𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒. Not for the same reasons that others hated Mondays, but rather because of those reasons; after all, when one worked the morning shift at a coffee shop strategically placed and price right within the range of college students and office workers, forced to be bright and chipper despite the lack of any rays of sun, one was bound to face more than a fair share of poor treatment and minimal tips.

"Have a nice day," Bradley called towards the dead looking businessman, her forced smile coming out like a grimace, and she sighed as she received a glare for her troubles, the same one that he had given to her when she first greeted him.

She groaned, falling forward on the counter, using her arms as a pillow, and she wished that she could be allowed to sit while she worked, especially when there weren't any people in the cafe; she and her boss weren't friends by any means, and she didn't want to be, but even if they were, Bradley was far too afraid to ask for anything like that; she could hardly call in sick most days.

At the sound of footsteps she shot back up to standing, her head as she did, and she started to stumble backwards, caught by a pair of hands that, fortunately, didn't belong to her boss, who wasn't even coming to check in on them until hours later.

"I'm asking for the stools today," Spencer said in lieu of a greeting, not letting go of Bradley until she was back by the counter, the two now leaning forward, braced against their forearms, hands clasped together in front of them.

Bradley sighed with relief, turning to cast her a grateful smile. "Thank you."

Spencer was everything to Bradley, and Bradley to her. Best friends since seventh grade and still going strong, everyone wondered how they managed, what with their personalities so different. While Spencer was outgoing and had a plethora of friends, Bradley was more reserved, always too shy, and when she tried to make friends, nothing ever quite clicked. She had been rather resented throughout high school, what with Spencer always at her side during lunches, only seen alone when Bradley had to stay back in class, and no one ever knew that it was because Bradley couldn't be alone in the cafeteria without panicking; Spencer was the only one who needed to know, and she had never been talked out of it.

When the two decided to go to the same college, it had come as a shock, yet not one at all. The two were attached at the hip, but they always assumed one would grow out of the other by the time they graduated, yet there they were now, roommates and working at the same coffee shop right by their college, taking on the world together, the dynamic duo that no one thought would last.

"You know, just because we don't have classes today doesn't mean that he gets to make us work all day," Spencer commented, sighing as she reached for the water bottle she kept under the counter, taking a long sip while Bradley tried not to dose off.

"At least you don't have to work a shift with the new guy. He keeps blaming everything on me 'cause he knows I won't snitch," Bradley grumbled, gritting her teeth when she thought about the new guy, Hal, who was more interested in trying to talk to and about Spencer than actual learn how to operate the machinery.

"You should snitch," Spencer pressed, though she knew she wouldn't be saying anything that Bradley didn't already scream at herself every day, "But listen. When I actually get to work with him this week, I'll just point blank tell him that, you know, 'I'm a lesbian, Harold,' and hopefully he'll get the hint and either quit or start working."

"I wish you wouldn't have to force yourself to come out just so men will leave you alone, it's so gross," Bradley said, wrinkling her nose at the concept, but Spencer waved her hand dismissively, shaking her head.

"It bugs me too, but I don't mind coming out, what are they gonna do, fire me? Everyone already knows, we just like to not say anything until I do, which is appreciated. 'Course, it would also be good if you didn't have to suffer until I get to," she added, bumping shoulders with her, and Bradley gave her a strained smile, not bothering to hide how tired she was; their boss, Alex, had been yelling at her non-stop since Hal arrived, and it was starting to worry her.

"He's threatening to fire me," she whispered, still trying to smile, and she tried to fight back the tears as Spencer's gasp filled the empty coffee shop.

"Are you kidding me?" the blonde demanded, looking ready to fight the next person that walked into the room.

"I mean, from his perspective it makes sense, I'm making all these mistakes and I'm supposed to be the one that's teaching Hal, and since Hal is doing so much better, he wouldn't lose much if he lost me," she explained, trying to calm down her fuming friend, not wanting to cause trouble that could cost Spencer her job.

"But you're not the one fucking up," Spencer whispered, grabbing Bradley by the shoulders, forcing her to hold her gaze, "You need to tell him, and if you won't, I will. I know you don't wanna rock the boat, Bradley, but I will not let you lose your job over a horny man-child who won't take a hint."

