Clocks and baby blocks

14

Archer's POV
I look up at the door and lock eyes with the most beautiful person I've ever seen. And suddenly I hear them start to cry.
Then there's a sharp pain in my arm and I see James keel over.
Fuck it's them. I make my way over to them and notice a girl with them. I feel my heart sink but I hug them tight and help the girl lead them to the table.
"Are you okay? Take a seat then we can get y'all something to eat and drink" I say sitting them down.
I lock eyes with the girl and I spot the tattoo on her arm and look at my soulmates. Another soulmate of theirs. I smile weakly and shake her hand. "I'm Noah, you?" She asks. "Archer, nice to make you. That idiot over there is James" I say laughing lightly.
Suddenly I'm met with a pair of gorgeous blue eyes and I've instantly fallen in love.
Their eyes are bluer than an ocean and they've got freckles adorning their face. I lean down and wipe the tears from their eyes and I hear them sniffle and see a smile.
I smile back down at them and they stand up and hug me tightly. I chuckle and hug them back and James comes over and hugs us both.
Holy shit they're beautiful.
"It's so nice to meet you both finally, I've been so anxious this entire time. I'm Raine" they say. "Pronouns hun?" James asks. "She/her, what about yall?" She asks sweetly.
"I'm James and use he/him" James says looking down at her. "Archer, they/them" I smile at her while looking towards Noah. "She/her" she says. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl" James says to Raine and I see her cheeks turn bright red. Laughing I help her take her coat off and James offers to go up with her and Noah to get something to eat.
They both nod and I notice how cute raine's outfit is. Even with the platform boots she's much shorter than any of us.
I hand James a twenty and tell him to use it for their orders. He smiles nodding and goes up to the counter with both of them after handing me the jewelry box from him.
I set both ours out and make sure they're quite clearly apart so she'd know they're separate.
Then I look down to my arm and smile widely. There's a beautiful sunflower tattoo taking up the space where the clock once was.
And there's no more ticking. Just the low chatter of the other patrons in the cafe. Texting George, I let him know that we'd be bringing some guests to game night tonight.
I look up to see Raine, Noah and James make their way back to the table. I pull out the chair beside me and Raine blushes while sitting down.
Noah and James sit adjacent to us.
"These are from each of us, to you" James says and Raine gasps and grabs her back pack.
Reaching inside she pulls out two boxes. I'm handed a black box, and James is handed a white one.
I smile and thank her and we all open the boxes in unison.
I chuckle looking inside. I pull out a pair of pink socks with dinosaurs, and identical pair of yellow socks. I smile looking at them then I see the adorable duck plush.
I reach in and pull out the small black box. Opening it, I see the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. I take it out, before placing it on my right ring finger. A perfect fit.
I smile up at Raine and I hear see her admiring the necklace I'd gotten her. She gushes about how grateful she is for both pieces of jewelry and asks politely if Noah would help her with the necklace.
She smiles nodding and places it on her gently. "It looks lovely on you" i say and she smiles looking down shyly.
"How old are y'all?" James asks them. "I'm 18 and a sophomore" Raine says softly. "19 and a sophomore" Noah says. I nod and smile and them before we're brought out food and drinks.
We all chat over our food and discuss how lucky we were before she lets us know that she works at the cafe. "Noah and I don't have work today, but we wanted to come in for breakfast before I was supposed to meet yall" Raine says sipping on her banana milk tea.
Once we've finished we all decide to head back to the dorms. "Which building?" James asks. "I need to stop by mine to grab something" I say. "Okay so why don't you ride with Raine and Noah and we'll take them back to our building" James says.
Smiling I nod and we all bundle back up before grabbing our drinks and leaving the cafe.