Chapter Text
Benvolio wanders around the college campus, searching for his cousin. Romeo’s parents had called, saying that he hadn’t gone home last night and asking Benvolio if he’d seen him. He’d told his aunt and uncle that he hadn’t, and then gone out looking for him. Romeo was always either hanging out with Benvolio and Mercutio, working at the cafe, or moping on campus somewhere. Today was Romeo’s day off, so the only place he could be was on campus.
The morning air was fresh, though it was cold enough to make his ears a little numb. Winter was fast approaching, evidenced by the thin layer of frost on the ground and the tree’s leafless branches. Verona University was the most prestigious university in the city. This was shown in the state-of-the-art school buildings and the impeccably well-maintained grounds. Not a single fallen leaf was on the ground, having already been cleared away by the hard-working groundskeepers. The benches were practically glowing from their recent touch up, the dark brown standing out against the concrete pathway.
Speaking of benches…
“Romeo! Where were you this morning?” Benvolio called out to his cousin. Romeo sat on a bench curled up with his knees pulled to his chest and arms holding them tight. The hood of his Verona University sweater covered his face, only defining feature the stupidly overpriced shoes he always wore. He looked the very picture of misery.
“Morning? What time is it, Benvolio?” Romeo asked, loo king around groggily. He slowly uncurled himself and stretched out, then stood up.
“7:30.” Benvolio replied, looking Romeo up and down. “Did you stay out all night again? It’s not safe, Romeo.”
Romeo shrugged. “I was too overcome with grief to return home, so I simply wandered about until exhaustion overcame the pain of my broken heart.”
“Is this about that girl? Rosey?” Benvolio asked, exasperated. He loved his cousin, sure, but his habit of falling in love at first sight, having his heart broken, and crying to him about it got irritating after a while. It was a ruthless cycle that had been repeating itself since his first crush back in middle school.
“Her name is Rosaline ,” Romeo snapped, annoyed at his cousin’s bad memory. He talked about her every single day this past week and yet Benvolio still had the audacity to forget her name. The name of the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. A goddess among mortals, a rose among thorns, an orchid amidst dandelions, an oasis in a scorching desert, the most wonderful woman. No amount of metaphors, poetry, love songs, could ever do her beauty justice. Just hearing her speak was ecstasy, even if it was to turn him down.
Oh right. Romeo deflated, annoyance replaced with despair as he remembered the reason he wandered around all night. “She turned down my affections,” Romeo said mopily, “She said she’s aromantic, and, I quote, ‘even if she wasn’t she’d never date me in a million years.’”
Benvolio raised his eyebrows. “Harsh. But not undeserved.”
“You’re supposed to back me up here!” Romeo exclaimed, expression wounded. “You’re my cousin, you should commiserate with me about my heartbreak!” Romeo flopped back onto the park bench and dramatically pulled his hood farther over his face, as if he was trying to block out the cruel world.
“You’ve been following her around this whole week, you totally deserved that.” Benvolio said in a stern tone, the type he used to lecture Romeo after he did something stupid.
“I wasn’t following her!” Romeo cried indignantly, “I was just working up the courage to talk to her! And we just happen to have classes on the same side of campus!”
“Romeo,” Benvolio said patiently, hoping to help his romantically challenged cousin understand, “You may not have intended to be creepy, but you appeared so. How would you feel if some random stranger appeared everywhere you went and was always looking at you?”
“Creeped out, I guess.” Romeo conceded, slumping even farther down the bench. “Ugh, how do I always mess everything up? I’m 19 and I haven't even had my first kiss…” He sighed, slowly slipping farther and farther down the bench, drowning in self-pity.
Benvolio watched as Romeo continued his dramatics, ending up slipping all the way off the bench with a yelp. He checked the time, ignoring Romeo’s pain. It was getting closer to 8am, meaning his and Romeo’s first class of the day was happening in around half an hour.
“Hey Romeo,” he said, “It’s almost 8. Let’s stop by the cafe and grab something to eat, then we need to head to class.”
“It’s already 8?” Romeo replied incredulously, and then used the bench as support to pull himself off the ground excruciatingly slowly, grumbling about his pain the whole time.
Benvolio began walking away, knowing Romeo would follow. He went all the way back down the concrete paths to the other end of campus where the cafe was. After he got breakfast with Romeo, they’d have to walk all the way back for their class. He liked taking morning walks, but walking the same route over and over wasn’t as fun.
