Sugarplum and Starbucks
Chapter One:
“For Melissa?” the barista called. Holding tightly to the two plastic cups.
“That’s me,” said the boy. Today he was wearing a gray sweater vest over a white button down. So dressed up. Maybe he was going to some kind of winter performance. Maybe he was in a winter performance. Maybe he played acoustic guitar or violin. Maybe he just felt like getting dressed up today. His blonde hair looked so soft, and his long bangs waved back on either side of his forehead, a piece falling over his face.
“One caramel frappuccino and an iced coffee?” Trying to prolong the moment.
“Yeah,” the boy said, blue green eyes blinking up at the taller boy. Fingers rubbing together nervously, hesitantly reaching out for his order.
“Straws?” He always asked, even though he knew the answer.
“No thank you,” The boy’s voice was always so sweet. The barista bit his lip, glad no one could see it under his mask.
“Ok, so . . . napkins?” One last shot.
“No, thank you.” The boy looked down at the drinks, still in the barista’s hands, then back up at the taller boy. Blinking. He had dark brown eyebrows and thick eyelashes. That’s all the barista could see because the mask covered the rest of the smaller boy’s face.
“Ummm,,,” Maybe this time he could do it. Maybe this time he would muster up the courage to..
“Daniel? Let’s go sweetie. Grandma’s waiting!” The middle aged woman excused herself and stepped around the elderly couple waiting for their pick up.
“These are ours?” She glanced up at the barista, looking so fixedly at her son. Then her eyes were drawn to her own boy, who stood so awkwardly looking back.
“Oh my god,” she murmured, taking the drinks. “Tomorrow, ok.” She directed this to both boys strangely. “We’ll come back tomorrow. But right now we’ve got a family dinner.” She took her son’s hand and pulled him towards the door. Daniel, apparently, looked back at him and said goodbye quietly.
“Have a nice day,” the barista called out.
And turned around to see the three other barista’s laughing hysterically, literally almost falling over.
“What?” He shrugged and straightened his apron. “Don’t you have drinks to make?”
“Are you ever going to get up the nerve to talk to him?” Tanya snorted, grabbing the latest ticket from the computer. “You stare at him every single time he comes in here. He’s going to think you’re some kind of weirdo.”
“You think so?!” He turned to her so fast, his voice thick with anxiety.
“No, dumbass. But you definitely are Captain Obvious. That’s ok, though, because I think he’s Lieutenant Oblivious. He’s definitely not picking up what you’re putting down.” She started to make the first of about twenty drink orders that just came through. “A little help? We are at a place called, work, you know.”
===
The next day…
Daniel and his mom came into the Starbucks. Not calmly like normal. Seemed like Melissa was pushing her son through the door, as he tried desperately to pull away. But once inside, the boy straightened his clothes, immediately glancing over to the counter, made eye contact with Justin, turned beet red and tried once again to go back out the door. His mom’s hand on his elbow, he was led to one of a handful of tables they’d just reopened now that most people had gotten their vaccines. Eyes on the floor. Hands opening and closing.
They sat there, his mom bringing out her phone, ordering via mobile even though they were present in the store. Justin saw their ticket come in, made their drinks. And just stood there. Heart jackhammering in his chest.
“Go bring him his drinks!” Evan chortled, pushing Justin’s back. Tanya and Lily were giggling like madwomen.
“Oh my god, this is the most fun I’ve had in months,” Lily snorted. “I can’t even remember the last time I’ve laughed so hard.”
“I think I’m going to pee my pants,” Tanya wheezed.
Justin shot them all a dirty look. But froze. Unable to move.
Melissa looked up, and rolled her eyes, to see all three baristas slowly pushing their coworker forward, half bent over behind him, in an extremely lame attempt at hiding.
Justin’s feet skidded forward, he stumbled and almost dropped the drinks. Causing his friends to laugh hysterically, tears dripping down their faces. He stood up, glaring behind him, then eyes connected to Daniel’s. Who audibly gulped and let out a huge burst of air. Adding to the ongoing comedic quality of the moment.
