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Will has had a shit day, to say the least.
He may or may not have overslept his alarm by 20 minutes, had none of his favourite cereal left in his apartment, and the usual subway he took to class was broken down.
And that was all before 12pm.
Once he finally made it to Art History class, his least favourite class by far, he came to the devastating realisation that he forgot his essay that was due, in the midst of his hurrying that morning.
To top it all off, he had to go to work after all his lectures.
It was a small, pet friendly coffee shop near his campus. He got a decent payslip at the end of each month, and he always loved to see all the unique dogs and cats that people would bring in from time to time. Once he even saw a rabbit.
To be fair, the owner was a chill, sweet old lady who used to teach at NYU in her youth. She always let him and Max schedule their shifts together.
But today, upon arriving at the shop, he realised Max was nowhere to be seen.
He found a small sticky note on his locker that read,
‘Sorry, Lucas surprised me with a date so I had to leave early, I’ll make it up to you, Max!’
At that point in the day, Will felt like slamming his head into the locker. He loved Lucas, he seemed like a really great guy. Max had also informed him he was best friends with a guy that was apparently Will’s exact type. So he supposed he could be okay with Max ditching their shifts to go out with him, especially if it might benefit him.
He grabbed his apron from his locker and began his thankfully short shift. He didn’t have to close this evening as Susan had offered to stay behind, something about repaying Will for the time he covered her shifts when she was sick.
He didn’t mind the coffee shop at this time. It was a Friday, so the afternoons were pretty quiet, most people choosing to get themselves dolled up for the night instead of using the shop as a study area.
The time was flying by, surprisingly so, seeing as Max wasn’t there to keep him entertained.
He glanced over at the clock, it was 4:51pm, his shift would be ending soon, and thank fuck for that.
Will wanted nothing more than to just relax. He wanted to go and hide in a corner and draw.
Not for any of his classes though.
He just wanted to draw for himself. He wanted to people watch, draw whatever inspired him at that moment. Maybe he should head to the park, which was always pretty empty at this time.
He began to clean up the area he was working at. The place was pretty desolate and he may as well not leave Susan with the burden of having to clean the entire place by herself.
He turned back to the coffee machine and began to wipe it down, he knew how much Susan hated it.
“Hey Will” a voice called out from behind him.
Great.
As if Will’s day couldn’t get any better.
“Hi Chance,” Will said, plastering on the fakest smile he could, employee protocol or whatever.
This dude seemed to never be able to take the hint that Will was not interested.
He continued to pursue Will every single time.
It didn’t matter if Will was alone or surrounded by his group of friends.
He didn’t even try to be romantic about it. It was as if he just knew one other gay guy and thought ‘hey, he’s gay, he must want to go out with me’
As if Will didn’t have standards. Like seriously he’d seen the way he treated boys AND girls at parties. He would never even consider dating someone as cruel as him.
He’d also seen the way he’d frown at people who brought in their pets, as if this wasn't a literally pet friendly coffee shop.
“What can I get for you?” he asked, trying to sound as polite as he could.
“Oh, just my usual,” Chance responded, adding a little wink at the end.
Seriously, what was this guy's problem?
Did he think they were in some cheesy romcom movie where Will just knew his order off the top of his head because he was just oh so in love with him.
Pft. not a chance.
“Sorry, I’m not sure what that is” Will shrugged, “we get a lot of people in here you know”
Chance faltered for a moment, seeming taken back.
“Oh, just a cappuccino,” he mumbled, handing over a few dollars to Will.
Christ, Will thought, if he wanted Will to remember him, he should have gone with a more unique drink, a trillion people order this bland drink.
He turned back to the machine and began to make the drink, hoping Chance would not try to start up a conversation.
Luck seemed to just not be on Will’s side today however.
“So, you doing anything tonight?” He heard Chance ask from behind him, “I heard there’s going to be a pretty cool party on in my apartment building”
Will internally groaned, did this guy seriously think he was going to go to a party with him?
“Yeah, I’m pretty busy tonight, actually,” Will replied, keeping his voice monotone, even though he was extremely tempted to scream at the lad to take a hint.
“Oh, maybe some other time then?” he asked, pulling a smug grin.
Will put the mug in front of Chance and rolled his eyes, screw company protocol.
“No Chance, there’s not going to be another time, I’m not interested” he sighed.
Chance rolled his eyes, the cheek of him.
“But I thought you liked guys?” he asked, looking him up and down.
Will blinked.
Was this guy stupid or something?
“Yes, but that doesn't mean I want fuck every guy I know that likes other guys” Will scoffed.
“Whatever, you’re missing out on an amazing shot here Byers” Chance replied, sticking his hands up defensively before grabbing his mug.
He walked a few steps away, before some of his coffee spilt out over the cup, onto the floor. The floor Will had just washed.
“Whoops,” Chance said with a smirk, before retreating into a small corner where some of his friends were.
Will could actually kill him.
He quickly wiped up Chance’s accidental mess, and checked the time. It was 5:04pm - he could finally leave.
He headed back into the breakroom and shoved his apron into his locker, he could not care about neatness as of now.
