One of Miguel's favourite things in the world was the breakfast menu on The Bookmark. No other cafe had such delicious pancakes and such wonderful company. Even the coffee Nicole poured into his blue mug was better than most. At least in his opinion.

"Why are you here?" Nicole asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

She was blocking the view to the rest of the place, forcing him to lean over the table to scan behind her. He had purposefully chosen the table upstairs, just by the banister, so he could observe all motion under and beside him. From his favourite spot, not even the large bookshelves covered anyone, and only the counter was a mystery to him.

"What do you mean?" He played dumb. "Can't I come visit? Speaking of which, why are you here?"

"I work here, dumbass."

He rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair so she wouldn't suspect of his activity. Hiding things from Nicole wasn't easy, and he was sure she already knew his motive, but needed a confirmation.

"Not this shift, idiot." He said. "Don't tell me Oliver is still sick."

"Yes, he is. And my bank account just added a few digits."

It wasn't odd for Nicole to help someone else out, but since Oliver had got a fever, her boss assigned all his work to her. For the first time, she was getting paid for the extra time at the cafe.

"That's great for you. Shouldn't you go back to work, though?"

His smile was so fake even the most trusting child would have seen through it.

"Yeah, but first I want to know what are you doing here. And don't tell me you like being here because last time I check you despise it."

"What? Who told you that?"

The bell on the glass double doors rang, and they both looked downstairs. A brunette in thick-rimmed glasses walked in with a tote bag on her arm.

"Because she is here and you hate each other." Nicole explained, referring to Jenny, who had just arrived for her shift.

"We do not, we... She hates me, I don't hate her."

A poor excuse, and he knew it wouldn't stick. Still, it was worth trying.

Jenny didn't even see them, walking straight to the back room to change into her work attire, the same Nicole wore. It was Nicole's cue to leave and go to campus, but she wasn't done with Miguel yet.

"No, you hate her just as much. Now, are you going to tell me or should I just guess?"

At that precise moment, a black-haired waitress stepped into view on the lower floor to serve the table by the door with the breakfast menu. Miguel focused on her, on her red painted smile and rosy cheeks. As fast as she appeared, she was gone again.

Nicole sighed in exasperation, following his gaze. There were times she wished to have nothing to do with him. The trouble she would get at work...

"Don't." She cut his hopes. "Don't even think about it. Lúcia is a proper girl with no intention of getting involved with someone like you."

"So that's her name."

"Did you just hear me?"

Why do I even try? She asked herself.

Lúcia was a ray of sunshine, too naïve to deal with men like Miguel. She wanted a relationship of trust, a man to grow old with and have at least two kids. Casual sex wasn't it.

They had only really talked because of Oliver. Before being forced to work together, Nicole only knew her because she bought a cappuccino every morning on her way to campus. Lúcia had a double shift every morning, the first hour with Oliver and the second with Jenny.

"Don't you dare hurt her, okay?" Nicole told him. "I don't need another Jenny situation."

"That's ridiculous. I never slept with Jenny." Miguel frowned. "And don't worry, I won't do anything to her. We've just chatted a few times, no big deal."

She trusted him, even if it was hard.

"Fine. I have to go, but be adequate. She's not a whore."

I know, that's your friend. He thought.

Nicole grabbed the coffeepot and walked to the stairs, giving him a last warning before going back downstairs.

"And you should make up with Jenny already. She doesn't give a shit about you, there's no reason for all the hate."

He almost laughed. As if Jenny would really stop being an angry child.

🖤🤍🖤

The wet asphalt reflected the shiny lights illuminating the night sky. Fast cars sped up against it, making dirty water fly up from the small puddles. The sound of the engines was barely audible compared to the screaming music inside the orange building and the laughter of the people on the line to get in. It was chaotic, but that's how they liked it.

A blond guy, maybe 6.2 feet tall, in a light brown shirt that matched his eyes and a blue beanie, walked on the limestone pavement, mockingly close to the street and its reckless drivers, towards the orange building. He only stopped when he reached two figures leaning against the wall, on the wrong side of the line. If they meant to go inside the nightclub, they would have a hard time getting in.

The shorter guy, the one with curly hair hiding his dark eyes, moved away from the wall to greet the newcomer in all their brotherly costumery.

"Took you long enough."

