Josh grins as he holds up a paper reindeer, "I made a reindeer!"

Dallon furrows his eyebrows, "again, why? It hasn't even been Thanksgiving yet."

The employee frowns and looks down at his paper reindeer. Tyler, his loving boyfriend who has been sitting next to him the whole time, glares up at Dallon. Very silent and very deadly.

He swallows hard, "b-but it's a wonderful reindeer! W-We should hang it up on the bulletin-board!"

Josh perks up at that. He hands Dallon his paper reindeer and puffs his chest out proudly.

Tyler just smiles fondly.

—

Dallon: Again, how is someone sweet like Josh dating Satan himself?

—

"Lady, gentlemen, and Dallon! Gather around!"

All the employees gather around at the counter. It's another slow day and the boss of the coffee shop has decided something needs to change.

"So, I have an idea," says Pete.

"That's never good," Dallon mumbles.

Ryan pinches his arm to keep him quiet.

"Thanks to my people skills, I got a friend of mine from the local magazine to squeeze in an ad for the shop!" Pete says. His hands are thrown up in the air and excitement is very evident on his face.

Dallon breaks that rather quickly.

"Did you bl*w him?"

Ashley snorts and Josh giggles. Ryan just rolls his eyes, but smiles fondly at his coworker and acquaintance.

Pete, on the other hand, glares at Dallon, "I am a taken man Weekes. I don't do that anymore."

"Wait, what do you mea-?"

"Anyway, we need ideas on what the ad should feature!"

The customers sit around in deep thought. Different ideas for a good ad scramble in their heads. Josh's eyes widen and he grins with his idea.

"Unicorns!" He exclaims.

Ashley shakes her head, "nah, Dallon isn't high this time."

Said man glares, "f**k off."

She just smirks in return.

Ryan snaps his fingers and looks to Pete, "what about a picture of a couple enjoying the drinks? It's simple, and reaches out to majority of people. Plus, people love coffee dates. Giving them a new go to place."

Pete grins, "this is why you're my favorite, Ryan."

Everyone but Ryan gapes at their boss.

—

Ryan: I know. He's told me this too many times to count. I'm surprised no one else has caught on.

Josh: [pouts] I thought I was Pete's favorite.

—

Ashley sets the dishes down in the sink and turns the water on. She grabs the sponge and starts rubbing any dirt off of the dishes before squeezing dish soap on their surface. Josh sneaks in behind her and sits on the counter next to the sink.

"Hey Josh," says Ashley. She flicks water in his direction.

Josh giggles and wipes the soapy water off his arm, "hi Ash. I have a question."

"I possibly have an answer. Ask away cutie."

"Well..."

The man bites his lip and looks down at his lap. Ashley frowns, turns the water off, and dries her hands before turning to Josh.

"You have my full attention Josh. Is everything okay?"

Josh nods, "it's nothing to serious. I'm just wondering... when do you think it's a good time to propose?"

Ashley's eyes widen.

"JOSH, YOU'RE GOING TO PROPOSE?!"

Josh winces, "Ashley, not so lou-!"

"OH MY GOD, MY CHILD IS GROWING UP!"

"I-I'm not your kid? Unless I was switched at birth..."

Ashley just snorts and shakes her head. She grabs his knee and squeezes it gently, "I'm just messing with you buddy. Seriously though, proposing? That's great news Josh!"

He shrugs, "I-I guess. I doubt Tyler will say "yes" though."

"You're kidding, right?"

Another shrug.

—

Ashley: Look for the definition for 'soulmate' in the dictionary. You know what you get? John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, of course. Now, look up the definition for 'love'. You get Tyler and Josh. The most beautiful love I have ever witnessed. Besides John Krasinski and Emily Blunt.

—

"Josh, I think you should go for it," Ashley says, "Tyler is so in love with you! I mean, I didn't think a love like yours' existed until I saw the way you two look at each other."

Josh blushes and bites his fingernail nervously.

"Go for it Josh. You two are a wonderful couple."

—

Josh: [smiles proudly] We are a good couple, aren't we?

