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It started small.
A cup of coffee here and there. The occasional muffin. Just little things from some café Jared frequented.
At first, richard thought nothing of it. Jared's a nice guy, he was just being his overly-generous self. Besides, they were friends. Friends did nice things for each other, right? Well, now that he thought about it, no one in his circle of friends gave things to each other. But normal friends did.
It became routine pretty quickly. Richard wakes up, showers, gets dressed, and sits down at his computer. And like clockwork, there's jared with his morning coffee. It was always just how he likes it, although he couldn't remember ever telling jared how he took his coffee. But jared is observant. He probably just happened to see richard making some and took note of it. That's something normal friends do.
"Hey, richard? How much does it cost to sign up for the coffee thing?" Carla asked one morning.
"The what?"
"You know, the morning coffee run thing. I wanna get in on it. How much do I give jared?"
"It's...it's not a thing. I mean, I don't pay jared for the coffee. I never even like, asked for it." Richard felt kind of guilty saying it out loud. He hadn't thought about how much it was costing jared.
Carla looked confused. "So, what, jared just buys you coffee everyday because he wants to?"
"Yeah. I guess so."
"You don't think that's weird?"
He probably would've used the word 'sweet', honestly. "Jared's a weird guy. He does weird things," Richard shrugged. "Besides, I don't know, I like it. It uh.... gives me something to look forward to. I guess."
That was an understatement. To richard, it was so much more than coffee. It had started as a pleasant surprise, but now it served as a source of positivity in his stressful tornado of a life. No matter how bleak Pied Piper's future looked, jared would be there, smiling and handing him a warm cup of coffee that was a little too sweet because he knew richard hated bitter things.
And Richard appreciated it more than he wanted anyone else to know.
When the pastries started being added to the mix, richard considered it a sign that the future held good things for him. He'd always had a weakness for banana nut muffins, and Jared somehow knew that. Which wasn't really that strange. Jared was an exceptionally good listener. He'd probably heard richard mention it in passing.
Richard offered to pay jared back once. Jared instantly refused, saying that improving Richard's morning was payment enough. Richard blushed like an idiot and never asked again.
"So why does jared just give you shit all the time?" Dinesh aksed.
"He just does. I don't know"
"It's fucking weird," gilfoyle said in his usual deadpan.
Carla gestured to gilfoyle. "Thank you! I told you it was weird."
"No heterosexual man gives another heterosexual man a muffin, richard. It just doesn't happen."
Richard's so incredibly done with gilfoyle's shit. "Why does it matter? Jared likes to do nice things for people. It's in his DNA or something. Why do you care what jared does anyway? It doesn't affect you at all."
It wasn't until the pop figure showed up on his desk that he started to think gilfoyle was right.
The little post-it note on the box read, in jared's culry writing:
'Saw this in a bookstore yesterday. Thought of you! Would've given it to you in person but had a meeting. Hope you like it! -Jared'
It was Spock. Richard couldn't hide his grin. He'd been a huge star trek nerd ever since high school. Of course, jared had noticed. What didn't jared notice. He placed it on a shelf in his room. The others saw it, but thankfully kept their snarky comments to themselves.
Richard couldn't stop smiling. Jared was so thoughtful. He imagined jared wandering around in a bookstore, probably picking up one of those self help books with the stupid titles like "Becoming a better you in 6 easy steps! The key to happiness is in this book!" and seeing that pop figure. And jared's face lights up because 'oh richard would love this! I'll give it to him just to brighten his day!'
Richard usually tries to ignore the tightness in his chest when he thinks of jared. But it feels pointless to ignore it anymore. Jared is sweet and considerate and he just gets richard. No one understands him quite like jared. No one else can talk him down from a panic attack as well, or knows just when he needs encouragement like jared does. Nothing gives richard butterflies quite like hearing that quiet voice say 'I support you. No matter what.'
"Richard? Oh! I see you've found a place for him already," Jared said as he walked over to the figurine.
"I really hope you like it. I just thought, with all the stress you've been dealing with lately, it might be nice to get you a little something. And I know you love star trek, and then I was out shopping and he just kind of jumped out at me," Jared laughed nervously.
And Richard is feeling a little like he might pass out because everything is starting to come together in his head and he feels like an idiot for taking this long.
Jared was never just being his nice, considerate self. Well, he was, but it was more than that. He knew how richard took his coffee, his favorite type of muffin, his embarrassing nerdy obsessions. He knew when richard was nervous or upset, when he needed someone to talk to or when he just needed to be alone. He noticed everything about richard and committed it to memory.
Richard's heart was about to burst. How did he not see it all before?
"Richard? Richard are you alright? You look- here, sit down-"
Richard cut jared short by placing a hand on his jaw and pressing their lips together. His mind was swimming with 'yes's and 'finally's and everything felt right for once. As much as he wanted it to last forever, richard pulled away quickly.
"I - is this okay? Can i do this?" Richard asked nervously.
Jared just smiled and pulled him in for another kiss.
Richard made a mental note to buy jared a coffee tomorrow morning.