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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

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Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Seventeen

Series Masterpost

Word Count: 8.5k Notes: Chapter title from "It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish" by My Chemical Romance. This chapter contains one of my favourite exchanges of the whole fic.

Chapter Seventeen - I’ve Lost My Fear Of Falling

It took a little longer than Gerard expected (and wanted) for the dresses to arrive at his apartment, but it turned out that they’d been delayed just a tiny bit due to a stock issue. Not that he got mad about it, he wasn’t that much of an asshole, and they had kept him updated. He was just impatient. He was at work when he received the notification that they’d been delivered. Gerard hesitated, his phone in his hand, opened up to the text conversation window he had with the blonde. He could text her right away, but would that come across as too… Needy? Insistent? Eager? But maybe she wouldn’t be able to come and try them on right away; surely it would be better to find that out sooner rather than later. Gerard gave in and texted her, a tiny bit surprised that she didn’t get back to him almost right away like she normally did. When she did reply, however, she started with an apology. Sorry! We were with a big client. He takes a little while sometimes. He insists that I help grandpa out when he comes in to see us. He immediately felt the bile of jealousy rise in, not just his throat, but his chest as well and tried to squash that down. Before he could reply, another message came through. Don’t worry, you’re still my favourite ;) Gerard heard himself chuckle a little, surprised when he felt better. Well, I’m glad. Of course you are. You’re way prettier and you don’t call me things that you think are cute, but are actually creepy. He frowned. Like what? Baby. Dollface. Think he called me ‘babydoll’ once. Bleugh! Gerard pulled a face as he read her message. In front of your grandfather?! Unfortunately not; only when he’s not within earshot. I hate that for you. Need me to come and be a menacing presence? Standing in her grandfather’s office, just to take a few minutes away from this client, Shelly read Gerard’s response and giggled. Oh, honey. No, it’s okay. Unless he’s one of those men who only listens when a man tells him what to do. In which case, I think he’ll listen to my grandfather. Thank you though <3 Any time Shell. Let me know when you want to try on these dresses too? Of course. I should get back to work before he starts subtly complaining. The offer’s an open one. Just let me know and I’ll come and look after you. Oh, Gerard <3 It’s not that he was worried about her, so to speak; he was sure that she could look after herself. He was also sure that her grandfather would stand up for her if she needed him to. He didn’t like the idea of someone making her uncomfortable like that, but having to maybe keep quiet for the sake of the business. His heart sank a little. Isn’t that what he was doing, essentially? Making her do something for the sake of the business? Surely he was just as bad? Gerard forced himself to get back to work for a little bit, knowing that sitting and staring at his phone was fruitless - it wasn’t going to make her text back any faster. It would just make the waiting more difficult and time would feel like it was moving slower. So it would be better all round for him to just… Not do that and actually get on with some work. Unsurprisingly, it helped. He made a decent amount of progress on his ‘to do’ list and it passed the time until she messaged him again. Ugh, he’s finally gone. I can’t be my slightly snarky, confrontational self when he’s around; he wouldn’t react as well as you did. I like a girl with some fire in her spirit. He replied, hesitating before sending another message. One who’s not afraid to speak up when she knows she’s right. Yes, but he’s a bit older and pretty much of the ‘women should ideally be seen and not heard’ type. You’re not quite as old fashioned. He was going to take that as a compliment. Thank my grandmother for that. I will, don’t you worry about it. She’ll be pleased to hear it. That was true. His grandmother would be incredibly proud to know that she’d taught him the right way to be. Are you busy tomorrow? For the dresses? I kinda just wanna go home and shower in bleach or something. He really does make me feel slimy sometimes. Gerard had to read her message three times just to get past the word “shower” before he managed to compose a reply. Sure, tomorrow works if that’s what you want. Jesus, that’s horrible that you have to deal with feeling that way. Please don’t use bleach, you might hurt yourself. Maybe not bleach, she typed with a small smile. Maybe just really hot water. It's just the way he speaks - the sound of his voice when he calls me those names. I dread to think how I’d feel if he were to actually touch me. I make sure to keep my blazer on and securely fastened when he’s around. Less chance of him touching my skin that way. Hell, I’ve sometimes disappeared to completely do up all the buttons on my blouse if I’m wearing one or two undone. He had to bury his face in his hands for a moment. He was very aware of the fact that she wore a couple of buttons undone on her shirts, that her blazers looked good on her even when they were unbuttoned. He was incredibly aware that she dressed to flatter and she liked being able to do that. He liked it when she did that; especially when she wasn’t at work. I hate that you have to be around someone who makes you censor yourself like that. It’s not right. Anything for my grandparents, you know that. There was that guilt again. He sighed and shook his head at himself. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Shell, I really am sorry about this. I wish I’d just asked. Oh, Gerard. We’ve spoken about this. Don’t worry about it. Please. Easier said than done, he typed honestly. But I will try. Good. That’s enough. Can I come and see you when I’m done with work tomorrow? Unless you wanted to pick me up later on? Shelly, you’re always welcome to come and see me at work. I can even finish early for you tomorrow if you want. Hmm. We’ll see. How many times have I told you to not clear your schedule for me? Gerard read this with a small smile. Worth it. You. Behave yourself! He laughed. Yes, ma’am. I swear to god Gerard… Gerard swore that he could almost hear her growl and sigh in annoyance, and it made him smile. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Hm! Well. I SUPPOSE I can forgive you. Just because you’re pretty. I’ll see you tomorrow? Well, thanks :) God damn, why did reading that make his face feel warm? Of course. I’ll be around; come and see me any time. I’ll text you if I’m not. Okay. See you tomorrow :) x He was tempted to send her just one more text but knew that if he did, then they just probably wouldn’t stop texting until one of them went to bed, so he limited himself to sending a simple smiley face. And he was surprised that he managed to stick to his self-imposed limit at that. True to her word, Shelly turned up at his office the next day only to be greeted with one of his warm smiles and tight hugs; although a part of her suspected that the tightness of his hug might’ve had something to do with her having to deal with that customer the day before. She welcomed that, truthfully. She welcomed a touch that didn’t make her want to scrub her skin with bleach and a bristle brush. So, she returned his hug almost as tightly before sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk while he quickly finished up a thing or two. She didn’t mind waiting; she was briefly amused by the fact that he was still working, actually. But he didn’t take too long, and soon he was escorting her out of his office and the building with his arm around her and his hand on the small of her back. It made her feel… Safe, actually, so she let him lead her to his car. Gerard took her out for lunch. He asked first, of course, if she was hungry and her stomach had answered for her. He’d chuckled and then smiled at her blush before taking her to the same restaurant they’d gone to on their “first date.” Naturally, he asked if it was alright when he pulled up outside the building, fully prepared and absolutely willing to take her anywhere else if it wasn’t, but the soft smile on her face relaxed him before she even opened her mouth to tell him that it was ‘absolutely fine, almost perfect actually.’ Well, alright then. Gerard was pleased about that. He opened the car door for her and offered her his arm before they entered the restaurant for lunch. They were seated in one of the ‘corner booths’ - in fact, Gerard would put good money on it being the same table they’d been seated in the first time they came here. When the host had left, they’d settled down and he’d been a little surprised to see Shelly shift around in the booth so she was a little closer to him. Maybe it was so she didn’t have to talk quite so loudly - so they had to lean closer and look more like a couple. Yeah, that must’ve been it. He encouraged her to sit and vent about the guy from the previous day, if she wanted, while they waited for their order to be taken and prepared. It took a little coaxing, but after a little look around, she slowly started opening up about it. Apparently this client wasn’t a new one; he’d been around for a little while. A few years, Shelly thought but she wasn’t totally sure as she used to spend way more time in the room she did a lot of her embellishment work in, and less in the front of the store or in with the fabrics and her grandfather. She did remember feeling a little weirded out by him the first time she’d met him, but he hadn’t paid her too much attention. She thought that she’d been wearing trousers that day. Gerard pulled a face at that comment, but it made her laugh, so that was a win. A waiter came over to take their order at that point, and once he’d left, Gerard turned his attention back to the blonde, leaning forward ever so slightly and placing his hand over hers, squeezing gently to hopefully encourage her to keep talking. He watched her eyes flicker down to their hands before a smile appeared on her face, staying there but almost shyly as it kept fading away, only to come back a few seconds later. The gentle squeeze worked, because she continued talking, maybe just a little quieter as he kept his hand on hers and his eyes on her face. Well, he tried to keep his focus on her eyes, but her lips just looked so inviting today; they were such a pretty shade of pink. He wasn’t sure if it was their natural colour or if she was wearing lipstick, but he really wanted to find out. He knew he shouldn’t act on that desire at least. He probably shouldn’t want that either, but, here he was. He still did his best to give her his full attention so she knew he was listening though, and he was. For the most part. He blinked to himself and realised that his gaze had dropped to their hands while he was thinking. No sooner had he thought that, he felt fingers under his chin, directing him to look up. So he did and saw her smile. “Now, I think I know you well enough to know that you weren’t staring at my chest,” Shelly said quietly. “I think you were staring at something else. Did you get lost in your head?” Gerard smiled in response, feeling a little warm in the face. “Um, yeah. On both counts. I think I was staring at our hands. And yes, I did get lost in my head for a little bit there. Was I gone long?” She giggled, cupped his cheek and patted it gently before taking both of her hands back. “Only a few minutes. Was it nice?” “Mm,” Gerard straightened up and stretched a little. “How can you tell that I’ve gotten lost?” “Um, I’m not totally sure. Instinct maybe?” Shelly shrugged and shifted in her seat to get a little more comfortable, while angling her body towards his a bit more. Not that she was actively aware that she did that. “That’s fair.” The waiter returned and they settled to have lunch, the conversation moving away from her terrible client and onto his work week so far. Well, it started with his work, but very quickly diverted into what Shelly dubbed as ‘art talk’ - not that she minded in the slightest because she always found it interesting. Actually, this was the second or third time that the conversation about art had ventured into comic book art specifically. “Gee,” she started when he paused for a moment. “Can I ask you something?” He took a sip of his drink and nodded, warmth spreading in his chest at what she called him. She didn’t do it often, almost like she was uncertain about calling him something so… Intimate? Yeah, that must be it - he remembered her saying something about how nicknames could be intimate, back when they’d had that discussion. So, he wasn’t going to push her to keep calling him that. He was just going to… Enjoy it when she did. “Of course.” Shelly thought about how to word what she wanted to say, while taking a few bites of her food. Gerard watched this, waiting patiently until he saw her nod to herself. “Okay. Um, so, it’s just that I’ve noticed… The last couple of times we’ve spoken about art, you’ve tended to start veering into talking about comic book art,” she frowned to herself. “Does that make sense?” “It makes sense, yeah.” Shelly nodded and smiled. “I’m glad that it does. Um… I just wondered if you were aware of that, or if there was a reason for that?” She paused for a few seconds before adding quickly; “I don’t mind, by the way. I just like listening to you talk.” Gerard was pretty sure that this wasn’t the first time that she’d told him that, but it still flustered him a little bit anyway so it took him a few minutes to get his voice working again. “Um… No, I don’t think I’d noticed that, but I guess it might have something to do with the fact that I…” He paused, a little nervous for some reason? “That I actually went to art school to study comic art.” Shelly blinked rapidly for a moment before tilting her head. “You haven’t told me that bit before.” Gerard scratched the back of his neck and took a mouthful of his drink. “Yeah, I know. I guess I was nervous about that.” “Oh, Gee,” her eyes flickered back down to her plate. “You don’t need to be nervous around me anymore. I’m not going to judge you for anything.” “I know,” he said quietly. “I know you’re not. I just… Normally I get enough stick for admitting that I went to art school, so I don’t normally admit anything further.” Now it was her turn to lean forward and squeeze his hand; her turn to watch his eyes look from their hands to her face. She smiled. “I would like to know more, if you’re willing to tell me.” Gerard was very willing apparently. He started off slowly, becoming more encouraged by the way she was looking at him as he spoke, by the way she tilted her head slightly as she listened. He didn’t even mind the fact that she would, tentatively, ask questions here and there either. If anything, that meant that she was properly listening and taking in what he was saying and… That was nice. He stopped talking when their plates were taken away and they were offered the dessert menu. Before answering, he looked towards the blonde, who was nibbling her bottom lip. He grinned a little and accepted the offer of the dessert menu, only focused on the way the blonde’s eyes widened at him as the waiter walked away. “I know you won’t say no to cheesecake Shelly,” Gerard grinned over the rim of his glass. “So don’t even try and deny it.” She frowned at him before pouting and huffing. “Don’t call me out like that.” He laughed and nudged the menu over to her, smiling when she took it from him with a roll of her eyes. “I don’t even know why I’m looking,” she muttered. “We both know what I’m going to have.” “I don’t know, you might fancy something a bit different today.” Shelly looked up from the menu, raising an eyebrow at him. “I haven’t fancied anything different in months.” “Well,” he lightly traced around the rim of his glass a few times before looking up and catching her eye. “You know you can have whatever you want.” She had never bitten her tongue so quickly before. She dropped her gaze to the menu in front of her and hummed softly. Gerard watched this, and smiled a little as a delicate blush rose to cover her cheeks. He watched her for a few minutes until she lightly cleared her throat and offered the menu to him. He wanted to throw it aside, lean across the table and kiss her because she was sweeter than any dessert on that menu but… He probably shouldn’t do that. The waiter made his rounds a few minutes later and they both ordered what was soon becoming their usual orders - a vanilla caramel affair for the blonde and the chocolate Oreo for Gerard. The waiter left and Shelly caught Gerard looking at her. “Oh, shut up,” she said. “You know that’s my favourite.” “Did I say anything?” “No, but the look on your face did.” Gerard frowned, trying not to grin. “That’s just my face Shell.” She giggled. “It’s a good face.” “I… Well!” Gerard didn’t get a chance to say anything else as the waiter returned with their cheesecake and drink refills. They both thanked him and Gerard spent maybe a little too long focused on the way she ate cheesecake; the way the prongs of the fork pressed into her bottom lip, the way her eyes closed as she smiled at the taste. She hummed a soft “mmm,” which almost made him jump. It definitely made him tear his eyes away from her, feeling a little guilty as he made a start on his own cheesecake. They ate in a comfortable quiet and Gerard quietly caught the attention of a waiter when they’d finished. He paid without letting Shelly even breathe in the direction of the bill. She raised her eyebrows at this and he stuck the tip of his tongue out at her in response. She knew that he’d leave a tip; he was really good at that when he was with her. Shelly took his offered arm and let him lead her out of the restaurant and back to his car, even going as far as letting him open the passenger side door for her as well. “Such a gentleman, Gee.” Gerard just beamed in her direction, bowing a little before going to settle in the driver’s seat. He waited until they were both belted in before clearing his throat softly. “Um, so the dresses are back at my place. Is that okay?” “Absolutely.” She paused for a moment. “That is, if that’s okay with you?” “Sure thing,” he started the car. “Besides, if I’m going to take pictures to send to Kristin for approval, it might make sense if the backdrop is somewhere other than a shop dressing room.” Shelly settled back in her seat. “Like, someone’s bedroom would make sense.” Gerard hummed in agreement, trying to keep his brain from twisting that into anything rude, and they spent the rest of the drive listening to the radio. When they arrived at his building, he led her up to his apartment the same way he’d led her down from his office - with his arm sort of around her waist and his hand gently on her back. Much like earlier, Shelly didn’t mind this in the slightest. If anything, she kind of relished it. Maybe a little too much, really. She noticed that he kept his hand on her back while in the elevator and only removed it to open his front door. He proceeded to take her jacket and blazer when they were inside and he still found the drop in her height when she stepped out of her shoes, incredibly amusing. He deposited his own jacket and shoes before heading to his bedroom, leaving the door open as he hung the dresses up on the outside of his wardrobe. Once he’d done that, he looked over to the doorway to see her leaning against the frame, just watching him with a smile on her face. As soon as she realised she’d been caught, she focused on the carpet instead. “I don’t know how you want to do this,” Gerard said after a few seconds. “Are you going to want to show me, or are you just going to see how they feel?” Shelly padded across the carpet to look at the dresses, standing next to him. “Um. I think I still want your opinion. Is that okay?” “Sure it is. I’ll wait on the other side of the door,” he gestured over his shoulder. “And you can let me know if you need help zipping up or anything?” She nodded and smiled. “Okay, I can do that.” They stood quietly for a moment before Gerard cleared his throat. “I, um… I’ll be outside then…” She giggled, shook her head and unstarted to unzip the clothing bags. Gerard left his room, pulling the door up behind him and standing on the opposite side of the wall to the gap in the door. Just so he couldn’t be accused of peeking. Shelly chucked her phone on his bed before stripping out of her work ‘uniform’ and wandering over to get the first dress. She backtracked to look at herself in the full length mirror, catching sight of herself in her underwear. She gazed upon her reflection with a frown - she didn’t totally hate the way she looked, but she wasn’t completely in love with herself either. At least, not when she wasn’t wearing much - she didn’t mind the sight of herself with clothes on. Good tailoring could hide a thousand sins. Even if those sins were self-declared as such. With a shake of her head, she turned away and worked on getting into the first dress. Very, very carefully. When she was sure that it was on properly she retrieved her phone to take a picture of herself while standing in front of the mirror again. She spent a minute or so checking herself out before calling for Gerard. He stuck his head around the door to see her standing in front of the mirror. “Hey, you alright?” “You wanna come over and tell me what you think?” Gerard didn’t really have to be told twice, crossing the room quicker than he thought he could to stand behind her. She smiled at him using the mirror and tilted her head as she watched him look her over. He smiled back before taking her hand and spinning her around, making her giggle in surprise. Her giggling stopped when he caught her by the elbow, stopping her mid spin when she was facing him. “Hm,” he looked at her, looking her over again. “How do you feel about this one?” “Um,” she blinked rapidly. “I don’t think I know until I’ve tried the others on? What do you think?” Gerard tilted his head. “It’s pretty. I like the length. It seems to hang nicely?” Shelly nodded. “It does. The cut and style is pretty good and the sizing feels accurate.” “That’s good.” “I’ll try the next one on, shall I?” “Sure.” Shelly started to reach for the zip, only stopping when she realised that he hadn’t moved. She looked at him for a moment before raising her eyebrow. He let out an “oohhhh” before turning and leaving, hearing her giggle as he did so. They repeated this sort of thing for all three of the dresses - Shelly would change, take a few photos and check herself out in the mirror, trying to figure out how she felt, before calling Gerard in to get his opinion. He’d stand behind her in the mirror before walking around her, and/or spinning her around, to get a full view. Once they’d looked at all three dresses, Shelly stood, still wearing the third, and looked through the pictures she’d taken. Gerard hesitated before peering over her shoulder before resting his chin on it. “What’re you thinking?” He asked softly. “I’m… Not sure,” she admitted, flicking backwards and forwards between the photos. “You look good in all of them,” he said. “But I might be a little biased, ‘cause I’m gonna have the prettiest date.” Shelly giggled softly, feeling her face warm up. “I think Mikey would disagree with you. I think I might disagree with you.” “Hmm.” She looked up at her reflection in the mirror again, noticing that he stepped back when she moved, but didn’t go far. “We can keep looking if you don’t really like them,” he said quietly. “I don’t mind. I don’t want you to say yes to one that you’re not happy with. Especially if you’re not comfortable in any of them.” “It’s not that! They all fit quite nicely. They all feel good too. I just don’t know which one to pick…” Gerard approached her again and went to take her phone. “May I?” “Sure,” she handed it over, watching him in the mirror as he flicked through the photos again. “Did you want me to put one of the other two on again?” “Mm, could you put the second one on again?” He handed the phone back to her as she nodded. “You’ll have to leave though.” “Yes ma’am.” Shelly rolled her eyes at him, which he caught before he left. Once he’d pulled the door up, she quickly stripped out of the third dress, but hung it up very carefully. She caught sight of herself in the mirror again, shook her head at herself and put the second dress back on. Truthfully, she’d actually been leaning towards this one a little bit more than the other two - and that was before Gerard suggested for her to put it back on. She couldn’t put her finger on why she liked this one just a tiny bit more. Maybe the fabric felt a bit nicer, or maybe the decorative details were a bit prettier. Or maybe it just clung in the right places a bit more. She knew that it didn’t make her feel fat, so that was a bonus. She turned to the side to check out her side profile in the mirror. It didn’t make her look fat either. “Are you decent?” Gerard asked from the other side of the door, a few minutes later. Shelly realised that she’d been lost in her head a little too much. “Um, yeah, I am. Come in.” Gerard entered the room to see her trying to check her reflection from behind. He chuckled and shook his head, moving closer to her and taking her hand before leading her over to his wardrobe and opening the doors to reveal mirrors on the insides. “This might help you check your back,” he said quietly with a smile, letting her hand go and taking a step back. “Thank you,” she went back to checking her reflection. “I… Think I like this one a bit more out of the three, actually.” She turned to face him, tilting her head. “What about you?” Gerard hummed, looked her up and down and then gestured for her to spin around for him. Which she did, with a giggle. “I like the length and the cut of that one,” he said. “The colour is just a little bit… Nicer than the other two, as well I think. But I have a soft spot for you in this sort of gentler shade anyway.” Shelly smiled shyly, ducking her head, but unable to hide behind her hair as she’d pinned it up a bit more than normal that morning. “You wanna keep this one?” He moved closer, slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him ever so slightly. “I mean, we can keep looking, just in case we find something better, but if you like this one, we can keep it as a back-up or something?” Shelly thought about this for a few minutes before nodding. “Okay, that sounds like a good idea. I’m not going to be disappointed if I don’t find another one. I like this one.” Gerard smiled. “I’m glad. I’ll leave you to change, okay?” She nodded again, and changed back into her ‘uniform’ when he left. She hung the dress back up, separating it from the other two in a bit more of an obvious manner before checking herself over in the mirror, just making sure that she looked more presentable. She also double checked that her skirt wasn’t caught up and that she’d definitely fastened all the buttons on her blouse. That would be a little embarrassing. When she deemed herself respectable enough, she glanced around his bedroom one last time before going to join him in the main room of his apartment. He wasn’t on the sofa where she expected him to be. Instead, he was gently dusting the keys on the piano and humming to himself. He heard the door open though and waited a moment, just until he’d finished dusting the keys, until he looked up to see her standing at the other end of his piano. “Hi.” “Hi,” she smiled. “Have you been playing a bit more?” Gerard nodded. “Your comment about it sitting here as a decoration piece might’ve gotten to me a bit. I really don’t play it as much as I should but I’m trying to get back into it.” Shelly looked horrified. “You know I didn’t mean it like that!” “I know, I know. Don’t worry,” he moved around the piano to take her hands. “I know you didn’t. It was more my own guilty conscience. Please don’t worry.” She studied him for a minute before nodding. “Okay, I believe you.” He grinned at her and squeezed her hands. “Tea?” “Yes, please.” Gerard let her hands go and went over to his kitchen. Shelly watched him for a moment before turning back to the piano, moving closer and sitting at the bench to look a little closer at it. He turned to ask her something while he waited for the kettle, only to see her sitting on the piano bench, slowly swinging her feet as she looked at the music sheets he’d moved onto the top while he dusted. He moved a little closer, away from the noise of the kettle, and when he got close enough, he could hear her humming softly. It was a really pretty sound actually. She looked comfortable, a little more relaxed and actually kinda happy. He just hoped that she was. The kettle finished boiling and he returned to it, focusing on making their drinks. When he turned around to put the milk away, she was leaning on the breakfast bar counter, standing between the two stools. She smiled at him and thanked him when he put her tea in front of her, still in that same mug from the mismatched pair. They made their way over to his couch and settled on it. He noticed that they were sitting a little closer than they really needed to; his couch was certainly large enough for them to not have to sit right next to each other. But he’d moved a little closer to her before they’d sat down and… He thought that maybe she’d moved a little closer too. He hoped so; he liked the fact that there wasn’t a lot of space between them when they sat down. Shelly sipped her tea and hummed in contentment. “You make such a good cup of tea.” Gerard beamed with pride. “Thank you! It makes me really happy to hear that.” She giggled. “Do you… Feel better now you’ve got a dress?” He asked, putting his coffee down on the table and turning towards her a little more. He watched her take another sip of tea before putting her mug down too. “Yeah,” she exhaled softly. “Yeah actually, loads better. Thank you. I can’t believe that I didn’t think to check online.” She looked really embarrassed. “Apparently I’m not too bright sometimes.” Gerard snorted. “That’s nonsense and you know it.” “I have my dumb blonde moments,” she shrugged gently. “I’m just glad that most of them don’t happen at work.” “They don’t happen in front of me, either. I don’t believe that they exist,” he leant forward and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “Enough of that ridiculousness.” “You’re so sweet,” she whispered. “Wrong, but sweet anyway.” “You want to know what is ridiculous?” He asked, noticing her look up as she tilted her head in question. “The fact that I feel the need to hide everything when I meet people. The fact that I have to worry about people using me for my money.” He sighed. “But we covered that one.” “Oh Gee,” Shelly moved closer on the couch. “You’re allowed to still be unhappy about it. As for hiding things? You don’t have to do that. You shouldn’t have to do that.” Gerard sighed quietly and held his arms out for her, relaxing when she moved near enough for him to cuddle her close. “Surely,” she continued quietly, trying not to nestle against his chest as he stroked her hair. “It’s better to let people know what you’re into early on, so that if they’re not into that, then you don’t waste your time or get in too far and get hurt too much?” He rested his cheek against the top of her head, humming to let her know that he was listening, but otherwise staying quiet to think about it. “That makes sense, really. I still think I have some, ah, issues opening up to people though.” “Probably because you’re so used to people using you; you’ve stopped opening up to people because then, even if they take your money, they don’t take anything else of yours. That make sense?” “Ugh, you’re so smart, why are you hanging out with a guy like me?” Shelly moved back from his chest. “Um, I wouldn’t call myself that smart; look at what I did to get me here.” He chuckled. “Unless it was just a ploy…” “It would’ve been a very embarrassing one,” Shelly grumbled as she shook her head. “But, despite that, shut up. You’re not stupid. Nothing of the sort.” Gerard hummed quietly. “I appreciate you saying that.” She beamed and let him hug her again, staying quiet for a moment before clearing her throat softly. “Although, Gerard?” “Mm?” “I do wonder what else you’d keep to yourself. I mean, I think you’d keep the art school thing to yourself for a while, and I think keeping the comic art thing to yourself goes hand in hand with that,” she paused before shaking her head. “I don’t mind if you don’t tell me. I don’t want to push you. I don’t mind if you never tell me. I just want you to know that I’m curious.” “You are, are you?” He asked quietly, thinking about everything he’d told her; the fact that he went to art school, the fact that he went to art school to study comic book art, and the fact that he was tired of living the way that he was. He also thought about the way she’d reacted to all of those. “Yeah,” she tucked some hair behind her ears. “I think you’re very interesting. Not just because of the whole, how the other half live thing, but as your own person.” Gerard nodded, staying quiet for a moment. He was clearly thinking about something, and Shelly decided that it was better just to stay quiet and let him think. She didn’t move too far away from him though, more than happy to have his hands on her for a little longer. After another moment or two, he cleared his throat softly and stood up before he offered his hand to her. She tilted her head, raised an eyebrow and then looked up. He smiled and she took his hand, letting him help her to her feet. She was a little surprised when, instead of letting her hand go, he kept ahold of it and led her to the spare room that he’d converted to an office. The same room he hadn’t shown her before. She felt him squeeze her hand before he opened the door. Once the door was opened, he let go of her hand and gestured for her to go inside. She frowned a little at him, almost like re-asking for permission he’d already given, although he was more than happy to give it again. He nodded at her and she took a few steps inside the room, staying in the doorway to watch her. After he nodded at her, Shelly cautiously stepped further into the room he’d called an office. Well, he wasn’t totally wrong about that - there was a desk for his laptop. There was also one of those slanted artists’ desks, some sheets of paper resting on its surface. She really had to fight back the urge to go and look at those, but it was so hard. To actually stop herself, she turned around to look at one of the bookshelves on the wall, tilting her head to read some of the titles - they were all comic books, or reference guides or “the art of” books. A couple of them looked loved - well taken care of but obviously looked at a lot, and she guessed that he’d had those since art school, or even longer. Gerard stayed leaning against the doorframe, watching her look around his “nerd sanctorium.” She’d been in there a couple of minutes now and she hadn’t immediately turned and left, so that was… Good? He’d noticed that when she’d been looking at his art desk, her fingers had twitched and she’d bitten her bottom lip. She was curious about the papers he’d left lying around, and she could have very easily gone over to look at them. But she hadn’t and that… He was surprised by that. Relieved too, truthfully because he couldn't remember what he’d been drawing and also… He wasn’t sure how to describe it. Softened? That she’d automatically respected his space as an artist. Then again, she was creative too; just with words, so she probably understood. He noticed her looking at his bookshelves, and he noticed her reach out, almost like she was going to touch, but she withdrew her hand almost as soon as she’d lifted it. “Go on,” he said quietly, almost making her jump. “I trust you, you can touch.” Shelly glanced at him for a few seconds, maybe more like ten, before she nodded. “Are you sure?” “I’m sure.” “Oh…” She waited a second or two before gently and carefully running her fingers down the spine of one of his books before gently pulling it off of the shelf - he couldn’t see which one. Gerard wished it was his spine she was touching, though. Not touching, caressing, like that. He had to gently shake himself out of his thoughts before trying to see what she was looking at. He watched her look over a page before flipping through the book until she got to something else. She smiled and giggled softly before closing the volume and putting it back on the shelf. It was only when she was closing it that he caught sight of the cover and let out a soft groan of embarrassment. “Please tell me that you didn’t just look at my art school class yearbook… Thing.” “Of course I did,” she stood on her tiptoes to look at one of the other shelves. “You’ve always been a pretty fucking thing, haven’t you?” Gerard’s jaw dropped, only slightly but it happened. He swallowed, maybe a little harder than he needed to before he spoke. “Language, Miss Sketcher.” “English, Mr. Way.” He found himself laughing. “Okay, okay. Um, I wouldn’t agree with you about that one.” “You don’t have to agree,” she pulled something else off of the shelf. “Just say thank you.” Gerard tilted his head, again trying to see what she was looking at. “Um, thank you?” “I think that if I could draw,” she frowned at one of the pages before putting the book back and turning to a display cabinet. “I’d draw you all of the time. You have such a beautiful face.” “I… Um…” He couldn’t even splutter out a thank you; he was a little distracted by the fact that she was looking at all of his sort of proudly displayed action figures and statue pieces. Truthfully he was amazed that she seemed so fascinated by this room. He’d expected her to have run by now because most people already had. If they’d been let in at all. Then again, she was a very different creature and he should know that by now. He shouldn’t tar her with the same brush. Gerard, more than happily, stayed in the doorway, watching her slowly potter around, examining his things. She was so careful and gentle with everything, he noticed. He respected and appreciated that about her, which is why he was happy to stand there and let her look around as much as she wanted. He was quite surprised when, not too long later, she made her way back over to him, standing in front of him with her hands clasped behind her back. She looked cute, actually, and judging by the smile on her face, maybe she knew it. “Yes, dear?” He asked, unable to keep the amusement from his voice. “Can you…” She rocked on the balls of her feet for a moment. “Show me your favourites? Talk me through what made you want to go to art school in the first place?” Gerard stood quietly for a moment, a little stunned at her request. Both at what it was and at how genuinely interested she was. “Um,” he blinked rapidly. “Sure, I can do that. Are you sure you want to know?” “Absolutely.” She smiled. “You can’t expect to show me your Batcave and expect me to not have questions.” Gerard shook his head slightly, trying not to grin too much, and led her over to one of the shelves. “Alright sweet thing, let’s start here.” He sat her down at his main desk so she was comfortable and they spent some time going through his artistic inspirations, and his favourites, like she asked. Every so often, he’d grab a book from one of the shelves, flick through the pages and put it down in front of her. The more he spoke, the more confident he got, the happier he sounded and the more animated he became. Shelly spent a lot of the time, while he was talking, watching him speak with her cheek on her hand, unless he’d put a book in front of her to show her an example or something. She really did love listening to him talk. Especially when he was talking about something he clearly enjoyed. He lit up and he was just so beautiful like that. And considering the fact that she thought he was beautiful anyway… Gerard spoke for a little while, and she asked him questions here and there, which he honestly didn’t mind - it showed that she was listening and engaging in what he was saying. Approximately three heartbeats after he’d thought about that, his brain decided to focus on the other type of engagement; the engaged to be married type. He was pretty certain he blushed at that. She didn’t seem to notice though, or if she did, she didn’t call him out on it. By the time he ran out of steam, she had her chin cupped in the palm of her hands, watching him as he sort of paced and spoke and… Damn, he was doing that talking with his hands thing again, wasn’t he? But, she didn’t seem to mind, judging by the look on her face. God, he’d do anything to get her to keep looking at him like that. “So, um, yeah,” he finished quietly. “I… Don’t know if there’s any more to say.” Shelly hummed and smiled. “Coffee.” He frowned at her. “Hmn?” “You need coffee now. Except maybe decaf this time.” “Oh! Hey!” She just giggled and got up from his desk, carefully tucking the chair in behind her and gently scooping up the last book that he’d left in front of her. She closed it carefully and handed it to him. “I’m not sure where this one lives,” she admitted, shyly. “I got it,” he took it from her gently. ”Do you want to go and sit back down?” Shelly nodded and patted his arm before leaving his ‘office’ and heading back to the main room. Gerard hummed, put the book back and joined her not too long later. Before he sat down, he gathered up their cups and went to make more drinks. “Were you serious about the decaf?” He asked, leaning on the breakfast bar counter as he waited for the kettle. She turned around on his sofa and smiled brightly at him. “It would probably be better for your health.” “You know I don’t own decaf, right?” “I figured as much.” “I’m not sure how I feel about that assessment,” he confessed, returning to make the drinks for a moment, taking them back over when he was finished. “It’s not a bad thing,” Shelly shook her head. “I don’t mean it as an insult or anything.” She was curled up on his couch and looking like she belonged there again. He really should stop thinking like that. He settled next to her, facing her more and watching her sip her tea. She glanced up to see him watching her and he almost jumped, a little surprised to be caught. “What’re you looking at me like that for?” She asked quietly. “Do I have something on my face?” “N- no. I just…” Gerard swallowed, sipped his coffee and put it down. “No, it’s nothing.” Shelly raised an eyebrow at him and he had to nip at the inside of his cheek. “Um,” he continued. “I just… I’m sorry if I bored you.” Her eyes widened and she hastily put her cup on the coffee table before he ended up with armfuls of the small blonde as she hugged him tightly. It took him a second, but as soon as possible, he was winding his arms around her and hugging her close. It was also to make sure that she didn’t slip off of the sofa. That’s what he’d tell her if she asked why he was hugging her so tightly, even though that had actually been more of an afterthought to him. “You’ve never bored me,” she said as she hugged him. “I love listening to you express yourself. I may not remember everything, I mean,” she moved back from him and settled again, except this time she was sitting closer to him. “That was a lot to take in, but I enjoyed listening to you. I still like learning things about you.” Gerard blinked at her. “I… Like that you feel like you can share that with me,” she continued quietly. “I appreciate it. Thank you.” “No,” he had to swallow to get his voice back. “Thank you, for letting me feel this way so I could share it all with you.” Shelly didn’t know what to say to that, so she took his hands and squeezed them. She hoped it was a comforting, reassuring gesture. She hoped it would convey what she wanted to say, even if she wasn’t entirely sure what that was. “Well,” she said after another minute. “I think that was more down to you being willing to let me in like that. I don’t think I had much to do with that.” “Nonsense. You didn’t judge me when you could’ve easily done so, on several occasions.” She hummed and looked a little embarrassed. “I… I don’t know, I just think judging people when they’re being vulnerable with you like that, makes you a terrible person.” “You were clearly raised right.” “So were you.” Gerard blushed and went back to his coffee, sort of hoping that she hadn’t really noticed. She had and it had made her giggle before she retrieved her tea. They sat quietly together for a little while before Shelly checked the time and suggested that maybe she should head off. Not that he wanted her to go, of course, but if she felt like she might be overstaying (even if he tried to assure her that she wasn’t) he wasn’t going to force her to stay. He did offer to get them dinner first though, but she shook her head. “I can’t ask you to do that, you already bought me lunch today.” “You’re not asking, I’m offering,” he said gently. “Besides, you know I’m good for it, and I wouldn’t offer it if I didn’t want to.” “Raincheck?” Gerard thought about this before nodding; that meant that he could see her again outside of work. “Sure, we can do that.” She smiled and let him help her with her jacket before he grabbed the dress she said she liked the most and he took her home. They had their usual “text me when you get home” conversation and, as always, Gerard waited until she was inside her building before he drove off.