"Carol didn't want me to leave her." he explained.

His friend laughed before nodding towards the guy watching them.

"You won't believe what Andrew just told me. Did you know in America you can't drink before you're twenty-one? I'm shook." he said, before turning back to Andrew. "Does that mean this is going to be your first time?"

He rolled his eyes. This friend Alice forced him to hang out with was an actual pain in the ass.

"Don't worry about me. I've been to parties before"

He nodded and clapped his hands together. "Yeah, I forgot to introduce you. Andrew, this is Lucas, my one and only wingman. Lucas, this is Andrew, Alice's charity project straight from the city of lights that she is forcing us to hang out with."

Lucas stepped forward with a hand stretched out, and Andrew was forced to step away from the wall to take it. He considered not even taking it, but then he'd be rude to Ali's friends and that was not what he wanted.

"So do we call you Andy..." Lucas started, but was cut off.

"My friends call me Drew."

"You have friends?" Miguel raised a brow.

Andrew didn't even bother to answer, knowing he was joking and only trying to get a raise out of him. That night was supposed to be spent working, not getting drunk, but for the sake of getting along with his girlfriend's friends, or whatever they were, he accepted it.

"Are we going in, or not?"

"Impatient, are we?" Miguel smirked and walked up to the huge bouncer, whispering something to his ear.

The man walked away, letting them pass in front of everyone, much to Andrew's surprise. Instead of going walking into the blinding lights and yelling, they waited in the dark vestibule where Miguel pressed one wall and opened it to show a stairway covered in red carpet.

"Where are we?" Andrew asked, walking behind both boys to upstairs.

"The club." Miguel told him. "The VIP room."

Andrew stared at him, but it was Lucas who explained it.

"Miguel used to work here as a bartender. He has a special status."

The lounge upstairs was draped in black and gold, metal tables on different corners of the room, each of them separated by a facade of thin pipes next to each other. There were about ten people inside the room, plus waiters walking around with drinks on gold platters .

Up there, the music was still loud, yet they could easily communicate as they sat at one table. People on the ground floor danced like there was no tomorrow, drank like it was the last time, and yelled like they'd all gone crazy.

"Good evening. How may I help you tonight?" A skinny waitress showed up out of nowhere, dressed in an elegant white shirt and pencil black skirt.

Andrew had never been in a VIP room, much less one like this, so he was a little surprised to see that someone would see their order.

Miguel's face contorted in shapes of anger and surprise as soon as he heard that voice, but before he could open his mouth, Lucas put a hand on his arms and ushered her to go get them some shots.

"Will do." She smirked. "Good to see you, boys."

"What was that?" Andrew asked as soon as she was far.

Miguel straightened himself up and leaned back, unbuttoning his jacket to busy his hands.

"I didn't know that little kleptomaniac bitch was working here now." he complained through gritted teeth. "Andrew, hide your wallet. She can sense it with those creepy eyes of hers."

"Dude!" Lucas protested. "Let's just try to enjoy our night, okay?"

The brunet nodded, still pissed.

"Nicole is going to be so furious when she finds out."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Andrew interrupted them. "Who's this girl?"

They looked at each other, exchanging looks that could only mean they were debating if they should tell him or not. Lucas shook his head, and Miguel glared. It wasn't a delicate matter, but the strings it could pull were enough to open deep wounds. The kind that can cause an internal bleeding and make you choke on your own blood. However, it wasn't their wound, nor their blood.

"It happened to me, so I get to tell him." Miguel imposed, and Lucas had to back off.

Andrew stared at them, waiting for an answer.

"Her name is Diana. Let's say I slept with her."

"With her and half the girls in the club." Lucas murmured, earning himself an elbow jagged into his ribs.

"It was four in the morning, I was tired, so I fell I asleep. I wake up the next morning alone, which isn't abnormal. But then I can't find my wallet. My phone is gone and so is the money I had been collecting, hidden." He was bright red, fists clenching and unclenching on top of the table. "She robbed me, you see? Waited until I was vulnerable and snuck out with all my belongings."

Andrew was perplexed. It wasn't hard to believe that such a thing had happened, but looking at the girl walking back to them with three shots on her platter, she didn't seem like a criminal.

"Here you go, boys." She served them.

"Keep 'em coming." Lucas oriented.

