NOTES::
Okay, I apparently suck at updating quickly for you guys and I apologize. So I'm not going to respond to your reviews and just give you the update. Also, there's an important note at the end of this chapter, so don't forget to check!
Chapter Five – Coffee
Waking up one morning several weeks later, Sho found himself laying on his side in the leather reclining chair the couple had bought a few months before, Kei staring at him lovingly, an idle hand stroking down his arm. "Good morning," he purred, dark eyes watching amusedly as Sho responded with an adorable yawn.
"Why am I in the family room?" the brunette asked, blinking slowly as his eyes glanced around the room.
"We were watching television last night and you fell asleep," Kei answered. "I didn't feel like waking you up to move you to the bedroom, so I figured I would just leave you out here."
"And where did you sleep?"
"On the couch," he replied. "There wasn't enough room for me on the recliner, love." Sho smiled widely as he began to fully awaken, stretching his legs out.
"So I was a chair-hog last night then instead of the bed-hog or the cover-hog?" Sho asked contently, cuddling closer to Kei.
"Mm hmm," Kei said, arms curling automatically around his lover to pull their bodies closer despite the layers of blanket between them still. "Did you sleep well?"
"Better than usual," Sho answered. "Last night I actually wasn't thinking when I dreamt."
"You usually do?" the blonde asked, confused.
"Yeah, actually," he replied, a faint blush spreading across his features.
"About what?"
"Where I'm going to work next." The reply was barely above a whisper, but Kei heard it all the same.
"Sho-chan," Kei said in a disapproving tone, placing a cold hand underneath Sho's chin and tilted the vampire's head up.
I hate to see you cry
Lying there in that position
"Sorry," he whispered, cerulean eyes avoiding Kei's piercing gaze.
"I've been telling you to not worry about this!" he scolded, grip firm on Sho's jaw.
"I don't mean to…" Sho said apologetically.
"I know you don't, but that doesn't mean I'm not mad because of it," Kei told him. Slowly, he leaned down and kissed Sho, caressing his lover's lips with his own. "That also doesn't mean I can't get over it." Sho smiled.
"You're very weird, Kei-chan," Sho replied. "You're scolding, then you're mad, then you're trying to make out—"
"It was a kiss!"
"Same thing!"
"It is not!" Kei protested, but Sho had pulled him into a hot kiss than took his breath away. As they kissed, the blonde pushed the blankets down to the bottom of the chair so Sho could roll on top of him as their tongues tangled together. Sho pinned Kei's arms at his sides and straddled his waist, hands going to stroke at the vampire's sides. Kei squirmed, sides obviously ticklish, and Sho pulled out of the kiss with an arched eyebrow and a devious smile on his lips.
"You're ticklish," he taunted, grinning down at the helpless blonde.
"Don't you dare, Sho," Kei warned, but it was too late; the vampire was already nipping at his neck and dragging his fingers down Kei's sides, making the vampire laugh uncontrollably. "S-stop!"
"Nuh uh," Sho said against Kei's skin, tongue flicking out to lick at the dark mark he had made. "It's fun to watch you struggle under—" His sentence was cut short as he felt Kei's hands press against his shoulders and push him up and to the side, trying to turn them over. However, Sho grabbed Kei as he moved and the pair tumbled off of the chair and onto the floor in a laughing heap.
"You weren't supposed to grab me!" the blonde said, detangling himself from his lover.
"Well it's too late now, Kei-chan," Sho replied, but his words were lost on the older vampire, who was sitting up and staring at the adjacent wall thoughtfully. "Uhh…Kei? You all right?"
"I think I just thought of a job for you," he whispered.
"…What are you talking about?" the brunette asked.
"I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" Kei said as he jumped to his feet and headed over to the front door.
"Where are you going?" Sho asked after him in a demanding tone.
"You'll see," the vampire told him with a loving smirk. Sho let out a disgruntled noise as the front door slammed shut and Kei disappeared.
"I wish he wasn't so vague sometimes!" he said to himself.
There's things you need to hear
So turn off your
tears
And listen
"I found you a job!"
The vampire's words met Sho's ears as the brunette sat at the kitchen table, waiting for his return. He had been in the same position for the past half-hour, waiting for Kei to return with any sort of news. His cerulean eyes moved to stare at the blonde, wanting him to say a bit more about it before he protested.
"Where's it at?" Sho asked tentatively.
"The coffee shop around the corner," Kei answered proudly as he walked to the kitchen and set the application down on the table along with a pen. Sho's eyes widened.
"Really? They're hiring?" he asked, glancing up at the vampire, who was grinning at him.
"Yes," he purred, leaning close as he reached out and let a hand cup Sho's cheek. "And you're welcome." With that, the blonde leaned down and kissed Sho, their lips caressing slowly. Sho whimpered and curled his arms around Kei's torso, pulling the vampire into his lap. Kei grinned and deepened the kiss, fingers burying themselves in Sho's hair. "You're due for an interview in fifteen minutes, love," Kei murmured against Sho's lips.
"Mmm, but what if I want to finish this first?" he asked, lips pressing against the side of Kei's mouth.
