Chapter Text
"I swear, if I have to explain to one more person the difference between a latte and a cappuccino I'm going to quit my job. I'll sell myself to pay for university instead, I can't deal with serving the people." Remus sighed, putting his head in his hands as Frank chuckled. "Come on Remus, how bad can it be?" The brunette asked, patting his friend on the back. Remus sighed, leaning against the counter of the coffee shop. "It's awful. Do you know how many teenagers have come into the store insisting their name is something stupid like Mrs. Harry Styles?" He rolled his eyes, taking a cloth and wiping down the cafe tables as he spoke. "I hate this stupid job." Remus complained, throwing the cleaning supplies back into the bucket and locking the cupboard. "I'm almost done." He nodded to Frank. He had promised he would go out after work and let himself enjoy a night out for once, even though he had work the next day. Remus knew this would be a bad idea, since he was the only person who worked in the coffee shop until Lily came back from France and he had no one to fill in for him if he had a bad hangover. He closed the register and wiped down the chalk menu board, coughing slightly as the chalk dust settled in his throat. "Ready?" Frank grinned, swinging his car keys around in his hand and holding the door open for his friend, who locked it eagerly and made his way to Frank's car. "Let's go." Remus nodded, sitting down in the passenger seat and finally relaxing. He smelt like coffee and cinnamon rolls and his hair was still frizzy from standing near boiling water for 8 hours straight, but he decided to just roll with it. He pulled off his barista apron as Frank started to their destination, turning up the radio to lighten the mood.
Remus woke up the following morning with a loud, angry groan at his high pitched alarm. 6:00AM. He didn't want to move, and he could barely remember the night before. His head was pounding and his mouth was dry. Eventually he pulled himself out of bed and took a long shower, washing his frizzy hair and the scent of cigarette smoke and spilt alcohol off his body. His headache didn't cease as he got ready for work, pulling on a black v neck T-shirt and ripped black jeans. "I look like a boy band member." He remarked, staring at himself in the mirror and grabbing his car keys from his room as he made his way to the car park on the other side of his apartment.
The morning was crisp and cold, which is what he had expected for December. Remus clambered into his battered silver BMW E30. It wasn't a very flashy car, he had to admit to himself, but it got him to and from work safely and that was the only reason he had brought a car in the first place. The radio blasted out cheesy Christmas songs as he pulled out of the car park, Remus growled in annoyance as he inserted one of the many mixed CDS from the dashboard. He hated Christmas. He hated Christmas songs. The whole idea of Christmas annoyed him, he didn't have family to spend it with and his best friends were in Paris, enjoying their honeymoon. He smiled to himself, realising how bitter he was being and increasing his speed slightly so he could get to work earlier. Remus made a mental note to call James and Lily on his lunch hour, or whenever the coffee house was empty- to check on them and make sure Lily hadn't already gotten sick of James and ran away with a hot French man. He chuckled at the thought as he pulled into the small cafe car park and got out of his car, locking it and making his way to the door- bracing himself as he entered. He used to love his job at the coffee house, and would look forward to it every morning. He always had a passion for baking and making new drinks, but this job made his hobby seem like torture and he wished he had never taken up the offer.
By the time 9:00AM came around, Remus had just finished icing the new batch of vanilla latte cinnamon rolls- a recipe he had found on interest one late night, it took him a few tries to perfect them. He collapsed onto the counter, resting his aching head on his arms and closing his eyes. The coffee-house was never busy until 10 or 11, the odd student would come in to get a black coffee but that was all. Remus reasoned with himself, he would have at least an hour to get some sleep where he was; standing up and leaning over the counter. At least that way, if anyone entered the store he would be woken by the bell on the door and would have time to look professional and avoid the potential customer catching him sleeping on the job. "Just ten minutes." he mumbled to himself, allowing his heavy eyes to close as he relaxed against the polished wood counter.
Remus was awoken exactly forty four minutes later, by the muffled noise of someone clearing their throat. He jumped back from the counter, almost crashing into the stack of paper cups as he looked at the boy in front of him. His heart fell to the ground as he looked at the only customer in the store. Just his luck.
The person in front of him was the definition of 15 year old, punk rock wannabe. He had long unkempt black hair and his nails were accented with chipped black nail polish. His eye-liner was slightly smudged, as if he had been fighting sleep and had rubbed his eyes forgetting he was wearing the product. Remus gawped as he took in the man's appearance. The stranger was glad in an oversized, studded leather jacket and the tightest jeans Remus had ever seen on another human. He was, in one word, beautiful.
