"You sure you got everything?" David asked, peering over his shoulder into the backseat where Preston sat. Preston waved his hand dismissively towards the road,
"Yeah, should just b-be my furniture left. Pay attention to the road, please," Preston replied with slight urgency while David sighed dramatically and turned back to face the road.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Just double check your bag, I know how you are."
Preston rolled his eyes but obliged, pulling up his messenger bag from the seat next to him and opening it. He sifted through it, checking off his mental checklist as he went.

Phone? Check.
Switch? Check.
Journal? Check.
Headphones? Check.
Charger?
. . .
Dammit.

Preston shook his head and cursed himself under his breath, deciding to save his pride rather than admit he was wrong. He quietly zipped his bag back up and pushed it aside.

"We're almost there!" Ryott's tone was excited and bubbly as always, though he made dramatic sad face and wiped a fake tear from his eye, "Gosh, they grow up so fast don't they?" He sighed and placed his hand on David's shoulder. David laughed lightly and nodded in agreement.

"Yup. Soon he'll forget about us," David added on teasingly. Preston groaned at their dramatics and shook his head,

"You're so dramatic. I'll call you like... every day probably."

"Probably," David repeated mockingly, laughing as he watched Preston roll his eyes in the rear view mirror.

The rest of the drive was short and quiet, despite their joking around it was obvious that this was a big adjustment for everyone. Preston fidgeting nervously with his bag as they pulled into the parking lot of the cafe, taking an awkwardly long time to get all his things together and ready to go.

"Hey, we'll see you later, 'Kay? So don't freak out too much," David reassured him while Ryott stepped out of the car and opened Preston's door for him. Preston made his way out, immediately greeted with a hearty pat on the shoulder from Ryott.

"Have a great day at work Preston!" Ryott said excitedly, smiling happily as he ruffled Preston's hair, "Make sure you stay out of trouble!"

"And don't skip your classes," David added, who had gotten out of the car and walked around to give Preston a big hug. He squeezed Preston just a tad bit too tight, ruffling his hair roughly and laughing as Preston tapped him repeatedly as if he were tapping out. David loosened his hug and Preston quickly returned the gesture, taking a deep breath before letting go and looking up at both David and Ryott standing in front of him.

"Right! Um... th-th..thanks for taking me today. And for, you know... everything," Preston mumbled anxiously, tugging at the collar of his shirt and shifting his gaze away.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get sentimental on me yet, we'll bring the rest of your stuff later," David reassured him and smiled, "See ya kiddo."

Preston nodded before catching a glimpse of the time on his phone, indicating he was a few minutes late.

"Ah! Fuck, sorry, I'm gonna be late. Bye! Love you!" Preston exclaimed, giving them one more awkward half hug each and then running off as he listened to both of them,

"Love you too!" They chimed back.

Preston hurried his way to the time clock in the back of the café, clocking his as he caught his breath and turned around just in time to see Rico standing there.

"Late again?" Rico asked and Preston's face immediately turned red with embarrassment.

"I-I-I well—its just that—I was—" Preston stammered nervously until Rico laughed,

"It's okay, I don't care, just get to work please. You're about to miss your favorite customer," Rico replied with a shrug, motioning out to the floor where Preston peered out and saw him.

Vero was a regular who came in just about everyday, usually around the same time that Preston would clock in. Vero was tall and the kind of pretty that made people stop and stare. He had silvery white hair that fell just past his shoulders, framing his face perfectly to show off his gorgeous blue eyes. He also often wore long, flowy skirts and cute sweaters, and had a quiet and shy demeanor that made him come across as a bit mysterious and aloof. It was no secret to Rico, or really any of his coworkers that Preston had a crush on him.

Preston was too caught up in wanting to be the one to take Vero's order to be embarrassed by Rico's words, once again taking off and tapping the shoulder of the worker on the register.

"H-Hey! Rico told me to take over for you," Preston said and they both switched spots quickly with Preston a little shaky with anticipation as he always got. He took a few other orders before finally Vero walked up to the counter looking as gorgeous as ever. Vero took a quick glance at the menu then back down at his card already in his hand, pushing back some hair behind his ear and getting ready to speak but Preston beat him to it.

"H-H-Hi! Welcome! Um... what can I get for you today?" Preston asked though gave no chance for an answer, "I-I mean—well—will it be your usual?"

Vero looked confused, making eye contact with Preston for just a moment, though it was long enough for Preston's entire face to turn bright red once again,

"Um, a vanilla macchiato w-with whipped cream and extra sugar...?" Preston said as though he had rehearsed it a hundred times. Vero hesitated and then nodded, waiting awkwardly to pay for the drink and turning away slightly.

As Preston handed him the receipt, Vero mumbled a quiet "Thank you," and Preston's heart skipped a beat. Vero's voice was deep and smooth with an accent that Preston couldn't quite place but it was certainly attractive to Preston.

"It will be out to you shortly!" Preston said as he watched Vero walk off to a small table.

