I sincerely apologize for yet another delay on this story. I really wanted to stick to the Sunday schedule I'd originally set, but I realize that may not be feasible with everything going on in my personal and professional life right now. A lot of great things are in the works, but I find myself drained by the time the weekends roll around. I'm definitely going to try and be stricter with myself when it comes to completing this story - I want to see it finished soon!
One good thing that has come from this process is that I've gotten through writing a scene that happens later on this story that I was dreading. It's not extremely bad, but it definitely changes the tone of the story and while I always planned to include it, I struggled to actually write it. I've finally done so in a way that I think is fair and stops me from continuing to hold off on it. When that scene eventually comes up, I'll explain why I felt the way I did about it.
Until then, enjoy!
The next day was surprisingly gloomy as a thick fog enveloped the campus before sunrise. Luke would have loved to sleep in and study, but he had to get ready to meet with Clementine. He'd spent a week reviewing the material in order to prepare for their meeting, he wasn't about to cancel when he'd worked so hard. Exams were coming faster than he would have liked and he wanted to complete the rest of his assignments sooner than later in order to maximize his study time.
Squeezing into a forest green hoodie and some black skinny jeans, he put his notes and textbooks in a book bag and left his room. He barely had time to make breakfast before throwing on his heavy winter jacket and heading out to their rendezvous point at the student centre.
Clementine was already waiting outside when he got there. She was wearing a red and black checkered coat with ripped jeans and crimson coloured high top boots. Her trademark baseball cap sat underneath cat eared headphones (which Luke couldn't help but find adorable) and her hair was pulled back into a small bun at the nape of her neck. She was staring at her phone screen intently and only looked up when Luke called her name.
"Oh, hello Luke," she said as he approached. Luke gave her a bright smile and bounced in step.
"Ready to work?" he teased.
Clementine scoffed. "As ready as I'll ever be." Luke chuckled and looked up at the student centre behind her.
"Did you want to study here? I know we said we'd go to one of the libraries but I'm sure this would suit our needs just fine."
"It would have, if it wasn't packed," Clementine said with a shrug. Luke grimaced.
"Figures," he replied, "it's close to exam season, after all."
"Yeah, someone told me it would be like this," Clementine admitted.
"Hopefully, one of the libraries will have a quiet spot we can use," Luke replied.
Clementine crossed her arms over her chest, making her jacket puff up a bit. "That's if the one that's open isn't packed."
Luke raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? There are two major ones on campus. They're on opposite ends, so I thought we could check both in case one was busy."
"I know, but they sent us an email this morning saying a pipe burst in the North library," she explained. "They have to close it for the weekend in order to try and fix it."
Luke groaned and shook his head. "Oh, for the love of…"
"We can still see if the South library has space," Clementine offered as she started to walk away from the centre.
"Yeah, let's do that," Luke replied, taking a deep breath as they fell into step with one another. Turning to look at her as they walked, Luke couldn't help but smile at the determined look on his project partner's face.
"I keep forgetting it's your first year, how are you finding it so far?" he asked.
"It's been okay so far, no serious complaints yet."
"That's good. This isn't a bad school but first year is no joke. You seem to be holding up pretty well."
"Thanks, I'm trying," Clementine said, showing a rare smile as she spoke. "There's definitely a learning curve, but my professors are nice and I always have Colette."
"Oh, right, I remember her. That's the friend of yours who has the same tutorial as us."
"Yup, that's the one. She thinks you're really cool, by the way. She keeps asking me to invite you out to lunch with us one of these days."
Luke let out a hearty laugh.
"She's pretty driven, huh? I wouldn't mind doing lunch, though. You have my number now, just text me when you want to go."
"Sure, I'll do that. She'll be ecstatic."
They walked in silence as they headed down a pathway that lead to the South library. Even in the heavy fog, Luke could make out the outline of the building, and he pointed it out to Clementine as they approached it.
"It looks different from the picture they showed us during orientation," she noted, raising a finger to her chin as they walked up the library's steps.
