"You don't want coffee?" Sharon asked incredulously.

Felix sighed. It'd only been about twenty minutes since he'd finished playing, and around fifteen since he said goodbye to Shane. His heart was still beating fast from the rush of playing for the crowd, which seemed to grow larger with every song. Only a few songs in, and people had already started shouting song suggestions.

Every once in a while, Felix would glance at Shane. No matter if Felix was in the middle of a song, or trying to process the requests being thrown at him, Shane always had a mesmerized expression. Whenever he noticed Felix looking, Shane would grin and flash two thumbs up.

After Felix had played for an hour or so, he decided to call it quits. The crowd grumbled in disappointment when he announced he would be stopping, dispersing slowly, as if they were waiting for Felix to start randomly playing again. He did not, instead putting away the violin.

"That was amazing!" Shane exclaimed as Felix finished putting away his violin. "Did you hear the crowd every time you finished a piece? They were screaming for more!"

Felix blushed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "They seemed to enjoy it."

"Enjoyed it? They absolutely loved it!"

"I'm glad they liked it. I was a little worried I would mess up."

"Why were you worried?"

Laurel's face flashed in Felix's mind. He shoved the thought away with a shrug. "Stage anxiety."

Shane chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't worry too much. The moment you step into the spotlight, everyone becomes mesmerized."

Felix looked at the ground, smiling. His face was a deep, crimson red, flushed from the compliments. He wasn't used to praise, and the idea that he might even deserve it made his chest feel light.

He cleared his throat, looking up at Shane. "It was, uh, nice to film this. Thank you for the opportunity."

Shane smiled warmly. "It was really fun doing this. You have a really good camera presence."

Felix's eyebrows furrowed. "Camera presence?"

"It's like stage presence, but for the camera," Shane explained. "You draw people's attention."

Felix's chest fluttered. "Cool."

"You should be on camera more, I think you'd do really well."

"Thank you. Maybe I'll try in the future," Felix stood up, slinging his violin over his shoulder. "Well, uh, have a nice day."

Felix began to walk away, his body tense as he took quick strides. He only made it a few feet away before someone tapped his shoulder. He turned to see Shane, his hair slightly pushed back and a lopsided grin on his face.

"Did I forget something?" Felix asked, glancing at the piano.

"No. Well, maybe, but that's not what I was going to say," Shane glanced at the piano. "I was actually hoping you would be willing to do another video."

Felix's eyebrows shot up. He glanced around, as if there would be a camera crew waiting, filming this epic prank. As if Shane would suddenly walk towards an unseen camera and shout "Punked!" When it didn't happen, he cleared his throat loudly.

"Sure, I guess. That would be fun," Felix chuckled breathily. "I kind of thought it was a one and done deal."

"It can be if you want, I just thought it'd be cool to have you in more videos."

"More videos like today?"

Shane shrugged. "Like today, or some other formats and such."

Felix's mind went blank at the prospect, his breath hitching. "Cool."

A lopsided grin, which, as Felix learned, was Shane's normal expression, overcame Shane's face. "I'll text you later about details, if that's all good?"

Felix didn't answer, he simply nodded. Shane chuckled before giving Felix a small wave. Felix returned it awkwardly, watching Shane walk off with a confused and flustered expression. Yet a smile broke through the surface emotions. A bewildered yet giddy smile.

"Felix? Hellooo, Earth to Felix!" Sharon shouted, snapping her fingers in front of Felix's face.

Felix snapped back to reality, blinking rapidly. He quickly wiped the leftover smile off his face, looking up at Sharon. She looked annoyed, her lips pursed tightly as she messed with her ponytail to fix it. It took a moment for Felix's brain to remember anything before his flashback.

"Was I spacing out?" Felix asked, already knowing the answer.

"Uh, yeah, big time," she rolled her eyes. "I tried to double check about not wanting coffee in case you were having an aneurysm, you sighed and looked away, and then you suddenly spaced out. I got a little worried you were actually having an aneurysm."

"I wasn't out for long, right?"

"Like ten or twenty seconds, which is a pretty long-ass time to be staring into space during a conversation."

"Sorry," Felix mumbled. "Just a lot happening right now."

"Well you can't just say that without context," Sharon sat in the chair across from Felix. "Spill, now."

Felix sighed. "I played my instrument alone."

Sharon nodded. "I did see that a couple weeks ago, when the woman tried to rizz you up."

"Please don't use the word 'rizz' like we're teens."

"Don't judge my vocabulary, just tell your story."

Felix rolled his eyes. "Anyways, after that time playing alone, I decided to come to the mall and play by myself again."

"Okay? And it went great, I assume?"

"Yeah, it did."

Sharon raised her eyebrow, hearing the tone in Felix's voice. She knew there was something more he wanted to say. It was right on the tip of his tongue, eager to rush out but stopped by the anxiety that was festering in his brain. Maybe I shouldn't say anything. He might not want to be associated with me.

"What went great?" Sharon asked slowly.

