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It was a known fact that the barista at the cafe in the library hated everyone.
It wasn’t even that he had strong feelings for his customers— all evidence was to the contrary, actually, with his blank stare that sliced through you like the blade of a knife and nothing more than terse, monosyllabic responses when he does talk— but that he had strong feelings for one customer in particular.
“What is it now?” the deliberately monotone voice of Nico di Angelo said from behind the cash register. He wasn’t a particularly tall man, but his aura was foreboding enough to keep everyone at an arms length. His hair was choppily cut, curling at the ends as it brushed his shoulders. Metal glinted in his nose, lip, and eyebrow, a myriad of rings lining his ears and tangling down onto his collarbone. His eyes were a dark brown, half-lidded, but no less piercing.
Will Solace rolled his eyes in response and shoved a crumpled five dollar bill Nico’s way. “Coffee. Black.”
Nico grunted in response. He smoothed the five out on the edge of the counter with pointed annoyance before opening the register. “Sugar?”
“If it’s anything like what you’re giving me now, no thanks,” Will said. He matched Nico’s acidic expression.
Nico made a noise, taking out the change from the register. He locked eyes with Will and dropped the coins into the tip jar slightly in front of him. Will’s jaw clenched ever so slightly at the sight and he turned to the side to wait for his order.
His classmate caught up with him a moment later, his interaction with Nico far smoother, if containing the same level of icy customer service. He pocketed his change and rummaged in his backpack.
“That guy hates you,” Austin said. He tried to be subtle as he glanced back at Nico, but Austin was nothing if not unsubtle. “What did you do to him?”
Will shrugged. “No idea. Just doesn’t like me, I guess.”
Austin shouldered his backpack, brow furrowed. “But why you? You’re the nicest guy I know.”
Will’s coffee appeared at the edge of the counter and he took a sip, burning his tongue. He chuckled as he started for the door. “You need to get to know more guys.”
Austin trailed him out the cafe and back to the library, his confusion following him.
He brought it up to their other classmates later that day when Will was off at one of his various part time jobs.
“You ever notice the barista at the cafe in the library?” Austin asked over a spread of notes from class.
Kayla lifted her head from where it was bowed over her notebook and raised an eyebrow. “Short, dark, and gloomy? Lots of piercings?”
Austin nodded. “That’s the one.”
She straightened up, the end of her pen going to her lips to gnaw on. “I know half my psych class has a crush on him, but I’ve never talked to the guy. I make my coffee at home.”
“He, like—” Austin tilted his head, thinking. “He’s got it out for Will or something. The way he talks to him is crazy. I’m surprised the guy isn’t fired yet.”
Kayla rolled her eyes. “He’s eye candy. Having metal in your face and tatted biceps is practically required for baristas these days. Besides, if his fan club has anything to say about it, he’s a decent barista.”
Austin shrugged. “I haven’t had a bad drink from him yet. It’s just—” He shook his head, as if to get rid of the thoughts. “Never mind. I’m overthinking it.”
Kayla peered at him, her eyes narrowed. “I’ll come with you next time. I want to see this for myself.”
When Will wasn’t in class or at his job, he practically lived at the library. Pre-med took a lot out of a student, especially one there on scholarship, and Will was nothing if not dedicated. It wasn’t long before he found himself back in the stacks and Austin dragged him down to get something to fuel their study session.
Kayla stared at him intensely as they waited in line, enough that even the oblivious Will could tell something was up.
“Alright?” Will asked as he stretched his arms above his head, stiff from sitting in a chair for so long.
“Hm? Oh, yeah.” Kayla shook herself out of her reverie. “I just thought you’d gotten a haircut. Or something.”
Will drew his eyebrows together and ran a hand through his overgrown blonde curls. “No, uh, no haircut. I should really get one, though. It’s starting to get in my eyes.”
Kayla nodded slowly, her gaze never wavering. “Yeah… you should…”
Will gave her a look.
“Are you going to order or just stand their looking stupid?” a voice rang out.
Will turned with a scowl to glare at the barista. He nodded to Nico. “Asshole.”
“Dick.” Nico nodded back.
Kayla blinked. She exchanged a look with Austin.
“So,” Nico pointedly looked anywhere but Will. “You gonna order or just annoy the shit out of me?”
