Couldn't Care Less // Espresso x Madeleine // CRK

chapter seven

a/n: 5k reads? im literally going to cry.

Espresso lay in his bed that night. Usually, he would not go to sleep- not if he could help it. But today, he couldn't bring himself to do anything but lie there. He couldn't even go to sleep. But he still stayed there. After all, what else would he do?

He thought of the dinner. He couldn't find an answer to why he'd run away yet. Maybe because of his nerves? Maybe because Madeleine was there.

Madeleine...

Espresso closed his eyes and sighed. But even without his vision, the memory of the cookie still danced across his mind. Then another thought emerged. Two people holding hands.

Espresso rolled onto his side and stared at his wall.

There was no way he'd fall for Madeleine. It was just himself, thinking of useless possibilities. He breathed in shakily. He was driving himself crazy. If he was in love...

Well, what good would it do for him anyway? Being in love was dumb. People didn't always get happy endings. Some just got lucky...

He thought of the two cookies announcing their relationship last month. Who was it, Raspberry and Parfait? Raspberry and Black Raisin? He couldn't remember anymore. The thought of a relationship brought him back to the dinner, how Sparkling and his lovers were staring at the two. Espresso got stuck on that. How could Sparkling possibly confess to one person, much less three?

He re-encountered the conversation long ago with Strawberry Crepe.

"Oh! Sparkling confessed to Mint Choco and Vampire. I forgot that happened." Strawberry Crepe had said.

Espresso had been confused. "What? So he broke up with Herb?"

Strawberry Crepe shook their head. "No, they said they were in a polygon or something. I don't know, but I know that Sparkling is a weirdo! He came up to me and told me that 'you should never miss your chance because if you do, the percent of getting in a relationship becomes a zero instead of a one, or even more. If they reject you, then they reject you! It'll be easier to get over your feelings that way anyway. Remember that, Strawberry Crepe.' As if he thought I was ever going to fall in love! Disgusting!" They stuck out their tongue.

Espresso hummed. "Huh. You sure know a lot for a kid, Strawberry Crepe. You're smart for never wanting to fall in love."

Espresso heard a tree branch snap outside, bringing him back to the present. He turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

He wondered if he was dumb for falling in love.

The next morning, Espresso woke with annoyance. He'd lie in bed all last night, despite not falling asleep once- which again, wasted valuable time.

He opened the blinds slowly, hearing voices outside once again. He groaned internally. Hopefully, hopefully, Madeleine wasn't out there. Espresso wasn't sure he'd be able to face him after last night's incident.

Something about that cookie made it hard for Espresso to not think about him.

A magnetic pull of some sort.

Espresso shuffled away from his bedroom, straightening out his hair and putting his glasses back on- before realizing they were still broken. He muttered something inaudible and shook his head.

Madeleine.

Okay, so maybe it'd be good if Madeleine was outside, just so Espresso could diss him for breaking his glasses. He took a deep breath and picked up a probably-stale cup of coffee. He took a sip and cringed at the taste- setting it down automatically.