Chapter Text
The sound of the soft bell chimes atop the café's door made 16 year old Megan's head snap up towards the sound, her young eyes gleaming with excitement as she saw the girl she had been waiting for.
'Right on time.' Megan thought to herself while smiling slightly. Exactly 30 minutes after school had ended.
It's always the longest 30 minutes of her day.
The younger girl was already standing with a big smile on her face before she could stop herself, smoothing down the front of her uniform out of habit more than necessity. Not that it mattered.
Not when it was her.
She stood waiting impatiently for her eyes to find those she had been craving to meet.
The strong scent of coffee had Y/N grimacing in disgust but the slight tinge of vanilla lingering in the air made up for it. She ruffled her dark hair a little bit in hopes of distracting herself from the smell before huffing and making her way to the counter.
"Still hate the smell?" Megan asked, trying— and failing— to sound casual.
Y/N glanced up with a small grin at the sight of the younger girl. "It's aggressive."
"But you still come here."
"You know Skiendiel, free will is a complicated thing." That made Megan smile before she could stop it. "How was your day, Moo Moo?" she teased the smaller 16 year old, knowing that she hated being called that. Y/N held back a chuckle as Megan's light brown orbs glared playfully at the older girl. Y/N gave her a cheeky smile in hopes of making the younger girl forgive her.
"I told you to stop calling me that, Y/N," Megan whined while secretly revelling in the fact that the older girl had her own special nickname for her, even if it was an ugly one. "Like seriously, what girl wants to be named after the sound a cow makes?"
Y/N grinned and shook her head while making a slight tutting sound. "You always say that."
"And I mean it every time!"
Y/N leaned closer over the counter, clearly not taking her seriously. "And yet here you are." She winked at Megan who immediately dropped her gaze to the floor, trying her very hardest to hide her blush.
She should've been annoyed.
She wasn't.
Not even a little.
Megan thought Y/N had to be something unreal. Something not quite human, not quite anything that belonged in the same world as everyone else, much less the same space. There was no way someone in high school was already that effortlessly beautiful.
And it would've sounded ridiculous if it weren't for the fact that she'd known her since middle school. She'd watched it happen in real time, the way Y/N just kept becoming more and more impossible to ignore. Even then, she'd been the kind of kid people looked at twice without meaning to.
Megan didn't think she'd ever stopped doing that either, just got better at pretending she had.
"Obviously," she stated after recollecting herself. "I work here. You're the one that keeps coming in here every day to call me that stupid name."
Y/N leaned back slightly and chuckled with a smile that would've made Megan's knees actually give out, if not for her hands holding her up for dear life.
"Like I said, free will is a complicated thing!"
"Well anyways," Megan cleared her throat and forced herself to look into her hypnotising eyes. "Welcome to Skiendiel's Café & Bar, how may I help you?" She bantered, feigning formalities as if she didn't know the older girl in front of her inside and out.
Y/N bit her lip while trying to hold back a smile as she stared at the young sophomore in amusement. The said sophomore tried her best to maintain eye contact instead of glancing down at her mouth.
"You really gotta say that every time?" The older girl joked.
"Well I could risk my job if I don't, St Clair." She joked back. "So what can I get for ya?"
"You already know what I want, Meg," she said while leaning her forearms against the countertop, her voice accidentally coming out raspier than usual. Y/N didn't notice but Megan surely did, and it didn't help her, knowing how big of a crush she's had on the taller senior ever since she'd consciously known what a crush actually was.
"U-Uh, yeah," Megan stammered out and created some space between the two of them. The grey-eyed girl raised an eyebrow while the small brunette mentally facepalmed herself for being so awkward. "One medium hot chocolate and a toasted chocolate croissant, right?"
"To be loved is to be known!" Y/N exclaimed playfully as she pretended to wipe a tear from her eye, earning a cute giggle from the younger girl in return.
"Where's the rest of your band at anyways?"
The older girl, running on autopilot, poured herself a glass of water and sat down at her usual table by the window before answering, "finishing putting up flyers for our gig tomorrow night. You should come, by the way."
"Oh cool, yeah, Saturday night? I should be free," she said, trying her hardest to be nonchalant when in reality, she was glad she had her back towards the dark haired girl. It was the only reason she got away with the big smile that crept onto her face before she could stop it. The mere thought of Y/N wanting her to be at her gig made her chest feel too warm. Almost like the hot chocolate she was about to make suddenly wasn't the hottest thing in the room anymore.
"Damn, Skiendiel, you're the one making the hot chocolate? Where's Uncle C when ya need him?" She joked earning a playful slap on the shoulder from Megan as she walked past her to grab a previous customer's plate.
"Hey," Megan protested, "Don't disrespect my craft."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Y/N said dramatically with a grin, her hand placed on her chest. "Your craft."
"Shut up," Megan said with a playful glare, though she was already smiling. "You know that you come to shushu's café for the best hot chocolate in the world."
