Jasper had never felt this good in his entire life. It had been a month since his darling (Y/n) had started working at Miguel's Kitchen and Jasper would forever be thankful for this Miguel guy hiring her. Of course Jasper still had his lows ; which were for the most part his moments apart from (Y/n) ; but thanks to his daily morning visits at the coffee shop she worked at, his condition had been getting better!

Seeing her and interacting with her every day, even if just to order his coffee, truly was a blessing. Even if (Y/n) still refused to get friendly with him for whatever reason. Not that Jasper could ever be angry at her though, he loved her way too much for that and she was way too cute! No, Jasper just settled for the uneasy smiles she offered him and the quiet greeting she mumbled when he stepped through the doors.

Of course, to anyone with a sane mind, it would be obvious that (Y/n) was incredibly uncomfortable in Jasper's presence, partly due to Lupita's warning about him and because Jasper had been showing up everyday with an unsettling smile on his face. But to Jasper's Obsessive mind, (Y/n)'s anxiety in his presence was just something else for him to appreciate about her.

She was nervous about interacting with him? He was too, though his nerves had gotten better after a month of the same routine.

He knew this would get better with time. They'd both learn to loosen up and be at ease around one another.

"Hi, and welcome to Miguel's Kitchen. What can I get for you?" (Y/n) said with a fabricated smile tinged with a nervous edge. "The usual?"

Jasper's heart melted in his chest at the thought that (Y/n) had his usual order memorized. Though it didn't take a genius for that, considering he came to the coffeeshop literally every morning for the same order.

"Yes, please." Jasper nodded his head with an earnest smile, heaving an optimistic sigh. Today was going to be a blast, he could just feel it.

"Here you go." (Y/n) handed him a plate with his blueberry muffin, and his drink. "Enjoy."

As usual, Jasper took his order with a grin and went to his seat at the front of the coffee shop, where he had the best view of his sweet darling (Y/n) as she worked and tended to other customers. A sight that elicited both pride and a hint of jealousy at seeing her smiling so warmly at everyone but him. One day she would, though, he knew it.

If only he could find something to start a conversation with her, something to make her realize that he was interesting and worth her time! Unfortunately, Jasper had never been the social kind and initiating conversation had never been his forte either.

Maybe he should jump the guns and ask her out on a date? But something told Jasper that she'd probably say no. Or maybe he should try and start a conversation about something she liked? This was probably the best way to-

"Sir?" Lupita's voice cut through his thoughts. Jasper blinked, stirring his gaze from (Y/n) to meet Lupita's gaze. She straightened her posture, crossing her arms over her chest. "You've been staring for the past thirty minutes, is there anything we can do for you?"

Oh.

Usually Jasper made sure to be a bit more... Subtle about his starring at (Y/n). But he must have gotten too engrossed in his thought and had lost track of time. This seemed to happen to him quite often these days, more often than not when he was thinking about his darling (Y/n).

Heat rose to Jasper's cheeks as he met (Y/n)'s gaze from behind Lupita's shoulder. Even when she looked uneasy, she was still the cutest.

"I'm sorry." Jasper said to Lupita with a polite smile, "I got lost in thought and hadn't noticed I was staring. It was nothing personal."

Lupita scrutinized him in tense silence, quietly assessing her next course of action. One thing was for sure, this Jasper guy had her alarms blaring and nerves tickling in all the wrong ways. He was trouble, she knew it, and she was convinced the nasty bastard had his Infected eyes on (Y/n). Question was, was it okay for her to kick him out of the coffee shop even though he had done nothing wrong yet? Miguel would probably have her skin if he learnt about this, and Jasper wasn't just any customer.

He was the mayor's son. The second most powerful person in the city. One word from him and the government would have her skin.

Anger and frustration simmered beneath her skin as she stared at him. She hated this, hated feeling powerless in the face of this shameless scumbag. He had been making (Y/n) uncomfortable for weeks now and Lupita wanted nothing more than to kick his ass.

"I think you should-"

"It's okay, Lupita." (Y/n) cut her off with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm sure he didn't mean to stare."

That was a blatant lie, obviously. (Y/n) knew Jasper had been staring, hell he'd been staring at her every freaking morning as he sipped his coffee. But he was a customer, and not just any customer. Miguel would never forgive them if they kicked the mayor's son out of the coffee shop seemingly out of the blue. To any Infected, staring at someone was the norm and nothing to get hung about.

Plus, if Jasper truly was obsessed with (Y/n) who knew what he might do to Lupita if she kicked him out and he saw her as a threat. (Y/n) felt nauseous just thinking about it.

