Chapter 7

Danny figured that he might not hear from Haru again. He had helped Danny out–so, so much, Danny couldn't even begin to thank him for it— had gotten to hear directly from Danny how things had gotten better, and had bought Danny a present. Haru had been kind, thoughtful, and generous in ways that were almost overwhelming.

Haru had done his good deed though. What else would he need to see Danny for?

Danny did his best to put it out of his mind as he walked home from the cafe after their meeting. He'd try and not think about Haru. He wouldn't think about not getting to see his smile again, the way he quizzed Danny on what he liked to eat, his quirky sense of humor. The soft way he spoke, and the selfless way he had made time for Danny when Danny had needed it most.

"Sometimes it's nice to do things for other people just because. I thought you might like a scarf. I was hoping it might help keep you warm. That's all."

He caught himself standing just inside his apartment, stroking his fingers over and over the softness of the scarf and made a frustrated sound, unwinding it from around his neck and shrugging off his jacket. Normalcy. He needed to get back to normalcy.

Usually Danny had plenty to do on the weekends. It was his time to cram in as much studying as he could to get to be ready for the week ahead. He'd be able to distract himself no problem–

Except, no. Because all of Danny's school work was done.

Instead of having to spend hours and hours trying to get through reading assignments and worksheets, Danny had been able to listen to his lessons throughout the week, do his homework in a third of the time, and even finish an extra credit assignment for his business law class. He hadn't had to lose sleep desperately trying to read ahead in his textbooks because he had programs at his fingertips, ready to recite the words out loud for him.

All of a sudden… Danny had free time.

It was hard to figure out what to do with it. He'd spent so long being run ragged that time was a luxury he'd never before encountered. What did people even do when they weren't so busy and stressed out that they wanted to be sick?

He still hadn't figured it out by the time he was ready for dinner, but he had done his laundry, cleaned his entire little apartment top to bottom, and had made it almost all of the way through the first audiobook in The Murderbot Diaries series. He hadn't had the luxury of reading just for fun in ages, and it was so nice.

Riding the high of what had been overall a stupidly good week, Danny decided to treat himself and go out to eat.

It was with great pleasure that he put on his heavy brown coat and wrapped his new scarf around his neck before he headed out.

Grand Azteca was as warm and welcoming as always, but it was already full when Danny showed up. Which made sense, considering it was a Saturday night. Something Danny had kind of forgotten to take into account. Isabella was working as host though, and she smiled at Danny when she caught sight of him, motioning him forward.

"But you're so busy," Danny said as she led him to a little table in the back.

"Seating for one is a lot easier to swing," Isabella said with a shrug. Then she grinned at him. "And Antonio's serving. He'll be happy to see you."

Danny gave her a baffled look, which didn't go away when he realized– "Wait, what are you even doing here? I thought you stopped working here when you got that fancy communications gig."

Isabella waved a hand. "We were short-staffed, so I was called in. Needs must, etcetera. When Abuela wants my help…" She snapped her fingers. "And we're still short-staffed, so I gotta get back to the front. See ya!"

Antonio showed up a few minutes later, plunking a water down on the little table. He looked frazzled in a way he didn't usually, and barely even teased Danny.

"Everything okay?" Danny asked, after he gave Antonio his order.

Antonio waved his arms wildly. "We've got a private birthday party, two anniversary dinners, our regular crowd, and three people who called in sick with the flu. I'm dying."

"Do you… need help?" Danny asked hesitantly.

Antonio made a face and opened his mouth… then closed it again, expression turning considering. "Are you offering?"

Danny had no idea. Was he? "I guess?"

Antonio blinked a few times, then shook his head. "Okay, okay, I'm probably crazy but you know what? I don't care. You speak Spanish, you know the menu, and you're cute so people will forgive you if you look a little grumpy. I can save this table and put in your order. Even if you just helped out until it was ready…"

"Okay," Danny's mouth said before his brain could catch up. "But are you even allowed to–"

"I'll take the heat in twenty minutes," Antonio hissed, pulling a second notepad and pencil out of nowhere and shoving them at Danny. "Just refill drinks and ask if everyone's enjoying themselves and if they're ready for dessert. I've got to check the bathrooms and make sure they aren't trashed and still have toilet paper."

And then Danny was left by himself, clutching a tiny notebook, and wondering what the hell he had just gotten himself into.

He had a brief fleeting thought of just leaving, but not only did he not want to do that to Antonio, he also wanted to be able to come back to Grand Azteca in the future. Which meant he couldn't just high-tail it now that he'd offered to help.

All that was left to do was set his shoulders and try his best.

