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“Oh my god, he has to be doing this on purpose.” Charlie muttered while making Steven’s order. It was impossible, they figured, for someone to look that cute without putting conscious thought into it. Absolutely no way. Behind them, Neil made a sympathetic noise.
“Steven is looking very nice today,” he agreed.
“Nice?” Charlie fumed, adding whipped cream to the beverage more aggressively than was strictly necessary. “That is an incredible understatement. Just look at his outfit. He’s in a fucking Doctor Who Christmas sweater, Neil. That should look ridiculous. How is it fair that on him it’s charming? I thought you were supposed to be the dramatic one.”
Neil leaned against the counter next to Charlie. “I am. Do you want a repeat of my five minute monologue about Todd’s eyes?”
“Pass,” Charlie deadpanned. They placed the cover on top of the cup and turned to bring the order to its respective table. If they paused to take a deep breath and do a quick check of their hair, well, they were only human.
It was ridiculous how Charlie’s stomach still did flips whenever they brought Steven his drink. The guy had literally been coming to Carpe Diem almost every day for the past two months. Charlie had expected their crush to have mellowed by now. Instead, even months after meeting Steven, Charlie still couldn’t help themself from smiling like the goddamn sun had just come up when he waved at them from his table.
“One soy mocha fappuccino with a shot of espresso for Steven,” Charlie said, placing his order on the table. “As usual, you are full of surprises. Ever think of trying something a little more adventurous?”
Steven smiled up at them. It was an old routine. Around two weeks into Steven coming to Carpe Diem and ordering the same drink, Charlie had started teasing him about it mercilessly. It was how they realized that despite having a very convincing outer layer of politeness, Steven was actually delightfully snarky.
“I’m not sure you’d be able to handle the shock if I did,” Steven said, pretending to look concerned. The effect of it was ruined by the wry smirk on his face the next second. Charlie rolled their eyes.
“Excuse me,” they said. “I’ll have you know that I have buckets of experience being adventurous. I’m a badass. I live on the edge. Nothing you could come up with would surprise me.”
Steven packed an impressive amount of sarcasm in one raised eyebrow. “I’ll keep that in mind in case I need lessons.”
Banter exhausted, Steven made a heroic attempt at small talk. He asked how Charlie was—about their classes. In all honesty, talking Sociology to a Chemical Engineering major had always struck Charlie as weird but they weren’t complaining. They would have resorted to worse things than comparing coursework to prolong interaction with Steven. They probably would have talked about the weather if they had to. The levels of pathetic Charlie had reached were pretty impressive.
“Hey, I like your sweater,” they blurted out, mentally cursing themself for how abrupt the segue was. Any embarrassment they felt, however, was worth it for the way Steven’s cheeks flushed.
“Uh, thanks,” he said. His fingers tugged self-consciously at the hemline. “Nothing says festive like a time-travelling alien.”
Charlie laughed then asked, excitedly. “Which Christmas Special was your favourite?”
Steven considered this for a second, his brow furrowing adorably, before answering ‘Runaway Bride’.
“Donna was my favourite,” he explained. His lips quirked upward.“And not just because of the ginger thing.”
“Really?” Charlie teased. “Because she was definitely my favourite because of the ginger thing.”
Steven blinked a few times, eyebrows raised, and then broke out into the most gorgeous smile. Charlie rarely got that smile out of him and they felt something warm bloom in their chest at the sight of it. Eventually, they did remember that they were being paid to work and not to flirt with cute gingers so they excused themself and walked back to the counter feeling almost giddy. They found Neil still there when they returned, grinning ear to ear.
“You know you’re not allowed behind the counter, right?” They said. “How do you keep getting away with this?”
Neil shrugged. “I’m incredibly charming. Keating loves me.”
Charlie snorted. Keating, Charlie’s boss, loved everyone. Neil’s supposed charm probably had nothing to do with it. Before they could say so, Neil started talking again.
“That was adorable, by the way,” he said with a grin. “You’ve got it bad,”
Charlie was about to point out how completely useless that observation was, thank you very much, and that Neil was in no position to say anything considering his enormous crush on Todd but they didn’t get the chance. Just then, one of their co-workers asked if they could take-over the cashier for a second.
“This isn’t over,” Charlie said, shoving Neil towards the other side of the counter where he belonged. “But for now get out of here, I have work to do.”
