A Love Stronger Than Espresso

Chapter 7

        After the stressful exam (that wasn’t actually as hard as he had expected it to be), Louis dropped his head down on the desk and let his eyes fall shut. He was tired, tired of everything. Of Cute-Barista Guy, of school, of life. Louis couldn’t think of anything that sounded better than his soft bed back at the flat.

        Zayn reached over and poked him in the cheek, being annoying in the best way as always. “So I see your name is Jorge today,” He commented mildly, pulling back his hand as Louis attempted to swat it away.

        Louis just sighed, cracking open an eye to look at Zayn and saying quietly. “It was supposed to be George with a G actually. Like you said, remember?”

        “Actually I’m pretty sure I said to stay away from that coffee shop, remember?” Zayn countered with a fond smile.

        Louis’ face fell slightly, a flicker of doubt passing over his features before quickly disappearing - but not before Zayn saw it.

        Zayn’s raised eyebrows were all that it took to get Louis to explain.

        Louis sighed again, rubbing his face with his hands and muttering, “Remember how you said he doesn’t care about me, or even notice me?”

        Zayn nodded with a sympathetic smile. “Lou, don’t waste your time on this again...”

        Louis shook his head quickly motioning to the coffee cup on his desk that was sloppily labeled ‘Jorge.’ “He started to write an ‘A’ this morning, Zayn! He remembered!”

        Zayn sighed, giving Louis a dubious look. “So was he remembering Aaron, or was it Andy?”

        “Aaron or Andrew.” Louis corrected automatically before shaking his head. “Doesn’t matter what name he was remembering, it was ME that he was remembering!”

        “Right...remembering as the sleepy, sloppily dressed lad who comes in for a caramel mocha and has a name that starts with A.” Zayn rolled his eyes fondly at his friend. “That just means he recognizes you, mate - not that he fancies you.”

        Louis snapped his fingers with an excited grin, brushing off Zayn’s insult to his appearance. “That’s another thing - the caramel mocha! He remembered my order without me even having to say it!”

        Zayn sighed, going over ways in his head to possibly mediate Louis’ obsession with this barista without crushing him. “Lou...” He said slowly, not sure how to voice his opinion that Louis was being ridiculous without hurting his feelings.

        Louis wasn’t typically thought of as sensitive or the type of person to watch your words around, but Zayn knew better than that. Behind the walls that he had set up, Louis was incredibly vulnerable - he just never let anyone see it. Even Zayn wasn’t quite sure how extensive Louis’ insecurities truly were, but he knew for certain that Louis’ primary motivation behind his confident attitude was the fear of seeming weak. Weakness was something that Louis simply refused to accept, and he did everything possible to prevent from seeming so.

        Zayn was brought out of his thoughts by Louis’ voice, asking “Yeah Zayn?” as Louis looked up at him, traces of childish hopefulness clear in his sparkling blue eyes.

        And looking at Louis with his hopeful expression, Zayn couldn’t quite figure out how to find the words to tell Louis ‘no’. He couldn’t tell him how impossible this was, and darken the light of the hope shining in Louis’ eyes.

        As much as Zayn wanted to prevent Louis from facing the inevitable rejection from the barista, he also wanted to be a supporting best friend.

        So instead of advising Louis to stay the hell away from that coffee shop, Zayn found himself saying with a small smile “Just take it slow, Lou.”

        And based on the way Louis’ face lit up at Zayn’s approval, he knew that he’d  be the one to blame when and if Louis ended up with his heart broken by the stupid barista.

A/N: Past 10 votes yayyyyy! Thank you guys so much for reading still, it's really amazing to me. Comments make my day soo tell me what you thought maybe? Have a great day/night!