#rq.

and well, his appearance is quite unique too. his voice is low in your memories and he always sits on the same spot of the room. next to the bay windows but still away from the front door. since your shift is almost over, and your colleagues all left early, you’re on your own with the few seven people remaining.

you look at them. the atmosphere is super peaceful. everyone is chilling. and that guy; he’s reading the same book over again. he doesn’t even look back at you after you announce the closure is approaching.

but you don’t mind. he seems busy; and focused and well, that makes him attractive to you.

you shake your head, quick to forget about that and instead go to put the chairs on the tables so it’s easier to clean the floors later.

that was one of the reasons you hated so much to do the shutdown but you had no choice.

you look at the watch on your wrist. it’s officially time to close. you stop yourself for a minute.

the customer is still here. you can see his ashes hair from behind the counter. he’s away and you don’t particularly like to speak loud, so you go towards him to inform him that he’s going to have to leave.

‘sir.’ you say. he does not turn around, which you find a bit rude at first so you insist. after a few seconds of being ignored, you eventually lose patience and tap on his shoulder gently, a smile on your lips so you seem less intrusive.

he turns around, taking off an earphone. ‘mh ? what is it ?’

his voice is calm. and low, making him sound super serious. but not only that, his whole routine and habits were kinda giving you the hint so in the end, you’re not really surprised.

your smile grows larger as you tell him to leave. you wouldn’t want to sound rude; it wasn’t your first shutdown where people had stayed so late, but it was a first time talking to him despite him spending so much time here.

‘i see. thank you for the coffee.’ he says, and it almost sounds ironic since he absolutely did not drink a single drop of it. and you can tell by the motif you’ve drawn that is still quite in place.

‘is there something wrong ?’ he asks, looking at you, whose eyes are glued to the full cup resting on the wooden table.

‘no aha, it’s alright, have a nice day sir.’ you reply, walking away towards the kitchen to grab the groom and start with your cleaning task.

he looks at you walking away, his closed book in hand and his jacket in the other.

‘it’s midnight though.’

to that you giggle. spending the day wishing every single customer a lovely day made it become automatic. you rub your face, passing your fingers through your hair.

‘indeed. good night then, sir.’

you’re not sure, but you can almost swear you’ve seen a smile forming on his lips as he speaks again.

‘alhaitham.’

‘mh ?’

he crossed his arms against his visibly muscular chest, blinking a few times. ‘it is my name. since i know yours, you should know mine.’

his remarks make some sense indeed. and you can’t tell if the lack of sleep is the reason you’re confused but you genuinely ask yourself how the hell he could know your names; and you can’t help but asking him.

to your question he only giggles, a slightly mocking smile appears on his usually very composed face.

‘it is written. y/n.’ he points your apron to which a small etiquette with your name is sticked to it.

you rub your face with your two hands, letting go of the broom by the way and the whole scene is embarrassing for you, yet as much as it is, you feel good. tired perhaps. but it is as if the person beside you could see through you and make you feel at ease.

he laughs a bit too and helps you moving a few chairs over the tables. as a customer he’s not supposed to do this, but it was so kind of him you didn’t have the heart to decline his help when he offered it.

‘well, i’m done. goodnight y/n.’

‘good night alhaitham.’

you look at him walking away, biting your lip because you crave to ask if he will be back tomorrow. the moment you just shared was nothing exceptional. but something happened. something that made you want to seek more of him.

‘will i see you tomorrow ?’ you ask him just as he’s about to open the door and take his leave.

you’re surprised at your own boldness. but you have nothing to lose, right ? then why would you stop yourself from asking.

‘who knows ? i don’t particularly like the coffee here.’ he waves goodbye, closing the door behind him, wishing you luck with the end of your shift. and just like that he’s gone, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

you knew artem for a pretty long time now. both your parents were friends so you could say you kinda grew up together.

he listened to your stories as you always loved to tell him everything you judged important enough for him to know about it. and he always had these sparkles in his eyes. he never looked away from you, he always supported you and gave you advices for the few times you mentioned a crush to him.

his advices were the worst, and he wasn’t even confident in his own words; always blushing and looking away begging to whatever god for these times to be shortened. yet, you liked to listen to him.

you never really asked yourself whether your feelings were more than friendly, because it became a routine anyway. he was a dear friend to you. things had always been the same way: him and you. you and him. everywhere together, always. and you wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

but the artem facing you now was slightly different. his eyes were shining with the same sparkles inside. yet the whole aura surrounding him was different when he spoke up.

‘don’t go with him.’ his cheeks were flushed red. it was 1 am and he had already drank a lot tonight. enough for him to be drunk. yet he said before that he only came to this party with you so he could make sure you got home safely later.

but now here he was, drunk and pretty much confessing in the clumsiest way ever.

the intoxicating scent of alcohol in his shirt was driving you crazy. he got closer, locking your chin between his fingers.

‘artem, what does this mean ?’ you only managed to say, too shocked by the current situation you were in to say anything else.

‘don’t leave… stay with me y/n..’ he added.

he insisted several times on the idea that he needed you now. that he’d always need you.

you couldn’t deny the feeling of your heart beating faster in your chest, almost threatening to come out. you rested your head against the wall, looking straight into his blue eyes.

‘y/n…’

‘you’re beautiful…’ he added.

his face approached and you closed your eyes, completely forgetting about that other guy you were supposed to join outside the house where the party was occurring.

it only took artem a few seconds to seize the opportunity to finally do what he’s been thinking about for months.. years even.

you felt his lips delicately touch yours. he was obviously inexperienced, and you guessed that this was his first kiss.

you grabbed the two sides of his pretty face, guiding him for the kiss since it wasn’t your first. but it was his and you wanted it to be memorable. artem had been your best friend, your rival even sometimes at school.

he also gave you shorty advices for boys and now you were sharing a kiss. a long desired kiss; to artem at least. and as much as you never expected this to happen between the two of you, you just had to admit that it felt good. you liked it. you liked him.