Tattoos (Lams coffee shop AU)

Not Your Average Barista (I)

This story is dedicated to my best friend Juliana, who drew the cover art. She's super nice and supportive of my writing :) Go check out her art account on insta, @jusnapped! <3

Also, at the beginning of some chapters, I'm going to sometimes put tattoos I think John would have because why not :) This one would be smaller and on his right forearm. Now, enjoy the story!

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John Laurens was not your average barista. Well, that's what he liked to think, but really he fit the stereotype of grungy-clothed and tattooed barista perfectly. His shoulder length wavy hair was always sticking out from under a beanie, and he showed up to work with a new tattoo at least once a week. He currently worked at a tiny coffee shop in the middle of a small town no one had ever heard of.

The place John lived in did not fit his personality whatsoever. Despite trying his best to constantly close himself off and keep his emotions in check, when he was true to himself everything about him was big. His dreams, his heart, his hair (when he was too lazy to brush it.) But no one would ever know that from just one conversation with him. Some wouldn't even be lucky enough to know that from 1,000 conversations with him.

John was truly an enigma to all, even his coworkers and semi-friends, Lafayette and Hercules were confused about the way his mind worked sometimes. But that didn't mean they'd let him catch a break.

"What time is it?" Called out John as he turned the sign on the front door from 'closed' to 'open.'

"Showtime!" Laff and Herc called back, a daily routine of theirs.

He went behind the counter to make himself a latte before the steady stream of customers began to trickle in. He was wearing a variation of the same outfit he wore every day, a red flannel over a black shirt, black ripped jeans, black converse, and a grey beanie. That day in particular, he had rolled up the sleeves to reveal multiple tattoos on both of his freckled arms. They didn't surprise anyone, it was common knowledge that he got new tattoos all the time, and that he had drawn every single one himself, not wanting to steal other's cliche ideas from Pinterest.

His nose piercing (A small black ring on the side of his nose, he had never been into septum piercings) added to his image of 'artsy, emo barista' and although everyone bugged him about it constantly, he swore it wasn't fake. His coworkers had yet to find out if their suspicions were true, or if John really wasn't lying.

The first customer walked in, a shorter guy with dark brown hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. John had never seen him before. He was wearing an old looking t-shirt and jeans that were obviously not ripped on purpose with some scuffed up, off-brand converse. Something about this man excited John, made him feel like maybe he could somehow find some danger with him. John loved danger, it was easy to do life-risking things when you didn't want to be alive anyway.

"What can I get for you?" John asked, casually leaning forward on the counter a little.

"A job. I heard you were looking for another barista?" The man said the second part like a question.

"Yup. What's your name?" John subconsciously fiddled with his black bracelet.

"Alexander Hamilton. You?" 

"John Laurens." He smiled slightly, and Alexander returned the gesture. "Laff is in charge around here, he's our head baker. I'll go grab him for you." Alex nodded, and John quickly ducked into the kitchen, his heart beating much too fast. 

"Dammit, pull yourself together Laurens, you have a girlfriend." He mumbled to himself. "And you're straight." He reminded himself quickly.

"Who are you talking to mon ami?" Asked Laff, appearing from behind a counter in the kitchen where he had been cleaning up some spilled cake batter.