Chan looks over at Felix, who's sitting at the kitchen table, his head resting on his arm as he sleeps quietly. A small chuckle escapes Chan as he walks a little closer, crouching down next to Felix.

Chan carefully brushes his hair off of his forehead, leaning in and kissing Felix's forehead gently. Tilting his head, Chan leans back and gazes at Felix fondly.

"I love you," he whispers. "I feel like I can never say it enough." 

Just as Chan finishes the sentence, his eyes widen. It's almost comical; it's like a lightbulb should go off over his head. Chan practically jumps up and runs out the door, still somehow not waking Felix up because the boy is actually a rock when sleeping.

Chan bursts through the doors of the coffeeshop, skidding to a stop when he sees the customers inside. Abhigna and Maria look up, their expressions of shock fading into matching smiles. 

"Hi!" Maria says, leaning forward a little. "What's up?" Chan clears his throat nervously, trying to ignore the stares he gets from the others. 

"I want to write Felix something," he starts, biting the inside of his cheek. "And since you're the creative one, I thought maybe you could help?"

Abhigna laughs a little, wrapping her arms around Maria's shoulder as she smiles.

"Yeah, she reads a lot of love poetry." Abhigna lowers her voice and stage whispers. "A lot. Her expectations are too high and-"

Maria pushes Abhigna off of her, shaking her head.

"Yeah, no, that's a lie." She focuses on Chan. "What do you want to do? A letter, a poem, something different?" Chan just shrugs, unsure.

"I think a letter would probably be best," Maria says, avoiding Abhigna's attempts at hugs. "It's easier to write down everything you feel without having the stress of making it sound flowery or poetic."

Abhigna sighs dramatically, having given up on trying to get Maria's attention. "She wrote me a letter when we first started dating," Abhigna looks over at Maria, who's starting to turn red.

"It was cute. Apparently, she's written a letter for the person she's going to marry too. She writes letters to her soulmate whenever she feels down, so she can remember why she's working so hard." 

"Okay," Maria says loudly, drawing the attention of a few people in the cafe. "Just write a letter to Felix. It feels really difficult when you're staring at an blank page, but a classical music playlist and late nights usually work for me. Text me if you need help, okay?"

Chan nods slowly, already thinking about what to write.

"Chan?" He looks over at Abhigna. "You can go up to the loft if you want. There's not a lot of people here for reading, so it's empty upstairs."

With a grateful smile, Chan heads up the stairs, ready to write a letter to the love of his life.

Meanwhile . . .

Abhigna watches Maria wash the dishes, her sleeves rolled up. Just as she's about to say something, the bell rings, signaling that a person walked in. 

Maria goes to take their order, but Abhigna walks to the register first, not even letting her put the pot down.

"Hi, what can I get for you?" She asks, all too aware of Maria moving around behind her. Abhigna's on autopilot, taking the person's order as she pieces together her next move.

The customer takes too long to order, and doesn't even ask for a book, which Abhigna knows irritates Maria. 

"It's a book cafe," Maria would rant. "Why even come here if you don't get a book? What is the point?" She would say something like that, not even letting Abhigna get a word in.

Abhigna grabs Maria's wrist as she walks by, pulling her in and resting her chin in the crook of Maria's shoulder.

"I have lots of work to do," Maria says, trying to walk away. Abhigna just holds her tighter, basically trapping her.

"I still have your letter," Abhigna says quietly, leaning into Maria. "It really did mean a lot to me." Maria's quiet, waiting for her to say something else. "Maybe I'll be the one to get your next letters too." 

There's a small silence, Abhigna starting to regret what she said. But before too long, Maria turns around and kisses her nose.

"Yeah," she says, her cheeks red. "I hope so."

⁂⁂⁂

i love you a lot, please take of yourself and try not to worry <3