"That picture is probably outdated," Luke explained, holding the library door open for her. "They renovate a little every year, or so I've heard."
Clementine thanked him as she walked in, but she froze as soon as she entered the library. Luke, noticing she'd stopped walking, looked past her to see what had made her halt.
He immediately saw why and groaned out loud.
The South Library was jam packed with students and faculty members. It was so bad that most students had resigned themselves to studying (or sleeping) on the carpeted floor. Luke winced and shook his head.
"Well, this isn't good."
"No, it's not," Clementine replied, sounding defeated.
"It makes sense though, what with the North Library being closed and all."
"Yeah, but I don't think I'll be able to concentrate here."
Luke nodded in agreement. "Me neither, and we have a lot to go over too. We'll need space and…" he trailed off, grimacing as he watched a student nuzzle their face into the carpet they were sleeping on.
"…those floors aren't even clean."
Disgusted wasn't even the word, mortified might have been more suitable given the situation. Clementine replied with a snort as she followed his gaze.
"Where do you think we should go?" she asked, turning to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Outside of my dorm, which is just as much a mess as this place, I'm not sure. Most of the classrooms are closed on the weekends," Luke explained, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.
Clementine shook her head. "My dorm's not much better, honestly," she admitted. Luke sighed.
"I guess we'll have to resch-."
"Wait!" Clementine interjected, snapping her fingers together.
"W-what?" Luke asked, her outburst catching him by surprise.
"I know a place we can study at, Colette took me there once," the first year explained. "It's a little ways off campus, but they have good food and a study space that will most likely be empty."
Luke's widened.
"That sounds like our best bet," he replied, "if you want to go there, I'm fine with that."
Clementine smiled and turned to head out of the South library, holding the door for Luke as she did. Luke thanked her as he followed behind her, breathing in the cold and foggy air as he did. While he was grateful for his partner's quick thinking, he couldn't help but feel like he'd heard of such a place before. Brushing off the thought, he pulled his jacket's hood over his head and headed after his project partner.
./././
"So this is the place, huh?" Luke asked.
They were standing in front of a small shop on the outskirts of Capricorn. Luke couldn't remember being the last time he'd been so far from campus since he'd arrived on the shuttle bus back in September. Yellow, metal letters nailed to the store's front spelled "Garcia Goods" complimented the alabaster bricks that lined the store front. The front door, a large wooden slab equipped with a small window, had been painted yellow and Luke briefly wondered if the colour scheme continued on the inside of the shop as well.
"Yup," Clementine replied, "it's a bit of a trek from campus, but their pastries are really good. Plus, I know they'll have a space for us to study in."
"I feel like I've heard of this place before," Luke mused, scratching the scruff on his chin.
Clementine shrugged. "You might have, Colette says they're a relatively new business, though."
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now," Luke replied, shaking his head.
"C'mon," Clementine urged, opening the front door and gesturing for Luke to go first.
He stepped into the shop, taking in the warm air and the smell of freshly baked bread that made his mouth water.
The inside of the shop was a lot bigger than Luke had expected. It was long and narrow, with tables and chairs lining the left side of the shop and a display case with baked goods on the right. Behind the display case sat the cash register and various racks with empty trays on top of them. There was also a swinging door to what looked to be the kitchen. Towards the back was a door to a washroom and what Luke assumed was the study room Clementine had mentioned. Although Luke was disappointed to see the yellow and white colour scheme did not continue inside the shop, he appreciated the warm browns, reds, and teal coloured accents that littered the décor. It gave the place a warm and homey vibe, and he hadn't been expecting something like that.
"This…is really nice," Luke admitted.
"Isn't it?" Clementine replied as she walked past him to look at the display case. Kneeling in front of the glass cover, she started pointing at the different pastries and pies.
"Are you going to get something?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the pastries in front of her.
He didn't have a chance to reply as a young man walked through the swinging door behind the cash register before he could.