Diana left, and Andrew turned back to them.

"Did you report her?"

He shook his head, drinking down his shot. Lucas kept on telling the story from then on, even though from him it was only hearsay.

"He asked for her in the students' facilities. When he finally found her dorm, he found her roommate instead, and let's say she wasn't happy with the accusation."

"Nicole trusted her." Miguel said. "But when she asked her about it Diana told her everything and I got my stuff back."

"Nicole? The blonde girl with the freckles?" Andrew asked in surprise.

They both remembered that they as no other. Nicole had been sleeping peacefully in her dorm and Miguel had just rushed there from his. She was awoken by his furious banging on her door and yelled at him to stop and go away. They made a scene in the hallway and he ended up leaving, and later that night, Nicole showed up at his door with everything Diana stole from him.

She was feisty, but so was he, and though they crashed hard, it was only the beginning of a friendship.

"Did you meet Nicole already?" Lucas questioned.

"Yeah," he nodded. "She is in my French class. She's the hot mean girl."

Miguel and Lucas shared a glance before a vicious smile appeared on both of their faces. Poor, poor Andrew, a tiny fish swimming with the big ones.

"She is hot, isn't she?" Miguel asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"You think so?" Lucas draw closer to him. "Have you shared with Alice your thoughts?"

Andrew looked between them, realising what they were implying, and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands before grabbing the shot and drinking it down. It burned in his throat, but he was familiar with that, even if he was one year away from knowing that in his home.

"I have eyes, you know? I thought Nicole was hot when I first saw her, but I like Alice and Alice alone."

They both let go of him in acted ease. Lucas shrugged and drank his shot at last. Miguel leaned against the black leather of the seat.

"Not that you had any chance with her either."

"Excuse me?" Andrew frowned.

Miguel smirked. "Well, you don't care either way, right? It's not like you're after her. You have Alice!"

"Sweet, little Alice."

Andrew stared at them.

"I have Alice." He confirmed. "But do you doubt I could have Nicole if I wanted?"

Lucas slapped the metal table to call for their attention.

"I feel like there's a bet coming. I'm broke so I can't bet much but I know we're going to clean Drew's wallet so I'm all in."

"There's going to be no bet." Andrew said. "I am with Alice and there is that."

"There is that." Miguel nodded. "An obedient man. I respect that."

"And I'm still broke." Lucas wiped an imaginary tear. "Alice always picks the worst friends."

Miguel laughed. "So do we, and everyone we know."

The shots kept coming, and they kept talking. It took little for them to accept Andrew. Seven shots, to be more precise. And by the time he was no longer regretting being with them, Lucas got a call from his girlfriend and Miguel saw a cute girl in a very short dress.

"I thought you were into Lúcia!" Lucas screamed from the floor.

"Nicole forbid me from talking to her!" he yelled back. "And I like to keep my options open."

Andrew was alone, jacket over his shoulder, drunk as hell and walking home through the empty streets.

His ride had left with a cute girl and he was in no shape to drive, even if he had his car. Besides, he felt like walking. It was a twenty-minute walk home, but he felt like it.

On his way, he stopped at a large store and glued his face to the window. It was dark inside, but the streetlights were enough to distinguish the tables and chairs, bookshelves and designation plates.

He didn't see it, but a few feet above his head was a brown board with the letters' THE BOOKMARK, carved in white. The paper glued to the door said it opened at seven in the morning and he checked the time on his phone. Maybe he could sit and wait for them to serve him a large cup of coffee. Yet it was only three a.m.

That wasn't the only thing he saw on his phone, but also another text from one of the three people he was avoiding.

You need to come home. Call me.

He deleted the text and shoved the phone inside his pocket again.

"Not now, Abby." He said out loud. "Not now, nor ever."

Hey!

So that was Miguel and Lucas, I hope you like Miguel, and if you don't give him an oportunity. He wasn't very developed in the original version so I'm still working on him, but I hope you'll start liking him.

I hope nobody is pissed at me for changing the first chapters so much, I promise the core is still here. If you read this before, I hope it's better. because to be honest old chapter three sucked.

This is going to be the standart lenght of the chapters so don't abandon the boat just yet, there's 29 more chapters to come. Pls gimme some feedback as we go

Thank you for reading ;)