The shouting from the shop's front draws you from your thoughts as you stand in the backroom. You run out, seeing what all the uproar is about. You're met with a red-faced Draco, leaning across the counter yelling at Jade.
"Where is she?!"
You gasp, and his head whips to you.
------earlier that day
Draco stares at his phone, then at the note. His eyes go back and forth between the two. He didn't have the courage yesterday to text you. Now, his phone is out, and your contact is saved in his phone. The text screen gawks back at him. A text notification from Blaise pops up on his phone.
Draco sees Blaise, pacing the corner, the thought of texting you all but forgotten. His friend, although shy in his youth, has always been upfront when it comes to issues. But Draco can't place why he needs to talk to him all of a sudden, let alone why they needed to leave work to do it.
Draco stands next to Blaise; raising his eyebrows, he clears his throat, announcing his presence. "Draco, I don't know how to say this, but I don't think you should keep seeing Y/N."
His eyes flash with confusion. "I'm not doing anything with her."
And it's true; he hasn't done anything. Well, other than fucking you on the counter of your work and then showing up every day to your work to see you and regularly masturbating to you. He hasn't done anything. He's been sitting on your phone number for 24 hours, trying to figure out what the fuck he wants to say to you.
Blaise doesn't buy the lie so easily. "I know her work schedule, and you only have coffee when she works."
Draco furrows his brows; his lips thinned out in a frown.
"She's obviously got some type of feelings for you. I don't think you should keep going there, especially if you're back with Astoria. It isn't fair to her."
"How do you know that... about her?" Draco asks.
Blaise shrugs, "took her to dinner last night."
Draco reads between the lines, anger beginning to course through him.
Blaise notices the anger flash across his face. In an attempt to calm him before he explodes, he continues. "You didn't see the look on her face last night. I've never seen her like that. She looked," he pauses, "broken."
Draco's voice rises. Even he hadn't told anyone that you were his soulmate. And now, not only were you still fucking his best friend, but you went on a date with him and then told Blaise about him. "She told you about us?"
"No, but she certainly wasn't moaning my name when she came." Blaise can't stop the words from leaving his mouth. The damage is done when he sees the hurt on his friend's face. He doesn't understand it, though. He thought Draco and Astoria were back together. So, why was Draco acting so venomous? "I didn't know there was an 'us' between you two."
Draco needs to know. He doesn't even understand the rage himself, but this thought of Blaise fucking you drives him insane. "Did you fuck her?"
"Well, yeah, but that's not the point-"
Draco runs toward the coffee shop in a state of madness. He flies through the door, pushing people out of his way to get to the counter.
"Where is she?!" Draco spits at Jade.
"Who?" Jade responds, shocked at the abrupt intrusion.
"Y/N!" Dracos yells.
"Why do you need to know?" Jade doesn't give in. They sense the tension and anger dwelling within the blond.
Blaise rushes in after him. "Mate, leave it alone. Let's go outside."
You are standing in the doorway, with a look of shock on your face. A gasp leaves your mouth at the sight. "What the fuck!" You shout at them.
Jade notices customers are starting to stare and gape at the exchange. "What is going on here?" Jade says in tandem with you, still trying to figure out what's going on.
"My soulmate is a whore! That's what's going on!" Draco spits out, staring at you. You don't know if you've ever seen someone look so angry, let alone their outrage being placed toward you.
"Woah there, mate," Blaise grabs Draco's arm as he tries to calm him down.
Draco spins around with a fiery rage, lifts his right arm, and punches Blaise in the face. Blaise collapses to the ground. A loud grunt is coming from him as he clutches his split lip.
"Blaise!" You shout and run over to him, crouching on the ground next to him.
You turn to Draco. "You have a lot of nerve saying that about me when you were still with your ex while fucking me!" You speak with malice in your voice.
Draco's jaw drops, his lower lip quivering. A crowd has circled you, several people with their phones out recording. You make your way to the blond, rage fueling your actions.
A loud smack is heard, and your hand is raised. Draco now clutches his cheek. "Fuck you, Draco Malfoy." Your breath comes out stout and broken, not allowing yourself to cry. Your face twists with rage and shock at your actions.
"Y/N!" Jade shouts to you.
You head over to them like a dog who's been caught, tail tucked between their legs, knowing where this is headed.