"Most people don't get close to him because he's suspected of dabbling in... criminal affairs, for his father. But he's also known for being kind of... unstable when it comes to his Infection. So just be careful when you interact with him."

Yeah, even if (Y/n) hated having to deal with Jasper's constant stares, she couldn't let Lupita get herself in trouble over this. They'd find another way to get rid of Jasper, because there had to be another way. One that wouldn't paint a target on Lupita's back.

Lupita turned to her with a hard gaze, before understanding settled over her features and she heaved a quiet sigh.

"Sorry for the interruption, sir." She mumbled, turning her back to Jasper and walking back to the counter to clean the coffee machine.

(Y/n) flashed her an apologetic glance and leaned over to whisper in Lupita's ear. "I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to get yourself in trouble."

Lupita bit down on the inside of her cheek, tightening her hold on the plate she was holding until her knuckles turned white. She knew (Y/n) meant well, but Jasper was terrible news, and she wouldn't let him get his filthy Infected hands on (Y/n). Not after all they had gone through together, and certainly not after she had realized that she liked (Y/n) more than she thought she originally did.

She wouldn't let an Infected hurt or take away one of the only two persons she loved.

"He's obsessed with you, (Y/n). It's clear as day. We can't let him roam around the coffee shop, and even less so around you." Lupita said, her voice dropping to a whisper as her eyes trailed to Jasper packing his things and walking to the counter. "I won't let him."

(Y/n) flashed her an understanding smile before turning to Jasper as said boy set his tray on the counter.

"Thank you. Hope you have a nice day." Was all she said, but it was plenty enough for a bright smile to bloom on Jasper's lips.

"Thank you, you too! And," His eyes met Lupita's, "You as well."

Lupita half answered with a reluctant nod, heaving a sigh before turning back to the dishes. Beside her, (Y/n) watched Jasper leave, the tension in her shoulders dissipating once he was out of the coffee shop. Only when he was gone did (Y/n) turn back to her.

"We'll find something, okay? But I won't let you put yourself in danger for me. You said it yourself, he's dangerous." Was all (Y/n) said before she placed a kiss on Lupita's cheek and went back to greeting their other customers.

A gesture that had Lupita's heart swelling in her chest, in spite of the ominous feeling tugging at her gut.





































Penelope didn't know why she was even coming to the coffee shop anymore. What had been daily visits to know more about her rival in order to successfully get rid of her, had turned into something... more. Into something enjoyable, something she even found herself looking forward to. She had even completely forgotten about Jasper coming here as well, and more than that, she actually found herself actively avoiding the man she called her Darling.

It was confusing, really. To think that the part of her day she looked forward to the most was sitting down at a random coffee shop, and for what, she didn't even know.

Miguel's Kitchen's scones were good, for sure, and their Earl Grey wasn't too bad either. But it wasn't anything Penelope didn't know how to bake herself. It wasn't anything worth spending daily money on. And yet, there she was, sipping at her tea with the ghost of a smile on her lips as she looked at none other than (Y/n).

The very woman whom she was supposed to loathe.

"Everything good?" Speaking of the devil.

When Penelope had first thought about how her interactions with (Y/n) would play out, she had imagined how to best paint a smile on her features in order to conceal her hatred. But now, smiling when (Y/n) talked to her came as naturally to her as breathing. Hell, sometimes Penelope even found herself smiling at the mere thought of (Y/n)'s voice, that somehow, along the way, had become as agreeable to Penelope's ears as her favourite Chopin.

"Yes, everything's perfect. Thank you." Penelope answered with a sweetness that took even herself by surprise. What took her even more by surprise though was the longing tugging at her chest that struck her as (Y/n) nodded and turned around to leave.

Penelope slammed her book shut. Not like she had been doing much reading anyways, no, somehow her attention had been too caught up by (Y/n).

It's only because she's pretty. That's all. If she wasn't so pretty, I wouldn't be looking at her that much. Hell, I wouldn't even be looking at her.

At least, that's what Penelope told herself to make sense of something she couldn't yet understand.

(Y/n) turned her head back towards her with a surprised edge to her features.

"Hum... Do you maybe have the recipe for these scones?" Penelope knew this was a lame way to interact with (Y/n). A coffee shop didn't just give away their recipes to customers, the secrecy behind those was the whole point. Who would spend three bucks on a scone if they knew how to make it at home and for free?