#CMBFTW #CMBFTW fic #She Writes #Gerard Way x OC #fan fic

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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

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Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Five

Series Masterpost

Word Count: Just under 6k.

Chapter Five - A Family Recipe And A Distraction

A couple of days passed, both of them texting each other every so often, like they had previously - friendly conversation and double checking information they had learnt about each other. Gerard noticed that more of Shelly’s texts were ending in that little ‘x’ - not all of them, but a few. Her first text of the day would always have one and her good night text, if she sent one, would always have one. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for any of the other texts that contained that little letter of affection. Although, he was yet to send one back. Good morning Gerard! X He checked the time before replying. You are too chirpy, for before noon, on a Saturday. Shelly read the response and giggled. I normally am. Are you working today? Gerard double checked the calendar on his phone. Nope. Not today. Did you have anything planned for yourself? Not really. Nothing for work, nothing personal. Shelly bit her lip as she typed a reply. Would… Would you like to spend some time with me? Gerard blinked rapidly and smiled a little. Are you asking me on a day-date, Miss Sketcher? Hmmm, you could call it that, Mr. Way. I would like that. He could almost hear her giggle as he read her reply and sent his own. Oh! Good! Um. Okay. You don’t have to dress fancy or anything, just comfortable. Oh! You haven’t eaten yet, have you? No, not yet. I haven’t gotten that far. Good! Don’t. I’ll send you some details in a few minutes. Alright. I’ll see you soon then? Absolutely. Gerard chuckled, rubbed his hand over his hair and stretched before going to find his shoes and a jacket. Upon second thoughts, he circled back to his bedroom to double check the mirror; to double check that he was presentable enough for whatever she had planned. Not that he had any idea and she had only suggested dressing comfortably but not fancily. He decided that his jeans would be okay, but changing his shirt would be needed. He changed out his t-shirt for a long-sleeved, deep green button up and put on his favourite, worn leather jacket before double checking himself in the mirror. Yeah, better. When he went to find his phone, he saw that the blonde had messaged him a location and a whenever you’re ready x message. When he arrived at the location, having had to park a small distance away and walk the rest of the way, he realised that she’d asked him to meet her at a park. It was one of the area’s smaller ones. He wandered inside the park, looking around for her before looking down at his phone, planning on texting her. Shelly had been waiting just inside the smaller, less popular, beauty spot and she noticed him when he entered the area. She waited until he pulled out his phone before she quickly snuck up behind him and, without even really thinking, hugged him from behind. She felt him jump before he turned around. “Oh!” It took him a few moments before he wrapped an arm around her. “Hello there.” Shelly hummed and went to take a step back before realising that he hadn’t let her go. She tilted her head up to look at him, only to have him kiss her forehead. She felt warmth rise to her face and she found herself giggling before she hid her face in his shirt. “Ugh, that was disgustingly couplely,” she said, unable to stop another small giggle escaping her, her voice radiating utter fondness. “I know,” he said with a grin. “Utterly gross.” She laughed and managed to take a step back, looking up at him and shielding her eyes against the sun a bit. She looked him over, almost doing a double take at the sight of him in jeans. Sure, they were branded and quite expensive but… Christ. They seemed quite well fitting and they looked very good on him.

“Oh, you look good. I like that green on you.” “Thank you,” he smiled before looking her over. “You look good too, but I’m not surprised.” Shelly glanced down at the outfit she’d thrown together. And then changed. Twice. “Thank you.” It was only then that he noticed that she had a… Cooler bag with her - it was currently by her feet. She noticed him looking at it and she smiled, gesturing to a backpack on her shoulders too. “What’ve you planned?” He asked, bending to pick up the cooler bag, offering her his arm when he straightened up. “Oh, nothing overly huge,” she took his arm, letting her hand slip down until she was holding his hand. “Something small and simple.” “Okay then, I’ll trust you.” Shelly hummed and led the way through the park, to under a really large tree. She took the backpack off, put it on the ground and pulled a blanket out of it, spreading it on the grass. Gerard watched this for a moment. “Oh? A picnic?” “Yeah,” the blonde settled on the blanket and nodded before her expression changed and she bit her lip. “Uh, oh… I guess it’s kinda lame?” His eyes widened and he quickly joined her on the blanket, putting the cooler down next to them. “Oh, god no it’s not!” He scrambled to grab her hands. “No! This is nice!” She looked up at him, a light pink haze on her face. “You… You think so?” Gerard nodded, gently let one of her hands go and cupped her face instead. “I do think so! It’s a really nice day, this area is beautiful, and it’s nice to be outside for once, instead of stuck in an office.” Shelly relaxed a little bit, humming softly and squeezing his hand a little. Her voice was soft and shy when she spoke. “You really think that? I… Um…” She glanced around. “It’s just… You said that restaurant is one of your favourites? This park is one of my favourites, and I like spending time here when I can.” “I really do mean that,” he leant forward and kissed her forehead again. “I think you’ve been planning this, haven’t you?” “Mhm,” she nodded. “I had the idea the morning after you took me to dinner and the forecast said it would be nice today - I didn’t want to drag you away from work again -” “Shell, you can drag me away from work whenever you like.” Shelly blinked rapidly and looked at him with a small frown on her face. It wasn’t there for long, so Gerard wasn’t sure if it had actually happened or not. “I, um…” She started slowly. “I don’t know how to feel about that?” Gerard shrugged a little and dropped his gaze to where he was still holding her hand. “I appreciate you distracting me from work a bit ‘cause...” The blonde tilted her head as he trailed off. She didn’t push him though, she just waited patiently. “Hmn,” he brought her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. “That doesn’t matter, it’s nothing.” “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine,” she kept her voice soft and quiet, but she went a little pink as he kissed the back of her hand before letting it go. “But, I’m certain that it’s not ‘nothing’ if you started to bring it up in the first place.” Gerard didn’t say anything so she gently cleared her throat before moving the cooler closer and opening it. “So, um, I remembered some of the food conversations we had, and I picked out one or two things that you mentioned were your favourites.” She pulled a few containers out of the box. “Although, the pasta salad is more one of mine and the cookies are sort of a family recipe.” “Cookies?” Gerard perked up a tiny bit. “Wait, did you say a family recipe?” Shelly gestured to the backpack. “Mm, it’s not like an old recipe or anything, but it was passed around between…” She bit her bottom lip and swallowed. “Um. The, um, three of us women, and we made changes and just like…” She waved her hand. “Improved it between us. A while ago.” He listened to her quietly. She cleared her throat. “Nana and I do the same thing with other recipes now, but the cookie one is one I know by heart and can make without even thinking about it. It’s like something I do on autopilot and one of the few recipes I fall back on when I stress bake.” “Did you bake these ones because you were stressed?” He asked gently. “No,” she shook her head as she pulled a couple of small bottles out of the cooler. “I baked them for you.” The bottle she’d just handed him nearly slipped out of his hand and he almost melted at the pure… Sweetness of it all. He rubbed the outer corner of his eye. “Shell…” She hummed, tucked some hair behind her ear as she finished taking stuff out of the bags. He watched her do this and shook his head slightly. “You put a lot of effort into this, didn’t you? I mean, look at this. Did you make all of this?” “Well, I didn’t make the pasta or bread or whatever, but I did put it all together.” Gerard waited a moment so she didn’t have anything in her hands, before leaning across the blanket, lifting her chin gently and kissing her. It took her a few extra seconds to react, but when she did, he felt her fingertips tentatively touch his face, gently stroking his cheek. It wasn’t a long kiss but she was positively crimson when he pulled away. “I… Um… Gerard?” Her hands went to her burning cheeks and she dropped her eyes to her lap. “It… Means a lot to me that you’ve put so much effort into this,” he said. “It’s quite possibly the sweetest thing that anyone outside of my family… Has ever done for me.” Shelly was still pink. Maybe not quite the red she had been, but she was definitely still blushing. “But…” She whispered. “It’s only a picnic? It’s like a super simple, mega basic kinda date?” Gerard snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s more than that.” “I… Oh? But also, eat something, please?” Shelly changed her sitting position to be a little more comfortable. She didn’t realise that it had moved her closer to him though. “Oh, yes, gladly!” They sat and ate quietly for a little while before Gerard cleared his throat and started speaking softly. “It’s more than that,” he continued like he hadn’t stopped. “It’s not that simple, really. I mean… First, you remembered the foods I mentioned that I liked. Then you have to go through all the effort to get the stuff to make this,” he gestured towards the food. “It’s not like you just went to the store and bought all of this. And! Family recipe cookies?!” He ran his hand over his face. “You used more of your time than… Just throwing money at the situation.” “I… Um…” “You thought to bring me somewhere quiet, but still beautiful. And outside! Away from my office, on a nice day.” He sighed and sipped his drink. “Normally I’d be at home, probably thinking about work, which is probably unhealthy.” “Just a little bit,” she admitted. “And I figured that you might be a little bit of a workaholic.” “Oh?” She shrugged a little. “You buy a hell of a lot of suits, you spend a fair amount of money with us at least, your car seems fairly new and I don’t know much about cars. The restaurant wasn’t cheap either, and, finally for now because my brain hurts… You obviously don’t go out too much otherwise you would’ve been able to… Ah, find a date for the wedding another way.” “Ah, fair points,” he hummed before going back to some food. Shelly just hummed. “I can’t believe you picked up on all of that,” he continued a few minutes later. “I mean, you’re totally right, of course you are, you’re so smart. But this is…” Gerard looked around for a moment. “This is pretty much the sort of thing I need more of.” “A distraction?” Shelly suggested quietly. “Someone to remind you that there’s more to life than sitting behind that desk?” Gerard chuckled almost silently to himself. “Mm, yeah. I seem to be getting a lot of those kinds of reminders at the moment.” “You… Wanna talk about it?” She asked. “You don’t have to.” “I…” He frowned at himself. “I don’t know.” “Okay.” He glanced up at her, surprised that she wasn’t pushing him to open up and talk. “You’re… Not going to push me to talk about it?” The blonde shook her head, reaching for and picking up one of the containers. “Nope. Forcing someone to do most things before they’re ready just builds up resentment and….” She paused and opened the container. “Distrust? Unease with that person who keeps trying to force you. Especially when you’re younger. The more you do it, the more it kinda damages whoever you’re forcing, I think.” Gerard watched her bring the open container to her face before sniffing it and humming happily. “Yeah, yeah I’d be inclined to agree.” She offered him the container and he peered into it to see the cookies she’d mentioned before. “You might not want to share that kinda thing with me. At all. Or yet. Either or. I figured forcing you is bad form. If you wanna tell me, you will, and if you don’t, that’s okay too.” He picked out a cookie before watching her do the same, putting the lid back on the container before putting it back down. He sat, holding the cookie while he watched her tuck some hair behind her ear again before taking a bite out of the cookie, staring into the distance as she fell quiet. He glanced down at his cookie before taking a bite out of it. “Oh my god.” Shelly looked back at her companion and blinked rapidly. “These are so good,” he murmured, only looking at her when she giggled. “You perfected the recipe with your grandmother?” “My mother too, but yeah.” She paused. “Haven’t touched, edited even, the recipe since I was a lot younger though.” Gerard nodded and they fell quiet for a little bit. During this time, Shelly nibbled at her cookie while sort of watching him; he ate his own cookie and spent his time looking around and observing anyone who might be nearby. She looked him over, spending more time studying his facial features more than anything else. She was looking at his eyes when he reached up and scratched behind his ear a bit, which drew her attention to his hands, ear and hair, which just reminded her of something her grandmother had said to him in the shop once when he’d admitted that he’d dyed his hair this colour willingly. “Mr. Way!” Rosie had tutted at the man. “Why would you want to go almost white at your young age? You need to wait until you get old like me for that!” Gerard laughed quietly before tutting back playfully. “Oh, ma’am! You don’t look a day over 25! I’m sure you don’t know anything about being old.” “Can I ask you something?” Shelly broke the silence a moment after remembering the interaction. “Sure,” he tilted his head to look at her. “Why are you platinum blond, slash almost white, anyway?” She smiled a little and ran a finger over one of her own eyebrows, hinting along with her next comment. “I get the feeling that it’s not your natural colour.” Gerard’s eyebrows rose but he chuckled. “Hmn, no, you’re right, it’s not. I’m naturally more… Church mouse brown.” Shelly giggled softly and he looked at her properly. She caught him looking at her and went a little pink before she explained. “That description just sounds cute, that’s all.” “But,” he continued with a small smile. “I’ve spent most of my life with my hair dyed black.” “Hmmm…” It seemed to be that it was her turn to look at him now. He tilted his head again, more in curiosity this time. “What’s the look for?” Gerard asked. “I think I can see that. The black, I mean,” she squinted ever so slightly. “I can’t quite imagine the church mouse brown.” “You won’t need to imagine it for that long. I’m sure my mother or grandmother will pull out the photos when you meet them.” He rubbed the outer corner of his left eye, sounding positively thrilled about the prospect. “Much like with the photo of me as a baby, in that bear onesie.” Shelly giggled at the mention of the bear onesie before she sighed deeply. “I’m not looking forward to that; the ‘meeting with your family’ thing. I’m really nervous. I’m worried that I’m going to mess up and blow it for you.” “I’m not worried,” Gerard said after a minute. “I’m certain that you’re gonna do just fine. I’m actually more concerned that I’m the one who’s going to mess something up; like I’m going to forget a detail or something.” “Well, it’s a good job I can think fast on my feet then, isn’t it?” “I have never disagreed with you being smart, you know. If anything it’s one of the first things I noticed about you. And it’s the first thing I mention when I talk about you; how smart you are.” He paused, realised how that could have sounded and added hastily. “When I mentioned you to my family recently.” “One of the first things?” She scoffed a little, glancing down at her chest a little before grabbing something else to eat to keep herself busy. “Yeah, sure.” “It is. I heard you talking to your grandfather about something before I saw you, the first time we met,” he wet his lips nervously when she gave him her full attention. “Then I noticed your hair, the colour specifically, and then the way you were dressed… You dress well.” “You have to dress well when you work for a tailor,” she replied. “But I’m guessing that by that comment, you mean you noticed how form fitting my clothes are.” Gerard thought about this for a few minutes and when he spoke, his voice was quiet but strong. “Your blouse was a heather colour and I remember thinking that maybe you would’ve suited a darker, richer, more luxurious shade better because it would’ve made your hair shine more than it already was. Maybe more of a wine or mulberry shade, but nothing too close to the red spectrum.” Shelly just blinked at him, more surprised at the amount of detail he went into regarding colour than anything else. It piqued a part of her curiosity. “I think you were wearing pants that day. That bit I don’t quite remember, but I don’t think they were black,” he swallowed and avoided looking at her for a moment. “I’m not totally happy to admit that after the colour observation of your shirt, you may be right in the assumption that I may have been more focused on the fit of your clothes.” She went quiet again, but not for too long. “Well, at least you admit it.” “Seems like the least I can do considering what I've read.” Gerard shrugged nervously. “Oh god, I thought we’d agreed to not mention that anymore. I’m already doing the thing for you.” He sounded genuinely sorry when he spoke. “Sorry, I can’t help it.” Shelly sighed and shook her head. “Speaking of colours. You never did tell me why you’re platinum.” Gerard thought about this for a few minutes. He was mostly debating how much to tell her. Ultimately, he decided that opening up couldn’t hurt. “I guess it’s a little bit leftover from when I was a teenager. Messing up and dying my hair is like, one of the few forms of rebellion I have left.” “One of the few things you feel like you have control of?” She asked quietly. He stared at her for a moment; she’d hit the nail on the head without even knowing everything. “Yeah… Yeah something like that.” Shelly hummed and nodded once before looking at him again, her head tilted slightly. It took a few minutes before he noticed her looking at him. He raised an eyebrow at her and she went pink. “What’re you looking at me like that for?” He asked, gently. “Have you always kept your hair that short?” She said, clearly curious. “I’m just wondering, that’s all.” “No, it used to be a bit longer. A little uh, shaggier, perhaps. That’s when I used to keep it dyed black a lot.” She tilted her head as she tried to imagine it. “Do you think you’ll ever go back to black? Or, go back to,” she giggled. “Church mouse brown?” “Hmn.” He thought about this. ”Yeah, maybe. I think I’m more likely to go back to black than back to my natural colour.” Shelly nodded. “I think black would suit you. Though I have to admit that I am ever so curious about your natural colour.” Gerard hummed, but he smiled. “You might have to stay curious about that one.” “Oh, mean,” she pouted playfully before grinning at him. “I might have some photos of me with longer black hair somewhere,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe, I’m not sure.” “I would like to see them if you do,” she admitted. “I… Might have some photos of when I was a bit younger, but I haven’t really changed since I was a teenager. I’ve always been a bit short, I’ve always been blonde, I’ve always been kinda curvy.” He tried not to give that last comment any thought. “I wouldn’t mind seeing some pictures if you’re comfortable with that. But only if you’re comfortable.” “I’ll have a look when I go home.” Gerard nodded and reached for the cookie container, which she moved closer to him when she noticed that he was reaching for it. “Help yourself,” she said. “To be honest, you can probably take the rest of the cookies home if you want to. I can make more.” “I… Would like that, thank you,” he leant forward and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She smiled a little. “I wish I’d thought of arranging something else to do today as well, instead of just sitting here together.” “Oh no,” Gerard moved to sit next to her, slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. “It’s fine, this is really nice. Like I said, this is the sort of thing I need.” “Oh? Are you really sure about that?” She leant against him, glancing up to see him nod. “Oh. Um. Okay. If you’re sure.” “I’ve really enjoyed this. Good food, good company,” Gerard hummed and held her a little tighter. “A nice location. Good weather, and it’s peaceful here.” “I really am glad,” she whispered. “I did worry a little bit that maybe it wouldn’t be good enough.” “Nonsense. Utter nonsense.” She giggled weakly. “Okay. Message received. It wasn’t a lame idea.” “Absolutely not,” he kissed the top of her head. “Though I do wonder what you would’ve done had it rained?” “Hmm. I’m not actually sure. I mean, it would’ve depended on whether it rained before we got here or while we were here or something, but I’m sure I would’ve come up with something.” “Yeah, you’re smart, I’m sure you would’ve,” he said quietly before picking another cookie. Shelly believed him and stayed settled against him as they grazed on the rest of the food and dropped into simple, easy and casual conversation. They didn’t speak about anything overly complex or debate-inducing. They did talk about work a little but not too much, because, as Shelly pointed out, they were trying to relax and get away from it. After a little while longer they packed everything up and settled back on the blanket together, the bag and cooler nearby. They sat in silence for a few minutes, still sitting next to each other, although Gerard had taken her hand on the blanket between them. Not that Shelly was going to protest this little act of affection at all. She sighed and he looked at her. “Are you okay?” Shelly shook her head. “I’m still a bit worried about meeting your family. I feel like I’ve missed something, or we’ve missed something.” “Hmm,” Gerard manoeuvred her so she could lean against him a bit more. He let go of her hand and put his arm around her waist again, feeling her lean her head against him. “Let me think about it for a few days. I’m sure if we haven’t gone over something, it’ll come to me.” “Okay.” Shelly checked the time on her phone before a thought hit her. “Oh! Maybe we should take some photos?” “Oh, yes, right. Good idea.” He moved so he sat behind her, her back against his chest and wrapped an arm around her waist as he leant his chin on her shoulder. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and they took a few photos before Shelly twisted at the waist, still sat between his legs. She kissed his cheek, hearing the click of the camera on his phone. Gerard smiled softly and rubbed the tip of his nose against hers, taking a photo of this too. Shelly giggled and went a bit pink, tilting her head as he got up and stretched a little. When she realised that he was going to take a photo of her on the blanket under the tree, she squeaked and pretended to be absorbed in her phone. “Pretty girl, pretty location,” he said, taking a picture or two, before turning to take a few photos of the rest of the location. “Wish I’d taken some pictures of the food though.” “Ah,” Shelly looked up and snapped a photo of him taking a photo of the rest of the park; a side shot. “I did that earlier. I can send you those.” “Ugh, there’s that intelligence again,” he returned to sit with her. She smiled and managed to get another photo when he’d settled and was looking down at the blanket. This picture got her a good shot of his jawline and eyelashes, which she was quite happy with. “Oh, shush,” she said quietly. “You’re just as smart. It takes brains to get where you are.” “I’m not so sure about that…” Shelly leant forward and pressed a little kiss to his cheek. He blinked rapidly and felt a light heat rush to his face. “Don’t be so down on yourself,” she said quietly. “You are smart. I won’t have another negative word said about it.” He found himself smiling. “Alright. Warning taken.” She giggled and then found herself shivering a little. “Hmn.” “Cold?” He asked, noticing the smaller girl shiver. “Apparently. Um. I should probably start heading home anyway before it gets colder.” Gerard pushed himself to his feet and held his hands out to help her up. She accepted his help and let him pull her up, though she almost lost her balance and almost toppled into him. He let go of one of her hands to slide his arm around her waist, pulling her against his chest to hold her for a moment. “Hopefully, this will warm you up a little,” he mumbled near her ear. “I’ll give you a ride home if you like?” “I… Oh. Okay, yes, please. I got the bus here, and it was a tiny bit troublesome with the cooler and everything.” She tried not to nestle into his chest. “So, yes, a ride home would be lovely.” “Alright.” He helped her pack up the blanket before she shouldered her backpack. She was about to take the cooler when he took it instead. She frowned playfully but took his arm when he offered it, after they double checked that they had everything. Gerard led the way to his car, taking her cooler and the backpack and putting them in the back of his car before opening the passenger side for her. She giggled as she slipped into the seat and fastened her seatbelt. He had such gentlemanly behaviours and she wasn’t sure if she was ever going to get used to that. Before he got in the car, he took a moment to look at her through the window. She looked a tiny little bit windswept but still, she looked nice. It must’ve been a bit warmer in the car because she had a little more colour in her face. She was just so pretty. And now she was looking at him. He grinned guilty at her before opening the door and settling into his seat, closing the door and buckling up. “Are you okay?” She asked as he belted up. “Yeah, I just got a bit lost in thought there I think.” “While staring at me,” she raised an eyebrow at him. Gerard cleared his throat a little. “Well. You’re very pretty. You’re quite nice to look at.” Shelly huffed a little in embarrassment and looked out of the window to try and hide her blush, muttering to herself. “God damn it.” “What?” He glanced at her before looking back at the road. “I’m just a little annoyed that a simple little compliment like that still gets me a little flustered, and I don’t think it should. And I don’t know why I feel that way.” “Might just be because, as we’ve discussed, it’s been a little while since your last relationship so you’re not really used to being complimented so often. It might be a bit weird for you to try and accept them.” Shelly watched him for a moment before sighing. “I think maybe part of me isn’t sure if you mean them either, or if you’re just playing the part.” “I mean them,” he said without even having to stop to think about it. “You are incredibly smart, and you’re very attractive.” He paused to navigate the road a little. “I do genuinely believe the compliments I give you.” “Oh,” she whispered. “Really? Oh. Um… Okay.” Gerard glanced at her and smiled for a few seconds before going back to watching the road. They travelled in silence for a little while until she spoke. “I am still really nervous,” she admitted quietly. “I know,” he took his hand off of the wheel and placed it on her knee, giving it a soft pat and a gentle squeeze. “You don’t need to worry though. I want this to succeed as much as you do ‘cause I’d like my family off of my back.” “I suppose after the wedding,” she said. “We’ll ‘break up’ and then, you have every right to not date for a while ‘cause we’ve been together for a substantial amount of time, even if we have been quiet about it.” Gerard nodded. “Yeah, exactly that.” “And that will keep them off your back for a bit longer,” she was leaning back in her seat, just watching him. “No one expects people to bounce back quickly after a break up, especially not if you were with your partner for almost a year.” He thought about it. “I suppose by the time the wedding gets here, it’ll be close to that, technically, won’t it?” “Mm hm.” “God, you’re smart. You’re thinking of everything.” She hummed and blinked rapidly as she realised that they were outside her apartment building. “Oh.” Gerard hopped out of the car and went to open her door, offering her his hand to help her out, which she took with a smile and a “thank you.” He grinned back at her and went to get her bags from the back of his car. “Do you want me to walk you up?” Shelly shook her head but smiled up at him. “No, it’s fine.” “Are you sure?” She nodded again before her eyes widened and she swung the backpack around and pulled the cookie container out, holding it out to him. “Did you want to take the rest of these?” Gerard smiled and took the container from her. “Yes, yes please.” “If you ever want more,” she started, sounding a little shy. “Then all you need to do is ask. I’ll make you more.” “I’ll remember that, thank you,” he pulled her close with one arm and held her against him tightly. She hummed and smiled. “So… I was wondering if, um, I could come and see you at work next week?” “Of course you can,” he said instantly. “You can come and see me whenever you like.” “I don’t want to interrupt your meetings or anything important though,” she shuffled her feet a little, looking embarrassed. “You won’t. Like I said earlier, you can pull me away from work whenever you like, it’s really not a problem,” Gerard pressed a kiss to her forehead and laughed softly as he watched her face go from its natural colour to a very pretty shade of pink. “You really are the cutest thing.” She went even pinker, almost graduating from the pink spectrum to red. “Oh, stop.” He grinned and leant to kiss the tip of her nose, whispering to her. “Thank you for today. I had a really nice time. Honestly, I did.” Shelly smiled. “I’m glad that you didn’t think that it was lame. And I’m really glad you enjoyed the food.” “Oh god, you did such a good job,” he held her against him again, squeezing her slightly. “It was all so delicious.” “I’m glad,” she spoke softly but she was trying hard not to beam with pride. “Come and see me whenever you want,” he restated quietly. “You don’t have to let me know in advance or anything. Just turn up. It’ll be a nice surprise.” “Okay. I’ll do that.” She nodded. “I’m glad that you had a nice time.” “Did you?” He tilted his head at her. Shelly nodded and smiled shyly. “Yeah, yeah I did.” “Good,” he kissed her forehead. “Thank you, again.” “You’re welcome.” She hesitated before leaning up and kissing his cheek gently. “I’m gonna head in now. Text me when you get home?” Gerard chuckled softly at her request. “Of course.” The blonde smiled and took a small step back. “Okay. I’ll see you next week?” “Absolutely.” Her whole face lit up, which he managed to catch sight of before she turned and headed into the apartment building. He waited until the door had closed behind her. He got back into his car, put the container of cookies on the passenger seat, and then made his way home. Naturally, he sent her a text when he was home, and she texted him back to thank him.

#CMBFTW #CMBFTW fic #She Writes #fan fic #my fan fic #Gerard Way x OC

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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

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Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Twenty Five

Series Masterpost

Word Count: Just under 5k. Notes: Chapter title from “The Sharpest Lives” by My Chemical Romance. Almost there guys, one more!