"I can't believe you; after the conversation we just had, you turn around and participate in a fight at work?! I thought you were better than this," Jade says firmly with their arms crossed. "You are suspended for the rest of the week," Jade turns to Draco and Blaise. "You two better leave before I call the police on you. It would be best for all if neither of you comes back."
Draco and Blaise look at each other and turn to leave the shop; the crowd splits for them.
You head to the back to grab your stuff. While clocking out, you see Jade making some calls to your co-workers to get your shifts covered.
"Hey, I'm really sorry, that will never happen again." You say to Jade with tears welling in your eyes.
"Just get your shite together. I'll call you when you can return to work." Jade responds with a disapproving stare.
"Once again, I'm sorry. I'll sort all this out." You say back, desperately pleading to keep your job.
Jade goes back up front to deal with the mess Draco and Blaise made along with the customers in the shop at the time, several of them murmuring and staring at your disheveled appearance.
"Sorry for that, folks! Please take a beverage or a pastry on the house!" You hear Jade announce to the customers that they were still in the shop as you walk out the door.
While you were grabbing your stuff, Blaise and Draco stood down the street.
"I didn't know she was your soulmate." Blaise is the first to speak to Draco.
Draco paces impatiently. "She's nothing."
Blaise shakes his head at his friend. "You're an idiot; you know that? Also, when did you get a mean right hook?"
"Third year. Father made me learn how to after Granger punched me."
Blaise smiles and begins chuckling at the memory of the gossip that spread around Hogwarts. "I wish I could've been there for that."
Draco looks up at his friend, laughing as well.
Walking out the door and rounding the corner, you see both boys, and they are laughing?! The tears that you refused to cry now come crashing out of your eyes. The boys hear your cries, and both turn to you. They speak at the same time.
"Y/N," Draco says.
"Muffin," Blaise says, concern etched in his voice.
Your eyes dance between the two of them, your tears blurring your vision.
"I will deal with you later," you say to Blaise. He walks away, knowing this next conversation isn't for him. Turning to Draco, your anger paramount.
"What in the actual fuck is your problem! You have made it perfectly clear that I am nothing to you, and then you turn around and do this? I don't understand you, and at this point, I don't want to. Don't ever come to Costa ever again, if I even end up keeping my job. Go fuck yourself." You spit out at Draco.
Your hand still stings from the slap, the tears finally falling at full force now. You storm past them, sobs racking through your body.
When you get back to your apartment, Sushi greets you, and you sit down to cuddle. She knows when you are upset and always makes you feel better. But her comfort can only extend so far to the gaping hole in your chest.
Tears are still falling as you head upstairs to your bathroom. You plug the tub and turn the faucet on hot. As the water fills up the tub, you slowly get undressed. You peel back each layer of clothing, as more tears fall down your cheeks.
Plunging into the hot water, you can't stop crying and wondering what came over you at work. You have risked so much pulling that stunt. This has created a massive setback in your plan.
You stay in the water until it grows cold. Wrapping yourself in a towel and heading into your bedroom, you grab your phone that you threw on the bed, intending to turn off your alarms for tomorrow, considering you won't be going in to work. There is a text from a number you don't recognize.
You notice the autocorrect changing his name, but you do nothing to remedy it. You roll over in your bed, your body feeling drained from the amount of crying you've done, you drift off to sleep.
------
There's another chime on your phone two days later.
You turn your phone on Do Not Disturb, needing time away from the drama that is your life. Sushi comes up on the bed, nudging her head into your palm. Your head has been pounding; you haven't left the apartment since the fight. You've been ignoring both Blaise and Draco. You are still waiting for the call from Jade.
You finally bring yourself out of bed, padding over to the bathroom. You stare at your reflection in the mirror.
"You're a fucking idiot." You say to yourself.
Fucking Blaise wasn't part of the original plan, but when he came into the coffee shop that first time you took the opportunity and ran with it. You needed an inside informant that worked a desk job, one that was sloppy with reports and wouldn't think twice about some young girl from America working at a chain coffee shop. With the Ministry and MACUSA already aware of your presence in London, you were trying your best not to draw attention to yourself. You didn't need Aurors on your tail for hunting down Death Eaters.
You continue chastising yourself, "you had to go and fuck this all up. You dumb fucking slut."
Fucking Draco wasn't part of the plan either. But finding out he's your soulmate was something you never imagined. It wasn't something you could prepare for. He was like the ocean. Much like his blue eyes, he drew you in and crashed everything you built up around you.
