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Simon meets him when he’s slumped over the counter at five-thirty in the morning, so that’s probably why his usually minimal brain-to-mouth filter just disappears.
“Wow.” Simon says, blinking in shock, and then, “Wow, you’re way too pretty to be out here when it’s so cold.” The stranger gives him a sort of look, and Simon straightens up and slowly replays his words back to himself.
“Okay.” He says. “Okay, so, let me try again. Welcome to Java Jace. What can I get for you today?”
“A medium dirty chai.” The other boy says.
“For?” Simon asks, uncapping a Sharpie.
“I’m the only one in the shop.” The boy points out. Simon ignores that, shrugging his shoulders, because he may be awkward but he’s awkwardly persistent. “Raphael.” The boy finally says, sighing.
“One dirty chai for Raphael, coming right up.” Simon says cheerfully, feeling much more awake.
.
“Is that latte for me?” Jace, the namesake of the store, asks as he walks into the store.
“We’re closed.” Simon announces blandly, ignoring Jace and sipping the latte he made for himself. It’s overly sweet, because he still hasn’t got the hang of making a good latte. Simon’s not the best barista, he’ll admit.
“The store’s named after me. I get all the drinks I want.” Jace points out as he swings his legs over the counter. Simon makes a noise of disgust and move out of the way.
“The store’s named after a bratty thirteen-year old who thought he could make clever puns.” Alec says testily from the back, where he’s hunched over a laptop, doing bills.
“Someone’s in a bad mood.” Jace calls as he takes a muffin for himself from the display case.
“He met a boy.” Izzy sings from where she’s perched on the counter, scrolling through Simon’s music playlists. “Magnus Bane.”
“Really?” Simon asks, forgetting that he’s annoyed at the Lightwood siblings for making him take the early morning shift. “Alec met someone?”
“I didn’t.” Alec says, even as he turns bright red.
“Where’s Clary?” Jace demands, apropos of nothing.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Simon asks, smiling sweetly. Jace scowls at him and Simon grins. Jace’s crush on Clary is a satisfying wound to pick at.
.
Simon’s barely even put on his apron before the door opens and Raphael sweeps in again. Simon stares at him.
“One medium dirty chai, please.” He says pleasantly, and Simon just keeps staring. Raphael frowns.
“Right.” Simon says, snapping to attention. “Wow, why are you awake this early again?”
“Why do you care?” Raphael asks, crossing his arms. He has really nice arms, tucked into a really nice jacket.
“I don’t.” Simon says, his mouth on autopilot. “Wait, I do. I have to make your coffee at an ungodly hour.”
“For someone who makes coffee,” Raphael points out, “you don’t seem to have discovered the benefits of caffeine for yourself.”
.
Simon almost doesn’t believe that Alec met Magnus Bane until, just after the evening rush, a man in a silky purple shirt breezes through the door and Alec drops the mop from where he’s cleaning up spilled coffee.
“Wow.” Simon mutters under his breath. He’s on a woefully short break, with Clary sitting next to him. She’s hiding a giggle behind her hand.
“Alexander!” Magnus announces, and Clary giggles even hard because no one calls him that. “I was told that you serve delicious coffee.”
“Uh – “ Alec stutters, picking up his mop. Magnus is definitely checking Alec out as Alec bends down. “Uh, Jace is manning the counter right now?” Alec says, except it sounds more like a question.
“No he’s not.” Simon calls out, because like everyone else he’s a sucker for trying to set Alec up, so. “Jace is on break, aren’t you?” Jace grins and vaults over the counter, taking the seat next to Clary. Alec stares at the two of them and then sighs, making his way to the counter.
“What can I, ah, get you?” Alec asks, and Magnus leans forward on the counter, murmuring something in a low tone that has Alec flushing crimson.
“Oh, he’s good.” Clary whispers. Alec seems to hesitantly stammer something back in a low voice that makes Magnus beam.
“It’s like watching a baby penguin take its first steps into the world.” Jace whispers proudly.
.
“You’re single-handedly keeping the early morning shift alive.” Simon says the next time Raphael comes in.
“That’s nice.” Raphael says. “A medium dirty chai, please.”
“Why do you do this?” Simon asks, shaking his head. “You can’t have class this early.” Raphael raises a spectacularly judgmental eyebrow.