The two boys just stared at each other.
“Give them their drinks,” Tayna stage whispered, and Justin robotically put the drinks down on the small table.
“Thanks,” Melissa said for both of them, glancing at her son, who was equally petrified. “What’s your name?” She asked for her son’s benefit.
“His name’s Justin,” Evan said from behind, when it was clear his friend was too tongue tied to speak.
“Hmmmm…” Melissa took a sip from her frappuccino. Tapping Daniel’s hand. “This is my son, Daniel.”
Making Daniel blush even more and glaring at his mom.
“Say something!” Lily said, pushing on Justin’s back. “Come on. You can do it. We believe in you.” All the more hysterical because the three of them were still quasi hiding behind Justin’s tall shape. The rest of the Starbucks patrons watched all of this going on like it was the best Netflix decision of a lifetime.
“Can I have your number?” Justin blurted out. Voice cracking on the last word.
The trio burst into smothered laughter. “Smooth, so smooth,” Even choked. “Say something else, quick. Recover! Recover!”
Justin shook his head from side to side, panicked. “Umm… ummm…you’re SO cute.” Directly to Daniel.
Melissa quickly covered her face with her hands.
“I’m only fifteen!” Daniel squeaked.
Justin’s eyes were huge.
“Sixteen, sweetie. His birthday was yesterday. He’s a sophomore.” Melissa assured a now even further distraught Justin. “How old are you, Justin?”
“Seventeen. I’m a junior.” Eyes never leaving Daniel’s.
"Oh!" said Daniel. "I thought you were way older."
“Would you like to come to our house after your shift today and hang out with Daniel?” Melissa again.
“He’s off at seven!” Lily interjected.
“Mom!! How can you invite him to our house?? He could be an axe murderer?” Daniel hissed at his mother who was just plainly trying not to let her laughter overtake her.
Melissa connected with the trio of wingmen/women. “Is he an axe murderer?”
“No, he’s a straight A student who’s never dated once in his life. All he does is work here and study.” Evan added. “He’s nice, polite and very clean.”
“And he likes small children and cats,” Tanya added.
“I like cats,” Daniel whispered, in the general direction of Justin.
“Perfect. You’re made for each other. We’ll see you at sevenish. Here’s Daniel’s number. He’ll text you our address.” Melissa slipped Justin a folded notebook paper. And stood up, grabbing her drink. “Come on Daniel. Say goodbye to Justin.”
Daniel stood somewhat shakily and waved his fingers slowly at the taller boy. “Bye Justin. I guess I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
“Bye, Daniel.” Justin’s voice dropped a couple of octaves. Causing goosebumps to visibly pebble Daniels forearms.
“Now…kiss!” Lily squealed, pushing him forward. Justin tripped and fell forward onto Daniel. Who braced himself just in time and didn’t fall over. Helped Justin stand up carefully.
“Sorry. Sorry.” Justin gulped. “I’m so sorry,”
“It’s ok. It’s…it was…fine.” Daniel drew in a shaky breath. “Are you ok?” He held out his hand and brushed the wavy golden hair back out of Justin’s face. Touching his face. Then recoiled. “Oh shit. Sorry! Sorry!”
And then he was gone.
Justin turned to his friends. Agog.
“You bitch,” Evan pushed Lily, teasing. “That kind of crossed the line don’t you think?”
Lily had the good sense to look ashamed and Tanya flicked her on the forehead. “Ouch! Sorry, Justin. I’m sorry. You guys were just so cute and I got carried away.”
Justin wandered back to the counter. “He smells so good. He touched me. His fingers are so soft.”
===
He pulled up to the curb and looked at the house. Normal. Just a house. With some Christmas decorations in front. A blow up gingerbread man. Lights around the roof.
Justin pulled his longer blonde hair out of his face, and sniffed under his armpits. Hoping he didn’t stink. Evan had given him a breath mint, so at least he knew he didn’t have bad breath. And if he did smell, it was probably the smell of coffee. Not sweat. Hopefully.
He stood on the walkway. Wishing Tanya or Evan had come with him. He’d asked them to, but they’d just burst into another round of laughter.
