• He sat alone at the round wood table in a corner of the little cafe on 23rd Street. The raindrops clung to each other, streaming down the window in tiny groups. He watched as a larger drop rolled across the backwards "c" in a mocha advertisment for passersby. As its path curved along the glass, it parted in two, leaving a tiny droplet behind as it continued its journey down the window. His heart would have gone out for that lonely little drop of rain, had it not been currently busy suffocating him. With some difficulty, he swallowed past the lump in his throat and looked away from the window. Staring at the rain was depressing.

    He gave his drink a stir before taking a big drink... only to spit it right back into the cup. Black coffee wasn't good warm. It was positively dreadful cold. With a grimace, he shoved the cup aside and scowled at the tabletop. His nose was instantly ambushed with sweetness as a foamy drink was set down before him, blocking his view of a strange penciled-in graffiti sketch he had been focusing on. Blinking, he looked up to see a smiling face, belonging to a blonde boy.

    The boy scratched the back of his head awkwardly, laughing slightly. "You looked like you needed it. Heh..."

    He looked down at the steaming cup. All he could see was a mountain of whipped cream and the hint of a brown froth threatening to spill over the rim. "What is it?" he asked skeptically.

    "It's a cappuccino, silly! What else?" The boy held up a similar mug of his own.

    He just stared.

    After a moment, the boy asked tentatively, "Can I sit here?" He gestured at the chair across from him.

    He gave a one-shouldered shrug.

    The boy sat down, smiling sheepishly. "Why are you sitting here by yourself?"

    "I'm not. I'm sitting here with you." His voice wasn't a monotone, but the boy couldn't identify what emotion it did hold.

    "Oh. I suppose you are." The boy seemed content enough with the answer. In their moment of silence, he took a big gulp of his drink. When he drew his cup away from his face, there was a foamy smile. "Mmm. You really should try it!" he proded, licking the cream from his lips.

    He cast a wary look at his own cup before taking a tentative sip. It was a little sweet for his taste, but it wasn't bad, he decided.

    "Do you like it?" The blonde asked, gauging his reaction.

    "It's okay," he said, giving the boy the first direct look since he noticed him.

    "Oh!" the blonde shot up straight in his seat, as if suddenly remembering something of the utmost importance. "I'm sorry! My name's Leean!" He stretched his arm out across the table, offering a hand and a smile.

    He just blinked at it.

    "Well don't just stare at it, shake it!" Leean ordered him jokingly.

    "You're too happy," he complained, cautiously taking the boy's hand and giving it a small shake before returning his own to his lap.

    "Good!" Leean praised, ignoring his none-too-polite comment. "Now, you tell me your name."

    "I don't wanna."

    "But it's how these things go!" Leean insisted, just as brightly.

    "If I tell you my name, will you leave me alone?" he asked hopefully.

    "Nope."

    His head fell back, straining his neck as it hung loosely off the back of the chair.

    "So... are you going to tell me your name?" Leean pestered.

    He heaved a sigh, bringing his head back up--only because he really didn't care for a head rush. "Why would I do that?"

    "Because I told you mine?"

    "So?" he countered.

    "Because I asked nicely?" Leean tried again.

    "And?"

    Leean sat back, defeated. He didn't stay down for long, though, as he picked up his cappuccino and all was well again.

    "Should you even be having coffe at your age?" he asked, eyeing the young boy critically.

    "I am sixteen!" he cried indignantly, slamming down his nearly empty cup. He would have almost looked mad, or at least irritated, had he not been donning a full-on whipped cream mustache.

    He pursed his lips, holding in a laugh and failing.

    "What?" Leean asked, unhappy that he was not being taken seriously. "I have my lisence to prove it if--" He stopped short, his face taking on an entirely new expression. "Hey... you're laughing."

    "No I'm not," the nameless one said defensively, trying to keep a straight face.

    Leean grinned. "Yes, you are."

    "I am not," he grumbled, trying to force his face into a frown.

    "I see that smile!" Leean teased, leaning over to poke the corner of his mouth.

    "I'm not laughing, okay? Gawd!" He crossed his arms with a huff, smile gone. "And you still have frosting all over your face."

    Leean stopped mid-laugh and quickly wiped his mouth clean with a napkin. "It's not frosting, it's whipped cream," he said matter-of-factly.

    "Big difference."

    Normally, Leean would have gone on a rampage over that comment, but since this was a total stranger he was dealing with, and he was in an otherwise peaceful cafe, he deemed it inappropriate at the time.

    They sat there, sipping at their drinks in a semi-awkward, semi-comfortable silence for a few minutes before Leean had to circle back to his original question. "But really, why are you here alone?" he asked, as though the past ten minutes hadn't passed and the topic hadn't been long dead.