He was around the same height as Clementine and looked to be her age as well. His hair was brown, short, spiky, and mostly covered by a bright orange beanie cap that sat lopsided on his head. He was wearing a black apron that had protected most of his white t-shirt from being coated with flour and spices, though he didn't seem to mind the places where it hadn't. Luke could make out the black skinny jeans he was wearing beneath the apron as well. He wondered briefly if this young man was a student too, though he was pretty sure he'd never seen him before.
But the young man turned to him before his thoughts could progress any further. He raised a bushy eyebrow in Luke's direction before he saw Clementine stand up from in front of the pastry display.
"C-Clementine?" the young man stammered, almost taking a step back. Luke raised an eyebrow of his own, unsure as to why her appearance would elicit such a reaction.
"Hey, Gabe," Clementine said calmly, as if she hadn't noticed his outburst.
"It's uh, nice to see you," Gabe replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"Nice to see you too," she replied nonchalantly, though Luke could see her cheeks were starting to get red.
"T-this is Luke," she continued, gesturing towards him abruptly. Luke sent Gabe a wave that was not returned.
"Okay," Gabe replied, frowning while giving Luke a once over.
Luke, realizing what was going on at this point, smiled and stepped towards the display counter.
"Nice to meet you, Gabe. I'm Clementine's partner for a class project," he explained, hoping to indirectly reassure Gabe. "She said you have a great study space here and we could really use one."
The young man blinked a couple of times before nodding.
"O-oh, yeah. We do," he replied as if surprised by Luke's response.
"Everywhere else is packed like sardines, so I thought I'd bring Luke here. He didn't know about this place like Colette did," Clementine chimed in.
"Thanks," Gabe replied with a sheepish smile. Clementine smiled at that before returning her attention to the pastries in the display case.
"Now, what should I get…?" she mused aloud. Luke looked down at the display case and felt his stomach rumble.
"It all looks so good," he admitted.
"Right?" Clementine replied, nodding in his direction as she continued to stare.
"C-c'mon, guys," Gabe said with a smile, his face redder than Clementine's had been.
"It's true, Gabe," Clementine said with a smile. "I'll take a slice of apple strudel and a butter tart."
Gabe nodded and began to pull out the selected items.
"How about you, uh Luke?" the young man tried as he began to slice a large slab of apple strudel.
Luke eyes widened in surprise when Gabe addressed him, but he quickly recovered and stepped up to the display case to get a better look.
"I'll have a slice of strudel too and…is that carrot cake?"
Gabe turned to where Luke was looking and nodded. "Yup. I just made it, actually," he said.
"Can I have a slice of that too, then?" Luke asked with a wide smile. Clementine snorted.
"You look like you're in love," she said with a smirk.
"It's carrot cake, how could you not be in love?" Luke retorted.
That got a laugh out of both Clementine and Gabe, with Luke joining in shortly after.
"If you guys came to study, I can bring your food over in a few minutes. It's a slow day," Gabe explained once he stopped laughing.
"You don't have to do that," Clementine replied. Gabe gestured towards the study room.
"Go ahead, seriously," he said, staring down at the pastries he'd pulled for them. Luke smiled in understanding and walked past Clementine.
"C'mon, Clem," he started, "we have lots to go over today."
"Fine," Clementine groaned, following after him.
"I'll see you guys in a bit," Gabe said as they walked away from the counter.
"Sure," Luke said over his shoulder as he opened the door to the study room.
The room was styled similarly to the rest of the bakery when it came to colour accents and furniture. It wasn't huge by any means, but it was big enough to fit a couple of circle-top tables and six or so plastic, red chairs. Luke was surprised, however, to see a large easel in the corner of the room holding up poster paper. There were even markers left on a ridge on the easel, just below the paper. He couldn't help but think of how useful that would be for meetings or brainstorming sessions. It was a nice touch that he hadn't expected.
"Wow, this'll work perfectly," Luke said he pulled off his backpack and placed it on a chair at one of the tables.
"It's a great spot," Clementine agreed, "I wish I came here more often." Luke nodded in agreement as he pulled out his school supplies.