Chapter Twenty Five - A Kiss And I Will Surrender

Shelly made her way to Gerard’s office building as quickly as she could. Halfway there, she was almost tempted to take her shoes off and run, before she could lose her nerve. Needless to say, she was a little tired by the time she stepped in the elevator and pressed the right buttons to go up to his office. Actually, she missed the button the first time because she was so nervous; her hands were starting to shake. As soon as the doors closed she checked herself in the mirrored walls, grateful that she looked reasonably presentable. The elevator ride up to Gerard’s floor normally didn’t take that long but today she felt like taking the stairs would’ve been quicker, even in heels. She knew that was ridiculous because literally nothing about the lift or its mechanics had changed. Maybe she was just impatient, even though she was also kinda terrified. She stepped out of the elevator and made her way down the corridor to his office. Jesus Christ, she must’ve been nervous, because the corridor felt like it had stretched and she wasn’t sure what was louder; the sound of her heels on the floor or the thudding of her heart against her ribcage. Too soon for her liking she was standing outside his office door, and she knew she needed to knock, really she did but… What if she was wrong? But what if she was right? All she had to do was turn up - that’s what her grandmother had said. Turn up and go from there. Shelly swallowed and knocked on the door. There was a brief pause before she heard him give permission to enter. She gave herself a brief once over, straightened her shoulders and pushed the door open, forcing herself to keep her eyes down until she’d closed the door behind her. Only then did she give herself permission to seek him out. Gerard was sitting at his desk, shirt sleeves rolled up to above his elbows, head in his hands. She wasn’t sure but she thought she could see a few more undone buttons than normal. He looked like he’d been running his hands through his hair, maybe tugging on it here and there in… Possibly frustration, she thought. His suit jacket was thrown over one of the chairs in front of his desk, which was covered in paperwork. That was unusual; she’d never seen it so messy before. She had to speak; she had to say something, she knew that, but she didn’t know where to start. She must’ve stayed quiet for a little too long, because Gerard removed his face from his hands and looked right at her. She wasn’t sure what his expression had been before, but she noticed that it changed to… Relief? “Shelly.” She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, biting down on it. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed the way he said her name. “Shelly, oh thank god, you’re alright.” His shoulders relaxed, but the words started falling out of his mouth. “I nearly came by the shop, I was tempted to come by your apartment, but I didn’t want to be weird and I thought it might scare you.” “I’m sorry.” Shelly hesitated before taking a few steps away from the door. “For making you worry. I didn’t mean to do that.” “Why’d you go quiet on me Shell?” He watched her slowly make her way over to his desk, tentatively, a little like a shy animal. “Is everything okay?” “I…” She reached the chairs in front of his desk and cautiously held onto the back of the closest one. “It wasn’t, no.” He frowned. “It wasn’t? Is it now?” “Um…” She dropped her bag onto the seat of the chair she was holding onto. “It might be.” “Did I do something wrong? Because I’m sorry if I did. I don’t know what I did but I’m still sorry.” Gerard pushed his chair back a little, but stayed sitting down, not wanting to move too much in case he spooked her. “No! No, it wasn’t you. It was…” She sighed and shook her head before leaning down and pulling something out of her bag. Gerard watched her for a moment. She pulled some paper out of her bag and stayed in one spot, looking over it. Carefully, he pushed himself to his feet and made his way around his desk to lean against the front of it, just to be a bit closer to her. “Are you alright? You’re not sick are you?” “No, no I’m okay.” She swallowed. “I… We…” “Take your time.” Shelly smiled a tiny bit at his gentleness before she huffed and waved the bit of paper. “We have something to sign, right?” Gerard felt his heart hit his shoes and hoped it wasn’t written on his face. “Um, yeah, that’s true. Give me a minute to tidy my desk real quick, okay?” Shelly nodded and sat on the other chair, leaning back against both the back of the chair and his suit jacket. She watched him as he made quick work of shuffling all the paperwork into a single pile, which then ended up in the corner. Soon after that, he opened a drawer and pulled out his own copy of their agreement, which he put on the desk before resting his elbows on the wood, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on them. It wasn’t too far off the position he’d been sitting in way back when they first started this whole… Situation. When he’d called her to his office and then proceeded to drop her notebook on the wood between them. Except this time… His hair was darker and it was longer, his expression softer and she knew so much more about him. She was nervous for a different reason. He was still wearing a suit from her grandfather’s. But, she still thought he looked incredible. Still edible. That thought made her smile a little to herself; some things never changed and maybe that was a good thing. Gerard watched her gaze move from his desk as soon as he put his copy of their agreement on it. It dropped to her lap, where her copy was, but she didn’t seem to be looking at it exactly. He noticed her lips form a tiny smile and wondered why. Maybe because it was all going to be over soon? He cleared his throat quietly and she looked up at him. She hummed, stood up and put her copy on the desk next to his before reaching into the inside pocket of her blazer and pulling out a pen, which she offered him. He had his own, they both knew this, but he took hers anyway, just to touch her again even if it was only briefly. He signed his copy of the agreement, feeling her eyes on him the whole time. Before he pulled her copy close so he could sign it, he looked up at her to find her looking at him with an expression on her face that he couldn’t read, and he didn’t like that. She noticed him looking at her and offered him a small smile, which naturally he returned before going back to signing her copy of the agreement. Shelly watched him, kinda more focused on his fingers and hands than anything else. Any other time, she probably would be thinking about how they might feel on her body in all kinds of sexual situations, but right now she was remembering the way her hands fit in his, the way he held her hand to kiss the back of it, the firmness of his grip when he wrapped his arm around her waist to hold her against him and how much of a comfort his hand on her waist had become. He cleared his throat softly and it made her jump and look back up at him to see him arching a single eyebrow at her. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I got a little lost in my head.” “It’s okay.” He offered her her pen back, trying not to sigh when he felt her fingertips brush against his hand as she took it. She clicked the pen closed and turned both agreements around to face her, her eyes scanning them as she nibbled her bottom lip. Gerard tried not to stare at her mouth too much, really he did, but he’d been haunted by memories of the way they’d kissed at the wedding for the last… However long it had been since then. The pureness of it had reminded him of the kiss they’d shared just a few feet away on the couch in this office way back in the beginning and how impure that almost was. She’d almost ended up in his lap and he’d almost let her. He was really regretting hitting the brakes on that now. He could almost feel her signing her name on his heart with every stroke of the pen on that paper; engraving a reminder that she’d been there that would last for the rest of his life. A little bit similar to the way people carved their initials in trees, except she was carving her whole name. Shelly finished dating the second agreement, clicked her pen closed and hummed softly, moving to stand up straighter and put the pen back in the inside pocket of her blazer. Gerard watched all of this, and was still watching her when she looked back at him. He wasn’t sure if she was aware that she was biting her bottom lip, but it reminded him of something else. “Ah, um, hang on…” Shelly cocked her head as he stood up and went to retrieve his suit jacket off of the chair in front of his desk. She watched him hold it up before pulling some sheets of paper out of the inner pocket. He unfolded them and looked them over briefly, pink rising to cover his cheeks before he cleared his throat, folded them back up and offered them to her. “Hmn?” She looked confused as she took them from him. Gerard watched, almost in horror as she leant back against the edge of his desk before unfolding the sheets of paper. He watched her eyes scan the text on them before realisation dawned on her. “Oh! Hmn. I’d almost forgotten that you had another copy, if I’m honest.” She looked over the top sheet again, frowning slightly before turning that single piece of paper over and looking at the back. “Hmm…” “Wh- what?” Gerard said. “You’ve folded and unfolded these a lot in the time you’ve had them Mr. Way,” she avoided his eyes, but had a tiny grin on her face. “Have you perhaps been studying these? Memorising them maybe?” She’d looked up at him with this last question and Gerard swallowed quietly, trying in vain to come up with something to say; something clever, something flirty - it didn’t matter, but he needed something. When he’d been silent for a little while, she smiled, shook her head gently and folded the papers back up, sliding them in one of the outer pockets of her blazer, the smile fading off of her face as she did this. “So,” she said quietly a minute later. “That’s it then.” “Yeah. That’s all done.” She swallowed softly. “I’ll leave the breaking up to you, I guess?” “Ah, yeah…” He paused and found that he couldn’t look away from her for a moment. “It won’t reflect badly on you. I promise. Don’t worry.” Shelly looked up to see that he’d sunk down into one of the other chairs and was focused on fiddling with his watch. This wasn’t what she’d expected - she didn’t know what she’d been expecting but it hadn’t been this. Had she been wrong? Had she misread everything? She’d turned up - that had been hard and had used up all her bravery. She’d turned up and now what? What was she supposed to say? Where was she supposed to go from here? “Okay,” she whispered before swallowing, any confidence she’d previously had now dying in her chest. “I… I guess I’ll go, then.” Gerard looked up to see her pushing herself away from the edge of his desk and moving to grab her bag. She took a few steps away from the chairs before he found his voice. For the most part. “Shelly, I…” She turned to look at him, hugging herself a little bit. “Yes?” Gerard opened his mouth, trying to get literally anything else to come out but… Nothing. And he was so internally angry because if he didn’t say something she was just going to walk out of his office and then everything would be weird and he wouldn’t have this opportunity again. He watched Shelly tilt her head slightly as she waited, a small frown on her face. He swallowed again and finally something came out. “Is now a good time to point out that I caught the garter at the wedding?” “I… And I caught the bouquet? So what?” Shelly’s frown deepened and she shook her head. “They’re old wives tales, Gerard. It doesn’t mean anything.” Her eyes dropped to the floor and the volume of her voice did the same. “Like everything else. It wasn’t real, Gerard.” “What if it was?” She looked back up at him, her frown gone but replaced with a look of confusion. It took a few minutes for the words to sink in before she snorted quietly and she spoke before she even thought about what she was going to say. “You’re kidding me, right?” She watched him blink rapidly at her for a moment before she shook her head and sighed. “I thought so.” Gerard watched her shake her head and start to head towards the door again. He growled to himself and turned his back, hoping that maybe the window would give him some answers, but still desperately listening for the sound of his office door opening. “Gerard.” He turned and noticed that she’d stopped again, and was looking at him once more. She bit her bottom lip, twisting her fingers in her clothing - that was one of her nervous ‘tells’ though he wasn’t sure why she would feel that way. “Before I walk away,” she continued. “I just have to know one thing.” His heart had picked up the pace at the first sentence. “What’s that?” She paused for a moment and nibbled her lip again. “It’s a stupid thing, but, I think it’ll eat away at me if I don’t at least ask.” “What?” She glanced to her left for a moment and her cheeks went that beautiful shade of pink that he’d seen a lot over the last few months. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it and swallowed before finally managing to get her words out. “How accurate was I?” He raised an eyebrow. “Accurate? In regards to what?” “The…” She paused and lightly touched her blazer pocket, where she’d put the sheets he’d copied from her notebook. “The thing that got us here.” Gerard blinked rapidly and she met his eyes with a small smile, almost like she knew that he was putting it together, and like she knew that he was thinking about it. He swallowed a little before straightening his back. Her eyebrow rose and he wasn’t sure if it was a question or a challenge, but decided the latter would be far more fun. He crossed the space between them in fewer strides than normal. One hand grabbed her waist as the other cupped her cheek as he kissed her; with as much of that ‘stubborn Aries determination’ that she was always saying he possessed, as he could. He could feel her hesitating, so his fingers tangled in the hair at the back of her head as his other hand slid around her waist to pull her tightly against him so he could grab at her that way. So he could grab at her and pull her against him, hold her there and keep her by his side, which is where this incredible woman belonged. He was determined to pour how he felt into this kiss, to get her to understand the way he felt about her without having to actually say it. Although would saying it actually be that awful? Would it be that hard? Probably not, but this felt better. Gerard tightened his grip on her, refusing to let her go and hoping to melt that hesitation like she’d so easily melted the icy barriers he’d kept around his heart, his soul, for the last few years. That she had just come in and destroyed with her non judgemental ways, warm heart and engulfing presence. This girl was pure Leo in every sense of the word; from her spitfire like personality, her unyielding loyalty and her fierce protectiveness. She was the brightest light he’d ever encountered in his life and, much like when a moth is attracted to a flame, he’d touched and he’d been burned. Yet despite that he couldn’t find it in himself to stay away. He couldn’t, wouldn't and more importantly, he didn’t want to, singed fingertips and burned feelings be damned. If he didn’t try, he would never know and that would be worse than any scar any burn could ever give him. “Come home with me and I’ll show you.” “G- Gerard - ” She took a small step back from him, but otherwise didn’t move. Well, she hadn’t immediately turned on her heel and run away, and she’d kissed him back a bit with her hands on his chest, so that was a good sign. “Tell me that wasn’t real,” he pleaded. “Tell me that didn’t feel real, and I’ll leave it alone.” Shelly stood in a stunned silence for a minute. “I… I can’t tell you that.” “It might’ve started out as nothing but quite frankly, pornographic stories and fantasies and thoughts,” Gerard continued, taking her hands and smiling a little as he saw her blush. “Stories started by you, thoughts and fantasies continued by me.” Shelly giggled very softly, still blushing. “But they, the thoughts, didn’t stay that way. It wasn’t pornographic all of the time. Sooner than I anticipated, they started becoming a little more innocent, a little more…” He paused to think about it. “Domestic?” “O- oh?” She watched him kiss the back of both of her hands. “Like?” ”Like, I don’t know, snuggling on the couch after a long work day, in the evening when the ki - ” Gerard cut himself off and let out a slight groan, letting go of one of her hands to cover his face. Shelly knew exactly where he had been going - she wasn’t born yesterday. Tentatively, she used her free hand to gently run her fingers through his hair, smiling when he seemed to relax a little, dropping his hand from his face and grabbing her hip instead. “Fuck,” Gerard muttered, seeing the look on her face and knowing full well that she’d filled in the rest of his sentence. “Okay. Screw it. Sometimes I think about... Not just like a raw, passionate one night stand, but believe me I’ve thought about that a lot - ” “When you’ve not been re-reading my stories,” she teased gently. Gerard at least had the decency to go a very nice shade of pink but he couldn’t help but smile at her. “Well, I meant it when you said that you have a way with words.” “If you’re the Way, am I the words?” He laughed and pulled her against him again, incredibly pleased when she didn’t resist as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose in her hair. “Please. You can be that any time.” He held her a little tighter as he felt her slide her arms around him. “The tea to my coffee, the sun to my moon, the Lion to my Ram, the music to my art,” he shifted so he could gently lift her chin to look at her properly. She blinked rapidly at him and he swallowed. “I’ve thought about more than that; more than the good night I think I can give you. I’ve thought about a future with you.” “A future?” Shelly tucked some of her hair behind her ears. “Y- yeah,” he croaked, gulping to get his voice back. “I mean. If you want. It doesn’t have to be anything too serious, it doesn’t even have to last that long but I - ” Instead of putting her arm back around his waist, she cupped his cheek. “Gerard. Take a breath.” He did as he was told, humming softly at the feeling of her fingers on his cheek. “There we go,” she whispered, still gently stroking his cheek. “Try again.” Gerard placed a hand over hers, turning to gently kiss her palm and taking a minute to choose his words. Shelly giggled as he kissed the palm of her hand and gently squeezed his cheek. Although she chose to remain quiet and wait. “Okay,” he exhaled softly, before leading her over to the chair behind his desk and making her sit down. She raised an eyebrow but did as she was told, putting her bag down on his desk. “Look, here’s the thing,” he wrung his hands together for a moment before he started to pace slowly. “For the longest time, I thought this job was what I wanted and that I was happy. I thought I had a great life.” Shelly leant her elbow on the armrest of his chair and rested her chin on her hand. “Then all of my friends started having their moments, like I told you on my couch that day. Mikey got engaged and I started questioning things a little. And then I met you.” He looked at her and spoke softer. “I met you. You came along with your entire self, your sass, understanding and your patience. You came along with your picnic dates, travelling art shows and you listened to me. You shredded up the blueprints I’d drawn up for the rest of my life and showed me that yes, I was very much indeed missing something and that I wasn’t truly happy. I wasn’t happy in the slightest. But you made me realise that I could be.” She wanted to interrupt, to say something, maybe even get up and interrupt him with a kiss, but she had a feeling that he had more he wanted to say, more he wanted to get out. “I thought that all of this fancy stuff - my car, my watches, my suits and whatever. I thought it all made me happy. But they don’t make me happy. They’re not what I want,” Gerard paused and chewed his lip for a moment. He swallowed when he realised that she hadn’t taken her eyes off of him, but he continued. “You make me happy. You’re what, who, I want. You make me so incredibly happy and I want you to stick around. You make me want to be domestic, for goodness sake. I never really thought that I’d want that.” Shelly ducked her head to hide behind her hair as she giggled softly, biting on her bottom lip to try and muffle the sound. When she glanced up, Gerard was looking at her with the fondest expression painted all over his face. Her eyes met his and his small smile faded as he ran his hand over his face and let out a sigh. “I know… I know I don’t deserve you; I trapped you into helping me and that was so incredibly wrong, but you were so graceful to go along with it, and smart by wanting it all in writing too… And you knocked it out of the park because not only do my family love you,” Gerard paused and took a small breath. “I do too.” Her elbow almost slipped off of the arm of the chair so she held her hands in her lap and she sat up straighter. “I... What?” “I... I love you.” Her eyebrows rose and her jaw almost dropped. “I… I don’t know if I have anything that you’d want,” Gerard continued quietly and quickly, rubbing the back of his neck and doing his best to avoid looking at her. “Either in general or in a romantic partner, but I would really, really like a chance.” Shelly had ended up on her feet by the time he’d finished the first sentence and had started rubbing the back of his neck. She crossed the gap between them as quietly as she could, pressing herself up against him and only having to lean up a tiny bit to press her lips against his. Gerard felt this and his hands went to her waist, both to steady her and to make sure she was real; that this was happening. “Shelly, I - ” “Shut up,” she murmured, running her hands up his chest to wrap her arms around his neck. “Shut up and kiss me again.” Gerard went to oblige before she stopped him with her hands on his chest. “Wait, wait,” she grabbed his hands. “Better idea.” He blinked rapidly and let her lead him over to the couch in his office, also letting her guide him into sitting down before she sat next to him. He raised an eyebrow at her and she giggled. “Normally when you kiss me I get a little weak at the knees,” she confessed shyly. Gerard leant forward, took her face gently in his hands and kissed her softly. She hummed against his lips and melted against his body as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The whole kiss wasn’t dissimilar to the first one they shared on that very couch in that very room, all those weeks ago. Except this time, when Gerard licked into her mouth and started to tug her into his lap, neither of them stopped it. If anything, he held her tighter and pulled her closer, smiling when she giggled against his lips and kissed him harder. He still pulled away first though, trying really hard not to smile too big as she rubbed the tip of her nose against his, giggling quietly but remaining in his lap. “Um…” He was cut off by her kissing him again; a short but hard kiss that almost took his breath away. “Jesus. Um… God, I’ve been wanting to kiss you properly for so long.” “I know,” her voice was soft and almost shy, as she rested her forehead against his. “I’ve been wanting the same thing.” “So, um. What now?” Shelly leant back a tiny bit and looked him over before gently running her fingers through his hair, staying quiet for a few minutes. Gerard hummed softly, tilting his head to her touch, but otherwise let her gather her thoughts. “If the way you really are is the same as the way you’ve been with me over the last few months,” she said after a minute. “And I think it is because of how quickly and how easily you fell into the boyfriend role - ” “That’s because that is how I am,” he admitted, leaning forward to press a kiss to her throat. “I’d do anything, give anything, be anything for my partner.” Shelly hummed and nodded. “Then I don’t think that you need a chance.” Gerard frowned, clearly confused and wondering where she was going with this. “In that case,” she continued, pressing her lips to his forehead. “I don’t need to give you a chance because you’ve already proven yourself.” She swallowed. “And I already know that you’re who I want. If you want me too.” “Yes,” he kissed her hard. “Oh god, yes, I do. Are you sure?” “So sure.” She swallowed. “I... I love you too, Gee.” Gerard smiled brightly and kissed her again, feeling her smile against his lips. “So,” he chewed his bottom lip. “You’re my girlfriend now?” Shelly giggled and nodded. “Yes. No contract needed.” He laughed and held her tightly. “Agreed.” “Though truthfully?” She cupped his face in her hands. “I think I have been the whole time. I think I stopped acting very quickly.” “I think I did too,” Gerard smiled and gently removed one of her hands from his face so he could kiss the back of it before lowering his voice. “What… What now?” “We’ve got some catching up to do, I think,” Shelly said. “I think you should take me out and then take me home.” “Mm,” he pulled her against him and pressed kisses to her lips. “Can I just skip to taking you home?” She tried pretending to be cross but the smile on her face said she felt very differently. “Mr. Way, that's very rude.” “I’ll buy you dinner afterwards?” “Afterwards?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Not before?” “Oh, babe,” he grinned and moved to speak into her ear, lowering his voice and deepening his tone. “I’m gonna make you work up an appetite.” Shelly hummed and felt a shiver travel down her spine. Gerard chuckled at her hum, his voice still low and near her ear. This made her swallow and nibble her lip. “Is that a challenge?” She managed to get out eventually, with a small smile. “Or a promise?” “I mean,” he rested his forehead against hers and smiled when she giggled. “There’s a few things I’ve been dying to try.” “Oh really?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Would they be things you’ve read, by any chance?” “Yes. I…” He grinned at her. “I might’ve read a very interesting book.”

#CMBFTW #CMBFTW fic #She Writes #fan fic #Gerard Way x OC

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sadandcaffeinated · 3 years ago

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Ahhhh I love it so much 😭😭 Everything about this is phenomenal.....the storyline, the way it progressed, the “friends - to - lovers” vibe as they grow closer and both start harboring feelings for the other.....just love. I’m so happy to have discovered you in the midst of this being worked on because your writing truly is incredible.

Writers like you are what keep the fanfiction community alive and I appreciate you sharing your work with the world. No lie, I would pay for something like this. You have talent. Now I need to go through and read the rest of your catalog 😅

Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Epilogue

Series Masterpost

Word Count: 3.5k Notes: Chapter title from “Afterglow” by Taylor Swift. This is the sneaky part that made me go oh! on November 1st, 2021. I decided to keep it because… It’s cute? I think it wraps it up pretty well. This is the last one, and also I think the shortest chapter of the whole thing (yesterday not included). This whole fic is the longest thing I’ve ever written and finished. I know it has its faults and I can already see places I could’ve changed; things maybe I should’ve altered. But. I’m still ultimately pretty pleased with myself. Maybe I’ll revamp it one day, maybe I’ll just use the time to write something else instead. Okay. One more thing. I have received more likes and comments and whatever for this than I thought I would. I’m a little bit amazed really (especially considering the fact that I know I don’t use the tag system to its fullest.) I have seen the comments, I have seen the tags you guy’ve left on your reblogs and everything and I just… I may have cried a little at some of them. Y’all have been so sweet and it means so much to me. Thank you doesn’t seem like enough, to be honest. But… I don’t know what else to say. So thank you. Thank you, for reading, for giving up your time. I hope you enjoyed it.

Keep reading

#CMBFTW #love #the best fic #I envy pre-April me #getting to experience this for the first time #fanfiction #gerard way

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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

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Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Six

Series Masterpost

Word Count: 9k and change. Warnings: A little sexual flirtation.

