Coffee shop AUs because I am WEAK!
Prompt: "Are you going to finish that?" From witchygirll on tumblr.
It started out as admiring. Caroline would go to her usual coffee shop - Dream Bean - after a long day of work and order her regular; sweet tea and one blueberry muffin. Then she would sit down, scroll through tumblr and relax for a little while. That was her routine, and she liked it.
Until he showed up.
He was cute; with sandy blonde hair that curled just a little and a jaw sharp enough to cut steel. It seemed like he was a creature of habit as well, since he would always order some type of sandwich, eat it and draw. That in itself would be fine, if he didn't always leave one half of the sandwich to be thrown away.
He doesn't do it on purpose - at least she thinks he doesn't - because he seems so zoned out as he draws. He nearly always rushes out, as if he just remembered that he left his stove on.
Other than that, he seemed perfect.
He was a distant, never-going-to-happen crush, and over the course of the week, Caroline learned his schedule. He would come over on weekdays around ten minutes after she did and claim his small table in the corner. She found her eyes lingering for longer and longer, on his hands and the way they deftly sketched whatever was his subject that day.
This continued on for a week, and Caroline was content to keep it that way. A tiny crush never killed anyone, and he was great eye-candy.
Today was the same as the rest, except a terrible thing happened.
He noticed her.
As she was admiring his lean form, tightly hugged by those unfair henleys, he looked up and saw her staring. She felt her eyes grow wide and she quickly ducked her head behind the book she had with her today, as if that would stop him from seeing her. Way to be subtle Caroline, she thought. She waited a minute before looking up and seeing that he hadn't moved. He was still looking at her, and his face lit up with a smirk. He winked devilishly and she felt her face heat up.
She was hoping that the ground would swallow her whole, but when it seemed that it would firmly stay shut, she decided that the next best thing would be to leave, fake her death, forge new documents and live out the rest of her days as a cashier in Japan under the name "Jane".
Okay, maybe not all of that, but she was going to leave.
After waiting a for minute which felt like a lifetime, she slowly gathered her things and left. As she stood up, she heard a small chuckle. She refused to turn her head to see if it came from Mr. Handsome Half-Sandwich and soldiered on.
The next day, Caroline decided to go back to the coffee shop. She figured that he would have forgotten about her already, and feelings be damned if she would never give up her favourite coffee shop. It was the only one near her area that wasn't obscenely crowded and they had motherfucking sweet tea. As a southerner sweet tea was life.
Taking a deep breath, she counted to three and entered the store. Her eyes quickly shot to his chair but found no traces of those familiar blonde locks. She didn't know if she was more relieved or disappointed. Ordering her regular, she turned to face her own seat in the back, and saw his blue eyes and grin fixed on her.
Her legs seemed to stop working and she stood there, stupidly gaping. He chuckled again, and she wasn't surprised that it matched the one from the day of her traumatic incident. Also known as yesterday.
Steeling herself, she slid into the chair in front of him. "Are you gonna finish that?" Caroline asked, glancing down at the (once again) half eaten sandwich.
He seemed surprised by her upfrontness and smirked wickedly. "Not at all. Have at it, love," he said, waving his hand over the plate like a showman.
Huh. British. The accent was a nice touch, and it suited him. Peeking up, she noticed him watching her with unwavering eyes and a knowing look that made it seem like he was cataloguing her. Not one to back down from a challenge, she grabbed the sandwich and bit into it, happy to find it was an ordinary BLT. She didn't miss the way his eyes followed her tongue as she licked some stray crumbs from her lips, and suddenly the thought of him kissing them off filled her mind. A slight flush crept up her neck. Way to make it awkward, Caroline.
"I don't happen to know your name, sweetheart," he mentioned, just when the silence was beginning to settle.
"Caroline. You?"
"Klaus."
"Klaus." She made a content humming noise. "Interesting."
"I know it's not the most conventional. Technically it's Niklaus, but that's a bit of a mouthful," he added.
"No, no, I like it."
They lapsed into a silence after that, Caroline finishing the sandwich and Klaus… Well Klaus was doing that thing where he half-smiles and gazes at her with enough charm to persuade a mule. It was overwhelming, but in a good way.
"So is there a reason for you being here?" Caroline started, because she couldn't stand silences, definitely not because she was sure that if he looked at her like that any longer she was sure she would combust. Definitely not.
"Here as in the coffee shop or here as in here."
"Here as in my seat."
"I don't know if you know this, love, but contrary to popular belief there aren't actually any assigned seats."
"Maybe not assigned, but there are extremely regular seats. Yours is over there," Caroline said, pointing at his seat in the corner.
"I just wanted to meet my not-so-secret admirer," he said and she felt her entire face flush red despite her attempts to keep it under control.
"Yeah. Totally not subtle. Sorry?" The word came out as a question and it actually made him laugh out loud. It was a nice sound. Deep and melodious.
"Don't apologise. It's not everyday I make a girl flee her table."
"I didn't run. I power-walked." At his scoff, she shot him a glare. "What? Like you don't run out of here - without even finishing your sandwich, by the way - nearly everyday?" Caroline countered, but the retort was softened by the wide smile on her lips.
"Touché." A beat passed, and he seemed to be considering his next words. His eyes were cast downwards, and he actually seemed nervous. It seemed strange given, the fact that he always gave off such an air of confidence. "If I am to be honest, I would have preferred it if you stayed." If it wasn't for the sweet tea that was too good to make up, Caroline would have been sure she was dreaming. She was pretty sure she froze at the words. Her distant, never-going-to-happen crush actually liking her? It took a second, but she finally shook herself out of her reverie.
"Well, I'm here now." At her words, his head practically snapped up and the smile he gave her warmed her heart and she couldn't help smiling back.
She was really glad he didn't forget her.
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