Romeo followed Benvolio despondently, looking not unlike the grass wilting from the frost. Indeed, he was the grass, and the frost was the beautiful and yet unyieldingly cruel Rosaline. The weight of her icy stare still dragged him down a day later. At the same time, he couldn’t really blame her. Benvolio wasn’t wrong about him seeming like a creep. He had to find a new method of courtship that didn’t include following the object of his affections around like a lost puppy.
He’d been trying that for the past six years, and it had yet to yield any positive results. Yes, a new courting strategy was in order. But who to ask? Benvolio did have a boyfriend, but would his advice be relevant for asking out girls? Mercutio wouldn’t be of any help either, for the same reason.
Romeo sighed dramatically. Who could he possibly ask? The internet? He’d probably just end up clicking some random link and scrolling through posts of unrelated topics for the next several hours, like always.
“Good morning Romeo, Benvolio.” a familiar voice said. Romeo looked up, blinking disorrientedly. They’d somehow entered the cafe without him noticing, and his coworker Balthasar was looking at him expectantly from behind the counter.
“Oh. Good morning, Balthasar.” Romeo replied, trying to arrange his face into what might resemble a polite smile. Internally, he scoffed. Good morning? It was anything but. He was suffering from heartache with no one to sympathize with him, and no way to improve his courting abilities. Benvolio never understood his love problems, too happy in his own committed relationship. Happy people could never understand those less fortunate, souls too filled with joy to have any room for compassion, too busy staring into each other’s eyes to look around and see the suffering of those around them, too-
“Um. Are you ordering anything?” Balthasar asked Romeo for the third time. Romeo stared off into the distance, mind too full of crappy metaphors to pay any attention.
“I’ll have an earl grey tea and a breakfast croissant. He’ll have a mocha caramel frappe and a breakfast muffin, please.” Benvolio said, speaking for his spaced-out cousin. He pulled out his wallet and paid, then walked over to the waiting area. Romeo snapped out of his haze long enough to realize they were walking and followed Benvolio. They stood in silence, basking in the warmth of the cafe.
The invigorating scent of coffee was balanced by the sweet smell of the pastries. Customers, the majority of whom were students, sluggishly moved around the cafe. Some stood in line, while others sat at the various tables typing away on battered-looking laptops. The employees could be seen darting around behind the counter, efficiently dealing with the morning rush. The usual classical music played softly in the background, giving the whole scene a sense of serenity.
“Order for Benvolio,” Balthasar called, placing the two drinks and a small bag with the pastries on the pick-up counter. Benvolio grabbed them, thanked Balthasar, and left the peaceful warmth for the chilly morning air, Romeo following after him.
“Here,” Benvolio said, handing Romeo his frappe and muffin. Romeo accepted them and took a sip of the drink, immediately looking more awake.
“Cold,” he said approvingly. Romeo refused to drink coffee unless it was overly sweet and cold, despite the weather. He continued to gain energy as he practically inhaled the muffin and sipped his drink.
“I’ll never understand why you prefer that glorified slushie over a good cup of tea.” Benvolio remarked, bringing up an age-old argument.
“First of all, slushies don’t have coffee.” Romeo began, never too heartbroken to leave his mocha caramel frappe addiction undefended, “Second, tea is terrible. Coffee, though also bad, can at least be improved by the addition of sugar and ice.”
“You can put sweeteners in tea too!” Benvolio countered. Of all his arguments, Romeo had to use his weakest one. If he was to insult Benvolio’s favorite beverage, he could at least put some effort into it. “You just have unrefined taste.”
Romeo rolled his eyes, taking a loud sip from his frappe. “No, you’re just pretentious.”
“Then you’re a child. Who else requires that much sugar to find something tasty? You’re supposed to grow out of your childish habits, Romeo, not encourage them.”
Romeo just shrugged, a teasing smile stretching across his face. “You’re the one encouraging me, you bought me this drink.”
“Only because I knew you’d complain otherwise!” Benvolio snapped back, but there was no real heat behind his words. Romeo laughed at him, and Benvolio smiled back. As troublesome as his dramatic younger cousin could be, he cared for him a lot. He was glad to see him stop moping, at least for now.