapnap cooed, following George to his car.
“Fuck off,” George blushed slightly under his mask, heaving heavy breaths and holding a heavy heart.
“Can’t. You’re the driver.”
“Find another one,” George sighed, unlocking the Mazda. Sapnap planted himself in the passenger seat, buckling before George could step into the vehicle.
“Nope.”
Could he stand living with this dude? Really? He could. George had practiced since the boys turned eighteen and moved to Florida, attending the same college. The coffee cafe served as a part time job while he took his classes, online now as pandemics have it.
Sapnap had this job full time, taking night classes. Both were programming majors, Sapnap being the one talked to George first. They worked on a project together, realised George was poor, and Sapnap introduced him to Bad’s Good Coffee.
He wondered if Dream also went to University of Florida.
////
It was weird: a British man in Florida weather. But Sapnap couldn’t help enjoying the difference in cultures. Also, the suffering of a man never have seen heat.
The plan was something Sapnap had come up with. The plan being: if Dream were to order a coffee today, Sapnap would give Skeppy George’s number and they would make each fool fall in love. Classic. It had started off great, already. Dream helped tons, being a flirt.
The employees couldn’t tell if he was just flirty or if he was really into George, and that made it hard. Hopefully, it was the latter.
Hopefully, Dream would be a good regular and buy a coffee tomorrow.