Archive of Our Own

Xander should have known that something was drastically different when he walked in and saw his favorite barista at the counter without a smile. Christian Syre had been the main reason that Xander had become a regular at the particular coffee shop he worked at, the little modern, cozy café that Blake had dragged him to one time, that had become part of his regular commute to work for years now. To see him greeting without a smile was like seeing the American flag without stars – but everyone had bad days.

He wasn’t wearing his white contact, either – perhaps he had been rushed this morning.

“Morning, Christian,” he said easily, glancing at the glass case with the pastries to see what was there. In doing so, he missed the eyebrow raise that the other man gave him. “I’ll have my regular, but give me a large today and add an extra shot of espresso… and… a cherry Danish.” He looked back up at the man, who was blank faced, and gave him a smile. “Rough morning? I see you’re missing your contact.”

Christian just stared at him. Xander shifted on his heels, for some reason feeling uncomfortable under the look of his friend, like a bug that was about to be crushed. Which was an odd feeling, one that Xander hadn’t felt around the man before.

This was the first time he’d seen Christian this pissed at work.

“…So, that lavender espresso?” asked Xander. “Iced, please.” If that’s okay with you came unbidden into his brain, and he swallowed it down with growing confusion. Instead, he laughed awkwardly. “Getting warmer, eh? Can’t really have it hot now…”

Christian looked at him blankly for another second, before typing it into the register. “Will that be cash or card today?” he asked, without looking up.

Xander always paid with card. Christian really must not want conversation today.

“Card. If that’s—.”

“And are you a member of our rewards program?”

Christian had his phone number memorized at this point. Xander gave it again, and Christian typed it in quickly. He always had a sort of confident fluidity about everything he did, but now…

“Your order will be on the end.” Christian opened the glass case, seeming a little more… stiff than normal, and grabbed the pastry with a pair of tongs to slide it into a paper bag. Everyone knew Xander liked them warm. “Have a good day.”

Had Xander… done something?

He walked away absently, desperately trying to think. He had forgotten to add a tip last time, but Christian didn’t really make a big fuss about tips – well, he did, but that was mostly a joke, Xander did think he’d actually get upset over that. He had argued with Ethan Collins in the café last week, but that was a common occurrence and it hadn’t even been that bad. He had joked about Christian needing glasses, but the man had laughed and told Xander that at least he could aim better blindfolded than Xander ever could. He had accidentally made Zeyn a little upset when the girl had been taking his order – but that had been two months ago and Christian had already forgiven him – he thought?

Among the patronage of the café, Xander spied the brunet head of Ethan Collins.

The cop raised an eyebrow as he turned to see Xander approach.

“Good morning?” he said, more of a wary question than anything else. The two of them were… friends, of a sort, not that Xander would ever admit that to Ethan. “Early day today.”

“Do you know what’s wrong with Christian?” Xander said, leaning close to Ethan so that he could speak in a low tone. Ethan’s brow furrowed, and he glanced behind Ethan, before looking back at him. “He’s not acting like himself – he’s – do you know if he’s mad at me?”

“No?” said Ethan, looking confused. “He seemed normal to me.” Xander glanced behind him, his eyes locking on the register, where Christian was taking the next customer, stony faced and… stiff. “Still his same annoying self—”

“No, no he’s not,” said Xander. “He didn’t say hello to me – he didn’t even warm up my Danish for me.” He held up the brown paper bag and shook it slightly for emphasis. Ethan was looking increasingly more confused. “You can’t tell me that’s ‘normal,’ Collins.”

A look crossed over Ethan’s face. “It’s not,” he said, and he leaned to look further past Xander. “Alex, you must’ve—”

“Alexander Lee!” called a familiar, cheerful voice across the café, and Xander turned around to see Zeyn. He smiled at the younger barista, making his way over to grab his coffee. As he did, he caught Christian’s eye at the register.

The man just stared at him, little more than a glower on his face.

“Good morning, Zeyn,” he said, grabbing his coffee. “How are you doing?”

“Pretty good!” Zeyn said. “How are you? Oh, I don’t know if Chris knows you’re here!”

“Oh, no, Zeyn – he knows—”

“Chris!” Zeyn called into the back, and Xander’s eyes shot to the register, before back to Zeyn and –

A head poking out from the back with a cheerful smile.

Xander blinked, rubbing his eyes, and then blinked again as – Chris? – walked out.

“It’s my favorite snowflake! How are you doing, Xan?”

“I – I—” he glanced back over at the register. Christian – was it? – was now leaning on the counter, cool gaze considering him.

He figured it out even before the actual Christian spoke.

“Oh, that’s my brother,” he said. “Dean – he goes to university back in Britian, he’s just back working here for the summer.”

“Oh,” said Xander faintly. “Hi – sorry.” He looked at – Dean, and the man’s facial expression did not change one bit. Looking at him was unnerving.

Christian snickered, drawing Xander’s attention back to him. “You thought that was me, huh? Trust me, I’d never look at you like that, Xander.”

“Right,” said Xander. He went to take a sip of his coffee, missing the opening in the lid altogether and having to redirect. “Well. Uh. Good to meet you, Dean – you never mentioned having a brother, Christian.”

