Chapter Text
Tommy had never had the best luck.
But getting a nosebleed right as he was dealing with one of the worst Karens of his career was definitely on his list of all-time lows (not that he was counting).
“I’m sorry ma’am,” he said, scrambling to find the box of tissues he thought was under the counter, as he failed to pinch back the blood flowing out of his nose.
The women either didn’t understand him with his nose plugged, or didn’t care, and continued to scream at him. “I just don't understand how someone could ever be so incompetent!” she bellowed as the other customers that filled the usually calm cafe began to look over at them.
“I am so sorry,” he offered, scrambling around his counter looking for anything to plug his nose. But of course, luck wasn’t on his side, and the paper towel roll was empty, the spare rolls all the way in the back. He had remembered running out this morning, mentally having put this on his to-do list for later. Yet, unsurprisingly, this didn’t happen. His mental checklist was never very reliable.
“You will talk to me when I’m speaking to you!” She screamed, and he whipped around to face her. Usually, he would have snapped, using a stream of profanities, but last time he had done that, Niki had threatened to fire him, and he needed the money. Plus, he was so, so tired.
So, he stared blankly at the woman who had gone red in the face. “I asked for OAT milk!,” she yelled, “ Oak. Milk. And here you are giving me regular milk! Are you trying to kill me?” At this point, she was flapping her arms around, and vaguely resembles a very large, flightless bird, which usually Tommy would have found hysterical.
Now, he forced back a groan, bracing for the migraine that was soon to come from her screaming. He knew he was a pathetic sight, standing there, blood running down his hand which was failing to block his nose, with eyebags that almost looked like bruises and hair that hadn't been brushed in days. “Ma'am- '' he began, preparing to apologize again.
“Lady you need to stop,” someone interjected, cutting him off. The now silent cafe turned to look at the newest actor in this scene, a tall, young brunet, with wide frame glasses who had just stood up. Tommy tried to remember his name, but all that came to mind was his order, a large black coffee with three shots of espresso. When the man ordered it, Tommy had almost gagged, wondering who needed that much caffeine this late in the day. But, he hadn't said anything, instead of making the concoction that looked like liquid death.
Now, the sweet man looked downright murderous as he stared down the Karyn, who had just turned her attention to her more worthwhile opponent.
“Excuse me?” She shrieked.
“For the love of god leave the boy alone. He has a bloody nose!”
“Well if he had just made my drink the right way-”
“Get out before I call the police.” This threat seemed to catch her off guard and she paused, eyeing him up and down.
“You wouldn’t,” she challenged, but instead of responding, he just shrugged, and pulled out his phone.
“911 I would like to make a report.”
Tommy groaned. Just his luck.
---
The cafe had pretty much cleared out when the police car came, and at this point, Niki, who lived above the cafe had already come down, shooting Tommy irritated glances. When she had first flown through the door, she was downright pissed, but some of her anger melted away when the sight of the woman yelling at the tiny boy with a bleeding nose met her eyes. Now, she stood behind Tommy, kindly explaining to the police officer what had happened.
To his credit, the officer could tell that the woman was in the wrong and very quickly gave her a warning and escorted her out, after grabbing one of Niki’s homemade pastries.
Once they left, silence descended over the cafe again, as only Tommy, Niki, and the stranger remained. Niki sighed and put her head in her hands.
“Tommy-” she started but he cut her off.
“I didn't mean to, I promise! I was just going too fast and I promise it will never happen again.” His words seemed to spill out of his mouth faster than he could even think, before he paused, waiting for her to scream at him. Instead, she just signed.
“I know.”
“What?” This was not what he had expected.
Niki combed her pink hair through her fingers before looking at him. “Tommy I know that you didn’t do that on purpose. But why don’t you go home for now.”
Tommy froze. Sure this was better than getting fired, but not by much. “Wait Niki I promise I’m good and-”
This time she cut him off by holding her hand up. “Tommy you have blood everywhere. I’ll close up today. You will be back tomorrow.” Tommy stared at her for a minute, waiting for her to change her mind, before huffing and going to the backroom, grumbling under his breath as he did.
“I am so sorry about that,” Niki said, turning to the random man, now significantly more composed, almost as if she was stepping into a role. “Can I help you with anything else before I close?”
“No, thank you. Sorry about the chaos.” He smiled at her, and she couldn't resist an infectious smile creeping across her face, despite the circumstances.
“We should be the ones apologizing. But thank you for helping out with Tommy.” At the mention of the younger boy, the stranger's smile slipped slightly.
“Any time. Is he alright?” An unmistakable look of concern coated his face, as he awkwardly shoved his hands back into his pockets.
Niki smiled. “Yeah, he’s good.”
___
Niki knew that Tommy was not good.
For starters, he took way too many shifts for a sixteen-year-old. Even though they never spoke about it, she knew that he wasn’t in school, and probably had not been for a while.
He also never spoke about home. Niki loved to talk about her family, her parents, and younger brother, whose similarities to Tommy were probably the reason she had hired him in the first place. But Tommy, loud, obnoxious Tommy, would become uncharacteristically quiet when you brought up his family. Usually, he would just shrug it off, making a joke about how he was enough of a Big Man for himself, and Niki never pushed further.
She knew what it was like to have things you didn’t want to talk about.
So, she gave him the extra shifts because she knew he needed the money, letting him work alone most of the time, and only slightly yelling at him after he cussed out customers. Still, she was worried about him. Lately, he had been skinny, and quieter than usual, and the sudden nosebleeds didn’t help.
But she worried from afar. If Tommy needed her he would ask.
At least she hoped he would.