#slight-

The sweet aroma of baked goods and strong coffee filled the air, as the early morning rays of the rising sun brought a soft orange glow to the Cafe’s interior. But, Jay didn’t bear witness to any of it as he stared dopey-eyed at the barista on the other side of the counter.

Jay sighed with an air of longing as he saw the other work. His white hair paired with those crystal clear eyes could steal the breath out of any person. And his voice! It was so calm and collected as if the rush of running this whole show was a breeze. The intricately decorated pastries lined on the shelves could never compare to the natural beauty that he had. 

“Hey, Jay!”

Jay let out a yelp as he unintentionally kicked the table; the fear of being caught off guard caused a crimson red blush to spread across his freckled cheeks. Luckily his large ristretto with milk and extra whip cream didn’t fall over and ruin all of his work.

“Geeze, don’t just sneak up on a guy like that,” Jay complained as he watched Kai slide into the seat across from him, “I don’t need ‘coffee spill’ added to the list of things broken with this guy’s laptop.”

“Pretty sure it’s not ‘sneaking up’ if you heard him call you the first time,”

“Oh my god,” Jay squeaked as he looked to his right to see Cole sitting next to him, “How long have you been here?!”

“I’ve been eating breakfast right next to you for like ten minutes, dude,” Cole answered back, and sure enough alongside Jay’s work was a half-empty plate of breakfast danishes with fruit and syrup drizzled on top of it all.

“Anyone else going to pop out of nowhere? Is Nya right behind you Kai? Is Lloyd going to jump out from behind that planter? Or-” Jay rambled on in hopes that the others wouldn’t bring up the reason behind the distracted gaze from before.

“Jay, it's okay. We know you have the biggest crush on Zane," Cole reassured, as he swatted Kai's hand away from his plate," And that's how we always know where to find you: at the cafe.”

"Pffff, what? I don't know what you're talking about. I'm always here because of the… free wifi! And lively atmosphere; I get a lot of work done here honestly," Jay tried to deflect, going back to the half put together laptop lying helplessly across the table.

Said work skewed across the wood surface, was a little side business he had going on between classes. “Give me a hundred bucks, and I'll fix anything that's wrong with your computer.” Most people found it impressive that Jay could turn almost any piece of unusable technology back to its former glory. Friends knew that his parents owned a junkyard outside of town where he found replaceable parts for free.

"So you weren't just staring at Zane for the last ten minutes?"

If he wasn't blushing before, Jay could definitely feel it start to burn across his cheeks and ears. He wasn’t trying to hide his crush on the barista; everyone knew Jay could talk a mile a minute about anything and everything, not excluding his feelings for others… He just didn’t want to be so obvious about it right in front of Zane.

“You should totally go for it, Jay,” Kai said with a cheeky grin.

“Ha, you don’t think I’ve tried? It’s just so difficult to find the right time to tell him,” Jay said.

“How hard is it to ask someone you see every day out on a date?” Cole asked as he tried to figure out how a motor mouth like Jay hasn’t just confessed all of his feelings while also ordering his coffee at the counter.

“Wouldn’t you two like to know?” Jay said as he thought back to a few moments in the past few months.

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There was the first time Jay tried to ask Zane out on a date…

Jay couldn’t wait to try this new coffee shop everyone on campus has been raving about! Apparently the whole place was runned by one guy, and has “the best cake on earth” according to Cole; that wasn’t really a surprise for Jay to hear from his long time friend, but when he heard Kai talk nonstop about the caffe’s spicy chocolate mocha… If this place was getting so much hype, then it must be worth its salt, right?

As Jay drew closer to his destined location, he could already smell the baked goods and coffee wafting in the air. The place itself was a small, almost picture perfect, little shop crushed in between two other businesses. The whole building was painted in crisp gray with a light blue trim, the window display showed off pastries of all shapes and sizes, and a small line could be seen forming outside the door.

’Wow! This place is packed,’ was all Jay could think as he stood in the back of the line.

