Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

‘It's him. Here he comes, right on time,’ said Capheus with a cheerful laugh. He patted Lito encouragingly on the shoulder and even pointed to the café entrance, where a smartly dressed man was walking in, a briefcase perfectly matching his outfit in his hand, pushing his round glasses up his nose.

‘Just ask him out, Lito. What's the worst that could happen?’ asked Nomi, leaning casually on the counter.

Lito put down the coffee he was decorating with foam art and raised both hands warningly to his cluster siblings. ‘Could you please be quiet? I have everything under control.’

Apologetically, they both raised their hands, but exchanged knowing glances behind the barista's back.

Dani, Lito's best friend and colleague, spoke up from the left. She was busy taking orders and now smiled encouragingly at Lito. ‘Who is it this time? And is it about you-know-who?’ She nodded her head towards the queue, at the end of which the smartly dressed man had positioned himself. He was looking at his mobile phone and seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings.

‘Nomi and Capheus,’ Lito murmured. Both greeted Dani, although she couldn't see them. ‘They send their regards,’ Lito added. ‘Guys,’ he looked at Capheus, Nomi and Dani, ‘I'll take care of this. Relax.’

‘You've been saying that for weeks, dear. Every time he was here, I had to listen to your theatrical whining in the evenings,’ Dani said with a cheeky grin.

It was true. This handsome man had been coming to the café for weeks, and so far Lito hadn't managed to speak to him properly. The man had the air of a professor or scientist; he seemed like an educated, calm and competent person in everything he did. Perhaps Lito was overinterpreting everything about the other man just because he looked breathtakingly good.

Lito hadn't gotten past a shy ‘hello’ and ‘have a nice day.’ In the evenings, however, he liked to sit with Dani in their shared flat and talk about his crush on the customer. Otherwise, he was a confident, loud man, aware that he was destined for great things in acting (even if his acting studies had not yet paid off, sadly), but when it came to this particular customer, his tongue was paralysed.

What made the whole thing even worse – or actually better, when he thought about it – was that Dani always engaged in pleasant small talk with the customer and they seemed to get along brilliantly. Lito was happy for Dani; she was the most important person in his life and of course he was happy when she was happy, but... surely it must be possible to exchange more than two words with a pleasant man whom he had seen dozens of times and felt as if he already knew.

‘Good morning, Hernando, it's good to see you again,’ Dani exclaimed when Hernando finally reached the counter. She reached out a hand over the bar and shook his shyly offered hand energetically. Hernando pushed his glasses up awkwardly, in a way that Lito found indescribably cute. He wrinkled his nose and pushed his glasses up as far as possible with his index finger, only for them to slip back down again soon after.

‘Good morning, Daniela. I was here just the day before yesterday, as you well know,’ said Hernando with a smile. He had a calm, cultured voice, which reinforced Lito's theory that he was an educated man.

Dani laughed and took his order. Lito had to focus on his work so as not to fall behind, which unfortunately meant he couldn't follow their conversation.

‘Hernando at 12 o'clock,’ Will suddenly said right next to Lito. Lito rolled his eyes. What did he want here now? ‘Go away,’ Lito muttered out of the corner of his mouth. At that moment, Hernando appeared on Lito's side of the counter to wait for his order – mocha with a pinch of cinnamon, which he bought every time.

‘Lito, my friend, be brave. See how he keeps glancing over here?’ Will explained, grinning knowingly.

Lito focused on the coffee in his hands and said nothing.

‘Spiced coffee for Hernando,’ the barista called, feeling very proud that his voice sounded powerful instead of shaky. Studying acting had been good for something after all.

Hernando came closer and Lito felt all eyes on him – Dani's, Nomi's, Capheus's, Will's. The barista pushed the coffee across the counter; his fingers touched Hernando's because he hadn't pulled his hand back quickly enough.

‘Heavy swallowing, ha! Lito, he's into you, trust me,’ said Will, who had apparently taken on the role of wingman without being asked. Lito felt himself blushing. It was now or never, he could feel it. It was like being on a film set, just before the actors began their scene. There was a crackling tension in the air.

They paused for a moment and looked at each other. It was one of those moments that shouldn't actually happen in real life. They were far too cheesy. Two people shared a moment and suddenly, however exactly it happened, they saw each other as if for the first time. As if they hadn't been able to perceive the other before, but now a veil had been lifted that neither of them had previously known even existed. Once torn apart, you wondered how you could have been so blind before. Everything was right in front of your eyes, right there!

Lito recognised this moment, having experienced one before in his life. He knew what he felt, at that very moment; it lay crystal clear before him, and if he wasn't mistaken, he saw that clarity in Hernando's eyes as well. Unconsciously, Lito tilted his head to the side, questioningly, his body tensing, as if about to jump into the sea, which he knew would be freezing cold, but at the same time invigorating like nothing else. Forward or backward, his body was suspended between two possibilities.

Chapter Text

Warm rays of sunshine on his face woke Hernando. He blinked, looked at the alarm clock and decided it was far too early to get up. He turned carefully so as not to wake the other two people in bed. Hernando needn't have worried. When he saw Lito and Dani sleeping soundly under thick blankets, their faces pressed into their fluffy pillows, he relaxed. Dani was snoring softly, and Lito had his arm around Dani's waist. His fingers twitched slightly; he was obviously dreaming.

Hernando lovingly brushed a strand of hair that was tickling her nose out of Dani's face. Then he rested his head on his folded arm and watched his two loves sleep.

Six months ago, Lito had finally managed to talk to him in the café. Hernando fondly remembered how his lover had shyly asked how he was doing. In retrospect, now that Hernando knew Lito better, it was really hilarious how nervous the barista had been back then. He was such an expressive man, often showing almost too much self-confidence, but at that moment he had been reserved and sweet. How could Hernando have resisted?

Dani smacked her lips inelegantly in her sleep. She opened her eyes, looked at Hernando without seeing him, and turned to the other side. Her breathing told him that she had soon fallen asleep again. Hernando and Lito had spent their first date together, but within a very short time, somehow the three of them had been going on trips and dates together. Hernando and Dani got on like a house on fire. They exchanged recipes and talked for hours about art and photography. Like Lito, Dani wanted to be a famous actress, and she was really good. However, that was where her similarities with Lito ended. She was much less dramatic, more inclined towards physical non-sexual contact, and Hernando often found himself in a surprise hug when they met somewhere, whether at home or out and about.

She also didn't talk to herself, which Lito often did. There was more to it than he wanted to admit, but he hadn't explained himself to Hernando yet, and Hernando gave him all the time in the world. It didn't seem to affect Lito negatively or put him in danger, so he could keep his secret for as long as he felt comfortable.

Lito woke with a start and looked around, disoriented for a moment. When his vision cleared, he smiled first at Hernando, then at the sleeping Dani. He stretched exaggeratedly – Hernando assumed he wanted to show off, which he managed effortlessly. Hernando grinned.

‘Morning,’ Lito rasped, ‘coffee?’

Hernando nodded and moved to wake Dani, but Lito waved him off. ‘No, stay in bed. I'll make breakfast and bring it to you.’

‘Okay, we'll wait patiently, darling,’ said Hernando, putting his arm around Dani's waist to cuddle up to her.

‘Mhm, I'm definitely not leaving here. Coffee,’ Dani demanded, mumbling grumpily into her pillow. From experience, both men understood her without any problems and chuckled. Lito kissed her head and hopped out of bed while the other two made themselves comfortable again.

Life was beautiful.