Chapter Six - Pleasantries, A Proposition And Pondering

It took the girl a few more days before Shelly had the time to go and see Gerard at work again. It was a warm day and Shelly had opted for a lighter coloured shirt with elbow length sleeves alongside the skirt and flats she’d worn to work that day. It had been too warm to do anything too exciting with her hair, so she’d just pony-tailed it and called it a day. She was so glad that Gerard’s work building was as cool as it was, as it gave her a chance to look less pink from the warmth outside as she made her way up to his office in the elevator. She was grateful that his office was so high up, because it meant she had the chance to double check the buttons on her blouse, because, naturally, the elevator had a mirrored wall. She was in the middle of deciding if the amount of buttons she had undone was… Harlot ish, or not (it wasn’t) when the elevator dinged, stopped and the doors slid open, distracting her from doing another button up. (It wasn’t any more buttons than she’d had undone for the rest of the morning, but for some reason she felt more cautious around Gerard. Maybe more… Reserved. Maybe that was because of all the stuff she’d written - she guessed that she was trying to over-correct that now.) Shelly walked down the corridor and gently knocked on the door of his office, hearing a “come in” after a moment. She stepped inside his office, making sure the door was closed behind her before turning to look at his desk. He wasn’t there - he was not too far away, his back to her as he looked out of the window. And boy, was she really glad that she had that moment with his back to her so she could catch her breath. He was standing, one hand on his hip as he rubbed his other hand over and through his hair as he let out a sigh loud enough for her to hear from the other side of the room. Normally, she’d have some kind of comment about the colour of the shirt that he was wearing (a light, almost moody grey today; it was beautiful actually) but she was more distracted by the sleeves, that were rolled up right above his elbows, and secured neatly. He wasn’t wearing a waistcoat, she could tell that from his back, so she did wonder if he was wearing a tie. She soon discovered upon him turning around, that no, no he was not wearing a tie. He did however have a number of buttons undone at his neck and for some reason… That, paired with the sleeves and the colour of his shirt, was quite possibly the hottest thing to her that day. Not even the weather came remotely close. Gerard had heard the knock on the door, then the noise of the door closing and then… Nothing for a few minutes, which is what caused him to turn around. Standing in front of the closed door was the pretty little blonde. She looked a little… Pink in the face. He wasn’t sure if that was just because it was warm or if she was blushing. He turned and Shelly swore that his face brightened a bit. “Hey, you.” She smiled a little. “Hi. It’s warm today, isn’t it?” Gerard nodded. “I hope it’s cooler here though?” “Um,” she tried not to eye him up in a manner similar to the way she would eye up cheesecake or the way students eyed up free food, as she carefully made her way across the room to join him by the window. “Yeah, I think so.” “How are you?” He watched her approach the window and look out of it, down at the streets below. “Warm,” she admitted. “Cooling down a bit now though, which I’m thankful for. God, I can’t get over this view, it’s so nice.” Gerard watched her move a little closer and she hesitated before resting her fingertips against the glass. He wasn’t sure why, but this little action gave him a rather graphic flashback to something he’d read, and some dialogue echoed in his mind. You want me to pin you up against the glass? So everyone can see how good you take it? “How’re you?” Shelly asked, turning to look at him, only to see his cheeks turning pink. “Gerard?” Her voice got through eventually and he blinked at her. “Hmn?” “I asked how you are?” She smiled a little. “But you seemed to be off somewhere else. Was it nice?” Gerard swallowed. “Um. Yeah. It was… Interesting.” Shelly giggled. “So, how are you?” He shook his head a little, more at himself than anything. “Yeah, a bit warm, but I’ve been sitting in front of this window so that’s probably why.” “Makes sense,” Shelly walked away to go and sit on the couch on the other side of his office. It was actually much cooler on that other side, which she was very happy about. He turned to watch her as she moved across his office, and he heard her sigh when she sat down. “You alright?” “Mm hm.” She put her jacket over the arm of the couch and her bag on the floor. “It’s cooler over here, and my feet hurt a little bit today.” “Oh,” he moved to join her, sitting on the couch with her, but not too close. “Busy day?” “Yeah, a little bit. I think I’m just a bit tired in general anyway.” “I’m… Sorry to hear that. Are you not sleeping well?” He settled on the couch so he was more comfortable and so he was facing her a bit better. “I don’t know. I feel like I am, but apparently not,” she leant back into the cushions and rubbed the side of her eye a little. “When I can figure out what the problem is, I can figure out how to correct it.” “Makes sense,” he paused before getting up to get them water from the small fridge, sitting back down and offering one of the bottles to her. “Thank you,” she took it and held it for a moment. “How has your day been so far?” “Erm. Not too bad I suppose,” Gerard relaxed a little more. “I… I am happy to see you though.” This made her smile and she hummed as she pretended to smooth out a wrinkle in her skirt (although there wasn’t one, and Gerard knew that). “I’m happy to see you too. I do actually like spending time with you. I think you’re interesting.” “I think you’re interesting too,” he admitted. “I’m enjoying learning about you. Is that weird?” Shelly thought about this for a moment before shaking her head. “No, I don’t think so. I feel the same; I’m enjoying learning about you, but maybe that’s because I feel like your life is quite different to mine?” Gerard sipped his water as he contemplated this. “I think I understand that. I guess that makes sense.” “Good.” “Are you worrying again?” He asked after a minute. “Maybe that’s why your sleep is being strange.” “Mm, that sounds plausible,” Shelly shook her head. “I don’t know though.” “That reminds me, I think there’s a few other things to think about, because I’m certain that my family will ask,” Gerard said after a moment, watching her sip her water. “Oh? Like what?” She put the cap back on the bottle and put it on the side table, turning her full attention to him, and trying really hard not to look at the exposed skin near his throat. “Like, where you stand on marriage and children,” he started, his voice softer and his eyes avoiding hers. “If you see yourself working for your family for long, whether you think you’d give up work to be a full time mother - if you want to be a mother at all.” Shelly cocked her head while she listened to him. “Er, they might ask about religion - ” “I’d rather not talk about that one,” she admitted. Gerard looked at her. “Can I ask why?” “I… It’s nothing bad, per say,” she said, brushing her hair over the back of her shoulder. “I just don’t know where I stand on it, and normally when I tell people that, they don’t react so well. Then the rest of the conversation is them trying to convert me or something.” He pulled a face. “Ugh.” Shelly nodded. “I was raised sort of religiously - not hardcore or anything but, um, educated? It wasn’t really a… Church every Sunday kind of deal.” “I know what you mean.” He leant forward on his knees a little to listen to her more. “I’ve never really been sure about it,” Shelly explained quietly. “I don’t really know if I want to subscribe to the thought-train of someone big, invisible dude in the sky controlling my life,” she shrugged. “It’s not a topic I think about very much.” Gerard nodded. “Okay. If it comes up, I’ll try and steer the conversation away. If I can’t though, I think if you try to keep your statements neutral and polite, we’ll be fine.” “I can do that…” She paused for a moment. “While we’re on that… If you could keep it away from politics as well. That’s something I definitely don't like talking about. I don’t…” She sighed. “I’m not very well versed in it. I can barely keep up with British politics when I’m there, so I have no hope of keeping up with them here.” “It’s all bullshit anyway,” he muttered. “Mr. Way!” She gasped in pretend shock, her hand going to her chest to imitate the clutching of pearls. “Such language! In front of a lady, too!” His eyebrow rose at the same time he failed to hide a smile. “Lady? Where?” Shelly hit him lightly on the arm - it was an automatic reaction, and when she realised what she’d done, she squeaked. “Oh god, I’m sorry!” “Psh. It’s alright. It didn’t even hurt,” he brushed it off and took her hands quickly. “I don’t think you could hurt me with these alone,” he kissed her knuckles, grinning as she blushed. “A pair of scissors on the other hand…” She giggled and Gerard smiled. “Better,” he said softly. “Is there anything else you want me to steer them away from talking about?” Her expression changed and he couldn’t pinpoint exactly how but she seemed a little sad and he was really glad that he was still holding her hands. “My parents,” she whispered. “I don’t want to talk about my parents.” “Okay.” He nodded and squeezed her hands gently. “Did you want to not talk about them, just with my family, or do you want to avoid talking about them with me as well?” “I…” She opened her mouth to speak, obviously thinking about it, before shaking her head and looking utterly apologetic. “I’m sorry.” “Shelly, you have nothing to apologise for.” “It’s the kind of thing a partner would know though,” she let go of one of his hands and brushed some of her hair out of her face. “And, if you’re not comfortable telling me before we introduce you to my family, and it comes up, I will make something up. I can think on my feet Shell, you don’t need to worry. Alright?” She studied his face for a moment before she nodded. “Okay. Um… I don’t think there’s anything else. I think I can probably handle most other things.” “Okay. If something comes up that you’re not sure of, maybe you can squeeze my leg or something and I’ll try and move the topic on?” “That…” She nodded again and smiled a little. “That’s a good idea.” He grinned. “More than just a hat stand.” “Mm, apparently,” a light blush coloured her face but she smiled. “You’ve got quite the pretty face too.” “That’s a compliment coming from you. You are very attractive.” The pink on her cheeks darkened and she put her hands to her face. “I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to that…” “You’re also very cute when you blush,” he added. This just made her go pinker and she hid her face in her hands. “Oh, stop it.” He chuckled. “No, I don’t think I will.” “That’s really unfair. It’s not nice of you to keep making me blush like this.” She tried to cover her face some more, either to hide the blush on her cheeks or to hide the small smile she couldn’t fight. She didn’t do a very good job of hiding it though, because, to Gerard, it was as clear as day. But, he found that he liked it; he liked seeing her smile and he liked hearing her giggle. He hadn’t really figured out the ‘why’ behind that but, he’d deal with that later, not when she was right there in front of him, and he could be paying attention to her. He was about to say something when his cell phone started ringing from over on his desk. It made her jump and look around. He frowned and stood up. “Sorry, Shell. Let me deal with this for a minute.” “That’s okay. Do what you need to do.” She nodded and pulled out her phone to distract herself while he was dealing with his own phone. She tried not to listen in, she really did. “Yeah, I know but - ” Gerard paused and sighed. “Yeah! No, I do, but - ” Shelly tried not to giggle. He sounded so exasperated, so she guessed that he was talking to a family member. It would explain why he was letting them interrupt him as much as they were. She didn’t think that he’d let anyone who worked for him (or with him or whatever) interrupt him like that. “This week?” She looked up from her phone to see him looking over at her, his face wearing a slightly… Concerned expression. She raised an eyebrow at him in question. “You want to meet her this week?” Gerard repeated in response to her raised eyebrow. Shelly pointed to herself and mouthed “me?” and her eyes widened when he nodded. “I… I don’t know if she’s free, but I - ” he rolled his eyes at being interrupted again. “Of course she exists. I’ve told - she does! I’ve been talking about - ” He sighed again. “Yeah, yeah. Okay. I’ll have to check with her, I don’t know how busy she is at work right now.” Shelly went back to her phone, still trying not to listen in too much (and she managed to tune out a lot of the rest of the conversation, which was fine, as none of the rest of it wasn’t really relevant to her anyway.) She did, however, hear him sigh before he sat back down on the couch next to her. “Are you okay?” Gerard groaned and flopped back into the rest of the couch cushions. He groped for a smaller cushion and put it over his face before letting out a louder groan of frustration. Shelly watched him put the cushion back down, sit up properly and then he sighed. “They want to meet you. This weekend.” Shelly froze. “Um… What?” “They want me to bring you to a family dinner this weekend.” He looked up at her to see her sporting a ‘deer in the headlights’ expression. “Yeah, I know. You heard me though right? I tried to buy you, or us, some time but I don’t know how well that’s going to go.” “I… I don’t know if I’m ready? Although I don’t know if I’m ever going to be ready so maybe sooner rather than later is actually better but I - ” “Shell,” he leant forward and took her hands, which quietened her a bit. “You’re talking too fast.” “Sorry,” she whispered. “I’m just really, really nervous and I think I’m starting to freak out a little bit.” “Take a breath,” Gerard said quietly. “Take a deep breath okay?” She nodded and did as she was told. It helped, of course it did. Of course he was right, he was annoying like that. “Better?” He watched her nod and smiled. “Good.” “Do you have any pictures of your family? I realised the other day that I don’t know what they look like or anything…” “Actually,” he gently let go of her hands and went to look through his desk. He returned a few minutes later, sat back next to her and opened a small sketchbook, turning to the pocket at the back. Carefully, he slid out a few pieces of paper. “Here.” She gently took the photo from his fingers. It appeared to be a complete family photo, but his hair was different. “I’m guessing that this is an older photo?” “Yeah. It’s a few years old, but for the most part we all look the same.” “Except you,” she smiled up a little at him. “That hair length looks good on you. Especially with the black.” “Even the shagginess?” Shelly nodded. “Mm hm. It’s a good look on you.” “Even the black?” He raised an eyebrow. “Mm hm,” she giggled softly. “Especially the black. Though I still really want to see your natural colour.” “You’re definitely going to have to wait for that,” he grumbled playfully, shifting to sit closer to her, sliding his arm around her waist. Shelly glanced up at him as he put his arm around her again. It was just… So nice, to have someone be affectionate with her like this. It was just a shame that it was all just… Pretend. A means to an end and not real. “So,” Gerard said softly. “That’s obviously me, and that’s my brother Mikey. Michael technically, but he doesn’t go by that too often.” Shelly peered at the photo a little bit. “You can really tell that you’re related. You’ve got some good genetics there. You’ll produce nothing but beautiful babies.” Gerard looked her over. “I mean, if you guys want children at all, though I think it would be a shame not to pass on your rather attractive genes.” She looked at the photo again and hummed, gently tapping the people in the photo. “Mom, Dad, Grandma? I’m assuming.” He nodded before speaking quietly. “Donna, Donald and Elena.” Shelly muttered the names under her breath before nodding. “I think I’ll remember that.” “I’ll reintroduce them to you when you meet them anyway, so don’t worry too much.” He watched her look at the photo a little closer. “What are you thinking?” “That the family resemblance is strong with you guys,” she hummed a little. “Then again, I’ve had that said about me and my mama and my grandma, so…” She paused. “I’m not sure where I was going with that.” Gerard laughed softly and took the photo back when she offered it back to him. He returned it into the back pocket of the small sketchbook before noticing that she was watching him a bit, looking curious. “Do you… Draw?” She asked quietly. “Um, sometimes. Not as much. I used to do it a lot when I was younger,” he hesitated and looked at her, watching her examine her nails for a moment before he decided to continue. “I’m trying to get back into it a little though, because it used to make me really happy. I’m just not doing very well at that.” “I’m sorry to hear that Gerard,” she said quietly. “I hope you can get that feeling back sooner rather than later,” she took his hand and squeezed it. “I really do.” “Thanks Shell,” he squeezed her hand back. “Thank you.” She smiled and, after just a minute’s hesitation, she leant her head against his arm, letting out a soft giggle when he kissed the top of her head before leaning his cheek against her hair. Shelly hummed, still holding his hand. They sat like this, quietly for a little while before she spoke up. “Hey, Gerard?” “Mmhm?” “Tell me a bit more about your family?” Gerard blinked rapidly for a second. “I mean, sure, but, what do you want to know?” “I don’t know, I don’t mind. Just tell me things? Maybe if I knew a little more about them, I wouldn't feel so strange meeting them.” She shrugged a little but sort of refused to move away from him. “I don’t know, maybe it’ll help.” “Hmn, no, I understand the theory behind that. Hang on.” Shelly glanced at him as he moved, leaning back into the couch cushions a little more so he was comfortable. At least, he looked comfortable. He noticed her watching him and smiled ever so slightly, stretching his arm out across the back of the couch. “You can come back and lean against me again if you want,” he grinned as he noticed her eyes widen ever so slightly. He hoped that it was because she was happy and that the eye widening was with joy? “I… Well, I suppose we need to be really comfortable being in each other’s personal space, right?” She shifted closer and edged up against him before leaning back against his arm. “Exactly,” he dropped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him a bit more, settling more comfortably when she was leaning against him again. “Okay, let me think for a moment.” Feeling him wrap his arm around her gave her the confidence, or maybe the nudge, to nestle right up against him. She hummed as she leant her cheek against the fabric of his shirt. “You alright?” “Mm, this shirt feels nice. Obviously good quality, but duh. It’s softer than I thought it would be,” she glanced up at him. “This isn’t going to make you too hot?” Gerard shook his head. “The air con is better over here, lean against me as much as you want.” “Careful, I’ll take you up on that.” He chuckled and waited until she was settled before resting his cheek against the top of her head again, hearing her hum happily as he did so. “Okay,” he said quietly. “Let’s see…” Shelly waited and not too long later, Gerard started talking about his family. He told her a little about his parents to start with; what they did, what they liked, one or two things she could talk about with them if things got a bit quiet, or if she got a little stuck. He was preparing her quite well and she appreciated it. “I don’t think you’ll have many issues talking to Mikey,” Gerard said. “I mean, if you get stuck, ask him about Kristin and you’ll be sorted.” Shelly giggled. “Or, I could ask him to tell me embarrassing stories about you.” “Hmm! I’m not so sure about that.” “Or, I could ask the rest of your family for those,” she grinned. “Please don’t.” “Mm, maybe, we’ll see. Be nice to me.” “I am nice to you!” He pretended to sulk. The blonde chuckled, leant up and kissed his cheek before settling back down against him again. “Tell me a little more about your brother?” Gerard was still a little focused on the feeling of her kissing his cheek. “Um, yeah, okay, let me think for a moment…” Shelly nodded, adjusted her position a little bit and waited. When he started talking again, she listened carefully - his tone of voice was a bit different. He sounded a bit happier, talking about his brother. He hadn’t sounded like that when talking about his parents. She noticed that he kept that same, happy and fond tone of voice when he started talking to her about his grandmother. If anything, actually, he sounded even more fond; he sounded even happier when he started talking to her about some of the fond memories he had involving his grandmother. And this really made her smile - it reminded her of her own grandparents more than anything, but she was also… She enjoyed hearing him sound this happy about something. Gerard was a little surprised that she just… Sat there, leaning against him comfortably, just listening to him talk. She didn’t interrupt, she didn’t talk over him - she just made little noises every so often to let him know that she was still listening, or she would giggle at something funny (and some of the things she found funny would make him smile). The only thing that… He wasn’t sure about, was the fact that she kept drawing circles or spirals or shapes on his leg, near his knee, with her fingertip as she listened to him. And even then, that was him being really nit-picky because it was maybe… More than a little distracting. Yet, he didn’t have the heart to ask her to stop, or to make her stop. It was really quite harmless, and he thought that she’d mentioned once that she did this sort of thing to help her concentrate sometimes. He guessed that he didn’t really have that much of an issue with it. Maybe a little part of him just enjoyed having her hands on him. “So, um… That’s a bit about my family,” he finished. “You shouldn’t need any more than that, really…” “Thank you, I appreciate you sharing all of that with me, really I do.” “You’re welcome,” he hugged her against him a little, making her squeak but giggle softly. “Ah, I do like it when you giggle.” Shelly shook her head as she moved away from him, sitting up properly and rolling her shoulders before stretching. Gerard watched her as she stretched, the soft groan escaping her lips made him bite his; his mind was too quick to think of other scenarios where she might make that noise. “Oh, my back…” She grumbled softly. “Well. Maybe more my side than my back.” “Is there anything I can do?” The blonde shook her head. “I’ll be okay. It just takes me a few minutes.” “I might have some painkillers if those will help?” Gerard watched her move to her feet and roll her shoulders again. “I really will be okay. I think I was sitting a little crooked,” she turned to look at him. “I’ll be fine, I promise.” “If you’re sure?” He watched her nod. “Well, if you change your mind, let me know.” “I will, but I’ll be okay. This is pretty normal for me sometimes,” Shelly smiled softly at him before she sighed. “What are you going to tell your family? About my work schedule?” He rubbed the side of his eye. “Well. I’m not sure. I do think it would be better if we just got it over with, but I know that you’re also really nervous, so, it really is up to you.” “Do you think it’ll paint me in a bad light if we have to say that I’m busy this weekend?” She perched on the arm of the chair near the couch. “I mean, I would love to buy some more time.” “Hmn. Honestly I’m not sure.” “Okay.” Shelly nodded. “On the other hand though, you’re right. I really would like to get it out of the way. That would be nice.” Gerard watched her as she gazed towards the windows for a moment, nibbling on the pad of her thumb. She seemed to be lost in thought, so he left her there for a few minutes while he moved off of the couch, rolled his own shoulders and straightened his spine before walking over to her. She didn’t notice until he took her thumb out of her mouth, and then she blinked up at him. “There you are. You made it back okay then?” He kept a hold of the hand with the thumb she’d been nibbling on, and used his free hand to gently brush some hair off of her face. “Huh?” “You got a little lost. In your head. For a few minutes there. You okay?” She blinked rapidly for a few seconds before nodding. “Um, yeah, I think so?” “Do you know what your schedule is actually like for this weekend?” He smiled kindly at her. “Because if you are genuinely busy, that’s okay. I might need a few details of the amount of things you’re working on, I mean, as your boyfriend, I would show interest in what’s going on at work for you.” He kept an eye on her as he spoke, so he noticed that her cheeks went a little pink when he said ‘as your boyfriend’ and he thought that was cute. “Erm. I’m honestly not sure. I’d have to check the books and check in with my grandfather,” she smiled up at him. “I can stop by the shop on my way home if you need me to.” “No,” he shook his head. “Too quick. I mean, they don’t need to know that you were with me when they called. Our jobs keep us busy, right?” He lifted her chin ever so slightly, watching her raise an eyebrow at him as he did so. “I might not see you until tomorrow.” “Yes, but I’d imagine that for something like this, you would probably text me,” Shelly pointed out before going quiet for a moment. “Oh. We’ve been together, like, eight months or so right?” Gerard nodded. “And we’re both like, fully functioning adults? Why haven’t we moved in together yet?” “Um,” he thought about this. “That is a very good question.” “I mean,” she avoided looking at him. “We can assume that in this stage of our relationship, we’ve spent the night together at least once. I don’t think many people wait until marriage anymore.” “Just once?” He raised an eyebrow and smirked a little. “Oh, honey. We could’ve only had sex for the first time last week, hell yesterday even, and I can guarantee you that we would’ve done it more than once already.” Shelly’s face went even pinker than it had earlier. Gerard noticed this and grinned to himself before leaning forward and whispering in her ear. “Believe me,” he said quietly. “Once we crossed that ‘first time’ barrier, we wouldn’t be able to keep our hands off of each other.” He kissed the skin just below her ear at her jawline. “You’d want me all the time and I… I would let you have me.” She swallowed, he heard it and he chuckled. “Doesn’t mean you’d be in control though, nuh uh.” He felt her squeezing his hand - because he’d refused to let it go so she didn’t bite her thumbpad again. Her other hand was holding his arm to keep herself steady while she was still perched on the arm of the chair. “Although, if you were a good girl, I might let you take charge a little.” Shelly inhaled a little. “Gerard…” “Mmhm?” He kissed near her ear again, feeling her grip his arm a little tighter. “You should… You should stop that.” “Why?” He let go of her hand and slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her off of the arm of the chair and against him, holding her close and almost burying his face in her neck, feeling her swallow again. “Because…” She sighed softly, almost silently, before wrapping her arms around his neck so she could hold herself upright. “Because the whole point of that comment was to say that, at this point in the relationship, we would’ve at least seen each other’s places. We probably have a drawer in the other’s bedroom or something, but that still doesn’t give us a reason why we haven’t moved in together.” Gerard hummed against her neck, which she felt more than she heard. “Especially if our jobs keep us apart. Surely moving in together so we could see each other more would make sense?” “You’re so smart,” he pressed a kiss to her forehead. Although he did briefly consider suggesting that they move in together for the rest of the time, just to see if it would help. He didn’t voice this proposition though. “I don’t know about that,” she said quietly. “I think that maybe I just think too much.” “You’re considerate,” he countered gently. “I get lost in my head a lot,” Shelly rolled her eyes a little, trying to hide a smile at the way he was countering her remarks. It was kinda sweet, really. “There’s no other way to word that.” “Hmn. I’m not so sure that’s right but,” he tilted his head as he looked at her. “But, if that’s how you feel, then we’ll go with that for now.” She smiled at him and moved away from him, going to sit back on the couch and picking up her phone from the side table to look at it. Gerard shifted to lean against the arm of the chair that she had just moved away from, watching her as she looked at her phone. “I think, what I’ll do is this,” she said quietly. “On my way home from here, I’ll stop by the shop and see my grandparents. I’ll have a look at the work books while I’m there and see if I’m needed this weekend.” She paused and looked up from her phone. “I know my grandparents will tell me that I’m not needed, but I’ll double check the workload anyway.” “Alright.” “Although,” she tapped her chin a little before glancing down at her phone again. “I can probably put in a little extra time over the rest of the week to make sure I’m not leaving my grandparents swamped over the weekend.” Gerard watched her lean down and pull an organiser out of her bag, opening it and scribbling something down on one of the pages before flipping to another and writing something else down there too. “And once I’ve checked that out,” she continued before putting the organiser back in her bag. “I can let you know what’s going on, and then we can work out what we’re going to do from there?” He thought about this before nodding. “We can discuss the situation without letting my family know until we know what we want to do.” “Exactly.” “Okay, that’s a good idea.” She sighed softly and leant back into the couch cushions. “Now I’ve thought about it a little, I know it’s better to just… Do it. To get it over with? It would be a load off of my mind but also…” He moved to sit next to her again. “Also what?” “The sooner we do that, the sooner we can find out if they like me or not. I mean, if they don’t like me, then are they gonna encourage you to find another date, or to just not bring one?” While she was talking, she spent her time examining her nails instead of looking at him. “Hmm…” Gerard thought about this for a minute or two. “I really think you’ll be alright. I think my brother and my grandmother will like you and therefore fight for you, so they’d probably talk around anyone who wasn’t sure about you.” Shelly frowned as she thought about this. “I think the only one you might have to worry about,” he said quietly, taking her hand and squeezing it. “Might be my father, because he’s just generally a little difficult anyway. I think you’ll be able to win my mother around quite easily as long as you’re polite, which I know you will be. Mikey will like you because I do, and my grandmother will probably be like Mikey in that she’ll like you because I do, and it appears that you make me happy. But she’ll more than likely want to look you over first.” “Like a physical examination?” Shelly tilted her head at him. He nodded. “Yeah, but it’ll just be like… She’ll look at your face, maybe walk around you to see how you hold yourself, nothing like a doctor’s examination or anything. Don’t worry too much.” Shelly hummed. “I don’t think I was worried anyway, to be perfectly honest. Not in regards to your grandmother, or your brother. I think it’s just your parents I’m nervous about.” Gerard nodded again. “Well, I think you’ll be okay. I’m not going to leave you alone with them; I’ll look out for you.” “I believe you, that you’ll look out for me. I'm just not so sure that I’m going to be alright,” Shelly admitted quietly. Gerard leant towards her, still holding her hand, and kissed her cheek. She went very pink and her eyes widened in surprise. “You’ll do great. I won’t let things go any other way.” “I appreciate the faith,” she said. “I just hope you’re right. I don’t want to let you down.” Gerard snorted, making the blonde look at him in confusion. “And what kind of noise was that?” “You think that you could let me down,” he tutted and shook his head. “I don’t think you could ever do such a thing.” Shelly just looked at him like… Like he was crazy? Like she wasn’t really sure what she’d just heard. Even though she knew what she had heard, she wasn’t quite sure if she believed him or not. Gerard glanced at her after a moment of her not responding, to catch her looking at him with a frown. He smiled at her and, after a few seconds, she smiled back and squeezed his hand. He relaxed and changed the topic of conversation. They stayed on the couch in his office for a little while longer, before Shelly made a move to leave. He walked her to the door, stopping her just before she opened it and pulling her into a hug. She giggled, more in surprise than anything, but hugged him back, more than willingly. When he finally let her go, he took her left hand and kissed the back of it before opening the door for her and walking her to the elevator. “I’ll text you later,” she said, holding the door open. “With the schedule I mean.” Gerard smiled at her. “I look forward to it.” Shelly let the door go and took a step back into the elevator. The fact that he’d walked her to the elevator instead of staying in his office - it was really not needed but it was quite nice to see his face as the door closed instead of the opposite wall. Like she said she would, she stopped in to see her grandparents on her way back to her apartment. She spent a few hours there, actually, helping out a little here and there where they would let her. Although, she was stubborn, so she managed to help more than she normally would’ve been “allowed” to. She did get the chance to have a look at the “work books” to see the complete list of what they were supposed to be working on, and she managed to talk to her grandfather about the orders and about how much work needed to be done. She made notes in her organiser, had chats with her grandparents (about work and about things other than work - but not about Gerard, sorry, Mr. Way) before then she left to go home. She shut and locked her apartment door behind her, depositing her shoes and jacket to their rightful places before heading further into her home and dropping herself on her sofa, leaning back and closing her eyes before letting out a long, deep sigh. She knew that it was going to make more sense to actually meet his family sooner rather than later. She was just so nervous and she wasn’t sure why the possibility of his family not liking her bothered her so much. If they didn’t and because of that, they’d try to encourage Gerard to maybe not bring her to the wedding, then maybe she would be off the hook from the rest of the agreement? Well, maybe not off the hook, but maybe that would bring the agreement to an end. Maybe. She wasn’t exactly sure where she would stand if his family tried that. She was sure that she’d had that conversation with Gerard but she really couldn’t remember. Something that she was trying not to give too much “air time” in her head was the fact that, whenever she thought about his family trying to encourage him to not bring her to the wedding; whenever she thought about the whole… Situation ending sooner than anticipated… It actually made her feel a little… Disappointed? She wasn’t sure if that was really the right word but, despite the fact that the agreement coming to an end should be a good thing… She didn’t feel very good about it and she thought that she would feel good about it? That she should feel good about it. But she didn’t. She just felt… Put out and disappointed by the whole idea. But she was trying not to think about that whole mess too much because it just made her head spin faster than her washing machine in the middle of a cycle. She didn’t want to think about why she felt “bad” about the whole idea of the agreement coming to an end sooner than she… Wanted? She didn’t want to open that door. Maybe she had an inkling of what would be behind the door if she opened it too wide, or maybe she was just afraid to turn the key in the first place. After a minor mental crisis on the couch, she rubbed her eyes and went to put the kettle on. While she waited for it to boil, she plucked her organiser out of her bag, flicked through the pages and re-read the notes she’d taken while at her grandparents’ shop. By the time the kettle had finished having its hissy fit (it wasn’t really a high end one, so it took its time to boil and was incredibly noisy as it did so. It reminded her a little of a temper tantrum) she had read her notes a few times, but took her organiser over to her couch alongside her cup of tea anyway. When she was comfortable and had taken her first sip, she found her phone and tapped out a message to Gerard, informing him of what she’d found out at the shop in regards to the amounts of orders on the books at that moment in time. They re-discussed how it really would be better to get the whole thing over and done with sooner rather than later, and Shelly had another little… Tiny little freak out, so to speak, and Gerard managed to calm her down again. She’d apologised for constantly worrying about it to various levels of seriousness. Truthfully, Gerard didn’t mind reassuring her every so often. He was, however, surprised at how much she seemed to be worrying about the whole thing. He totally understood that she was worried about letting down her family (even though her family had no idea that she was even doing this) but it seemed like she was worrying for another reason, possibly. Even though he wasn’t sure what that reason could be. Over the course of their text conversation, they decided that Gerard was going to go ahead and tell his parents that she was going to be able to go ahead with meeting them that weekend. Shelly was going to put in some extra hours at the shop over the upcoming days - it wasn’t exactly a difficult thing for her to do and she was happy to do it anyway. It wasn’t exactly extra effort for her because she enjoyed what she did and her grandparents always let her have her pick of the tasks that needed doing. So helping out more than normal wasn’t exactly a chore for her. She was going to do as much as she could over the course of the rest of the week so she didn’t have to try and do anything in the morning of whatever day (probably Saturday, Gerard had said) they wanted to meet her. She had a feeling that she would be too mentally distracted on the actual day to do anything to her high standards. Especially if whatever she was supposed to be doing was going to be for a client. If it was personal work, that would be fine, but for someone that was paying good money for their time and skills. No, absolutely not. She didn’t consider that acceptable enough. Gerard was actually pretty proud of her for deciding to just give him the go ahead to give his family the okay. He wouldn’t’ve blamed her if she had said ‘no I’m not ready for that just yet’ - and honestly he had been expecting her to say that to him. But she hadn’t, she had told him ‘yeah let’s get this over with.’ He had been a bit surprised by that, but in a positive way. On the other hand, now that she’d called the shots, he was starting to get nervous. He didn’t think he was as nervous as she was, but… He was surprised that he was starting to feel the nerves at all. Unlike Shelly though, he was more willing to sit down and attempt to look into why he was feeling that way. Well, while he was willing, it was only by a little bit. He knew that he was getting a bit sick and tired of the constant nagging and continuous questions regarding his relationship status. When are you going to bring home a girlfriend Gerard? Are you sure there isn’t something you want to tell us, Gerard? You need to start thinking about getting married, settling down and having babies, Gerard! It had started getting bad again recently due to his brother’s engagement and then even more as the wedding crept closer and closer. He was really hoping that this whole situation would work. He was also hoping that when the situation was over and they’d broken up, everyone else would leave him alone for long enough for him to maybe actually find someone real. But he had to get that far first. They had to get to the break up. Thinking about that stirred up something in him that… He decided not to go down that road at that moment. Now was not the time. After that discussion, they texted for a little bit longer before Shelly admitted that she should probably go and eat and do a few household chores, so they ‘signed off’ so to speak. She actually did go and make some food before tidying her apartment a little and then deciding to go and run herself a bath. She had chosen not to tell Gerard that the bath was on her to do list. She figured that he didn’t really need that mental image to go along with the mental images that went along with the stuff that she had written that he’d read. As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she groaned in frustration and sank down under the bubbles and into the depths of her bath water. She wouldn’t be in this stressful situation had she made that other choice that day. If she had left her notebook in her bag that day, or if she had put it down in the room she had been working in; instead of reading it over a cup of tea, instead of carrying it with her to go and see her grandmother at the front of the store… If she had done almost literally anything else that day, then she wouldn’t be in this situation right now. She’d probably just be disagreeing with Gerard about fabric choices instead of talking to him about their childhoods. Actually, upon second thoughts, she didn’t think she would’ve liked that, not really. She had always been curious about him, from the moment she first saw him; from the moment she first had to work with him. He’d been quiet at first, only really answering questions when she asked them, not really talking of his own accord. But, eventually he’d started talking just a little bit more, especially when she’d disagreed with him once or twice. That had seemed to get his attention a little more, which made sense - she had guessed that he probably wasn’t used to people disagreeing with him like that. He was pretty rich after all, and that was just not the done thing - disagreeing with the rich like that. Heh. ‘Pretty rich.’ Boy, he sure was pretty. That had been the first thing she’d noticed about him, actually. He was very attractive. Almost classically beautiful, in an almost haunting way? Although maybe the “hauntingness” came from how pale he was, and how white his hair was. Almost… Ghost like. But his facial structure was… Again, almost classically beautiful. She couldn’t really explain it, but boy had she tried. Even if it was just to try and explain it to herself. Gerard contacted his family at lunchtime the next day; he thought that was a reasonable amount of time to make them wait. It would’ve given him enough time to get home from work, relax and talk to Shelly in the evening. Or, that’s what he told himself, that he’d tell them. If they asked, that is. They didn’t, but maybe that was because he managed to get in before they did and explained that he was contacting them about it as soon as he could. They hadn’t pressed that too much after that, and had let him explain the decision in peace, letting him know afterwards that they’d contact him with further information and plans. This worked fine for him and he guessed that they would probably get back to him by the end of the day, or maybe the next morning at the utter latest. Shelly had a minor freak out when he relayed this information to her (by text) - but she chose not to tell him that she was freaking out a little. She was at work when his messages came through and she nearly dropped the container of beads she was holding when she read her phone screen. Thankfully, she didn’t, because then she would’ve spent the rest of the day picking up the small, glass spheres instead of sewing them onto the garment she was working on. She knew which activity she preferred, that’s for sure. She did however (and she expressed it to him too) wish that they would just tell him the plans so she could start thinking about those instead so she knew what to expect. She did honestly believe that he would let her know as soon as his family got back to him though. She didn’t think that he would hold out on her like that. Until he heard from them though, all she could do was throw herself into her work to get through as much of it as possible as she waited to hear his message alert tone again. She didn’t hear that message alert tone again until later on that evening. Not so late that she’d gone home, but late enough that it was almost closing time. She read the message, pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed a little bit. She worked for a little bit longer before she came to a natural stopping point on the garment she had been focusing her attention on. She tidied the area she was working at before heading out to check in with her grandparents, casually mentioning that she might need the weekend off. Her grandparents gave her the go ahead to take those few days for herself. She was grateful that they didn’t ask her why, and to be honest, she wasn’t surprised that they didn’t ask either. Naturally, her grandmother made a little joke here and there about Shelly maybe having a date or something (to which the blonde rolled her eyes and shook her head before commenting something along the lines of “yeah I wish”) and then they moved on. Not long after that, Shelly sent Gerard a quick text before she left the shop, and they messaged a little bit while she made her way home. Shelly was “listening” to Gerard vent about something about his work for a little bit before she opened up about one particular customer (that wasn’t him) who would come in every so often who she really didn’t like because of their attitude. This one customer was nice when her grandparents were around, but when Shelly was alone with them, they were a mild slimeball. Not enough for Shelly to go to her grandfather, but just enough for her to feel a little bit gross when she had to deal with them. This ‘pattern’ repeated for the rest of the week - they’d work throughout the day, maybe exchanging a few messages around lunchtime, before going back to working and then messaging each other a little bit about work in the evenings. Shelly found herself really enjoying catching up with him in the evenings, listening to him vent about his day and maybe even venting about hers or telling him a story about a customer or something. She didn’t know that he felt exactly the same about the whole thing - he really liked sitting down and exchanging messages with her about their days. He was particularly fond of the stories that she would tell him about her customers. Even though they spoke via text, he felt like he could still hear her voice reading the messages in his head, and he found himself liking that. Shelly completely threw herself into work for the rest of the week - whenever she wasn’t texting Gerard anyway, and she was actually pretty happy with the amount of progress she made; with the amount of stuff she managed to help her grandparents get through. Before she left the shop on Friday evening, when she went to say goodbye to her grandfather, he pulled her into a hug and thanked her for her ‘extra hard work.’ She hugged her grandfather extra tight that evening before going home to text Gerard. And possibly spend some time freaking out about the fact that she had to meet his parents the next day. Not that she told anyone about that; that she was having a mild freak out; she kept the fact that she was doing that to herself. Instead, she told him about another strange customer and their conversation followed their usual pattern until one of them decided they needed to go and do something or go to bed.

#CMBFTW #CMBFTW fic #fan fic #She Writes #Gerard Way x OC

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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

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Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Four

Series Masterpost

Word Count: Just under 7.5k.