Once Jay entered the caffe, all he could see was green; the whole place was filled to the brim with potted plants of various kinds. A few wooden tables were placed off to the left as the marble topped counter took up most of the space on the right side. The counter also had a display case within it showing off even more baked goods.

Before he knew it, Jay was at the font of the line with a drink in mind. But, before he could think of anything else, the barista had greeted him with a, “Welcome in. Can I get a name for your order?”

The barista was a tall glass of water with chilling blue eyes that contrasted nicely with his warm smile. He stood straight with perfect poster, and holding a pen in his left hand with a small notepad in his right. Speaking of his hands, they looked delicate like glass and had baby blue nail polish adorned on the nails. What was most eye-catching was the pink floral apron tied around his waist and his pure white hair.

They had literally met each other for the first time right now, and yet this man was checking off more boxes than Jay even knew he had.

“Uh, the name is Jay. Jay Walker,” He said with a dry throat.

‘It’s now, or never. I’ve got to say something romantic!’

“And, let me guess, your name is ‘Gorgeous’, right?” Jay said with a bold wink to follow suit.

“Oh, it’s actually Zane,” he replied back, pointing to his nametag pinned on his apron; his tone was leaning more to seriously answering the question, rather than seeing it as a pickup line. 

“So, what can I get for you today Mr.Walker?”

“Oh, um, Jay is fine,” He said with a deflated tone, “I’ll take-”

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Then there was that time about a month ago…

Jay had been stopping by the caffe almost every other day now; whether it was to get a quick bite or to work on his side hustle on the second to last table from the back, Jay seemed to always have a presence there.

But, today was the day that Jay found the courage to try asking Zane out again.

The cafe was rather empty that day, save for a few people too invested on their laptops than on their surroundings. I guess it was to be expected, it was kinda late in the day and the afternoon rush had come and gone. Lucky for Jay, he had free time to enjoy a cup of joe and work on his side business.

Jay looked over to the counter, it was empty of customers and their orders. Zane was moving idly back and forth cleaning a few things here and there, or making sure everything was stocked. He took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts, and walked over to the counter.

Okay, I’ve got this! Just ask him out on a date, and if he says yes make some quick plans… and if he says no then we need to meet up with the gange anyways for movie night. Yeah, a perfect plan, with a perfect exit strategy.

Zane took notice as he looked at Jay with those beautiful, sapphire, blue eyes.

‘Oh no! What was I going to say again? Come on Jay, say just something to him!’

“Soooo, what great weather we’re having, am I right?” Jay tried and failed to carry on the conversation.

“Actually, it’s going to rain real soon,” Zane said with a slight somber tone.

“Really?” Jay looked out the window to a sunny day, “I thought the news said it was going to rain tomorrow?”

Zane hummed at that, looking to the window as well, “Maybe I’m wrong, sorry.”

“Hey, I get stuff wrong all the time! Don’t beat yourself up ove-”

Jay caust the sight of a blinding white light in the corner of his eye, as a thunderous roar followed suit. Jay was dumbfounded into silence as he watched sprinkles turn into a full blown storm outside in a matter of seconds.

“Wha- How did you know that was going to happen?” Jay asked as he did a double take.

“It’s just a feeling I get sometimes,” Zane said as plain and simple as an answer like that could get.

“That’s awesome,” Jay said before he gasped and looked over to all the electronic devices laying atop the table, “How am I going to get home? I can’t risk all of that water flooding out my stuff!”

“Why don't you take one of these?” Zane asked as he reached over to grab a large container he usually uses to store extra sugar, “This should be big enough for all your stuff, and easy enough to put on your bike.”

“I can’t take that Zane. Don’t you need it? I don’t want to just keep it forever by accident, or-” Jay rambled.

“It’s okay, Jay. This is what friends do right?” Zane said as he continued to hand over the box.

“Well if you insist,” Jay said as he took the container; his hand slightly brushing over Zane’s; his hand was cold to the touch but also soft and covered with a light layer of flour. A blush as hot as the sun burned across Jay’s face as he quickly retreated away, “T-Thank you again Zane! Uh, got to go before it rains any harder!”

