Twice Shy {h.s. au}

VIII

Harry was about fifteen minutes away from the end of his shift at the coffee house when the bell above the door jingled. He heard it, but since he was in the middle of a surge of customers, he focused on the espresso machine in front of him and made a caramel macchiato for the girl who had asked for it. Harry forgot about the bell while he lost himself in a flurry of holiday drinks and Christmas music over the coffee house's speakers.

Christmastime at the coffee house was always hectic—students and professors alike were constantly in and out the door to get a warm drink to fight the brisk weather outside, all the tables and cushy chairs were taken up by students finishing up final projects and papers and studying for exams, some people just wanted to get warm for a few minutes before heading back out into the cold.

For Harry, the holidays meant all of that and working his butt off to make a customer's drink quickly so he could move on to the next one.

Sliding a peppermint mocha across the counter, Harry walked back over to the cash register, ready to make another coffee. "An iced Americano, a jasmine tea, and a kiss, please."

Harry was only mildly surprised by the request. After almost an entire year of Maggie asking for iced Americanos and kisses, he only flushed a little bit, more depending on the amount of people inside the coffee house. "Coming right up," he said, giving Maggie a small smile.

He turned away and got to work on her drink, then made the one she ordered for him. If she knew Harry was going to be done with his shift soon, Maggie often ordered a cup of tea for Harry. He used to ask her why, seeing as he got them for free and could just make one once his shift was actually over. Maggie just shrugged and said something about wanting to do something nice for him, so she eventually stopped asking and just thanked her.

After about two minutes, he returned to the counter with two cups in his hands, one hot and one cold. He reached under the counter and pulled a chocolate kiss from the bag he always kept there and set it on the table with her order. "Iced Americano, jasmine tea, and a kiss."

"Not quite what I was hoping for, handsome," Maggie said, leaning just a little bit over the counter towards Harry after she paid. "Come on, just on the cheek?"

He relented, leaning forward and kissed her on the cheek. "Love you," he mumbled against her, giving her one final peck before she went off to their spot.

"Love you too," Maggie replied, blowing him a kiss as she walked off.

Harry might have gotten over her request for a kiss, but he didn't think he'd ever get used to her saying she loved him back.

It took a few months of them dating for her to say it. He remembered it clear as day, the day Maggie uttered the words "I love you" to him for the first time.

Harry was walking her back to her house after a trip to the movies, a movie he didn't even remember seeing because she kept leaning over and kissing his neck until she eventually crawled into his lap. He remembered covering her mouth so she wouldn't make any noise, he remembered ever so gently pushing her over the edge, and he remembered her trembling until she eventually just slumped against his chest. He remembered wrapping his arms around her, kissing her neck and shoulder softly as the credits rolled through, but he couldn't recall any specific details about the movie itself.

Maggie had clung to his arm as they left the movie theater and walked back to school. Summer was on its way out and fall was creeping in, turning the leaves from green to beautiful shades of red and orange. The sun was slowly setting, painting the sky in warm hues of pink and blue and gold. It was a lovely afternoon, Harry thought, made all the better since Maggie was with him, although apparently it wasn't just Maggie.