Kaffe

Mathias stared eagerly through the clouded window of the city bus, desperately wishing all the traffic away so he could arrive at his destination without being too terribly late. He tapped his foot on the bus floor, then took his eyes off of the window to glance at his phone's lock screen for the time. He let out a huff of impatience, then returned his gaze to the outside world. He was supposed to meet Lukas at a small coffee shop downtown, and he only had seven minutes to get there. He watched as multicolored vehicles and buildings passed by, then eventually only cars and trucks as the bus made its way onto the highway leading to downtown. Finally, his stop was next, and Mathias was a little too excited about pulling the wire that informed the driver.

Mathias had met Lukas about a month prior. He had been hanging out with his best friends, Alfred and Matthew, at their apartment when the Norwegian had arrived to work with Alfred on a group presentation for their psychology class. Lukas often met with Alfred at the apartment over that next week, which gave Mathias plenty of opportunities to surprise Lukas with how much Norwegian he understood and could speak. Lukas began to spend his free time with their group, and the pair easily bonded over the shared language, much to the annoyance and confusion of the rest of Mathias' friends, and Mathias gradually began to notice how empty he felt when Lukas wasn't around.

Mathias stepped off the bus and onto the busy sidewalks of downtown, and immediately took off running towards the coffee shop where Lukas was, hopefully, waiting for him. The thought of Lukas leaving because he was late sent painful ripples through his chest, and Mathias attempted to run faster despite his aching lungs. Turning a final corner, Mathias slowed to a walking pace to catch his breath, the fateful coffee shop within sight. Mathias scanned the area, hopeful to find Lukas. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes located their target. Lukas was seated outside, dressed in his normal button-up and slacks, with coffee and a book on the table in front of him. Mathias let out a sigh of relief and felt a grin pulling at the corners of his lips. Lukas waited for him. Mathias began to make his way towards Lukas, when a previously unnoticed detail stopped him in his tracks. Sitting next to Lukas, in the spot that should be occupied by himself, was another man. The man looked to be about their same age, and had ear-length platinum blond hair. He was wearing a casual outfit; jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers, along with a long brown jacket that was draped behind him on his chair. He and Lukas were chatting away, Lukas apparently saying something funny as the other man moved his hand in front of his mouth to hide his laughter.

Mathias suddenly felt very cold, his feet frozen in place. A million incoherent thoughts flooded his mind. Did Lukas give up on him? This was just their first date, and they hadn't known each other for long, so Lukas wouldn't have had much of a reason to reject someone else since Mathias was almost twenty minutes late. This jerk probably saw Lukas by himself and felt sorry for him. How dare he? Lukas doesn't need his pity. Annoyance bubbled up within Mathias, and he made his way over to the pair.

"L-Lukas!" Mathias stammered as he reached the table, and interrupted the conversation, "I-I-I'm so sorry, I wasn't expecting so much traffic." Lukas calmly looked up at Mathias, his deep blue eyes shattering Mathias' confidence. Whatever plan Mathias had to confront the mystery man instantly forgotten as he stood awkwardly, nervously, waiting for Lukas' response.

"About time you showed up, asshole." A voice snapped Mathias out of his trance-like state, but it wasn't Lukas' soft monotone. Mathias turned his attention to the source of the voice, and found himself looking at the mystery man, which gave Mathias the opportunity to study him closer. He seemed younger up close, Mathias guessed mid to late teens. His eyes were an interesting shade of blue that almost seemed violet. The man sat staring right at Mathias with his arms crossed against his chest, his right ankle placed upon his left knee, leaning back in his chair with an annoyed glint in his eyes. "I can't believe this. What kind of idiot doesn't show up early to a date? And instead you're ridiculously late!"

Anger surged through Mathias. What nerve this guy has! "Yeah, well I'm here now," Mathias growled at the man, "So you can run along, kid."