“Maybe I want you to suffer.” He says pleasantly, and Simon makes a face at him.
.
Friday night, Simon bumps into someone at a frat party as he’s trying to find Jace, who’s been getting steadily more drunk all night and weepily clinging to anyone who will listen to his sad tale of ‘is Clary into me or not’. Simon could probably save him the trouble and tell him the truth, but then Clary might kill him, so.
“Sorry.” The other person says, before turning and peering at him. “Oh. It’s you.” Simon blinks, a little taken aback, because Raphael is standing in front of him.
“Oh good,” is the first thing Simon says, “you’re a college student. I was afraid you were a high schooler.”
“What?” Raphael asks, but he looks amused, so Simon counts that as a win. Then he spots Jace, about to guzzle from a bottle of vodka, and he sighs.
“Shit, I gotta go.” He says to Raphael. “See you at five-thirty!”
.
“Why would you think I was in high school?” Raphael asks Monday morning, and Simon groans.
“No hello for your favorite barista?” Simon asks as he leans against the wall behind him and makes no move to grab a cup for Raphael’s order. Raphael sighs.
“A medium dirty chai.” He says, rubbing a hand across his face. “My favorite barista isn’t you.”
“It must be.” Simon argues as he makes his sluggish, sleep-deprived body move. “Clearly, there isn’t any other reason you’re up at five-thirty for coffee.”
“It’s very good coffee.” Raphael says, leaning against the nearby display case. That’s a lie, because Simon’s real appeal as an employee is his willingness to work flexible shifts and decidedly not his skills in working the machines. Simon wisely doesn’t mention this because sometimes he displays spectacular judgment, and because these days when Raphael talks to him there’s a little smile permanently on his face which is beyond adorable and edging more into the realm of gorgeous. “Do I really look like I’m in high school?” he asks Simon, and Simon groans.
“Maybe.” He hedges. “What are you studying, anyway?”
“Political science.” Raphael grins, all teeth. “So I can chase down the slick bastards who take advantage of the law.”
“That’s – huh.” Simon muses as he hands the drink over. “That’s amazing.” It comes out soft and breathy and genuine, and Simon mentally slaps himself because now he sounds like he’s Raphael’s groupie, but Raphael’s face melts into a soft, fond look.
“See you later, Simon.” Raphael says, and Simon is stunned that Raphael knows his name, until an hour later it occurs to him that he has a nametag on.
.
“Wow.” Clary says over pizza when she sees him scrolling through the list of people in the political science department. “How do you even have a list of students like this? Have I mentioned that this is creepy?”
“Several times.” Simon says cheerfully. “I’ve ignored it. Besides, this is perfectly legal, Maureen works in the administrative office and she loves me.”
“You probably shouldn’t be allowed near this boy.” Alec says, looking at Simon like he’s worried for Simon’s mental state.
“That’s rude.” Simon says, clucking his tongue. “We can’t all have Magnus Bane chase after us. Some of us must do the chasing.”
“I don’t think Magnus did this.” Alec says, and then he pauses. “On second thought, he might have looked up the café’s legal permit at the town hall.” Jace chokes from where he’s been quietly eating a slice of pizza.
“Raphael Santiago, senior!” Simon announces triumphantly. “Wait, he’s a senior. Shit, I thought he was like, eighteen at the most. This means he's the same age as me.”
“You literally could have asked him.” Clary says, rolling her eyes.
.
“What are you studying?” Raphael asks the next time he comes in.
“Accounting.” Simon says, yawning. “Not very exciting, but I play guitar a lot, and that’s what I do to be exciting, I guess, so.”
“A medium dirty chai.” Raphael says, even though Simon’s already moved to start making it. “Are you playing anytime soon?” Simon looks at him with interest.
“Gonna come watch?” he asks, and his voice comes out low and husky. Raphael blinks, his eyes widening.
“I – yeah, sure.” Raphael says, his voice completely unsure.
“I want you to.” Simon adds. “At that music department show next week. God knows you need to listen to some real music.”
“How would you know what kind of music I listen to?” Raphael asks, leaning forward and sounding curious.
“Let me guess, you’re a classical kind of guy.” Simon says, and a light flush appears across Raphael’s cheeks. Simon is delighted.
