"Shit, I'm late" Eren noted as he checked the clock on his phone. He quickened his pace as he hastily shoved it back into his jeans pocket. He wasn't far from his destination, and he craved the warmth of his favourite little café. The cold was so bitter, it stung his bare skin, and he felt numbness pulsing through his being; trying to concentrate on the sensation he would feel with sweet sweet coffee running down his throat.
Sighing, he rounded the final corner and then it was in sight. The sign read 'Maria' in a wonderfully graceful font, and the exterior was worn, but still pleasant looking.

As he opened the door, he almost forgot his current predicament as warmth from the heater threatened to engulf him; and he would have welcomed it. He closed his eyes, so as to fully enjoy this simple bliss, but was brought back to reality by a voice. It wasn't loud, and it didn't sound angry, but it instilled a certain fear in Eren that nothing else did.

"You're late"

He gulped. "I'm sorry, Mikasa! Petra's seminar ran late, but I got here as fast as I could."

The girl with straight black hair appeared to be chewing on her tongue.

"I guess you can't help that, but I'm sick of you being late for everything Eren. However, it's you that's going to suffer" she said with a smirk.

"Huh?"

Out of no where appeared Eren's best friend, Armin. He was twiddling his thumbs nervously.

"I tried to buy your coffee, but..." his voice trailed off as Mikasa gently placed her hand on his shoulder.
"We agreed this would be the penalty, right Armin?"
He seemed to find a bit more composure in Mikasa's touch, as he nodded firmly.
"Yes, you were late, so you have to buy your own." They smirked at one another and walked back over to their table where they held their cups up mockingly.

Begrudgingly Eren joined the queue.

He knew exactly what he wanted, he had been craving it all day. A vanilla latte, yes, that was exactly what he needed after the day he'd had. He had slept in, got to his first lecture late, which caused Hanji to recap everything he had missed, much to the distaste of all of the other students, had almost gotten into another fist fight with Jean Kirschtein. 'That horse faced fuck is lucky he has such a freckled saint of a boyfriend, or I would have snapped his neck' Eren thought to himself.

It was finally his turn, and just as he stepped forward he heard the bell indicating either the departure of a patron, or the arrival of one. Eren had long accepted that he was far too nosey for his own good, and started to place his order as he turned to inspect the person who had let in the cold.

"I'll have a- ummmmmm" he trailed off, and totally blanked. He had turned to look at the man who had entered as he had joined the queue behind him; and now he couldn't take his eyes off of him. Damn. This guy was hot, seriously hot. Eren couldn't tear his eyes away.

"Eren?" The girl behind the counter was a friend, sort of. He knew her through Marco (Jean's boyfriend) and he had to admit, she was the sweetest person he knew.

"Oh, um, I'll have a... shit what did I even come here for?" He had known just a moment ago, hadn't he? Exactly what he wanted... but now, all he could see was this guy. Those hooded grey eyes were burning into his mind and he couldn't even begin to recall what he wanted.
"I'm sorry Eren, but there are other people waiting, would you like to try our special if you're stuck?" Eren silently thanked Christa for being so sweet, and he knew no other barista would treat him with such patience. He was starting to feel really embarrassed, knowing that the man behind him probably thought he was a total dork.
"Christa" the interruption came from the back, and Eren rolled his eyes knowing exactly who it was, "stop being so damn polite. If he can't make up his mind, tell him to get to the back of the line."

'Fuck you Ymir' he thought as he desperately scoured the menu without even reading it.

"Don't be so rude, Ymir" Christa hissed.

"I'm really sorry, I don't know what came over me" Eren felt the blush creep up on him, and he started to wish he had never turned around. Guys did not have this effect on him, he was Eren Jaeger and he could get any guy he wanted; this was fucking ridiculous.

"Could I just get the special?" he said. His voice had returned along with his confidence.

"Sure thing! Ymir, one hazelnut latte" she called.

He moved to the side to wait after paying for his drink, and silently thanking himself for sleeping in and missing his morning coffee, if he had not, he'd have had no money in his wallet, and would have looked even stupider in front of that guy. That mysterious looking, totally gorgeous, devil may care... man. Shit, how old was he? Eren groaned inwardly at the realisation that this guy was probably at least ten years his senior.
"Welcome Sir, what would you like?" Eren was brought back by the sound of Christa attempting to take the man's order.

