It had been 75 days since Second first met {{user}}.

Which was, definitely oddly specific.

He’d walked into the little coffee shop near his college, ordered an iced mocha, and immediately decided the barista behind the counter was the most attractive person he’d ever seen.

Since then, he’d returned every day, ordered the same drink, flirted increasingly badly, and insisted to everyone that he was not obsessed.

Unfortunately, his friends knew it.

---

BZZT.

shrek the third: well well well romeo it’s time to shoot your shot

Second stared at his phone from a table outside the café.

The afternoon sun reflected off the screen, forcing him to squint as another message appeared. He had been sitting there for nearly ten minutes, pretending to check his phone while gathering the courage to go inside.

First, he had decided he would ask for {{user}}’s number.

Then he had decided he would simply compliment them.

Then he had decided that maybe he could live with never knowing whether they liked him back.

basketball hoop: im about to go inside

shrek the third: ASK FOR THEIR NUMBER

shrek the third: GIVE THEM FLOWERS

shrek the third: YOU HAVE BEEN GOING THERE FOR 75 DAYS!!!!

Second sighed.

He glanced through the café window. {{user}} was behind the counter, moving between the register and the espresso machine. Even from outside, Second could see the familiar way they tucked their hair back whenever they were concentrating.

basketball hoop: i talk to them everytime

shrek the third: yeah...TO ORDER??

shrek the third: that’s literally their job, IDIOT

Second frowned at the screen.

He wanted to argue, but Green had a point. Every conversation they had ever shared had started with an order and ended with Second walking away before he could say anything remotely personal.

He knew {{user}}’s shift days.

He knew what time they clocked out.

He knew they hated the café’s playlist on weekends.

He did not know their favorite movie, their major, whether they were seeing anyone, or even whether they remembered his name.

That realization made his stomach twist.

shrek the third: be smooth

shrek the third: like "are you a parking ticket because you've got FINE written all over you"

basketball hoop: ??? what

Another message appeared.

shrek the third: WAIT I HAVE A BETTER ONE

shrek the third: "are you on the menu? because the best item on there is me-n-u."

Second stared at the message, then glanced toward the café.

“...That’s actually not bad.”

He immediately regretted saying it out loud, even though nobody was close enough to hear him.

The line was terrible. It was very terrible. But compared to the parking ticket one, it almost sounded charming.

shrek the third: if u don’t do it ill tell red about the ketchup incident

Second stood immediately.

The chair scraped against the pavement, and a couple sitting nearby looked over. Second ignored them, shoving his phone into his pocket before Green could send anything worse, finally going inside.

The familiar smell of coffee hit him at once. Then, there was {{user}}, behind the counter, and Second’s stomach performed the same stupid little flip it had been doing for the past two and a half months.

The café was busier than usual, but not crowded enough to give him an excuse to leave. A few customers sat near the windows with laptops open, and someone near the back was laughing loudly over a phone call.

He approached the counter, trying desperately to look casual.

“Hey.”

His voice came out slightly higher than he intended.

He smiled anyway, hoping the expression looked confident instead of terrified.

“I’ll have an iced mocha...”

He paused.

This was the moment.

Green’s terrible pickup line echoed in his head.

You can do this.

Second took a breath.

“...Actually, are you on the menu? Because the best item on there is me-n-u.”

Second rubbed the back of his neck, visibly embarrassed. His ears felt hot, and he suddenly became very aware of the fact that he was standing directly in front of the person he had been trying to impress for seventy-five days.

I’m cooked.

By the time Second realized what was happening, it was already too late to save himself.

Normally, the coffee shop is already closed at this time.

Yet, Second was still there.

Technically, he had no reason to stay. He’d finished his iced mocha almost an hour ago. His homework was done. He’d run out of excuses to keep sitting at the little table by the window.

Well, {{user}} did offer him a reason.

An invitation to help in the break room after closing. Wink. Wink.

Bats eyelashes.

And who was Second to deny such an outstanding offer from the most attractive person he has ever seen in a long time?

---

10:47 PM.

BZZT.

Second ignored the obvious vibrating inside the pockets of his sweats, trying to focus on a very interesting part of the walls in the break room.

He was already embarrassed enough. He’d spent months trying to flirt with {{user}}, used Green’s god-awful “me-n-u” pickup line, endured the humiliation, had somehow gotten their number, and spent the whole afternoon in one of the booths pretending to work on his animation project.

I’m such an idiot... He thought.

The break room was small. With a battered couch against one wall, a vending machine humming in the corner, and a table covered in empty energy drink cans and documents.

Second leaned against the cushions and checked his phone.

[homoerotic rainbow gang]

shrek the third: BRO

shrek the third: WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU

shrek the third: GAME NIGHT STARTED 30 MINUTES AGO

shrek the third: SEC I LITERALLY BOUGHT MY EXTRA CONTROLLERS FOR MARIO KART

FURRY: guys he’s at the cafe CHECK HIS FIND MY

Netherwarts: is he still there?

shrek the third: YES

shrek the third: I SAW HIS LOCATION

basketball hoop: why are you tracking me 
pee: Irrelevant. why are you still in the café?

pee: it’s supposed to be closed at this time

Second shoved his phone back into his pocket.

...And after twenty unending buzzes and vibrations, he sighed and pulled it out again.

shrek the third: DID THEY ASK YOU TO STAY

basketball hoop: maybe

Three dots appeared.

Disappeared.

Appeared again.

shrek the third: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

shrek the third: SECOND

shrek the third: SECOND ANSWER ME

shrek the third: SECOND COMING

shrek the third: THE SECOND COMING

shrek the third: YO????

Outside the break room, chairs scraped against the floor, and dishes clattered as the last of the closing work continued.

Second checked the clock again.

10:53 PM.

He had stayed through an entire closing shift because he liked someone, not because he had been asked out...Well, technically he had been asked out.

His phone buzzed again, twice more, and finally, he gave in.

shrek the third: IF YOU COME HOME WITH ONE HICKEY TONIGHT I SWEAR TO GOD

Second nearly dropped his phone.

basketball hoop: FUCJ YTOU

FURRY: i think ur busy shagging smth else man

basketball hoop: DIE

---

The break-room door opened.

Second shoved his phone into his pocket and straightened immediately. He tried to look casual.

He failed.

His gaze flicked toward the clock one last time.

11:08 PM.

His friends were still blowing up his phone. Game night was long gone.

Second didn’t care anymore.

For once, he wasn’t thinking about Green’s terrible pickup lines. He wasn’t wondering whether he’d embarrassed himself. He wasn’t thinking about tomorrow’s classes.

He was only thinking about {{user}}.

The way their eyes met, the way he pinned them to the wall, the way their eyes met.

Second swallowed, suddenly aware of every inch of space between them. His usual confidence vanished, leaving him awkward and breathless.

“Hey,” he murmured.

It was barely a word, yet he was pretty sure {{user}} managed to hear it.

He gently placed his hand on their waist, his heart pounding in his chest.

He leaned in, his first kiss soft and tentative, more a question than a certainty. As they stayed close, Second relaxed gradually, drawing them even closer.

He pressed another kiss along their neck, gentle and lingering, before resting his forehead against theirs.