Nathaniel's local coffee shop was always busy first thing in the morning, full of half-awake adults and students ordering their daily fixes of caffeine to try and help them survive the day.
The staff were never fairing much better, victims of their employer's business plan to open the cafe earlier then the local schools and offices to try and draw in more business.
It was safe to say that Nathaniel, despite his tendency to pull frequent all-nighters, was always the most awake and functioning person in the cafe every weekday morning.
Nathaniel had been swinging past the coffee shop since his very first day being allowed to walk to school himself. It was right on his way to school and was fairly cheap compared to the one around the corner from his house. His order varied depending on the day and the person serving.
If Miriam, the kind, middle-aged woman who worked in the cafe since Nath's first visited, was on shift Nathaniel always ordered a mocha as Miriam always made them the way he liked them. If Jackson, a continuously tired college student, was on shift then Nathaniel ordered the easiest thing he could think of whilst waiting in the queue, partly because he felt sorry for the other boy and partly because he dreaded getting something the half-awake boy had to put effort into.
One thing Nath always ordered, no matter who was serving, was a vanilla latte. It was a fairly new addition to his order and one Nathaniel made sure to never forget.
"Ahhh, Nathaniel dear," Nathaniel smiled, stepping up the counter as Miriam pulled two take-away cups off the pile "the usual today?"
"Yeah please. 6.50 right?" Nathaniel asked, pulling out his wallet to get the money ready.
"This one's on the house." Miriam stated, smiling as she got the orders ready for her partner to add the liquid to "We are rolling out loyalty cards in the next couple of days and I think you come here enough to warrant getting your free drinks early."
"Are you sure? I honestly don't mind paying and grabbing a loyalty card later."
"Oh hun, of course I'm sure. You're order will be ready in just a sec." and with that Miriam turned her attention to the next customer in line.
Nathaniel shuffled to the small shelf the finished orders were placed onto and waited for the pasty-faced teenager behind the counter to place his order safely down before grabbing them and quickly exiting the building and heading for school.
It was a route he had taken thousands of times in the past and one he had come to know very well, almost the the point where he could guess the number of steps from the cafe's door to the school entrance and be nearly spot on.
He got to school half an hour before it was meant to start, meaning that the entire school was deserted save for the teachers and one particular student.
"Hey." Nath greeted as soon as he rounded the back of the staircase. As expected, Marc was sat under the stairs, half asleep but still writing away in his book, as he was every morning.
"Mornin'" Marc mumbled, taking his eyes off the paper to glance at Nath, face brightening upon seeing the coffee cups in his hand "You're the best boyfriend I could ask for!" He beamed, placing his book next to him and reaching up with grabby hands to take the coffee.
"Are you talking to me or the coffee?" Nathaniel laughed, handing the boy the Latte cup which had 'Marc' written on the side in curly handwriting, a trick Miriam had started doing since Nathaniel had accidentally taken sips from Marc's cup far too many times. And whilst Marc didn't mind, Nathaniel always got a bit of a shock when he was expecting to taste mocha and ended up with a mouth full of vanilla latte.
Marc hummed, taking a long sip from his take-away cup before responding "Both. Definitely both."
Nathaniel laughed, plopping himself down next to the black haired teen and grinning when Marc rested his head against Nathaniel's shoulder.
Marc lived farther from the school then was feasibly possible to walk every morning so he tended to get a lift with his parents whilst they headed for work. This resulted in him being dropped off an hour or so before school every morning. From a combination of getting up early and from staying up far too late, with the excuse of 'having way too many ideas in the evening,' Marc was practically a zombie in the mornings. So, Nathaniel did what any good boyfriend would do and made sure to get his boyfriend his daily caffeine fix and arrive at school as early as he could whilst doing so.
The end result was always well worth the 10 minute wait in a queue and the money- Marc had offered to pay Nath back so many times and had been shot down every time so he just gave up trying- as the result was always a sleepy yet happy and cuddly Marc.
The same Marc that was almost always too shy and easily embarrassed to show affection in public, ended up resting on his boyfriend's shoulder until the class bell rang, giving him the occasional peck on the cheek or lips every few minutes as a 'thank you' for getting coffee.
And occasionally, if Nathaniel was super lucky and the caffein was taking a while to work it's way into Marc's system, Marc would doze off as well, and Nath would be able to enjoy the smell of his shampoo and feeling of the deep, even breaths on his skin as Marc snoozed.
Yeah, mornings like these were always worth the additional order at the coffee shop