"You are insatiable," Kei said in a slight moan as he felt Sho's teeth graze the edge of his jaw.
"It's not my fault if you keep me sex-starved…"
"You're sex-starved?" the blonde asked incredulously. "What have we been doing the past three weeks then?" Sho simply grinned and gave Kei a soft kiss. "Go to your interview, Sho-chan."
"Yes, sir," Sho replied as Kei slid out of his lap to let him stand up.
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole
thing around
"The manager really took a liking to you," the young man said to Sho the next evening as they stood behind the counter before the coffee shop opened.
"I have that effect on people," Sho replied with a smile.
"It's a good thing, too. I was getting sick of having to do all of the work around here."
"I didn't catch your name…" the brunette said.
"It's Hiro," he replied, grinning at Sho. "You're Sho, right?"
"Yes I am," Sho said. "Hopefully I'll be able to help you out…I've never actually worked in a café before."
"That won't be a problem. You can run the cash register and I'll run the bar."
"Sounds like a plan," he agreed. After a few moments of awkward silence, Sho decided to speak up again. "So how old are you?"
"Twenty-one," Hiro told him. "How about you?"
"Twenty-five," Sho replied casually. "Got a girlfriend?" Hiro flushed.
"No," he muttered. "I've…had a few boyfriends, though…" Sho blinked, but smiled at him.
"What a coincidence, so have I."
"Really?" Hiro asked, looking at him with a slightly suspicious gaze.
"Yeah," he answered. "You think I'm lying, don't you?"
"A bit."
"I'm not, don't worry."
Their conversation was cut short when the door to the shop opened and a customer entered. The two employees turned toward the door and Sho heard Hiro gasp quietly behind him. Sho's lips curled up into a smirk as he stared at the person he figured would be the first customer: Kei. The vampire was clad in dark red, skintight leather pants along with a white button-down shirt with half of the buttons undone, exposing a good portion of his tanned chest. His hair was messed up in such a fashion that it looked somehow perfect.
No it won't all go the way it should
But I know the heart
of life is good
Kei made it to the register and rested a hand on the clean surface. "Hello," he purred in a deep voice that resembled how he usually talked in the bedroom. The sound made Sho melt and he heard Hiro stifling a moan.
"Good evening, how can I help you?" Sho asked as he stood behind the register, seeming extremely calm.
"Can I get a small vanilla latte, please?" Kei said, glancing up at the menu for a brief second.
"Sure. It's going to be $2.50," he answered. As Kei fished his wallet out of his back pocket, Sho turned to Hiro, who was still staring at Kei. "Go!" he mouthed to the younger, waving at him to start moving. Hiro snapped out of his stupor and began to get the drink ready.
Kei held out a five-dollar bill, which Sho took quickly after punching 'vanilla latte' into the cash register. He held out his lover's change and dropped it into Kei's hand, but before he could let his arm fall back down, Kei had grabbed his fingers with his hand. He leaned down and kissed the back of Sho's hand; he stared up at Sho with smoldering eyes and a seductive look on his face as his lips parted and his tongue flicked out to lick at the hand. The brunette's breath caught in his throat and his heart skipped a beat. He heard Hiro make an indignant noise from over by the bar, but Sho could care less; Kei was being excessively romantic and it turned him on.
"Kei-chan," he breathed, earning a gasp from his co-worker. Maybe now Hiro believed him…
"How's your first day going, love?" Kei asked him, lips still trailing along the back of Sho's hand.
"Y-you're my first customer," Sho replied.
"Mmm…I thought so." Kei's tongue licked at the diamond ring on Sho's finger, a sexy smirk on his lips. He pulled away from Sho's hand and leaned over the counter as Sho did likewise. Their lips met and Kei brought a hand up to Sho's cheek, tongue slipping obviously into the younger's mouth. Sho knew that Hiro was probably mentally cursing him, but he could care less; all he could concentrate on was Kei's agile tongue swirling around inside of his mouth.
When Kei pulled away, Sho murmured, "You are such a tease, Kei."
You know, it's nothing new
Bad news never had good timing
"I know," he replied with an innocent smile. Hiro walked over to where Sho stood and held out Kei's latte for him. "Thank you," Kei said as he took the cup from the young man. He took a sip of the steaming liquid and let out a soft sigh. "I've always liked your lattes." Hiro flushed.
"Thank you," he muttered embarrassedly.
"Is it all right if I sit in here for a while? I've got nowhere else to be…"
"Of course," Sho told him with a smile, mentally trying to will his arousal away. Maybe I'm not sex-starved, but you certainly make me feel like it, he mentally shot at the vampire as the blonde sat down in a nearby plush armchair, suddenly pulling out a book from his back pocket. Hiro hit Sho on the shoulder, catching the vampire's attention. The man motioned for Sho to follow him into the back room, and he obliged.
"You lucky son of a bitch," Hiro exclaimed as Sho closed the door to the back room behind him. Sho grinned sheepishly. "So you weren't lying."
"Nope."
"Is there any way you'd ever let me have a go at him?" he asked eagerly.
"I'm sorry, but no," Sho told him. "He's my husband, so there's no way I'd let him go out with someone else." Hiro's face fell slightly.