"Not a fat chance in hell!" Mystery man snorted, uncrossing his arms and legs to lean forward towards the table. "So far, I don't like you. So I'm not just going to leave you here alone with-"

"Emil, that's enough." Lukas cut off the other man with a hard stare. Emil shut his mouth, and with a huff of annoyance, recrossed his arms and slumped back into his chair. Content that Emil wouldn't interrupt, Lukas turned back towards a confused Mathias. "I expected you to be late, actually."

Mathias' jaw dropped. "Whhaaaaatt? Do you really have that little faith in me?"

Lukas took a sip from his coffee, "After a month of seeing you always showing up to Alfred's late, and then seeing Matthew have to almost literally drag your ass out the door so the two of you wouldn't miss your class... I'd say I have a lot faith in the fact that you'll always be late." Lukas then placed his cup back on the table. A snort escaped from Emil, and Mathias shot him a threatening glance.

"Okay, yeah fine, I'll give you that..." Mathias muttered, "But that doesn't explain this asshole." Mathias nodded in Emil's direction. "If you knew I'd be late, why is some other guy here? When I saw him I thought you'd given up on me."

"Oh. Nei. I apologize," Lukas' eyes widened at Mathias' words. "This is Emil, my baby brother."

"Oh for the love of... I'm not that much younger than you, jerk." Emil shot back, rolling his eyes.

Mathias felt a tremendous weight lifted from his chest. This is Lukas' brother, not his replacement. "Oh! I see!" Mathias faced Emil and smirked, "Couldn't find a baby sitter then?"

Emil suddenly stood, knocking his chair back and slamming his hands on the table, drawing the attention of other customers."I'M AN ADULT, THANK YOU." Emil shouted, obviously Mathias had hit a sensitive topic for the boy. Mathias noticed Lukas cover his face in attempt to hide a quick laugh, which caused the Dane to crack a huge grin.

"Sorry about him, Mathias. He gets touchy when it comes to people treating him like a child."

"Ekki afsaka ekki fyrir mig, bróðir!" Emil snapped at Lukas. Mathias found himself lost, that didn't sound like Norwegian. He was about to question Emil, when he noticed Lukas smiling. A real, rare, Lukas smile.

"You called me Brother." Emil went wide-eyed and clamped a hand over his mouth at Lukas' words.

"Is that so weird?" Mathias questioned the brothers, gaining another glare from Emil.

"Don't worry about it, Mathias." Lukas sighed, then took a sip from his coffee. "Again, I'm sorry. He tried to follow me here, however he's a rather lousy ninja." Mathias let out a snort, and Lukas smirked. "He wouldn't go home, so I gave up... Are you going to sit? It'd be an even more awkward date if one party stands the entire time."

Mathias looked back to Lukas, suddenly feeling his face heat up. "Oh.. Uhh.. Yeah.." He quickly grabbed an extra chair from the neighboring table and sat next to Lukas. Emil watched him the entire time, not trying to hide the fact that he was judging Mathias' every move. "It's not really a date though, I guess."

Lukas' grip tightened on his cup and he stared at Mathias. "It.. it isn't? I.. I didn't misinterpret this, did I?" Emil shifted in his chair, gaze darting back and forth between Mathias and Lukas. "I-I-I'm sorry, I just assumed when you invited me out that you... I shouldn't have assumed you were interested in me like that..."

"Oh no, that's not..." Mathias panicked as he realized what Lukas was thinking. "I am! I mean, uh.. This was supposed to be a date. But I mean, it isn't really one when there's a third person, right? Our first real date should be with just us, right?"

Lukas let out a sigh of relief, "Oh... Yeah, I guess that's what is normal." He glanced over to Emil, "However, I would do the same if I found out he was going out with someone new." Emil rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"He would, too." Emil muttered under his breath, then turned his attention back to Mathias, "Just pretend I'm not even here and enjoy your date. But don't you try anything funny with him. I'm not above starting a fight, asshole."