it’s a chilly day in brighton. it’s 11:00 AM — the weekday morning rush at the coffee shop where you work is long over, and it’s quiet. three customers sit scattered throughout the cafe, all with headphones on, consumed by the worlds on their phones and laptops. you’re bored, pretending to clean behind the counter but secretly checking your phone, hidden in the drawer beneath the register.
you’re mindlessly scrolling twitter when you feel a new presence enter the room. you glance up to see a cute boy walking towards you. wearing all black, with crystal blue eyes and curly light brown hair — maybe a bit ginger in direct light. a warmth filled your chest at the sight of the polite smile he gave as you made eye contact.
“hi there.”
“good morning, what can I get you?”
“can I get a large caramel macchiato please?”
his voice scratches your brain, feeling almost nostalgic and very familiar.
“great choice,” you say while you tap his order onto the screen. “that’s my favorite. so healthy as well.”
he laughs. you absolutely know his laugh from somewhere.
“can I get your name please?”
“george.”
it clicks. you are speaking to george memeulous. you don’t know his face, but you know he lives in brighton. you know his eyes. his voice. his laugh. his stature. his name.
you hesitate for a moment. “…george, thanks. £4.95 please.”
“cheers, thanks.” he taps his phone on the machine, smiling up at you.
you smile back and he walks to the other side of the counter as you turn to make his drink.
your mind racing — george is someone you’ve loved for many years, watching every video on both of his channels and developing a fairly serious crush… as serious as a crush on someone you don’t know can be.
you decide to be bold. under his name on the cup, you add a small drawing: ( ಠ ‿ ಠ ) — his logo (to the best of your abilities), hoping you can gauge his reaction to confirm if your intuition is correct.
you finish making his drink. "caramel macchiato for george!" you call out, making sure to hold up the drink with your doodle facing him, and he lifts his head up from his phone with another polite smile. "cheers," he replies, reaching out to grab the hot drink from your hand. a small gasp escapes from him as he freezes for a moment, processing the little face messily sharpied on the cup.
he slowly takes it from you, his fingers lightly grazing yours in the process. you smile at him, feeling validated in your boldness, his hesitation and widened eyes seemingly proving you correct.
but he looks nervous. it hadn't occurred to you for a moment that identifying him could have much larger implications for his life than yours.
"your secret's safe with me," you whisper quickly, trying to reassure him that you have no interest in revealing his identity to anyone.
"thank you," he exhales. his eyes drop to the tag on your apron, registering your name. pretty, he thought. "I appreciate that, y/n." the sound of your name leaving his lips so delicately makes your stomach do a backflip.
he walks away, finding a seat in the corner of the cafe to enjoy his hot drink. you can't help but peek over at him every so often, now even less focused on work, knowing you've just met george memeulous... and he's even better looking than you had imagined. his usual sunnies, bandana, and hat left plenty to the imagination, but damn if he did not exceed your headcannon's expectations.
you had often rewatched his videos, especially the ones where he revealed his pretty eyes with their long lashes, making the hearts of many skip beats, fueling everyone's beliefs that he was in fact beautiful under his disguise. but those videos did zero justice to the depth of his irises, the watercolor mix of dark and light blues making up a pool you wish you could swim in.
as you glanced back over at him for the millionth time, your breath hitched as you caught him looking back. you quickly break eye contact, feeling your face get warm and knowing there was a pink dusting of blush across your cheeks. "shit," you mutter under your breath. you turn away from him, trying to actually be productive in an effort to distract you from the boy across the room, secretly hoping he was watching you.
a few minutes passed, and you heard footsteps approaching behind you.
"hi again," he says. you know it's him without turning around. you wish you had your inhaler on you.
"hi," you turn around with a smile, trying and probably failing to seem nonchalant. "can I get you something else?"
"um, yeah, actually. I was wondering if I could maybe get your number."
your eyes widen. your mind reeling, your heart pounding, you cannot believe what you just heard.
"you want my number?"
"yeah, you uh, make a mean caramel macchiato. I thought maybe you could make me another sometime." he responds, feeling a little awkward but coming across quite smoothly.
you realize you had been holding your breath, and you let go, unable to keep the grin from spreading across your face. "I'd like that."
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a/n: hi I haven't written fan fiction in ten years but I've been age regressing and my love of british youtubers has been consuming me in a way I've not felt since high school so here we are. let me know what u think hehe