~
The truth of it was that Charlie knew they had it bad. They knew it from the second Steven walked into the cafe with a handful of books and half a smile that made him look like he was laughing at a joke only he knew. That first day, Charlie had asked for his name despite the fact that they didn’t need to. It wasn’t going to be written on his order or called out. But they had liked the sound of ‘Steven’ on their lips and his small smile when they addressed him by it even more. When he came back the next day, and the next, and the next, endearingly ordering the same drink every time, Charlie’s chances of not developing a crush dropped to zero.
And Charlie was incapable of feeling things halfway. Like his best friend Neil, when Charlie fell for someone they fell hard. Full on pining and frustrated rants guaranteed.
“Jeez, we need to get you out of your own head,” Chris said, having just been on the receiving end of one such rant. They were sitting in the quad, idly making bets on which frat boy would hit someone with a Frisbee first. Chris had dragged Charlie out, insisting that she hadn’t seen them in forever. The sunshine was supposed to do Charlie some good but they’d eventually started talking about Steven again, apparently much to Chris’ exasperation.
“You know what you need?” she continued. “A distraction. Ginny’s sorority is hosting a party this Saturday. Knox and I are going. You should too.”
It didn’t seem like the worst idea. If there was anything Charlie was familiar with, it was avoiding their problems by getting wasted. Even for them, spending months pining was pretty tiring. They shrugged their shoulders and grinned up at Chris from where they had their head on her lap.
“Sure, why not?”
~
Charlie had to admit, it was a pretty good party. There was enough booze to go around and the music pumping through the speakers wasn’t terrible. They’d have to thank Chris when they found her. Charlie had dragged Neil with them to the party but lost him a couple of minutes in after he went off to say hi to people like the goddamn social butterfly that he was. Not that Charlie had any trouble socializing themself. They were happily tipsy and taking a breather after having danced with at least three strangers when they saw something that made them do a double take.
Standing against the wall, partially behind one of the giant potted plants that littered the sorority house was none other than Todd Anderson. The same Todd Anderson that Neil had been waxing poetic about for the past few weeks after he had hung around the cast for the week for a feature in the university press. They recognized him because, being roommates with Neil, they had witnessed their friend agonizing over whether or not to add Todd on Facebook for literal hours. Oh, Charlie thought, a smirk settling on their face, this is gonna be good.
After nearly jumping out of his skin when Charlie sidled up to him, Todd managed to quietly stutter an introduction. It turned out he was a sophomore majoring in creative writing, doing a little journalism on the side. Genuinely interested, Charlie had asked him about his work. The change was almost instantaneous. This was apparently the key to unlocking the real Todd Anderson. When talking about writing, Todd was animated and passionate. Charlie found he made pretty good company. That being said, the quickly degenerating madness around them didn’t really seem like a quiet poet’s scene.
“It’s really not,” Todd agreed with a self-depreciating smile. “But my friend Gerard convinced me to come and I really can’t let him make his way home alone now.” He gestured to where a crowd was gathered to watch someone, Charlie assumed Gerard, do a keg stand. They decided that they liked Todd. And because their brain to mouth filter was no longer functioning they told him as much. Todd smiled at him, shy again, and said thanks.
Charlie spent most of the night hanging out with Todd and, when he managed to stumble his way to them, his friend Gerard. Surprisingly, they had a really good time. Gerard was a riot. Together, he and Charlie managed to drag Todd to the dance floor, all three of them laughing and dancing with each other. Eventually, Todd had to half drag Gerard to their shared dorm, Charlie called after them to visit the coffee shop for a hangover cure if they needed it. Todd grinned and promised them that they would.
When they left, Charlie started their search for their own roommate.
~
The next morning, after they had groaned through their respective hangovers, Neil and Charlie sat at their kitchen table eating 1 pm breakfast.
“You will not believe who I ran into at the party,” Neil said. He was so excited that he was waving his fork around dangerously. Charlie scoffed.
“You can’t beat who I hung out with at the party.”
“Wanna bet?” Neil asked, waggling his eyebrows ridiculously. Charlie had to admit that they were curious as to why Neil looked so smug but they knew that Todd would definitely be a trump card. They couldn’t lose.
“Sure,” they said. “Tell on three?”
Neil nodded. He put his fork down, still the picture of confidence. They both began to count. One, two—
“Steven Meeks!”
“Todd Anderson.”