—

Ryan sighs as voicemail answers again.

"Spence, please call me back. I just want to talk..."

He hangs up and rubs his face. His body becoming more tense with every second he spends of over analyzing the situation at hand. Yet, Ryan is pretty sure he isn't over analyzing anything this time.

His head quiets down when an arms wraps around his shoulders. The arm pulls him to a warm chest that—surprisingly—smells good.

"Okay, stop smelling me creep."

Ryan rolls his eyes and pushes the body away from him, "not my fault you drown yourself in cheap cologne Weekes."

Dallon gasps, "I'll have you know that it is Calvin Klein!"

"Is it the sample bottle?"

"The sign said "get one free"!"

"Did it also say "buy one"?"

"...I know what you're trying to do, and I will NOT admit to any crime you are trying to accuse me of Ross."

Ryan snorts and shakes his head. Him, as well as the camera crew, were not surprised that Dallon would be cheap enough to steal a cologne sample bottle. This is the same guy who set the shop on fire once anyway.

"Sure Dallon. Sure."

He just grins back.

Ryan looks away from him and back down at his phone. He sighs, there are no notifications from Spencer.

(None from Jon either.)

Dallon bites his lip, reaches out, and pats Ryan's back. The younger man leans back into his touch and looks up at him.

"They hate me," he says.

Dallon sighs, "they're idiots then. It's their fault for not listening."

Ryan just shrugs and that signals them to move on.

The next few minutes are silent between them. Their attention now on Pete stressing over finding a couple for the magazine ad. It's a pretty entertaining sight since their boss is having his weekly crisis. Pete is frantically flipping through his address book and dramatically throwing his hands in the air. The workers have to hold back any chuckles to save themselves from his wrath.

Ryan turns back to Dallon and gently nudges him, "what about Brendon?"

"Don't know what you're talking about," Dallon replies.

He frowns.

—

Ryan: Is Dallon seriously do this right now? [rolls eyes] Christ.

Dallon: [arms crossed] Brendon and I f**ked in the shop after the party. No big deal.

Ryan: [raises eyebrow] He said that? [rolls eyes, mumbles] I am going to have Z shave his eyebrows off, I swear.

—

"Dallon, don't play the tough guy game here," Ryan says.

Dallon rolls his eyes, "I'm not playing anything."

Before Ryan could reply, Pete runs over to them very stressed and tense. The two employees wince at his worn out appearance.

"You good Pete?" Dallon asks.

Pete shakes his head, "barely any of my friends are available for a stupid photo! What do I do?"

"Have you tried asking Josh and Tyler?" Ryan asks.

"I don't want to get murdered by Tyler."

Dallon nods, "makes sense."

Ryan rolls his eyes at them, "well, I don't know what to tell you Pete."

Pete groans loudly and slams his head down on the counter. Ryan winces at the loud smack and pats the top of his boss' head. Dallon rolls his eyes, grabs his magazine, and slips to the back to "catch up on the royal family trouble".

"I think you're stressing too much over this," Ryan says.

Pete sighs, "you're right. I just... we really need the customers Ryan. If we don't get more the-!"

"Pete. Stop."

He takes a deep breath and shakily releases it. Ryan waits patiently as he takes more deep breaths. When his shaking is more minimum, Pete nods to his employee.

"You're going to be fine," Ryan whispers.

"How are you so sure?" Pete asks.

"Because I have an idea."

—

Ryan: I'm not say I always save Pete's a*s, but I always save Pete's a*s. [shrugs]

—

A week later, a photographer is looking through the shots on her camera. Her grin grows bigger with each passing shot.

Pete walks up to her and smiles brightly, "how do they look?"

The photographer looks up at him, "oh, they are perfect! Want to take a look?"

He nods. She clicks back to the very first photo and hands over her camera. Pete looks down at the screen and clicks through the photos. He smiles even brighter.

"It's perfect."

The camera zooms in and focuses on the picture of Pete and Patrick cuddling in one of the booths with a cup of coffee held in Patrick's hands.

The perfect shot for his shop's ad.

—

I hate this chapter tbh.