A Love Stronger Than Espresso

Chapter 1

        Louis rubbed his eyes sleepily, suppressing a yawn as he trudged towards the coffee shop alone. Niall was insane, he decided, to be taking classes this early in the morning. And he was probably the best friend ever for agreeing to accompany him on the walk to class. When they had asked Zayn to come, Zayn had chosen instead to give them the finger and chuck pillows and various objects near his bed at them until they left him alone (including an unpeeled orange, a red umbrella, a textbook dominated by haphazardly placed sticky notes, and a build-a-bear dressed as superman that technically belonged to Louis). Yes, Niall was definitely lucky to have friends like Louis.

        Louis pushed open the door to the homey, albeit empty, coffee shop, startled into a slightly more awake state by the chime of a bell that announced his entrance. He still had plenty of time to waste until his first class of the day started, having already walked Niall to his ridiculously early class, and he needed coffee as soon as possible otherwise he was going to pass out of sleep deprivation. Plus with his luck, without caffeine he’d end up falling asleep and missing class entirely.

        “Good morning!” A deep voice called out, managing to sound both cheerily welcoming and syrupy slow at the same time, simultaneously waking Louis up and lulling him back into a dream land. “What can I get for ya?”

        Louis stumbled over to the counter and stared blankly at the menu for a moment, unable to focus on any of the words before dumbly looking at the barista and  - wow. Okay, now he was awake. The barista was simply…stunning. He had chocolate brown curls framing his pale face and an easygoing open smile that made Louis feel like they were friends rather than strangers. And he had deep emerald green eyes, wide and friendly and - oh! - looking right at Louis.

        “Erm…” Louis smiled back self consciously, mentally cursing Niall for making him leave their apartment so early without properly getting himself dressed. Of course the day that he went out in rumpled sweats and a beanie thrown quickly over his mussed fringe would be the day that he met possibly the cutest guy to ever exist.

        Cute-Barista Guy seemed completely understanding of Louis’ lack of ability to function, leaning his lanky frame back against the display of muffins and waiting patiently. He was probably used to leaving his customers speechless with his effortless perfection, Louis thought wryly.

        But of course it was only natural, with those slim legs and that long toned torso… Louis jolted as he realized he was staring again, stammering as Cute-Barista Guy’s lips twisted into an amused smirk. “I’ll have a caramel mocha…please.”

        Cute-Barista Guy nodded his approval, tapping the order into his cash register and saying smoothly, “Good choice.”

        Louis grinned, saying with a wink before he could stop himself. “Thanks, I pride myself on having good taste.”

        Then he froze, because obviously the filter on his mouth – which was pretty weak when he was at his best – was completely nonexistent when he was in this sleepy state. To his surprise though, Cute-Barista Guy just laughed loudly, filling the small shop with the sound. “I agree completely. You seem like the type to.” He said with a cheeky grin, eyes raking up Louis’ body not-so-subtly as he picked up a sharpie.

        Louis’ eyebrows flew up in surprise but his mouth was forming a response of its own accord. “Takes one to know one.”

        Cute-Barista Guy nodded in acknowledgement before looking expectantly at Louis. “Touche. Anyways, name?”

        Louis hesitated for a moment, somewhat giddy with Cute-Barista Guy’s reaction to his comments, before answering “Andrew.”

        Not Louis. Andrew.

        “You got it.” Cute-Barista Guy said, scrawling the name ‘Andrew’ on Louis’ cup before turning to prepare the coffee. Louis watched him stupidly, not entirely sure himself why he had chosen to say a fake name.

        It was a spontaneous thing that Louis’ half asleep brain had decided on without much reason, although Louis tended to not have reasons for most of his life choices. As life choices went, this one seemed fairly minor. Besides, Louis was probably making a fool of himself and he didn’t want Cute-Barista Guy to know who the idiot in desperate need of coffee, sleep, and a shower was.

        He paid in cash, more because he happened to have five dollars in his pocket for snacks at all times than because he’d figured out that using a card would give away his identity, but that was a plus too.

        Just as Cute-Barista Guy was handing him his change, the bell above the door jangled in welcome and a group of four girls came in. Cute-Barista Guy shouted out a greeting to them and Louis hurriedly gave him a wave and collected his coffee and change, turning to leave. “Have a great day!” Cute-Barista Guy called to him, positively beaming and Louis wasn’t sure how it was possible for one boy to be so perfect. He nodded his thanks and left with a smile on his face, struggling against looking back and secretly hoping that Cute-Barista Guy was checking out his arse.

A/N: Well..this is my first story on here so hopefully you guys like it! Comments about what you thought would be super and favorite if you want me to continue? Thank youuu :)