Monday night shifts were the worst. He had no idea how Stiles did it, especially with his hyperactive tendencies. The café was a literal clusterfuck, the line going straight out the door, tables filled to the max with exhausted kids who made their way here after class like Isaac and Stiles did. The only difference were that these post-hangover and/or post-lecture kids got to sit around drinking coffee, while the two boys, plus Derek and Boyd, got to work their asses off serving them. Isaac had never worked a Monday night before, especially after hearing everyone in the café call them ‘Mournday’ on a regular basis. He now understood why.
The place was swamped, and Isaac couldn’t breathe. Everyone was shouting at him, asking him for this, telling him he forgot that, whatever. It was rather overwhelming. It was a non stop stream of taking orders, making orders, and in Derek’s case, giving orders. Isaac did his best to give every customer a charming smile and a good coffee, but as the third hour began, it was all he could do to not have a panic attack right then and there. The line of latte ordering customers seemed to never end. He didn’t remember seeing Stiles much despite him being a few feet away, besides when they both grabbed a pastry at the same time and Stiles gave him a look that said ‘do you see what I deal with?’ as they listened to Derek yell at Boyd to get more pastries out. So many people were around him, but all he focused on was not screwing up orders, which seemed to work out.
Things began to slow down around 7, everyone probably going home to make some ramen and study into the early morning hours. Finally, 8 rolled around, which meant the night was over for him and Stiles. Isaac took a deep breath, the air completely getting into his lungs for the first time in hours. There was a moment where there was no one ordering, and Stiles turned to him, looking exasperated.
“I will be hearing Derek screaming about muffins in my sleep tonight. Eternal nightmares.” He said, adjusting his apron and wiping the sweat off his brow.
“Well I’ll having nightmares about you forgetting to put the right amount of sugar in everyone’s damn coffee.” Derek growled as he walked into the area, glaring at Stiles. “Maybe we should send you back to Kindergarten to help you clarify the difference between two and- Isaac, are you alright?” Derek stopped midsentence, walking over to where Isaac was staring down at the counter blankly.
“Uh- oh, yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Isaac said, snapping out of his trance. “I just, have some problems with a lot of people in, uh, not a lot of space.”
“Well, it was just one night.” Derek told him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Peter will be back on Wednesday, so you’ll be back to your regular schedule. Thanks for helping us out tonight, you guys can leave. Get some rest, I’ll see you two tomorrow.”
“Lucky us.” Stiles muttered sarcastically, taking off his apron.
“Shut up, Stiles.” Derek replied as he walked away from the boys and into the break room. Isaac was quick to catch the smile the appeared on his friend’s face.
“Someone’s got a crush…” He said, smirking as he and Stiles began to walk out from behind the counter.
“I do not, Isaac!” He yelled, turning bright red as the customers turned to look at him. Stiles glared at Isaac as they left the shop and walked out into the cold air, beginning their short walk home. It would’ve been pitch black if it weren’t for the city lights illuminating the sky, like artificial stars that substituted for the ones that didn’t show up here. After a few seconds of silence, Stiles balled his apron up and threw it at Isaac’s head. “Take that!” he screeched, running away from Isaac while flailing his arms. He laughed as he watched Stiles dance around, his pale skin standing out against the dark.
“Screw it.” He said to himself, taking off after the shorter boy, not even trying to contain his laughter as Stiles started running backwards. It was then, on a dark night in October, when Isaac began to forget what it was like to be alone.