“He comes and goes. He was here last summer, but he mainly worked the evening hours so I’m not surprised you didn’t see him. We started working here at the same time, though.”

“Really is a family business here then, huh,” said Xander. He was still getting over the shock of what had just happened (and the embarrassment of mistaking someone for another person, but he was sure Christian would forgive it of him – even if Dean didn’t). “All you need is Micah working here.”

“Little shit wouldn’t be caught dead in this level of customer service,” said Dean. Xander looked at him, and he straightened up, glancing at Christian. “How much longer do I have to be at the register?”

“Well – bye,” said Xander, and, “good luck,” also came out, unbidden. He turned around, ignoring Zeyn snickering as he made a beeline for the exit, resisting the urge to throw his coffee into the sympathy on Ethan’s face as he passed him. He had paid a dollar and twenty-five cents for that extra espresso, besides the drink and tax, dammit, he was not wasting it on the cop’s stupid little pity face. Yelling at him later would suffice.

~

“Why didn’t I know Christian had a brother until literally ten hours ago?” asked Xander, pacing across the room in long strides. His roommate raised an eyebrow, taking another long sip of – well, that better not be coffee, even though Xander was pretty sure it was. “And why didn’t you warn me?”

“I was trying to,” said Ethan. “I was interrupted.” He raised an eyebrow at Xander. “And when would that have come up? I had to find out about him on my own, too.”

“Christian didn’t tell you either?”

“Came home over the holidays. He doesn’t work over Christmas, but he came into the shop and cussed me out.”

Xander turned to face Ethan.

“Why?”

“Because of Christian. He’s really protective over him, apparently.” Ethan took another sip of coffee. “He threatened to tear my tongue out of my throat if I ever said anything to make him cry.”

“I thought you guys weren’t dating—”

“We aren’t. We weren’t then, either.”

“Fucking hell. He sounds – like a character.”

“And his brother isn’t?”

That was – fair, Xander conceded. “Well, good luck with him as a brother-in-law.”

“I’m not – you know what, I don’t even care anymore,” said Ethan, and Xander snickered.

“Hey, Christian chose you, not me,” said Xander, and Ethan grumbled like the old man he was, getting up from his chair and going to wash out his empty mug. Xander watched him with a small smirk. “I can see why, too.”

“Oh, fuck off,” said Ethan.

“Hey, man, we’re both single,” said Xander – even though he knew damn well that Ethan was just as invested, if not more, in Christian Syre than Christian Syre was in him. “And I’d tap that.”

“First of all, no,” said Ethan, and Xander snickered again. “Second of all, what makes you think you’d be doing the tapping?”

“I’m down for both ways,” said Xander. Ethan turned around to stare at him, unimpressed, and Xander waggled his eyebrows at him. “Unless you have some boyfriend I don’t know about.”

Ethan didn’t dignify that with a response. He did, however, hit Xander over the head as he passed by him to the living room. Xander decided not to retaliate; that would have been the sixth physical fight this week. It was Wednesday.

~

“Good morning, I’ll have—”

“Regular?” asked Dean, already typing it in.

“Uh, yeah – the lav—”

“Yes, yes, I know,” said Dean snippishly. His accent was more pronounced than Christian’s was, but considering he just came from Britian, Xander wasn’t surprised. “Anything else?”

“Just a butter croissant,” said Xander, and got out his card. “And my number is—”

“I have it in,” said Dean, and Xander blinked. He brought up the pay screen, before going over to the glass case and opening it as Xander paid.

“Oh,” said Xander, as Dean grabbed the croissant, “could I have it…” he paused as the other man, not even sparing him a glance, went over to the microwave, placed the pastry on a plate, and put it in. “Warmed.”

Dean looked back at him, looking unimpressed. “You’re holding up the line,” he said blandly. Xander glanced behind him. There was no one behind him except a blonde girl who had just walked in, looking down at her phone. Xander looked back at Dean, before moving over to wait for his drink by the counter.

He got his own phone out, settling down to wait and pretending not to be watching Dean as he took the girl’s order with about as much enthusiasm as a cat watching paint dry. It was odd to see someone at the café who didn’t have a… pleasant demeanor around customers.

“Alex…Xander!” called Kai, and Xander looked up from his phone in time to catch Kai giving the cup an odd glance before looking up at him with his signature, winning smile. “Hi, I thought I heard your voice! Nice to see you, man!”

“You too, haven’t seen you in forever,” Xander said. “They put you on morning shift? I thought Christian said you had classes now.”

“They needed someone to cover for the morning, and the class finished last week. So, I’ll be working on Thursday mornings for the next couple weeks. Maddie’s gone.”

Yes, Ethan had told him about that; the twins were going to NYC to visit their mother’s side of the family. “Is Edward going to have to change his routine for that time?” Xander teased, and Kai sent him a smile.

“Maybe,” he shrugged, side eyeing Xander and looking across the counter innocently. “He wouldn’t want his boyfriend to feel all alone at work.”

“Boyfriend?—”

“Yup, just last week actually—”

“Korey! You at work or what?”

