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“How much do you want to bet he’ll be here in exactly three minutes?” Michael said angrily to Gabriel who was running back and forth between the hot machines littering the counter.
“I don’t care about your little obsession Mikey, all I care about it why the frick Luci is always missing during the morning rush.” Gabriel huffed and then smiled when all five coffees finished at the same time.
“Put creamer in the Americano.” The customer waiting demanded without looking up from his phone.
“No.” Michael responded before pointing to the sign that said, 'Please and Thank You are the Magic words.'
“You’re joking right?” The guy laughed until he saw Michael and Gabriel’s matching scowls.
Neither responded and the other patrons were urging the rude customer to just say it or they would be in line forever.
“Fine, fine. Could I please have some creamer in the Americano? Thank you.”
Gabriel smiled, “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
The line of customers sighed and Michael call the next customer forward.
He heard the bell on the door ring to signify someone was coming in. He looked up and noticed a not-so-regular regular. The man was at least 6 foot, dark blonde hair, and eyes that lit up when we walked through the door. Then, like he did every day for the past three weeks, inhaled deeply and smiled. As quickly as he came in he was gone, bell ringing to signal his departure.
“Gabe, did you see? He did it again!” Michael growled as he finished the last order of the rush.
Gabriel sighed as he finished wiping down the cooling machines.
“Why don’t you say something next time?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, how about ‘Are you gonna fucking buy something today?’” Gabriel suggested.
“Hey what did I miss?” Lucifer asked as he managed appeared out of nowhere.
“Oh not much, just Mikey’s crush, the Smelling Guy and oh, I don’t know, the entire fucking morning rush, as always.” Gabriel grumbled as he bit off a large piece of cupcake.
“Did he say anything this time?”
“Ngrhp,” Gabriel mumbled through a mouthful of cake.
Michael groaned, “What would I even say?”
“Something like, ‘Will buy something already you weirdo?’”
“That’s what I said!” Gabriel shouted, spitting frosting onto Lucifer’s shirt.
“Ugh, really Gabe?”
“What? You deserved it.”
Lucifer glared at Gabriel and in the blink of an eye was chasing him around the store.
Michael sighed at his brothers' daily antics and let his thoughts wander to the stranger.
Sure, the guy was really attractive and totally Michael’s type, but a crush? He was too old to have a crush. And sure, Michael normally would’ve said something to the guy by now, but he rather enjoyed getting to see the joy on the guy’s face every morning when he inhaled. It was the same look he knew was on his face every morning when he was making the fresh pastries and bakery. It was a look of comfort and contentment and on the stranger’s face it was beautiful. And okay, so maybe he had a crush on Smelling Guy, but that didn’t mean he had to say something. If he did, they guy would probably stop coming in. And oddly enough, Michael wasn’t sure he was ready to give that up.
The next morning was rather slow and Michael wished they were busier so he could have a valid excuse at ignoring Smelling Guy today.
He looked to the clock and noticed the stranger would be there in two minutes.
He mumbled something about checking the stock in the back, but Lucifer and Gabriel immediately blocked his only way out.
“No, no, no, Mikey. It’s been way too long since you’ve been with someone. You are at least talking to this guy.” Lucifer stated with no room for reasoning, rational or otherwise.
He knew he only had about a minute left, he saw he chance and tried to take it and push Gabriel out of the way, but the trickster anticipated it. Gabriel and Lucifer immediately grabbed him and were trying to keep Michael by the front counter long enough.
The bell on the door rang and all three men stopped and stared.
Michael knew they must’ve looked ridiculous. The back of his right leg was somehow over Gabriel’s shoulder and he was hanging upside down against Lucifer’s chest.
Smelling Guy stopped and looked at the three of them before bursting into laughter.
Regardless of his position and predicament, Michael fell in love with that laugh.
His brothers set him down gently and pushed him into the front counter before pretending to do work and whistling together.
Michael groaned inwardly and put on his polite work smile, but found it easier to put on at the sight of the stranger’s returning smile.
“Welcome, I apologize for that. My brothers haven’t seemed to mature past the age of seven.”
The stranger stepped further into the store than he had before.
“It’s okay, I understand. My brothers are the exact same way.” The stranger smiled fondly at Lucifer and Gabriel, who were obviously trying to not stare directly at the two of them, but failing, before directing it at Michael.
Michael cleared his throat after staring at the green eyes for too long and memorizing every shift of light reflecting in them.
“I’m Michael, what can I get you?”
The stranger rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Michael from under his lashes.
“Uhm, do you have anything healthy?”
All three men stopped and stared.
“Read the sign buddy!” Gabriel spoke up with a small laugh.
“Which one?” Smelling Guy asked.
Michael silently pointed to the one on the display case with a nervous smile.
The stranger read the sign out loud, and Michael was grateful that his voice didn’t sound angry, but amused.
Some customer didn’t take too kindly to their “rules” and lack of accommodations.
“This is a bakery dumbass. Not a Whole Foods.” The stranger finished reading with a loud laugh and Michael wished he could record it so he could listen to it whenever he wanted.