“This is your first date, kind of, and you want us to come with you? Are you crazy?” Tanya straightened his collar, inspecting him from side to side. Justin was almost a taller version of Daniel. Almost six foot. Kind of skinny. Blonde with a similar haircut. Brown eyes though. Daniel had blue/green eyes. Eyes that Justin thought were really really pretty. And even though he was short, maybe not quite five five, he could still be growing. He was only fifteen.
“Is he too young for me? Is this even legal?” Justin turned to Evan. His coworker was in his mid twenties, and to Justin, he was the height of mature and cool.
“Why? Are you planning of having sex with him tonight?” Evan asked drily. Wiggling his eyebrows.
“Shut. Up!” Justin blanched. “Oh my god, why did you say that?!!”
“Stop corrupting our baby!” Tanya chided. “Don’t listen to him, Justin. You’re going to go to his house. Play some video games. Eat some popcorn. And get to know him, ok? Ask him about himself. Where does he go to school? What’s his favorite movie? Stuff like that. You’re going to be fine.”
Justin nodded, now his brain was in a tizzy thinking about what they would talk about.
“You’re going to be just fine,” Lily repeated. And even Evan nodded reassuringly.
===
And now here he was knocking on a stranger’s door.
Daniel opened the door, mask off for the first time. And Justin couldn’t take his eyes off of him. He was even cuter than before. The mask did give him a slight illusion of age, so without it, Daniel definitely looked fifteen. He had a couple of freckles across his face. Thin pink lips. A few pimples near his chin. Nothing disgusting.
And then he smiled and Justin almost fainted.
Daniel had two really sharp snaggleteeth. Like his canines sat almost a couple of millimeters or so above the rest of his teeth. And they were sharp. So when he smiled he looked like a baby vampire.
“You can take off your mask. You’ve been vaccinated right? Got your booster already?” Daniel asked, obviously more assured since he was in his own home.
“Yeah,” Justin lamely patted his upper arm. And reached up, taking off his mask. Hoping Daniel didn’t think he was revolting looking.
It was obvious he was also getting a once over, and guessed he looked ok, because Daniel started blushing and looking at the ground.
They both just stood there for a while. Awkward.
Until a streak of fur tried to run past. Luckily Justin had good reflexes, normally, and was able to grab the cat before it streaked off into the night.
“Oh my god, thank you! Bad Trixie!” Daniel reached out and took the tortoiseshell cat out of Justin’s arms. And cuddled her to his face. And she put a paw out and touched his cheek. And Justin thought he’d die from how adorable the boy looked. “Come in, I guess.”
The taller boy followed him down a hallway and into a small kitchen. “My mom’s making dinner, since she figured you didn’t eat yet. Do you like cheeseburgers? Tater tots? Salad?”
“Sure.” This was the weirdest thing in the world. He was at the boy’s house, the boy he’d been checking out for over three months. And was going to have dinner. And talking about tater tots.
“Mom, umm…Justin’s here.”
Melissa looked up from the stove, hair pulled back, smiling at the tall boy entering her kitchen so hesitantly. “Good to see you again, Justin. Daniel why don’t you take him to your room. Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes or so.”
Daniel carried his cat with them, down the hallway, past a few doors. “This is the bathroom,” he murmured, touching a door.
Then he opened the second to last door and turned on the light. Justin stepped into the room ready to see what it told him about this cute boy who was a complete stranger.
It was just a normal guys room. With a double bed. A desk with a laptop. A bookshelf. Some manga. Some novels. A box of legos in the corner. Some posters on the walls. Harry Potter. My Hero Academia. And one of a man shirtless, muscles on display, obviously a ballet dancer.
“Who’s that?” Justin asked, pointing, as he sat down on the bed.
“Oh! Ummm…” Pink creeped up onto his cheeks. “That’s Daniel Ulbricht. He’s a principal dancer for the New York City Ballet. I think he’s pretty . . . amazing.”
“Oh cool.” Didn’t know what to say to that.
“Yeah, I think you kind of look like him.”