He headed to the kitchen to locate a water pitcher– refill drinks Antonio had said–and when he arrived, there were several trays of freshly-made food just sitting there. Waiting to be taken out.

"Uh," Danny tried amid the bustle and noise of the kitchen. "Who is this for?"

No one even looked over to ask why on earth some random guy was in the kitchen. "Tables seven through nine!" someone barked in Spanish. "Happy fucking twenty-fifth!" Danny thought he recognized the man as Luis. Danny had only seen him leave the kitchen a couple of times, but Antonio had pointed him out once, chattering on about how their abuela was planning on leaving the restaurant to him when she retires at one hundred thirty-seven but no sooner than that. Basically, when Abuela wasn't there, Luis was in charge.

Okay, Danny thought resolutely. No one liked cold food.

He'd seen enough servers to know that–ah, okay, he located the little folding table things that big trays got set on, stacked on up one side of the kitchen. He grabbed one and hooked it over his elbow, then very carefully grabbed one of the large trays of food.

Right. Okay.

He didn't know the table numbers all that well, but several of the big table groups had balloons. Danny had trouble differentiating his 2s and 5s , but he did know the general shape of them. They looked different from 5 and 0 which were what the balloons on the other big table grouping across the room said.

Mindful of the heavy tray, he picked his way towards tables seven through nine, all clustered together so that the group was as close as they could be. When he got there, he tried to manage a smile to hide his nerves as he gingerly unfolded the little table and set the tray on it. "Uh, hi–happy anniversary. Sorry, I'm filling in for a sec, so I didn't take your orders." He glanced down at the tray and thanked Grand Azteca's incredibly visual menu, because at least he mostly recognized the dishes. Fake it til you make it. He'd figure this out through the process of elimination. "Who ordered the chimichanga?"

The dishes were miraculously distributed without issue, and Danny assured the table that he'd be right back with the rest of the food. As he rushed to the kitchen, someone from another table flagged him down to ask for drink refills.

"Yeah, I, uh, sorry," Danny said. "I'll be with you in just a few minutes."

He got to the kitchen, grabbed the second tray of food, went back to the anniversary table to distribute it, swung by the other table to get drinks orders, then headed back to the kitchen again. He didn't bother trying to write anything down, because all the drinks were easy enough to memorize.

He also didn't bother asking where the drinks were once he got to the kitchen, because he spied the soda machine on the right side and beelined to it, plucking up a tray on the way.

One sprite, one diet coke, two strawberry lemonades– then he added a pitcher of ice water and went back out.

Isabella was just seating a table of four when Danny finished with the drinks, and she gave him a truly bewildered look as he passed her with the water pitcher. He shrugged, unable to convey how completely he didn't understand what was going on either, but he did fill four glasses with water and brought them to the new table, taking further drink orders before noticing that the two people at the table behind the giant anniversary party didn't look like they were eating anymore. Just sitting and talking, with mostly-empty plates.

They were interested in dessert when he asked, so he just went with it.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when someone grabbed his arm just as he was heading to the kitchen again. Danny jumped and whirled around–to see Antonio staring at him in horror.

"What?" Danny asked uneasily. Did he get someone's order wrong?

"What do you mean what? " Antonio burst out. "We said twenty minutes!"

"Okay…?" Danny honestly didn't know how long it had been.

"I thought you ate and left!" Antonio said, jabbing a finger in Danny's direction.

Danny huffed. "No one told me my food was ready. And it's been busy."

"‘It's been busy,' he says," Antonio repeated, grabbing at his hair. "Aubela's going to kill me."

"Why?" Danny was doing his best not to scowl now. He kind of thought he was doing a good job.

"Because I don't have the authority to hire someone! And you're going to have to be on payroll after tonight!"

"Oh–" That reminded him. "About that…" Danny pulled some bills out of his pocket and offered them to Antonio. It wasn't an insignificant amount of money, and Danny didn't need to be holding it any longer than he had to. "A few people finished and stuff."

Antonio looked at him as though Danny had insulted his mother. "Those are tips."

"I know that," Danny hissed, more annoyed than concerned now. "But you were busy."

"I was busy working the other side of the restaurant, because I thought someone had been called in to take care of my side!"

Danny took a deep breath and tried to remind himself that Antonio was just high-strung. "Explain why you're mad. I was literally just doing what you asked me to."

"I'm not mad!" Antonio shoved at the money in Danny's hands. "Put that back!"

"On the tables?" Danny tried to work out. "But–"

"In your pocket," Antonio near shrieked. "They're your tips."

