Work Text:
The cute barista is working at the coffee shop.
This isn’t a rare occurrence, but the circumstances are rare, because it’s snowing and Calum is cold and he’s not on his way to work this morning.
Most mornings, Calum’s life spins around smoothly and predictably, like his smiley-face hoodie when he puts it in the washing machine. A well rehearsed cycle. There’s not much variation, because Calum knows what he likes, he’s good at finding out what works, and then sticking to it. That way nothing can surprise him or ruin his plans. Because the washing machine just keeps on spinning.
Calum hits snooze on his alarm at least three times before he actually gets up. He already has his satchel loaded with everything he needs for work, sitting by the door. And, because these last few weeks have been especially cold, he makes sure that he puts on a million layers before he steps foot outside. Then he rushes his way to the coffee shop, which is perfectly spaced halfway on his way to the office, in search of a much needed caffeine hit.
Calum gets his coffee. He goes to work. If he happens to knock off early, he’ll come by and get another coffee on his way back home, and hope that the intoxicatingly cute barista (name tag: Luke) is working the afternoon shift, like he is most days.
But today, the washing machine must be broken, because nothing is spinning the way that it’s supposed to.
It’s snowing. Calum has a day off work. Luke is working the morning shift.
And Calum forgot his beanie, so there’s absolutely nothing preventing his ears from potentially turning into icicles and dropping off his head.
A cold gust of wind and a few snowflakes blast through the door as someone else walks into the coffee shop, and they have to dodge around Calum to get to the counter, because he’s still standing in front of the door with his hands stuffed into his smiley-face hoodie pockets, watching Luke giving his usual thousand-watt smile to everyone, blond curls dipping into his eyes as he works his coffee-making magic behind the machine.
Calum finally shuffles a little further into the shop, joining the end of the queue, and keeps watching Luke like an absolute creep, because it’s strange seeing the snow piling up outside the window in comparison to the warm lighting inside, which makes that one curl dipping onto Luke’s forehead look like it’s a strand of melted gold about to drip into the coffee below.
Then, Luke looks up, and his gaze quickly bounces along the short queue of people until it lands on Calum and oh god. That smile. Calum can see his dimples from all the way over here. It’s so painfully cute.
Calum smiles and gives Luke an incredibly awkward little wave, then immediately stuffs his hand back into his pocket before he can embarrass himself further. But Luke’s smile only gets brighter when he nods his greeting back, mismatched dimples never leaving his face as he turns back to the machine and starts working on the next order.
The thing about Luke is: Calum is kind of obsessed with him.
But not, like, in a creepy way.
It’s just that Luke is really cute and he’s always nice to Calum, no matter how awkward Calum is. And he makes really good coffee. And sometimes, if Calum is lucky, Luke will balance a marshmallow or a small cookie on top of the lid of Calum’s takeaway coffee before he slides it over the counter, the sweet smile on his face a little shy and a lot pleased when Calum’s eyes light up and he quickly stuffs the extra treat in his mouth, exclaiming his thanks through the mouthful. It’s probably super gross from Luke’s point of view. Some guy just gushing his gratitude while actively chewing on food.
But it’s kind of become a thing now. If Luke gives him an extra treat then Calum has to be absolutely ridiculous and insufferable about it, because it makes Luke smile.
The tip of Calum’s nose and ears are finally starting to thaw out now. The warmth of the coffee shop is working its magic, and he only gets warmer and warmer as the queue in front of him gets shorter and shorter, until he’s finally shuffling up to the counter, thankfully with the feeling in his fingertips back online.
The guy taking the orders behind the register today has pink hair and glasses, and his name tag reads Michael with a wonky little heart drawn beside it in sharpie. Calum has seen him here before, maybe once or twice, but not enough to greet him like he knows him.
But, as soon as Michael sees Calum, he grins in an impish kind of way and looks over at Luke, who is already staring daggers at the side of Michael’s face from where he’s working at the machine. Michael raises his eyebrows and Luke widens his eyes back at him, and there’s a whole conversation getting thrown between them in the span of about two seconds since Calum stepped up to the counter.
“Uh, hi. Can I have a cappuccino please? With sugar?”