Xander glanced over at where Dean was glaring at them, and Kai chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry,” he said, “I’ll tell you about it later. This fucker, though – I swear.”

“You don’t come to work to gossip, dipshit,” Dean yelled back, and Xander took his coffee and croissant. Before he took a sip, he caught the name written in long, calligraphic handwriting along the cup.

Alexander

They all wrote his name as Xander. He shook his head, glancing back at where Dean and Kai were arguing while Zeyn, coming out from the back, was taking over the register, and he chuckled slightly.

~

Dean may have been a menace to the patrons who haunted his place of work, but damn if the man couldn’t make good coffee.

“Alexander,” he had called across the room to where Xander was bickering with his roommate. He turned, going towards the man and taking his coffee.

“And my—” Dean handed him his bag with the bagel inside of it. “Oh. Thanks. Is there—” Dean dropped the container of cream cheese inside, all while looking at Xander with the deadest stare known to mankind.

Dean had threatened Ethan. Xander wondered if he disliked him for his past crush on Christian. Christian must have told him about it; they were twin brothers, after all. Xander was over it, had been for over a year, but he was recognizable enough as “the tall, albino one with long hair.”

He had seen Dean making this coffee, hadn’t he.

He was watching Xander with the intensity of a hawk now.

“Thank you,” he said, tacking on a “Dean” at the end for good measure. He always tried to learn all his baristas names; it was common curtesy, when one was a regular. He took a sip, praying to whatever was listening above that it hadn’t been poisoned, and—

If Xander had come for the reoccurring presence of Christian Syre in his life, he was definitely staying the coffee that his brother made. It was more bitter than usual, tacked on with the perfect amount of sweet and the floral notes of lavender that mixed well with the coffee.

Dean was still watching him.

“You make—” Xander stopped himself, not knowing if Dean wanted the compliment. “Uh. Thank you,” he said again instead, and Dean stared at him a second longer, before turning around and busying himself with – well, nothing, because there wasn’t another drink order.

Xander turned around, ignoring Ethan’s curious look and walked briskly out of the café.

~

The next day was Saturday. Xander brought his book (Pride and Premeditation; his best friend’s girlfriend, Nina, and he had started trading book recommendations; she was on A Storm of Swords in the Game of Thrones series, and when he was done with this book Nina had him on Red, White, and Royal Blue) and sat down at his usual Saturday table with a white chocolate raspberry latte and a blueberry muffin (not warmed; Xander didn’t like his muffins warmed). Ethan wasn’t here to bother him with his mere presence, and it didn’t look like Dean was working today, so he wasn’t under the intense perusal of the angry British man. Xander simply existed, leaning back in his chair and letting the sounds of the café, busy on a Saturday, wash over him as he read.

He glanced up as the seat in front of him was pulled back and Christian sat down, a cup of hot drink in his hand.

“On your break?” he asked. Christian grinned at him. “Is Dean not working today?”

“No. He’s only working part time, Wednesday through Friday and every other Sunday.” Christian took a sip of what Xander assumed was tea. “Why do you ask?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

“I was just wondering,” said Xander, sliding his ribbon bookmark in and closing his book. “You never told me you had a brother.”

“Never really came up,” said Christian was a shrug. “He doesn’t have social media, either; doesn’t really like it. So, I don’t post much with him.”

That made sense. “That doesn’t surprise me,” said Xander, and Christian nodded. “He seems… intense.”

“He is,” Christian agreed, “he’s his own special brand, and he doesn’t get close to people easily. We’ve always been best friends, though, ever since we were kids.”

“That’s nice,” said Xander. He thought about asking the man if Dean happened to have a dislike of him, but he decided that would be a strange topic of conversation. “Did you guys ever do twin switching stuff?”

“A lot, yeah.” Christian smirked. “Mummy could always tell, though. But before she left Maverick, we’d prank him. We were little shits to him, especially Dean. He would look him dead in the eye and spit in his tea.”

That also didn’t surprise Xander. “Hopefully he doesn’t do that to my coffee,” he said, “…he can do it to Ethan’s, though.”

Christian raised an eyebrow. Xander shrugged and took another sip of his latte.

“You’d better be nice to him, Xander,” said Christian, “because I’m going to marry him someday, and if you want to be my bridesmaid, you’d better get along with my future wife.”

“Wouldn’t you be the wife if I was your bridesmaid?” asked Xander.

“Grooms can have bridesmaids. I’m going to make Ethan a housewife, anyway. He won’t have to work.”

Xander snorted. “Sure, like he won’t be doing that to you. But you’re jumping the gun a little bit; you’ve got to actually become boyfriends, first.”

“Oh, we are,” said Christian breezily, “he just keeps denying it for some reason.”

“Maybe because he hasn’t actually agreed to it?”

Christian shrugged nonchalantly, before leaning in, his eyes a little intense as he looked at Xander. “He… does actually like me though, right?”

“Of course he does,” said Xander with a small laugh. Christian’s confidence was a bit of a fragile thing sometimes. Xander was pleased that the younger man trusted him enough to show him that side. “He’s just not sure about a relationship right now. You know how Mason is, and he’s also worried about the age gap since you’re still in college.”