Preston took a few more orders, though he kept shifting his gaze over to Vero. Vero sat quietly with a journal open in front of him, writing a few notes and occasionally pausing to think. It wasn't often that Vero actually sat down and stayed at the cafe. Usually, Vero would get his drink and leave fairly quickly, but when the cafe was slow and quiet Vero would sit down to do some schoolwork. Sometimes he would even get a pastry as well. Preston thought it over for a moment, peering into the pastries they had in a display case and spotting the one that Vero always ordered: a little cinnamon roll shaped like a bunny. They had plenty of them, and Rico wasn't exactly strict, so Preston quickly found a coworker to cover him before taking one of the cinnamon rolls and packing it into a small paper bag, hurrying over to Vero's table. He set it down next to Vero's journal, his heart racing when Vero looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I-I thought you could use a snack! It's on the house!" Preston explained quickly and offered a sheepish smile. Vero furrowed his brows slightly, tilting his head to the side a little too much.

"I did not order this," He grabbed the bag and held it back up to Preston who laughed nervously and shook his head, gently pushing the bag back towards Vero.

"No, no, I know! I-I—I just—I... well... I thought you'd like it..." Preston stammered even more, "It's um. It's the bunny roll?" He waited anticipating Vero's reaction as Vero leaned over the table awkwardly to peer into the bag.

"Oh," Vero stopped for a moment, tapping his finger against his chin before bowing his head a little and seeming satisfied, "Thank you."

Preston could feel his heart practically beating out of his chest as Vero gave the slightest smile before returning to his journal.

"N-No problem!! Bye!" Preston panicked and hurried off again, running behind the counter directly into Rico who smiled slyly,

"That's coming out of your paycheck," Rico said teasingly, pinching Preston's cheek.

"What? Really?!"

Rico laughed at Preston's alarm reaction and shook his head,

"Well, no, but our new barista is gonna be half an hour late, so mind staying for a little to help out?"

Preston hesitated, but from Rico's smile he sensed it wasn't much of a question at all.

"Yeah, I guess," Preston replied dejectedly and quickly got back to work, continuing to daydream about his work crush for the rest of the day.

——

"See you tomorrow!" Preston called to Rico before exiting the back door, looking around and spotting David's car. He ran over, flinging open the back door and dropping his bag next to him.

"Well hello to you too," David said sarcastically. Preston sighed as he buckled his seatbelt and leaned his head back tiredly,

"Sorry, I'm just nervous," Preston replied, running his fingers through his hair and thumping his head against the window, "I'm running late now since Rico asked me to stay. What if my roommate's been waiting for me all day?"

"I'm sure your new roommate won't care that much," David said reassuringly and shrugged, "Besides your building is right down the street. It'll take not even five minutes to get there."

"Oh! We also brought this," Ryott interrupted, grabbing a small bag near him and hand it back to Preston. Preston peered into the bag where his charger and a few other things he had forgotten were.

"David figured you'd left some stuff so we grabbed it for you!" Ryott explained happily while Preston muttered an embarrassed thank you, "How was work?"

"Did you see your boyfriend?" David added teasingly. Preston's face turned red once again and he rolled his eyes,

"He's not—I-I—I'm trying to—"

"Have you taken my advice? I bet you'll win him over instantly," Ryott interrupted excitedly and Preston shook his head immediately.

"Ryott I-I don't think I can just come up and flirt with him right away. He's not exactly talkative," Preston answered, "A-And besides I'm not nearly as... cool as you are, I can't just get any guy I want."

David chuckled a little and affectionately placed his hand on Ryott's leg, "Ryott wasn't exactly cool in high school and he got me," He joked but Ryott nodded along like it was serious. David laughed, "It helped that you were crazy hot," He said to Ryott who leaned over to kiss David's cheek.

"Ew, gross," Preston quickly interrupted and pretended to gag.

"We're here bud! Why don't you go ahead and head up to say hi to your roommate while we grab your stuff?" David moved on, putting the car in park. Preston nodded a little, grabbing his bag and hurrying out of the car and into the large dorm building.

The dorm halls were large and floors were separated by gender, boys on the higher floors and girls on the lower ones. Preston stepped into the elevator as he threw his bag haphazardly over his shoulder and then hit the fourth floor button, shutting his eyes to take a deep breath and prepare himself. It was a big change, but an exciting one. He had a great first semester at college and now he was going to get the full experience! Though he only worry now was his roommate. The people at college turned out to be way nicer, and he could only hope that trend would continue.

Before he knew it, he found himself in front of door 406: his new home for the next few months. He brushed through his hair again and smoothed out his clothes, wanting to make a good first impression before knocking on the door.

...

About a minute passed and Preston hesitated, thinking maybe they simply didn't hear it. He knocked one more time and finally the door opened. It took Preston a second to process the long haired pretty person standing in the door way, and for a moment Preston was sure he'd accidentally entered the girl's dorm halls until he recognized him.

Vero.

He was wearing a cutesy bunny headband that pushed his hair back and a similar colored sweater, all matched with some cute pajama shorts and knee high fuzzy socks.