Michael whips back around to face Calum, the unnerving grin still on his face, like he knows something that Calum doesn’t. Calum takes a nervous breath and maintains eye contact, hoping for the best.
“Sure thing, mate.” Michael bops his head side to side as he taps away at the screen, pink hair falling into his eyes. He’s taking a while to punch Calum’s order in, but Calum doesn’t say anything. He still doesn’t know what the fuck is going on.
When Calum looks over at Luke, just to watch him frothing milk because why not, he’s already looking over at Calum. Luke pulls a face, eyes widening and flicking over to Michael, still tapping away at the register, then grimaces and shrugs apologetically. Calum presses his lips together and raises his eyebrows. A little questioning, mostly accepting. Luke smiles and shakes his head, focussing back on the jug of milk in his hand.
“Okay. Ready when you are.” Michael finally lets Calum pay, and gives him an enthusiastic thumbs up, which Calum returns with just a little bit of fear. “Enjoy!”
Calum shuffles over to the side to wait for his coffee, near the end of the counter. He watches the snowflakes falling outside the window and the hanging plants swaying gently from the force of the heater blasting inside. It’s kind of soothing.
The stacks of cups on top of the coffee machine are hiding Luke from view here, but it’s probably for the best. Calum would just be watching him the whole time, which has got to start feeling weird for Luke, and he doesn’t want to accidently creep him out.
Not when he’s so cute when he smiles and so sweet about sneaking extra treats in with Calum’s coffee order.
“Calum?”
He spins around when he hears his name, expecting to see his coffee being pushed across the counter, but he’s surprised when it’s just Luke, his apron discarded and hands braced on the counter so he can lean over it, a bright smile on his lips.
“Luke!” Calum exclaims, the level of noise and excitement fully against his own will yet completely uncontainable as his eyes flit over Luke. He’s definitely not staring at the way the sleeves of Luke’s tight shirt are straining across his biceps. Or the way Luke’s sweet grin makes his dimples dig into his cheeks, perfectly uneven. Or the short stubble along his jawline. “Good morning! You’re working!”
Too much enthusiasm. Tone it down.
“I don’t usually see you in the morning,” Calum clarifies, hoping he sounds more sane. Luke is still smiling at Calum, curious blue eyes blinking at him until they flash in understanding.
“Yes! True. I had to cover someone’s shift this morning, but I just finished so I’m not mad about it anymore.” Luke gives Calum a once over, tilting his head thoughtfully and pouting. “You don’t have your bag?”
Calum is immensely pleased that Luke even noticed. That he’s looking at Calum thoroughly enough, and often enough, for it to be something that he would notice.
Calum shakes his head, a pleased smile tilting his words. “Nope. Got the day off. Which just so happens to be the worst weather, because, of course.” He shrugs a shoulder towards the window and the snow glistening in the sky, unwilling to remove his hands from his warm pockets.
Luke hums thoughtfully. “That is pretty terrible timing. But it does make for good movie watching weather on your day of freedom.”
There’s a necklace hiding beneath the neckline of Luke’s plain black shirt. Calum can see the chain just poking out, and it’s completely normal that he’s studying Luke’s chest instead of making eye contact while he talks. Obviously.
“So true. Just need my coffee so I can go snuggle up under a thousand blankets and rewatch Star Wars. ”
“Oh, that sounds perfect. Which-”
“Luke!”
It’s Michael. Practically yelling for Luke from the other end of the counter. Luke scrunches up his face in an adorably annoyed way, sighing at Calum.
“Sorry. I should probably go shut him up.”
Calum pulls on an understanding smile. Hopefully it shows how Calum is disappointed by the interruption, because he doesn’t want to stop talking to Luke, but understanding, because he knows what co-workers can be like.
That’s what he’s going for at least, but Calum isn’t sure his still-sleepy brain is giving his face the right signals.
Either way, Luke offers another sunny smile and says, “I’ll grab your coffee for you, too!” before he bounds off, dutifully following the sound of Michael’s squawking.
Calum watches his blond curls bopping down to the coffee machine. They stay there for a while. Over the quiet music and chatter of the few other customers, Calum can just make out some indignant sounds coming from Michael, but that’s about it. Then Luke starts heading back towards Calum, who quickly looks down at his shoes like he wasn’t watching Luke the entire time.