“Ummm….ok?” Justin looked closely at the poster again. The guy was blonde. So check. But obviously built in a way Justin was not, and crazy handsome. But . . . that meant Daniel just said…
“Yeah, I think he’s pretty great. He’s not just a dancer, he teaches and helps promote Dance Against Cancer. It’s all in New York, where my dad’s family is from. And he’s short, like me. 5’6”. So that’s pretty inspiring.”
“So you dance?” It was definitely not something he’d ever considered in his daydreaming about the boy, but it did fit. He was skinny. For sure. And had a way about him that was different.
“Yeah.” Daniel sat down awkwardly next to him on the bed, their legs touching a little.
“Oh. Can you show me something, like a twirl or … I don’t know what things are called. I’m not trying to be rude. Seriously.”
“Sure..ok..just, give me a second.” Daniel stood up and went through a few stretches, touching his toes, hands flat to the floor, before extending his leg, unassisted, up past his shoulder. Face open, neck long. One arm extended up, muscles lithe but present.
Justin sat there transfixed. Unable to speak. Trying to remember to breathe.
Trixie jumped up into his lap, and began purring, kneading his thigh. Daniel sat back down on the floor in front of Justin, pretzel style.
“Cool.” Justin finally said, as Daniel continued to stare at him from his position on the carpet.
“Thanks,”
The silence stretched on and on.
“How long have you worked at Starbucks?” Daniel finally asked.
“About a year. It’s a good job. Do you . . work?”
Daniel shrugged. “Not yet. Only fifteen, remember?”
“Where do you go to school?” Justin had looked for this boy everywhere at his school, but there was well over a 1,000 kids and if he was a sophomore, it’s unlikely they’d have any classes together.
“I’m homeschooled,”
“Oh? Cause of covid?” Petting Trixie, who was soft and rubbed her chin against his fingers.
“No…. not really. Because of dance.”
“Oh. You’re… you dance seriously?”
“Yeah. I’m a full time trainee at the SF Ballet. In a few years, I’ll be available to join a company.”
“Oh. I don’t know anything about ballet.”
Daniel sighed, running his fingers over the multicolored braided rug he sat on.. “Most people don’t.”
“But I think it’s cool! I did go to see the Nutcracker a few times with school field trips or something. I thought it was good. Costumes and the music.” Justin hoped he wasn’t being too over complimentary but he also didn’t want Daniel to think he wasn’t interested.
“Trixie likes you,” Daniel noticed. Sitting up on his knees to pet the cat in Justin’s lap. Looking up into his brown eyes. Leaning forward, his head almost in his lap, to kiss his kittie’s face.
Only to pull back like he’d been burned with fire, as Melissa walked in, gasped, then abruptly turned around, walking out. “Sorry! Sorry! I’ll knock next time!”
===
Dinner was good. Regular. They sat at a small round table in the dining room. Ate their cheeseburgers. Justin side eyed Daniel, a little surprised to see a ballet dancer eat with such gusto. He kind of thought Daniel would eat only salad, but he had two burgers and a handful of tater tots in addition to a plateful of salad.
Daniel’s dad and his older brother Joseph, a freshman in college, ate with them. Which Justin found crazy intimidating. After all he was just some random guy from Starbucks that Melissa had invited to dinner in their home.
“So… are you Danny’s boyfriend?” Joseph asked polishing off the last of the tater tots. He sounded curious rather than threatening, but Justin choked on his food anyway. Frank stood up and pounded the young man on his back, until he drank from his water and waved the man away.
“Shut up, Joey,” Daniel said under his breath. “We literally just met today.”
“I’ve never seen him interested in anything except ballet and reading. I’m all for it! Please! Date my brother!”
Awkward silence as Justin stammered, trying desperately to channel Evan’s coolness, and come up with some glib but sexy answer, and just ended up sputtering and shaking his head.
“What? You’re not into him? Is it because he’s a ballet bunhead? Not cute enough? Because, dude, sorry, but they don’t come much cuter than Danny,” Joseph reached over and mussed up his brother’s hair.