Chapter Four - Sweetness And (Good) Light

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Shelly covered her face and muttered a repeated “oh my god,” to herself. She couldn’t quite believe that she’d done that; that was very forward and flirtatious of her and, god, that’s how she had gotten herself into this position in the first place. She needed to not do that. Sure, he had been a bit… Sexually flirty with her, but that was probably just to try and level the playing field - because of how much she’d written about him. Them. Oh, Christ. Honestly, she’d forgotten what she’d written and how much she’d written until after he’d given her the notebook back. She’s taken it home and read through it, just as more of a reminder. And then she’d spent the rest of the evening overly embarrassed about the whole thing. She kept her word though, and sent Gerard a text when she got home, despite the fact that it wasn’t even dark out. He replied with a ‘thank you for keeping your word, even though what I wanted seemed a bit… Silly.’ Though, truthfully, Shelly appreciated the concern. In all honesty, she felt a little... Touched by it. They texted each other on and off over the next few days; asking a new question here and there, double checking that they remembered answers to other questions and other general pleasantries. Every so often, Shelly would find herself looking at the photos she had on her phone, and remembering the way he kissed her. Although she tried really, really hard not to think about that too much. Because it was just a little kiss! Just a little one! Just so it wouldn’t be awkward if they had to kiss a little in front of anyone. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself. Or tried to keep telling herself anyway. Because a part of her thought that, maybe, just maybe, it was more than a “little” kiss. But she tried not to think about it too much. It was probably safer that way - her mind wouldn't wander if she didn’t think about it. It had been three or maybe four days since she’d been sitting in his office, swapping answers to the questions she had written. It had been three or four days since they’d shared that ‘little kiss.’ Despite the fact that she’d been attempting to think about that as little as possible. Not that she’d been too successful with that, but she probably wouldn’t ever admit that. Shelly was at work, with her grandparents. Her grandfather was in one of the backrooms, working whatever magic he possessed, with the fabrics for whichever latest order he was putting together. Her grandmother was at the “front desk” doing whatever it was she did. Shelly was in the middle of packaging and wrapping finished orders. They liked to present the final and finished products to customers, like they were getting a present. It just added to the service and overall customer experience. That, and Shelly enjoyed the act of wrapping orders. She found it soothing. She had just put the finishing touches to one package when she heard her phone’s message tone. Well, it wasn’t her normal, standard message alert tone. It was an assigned one. One tone, for one person. Not the rest of her contact list. She had to move a few of her packing materials to actually find her phone again, but that wasn’t a big deal; she could see the lit up screen under some of the tissue paper she had been using. Once she had retrieved the device, she tapped the message notification and a small smile appeared on her face when she saw the contact picture. Hey, Shell, are you busy? She had to double check the calendar on her phone before she replied. I’m at work right now, but I’m free later. She paused, not hitting send yet. She checked the time before adding more to the message. Although I could probably leave whenever I wanted. Why? Would you like to have dinner with me? Shelly giggled a little before shaking her head slightly, mentally scolding herself. She sighed softly and pinched the bridge of her nose, muttering under her breath. “It’s not real, remember? You idiot. You’re still getting to know each other. It’s not real.” Um, yeah, actually, I’d really like that. Shelly put her phone somewhere not likely to get cluttered, before starting to tidy up her workspace. She did this between packaging orders anyway; she liked to have a ‘fresh’ workspace for each new piece she had to wrap. A few minutes passed while she was tidying before her phone beeped again. What time do you normally finish? I’d like to pick you up straight from work. Although yes, I know we’re not telling your family, so I could wait around the corner or something? She thought about this before checking the time again. I can be ready for whenever. Like I said, I can probably leave here whenever I need to. I’m just wrapping orders today, and my grandparents are always saying that they can cope without my help. Although, I could probably get away with murder if I said that I had a date. Maybe we can talk about that sort of thing over dinner? Because you seem pretty torn about it. Maybe we can bounce ideas around about it. But I can leave here (to pick you up) in… Half an hour? So I’ll be with you not long after that. I can make that work. Where are you going to take me? Shelly nibbled her bottom lip as she waited for a response. Nowhere outrageously fancy, somewhere a little more casual, but not too casual ‘cause we’ll be wearing our work clothes. Is there anything you fancy? The blonde bit her bottom lip harder and felt her cheeks start to warm up. “Well yeah,” she mumbled as she typed a message. “I kinda fancy you, obviously. I think you’re hot. Look at what I’ve written… But… You’re talking about food.” I’m not too fussy, as long as it’s not spicy. I’m not good with spicy. I can work with that. Oh! New question time, though I feel like we should’ve covered this before… Do you have any allergies? Erm, no. I don’t think so. She paused for a moment before adding onto her message. Do you? Nothing food related. Aha. Okay. Yeah, if you let me know when you’re about, I can leave and meet you. Providing you tell me where you are as well. Obviously. Sure thing. I… Am looking forward to it. Shelly giggled to herself. Yeah, me too. See you soon. She put her phone down and went back to doing a little more work, maybe for another three quarters of an hour, before her phone beeped at her again. She tidied up again, before checking it, to find that Gerard had texted her again, letting her know that he was parked not too far away. She texted him back quickly to let him know that she wouldn’t be too long before going to grab her jacket and say goodbye to her grandparents. She said goodbye to her grandfather first, as always, before going to let her grandmother know which orders had been packed and were ready to go. She checked her appearance in one of the mirrors before saying another goodbye to her grandmother and heading to meet Gerard. He’d sent her his location via her phone, so she was following her map. She was a little worried that she wouldn’t be able to pick out his car or something… Even though she knew deep down that, that particular thought might’ve been a bit of a dumb one. She rounded a corner and looked up to check her location. The first thing she saw in the distance, though not too far away, was a man leaning against his car, checking his phone. She knew it was Gerard straight away, even before she even paid attention to his hair colour; she knew it before she even got close enough to confirm it. She put her phone in the pocket of her jacket before moving closer. “Hi there,” she said when she got close enough. Gerard looked up and smiled at her. “Hi.” Shelly trotted a little closer to him, looking him over as he leant against the hood of his car. She leant forward a little and brushed some imaginary dust off of his jacket. He watched her do this with a raised eyebrow; he knew that there wasn’t anything there. “I like this suit,” she said quietly. “I recognise this one.” He smiled a little more at her. “I should hope so, it’s one you measured me for.” She went a little pink. “I think you picked the fabrics with my grandfather though.” “I believe so,” his eyes dropped to her fingers as she straightened his collar a little. “Hm. Hello.” Shelly smiled and spoke quietly. “Well, I’m supposed to be your girlfriend. I’m supposed to be a little touchy feely.” “I’m not complaining,” he took her hand away from his collar and kissed the back of it, grinning as she giggled. “How are you?” “I’m not bad, thank you.” She hugged herself a little when he’d let her hand go after kissing it. “How are you? How was work today?” “Hmn, it was kinda dull today actually,” he tilted his head as he looked her over, taking in her clothing. “You look good today.” Shelly glanced down at her clothes; she hadn’t put anything overly fancy on that morning. Fitted black trousers, her usual smart-casual jacket and a light blue, almost but not quite silky, blouse. “T- thank you.” Gerard smiled and moved, going around to the passenger side door to open it for her. Shelly watched him, humming softly for a moment before following him and getting into his car. He surprised her by leaning over her and fastening her seatbelt for her, which she wasn’t entirely impressed with, but, on the other hand, him getting that close to her meant that she managed to get a decent enough smell of… Well, him. She didn’t want to assume that he wore cologne or anything. He… Actually smelt pretty good. “Hmn! I can do that myself, you know!” Gerard chuckled and pulled himself out of the car. “I know.” Shelly narrowed her eyes at him until he closed the door and made his way around to the driver’s side, settling in the seat next to her. She watched him, just as something to do more than anything. “So,” she said quietly. “Where are you taking me?” “Nowhere overly fancy,” Gerard said as he started the car. “But it is a place that I’ve had food from before, so I know they’re good.” Shelly hummed. “And the food isn’t spicy,” he added, glancing at her and grinning when he saw her smile. “Mm, okay. I’ll take your word for it for now.” “There isn’t much seafood either,” he added. Shelly blinked rapidly and stared at him. “You remembered.” “Of course.” “I didn’t think you would, it was such a…” She searched for the right term. “Afterthought of a comment.” “I guess I thought that it would be a piece of information that I should hold onto.” Shelly hummed again, shifting slightly in her seat to make sure she was comfortable enough. After a moment, she closed her eyes and sighed. Gerard heard this and glanced at her. “Are you okay?” “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired I suppose.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, inhaled and held it for a few seconds before exhaling. “Or maybe I’m just worrying a little again.” “That was going to be my next question actually,” he admitted. “If you were worrying again.” “Mm, maybe I am.” Gerard fell quiet for a moment so he could concentrate on driving. “You need to try and relax a little,” he said a few minutes later. “You’re going to stress yourself out and you might make yourself ill.” “Don’t you think I know that?” She grumbled quietly. “I’m trying not to stress myself out, I’m trying not to worry.” “It’ll be fine,” he said as he parked the car. “We’ll figure it out.” “I hope so,” she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. She made her way around the car to stand by Gerard's side. “We will,” he offered her his arm. “Shall we?” The blonde raised an eyebrow but took his arm with a giggle. “Okay then.” Gerard made sure not to walk too fast so she could keep up with him as he led the way into the restaurant. They were greeted and shown to a table that was a little more out of the way; a little more private. It was actually more of a corner booth style table, just properly upholstered and fancy looking. Gerard gestured for Shelly to sit down first, so she did. Because it was a corner booth style seat, instead of sitting directly opposite her, Gerard sat diagonally across from her. “I read somewhere,” Shelly said quietly as she took off her jacket. “That this sort of seating arrangement is less intimidating for a lot of people, opposed to sitting directly opposite each other.” “It encourages and fosters intimacy,” Gerard added. “Or closeness if not intimacy.” The blonde nodded and watched him shrug off his suit jacket. He was wearing a waistcoat and no tie today, which she was very appreciative of. She must’ve been staring, because she was soon hearing him gently clear his throat and she looked up at him to see him raising an eyebrow at her. “Can I help you?” He asked, a smile on his face. “No. Just appreciating some fine work.” Both his eyebrows rose. “What kind of work?” Shelly could feel a gentle warmth tickling her face but she smiled at him. “Maybe some fine tailoring work. Maybe some fine, ahem, sculpting work by whichever Creator you believe in. If you believe in that.” She grinned. “And if you don’t, then maybe I should send your parents some kind of fruit basket for creating a fine specimen of a human.” Gerard opened his mouth a little to say something, but closed it just as quickly before slowly shaking his head. Shelly leant her chin on her hand and looked at him, smiling when she thought that she saw a very, very faint blush on his cheeks. “Well,” he said after a moment. “That is… Quite the, um…” “Oh, give over,” she rolled her eyes playfully. “You know you’re attractive.” Before he had a chance to reply, they were interrupted by a waitress bringing over some menus. Shelly raised an eyebrow as the waitress flirted with Gerard a little; batting her eyelashes a little before promising to come back in a little bit, to give them some time to decide. “Hmmm.” Gerard looked at the blonde. “Something wrong?” “She’s flirting with you, right in front of me.” Shelly sat up straighter, looking a bit unamused. “I mean, that’s not very professional, is it?” “I think,” Gerard grinned a little bit. “I think you’re jealous.” The blonde snorted. “Jealous? No. I just don’t appreciate the unprofessionalism.” He cooed softly and leant across the table, gently taking her hand and squeezing it. “Oh, honey. You have nothing to worry about.” She blinked down at their hands and couldn’t help but smile ever so slightly. “Hmmm.” “I mean it,” he shifted a little so he was a little closer to her, keeping their hands on the table in clear view of anyone walking by. He maintained eye contact with her until she sighed, rolled her eyes and smiled a little more. “Yeah?” “Yeah, okay,” she squeezed his hand back. “Alright.” Gerard lifted their hands and brought them closer to his face. He kissed the back of her hand and smiled widely when she giggled. He let her hand go and was then surprised when she cupped his face, her thumb stroking the skin of his cheek. It was a brief show of affection but… Gerard found it incredibly pleasant. Until the waitress returned and Shelly dropped his hand like she’d been touching something hot. He sent the waitress away politely before turning back to the now blushing blonde. “You fell into that well,” he said quietly, casting his eyes over the drinks menu. “You started it,” she had a look at her own copy. “You slipped into the boyfriend role very smoothly.” “Hmn, I thought so, I’m glad that you agree.” He looked up at her. “It was pretty easy.” Shelly nodded. “We… Still need to figure out some details about that, don’t we?” “We do.” “Um…” She swapped the drinks menu out for the actual menu. “The face touching - ” “Is more than okay. We have to be in each other’s space like that.” “It wasn’t too much, too fast then?” She watched him shake his head. “Oh. Okay.” When Gerard looked up at her, she was looking at the menu again. She was a little pink in the face and that made him smile. “Hey,” he said quietly, moving to take her hand again, which made her look up. “Have whatever you want okay? I’m not going to judge you. Don’t worry about the cost either. Alright?” She nibbled her bottom lip as she nodded. “I’ll try not to worry. I can’t help it though.” “Trying is good enough,” he squeezed her hand and went back to looking at the menu again. A few minutes later, the waitress returned. When she started flirting again, Gerard addressed Shelly with a term of endearment to get her to order first, and even the blonde felt the temperament of the waitress change. Once she had left to take the order to the kitchen, Shelly turned to Gerard. “You felt that too, right? She was not happy about you calling me that.” He chuckled. “No, no she wasn’t. But it stopped her flirting, didn’t it?” “Yes, yes it did,” Shelly giggled, going pink. “Um. That’s not going to affect our food or anything?” Gerard shook his head. “Absolutely not. She knows she won’t get tipped if she messes anything up, and if she “messes up” too badly, just because I shut down her flirting, I’m not afraid to go above her head.” Shelly bit the tip of her tongue slightly. “Mm, maybe, but don’t be an ass about it, okay? The service industry is hard work. The staff need those tips.” Their drinks were brought over and Shelly thanked the waitress before turning back to Gerard after she’d left. “I mean it,” she said. “I really do.” He looked her over for a moment before nodding. “Okay. I won’t be an ass about it.” The blonde hummed quietly and took a sip of her drink. “So, um… We’ve got some basics to go over, right?” “Ah, yes, we do.” “I think we should keep the details rooted in reality as much as possible,” she said. “Because that makes them easier to remember.” “That’s true. So, like, we could keep where we met as your place of work, for example.” “Yeah, things like that.” “I think maybe we should say that I asked you out first,” Gerard sipped his drink. “And that you refused, at first.” “Why?” “Because it creates extra interest surrounding you. I mean, I don’t often get women shooting me down because of the money. It makes it seem like you weren’t just chasing after me as a big money client.” “Ooh, yes, that’s a good idea.” “Because, you’re really not that kind of girl,” Gerard settled in his seat a little more comfortably. Shelly brushed some hair off of her face and blinked rapidly at him. “You really think so?” He sipped his drink before nodding and putting the glass down. “I do.” “I… I appreciate that.” She ran her fingers over the condensation on her glass for a moment before clearing her throat. “Okay, so, if I said no at first, what did you do to make me give in and say yes?” “Hmn,” Gerard leant back in his seat, looking at her. “That’s a good question. I think only you would know the answer to that though.” Shelly nodded and started to think about it. A few minutes later, she felt Gerard place his hand over hers on the table, which made her look up and smile a little at him. “I’m… Not sure. I’m pretty stubborn. I’ll have to think about it a little more and give you an answer later.” “That’s okay,” he sat forward and bought her hand up to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it and smiling at her almost silent giggle. “Remind me if it seems like I’ve forgotten?” “Of course.” He squeezed her hand and smiled at the waitress as their food was brought over. They both thanked her politely and Gerard let Shelly’s hand go, reluctantly. As they ate, they spoke quietly, going over their ‘back story’ - deciding how long they’d been together (nearly eight months; they’d been taking things slowly, plus also their jobs kept them busy), where they’d gone on their first date (the same restaurant they were currently in; another detail kept in reality; they’d had dinner and spent a long time talking for their date, much like they were doing right then) - they even discussed who kissed who first (Gerard kissed her first, again, much like reality, and this part of the discussion had made Shelly think about that kiss again. She had blushed quite deeply.) “Okay then,” Shelly side-eyed the dessert menu that had been put down in front of them. “What are you going to say if they ask why you’ve kept me a secret?” He nudged the menu towards her. “That’s easy enough. I’m an adult, I don't need to tell them everything.” “Mm, perhaps but if they’ve really been on your back about being single as much as you say that they have, then wouldn’t you, in theory, have wanted to sort of… Um, get them back as soon as I became a part of the picture? Like, a way to shut them up so to speak?” Gerard thought about this. “Hmn, good point, but I know my family better.” Shelly glanced at the dessert menu, inhaled and pushed it away. “Don’t let me look at that.” “Why not?” He watched her tap one of the sections on the menu and grinned slightly. “Ah.” “What are you gonna tell them?” Shelly leant her chin on her hand, studying him a little as he studied the menu. God, he was attractive. He had such a beautiful face, it just wasn’t even fair. It had to be due to good genetics. No-one that good looking was a one off. “I think I might just go with the ‘I didn’t want them to scare you off’ line,” he looked up from the menu to see her looking at him intently. His eyes met hers and she blushed, again, before dropping her gaze to the table. “Which is something they’d totally do, so I think it’s feasible enough.” “Sounds good to me.” Gerard took a minute to study her as she traced shapes on the table with her fingertip. “You can have dessert, you know.” She nibbled her bottom lip. “I shouldn’t…” He offered her the menu again. “Go on. I’m not going to judge you.” “Oh, god…” Shelly sighed and took it from him. “This is going to go straight to my hips…” He chuckled, and the waitress returned. They both ordered dessert and handed the menus over to the woman. When she left, Gerard turned to the blonde. “How do you feel about, ah, pet names? Terms of endearment?” “I’m okay with them,” she admitted. “As long as it’s not too embarrassing, I think.” He nodded. “Is there something your family calls you that I shouldn’t because that makes it weird?” Shelly giggled and scratched her cheek. “I’ll tell you, as long as you don’t laugh. Okay?” Gerard crossed his heart. “Promise. And I’ll tell you what my grandmother calls me sometimes. As long as you don’t laugh.” “Promise,” she nodded, watching him smile. “I have three. There’s one my grandfather calls me, one my grandmother sometimes calls me, and one my mother used to call me.” He tilted his head. There was that… Tone of sad wistfulness again. He remembered hearing that tone when they’d been sitting on the couch in his office, talking about their childhoods. Except this time, he heard it when she spoke about her mother. “Mama used to call me Shell-Belle sometimes,” she continued, not meeting his eyes. She paused and sounded a bit happier when she continued. “Grandpa, though, calls me Sea-Shell, and grandma calls me Little Miss every so often.” Gerard found himself grinning. “Little Miss, huh? I like that.” Shelly nodded, a small smile on her face. “What about you?” “Ah, yeah…” He cleared his throat and sighed. “My grandmother sometimes calls me Honey-Gee.” The blonde had to bite her bottom lip, but that didn’t stop a soft giggle escaping her. “Oh, gosh, that’s so cute! I bet she bought you a bear onesie when you were a baby, didn’t she?” Gerard’s eyes widened. “How… Did you know?” She beamed. “Lucky guess.” A thought hit Gerard and he groaned. “Oh god.” “What?” Their desserts were placed in front of them and he waited a minute before continuing. “I hope she doesn’t carry any photos of that around with her.” Shelly had to bite her knuckle to stop herself squealing, but she must’ve made some kind of noise because he looked up at her. “What?” “Um... “ She picked up her dessert fork and giggled. “I kinda hope she does.” Gerard frowned. “That is mean.” She giggled again for a moment before taking a sip of her drink. When she’d calmed down a bit she looked at him. “Hey, what did you get again? That looks pretty good.” “It’s Oreo themed. You want to try some?” He cut the tip of his cheesecake slice off with his fork and held it up for her. “Go on.” “I…” She hesitated before attempting to take the fork from him. “Nuh uh, I can do that bit.” Shelly blushed but ultimately let him feed her the bit of cheesecake. She hummed a little as she chewed it. “Okay, that’s really good.” “I know,” he grinned a little at her. “You wanna try some of mine?” “What is it again?” He shifted closer to her to have a closer look at her dessert. “Vanilla with salted caramel and honeycomb.” She grinned and tutted as he tried to take her fork from her. “Nuh uh.” “Ah, I see what you’re doing.” He smiled as she giggled but ultimately let her feed him. “Hmmm.” “Hmm?” “That’s good. I’ve actually been meaning to try that one, but I always fall back to,” he gestured to his plate. “This one.” “Well, that’s a good option, I don’t blame you.” She noticed that he’d moved closer and didn’t find it in herself to mind. If anything, she found herself shifting more in his direction. Gerard noticed this action, smiled and leant across the small distance to kiss her cheek, grinning when she squeaked and went pink. She looked up at him to see him grin before biting her bottom lip and going back to her dessert with a soft smile. When they had finished, Gerard settled back against the seat, watching her. She leant her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand, looking around the restaurant. “Are you okay?” “Mm hm. Just admiring the surroundings. It’s nice here.” “I’m glad you think so. I enjoy it.” She smiled at him. “Thank you for bringing me.” “You’re welcome,” he lightly touched her back and lowered his voice. “You wanna maybe sit back here with me? Sit close for a bit?” “Oh. Yes, I can do that.” She shifted back to lean against the back of the booth with him, both sitting more in the corner part now; both quite close. She squeaked softly when he pulled her against him as he moved closer, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. He hummed, kept a hold of her hand and leant to kiss her cheek, whispering in her ear. “Gotta look like a couple, remember?” “Oh!” It came out more breathless than she would’ve liked, which sort of irritated her, though she couldn’t pinpoint why. She gently put his hand on her waist, letting it go and using her hand to gently cup his cheek. “Yes, I suppose so.” “Mm,” he held her waist a little tighter. “Cosy.” “I like,” Shelly bit her bottom lip. “Cosy.” Gerard smiled and kissed her forehead, smiling when he heard her hum in approval before she settled next to him, but leaning on him just a little, with his arm still around her waist. “Here’s a thought,” she said. “We covered nicknames given to us by our families, but we didn’t really cover terms of endearment to use with each other?” “I suppose we didn’t, did we?” He held her hand, rubbing small circles over her skin with his thumb. “Is there anything you don’t want to be called?” Shelly thought about this. “I don’t know. I think tone of voice plays a big part in how pet names make me feel. I’m sure I’ll let you know if you call me something that makes me feel weird.” “Fair enough.” “What about you?” She asked quietly. “Is there anything you don’t want to be called?” “Hmn. I’m not sure. Although I think I might be like you in the respect that tone plays a factor.” “Okay. You want me to try a few out and see how we go?” “Sounds like a plan, and I’ll do the same?” He kissed the top of her head as she nodded at this before asking; “Would you like anything else? Another drink maybe?” She shook her head. “No, thank you. I don’t mind sitting around if you want something though.” “No, I think I’m good,” he reluctantly removed himself from around her and stretched a little. Shelly looked around a little before spotting what she needed. “I’m just going to pop to the ladies, okay?” “Sure. I’ll settle the bill.” “I can cover - ” Gerard tapped her on the tip of her nose, making her scrunch it. “Hey!” “No,” he said softly. “You are not covering any of it. This was my idea, I’m paying.” “But - ” He cupped her cheek. “Nope. Not happening.” She frowned at him before sighing. “Okay. Fine. But don’t stiff the waitress out of a tip okay? She was actually very good when she stopped flirting. Still polite, efficient and attentive.” “I won’t. I promise.” The blonde relaxed a little, believing him. “Okay. I won't be long.” Gerard watched her trot off in the direction of the restrooms before hailing down their waitress to settle the bill. True to his word, he made sure he was good with the tip - Shelly had been right after all. He guessed by the small smile the waitress threw his way after giving him his receipt, that he’d done well by the tip too. That would make the blonde happy, so that was good. He put his jacket back on and grabbed Shelly’s, waiting for her. When she returned, he stood and helped her into it, adjusting her collar when she turned to face him again. “All settled?” She asked quietly. “Yup,” he hesitated before folding the receipt in a way that it would show her just the amount of tip he’d left, but not any other total. “See?” She nodded and smiled. “Thank you. That’s really good.” Gerard beamed and offered her his arm. “Shall we?” “Okay, sure.” He led her out of the restaurant, echoing her “thank you, goodbye” to the staff as they passed. He hummed softly as he led her back to his car, opening the door for her. She giggled softly and settled inside, managing to put her own seatbelt on before he got a chance to. He closed the car door and made his way to the driver’s side, settling and fastening his own seatbelt. Once he was done, he glanced at her to see her covered her mouth to hide a yawn. “You alright?” Shelly nodded. “Full and sleepy.” Gerard chuckled and leant forward to tap at the touch screen panel in his car, bringing up a directional app. “Alright, you wanna enter your address in there for me? I’ll take you home instead of where I picked you up.” Shelly had watched his fingers as they’d almost caressed the screen. He’d been very gentle with it, which had made her smile. She’d been maybe a little too focused on his fingers, because it took her an extra minute to realise that he’d been talking. “Huh?” She blinked at the screen and soon realised what he’d asked. “Oh. Okay, um, sure.” Gerard watched her lean forward to enter her address, noticing her frown as she did so. When she’d finished, the machine popped up a prompt; “save this address?” and his eyebrows rose when she tapped “yes.” He hadn’t expected her to do that; he’d expected her to maybe keep that to herself for now. Clearly she felt differently. “There you go,” she mumbled, leaning back in her seat. “Thank you.” Gerard tapped the screen a few more times until he’d put the radio on quietly, glancing over at the tired looking girl in the passenger seat. “You sure you’re okay? You sleeping alright?” Shelly looked at him and nodded. “Yeah. The last couple of days have been sort of long. And now I’m full of food, good food, so I’m just feeling a little sleepy.” She giggled a little. “It’s a good job I didn’t have any alcohol, or I’d be even more tired.” “You could’ve had some you know, it’s not like you were going to be driving.” “Hm, no, it’s fine. I don’t really drink too much. Or at least, I try not to. And I definitely don’t like to be the only one drinking.” “That makes sense, I think.” He glanced at her and she smiled at him before she turned to look out of the window. They drove the rest of the way in… Almost silence - except for the radio. Gerard didn’t find it uncomfortable though, and Shelly must’ve been alright because he heard her humming every so often. Eventually, he pulled up outside an apartment building and watched as she kind of… Blinked herself back into focus. “Oh!” She peered out of the window. “We’re here already?” “Mmhm.” Shelly unbuckled her seatbelt and rolled her shoulders. Gerard watched this before speaking again. “Do you… Want me to walk you up?” “Oh, um, no,” she shook her head shyly. “It’s okay.” “Alright.” “So, um,” she dropped her gaze to her lap. “I actually had a really nice time. Thank you.” He leant forward and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “You’re welcome. I did too.” The blonde giggled and smiled. She looked back at him, nibbled her bottom lip for a moment before she leant forward and kissed his cheek. Gerard blinked rapidly. “Will you let me know when you get home?” “Um…” He had to clear his throat. “Yeah, sure. Of course I will.” “Awesome,” it was almost a whisper. She cleared her throat and hummed. “Okay. Yes. Thank you, again.” “Always welcome,” he watched her as she managed to pull herself out of the car, standing with the door open a little, leaning down so she could see him. “I’ll see you soon?” “Sure, we can arrange something,” he smiled at her, watching her go a little pink as she smiled back. She closed the door and waved a little before trotting across the pavement and heading towards the front door of the apartment building. He waited until she was inside and the door had closed before he even thought about driving off. But he did check his face in his rearview mirror beforehand, a little surprised to see the faintest tinge of pink still lingering on his cheeks. Shelly entered her apartment building, letting the main door close behind her before peeking out of the window. She noticed his car linger for a moment before it eventually drove off - like he had been waiting for her to be in her building before he left. This thought made her giggle a tiny bit as she made her way over to her mailbox, although she wasn’t sure why. After checking her mail, she took the elevator up to her floor, locking the apartment door closed behind her. She had enough time to change out of her ‘work uniform’ and curl up on the sofa before her phone buzzed. She hummed and checked it to see that it was Gerard, letting her know that he’d gotten home. She sent him a quick thank you for letting me know :) x text before settling more comfortably to watch some tv. She was about half way through some programme that she hadn’t really been paying attention to, when her brain decided to poke her. She groped for her phone and re-read the last message she’d sent to Gerard. Yup. Right there, at the end of the message, was a little ‘x.’ She groaned and leant her head back against the sofa cushions. “God damn,” she muttered. “Probably shouldn't have done that.” She grumbled to herself and went back to the tv programme that she hadn’t really been paying attention to in the first place. Gerard got home, changed out of his own work clothes and settled down to relax. He’d texted the blonde as soon as he’d walked through the door, and received her reply not that long either. The little ‘x’ on the end of her message had been noticed, and filed away for later use or consideration. Maybe. He’d been sprawled out on his couch for about an hour or so before his phone beeped. I’ve been thinking. About that question? What you would’ve had to do to change my mind, to get me to say yes to you? To a first date anyway. Gerard frowned at his phone. Oh? Did you come up with something we could use? Her response came through fairly quickly. Yeah. Kind of. So, currently, we’ve got something about how... You asked me out, but I said no, right? That’s right. He rested his phone on his leg. I’m assuming that we’re playing so you asked me all politely and nicely and all of that jazz? Shelly frowned as she typed, trying to remember what they’d discussed earlier. But I said no. Maybe because I thought you were just joking or because I wasn’t sure or… Something. She bit her bottom lip, not having thought about that bit too much, to be honest. Hopefully they won’t ask about that. I don’t think they will, he typed. I mean, they might. They might be interested in why you said no. But then again, they would also be interested how we got from you saying no to changing your mind. I think… She typed slowly, thinking about it properly as she wrote. I think seeing the way you treat my grandparents would’ve made me look at you a bit differently. Especially after I’d turned you down. A lot of people might’ve taken the rejection out on my grandparents and their business, but you were still sweet and charming towards my grandmother, and polite and respectful towards my grandfather. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose; that previous bit was one of those “rooted in the truth” things. Still charming and a little flirty towards me. But still always respectful. And maybe I’m not used to that. Maybe it was a nice change. Gerard read this with his chin resting on his hand on the arm of the couch. He thought about it for a few minutes before he replied. That sounds good. Paints me in a good light, you’re too kind ;) but… Asking you out again, how does that come around? Shelly blinked rapidly at the little face in the middle of his words. Um. I’m not sure. Maybe my grandmother intervenes. Maybe I sidle up to you and ask “hey, so. Is that offer still on the table? I’ve reconsidered.” This made him smile a little. Because of my behaviour? Towards my family, not just myself. It’s never been about the money. I hope your family will believe that. I really do. I’m not sure they will. Hopefully if money isn’t mentioned they won’t think about it? Gerard read and re-read this for a minute. He could almost hear the concern. That’s a fair assumption. I can probably handle any money discussion if it comes up. Because I think I know what will shut them up the quickest. I appreciate that. Thank you. Always welcome, he smiled. So you eventually say yes, without me being pushy or demanding or an ass, and we go on our first date to that restaurant. Shelly smiled as she thought about the dinner they’d had just a few hours earlier. Yes. Where we had a really nice meal, some really good conversation. You were sweet, charming and a gentleman. He grinned. You’re still painting me in a very good light. Well, of course. She snorted. You’re their son, they’re not going to believe bad things about you anyway! Gerard shrugged to himself as he typed. I guess? Anyway. Aside from all of those things I just listed, and the fact that you are very good looking… She was blushing, she knew it. Although, where was the lie? He was very attractive. You made me laugh. And that’s when I knew that I wanted a second date. Because you respected me and made me laugh. Gerard read this message at least twice before managing to figure out what to say. And those things are important to you; a sense of humour, being respected and having your family respected. Yes. That’s right. I think that all sounds pretty good, he typed after thinking about it for a few minutes. I’m still honestly surprised that you’ve come up with something that’s painting me in such a good light. A few minutes passed. A few more than normal actually, before his phone buzzed again. Well, why wouldn’t I? You’re not exactly a monster. Gerard snorted. Despite the fact that I essentially blackmailed you into this. That’s fairly monstrous. Shelly read this message and thought about this. She wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. She sighed and rubbed her eyes a little before stretching her fingers and replying. I’m honestly not sure how to respond to that? I mean, yeah, I guess it is? As I said, you could’ve just asked. But what’s done is done, the agreement is signed, and I know how important contracts and written agreements are to business people. You saw a “business” opportunity, or a chance to get what you wanted, and you took it. I think a lot of people would do the same thing, in your shoes. He read this a few times and nibbled his bottom lip. Ugh, that made him feel kinda bad… And the fact that she was right; contracts were important to business people and people like him. He had… Almost had it drilled into him from a younger age that he should never go back on a contract because it was just bad form. He was about to reply when another message came through. I think I might go to bed; I feel like I’m falling asleep on the couch now. I have no idea what’s going on in the programme that I was supposed to be watching. Thank you again for taking me out today; I really did have a good time. Try not to stay up too late - you know it’ll come back to bite you. Sleep well when you go x You’re very welcome. I had a good time too. We’ll have to do it again sometime. Sleep well Shelly. He put his phone down and leant back in his spot on the sofa, closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. He was a monster and she was just being so… Sweet? About everything and… He had no idea why. Maybe she was just that good of a person. Of course she was; she wasn’t doing this to save herself after all - she was doing it all for her family.

#CMBFTW #CMBFTW fic #my fan fic #my writing #She Writes #fan fic #Gerard Way x OC

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sadandcaffeinated · 3 years ago

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For every chapter that warmed my heart, this one broke it a little extra 😭

Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Twenty Three

Series Masterpost

Word Count: 7k.

Keep reading

#CMBFTW #fanfiction #gerard way

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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

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Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Twenty

Series Masterpost

Word Count: Just under 7k. Notes: Chapter title from “State Of Grace” by Taylor Swift.

