AUTHORS NOTE: My first attempt at writing for my OTP: Arroganceshipping (Gary x Drew). Yes this is a dumb ooc coffee shop AU what of it
Drew always went to the same coffee shop. It wasn't Starbucks or Costa or any other high street name, but a little building in the older side of the city. Down a street full of second hand book shops, small independent clothes stores and aging antique dealers sat a single cafe with 'coffee' printed on the window in gold typewriter-like lettering. Inside were worn leather chairs with dark chocolate coloured wood tables that looked all too expensive for a small business. A heavy smell of rich coffee always hung in the air and occasionally a hint of chocolate would mix in, adding to the already warm scent in the room. Hardly anyone knew about this place, just enough so they could stay in business, but still not many. All of these factors made the place a heaven for a budding novelist or some freelance artist, but none of this was why Drew liked it. He went there for one reason, and that singular reason was the young male at the counter.
On an average day he would order a strong coffee, sit by the window and occasionally sneak glances at the brunette making drinks for the young girls who came in from time to time. The man was probably the reason the girls came in too, he would talk happily with them for minutes on end. No matter what they were talking about, he always had a face of interest. That was something Drew really admired; he couldn't listen to May talk constantly for 5 minutes without having to interrupt to save his sanity. The brunette however listened to all the girls had to say, nodding and agreeing at all the right moments. They would leave giggling, with a dusting of blush across their cheeks. Drew would smirk, knowing they would come back sooner or later to talk to the man again. He knew all too well how addicting seeing the brunette was, and he didn't even know his name.
He would sit in the shop for as long as he could drag out drinking his coffee while it was warm, just to take in every detail about the man. His chestnut brown hair that poked out messily in all directions, but it didn't look messy at all on him. The richness of his green eyes, like fresh morning grass in bright sunlight. His slightly muscular arms from grinding coffee all day, his perfectly formed collar bones, his pink lips always stretched into a smile. Everything about him was enticing and kept Drew coming back day after day. When his coffee was finished he'd leave a generous tip on the table before getting up and leaving, making sure the brunette was busy talking as to not get noticed. Drew then went about his day, clinging to the thoughts of the next day when he could see him again.
Today, however, was a little different. He ordered his strong coffee like usual but instead of the man putting it on the counter and Drew mumbling a thanks before rushing to his seat, the man held onto his coffee and muttered something under his breath.
"This is your 100th visit..."
Drew froze still, had he heard him right? Had he really been here 100 times? And on top of that, the other man had been counting the times he was there. Questions were rushing through his head as he tried to muster up a reply,
"W-what?" His eyes flicked upwards to glance at the brunette's face before locking back to where his coffee was.
"This is your 100th visit, anyone would think you're in love with the place or something." A smile formed on his lips, it was obvious he cared deeply for his little coffee shop; Drew had seen him clean it from top to bottom and back to the top again when no one else was in the shop.
"It is nice in here..." Drew's mouth had too curved into a small smile, he'd wanted to talk to this man for months and suddenly he was almost in a full blown conversation with him.
"You think so? Not exactly a prime spot for business though." He laughed at his last comment, Drew did agree it seemed a silly place to try and start a business, but he liked it where it was. He didn't know what else to say so the room fell silent for a few seconds before the man behind the counter spoke up again, "Since you've been here so many times, I think you owe me the pleasure of knowing your name."
"Drew, and yours?" He desperately wanted to know the name of the man he'd watched from afar for months and he'd asked before he could stop himself.
"Gary, I thought you'd know since you come here all the time?" Drew looked up sharply checking for a name badge or at least something to indicate his name, Gary laughed, "I really should get a name badge shouldn't I?"
Drew frowned slightly at being laughed at, "Yeah, that'd help." Gary smirked, seeing Drew's obvious irritation,
"So you've wanted to know my name for a while, huh?" Drew's eyes widened and he desperately tried to think of a slightly witty comeback, in the end he managed to splutter out,
"You asked me first, remember?" to which Gary's eyes locked onto Drew's with a mixed look of shock and 'game on'.
"Ah yes, I did. But isn't it you that's come to my coffee shop 100 times?"
"I'm sure those girls come in just as frequently as I do..."
"I wouldn't know."
This confused Drew slightly, he'd come to the cafe on each day of the week and he'd never seen any other members of staff there. Surely Gary was there all the time to see who came in and how often, how else would he have known he'd been there 100 times?
"But you're the only one who works here, surely you know who comes here often?"
"Not if I don't keep track."
That was when it hit Drew, he.. was keeping track of when he came in? Not of everyone, but just him. There must be a rational explanation for it so Drew thought he should find out what that reason is.
"B-but I'm sure you've noticed the amount of girls that come back at least once a week?"
"They do? I never remember faces, well, I remember the ones I want to remember."
"You talk to them for ages! How can you not remember their faces!" Drew was getting frustrated and confused, he accidentally started to raise his voice.
"They're just customers, it's no big dea-"
"Of course it's a big deal! Why do you remember me and not them! Surely you should care a lot more about cute girls coming here than a guy!" Drew's voice was bordering on full volume, good job for him they were the only ones in the shop.
"What if a cute guy was coming here?"
Drew fell silent and he slowly realised Gary had gone a very unnatural shade of pink. He tried to get away from the situation by taking his coffee and heading towards the door. He was stopped before he could step away any further by Gary's hand clinging to his wrist.
"Sorry... But that's the shop's coffee cup. I can't let you leave with it." Drew looked back at him and placed the cup back onto the counter, usually he'd laugh at doing something so stupid but now didn't really feel like the right time. Just as he was about to turn around he heard something else come out of Gary's mouth, "And I can't let you leave without an explanation."
"No Gary, you don't need to explain anything. I'm the one who should explain..."
"I really don't think you need to, I got the message. I need to start paying more attention to who comes in the shop, right?" They both laughed a little at that, "So, what do you say to sitting down with a coffee and actually getting to know each other rather than us both sneaking looks from opposite sides of a room?"
Drew smiled, when he walked in this morning he never imagined this, above all else, would be what would happen, "Sounds good to me."
The two sat down and talked for hours, each time a girl came into the shop Gary casually mentioned they were closed for the day and Drew smiled a bit more each time, knowing he was getting all of Gary's attention to himself for the rest of the day.