“Okay, I saved your coffee from Michael. He’s a menace when it comes to frothing milk.”
“Aw, my hero,” Calum says, playing up the heart eyes, loving the way Luke scoffs a little and tries to hide his pleased smile. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
Calum expects Luke to slide the coffee across the counter and get back to work fairly quickly, like he usually does, but he just stands there for a second, contemplating the cup in his hand before he holds it out to Calum.
And Calum realises, as he steps forward to take his coffee, that Luke has finished his shift today. He doesn’t have to go back to work.
Calum’s hand circles around the cup, brushing Luke’s in the process. His hand is warm. There’s purple nail polish decorating his fingertips.
“So I was thinking,” Luke starts as Calum stays standing close to the counter, cautiously taking a sip of his coffee in case it's too hot. Nope. It's the perfect temperature. “Maybe I could be annoying and offer to get you a legal snack. Proper over-the-counter deal this time,” Luke quips, a hesitant smile on his lips but a warm flash in his eyes.
It’s enough for Calum to know that Luke isn't going to be offended if he declines, but also that Luke thought about this well before he offered it. He knows the chances of Calum saying yes must be pretty high, then.
Calum smiles slowly as the realisation hits him. "I'd love that. You said you just finished your shift, right?"
Luke nods, squinting curiously at Calum a little, waiting for him to continue.
"Maybe - if you want to, of course - we could have a coffee together? Wait for the snow to stop before we step out?" Calum takes a strategically timed sip of his coffee so Luke has time to think it over. But apparently he didn't need time. He answers straight away, leaning forward over the counter in his apparent excitement.
"Oh, sure! I'd love that. Just let me make myself a coffee and I'll grab you a pastry as well." He points a finger at Calum as he slowly starts backing away. "Any preferences?"
Calum's hand is warm from holding his coffee, and now the back of his neck is flushing red for some reason.
He's going to have coffee with Luke. He gets to talk with Luke, more than just a rushed thank you, you're the best, through his mouthful of illegal treat. The metaphorical washing machine is truly broken now.
"Surprise me."
Great, now Calum is basically beating the fucking washing machine up. He knows he likes the salted caramel cheesecake best. But it will be interesting to see what Luke brings him anyway. He backs away with a grin and disappears behind the coffee machine with a flourish of steam, and Calum wanders off to find a table.
❄️
A croissant. Luke is bringing him a croissant.
Calum watches Luke balancing two plates on one arm and his coffee in his other hand, some massive kind of frappe with an excessive amount of cream piled on top, and he’s focussing with a small frown as he walks over to the table Calum chose, a small booth tucked against the cold window. Calum realises that this is the first time he’s ever seen Luke not behind the counter or coffee machine.
The black shirt is distracting as ever, his necklace somehow managing to work its way out and over the top of his shirt, which is tucked messily into some slim black dress pants. Calum keeps looking, down and down, quite a long way, until he sees Luke’s black Converse, also messily tied, with one of his pant legs tucked in behind the tongue of his shoe.
“Your legally procured pastry, sir,” Luke says when he reaches him. He performs an awkward kind of bow so he can carefully slide the plate onto the table in front of Calum, then puts his own drink and plate down before he drops into the seat opposite Calum.
“A croissant.”
Calum keeps his tone neutral. Just to fuck with Luke.
The clearly well rehearsed ritual of Luke folding himself into his seat pauses. He bites his lip, anxious. Calum fights a smile.
“A croissant,” Luke repeats cautiously. He bounces his head side to side for a moment, then seems to come to some kind of conclusion in his mind as he confirms, “A chocolate croissant. Wanna hear my theory on why you would like it?”
Luke resumes his leg contortions under the table and accidently kicks Calum in the shin. His eyes widen dramatically. “Oh fuck, I’m so sorry.”
Calum doesn’t even wince. He was expecting it, at some point. There is simply no way that someone so large, with legs so long, can get comfortable in this tiny booth without some collateral damage.
Calum is quite happy to be Luke’s collateral damage.