.
Simon doesn’t like to brag, but he’s definitely never played better than he does at the music show. The guys all clap him on the back, cheering, and Maureen, who organized the whole thing and is spectacularly judgmental, is pleased too, which Simon counts as a major win. He’s riding on a high that only gets better when he sees his friends giggling and gesturing to where Raphael is leaning against a wall, looking unfairly handsome in a tight jacket and dark jeans.
“Not bad.” Raphael says when he spots Simon. He smiles, and Simon swoons. “Pretty good.”
“Yeah?” Simon asks, laughing as he guzzles the last of his water. “Would you listen to me play again?” Raphael raises an eyebrow.
“Probably.” Raphael says, then grimaces when his phone buzzes. He checks it and shakes his head. “I gotta go get my friend Lily out of trouble.” He says, and he sounds actually regretful. “I’ll see you at five-thirty?”
“You know it.” Simon says, and Raphael laughs as he walks away, which. Simon may have just fallen in love with that ass in those jeans.
.
Monday morning it rains, and Raphael walks into the shop drenched.
“Oh Jesus.” Simon says as he sees the other boy come in. “I hate to break it to you, but they’ve invented a thing called an umbrella.”
“Forgot.” Raphael says grumpily. He strips off his expensive looking jacket and sighs, actually sitting down at a table. Simon gulps because Raphael is wearing a dark blue shirt underneath the jacket that’s, well, clinging.
“Um.” Simon says, readying Raphael’s drink. “I have a sweatshirt, if you want something warm to wear right now? Also an umbrella you can borrow.” Raphael looks at him, his dark eyes intent.
“I’ll take that umbrella.” He finally says. Simon brings his drink and an umbrella over to him and puts it down, sitting down at the chair opposite Raphael.
“It’s been raining since last night.” Simon muses as Raphael clutches the hot coffee cup like a lifeline. “How did you forget your umbrella?” Raphael pauses and looks embarrassed.
“I haven’t been back to my apartment yet.” He finally says. “My roommate has someone over, so I slept at my brother’s place. I need to go back there to get a change of clothes and my umbrella.” Simon stares at him, and then laughs delightedly.
“You got sexiled?” he asks, and Raphael scowls.
“Magnus – “ he begins, and Simon chokes on nothing.
“Your roommate is Magnus Bane?” he asks, and Raphael looks at him strangely and nods. “Oh, I’ll kill Alec – “
“You know Magnus’ boyfriend?” Raphael asks.
“He’s the manager for the Java Jace empire.” Simon says, waving a hand dismissively. “He’s also the older brother of my ex-girlfriend, and the one that got me this job.” Raphael’s frown becomes more pronounced.
“Ex-girlfriend?” he asks, something strange in his tone. Simon looks at him carefully and shrugs.
“Izzy and I drifted apart pretty quickly.” He replies, his tone purposefully light. “It was never serious. I stayed friends with her, and Alec needed an extra employee two months ago when someone quit, so instead of hanging around here useless all the time I finally started actually doing something.”
Raphael’s looking down at his drink, glaring like the coffee has possibly murdered someone, and a drop of water drips down from Raphael’s wet hair and lands on his cheek. Simon unthinkingly reaches out and wipes it away with the pad of his thumb, and they both freeze.
Raphael’s dark eyes search Simon’s for a second, and then his lips part on a soft exhale, and Simon brushes his thumb down, ever so slightly –
The door bangs open and Simon jumps back. Jace walks in and gives Simon a dark glare, yawning.
“I have a big game today, and I need caffeine.” He mutters, slumping down into a chair. He barely gives Raphael’s flushed cheeks and Simon’s wide eyes a second glance.
“Right.” Simon says. “Your soccer game. Um.” He looks at Raphael helplessly, and Raphael grins, a sly look passing over his face.
“Well, Simon, better get to it.” Raphael says, lifting his drink. Simon glares and flips him off.
.
Jace wins his game, and he’s so elated he offers to take them all out for dinner.
“Oh Jesus, yes.” Simon agrees. “Before your good mood wears off and you go back to being stingy.” Jace nods, dazed, because Clary came up to him after he made the winning shot and kissed him.
“God, you look like an idiot.” Alec frowns. “Wipe that expression off your face and let’s go.”