Bradley worried on her bottom lip, glancing up at Spencer through her lashes, feeling her chest tighten as she thought about what would happen if she talked to her boss, then what would happen if Spencer spoke to their boss, and while she would be happy to just wait until Spencer and Hal had their conversation later in the week, but considering how bad it was getting, she wasn't sure she would make it until then, especially with how their boss had been acting the past month.

"Hey, breathe," Spencer whispered, too used to her roommate to not know the beginnings of a panic attack, "Stop thinking for a minute, okay, you don't actually know what's going to happen, just take a breath, we don't have to do anything yet, just breathe, it's okay."

Bradley nodded, trying her best, but she couldn't seem to rid herself of the feeling in her chest that she knew all too well, and she struggled to remember the many ways she had been told to keep from spiraling, eyes searching the room to start counting, too desperate to focus completely.

But after some time—however long, Bradley had no idea—she was finally able to calm down, the tightness in her chest loosening, the feeling subsiding, and she was able to breathe without focusing on it, the way she was supposed to, and it was only then that she started to think about what to say next, Spencer patiently waiting, as she always did.

"We'll see how it goes today with Hal not being here, then tomorrow when Hal is here," she began carefully, mulling over her words, "And if things don't start looking up, then..."

Spencer squeezed her shoulders, giving her the same smile that she had been giving ever since they were in the seventh grade and Bradley couldn't ask the teacher any questions in class. "I will talk to him. And if he asks to talk to you, I'll be with you the whole time. We're going to be just fine."

Bradley relaxed, struggling to smile, but Spencer never needed her to smile, so all she had to do was breathe. Of course, there was a hug thrown in because Bradley was too touch starved and Spencer loved giving hugs, but they just breathed, because they would be just fine.

But, of course, that didn't mean they wouldn't make some trouble along the way.

º º º

It was later in the day and the morning stumble was finally gone. Bradley and Spencer had taken to calling it the morning stumble because, while there were quite a number of people forced to wake before the sun in order to catch their classes or get to work, they certainly were in no rush and seemed more like zombies than living people, which was always funny if not for their matching dour moods which lent to many rude encounters.

"Alex is here," Spencer hissed, making her way towards the counters, and Bradley gasped, her throat closing, but she fought against the panic; it would be no help to her to have a panic attack while her boss was unhappy with her.

Taking a breath, she focused on cleaning the counters and the machines, keeping an eye on the pastry display and everything else behind the counter, not wanting to seem like she was slacking; she wasn't to begin with, but growing up with her parents' high expectations, she was more than used to the occasional accusation.

"Hey, Alex," Spencer greeted, making her way over to the front where Bradley was, the two sharing a look before their boss made his way up front.

Alex was in his late twenties which made him older than them, but still young enough overall, but he held himself well enough that he was as much of a boss as any fully fledged adult, middle aged or otherwise, which was good for him, but unfortunate for the girls, as he tended to forget that he could relate to them, what with having nearly the same experiences as them.

Needless to say, the girls had a rocky relationship with him, but so long as he paid them, they would be just fine.

"How's it going?" the man greeted, and the girls wondered if things were finally looking up for him, as it had been a while since he had greeted them so casually as he did just then.

"The morning stumble's finished, so now it's just a regular Monday, though there's more people than usual," Bradley reported, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that no one else had stepped into the coffee shop, even though there was a bell that rang every time the door opened; better safe than sorry.

"Brad cleaned up and restocked everything, so we're all set once the lunch rush starts," Spencer added, inclining her head towards the smaller girl, smiling widely as she ducked her head, blushing.

Unfortunately, if Alex was in a better mood, he wasn't a completely blank slate, and his eyes hardened as he looked at Bradley, raising an eyebrow. "Well, let's go through it and make sure that you did it correctly this time, okay?"

As the man turned to check over Bradley's work, Spencer's jaw dropped, and she began to mouth indignant cries, in no mood to put up with the man's rude behavior to her best friend, mocking him as he made comments, going through Bradley's work, his compliments passive aggressive at best.

Unable to help herself, Bradley laughed.

Alex looked up from where he was going over her work cleaning one of the machines, as if he had been waiting for her to slip up, which only upset Spencer more, though she was just as afraid for Bradley so any chance of her mocking him was thrown out the window.