“All good, man. Don’t worry about it. And yeah, I’d love to hear your theory.” Calum smiles around his cup as he takes another drink, shifting his legs to one side so that Luke has room to stretch out on the other side. He gives Calum a grateful smile and picks up his dainty cake fork, getting ready to attack what looks like a passionfruit cheesecake. He slices off a corner and pops it in his mouth, and Calum watches, riveted, as his dimples flash in and out while he chews. It’s interesting, how inconsistent and unbalanced they are. Like some kind of code. Calum would be happy to sit here, diligently watching Luke eat until he finally cracked that code.
“So,” Luke says, once he finishes his bite and takes a sip of his huge frappe. Crazy how his hand somehow makes his drink look like a reasonable size. “For starters, you always get a cappuccino, which has chocolate on top."
Luke scoops up another bite of cheesecake on his tiny fork and Calum realises he's been too distracted by Luke to even take a bite of his delicious looking croissant. The glaze on top is shiny enough to reflect the large industrial lights hanging from the ceiling of the café, interrupted only by the decorative drizzle of chocolate over the top.
Calum rips off a bite and quickly stuffs it in, suddenly realising how hungry he is. Luke keeps talking with a smile hiding in the corner of his lips.
"Plus, it's also, like, a metaphor."
Calum blinks at him, chewing slowly. This croissant is really fucking good. "A metaphor?"
"Mhm. You're the croissant. If I picked you up and squeezed you, chances are you would combust into a pile of gooey chocolate."
Calum laughs out loud and almost chokes, partly alarmed, partly endeared by this assessment. He holds his hand against his chest to clear his throat and smiles too wide when he says, "What the fuck?"
Luke grins at him, close-lipped but immensely pleased with himself. His eyes are literally sparkling. He shrugs. "I've been thinking about some things."
What an interesting development.
Calum nods, letting this sink in, and rips another corner off his croissant. This move reaches the chocolate centre, which oozes out onto his fingers, a welcome warmth that Calum quickly licks off, popping another bite into his mouth. He looks up to find Luke’s eyes following his movements, even as Luke’s hand slides his drink closer across the table and he blindly reaches and wraps his lips around his straw.
“You’ve been thinking about picking me up and squeezing me.” Not exactly a question, but the sentiment is clear. Well, in Calum’s head at least.
Calum’s not exactly sure what he’s feeling about anything that’s going on here, but it’s definitely not bad. He does kind of feel gooey on the inside. Maybe Luke is onto something here, sorting him so correctly into the Chocolate Croissant Category.
Luke grins, bright and lopsided. “Yup. You’re always so cozy.”
Calum hums and directs his smile down at the table. “So I’m squeezable because I’m cozy?”
The quiet chatter of the café makes nice background noise for Luke’s laughter. It fits in here, light and sweet, like the cream on top of his frappe. His laugh tapers off to a quiet wheeze as he nods, “Yeah, pretty much. Among another things.”
He says the last bit quietly. Calum could have almost thought he imagined it, but the look in Luke’s eyes confirms it. Something a little sharper, heavier. The dark shot of espresso before the milk is poured in.
Luke’s fork scraps against his plate quietly as he scoops up another bite of his cheesecake, then he gestures to Calum’s croissant with his fork. He’s only had a few bites of it so far.
“You don’t like it?” Luke asks. He’s genuinely concerned for Calum’s answer, which is ridiculous and adorable.
Calum shakes his head, a contradictory movement to his actual response. “No, I love it. It’s perfect. You’re just really distracting.”
Luke huffs out a disbelieving laugh through his nose, poking at a stray passionfruit seed on his plate as Calum starts ripping into his croissant properly. He can already tell he’s going to make a mess and get chocolate all over his fingers, but hey, at least there’s worse ways to lose your dignity in a public place.
“Can I ask what your favourite cake is then?” Luke asks innocently, but he’s probably hiding very sweet ulterior motives here.
“No. Top secret information right there. I can’t tell just anyone that.”
Calum is talking through mouthfuls of food again, like he does every time Luke sneaks him a treat. He really needs to stop being so gross about his talking-and-eating habits. Even if being this gross didn’t put Luke off in the first place, or stop him from continuing to give him little treats all the time.
