Bunkd Lou Ravi Sunflowers in September

Warm Drink

Covers of popular pop songs played softly over the speakers in the coffee shop as customers relaxed on the couches and at tables around the room. Lou carefully stepped over a laptop cord as she made her way to the round table by the window. The table was cluttered with Ravi's textbooks and laptop, but it was her favorite spot to spend her fifteen-minute break. She worked at the coffee shop Monday through Friday after school and he always visited her. She placed two warm drinks on the table as she sat down in the chair next to his chair.

"One chai tea latte for you. And one hot chocolate for me," Lou announced brightly. She removed the lids so that steam rose from the paper cups and the heart design that she had made in the foam of Ravi's drink would show.

"From my favorite barista," Ravi grinned as he closed his notebook to focus all of his attention on her.

"Aw shucks," Lou giggled. She nudged his shoulder lightly with her elbow. "So, are you studying for our chem test?"

"No, this is for the science fair. Emma said I have to get it out of the way before homecoming, so I can focus on campaigning for her to be Homecoming Queen. Again."

Lou nodded. "Gotcha." She took a sip of her drink and then, with a gleam in her eye, said sweetly, "Speaking of homecoming..."

Ravi held up his hand and said, "Don't say another word. I already know what you're going to say and the answer is no, Lou."

Lou gave him a pained look. "But I don't want a corsage. I want a goat."

"But the goat bites me," Ravi mumbled.

Lou was about to argue her point, but didn't get the chance. A chilly September breeze blew in from the front door as Hazel stomped into the coffee shop. She spotted the couple immediately and huffed over to their table. Her yellow rain boots squeaked and matched the yellow hair ties around her pigtails.

Hazel pointed an accusatory finger at Ravi and demanded, "Nerd, I need you to be my fake boyfriend so the new guy pays attention to me!"

Ravi blinked in confusion and instinctively scooted closer to Lou. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, lover boy." Hazel gave Lou a pointed look and made a shooing motion with her hand. "Scram, Lou. Xandy will be here any minute."

"How about a 'hello,' rude," Lou said unfazed by Hazel's hand waving. She took a sip of her hot chocolate and then smacked her lips. "And no, crazy."

Hazel narrowed her eyes at Lou and crossed her arms, repeating, "But Xandy will be here any minute!"

Lou rolled her eyes. "One, the fella has only been at our school for like two weeks. And Xander McCormick is too hot to date the first lunatic that bats her lashes at him or stares into those gorgeous hazel eyes of his."

Ravi frowned as he turned to look at his girlfriend. "Gorgeous?" he mumbled.

"Incredibly gorgeous," Hazel sighed dreamily.

Lou kept her focus on Hazel as she continued, "And two, Ravi can't be your fake boyfriend because he's my actual boyfriend."

"Yeah!" Ravi agreed.

Hazel rolled her eyes and dug into the pocket of her jeans. She pulled out a fifty-dollar bill and slapped it on the table in front of Lou.

"Ooo," Lou grinned as she held up the money with her eyes fixed on it. She glanced at Hazel and then went back to staring at the money. "You've got ten minutes, Crazel."

"Hey! You can't just rent out your boyfriend, Lou!" Ravi protested as he pulled the bill from her hands. "And I should be valued for far more. Seriously, the goat would cost more."

"But tips have been bad all day, sweetie," Lou pouted. Ravi gave her a look, so she sighed and took the money to toss back at Hazel. "Your money's no good here, Crazel."

Hazel huffed as she glanced at the time on her phone. She glanced around the shop to make sure Xander hadn't arrived before returning her attention to the couple. "But that's not fair, dweebs. Come on! I'm the reason you two are dating in the first place," she argued.

"You stuffed me in a locker," Ravi said flatly.

"My locker," Lou added.

"Yeah," Hazel drawled and waved her hands in front of her. "And when you fell out, you two fell in love. So, you owe me."

Lou snorted as she picked up her hot chocolate. "We're dating." She shrugged awkwardly and looked around the room at nothing in particular. "We're not in love."

A hurt look flashed across Ravi's face. He fidgeted with the sleeve of his sweater and stammered, "Psh, yeah..." He continued in a disappointed tone, "We're not in love."

Lou lowered her cup at his tone. She shifted in her seat to face her boyfriend. "Wait..." She studied his face as his gaze remained on the sleeve of his sweater. She leaned forward and lifted his chin so that he would look at her. "Ravi... do you love me?"

He slowly shifted his gaze to her and replied softly, "How could I not?"

And he meant it. They had been friends since middle school when she was an eighth grader yelling at bullies, which he had a lot of as a sixth grader in a new town. And even then, he was amazed by her. His feelings only grew over time, and now that they were dating, he was completely in love.

"Ugh, barf!" Hazel groaned. "Can't you two do this later? Lou, don't you have to go back to work or something." She stomped around the table and yanked Lou out of her seat.

"Ow!" Lou shouted when she landed on the floor. "Hazel, what the heck!"

Hazel plopped down in the chair beside Ravi's and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She winked, "Don't worry. I love you until Xander leaves."

"Help me," Ravi squeaked at Lou with fear in his eyes.

Lou stood up and dusted off her barista uniform. She glanced over to the order counter to make sure her boss wasn't around before she grabbed Hazel by the collar, making her let go of Ravi.

"He doesn't need you to love him," Lou said through her teeth. "Now go before I lose my job."

Hazel gave Lou a blank look as her collar remained in the barista's grip. "Fine," Hazel exhaled dramatically. "It looks like Xander's not showing up anyway. I thought I had figured out his schedule."

"Perhaps you shouldn't..." Ravi started but was interrupted by Hazel.

"Shut up, Ravi." Hazel smacked Lou's hand away and then shoved her way past her to leave the table. "Later, losers."

"And you had better done your part for the group assignment for English!" Lou shouted after the girl. She shook her head and looked over at her boyfriend. "She ruined my entire break."

"Well, at least you only have," Ravi glanced at his watch, "Two more hours to go."

Lou wished it was less so that she could continue to spend time with her boyfriend. She asked, "Will you be here when I'm done?"

"Oh, yes. I have plenty of work to do on this project. Not to mention some pre-calculus homework. I'll be right here," he smiled at her.

His smile filled Lou's heart with warmth and light. She couldn't help the way she looked at him as if he were the only person in the room. She rocked awkwardly on her heels as she thought about how he had admitted to loving her.

"Alright," she said softly. And before she lost her nerve, she added, "Um, love you. Bye."

Ravi sat awestruck as he watched his girlfriend hurry back to the coffee shop counter. He grinned and said under his breath, "Love you, too."

End note: This oneshot was based off the prompt warm drink from the September OTP Prompt Challenge posted by lavendarotpprompts.tumblr. Thank you for sharing prompts, person from the internet.