“Coffee.” Will’s nostrils flared. “Black.”
“How original,” Nico said dryly as he punched in the order. He held a hand out. “Money. We’re not running a charity here.”
Will dipped his hand into the tip jar and placed a few dollar bills on Nico’s outstretched palm. “Repayment, for the stunt you pulled a few days ago.”
Nico’s upper lip curled in disgust, but he put the tips into the cash register anyway. “Coffee will be ready in a minute. Hope you choke on it.”
Will’s mouth curled into a satisfied smirk. “Just for you, sunshine.”
The glare Nico sent after Will could be felt from across the room.
Austin leaned down to whisper in Kayla’s ear. “Told you.”
It wasn’t banter, not exactly. There were hints of banter to the way they spoke to each other, but not enough to ease the tension of their withering stares and sharpened barbs. It became a bit of a spectacle of sorts, watching them talk with acid on their tongues like sworn enemies meeting on a battlefield. Despite the obvious animosity, Will never complained to the manager of the cafe and Nico was never disciplined.
“I don’t get them,” Kayla said as she peered over her notes to look at Nico wiping down the counter. His hair fell over one shoulder like a fan of black feathers.
“Don’t even try,” Austin said, highlighting a passage in his textbook. “Sometimes a guy just needs an enemy, I guess.”
Kayla made a thoughtful noise, a wrinkle forming on the bridge of her nose. “I bet they have backstory. Maybe Will and Nico were something really dramatic, like childhood best friends turned sworn rivals after an event that changed both their lives and the world.”
Austin paused. He put down his highlighter to look Kayla dead in the eye. “You need to stop watching anime.”
She scowled. “You’re no fun. Don’t you want to know?”
He shrugged. “Not really. It was weird at first, but now I’m beyond caring. Exams are coming up. Ones you should probably study for instead of staring at a barista that could definitely kill us in our sleep.”
“Don’t be stupid. He has no idea where we live.”
Austin sighed.
She tilted her head thoughtfully. “I wonder what he’s thinking.”
“Stop wondering or I’ll kick you off my table.”
Kayla was, by her inherent nature, a very curious person. When a notion embedded itself in her mind, she didn’t let it go for love or money, and it landed her at a table filled with people from her psych class, all of whom had a massive crush on Nico di Angelo.
“I have a question,” Kayla said with little ceremony. “What’s Nico di Angelo’s deal?”
Her classmates paused and slowly closed their books. “What do you mean?”
She blinked. “I mean, he’s kind of weird. So… what’s his deal?”
One of her classmates shrugged. “He’s a hot, goth barista. Not much else to him.”
“But there has to be, right?” Kayla leaned forward. “He’s kinda rude, definitely off-putting, a little esoteric…” She gestured for them to elaborate.
“Well…” a classmate leaned back in their chair. “He moved here from somewhere else to live with his dad here in the city. He’s a part-time student, the rest of the time he works at a music store by the train station. That’s all I really know about him. Guy’s a mystery; probably why he’s so hot.”
“Huh.” Kayla hummed to herself. “Interesting.”
“Don’t tell me you’re interested in him.”
“What? No!” Kayla recoiled. She slapped her friend’s shoulder playfully. “I’m gay, you idiot.”
“Nico di Angelo gets to many, even those we thought wouldn’t fall for his unusual charms,” they said sagely.
She gathered her things and stood with a roll of her eyes. “You’ve been a big help. See you in class.”
“Let me guess: coffee, black,” Nico di Angelo moved his hands to mimic Will’s voice in a mocking tone. His expression returned to its normal blankness a split-second later.
Will let out a beleaguered sigh and put his money on the counter. “Don’t tell me you’re getting soft on me now, sunshine.”
Nico scoffed, snatching the money up. “No, your order is just stupid enough that it’s ingrained into my mind with how often you come here.”
“Maybe I just like shitty coffee while I’m studying,” Will said.
“Yeah, with your taste, you would think this coffee is shitty.” Nico punched in the order and put the change in the tip jar with a pointed middle finger accompanying his sardonic grin.
“If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck…” Will mused as he fished out his approximate change from the tip jar.
