(A/N) Set sometime after Cath first goes into Levi's Starbucks, but before Cath and Levi stay up all night reading. Inspired by something I saw on Pinterest when someone pinned a picture of a Starbucks cup and said they thought writing Cath a subliminal message would be something Levi would do - I agree!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Coffee Cup

Cath wasn't even sure why she'd come back. And this wasn't even the first time she'd come back. She always acted like it was a surprise, even to herself, that she'd wandered back to downtown Lincoln when she was struck down with writer's block, and the Library and the Dining Hall just seemed to halt her creative juices. She needed air, which was weird, because where there was air there was outside and where there was outside there were people... Cath didn't usually do 'people'. People and interaction and talking.

But there she was. Outside. Downtown Lincoln. Telling herself she wasn't sure where she was headed, she just needed ten minutes - like, twenty, tops - to blow away the cobwebs from the halls of Watford in her mind, and then she'd get back to writing. Really, it was all Professor Piper's fault. This stupid original story assignment had gotten her in a funk, after the whole fanfiction-isn't-real-writing speech Cath had gotten. She just couldn't seem to get going. Sure, she was still dedicated - more than dedicated - to Carry On. Carry On was her masterpiece and she was damn well going to finish her life's work, her life's purpose practically. But ever since her once-favourite teacher's chastising, even Simon and Baz were tripping her up occasionally these days. Just for an hour here and there. But it meant that staring at her computer screen, and all the other familiar places in her life were extremely frustrating (and by 'all' she obviously meant the two or three places other than her room on Campus that she occasionally ventured).

So, sometimes, she'd find herself putting her snow boots on and wandering aimlessly for inspiration. She told herself that it wasn't like she needed friends or Wren or anyone to use as a sounding board - especially not Wren given the current state of things - she just needed out of her room for a little while. Cath and Simon and Baz just need some crisp Winter air. That should have been a red flag for Cath that something was up. But hey, she was in denial.

These 'aimless' writer's block wanderings seemed to be happening a couple of times a week, and they always seemed to end up in downtown Lincoln, at Starbucks. Levi's Starbucks.

"Huh," Cath muttered to herself, when she paid enough attention to the world around her to realise where she had ended up (for the second time that week). (She kept justifying it to herself that of course she was bound to end up here if she left campus because she didn't know where anything else was. It wasn't because Levi worked here. Please.)

She stood on the sidewalk looking up at the neon Starbucks sign. 'Well,' she thought to herself. 'It is freezing. And I'm here. I might as well go in.' She told herself it didn't even matter if Levi was working tonight or not (he was). She was just here for coffee (even though she didn't really drink it that much).

"Cather!"

Levi spotted her before she saw him. She'd been inside for all of five seconds and was still letting her retinas adjust to the glaringly luminous interior, whilst he was leaning on the counter and awarding her one of his many charming Levi-smiles.

"Isn't it bright enough in here already without you flashing those at everyone who walks in here?" she grumbled at him from the doorway, unwinding her scarf slightly so she could breathe.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he grinned at her. "How do you know I smile at everyone who walks in? Maybe I've been saving an especially bright one for you."

"Because it's you, and that's what you do. All day, with the smiling, like it's so easy." She was in front of him now, trying to be mean so as not to encourage his charm, but he was ignoring her tone.

"It is easy, we've been over this." He laughed. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure? This is the second time you've visited me in a week! I'm honoured."

"I'm not visiting you," Cath said quickly. She could feel a blush heating her cheeks. Honestly, she didn't even know why. It was just Levi. Just charming-smiles-at-everyone-Levi. She concentrated hard on the menu board above his head. "I just needed to stretch my legs. Get some air. Recharge."

"How uncharacteristic of you," He commented, reaching for a takeaway cup and pumping something in to it. "What's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," he said, flipping a switch behind him and putting the cup under it, "that you, my dear, do not go outside willingly. So. What's up?"

"Nothing!"

"Cather." His eyebrows were frowning and he was looking at her so hard she couldn't look him in the eye. "You've obviously come to see me so you can spill your darkest deepest secrets to your favourite barista, so you might as well tell me."

She rolled her eyes and mentally tutted at him. "Please. Don't think so highly of yourself."

A smile was tugging at his lips as he reached over the counter and prodded her arm. He didnt say anything more, just smiled, waiting.