Christian relaxed slightly. “Yeah, I know about that. I can just kill Mason though – that doesn’t have to be a concern.”

“Don’t do that,” said Xander. “I don’t think you could come back from that with Ethan.”

“He’s not even going to come to the wedding anyway, though,” said Christian. “Which is a shame. Because if he did, I could make him and Dean do a brother-in-law dance.”

“I think if you did, he’d end up being murdered anyway,” Xander said. For a brief second, he panicked – that may have been too far – but Christian just snickered some more.

“That’s the point?” he said, and Xander laughed.

“Sure, right,” he said. “Just make him do a brother-in-law dance with Ethan.” He took another sip of his coffee.

“But then my future wife would be dead,” said Christian, and Xander choked.

~

“I’m not his wife,” said Ethan. Xander just shrugged, grinning at him.

“You could be,” he said. Ethan flipped him off. “Oh, don’t add any green peppers to mine, please.”

“Green peppers are the main source of happiness on pizza,” said Ethan, but he dumped the rest of the chopped vegetable onto his own personal pizza.

Yeah, he’d make an excellent housewife, but Xander valued the lack of green peppers and poisonous substances on his pizza, so he kept his mouth shut.

~

He finished Pride and Premeditation on Tuesday night. He texted Nina, then Evelyn, when her girlfriend hadn’t responded to him in five minutes. When Evelyn hadn’t texted back, he pulled up another text chat.

Favorite Barista (Christian)

Hey, you got any book recs?

ranchck?
im tryin to seduce my wife >:)

Xander snorted, typing out a Lol sure. He went to Edward’s text chat, but just then he got a text back from Nina. Christian didn’t text him back for the rest of the night.

~

“Xander!” called Zeyn across the café, and Xander looked up, immediately spotting the book that was placed beside his drink.

“Thanks, Zeyn,” he said, smiling as the girl cheesed at him. He glanced down at the book. Ender’s Game. He had heard of that. “What’s this?”

“Brother told me to give it to you,” said Zeyn. “It’s pretty good.” She pointedly slid the book closer to Xander.

“Well, tell him thank you,” said Xander. “When does he want it back by?”

“He didn’t say,” said Zeyn, “but probably at least before Dean goes back to England.”

Xander hummed, thumbing over to the first page. There, in familiar calligraphy was a carefully written Property of Dean C. Syre in inky pen.

“Does Dean know Christian’s lending this out?” Xander asked.

“I think he actually gave it to Chris to lend to you,” she said.

“Oh.” He peaked towards the back, but he couldn’t see Dean. “Well, say thanks to him too, from me.”

“Of course!” said Zeyn as Xander took his coffee and the book.

~

“Matcha latte today,” said Xander as he came up to the counter. “And a butter croissant. Hi, Dean.”

“Good morning, Alexander,” said Dean, typing in the order before looking up at him, brown eyes piercing through Xander. “I’m assuming you got the book?”

“Yeah. I haven’t started it, yet. My friend and I trade recommendations, so I’ve just started her newest one.”

“Hm.” Dean hummed. “Well, if you don’t want the book—”

“No, no I’ll read it,” said Dean. “It’ll be a break from the romances she keeps recommending. Not that they’re bad, it’s just the fourth one in a row.”

“What book is it?” Dean asked.

“Red, White, and Royal Blue,” said Xander. Dean’s face wrinkled at that.

“Interesting choice,” he muttered under his breath, turning to grab the croissant.

Xander blinked.

“So,” said Dean, “your friend into gay romance, then?”

“This is the first one she’s had me read,” said Xander. “But, considering she has a girlfriend, I’d guess she is.”

Dean made a noise of acknowledgement, looking back up at Xander over the case. “And you?”

“Yeah – I mean, romance is typically not my go-to genre, but if I’m reading it I’ll read gay, straight, anything really. As long as it’s well written.”

“Makes sense,” said Dean, “considering you were looking into a gay romance with my brother for a while.”

Xander choked on his spit. What the hell was it with these Syre boys and saying the most out of pocket things? He didn’t even have a chance to respond before Dean was disappearing into the back, leaving Xander flustered and a shocked, but, to Xander’s despair, amused looking Kai to take the next person’s orders. From the back, Xander could hear cackling.

He didn’t look Christian in the eye as he gave him Xander’s matcha, still chuckling much too much for Xander’s comfort.

~

“He said that?” asked Eve from the other side of the line. Xander groaned, flopping his head into his arm.

“Yes,” he bemoaned, “loud enough for everyone to hear. Christian and Kai were laughing at me.”

“What a dick,” Eve said, clicking her tongue. “This is why I’m not attracted to men.”

“Lucky,” groused Xander.

“Date a woman, Xander,” Eve said, “Please. The straight women need all the nice boys they can get, and you’re not only nice, you’re a bisexual with a fashion sense.”

“I know, I know,” said Xander. “I just keep falling for men. Shitty men, at that.”

The other side of the line was quiet for a second. “Alexander,” said Eve, her tone sounding warning. Xander’s brows furrowed. What had he said?

