The store was quiet—too quiet. You were reaching for the top shelf of cereal, stretching on your tiptoes, when your elbow nudged a precarious stack of cans.

They teetered for a moment like slow-motion chaos… and then toppled in a domino avalanche across the floor.

Your heart sank. “Oh no… oh no oh no oh no—”

Before you could even begin to panic, a shadow appeared beside you. Ben.

“Relax,” he said, crouching down to pick up the cans with an easy precision. “It’s just cans.”

You bite your lip, cheeks burning. “I just—ugh—I’m so clumsy!”

Ben smirks slightly, handing you a can. “Clumsy? Maybe. But you’ve got good taste in cereal.”

You freeze for a second, unsure if he’s joking. He tilts his head, grinning, and then bends down again to pick up more cans.

Together, the two of you stack them back neatly. There’s a rhythm to it, quiet and comfortable, with only the faint hum of the fluorescent lights around you.

“You know,” he says after a moment, brushing dust off a can, “I could make this fun.”

“Fun?” You raise an eyebrow.

“Yes. Whoever drops the most cans… has to buy the other a coffee on their next break.” He smirks.