Your reflection stares back at you, eyes puffy and red. Your cheeks damp with the saltiness from the tears. You glance at your phone on the bed as your nerves rack you. Jade would've called you by now if you were able to return to work early. But seeing how it's already dark out, you doubt you'll even have a text from them.
You plop down on your bed, your robe coming slightly open. Your hands reach for your phone, opening it up to find a text from Blaise from 30 minutes ago.
A knock on your door signals you're too late. You glance around your room, fuck. The moving pictures, the potions ingredients in your kitchen. You can't let him in. He'll know. And it will all come crashing down even harder, the depths of the tsunami deepening with each passing second.
Another knock on the door, this time louder. "Y/N!?"
It's definitely his voice. You look down, your Ilvermoerny robe staring back at you. You leap off the bed, quickly changing into grey sweat shorts and a plain black v-neck t-shirt from the laundry basket in the living room. But when your hand reaches the door, you pause.
Maybe you could pretend you're not there? Perhaps he will just go away. But then you remember how he might've gotten into your place of work. Stupid. Stupid.
The harsh knocks on the door bang louder.
"I know you are home! We need to talk. I'm tired of you fucking ignoring me!"
You pull open the door, just enough to slip through without revealing your apartment to Draco. You wrap your arms around yourself, intent on hiding as much as you can from his piercing gaze.
Draco's usually pristine appearance is not even close to the disheveled mess he is in right now. He's standing inches from you, his breath fanning across your face, even his eyes are red, and you admit, he looks like shit.
And some fucked up part of you is absolutely satisfied that he's like this. If you were going to hide in your apartment and cry for several days over this jackass, you were glad he was just as affected.
You reach your hand out, pushing him in the chest, intent on keeping him far away from you to give you space. "What do you want?"
He takes a step back, but his height still towers over you. He casts you in darkness from his silvery gaze. His voice is low and gravely, very unlike himself. "I don't know, but you drive me fucking insane."
Irritation swells in you. "If you just came here to bash me, then you can just leave." You begin to turn back to the door, but Draco stops you, reaching out with his hand on your shoulder. You shrug him off. "Don't fucking touch me."
He throws his hands up, taking a step back from you. His face falls to the ground. "But when I'm around you." He pauses; his gray eyes come up to search yours as he struggles to find the words. "Life just fucking sucks less."
Your breath catches in your throat, you willed yourself not to cry anymore today, and you're not even sure you have any tears left to cry. But the tears quickly ebb away when you remember his words to you, his actions, and everything that he stands for. You don't need his love, and you don't want it.
"Is this your way of declaring your undying love to me? Because if that's what you're doing, I don't want it." Your voice comes out laced with sarcasm and venom. Deflection is one of your most-used coping mechanisms.
He shakes his head. "That's not what I'm doing."
You shake your head, bringing your fingers up to pinch the bridge of your nose. You usually try to keep up a facade, a mask, but you're too tired to do so.
Draco's voice is stern and emotionless. He's on the verge of breaking down himself. He doesn't even know why he lashed out at Blaise as he did. Or let alone why he treats you the way he does. Deep down, he knows. But just like deflection is your coping mechanism, denial is his.
"I don't need your love."
You laugh at the audacity. "I wasn't offering it to you, to begin with. You're the one that came here."
"But you obviously feel something-"
"I hate you." You cut him off, unable to control yourself.
He rolls his eyes at you, cocking a brow. "The feeling is mutual." He hesitates. "But the universe loves to fuck with me... taking away my choices at every fucking turn."
You read more into his words. Choices? But before you can think of his mention of it, he takes a step toward you. The smell of bergamot and warm vanilla wafts through your nose, and the scent is warm and comforting. You close your eyes, unable to look at him, unable to form words.
"You drive me insane."
You open your eyes, looking up at him, you repeat his own words. "The feeling is mutual."
"But I don't want to stay away from you... I can't."
Your breath gets caught in your throat, a small lump forming there. "So... what do we do?"
Draco brings his hands up to your face. His height still towers over you. He whispers to your lips. "Nothing."
His lips connect with yours, but it's nothing like your first kiss with him, all teeth and tongue. No, this is almost gentle even. It's simple and over too quick for your liking.
"We're nothing then?" You whisper back to him, your voice breaking.
He kisses you again before pulling away, "absolutely nothing."
And for now, it's enough.