knj imagines

secret admirer || h. webb

"Can I just get the smallest coffee possible please?" The barista nodded with a smile and I paid reluctantly. Why did coffee have to be so expensive?

It could seem like a frivolous purchase to make every day, especially when you're a broke college student but tonight it was definitely needed. This research paper wasn't going to write itself and I needed whatever help I could get.

The small building was pretty packed so I squeezed myself into a table in the middle of the café, breaking open my laptop and proceeding to just stare at the screen for the next twenty minutes as I nursed the small cup. This was barely enough for a toddler if toddlers drank coffee.

I set the now empty cup down with a pout and sighed. I had no other distractions now so I would have to start writing. I was actually getting pretty far along when the barista walked over to my table and set down a large cup of something steamy.

"Oh, I think you have the wrong person," I said, picking up the cup and trying to hand it back to her.

She shook her head with a smile and handed me a folded up piece of paper. "Already paid for!"

I frowned and watched her walk away before opening the note. 'Hot chocolate can fix anything, especially when it has sprinkles!'

Glancing around, I tried to pick out a familiar face that would have bought me a drink but I didn't recognize anyone and no one seemed to be paying attention to me. I figured that maybe one of the baristas had decided to be nice so I enjoyed my hot chocolate as I continued working.

The next night I was back at the café with ten times more work to do. This time I didn't stop for coffee, just plopped down in a chair and sighed quietly. To my surprise a different barista placed another large cup on the table, a note accompanying this one as well.

I glanced around before opening the note but again there was no one who seemed concerned with me. 'From that stack of books it looks like it'll be a long night. Which calls for the biggest vanilla iced coffee possible.'

I suppose this could've been extremely dangerous, drinking random things that a stranger is buying me but I was too stressed and tired to care so I sipped happily and somehow got all of my work done.

And so this happened for the rest of the week.

'Your stress level seems to be low tonight so we should probably cut the caffeine and go back to hot chocolate.'
'My personal favorite, a hazelnut latte. I hope you don't have a nut allergy.'
'Your leg bouncing is distracting me which means you already had too much caffeine today, drink the tea and stop please :)'

Each note was carefully tucked into my wallet and I carried them everywhere. The next time I went to the café I was the only one there and I was slightly disappointed when I realized that meant no mystery drink from my secret admirer.

When I was pulling out my money to pay for my order a few of the notes slipped to the ground and I bent down at the same time as the person behind me did too. He picked one of the notes up and smiled, handing it to me. "Boyfriend?"

I blushed and shook my head, tucking them all back in. "No, it's just this person that keeps buying me drinks and writing notes."

He raised his eyebrows and smirked. "Isn't that a little dangerous?"

I shrugged and thanked him before sitting down and getting homework from my backpack. After a few minutes I could see a barista make her way to me but she only held a slip of paper. I opened it eagerly before remembering that there was only one other person in here.

'Your not so secret admirer does have a name and it's Harrison :)'

I looked up and Harrison waved with a smile, motioning me to sit with him. I gathered my stuff and tried to hide the blush on my cheeks as I walked to his table and sat on the chair opposite him. "And you are?"

"I'm (Y/N)," I said quietly and he smiled at my shyness. "I don't know how I never noticed it was you before. I mean, I should recognize someone who is in here all the time with me."

He shrugged and took a sip from his own cup. "I stayed in the corner. It was fun to watch you get so excited every day." The blush deepened and he poked me playfully. "And it's adorable that you kept all of the notes."

I covered my face with my hands and laughed. "Stop, I'm going to die of embarrassment I swear." He laughed and reached out to grab my hands and pull them away and I took a second to actually look at him. His floppy brown hair, his green eyes, his bright smile.

He let go of me and it was his turn to look shy. "Well it's nice that we can talk now instead of passing notes."

I nodded and pointed at the new one still in my grip. "Although this whole thing is cute and should definitely still continue."

He laughed and we spent the rest of the night talking and arranging for another coffee date, this time actually sitting together instead of on opposite sides of the room. And I would be paying.