“What?” he asked, bemusement clear in his voice.

“…Nothing,” said Eve. “No more shitty men from now on, okay? Stick to women, or if it has to be a man, choose a sweet one.”

“Yes ma’am,” said Xander. He was still confused on why Eve had sounded like she was about to scold him for something he’d done.

~

He got to chapter four of Red, White, and Royal Blue that night. It was good, not exactly what Xander would have picked for himself, but well written enough that he could reasonably absorbed and involved with the characters.

He was, however, finding it hard for some reason this particular night.

It wasn’t that it had dropped off at all from the previous three chapters, but Xander found himself breezing over paragraphs, having to go back and reread them once he realized. After about the fifth time, he slid his bookmark in, giving a huff and setting the book down on the coffee table.

Ethan passed him, glancing down and snorting slightly. “Really? That’s for teenagers, Alex.”

“Like you’d know, old man,” said Xander. Ethan graciously didn’t comment on the fact that Xander was three months older. “But no, it’s actually decently engaging. Nina recommended it.”

“Of course she did,” Ethan said. “Did you know that she actually unironically likes the Twilight series?”

Xander shuddered. “I do not want to know what conversations you two have at work if that’s the precedent.”

“Probably not.” Ethan came over and sat down, picking up the book. “Mind if I take a look?”

“Not at all,” said Xander, and Ethan picked up the book, flipping it to take a glance at the back before turning to the first page. Xander felt his gaze wander, over past the window to the TV, then under it, where he kept his borrowed books.

He stood up, going to his room to grab another bookmark, then came back to sit with Ethan, grabbing Ender’s Game on the way.

~

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” said Christian, but Xander could tell that he didn’t mean it with his chest.

“Sure,” said Xander. “I’ll have just my regular, please. Also – you both know that’s over, right?”

“Oh, yeah, I know,” said Christian, smirking at him. “I’m still attractive though, right?”

“Yes, yes,” Xander said, rolling his eyes. “You absolute Leo, you are attractive.”

“You know,” said Christian, leaning across the counter, like he was about to share a conspiracy with Xander, “I have an identical twin brother.”

“Haha, very funny,” Xander said, deadpan. “I’m sure that’s your favorite joke, huh.”

Christian waggled his eyebrows. “I’m just saying, man,” he said. “He’s gay, too.”

“Damn, Samuel Syre must be some sort of queer,” said Xander. “He didn’t even have one straight kid.”

Christian shrugged. “Neither did your dad,” he said, and Xander had to concede he was correct.

Dean caught his eye from the back as Bitter handed Xander his drink. Xander smiled and waved at him. Dean nodded.

~

He went back in forth between the two books. Ender’s Game was shorter, so he finished it first.

He brought it to the café on Sunday. Dean was on his break when he got there, looking at something on his phone. He looked up when Xander came in, eyes tracking him as he came over.

“You finished it?” he asked when Xander put it down on the table. Xander nodded. “I thought you had that other book you were reading. The gay one.”

“I’ve been reading both,” said Xander. “It was good.”

“There’s continuation,” said Dean, putting his phone face down on the table. “I can lend you some of my other books. If you’re interested.”

“Sure,” said Xander. “Have you read any Game of Thrones?”

“No. Are they any good?”

“I like them. I have Nina on the third book right now.”

“Nina?”

“My friend. She’s Ethan’s coworker.” Dean made a face at that.

“Fucking cops,” he said. Xander held back a chuckle. “Cop into romance?”

“I guess,” said Xander, then added, “At least, that’s what Christian’s hoping for.”

Dean glared at him. There wasn’t any real heat to it.

“I’ll bring Game of Thrones,” Xander said after an awkward second. “You bring?...”

“Who are you more interested in?” Dean asked, tilting his head to the side. “Ender or Bean?”

“Is Valentine an answer?”

“No. Pick.”

Xander did actually laugh at that. Dean’s stare changed into something unreadable. “Sorry, sorry. Ender, then.”

“I’ll bring Speaker for the Dead,” said Dean, getting up and putting his phone in his pocket.

“Interesting name,” said Xander. “What would the other option have been?”

Dean looked at him for a moment, that same expression still in his eye. It was something along the lines of… curiosity.

Interest? Was Xander interesting to the man?

“You’ll have to wait until you’ve read through Ender’s saga,” said Dean, before he walked away towards the counter.

Zeyn was behind the counter, looking at them. Xander smiled and waved at the girl, and she raised her eyebrows with a smirk. Xander wasn’t sure what that was about.

~

Unknown Number

Bring the book today. Christian or Zeyn will bring Speaker.

Got it got it ^^

~

“Texting someone without their permission is—”

“Don’t worry about it, Ethan,” said Xander. “Wouldn’t want you to get anymore grey hairs over it.”

~

Coffee Bean (Dean)

How you liking it?

Better than I thought I would.
I’m assuming you’ve read Lord of the Rings.

~

“Ethan told Nina you’re cheating on her,” said Eve. Xander grinned and rolled his eyes.