“I’ll make it scalding, just for my least favourite customer,” Nico said. He shoved the cash register closed with more vigor than was necessary.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Will pocketed his change.
“Ass,” Nico retorted.
Will responded with a sly smile. “Dick.”
They hadn’t wanted to do a big thing about finishing exams, but they definitely wanted to get drunk in some capacity. Austin and Kayla were squirreled away in a corner booth at a local bar, a pitcher between them as they waited for Will to arrive from his job.
“That boy works too much,” Austin said. He was working hard to transform one of the crumpled paper menus into an origami crane.
“Gotta earn money somehow,” Kayla said, working on something that could generously be called a paper fortune teller. She held it up to Austin. “Pick a colour.”
He indulged her for a few rounds of the game before Will arrived and turned it towards him.
“Pick a colour, fair William!” Kayla said, her cheeks pink from the beer.
Will laughed as he set his bag down. “Black.”
Kayla nodded and moved the toy in accordance with the letters. “Okay, and a number.”
“Seventeen.”
She sighed, but did the same with the number. She held the fortune teller out to Will. “Last one. Pick another number.”
Will casually pointed to the number five and she opened it with a conspiratorial smile.
“You will find love where you least expect it,” she read. Kayla wiggled in her seat in glee. “Any lovers we should know about, William?”
Will tapped his chin, thinking. “Not really. Why do you need to know about my lovers, again?”
Austin slapped him on the back. “We want to know you’re getting laid. Now drink up. We’re going to get another pitcher.”
Beer wasn’t Will’s favourite drink in the world, but it was the best thing to pick that the three of them felt satisfied with and not end up emptying their wallets. Kayla’s face got progressively redder with each pitcher they drank, Austin’s laugh became louder, Will’s grin widened. They passed the fortune teller Kayla had created around the table, making up increasingly outlandish fortunes, until the door to the bar opened and a figure approached their table.
A hand came down on Will’s shoulder. “Thought I’d find you here.”
Kayla and Austin lifted their heads from their glasses of beer to see Nico di Angelo and immediately freeze.
“Oh, hey,” Will said. He turned to look at Nico. “Did you just get off work?”
Nico nodded. “Fucking exhausting shift, too.”
Kayla and Austin exchanged a meaningful look. They’d never seen Nico outside of the cafe and it was like seeing a dog walking on its hind legs.
“Um, Nico, right?” Kayla asked in a weak attempt to stop it from devolving into a fight the way it did at the cafe.
Nico looked at her as if he’d just noticed she was there. He held his hand out. “Yeah. From the library cafe.”
She shook his hand numbly, utterly bewildered by this sequence of events.
“How do you know our Will?” Austin asked before sipping his beer as if that’d make him seem more casual.
“Our Will,” Nico said back to Will. He cuffed him lightly over the ear, much to Will’s chagrin. “When did you become their Will? You were always mine.”
Will caught Nico’s hand and scowled up at him. “Stop that.”
Nico grinned. “Nah, it’s fun watching those cheeks get red.” He leaned down to whisper in Will’s ear. “Wonder what else on you blushes like that.”
Will gulped, his entire face going scarlet. “Nico—”
Kayla nearly choked on her beer, startling the two of them. “Sorry, excuse me, what the fuck is this?”
Nico straightened up, his hand still in Will’s. “Oh. We’re dating.”
“What—?” Austin choked on his beer as well.
“Yeah, I thought you guys knew.” Will placed a peck on Nico’s knuckles.
“So what was all that at the cafe?” Kayla asked. Her eyes were moving wildly between the two of them.
Nico threw back his head and cackled. “God, I love that.”
“That was a bit,” Will said. He tugged Nico down into the booth and slung an arm around his shoulders.
“That was a bit?” Kayla and Austin shouted in unified outrage.
Nico dissolved into laughter, burying his face in Will’s neck. His back trembled with the effort to not laugh with all his might.
“Yeah, we’ve been dating since high school.” Will had the decency to look a bit chagrined. “I really thought you both knew already. Sorry.”
Austin groaned into his beer. Kayla lay slumped against the booth, rubbing an impending headache away from her temples.
“You’re buying all the drinks tonight, both of you,” she muttered.
“It’s not my fault you’re dense.”
“Yeah, yeah, coffee, black. Go get us another pitcher.”