A/N This is my first story so I'm really sorry if it sucks, but if, by chance, you happen to read it, comments and feedback mean the world to me.

Right, here goes:

It's a windy night in late autumn, and the chilly promise of winter threatens to freeze us all. The entire street is bathed in the weary light of street lamps, and the shadows pool around me. Shivering slightly, I glance at the trees around me, only to be punished for my daydreaming with a swift leaf to the face. Brushing it off, I run the rest of the way, straight to my destination, a little building with a neon coffee sign that flickers, looking almost as tired as I am. Eager to escape the cold, I swing open the door and dash inside, hearing a slight tinkling from the bell that's been tied to the handle since forever. It's nearly two in the morning, now, and the entire cafe is nearly deserted, save some lonely three people. There's the waitress, hunched over the counter looking bored, and twirling a plastic fork as she stares at a pot of coffee. There's a strawberry blonde girl sat in a booth by herself, boots up on the leather seats, clearly not giving a damn as she types furiously on a laptop. Lastly, there's a brown haired boy in a hoodie sitting at a table by himself on his phone, leaning over the table and scrolling through some social media. I'm looking at an abandoned menu at a table when I hear my name.

"Phil? Oh my gosh, it's you! It's been such a long time!"

It's the waitress, and she smiles warmly at me, pouring a cup of coffee.

"Janice! It's great to see you! How's the shop been doing?"

She hands me the cup of coffee, black, with two sugars, just how I like it, "It's alright, business has been going alright, I guess." She lowers her voice slightly, grinning, "See that brown haired boy? He comes here every night..."

I raise my eyebrows at her, "Oh? Have you tried talking to him?"

She looks down, blushing at the counter, "Well, apart from bringing him coffee, no.. He's always on this app, this blue app with a T on the icon..."

"Oh, Twitter!" It must be, I think.

"No, I don't think so, it has these long posts and photos and things... But Phil, Phil! Isn't he just wonderful!" She leans on the table, chin in her hands, and sighs dreamily, "And he's got these eyes..."

I smirk at her, on the verge of bursting into laughter, "Sounds like somebody's got a crush on the brown haired boy, hm Janice?" I say, wiggling my eyebrows.

She flushes, "I do not! I just think that he's really cute and adorable and I want to ask him out, and I love his eyes. But I don't have a crush on him!"

"Sure, Janice. Sure."

Just as she's about to slap me, the strawberry blonde in the booth calls over.

"So, am I getting my coffee? Please, I've got a paper due in the morning, I really need this..."

Janice sighs, pouring the girl a cup of coffee, "That's Hayley... She's exhausted, she's having finals for this intensive course she's taking in music history."

I look over at the boy at the table, and turn back to Janice, "Alright, I'm going to go and try talk to brown-eyes over there, alright? Hey, maybe I'll get him to notice you, hm?"

Before she can protest, I'm already halfway across the room, striding over to the table. I tap his shoulder, and he turns around, giving me a what-are-you-bothering-me-for type of look. My stomach flops around a little bit, but I convince myself to say something.

"Uhm, excuse me, but... Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

I mentally slap myself in the face as he looks at me, perplexed. He looks like he's about to protest, but then he sighs, apparently too tired to care about the blatant lies I'm clearly feeding him. I sit, wincing at the awfully loud screech that the chair makes as I drag it out. He turns off his phone, putting it in the back pocket of his black skinny jeans, and looks at me. Slightly self conscious, I run my fingers through my hair, looking over at Janice, who's busy giving Hayley her coffee.

"So..."

"So...?"

"I'm Dan."

Dan. That's a cute name, I guess, I can see why Janice likes him. She was right, I guess, about his gorgeous eyes. Brown eyes aren't just brown, I hate it when people say that. Brown eyes are the color of hazelnuts on oak wood, light and dark, and sometimes you can even get lost in them if you stare at them long enough...

"And you're...?"

I snap back into reality, "Phil, I'm Phil, I'm..."

He raises his eyebrows, "You're... let me guess... Phil?"

I wince at how awkward I sound, "Yeah, I'm Phil. And you're Dan. So, Dan..."

Why am I getting so flustered? I'm just talking to him for Janice! I should mention Janice, yeah...

"Right, so you know Janice?"

He seems taken aback by my sudden change of topic, "Janice?"

"Yeah, the coffee girl? She's, uh... kind of cute, huh?"

He shrugs, "I guess. Why, do you like her or something?"

"What? What, no! I was just, uh, I was just commenting on her wonderful looks, or something..."

He laughs at me, "Oh, you totally like her! Yes, you do! Come on, you have to go talk to her!"

Oh no, this isn't going at all in the right direction at all.

"Uhm, Dan, I don't know, I don't think that I should-"

"Go!" He pushes me towards her, grinning as I stumble towards the counter. I turn around quickly before she can see me, hastily sitting back down.

"No, I can't do that! Janice is my best friend! And besides, I don't like her!"

He raises his eyebrows at me.

"Ouch, that's rough buddy, but come on, don't deny it!"

But to tell the truth, I'm not lying. I look at Janice, at her beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes, just like mine, but... I don't feel anything. I mean, yes, she's lovely, but... I just can't see myself liking her. I look back at Dan, and his gorgeous dark eyes, and something feels... different.

I shake my head, clearing these strange thoughts from my mind.

"No, Dan, nah, Janice and I... We're just friends, I met her at the shop a few months ago and we've never been... like that." I look back at him, "So, what about you and her, then? I mean, you're both reasonably attractive, and-"

"Are you hitting on me?"

I feel my face flush, "No! No, god no, I'm not- I just meant to-"

"Relax!" He grins, "I was kidding! But really, though, Janice seems lovely, but she's not really my type."

"Alright, well she likes you quite a bit, you know..."

He looks surprised, and turns to see her still chatting to Hayley, "Oh... I had no idea.. Look, Phil, tell her that I'm really sorry, but... I don't know, I'm just not into girls like her..."

I nod, and he mutters something under his breath I can't quite hear that sounds like "orsgisrrls sof fdanytype..."

"What was that?" I ask.

"Nothing! Nothing," He says, blushing.

"Alright, well I should head out, it's late..." I say, gathering my things and waving to Janice.

"Sure, see you!" He says, smiling, "I'll probably be here for a while, I think... Maybe until the sun comes up. I don't.. I don't quite like the dark." He looks down, and his smile lessens slightly.

"Really?" I bite my lip, "Well you know, I have to go now, but... Next time, just let me know, alright? And maybe I can walk you home or something."

"Alright, Bye, Phil!"

"Bye, Dan..."