Bittersweet Sugar - An ACOTAR fanfiction

Chapter 1 - Spring Forward

Feyre Archeron sighed as the six o'clock alarm she had been waiting on signalled. An annoying, high pitched sound that woke her up in the morning, but not happily. Well, it normally woke her up in the morning. Not today, though. She'd been stressed about paying her college tuition as last month Tamlin was late with her pay and she just couldn't sleep and well...
It had led to her only finally falling asleep at two in the morning. And then, to make matters worse, she'd had a vivid nightmare that kept her awake from half five until now. Brilliant.
  Feyre sighed again as the rose from the single bed she had barely been able to afford,even with the generous wage Tamlin gave her.            Shrugging on the standard Spring Sugar uniform - a white t-shirt with the Spring logo (a flower in a coffee cup) on it and black leggings - paired with black socks decorated with yellow stars and black and white trainers, Feyre was finally able to leave at 6:43. Not that she was late or anything, in fact she would be seven minutes early as always, but she liked being prepared.
  Feyre passed Night Owl on her way to Spring. As always. The same time every work day. The same routine. It was tiring but at least it was stable. A stunningly beautiful blonde laughed from inside Night Owl, drawing Feyre's attention. Her laugh was musical and joyous, so unlike the depressing mood of Night Owl. The blonde was like sunshine - golden blonde hair tumbling down to her back, red dress hugging her curves, a laugh and a smile that could put anyone at ease. She looked so confident. Feyre thought she would be nice to paint, daydreaming of colour schemes and mixing paint- and then she snapped out of it, realising she would arrive at Spring Sugar five minutes early instead of seven. Strange. Even when Feyre was running late, she had always arrived seven minutes early, at 6:53. Always. Although, such a beautiful person was bound to delay anyone- but not Feyre. She crossed the road in a hurry, attempting to forget about the blonde.
  Feyre pushed open the glass door to Spring, throwing herself out of her reverie. Tamlin wasn't here yet. Feyre wasn't expecting him to be- usually Tamlin arrived three minutes early.
She smiled as she thought of how Tamlin trusted her enough to start up Spring Sugar.      Of course, Spring wasn't his only business- Tamlin received military-grade training and had fought in two wars already. That thought brought a smile to her face. Tamlin, she knew, could protect himself and her if needs be.
Speak of the devil- the handsome devil! Tamlin breezed through Spring's door with a soft smile on his face. Three minutes early, with that soft smile that was only meant for Feyre. A warm, happy feeling that could only be love stirred in her. Tamlin didn't drop that smile on his face until he took her in his arms and kissed her.
  "Hello, Feyre," Tam greeted when he managed to disentangle himself from her.
"Hi," Feyre breathed quietly, still awed by the force at which he kissed her.
Their fairytale had to end, though.
That magical moment finally ended when Feyre regretfully sighed, "We better get Spring moving."
After Tamlin started up all the machines that made Spring the most popular coffee shop in Prythian, Feyre got stuck straight into work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was 10:30 before Feyre got another minute to breath. Business was booming in Spring as always, but today there had been an abundance of customers- so much they had a line three metres long. Tamlin had had to close for fifteen while minutes as there were so many orders and so little patience. At least she made over £100 in tips. Tamlin had always said she brought customers in with just her smile. He was so sweet to her.
Yes, today was a great day for Feyre - until Rhysand strolled through Spring with that cocky smile plastered onto his face.
"Arrogant prick!" Feyre thought.
Hopefully Tamlin would tell him to piss off soon enough. Or else Feyre might just do that.
Annoying, how quickly her mood had soured.
Rhysand approached the counter, smirk firmly in place, running a hand through his ebony hair.
"I'd like a cup of what you recommend," he winked, his violet eyes boring into hers.
I'm done. That's it.
Feyre masked her irritation with the same bland smile she used for all of the customers that bothered her. But Rhysand wasn't an ordinary, annoying customer. No, he was the owner of Night Owl, Spring's competitor. That irritation stemmed not only from Night being more "successful"(or so Nesta said when she was feeling particularly bitchy) but from Rhysand's arrogance.
"Actually, I was just about to go on my break, but Alis will be here in a minute if you could wait, please," Feyre smiled triumphantly.
Rhysand sighed dramatically and then
replied, "Well, I guess I'll just have to go then, I'm sure 'Dawn to Dusk' has some pretty baristas."
Feyre's heart lurched. Rhysand was, admittedly, a big tipper and despite Tamlin hating his very presence in the shop, one of their best customers. They couldn't afford to lose him to another shop, especially since Dawn was slowly but surely creeping up on them. Rhysand was also very influential. If he went to Dawn, the rest of the town went to Dawn.
"I guess I could just stay for another few minutes," Feyre blurted out quickly.
That smirk returned to its rightful place on Rhysand's face.
"Well, then. I'll have one 'Spring Forward'."
Her special. She'd added it to the menu at Tamlin's request. Of course he would choose the one drink that I made.
Feyre's smile stayed in place as she rang up Rhysand's order.
"14,35, please."
Rhysand didn't even look surprised at the price. It was grossly overpriced but most customers didn't know that. It did taste good, not to toot her own horn.
He handed over the money and when their hands touched, she felt a spark that she hadn't felt in years. Feyre felt the guilt settle over her like a blanket. Tamlin was good to her, it was just....
She hadn't felt the electricity she just felt ever since their first fight. When Tamlin...
Feyre shut out the thoughts, building a mental wall against them.
Adding the lid to the cup of Rhysand's overpriced drink, she let out a shaky breath.
Rhysand seemed to notice this and opened his mouth as he took the drink from her, but was silenced by the thundering steps that could only be Tamlin.