"Yeah, the best hot chocolate in the world but Uncle C isn't here to make it so I guess I have to settle for you," Y/N bantered back, mirroring the same expression as the younger girl before she walked away to grab the croissants from the toasting machine.
"Excuse you, Y/N. I'll have you know I make the best hot chocolate in the world!"
"Delusional!" The older girl sang the word playfully, earning an eye roll from the younger girl.
"Confident actually. Anyways, how'd you get out of flyer duty?"
"Oh y'know, they were getting annoyed cause I was getting hangry," Megan let out an all-too-knowing scoff at that as she placed Y/N's order down in front of her. "Plus, I wanted to come see you. So... three birds, one stone?"
It was a good thing Y/N was too busy eyeing up the food placed down in front of her to notice the immense warmth that rushed to Megan's cheeks. "Hmm.. efficient stone," she replied, trying to play it off cool.
Before Megan could dwell on the older girl's words, the chimes atop the door caught both girls' attention as they watched three familiar girls walk in.
"Meggy, you are a lifesaver for getting some food in that wild beast over there!" Dallas exclaimed playfully. "I could almost kiss you in gratitude!"
"Yeah, none of that," the grey-eyed girl said sharply, albeit with her mouth half stuffed with a pain au chocolate. "She's a minor y'know."
Megan knew Y/N probably meant nothing by it, but she smiled anyway.
"Relax, St Clair," Madison chimed in, lightly smacking her best friend on the shoulder as she moved to take a seat next to her. "You know Dallas' only joking."
"Am I?" Dallas said with a smirk as she took a seat at the table before turning around to address the younger girl. "Meggy, let's not let these guys get in between our love for each other."
Y/N heard Megan giggle on the other side of the counter as she prepared the usual for her three bandmates and she shot a little warning glare over at her best friend.
"You know for someone so unbelievably straight, I think you seem to hit on little Meg the most," Axelle stated as if it were a fact, slinging her school bag over the chair before taking a seat at the table too.
"Can ya blame me? Look at her, she's gorgeous!" Dallas replied, looking up at their lead singer with a teasing smirk. "Wouldn't you agree, Y/N/N?"
Megan froze for a second. Not only were the four most attractive seniors at her high school blatantly just commenting on how gorgeous she was, but also the fact that her long time crush was just asked if she found her attractive.
"Again," Y/N answered after demolishing the rest of her croissant. "Still a minor, Young."
The younger girl's shoulders slumped in disappointment after hearing her answer. She quickly recollected herself before serving the girls the same order; three hot chocolates and three pain au chocolates.
"I assume St Clair over here hasn't paid yet?" Axelle asked, and without waiting for an answer, pulled a $50 out of her wallet to give to the young brunette. "Keep the change, pretty." She joked with a wink, mostly just to rile the grey-eyed girl up.
Y/N let out a loud sigh at the interaction with a roll of her eyes as Megan took the bill and giggled. "Yo, what are we doing right now?" She directed at the drummer and the bassist. "Are we being for real?"
The girls laughed out loud while Megan offered a small bashful smile as she put her hand on the older girl's shoulder. "Aw, always so protective."
"Gotta be with these hyenas I keep around me," Y/N replied in a half-playful-half-menacing way, earning a scoff from the two bandmates sitting across from her. "Sorry Moo, they're so annoying."
Megan giggled as she walked away from the table, "no need for apologies! You know I never get annoyed at you guys."
The girls decided to let Megan focus on her job and just talked amongst themselves. Weekend plans, excitement for their upcoming gig, potential future gigs, letting themselves get delusional about stadiums they could end up selling out one day. Although Megan was working, she couldn't help but smile over hearing their conversations and at the thought of them selling out stadiums one day too.
She knew the four girls were extremely talented and definitely have what it takes to make it big in the music scene. Especially the girl that she can't stop glancing over at.
For the next hour, Megan kept glancing over every time Y/N laughed. It was almost embarrassing how automatic it had become. Not just today but for as long as she's known the older girl, it's like her attention had learned to orbit her long before Megan ever realised what having a crush was supposed to feel like.
Her head shot up at the sound of Madison's voice. "Thanks for the ka meaʻai, Meggy! Delicious as per." She smiled at the three girls making their way towards the door and thanked them for coming in and chatting with her. The three girls stood outside and waited as Y/N brought all of their plates and glasses up to the counter.
"In another life, you would've made a great waitress," the younger girl joked, taking all of the plates out of Y/N's hands with a grateful smile.
"Right? Tell shushu C that I've got my résumé ready for him if he's ever hiring," Y/N bantered back with a grin. "So you're actually gonna come tomorrow night, right?"
Megan's heart skipped a beat over the question. Maybe even two. Trying to sound casual, she replied, "yeah of course. Why?"
Y/N smiled and looked deeply into Megan's pretty eyes. "I play better when you're there," she said with a shrug and turned to leave with a wave as if it was so nonchalant. As if she hadn't just completely derailed the younger girl's nervous system. "See ya tomorrow, Moo!"
Megan couldn't even get a word out after that.