When Harley thought about college, all they could do was cringe. They didn't want to go, not yet at least. They'd spent their whole life in middle-of-nowhere Tennessee and they wanted to see a part of the world that wasn't surrounded by corn and soybeans.

It'd taken some time and a slight intervention from Tony, but Harley convinced their mom to let them take a gap year in New York. Their plan was to simply exist and meet new people. No large expectations, no grades to worry about, just a new experience.

Now, this didn't happen overnight and logistics needed to be worked out. After a few talks with Tony, they agreed to let him put them up in a studio apartment (Tony had offered a room at SI and Harley wasn't about to live in a giant tower). There was a small coffee shop on the ground floor that just happened to be hiring. It all fell together so perfectly. It was almost as if fate had a hand in it.

The coffee shop downstairs was eclectic and homey. None of the chairs or tables matched, in a good way. Potted plants of all kinds littered the window sills and were hung from high ceilings. The brick walls were covered in artwork of local artists, many of who had worked at the coffee shop at one point or another. There was a community board, a chalk board menu, and a playlist like no other.

Harley loved working there. It didn't take long to learn that all of the baristas were queer in one way or another and Harley'd never had a problem with their coworkers not using their pronouns. That, in and of itself, was a wonderful experience. In Rose Hill, there were other gay people, but they'd never met another nonbinary person. The other baristas were quick to friend them and bring them to activities at an LGBTQ+ center not too far from the coffee shop.

Harley had moved to New York right as the school year started. High school kids would pour in each afternoon, but Harley didn't mind. The shop never got too busy. One day, though, things seemed slower. Maybe sports were starting, or a majority of the kids had spent their coffee money too early. The kids that were there were working quietly on homework all through Harley's shift.

But, as Harley's shift ended and their friends were dragging them out the door, Harley saw maybe the cutest boy to ever live. They noticed the curls first, messy and cute. The boy was wearing a green jacket, despite it being early September. He walked up to the counter and ordered an iced mocha with almond milk. Unfortunately, that's all Harley heard from the boy that day.

A week later, Harley was on the clock again. The coffee shop was in another lull, really only the regulars inside. It was gray and rainy outside, making the world itself seem gloomy. But Harley didn't mind, they loved the rain and how cozy everything inside felt when it was raining. Needless to say, they were in a pretty good mood.

The bell on the front door rang and Harley looked up from where they were pouring milk into someone's coffee and nearly spilled it all. It was the cute boy from the other day, hoodie on and a large backpack slung over his shoulder. Harley quickly composed themself, ran the coffee to the customer, and ended up on the other side of the counter from this boy. Luckily, Harley had a few tricks up their sleeve to keep them functioning and flirty when a particularly attractive patron walked in.

"What can I get yah, darlin'?"

The boy, who had seemed somewhat distracted up until now, looked up and locked eyes with Harley. Harley's stomach may have fluttered a bit when the boy's cheeks turned red.

"I, um, I'll have a iced mocha with hazelnut and almond milk, please." The boy bit his lip after the sentence, sending Harley's stomach into yet another tizzy.

"Of course, anything else today?"

"Uh, nope, that'll be it, thanks."

"No problem, I'll have that right out to yah!" Harley flashed the boy a smile, making him blush even more before he paid and turned to find a table.

Harley went right to work on the mocha. When they delivered it to the boy's table, he had physics books and paper strewn all over it. The boy said thank you and Harley continued on their shift, cleaning tables and making coffee. They definitely weren't stealing glances at the cute boy.

And while they definitely weren't stealing those glances, they definitely didn't notice that the boy was getting a little frustrated with what appeared to be his homework. It wasn't super obvious, he wasn't making a scene or anything like that at all, Harley just recognized the frustration that always seemed to come along with high school physics teachers. It wasn't until the boy dropped his head to the table in what can only be described as defeat that Harley decided to see what was up.

No one new had come into the shop in a while and their shift was almost over, so the second their coworker showed up, they headed towards the boy.

"Hey, darlin', everything alright?" Harley slid into the chair across from the boy and the boy lifted his head up.

"Oh gosh, am I bothering anyone?" the boy glanced around a bit before his eyes landed back on Harley.

"Naw, you're fine, just wanted to make sure you're okay. Physics huh?"

"Ugh, physics." The boy set his head back down on the book, making Harley chuckle.

"Alright, I may be a barista, but my shift just got over with, and I may or mayn't've taken advanced physics last year, is there anything I can do to help?" Harley put on their best smile and the boy's shoulder dropped as the stress left his body.

"Oh my god, please, I've been stuck on this problem for so long!"

It didn't take Harley long to figure out that the boy was using the wrong formula, which happens to pretty much everybody at least once when learning physics. After that, it didn't take long for the boy to finish the problem.

"I cannot believe that it was the formula. I swear that I'm actually good at science!" The boy said as he closed his science book.

"Don't worry about, glad I could help!" Harley stood up, "I should probably getting going though."

"Oh, for sure, thank again for your help," the boy stood up too. Harley turned to leave out the back when the boy said:

"By the way, I'm, uh, my name's Peter."

"Nice to've met you Peter, I'm Harley, they/them pronouns."

"Cool, uh, he/him."

"Nice, I guess I'll see you around then, Peter." Harley walked towards the back, smiling all the way.

A/N Hey Y'all!

It has been literal years since I've had the drive/focus to work on a multi-chapter fic. But as the World Expert in Nonbinary Harley (WENH for short, I might need a better title) I felt like a coffee shop au was in order! idk how consistantly I'll upload or even how many chapters there will be, but I hope y'all will stick around for the ride.

For those of you here from Tumblr, welcome! I never expected for people to ask to be tagged when I post a fic I'm writing and I really hope y'all enjoy it! I'll let y'all go now, you know the drill, kudos, comments, etc. are always appriciated!

Love y'all!

Mem