"But–"

"Luis!" Antonio wailed in Spanish. "Did you finish the taco tasting plate?"

"Antonio–"

The plate of food was produced, and Antonio grabbed it. "C'mon!"

Danny sighed, not bothering to protest, and followed Antonio… back to the little table, which was still empty.

Antonio put the plate of food down—the taco tasting plate was Danny's order, Danny remembered now—and waved a finger in Danny's direction. "You will sit here. You will eat your food. You will not wait any more tables. And you will flag me down when you're done. Capiche? "

"I thought you were Cuban, not Italian," Danny mumbled, but he did sit. Now that his food was in front of him, he was hungry.

"Bon appetit," Antonio snarked before running away.

Danny took his time with his food, trying not to inhale it. Normally he had leftovers from a meal at Grand Azteca, but this time he finished the entire plate as well as all the chips and salsa on the table. When he came up for air, he noticed that the restaurant was a little less busy.

Which made sense when he checked his phone and he realized in shock that it was almost ten.

When Antonio came back, Luis was in tow, and they both looked serious. Danny watched them nervously, wondering what in the world he had done that was so bad it had made Luis leave the kitchen.

Luis sat down across from Danny at the little table while Antonio hovered nervously next to them.

Luis shot Antonio a look that Danny could best interpret as annoyed but amused. "So," Luis said, placing a piece of paper on the table. "Antonio told me he didn't actually get you hired before putting you to work."

Danny's eyes flicked to Antonio. "Uh…"

"It was only going to be twenty minutes," Antonio said, looking beseechingly at Danny. "I didn't know he was gonna go all server-savant!"

Luis pointed to him. "You, hush." To Danny he said, "You, I'm gonna need a social security number."

"What?" Danny asked incredulously, not sure he had heard right.

"You're hired," Luis said dryly. "Otherwise Aubela's gonna wring all our necks." He pointed to the piece of paper. "Fill this out, bring it back tomorrow along with a voided check or whatever if you want to set up direct deposit, and we can work on getting you on some actual training and regular shifts. Normally we interview, but you did some fucking good work tonight, so I'll vouch."

Danny gaped at him. "For two hours? You could just like, comp my meal or something."

Luis looked from Danny to Antonio, and then back again. "I'm sorry," he said, smiling wide. "Did you just say Antonio put you to work and you weren't even trying to work here?"

"I–" Danny's mind whirled. He hadn't held a job since he started school, because Clint didn't want him working and Danny had too much school work to struggle keeping on top of that he barely had time for anything else anyway.

But his school work had been nothing this week. Danny himself had had no idea how to fill all his time. And a job could be such a good thing. It would let him save so much more, so much faster. It would give him such a bigger cushion for when Clint inevitably dropped him.

Clint was already aware of how much time Danny needed– needed– to spend on school work. There was no reason why Danny couldn't just… fill some of his newfound free time with a job and not tell him.

What Clint didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"No, um, sorry," Danny said in a rush. "I was just… surprised? But yes, yeah, I-I'd love to work here. Please."

Luis raised an eyebrow while Antonio gave two emphatic, slightly-hysterical thumbs-up. "Well, okay then," Luis said after a moment. "Servers make eight an hour base rate because three dollars is fucking criminal, there's family meal on days you're on shift, your choice if you want to eat it or not, and you keep all your own tips. Can you come in tomorrow at like ten? Gives us some time before we open for the lunch crowd."

"Yeah," Danny said quickly. "That's fine, sure."

Luis held out his hand for Danny to shake. "Welcome aboard, kid."

***

Danny's thoughts were still going a mile a minute by the time he finally got home a little before ten. He wasn't finished processing the fact that he had acquired a new job, three takeaway containers filled with food, and a pocket full of cash.

He put the food into his fridge, set the paper that he was supposed to fill out with his information on his table to do tomorrow, and pulled the cash out of his pocket to count it up. Astonishingly, it was eighty dollars and some change. That was eighty bucks that he suddenly had. That he could put into savings, or use for a little extra on groceries. Anything he wanted.

And he had the chance to make more now, at a job he was even kind of good at, no real reading or writing required because he just memorized everyone's orders. He'd had to scribble down approximations for the kitchen as best he could, but there hadn't been any complaints so maybe it didn't matter?

It was kind of mind-blowing how easy it had been.

He tucked the cash away and jumped in the shower to try to calm himself down some, getting into his coziest clothes for bed. He'd had a long day and was tired, and he had the luxury of actually going to sleep now, when he wanted to, instead of having to stay up and try to muddle through reading.

