The Coffee Shop (Hamilton Lams Modern AU) **IN EDITING**

Chapter 2

John's POV

2 Hours Later

      I practically broke down the door to my apartment as I went in. 

      "Laf! You'll never believe what happened today!" I exclaimed.

      "Bonsoir, mon ami. What happened?" he asked. 

      "I met the cutest guy today, and I got his number!" I replied, bubbling over with excitement. Laf looked down at my hand, taking notice of the bandages.

      "Oh, right," I mumbled. "I burned my hand while I was getting his drink.." I explained shyly. He laughed a bit, and then smiled at me.

      "Mon ami, you seem so smitten by him, yet you barely know him," he commented.

       "So? Peggy said he always comes during my lunch break, so I'll just take my break at 2 instead of 2:30," I told him. "That's okay, right?" Laf rolled his eyes with a smile.

      "You said you have his number?" he asked. 

      "Yeah, and I gave him mine-" He cut me off. 

      "Set up a date with him, see how it goes," he suggested. "Actually, no. Don't do that. Just.. try to get to know him a bit better," he adds hastily, causing me to roll my eyes. "Now, go get cleaned up, you're a mess. Did you run all the way here from the shop?" 

      He was right about me being a mess, though. Half of my hair had come out of my ponytail, and my clothes were sticking to me as they were soaked with sweat because I'd run here.

      "Well, yeah, I did run here.." I mumbled. I took off my shoes and stepped inside, heading straight into my room. I put my backpack down on the spinny chair by my desk and went straight into the bathroom to freshen up.

~

      I went ahead to sit down at my desk, thinking of taking out my sketchbook to draw or add some color to an illustration I'd started. I picked up my phone, only to find around 15 messages from.. Alex! I unlocked my phone and read his messages, grinning from ear to ear. I didn't end up drawing or adding color to anything, actually, as I was so caught up with texting Alex. I checked the time on my phone, only to find that hours had passed. 9:23?! But wasn't it just 6-? How long have I been in here? I thought drowsily, getting up to go eat.

      "There you are, John. I was just about to call you to eat, You usually never wait until this late to eat," Laf told me.

      "I-I know.. I was distracted," I explained with a yawn.

      "What were you doing? I know you weren't drawing," he commented. 

      "I was texting Alex-" I got cut off before I could explain. 

      "Isn't he the one you met today?" Laf asked.

     "Y-yeah.." I replied, yawning yet again. 

"You must be head over heels, as I've never seen you this taken with someone, mon ami," he said, smiling at me. I felt my face go red, but I didn't say anything. "So uh, I tried what you said, and um, we're kinds sorta gonna hang out tomorrow night..?" I muttered, blushing even more. I looked up at Laf, only to see that he was grinning. "That's amazing, mon ami!" he exclaimed. I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Alright, alright. I should've known you'd wanna help," I replied. We spent the rest of the evening debating what I should wear. I ended up getting to wear what I wanted (Gravity Falls t-shirt, jeans, light jacket) and even though Laf was kinda annoyed he didn't get to help as much as he would've liked, he still wished me good luck (albeit a day early). I went to bed over-excited about my date tomorrow. Before I slept, I did one last thing. Night, Alex, I typed. I pressed send, turned my phone off, put it on my bedside table, and went to sleep.