But fortunately for Penelope, she couldn't care less about their lavender scones recipe, she already had her own which was admittedly better. No, what Penelope cared about, for some unknown reason, was (Y/n) looking at her and interacting with her.

(Y/n) scratched the back of her neck with a hesitant expression, obviously debating whether this was okay for her to do or not.

"Eh, I'm not sure I'm allowed to share this with you, unfortunately." She offered Penelope an apologetic smile, "But I can sneak one out for you to take home, if you'd like. You're a regular, it shouldn't be much of an issue."

Oh.

Well, Penelope wasn't about to say no to free scones. Even less so if it came from (Y/n).

"You'd do that for me?" She asked with a hand on her chest, excitement bubbling inside of her. If she had known that someone offering her scones for free would make her this happy. "That is so sweet."

(Y/n) flashed her a grin that would stay imprinted in Penelope's memory forever. "Yes, I'll put it in a paper bag and give it to you when you leave."

It took all Penelope had for her not to pump her fist in the air and do a happy dance on her seat. She knew it wasn't much, and many men had gone to much farther extents for her, but that was the thing. Maybe it wasn't so much about the gesture and more about the person behind it. And right now, (Y/n)'s kind offer had made Penelope way happier than anything Artty or her other admirers had ever done for her.

"Thank you, I'd really, really appreciate that." Penelope answered with a smile, the warmth in her chest slowly melting into a bitter taste as (Y/n) went back to her spot behind the counter, right next to her colleague.

A colleague whom (Y/n) looked a little too familiar with in Penelope's humble opinion. She didn't even know why, but the sight of (Y/n) smiling at this other girl really didn't sit well with Penelope, in a way that had her heart wincing and her knuckles turning white.

But it wasn't just the fact (Y/n) was talking with another girl. No, it was the fact she was smiling at her colleague so earnestly and so brightly. It was the fact she didn't seem fazed when this other girl's shoulder brushed against hers.

And Penelope couldn't wrap her head around the reason all these irked her the way it did. It wasn't like she had known (Y/n) for long and it wasn't like they were best friends either. Gods, two weeks ago Penelope was still thinking about how to get rid of her!

What's up with me?

(Y/n) was still a threat to Penelope's relationship with Jasper, she was still a pebble in Penelope's shoe. So why was Penelope longing for (Y/n)'s attention and glaring at this other woman like a jealous spouse? Why was the idea of anything remotely bad happening to (Y/n) so revolting to her, when she had been the one plotting her demise?

What was wrong with her? What had changed?

More than that, why couldn't she care about Jasper anymore?

Penelope used to spend days daydreaming about her future life with Jasper, planning out their wedding and picking baby names, used to spend hours baking his favourites and planning outfits she knew he'd love. But these days she couldn't seem to do either of those, her head way too full of thoughts of (Y/n)'s smiles and laughs and other ridiculously loveable things Penelope had noticed about her.

It was all so wrong.

Jasper was supposed to be her one and only Darling. This was how things worked in this society. You fell in love with The One and spent the rest of your life by their side and crazily enamoured. And Penelope had thought Jasper was the one for her, her Darling. But there she was, fantasizing about someone else who she had only just met.

Something inside of her had to be broken, right? Not quite functional. Because why else would she be falling for someone else when she already had a Darling?

No, I am not falling for her. I just think she's pretty, that's all.

Even so, Penelope knew she was fooling herself. She was many things, but stupid wasn't one of them. Penelope knew what falling in love felt like. And it felt just like looking at (Y/n) and waiting for her to look at her too.

Penelope was fucked. Because if anyone knew about this she'd be in serious trouble. Falling out of love with your Darling and falling for someone else was heavily frowned upon in the Infected society, not to say illegal. It wasn't something that happened often either and from her law lessons she could remember only one case like this.

She was an anomaly.

But here was the thing though, what if Jasper had never been her Darling? What if he had just been her best friend and the only thing close to a confidant she had ever had? What if Penelope had been so surrounded by Jasper all her life that she had convinced herself he was the one for her? That falling for him was her only option?

What if it had always been (Y/n) from the start?

Now that she thought about it, it all made so much sense to Penelope. She had never liked men, and the only reason she had liked Jasper had been because he was all she had. She loved him, yes, but not as a lover.

As a best friend.

Her mistake had been to mix up the two and think that she had been afraid of (Y/n) stealing her Darling. When truly, all along, Penelope had been scared of (Y/n) stealing her best friend.

She wouldn't make this mistake anymore, though. Penelope knew what she wanted now.

And she wanted (Y/n).

Much more than she had ever wanted Jasper or his friendship.