Wow, Michael. Not fucking creepy at all.
“That’s really funny. If that’s true, then could I please have a black coffee?” He asked Gabriel, but continued to look at Michael.
“Right away.” Michael responded and moved to make the coffee, but Gabriel already beat him to it and somehow Lucifer was right in his way to make an escape.
“Thank you.” Michael looked back up and blushed when the stranger smiled brightly at him.
Lucifer’s hip pushed him forward too hard and his face slammed directly into Smelling Guy’s chest.
“Whoa, you okay?” The stranger’s warm, calloused hands wrapped around Michael’s arms to catch him.
I’m going to kill them to death.
Michael muttered an apology as he slowly pulled back and noted that the stranger smelled as good as he looked.
“Oh no!” Gabriel exclaimed as Lucifer uttered exaggerated faux apologies. Black coffee covered the tiles behind the counter. Michael glared hot daggers at his brothers who pointed with their eyes between him and the stranger.
“It’ll be just another minute, I’ll make you a fresh one.” Gabriel promised with a smile.
“It’s fine, I have a little time to spare.” Smelling Guy said to Gabriel before turning his attention back to Michael and whispered, “I think your brothers are trying to telling you something.”
“That I should fire them and hire competent employees?” Michael suggested and turned to look at the other man.
Smelling Guy started laughing again and Michael smiled because he was the cause of it.
“I don’t think so.” The stranger replied.
“Then what?”
“I think they want you to ask me out.” Smelling Guy suggested with a flirty wink.
Michael’s breath caught in his throat and blood rushed to his cheeks.
“I-If that is the case, would you like to go out sometime so my brothers can actually work instead of taking ten minutes for both of them to make a cup of black coffee?”
“I’d be happy to. I always like to help local businesses.” The stranger winked and Michael’s face flushed a deep crimson.
He pulled the pen away from Michael’s ear and wrote something down on the back of his receipt before handing both back to Michael and grabbing his coffee from a giggling Gabriel behind Michael.
Michael looked up from the receipt and smiled brightly now that he knew Smelling Guy’s name.
“Have a good day, Adam.”
Adam’s pupils dilated slightly at the way Michael said his name and he smiled warmly.
“You too, Michael. Call me soon.”
Michael was in the back office during their lunch break when they closed up and usually restocked, prepped, and cleaned for the late afternoon rush.
Michael was staring at his phone where the numbers to Adam’s phone were typed out.
“Hey Mikey, where’s that fancy vanilla you have imported?”
“Top shelf, third bottle to the right.” He responded without looking up.
“What’re you…oh!” Gabriel walked up and realized why Michael was staring at his phone.
“I can’t do it Gabe.”
“That’s okay,” Gabe said sympathetically before he hit the call button, “I WILL!”
Gabriel ran out of the office and Michael didn’t have time to strangled him because Adam was going to answer any second.
On the third ring, Adam answered, out of breath and panting.
“H-hello?!” He heard Adam shouted over loud rock music playing in the background.
“H-Hi, Adam. It’s Michael, from the bakery?” Michael slammed his hand against his head at his awkwardness.
“Oh! Hang on a sec.”
Michael heard Velcro being pulled apart and Adam’s breathing.
“Dean! I’m taking a break! I know! Tell Sam to get it, I’m busy! Shut up!”
He heard shuffling and a door close before Adam spoke again, “Sorry about that, how are you?”
Michael smiled and forced himself to relax.
“I-I’m good and yourself?”
“Hot and sweaty.”
Michael groaned inwardly at the thought and tried to calm his rapidly beating heart.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Adam laughed, “That sounded all wrong. I’m at a gym right now.”
“It’s okay, Adam.” Michael let out a breathy laugh.
“So whatcha doin’?” Adam asked in the same way a five-year-old would.
“I’m going over expense reports.”
“Exciting.”
“Not nearly enough, what are you doing?”
“Getting ready for a fight.”
Michael gawked.
“W-What? Who wants to fight you?!” Michael demanded. He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of someone hurting Adam made him more angry than the time Lucifer crashed his car because of a dare.
“Whoa! Calm down, I’m a boxer. Fighting is how I pay the bills.”
“Oh, I apologize for my outburst.”
“It’s okay,” Adam laughed, “It was cute.”
“Is that why you’ve been coming into my shop and just smelling the bakery for the past three weeks?” Michael asked with a smile.
“Shit! I was hoping you hadn’t noticed.”
“You’re kind of hard to miss.”
“Smooth, Michael. Real smooth.”
“Thank you. I try.”
Adam laughed again and Michael relaxed further.
“To answer you question though, yes. I have to maintain a certain weight for now, but your shop smells so fucking amazing and I have to walk pass it every day. A few weeks ago, I couldn’t pass it up because it smelled so much like cinnamon and sugar.”
“Snuggles.”
Adam laughed, “What?”
“Snuggles, they’re a fluffy pastry with a lot of cinnamon, sugar, and a basic glaze on top. I make them when I’m missing my mom.”