He settled into bed with his phone and earbuds to listen to more of his book, when he realized he had gotten a voice message. From Haru. That he must have missed, amid everything else that had happened that evening.

Fuck, the fact that Haru kept sending Danny voice messages instead of texts warmed Danny down to his toes. It was such a simple thing, but so—so nice. Instead of having to struggle through trying to read a message or making do with his phone's robot recitation, Danny got to have Haru's voice in his ear.

He licked his lips and set it to play.

"It was really nice to see you again," Haru's voice said, as pleasant and smooth as always. "I know you mentioned you have star charts to do for your astronomy class. Would you be interested in hanging out Sunday night? It's supposed to be cloudless, so perfect for looking at the stars. We could do dinner first, if you wanted. My treat."

Danny played the message three times to make sure he'd heard it right.

Yeah, he and Haru had talked about astronomy when they were together earlier–Haru had brought up Danny's class, because Haru was a ‘self-professed astronomy nerd' and Danny had mentioned that making star charts was part of his homework, but he hadn't thought Haru had been serious when he'd lit up and suggested they go stargaze together sometime.

Danny stared down at his phone. Apparently Haru had been serious about both the stargazing and wanting to spend more time with Danny.

Danny might not have been able to read words, but he wasn't half bad at reading intentions. It was a skill he'd picked up trying to survive, and for the most part he wasn't off with his interpretations.

Haru was giving Danny all the signs that he was interested. In Danny.

For some reason.

Danny could easily explain away their first few meetings as Haru trying to do a good thing. Helping his friend's little sister's friend. Sure. That made sense.

But this would be the fifth time he'd invited Danny out, and that was after already helping Danny put all his disability accommodations into place. Danny didn't technically need Haru anymore, and Haru knew that. Giving Danny a present for no reason, inviting Danny out for dinner with stargazing for dessert… those weren't things you did because you were doing a favor for your friend's little sister. You did those things because you were interested in someone and wanted to get to know them better.

Danny couldn't quite tell if he was flattered by someone like Haru wanting to give him the time of day or worried. Haru still didn't set off any alarm bells and he hadn't made even the slightest insinuation that he wanted something from Danny that Danny didn't want to give. Danny liked him. Haru was smart and considerate and kind. He had a silly and slightly dramatic sense of humor that never failed to pull Danny out of his shell some. He was so thoughtful, asking Danny about food preferences and then remembering them. Danny was only just getting to know Haru better, but he wanted to keep getting to know him, even though Danny knew he was doomed to disappoint the man when Danny inevitably fucked up.

Not to mention the fact that Danny was already kind of… taken. Kind of. It wasn't as though Clint considered Danny a boyfriend or vice versa. The very thought was laughable. It had been made quite clear from the start that Danny was a plaything. He was an easy piece of ass who was at Clint's beck and call, and Clint liked the power trip.

But Danny couldn't afford to lose what Clint was giving him. He needed to pay for school, he needed to pay his rent, and he needed to put food on the table. He couldn't work enough hours at the minimum-wage jobs he was qualified for to pay for all those things. Not with all the time he needed to put into school just to stay afloat.

His train of thought ground to a halt. All the time he had had to put into school… before his accommodations.

Before this evening. He had eighty dollars in cash that he hadn't had two hours ago. He had a job that he hadn't had two hours ago. A job that paid eight an hour plus tips, that he could actually conceivably do. Because school would take so much less time.

There was no way he'd be able to be free of Clint this semester though. Maybe not even next semester.

But maybe… maybe there was the possibility of it happening after that.

The thought unfurled a tentative hope inside of him, and had him glancing back down at his phone. What if?

What if he didn't have Clint to worry about? Could he have seen where things might have gone with Haru?

As it was, there were a million reasons why Haru might decide to stop giving Danny the time of day. He could decide Danny wasn't worth it, like so many other people already had. He could find out about Clint, and that would be a nightmare all on its own.

Danny should politely say no thank you. Should let Haru become a happy memory. One that was tinged with maybes and what ifs but not colored unhappily with real-world disappointment

He should say no. He had to think of the right now, like always. He had to think of Clint—any time spent with Haru was another chance for Clint to find out about him. He had to think of Haru— the man didn't deserve to be saddled with Danny's baggage.

But…

He really didn't want to.

He didn't want to say goodbye to Haru already.

It had been so nice to spend time with someone who was kind to him, who was maybe kind of into him, and not feel like there was anything required.

He wanted to hold onto this one small thing as long as he could, even if he knew it was selfish. Even if he knew it wouldn't last.

It was late, but Danny dictated a message anyway. "I'd love to. What time?"