Anddddd we're back with another chapter of "Always In A Rush"! If you enjoy this one, please make sure you leave a review!

./././

The weightless feeling Luke had enjoyed the month prior didn't last long.

October had reared it's stressful head and he quickly found himself inundated with assignments, mid-terms, and plans for reading week that he really didn't have time to organize. On top of that, he wasn't eating or sleeping well and his skin had been breaking out because of it. His shoulder length, wavy brown hair had been oily too, but that had more to do with running out of shampoo the week prior and not having the time to purchase another bottle.

That's how he found himself in line at a local coffee shop off campus after pulling an all-nighter for an assignment that was due in a couple of hours. He hadn't found time in September to work on it and almost realized too late how much time was needed to complete it. With a string of classes that day as well, he knew caffeine (and multiple sugar cubes) would be the only thing preventing him from falling asleep during lecture. He doubted any of his professors would be pleased if that happened.

He'd thrown on a semi-clean burgundy sweat suit with some run down sneakers he'd had since forever in his haste to leave his dorm room. His hair was tied up in a high bun that didn't keep all the stray hairs out of his face, but he was too tired to fix it. He looked like he'd just run a marathon, which wouldn't have been a stretch considering all the back and forth he'd been doing between his classes and the libraries.

He yawned while watching the line move forward as another person paid for their order and stepped to the side to wait for it to arrive. There was still a couple of people in front of him and he found himself tapping his foot absentmindedly as he waited. This coffee shop in particular was one of the closer (and cheaper) places to get coffee off of campus. It was too small to really hang out or study at, but it better served those on the go or in a rush.

As another person finished their order and thanked the cashier, Luke began to fish through his bag for his wallet. After a few seconds of blind groping, his eyes widened and he cursed under his breath. He unzipped the bag and rested it on one knee, giving it a more thorough search before holding back a groan.

"Damn…" he muttered, zipping it up before he started patting his pockets frantically.

The only thing his search deduced was that he'd misplaced his wallet and he was too tired to try and figure out where he might have left it. He hoped it was either in his or Nick's dorm rooms and not at a library or in the hands of someone who had no intention of returning it.

As irritated as he was, Luke had to chuckle at that thought. On a good day, his wallet held a handful of change and a credit card. Judging by how much was in his bank account, a thief wouldn't get too far with either one of those things.

The joke was short-lived, however, since he still needed a coffee boost and knew he wouldn't have time to search for his wallet before heading to his next class. He hoped he'd have enough energy to make it through his morning and afternoon classes, though that was starting to seem a lot more daunting without caffeine. Shaking his head, he turned on his heel to leave when he heard someone call his name.

He looked up at the person standing behind him in line to see none other than the baker he'd met about a month ago.

"J-Javier?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. The man smiled down at him and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fancy meeting you here," he replied.

"H-hey," Luke stammered, looking away as he felt the beginnings of a blush spread across his face. It was hard not to feel self-conscious under the handsome man's gaze, especially when he already felt like a thrown together mess.

"Early morning, huh?" Javier asked. Luke looked up and blinked.

"Uh, y-yeah," he replied before clearing his throat, "I pulled an all-nighter trying to finish this essay."

Javier grimaced. "I'm sure that wasn't fun."

"Not really, no," Luke admitted, shaking his head.

"Isn't it early for you, too?" the student asked. Javier shook his head and scoffed.

"I wish," he replied, "We have to be up pretty early to start baking. My nephew's holding down the fort while I pick up some much needed caffeine."

"That must be pretty hectic," Luke mused.

"You get used to it, for the most part," Javier shrugged, stifling a yawn that Luke unintentionally mirrored.

"See?" Javier said, giving him a tired smile.

"Yeah," Luke chuckled, "I get it."

"Were you about to head out?" Javier asked. Luke's eyes widened and he nodded solemnly as he remembered why he had to leave.

"Oh, yeah," he started, "I left my wallet somewhere so I'm just going to head to class. I won't have time to look for it now."

Javier raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Then it's my treat today," he replied, putting a hand on his hip.

"I can't let you do that," Luke immediately retorted.

"Why not?" Javier asked. "You're running on what? An hour of sleep?"

"Well…" Luke muttered. He wasn't sure he'd even gotten an hour, if he was being honest.

"Don't worry, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for the poor professor who will have to deal with a sleeping beauty in his class if I don't," Javier replied with a smirk.

"Still, I can't let you do that," Luke repeated, ignoring the sleeping beauty comment because he really didn't know how to respond to that. "Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate it! But I can't let you pay for my screw up."

"Next customer!" the cashier yelled out. Luke turned around to see the line empty in front of him. He'd been so caught up in their conversation that he'd failed to notice the line dispersing as they spoke.

"Looks like we're up," Javier said, walking past him.

"W-wait, Javier! You don't have to…" Luke groaned, trailing off as he followed behind the clearly determined man.

"Hello," the baker greeted. The cashier, a shorter woman with thick and curly hair that billowed around her face, smiled up at them.

"What can I get you two?" she asked, resting a hand on the cash register. Luke looked down at her name tag where the name "Claudia" was printed in bold font.

