Stiles was nervous.
She didn't know exactly why, but she still stood behind the counter glaring at the clock every other second, waiting for Haley to step through the door. She never got nervous before when Haley came in. Happy? Yes. Excited? Yes - but not nervous. It probably, Stiles admitted to herself, had something to do with the fact that Haley had 1. Seen her kissing Erica last night and 2. Completely opened up to Stiles about her entire life story, which Stiles realized she didn't do very often.
It was 5:20 and Stiles was trying desperately to think of something funny to say when Haley came in. The notion that she was even thinking of this beforehand was shocking; Stiles was very much in the practice of "speak first, think later".
"I never thought I'd have to tell you this, but just relax." Isaac came up behind Stiles, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I am relaxed. Oh, and by the way, do you have any advice on what to say to a girl after she told you that her entire family is dead?" Isaac was silent. "Yeah, I thought so."
"I have an idea." Isaac said after a moment. "Take your break."
"Now? Haley is going to be here soon."
"Exactly. You take a break, she comes in for her tea and then maybe decides to sit down? Maybe next to you?" Isaac smiled, seeming rather pleased with himself.
"And how does that solve the problem of me not knowing what to say to her?" Stiles asked.
"Uh, it doesn't." Isaac replied.
"Exactly."
…..
Haley walked in at five minutes past 5:30 wearing the same expression as always.
"What'll it be? Caramel Twist Frappuccino? Gingerbread Latte? You know our new organic coffee has been a very popular choice…" Stiles rambled, knowing perfectly well what she was going to order and getting a hard silent glare from her in response. "English Breakfast it is."
Haley rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Has anyone ever told you that variety is a very vital part of your diet?" Haley just stared at her. "Well it is. And, uh, I think you need some help in improving that. If I could make any suggestions…"
"I think I'll stick with the tea, thanks." Haley handed Stiles the money and took her drink. She sat down in a chair in the corner of the room.
"You know, the best part of my day is watching you squirm and blush your way through conversations with her." Isaac smiled appearing again beside her.
"I'm glad I could provide you with some amusement." Stiles moped.
"Look, if you want my advice, just do something about it! Talk to her, you know, something." Isaac said. "As much as I love your little attempts to flirt with the same joke over and over again, you're my friend and I think you should go for it."
…..
"Hello." Stiles said, sliding into the seat across from Haley.
"Um, hi." She looked permanently startled. "What are you doing?"
"Talking, socializing. I don't know, apparently it's good for you." Stiles fiddled with the warm cup in his hands. Haley was still silent with that look of confusion plastered on her face. "I thought I'd take my break now and then I saw you sitting there and I thought to myself – hey, why not sit with Haley? Make my break a little less more fun than making an attempt at my calc assignment."
Haley, to Stiles' excitement, looked like she was trying to fight a smile. Maybe the rambling worked.
"Okay, okay." Stiles kept talking. "I could wait through some small talk and try to force you to ask me what's in my cup right now, but I can't resist." She looked like a kid on Christmas day waiting to open their present.
Haley rolled her eyes. "I'll bite, what's in the cup?"
"English Breakfast Tea." She emphasized every word, making sure to draw it out as long as possible.
"And?"
"I haven't tried it yet. You, the lucky person you are, get to see me take my first sip." Stiles had a goofy smile on her face, making everything she said sound 10 times more enthusiastic.
"What a thrill." Haley said, practically oozing in sarcasm. But Stiles had a feeling that she was secretly enjoying this.
"Okay?" Stiles said.
"Okay."
"I'm going to do it."
"I know."
"I'm going to have my first taste of this drink that you find so heavenly and if it's anything less than droplets of pure gold…"
"I never said anything about heavenly."
"…I will be very disappointed."
"Just drink it."
So Stiles did. And the look on his face afterwards said it all.
"You didn't like it." Haley said. It wasn't a question – the look of disgust was very clear on Stiles' face.
"It's not that I didn't like it…" Stiles mused. "It just, you know." Haley cocked an eyebrow. "It's hot water! Hot water with a bit of flavor! I don't get what the big fuss is about."
"It's delicious, there's caffeine, and it's healthy."
"It's gross. Come on, how can you be cheating yourself with this stuff? Have you ever even had coffee before?"
Haley rolled her eyes. "Of course I have. And you're being ridiculous. I like tea better than coffee, why can't you get over it?"
"Well, it's just…" Stiles started to say and Haley widened her eyes in surprise. She wasn't expecting Stiles to reply. "I'm good at reading people. It's kind of a special skill. Some people can put their legs around their head, I can guess people's coffee orders with one glance."
"And what was mine? Not tea I'm guessing." Haley smirked.
"Black coffee. I was so sure about it, too. And then… you surprised me." Stiles spoke slowly, like she was carefully reviewing each word before it came out of her mouth.
"What? You've never gotten anyone's coffee order wrong before?"
"No, I have. It's just you." Stiles paused, staring directly into Haley's eyes. "I couldn't read you. I still can't. Everyone else I know is like an open book, their pages just begging to be read, but with you I don't even know where to start. You have this strict look about you, like you'd rather stab yourself with a fork than be where you are. You're sarcastic and witty and you always seem so angry at the world. But then, out of nowhere, you're sweet and caring even though you don't like people to know that. You don't let me know a thing about you and then in one night you tell me your whole story. You always smile at me and roll your eyes, and I feel like it's been that way my entire life. And you drink tea of all things."
Everything was silent for a moment. Stiles was silently hoping that she didn't sound like a stalker.
"Sounds like you've read me pretty damn well." She smiled and Stiles let out a small laugh in relief.
"Doesn't seem like it to me."
"Trust me, you've done better than most."
Haley started packing up her things, throwing her books into her backpack and drinking the last drop of tea from her cup. She was about to stand up.
"We should hang out sometime." Stiles said quickly, the words almost escaping her mouth without permission.
"Hang out?" Haley repeated.
"Yeah." Stiles' heart was beating crazily. "Hang out. Study. Movie. Eating. Whatever."
"Sounds good." Haley said. A smile was carefully forming on her face. "I'll see you sometime then."
"Yeah, sometime."
