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Keith moved the rag around the counter as he kept an eye on the front window, it was already 11:00AM and his handsome customer was surprisingly late, though he was probably delayed by the heavy rain that was pouring outside. Every week for the last two months that man, got to the coffee shop every Thursday and Friday at 10:00AM as clockwork, he always had the same order, an almond caramel macchiato with extra cream and a plate of waffles and strawberries, sat on the table next to the window and pulled his laptop. When his order arrived, he would add two sugar packets to his drink and devoured his pancakes. For the rest of the time he spend there, he would get at least two more of the same drink, all while being completely focused on whatever he was doing on his computer. Then at 1:00PM he would pack up his things and quietly leave.
Finally, he saw the familiar dark hair with a bit of white on the top through the window, so he moved to start preparing the usual drink, making sure to add extra caramel to the cup, since looking at the poor guy arrive soaking wet made Keith feel like the extra would be needed.
“Terrible weather today. Do you want a towel to dry yourself a bit? I can get one from the back” said Keith with an awkward smile, as he heard the machine start pouring the espresso shot.
“That would be very kind of you” said Mister Shirogane as he removed his jacket, which was soaking wet.
Keith grabbed a couple of towels from the back and gave them to him right before he went to adjust the heating, he knew that Hunk would understand if he mentioned that a customer arrived in the rain, being November, it was much too cold to not raise the temperature at least by a few degrees.
He finished making the usual drink and placed it on the table, smiling a bit when he saw his customer with extremely messy hair, probably from the towel drying. He did blush slightly when he noticed that Mister Shirogane had taken off his shirt and was just wearing a slightly damp tank top, that did nothing to hide the man’s sculpted physique.
“The waffles will be ready in a few minutes, but I thought you’d like to have your hot drink sooner rather than later”.
“It will certainly hot hurt, winter seems to be approaching faster this year”.
Keith just nodded as an answer and moved to the back to continue fixing up the waffles, this had been the longest conversation he’s had with that customer, and he just hoped that he hadn’t made obvious how attracted he was towards the man. At least it was Friday so he would have until next Thursday to get himself together.
Keith smiled as he hummed to the song in the background, even at 8:55AM, right after the end of the morning rush, he was still happy. He was, after all, going to get to see Shiro again today. Last Tuesday had been a surprise, he had gone to check out the thesis presentation of Katie, a friend from college, only to find himself sitting right next to his handsome customer. He was surprised that Mister Shirogane was the Takashi Shirogane, a brilliant astrophysicist who’s PHD Thesis was an inspiration to Keith’s own, and Katie’s Shiro, a childhood friend who was basically an older brother due to her parents taking him in when his grandfather couldn’t continue to look after him.
After Katie finished her presentation, they had wondered off, wasted hours discussing science and stars, and Keith felt as though his silly crush had certainly grown far more than he ever expected it to.
Just on time Shiro walked in, closing his black umbrella and placing it on the holder by the door.
“Good morning, Keith” said Shiro with a smile so bright that Keith’s heart skipped a beat “I’ll be having my usual”.
“Good morning Shiro, it will be ready in a minute”.
After bringing him his coffee and waffles, Shiro had made Keith sit by his side, using the excuse that there really wasn’t any other customer around and he would really appreciate to be able to share his latest theory with a kindred soul. Keith felt his cheeks fluster, since in order to be able to properly see the computer, he was basically sitting on Shiro’s lap, something the older man didn’t seem to notice in his excitement to share the work that by the bags under his eyes, anyone could deduce that he had spend the night working on.
Keith was driving himself insane, well, more like he was being driven insane by how touchy Shiro was, patting his back, placing his hand on his shoulder, all of them lovely platonic interactions that Keith couldn’t stop himself from wishing they where something more. He had also started to come to the coffee shop basically every day now, staying sometimes until the end of Keith’s shift and giving him a ride, which while kind, it wasn’t helping Keith’s crush, which had kept on growing to the point he now wondered if he had developed real feelings for the man.
“Do you mind if I stop by a pharmacy right now? I need to pick up some meds”.
“Oh, it’s really fine, I don’t mind waiting” which was most certainly the truth, Shiro’s car was warm and dry, with seats that heated up and being in there was far more pleasant than waiting for the bus at freezing temperatures and then riding it for an hour to get home.
“Just text me if you need anything, it will just be a moment” Shiro said as he left the car, walking across the street to get inside of the pharmacy.
Keith rested his head on his seat, trying to just close his eyes for a moment, when he noticed something. Right there on the floor, not hidden or anything, just probably lost, was a ring. A wedding ring, a wedding ring that when Keith picked it up and looked at the inside, it said T&C and a date that he couldn’t quite make up.