Michael slapped his head again for blurting that out, but something about Adam made him feel like he could tell him anything.
“That’s really sweet. I play Runaround Sue when I miss mine. She loved that song.”
Michael smiled.
“So did you call to talk about our amazing mothers or something else?”
“Something else.”
“Oh? What would that be?”
“Well I was going to ask you to dinner, but I…” Michael faltered.
“You…?” He heard Adam let out a defeated sigh, “Look Michael if you don’t want to go out, it’s fine, I understand.”
“No!” Michael exclaimed, a little too quickly, “It’s just, I’m afraid you’ll think it’s childish."
“Try me. Childish is practically my middle name.”
“Really?”
“No, it’s Hunter, but come on,” Adam laugh warmly, “just ask me.”
“Well, I guess first I should ask, do you know how to bake Adam?”
“No, I don’t actually.”
“Would you like to learn how to?”
“I’d love to, are you free tonight?”
“S-Sure, does eight work for you?”
“Eight sounds perfect. I have to get back to the ring though. My brother is silently yelling at me right now and I think he might actually take the phone from my hand and hang up.”
“Alright, enjoy your day and I’ll see you here at eight. Goodbye Adam.”
“Bye Mike, see you then! Dean I swear to go—,” the line cut off before Michael could hear the rest of the sentence.
Michael smiled to himself and looked up to see his brother making odd faces at him.
“What?”
“You make Snuggles when you miss mom?” Lucifer asked at the same time Gabriel asked, “You made a bake date?”
“Yes and yes.”
Lucifer looked oddly at his twin.
“You both can take off after the afternoon rush if you want.”
Gabriel put a fist up in the air and ran back to the kitchen when a timer went off.
“I make mac’n’cheese.”
Michael looked at Lucifer in confusion.
“What?”
“When I miss mom, I make her mac’n’cheese.”
“With the little hot dog bits?”
Lucifer smiled through water-filled eyes, “Yeah, she always thought we loved those things.”
Michael laugh, “When Gabe was the only one who would eat them.”
A tear fell from Lucifer’s cheek and he quickly wiped it away with a laugh.
“She always wondered why he got so sick after mac’n’cheese night.”
Michael laughed harder, “She never knew we gave Gabriel all the hot dog pieces.”
The two laughed until their ribs hurt.
When they finally calmed down, Lucifer put his arm around Michael’s shoulder.
“He’s gonna love you little brother.”
Michael smiled softly then pushed his twin away, “I’m still older than you Luci.”
“The birth certificates have no time of birth!”
"Because you put white-out over them!"
Michael laughed as he unlocked the door and switched the sign back to open.
He moved behind the counter and waited impatiently until the afternoon crowd was gone so he could prep for his date with Adam.
The excitement had him so giddy that he almost let a very rude customer slide without following the rules. Almost.
Michael had just finished cleaning and prep for tomorrow morning when he heard a knock on the front door.
He smiled when he saw Adam waving enthusiastically.
Michael unlocked and opened the door for Adam to come inside.
“Hey, fancy seeing you here.” Adam smiled brightly and wiggled his eyebrows.
“Have you been waiting all day to use that?” Michael teased.
He noticed Adam biting his lip; clearly nervous about something he wanted to say.
“What is it? I was only joking.”
“Before we, uh, get started, I’ve gotta tell you something.”
Michael’s brow furrowed.
“Okay.”
“I’ve, uh, actually been waiting three weeks to use that.”
Michael’s eyebrows rose and his mouth may have dropped.
“Yeah, uhm,” Adam scratched the back of his neck and dug his hands further into the pocket of his jeans, “I kept coming back for the smell, of course, but the real reason, the greater reason I kept coming back was because I was working up the nerve to ask you out. Your brothers kind of beat me to it today.”
Michael couldn’t respond, his mind was trying to process everything Adam had said.
“Uhm, look I’m sure that you’re creeped out and probably don’t want to still do this, but I couldn’t lie to you.”
Michael was shouting at himself to do something, say something but his body and mouth wouldn’t move.
“I’m just gonna go.” Adam gestured with his hand to the door and moved to leave, but Michael grabbed his other wrist and pulled him towards him. In an instant and with more finesse than Michael thought possible their lips met instantly, and Michael sighed at how perfectly they fit together. Adam tasted sweeter than anything Michael could make and he was instantly addicted to the flavor.
They eventually pulled away, lips bruised and spit-slick.
“Wow,” Adam whispered against Michael’s lips.
“I agree,” Michael laughed and intertwined their fingers.
“Would you still like to learn how to bake?”
Adam looked at Michael and smiled brightly, “I’m sure there’s a lot you could show me.”
Michael smiled back and winked, “You have no idea.”
Adam swallowed hard at the implication and blindly followed Michael into the kitchen.
From that day on, he thanked the powers that be, that one rainy day, he was lucky enough to accidentally walk into the bakery next door to his brother’s new gym and meet the love of his life.