"You think destroying the machines is funny?" he asked, and he had never spoken that way to any of his employees, let alone Bradley who seemed to be collecting her sick days until she could take a full year off.

The young woman struggled to find her voice, shaking her head furiously as she stammered, unable to do anything but choke and splutter, looking so flustered it was a wonder she didn't just melt into a puddle on the floor.

"She was laughing at me," Spencer called, barely keeping herself from jumping between them, "I hit my hand and I was trying not to scream, so she laughed at me, it has nothing about you."

Alex raised an eyebrow, looking from Spencer to Bradley. "So you weren't listening to me?"

Bradley looked ready to pass out, and Spencer couldn't stop the groan that escaped her lips, nor the words that followed soon after. "Alex, chill out, she's doing everything you want her to, she just laughed, sorry if you forgot how to do that yourself. Just breathe and check if you need to, but she did everything perfect up here."

Now it was Spencer's turn to get the eyebrow, but the young woman had dealt with far too much in her life to cower under the gaze of man just ten years her senior, and she crossed her arms, waiting for him to come back to earth where the rest of them stood, simply trying to make a living through coffee.

After what seemed like hours—to Bradley at least, to Spencer it couldn't have been more than a minute—Alex finally relented, sighing heavily. "Fine, yes, you have a point, Spencer."

As the man turned back to address Bradley, Spencer took the opportunity to make face, silently mouthing the apology that he didn't add, the blonde rolling her eyes, and Bradley tried not to look at her, not wanting to even smile.

"Everything might be perfect up here, but we do have issues in the back with how everything has been organized," he said, and Bradley deflated, catching Spencer's eye; Hal had been the last one to go organize the back.

"Why are you assuming that Brad was the one who did it wrong, she's always gotten it right before," Spencer called, crossing her arms, and the amount of stress this was putting on Bradley was enough to have her leaning against the counter for balance, knowing fully well that, once it was over, the adrenaline crash would have her asleep in minutes.

"She's been getting a lot wrong recently, it seems," Alex said, ignoring the way Spencer's jaw dropped, "But, okay. Bradley, do you know who went to go organize the back last?"

Bradley didn't appreciate the amount of pressure placed on her, especially since Alex was well aware of her anxiety, what with having it fully disclosed with the proper documentation, as well as simple conversations, so this was toeing the line.

Before she spoke, ready to just take responsibility or say she didn't know, Spencer caught her attention, motioning for her to breathe; where Bradley would be without her, she didn't know, but for all Spencer had bad ideas, she was never wrong when it came to breathing.

So, taking a deep breath, Bradley spoke. "Hal was the last person to organize the back."

Spencer grinned, giving her two thumbs up, but their celebration was short lived, Alex not willing to give up. "Well, since he's new, he had to have been taught, and I'm pretty sure you were the one who was supposed to teach him, Bradley."

The girl scoffed, her shoulders slumping. "But—"

"Just go fix it," the man sighed, motioning for her to go, turning to greet the customers who had just walked in, the bell having interrupted Bradley's argument.

The barista sighed, trudging towards the back, shrugging as she shared a look with Spencer, who seemed more than ready to beat Alex's head in with the blender.

"Saved by the bell, I guess."

º º º

It was right after the lunch rush when they came in.

Spencer was lounging by the counter, no one else inside, everyone already out and dealing with their Mondays. Bradley was still in the back working on reorganizing everything, and Alex had left them to their own devices, stating that he expected everything to be pristine by the time he returned to take over their shifts.

Because of this, Spencer was forced to run the front alone. Fortunately, the lunch rush wasn't as intense as it could have been, but only having Alex to help for half of it didn't help much, and she wasn't so inconsiderate to ask Bradley to help, compromising her chances of pleasing Alex and keeping her job.

So there Spencer stood, working on her schoolwork, something that Bradley never dared do while on the job, but the sound of the bell had her throwing the book back under the counter, perking up and hoping that the incoming patrons weren't of the snitching disposition.

Fortunately, the new inhabitants of the empty coffee shop were two young men about Spencer's age, and she silently hoped that they wouldn't give her any trouble, especially since she was alone. While they both did a double take when they saw her, they seemed nice enough, so she offered them a polite smile and hoped they wouldn't get any ideas.

