Lunchtime could not have come quickly enough for Sami.
He'd been giddy with anticipation ever since Fergal sent him a text earlier, inviting him over to Devitt's for lunch. That, in itself, wasn't peculiar...even before his relationship with Fergal began, he'd been visiting the coffee shop most days anyway...only difference now is he could do so without seeming too stalkery.
No, apparently Fergal had concocted something special for Sami's lunch today. The thought that he had gone out of his way just to make something special for Sami...well, Sami had felt his tummy go all butterflies and rainbows on himself.
Sami had deliberately started taking his lunchbreaks a little later than usual, the idea being that Devitt's would be a little quieter so he could enjoy his lunch in peace...and he could pester Fergal without disturbing him from his work too much. Sami grinned as he walked in the door to Devitt's, the little bell on the door ringing gleefully as always. The shop was empty, save for Fergal sitting on a stool behind the counter. He appeared to be engrossed on something on his phone, and hadn't seemed to hear the doorbell ring as Sami had entered.
Sami's grin turned slightly devious as he quietly walked towards the counter, Fergal still blissfully unaware of his presence.
Sami coughed, theatrically loudly, before booming out, "Y'know, the customer service in here is usually top notch..."
Fergal's eyes shot wide open, and his head snapped up at the sound of Sami's voice. Unfortunately the momentum of Fergal's movement knocked him slightly off balance, and he started to flail his arms ungracefully to try and avoid falling off the stool.
It didn't work.
Sami could only gasp in shock as Fergal tumbled off the stool, crashing to the floor with an almighty thud. Sami rushed over quickly, leaning over the counter to see if Fergal was alright, "Fergal! You okay? Unless you're bleeding profusely, I'm still not allowed over there!"
A faint voice echoed from the floor, "m'fine..."
"What the Hell was that noise?"
Sami looked up to see Becky rush through, her worried look turning into one of bemusement as she took in her brother's situation, "Dammit Fergal, you don't need to keep falling head over heels for Sami...you've already snagged him."
"Ha, ha, Rebecca," Fergal rolled his eyes at his sister, "Your concern is touching."
"You're being sarcastic, you're fine," Becky grinned as Fergal struggled to get back to his feet, "Nothing damaged but your ego."
"Oh, dammit Fergal, I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to scare you that much!" Sami reached over the counter to pull Fergal gently towards him, quickly bending Fergal's head downwards to check the back of his head for damage, "...okay, no blood, good...might get away with a small lump."
"Been sayin' that 'bout Fergal for years."
"Short jokes and falling arse over kettle, all within a few minutes...not my greatest moment, must be said," Fergal sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "Okay, Becky, everything's fine...could you..."
"Leave you two alone to be all gross and couple'y? Sure, have to finish stock-taking anyway. Try not to wreck the joint in my absence."
"I promise to only wreck the place when you are here," Fergal grinned at his sister, hurriedly waving her off.
"Bye, Sami," Becky waved back to Sami, before disappearing towards the back of the shop, "Take care of my klutz of a brother."
"Sure!" Sami waved back, "So, Fergal, what could be so diverting that you didn't notice my grand entrance?"
"Oh, I'll tell you in a second," Fergal grinned, "Lunch first! I saved you a red onion and cheese Panini...and, I made some Scotch Broth for you to try."
"Ooh, sounds good...uh, you didn't use a ham stock for it though, right?"
"Nope! Found a recipe online that's vegetables only," Fergal smiled, a look of pride radiating from his face, "Nobody's been able to tell the difference...not even my da."
Sami couldn't help but smile at the eagerness of his boyfriend, "Well, if it passes your dad's taste test, then I'm sure it'll be awesome."
"Great, let me serve you up a bowl, then I'll put the Panini on for you...or just the soup?"
"I'll be daring today," Sami grinned, "Soup and a Panini sounds good."
"It's okay? Not too salty? Not salty enough?"
"Fergal, I could happily live off this for the rest of my life," Sami moaned at what he could only describe as the hard-core pornography of the soup world touched his taste buds, "I'm fairly certain my folks married over less than this."
"So, it's good?"
"Yes, you silly, it's really good. Thank you!"
Fergal beamed happily at the praise, "Right...uh, Sami, you have a Twitter account, right?"
"Yeah, partially for work, mostly for music recs and Simpsons' quotes. Why?"