"If it's not too much trouble," Javier started, "can I get a large coffee, black?" He smiled brightly at Claudia, who giggled in response.

"Does he have to charm everyone he meets?" Luke thought to himself, rolling his eyes while blushing at the same time.

"You find me charming?" Javier asked, turning to smirk at him.

"W-what?" he spluttered, realizing he'd been thinking out loud, "n-no way!"

"That's what you just said," Javier replied in a sing-songy tone, turning back to the cashier. Luke, not knowing how to respond to that either, followed suit and noticed the cashier looking at them with a curious expression on her face.

"Will that be all, sir?" She asked Javier.

"Yes, that's all," Luke replied, interrupting whatever Javier had been planning to say.

Javier shook his head. "No, it's not. Sleeping beauty here will be ordering as well."

"W-wait, what?" Luke all but shrieked, almost in disbelief at what he was hearing.

"Oh," Claudia said, as if she'd figured something out. She turned to Luke with a bright smile that he wasn't sure was as innocent as she made it out to be.

"What can I get you then, Aurora?"

Luke didn't have the energy for this.

"Well, I…"

"See?" Javier said, a dazzling smile spread across his face as he turned to Luke. "Someone gets it."

"I'll uh…" his mouth felt dry as he tried to speak. His eyes darted across the menu, trying to find something he recognized as small and cheap. It was hard to recognize anything when he was being distracted by his emotions so early in the morning.

"I'll get a small-"

"Now, Aurora," Javier interjected, "we talked about this."

"W-what?" Luke squealed as he looked up at the handsome baker.

"A small?" Javier questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm really not…" He couldn't even finish his sentence without crumbling under the man's kind but serious stare.

"Fine," he groaned, turning back to Claudia who looked like she was trying to stifle a laugh.

"I'll have a large half and half, thanks," he growled, looking down at the cash register.

Claudia nodded and inputted their orders.

"That'll be $5.75," she explained, "how will you be paying today?"

"Credit," Javier replied, pulling out a black wallet from his back pocket.

"Thank you," Luke muttered, shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest.

He could practically hear the man's smile as he replied.

"No problem, princess."

"You're unbelievable…" Luke replied.

"Hey, I wish I had a cute boyfriend who bought me coffee," Claudia interjected, handing Javier a receipt.

If Luke had been sleepy before, he was wide awake now.

"W-wait, he's not my boyfriend," he barely spit out under her gaze.

"Are you sure?" Claudia asked, almost looking bored at his attempt to correct her.

"I-I…"

"Anyway," she continued, gesturing to the left of her, "your drinks will come out on the counter over there. Have a good one, guys."

Luke was pretty sure his jaw dropped when she did that, but he clamped it shut as he walked with Javier to the waiting area.

"That was fun," Javier said with a sheepish smile. Luke sent him a half lidded glare as he stood in front of the counter.

"Yeah, fun," he replied sarcastically.

"S-sorry about that," Javier said, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.

Luke sighed, more tired than irritated at this point. "It's okay." Javier paused before continuing.

"I didn't think she'd join in on my joke," he admitted. Luke shrugged.

"Me neither, but since you paid for my drink, I'll try to find it in me to let it go," he said with a smirk.

"Besides," he continued, "I'm so all over the place today, I definitely don't look like a princess."

He smiled self consciously at the baker before looking down at the floor beneath his feet. Part of him couldn't help but feel embarrassed having been seen by Javier on such a bad day. He'd felt a lot more confident the first time they'd bumped into each other in the market.

"Really? Well, you look as pretty as one from where I'm standing."

Luke looked up to see Javier smiling at him with his arms crossed over his chest, almost as if he was daring him to disagree. He blushed furiously as he stared into the man's eyes, looking for a sign that he was joking or poking fun at him. But the baker looked nothing but sincere and content with what he'd just said to him.

"What did you..?"

He didn't have a chance to finish as their drinks were suddenly placed on the counter in front of them.

"Enjoy!" the coffee shop employee who'd made them said as they headed back to prepare something else. Luke turned to stare at the drinks and watched as Javier grabbed his, bringing it up to his lips to take a sip.

"Don't you have a class to get to?" the man asked as he finished his sip. Luke blinked at him before nodding slowly.

"Oh, r-right," he replied, grabbing the lidded cup.

"T-thank you!" he blurted out, following the baker as he began to walk out of the coffee shop.

"Anytime," Javier said, looking down at him and smiling as they fell into step.

"Bye, boys!" Claudia said with a wave as they reached the door. Javier smiled and waved while Luke barely managed to nod as he stepped into the brisk morning air.

"S-see you around?" Luke stammered as he turned to walk in the opposite direction of Javier.

"Hopefully," Javier said with a wink. Luke rolled his eyes.

"You're the worst," he said with a smile as he turned to run to class. He could hear Javier laughing as he jogged away and didn't even try to stop himself from smiling like a fool as he headed towards his campus.

./././

Luckily, he made it to class in record time and was able to throw himself into a seat beside Mike before their professor began her lecture.

"Where were you?" Mike whispered, moving some of his things to make room for Luke to put his laptop down.