"Hi," she greeted, watching as the two paused before getting into line, looking up at the menu, shoving each other playfully, grinning to themselves.

"Hello," the two greeted, and Spencer tried not to show her surprise when she heard their accents; she didn't see many English people stepping into the place, especially after summer.

As they were still looking over the menu, she took that moment to survey them, cursing Alex for forcing Bradley to stay in the back. While she wasn't at all interested, she still had eyes, and while Bradley was never one to so much as speak to anyone she deemed attractive, Spencer was more than happy to play matchmaker to try and get a phone number out of one of the boys.

She preferred the tall blond, his jawline belonged in a magazine, though the shorter one seemed more Bradley's type, more cute than anything; there was something familiar about them, though she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

She glanced back behind her on impulse, as if Bradley would suddenly materialize so the blond could try to make her day brighter, and while she did, the two boys started shoving each other, the two sharing mischievous smiles, stifling their laughter, trying to remain nonchalant, Spencer none the wiser.

When she turned back around, the two approached the counter, both of them smiling though one immediately pulled out his phone, hyper focusing on whatever he was looking at, and before any of them spoke, Spencer entertained the notion that, perhaps, he was like Bradley, having his other friend order for him due to anxiety, but after she spoke, it was clear that he wasn't using a coping mechanism but was rather trying to be a subtle wingman.

Joy.

"What can I get for you?" she asked, looking at the shorter boy standing in front of her; he gave her a sweet smile that was trying to be charming, and she couldn't help but think that Bradley would adore him.

Little did she know.

"Your name," the boy replied, just a little too fast to be smooth, and just a little too bashful to be rude, but he went for it with all he had, and his smile was boyish enough to still hit his mark, and Spencer had to admire his willingness to be shot down in public, though there were only three people in the room.

Still, she didn't want to embarrass him, she did want tips, so she simply smiled, rolling her eyes slightly. "I think I should be asking that to you."

It wasn't a rejection by any means, and both seemed rather shocked, though the brunette was more thrilled than anything, quickly remembering himself as he shot back, "You're not wearing a tag, and it'd be nice to put a name to a beautiful face."

His friend snorted next to him, though from the sound that filled the room and the grunt that followed, it was clear he was kicked in the shin, and Spencer couldn't help but laugh, wishing that Bradley was with her to witness the scene.

Still, she had a job to do, so she raised an eyebrow, motioning towards the menu. "Tell you what. Order something and maybe you'll get my name."

She wasn't planning on giving it to him, she wasn't that stupid, but it was enough to maybe get a tip out of the sheer intrigue, and they seemed harmless enough to make the joke without any real concern, so she went for it, figuring that it would make a great story to tell Bradley later on.

The boy seemed ready to play whatever game Spencer had in mind, glancing up towards the menu for a moment before replying. "I'll take a caramel latte. Uh, Harrison?"

The other boy, Harrison, seemed rather shocked at being asked for his order, though, like any other self-respecting young person, was not above accepting the casual offer for free food. "I'll take the same, thanks. I'll pay you back, Tom."

"Nah, it's okay," the brunette, Tom, whispered, and Spencer couldn't help but be reminded of herself and Bradley; these two were harmless, and for that she was grateful.

"So Tom and Harrison," she drawled, catching their attention, and as Tom groaned, she finally realized why they were familiar.

It was hard not to recognize the faces on Bradley's lockscreen.

Spencer, adept at lying after years of terrible plans and bad decisions, schooled her features, not wanting to show that she recognized them, especially after getting so far with not. Her mind ran a mile a minute, trying to find a way to use these boys; it wasn't as malicious as it seemed, she just wanted Bradley to feel better, she had heard her crying in the back when she passed by, and with the way things were going, she needed something like this to pick her up.

After all, Spencer still had the bruises from all the times Bradley had punched her whenever this Tom character had shown up on screen during the Marvel movies she had dragged her to. She could still hear Bradley's squeals when he first appeared, instantly relaxing when she approved of his portrayal of Spider-Man the year prior, and it wasn't that long ago that they had gone to see the solo movie where Bradley proceeded to gush about it for weeks on end, seeing it five separate times.