Luke leans on his elbows, tilting closer towards Calum over the table with an assessing kind of squint, studying Calum's face while he eats more of his croissant. Calum tries not to fidget too much. He's literally face to face with Luke's adorable little pout though, it's not easy.
"I want to say passionfruit cheesecake, but that would be projecting."
Calum widens his eyes a little, a tiny give away.
"But I'm close?" Luke questions, leaner even further across the table, like inspecting Calum’s face in more detail will somehow make the answer more obvious.
Calum purses his lips and tilts his head to the side.
If Calum's fingertips weren't covered in chocolate he would be really tempted to poke Luke's dimple right now. Or maybe trace over his lips. They're a nice shape.
"You've seen me order it before," Calum says in a neutral tone, then bounces his eyebrows suggestively at Luke to make him laugh while he stuffs the last of his croissant in his mouth in one go.
Luke keeps watching and smiles around his straw when he takes another drink, thinking hard enough for a small frown to work its way onto his face. Calum can actually see the moment it clicks. The frown disappears and he smiles excitedly, head popping up from his drink.
"The caramel cheesecake? The salted caramel one?"
Calum nods. Luke beams back at him brightly enough to potentially put blind spots in his vision.
“Yep. You got me. It’s the salted caramel cheesecake,” Calum confirms once he finishes his mouthful and can speak again. Luke fist pumps the air happily to celebrate and Calum can’t help but laugh. He’s too fucking cute.
“I knew it! That’s a very good choice by the way. You have taste. And I promise not to tell anyone your super secret favourite cake.”
Luke smirks a little and bends down to drink his frappe instead of lifting it to his lips, and when he looks up at Calum through his messy hair, Calum almost loses his breath a little. It’s kind of ridiculous, just how blue Luke’s eyes are in this light. And his lips. So pink, wrapped around the straw.
“Thank you,” Calum finally replies, several beats too late. Luke smiles knowingly around his straw.
There’s still a small triangle of passionfruit cheesecake sitting on Luke’s plate, untouched, with the tiny fork resting beside it. Calum gestures towards it with his cup. “You gonna eat that?”
Luke shakes his hair out of his face and pouts, considering. “Hmm. You can have it if you want. Seeing as I deprived you of your favourite cheesecake.”
Luke pushes the plate across the table to the middle, letting Calum pull it the rest of the way.
“Would it be weird if I used your fork?”
Luke shrugs. “I can get you another one if you want.”
Calum does not want him to get another one. He picks up the fork and carefully scoops up the remaining piece of cheesecake and quickly stuffs it in, purposefully avoiding Luke’s gaze while his lips are touching the same fork that was just in Luke’s mouth. This should probably feel weird, but. The passionfruit.
“Ohmygod,” Calum mumbles. “Woah.” He looks at Luke with wide eyes as the fruity flavour lights up his whole mouth.
Luke is watching him with his mouth hanging open slightly, ready to smile but not quite there yet. Calum looks right at his parted lips for a second. They’re so pink.
“This is amazing.” The fork clinks against the plate when Calum puts it down, and he leans back in his seat and tips his head back because he’s actually ascending to another dimension right now. He didn’t know passionfruit could taste so good.
“Glad you like it. Passionfruit is kinda one of those things, y’know? People either love it or hate it.”
Calum drops his head back down and blinks over at Luke, vaguely nodding in agreement. Luke is watching Calum, intently, which would be weird if it wasn’t for that look in his blue eyes. Calum wonders if Luke’s mouth is just running on autopilot right now, because he’s talking about passionfruit but he kind of looks like he wants to eat Calum right now, not the cheesecake.
Another interesting development.
“That’s a good point. It’s like a personality test.” Apparently Calum’s mouth is also good at just bullshitting while he stares down the gap in the neckline of Luke’s shirt, the ripples created by the way he’s sitting. Calum fights the strange urge to just put his hand flat on Luke’s chest.
The movement of Luke nodding his head draws Calum’s gaze up, and he zones in on the freckles splashes across the tops of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose as Luke says, purposefully, “Exactly. You passed the personality test with flying colours, Calum.”