"I needed coffee," Luke whispered back as he turned on his computer and opened a notes application.

"That badly?"

"I pulled an all-nighter for an essay due in my next class."

"Yikes, you're already pulling all-nighters?" He didn't need to see Mike's face to know his friend was grimacing.

"Yeah, well I'm hoping this isn't the first of many."

"I hope not because I don't want to have pull any either."

Luke chuckled at that. He was lucky enough to have his next class in the same building as his class with Mike. It was one floor lower, so he wouldn't have to worry about rushing over to make it on time. He explained as much to Mike, who was relieved for him.

"Well, that's one less thing to worry about. I'll walk you there after class, I don't have another lecture until this evening."

"Sounds good, thanks."

"At least you got some coffee now. Is that a large? Sounds about right for the day you're having."

"Yeah, it does. But get this, I can't find my wallet!"

"What?!" Mike asked, forgetting to whisper and unintentionally drawing the attention of the students sitting around them.

"Uh, sorry!" he hissed as they turned back to focus on the lecture. He turned and looked at Luke like he wanted to laugh. Luke chuckled and shook his head.

"Where did you lose it?"

"Hell if I know. I might have left it in Nick's room. I'll text him later but I'm not going to worry about it until I get this essay in."

"I hope you find it, bro."

"Me too, but I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Hopefully no one found it and took it," Mike mused. Luke snorted.

"They probably wouldn't get too far with it."

"Yeah, they probably wouldn't," Mike agreed. "It's your wallet, after all."

"Go to hell, Mike."

When the professor finished their lecture, Luke and Mike packed away their things and headed to Luke's next class.

"So," Mike started, "if you lost your wallet, how'd you get the coffee? Don't tell me you were able to flirt your way out of paying."

Luke eyes widened and he almost choked on the lukewarm drink he was still sipping on as they walked beside each other.

"W-well…" he tried. Mike's eyes widened.

"Wait, you actually got a free drink out of flirting? With that hair?" he asked in astonishment, looking up at the (even messier) bun slanted atop of Luke's head.

"Hey, what's wrong with my bun?" Luke asked, using his free hand to try and adjust it.

"Hey, if you like it, I love it," Mike said with a shrug.

"It didn't look awful this morning…"

"I'm sure," Mike replied sarcastically, ignoring the glare Luke sent him as he tried to re-position his bun. "What's important is who you charmed a large coffee out of."

"I didn't charm anyone," Luke replied with an eye roll, though the blush spreading across his cheeks betrayed him. He couldn't help it when the conversation he'd had with Javier was starting to replay in his head.

"You sure about that?"

"I…yes! I just ran into someone I knew and they paid for my drink."

"Oh, really?" Mike said, his teasing grin quickly falling into a disappointed frown.

"Yes," Luke replied firmly, though he couldn't look Mike in the eye as he spoke.

"Someone from class?"

"Well, no," Luke had to admit. The mischievous smile reappeared on Mike's face before he had the chance to continue.

"Oh," Mike said, his tone indicating Luke wasn't out of the woods just yet.

"Have you been getting busy with one of the locals?" he asked. Luke's eyes widened and he almost dropped his cup as he realized what his friend was implying.

"S-shut up, Mike!" he retorted, shoving his friend lightly as he laughed.

"I'm kidding!" Mike said with a smile as he tried to catch his breath.

"Look, I'll see you later, okay?" Luke grumbled, his classroom coming into view.

"Yeah, yeah," Mike replied, "say hi to whoever for me. Does Nick know?"

"There's nothing for him to know," Luke retorted adamantly.

"Whatever you say," Mike said with a shrug, though it was clear he wasn't convinced.

They were standing right in front of Luke's class room at that point so Luke gave Mike a wave (and the finger) as he walked into his class. His friend laughed and returned the gesture before heading off.

Luke pulled his essay from his knapsack and placed it atop the growing pile of papers on his professor's desk before taking his seat.

In his previous class, he'd been too distracted by Mike to think about his run-in with Javier. But he didn't have any friends in this class and with his essay finally submitted, his mind had time to muse over their conversation. Part of him still couldn't believe the baker had not only paid for his coffee, but had complimented him again.

He didn't know what to do with that information.

Part of him wanted to believe the man was just being nice. That he was doing it because he felt bad for a student and good karma was always a good thing to accumulate. That was still a possibility, for all intents and purposes, but another part of him was hoping it was more than that.

He wouldn't deny that he found the man attractive and charming, regardless of how much he teased him, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to tell him that just yet. Plus, they'd only spoken twice. He couldn't really gauge Javier's motives when he really didn't know the man. It was still too early to deduce anything from their conversations and he was way too deep in schoolwork to investigate the matter any further.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his laptop from his bag and began his routine note taking as the professor started the class. Halfway through the lecture, he glanced at the coffee cup he'd brought with him and smiled before shaking his head.

"Princess, huh?" he muttered to himself. "Does that make him the prince, then?"

The question made him blush, his imagination running with it before he could stop it. He tried to return his attention to the powerpoint slides the professor was going over.

It wasn't necessarily a question he needed an answer to right away, but he couldn't help but hope one was coming sooner than later.