He quickly bid his farewells to Susan, and headed out. The cool summer air felt marvelous on his skin.
Will headed towards his local park. Not letting Chance’s idiocy destroy his desire to paint.
By the time he reached the park, he headed towards his usual spot. It was a small bench that overlooked the lake and part of the park. In Will’s opinion it was the best spot in the park, especially for people watching.
But, it seemed as if luck was just not on Will’s side today.
He was about to head in the direction of his bench when he saw a group of rowdy kids, at most 12 years old, swinging their legs and acting amuck.
Great.
Will could ask them to move, but at the same time he didn’t want to be a jerk. He also didn’t own the bench, so he couldn't just shout at some kids to move.
Will inhaled a deep breath and looked around. Surely there was another place to sit that was as good as his usual bench.
To his disappointment, there were no more free benches. However, out of the corner of his eye, Will spotted a small cherry blossom tree nearby. It wasn’t perfect, but it was in a decent enough spot to people watch.
He made his way over to the tree and dropped to the ground with a sigh.
He thanked whatever almighty being that was out there, that he didn’t forget his sketchbook. That would have just been the cherry on top of the cake for this horrendous day he’s had.
He began to draw the group of rowdy kids that had stolen his bench. It seemed like a good reference at first, but it became a bit difficult as they kept running away and screaming whenever a duck came near.
Seriously, why would you sit near a lake if you were scared of ducks?
Will would never understand the thought process some children had.
After a while he got bored of drawing the few kids and began to look for some new inspiration.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of black bolting around a few feet in front of him.
He focused his eyes on it, and realised it was a dog.
A pretty cute dog if you asked Will himself.
It looked to be a black lab, but it was definitely still a puppy, nowhere near the size of a full grown lab.
Will glanced around, trying to see if its owner was around.
After a moment however, a tall figure bolted into Will’s point of view, chasing after the small puppy.
Will had to suppress his laughs.
The owner seemed to perfectly match the puppies energy.
He was a tall, quite lanky man, with dark curls atop his head. He had glasses on too, but they were slightly askew after he had to chase down the dog.
Will had to admit, this guy was also pretty cute too.
He suddenly had a surge of inspiration and picked up his pencil, beginning to sketch out the endearing scene in front of him.
It only took him a few minutes, he couldn’t go into extreme detail as the dog and its owner were a bit away.
But still, it looked decent enough. Definitely good enough to throw into his portfolio for future job opportunities.
He was pretty invested in this drawing. Sue him, the guy in front of him was nice to look at alright, he wanted to make sure he captured this essence in his drawing.
He was so invested in fact, that he didn’t hear the padding against the soft grass coming closer and closer to where he was sitting under the tree.
He only realised what was about to come, when he was face to face with the black lab.
The black lab which had currently thrown his sketchbook off his lap and was attempting to pepper licks, or kisses, all over Will.
Will couldn’t help but laugh,
“Hey there” Will said through laughs, petting the puppy gently, trying to ease it away from his face.
The dog was a ball of energy, bouncing all over Will, trying to keep his attention.
Not long after, its owner came running over, a clear look of panic all over his face.
“Bronski” the man shouted, whistling for the dog, “Bronski, stop down!” he shouted, running over to where Will was sitting under the blossom tree.
The puppy, apparently called Bronski, upon hearing its name, perked its ears up in such an adorable way and bounded his way back over to his owner.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry” the man said, grabbing his puppy and coming closer to Will.
“It’s fine” Will said with a laugh, “he didn’t try to kill me or anything”
“Still” the man said, shaking his head, “you could’ve been allergic to dogs, then he would’ve killed you”
“Good thing I’m not then, because he’s such a cutie” Will said with a grin, letting his eyes slowly leave the dog's face and meet the owners, because if Will was being honest, both the man and the puppy were adorable.
Now that the man was closer, Will could see all his features up close.
He could see his dark eyes, which were crinkled into a grin. He could see the constellation of freckles spanning across his cheeks.
Will wished he could memorise his face. Save it and put it in his back pocket to draw and look at later.
Jesus, he was starting to sound like a creep.
“I know,” the man said with a grin, “his name his Bronski, I only got his a few weeks ago”
The name sounded familiar to Will.
“Bronski, like from Bronski Beat?” he asked, trying his best not to let his stare linger too long on the man's lips, instead choosing to look at the puppy, whose ears perked up after hearing his name being called a few times.
cute.
The man’s eyes brightened almost instantly, “exactly!” he exclaimed, sounding excited, “you’re the first person to get that reference”
cute.
“No way, I love their songs” Will said, letting a grin grow on his face.
“Me too” the guy said excitedly, he was really starting to look like the puppy in his arms. He looked as though ears would start to perk up off the top of his mop of curls.
“I was choosing between Bowie and Bronski, but ultimately went with Bronski” the guy said with a laugh, “obviously, no shade on Bowie though, love his music”
Will had to stop the grin on his face from growing even larger.
The guy was cute and had a similar music taste to him.
It was like a match made in heaven.
The man’s eyes glanced down and seemed to notice the abandoned sketchbook laying at his feet.