They stared at each other dumbstruck. Neil’s jaw was practically on the floor. It would have been funny if Charlie wasn’t sure that they were mirroring him exactly.
“No way,” Charlie said, half rising from their seat. “No fucking way!”
Neither of them had enough brain power at that moment to process the sheer amount of coincidence and circumstance that allowed them to bond with each others’ crushes at a party that they both went to. How Charlie had failed to see Steven and Neil Todd was beyond them. Their breakfast forgotten, they exchanged stories. Apparently Steven was a friend of Ginny’s who Neil, of course, knew from the play. He had smoked Neil at beer pong but had been a good enough sport to talk him out of his post-loss sulk.
“He’s coming to the play!” Neil said, hand gestures back in full force. “That’s why I was so excited to tell you. You’ll probably see him there.”
Charlie visibly perked up at the prospect of seeing Steven outside the coffee shop. In return he told Neil about Todd promising to stop by Carpe Diem.
“I have a shift later and you’re always there anyway,” they said. “Hang around. Invite him to the play too. It looks as if everyone’s going anyway.”
Neil laughed then slumped in his chair. Judging by the way he was staring at the ceiling, Charlie figured he was still a little in awe of the whole situation. They knew the feeling.
“I still can’t believe this happened.” Neil shook his head. “How much smaller can the world get?”
Charlie couldn’t help but agree.
~
Later, Charlie wasn’t surprised to find that Todd was true to his word. Neil perked up like a Spaniel when he walked in. Charlie watched, amused, as Todd’s face turned red when Neil enthusiastically invited him to see the play. It was so cute that he almost missed it when Steven walked in. Charlie started making his drink before their co-worker at the register even finished saying their spiel.
“So,” Charlie said when they’d brought Steven his drink. “My friend Neil says you’re watching A Midsummer Night’s Dream this Saturday.”
Steven looked surprised but he nodded. “Ginny, the girl playing Hermia, is a really good friend of mine. She’s Chem Engg too.”
She’s also Chris’ friend, Charlie thought. Do the wonders never cease? “Well I’d be a shitty best friend if I didn’t support Neil on his big night so I guess I’ll see you there.”
“Sure you can handle the change of pace?”
Charlie could hear the playfulness in Steven’s tone and wrinkled their nose. “I’m the expert, remember?”
Steven laughed. He raised his glass to Charlie in a dorky salute. “I’ll see you on Saturday.”
~
On the day of the play, Charlie met up with Chris and Knox at their place before the three of them made their way to the theatre. When they got there, the first thing Charlie saw was Steven standing outside, near the entrance. He was bundled up in a dark coat and scarf against the chilly weather. Even under all those layers, he looked great.
Chris caught Charlie looking and, realizing who it must be, nudged them painfully in the ribs. At her insistence, all three of them went over to say hello. Chris and Steven, despite having Ginny as a mutual friend, had never really met. But it didn’t seem as if they let that get in their way. Together, the two of them gushed about Ginny and the play while Knox and Charlie looked on like loyal, if extremely lovesick, puppies.
Suddenly, Steven raised his hand in greeting to someone behind them. Turning, Charlie figured they shouldn’t have been surprised—not after the last few days—to see Todd arriving with Gerard. At this point, Charlie was starting to feel like their life was just one big game of six degrees of separation. Apparently the Todd’s dorm mate Gerard was a Mechanical Engineering major and was close friends with Steven. Who was, as established, good friends with Ginny, who was in the play with Neil but was also good friends with Chris. The same Chris Charlie had met in a Gender Studies class and was one of their best friends, not to mention one of his oldest friends’ girlfriend.
This is so weird, Charlie thought to themself as they all entered the theatre. It was free-seating and Chris had the inspired idea of having them all sit together. Because she was either an angel or some sort of demon (Charlie had yet to decide), she somehow manoeuvred it so that Charlie was sat next to Steven. If Neil wasn’t in the production, Charlie was sure that they’d be very distracted by the proximity.
But of course, the play itself was fantastic and Ginny and Neil stole the scene every time they were on stage. They both brought so much life and joy to their characters. It was amazing to watch. Charlie beamed with pride. When they looked around, they realized that the others were feeling it too. Despite the unlikeliness of their little crew, in that moment, Charlie felt a surge of gratefulness for them all. When curtain call came, they were the first ones on their feet and Charlie could have sworn that the loudest cheers were coming from their row.