She found her resolve melting slightly. That guy needed to use his powers for good, rather than the coaxing-information-out-of-Cath evil he was always using his charm for.

"I... I just have some stuff going on. You know, with Wren and class..." Cath found she couldn't quite look him in the eye. Instead she fiddled with the pleated ends of her scarf, just to keep her hands busy.

She looked up and Levi was putting the lid on top of the hot drink he'd just concocted, a gentle smile on his lips and genuine warmth in his eyes. The problem with Levi, Cath thought, was that he was never not genuine. He was too good like that. "Do you want to talk about it? You can stay here if you'd like, I get off in an hour. I can drive you home."

"Um, no, that's ok." That was enough soul-baring and outside-ness for one evening, Cath thought. She didn't even know why she'd told him anything in the first place. Levi just made her want to confide in him (damn it). "I'll, uh, just take a coffee to go. Grande coffee. Thanks." She added when he didn't move.

"Well, if you change your mind, you know where I am." Levi smiled, looking her directly in the eye.

"Yes, I do. You're always in my room." She sarcastically dead-eyed him right back.

"I object," Levi grinned wickedly, feigning being offended by dramatically putting a hand to his chest. "Just whom is visiting whom in their place of work? Face it, Cath, you like having me around."

Cath glared at him from behind her glasses, and prayed that she could blame her reddening cheeks on the warmth of the coffee shop. The truth was, she didn't mind Levi hanging around all the time. She'd gotten used to him. Like you get used to having a plant around the house, she told herself. He was just there. Smiling, and eating her protein bars, and occasionally making her laugh and bringing her coffee. Sure, he'd helped her out with the recent Wren-situation and, ok, she found him pretty easy to talk to, but that didn't mean anything.

"Don't flatter yourself." Cath said flatly. Despite her glaring, Levi looked like he was having the time of his life. Which was impressive, considering he'd already worked a four hour evening shift in Starbucks in the dead of Winter in downtown Lincoln. "I don't even know why I came in, since you seem to have trouble with a basic order."

Levi's eyebrow quirked. "Coffee. Grande coffee?" she reminded him.

"One," he said, reaching for a pen from behind the till. "You came in for my dazzling company." He started making lines and jotting something down on the cup in front of him he'd prepared earlier. Cath vaguely thought this too was impressive since it was full of hot liquid. "Two, 'grande coffee'? Pfft. We can do better than that." He pushed the cup towards her. "Pumpkin Mocha Breve." He grinned.

She smiled, despite herself. "Thanks. It is better than regular coffee..." she admitted. Cath started reaching in her pocket for some money.

"No, it's on me." Levi held his hands up, refusing to accept any payment. "You've had a rough evening."

Cath looked at him for a beat, standing there in his all black apparel, somehow pulling off a stupid green apron like it was made for him and smiling at her like he couldn't see anyone else. "Thank you," she said, meaning it. She took the cup and held it up. He'd written "Cather" on it, and drawn Simon & Baz 4ever inside a love heart on the side. She chuckled.

"So... can I drive you home later?" He asked hopefully.

"Uh... no, thanks." She said quickly. "I better get back. I think that's enough fresh air for one day. I can probably write again now."

He looked momentarily disappointed, but a smile almost instantly slipped back into place. He wasn't done. "Come on, Cath. It's late and it's dark. What's an hour? You can write here. Then I'll drive you home." Levi's head cocked to the side, grinning at her and daring her to disagree with him.

"I'm not writing in Starbucks." Cath said flatly. "I'm not going to be one of those people. I can't write with other people around!"

"Then why did you bring your laptop?" Levi countered, nodding at her bag.

"I- Um..." Cath stutterd, looking down at her bag. He had her there. She didn't even know why she had brought her laptop. "Y'know... in case inspiration strikes, or something..." she muttered, looking at her shoes, and knowing she was full of crap.

She looked up into his grinning face. "Fine." He grinned wider at her defeat. "Fine. I'll stay. Are you happy now, Mr-Hero-Complex?"

"Ecstatic." Levi was going to break his face if he smiled any more, Cath thought. She smiled a little too. It was catching.

A queue was starting to form, and Levi and another black-clad barista were the only people working. "Take a seat right over there." Levi directed her to a table by the window, right opposite the counter. "You can drink all the free re-fills you like and admire me better from over there."