Chapter Twenty - Something Good And Right And Real

Gerard found his brother eventually and managed to pull him away from a conversation with their parents. Well, their parents were talking at him and Mikey was looking pretty done with it all. He brightened considerably upon seeing his older brother and embraced him, letting him say a quick hello to their mom and dad before dragging him away with a “so that thing I wanted to show you.” Thankfully, Gerard took the hint and let himself be dragged away outside. “Are they lecturing you again?” He asked when they were both out of earshot. “You know it,” Mikey rolled his eyes. “Thanks for helping me get away from that for a minute.” “Oh, any time.” “How are you?” Mikey asked. “How was the drive?” “I’m… Good. The drive was nice, actually.” Gerard took a seat on one of the benches outside, watching his brother take a seat next to him. “Good! Where’s your little lady?” Mikey eyed Gerard. “Don’t tell me something bad happened.” Gerard scoffed. “No, we’re fine. Give me some credit. She’s back in the room, possibly having a nap. She’s not good at long distance car trips.” Mikey nodded. “That’s fair.” “I think,” Gerard looked around a little. “I think she’s a little nervous too.” “Oh?” “She’s not a big fan of crowds,” Gerard continued quietly. “And I know she’s nervous about being around everyone again, as well as being worried that she’s going to screw up your big day somehow.” Mikey’s expression softened into a gentle smile. “She’s a considerate little thing, isn’t she? I’m not sure how she’d manage to do that, but make sure you let her know that she doesn’t need to worry.” “Mm, I’ll tell her.” Gerard looked down at his shoes. “You need us both at the rehearsal, right?” “I do, yeah.” They shared a grin. “Getting used to saying that?” Mikey laughed. “What’s the dress code for the rehearsal later?” Gerard ran his hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. “If there’s one?” “Nah, just make sure you’re comfortable. We’re all doing the fancy stuff tomorrow, the practice can be a bit more laid back.” “Mom and dad are probably going to dress up a bit more for it, aren’t they?” “Of course, but I don’t think anyone is going to expect anything different.” Mikey said with a nod. “I just hope dad doesn’t stick his foot in his mouth again. I’m really not a fan of seeing Shelly cry.” “I’m not either, but I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about. I think he was thoroughly chastised by mom and grandma about that. And she accepted his apology, which is more than I would’ve done. I think he was properly humbled by that.” “Good. Hopefully that means he’ll behave; the last thing anyone wants is another scene.” “He’ll be good.” They fell silent for a little while, Mikey shifting to lean his head on his brother’s shoulder. Gerard smiled and wrapped an arm around the younger man’s shoulders to give him a quick but tight hug. “You alright?” Gerard asked. “Nervous?” “I’m a little nervous, but only because I don’t want to screw up.” “You? Screw up?” Gerard snorted. “I don’t think you’re going to do that. Besides, I think she’d forgive you for almost anything.” MIkey sat up straight and raised an eyebrow at his brother. “Almost?” He nodded. “Just don’t say the wrong name, for goodness’ sake.” “Oh, god. Yeah, she’d never forgive me for that!” Gerard laughed and they sat quietly together for a few minutes, before Gerard remembered that he should ask Mikey about the rundown of what was going to happen the next morning, so he could relay it back to the blonde. So, they discussed that for a little while with Gerard taking a few notes on his phone so that he’d remember before Mikey checked the time and they said their goodbyes until the rehearsal. Gerard wasn’t sure where Mikey headed off to - maybe back to talk to their parents, after having had a break from them when Gerard came along. Maybe. He just knew that he was going to head back to the room that he was going to have to share with the slightly feisty blonde for like, two nights. Truthfully, he’d forgotten that they would probably have to share a bed. It hadn’t really crossed his mind that it was a thing until they’d stepped into that hotel room a couple of hours ago. He’d thought about them sleeping together - and not just in the ‘having sex’ way (although of course he’d thought about that too). But he’d found himself thinking about waking up with her and going to sleep with her. Hell, in one of the dreams he’d had, she’d been wearing the cutest oversized pyjamas. Like, he always thought about how well she’d fit against him as they snuggled up to go to sleep. He hoped she was a snuggly sleeper - she just seemed like the type. He wasn’t entirely sure that he’d find out over the next few nights, mostly because he wasn’t sure if she was going to end up giving in and actually sharing the bed with him, or if she’d continue to be difficult and insist on sleeping on the sofa. But even if she did end up sharing the bed with him, the thing was so big there was a high chance that they could probably both spread out and not even come close to touching each other. Even though he really, really wanted to be able to just reach over and pull her back against him; for warmth, comfort and just for the affection. Because she was affectionate; he’d learnt that really quickly, and found himself being just as affectionate with her even quicker. So no, it wasn’t all about sex. Sure, of course he thought about that. And not just because of the copies of her notebook entries - one of which he knew he had tucked away in his bag. At this point, he was pretty certain that he had a lot of those memorised. (He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He wasn’t sure if he was embarrassed or not; he tried not to dwell on it too much.) He did find himself wondering how true to form the words were - if she actually behaved like that, responded in those ways to those… Actions. Of course he did. But aside from those notebook pages, which were harder, more explicit material, he’d thought about, dreamt about softer but still explicit, things. Like, the pages were essentially about them fucking, and as corny as it sounded, he’d thought about actually making love to her. Softly, gently, kindly, passionately. He really shouldn’t start thinking about that otherwise he would probably find himself in some kind of situation that he wouldn’t be able to explain away. On his way back up to their room, he did briefly wonder how he’d find her; did she take a nap, like they’d discussed? Would she be curled up on the bed, fast asleep or would he have to wait until that evening to see her sleeping? God, that sounded so creepy, but that wasn’t how he meant it. That wasn’t how he meant it at all. Gerard opened the door as quietly as he could, closing in behind him in the same manner. He wasn't sure if he felt… Disappointed to see her sitting at the little vanity table in the room, re-doing her make-up. She must’ve heard the door open (and close) because her hand was still. “Just me,” he said quietly, crossing the room to stand behind her. “I gathered,” she smiled. “Hi.” “Hi,” he smiled down at her. “Did you take that nap?” “Um, I think I dozed off for a little bit, yeah,” she rubbed the side of her eye before going back to touching up her make-up. “Did it help?” “Maybe. It was nice to just be able to sit and rest though, you know?” She put down whatever she was using and checked her work. “It’s really nice to not have to wear shoes for a bit too.” Gerard chuckled. “I suppose you spend most of your days in heels, don’t you?” “No stupidly high ones, but yeah, most of the time.” He hummed and gently rested his hands on her shoulders, making her blink rapidly for a moment before looking up at him, instead of using the mirror. “Are you okay? Did you find your brother?” “Oh. Yeah, I’m okay. Yeah, I found him.” Shelly frowned up at him. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He nodded, gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze and dropped his hands by his sides. As he did this, he felt his phone in his pocket and that reminded him that he had notes on it to share with her. “That reminds me actually,” he said. “I spoke with my brother about the expectations and what’s probably going to happen today at the rehearsal and tomorrow before the wedding.” Shelly watched him via the mirror as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it on the table in front of her. He leant over her just a little bit to tap at the screen, both to wake it up and also to unlock it. Normally she wouldn’t like it if someone leant over her like this, but… It was Gerard. It was okay. His phone’s lock screen was a photo of them, she noticed. One they’d taken on the night that she met his family - he was standing behind her, one arm tightly wrapped around her waist as his other hand gently tilted her face up to his for a kiss. She thought they were kissing in the photo actually; at least, they certainly had lip to lip contact - they were too physically close not to have done so. “You like that photo, huh?” She said softly. “Out of all the ones we’ve taken, you like that one enough to keep it as your lock screen?” Gerard cleared his throat quietly, hoping she wouldn't see the colour rush to his face. "I... Um. Yeah. It's one of my favourites. Um. You looked so beautiful.” Shelly smiled and glanced down to pull her phone so it was next to his, tapping it gently to wake it up and reveal her own lock screen; a photo of them on their picnic date, sort of snuggling on the blanket under the tree. “This is my current favourite,” she said, watching a smile spread across his face. “Though it changes a lot.” “My favourite date,” Gerard replied softly. “Followed closely by the travelling art exhibition.” “I don’t think I’d seen you so animated up until that point,” Shelly mused. “But you really, almost glowed, when you started talking about art. It was so captivating to watch.” He hummed for a moment before clearing his throat as he tried to distract himself from the fact that he knew he was blushing. He opened up the notes app on his phone and tapped the one he’d been using as he’d been talking to his brother. “So,” he said quietly, scrolling through the notes. “I spoke to Mikey. First off, he wanted me to tell you not to worry - you’re not going to make a scene or screw up anything. He thinks it’s very sweet that you’re so worried about it. But you don’t need to worry so much.” “Mm, I’ll try but sometimes that’s easier said than done.” Gerard pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I know. That’s good enough. Try and remember that I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.” Shelly hummed happily and leant back against him a little bit. “I’ll try, I promise.” “Good. I’ll take that.” “Are you alright standing?” Shelly asked, looking up at him. “You wanna go and sit down?” “Mm, I think I’m alright. If I sit I might end up lying down and sleeping.” “Okay. What was it you wanted to show me?” Gerard leant over her a bit again and went over the notes he’d taken; running her through what was going to happen during the rehearsal dinner, and then what was going to happen during the course of the wedding the next day. He’d remembered that she’d said that she felt better when/if she knew what was supposed to happen during the course of an event, so he’d tried to get as much information for her as possible. Shelly hummed a little as he explained what he found out, nodding a little every so often. She appreciated the fact that he’d remembered and that he’d gone through the effort of getting this information for her. She leant back against him and heard him pause mid sentence before he moved a little closer so she could lean against him better. He felt her do this and smiled down at her before he continued. He was unaware that she was watching him in the mirror - ‘cause she was still sitting at the vanity table after all, so she had seen him smile down at her. “Does that all make sense?” He asked, a minute or so after he’d finished going through it all. “I believe so, yeah.” Gerard nodded and stood back as she started to move to her feet herself. He stepped back enough so he wouldn’t get in her way and blinked as she stepped in front of him and leant up to press a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you,” she said. “For finding all of that out for me. I feel better knowing what’s supposed to happen.” “You’re welcome. That’s why I found it all out after all. I knew it would help you feel; I hoped it would help you relax a little.” Shelly nodded and looked at herself in the mirror. “You said the rehearsal dinner was comfortable clothing, right?” “Yeah, that’s what Mikey said. He said we’d be doing all the fancy formalwear tomorrow so we could just be comfy today,” he watched her look over herself and frown. “What’s wrong?” “I think I’ll change my shirt; I did pack a couple of pretty ones for this reason.” Gerard watched her trot over to her bag and poke through it for a few minutes before he looked at himself in the small mirror. Movement behind him made him redirect his attention as Shelly crossed the room to head to the bathroom, and when she’d shut the door he went to check the shirts that he'd packed. Shelly returned not long later and looked at herself in the mirror in the wardrobe, frowning again. “Hmmm.” “What’s up?” “I don’t know how I feel about this,” she gestured to her shirt, looking at him via the mirror again. “I know it’s supposed to be casual, really, but I still want to make an effort, you know?” Gerard looked her over; she looked pretty, of course she did. Her blouse was fitted in the most perfect places, flowy in the rest and cut just low enough to tease. Whether or not she was aware of that last bit he wasn’t sure, but he was pleased. The fabric was a pretty shade of pink on the darker end of the spectrum; Gerard would probably badge it as almost a watermelon pink instead of something like freshly spun candy floss. It was certainly very pretty. “I think you look lovely,” he said quietly, moving closer to get a better look at her. It was only when he got close enough that he noticed that her blouse had little white flowers on it too. “You don’t think it’s too plain?” He shook his head. “No, I like it. It’s very cute.” She seemed to relax a little, and then even more when he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. Her reflection raised an eyebrow at him and he just grinned in response, which made her giggle. “Are you gonna change your shirt?” She asked, resting her hands over his. “Mm hm. I have a pale grey one with me for today,” he heard a soft hum escape her. “I think you like that one.” “I do. I like you in most colours though.” Gerard chuckled and squeezed her gently. “As I do with you. I think I have a soft spot for you in pink though...” “Flirt,” Shelly murmured. “Go and change already.” He grinned a little at her before pressing a quick kiss to the nearest bit of skin that he could reach - which just so happened to be on her neck. This made her squeak softly and blush before she scurried back over to the vanity table to pretend to be attempting to deal with her hair. She relaxed a little when the bathroom door closed and sighed deeply, shaking her head at herself. She looked at herself in the mirror, pulled a face, puffed out her cheeks and huffed to herself before going to swap her sneakers out for some prettier sandals or something, sitting on the edge of the bed to wait for Gerard to be ready. She was watching her slowly swinging feet when he opened the bathroom door, and he noticed that she’d changed her shoes. He watched her for a moment, noticing that she was nibbling her bottom lip, like she was lost in thought. Which she probably was; she’d been doing that a lot since he’d picked her up. “Shelly, are you okay?” She jumped a little before her eyes met his. “Huh?” Gerard moved over to sit next to her, resting a hand over hers on the duvet. “I said, are you okay? You’ve been getting lost in thought a lot since I picked you up earlier.” “Yeah,” she said after a minute. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’ve just been…” Shelly paused a little before shrugging gently. “I’ve been thinking about what I want to do with the rest of my life, you know? What I want to get out of it.” He hummed. “Someone else’s wedding,” she started quietly. “Is kinda one of those big life events that makes you take stock of your own life; where you are and where you’re going.” “Yeah, I get what you mean.” “Or,” she continued, sounding a bit too cheery. “It makes you realise how far away you actually are from any goals you have.” “Mm. I know what you mean,” he glanced at her. “It does make you sit and take stock of everything.” They sat quietly for a little while before Gerard checked the time on his phone and squeezed her hand. She looked from the floor in front of them to his hand, then up to his face. He nodded towards the door. “We should start making our way down.” “Oh, right yeah,” she moved to her feet and smoothed down her clothes a little. “Do I look okay?” Gerard looked her over, slowly. “Yeah, yeah you do. You always do.” She giggled softly and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “Are you ready?” “Of course,” he stood and grabbed one of the hotel room cards. “Do you want to take one too?” “No, I think I’ll be okay.” She did however, grab her phone to check to make sure it was on silent. “Any excuse to drag me away and to bed, huh?” “Keep dreaming, pretty boy. C’mere and take some photos with me.” Gerard smiled and did as he was told, taking her hand to get some photos in front of the window - it was actually a really gorgeous view after all. Both, the view out of the window and her. “How’re those?” She asked, offering her phone to him and breaking him out of his head. He blinked rapidly and gently took her phone to look at the photos, glancing up at her to see her tilt her head as she watched him. She smiled when his eyes met hers and he smiled back before looking back down at the screen. “Yeah,” he mumbled as he looked at the pictures. “Yeah, they’re pretty good.” Shelly watched him swipe through the images, noticing that he’d lingered on one where they looked like they were mere moments away from kissing. This made her smile a little; he was such a soft touch, but it was so cute. “Yeah,” she said after a minute. “I like that one too.” Gerard’s gaze snapped up to her face before he handed back her phone. She smiled a little more as she took it, noticing a light blush appearing on his face. “You’re very photogenic Gerard.” He went pinker. “So are you.” Shelly hummed and ducked her head, tucking her hair behind her ear as she pocketed her phone. “Hmn. Well. We should get going, right?” Gerard checked the time on his own phone before sliding it into his pocket. “Yeah, we should.” Once they’d both taken a few photos they were definitely happy with and they’d pocketed their phones and left to go down to the rehearsal. Gerard was pleased to see that she kept a hold of his hand the whole way. (Although, why wouldn’t she? They were supposed to be a couple after all, but then again… When there wasn’t anyone around, she didn’t have to do that.) He was glad she did though; he liked holding hands with her. He felt like their hands fitted together quite well. He also felt that she was just the perfect height for him too - she fit under his arm well when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and he could rest his chin on her shoulder or on the top of her head with very little effort. When they stood still next to each other; there was a little thing she did that he was particularly fond of - she would keep ahold of his hand and gently lean her head against his arm. If they got to that point, and then had to linger for longer, she might even end up sort of hugging his arm a bit. He really liked that. She was so cutely affectionate. And he felt so… Soft, about it all. He hoped it was obvious that he was always open to her affection. They made their way down to the room that the rehearsal was going to be in, or outside the room at any rate. Gerard looked around and leant down to whisper in her ear. “We might actually be a bit early. Probably not by much though.” Shelly rolled her eyes a little. “I blame you?” He chuckled at her innocent tone and hummed. “Okay, I think I can let you get away with doing that. I wouldn’t want to be late to my own brother’s events after all.” She giggled and let him lead her over to some chairs. “Mmm, that’s true. That would be very bad form.” “Oh, only the worst,” Gerard sat down next to her and kept holding her hand, which she didn’t seem to mind at all - if anything, she squeezed his hand gently before holding it a little tighter. “Are you okay?” Shelly thought about this for a moment. “I believe so. I mean, they got a wedding planner right? So they’ll turn up and boss us around for a bit, and then I just have to remember that for tomorrow.” Gerard laughed softly. “Yeah, that’s a fair point. That’s something.” “What happens after the rehearsal?” Shelly glanced up at him. “Er, we have dinner and then… I think that’s it. Some people will probably hang out for a bit, others will head off to bed, or whatever.” “Mm, okay. What are you going to do? Stay and hang out or go to bed?” Gerard felt her shift closer to him and lean her head against his arm. “I’m not sure yet. I was going to wait and see how I felt afterwards.” “That’s fair.” “But,” he looked down at her, using his free hand to cup her cheek. “If you get tired, let me know and we’ll leave.” Shelly nodded, turning her face to kiss the palm of his hand. She’d decided to throw her whole, entire self into the “girlfriend role” this weekend. It was the last time she’d be able to do it, so she might as well go out with a bang, so to speak. Maybe acting like she was so utterly and hopelessly in love with him would make the break up bit difficult for him, but… She was trying not to think about that right now. “Okay,” she said quietly. “But, remember that goes for you as well. Don’t feel like you have to stay because of me.” “Hm, okay. I’ll remember that,” Gerard pressed a kiss to the side of her head, watching her smile brightly. They sat quietly together for a few minutes before Gerard hummed and let out a soft “Oh!” Shelly glanced up at him with an eyebrow raised. He nodded over towards someone on the other side of the room. “Would you be alright for a minute or two while I go and say hello? I mean,” he tilted his head. “You can come with me if you want, and I can introduce you?” Shelly thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. “I’m alright. I’ll stay here. It’s okay.” Gerard frowned. “Are you sure?” She nodded again and smiled at him. “I’m sure. I’m not sure I’ve got it in me to meet new people right now.” “Hm, okay,” Gerard nodded once and kissed her cheek gently, not entirely believing her. “Well, feel free to come over if you want to. Or text me if you need me to come back.” “Okay.” Gerard squeezed her hand before letting it go and getting up. He kissed the top of her head before leaving to go and talk to the person on the other side of the room. She watched him for a moment, as he stepped up beside the other man and waited a moment before getting his attention and speaking. She smiled and started looking around the rest of the room as it started filling up a bit more with relatives and friends of the bride and groom. She watched as people greeted each other and started forming small groups - she was actually a little surprised at how many people were actually there, because she didn’t think that the rehearsal was supposed to have that many people? Maybe it was a rich people thing. Then again, how would she really know - she was always the bridesmaid and never the bride after all. “Shelly.” Shelly looked up to see Elena. She smiled, stood up to greet her and was immediately pulled into a hug. Which truthfully, she didn’t mind in the slightest. She hugged the older woman, before gesturing to the chairs she was standing in front of. They both sat down. “Hi.” “Are you okay sweetheart?” Elena settled down and studied the blonde’s face. “I am. I’m just a little,” Shelly paused. “I know it’s only the rehearsal, so god knows what I’m going to be like tomorrow but… Weddings, you know? They make me a little emotional, I think.” “I understand that,” Elena nodded and followed Shelly’s gaze to see what the girl was looking at. Or, rather, in this case, who. Gerard was still talking to that someone Shelly wasn’t too familiar with, though Shelly had the feeling that he was talking about something, possibly art related. He was talking with his hands, which she enjoyed seeing. He ran his hand through his slightly longer, dark hair and she smiled. “You really love him, don’t you?” Shelly refocused her attention on the woman sitting next to her. “Pardon?” “I mean, it’s very clear that you two are very into each other,” Elena said. “And I know I mentioned something similar when we met you...” She paused for a moment, looking at the girl who was focused on her hands in her lap, before looking over at her oldest grandson and catching him looking at the blonde. She grinned at him, and when he realised that he had been caught he blushed a little and went back to his other conversation. “He is very sweet on you darling,” she continued. “I could tell from the moment he opened the door for you back at the restaurant. To be honest, the fact that he actually bought you to meet us is something else entirely.” Shelly felt her stomach clench with guilt and her heart ached with… Well, everything. “Yeah,” she managed to get out eventually. “I did get that impression. That he didn’t bring people ‘home’ so to speak, very much.” “Mmhm, and that is true. But, he let us meet you. That was a big thing. And you’re so lovely and so good for him. He’s been so different since he opened up to us about you. Plus, he can hardly ever keep his eyes off of you for too long. He couldn’t at the family dinner, he already can’t today.” “To be honest,” Shelly said quietly. “I can’t normally stop myself from looking for him if he’s not right next to me. I can’t normally take my eyes off of him, either.” Elena smiled to herself. “I think he dyed his hair because of, or for, you too.” Shelly giggled softly. “I only mentioned that I thought the black suited him. Though he said he probably won’t let me see him with his natural colour.” “Which is a shame, because that looks good on him too,” Elena looked back over to him. “He’s quite lucky that he hasn’t looked bad in any colour that he’s dyed his hair. Although, I must admit that the white, while I haven’t hated it, it has been my least favourite.” Shelly hummed. “I do like the black. It looks so striking on him.” “Because he’s so pale?” She watched Shelly nod. “He’s always been pale, bless him.” “I think it works for him. I think it makes him more beautiful,” Shelly brushed something off of her blouse, a low heat making its way to her face. “I think he just has that kind of classically beautiful face. But I think he’s beautiful inside too.” Elena couldn’t help but beam at the younger woman’s words and they sat quietly for a few minutes. “Forgive me if I’m speaking out of turn, but I get the feeling from you, that you’ve been hurt before, so you don’t…” Elena hummed as she thought about it. “You’re cautious.” “I am cautious,” Shelly confessed quietly. “I have been hurt. You’re right about that; about both of those things. You’re not speaking out of turn at all.” Elena’s expression softened. “Does he know? How you were hurt? Who hurt you?” Shelly looked over at Gerard and smiled when she ended up catching his eye. He smiled brightly back at her and she hummed before replying. “He knows. He didn’t push me to tell him either, which was a nice change. He was patient with me.” “I’m glad, on all fronts. That he knows, that he was patient,” Elena nodded. “Although, I am honestly a little surprised that Gerard managed to get you to drop your shields. He can be…” “Difficult?” Shelly grinned slightly. “Oh my yes.” They shared a little giggle. “I think,” Shelly glanced over to him again. “I think he had some shields up too, to be honest.” “He’s always been that way. He let you in though. Just like you let him in.” She studied the girl for a moment. “Do you regret it?” “Not in the slightest,” Shelly replied without hesitation. “Do you think it’s a good thing? That you let him in and that you don’t regret it?” “Absolutely.” She didn’t hesitate again. She did, however, pause for a moment afterwards and lower her voice when she continued. “Now that I know him, I can’t imagine my life without him in it, in the way that he is. And I’m not sure how I feel about that.” “Why’s that honey?” Shelly frowned and nipped at her bottom lip as she thought about it. “I think… I think I’m so used to being on my own, to having to cope and do everything by myself, that it’s very strange for me to have this other person, this unrelated by blood other person, who…” “Who cares about you and who is suddenly there for you.” “Yes, exactly that,” Shelly shifted in her seat to face Elena a bit better. “I was a little like that before I met their grandfather,” Elena smiled a little. “I was a little like you; loyal to my family, fiercely independent. Maybe not quite as pretty.” “Oh, nonsense!” Shelly shook her head and looked back down at her lap. “It’s true,” Elena reached her hand out and gently lifted the younger woman’s chin before cupping her cheek for a moment. “Although, I don’t think I’d been hurt quite as much as I think you’ve been. Their grandfather didn’t have that wall to dismantle.” “Gerard managed though,” Shelly said, feeling Elena gently brush her hair back over her shoulder. “And I don’t even think he realised he was doing it.” “He can have that effect on people sometimes. It was more common when he was a little younger, less so nowadays, but it still happens,” Elena smiled at the blonde. “Hm, I wonder why that is?” “Why what, darling?” “Why he wasn’t so difficult when he was a bit younger?” Elena thought about this before speaking. “I think the years have been a bit tougher on him than anyone would’ve guessed. Between you and me, sweetheart, I think his job has really changed him.” Shelly glanced from Elena to the man on the other side of the room again. “Mm, that would make sense. He… He has spoken to me a bit about how it’s… Not quite what he thought he’d be doing.” Elena tilted her head. “He’s told you about that already? Did he tell you what he went to college for?” “Yeah. He said he went to art school, but never really got the chance to use his degree.” “That’s true,” Elena sounded a little sad. “He’s so good at it too. He’s always been good at the arts.” “He had been trying to get back into his drawing recently,” Shelly admitted quietly. “He hasn’t shown me anything, but I know what artists are like; they’re so incredibly private.” “Oh, gosh, yes, that’s very true.” “And not just like, artists?” Shelly said. “I mean, writers and musicians are like that too.” “They are, yes.” “If he feels like he’s a bit rusty, then it’s probably going to take him a while to feel comfortable showing me anything, and that’s okay,” Shelly brushed off her trousers, her voice soft and gentle. “I can wait for him, for as long as it takes, to be ready to show me anything he wants. I’m in no rush.” Elena looked at the younger woman, noticing that she was gazing fondly over at her oldest grandson again, though Elena was thinking more about her words instead. “Shelly, grandma.” They both looked up to see Mikey standing in front of them. Elena beamed and stood to hug her youngest grandson. Shelly watched this with a smile before taking Mikey’s offered hand to stand up, surprised when she too was wrapped in a hug. “You both look lovely, as always.” Shelly giggled softly and rubbed the back of her neck a little. “Thank you kindly.” “Such a charmer,” Elena tutted playfully. Mikey just grinned. “I try. Shelly, I think Kristin was looking for you? Something about just finalising details for tomorrow?” “Oh, sure, I’ll go find her.” “Go and find who?” Gerard appeared, snuck his arm around Shelly’s waist and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Are you running away from me already?” “Hi,” she hummed as he kissed her temple. “Kristin. Got a few things to double check. I shouldn’t be long.” Gerard hummed, squeezed her against him for a moment and kissed her hand before letting her go. “Don’t be.” Shelly giggled, went a little pink and disappeared to find the bride to be, Gerard’s eyes on her for as long as he could manage. When he eventually lost sight of her, he turned back to the audience of his grandmother and brother, who were watching him with amused looks on their faces. “What?” He said. Mikey grinned. “Oh man, Gerard, you’ve got it so bad.” Gerard frowned at Mikey. “Oh, shut up.” He laughed. “I’ve got some more rounds to make, I’ll catch up with you in a bit.” Elena shook her head gently as Mikey left before taking Gerard’s hands. “Gerard. Honey Gee.” He went pink at the use of the old nickname. “Grandma - ” “No. No, you listen to me,” she let go of his hands and took him by the shoulders - or at least, as best as she could because he was taller than her. She smiled as he leant down a fraction so she could reach. “Thank you kindly.” “I’m listening,” he said quietly. “I’ve just been having a little chat with your darling blonde.” Elena continued. “I’m not going to share what we were talking about, except for the fact that it was about you.” “Uh oh,” Gerard bit his bottom lip. “Good things?” Elena thought about this. “Actually, yes.” “Thank god.” “But that’s not the point. The point is this,” she gripped his shoulders a little tighter. “You have to marry that girl.” Gerard blinked rapidly at his grandmother. “Um…” “She is perfect for you. She clearly adores you Gerard,” Elena squeezed his shoulders before letting them go so he could straighten up. “And you clearly adore her. Look at how long you’ve been together now. That’s a start; you’ve been together a long time. More than some of your other women.” “Mm, there is that,” Gerard bit his bottom lip and glanced around, looking for the girl in question. “The bride has her, darling,” Elena said softly, noticing him looking around. “You’ll get her back soon.” He huffed a tiny bit before sitting next to his grandmother. “You really think she’s good for me, huh?” “Oh, Honey Gee,” Elena chuckled. “She really is. We’ve never seen you so happy. And you can tell she’s happy with you by the way she talks about you; the tone her voice adopts, the look on her face, the way she smiles when she talks and thinks about you.” Gerard hummed softly as he thought about this, a smile forming on his face as he thought about her thinking about him. “You’re thinking about her now,” Elena said. “You’re smiling the same way she does. You can’t keep your eyes off of her. She’s the same with you. You kept looking at her - I kept catching you. And she kept looking at you. And literally just now, you were looking for her, despite the fact that you know she’s with Kristin, you know she’s still around.” “Yeah, well…” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. “Hmm?” She studied her oldest grandson, raising an eyebrow. “Well, what?” Gerard felt his cheeks heat up a little bit before shaking his head. “Yeah, alright, I’m very happy with her.” “You’re happy with her and you’re completely in love with her.” He opened and closed his mouth for a moment, stuttering as he tried to get his words out. Elena couldn’t help but smile. “Mm hm,” she nodded sagely. “Oh, darling. You don’t need to say anything. A grandmother knows.” “I…” Shelly appeared as he was trying to figure out what to say and Elena watched the expression on Gerard’s face change when he realised who was standing in front of him - it obviously brightened and he stood up to greet her by taking her hands. “Hi,” she whispered, giggling as he kissed her cheek. “I wasn’t gone long.” “Yeah but you left as soon as I got back,” he let one of her hands go so he could wrap an arm around her waist. “Oh no, you had to cope without me for a whole five minutes!” Shelly teased him and giggled a little louder as he pulled her a little closer to him. “Men, eh, Shelly?” The blonde smiled at Elena as the older woman looked up at them. “Can’t leave them alone for even a minute, can we?” They shared a giggle as Gerard rolled his eyes, and it wasn’t too long after this that the wedding planner started gathering everyone up so the rehearsal could begin. Shelly was thankful for that wedding planner, as it meant that everything went really smoothly, and it wasn’t as terrifying as she thought it was going to be. That was a massive plus point, as she’d been really nervous. Not that she knew why she was nervous - it’s not like it was her wedding after all. She’d glanced up at Gerard after she had this thought and sighed as quietly as she could, her smile fading as she focused on literally anything else. She didn’t know why she was getting all caught up in her head like this. She knew it wasn’t real, she knew this wasn’t a thing. Hell, he might not even have any interest in getting married himself, so there was very little point in letting herself get carried away in her head. Besides, this wasn’t real. It didn’t even matter what Elena said. This wasn’t real. Especially not on his end. Was it?

#CMBFTW #CMBFTW fic #She Writes #fan fic #Gerard Way x OC

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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

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Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Fourteen

Series Masterpost

Word Count: 6k and change. Notes: Chapter title from “Bulletproof Heart” by My Chemical Romance.

