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___ stretched and yawned as her alarm went off. She reached over and hit her off button hard. “Mornings are not fun…” She sighed then actually popped up out of bed. “Shit, I'm late!” She scrambled out of bed and got ready as quickly as possible. Scrambling out the door she slams into someone and drops everything in her hands. “I'm so sorry!” She quickly grabbed her keys and went to grab her papers.
“Here you go.” She looked up at the man handing her the papers. It was Jack. Of course it was. ___’s face went bright red. He just smiled at her, she could feel herself starting to shake.
Slowly grabbing the papers from him, careful to not touch him. “Thank you, sir.” She whispered.
“You’re welcome. Are you in a hurry?” He asked.
She gasped and nodded. “I'm very sorry, I must go through.” ___ ran, not even staying for an answer.

Panting ___ got to her cafe and opened the door. Only 20 minutes before opening. She was freaking out. Running into the back and starting to get morning items ready.

___ sighed as she sat down at a table in her empty cafe. The morning was so bad, she forgot Lyric wasn’t going to be here. Thankfully everyone was very nice and was fine with just coffees. She had no idea why her first alarm didn’t go off. She’d have to look into it, when she gets home. Wanting to check the time she felt around for her phone. She couldn’t find it. In a small panic she started to look around the kitchen.
Then it dawned on her. She dropped it when she bumped into Jack. She paced back and forth for at least 20 minutes before deciding to call her phone.
The ringing stopped and he finally answered. “Hello.” ___ froze. She didn’t think this part through. “Hello.” She could hear a slight chuckle making her even more nervous..
“Hello.”
“So I have your phone.”
“Y-yes.” Her own words were choking and betraying her.
“I would assume you’d like it back?”
“Yes please.”
“Well, should I bring it to your cafe?”
___ paused for a moment. “Wait, h-how do you know about my cafe?” How did Jack know about her cafe? She could feel her heart rate to go up.
“Oh, I came in yesterday because of your charity sign.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, your cakes are very delicious. I think I will have to get some more. I’ll head there now. See you soon, ___.” With that, he hung up. Never giving her to chance to answer. Her head was pounding.
“He knew my shop. He likes my cakes. He knew my name.” ___ face went red. He said her name. Then it hit her. “He’s coming here!” She almost squeaked. Running to the bathroom trying to salvage her (h/l)(h/c). She sighed. “What am I doing? He’s not going to care. I don’t even have a brush.”
Coming out of the restroom ___ went into the back to check on a few batches. Then headed back out to the floor. Subconsciously turned on YouTube and putting up a playlist of Jack’s videos and started on her paperwork. Losing herself in thought about the finances of the shop.
___ looked up from her paperwork to watch Jack, a smile forms on her lips watching the energetic green haired man. She giggled at his scream.
“Hey.” ___ turned quickly shutting her laptop lid in the process to hide and stop the video. Jack was standing near the entrance. She just stared at him then just waved. He smiled and waved back making her blush. He cleared his throat. “So, I brought your phone.” He extended it to her.
___ stood up and took her phone from him. She never made eye contact. “Thanks.” She whispered.
“No problem at all. I was going to come today anyways to get one your damn yummy cakes.” He smirked but he could tell she wasn’t looking at him. He chuckled. “So can I order?”
“Oh yes. Of course.” ___ turned around and walked around the cash register. He watched her walk and checked her out while walking the front. “What can I get you, sir?”
“You know, you can call me Jack.” He smiled as he saw her cheeks dust with a light pink. But she didn’t answer. “Or not.” He raised his eyebrows a bit. “Well, um I will take some chocolate cake and some milk.”
“Is that to go or for here?” Her voice was so small but it still managed to crack a bit.
“I think I have enough time to stay here.” She simply nodded. And told him the total. “Oh wait, I have a code to get the cake for free.” She looked at him with a cutely confused look.
‘Code, from where? I don’t give codes.’ ___ thought to herself.
“Um, what code?” She asked.
“Oh, it’s Jackaboy.” Jack said with a handsomely wide smile.
___ froze. Her eyes widen. ’He watched the stream. He knows, I know, who he is. He knows I have a crush on him. He saw me cry. I can’t even move. What do I do?!’ Her mind was racing, she opened her mouth but she couldn’t speak. She could feel her face heating up.
After about 5 minutes. ___ was able to process her mind enough to speak. “So you know?”