Cath rolled her eyes, but did as he suggested. She picked up the drink Levi had made her and tucked herself into the table, pulling her laptop out of her bag as she did. She booted up and tried not to let her eyes slide back over to Levi. It was difficult not to though, as he bounced around, taking people's orders and just being... Levi. She caught herself smiling as he asked a little girl if she'd like whipped cream with her hot chocolate.

Get back to work, Cath told herself, forcing herself to look back at her screen. She was pondering over a particularly difficult Agatha-Baz stand-off when she reached for her drink. She took a sip and laughed to herself again when she caught sight of Levi's doodlings. She turned the cup around and saw he'd crossed something out on the other side.

Levi had put a sleeve around the cup so Cath wouldn't burn her fingers. On the cup itself was a warning to the holder that the beverage they were holding was extremely hot and the drinker should take caution. But Levi - Levi - stupid, charming Levi, had crossed out a portion of this message and added in her name, so instead it read: "Careful, Cath - - - - - you're - - - - - extremely hot."

Cath's mouth dropped and she could feel the blush creeping up her neck. She turned her head slightly, peeking out of the corner of her eye towards the counter. Levi was busy with a middle-of-the-evening rush. She was part-mortified, part-amused, part-something else. He was just being silly, she told herself. Just being playful. She wasn't flattered. It didn't mean anything. It didn't mean anything the way it made her heart thud in her chest, or the way it made it made her stomach jump into her throat. It was just something on a coffee cup. It had absolutely nothing to do with Levi. (Yeah, right.)

She drank the rest of her drink, twisting the coffee cup this way and that. The end of Levi's shift came and he signalled to her he was going to clock-out and he'd meet her at the door in five. She packed up her laptop, and absentmindedly tucked the now-empty cup in the front pocket of her bag. The trash was probably full, she told herself, and Levi would be back any second. It'd take too long, she'd just throw it away when she got back to the dorm.

"Ready?" Levi beamed, holding the door open for her.

Months later, Levi was helping Cath pack up her dorm room to go home for the summer. 'Helping' was a strong word, since Cath wasn't letting him do much. She had a system. Mainly, she let Levi sit on her bed and finish off a jar of peanut butter.

"Cath, are you sure there's nothing I can do to help? I am good at some things, you know. I've even been known to be helpful."

"I have a system," Cath reminded him, carefully piling books in a box. "I'll only re-do it if you help. But thank you," she smiled, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

This placated him enough. "Well, if you're sure," he smiled. "Just say the word if you change your mind."

"I won't," she assured him, wrapping a poster into a roll.

"Do you have any water? All this helping you out by eating the last of your peanut butter is thirsty work." He grinned cheekily.

"Check the bottom drawer," Cath told him, nodding to her desk.

Levi leaned over from her bed and pulled out the drawer. When he didn't reappear upright, Cath stopped what she was doing and looked over at him. "Levi?"

"What's this?" he asked, sitting up with a slightly flattened, old Starbucks cup in his hand.

"Nothing. Just some trash," Cath said quickly, trying to grab it from him.

"No, it's not...!" he said, falling back as she tackled him, but his arms were longer than hers and he held the cup in the air out of her reach. "This is my handwriting. Did you save this, Cather?" he was grinning at her now. She gave up and half collapsed on him, before sitting up and watching him turn the cup over in his hands.

Cather. Simon & Baz 4ever. Careful, Cath - - - - - you're - - - - - extremely hot.

"I wondered if you'd noticed." He chuckled to himself, and then looked up at her sat opposite him on her bed. "You never said."

"I thought you were taken!" Cath said. She smiled at him. "I don't even know why I saved it." She leaned over, just needing to be closer to him. He met her halfway and kissed her lightly.

"It's because I'm hilarious, and this cup proves that you have always thought so."

Cath rolled her eyes, and hauled herself back up off the bed. She needed to finish soon, they had limited time left before summer break. Levi tucked the cup into one of her packing boxes. She didn't comment, just caught his hand and squeezed it. Levi brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.

If Levi had kept looking, he'd have found his old copy of The Outsiders, and elastic band Levi once spent an entire hour flicking at Cath from Regan's side of the room when they were supposed to be studying way back in October, and a flyer from the tractor museum on East Campus that Levi had jokingly slipped under her door a few months ago when he'd insisted it would be a wonderfully interesting outing (it wasn't), amongst a whole other host of keepsakes.

Cath loved keepsakes. She loved things that reminded her of Levi.

Cath loved Levi. Period.

The End