They'd only just started going over their notes when the study room door swung open. Luke turned, expecting to see Gabe, and instead stared up at a man he'd met before.
"Javier?" He said in surprise, dropping the pencil he'd been holding (and chewing on).
"Princess?" Javier replied, holding the pastries they'd ordered on a tray in his right hand. He was wearing a flour-covered apron and if Luke hadn't been deadpanning over his nickname, he would have probably been blushing over how cute and endearing he still found that to be.
"Princess?" Clementine echoed, sounding more amused than surprised.
"Princess?!" Gabe asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway.
"Okay, can you guys stop?" Luke groaned, recovering from his stupor.
Javier ignored him and turned to Gabe with an incredulous expression on his face.
"I thought you said Clementine came with a friend?"
"I-I did! It just isn't Colette this time!" Gabe stammered indignantly, his face turning a bright red. Whether his embarrassment stemmed from being put on the spot or from hearing Clementine's name, Luke was unsure.
"Luke's my partner for a class project," Clementine interjected. "We couldn't find a place to study on campus so I recommended we come here."
"O-oh," Javier replied, turning back to Luke. "Well, welcome! I'm glad you could finally stop by."
"I might have come sooner if I'd known where your bakery was," Luke replied, trying to play off the awkwardness with a nonchalant shrug.
"I guess I thought you wouldn't come," Javier said, using his free hand to rub the back of his neck. Luke raised an eyebrow.
"Why would you think that?"
"Well, I…" Javier started.
"Uh, Javi?" Gabe interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, buddy?" Javier asked, turning back to the young man.
"They came to work on their project, a-and Clementine really cares about her grades so maybe we should give them some time alone," he explained nervously, looking back and forth between Javier and Clementine.
There was silence for a few (tense) seconds before Javier cleared his throat and nodded.
"R-right, sorry about that," Javier replied, placing the tray on the table Clementine and Luke were occupying.
"I'll catch you guys later," Javier said with a strained smile as he walked out, pulling Gabe with him. The two students watched as the young man gave them a victorious smile as he left.
As the door shut, Luke couldn't help but take a deep breath. That had been both unexpected and awkward. He hadn't seen Javier in what, a month? It sucked that school made it so difficult for the two of them to interact more but it wasn't like the man had given him his number or anything. He hadn't even known where Javier's bakery was until Clementine had shown him.
Still, he couldn't help but blush as he thought about their past encounters. He didn't want to believe there was anything there, but the feelings bubbling up inside of him were getting harder to ignore.
He looked up to see Clementine smiling at him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked. Luke eyes widened before he shook his head.
"Not really," he said sheepishly. Clementine nodded and turned back to her notes.
"Let's get back to it, then," she urged, pushing his plate of desserts towards him.
He silently thanked her for the out and began to eat as she explained her points.
./././
A couple hours later and both Luke and Clementine felt deserving of a break.
Standing up to stretch, Luke yawned and shook his head.
"I think we made some good progress," he said, looking down at Clementine who was tapping her pencil against the table.
"I think so too," she agreed, "I feel a lot better about this assignment now that we've worked out some of our main points."
Luke nodded in agreement. "Me too, we might be able to finish this sooner than I thought."
"I hope so," Clementine replied, resting her chin on one of her fists, "I have exams to study for."
"Me too," Luke groaned.
"I'm going to use the bathroom before we continue," he added. Clementine pointed to the door behind him.
"It's just outside of the door we came in," she said.
"Thanks," Luke replied, "I'll be right back."
As he re-entered the front of the bakery, he saw Gabe and Javier speaking behind the counter. Both seemed surprised to see him but he smiled and sent them a wave.
"Are you guys done?" Gabe asked. Luke shook his head.
"No," he replied, "we're just taking a break."
When neither baker responded, his eyes widened and he waved his hands in front of him.
"T-that's unless we have to leave! I don't know if you guys have limits on how long students can stay…"
That seemed to shake Javier and Gabe out of whatever trance they'd been in as they quickly responded in turn.