~
Ginny and Neil were quite shocked to find such a big crowd waiting with flowers and congratulations when they exited the stage door. Once they’d explained to them how they all knew each other, they piled into Knox’s car (with no small amount of effort and pushing) and made their way as a group to the bar where the cast after party was happening. By some miracle, they all got along really well. It was a good night, everyone riding high on the cast’s success. Gerard and Ginny, especially, hit it off immediately when they found out that they were both Ace. She gladly accepted his invitation to dance and the two of them put on quite the show. Neil was practically glowing from the adrenaline rush performing gave him and Todd couldn’t take his eyes off of him. Not that Neil was looking at anyone else. As for Charlie, they spent the night making jokes and watching Steven get progressively more giggly the tipsier he got.
When they were all ready to leave, Knox offered to drop them off since most of them lived on campus and he and Chris were heading in that direction anyway. In the parking lot, Charlie looked around and smiled when they saw Steven helping a tipsy Ginny walk to the car. They came up beside them.
“Need a hand?” Charlie asked.
“Nah, “Steven said. “Ginny says she’s fine.”
“I am!” Ginny said firmly despite the way turning to Charlie made her wobble.
“Get her some of that honey toast and orange juice from Carpe Diem in the morning. Mr. Keating swears by it as a hangover cure,” they suggested. “You know, if you’re capable of ordering anything that isn’t a soy mocha fappuccino with a shot of espresso.”
Steven made a face Charlie couldn’t read. Later Charlie will blame it on being a little fuzzy headed but out of the blue they asked, “Do you wanna walk back with me? It’s not that far and it’s a nice night.”
Steven looked at him dryly. “It’s 3 in the morning.”
“Fine. Nice morning.” They conceded. “Come on, it’ll be an adventure.”
Ginny, who didn’t appreciate being talked over even when drunk, poked Charlie in the shoulder, frowning. “Do you do this with all the cute boys?”
“No, I don’t.” Charlie said with a grin. They raised their right hand. “I promise.”
“Good,” she nodded approvingly. “Steven is a special cute boy.”
“Alright, I’ll go with you,” Steven said casually, and Charlie almost tripped on their own feet. “God knows you’d just go by yourself if I say no. Someone has to look out for you” Steven said fondly. “Just let me get Ginny to the car.”
As if she had been listening to the entire exchange, Chris swooped in and took Ginny off of Steven. Charlie explained that the two of them were going make their way back on their own. Chris nodded and hugged them both goodnight, winking at Charlie when she pulled back. Steven kissed Ginny on the cheek and told her she was fantastic one last time before letting Chris whisk her away. They said their goodbyes to everyone else and watched as they piled into the car and drove away.
That left Charlie and Steven. Alone. Charlie realized that they hadn’t really thought this through. The two of them walked in silence for a while, the quiet feeling strange after liveliness of the bar. The few attempts either of them made at conversation were all trivial and short lived. Eventually, Charlie decided to take a chance.
“I really don’t, you know,” they said, staring up at the sky. When they saw Steven look at them curiously, they elaborated. “I don’t make a habit of going on 3 am adventures with cute boys.”
They paused, bracing themself for what they were about to say. “Just the ones with nerdy sweaters and a gorgeous smile.”
A beat passed and Charlie was almost ready to laugh it off as a joke. Then,
“Get a lot of those?” Steven asked quietly. His tone was light but they had stopped walking. Charlie’s heart was thumping in their chest but something told them that they weren’t misreading the situation. They were pretty sure they understood what Steven was asking.
“Recently?” they said, looking Steven straight in the eyes. “Just one.”
“Oh,“ Steven said. He opened and closed his mouth a few times as if he was trying to figure out what to say. It was cute but Charlie was starting to feel very antsy.
“Um, just to be clear,” he continued, fiddling with the ends of his coat sleeves before looking back at Charlie, “are you flirting with me?”
It was like a dam breaking. That was literally the most ridiculous question that Charlie had ever heard. They couldn’t help it. They let out a surprised laugh followed by another. They ended up doubled over a little and clutching Steven’s shoulder for support. Too late, Charlie realized that they might have insulted him but after a few seconds, Steven started chuckling himself. Laughter mingled with night sounds like a new, buoyant kind of music. They stood in the middle of the street, clutching each other until even their giggles subsided.
“I literally have been for the past few months but thanks for noticing,” Charlie managed, wiping at their eyes and trying to catch their breath. It was probably the best response Steven could have given. Every single bit of tension between them broke.