“I’m just lending out my Game of Thrones to someone else,” he said. “Just the first book, tell her not to worry about giving the third back.”

“Those two are so dramatic. You going to bring this new person into book club?”

“Maybe.” Xander took a sip of tea. “I don’t know if Nina would like him, though.”

“Oh? Who is it?”

“Christian’s brother, the one I was telling you about.”

“…Right.”

~

Red, White, and Royal Blue sat untouched for a good couple days. To Xander’s credit, he at least did feel guilty about it.

~

“He got me flowers, Alex,” Ethan groaned. Xander grinned at him, and Ethan turned to bury his head into arms. “Flowers,” he moaned.

“That’s why you’ve turned into a tomato,” Xander said. “What kind?”

“Lilies.” Xander’s grinned widened. Ethan’s favorite; Xander had to wonder where Chris had gotten that information. “It means nothing.”

“Oh, that’s why you’re blushing,” said Xander. “Because it means nothing. Got it.”

Ethan raised his head, glaring at Xander. “Like you’re any better with Dean,” he said. “You two and your little book swap.”

Xander blinked.

“What?—” but Ethan was already getting up, grabbing the bouquet of lilies and fleeing to his room.

~

Ethan’s words made him think. On Wednesday, he looked at Dean while he waited for his lavender espresso. If the man noticed him looking, he didn’t say anything.

~

“Regular, and?” Dean asked.

“Actually,” said Xander, “why don’t you surprise me? And a chocolate croissant,” he tacked on. Dean tilted his head in consideration.

“Brave of you to ask me,” said Dean, typing it in. It was slightly more expensive than usual. “Caffeinated, I assume.”

“Of course. Unless you want me to have a headache all day.”

Dean clicked his tongue. “Coffee addicts,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Xander wasn’t sure if he was imagining the layer of fondness under his annoyed tone.

Ethan was sitting at his table, looking at his phone. He glanced up when Xander came over.

“Talked to your husband yet?”

“I don’t have a husband,” said Ethan, his cheeks turning a little pink.

“Don’t leave the poor kid hanging,” laughed Xander. “He probably paid good money, those looked really nice.”

“Sure,” said Ethan. “I’ll… talk to him.”

Xander felt his brows shoot up.

“But not in front of—”

“Alexander!” called Dean. Xander turned around to see the tail-end of a nasty glare towards Ethan. He glanced back at the cop, who was pretending he hadn’t seen it.

Xander made his way over to the counter.

“You can’t glare at that man every time you see him, Dean,” said Xander.

“I don’t like him,” said Dean, handing the drink to Xander.

“Well, he might be your brother’s boyfriend soon,” Xander said, and the face Dean made was not pleasant. “Do I get to know what this is?”

“Try it and guess,” said Dean, leaning against the counter. He had a small smirk on his face as he watched Xander.

“Let’s hope you haven’t poisoned it,” Xander said, and Dean raised one eyebrow, his smirk growing slightly. Xander took a sip and was immediately assaulted in the face by the taste of blueberries.

“Mm!” he said, then, “Mm—” as the notes of coffee hit. It was sweet and bitter and rich all at once. He furrowed his brows, taking another, longer sip.

Dean was still watching him.

“This is good,” said Xander. “Is this what you like?”

“I like black coffee,” said Dean blandly. “Not that syrupy shit. But you like fruit and floral flavored things. I figured you would like this, unless for some reason you hated blueberry flavor.”

“I’ve never really had it in drinks,” Xander said, “but I do like it. A lot. Probably helps that you make really good coffee.”

“Sure,” said Dean. “Or else it’s the syrup that’s taken over your tastebuds because you can’t enjoy actual coffee.”

“Hey,” said Xander, “I enjoy ‘actual coffee.’ There’s espresso in there, isn’t there?”

“You keep telling yourself that, and maybe someday—”

“Dean!” yelled Kai. “You at work or what?”

“I’m going to kill his incompetent—” growled Dean, whirling around and grabbing a cup to start a drink order. Xander couldn’t help the small laugh that bubbled up.

~

Coffee Bean (Dean)

Tell your fucking roommate that I actually fucking hate him.

Xander glanced up with a grin. “Dean hates you.”

“Tell him to piss off,” Ethan yelled from the living room. Xander laughed, stirring the curry. The lentils still weren’t quite soft enough yet.

He says to piss off :D

He already pisses me off enough.
Motherfucker.

Why are you mad at him now?

He’s all I hear about all day.
My idiot of a brother would go to jail just to be able to see him.

Aww, that’s so romantic!
Why won’t you do stuff like that for me?

Three dots appeared and disappeared for about five minutes. There was no response, in the end.

~

“Sorry if my text last night was weird,” said Xander. “I meant it as a joke. I flirt with some of my friends, but I can—”

“Chill,” said Dean. “I don’t mind.” He handed Xander his coffee, then turned away quickly.

Xander noticed the small heart beside his name halfway down the block. He couldn’t bring himself to throw the cup away when he had finished his drink.