Everyone stared interested in Justin’s response; everyone except Daniel who put his face in his hands. Hiding.
“I’m… i’m. Well, yeah.. Um… No… but I’d . . Yes? I’d . . . like to . . . to date him. . . but . . . I mean . . I get it that we … you know.. Just met.. . and maybe he’s not into me?”
“You want to date me? For real?” Daniel’s hands flew from his face in surprise, accidentally hitting his cup, and spilling water all over the table.
Immediately Melissa jumped up to clean the spill. Then Frank ushered everyone out of the room, shushing his older son who whined that he wanted to watch the rest of this kdrama.
Justin stood up too. “Are you wet? Do you need…” He held out his napkin, questioning.
“Umm…no. …I’m . . . good. Are you done eating? Do you want to … go back to . . my…room?” His voice trailed off, gesturing down the hallway. Hopeful look on his face.
“Yes! I mean..sure. If you..if you want.”
===
In Daniel’s room.
“Do you want some gum?” the smaller boy offered, holding out a pack to Justin. Who took some, gratefully. He knew his breath right this second wasn’t the freshest, and the way Daniel kept looking at his lips and brushing against Justin’s leg, he was pretty sure he could give it a shot and kiss the dancer. But it would be his first kiss, on his first date, with his first crush and so he was more than a little nervous.
“Good. The gum I mean. Tastes good.” Justin said, knowing he sounded like an idiot but couldn’t seem to do any better. Daniel didn’t seem to mind. Just kept chewing his gum, eyes on the barista, biting his lips.
“So, I dance. What do you do? Besides go to school? Do you play football or something?” Daniel asked.
Justin’s brow furrowed, considering his own body. He was pretty tall, but basically not muscular at all; at least not in a football kind of way. “Umm . . . no, sorry. I do play soccer sometimes with some friends, and a little badminton with my family. But not generally a sporty kind of guy. I like . . . listening to music, and like..umm…math? I like school, which I know sounds kind of dumb but…”
His words were cut off as Daniel pressed his mouth against his. Then pulled back. Breathing hard.
“Was that ok? Are you mad?” Daniel grabbed his blanket and crushed it between his hands.
Justin put his fingers to his lips.
It was fast. But he could still feel it. Sweet. Minty from the gum.
“Why would I be mad? I’m just kind of surprised.”
“You said you wanted to date me. So I just thought, maybe you’d be ok with me kissing you. I should have asked first! I’m sorry, I just..”
And Justin interrupted him, by leaning over and kissing him. He hoped he was doing it right. He kind of just slotted his upper lip over Daniels and pressed lightly, pushing a little towards his face, breathing in his scent.
Then pulled back. Worried.
“Did that suck? I’m sorry, it’s my first time…”
And Daniel pulled him down, laying back on the bed, so that Justin’s chest hovered over his, and brought his arms up around the older boy’s neck.
“It was good. Will you . . . can you… do it …some more?”
Justin’s heart started racing and his body got warm in a decidedly ok kind of way.
“I’ll try. I really don’t know what I’m doing.” He whispered, embarrassed.
Daniel shrugged, hands still up touching the back of Justin’s neck in the best possible kind of way. “Me neither.” And pulled him down so that their lips were touching. Justin kissed him trying to keep it gentle, doubting it would be cool to get too rush into…
And then Daniel opened his mouth and licked Justin’s lips.
Which did amazing things for the older boy’s self confidence.
Justin climbed completely over Daniel, arms on either side of his face. And opened his own mouth, and steadily pressed his tongue past Daniel’s lips. It felt awkward for just a second, then it just felt amazing. Daniel’s mouth was warm and wet and it tasted way better than tater tots or peppermint gum. Daniel’s fingers were rubbing on his scalp as his tongue licked and pushed into Justin’s mouth. Which caused Justin to carefully lift his hips away from Daniel, doubting that the younger boy really wanted to feel his boner.
That is, until the dancer lifted his strong legs to wrap around Justin’s waist, and pulled their bodies together, utilizing his amazing thigh muscles to trap Justin closer. And he realized he wasn’t the only one getting hot and bothered by their kissing.