“Shit, did Bronski do this?” he asked, beginning to lean down to pick it up, “here, let me get it for you”
Will didn’t even have time to protest, suddenly remembering what he had drawn on that page, before the man had it picked up.
“Holy shit this is awesome,” he exclaimed, staring at the page in awe.
Will wanted to melt into the floor in embarrassment.
The one time he meets a really cute guy and he just so happens to get caught drawing said cute guy.
“Oh god, I’m so sorry” Will said, trying to hide the embarrassment on his face, “I’m not trying to be a creep or anything”
The man instantly shook his head, still staring at the drawing in awe.
“No, it’s cool, seriously this is epic” he said, looking at Will with a wide grin.
If that man had a tail, Will would guess it would genuinely be wagging by the way he was looking at Will.
“Are you an artist or something?” he asked, handing the sketchbook back over to Will.
“Or something” Will said with a chuckle, quickly grabbing the sketchbook from the man, not wanting to let his hand linger against his, even though the man’s hands were incredibly soft.
“No way” the man scoffed, “you’re definitely an artist, an honest to god artist”
Will smiled, and could feel the blush slowly creeping up his neck.
“Thanks, I guess” he shrugged, but the man was still looking at Will in awe.
“Can I keep it?” he asked, gesturing towards the sketchbook, while trying to keep the puppy still in his arms.
Will blinked, did he seriously think the drawing was that good. It was practically just a few scribbles.
Seeing Will’s slight hesitation, the man shook his head and began sputtering out apologies.
“I’m so sorry, that was like way out of line, you probably need to keep it, I’m sorry” the man rambled.
Will laughed, trying to stop the man’s freaked out tangent.
“It’s okay, you can have it” Will chuckled, carefully ripping the page out of the book.
He grabbed his pencil and decided to scribble his number on the pack of it. Which was pretty bold of him, but screw it.
He was a cute, handsome man, who had a similar music taste, and a really cute dog. He may as well shoot his shot.
“It’s only a few scribbles anyways” Will said with a laugh, handing the piece of paper over to the man.
The man’s jaw dropped, “a few scribbles?” he exclaimed,
“This deserves to be hung up in the Louvre, right next to the Mona Lisa, in fact I’m going to hang this up in my apartment, which is like ten times better than the Louvre”
Will rolled his eyes, but the blush continued to spread across his cheeks.
This guy was an idiot.
The man glanced at the other side, and upon seeing Will’s number at the back, his grin seemed to grow impossibly wider.
“What’s your name, so I can properly frame this masterpiece” the man asked.
“It's Will,” he said with a laugh, looking up at the man.
“Will,” the man began, toying the name around in his mouth. “I’m Mike, and well, you’ve already met Bronski”
Bronski barked at the sound of his own name and Will let out a chuckle at the sight.
“Nice to meet you Mike,” Will said, waving at him, as if they haven’t been speaking to each other for the past five minutes.
Mike.
It definitely suited the guy, Will thought to himself.
Bronski began to wriggle in Mike’s arm, and Mike let out a sigh, seemingly upset at his puppy's restlessness.
“I think Bronski wants to go,” Mike sighed, a sad pout appearing on his face.
Will wished he could kiss the pout straight off his face. Did that make him crazy? Probably. He has only known this dude for five minutes and he was already fantasising about a life with him.
“It’s okay” Will said with a small sigh himself, “see you around?” he asked hopefully.
Will could one hundred percent get used to seeing Mike around more.
“Yes, definitely” Mike said with a grin, as if he was hoping Will would offer, “maybe without this little guy pouncing all over you” he added, gently rubbing at his puppy.
“Nah, he’s cute, almost as cute as his owner” Will said with a smirk while simultaneously holding his breath.
That was one way to shoot his shot.
Will quickly glanced back up at Mike to gauze his reaction to his terrible attempt at flirting.
He expected to find him grossed out, or at the very least cringing.
But no, instead he had a massive grin on his face, with a bright pink tint expanding over his cheeks.
If that man was a dog, he definitely would have a tail wagging behind him right now.
“Don’t think I can beat the artist though” he replied, sending a wink Will’s way.
If his face wasn’t red before, it definitely was now.
“I’m not an artist,” Will said, rolling his eyes playfully.
“Thats not what historians will be saying about your work in a hundred years” Mike said earnestly, his gaze never leaving Will’s eyes.
“If you say so” Will said, shaking his head.
“I do, honestly you’re ama-” Mike began, but was interrupted by Bronski letting out a small bark.
“Okay, okay, I know,” Mike said to his dog, in a sweet tone. As if Will couldn’t find anything else attractive about the guy, he was really good with animals, and had a special voice for them.
cute.
“Well, I must bid you farewell Will” Mike said, bowing his head due to his lack of free hands.
“Goodbye Mike,” Will said, waving his hand as Mike began to walk away backwards, as if he was trying to stay looking at Will for as long as he could.
Once he was far enough away, Will let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding in.
Maybe today wasn’t all that bad, he thought to himself as he got the last glimpse of Mike as he left the park.