Spencer would be a terrible friend if she didn't seize this opportunity.

Still, she was never one for a simple plan—or any plan that required logic or good morals—and the idea of simply calling Bradley out for a picture was not only subpar, it also seemed rather rude to the boys; she needed something better, something clever.

That didn't mean it would be all that good.

As she rang them up, taking her time to write down their names, she noticed that Tom had not only dropped a few bills into her tip jar to begin with, but placed all of his change into hers as well; the boy knew his way around a girl's heart. Too bad he wasn't her type.

"Well, that's certainly an incentive," she hummed, unable to help herself, and he just laughed, giving her another cheeky smile, and Spencer could understand Bradley's interest, he was cute, and his friend was downright gorgeous, if not a little awkward, tripping over his own feet as they moved to sit down.

As she puttered around the station, making the two drinks, she let her movements slow, her thoughts taking up all her energy. She needed to act fast if she wanted to capitalize on the prospect, but she couldn't call Bradley out. As she glanced down at Tom's name, she realized he still didn't know hers; her name tag had been broken after a freak break dancing incident while they were closing up a few weeks prior and it still had yet to be fixed.

As she moved to put extra caramel, she caught sight of her stationary under the counter, as well as the Sharpie by the cups; she had planned on not giving him her name, but that didn't mean she couldn't give him one at all.

Continuing to make the drinks, she paused, fishing out a thinner pen from her pencil case, wanting to make sure that he could read her handwriting on the cup. She wouldn't put a phone number, she wasn't that stupid, but she did leave a note explaining why, instead scrawling Bradley's name and various social media.

She was a good friend, not only because she knew all her handles by heart.

The entire time she worked, she had forgotten to breathe, and while she wished that she could blame her oxygen deprivation for the events that ensued, Spencer would have to admit that, when it came to her plans, she never did think through all the consequences, and bad ideas were her specialty.

It was just that, this time, Bradley wasn't there to talk her out of it.

"Tom and Harrison," she called, having waited until both were finished to hand them over, trying not to show her panic as she placed them on the counter.

As the boys came over, she didn't wait for them, instead moving to fiddle with the machines. He seemed rather disappointed at that, and he seemed even more disappointed when he read the text message that appeared on his phone screen. Motioning towards the door, the two began to leave, and Spencer watched them carefully; Tom still hadn't looked at his cup.

She watched as they walked along the sidewalk by the large glass doors, and held her breath when she saw him take a sip of his drink, pocketing his phone. As he pulled away, he caught sight of the writing, stopping in his tracks to read.

It took him some time, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, but when he finally understood, his entire body seemed to light up, a thousand watt smile on his face, and Spencer only laughed when she heard Harrison cheering, catching sight of the words.

The two looked in the window to see her, and she just laughed, motioning them to leave with a wave of her hand, and the two went on their way, grinning as Tom reached into his pocket for his phone, disappearing from view.

It took some time for Bradley to notice, almost enough time for Spencer to completely forget, but when it finally happened, her scream was enough for Spencer to dismiss any concerns she might have had; this was completely worth it.

"Spencer! Tom Holland just DM'ed me on Twitter!"

Spencer smiled to herself, leaning against the counter, listening to the sounds of her best friend trying to make sense of what she was experiencing, all worries of Alex and her job momentarily forgotten.

Like she said, she and Bradley would be just fine.

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

( 08.25.17 ; 04.02.18 ; 07.31.19 )

We're back, fam, and I actually rewrote this chapter, it's actually being rewritten, not just reformatted, so let's all get hyped about it. I really missed Bradley, but we're having a resurgence of celebrity fics on my account and I really want to finish this, so here's to hoping I'm able to, because I missed this fic, I really did. Also, don't worry if you thought this chapter was super long, most of them won't be this long, I just...yeah, I don't know what I was thinking, but we'll be okay, it's fine, we'll survive.

It's been quite some time since I've had anxiety as bad as Bradley's, but I still remember what it was like, and I still do have panic attacks, and while that doesn't really affect anything, I want ya'll to know that I have firsthand experience, so no one try to come for me and say I'm writing it wrong, everyone experiences things differently, so let's just keep that in mind.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!