Work Text:
Every Tuesday and Thursday I go to this small cafe. It’s filled with bookshelves and gorgeous plants. It’s never too busy, which is nice when I’m working. I started coming here because of my friend Valerie, it’s her brothers business. Every time I walk through the door she gives me a glowing smile and runs out from behind the counter. She sits with me while I sip my coffee and work on my dreadful assignments, occasionally breaking to chat. The sound of her voice is sweet and flows like honey through my ears. I remember one time I called her panicked and exhausted, she ended up singing me to sleep. I could sit for hours and listen to her talk. I could even just sit in silence, her presence is enough to brighten my day.
“Hey Valerie! How is your day going?” I say as I walk into the basically empty cafe. She whips around at the sound of my voice, nearly dropping the little watering can I bought her. I walk towards my normal seat, it’s next to the counter so I can bother her while she works. Though I may be the one studying botany, she has a way with plants. Demeter smiles down upon her and her gardens.
“Ah! Your finally here, I made you something” I could tell she was excited by the way her voice fluctuated. The aroma of sweet almond and star anise softly filled my lungs. She set down the watering can and started to skip towards the kitchen. She turned around and took a few steps back to grab my arm “Come with me!”. Once we get in the kitchen she hands me a closed pan. “Open it” she wiggled with excitement.
“ Is this what I think it is?” I opened the pan to reveal a beautiful try of baklava.
“I know you’ve been craving baklava. I did my best, I didn’t realize how much work it is to make. Here let’s try it!” she snatched the pan back to cut it so we could see how it turned out. It’s probably amazing like everything she does, even her mistakes are graceful. She hands me a large piece on a small plate.
“Oh my goodness! This is amazing!” she nailed the recipe. “You keep this up and you’ll put Enrico's to shame!” she lightly nudges me while she laughs. Her cheeks turn a vibrant pink as her laugh fades into a smile. She wraps up the rest of the baklava in a cute little to go box. We go to my normal table and get comfortable.
“Hey, you feeling alright? Your looking a bit pale.” her smile faded into a worried frown.
“Ah? I’m fine, just a little bit tried.” to be honest I am feeling under the weather, and I have been since this morning.
“You should probably rest, you look pretty shaky. Maybe stop at RapidCare just in case.” she has such a serious look on her face, I feel bad for burdening her. “Lemme feel your forehead, if your feverish I’ll take you to RapidCare myself. I don’t trust you to go on your own, you’ve never been good at taking care of yourself.” she gently holds my face as she presses her cheek against my forehead.
“I’m fine, please don’t worry” she gives me a glare as she pulls away from my forehead. “I’ll even turn in early if that will make you feel better” she sighs in a concerned tone.
“You know I can’t help but worry, at least let me take care of you a bit. Alright?” I nod my head in agreement knowing I don’t really have a choice in this matter. She walks to the front counter to tell her brother she’s heading out early while I gather my things. I convince her to just take me home, promising I’ll agree to go to RapidCare if I get worse of if I don’t start feeling better. “Here we are. Come on, let’s get you inside” I try to get up out of the car but I fall back remembering how lightheaded I feel. She comes around the side of the car and helps me inside.
“Valerie, you don’t ha-” she cuts me off.
“I know, but I want to.” she gently lays me down on my couch and turns of the blaring light. She tenderly lifts my head and places it on her lap as she gets comfortable. I get butterflies as she brushes the hair from my eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well?” She quickly makes eye contact then gives a small frown.
“I didn’t want to be a bother, plus I thought I was fine” she shakes her head in disagreement.
“You could never be a bother. But I really do worry about you, you seem rathe accident prone and you push yourself too much.” She softly chuckles while she teases me about my clumsiness. “I just want to be here for you” the butterflies spread through my chest. “I ... it’s just that-” she could say a million things right now but I know what I want to hear.
“I love you” my eyes shoot back open in embarrassment, I can’t believe I said it out loud. I feel like a fool.
“I love you too” I melt as soon as I hear those words, the embarrassment leaves my body. “We can talk about this later, but right now you need to rest” she kisses my forehead and starts to softly hum. I fall asleep feeling safe, listening to her angelic voice.