"Like what you see?" Remus flushed red as the customer spoke, looking away. "I'm sorry-" he started, still flustered. "Wait..." he raised an eyebrows at the other man. "I didn't hear you come in, how long have you been here?" He questioned, tying his apron up and pinning his name badge to his shirt as he picked up a paper cup. He heard a quiet laugh and turned back around, running a hand through his hair and cocking his head towards the stranger who was grinning back at him- showing off his perfect, white teeth. "Since 9:10AM?" He cocked his head, smiling at Remus and hoisting himself up onto the counter and crossing his legs so he was almost face height to Remus- who was too confused by the person's actions to even comment. "But, I saw you were sleeping and thought I might as well leave you to it. I came in, sat down and completed my course work whilst you slept. I'm just about to leave, so I thought I'd wake you. Not everyone is as charming as I am you know." He winked at Remus, who tried his best to avoid eye contact. He could barely string a sentence together and his hands were shaking slightly from all of the thoughts flooding his brain. Why did such a cute guy have to come into his store the one day he had a hangover, and why did this guy have to catch him sleeping on the job?
Remus poured himself a large cup of black coffee and walked around to the other side of the counter, raising his eyebrows as he listened to the explanation. "Wow, thank you I guess." He chuckled, taking a long drink of the boiling hot black liquid. He needed that. "Can I just say," he smirked, "I don't normally fall asleep on the job. Rough night, hangover and all that. I don't even know why I'm telling you this." He rolled his eyes at his stupidity and turned away slightly. "Did you want to order coffee by the way? I take it this is why you're here." Remus smiled, trying his hardest to compose himself enough to take the guys order. He could freak out once he left. "Please." The stranger smiled in response, not moving from the counter and looking down at Remus' cup. "Black coffee? Let me guess, that's how you like your men?" Remus could of choked as he heard the question, turning bright red and refusing to look up. "Good job though, I'm Sirius Black. Nice to meet you.... Memus?" Sirius extended a hand to Remus, trying his hardest to read the name badge- causing Remus to bark out a laugh and cover his mouth with his hand in embarrassment.
"Remus." He smiled sweetly, shaking Sirius' hand as he picked up a new cup. "And I bet you say that to all of the girls." He smirked, winking at Sirius and turning away to realise how much he hated himself for saying that- why did he take flirting tips from James Potter? His heart fluttered as he heard Sirius giggle; a light hearted and sweet laugh, which didn't match his appearance in the slightest. "Oh no, I only compliment the cute baristas who I happen to find asleep." He grinned, watching Remus flush as he spoke.
"I suppose we should do this properly, then," Remus smiled, taking a black marker and pulling the cap off with his teeth-blushing slightly as he noticed Sirius was watching his every move intently, his head resting on his hand as he watched the barista work. "What can I get you, Sirius?" Remus looked to the empty menu board. "Fuck, I forgot to re-write the menu." He complained, looking for some sort of white chalk.
"I'll just take black coffee. To go. I can't be late for this stupid lecture again, I'll be screwed at!" Sirius complained, not being able to stop smiling as he watched Remus working. He couldn't believe how cute the barista was, draped in a large grey cable knit cardigan and hair almost as messy as his own. He jumped off the counter as he watched Remus put the lid on the cup and held his hand out, passing Remus a £5 note. "Keep the change, and before you ask- I only tip cute baristas." He winked, taking a sip of the black coffee and wincing; hoping Remus didn't notice. The truth was that Sirius absolutely hated coffee, especially black, but he had passed the coffee house a week ago and got a glance of the cute barista and had made it his job to 'inspect' Remus. He wasn't disappointed.
"Have fun at your lecture!" Remus smirked, remembering his time at University and how much trouble he and James got into. "I can't believe you-" Sirius was almost at the door before he stopped and glared at Remus, who raised both eyebrows until he realised that Sirius was pointing at his name on the coffee cup. "You spelt it S E R I O U S..." he started, causing Remus to burst out laughing. "You can't be serious, Remus! I know baristas are bad with names, but-" Remus winked at Sirius as he interrupted him, "You're right. I can't be serious. You're Sirius. Now run along, before I find some other ways to spell your name wrong." He grinned at Sirius shot him another dirty look before skipping out of the coffee house to his blue, battered motorbike.
Remus tried his hardest not to watch the mysterious black haired boy leave, as he put his helmet on and started up his motorbike- disposing of the coffee cup as he left the car park. "What did I do wrong?" Remus questioned himself, tasting the coffee and shrugging. "That's weird, it tastes fine...." He shook his head, confused at the entire ordeal with the strange university student and finished off his own black coffee. "SHIT. I LEFT THE CAKE IN THE OVEN."