"Oh well," he said in a sigh.
"I'm…going to get back to work." With that, Sho strode out of the back room, glancing over at Kei, who was staring at him like he was some sort of dessert. He felt a wave of anger at Hiro for asking him such a stupid question, but it faded quickly when he looked at his lover again and realized how seductively he had dressed. Plus, Hiro didn't know how old he was nor did he know how long they had been married for. Letting out a soft sigh, Sho returned to his position behind the cash register and waited for the rest of the day's customers to filter in…
But, then your circle of friends
Will defend the silver
lining
For the remainder of the evening, it never really got much busier. Kei sat in the café the entire time, making Sho feel rather uncomfortable around Hiro. Finally, Hiro left to take a quick break and the brunette strode over to the lounging vampire.
"You're going to get me fired, Kei," he hissed in a menacing tone, although Kei missed it. The vampire reached out and grabbed his lover, pulling Sho into his lap.
"Mmm…so?" he asked, planting kisses around Sho's face.
"My co-worker's lusting after you!"
"And it's making you jealous," Kei finished for him, making Sho blink. "I knew it," he taunted.
"Shut up," Sho muttered, blushing uncontrollably. "I'll be done in a bit, so will you surprise me at home, angel?"
"Of course," Kei replied, placing a tender kiss on Sho's lips before the brunette stood up and went back to work.
As Kei disappeared out the door, Hiro returned from his break and Sho took a good look at him. "You know…you look like someone I used to know…" he said thoughtfully, still staring at Hiro.
"Really?" Hiro asked…
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole
thing around
"Okay, that's it!" Sho's angered voice rang through the silent house an hour after Kei's departure from the café, drawing Kei out of the bathroom where he was drying off after a warm shower.
"What do you—" Kei tried to say as he slung a towel around his neck to prevent water dripping down his back, but Sho cut him off before he could finish.
"He's fucking haunting me everywhere I go!" the brunette snarled, tossing his belongings angrily onto the couch. "I mean, if I wanted to be haunted—"
"Sho!" Kei nearly shouted, finally catching Sho's attention. "What are you talking about?"
"The kid that I had to work with at the coffee place is Toshi's brother!" Sho said loudly, angry tears surfacing. Kei blinked, confused, as he took a few cautious steps toward the raving brunette.
"…Toshi doesn't have a brother," he said slowly.
"Apparently he does!"
"H-how is that possible?"
"I was talking to the kid while we were working and I mentioned that he looked like someone I used to know," Sho explained, calming down slightly as Kei reached out and entwined their fingers together. "He told me that he used to have a brother—or so his mom used to tell him—and they even tried to find him before because she lost him in Mallepa years ago. I asked him his mother's name since I remember it from that orphanage letter Toshi got and we thought it was a joke. And he said it was Mineko and I knew right there that he wasn't lying." A tear fell down Sho's cheek; immediately, Kei reached up and brushed it away and pulled Sho into a hug.
"So you quit," Kei finished for him, burying his fingers in Sho's hair as the vampire nodded into his shoulder. "You're having bad luck with jobs, love," he murmured, rocking back and forth to soothe Sho, who was silently crying. "Sho-chan…"
"I'm sorry," Sho said in a sob as he straightened himself up and stared at Kei.
"Why are you always apologizing?"
"B-because I feel like I'm disappointing you," the brunette confessed. His statement made Kei smile and pull him into a tender kiss.
"You still remind me of your ten-year-old self," he said against Sho's lips. "My Sho-chan, there's no way you could ever disappoint me." Sho looked at him with confused azure eyes. "You keep telling me that you're doing these jobs for me. I'm not pushing you to do these jobs, you are. Love, I'm proud of the fact that you've actually gone out there and done jobs that most people your age would never want to do. So I'm not disappointed." The brunette smiled softly, but looked away from his lover, still feeling slightly awkward. "All you have to do for me is not cry over it, all right?"
"All right," Sho agreed, glancing up at his lover, who was grinning at him.
"You are way too adorable…"
Kei's statement made Sho laugh; the younger vampire wiped away his tears and threw himself into Kei's arms. "I love you," he whispered against Kei's neck.
"I love you, too," Kei replied, arms tightening around Sho. "Don't worry about it anymore, Sho-chan…"
Fear is a friend who's misunderstood
But I know the heart of life is good
I know it's good…
Lyrics are The Heart of Life by John Mayer.
IMPORTANT NOTE: RATED R NEXT CHAPTER. I owe you guys for putting up with my lack of writing, so it's rated R next chapter. And I've been told by a few people that it's one of the hottest things I've written (the smut is already written, I just need to write the part that comes before it).
I'm sorry that it's taking me a while to update. Lately I've been writing random things that have taken up a lot of my creative juices and I pushed this to the side. That and I've been very…not in good moods as of late, so I've been sour and not in a cute-writing-mood. Hopefully that will change—I'm telling someone how I feel about him in a few days on his birthday. I'm excited! …As long as it doesn't ruin our friendship, that is.
Reviews are appreciated and I swear I will update within the next few weeks to make up for the lack of it the past month.