~

Grocery shopping was always a pain to fit into Xander’s schedule, but he and Ethan took turns like the civilized roommates they pretended not to be, and it was Xander’s turn. He actually didn’t mind the actual process; it was Ethan who didn’t like the entire concept of the chore. Xander had, as a small child, gone shopping with his mama, and she had taught him how to properly look for things at a young age.

She had gone, because she didn’t trust anyone besides herself to pick out the best produce. Now that Xander lived with Ethan Collins, he could relate; the man would come back with the bad brand of carrots and mushy tomatoes, as well as several different sugar cereals instead of Bran or Cheerios.

The only reason Xander still had him grocery shop was that Ethan insisted on paying for groceries. Which, he didn’t have to do, Xander had more than enough money to pay for weekly groceries ten times over every other day, but he could appreciate the man’s want for exercising his financial independence. He had been kicked out while relying on someone else before; Xander would never try to put Ethan in the position where he felt like he depended on him or owed him at all.

Anyways, shopping had other positive aspects to it. Such interacting with people, which Ethan sorely needed to do more of, outside of his job or the close friends that he stuck to. He was very much a hermit, and Xander had taken it upon himself to social him outside of his hole.

Sometimes, he even ran into people who he knew.

“Fancy seeing you here, Xander,” said Christian, leaning his arms against the cart he was pushing and grinning at Xander. Xander smiled, taking the tomatoes that he had been weighing off the scale.

Micah, his younger adoptive brother, was with him, as well as Dean. Now that they were side by side, Xander could tell that there was a slight difference in height between the twins; Dean was slightly taller than Christian. Neither of them were wearing the white contacts today.

“Nice to see you, too. Micah, hi, I haven’t seen you in a while.” The teenager raised his hand to give Xander a wave, before shoving it back in his kangaroo pocket. “Hello to you too, Dean. I don’t think I see you two out of work much these days.”

“I know,” said Christian, “we should get together again sometime. I’ll invite my friends, you invite yours…”

“That’s just an excuse to see Ethan, isn’t it,” said Micah, and Christian raised his hands defensively.

“Hey, hey, it could easily be an excuse to get Kai and Edward together in a social setting – they’re both so busy, they need people to organize their dates, those two.”

“I don’t think they’re having much of a problem with that,” laughed Xander. His eyes tracked the way that Dean kept watching him. “Anyway, I won’t keep you from the tomatoes. I’ll text you, yeah? And Dean, you have to tell me how Game of Thrones is going.”

“I will,” said Dean, and Xander grinned, moving his cart.

“Have a good day!” said Christian. Then, when he thought Xander couldn’t hear him, “Damn, that ass though.”

Xander couldn’t keep himself from snorting as he moved around the aisle.

He grabbed an onion, weighing it in his hand.

“…imagine why you chose that cop over him when you had the choice,” he heard. His ears pricked up, and he glanced over the aisle to where the boys still were. He could just about see the shit eating grin that Christian sent Dean.

“Careful, D,” he said. “Your jealousy is showing.”

“I am not jealous, I’m simply saying that if I had the choice, it would be an obvious one.”

“Not everyone has your taste, Dean,” said Micah.

“Well, my taste is obviously superior, so maybe more people should,” sniffed Dean. “He’s objectively more attractive, he has more money, he’s stronger, he’s a better protector…”

“Just say you want to date him and be done with this,” snickered Christian. Xander couldn’t see Dean’s expression from where he was. He could only imagine his own at the moment.

Micah leaned in, saying something in a low voice, and Dean’s shoulders tensed. After a second, Christian’s started to shake in laughter.

It was only then that Xander realized he had dropped his onion. He quickly bent down, grabbing it from the floor. He stayed there for a couple seconds, trying to process what the hell had just happened. When he stood back up, the three brothers had moved on. Xander finished up his shopping quickly, so to avoid them. None of them needed to see how pink Xander could actually get; Christian already had, at one point, and Xander wasn’t quite ready to do a repeat of that.

~

The next Wednesday, Xander got up bright and early. He had asked if he could come into work thirty minutes later than usual. Of course, his dear mama acquiesced to that request.

He had considered flowers, but he wasn’t quite sure if Dean would appreciate that at his place of work, and in public. Flowers could be for later, in private.

Ethan raised an eyebrow as he buttoned up his uniform. “You’re off early,” he said. “Got an early meeting.”

Xander considered making a joke about Ethan’s old man habits, or making some sly remark that, oh yes, he did have a meeting, a very special one.

“I’m going to ask out Dean,” he said instead. Ethan’s eyebrows shot up.

“That – Alex, what?”

“I think he likes me,” said Xander, wringing his hands together. That was the thing; he was nearly completely sure, but there was still a niggle of doubt in his mind. Today, however, would take care of that.

“I mean, I knew that—”

“And I – wait, you knew? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It was pretty obvious,” said Ethan. “I’d say the poor man wasn’t even trying to hide it, but I’m pretty sure he was, at least for awhile.”

“I – wait, how?”

“Haven’t you noticed that you’re literally the only customer – person other than Christian, really – that he has conversations with? That he doesn’t insult constantly? Hell, Alex, you guys text. About books.”

“That could’ve just been—”

“Friendly?” Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alex, the both of you are so awkward and oblivious, you deserve each other.”