“Yes, I do.” She mouthed an ‘Oh.’ Jack took a deep breath. “Look I know you’re probably really embarrassed, I'm just a guy though. I would love to just talk to you. Don’t think of me as Jacksepticeye a YouTuber, think of me as just Jack.” She was silent, she couldn’t answer. He gave her a slightly sad look. “Please?” He asked softly.
“Um.” She could hardly speak, how could she even think of him just as Jack. “Yes, but you still owe for the milk. I’ll get your cake and milk then we can sit down.”
Jack smiled and paid for the milk. She handled him his milk. He sat down at the table where she had all of her stuff.
She sat down with his cake. And handed him a fork. “How much of the stream did you watch?”
He smirked as he took a sip of his coffee. “All of it.”
“All of it?” She repeated.
“Yes.” He laughed then looked at her seriously. “I'm truly sorry for your loss by the way.”
“Thank you.” She actually smiled at him. ___ felt very happy to have such caring words from him.
“No reason to thank me. I'm sorry for bring it up at all. I was Booper Dooper last night.”
“You were?”
“Yes.” Jack reached over and touched her locket. “May I?” All she could do was nod. Jack scooted a bit closer to her and opened the locket. He saw two extremely happy faces looking back at him. An adorable little girl and a younger man. He closed the locket and met (e/c) eyes. “Your daughter was so beautiful.”
A sad smile graced her lips. “Thank you, Jack. I miss her dearly. I have so many happy memories to keep me smiling though.”
“Memories are always the best to have when you can’t see that person anymore.”
“They really are. I treasure my memories more than anything I could ever have.”
He smiled at her. “I'm sorry for bringing up such a fucking sad subject, I just really wanted to see who they were.”
“It’s fine.”
Silence fell between them. “So, I heard your have a crush on me and that you’re single?” Jack wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
___ just covered her face. “Please be quiet.”
“No!” Jack basically screamed making her giggle. He pushed down her arms to uncover her face. “You know, you’re very beautiful. I would love to get to know you more. Maybe hang out sometime?” She could only stare at him.
’That’s it. I’m dreaming, I know it.’ She reached out and poked his cheek. Jack’s cheek was warm to her cold finger.
“Wow, your hands are cold. Why’d you poke me?”
“My hands are usually cold. I thought I was dreaming…” ___ looked down into her lap.
Jack smiled and pulled up her chin with his finger. “No, isn’t a dream. How about I walk you home after the cafe closes?” She could only nod. “Great! Now I have this cake to devour.” He smiled deviously at the cake before digging into it. ___ couldn’t help but giggle. Jack swallowed a piece. “Hmm, so fucking good.” He smiled at her, she could only smile back. “You know. They say people with cold hands are usually very kind and loving. Cold hands, warm hearts.” He smiled at ___ and took another piece of his cake.
He started a normal conversation with her. Doing most of the talking since she was still being shy towards Jack.

Jack stayed and ate sweets and tried to hide in the corner. Trying to make sure no one really noticed him. They planned on walking home together so Jack decided to just wait instead of just going home then coming back.
Hours passed and Lyric came back, she started helping out with the closing customers so ___ could start cleaning, starting in the kitchen then out into the eating area.
Lyric turned off the ‘open’ sign and went over to talk to Jack. They laughed quietly about how ___ reacted and Lyric shared more information about ___, her best friend.
___ was counting out the register then went over to the laughing duo in the corner. “Here, Lyric.” She was handing her a small wad of cash.
“No, I keep telling you. Just give it to me in a check.”
“Just fucking take it. It isn’t much.”
Lyric took the money then counted and notice it was only about 40. “Oh.”
“Now.” ___ opened her wallet and handed her more money. “No rejecting. This is a gift from my own account. Go to Scotland and see your boyfriend for Valentines. I know it’s been awhile since he saw you. This is a week's pay, do what you wish with it.”
“Wait, so I don’t have to come in for a week?” A small smirk went on Lyric’s lips after asking the question.
“Yes. Just be back right after Valentines or I’ll smack you.” They all laughed together. ___ and Lyric hugged.
Saying small farewells to Jack and ___ she left early to go pack to go surprise visit her boyfriend. Then ___ realized she was alone with Jack again. She waved at him, with a shy smile. Chuckling a bit, Jack waved back.
“So, um. I just need to do a few things to close up. I’ll meet you outside in about 10 minutes?”