“Hey,” Steven said. His hand grazed Charlie’s arm. “I think you’re cute too. But I really don’t want to do this” he gestured between them “ tipsy. Can I get a rain check?”
Charlie’s grin was so bright it could probably be seen from outer space. “Sure.”
They walked together to Steven’s apartment, the conversation between them easy, and the streetlights lighting their way home.
~
That Monday, Charlie spent their shift antsy. It wasn’t odd for Steven to miss a day at Carpe Diem but Charlie had thought that after Saturday night they had some unfinished business. They had expected, well, they weren’t sure exactly but something.
“It’ll be fine,” Neil said. “Maybe he just has a final or something.”
“Easy for you to say, you’ve got your date with Todd in like an hour.”
Neil smiled dreamily and Charlie couldn’t really be mad when he looked that happy. “That I do.”
Hours later, about five minutes before the end of their shift the knot of anxiety that had been rolling around in Charlie’s stomach finally loosened. They watched Steven walk into Carpe Diem. He shifted the strap of his messenger bag and when he looked up his eyes went straight to Charlie. He gave them a little half wave.
“Hi,” Steven said when he reached the counter. His smile was a little sheepish.
“Hi.”
For a while the two of them just stood there, grinning stupidly at each other. Charlie drank in the way the warm lighting of the coffee shop framed Steven’s face in a soft sort of glow. The sight made their breath catch. Charlie cleared their throat. “Um, let me guess, soy mocha frappuccino with a shot of espresso?”
“Actually,” Steven said, “I was thinking of trying something different. Call it step one of my attempt at adventure. What would you recommend, since you’re the expert?”
Charlie blinked. Despite all the jokes they had made in the past, they were a little thrown by the change of pace. Luckily their barista instincts kicked in. “The iced chestnut macchiato is good.”
“Okay, two of those please.”
Charlie raised an eyebrow at that. “Expecting company?”
“Something like that.”
Without another word, Steven paid and walked to his usual table. Technically, Charlie was already off the clock. But something told them that it was important to deliver one last order.
“Two iced chestnut macchiatos for Steven and his mystery guest,” they said, setting the drinks down on the table. They looked at him expectantly.
“I was kind of hoping that it would be ‘for Steven and Charlie’.” Steven said. He smiled hesitantly. “If you don’t mind, I mean. Having coffee with me.”
Charlie’s heart swelled. They laughed and punched Steven lightly in the shoulder. “That was so lame, how long did it take you to come up with that? I can’t believe you made me deliver my own drink.” Naturally, they sat down anyway.
“So.”
“Yes?”
“Now that we’re both sober,” Steven said, leaning forward. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”
Charlie felt butterflies explode in their stomach. Their heart rate had yet to slow since Steven had walked in. All the same, they pretended to think about it.
“Lucky for you,” they said, eventually. “My shift just ended.” Charlie raised their eyebrow.
“But I have a feeling you already knew that.”
Steven grinned and put his hands up. “Guilty as charged. The date might be step two in the adventure.”
“Oh yeah?” Charlie teased. “Is there a step three?”
Something about the way Steven lit up told Charlie that there definitely was.
~
After their date, Steven, still playing at gentleman even though Charlie knew what a snarky bastard hid under those layers of adorable nerd, walked them to their apartment. At their front door, they turned to him.
“So, about step three,” they started. “Is there any chance it involves kissing? Because I’m kind of hoping that it does.”
Steven smiled that perfect smile of his and drew them closer by the elbows. When their faces were inches apart he said, “It’s like you read my mind.”
“Well,” Charlie murmured, not drawing away. “I’m kind of an expert at adventuring.”
Steven hummed. “Then maybe you can teach me a thing or two.”
Charlie’s not sure who moved the last couple of inches forward but the next thing they knew, they were kissing Steven Meeks. That one kiss was the culmination of months’ worth of pining and flirting and doubt but, god, was it worth it. Steven’s lips were soft and warm and perfect on Charlie’s own. Better than anything they had imagined because it was finally real. They pulled apart but their foreheads stayed pressed together, neither of them willing to let go just yet. Steven brushed his nose lightly against Charlie’s. Standing in the cold in front of Charlie's apartment, they were smiling so hard that their cheeks were starting to hurt.
Charlie had to admit, Steven Meeks wasn't unadventurous at all. He was an adventure all on his own.