Before he could answer, Ymir came forward. Pretending not to see Eren, she called out "One hazelnut latte for a 'Mr Indecisive'." The guy snorted, and Eren wanted to be swallowed up by the ground. Fuck, he must think I'm such a loser.
"Very funny" he snarled, snatching the drink out of Ymir's unnaturally large man hand. "You know that's why you have to work in the back, don't you Ymir? You're shitty with people"
Spitting the words out like venom, he stalked away, huffing loudly as the annoyance built up in him. He couldn't believe that that freckled bitch had made him look even worse. At least he'd gotten the last word in.

Eren had barely gotten comfortable before Mikasa and Armin were probing him for answers.

"What took you so long?"

"Why is your face red?"
"Why were you being pissy with Ymir?"

"What did you order? That isn't your usual"

"Guys shut the fuck up, he's coming" he said irritably.

Armin and Mikasa looked at each other, quirked their eyebrows and then looked in the direction of the counter. Approaching them was what could only be described as a short man who looked like he had an even shorter temper.

"Did that guy give you trouble?" Mikasa asked calmly as she made to get out of her seat.
"No, no, nothing like that" Eren whispered urgently as he tried to pull her back down into her seat.

"Then what's his deal? Why do you care that he's coming this way?" Mikasa asked, as she sat back. Eren didn't answer, but he didn't need to; luckily Armin was extremely observant and logical.

"You like him." was all the blonde said, before taking another slurp of his caramel frappuccino.

Eren's eyes widened, and his blush became prominent once more.

"What? No, don't be stupid Armin... the guy must be like thirty"

Armin quirked his eyebrow once more and smirked knowingly; nothing got past him.
"Please. You're so obvious you may as well have his dick in your mouth."

"ARMIN" Mikasa and Eren said in unison, utterly shocked that such a vulgar phrase had passed those sweet lips.

"You may be spending too much time with Jean, if phrases like that are slipping out." Mikasa interjected "but please, tell me more about Eren's crush" she smirked before adding another sugar to her spiced vanilla latte.

Eren eyed Armin with his best 'don't-you-fucking-dare' eyes, but Armin had long stopped being intimidated by them.
"Okay, so there's the fact that your bright red... also, you have a drink you don't like, which indicates that you chose it on a whim. Either to prove a point, or because you were too frazzled to remember your order, and took the special as default. I'm assuming the latter, and I'm also assuming that it was that man's entrance that broke your concentration. And if all of that wasn't glaringly obvious enough, there is also the fact that you, just now, outright said 'he's coming' which insinuates that you don't want to be embarrassed while he's in the vicinity or that you don't want attention drawn to yourself. I'm guessing that's because you made a spectacle of yourself at the counter."
Armin took a long and triumphant slurp of his drink.

"Fuck you, Armin" Eren said, as he sunk now into his seat, and puffed out his cheeks in defeat. He quickly allowed them to deflate once he realised that he was sat facing the man whom Armin had just been talking about. He was sat at a table by himself, facing Eren. His eyes were on him now, and Eren couldn't help but return his gaze. He was trying to be inconspicuous but Eren knew that wasn't his forte, and if his luck was anything like usual, he was probably starting to piss the guy off.

He simply couldn't take his eyes off the guy, he was stunning. The way his sharply cut black hair hung gracefully about eyebrows that were fine and detailed. His grey hooded eyes were fascinating, and he was extremely toned for a man of his stature. Eren was getting rather flustered, as whenever he looked at this guy, Armin or Mikasa would make a rude remark, or compare Eren to a stalker, which had him giggling like this was his first crush. He could the guy's patience waning as his eyebrows knitted together with annoyance as he stalked off to the rest room.

"I don't want to sound too obvious, but you could go talk to the guy you know" Armin suggested.

"Isn't that a little weird? Following a guy into a bathroom to talk to him?" Eren laughed

Shrugging, Mikasa picked up her things. "You're cute, you can get away with it" she laughed as she rummaged for her car keys. "Besides, if you're going to do it, you better hurry up, we're leaving soon."

"But I just got here!" Eren whined
"Armin and I have been here since seven, it's not my fault you have a weird timetable."

"We'll wait in the car" Armin said cheerfully, as he and Mikasa walked to the door.

Eren was nervous; was he seriously going to do this? Was he going to walk into a café bathroom, to strike up a conversation with a man who looked slightly murderous, who, he reminded himself, might not even be interested in guys.

Oh well, he sighed deeply before making his way to the rest room.

"Here goes nothing."