Limit the truth. Say some random guy liked it and gave you his number. Just don't say-

"Shane Becker recorded it," Felix blurted. Sharon's eyes went wide.

"I'm sorry, did you just fucking say SHANE BECKER?" she screeched. A couple nearby people glared before returning to their own conversations and activities.

"Yes, I did, now don't shout it," Felix said in a low, hushed voice.

"Did he post it?" She whispered, leaning forwards with eyes full of excitement.

"Yes."

"How many likes? How many comments?"

"I don't know."

"What about views? Got a lot of views? I mean, probably, cause it's Shane fucking Becker."

"I don't know how many views."

Sharon stared and Felix incredulously. "You're in one of Shane Becker's videos and you haven't even looked at it?"

Felix rubbed the back of his neck. "Two, actually. I just finished filming another one with him."

"Felix!" Sharon smacked Felix's hand.

"I haven't had time, okay?"

"You've had plenty of time to look him up!"

"Since when?"

"Since forever!" Sharon exclaimed. "Are you telling me you've never had two seconds in the morning to just look at Instagram or something?"

"Not for that, I have other things to do!"

"Ugh, you're useless," Sharon pulled out her phone, setting it up against the napkin dispenser. "Listen, we're going to look now, that way you actually know things about him."

Felix rolled his eyes, but didn't object. He was very curious to see what kind of content Shane typically posted, though he wouldn't admit that to Sharon. Felix wanted to see what kind of videos he might end up in so he would know what he was in for.

He was going to be in more of Shane Becker's videos. The idea reoccurred to him, accompanied by a kick of adrenaline in his chest. If Shane had truly been offering to have Felix in another video, that meant he would not have done just two videos, but rather, three. And maybe more after that, if Shane kept offering.

"Hey, stop spacing," Sharon snapped her fingers in front of Felix's face again, ripping him out of his head. "We have research to do."

"Sorry. I think my meds are wearing off," Felix muttered. Sharon rolled her eyes.

"Boo-hoo, there are bigger things to focus on right now."

Felix glanced at the phone beside him. Sharon slowly scrolled through it, flipping by post after post on Instagram. They were all of Shane, posing in various manners. Some were serious, with dramatic lighting and a serious expression. Others were silly, where he had a goofy grin or was laughing about something that was happening, just out of the scope of the picture.

Eventually, Sharon ceased her scrolling, clicking on a post. In it, Shane was sitting on an inflatable chair in a pool, his legs crossed over one another as he laid against the back of the chair. He was glaring at the camera, but there was a small smile on his lips.

For some reason, the photo captivated Felix. The more he tried to figure out why, the more the reasoning eluded him. His eyes kept getting drawn to the playfully irritated expression Shane had, with his hair falling just above his eyes and the cinematic light that hit his face somehow perfectly. The dark, hooded sweatshirt he had on, which contrasted with his bright swim shorts. The middle finger jutted out at the camera, and the twinkling green eyes that stared deep into the camera. Everything about it just looked so... appealing.

"Why is he in a pool?" Sharon scoffed. "This was posted four days ago, and that sure as hell wasn't good weather for being in a pool."

"He was wearing a sweatshirt, seems like that's enough," Felix said with a shrug.

"What's the point of sitting on top of a pool and not going in? That defeats, like, the whole purpose."

"It's probably calming. Wouldn't you like to just lounge around on an inflatable in the pool?"

"Uh, no? I'd like to be in the pool, that's the whole point," she let out a huff, adjusting her hair. "Detracts a little from his handsomeness, but I could live with it. Probably could break the habit."

Felix glanced at Sharon with slight concern, but didn't comment. Floating on the pool seemed like a peaceful time to Felix. If he could, he would do that basically every day. But he knew mentioning it would make Sharon go on a tangent, and he tried his best to avoid those. She got nasty when she argued.

"I don't pay you to scroll on your phone, Sharon! Get back here and get working!" Sharon's boss yelled. Sharon sighed, rolling her eyes.

"We'll continue this research some other time," she said, standing up. "But I expect you to do some on your own. I don't care if you only have two minutes. Get looking. I need that information."

With that, Sharon left, disappearing into the kitchen. Felix glanced back at her phone, tempted to call her back so she could take it. But his eyes were locked on the post. There was a tiny, almost unnoticeable feeling in his chest as he stared into Shane's bright green eyes in the photo, engaged in a staring battle he was destined to lose.

Almost unnoticeable.

Felix shut off Sharon's phone, snuffing out the small spark inside of him. He would have time to analyze the feeling later. He was supposed to be meeting Jasmine soon. He pulled out his wallet and left a five dollar bill beneath Sharon's phone; a little thanks for the 'research' session.

As Felix stood up, he glanced at the black screen of Sharon's phone, almost able to picture the photo of Shane. Felix shook his head, silently scolding himself. But as he left the cafe, he could still see the image in his head, burning bright and vivid.

It'll go away, it's just on your mind because you were just with Shane. Felix assured himself.

But he knew, not-so-deep in his mind, that that wasn't true.