❄️
They stay and talk for a while longer. The snow doesn’t let up, but it also doesn’t get any worse either. Some snowflakes land on the glass and melt, running down to the pavement where a fine layer of sludge is growing, and muddy footprints are created each time another person walks past.
They stay long enough for Luke to finish his massive frappe, making annoying sucking noises with the straw when he gets to the end, which Calum rolls his eyes at and definitely does not find amusing.
Luke bats his empty cup between his hands a few times before he randomly says, “I have an umbrella.”
They had just been talking about baby yoda. Calum is not making the connection between little Grogu and umbrellas.
Luke looks up and laughs when he sees the blank look of confusion on Calum’s face.
“Sorry, I was just thinking. Uh. If you wanted to leave so you could watch some Star Wars… I could walk you home. Seeing as you don’t have your beanie and the snow isn’t stopping.”
“Ohh, right. That would actually be perfect." Calum pouts, giving Luke his best puppy eyes as he echoes the same sentiment as earlier. "My hero.”
Luke grins, cocky and pleased as he leans back in his seat, knocking knees with Calum in the process. “Damn right. Lucky I bought an umbrella today, so I can continue to woo you with it.”
Calum’s laughter is louder than he meant it to be, complimented by Luke’s happy little giggles. “The umbrella truly is a selling point.”
Luke leans forward, blinking his blue eyes at Calum as he whispers, “Just wait ‘til you see it.”
Immediately, he swings his legs out of the booth and stands up, winking at Calum as he walks away.
Calum splutters after him, “Huh? What does that even mean? Luke?”
❄️
Ducks. Luke’s umbrella has ducks all over it.
Calum laughs in pure delight when they step outside and Luke proudly puts it up, offering his arm to Calum.
“This is fucking amazing, Luke.” Calum looks up at it in appreciation. The yellow ducks really pop on the blue background. “You have taste.”
Luke grins proudly, eyes flashing as the wind pushes his hair off his face. “Thanks, Calum. Now get in here before you get snowed on.”
Calum crowds in close, letting Luke tuck him in against his side with an arm around his shoulder. Luke put on an extra jumper and coat before they left, so he’s nice and squishy against Calum’s side, and now that they’re so close, Calum can truly appreciate how tall Luke is. Calum isn’t a short guy by any means, but Luke’s lips are somehow directly at his eye level. The gooey chocolate feeling is coming back in full force in Calum’s chest.
Luke holds the umbrella between them, making sure Calum is covered, then says, drawing out the vowels to sound ridiculous, “Lead the way, good sir.”
Calum tucks his hand in his hoodie sleeve to combat the cold as he winds his arm around Luke’s waist, beneath his coat, and he uses his light grip on Luke to keep him close and guide his steps.
It’s insane how until this morning, Calum had never seen Luke without the café counter between them, without the noise of the coffee machine and the backdrop of hanging plants, and now here they are, snuggling into each other’s sides to keep warm as they walk through the snow.
They figured out before they set off that Luke’s place is only a few blocks further from the café than Calum’s, which Calum is relieved by. He really didn’t want to make Luke walk in completely the wrong direction just to get Calum home.
“Fuck, it’s actually so cold. I’m not gonna be able to feel my feet soon.”
Calum nods in agreement and the collar of Luke’s jackets pokes him in the face. “I know right. Let’s speedwalk.”
Luke laughs quietly, a puff of air that the freezing wind snatches away. “Okay. The faster I get you home the faster I can bundle you up in a thousand blankets. Do you actually have a thousand blankets?”
Luke turns to look at Calum when he asks, catching him off guard for a beat until he looks back down, dodging a particularly sloshy looking puddle.
“Yes, obviously I fit all thousand of my blankets in my one bedroom apartment. The whole building is actually just made of blankets because I have so many.”
Luke laughs his cute wheezy laugh, leaning closer to Calum when he does. Calum could almost forget he can’t feel his nose right now. Hearing Luke laugh, especially because of something Calum said, is activating the gooey chocolate croissant feelings again - Intense Mode. He would definitely explode into a pile of melted chocolate if Luke picked him up and squeezed him right now, no question about it.
"That would actually be ideal. A mega blanket fort."
"Mmm. If it weren't for the lacking structural integrity and waterproofing issues, this could really be a hit."