“I – wait, what do you mean me too?”

“How long have you liked him?”

Xander opened his mouth, and then closed it, flushing.

“How long have you known you liked him?”

Xander flushed even brighter, looking away.

“Fuck you,” he said.

“No thanks,” said Ethan blandly. “Ask Dean instead, you might get a different answer.”

“Ethan!—”

“Go, go,” said Ethan, and he was laughing. “You two deserve each other, I swear.” He walked over and patted Xander on the arm. “Told you that you’d find someone. Make sure he treats you right, okay?”

“Eve is going to be so mad at me.”

“She absolutely is. Good luck with that, all I can say.”

~

Dean had determined to act like nothing had happened. If Alexander had wanted to talk about it, he would have texted him. Thus, the man wanted to ignore it.

That was fine with Dean. It may not have sat well, but he could live with it. This way, he didn’t need to worry about a potential rejection, anyway; Alexander must know, and they could now both skirt around the issue.

Dean wondered idly if Alexander would ask for anymore books from him.

He came in earlier than expected. Dean was in the back when he heard him, cheerfully chatting to Christian. He scowled slightly; he would never admit to Christian that he was jealous. He wouldn’t. Alexander had liked Christian first. It was just a fact of nature.

Maybe, if he had met Dean earlier – no.

Dean’s scowl deepened, and he resolved himself not to go out to see the stupid man.

“Dean!” called Christian. “Could use some help out here!”

Dean considered taking his break early out of spite, but that would have been a bad idea. He pushed the cleaned out coffee machine back against the wall, more forcefully than he probably should have, slung the damp towel over his shoulder, and stalked out into the front, nose in the air, decidedly not looking around for the white-haired man he knew was standing off to the side. Out of the corner of his good eye, he saw Zeyn slip into the back.

“Dean,” called a voice, and Dean closed his eyes. No, he couldn’t deal with this right now.

However, not dealing with it would only push off the inevitable. If Alexander wanted a public denial, fine.

He turned on his heel and walked towards where the man was standing. He turned his head slightly, favoring his left side so that he wouldn’t have to look directly at Alexander.

“Good morning,” he said. He saw the corner of Alexander’s mouth that he could see lift up.

“Morning, Dean,” he said, and his voice was… soft.

It pinged a memory into Dean’s brain, without warning.

It was Christmastime. Dean wasn’t working during the holidays, but he was still well known enough that he could walk into the back without anyone telling him otherwise. Especially if it was to dragged his overworked brother out.

He had walked back out, throwing the apron he had forcibly removed from Christian into the laundry basket on the side. He hadn’t worn his glasses today, and the basket was on his left, so he missed it. Swearing, he leaned down to pick it up.

Only to find someone bending down and picking it up for him, placing it in the basket. Long, white hair that nearly touched the floor as the man knelt down, and then he looked up, and all Dean could see were sparkling icy blue eyes.

“Easy,” said the man, a small laugh bubbling up from his throat. “You’ve had a long day, Christian, haven’t you.”

Dean blinked down at him. He hadn’t worn his contact this evening, not anticipating seeing anyone besides a couple coworkers and his brother. He knew Christian, most of the time, wore his, out of solidarity to him.

“You sure you’re going to be fine for the ride back?” the man asked, tilting his head. He was still down on the floor, and his soft blue eyes looking up at Dean were doing… something to Dean’s stomach.

Butterflies.

What the actual fuck.

“I’ll be fine,” he said absently. “My brother’s picking me up.”

“Oh, I forgot, Micah just got his license, didn’t he.” Before Dean could correct him, he stood up. “Well, sleep well tonight. I know it’s busy, but don’t let them bully you into working tomorrow, okay? You deserve a rest day. I’ll see you Monday, and not a day sooner, got it, Christian?”

Dean nodded, and the man smiled, patting his arm before leaving.

Dean watched him go.

Later, when he asked Christian about it, he learned the man’s name. Alexander Lee. The man who had been attempting to court his brother.

Dean, who was nothing like the charismatic, kind, sweet man, had no chance.

“I know this is kind of sudden,” said Xander. His hands were behind his back. Dean turned so that he could see him more in focus. “But I was thinking… would you like to go out with me sometime? Get to know each other better, maybe.”

He rocked back and forth once as Dean processed what had just been said.

He barely stopped himself from blurting out “like a date?” before he settled himself.

“Where were you thinking?”

“What food do you like? We could grab dinner, then maybe go on a walk somewhere.”

Dean stared at him. Alexander cleared his throat, looking increasingly more and more nervous.

“You – like sushi?”

“You do realize I’m not Christian,” said Dean blankly.

“Yes?” said Alexander, tilting his head again. Those gorgeous blue eyes stared at him, questioning, perceiving. “I’ve been over Christian for a while, Dean. This isn’t about him.”

“I like sushi,” said Dean. “I’m free on Saturday. Text me.”

He then turned around, heading straight to the back. Fuck whatever Christian was going to have him do.

He wondered if Alexander would appreciate him bringing lavender on the date. They were, coincidentally, in season.