Little Things

...Damien woke up before his alarm....

...The faint morning light slipped through the curtains, painting soft golden lines across the walls of his apartment....

...For a few seconds, he simply lay there, staring at the ceiling....

...Then he remembered....

...Lyra....

...A small smile appeared on his face before he could stop it....

...He rubbed his forehead....

..."What is happening to me?"...

...He let out a quiet laugh....

...No one answered....

...The apartment remained as silent as ever....

...After getting ready, Damien looked at himself in the mirror....

...He frowned....

...His navy-blue hoodie looked decent enough....

...He ran a hand through his messy black hair....

...It refused to cooperate....

...After trying for almost a minute, he sighed....

..."Forget it."...

...He grabbed his bag and headed to work....

...The convenience store wasn't busy when Damien arrived....

...His manager looked up from the register....

..."You know," the older man said, making sure Damien could read his lips, "if you keep coming in this early, I'll start thinking you actually enjoy working here."...

...Damien smiled and took out his phone....

...Don't ruin my reputation....

...The manager laughed....

..."There's that smile again."...

...Damien rolled his eyes and walked away before the teasing could continue....

...An hour passed....

...Then another....

...Customers came and went....

...Damien helped an elderly woman carry a heavy shopping bag to her car....

...When he returned, Ethan leaned against the counter with a mischievous grin....

..."So..."...

...Damien looked at him suspiciously....

...Ethan exaggerated every word so Damien could read his lips....

..."Who. Is. She?"...

...Damien blinked....

..."What?"...

...Ethan pointed toward Damien's face....

..."You've smiled more in the last two days than you have in the last two years."...

...Damien quickly typed on his phone....

...You're imagining things....

...Ethan snorted....

..."Liar."...

...Before Damien could reply, the automatic doors slid open....

...His eyes instinctively lifted....

...Lyra....

...She walked inside wearing a cream-colored cardigan over a white dress. A canvas tote bag rested on her shoulder, and a sketchbook peeked out from the top....

...She spotted Damien immediately....

...Instead of waving, she walked straight to the counter....

...Ethan noticed the exchange....

...His grin grew wider....

..."Oh..."...

...He leaned closer to Damien....

..."So that's her."...

...Damien's ears turned red....

...He nudged Ethan away....

...Ethan laughed and disappeared into the storage room, leaving Damien alone just as Lyra reached the counter....

...She smiled....

..."Good morning."...

...Realizing what she'd done, she quickly laughed at herself....

..."Oh... right."...

...She pulled out her notebook....

...Good morning, Damien....

...Damien smiled and wrote beneath her words....

...Good morning, Lyra....

...She looked around the nearly empty store....

...Busy?...

...Not today....

...Lyra nodded thoughtfully....

...Then she reached into her tote bag and carefully pulled out a small paper bag....

...She slid it across the counter....

...Damien looked at it, confused....

...He pointed at himself....

...Lyra nodded....

...He slowly opened the bag....

...Inside was a warm chocolate muffin....

...His eyes widened....

...He looked back at her....

...What's this for? he wrote....

...Lyra shrugged....

...Breakfast....

...Damien frowned....

...You bought this for me?...

...She nodded....

...Yesterday you told me you only had bread for breakfast....

...Damien froze....

...He had mentioned that only once....

...Very casually....

...She remembered....

...He stared at the muffin before writing slowly,...

...You didn't have to do that....

...Lyra smiled....

...I know....

...Then why?...

...She thought for a moment before writing,...

...Because everyone deserves a proper breakfast....

...Damien looked at the words for a long time....

...No one had ever bought him breakfast before....

...Not because they felt sorry for him....

...Just because they cared....

...His throat tightened....

...He carefully closed the paper bag....

...Then he looked at Lyra and wrote,...

...Thank you....

...She smiled so brightly that it almost made him forget where he was....

...Just then, a loud voice echoed through the store....

..."Hey!"...

...Damien couldn't hear it....

...But he saw Lyra's smile disappear....

...He turned toward the entrance....

...Ryan stood there with two of his friends....

...A cruel grin spread across Ryan's face as his eyes landed on Damien....

...Then they shifted to Lyra....

...Something dark flickered in his expression....

...Damien's stomach tightened....

...He had seen that look before....

...And it never meant anything good....

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