Fergal sighed, picking up his phone and looking at it distastefully, "Well, one of the college kids who works here at the weekend got in da's ear about social networking and all that stuff...now he's all 'make a Twittea account, promote the business,' blah, blah, blah..."
"...did he really say 'Twittea?'"
"He really did," Fergal solemnly replied, "Anyway, I'm kinda struggling to come up with a nickname. Any ideas?"
"Hmm...why not just use 'FergalDevitt'?"
"Would you believe it's already taken? Some fancy big-shot wrestler. Big in Japan, apparently."
"Huh, fancy that," Sami mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully, "You didn't have a nickname or something growing up?"
"Not really?"
Sami frowned, feeling a little stumped, "Hmm...wow, you're right, this is tough."
"Yeah...hang on, gotta flip the Panini..." Fergal wandered back behind the counter, "So what's your Twitter handle, then? Maybe it'll inspire me..."
"I doubt it," Sami sounded sheepish, "It's 'iLikeSamiZayn.'"
"You're serious?" Fergal tried to stifle a laugh, "How'd you come up with that masterpiece?"
"Well...it's kind of from a running joke..." Sami smiled ruefully, "Y'know, all my report cards from school were like 'Sami is a really nice young man, everyone likes him.'"
"I can relate, I mean I really-really like him."
"Hush you," Sami ducked his head bashfully, "Anyway, it stuck with me. Didn't want a super-serious nickname, so..."
Sami blinked as an alert from his phone interrupted him. He looked down, a notification from Twitter...huh, what a coincidence...
"Ooh, Panini's ready...that anything important?" Fergal's voice echoed from behind the counter.
Sami frowned, looking at the alert indicating he had just gained a new follower; he looked up at Fergal as he brought over his Panini, "It's probably nothing...but you wouldn't happen to know who 'IrishLassKicker' is, would you?"
A blank look overcame Fergal, "...would you excuse me a second, Sami?"
"Uh...sure?" Sami looked confused as Fergal stomped off towards the back of the store. He shrugged to himself before starting to tuck in to his Panini...but he barely managed his first bite before Fergal's voice angrily echoed throughout the store...
"REBECCA DEVITT, HOW DARE YOU FOLLOW MY BOYFRIEND ON TWITTER BEFORE ME?"
Sami decided it was probably in his best interests not to follow her back until after Fergal created his Twitter account…
Sami sighed softly as he unlocked his front door. Going back to work after a delightful lunch with Fergal had been incredibly de-motivating, and he was fairly certain he'd go back in tomorrow to face a mountain of errors. He briefly wondered if Fergal was busy this evening with work-stuff…the time they spent at lunch didn't feel like quite enough for him…the goodbye kiss too brief…
Sami huffed to himself, realising how much like a lovesick teenager he sounded…but Fergal just seemed to bring that side of him out of Sami. It was…refreshing to find someone like that he felt that way about. Sami smiled to himself as he pulled out his mobile, all set to text his partner to see if he wanted to catch dinner…but before he could bring up the screen, the alert on his phone sounded. Twitter, again?
Oh right…Fergal was trying to come up with a Twitter handle. Maybe he'd come up with something…
Sami blinked in surprise at the username before him. The words 'SamiZayn' clearly displayed before him…was it possible to follow yourself on Twitter? There couldn't be anybody else out there with that name, surely?
Sami rubbed his eyes in disbelief, wondering if it was just tiredness affecting his vision. He took another look at the username…and gasped in surprise as he realised what it read.
iLoveSamiZayn
Sami quickly tapped the username, bringing up the Twitter page. Sure enough, the profile picture was of himself and Fergal. It was one of Sami's favourite pictures of the two of them…taken in the back of a taxi-cab heading home from a charity event Sami's work had sponsored, both with big grins on their faces.
Sami felt his heart race just a little quicker, as he could only look on in wonder at his partner's choice of username. They hadn't even spoken the "L" word out loud yet…and here Fergal had put it on display for the entire internet able world to see. He quickly followed Fergal back, before posting a Tweet of his own.
'I heart iLoveSamiZayn too.'
It was almost immediately favourited, and a response soon followed.
'iLikeSamiZayn, come over and prove it?'
Sami quickly typed out his reply before dashing off to get changed. Lovesick teenager or not, at least he wasn't the only one who felt that way.
'Be there as soon as, love.'