Chapter Fourteen - So Get Me Out Of My Head…

Over the next few days, Shelly’s anxiety over not being able to find the right dress in time outweighed both her nervousness and the guilt over adding more things to Kristin’s to-do list. She eventually took Gerard’s advice to, albeit very shyly and hesitantly, reach out to Kristin for some help on picking a dress to complement her wedding colours. Shelly was incredibly apologetic about having to ask; she knew that Kristin had a lot more going on and really didn’t need to be worrying about someone else’s dress. Kristin, being the utter sweetheart that she was, immediately messaged Shelly back to reassure her that she didn’t mind in the slightest. If anything, helping Shelly find a dress would be a nice diversion from the other stuff that Kristin was thinking about. They spent some time texting, on and off over several days, and Shelly received some very helpful advice, especially in regards to colour. She was very grateful for that, getting the colour right was the thing that Shelly had been the most concerned about. Kristin had even sent across a picture or two of the same sort of styles of dresses that her few bridesmaids would be wearing. Shelly found this incredibly helpful too and she was so grateful that Kristin had taken time to help her out. While she was texting Kristin, she was also texting Gerard on and off, whenever they had time; they both got a little swamped at work. This made her sad, because it meant that she only just had time to grab a regular lunch - she didn’t have the time to go by and see Gerard for lunch like she wanted to. She felt really disappointed by this, actually. Unbeknownst to her, he felt exactly the same. Fortunately, they’d been texting about how busy they were, so it wasn’t like he felt like she was ignoring him or purposely trying to get out of seeing him or something. He had a feeling that she wouldn’t do that, he could tell that she was disappointed. He could also tell that she was a little stressed out, and as much as he wanted to sweep her away from work for an afternoon or so to try and get to relax, he also knew that she had a lot to do and being away from her tasks would probably stress her out more. He would just have to keep texting her and keep an ear out for when she might be free so he could maybe try and take her mind off of it all. That opportunity presented itself to him a few days later. Shelly was in the middle of town after lunch, but still during the very early afternoon. She’d managed to get the day off and had slept in a bit, but now she was minding her own business and running an errand or two that she hadn’t had the time to do until then. She was generally taking her time, because she knew that she didn’t have to rush (unlike everything else she’d had to do recently - mostly at work), doing “adulting” things, which were her least favourite things. She made it easier on herself by taking her time and by rewarding herself if something had been abnormally difficult - like having to have a longer than normal discussion with… Anyone really. That didn’t happen too often, but when it did it always felt worse. Maybe it was always worse because it didn’t happen as much. Today wasn’t one of those days - her errands were easy, it was everyone else out and about who were driving her slightly mad. She found herself drifting into one or two of her favourite clothing stores, hoping to maybe get some kind of inspiration in regards to the fact that she still didn’t have a dress to wear to the wedding, although after a conversation with the bride, she at least had a better idea of what colours to look for now. She ducked into a changing room to try one or two dresses on, taking a few mirror shots to look back on later. She saved the photos with the store name and took photos of the tags too, just so she knew exactly what she was looking at. She thought that if she got really stuck she would just send Kristin the photos and beg her for help. She’d probably have to caption them with something like please forgive and/or ignore the jeans though. Those would not be included. What she was doing was… A good idea on paper, really - dress hunting on her own time. The idea of doing it (dress hunting, that is, nothing else, she had to keep correcting her brain) with Gerard made her a bit nervous. She didn’t think she minded the actual “getting him to help her pick” bit. She didn’t think that was the bit that made her nervous - he’d helped her with finding an outfit to meet his parents in, and she’d felt really… Pretty in that one. Cute too, now that she thought about it. But he didn’t have to pay for it, he just had to look in her wardrobe. Maybe that’s what was holding her up - the fact that she was very aware that he wouldn’t bring her to any of the stores that she regularly frequented. He’d probably take her to some fancier, more expensive place where she’d probably feel quite uncomfortable with the numbers. Even if the clothes were really very nice. But then again, she had to remind herself, he had said that he’d take her anywhere she wanted to go - not just stores that he would frequent, but ones she would too. She wasn’t sure why but, even with this knowledge, the idea of dress hunting with him still made her nervous. Maybe it still had to do with the fact that he would be spending his money. Maybe that was what she was getting hung up on. Shelly took a picture of the dress she’d just changed into before taking another look at herself in the mirror. Something Gerard had said, way back in the beginning of this whole… Situation came back to her; “always the bridesmaid, never the bride?” She puffed out her cheeks as she looked at her reflection before she huffed and started to change out of the dress. Yeah. Maybe he was right, and he was probably going to continue to be right because - her phone started ringing, interrupting her thoughts. She managed to pull her top on properly before grabbing her phone from the stool in the changing room to answer it without checking the caller ID first. “Hello?” She checked herself in the mirror to make sure that her clothes were in the right way and that she didn’t look a mess. “Hey Shelly.” “Hi, Gerard,” Shelly found herself smiling as soon as she heard his voice. “I was just thinking about you.” He coughed slightly from the other end of the line before he hummed. “Oh? I hope you were thinking all good things.” “Oh, of course, nothing but good things. Can you hang on just a moment?” “Sure.” Shelly carefully put her phone back on the stool and finished putting her jacket and everything back on. She picked up her phone and the dresses she’d tried on, giving those back to the assistant with a soft ‘thanks’ before putting her phone back to her ear. “Okay,” she said. “I’m back. Hi. How are you?” “I’m not bad, how are you? What’re you up to?” “Um, I’m not too bad I think,” she ducked out of the shop and took a short walk down the street to find the nearest bench. “I was trying on dresses when you called. I’ve been running errands.” “Trying on dresses?” He sounded confused. “Oh, I wander around a little when I’m in town doing things, just to do dress research,” she looked down at her shoes and swung her feet a little bit. “I’m still not sure what I’m looking for and I don’t want to eat up too much of your time.” He sighed. “Shelly, I’ve told you that you can pull me away from work whenever you need to, for however long you want to. I really don’t mind. Work still gets done.” “Yeah, I know what you’ve said, but I still get a bit nervous, and I still worry. I can’t help it.” “I know,” his voice sounded softer, maybe a little more soothing. “It’s okay.” He paused and she heard him swallow quietly. “How’d your dress research go?” “I’m still a little undecided to be honest,” she leant back on the bench and looked around a little bit. “But I’ve got more data now so, maybe that will help.” “I hope so. I mean, if you can tell me more about what you’re going to be looking for then I can narrow down what shops to take you to in order to find it.” “Mm, those were kinda my thoughts on the thing too.” Shelly paused as she looked around a little. “But that’s not something I’m quite ready for yet, which I’m starting to worry about a little. I’m very aware that the wedding is getting closer and closer.” “I know. We’ll find you something, even if I have to throw a lot of money at the situation.” “I don’t want you to have to do that though,” Shelly admitted, interrupting him a little. “Besides, I don’t think money can solve everything.” “Yeah,” he sighed softly. “I know. But sometimes it really helps.” She hummed and chuckled. “Mm, I don’t think that you’re wrong there.” He laughed a little and this made her smile. She enjoyed hearing him laugh and she really liked seeing him smile. His smile would often make her stomach flutter and that made her feel ridiculous because she wasn’t a teenager anymore, so why was he making her feel like that? Like she was a schoolgirl with a crush on an older boy at school, who had just smiled at her in the hallway or whatever. It was completely ridiculous and she wished it would stop. “I actually had a reason for calling,” he paused and she could hear him frowning. “Although I guess I could’ve texted you instead…” “Gerard,” she said. “Calling is fine. Is everything okay?” “Oh! Yeah, I’m okay, it’s nothing bad, really. Are… Have you finished your errands?” “Mm hm. All done and dusted.” He hummed a little. “Did you have anything planned for the rest of the day?” Shelly watched someone walk by with their dog, getting briefly distracted as they did so. She heard him clearly though. “Um. No, I don’t think so. I think I was just planning on hitting up another store before going home and hanging out.” There was a short pause and she thought that she heard him take a small breath. She wasn’t certain though. “Would you like to come and hang out with me?” Shelly blinked rapidly, moved the phone away from her ear slightly and eyed it before putting it back against her ear. “Um, yeah, of course. I’d like that.” “I was thinking that you could come to my place,” he continued, sounding a little bit nervous, which she wasn’t used to. “We could maybe just hang out, maybe watch another movie or something?” “Yeah, that sounds good. Except for the fact that I don’t know where you live.” “I can send a car for you,” he said. “There’s an app.” “That would work. Do you want me to bring anything?” “Nope, just yourself.” Shelly heard herself giggle quietly before rolling her eyes at herself. “Alright, I can do that.” “Alright!” His voice sounded so much more upbeat and much… Brighter. Happier. “Okay. If you can send me your location, I can figure out where to send a car?” “I’ll get to somewhere less crowded and easier for a car to get to first, then I’ll do that, okay?” “Sure, that makes more sense. So, um, I’ll see you soon then?” “Of course.” They hung up and Shelly did as she said she was going to do - she made her way out of the busy street and to a quieter area nearer a road, before sending her location to Gerard. He responded via text a few minutes later, letting her know that a car was on its way to pick her up. He then hastily added that the car was already paid for so she didn’t need to worry about that. And then he sent her the car and driver information so she knew what she was looking for. She thanked him, and then texted him again once she got in the car; keeping him sort of updated as she went, if only for her own sanity and safety. Gerard really didn’t mind this though, he was grateful for it. He wasn’t completely worried about everything, but he was still a little worried. Of course he was a little bit worried, he cared about her and didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. Shelly thanked the driver and stepped out of the cab, shutting the door behind her and waiting for the car to drive off before she turned to look at the building she was standing in front of. Her eyes widened and she let out a soft, long and low whistle before pulling her phone out. She took a quick photo, more for herself than anything, and then sent Gerard a quick text, letting him know that she was outside his building. He texted back not long later that she could just come on in, anyone at the doors would be expecting her. He also let her know what floor he was on. Shelly hummed to herself, cautiously approaching the door and getting a nod as she entered the building, managing to find the elevator and getting herself up to the right floor. The elevator doors opened to reveal a… Foyer like ‘hallway’ - if you could call it a hallway if there was only one door on it. She approached that one door and knocked. Gerard opened his front door and smiled when he saw Shelly on the other side. “Hi.” She looked up from her feet and did a double take. “I… You’ve dyed your hair!” He ran his fingers through it; it was getting longer now, and growing a little faster than he remembered it ever doing so before. It wasn’t too long but it was a little better. It felt a little healthier now too. “Yeah,” he said quietly, slightly amused by how wide her eyes had gone. “I’m not sure that the almost blinding white would be appreciative at Mikey’s wedding.” Shelly frowned a little as she looked at him and it was then that he realised that he hadn’t invited her in yet, so he stood aside and gestured for her to enter. “Oh, yes, of course.” She stepped into his apartment and heard him close the door behind her. “Do you want me to take your coat?” “Um, yeah, okay, sure,” she put her phone in the pocket of her jeans. She had started to take her coat off before she felt him helping her. “Such a gentleman.” “I do try,” he hung it up for her. “Do you want me to take my shoes off?” She asked. “You don’t have to.” Shelly paused for a moment before admitting; “I’d like to.” “Then sure, but you really don’t have to.” She hummed and took her shoes off, losing about an inch in height as she did so, which he noticed, of course he did. It made him grin, which she noticed and it made her frown at him. “What’s so funny?” He gestured to where she could leave her shoes before guiding her down the hallway. “You got a bit shorter, that’s all. Would you like the tour?” “I am naturally short, you know this. And yes, that would be nice.” “Small, perfectly formed packages, is how I vaguely remember you describing the women in your family.” The blonde blinked rapidly. “Yeah, that's exactly right. You remembered.” Gerard just smiled at her before giving her the tour. The majority of the apartment was open-plan; the kitchen, living area and dining area all being one large, brightly lit space. There was a smaller spare room that he hadn’t shown her, but had told her that he’d converted it into an office type room, a larger spare bedroom, a bathroom that seemed ridiculously big to the blonde and then his bedroom, which he almost didn’t show her. She picked up on this and pointed out that he had seen hers, so it was technically only fair. He’d relented (really easily) and let her in, staying in the doorway as she padded into the room a little bit. “At least this will add some authenticity to your writing, huh?” Shelly turned on the spot and tilted her head. “I haven’t written anything like that since we started this whole thing.” He blinked rapidly. “Really?” “Really,” she nodded. Gerard nibbled his bottom lip, trying really hard to resist the urge to back her further into his room and… Well. He shook himself out of the rest of that thought. “At all? Or just about us?” She shook her head. “At all.” “Oh.” “You almost sound disappointed, Gerard.” She teased lightly, watching him go a faint shade of pink which just made her giggle for a moment before she noticed him chewing his bottom lip. She shook her head gently and trotted closer to him, deciding to save him from having to comment further. “Show me the main room?” This seemed to snap him out of it, but he nodded and led her back to the rest of the apartment, watching her as she padded around the open space. She was moving carefully, almost like she was scared of breaking anything, and she was looking around a lot. Shelly hummed a little as she looked around. It was simply decorated, but everything oozed expense and luxury. Especially the piano in the corner near the windows. That thing was beautiful and Shelly felt her fingers itch to go and touch a few keys. She’d noticed that there was a lot of art on the walls, in every room that he’d shown her. They were nice pieces too, definitely interesting. She finished looking at the kitchen filled with shiny appliances, with its marble tops covered in handy gadgets before turning her attention to the living room area. Gerard watched the girl trot over to his large, very plush couch before perching on it and letting out a squeak as she sunk into it. He chuckled and moved closer to her, having previously been standing a little way away to keep out of her eye-line as she looked around. “This place is beautiful,” she said as she repositioned herself on the sofa. “I’m honestly a little surprised. Sometimes richer people can have kinda tacky taste. But everything here is really, really nice. And it’s so well lit.” “I like natural light,” he nodded. “It makes a lot of things look better, or it can enhance the way something looks.” “Ah, but the right kind of lighting, natural or not, can do that too.” “Mm, I know that, but natural lighting tends to be a little softer,” he moved to sit on the sofa with her, although because the sofa was so big, he didn’t have to sit too close in order for both of them to fit on it. He did find himself a little disappointed about that. “I have a friend who specialises in photography,” she said softly, pulling her phone out of the pocket of her jeans and leaning forward to put it on the table in front of the sofa. “He could write you an essay on lighting and the way it affects the way people view things.” “That’s pretty cool, photography is a good skill to have.” Shelly nodded and settled back into the sofa cushions a bit more. “This sofa is quite wide; you could sleep on this quite comfortably.” “You could. I’ve dozed off on it once or twice,” he glanced around before blinking rapidly. “Excuse me, where are my manners? Can I get you anything? A drink maybe?” “Mm, no thank you, not yet.” “Alright, let me know if you need anything and I’ll get it for you.” “Thanks.” She leant against the sofa cushions, sitting sideways so she could look at him better. He noticed her watching him and tilted his head at her, raising an eyebrow as he did so. Shelly giggled and tucked her hair behind her ears, dropping her gaze. “Do I have something on my face?” “Hmn? Oh,” she shook her head. “No. I was thinking about your hair a little.” Gerard raised an eyebrow at her. “How so?” “It makes you look a little less pale, I think.” “Hm, yeah, I can buy that,” he paused, almost nervously. “Do you… Do you like it?” Shelly beckoned him closer and he obeyed almost instantly, edging close enough to her that, if she wanted, she could reach out and touch him. Or he could reach out and touch her. She smiled at his obedience and moved as if she was going to touch him, but she hesitated and dropped her hand back into her lap. “Go on,” he said quietly. “Do whatever you were going to do. It’s fine.” “Even though you don’t know what I was going to do?” Shelly grinned slightly. “I might’ve been about to poke you in the eye.” Gerard chuckled. “Mm hm, sure. I don’t think you’d do that to me though.” Shelly pretended to consider this, only for him to poke her in response. She squeaked as he got her in the stomach and she squirmed ever so slightly. Gerard noticed the squirming and filed this away for later on. “Alright, maybe I wouldn’t. And maybe I wasn’t going to do that.” “What were you going to do?” He shifted a tiny bit closer. Shelly nibbled her bottom lip, re-considering what she had been about to do - she was almost second guessing herself and she very nearly talked herself out of it. But he had said that it was okay, that she could go ahead and do… Whatever. “Are you sure?” She asked. Gerard nodded. “I’m sure. I don’t even need to ask what you were going to do.” Shelly nodded before leaning forward and gently running her fingers through and over his hair. This action actually surprised him - he hadn’t really been expecting it, but by god did he welcome it. It felt nice. Especially when she gently dragged the very tips of her nails over his scalp. “Sorry,” she whispered. “Huh? For what?” “Did that not hurt?” She frowned. “I thought I felt my nails catch - I thought that I scratched you.” “No,” Gerard resisted the urge to shake his head. “No, it didn’t hurt. It felt quite nice, actually.” “Oh. You kinda like the, um, petting?'' Her cheeks felt a little warmer as she said that last word, wishing that she could’ve thought of something instead of that one. “I can’t think of another word for it.” “The one you used is fine, and yes, I do like it.” “Hmm…” He raised an eyebrow at her. “I can almost hear you thinking; I can almost hear the cogs turning.” She giggled and hummed. “Um, yeah, I was having ideas above my station I think.” “Oh, I doubt that.” He paused, reluctantly removed her fingers from his hair and squeezed her hand. “I didn’t really plan too much other than you coming over…” “That’s okay. I don’t mind. I like just hanging out.” “How about you go and open that cupboard,” he gestured to one near the tv. “And pick a movie? Maybe we can sit and watch one for a little bit.” Shelly nodded and slid, rather gracefully actually, off of the sofa. “That sounds like a good idea. We can just sit and spend some quiet time together.” “Yeah,” he said quietly, watching her. “Exactly that. Let me know if you can’t reach. Would you like a drink now?” “Mm, yeah actually, that would be nice.” Shelly opened the cupboard he’d pointed her towards. “Oooh my. There’s a lot here. I know you said that you liked films, but I didn’t think that you were this much of a film buff.” “Yeah, I guess I didn’t emphasise that too much.” Gerard laughed from over in the kitchen. “What would you like to drink? I have the tea that you have in your kitchen and I’ve got a couple of interesting sounding hot chocolates.” “It’s okay that you didn’t make too much of a point of it, really.” Shelly pulled a couple of titles off of the shelves, stopping and turning when he started talking about drinks. “Oh? You remembered my favourite tea?” “Yeah, it’s not one I’m familiar with. Is it one you had at home?” He looked up from the box to see her put some cases on the coffee table and start to make her way over to him. She stopped the other side of the kitchen island and leant her elbows on the counter, slotting herself between the stools. He smiled at her. “Hi.” “Hi,” she smiled back before glancing over to the box of teabags. “Yeah, that’s a brand from England. I do go back every so often to see friends. And sometimes I bring back tea. Sometimes they send some to me. But I can always find it.” Gerard smiled a little. “Took me a few days, if I’m honest. But I wanted to find the one you liked.” The shorter girl smiled, went a little pink and dropped her eyes to the counter she was leaning on. “I appreciate that. I really do.” “So, tea? For now?” He smiled. “Maybe hot chocolate later?” “Yes, please.” Shelly moved off of the counter and made her way back over to his DVD collection. “I like three sugars, a splash of milk so it’s like, honey coloured? Providing it’s actual sugar and not like, sugar adjacent or whatever.” “Psh, of course it’s real sugar. What do you take me for?” He flicked the kettle on and sorted out their cups. “Mm, fair point. I’ve got a shortlist of movies, does that count?” She moved back to the sofa, putting another couple of cases on the pile on the coffee table. “Maybe you can decide from there?” “That works,” he picked up the mugs and made his way back over to the sofa again. Shelly looked up from examining the movies she’d picked out, to thank him for her tea when he put it down in front of her, only to frown at the mug she was face to face with. She felt him sit on the sofa next to her, and she glanced over to see that he had the not-quite-matching mug to go alongside hers. “Gerard,” she said quietly. “Yes dear?” He sipped his coffee in order to hide a grin. “What’s with the, um… Matching mugs? Matching to the ones you made me take home?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I keep meaning to tell you off for that by the way. Like, properly.” Gerard shrugged. “You liked them and thought they were pretty. I wanted to buy them for you. And I also wanted to have a particular mug here, if you ever came over, that was specifically yours.” He sipped his coffee again. “You might notice that I gave you the same colourway you gave yourself when I was around your place that time. I figured that was your favourite of the two.” Shelly put the DVD cases down and gently rested the mug on her knee, letting out a soft sigh as the steam caressed her face. “Oh, Gerard.” “What?” “I…” She sipped her tea and tried to stop herself from actually saying what was going around her head; you realise that I’m not actually your girlfriend, right? (We’d be kissing a lot more if I actually was, that’s for sure.) What are you going to do with the tea and the mugs when this is all over and you don’t need me around anymore? Gerard waited for a moment. “Shelly?” She shook her head, both to answer him and shake away the disappointment she felt at that thought, at the utter… Glumness she felt. “It’s just… You’re so sweet. Are you actually like this in relationships, and if you are, why did you have to find someone to pretend to be in love with you?” Gerard blinked rapidly at her for a moment as he took in her question. Shelly glanced up at him and nipped her bottom lip, mistaking his confused but contemplative silence for him being angry. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “That’s not really any of my business. That was kinda out of line.” “No, no you have nothing to apologise for. I mean, you’re absolutely right about it, to be honest,” Gerard shifted and pushed himself off of the sofa to go and put one of the movies in the player, grabbing the remote on his way back to the sofa where he settled back down, except this time he sat a little further away from her. Shelly frowned. “I don’t want to be right about anything like that though.” “Oh, I know, and it’s okay. I know you’re not being spiteful or ill-willed or anything,” he focused on the screen as he sorted out the menus and resolution. He sounded a little bit sad actually. Shelly adjusted her position so she was more comfortable before gently tugging on his sleeve. When she had his attention, she beckoned him closer and pulled him into a hug, which he moved into quite easily, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder. She hummed happily as he did this and gently ran her fingers through his hair, smiling as she felt him relax, his arms around her waist holding her tighter. “I’m not sure if I’m actually like this in relationships,” he said after a few minutes of her petting his hair. “I haven’t been in a proper one for such a long time.” “Mm, you mentioned that you had a few dates but nothing too serious,” Shelly gently scratched his scalp and grinned slightly as he almost melted into her. “Mm hm.” Shelly felt him grip the fabric covering her back a bit and she returned to petting his hair instead of scratching his scalp. “Do you want to talk about it?” He thought about this for a moment. “Will you keep petting my hair?” “If that’s what you want, then yes.” He moved back from her and out of her hug, looking at her. Her answer had been soft, gentle and without hesitation. “Really?” Shelly nodded. “I’ll listen if you want to talk, you know that.” Gerard was briefly distracted by the still unstarted movie on the tv. He found the remote and switched the channel to one of the music ones before turning the volume down so it wasn’t so loud, but he chose the music channels because he thought they were less distracting than a movie. Shelly watched him doing this before leaning forward to pick her mug up and drink more of her tea. Gerard put the remote down and picked up his mug, downing what was left in it, which the blonde watched with a raised eyebrow before finishing her tea, just a little bit slower and in more mouthfuls. He hesitated for a moment and Shelly noticed this. She shifted so she could lean her back into the back cushions on his couch. Once she was comfortable enough, she grabbed one of the soft, more decorative cushions and put it on her lap before patting it. “C’mon,” she said. “Head here, I’ll pet your hair and you can talk to me.” Gerard looked at her, more amused than anything, but he did as he was told, choosing to lie on his stomach, leaning on his arms. “How’s this?” Shelly hummed and started gently running her fingers through his hair. “Yeah, that’s fine, if you’re comfortable.” “I’m not too heavy?” “Nope, not at all.” “Okay,” he closed his eyes for a moment, just focusing on her stroking his hair for a few minutes. She heard him sigh softly and frowned a little. She was about to ask if he was okay before he started to talk. “You’re right. I did say that I haven’t been in a proper relationship for a very long time. I haven’t really been on a proper date for a while either, before we started doing this whole thing.” “Is that by choice?” She asked gently, repeating the same question he’d asked her way back when. “More than likely,” he mumbled, sounding a little… Grumpy? “Why’s that?” Gerard hummed at her soft tone and then a little louder as her fingertips brushed against his ear. “I think people just use me.” “For your money? Or for your obvious good looks?” He could hear the amusement in her voice in the second question, but he knew that she wasn’t really teasing him; she wasn’t like that. “My money I think.” “Although, you are very attractive,” she gently ran her thumbpad over the outer rim of his ear. “So that’s probably a bonus for them. Rich and hot? Like, jackpot.” Gerard listened to her, trying not to lean into her touch. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her tone of voice. “Mm, I guess.” “Normally it’s one or the other y’know? Not both.” She paused and hummed. “But you think people just use you for your money? They’re more interested in what they can get from you financially than anything else?” “Yeah.” Shelly leant back into the cushions a bit more and hummed. “I think people take advantage of me sometimes too. I like to help people; I think that’s in my nature. I don’t know if it’s ‘very Leo’ of me, but I think I get it from my mama.” He nodded against the cushion. “I do wish that I’d just asked, you know. But it would’ve been weird right? Just having this client come to you and ask you for this really weird favour.” “Um. Maybe it would’ve been a bit weird. I probably would’ve helped you though, like I said before, it would’ve sounded like a challenge? And a chance to see how the other half live, I guess.” She ran her fingers through his hair and down his neck a little as she followed his hairline, just testing the waters. He felt her fingers on the back of his neck and tried not to shiver at the softness and gentleness of her touch. That felt good. He hummed so she knew that he was listening to her. “I suppose,” she said after a few minutes, still slowly and gently playing with his hair. “I suppose I’m not really that much better than the other women.” Gerard frowned and turned his head so he could look at her. “Okay, firstly, that’s bullshit. Secondly, how did you come to that conclusion?” Shelly giggled at the look on his face and tapped the tip of his nose. “Language.” A soft ‘oh’ fell out of her mouth when he grabbed that hand, put it on the cushion and rested his cheek against it. “Hey, I need that, you know. I can’t pet your hair if you keep my hand hostage like that.” He smiled at her words. “You can have it back later.” “But you want an answer first?” She rolled her eyes playfully when he nodded. “Alright. Well… I’m only here right now because I’m trying to stop you from taking away your money, when you strip everything down to the bare bones of it all, really?” Gerard averted his eyes and tried not to think about her… Specific phrasing. He tried not to think about it too literally anyway. He did think about the rest of it though, staying quiet for a few minutes. “Well,” he said eventually. “When you put it like that… Hmn. I still don’t know. I mean, you’re only doing this because I pushed you into it, essentially giving you no other choice.” Shelly hummed. “And anyway,” he continued. “It’s not like you’re doing this because you want me to stop using my money on you specifically; you’re doing this to help your family, to help keep your grandparents’ business going for as long as it can.” “There is that, I guess.” “So no, you’re nothing like the rest of them,” he said before dropping the volume of his voice, almost shyly. “At least, not to me. I don't think you are.”

#CMBFTW fic #CMBFTW #She Writes #fan fic #Gerard Way x OC

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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

Text

Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter One

Series Masterpost

Word Count: a shade under 6k. Rating: Teen and Up, I guess. Warnings: Mentions of sexual situtations. A swear or two. Notes: Chapter title from “Kiss The Ring” by My Chemical Romance.

Chapter One - The Words Don’t Mean A Thing

Shelly hummed to herself and knocked quickly on the door. She didn’t have to wait long before Gerard opened it, all dressed up in a suit that made him look incredible. Edible perhaps. She wasn’t sure if she recognised it or not, although it probably was one of her grandfather’s. She bit her bottom lip as she found herself looking him over, eventually meeting his eyes. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Miss Sketcher.” She frowned a little, unused to being called that in that sort of tone by him. She swallowed and eventually found her voice, choosing to follow along. “Mr. Way?” “Come on in,” he stood aside, gesturing with a sweep of his arm for her to enter. It would’ve been theatrical if the tone of his voice hadn’t been so… Serious. Shelly hummed and stepped into the room, her heels clicking on the floorboards as she moved away from the door enough so she wouldn’t be in the way. She heard the door close behind her and then heard the soft ‘click’ of the lock. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was surprised by that, but she was. Gerard brushed past her before gesturing to the chair closest to them at the desk. “Take a seat, please.” She said nothing but did as she was told, settling in the chair and crossing one leg over the other. And then she waited. He didn’t sit opposite her right away; he moved around the room, his own shoes making heavier sounds against the floor. She could almost see his actions in the window opposite her; he was looking through a bag, his back to her (and the window). When she noticed him start to move like he was going to join her, she averted her eyes to the desk in front of her. “I suppose you would like to know why I’ve asked you here.” Shelly tilted her head as she heard his footsteps approach where she was sitting. “It would be a start.” Gerard sat opposite her, leant his elbows on the desk and laced his fingers together, leaning back in the chair for a moment, just looking at her. Shelly met his gaze and raised an eyebrow. “Well?” “Probably not a good idea to take that tone with me, young lady.” He unlaced his fingers and reached under the table to retrieve something from his lap. Shelly was about to say… Something, when he put a book on the desk between them. Well. It wasn’t just a book. It was a notebook, actually. A notebook that she was incredibly familiar with. Because it was hers. She swallowed thickly and slowly as she looked from the well-worn cover up to his face. He was leaning his chin on his interlaced fingers, sitting forward in his chair as he absorbed her. She’d put good money, bad money, any kind of money, on the fact that he was probably reading all of her micro expressions, because god damn, that man could read her well. Not just her either; from the limited, but long, interactions she’d had with him, she knew that he was generally good at reading people well if given the chance. After a moment of trying to figure out what exactly she should do, she straightened her spine and cocked her head at him, noticing the raising of his eyebrow. The right one, specifically. “What’s that then?” She tried to keep her tone as light and as innocent as she could. Both his eyebrows rose at that and surprise crossed his features, if only for a moment. “I’m honestly surprised you don’t recognise it,” he said, turning the notebook around and opening the cover. “Considering the fact that it appears to have your handwriting on the first page.” “In all fairness,” she unfolded her legs and sat with her knees together, but still crossed her ankles under her chair. “That handwriting could belong to anyone.” “Mmhm, that is true. But, I don’t surround myself with many people who add unnecessary ‘u’s to words.” Shelly opened her mouth to protest but saw his lips twitch as if he was going to smirk, like he thought that he’d won, and she wasn’t going to have that. She knew, as an Aries man, he could be stubborn and determined, but she was a Leo. And lions ate sheep as light snacks. “Well, unless you regularly read things from everyone around you, you’re not to know, are you?” “That is a reasonable argument,” he acknowledged with a nod before closing the notebook. Shelly made the mistake of letting her guard down for a moment. “And you’re right,” he continued, leaning back in his chair and watching her. “The handwriting could very well belong to anyone. But, and I mean no disrespect, why would anyone else write about you?” She paused for a tiny fraction, just to process the question, before replying. “Heaven knows.” “I mean,” he leant forward and picked up the notebook again. Instead of licking the tip of his finger to help turn the page, he sucked his finger into his mouth, until the closest joint. He then flicked through a few of the pages. Shelly watched this with wide eyes, while trying to stop herself from reaching over the desk and taking the notebook away from him. It was only the act of him talking that snapped her out of almost doing it. Which was probably a good thing because who knows what would’ve happened had she actually done that? “Why would anyone else write about you and,” he stopped on one page and his eyes scanned the script before looking up at her. “And all of the naughty, filthy things you want me to do to you?” He watched the well-dressed blonde shift in her seat. She tucked her hands between her pressed together knees as subtly as she could and she swallowed - he could see the movement in her throat. She stayed quiet for another minute. They both did. He was waiting for her and she was thinking. “I wouldn’t know,” she said carefully, slowly almost, after another second. “People can be strange.” Gerard chuckled. “Yes, okay, I’ll give you that one.” She smiled a little, down at her lap, only looking up again when he cleared his throat. “I must admit,” he turned a few more pages and Shelly could see the different colours on the white paper in front of him. “You do have a way with the written word.” She almost opened her mouth to say ‘thank you’ but then realised that would be a complete confession, and she was still trying to hold out hope that she could maybe deny her way out of this. “I am particularly… Hm, amused by the ‘dressing room’ piece, and the amount of detail you went into,” he raised an eyebrow and looked up at her, actually surprised when she held his gaze. “Tell me, did you have to go and look up my measurements again, or do you know them by heart?” “I…” Shelly opened and closed her mouth for a moment before shaking her head ever so slightly. “That’s how I know this,” he tapped his fingertips on the open pages of the notebook in front of him, “is definitely yours. Your grandfather’s business, and those who work there, are the only ones who would know those measurements. And considering the fact that I have only been measured by the three of you…” Shelly was listening, honestly, but she was also partially transfixed on the tapping of his fingertips. He was aware of this, and started slowly dragging his fingers along the lines of words. “Well, you’re a smart girl, you can do the working out.” He looked up at her, caught her eye and smirked. She blushed, remembering the ‘story’ quite well. “I’m yet to see evidence of your ah, smart mouth, but you do capture the feeling of being on your knees in front of a superior fairly well.” “That- that’s sexual harassment!” She managed to gasp out once she’d finally managed to pick her jaw up out of her lap. “Hm, is it? Maybe I’m just stating an opinion,” he leant his cheek on his hand. “Although, how are you going to tell anyone without giving the whole story of why you were here and the context?” Damn, he kinda had her there. She chewed the inside of her mouth for a moment, trying to think. “Okay,” she said, huffing out a breath, and folding her arms, clearly annoyed. “So, if it is mine, hypothetically speaking - ” His eyebrows rose. “Hypothetically speaking? Of course.” “What’s your point? Why am I here?” Gerard sat back in his chair and lazily flipped through a few more pages, just to keep her on edge for a few more minutes - he was in charge here after all. He’d answer when he was ready. Shelly shifted in her seat, still incredibly tempted to reach over and take the notebook away from him. She should’ve and she wanted to, but… It would probably still only make the situation worse. “You can’t fire me,” she said after another minute. “It’s not like I work directly for you.” “Mm, no, you’re right,” he paused and looked at the page he’d stopped on. “Hmmm, according to this piece, you want to demonstrate your oral skills in the back of my car.” Shelly wheezed and coughed. “Jesus fucking Christ.” Gerard’s eyebrows nearly married his hairline. “Language.” “English!” She spluttered. Because she was busy trying to catch her breath, Shelly didn’t catch Gerard’s smirk. She swallowed and inhaled as she tried to compose herself a bit more. She exhaled deeply before speaking again. “Although I do also speak a little French and I’m embarrassed to admit that my Italian is rustier than it should be. But I predominantly speak and write in English.” He couldn’t help it; he chuckled and leant back in his chair, resting his elbows on the armrests and steepling his fingers. “So what do you want?” She asked eventually. “You must want something. You wouldn’t’ve requested my presence here and you wouldn’t be sitting there like that otherwise.” “You are a smart girl.” “So, what is it?” She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “My firstborn? What little is left of my soul? More to the point, what is it you’re going to say or do that’s going to prevent me from just getting up and walking out?” “Very smart girl.” He closed the book. “I mean, I could just give this back to you, and leave it there. Sure, who knows if you’d be able to look me in the eye again when I come in for remeasurements and your grandparents send you to do them... With you knowing that I’ve read pages and pages of very descriptive thoughts you’ve had…” It was Shelly’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “I don’t know about that. I’ve managed to have the thoughts and still look you in the eye.” Gerard hadn’t thought about that. “I'll concede to that, but yes, I do want something.” “Go on then,” she crossed one leg over the other again, making her skirt ride up ever so slightly. “What is it?” The taller man looked her over. “Stand up.” Shelly raised an eyebrow but, after a brief moment’s hesitation, did as he asked. She smoothed down her clothes and stood up straight, clasping her hands in front of her; ever the picture of the polite young lady her family had raised her to be. Gerard took a few minutes to look her over before pushing his chair back and rising to his feet. Naturally, she watched him the whole time, as he moved around his desk to stand in front of her. She held his gaze until he raised an eyebrow. Then she averted her eyes to the window. He ‘hmmm’d’ and pushed the chair she’d been sitting in closer to his desk and out of the way. The blonde tilted her head as she watched this and tried to hide an amused smile as he circled her slowly. Twice, before he stopped behind her, which made her look up at their reflections in the window, catching his eye in the process. She gave him her brightest smile and thought she saw the faintest of blushes appear on his face. A giggle escaped her as he cleared his throat and moved to stand in front of her again. “Take off your shoes.” “Pardon?” She blinked rapidly as she looked up at him. “You heard me.” “Um… Okay, I’ll need to lean on something though.” Gerard moved out of the way and gestured to the edge of his desk. Shelly nodded once, took a few steps over and, instead of using the edge of his desk like he’d expected, she sat back in the chair he’d moved aside. Gerard let out another “hmn!” and folded his arms. He watched her lean down and unfasten each of her shoes before slipping them off of her feet and moving them aside before standing back up. “Forgive me if I’m wrong,” she said, clearly not apologetic at all. “But I believe that might have been a ploy to get me closer to your desk, so you could make some comment about bending me over it.” “You would know,” he said. “You wrote it.” She took a minute to think about this before shrugging slightly. “Over the desk, under the desk, on the desk. Pick one.” “So the book is yours?” Gerard moved to lean against the edge of his desk, folding his arms again. “You would know,” she almost tip-toed across the floor to stand in front of him again. “You’ve read it.” “Hm…” He stood up straighter and looked her over again. “You’re a feisty one when you’re not at work, aren’t you?” “I can be. Depends if someone is screwing me around or not.” She tilted her head as he circled her again. “You still haven’t told me anything.” “Hmn, no I guess I haven’t,” he ended up back in front of her and stood, his arms half folded as he tapped his chin. “You’re quite short, aren’t you?” “Without my heels, yes. None of the women in my family are tall. We’re all small, perfectly formed packages.” No sooner were the words out of her mouth, she had to swallow hard and bite her tongue to prevent herself from making any kind of comment. Gerard noticed her bite her bottom lip before she swallowed and the corners of his mouth twitched. “You were going to add something there.” “Nope, not a word. So. What do you want? And why are you interested in my height?” “Regarding your height, mere curiosity,” he shrugged a little and she believed him. “As for what I want?” He moved to sit in his chair again. “In short, like you, your company.” “Hey! That was uncalled for.” She crossed her arms and turned on her heel to go and get her shoes, sitting down in the chair with a huff. “What makes you think I’d help you anyway?” He watched her put her heels back on and waited until she seemed happy with them before he spoke again. “Because, if you don’t, I can take my business elsewhere.” She looked up at him at those words. “I’m not sure how exactly your perfectly respectable grandparents would take the news that one of their best customers no longer felt comfortable coming to them because their beloved granddaughter was,” he raised an eyebrow. “Inappropriate.” She took a minute to straighten up in her chair, folding her hands in her lap and looking him in the eye. “What makes you think that they’d believe you?” He glanced down at the notebook, still on his desk. “I may have made one or two copies.” Shelly arranged her face into the most innocent expression she could. “For your own personal library?” “You know that’s not it.” “Hmn. So if, and I mean if I agree to this, what exactly do you mean by ‘my company’?” Shelly paused. “I assume you mean,” she gestured to herself. “My presence, not my grandfather’s business.” “Correct.” “And more importantly, why me? I mean, surely you could walk into literally any building and pick anyone?” She rolled her eyes a little. “You with your ‘pristine appearance’ and your fancy car, money and connections, whatever.” Gerard pondered this for a moment, gently scratching his throat as he did so, unaware that she couldn’t take her eyes off of his fingers. When she managed to get herself to stop staring, she waited quietly. “That’s actually a fair question,” he admitted after a minute. “To address the ‘why you’ portion… You are clearly smart, have your own opinions and won’t just go along with whatever I say just because I say it. Basically, you are your own person. You’re not a… Yes woman, so to speak. If I were to go and find any random stranger for this… Thing... They would probably be more of a yes woman than you, and I don't think it would work.” Shelly focused on her shoes for a moment as she took this in. “I also know that I’m not going to have some angry boyfriend come after me for this, as your delightful grandmother likes to keep reminding me, you’re not married or dating.” She’d looked up at him at the mention of her grandmother, pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t being sarcastic, but the rest of his words had her burying her face in her hands. “God, I have tried to get her to stop that. I am so sorry.” “It’s not a bother,” his tone had softened considerably. “It’s a grandmother thing. Mine is similar.” He noticed Shelly drop her hands back into her lap. “They mean well.” “Yeah, they do,” she hummed, falling silent as she thought of her grandparents for a moment. But that led her back to his… Promise. She swallowed, trying to stop feeling her heart in her throat. “So, what is it you want me to do?” “I need you to date me.” “Um... “ She blinked rapidly. “Or like, fake date me. I need a plus one for a wedding soon.” “Can you tell me more?” Gerard sighed. “My brother is getting married. He’s younger than me, but he’s getting married first. If I turn up solo to yet another family event, I’m going to get pitying looks, the third degree and,” he waved his hand. “Unwanted hassle.” Shelly hummed. “I might’ve accidentally said something about having a girlfriend last time I spoke to my family too,” he confessed. “So now they’re kinda expecting to meet one.” “And I’m guessing that they’re gonna want to do that before your brother’s wedding?” “Correct.” She leant her chin on her hand, thinking about this. “How do I know that you’re not going to take back everything and show my grandparents anyway, after the wedding and after you’re done with me?” “I can show you proof that I only have a certain amount of copies, and I’ll burn them in front of you. I don’t have any digital copies as it’s too easy to manipulate images and a lot of people don’t believe in digital evidence for this reason,” his answer was almost without hesitation, so it was clear that he’d put some thought into this and into her possible responses. “Hell, I’ll even let you strike the match.” This amused her a little. “I’m assuming that you’re going to let me have my book back before this? What’s to stop me telling my grandparents myself? Then you’d have no hold over me.” “Um,” he hesitated and this was probably the first time the blonde had seen him unsure. “Honestly, I didn’t really think of that. Not properly. I just assumed that maybe you wouldn’t want your family to see something so… Personal.” “Hmn…” “Besides, it doesn’t stop me taking my business elsewhere. I do think I’m one of your grandfather’s best customers.” He shrugged a little but there was… Almost a sadness about it. But that was gone as quickly as she’d picked up on it. Shelly fell quiet for a moment, nibbling her bottom lip until a gentle noise made her look up. He had closed the notebook and slid it carefully across the polished wood until it was in front of her on the desk. “I meant it when I said you have quite the way with the written word,” he said, his whole demeanour having softened since mentioning his brother and grandmother. “Even if the subject matter is…” He cleared his throat and she blushed. “Mm, yes, well, it’s not like I ever planned on you finding it,” she mumbled. “I’m not even sure how it happened.” “I think it got mixed in with my last collection of orders,” he said. “Because it was in between packages.” Shelly frowned as she thought about this and he could almost see the lightbulb pop on above her head. “Ohhh, I think I know what happened… I think it was when grandmother dearest mentioned that she is happily married but, I’m not - ” Gerard blinked, remembering. “You dropped something, and she helped you pick it up before helping you gather my orders.” “Mmhm, I guess she didn’t realise what it was and accidentally put it in the bag with your stuff.” Shelly pinched the bridge of her nose again, sighing deeply. “And, I’m going to assume that you opened it to check who it belonged to and…” “Saw my name a few times,” he said with a nod. “I couldn’t not read it then.” She sighed again before leaning forward and cautiously running her fingertips over the cover, her eyes on him to see if he was going to swipe it out from under her fingers. When he didn’t move, she grasped it and pulled it to her, leaning back in her chair afterwards in an attempt to put a bit more distance between them both. “So, um, you’d need a fake girlfriend until after the wedding, right?” She watched him nod. “And that would involve…What exactly?” “A meeting or two with my family before the wedding, actually going to the wedding with me, as my plus one.” “I’m guessing I’d have to dance with you, look at you like you’re the only person in the room? Deal with any questions your family might have about me, you, us, why they’re only just meeting me?” Gerard nodded and she sat quietly, tapping her nails against the notebook in her lap. He could almost see her thinking. He definitely saw her swallow though. “I… I’m going to have to think about it.” “You don’t have long,” he said. “I don’t think I’m going to need long,” she said honestly. “But I need to… Not be here so I can think properly.” Gerard nodded. ”Do you have your phone on you?” “Um,” she checked her jacket pockets before producing it. “Yes.” “May I?” He took it when she handed it over and programmed his number into it. “Do you use the shop phone to message me normally then?” “We do, yes. Taking your number for my personal use would be incredibly unprofessional.” She coughed slightly. “I am very aware of the… Um…” “I know,” he handed her phone back. “But like you said, it’s not like you intended me to find that.” She was a little pink in the face again, but she smiled shyly at him, taking her phone back. “You don’t have to give me your number right now,” he said. “But text me when you’re ready to discuss this further and we’ll make arrangements.” “Yeah, I’ll do that,” she tucked the notebook into her bag and stood up, smoothing down her clothes again. Gerard stood, checking the time as he did so. “Would you like a ride home? Or I can arrange a taxi or something?” “I’m fine, thank you.” “Are you sure?” He frowned. She smiled reassuringly. “Absolutely. I can look after myself.” “Right,” Gerard nodded and cleared his throat, walking her to the door. “Would you like me to walk you down, or are you okay?” “I’m fine. I’m sure you’ve got more important things to be doing.” “I don’t know about that.” He did, however, walk her to the elevator. She pushed the button and stood back. “I’d say thank you for finding it, but it was my own fault in the first place. Um… I guess that someone worse could’ve found it.” “Mm, that’s true. Though I don’t see how it could be any worse than the person that you’re writing about finding the things that you’re writing about that involves them…” Shelly blushed and cleared her throat. “Um, I’m sure there is… I’m trying to see the bright side.” “Ah. Yes.” The elevator arrived with a ping and the blonde stepped inside, holding the doors open. “Get home safe,” Gerard said quietly. “Please.” She smiled. “I will. Don’t worry.” The doors closed and the last thing he saw was her smile drop as she looked down at her feet. Gerard watched the numbers on the display decrease until it reached the ground floor before turning and heading back to his office. Shelly meanwhile, made her way back to her grandfather’s shop. It was close to closing time but not quite there yet, so she didn’t have to worry about unlocking the door or anything. She greeted her grandparents and spoke with them for a little while; her grandmother who spent most of her time pottering around the front of the shop, then her grandfather who spent most of his time near the back before taking her leave and heading to the very back of the store; a small room that was the designated ‘office.’ Her grandfather kept all his files, master patterns (or at least, copies of those - the originals were locked elsewhere), invoice books and things of the like. She settled in the comfortable desk chair and started looking through some paperwork. She wasn’t worried about being “caught” or getting in trouble - she had always been told that she was allowed to look through this stuff, that if she didn’t understand the workings, she was allowed to ask and she would be taught. Thankfully, she knew what she was looking for and she knew enough to get the information she needed. With a sigh, she copied down some information she needed before putting the sheets of paper in her bag and tidying up the office, closing the door behind her and going to say goodbye to her grandfather first. She stood in the doorway, watching him checking things off against his notes and putting bundles of fabrics together. He was talking to himself, not so much under his breath, because he didn’t care too much about that. That was something her grandmother did too, and something that Shelly herself had picked up on. She had always maintained that it helped her concentrate, and it did. Her mind wandered to the information she’d just been looking at and her fond expression fell a little as she watched her grandfather pottering around. She wasn’t sure if she made a noise, or if he just had a sixth sense about these things, but he put down some of his tools and looked up, smiling a little as he saw her. “Sea-Shell,” his voice was warm and full of fondness. “Did you get what you needed?” Shelly nodded and swallowed. “Yes, papa. I got everything I needed.” He frowned at her. “Is something the matter?” “I… No, nothing,” she trotted into the room and went to stand next to him, looking at what he was working on. “I think I’m just a little tired.” Alexander watched as his granddaughter leant over the desk, looking at the plans he had laid out for the order he was working on. She was lying, he knew that much. But he also knew that, much like her grandmother, she would only bury things deeper if he pushed too much. Her mother did that too. The three of them were incredibly stubborn. “Are you sure, sweetheart?” Shelly nodded. “I’m sure, papa.” “Would a few days off help? Because you know we can manage.” Shelly thought about this for a minute before nodding. “Yeah, yeah I think it might, are you sure?” “Of course sweetheart.” Ashely looked at her grandfather for a moment before she threw her arms around him and held him tightly. He was surprised, but hugged her back. “I love you papa, you know that, right? I’d never willingly do anything to hurt you and nana, or mama, or the business, right?” “Oh, honey, I know, it’s alright,” he patted her back soothingly. “But I hope that you know that you’re more important to me, to us, than the business too? We’d give it up tomorrow if it meant that you were happy and safe.” “I know,” she whispered, hugging him for a bit longer before taking a step back. “I just wanted to make sure that you knew too.” Alexander squeezed her hands. “Of course. Now, take as long as you need, okay?” “Alright,” she kissed his cheek. “I’ll leave you to get on.” “Speak to you soon, sweetheart.” Shelly smiled and headed out to go and say goodbye to her grandmother. “Darling! You leaving now?” “Yes, nana.” Shelly stepped behind the counter and swooped down to hug the Sketcher matriarch. “Papa said I could take a few days off, and I think I’m going to do that.” “Good girl,” she hugged the younger woman back. “You are much too young and too lovely to be stuck in here all the time. You should be out, having fun and meeting a nice, handsome young man.” Shelly went pink but giggled softly. “Nana…” “Or a lovely lady,” Rosie waved it off. “We don’t judge here. You’re pretty enough for ladies, you won’t have to settle for a man unless you want one.” Shelly inhaled sharply and coughed. “Good lord, nana.” “Mm, hm, he ain’t gonna be of any use to you.” The younger woman laughed and checked through her bag for a moment. “Um, nana?” “Yes, darling?” Rosie looked up from the crossword she was doing. Shelly looked around and moved closer to her grandmother. “Can I ask you to do me a favour? A quiet favour, and not tell grandpa?” “Of course darling, just between us. What is it?” “I just…” Shelly bit her lip. “If Mr. Way turns up, can you let me know? Quietly?” “Mr - Ohh, that fine young thing?” There was almost a sparkle in her darker blue eyes. “Certainly angel, I can do that. Is there something I should know?” Shelly thought about it. She knew what her grandmother was probably thinking, and Shelly was tempted to let her think it - it might play into her favour later on. If she really had to be his fake date. It would start to sow the seeds of plausibility… But she did hate lying to her family. “Other than the fact that he is indeed a very fine looking thing?” Shelly grinned at her grandmother. “No, nothing. I just like to be around when he is, if I can.” Rosie nodded. “Alright sweetheart, I can do that. Though, please let me be the first to know if something happens between you two?” “Of course nana,” Shelly rolled her eyes playfully. “Make sure you call me if you need me here, okay? I don’t mind coming in to help.” “If you’re supposed to be taking some time off, young lady, then - ” “Yeah, yeah, I know,” she kissed her grandmother’s cheek. “But, if you need me, you know I’ll drop everything to help.” “Alright.” She returned the cheek kiss. “Be gone with you now. We love you.” “Love you too,” Shelly waved over her shoulder and left the shop, making her way home. It didn’t take her too long to get home; she didn’t live far. Her apartment building wasn’t in a guarded or gated community or anything, but it was still a nice area. She was not “rolling in it” or anything, despite how popular her grandfather’s tailor shop was. They were… Comfortable. Her family had always been comfortable. They never struggled, but they never had too much excess. Uncomfortable amounts of excess, she’d call it. They were comfortable and happy. Shelly checked her mailbox before heading up to her apartment. She took the elevator, because she didn’t really feel like walking up the stairs in her heels. After locking the front door behind her, they were the first things she took off before going to change into something more comfortable and something very much unfitted and unrestricting. She tried to forget about the contents of her bag, at least until after she’d managed to eat something; trying to stick to her self imposed rules of “when at home, personal needs first, then work, if you must. And no work in the bedroom.” She found herself settling at her little kitchen table with all the information that she’d copied down instead, a cup of tea beside her as she started scribbling things down. It took her an hour, maybe an hour and a half before leant back in her chair. She really hated to admit it, but he was right. He was pretty much the best customer her grandfather had; he bought in a lot of money. And not just on his own; there had been a few clients that had come to them because he recommended them. If those people stayed, then sure, they’d be fine. If they left with him… They’d get by but it might be a little harder for awhile. Maybe. She was pretty sure that her grandparents would be more than fine but… If anything were to happen because they lost some of their clients, and that was because she couldn’t keep things to herself… She’d hate herself forever. Shelly made herself another cup of tea and took another half hour to go over everything again before she dropped her pencil and sighed. She was going to have to do this, wasn’t she? If not for her sake, for that of her grandparents. It wasn’t like she was ashamed of what she had written; it’s not like it was illegal. Yeah, she was a little embarrassed that it had been read, and by the person she’d been writing about, no less. Who had only then gone and said that he thought she wrote well! She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that. After a few minutes pondering this, she decided that laughing would be the better option. She decided to sleep on it, just to be certain, but she was pretty certain that she was going to have to take him up on his “offer.”