"Shark Tank material, for sure."
The umbrella isn't sheltering either of their feet from the falling snow, so their Converse and the bottom of their pants are getting soaked. Calum can't feel his toes anymore. Or half his foot, for that matter.
Luke's teeth are chattering slightly by the time they get to Calum's block. His curls tangle with Calum’s when he leans closer to hear him over the passing traffic. "It's just up here. We're almost saved."
"Thank the ducks. My ears are about to fall off,” is Luke’s nonsense response. The more time Calum spends with Luke, the more he realises that nothing he says makes sense. But also, it does. To Calum at least.
Luke crowds in close behind Calum as he unlocks the door, the duck umbrella sheltering him and Luke’s breath tickling the back of his neck, then finally, they’re surrounded by blissful warmth when they huddle into Calum’s entry way and quickly close the door behind them.
Calum never realised how small his entry hall really was until now. Luke is casually leaning back against the door, holding the duck umbrella to the side so it drips on the mat, tilting his head side to side as he looks around the hallway, and Calum is just standing here looking at him because the tip of his nose is as pink as his lips and his hair is a mess and Calum really wants to brush it out of his eyes for him, but he pulls his sleeves over his hands instead so he's not tempted to touch.
“Green walls. Nice.” Luke nods, approving Calum’s wall paint choices for some reason. His voice finally snaps Calum out of the weird trance he’d fallen into.
“Thanks.” Calum quickly toes his shoes off beside the door and backs away a step, hands fiddling with his sleeves. He’s a little nervous for some reason.
It’s only just dawning on Calum now that he started off today only ever seeing Luke’s smile in the warm lighting of the café. And now Luke’s here, his duck umbrella dripping onto the welcome mat in Calum’s hallway, the hem of his pants soaked through, his hair wild from the freezing wind, and he’s smiling softly at Calum. He looks so huggable in this dim lighting.
“You’re welcome to stay, if you want,” Calum offers, quietly hopeful. He pops his hand out of his sweater paw so he can run it through his hair instead, channelling the warm-gooey-nervous feeling into some kind of action while he talks. “I can make some tea or something, to help us thaw out?”
Luke chews on his lip, making his dimples press into his cheeks and his eyes crease into a shy smile around the edges. “Tea? And Star Wars?”
Calum nods and watches as Luke carefully props the duck umbrella against the wall, then holds the edges of his coat like he’s about to shrug it off, but he pauses, looking at Calum. Luke opens his mouth like he’s about to say something, but then shakes his head and smiles down at the floor instead. Calum can pretty much see him putting the words together in his head before he speaks. Something about the twist of his lips, the slight frown hiding beneath his messy curls.
“This may be crossing a line but, uh. Do you have some spare clothes I could borrow? I literally can’t feel my feet. Like, at all.” Luke wiggles his feet stiffly to prove his point, pouting in dismay.
“Oh, yeah, of course!” Calum starts backing away down the hallway, his slightly wet socks sticking to the floor uncomfortably. He’s mentally fist pumping in excitement as he watches Luke shrugging off his jacket and hanging it up on the coat rack beside Calum’s, and he asks, finger guns pointing at Luke, “Some sweatpants? And socks?”
Luke finger guns back at him and winks. “That’d be perfect. Thank you.”
“On it, boss.” Calum spins around with a salute, and Luke laughs one of his quiet wheezy laughs. Calum decides to let himself have a mini crisis over being able to hear without the constant background chatter of the café drowning it out, because it’s rare.
Calum makes tea while Luke gets changed, then they put on Star Wars and get settled on the couch with a blanket each around their shoulders and an extra one spread over their legs.
It’s insane to think that Calum had never ever seen Luke outside the café before today. And now here he is. Seeing Luke’s smile lit by the glow of the TV screen. Hearing Luke’s quiet comments and giggles muffled by the blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Feeling the warm gooeyness growing in Calum’s chest when he says something to make Luke laugh especially loudly, folding over to lean against Calum’s shoulder, messy curls tickling the underside of Calum’s jaw.
Maybe Calum doesn’t need his metaphorical washing machine to keep him on track anymore. Because as it turns out, shaking up the routine does have some benefits after all.