Coffee Break

Summary: Duo was a blooming actor, taken from his spring of youth by a talented director and overeager paparazzi. Wufei was the half-time waiter, half-time student, going from dollar to dollar to pay for his college tuition. And to think, their different lives melded together by a short, simple coffee break. AU (2x5)

A/N: Here goes nothing…

"…I- I can't take it anymore. I can't help it, Jennifer, I'm in love with you," the amethyst eyes looked away, hooded by chestnut brown bangs. His face tilted downwards, not looking at the blonde woman in front of him, "I don't care if you're my best friend's fiancé… He's not right for you… I am!" A flush of despair and anguish spread across the man's face as he went down on one knee in front of the voluptuous woman, his overdramatic flair of romance radiating from open arms.

"…" the blonde woman, Jennifer, lowered her head, tears flowing down her cheeks, "… You know I love John. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come here today… I-" suddenly, Jennifer fainted, and a large cry of despair floated through the man's lips.

"JENNIFER!"

"And, CUT! Very nice, let's take it from the top again. Good job, Maxwell, you nailed it!"

"… Then why do I have to do it again?!" The brunette stood up, arms folded angrily across his chest, "We've been doing this same line over and over again!"

As if to make a point, the brunette started to angrily mock the script, "Oooh, Jennifer, let's cheat on your boyfriend and make love all night!" his voice went up in a falsetto as he laid a hand across his forehead, "No, I can't… I'm too slutty for that. We have to make it super kinky! Oh no, I think I'm gonna die of some strange illness!" Then, with a stunning leap backwards, he fell onto the soft bed behind him.

"… Maxwell, the camera was running…"

"Wait, what?! Oh shi-"

"No swearing, it's bad for you public im-"

The director was interrupted with an angry crash to the floor as Duo leapt off the bed, "Screw the stupid public image, I'm going on a break!" And with that, the brunette huffed away, tossing off his short brown wig to reveal a long braid as he took out his cell phone, "Lucrezia? Yeah, it's me, Duo. Get the chauffeur, I want some coffee. NOW!"

The director stared after the retreating back, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This is what happens when you deal with an actor still caught up in his teenage adolescence… He groaned and then yelled back at the still-remaining cast, "Let's try a different scene, okay, Act 2, Scene 4!"

"Hello, and welcome to Café Bean. May I take your order?" the waiter flashed a weary smile at his customer. He kept the smile on as the customer proceeded to warily glance at the menu.

"I'll have… Uh… I think… No… Er… Uh…"

One could barely see the Chinese waiter's smile waver for a second before being put back in place, "May I suggest our specialty, the Vanilla Bean Frappucino?"

"Huh?! Oh… yeah… Sure…"

"… Small, medium, or large?"

"… Uh… … … …"

The waiter's eyebrow twitched before he slowly started fingering his name tag. Even the small metallic rectangle pinned to his shirt was annoying him. Its overly cheerful "Hi, My Name's Wufei" screamed of tackiness and exuded a corny one-sided conversation.

"How about the medium, with a drizzle of caramel?" a handsome voice rang from behind the clueless customer, and Wufei immediately perked up.

The customer blinked, scratched his head, and murmured, "Uh… sure…"

Wufei grinned this time, mirth sparkling in his eyes as he typed into the register, "Okay, one medium Vanilla Bean Frappucino with a drizzle of caramel coming right up! Next!"

He eyed the customer warily as the man walked to the pick-up counter, then heaved a sigh and glanced back at the man who had saved him from a boring one-hour long wait.

"Thanks," he murmured, glancing at his savior and quickly making a run-through of his looks carefully. He could barely make out blue-ish purple eyes behind dark-tinted sunglasses along with rich brown locks hidden and tucked carefully into a loose black cap.

"Like what you see?" a cocky grin crept across the stranger's face as he leant towards the cash register and Wufei teasingly.

With a tilt of his head, Wufei just smiled back, "Maybe."

The black-capped head rolled back in a cheerful laugh and he looked at the waiter behind the register, "Y'know, you're a cute guy, wanna go out some time?"

"Depends, are you going to order any time?" a soft smile answered the loud laugh.

"Aww, c'mon! You know you want me!" brown eyebrows wiggled behind the overly-large sunglasses, eliciting a chuckle from the other. The brunette leaned forward, closer to the waite,r a glint of mischief shining through his wide grin, "Well, if you promise to go with me to dinner some time, say… Friday night… then I might just order…"

Wufei smiled, and seemed to ponder it for a second, then faked a gasp, "Well, sir, I barely know yo-" he was interrupted by a cheerful phone ring, suspiciously similar to a Mario theme song, and raised an eyebrow at the other.

"Shi- I'll get back to you… Sorry!" Duo frowned as he looked at the caller ID. He groaned inwardly as he stepped out of the café restaurant, and sighed, "Yo, Lucrezia, what's up?" He looked through the glass window to wink at the amused waiter. One really didn't find that many good-looking waiters like those these days. Especially not waiters like that one behind the counter…

"Don't 'what's up' me, young man! Where are you? How freakin' long does it take to get a mocha frappucino?! We have a movie to film!"

"Woah, woah, don't get your socks in a bunch, I just met this fine little waiter behind the counter, and just had to sa-"

"Look, Maxwell, I don't care who you like or who you want to date, but I want you to get your freakin' caffeine fix and then get the hell out of there. Now!"

Duo winced and pulled the cell phone farther away from his ear, then sighed, "Fine, call ya back laterz!"

"Maxw-" The phone was cut short and Duo shoved it quickly into his pocket.

"Hey!"

Wufei turned around to face the other again. He smiled slightly, and eyebrow tilted in question to what the whole call was about.

The stranger shrugged, then grinned, "Eh, y'know, nagging moms…" He sighed melodramatically before pouting at Wufei, "I gotta cut this short now, though, or mom's gonna kill me. Could I have a Caramel Twist with a dash of chocolate?"

Wufei nodded and held a hand out to accept the money. He smirked slightly at the smile that the other generously gave him and blushed slightly as their hands met.

"Keep the change," the lilting voice was accompanied with a wink barely seen behind the tinted sunglasses as the stranger took his drink from the other desk, his eyes never leaving Wufei. "See ya later!" and with a back-handed wave, the black-capped stranger was out of the door.

Wufei just smiled down at the ten dollar tip and a small slip of paper with a phone number written onto it.

A/N: Short, but sweet. Next chapter will come out sooner or later. Now, to get back to work on Hell's Gift…