.+. [ᴏʟᴅ] || ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴡᴇ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ .+.

.+. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 4 .+.

.+. ESPRESSO'S POV .+.

I opened the door to let Madeleine in. I watched as he looked around the house, amazed.

"Wow... Your house is so... neat!" I let out a soft laugh. "Of course, I must keep my house organized if I wanna get things done quicker. I'll know where everything is."

He looked at me and smiled. That smile looks so familiar... I can't quite put my finger on it. I felt like I had a connection to him somehow. "Come, I must resume my work." I walked through the hallway of my house to get to my room with Madeleine following behind me.

Once we entered my room, I walked across to my lab's door to open it. Madeleine gasped from behind as we went inside. "You have your own lab?! Woah.. This is so cool!" He sounded really fascinated by my lab. I rolled my eyes. "It's just a lab, nothing much, Madeleine."

I watched him as he set down a white box on one of the desks in the lab and opened it. "What's that?" I ask curiously while beginning to look through some papers.

"They're sugarcoated donuts! These are my favorite kind of donuts because they taste amazing! I rarely have them so I thought I could share them with you.." His voice drifted off as I noticed a light pink hue appearing across his face.

He looked away for a second and then proceeded to pull out two donuts. "Would you like one?" He smiled, handing me a donut. "Ah, no thank you. Though, I appreciate the offer."

Madeleine tilted his head and looked at me with puppy eyes. "No? Are you sure, Espresso?" What is he doing?! He looks so... cute.. Wait- what am I saying?! I lightly blushed for a second.

"Try it, Espresso! For me?" He held the donut in front of my mouth. I groaned and took the donut from him. "Fine..."

I took a bite of the donut and chewed it slowly. Though I didn't like sweet snacks much, this one was delicious. I couldn't disagree with Madeleine when he said they were amazing. I took a sip of my coffee that I had bought earlier in the morning.

"How is it?" Madeleine asked, taking a bite of his donut after. "It's okay, I guess.." I replied, trying to sound as uninterested as possible. I can't grow close to him. I might lose him... like how I lost Butter...

What if he doesn't like me for who I am? He's probably just doing this to feed his ego.. I let out a sigh and continued to look through my piles of papers and notes.

"Where is it... Where is it... ugh I can't find it.." I mumbled to myself. I felt Madeleine peeking over my shoulders.

"What are you looking for?" He asked. "Why would you need to know what I'm looking for?" I noticed that he was staring at the framed picture on my desk and being more quieter than usual.

"Madeleine?" He slightly jumped as I said his name and quickly turned to look at me. "Yes, Essie?" His eyes then widened and he covered his mouth. "Sorry, I- I didn't mean to call you that.."

I looked at Madeleine and studied him hard. He had light blue eyes that looked like the big blue sky and long, blonde, silky hair. From what I remembered, he had an.. attractive.. smile.

"Espresso? Are you okay?" He asked, snapping me back into reality. "Yes, yes, I'm fine.." I sighed. I needed some coffee. I looked at my empty cup of coffee and then turned to Madeleine.

"How about we go to the café and get some coffee?" I picked up the paper cup and threw it into the recycling bin.

 "Sure! Shall we go to the café we met at or...?" He tilted his head and waited for a response. Goodness... He looks so adorable when he does that. Ugh.. Snap out of it, Espresso! What's wrong with you today?!

"Yes, there would be fine. Let's go." I walked out of my lab and made sure to lock the door after Madeleine had came out of it.

"Hey, Espresso? Who's that cookie in the picture you have on your desk?" Madeleine suddenly asked as we walked to the café. I stayed silent for a little. Butter. I miss him. So much.

"That's just an old friend of mine. You don't need to worry about anything.. I just miss him is all." I replied a few moments later. I saw Madeleine silently smile for a second.

Why's he smiling? Does he think this is some kind of joke? Or maybe he just... Never mind.

When we got to the café, Madeleine opened the door for me to walk in. It kind of made my heart flutter a little. Wait what? I shook my head and told myself that I must be confused.

I walked up to the counter to order my drink with Madeleine behind me. "Hello. May I have an espresso? No milk or anything, thank you." After I had ordered, Madeleine stepped forward. "Can I have a frappuccino, please?"

The barista nodded and input in a few things on the screen in front of them. I took out my coins to pay but Madeleine stopped me.

"It's okay, Espresso, I'll pay." He said. "No, Madeleine, I can pay for my own drink." "I insist." "Madeleine-" Before I could finish saying anything, he put his coins on the counter and smiled at me.

I hate this guy so much. Or I'm probably just lying to myself like I usually do. Me and Madeleine walked to a table by the window to wait for our drinks.

While walking over there, I felt Madeleine's hand brush against mine. I shivered and felt my cheeks heating up at the sudden touch.

Once we reached the table, we sat down. I found myself staring at Madeleine and observing him closely from head to toe as he talked about whatever he was talking about.

Madeleine and Butter look so much alike.. It wouldn't hurt to ask... Right?

"Madeleine?" I suddenly called his name. He stopped talking and cocked his head to the right. "Yeah?"

"...Can I ask you something?" I started getting nervous. Madeleine seemed to notice. "Of course. Are you alright, Espresso? You seem to be shaking a little."

"I'm fine.. Madeleine, what's your name..?" I finally asked him. "My name? Why, it's Madeleine Cookie. I thought you already knew?"

I felt stupid. I should've specified what I meant. "I mean- what's your full name?" Madeleine stared at me for a moment and then smiled softly.

"My name is Butter Madeleine Cookie."

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YAY!! I'm currently working on drawing the cover of the book! It will most likely be done by the time I finish writing Chapter 5!!✨

1118 Words.