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

Chapter 10

John's POV

3 Hours Later

Only 5 more minutes 'til my break, I thought. I hope Alex gets here soon.. The door swung open, and someone walked inside the shop. "Hi! What would you like to order? Oh, and if you don't mind telling me, what are your preferred pronouns?" I smiled at the customer, who looked back at me with a smirk. "Pronouns are she/her, and I'm Faith, by the way," she explained. I nodded and smiled. "So, are you single?" she asked me. I nearly choked on my own spit but answered her anyway. "Uh, no, I'm actually taken," I mumbled. "By who?" I was slightly annoyed at the personal questions, as this was highly unusual. "By the very best," I replied with a grin. "Aww, so you are taken with me!" she exclaimed. "What? No, I have a boyfriend!" I was half-shouting at this point. She made a face. "Ew! If I knew that, I wouldn't have even come in here," she whined. "Yeah, kid, you're just salty that I'm already dating someone," I told her. She stormed off in a huff, and as she left the shop, someone else came in. "Alex! Perfect timing, I just finished dealing with my last customer. She was salty because I wouldn't date her," I explained, dashing over to the door. He smiled at me, and I noticed someone come in beside him. "Hey, Jackie!" Martha exclaimed. My face lit up and I ran over to hug her. "Martha! I haven't seen you since you moved up here!" I noticed the smirk on Alex's face and pulled away from the hug. "Alex, did you have something to do with this?" I asked. "Well yes, but actually no. I met her in one of my classes and convinced her to come here with me," he explained. "That's not all!" she told me. "Tell him your plan." She pushed Alex forward. "So, I was thinking about some way to both get your siblings out of your dad's custody and show them that you didn't leave because of them. It hit me that, with help from one of my professors, I could put your dad on trial and possibly win the case, causing you to gain custody. An added bonus would be that your dad would most definitely go to jail for child abuse, so you wouldn't have to worry about him anymore." By the time Alex had finished explaining, my eyes were shining with tears. I couldn't believe he'd do all of this for me and my siblings. I quickly kissed him and hugged him as tight as I could. "Thank you!" I exclaimed. "You're welcome," he mumbled, still flustered from the kiss. I pulled away from the hug and grinned at him. "You know you don't have to do this, right?" I asked. "I know, but I already got permission. That's why I left so early yesterday," he explained. I nodded and then checked the time. "2:10 already? We should get going if we wanna go somewhere for lunch. You good with staying here, Martha?" She nodded and gave me thumbs up. "Alright then, Alex, let's go!" And with that, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him out the door.