The bell above the café door chimed, making Lucien look up from arranging pastries. His heart did its usual nervous skip when he saw Arek - Ashley's boyfriend still made him a bit uneasy, even though they'd barely spoken.

"Ashley's not here today," Lucien said quietly, gripping his flower pen. "She has the afternoon off."

"Oh." Arek paused, sketchbook under his arm. "That's okay. Mind if I stay anyway? This place has good lighting."

Lucien blinked, surprised. "Um, sure. Of course."

Arek chose a corner table by the windows, spreading his art supplies across the surface. Lucien watched from behind the counter as he began to sketch, completely absorbed in his work. The café was quiet except for the soft scratch of pencil on paper and the hum of the coffee machines.

As Lucien worked, stealing occasional glances at Arek's focused expression, a question burned in his throat. He'd been wondering ever since that night Ashley had accepted Arek's date invitation...

After his third time unnecessarily wiping down the counter near Arek's table, he finally gathered his courage.

"How..." His voice cracked and he tried again. "How did you do it?"

Arek looked up, eyebrows raised. "Do what?"

"Ask her out." Lucien twisted the flower pen between his fingers. "Weren't you scared?"

"Terrified." Arek set down his pencil. "But sometimes being scared means you're about to do something brave."

"But how did you know it would work?"

"I didn't." A slight smile crossed Arek's face. "That's kind of the point, isn't it? You can't know for sure. You just have to try anyway."

Lucien absorbed this, absently straightening sugar packets. "I've never... I mean, I don't usually..."

"Talk to people?"

"Yeah."

Arek studied him for a moment. "But there's someone you want to talk to?"

The sugar packets were now perfectly aligned. "Maybe."

"Someone specific?"

Lucien's hands stilled. "It's... complicated."

"Usually is." Arek turned to a fresh page in his sketchbook. "Want to talk about it?"

The words tumbled out before Lucien could stop them. "He came in the other night. During your date with Ashley. And we talked about music and video games and he likes the same bands I do and he didn't laugh when I rambled about pastry chemistry and his eyes do this crinkly thing when he smiles and—" He caught himself, face burning.

"Ah." Arek's pencil moved across the paper. "Would this 'he' happen to wear sunglasses inside at night?"

"You noticed that?"

"Kind of hard to miss." Arek's smile was gentle. "So what's stopping you?"

Lucien sank into the chair across from Arek. "Everything? I mean, what if he's straight? What if he thinks I'm weird? What if—"

"What if he likes you back?"

"That's... that's not..." Lucien fiddled with his pen. "I've never done this before. Any of it."

"Neither had I." Arek looked up from his drawing. "Before Ashley, I was just the trouble-making art kid. But sometimes you meet someone who makes you want to be brave."

"He does make me brave," Lucien said softly. "When we were talking, I didn't stutter once. I didn't even think about being nervous. It was just... easy."

"Sounds like something worth being scared for."

The bell chimed as new customers entered. Lucien stood quickly, straightening his apron.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "For listening."

"Anytime." Arek returned to his sketch. "Sometimes it helps to talk to someone who gets it."

As Lucien worked through the afternoon rush, he found himself glancing at his phone more than usual. Each time, he'd start to type a message, then delete it.

"You know," Arek said later as he packed up his supplies, "Ashley mentioned he loves horror movies."

"Really?"

"Yeah. There's a new one coming out this weekend..." He let the suggestion hang in the air.

Lucien gripped his flower pen tighter. "I could never..."

"Couldn't you?"

Their eyes met, understanding passing between them.

"Thanks again," Lucien said as Arek headed for the door. "For everything."

Arek just smiled. "Be brave, Café Boy. Some fears are worth facing."

The flower pen bobbed in Lucien's pocket as he watched Arek leave. For the first time, he let himself really imagine it - sitting in a dark theater next to Luca, maybe accidentally brushing hands in the popcorn...

He pulled out his phone again. This time, he didn't delete the message.