"N-no, not at all," Javier replied hastily. "Please, take as much time as you need. We're happy to have you."
"Yeah, like I said, it's a slow day," Gabe added. He turned back to Javier and Luke was surprised to see a pout cross the young man's face.
Javier rolled his eyes before nodding at Gabe, who in turn took off past the both of them before entering the study room.
"H-hiya, Clementine. I heard you were on break…" Luke heard before the door closed behind him.
"He's in deep, huh?" the second year asked as he walked towards the display counter Javier was standing behind. The baker chuckled in response.
"He's had a mondo crush on her since she stopped by a week or so ago. He can't stop talking about her."
"Hey, the feeling might be mutual," Luke replied, leaning on the case as he spoke.
"You think so? Oh boy," Javier said. Luke raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you say that?" he asked.
"Well…" Javier mused, as if he was trying to think of the right way to articulate what he was thinking.
"Gabe is a good kid, but he's not without his shortcomings and insecurities," he explained. "I get a similar feeling from Clementine, and she's guarded for some reason. They might be better off as friends."
Luke looked back at the door he'd just stepped through and couldn't help but smile as he heard the murmurs of conversation between Gabe and Clementine coming from the study room. He turned back to Javier with this same grin.
"Well, maybe their struggles can help them relate to one another. They could anchor each other when they're in their own storms. Who knows, they might make a better team than you think," he tried. Javier raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"That's poetic," he replied earnestly. Luke snorted.
"Well, it's better than princess."
"Oh please, you love that."
"I resent it, actually."
"Funny, because you haven't asked me to stop saying it yet," Javier retorted, giving Luke a half lidded smirk. Luke tried to ignore how fast it made his heart beat.
"I-I…well…" Luke stammered, caught between the seductive smirk and the implication that he enjoyed his new nickname.
"I-I didn't think you would have stopped if I did," he finally replied, feeling that was the best excuse he could come up with at the moment.
"Oh, really?" Javier asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I probably wouldn't have but you could have given it a shot."
"Maybe I didn't want to," Luke replied without thinking.
"Then you do like it?" Javier asked, his smile now resembling that of the Cheshire cat.
"N-no, that's not what I…" Luke groaned, trailing off before he could dig himself any deeper.
"I'm just kidding, Luke. You know I like to see you flustered," Javier said with a chuckle.
"Really? I had no idea," Luke replied sarcastically. That got another laugh out of Javier and Luke couldn't help but join in. Feelings were annoying like that.
"How long have you had this place? It's pretty sweet," Luke asked, changing the subject. Javier's smirk was replaced with an easy smile that seemed to hide something Luke couldn't put his finger on.
"Thanks! A couple of years now," the baker explained. Luke nodded and looked around.
"This place is still relatively new then, huh?"
"So to speak," Javier replied, "I purchased it from the previous owner and made some design changes. It was originally a sub shop with the study room just being a break room for the employees. I knew I wanted a small team here, so that seemed a bit excessive. Plus, when I found out how close the school was, I thought it would be a great place for students if they needed a break from campus."
"You've got a lot done in two years," Luke admitted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I appreciate you saying that," Javier said with a chuckle that made Luke's heart swell, "we still have a long way to go though."
"Still, I think it's pretty impressive. Not everyone can flip a business and have really good food to boot," Luke said, giving Javier a bright smile. The baker returned the smile before raising an eyebrow.
"Are you trying to get me back for flustering you?" he asked coyly. Luke's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head.
"W-what? Of course not. That's not my style," he replied in surprise. Javier hummed.
"I guess I'll have to get to know you better to find out what your 'style' is," he said, giving Luke a once over.
"I g-guess you will," Luke gulped, looking away as he felt the baker's eyes on him.
"Say, Luke," Javier continued, causing Luke to look up again, "maybe one of these days, you and I could-"
Before he could finish, Clementine and Gabe emerged from the study room. Gabe was carrying the plates they'd had eaten off of and he headed through the door that Luke believed lead to the kitchen.