"I-I—Hey! Hey—I'm... um. Oh god—I—" Preston couldn't even get one word out, his head slightly twitching to the side as it often did when he was nervous.

"I'm not interested," Vero said flatly, shutting the door again, which made an audible locking noise once closed.

Preston wasn't even sure how to process this. First, Vero was going to be his roommate. And second, while Vero had always shown a little bit of interest in cutesy and girlish things, he certainly dressed a lot more muted. Preston's brain felt like it was short circuiting seeing Vero in such a cute outfit at their first meeting outside of work. He hesitated, his flushed face making it feel warm the more he thought about Vero opening the door again before he knocked once more. Vero opened it, his brows furrowed as he barely peeked around the door to peer at Preston.

"I said I am not interested," He repeated a bit more sternly this time, looking away and getting ready to shut the door again but Preston put his hand out and stopped him,

"W-Wait! I'm your new roommate!" Preston quickly blurted out, to which Vero looked confused and still a bit annoyed.

"My roommate was supposed to be here forty two minutes ago."

"I-I got stuck at work...uh... you remember? I saw you this morning!" Preston stopped for a second before adding, "I-I wasn't following you or anything! It's just a weird coincidence, I swear I... god that sounds worse doesn't it?"

Vero stared at him blankly and silently and then slowly started to shut the door again, "Give me a moment."

"Oh um...okay," Preston's response was delayed as he listened to the shuffling in the room, waiting awkwardly as a million thoughts raced through his mind. It took a few minutes before the door opened one more time. Vero had changed, took off his head band and changed into some plaid pajama pants, though kept the cutesy sweater. Preston made his way into the dorm, looking at Vero's half where there were tons of little stuffed animals and pastel pink and blue decor. Preston raised his eyebrows in surprise, turning to look at Vero who seemed a little embarrassed as he took a nearby blanket and tossed it over some of the plushies on his bed.

"I um... like the decorations," Preston said awkwardly and offered a small smile that Vero didn't return.

"When did I see you this morning...?" Vero asked instead, tilting his head to the side. Preston set his stuff down on the opposite bed to Vero's and looked at Vero with an expression of surprise.

"Y-You don't recognize me?"

Vero shook his head a little. Preston quickly looked away to hide his embarrassment, biting his lip as his heart sank.

"I-I serve you coffee like...e-everyday? I bought you a cinnamon roll this morning...?" Preston mumbled sadly and Vero turned to look at the wrapper on his desk from the cinnamon roll.

"Ah. I'm sorry. People buy things for me often. I suppose I must look like I can't afford things," Vero said awkwardly, sitting down on his bed and looking at Preston for a little longer and then nodding, "I recognize you now."

Preston laughed bitterly, "I guess I thought I was a little more recognizable, you know." He motioned to his missing arm, expecting Vero to crack a smile but Vero only watched quietly. "A-Anyways! My uncles are gonna bring my stuff up in just a second, so... um. Yeah," Preston murmured, suddenly feeling a lot more defeated than before. He sulked over to his half of the room, examining the bare wall that the bed was pressed up against and listening to the silence that made the awkward tension in the room more apparent.

What a disaster.

Preston looked down at his scuffed shoes on top of the fluffy white rug splayed out on the floor, awkwardly pushing the fuzz back and forth with his heel as he waited for David and Ryott to arrive and ignored the feeling of Vero staring him down. It felt like eternity before a loud knock at the door signaled their arrival to which Preston sprung towards the door and swung it open with a relieved expression.

"Hey...?" David furrowed his brows and looked over Preston as though to check if he were alright before making his way into the dorm to set down the luggage, followed closely by Ryott who seemed none the wiser to Preston's nervousness. Preston peered over at Vero who suddenly looked alarmed, having pushed himself back into the corner of his bed with a pillow clutched to his chest that he peeked over.

"Nice to meet you," David greeted Vero awkwardly, staring at him for a second before recognizing who it was. There had been a few times him and Ryott visited Preston at work, and Preston was never particularly good at shutting up about his crushes. David laughed, giving Preston a knowing glance and then continuing to get things settled in though Ryott was still staring at Vero. Preston swore he could see the gears turning in Ryott's brain before he spoke up excitedly, grabbing Preston's shoulder and smiling as though he had great news to share, "Hey! That's the guy you like—?" Ryott hardly got his sentence started before Preston interrupted, scrambling to push Ryott back towards the door.
"M-My roommate! Yup! That's who he is! Don't you guys have more stuff to grab? I'll wait right here, don't worry!"

"I haven't set this down yet," Ryott whined dejectedly, handing Preston a bag filled with his video games that Preston took quickly before continuing to try (and fail) shoving Ryott towards the door. Vero watched with an almost fearful expression, his eyes wide while he carefully slipped out of his bed and made his way towards the bathroom door.

"Okay. Let me know when they've left," Vero mumbled hardly loud enough for Preston to hear over Ryott's complaints and more hearty laughter from David. Vero hurried into the bathroom and the door clicked with another loud lock as Preston stared dumbfounded at the door.