A Fresh Start (Joe x Orel Moral Orel Fanfic)

Chapter 6

3rd POV

Orel tightened the belt around his waist and put his hands on his hips to see how he looked. He wore a cream colored polo and an expensive pair of jeans with black dress shoes.

It was almost time for him to get going, he just needed to wait for the babysitter to get here. He had phoned Doughy a day earlier to ask him if he wanted to come look after his kids when he was out, and luckily, he happily agreed.

A few seconds later he heard knocking, and he paced to the front door to meet his friend. "Hey, Doughy. Thanks again for wanting to stay for awhile, sitters are expensive, aheh,"

Doughy wrapped Orel in a quick embrace before pulling away with his hands on the brunettes shoulders. "Of course! Its the least I can do, and I love hanging out with Lucy and Todd!" Orel nodded and led him inside. "Well, I should probably hit the road now. Bye,"

"Wait! Orel, I, uhm," He grabbed ahold of his arm and made intense eye contact. "Um, are you doing okay? Like, after everything?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I promise. Don't worry about me," Orel gave Doughy a gentle tap on the side and turned around to leave for his 'meeting' with a dismissive wave. A light blush filled the redheads cheeks as he watched the man depart, feeling concern for his life-long friend.

-

As he pulled up, he took notice to the cottage-like decor and the well trimmed plants that lined the outside. He quickly fluffed his hair and hopped onto the concrete that led to the café.

Joe didn't seem to be here yet, so he took a seat close to a window that overlooked the parking lot. He bounced his leg rapidly, hoping that Joe didn't make him the butt of some cruel joke. It was quite in character, though, as he seemed to find the most pleasure in humiliating others when they were kids.

Even if he did stand him up, he wasnt doing it for anyone other than Trevor. It would also be nice to have a cup of coco when grading this afternoon, he still had much to do from the many days that he took off awhile ago.

He got so anxious at this point that his leg was hitting the bottom of the table due to how big his nervous leg-bounces were getting. He felt so stupid for falling for another one of Joe's classic yet terribly overdone tricks.

Unknown to Orel, a man walked in with a black leather jacket and ripped pants. He scanned across the room before recognizing Orels neat russet hair that seemed to glisten in the small amount of sunshine that escaped through the clouds.

Joe tapped him on the shoulder, giving Orel a small scare. "Oh! Joe, hi." His eyes unconsciously moved from Joe's head to his feet, and he began to giggle to himself in small titters. "What is it?"

"Why do you dress homeless one day, and then like a self-consious teenager the next?"

Joe smirked. "Well sometimes, I don't wanna put on a whole outfit so I can talk to the town twink about my son for 10 minutes," Orels cutesy giggles abruptly stopped and he stood up with his arms crossed, his head level to Joe's neck.

"Lets get this over with. I'm gonna go order!" He stomped over to the counter where an employee stood, his hands still crossed over his chest. Joe soon followed behind him, still snickering.

"May I have one small hot chocolate please?" He had a back and forth with the young girl for a few moments, and then walked past Joe and back to his seat.

Joe ordered as well and sat with Orel to wait for his order number. "Hey, I could've ordered for you, princess. When did you become such a brat, huh?"

"I-- I'm not! At least I've changed!" Orel cracked a smile and blushed. He was somehow charming through his layers ruggedness. Yet, it's not like it was hard to swoon a boy like Orel.

"I'm aware. And for the better, obviously," The barista called Orels order number and he quickly speed-walked to hide his bright red cheeks. He was immediately comforted by the sweet smell of his beverage. The outside warmed his hands and a small trail of smoke wafted up and disintegrated into the air.

She called Joe's name shortly after, prompting him to get up and grab his dark roast coffee.

The duo returned to their spots and Joe looked curiously over at Orels purchase. "Hot chocolate? Hm, alright then,"

He stirred the mini marshmallows around in circles with a spoon. "Whats wrong with my hot chocolate?"

"Nothing, really. I guess I should've expected it from you, but I like being surprised,"

"Its literally just hot chocolate, Joe."

-

Coffee scene will be finished in the next chapter, im just *so* very tired rn.