"Are you ready to get back to it or…?" Clementine asked slowly, looking back and forth between Javier and Luke.
"Uh, yeah!" Luke replied, inwardly groaning when his voice came out a pitch higher than usual. Clementine nodded and returned to the study room, leaving him alone with Javier again.
"It was nice catching up with you," Luke said over his shoulder as he sped walked towards the study room.
"Yeah, really nice," he heard Javier respond, though his tone didn't sound as happy as it usually did.
Brushing it off as over-thinking on his part, he re-entered the study room and took a seat across from Clementine.
"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" Clementine asked, wincing slightly as Luke looked up to her.
"No, not at all," Luke said faster than he would have liked. "Besides, we need to get this done."
Clementine didn't seem completely convinced but she let it go and got back to writing her part of the paper.
Luke held back a sigh as he followed suit. It was hard to gauge what was going on between himself and Javier. Their interactions always seemed to consist of near misses and innuendos he didn't want to put too much faith in. Adding school stress to the mix almost made him want to write off whatever it was as friendly flirting. He realized that would be harder to do, since he was starting to want a little more than that.
Regardless of how he currently felt, he knew his project needed to take priority. Clementine was counting on him, and as hard as it was to focus (especially knowing Javier was in the next room) he had to try.
He channelled his frustrations into the arguments he needed for their paper and found himself typing harder than usual as the words came to him.
At least his feelings were good for something.
./././
An hour later, the two students decided to call it a day. They'd made good progress and would only have to meet up once more before the due date to make sure everything was completed.
Luke stood up and stretched as Clementine began to put her school supplies away.
"That went well, thanks for bringing me here," he said with a smile.
"No problem, I'm glad we were able to," Clementine replied.
The door behind them swung open to reveal Gabe holding two small, white bags in his hands.
"Are you guys heading out now?" he asked with a sad smile on his face. Luke nodded in response.
"Yeah, but I'm definitely coming back. Those desserts were to die for," he replied.
Gabe's face lit up at that and he moved forward to hand each of them a bag. Luke accepted his and peeked inside to see a small white box that smelled like carrot cake.
"I-I packed some extras for you guys to take home. They're on the house," Gabe explained, his face turning a bright red as he spoke.
"Wow, thanks Gabe!" Luke replied, grateful that the young man had given him a chance after their awkward introduction.
"That's very sweet of you. Thank you, Gabe," Clementine echoed, smiling as she put the bag in her backpack.
"Y-you're welcome!" Gabe squeaked, speed walking out of the room before anyone could respond.
As the door closed behind him, Luke turned and shot Clementine a knowing smile. She would have seen it had she not been pretending to ignore him.
They headed out through the same door Gabe had to see that the shop was no longer empty. Though not extremely busy, there were at least ten customers scattered around the seating areas.
Javier was cashing someone out as they walked through and Luke had to steady himself before looking up to smile at him.
"Thanks for stopping by, you two," the baker said as he gave the customer their order. "Don't be strangers now!"
"I'll definitely be back for that carrot cake," Luke replied.
"And not for me? You wound me, Luke," Javier teased, pretending to pout.
"Y-you too!" Luke stammered. Clementine laughed.
"Javi…" she warned, shaking her head.
"I'm just kidding," Javier said with a wink. Luke rolled his eyes, hoping the blush he was sure he was sporting would fade away quickly.
"He's the worst," Luke said, turning to Clementine as he recovered.
"Oh, for sure," she concurred.
"H-hey, c'mon now!" Javier retorted, causing both the students to laugh aloud.
They waved to him as they left, stepping out of the shop and back into the small town that enveloped it. It was a chilly afternoon, and Luke could see his breath form in front of his face as he spoke to Clementine. Even though the two engaged in small talk as they walked, Luke couldn't help but think of his conversations with the handsome baker again. Clementine seemed to notice how distracted he was and allowed their conversation to fall into a comfortable silence as they trekked back to campus.