“And why are you so upset, big brother?” Izzy asks. Alec crosses his arms and frowns harder.
“Magnus’ roommate kicked us out earlier today.” Alec grumps as they all walk off the field. Simon points an accusatory finger at Alec.
“About that!” Simon says. “Why did you let me stalk Raphael when you could have set me up with him?” Alec looks slightly guilty.
“I never really see Raphael.” He points out. “It took me a long time to figure out that was your Raphael, because he always gets up so early.”
“Yes.” Simon sniffs. “He gets up that early to make me make him coffee.”
“Yes but he pays you.” Clary points out reasonably. “He’s not really making you do anything.”
“Ugh.” Simon sniffs. “Jace, you used to have the morning shift before me, right? Did Raphael ever say why he came in so early?”
“He has literally never come in when I was on the morning shift.” Jace says. Simon stops walking abruptly, and Alec crashes into him.
“Ow.” Alec complains.
“Suck it up, beanpole.” Simon says absently. “So if Raphael never came in that early until I worked there…” he says slowly.
“Now he gets it.” Clary says, rolling her eyes.
.
At five-thirty the next morning, Raphael stomps over to Simon, who blinks at him, still not fully awake, and demands, “Are you going to ask me out or not?”
“Huh?” Simon asks eloquently. Raphael frowns, his eyebrows doing a spectacularly judgmental dance.
“I’ve spent a fortune on coffee.” He says. “I woke up at five in the morning so I could see you.”
“Oh God.” Simon says, horrified. “Please go on a date with me.” He doesn’t wait for Raphael to answer, but instead hauls the shorter boy over the counter and presses a gentle kiss to his lips.
“There.” Simon says, satisfied, his hand still fisted in the front of Raphael’s shirt. “I think I’ve made my point.” Raphael’s eyes slowly open, his eyelashes fluttering against his cheek.
“Ah.” Raphael mutters. “I think I need a bit more persuasion.” He hops across the counter and pushes Simon against the wall as Simon laughs at him.
“That was terrible,” he says, as Raphael kisses him despite his grin, “no, seriously, that was worse than me, and that’s saying something.”
“Shut up.” Raphael says, fond and exasperated. “Shut up.” He traces the seam of Simon’s mouth with his tongue, and Simon sighs happily.
Jace finds them like that when he walks in ten minutes later and shrieks.
“Lewis!” he calls, putting a hand over his eyes. “God, Lewis, get a room.” Simon tears himself away from Raphael and flips Jace off.
“You can look, asshole. By the way, soccer seasons over; take your early morning shift back. I don’t need it anymore.” Simon says. Jace groans and looks put out, and Raphael buries his face in Simon’s neck, laughing.
.
Raphael refuses to ever pay for coffee dates. Simon brings him to work if he has an early-morning shift, and they kiss sleepily as Simon waits for customers. Raphael comes to every single one of Simon’s performances, even the one where Simon writes and performs a song called “Five-Thirty Boy”, where he calls Raphael “the morning menace I wanted to kiss”.
“The first time I came in I had a good reason.” Raphael likes to remind him. “I actually went to drop my brother off at the airport. So it’s not all about you, Simon.”
“Yes, but the rest of the time was for me.” Simon tells him smugly. “It’s totally all about me.” Raphael rolls his eyes but he doesn’t deny it.
Raphael is kind of an asshole. He criticizes everything about Simon, from his choice of clothes to his choice of music to his choice of television. But Simon learns to pick apart the real insults and the fake ones. He also learns how to steal Raphael’s jacket from the apartment he shares with Magnus, so that when Raphael wants to say something obnoxious about Simon’s T-shirt, he pauses and trails off with a hungry look in his eyes. They usually end up not making it out of the apartment when that happens, so Simon likes to reserve that particular move for when they don’t have to be anywhere.
But it’s really, really good. When they graduate, Simon throws his cap into the air and as he watches it plummet back down with a trajectory towards Alec’s head – Alec is not going to be happy about that – he thinks about college and how it’s a half-magical and half-real world. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen to him and Raphael now. But as Raphael makes his way through the crowds and presses a sweet, simple kiss to Simon’s grin, Simon finds that he doesn’t care that much about the future. Right now is more than amazing enough for him.
.