“You look like shit” said Lance, Keith’s insufferable roommate, who at the moment was surprisingly more dressed up than usual.
“Well, thanks, I feel like it” The last thing Keith wanted to do right now was discussing his personal life with his roommate, so he best changed the subject “And why are you wearing a button up to go bar hopping with Katie and Hunk, is Allura going to be there by any chance?”.
Allura, the gorgeous doctorate student who worked part time as a model. She was far too out of Lance’s league and so, the boy was completely infatuated with her, to the point that some would call dedicated, and other would call stalking.
“Well yes, she will. She’s bringing that douche bag, Lotor, with her, but hopefully we’ll be able to ditch him somewhere and have fun of out own” Lance said as he sprayed some cologne all over himself “And don’t think you got away from my question so easily. Hunk said that you asked yesterday for a sick day and I know for a fact you never ask for those, even when you’re nearly dead. So come on, spit it out. Is a customer stalking you or something?”
Keith sighed, he didn’t want to explain anything to Lance, but if he didn’t then he would probably call Hunk and Katie for backup and that would be even more embarrassing, especially since considering Shiro’s familiar relationship with Katie.
“It’s really not a huge deal, I just had half convinced myself that someone who is far too good for me was interested in having something more than a friendship, only for the guy to turn out to be married”.
“Well, fuck. That just fucking sucks. But I do have a way of helping with that” said Lance with a smile that Keith knew probably meant trouble for him “You are going to get dressed and go out with us and I’m not taking a no for an answer”.
Keith sighted, knowing far too well that he was likely going to lose that fight.
As Keith moved the rag around the counter, he kept trying to focus on his conversation with Hunk the previous day, after he woke up at his house with the worse hangover of his life. As usual, his wisest friend was correct, what if Shiro just wanted to be friends? Being friends is great, Keith might want something more but that didn’t meant that he couldn’t be glad to have a new friend that shared his interests and he shouldn’t let his feelings ruin the friendship he had developed with someone who really got him.
Keith heard the little bell and looked up, then he looked at his phone, surprisingly it was 8:30AM.
“Shiro? Are you ok? It’s quite early”.
“Yeah, it’s just, I was worried” Shiro seemed nervous, he passed his hands through his hair “Since Thursday you have barely answered to my messages and on Friday you weren’t here, so I was worried that you where more sick than you admitted and then I saw you on Pidge’s stories and you seemed fine but yesterday you barely answered to my texts so I… Sorry, I bet this most feel very creepy since I am just a customer but I guess I was worried”.
Shiro’s expression seemed like a puppy that had been kicked and Keith had no heart to lie to him.
“Shiro, the truth is” Keith uncomfortably ran his fingers through his hair and sighted “While you were developing what you though was just a friendship I had feelings for you that I failed to address and which caused me to feel quite devastated when I saw your ring on Thursday and I just…”
“You have feelings for me?” Shiro was looking at him, with his gorgeous bright smile, the one that made Keith melt completely on the inside, looking... hopeful?
“Yes, I do like you, but I respect the fact that you’re married, and I would still like to remail friends”.
“Keith, I am not married” Shiro looked confused, which made Keith even more confused “Wait, you said something about a ring, what was that?”
“Yeah, I saw your wedding ring on your car floor? It said T and C and some date? I left it there where I picked it up”.
“Keith, I’m divorced, I literally started to come here to get away from my house after the papers where signed. Did Pidge not mentioned that to you?”
“No? I wouldn’t have been freaking out had she said something” Keith couldn’t stop himself from laughing a bit, had he actually had a conversation with his friends he wouldn’t had freaked out in the first place.
“Well, I for once would like to go back to the part where you mentioned that you liked me, because I liked that part very much” Keith looked up from his hands and Shiro was back to smiling, as he lifted a hand to touch Keith’s cheek.
“I do like you, Shiro, I like you a lot” and as he said that Shiro leaned in, kissing him softly, in a not very comfortable position, due to the counter being in between them, but still with a passion that left him breathless.
“Ok, so you actually though that he was just being friendly?” said Katie in between bouts of laughter “Keith, I’ve seen Shiro flirt, and he is very much not subtle. How did you managed to miss that?”
“In my defense, I though I was just imagining things” Keith lowered his head, knowing that his friends weren’t going to let him live it up”.
“I am not that unsubtle! This is slander!” Shiro pouted and Keith couldn’t resist but to kiss him.
“To me it felt like you where being subtle, don’t let them get in your head”.