    He sighed, losing his place where he had been tracing the water patterns on the window. After a long moment where it almost seemed as though he wouldn't answer, he spoke. "I got... ditched." He shook his head. "Naw, that's not really it. More like... I grew tired of being a third wheel."

    Leean nodded in understanding. "Ah. I've been there plenty of times."

    He just "tsk'ed" and uncrossed his arms, then crossed them again.

    Leean bit his lip, contemplating his limits, before cautiously going on. "So... who were they?"

    "Huh?"

    "C'mon, you know what I meant," Leean pressed, giving him a look.

    He heaved a heavy sigh. "Yeah," he admitted, "I do."

    Leean sat back patiently, waiting for him to continue.

    "It was my friend and her... boyfriend." He made a face at the word.

    "You don't like him?"

    "I have nothing against Daniel."

    "Oh. So you like her." It wasn't a question.

    "Wh-What? No! Gawd, no!" He seemed honestly unsettled by the thought. But, still... Leean wasn't fully convinced. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with Lindy; she's my best friend. I just... no. Not like that."

    Leean shrugged. "Just an innocent question." Even though it wasn't, really.

    He just sighed again and went back to staring at the drawing on the table. He couldn't tell if it was suppose to be a turtle with a rocket strapped to its shell or a seriously deformed unicorn.

    "Be right back!" Leean announced suddenly, scaring him. He watched as the blonde hopped up and away. He felt the urge to ask him where he was going, but went against it, finding no reason to. There wasn't, seeing as he returned only moments later with a small pastry for the both of them.

    "Why are you doing this?" he asked, looking from the pastry to the smiling boy.

    "Because," he said simply. When it was made quite clear that "because" was not an acceptable answer, he added, "You looked lonely."

    "Yeah, well... I'm not."

    "If you say so," Leean sang, obviously disagreeing.

    "What's this for anyway?" the yet to be named boy asked, gesturing at the treat.

    "It's coffee cake! It always makes me feel better when I'm down. Just try it. You'll like it."

    He took a bite and found that it was, in fact, pretty good. Less sweet than the cappuccino at least.

    Leean nodded, satisfied. "I told you so. Now, are you going to tell me your name yet, or do I have to start guessing?" Due to a mouthful of the semi-sweet dessert, there was no chance to answer before Leean started shooting off names. "Is it Allen?" He recieved a fervent head shake. "Bradley?" Another, along with desperately waving hands. "Corin? Deanthalo?"

    "Why are you only suggesting one name from every letter of the alphabet?! And what kind of name is Deanthalo?!"

    Leean laughed with a shrug. "Haha, I don't know."

    "Of course you don't."

    "Well if your name isn't Deanthalo--"

    "No one's name is Deanthalo," he grumbled, cutting Leean off.

    "--then what is it?" he went on, ignoring the snappy iterruption.

    "It's Ryan, okay? Gawd."

    "I knew it started with 'R'! See? I was close." Leean had a look of pure accomplishment on his face.

    "What? 'R' is in the second half of the alphabet. You were totally off!"

    "Was not! I guessed Brian!"

    "You guessed Bradley."

    "Oh. Well I meant Brian."

    Ryan stared at Leean with a mixed look of pity and annoyance. He shook his head and went back to his coffee cake, rather pleased with it.

    "Told you it makes people feel better," Leean whispered, noticing Ryan's sullen look had vanished.

    He looked up, irritated that his precious moment with his coffee cake had been interrupted. So what that the guy paid for it? He would have no reason to thank him if he talked so much he couldn't eat the damned thing. "Why are we whispering?" he asked crossly, lowering his voice to the same volume.

    "I dunno!" Leean piped up, raising his voice one again and sitting up straight.

    Ryan rolled his eyes and went back to his food. He was sad to find it almost gone. He stuffed the last of it in his mouth--which probably should have been divided into two bites, but too late now.

    "Done? Good! I'll be going then!" Leean got up to leave before Ryan could get out a word of protest.

    He painfully forced down the bite and cried out a "Wait, what?" just as the blonde walked out the door. Ryan stared at it, baffled. He jumped as he heard a loud knock right next to his ear. Turning swiftly around in his seat, he saw Leean on the other side of the window, smiling. He pointed down at the napkin he had been using as a substitute plate for his coffee cake. Confused, he looked at. Seeing nothing out of the order, he flipped it over. His eyes widened and he looked back up at Leean, who waved a goodbye then disappeared down the sidewalk. Ryan made a face, before hesitantly adding the number to his cellphone.

    Looks like he'd gained a strange new friend. Oh joy.

    At least it stopped raining.