Jay scrambled as he shoved all of his stuff in the plastic container, running out of the shop and into the downpour. Thick, heavy raindrops hit his body as he secured the box to the back of his bike and sped off to his shared apartment. What he didn’t notice as he left was the shocked expression Zane had along with a light blush as he watched the other.

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Jay didn’t even want to think of the time he tried to confess his feelings last week…

Today was the day! Jay knew it for sure this time. He had gotten a box of chocolates and some flowers for Zane this time. And he was going to confess his love. He just needed to take a breather before entering the cafe. Locking his bike up to a nearby lamppost, Jay looked over everything he had in hand.

A loud ping, along with a harsh buzz emitted from his pocket, startling the man. He brought his yellow cased phone up into view and saw multiple text messages were being sent to him. The newest one read: 

Bro where the fuck are you!?!?!

Wha?? Jay texted back.

Dude are EXAM STARTS in 15 min and I DON'T SEE YOU

“Oh shit!” was all Jay could yell, as he shoved the box and flowers into his bag and booked it on his bike back to campus.

‘Ugh, how could I forget the test was moved to today!’

Did Jay make it to his test with seconds to spare, all out of breath and ready to pass out from exhaustion? Yes, yes he did.

Were the chocolates and flowers completely crushed and ruined by that time? Sadly, also yes.

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“Oh come one, Jay. It couldn’t have been that bad,” Cole said, bringing Jay back into the present.

“Well…”

“How ‘bout we help you!” Kai stated more than asked, “We can set up this big, grand gesture that will totally have Zane falling for you!”

The sparkle in Kai’s eyes was bright as he thought of the different ways everyone could help Zane and Jay fall in love. Yes, all Jay needed was an extravagant, romantic act to swoop Zane off his feet!

“I know that work for us Kai,” Cole butted in, “But please don’t make out-of-this-world kind of plans, Jay.”

“Aww, why not?” Kai pouted.

“We all know how Zane is… He’s a really shy and awkward kinda guy,” Cole said as he looked over to the ever hustling barista, “What you need to do is be straight-forward, tell Zane how you feel, and don’t be discouraged into backing out at the last minute.”

“Pffff, what? Me backing out?” Jay tried to deny, “I would never do that.”

Cole and Kai gave him that look.

“Ugh, what if he says no to the date?” Jay asked with concern.

“Well, at least you’ll have an answer,” Cole started.

“Yeah, if he says ‘No’ then you know that you can move on,” Kai added, “But, if he says ‘Yes’ then you can stop this whole thing you’ve got going on with this tiptoeing around Zane over almost every little thing.” 

The barista had become a member of their little friend group quite easily over the past few months, and had even ventured with them to eat out or just simply hang out. Jay all the while trying to avoid outing himself in front of Zane with his feelings by keeping an arm’s length between them. Or coming up with an excuse last second to not hang out with everyone. It was starting to get to Jay; seeing the person you love right in front of you, and yet so far away, and it was all your fault no less.

“You know what? You're right!” Jay said as he got up from his chair with new found confidence; he looked over to Zane bagging up a large cake order, but no new customers lining up just yet.

“You got this Jay,” Kai cheered on, as Cole gently nudged Jay forward.

He walked with a jump to his step and an optimistic smile, “Hey Zane, are you busy?” Jay asked politely.

“Oh, just one second, Jay,” He replied with a heavenly smile, as he finished his work, “What can I get for you?”

All of that cheeky confidence was washed away by a dizzy fog that seemed to always follow him in these situations, as he  stammered, “I, um, was wondering if… um, if you would like to, you know? If-”

“Do you want to go out on a date?” Zane cuts him off with a bright red blush blossoming across his cheeks.

Jay is stunned for a second.

“Yes!” He blurted out a little too fast, and a little too loud.

”I mean, yeah that sounds great,” Jay recovered with the feeling of warmth burning deep in his chest and a tickle on the back of his neck.