“Ok, Danny, knock it off. Can’t keep this door closed when your dates here…” Joseph barged into the room, dumbfounded to see his younger brother under the older boy, his lips puffy and swollen, his face covered in spit, legs tight around the boy. “Shit! Oh my god! Idiots! Lock the door next time!” Then shook himself. “Nope. Enough for tonight, Romeo. Juliet has class tomorrow and you probably do too. It’s a Tuesday for goodness sake!” And he dragged Justin off of his little brother, and pushed him towards the door. “Come on, Danny. Come kiss your new boyfriend goodnight. It’s time for him to leave.”
===
Outside, the December air chilly enough that they could see their breath, Daniel put his arms around Justin and kissed him once more, standing on his tiptoes.
Justin really was quite astounded. This afternoon, he had a crush on a mysterious customer. And only a few hours later, he was kissing him. And ready to ask an amazingly dumb question.
“So Daniel, do you want to be my boyfriend? I know that’s pretty fast, but I think you’re beautiful and I want to kiss you a lot and maybe take you on dates. And I don’t want you to kiss anyone else so..”
“Yes.” Daniel agreed readily, nodding his head rapidly and kissing Justin again. “Ok. Sure. Let’s be boyfriends.”
“Really?”
“Uh huh. Yeah. I like you, Justin. You smell good. I like kissing you too.”
Which they proceeded to do for a few more minutes, arms wrapped around each other, until the porch light started blinking off and on again and again. Clearly Joseph was sending a signal that time was up.
“Can I…can I see you tomorrow? Are you on winter break? Oh that’s right, you don’t go to school.” Justin hit himself lightly on the forehead. Daniel giggled and moved his hand away, kissing him lightly on the red mark he’d made.
“Well, I actually do go to school. It’s just dance school, not regular school. And we’re starting performances of the Nutcracker, which you did mention is a show you actually know. But I don’t have a big part because most of the main roles are for girls. And the boy parts are for little boys or adults.”
“Can I come see it? Are there any tickets left?”
“I bet I can sneak my boyfriend backstage,” Daniel said quietly, blushing at the words ‘my boyfriend.’ “But I’ll be pretty busy the next couple of weeks until January.” His face scrunched up, worried. “Will you wait for me? I can text you during the performance if you’re around. I’m only on stage for a little bit, but it’s in both acts so I can’t leave.”
“Totally. I’ll be working too, and studying. I have tons of big projects coming up at school.” Justin couldn’t resist leaning down and kissing him again. Then, nuzzled his nose down towards Daniel’s ear and kissed just below his jawbone. And was glad of his arms around the shorter boy, because he nearly collapsed.
“Did I hurt you? I’m sorry! I saw it in a movie and thought it might feel good!”
Daniel pulled himself upright, putting his hands hard around Justin’s neck. “Oh my god. Do that again!”
But after only a few moments of kissing into this new spot, his hands pushing into Daniel’s lower back, pressing him closer, the shorter boy trembling in his arms, making the most amazing sounds, the porch light began to blink furiously again until they separated.
“I guess…I guess…I’ll text you.”
“Text me right when you get home.” Daniel demanded, breathlessly.
“Sure. Yeah. Ok. So, I guess bye?” And kissed his boyfriend one last time before walking unsteadily to his car. Turning around one more time to look at him. Daniel was on the porch waving furiously. Justin waved back.
And got into his car.
And drove home.
===
Author’s Note: Ok, this was supposed to be innocent marshmallow fluff of a story. I saw these boys in Starbucks today. Not interacting. But literally just as I described them. One shorter, slighter younger blonde boy, snazzily dressed up. Another taller blonde boy who was a barista. And this story kind of popped into my head. Just a little diversion. A bit of fun writing. I’m going to keep this an ongoing book, because everytime I have an idea for a cute, quick story I’ll write a chapter for it.
This is the end of this one. There isn’t any more to these two boys. I have another one all planned out based on an encounter I had at Michaels Craft store. Please help me, I think I might have a problem.