“Yupp!”
Jack slowly gathered his things and waited for a bit in his table then headed outside. Soon ___ came out then locked the door.
“Ready to go?”
“Yeah, let’s head home, Jack.” They started walking to their apartment building together. The walk was quiet. Being too shy to talk to Jack, ___ shuffled beside him and stared at her feet. She was still nervous around him but she did want to get to know him and be a friend to him. She knew having Jack as a friend would be so much fun because he’s such a funny guy. She was smiling at the idea.
Jack was getting tired of the silence and decided to speak up. He wanted to know more about her. He asked simple questions to get to know her more. The topic of childhood cartoons really opened her up to him more and they talked about that majority of the time. They found out they had a lot in common with TV show taste.
Arriving at the apartment, Jack walked ___ to her door.
“I might come by the cafe a few times a week if that’s alright.” He smiled
“I w-would like that.” She blushed at her stumble of words.
“Whoo~! Now we’re friends.” Jack stuck out his hand for a handshake and with a smile ___ took his hand and shook it. Jack smiled at the cool sensation of her cool hand against his warmer one. “Also, if you ever need me or are having a bad day. Feel free to come knocking on my door. I’d be happy to listen if you need someone.”
She smiled at the gesture. “Thank you. I usually call a friend or my mom though.”
“What friends?”
“Lyric, Mel, Jodeci or Hayley.”
“Oh so if you came to me, it’d be like a last chance thing?”
“No! It could be a first time time. Sometime guys have more of an understand and aren’t as cold as girls. Lyric and Hayley get really busy easily. Lyric being outgoing and beautiful. Hayley is gorgeous but married and back in America. Mel just forgets she has a phone. Jodeci rarely answers his phone because he’s a workaholic.” She giggled at her last sentence.
“Wait, so Jodeci is a guy?”
“Yes. I know, I teased him about his name for awhile.”
“So would you call him first before coming to me?”
“No, I rarely call him. He’s been a friend since I was 15 but I rarely ever talk to him. Plus sometimes it’s easier to just vent out to someone in person.” She gave him a reassuring smile.
“Well, if you need the in person therapy just let old Jackaboy know!” He gave a thumbs up, making her laugh.
“Will do. Although you’re only like 2 years older than me Jack, you’re not that old.” She paused with a yawn. “Well I have to get up early to open the shop since I let Lyric off.”
“Won’t you need any help?”
“Not really, I just get in earlier to start everything then check on everything with management. Lyric’s only been with me for about 5 months. I flew her here from America because I missed my best friend. Although she only came because I promised her a Scottsman.”
“I guess she likes their accents?”
“She been obsessed with Scottsman for as long as I can remember. So when I met one on a dating site, I kind of redirected him to her.”
“Why didn’t you want him?”
“It’s not that I didn’t want him. I just saw him as an older brother and he even helped me decide I wasn’t ready for dating. So I threw myself into work and hobbies.”
“Hobbies, like what?”
“Oh, baking of course. When I'm mad I like to bake loudly.” She laughed at her own stupid actions. “Then when I'm calm I either play games, listen to music, paint or play some violin.”
“So you’re the one that plays those ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ songs in the building?”
“I didn’t know anyone could hear them or even tell that’s what they were suppose to be.” She rubbed the back of her head nervously. “Well, I will see you later this week, right?” She smiled at him as she unlocked her door.
“Yeah, I’ll try to pop by I do still have a job too you know.”
“Of course I know, Jack. A lot of us would be very sad if you stopped your job.”
“I guess they would.” He smirked at the thought of his amazing viewers.
“Don’t worry, I’ll always watch you.”
“Well that would sound creepy out of context.” They laughed at bit. “I'm glad we have the same humor.”
“If we didn’t, I don’t think we would have really met.”
“No, we would have. Since I was a little interested about you because of Edna. I just think it have been less awkward for both of us.”
“Damn you, Edna.” She laughed lightly at her sarcasm. “Wait, why was it awkward for you?”
“Well you are insanely beautiful, so you aren’t the only one nervous here.”
___’s cheek started going bright at the compliment. “Oh, w-well. U-um. See you later. Goodnight.” She mumbled quickly then slipped inside her apartment.
Jack sighed. ’I figured she’d run if I said that. But she’s so cute when she blushes so it was worth it. Oh shit, I forgot to get her number.’ He groaned and headed back to his apartment so he could edit some videos.