#CMBFTW #CMBFTW fic #fan fic #my fan fic #my writing #She Writes #Gerard Way x OC

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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

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Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Twenty Four

Series Masterpost

Word Count: 6.5k. Notes: Chapter Title from “Red” by Taylor Swift. Yeah. I spent a lot of time listening to that song while writing this chapter/the next one. And I’m really pleased with how they turned out. Oh. And this chapter contains those 150-something words that might’ve slain Robin and I a little while back. I mean, they’re fleshed out now, but they’re in here.

Chapter Twenty Four - Loving Him Was Red

Shelly spent the rest of her Sunday actually taking that nap Gerard suggested and catching up on a few chores when she woke up feeling a little physically better. If she had stayed asleep until her heart felt better… Well, she didn’t know how long that would take. Going back to work the next day, like it was just a regular day, like nothing had ever happened, was very strange. She kept her phone’s volume low, and tried to ignore it as much as possible. Much like she tried to avoid the radio in the front of the shop as much as possible. She couldn’t deal with music making her feel things at that moment, and that was hard because she’d normally put her earphones in to listen to music while working on the beading she did sometimes. She guessed that she would just have to switch to podcasts for a little while then. She spent a lot of her time see-sawing between being happy, because she’d had a really good time - as she’d said to Gerard, it had been so beautiful and it really had given her some of her faith in true love and good relationships back. Between being happy, and between being sad. Sad because it was all over and she was pretty sure that she didn’t want it to be. Pretty sure? No. She was certain. Absolutely certain that she didn’t want this to be over at all. If this was how he was, naturally, in relationships? She wanted that. She wanted him. Not his money, not his cars; she didn’t want the fancy meals or the expensive gifts or anything like that. She wanted him. She wanted the man who curled up on his sofa with her and, after some patience, shyly confessed about his dream of owning an art space, because he’d gone to art school because that was what he was passionate about. Who nervously told her that he wasn’t happy, who confessed that he was worried that he’d always have to be on the look-out for people who just wanted to use him. She hoped that he didn’t think of her like that. She was sure that she’d mentioned something similar to him once; something about being worried that she was essentially like those other people who wanted him for his money… She couldn’t quite remember his response but she thought that he had said that she wasn’t like them. She hoped that was the case - she hoped that he saw her differently to the others. Shelly ran a few small errands before she went home after work that day, still trying to give her phone as little attention as possible. It wasn’t until she was making dinner that she received another text from the man; just a friendly check in with her; that sort of thing. She replied to it, when she’d finished making her food and had sat down with it, but she tried not to be so glued to her phone like she normally would’ve been. Tuesday was much more of the same, except for the fact that Shelly just felt… Sadder. She found it much easier to not pay quite so much attention to her phone - but maybe that’s because she didn’t have it on her most of the time. Instead, she kept having one of her grandparents - normally her grandmother, gently tap her on the shoulder or arm before handing the device back to her. She actually only allowed herself to check her phone when she was in the small kitchen making tea or when she grabbed lunch that day. She did find a message on her phone around lunchtime though. Found some cookies at a coffee place around the corner from work today. They were nothing compared to yours. She couldn’t help but smile at the message and she knew that it had made her go a little pink. It hurt her to not reply to it as soon as she read it, but she knew doing that would go against the whole point. Even though he’d sent it an hour or so before, she still made herself wait until just before she had to go back to work before she replied. That’s completely untrue. The cookies in shops, even just coffee shops, are made to a rigorously tested recipe. You are very, incredibly sweet for saying that though. She put her phone on silent and then put it into her pocket after that, returning to work and doing her best to ignore it again. Until she left work that is. She knew that she should wait until she got home, but it was so hard. I would rather have your family recipe cookies, or those chocolate coffee ones you made me, over any shop bought thing, any time, any day, any place Shelly. I mean that. Shelly wasn’t sure what to say to that initially; she spent a couple of minutes staring at her phone screen outside of her grandparents’ tailors as she thought about it before she sighed and sent a reply. You’ve got to stop being so sweet to me, really you do. But thank you. Especially about the family cookies. That means a lot to me. Her phone stayed in silent mode and went back into her pocket so she could get home undistracted. She thought it was… Cute that he didn’t refer to the second cookies by their actual name. Maybe he’d done that in an attempt to avoid embarrassing her, but… She was embarrassed thinking about it anyway. She’d give him brownie points for trying though, honestly. Shelly spent the rest of her day trying not to be glued to her phone again, and trying not to text him back too quickly. She couldn’t bring herself to not text him at all - that was just bad manners and she was raised better than that. But she tried not to be too… Attentive, too available so to speak. Even if it was hard on her. There was a point that evening when she was home alone on her couch, when she wondered if he’d even noticed that she wasn’t being as ‘talkative’ as she normally would’ve been, and she wondered if it bothered him at all, or whether he was… Pleased, maybe, about it all. That thought - that he might be happy about it - hurt her a little bit, but she only had herself to blame for putting the thought in her own head. And for getting herself into this whole situation to begin with. It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that Gerard found himself sitting at work, staring blankly at his computer screen. He swore that he was supposed to be in the middle of something, but had just… Zoned out. He shook his head at himself and checked his phone, just out of habit. No, nothing. He was hoping that Shelly might’ve texted him; even if it was just a little “hi, good morning!” like she used to, but she hadn’t and… He felt a little foolish, truthfully, because it had only been a couple of days but… He hadn’t realised how much he would’ve missed that small interaction. It meant that she’d been thinking of him and apparently had really liked that. Gerard sighed to himself and a soft ping from his computer drew his attention back to the screen. He opened his email inbox and frowned at the one from his brother; he shouldn’t be sending emails; he was supposed to be on his honeymoon. Hey Gee. We were having a quick look through some of our photos and we thought these would be of particular interest to you :) We’ll see you when we get back Mikey & Kristin (Mr. and Mrs. Way) xo He clicked his tongue as he waited for the attachments to load. It wasn’t that his internet was slow, it was just that he was impatient. He wanted to know what Mikey would deem so… Important that he would take five minutes out of his honeymoon, where he was supposed to be spending time with his wife and not worrying about the rest of the world, to send an email. “Oh.” The quiet word that fell out of his mouth was so loud in his otherwise silent office. That was something he didn’t like; how quiet it all felt now. He was so used to her turning up a couple of times a week and filling this room with light and colour, sound and life that… It almost felt wrong now and he didn’t like it. The attachments were photos of himself and his blonde, taken at the wedding reception. He hadn’t realised that the photographer had been there, truthfully. Maybe he’d been told, but he didn’t remember. They were actually really nice photos - the shots were well ‘framed,’ and the focus was just on them. One was of them dancing and judging by how close he was holding her, it had been to a slower song. They had their foreheads pressed together and… They were both smiling. He had a feeling it had been when he’d been telling her that she was the most beautiful girl in the room. He hadn’t been lying. He’d never lied to her about that. Actually, he didn’t think he’d lied to her about anything during the whole time they’d been… Well, not together, but… Talking? He wasn’t sure how to word it. The second one… Was of them when they were kissing on the dancefloor. Or, when he’d kissed her. Not that she’d pulled away in a hurry or anything. He liked to think that if she hadn’t wanted it, she would’ve. Or she would’ve told him to tone it down if she thought it was too much for where they were. Which she did, eventually, but it took her a little while. The photos must’ve been taken just as he kissed her, because he still had his hand under her chin, and she had her fingers in his hair. Just about. That had felt really good, actually. Double oh. He could text her first. He should text her anyway. He was very well aware of the carefully stored sheets of paper in his desk drawer - they still needed another set of signatures after all. And then he’d have to start laying the groundwork so they could break up. A necessary evil, he guessed. He had to get that second set of signatures before anything else could happen. If there was anything else to happen, that is, and he wasn’t sure about that yet. Gerard sighed and started typing out a message to the blonde before erasing it. No, that sounded too formal. He tried again. Nope, that sounded too… Blunt? He growled in frustration before eventually managing to compose a message that he was sort of happy with. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do, otherwise he’d spend all day obsessing over it. Hey Shell, hope you’re doing okay. I just wanted to remind you that we still have a page to sign; I can’t start working on a break-up plan until after that. Shelly was at work when her phone beeped softly at her. She still hadn’t changed his alert tone to that of the generic one, and she honestly kept meaning to do that. “Are you going to answer your phone, Sea-Shell? It’s gone off twice in the last five minutes or so.” “Once was just a reminder tone, grandpa,” she said quietly as she double checked her measurements. “I can get it when I’m done here. If it was important, they’d call.” Her grandfather said nothing, causing her to look up at him. He raised an eyebrow and she raised one back. Her voice had sounded strained and unconvincing to her own ears so god knows what her grandfather had heard. “Of course darling,” he said quietly as they finished up with the fabric they were working with. “Do you want to go and take a break, get a cup of tea?” He looked at her pointedly. “Maybe check your phone?” She sighed quietly but smiled gently at him. “Sure, grandpa. I’ll do that.” “As always, take as long as you want honey.” “Thanks. I might step out for my break if that’s okay?” She pocketed her phone. “Always okay. See you when you get back.” Shelly smiled, kissed her grandfather’s cheek and went to grab her jacket. She let her grandmother at the front of the store know what was going on before she decided to head to a little coffee shop on the corner. She was particularly fond of their hot chocolates and some of their cakes, actually, and decided that she needed, and more importantly, deserved, the treat. Once she’d settled down in a comfortable chair with her drink and something to eat, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and read Gerard’s message. She sighed sadly, pinched the bridge of her nose and typed out a reply. She tried not to sound too eager, and she hoped that she didn’t sound too sad either. That last one was especially important. She couldn’t have him thinking that she was anything other than okay. Oh yeah, we do. I’d almost forgotten. Gerard looked up from his work as his phone beeped a bit later. He checked the sender and frowned a bit - it had taken her a little while to reply. Maybe she was really busy at work? Maybe she was just catching up on things from over the weekend and maybe some stuff from the week before. He didn’t know for certain, but it felt… Strange. She almost felt… Distant. It didn’t feel right somehow. Maybe he was just reading or interpreting it wrong. He read over her reply again before starting to compose his own. Yeah, he replied, texting slowly, feeling a little sad and not even sure that he wanted to send it. You’re free after that. His reply came through and Shelly took another forkful of cake, reading an article on her phone as she chewed it. She finished the article and only then went over to the new message. She read it a few times, trying to guess the tone or mood behind the pixels on her phone screen but having no luck at all. She gave up and eventually replied with a short message. Yeah. I guess I am. Gerard wasn’t sure how to interpret that either. That definitely felt very… Abrupt and he felt… Not disappointed? Maybe a little deflated? He wasn’t sure how to respond, really - it took him a few minutes. Okay, well, let me know when you’re free. Or just turn up whenever. I’ll be around. Alright. I’ll remember that. I have to get back to work now. Shelly replied faster than she had been that week, hitting send and pocketing her phone. She knew she was being short with him, she knew it was probably coming off really weird, and she really hated herself for it. She hated herself more for getting so attached though, especially because she knew from the get go that this was all fake and a means to an end. She was just trying to protect herself from getting hurt; she was just trying to create that distance now before she let herself get in even deeper than she already was. She wasn’t sure how that would be possible, she just knew that if there was a way, she’d find it. If he was going to cut contact with her when everything was said and done, it was better to have distanced herself a little bit first. Hopefully it wouldn’t hurt so much then. He didn’t text her for the rest of the day, and Shelly felt awful for it; both for being so… Could you call it mean? And also because she hated doing it - she hated everything about this now. She left work earlier than normal, ate less for dinner because she just didn’t feel hungry, and spent the rest of her day miserable. Before she went to bed, she hid the dress that had been hung up on the outside of her wardrobe - she’d been meaning to double check the washing instructions but just hadn’t gotten around to it and now she couldn’t look at it. Whenever she did, all she could remember was the… Actually incredibly tender moments between them when he’d zipped her into her dress before the wedding - the way he rested his hands on her hips, how gentle he was with her. She remembered the feeling of his hand on her shoulder as he unzipped her dress later that evening. She remembered the way he looked at her when she was in that dress; like she was the prettiest girl in the room. She couldn’t remember the last time that someone had looked at her like that. He didn’t contact her at all on Thursday and she didn’t initiate contact either. Her misery from the previous day followed her into the new one and if anything, it increased. She hated herself so much - for getting attached the way she did, and for treating him this way. She hated the fact that she’d let him weave himself into her life the way that he had - she hated that he was often the first thing she thought about when she woke up, or when she let her mind drift off when she was supposed to be doing something, or if she was doing something mindless like the dishes. She hated that it’d only been about four days and she missed him. If it had been any other previous week, she would’ve seen him at least once by now and she hadn’t. She missed his pretty eyes, his sweet smile, his warm hugs and the way he laughed. She even missed his teasing words. God damn it, this wasn’t fair. Shelly ended up working on a very detail oriented project at work, in an attempt to get out of her head and away from her feelings. She was so absorbed in it that not only did she end up ignoring her phone, (until she took breaks or lunch) she also ended up completely not noticing her grandparents standing in the doorway of the little room she liked to work in, exchanging worried glances. Several times over the course of the day. If she had noticed them, they might have spoken to her about it, but because she put on a more cheerful face when she was with them, they decided not to push her too much, hoping that the younger one would open up to them eventually. Pushing her too much would cause her to clam up and retreat - and that was not good. Friday rolled around and it was a quiet day in her family’s tailor shop; it was actually just Shelly and her grandmother because her grandfather had gone to run business errands. Shelly wasn’t sure what those were - banking stuff maybe, or something to do with suppliers? She couldn’t remember if he’d said or not. If he had said, then she didn’t think that she’d really been listening. She finished up the inventory of some of the embellishments they would sometimes use and went to the main part of the store to hand the papers over to her grandmother. She was re-reading the sheets as she made her way over to the desk, freezing in her spot as she heard familiar notes drifting out of the radio her grandmother liked to keep on, for company mostly, but also because sometimes it could be too quiet in the little shop. Immediate flashbacks to the wedding came to mind. Was that a week ago now? She wasn’t sure - she’d been trying so hard not to think about it. She tried so hard not to think about the way he’d requested that song because it was one of her favourites and he’d remembered that. She tried to forget the way he’d pulled her close, the way he’d looked at her. And she tried especially hard not to think about the way he’d kissed her - both back at the beginning of the whole situation, on the couch in his office where she’d almost ended up in his lap, and then just the other day, as they’d danced with his arms wrapped around her body and her arms around his neck. “Shush, just kiss me,” he’d said between little kisses. He’d started to say something else, but she’d been dragged away to dance with the bride. The kiss had been so nice, even if it had been… Subdued. Although frankly, the idea of it getting any more heated just made her blush, but it had been so long since someone had kissed her so sweetly. He’d always just been so gentle with her and that in itself was something she just wasn’t used to so it had been so incredibly welcome. Of course, once she started thinking about them dancing, her brain decided to remind her of the rest of the night. Not just the dancing; everything that had happened before the dancing and the kiss, like her catching the bouquet and then feeling mortified when she’d accidentally caught Gerard’s eye afterwards; like catching it had meant something. How miserable she’d felt, how she’d snuck away outside. How he’d found her anyway. And then, almost to add insult to injury, her brain then decided to remind her how it felt to sleep next to him. More specifically, how it felt to wake up with him because of course she’d woken up snuggled up with him. Naturally. Rosie had looked up when she heard her granddaughter’s heels on the flooring, so she had noticed the sudden stiffness in the young woman’s posture. She tilted her head and glanced at the radio before looking at the conflicting emotions fighting it out on Shelly’s face. “Shelly. Sweetheart. What’s wrong?” It took a few extra seconds for Shelly to realise that she was being spoken to. She, somehow, managed to shake herself out of whatever funk she’d fallen into and handed the inventory sheets over to her grandmother. “Thank you darling. Sit with an old woman for a little while, won’t you?” Shelly smiled and rolled her eyes, settling into the other chair. “Nana, you are anything but old.” Rosie chuckled. “Well, I’m not exactly young and in my prime like you are, Little Miss.” “Nana - ” “Now, you listen to me,” she put the sheets down, leant forward and took her granddaughter's hands in her own. “I may not be in my prime like you. But that means I’m more experienced; I’m more aware of things and that I pick up on things faster.” Shelly raised an eyebrow. “And I have noticed your declining mood in the last week or so,” Rosie squeezed Shelly’s hands. “Ever since you returned from that mysterious trip that you had to take. You’ve been increasingly more unhappy since then, and, darling, I would like to know why.” “I…” Shelly nibbled her bottom lip before she let out a deep sigh. “It’s complicated Nana.” Rosie nodded, let Shelly’s hands go and stood up. The younger Sketcher watched her trot over to the door and flip the sign to ‘closed’ before walking right past the desk into the back of the store. Shelly frowned, turned off the radio and followed her grandmother into the tiny kitchen next to the back office, leaning against the doorframe and watching as the shorter woman busied herself making tea. The mugs here were soft pastel colours and unpatterned, a stark contrast to the mismatched pairs she and Gerard owned. No sooner did that thought cross her mind, Shelly pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to force it down. “Go and sit in the office Shell-Belle,” she said softly. Shelly’s eyes widened. She was rarely, if ever, called that nowadays. It didn’t mean she was in trouble or anything; they just tended to avoid using that particular nickname because it was what her mother used to call her. It was now mostly reserved for the gentlest of times which normally led to the most… Impactful conversations. Not that Shelly had ever picked up on that in the moment - hindsight could be a wonderful, and horrible, thing. “Yes Nana.” She did as she was told, choosing to sit in a chair opposite the one tucked under the desk. It could be considered a visitor’s chair, so to speak. Nothing happened for a few minutes before she heard a tutting coming from the doorway behind her. Rosie had expected her granddaughter to sit in the main chair behind the desk. Shelly looked up, having been staring blankly at the desk in front of her as her grandmother put two mugs on the desk. “We won’t tell your grandfather I can’t find his coasters,” Rosie said with a grin, which widened when her granddaughter giggled. “I don’t think he’d mind. It’ll add character to the desk.” “Hm.” Rosie settled herself in the other ‘visitor’s chair’ - much to Shelly’s surprise. “You know, I really think he’d see it that way.” “Of course he would,” Shelly picked up the pink mug, wondering how many shades it was away from the sweater she’d worn to meet Gerard's family (and therefore how many shades it was away from the tie he’d worn too.) Rosie sipped her tea and put the mug back down. “Now, this mood of yours. Does it happen to have anything to do with the ever so delectable Mr. Way, the mystery trip you had to take last week and maybe,” she paused and pulled something out of the pocket of her fitted cardigan, putting Shelly’s phone on the desk between their mugs. “The photo you have as your lock screen?” Shelly’s eyebrows almost met her hairline and she quickly tapped at the pockets of her blazer. “Where did you - ?” “You’ve been leaving it around the shop all week. I’ve been doing my best to make sure it’s more within your eye line.” “I… Huh,” Shelly leant back in her chair and tapped her fingertips on the arm. It would make sense - she hadn’t been so glued to it since, because she was trying not to reply to any of his texts. At least, not as immediately as she would’ve done. Rosie watched her over the rim of her glasses. “Stop chewing the inside of your cheek.” Shelly ducked her head to try and hide a smile. “Sorry.” “Don’t be sorry, just try and stop it.” “Yes, Nana.” They sat quietly for a few minutes before Rosie sipped her tea and looked back at her granddaughter. Shelly felt her eyes on her and looked up from fiddling with her fingers; specifically, rubbing the pads of her thumbs over her nail polish. She recognised the questioning look she was being given and sighed. “It’s complicated Nana.” Rosie snorted. “Probably not as complicated as you think it is. You’re tangled up in it; that’s why everything seems so confusing.” Shelly huffed a little, sat up straighter and rolled her shoulders. “You can talk to me you know darling,” Rosie’s tone softened - not that it had been harsh to begin with. “Are you in some kind of trouble?” “Trouble? No! No, I don’t think so. I…” Shelly picked up her mug and stared into the contents. She shook her head and sipped it. “It’s my own stupid fault.” “I’m sure that’s not true. Come on sweetheart, talk to me. Don’t bottle it up.” Rosie leant forward and rested her hand on Shelly’s knee. “I’m not going to force you, but I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me. You’ve been gloomy and I don’t like seeing it.” Shelly sighed, put her mug back on the desk and picked up her phone, the screen waking up to indeed show a photo of herself and Gerard. This one was one of the first few they’d taken together; back in front of the big windows in his office; his arm around her waist, hers over his shoulders and his lips on her forehead. God he’d smelt so good that day. Truthfully, her lock screen was set to scroll through most of the photos of them she had, but she was particularly fond of this one. The whole thing had been so weird, but… They’d fallen into it all so well? Maybe she should’ve been suspicious of that. “I…” Shelly started before pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing. “This does involve Mr. Way, I presume?” She watched the younger woman nod. “And I’m assuming that it has something to do with the photo on your phone?” “Yeah. I… Ugh.” Shelly huffed. “Give me a minute to get it straight in my head.” Rosie nodded. Shelly leant her elbows on her legs and put her face in her hands. She let out a little huff or two as she tried to figure out how to word everything and also leave out her initial act of stupidity that led to the whole thing in the first place. She didn’t need to share that bit. “Basically,” she started, “a couple of months ago? I couldn’t tell you exactly when… He asked me if I could do him a favour - he needed a fake girlfriend to introduce to his family so that he had a date for his brother’s wedding last week - that was my mystery trip.” “But, weddings are a fairly personal affair so it’s not like you could just turn up? I’m guessing that they wanted to meet you beforehand to vet you?” Rosie watched Shelly nod again. “I’m assuming that he was the best man, being the brother?” Shelly nodded again. “He’s the older brother too, so he’s been getting it in the neck for a while. He wanted to introduce a long term girlfriend. Then, after we ‘broke up’ after the wedding, they’d leave him alone for a while, because you don’t just move on that quickly if you’ve been with someone for a long time.” “So you agreed to help him? Met his family, acted like his girlfriend for however long it was, went to the wedding and now you’ve ‘broken up’?” Shelly chewed her bottom lip. They hadn’t exactly “broken up” yet; that was what she was avoiding. “Yeah,” she said after a minute. “That’s about the gist of it.” “Okay.” Rosie sipped her tea and studied her granddaughter. “I’m judging by how unhappy you are, that somewhere along the way, your feelings stopped being fake, and you actually started feeling something more for him, didn’t you?” “And I feel so bloody stupid,” Shelly nodded and wiped her eyes. “Because I knew going into it that it was all fake, and all a means to an end, but we ended up spending so much time together and getting to know each other, and he was always so nice to me and so sweet and it felt like he really cared,” she wiped her eyes again. “I knew none of it was real but I went and bloody fell for him anyway.” Rosie leant forward and took Shelly’s hands in her own. “Please don’t tell grandpa,” Shelly whispered. “It’s not Gerard’s fault, he didn’t ask me to feel like this. I don’t think he knows. It’s not his fault I’m hurting.” “I’m not going to tell your grandfather anything,” Rosie soothed. “But, what did he do to make you feel that he doesn’t feel the same?” Shelly frowned, thinking about it. “I…” “You said that he was always nice and sweet to you - ” “Because he was supposed to be; we were acting like a couple; we had to be convincing.” Rosie lifted an eyebrow. “Even when you weren’t around other people? Even when you didn’t have to put on a show for other people?” Shelly thought about this, mentally going over all the time they’d spent together in the last few months. “There must’ve come a point,” her grandmother continued. “Where you had been accepted by his family, right? They had, for lack of a better term, fallen for it? But yet you two still spent time together, right? And probably a lot of time too. Surely you could’ve gotten away with not spending as much time together once the family had been fooled?” Rosie watched her granddaughter frown. “But, I’m guessing that you still spent a bit of time together, spent time talking, and what is it - texting? Each other. Even though you really didn’t need to.” Shelly bit her bottom lip. “I baked him cookies.” Both of Rosie’s eyebrows rose. “The family ones?” “Yeah,” she nodded. “He loved them.” “Smart boy,” Rosie hummed before a thought hit her. “You made those coffee and chocolate kiss cookies for him too, didn’t you? You gave us the extras because you were being a perfectionist.” The younger girl went pink and nodded. “Oh, honey.” “H- he bought me cheesecake, when I wasn’t well,” Shelly continued softly. “I- I told him he didn’t need to visit, but he did anyway.” “Cheesecake?” Rosie beamed, incredibly aware of her granddaughter’s weakness for that dessert. “He’s a good man, Shelly. He was raised right. Even your grandfather says that.” “I know, I was able to tell by the way he spoke to you, by the way he started off speaking to me before we got… Familiar.” Shelly paused for a moment, resting her cheek in her hand, her elbow on her knee. “He told me he spent two days hunting down the same brand of tea I have in my kitchen…” “To keep in his?” Shelly nodded. “Mm.” “Are you listening to yourself darling?” Rosie said gently. “What would you say if someone else came to you and described this?” “I…” She swallowed, a little caught out. “I’d say that maybe the situation was different.” “Ashely.” The younger woman winced and almost whined. “Nana! We don’t use that name…” “We do when the lady in question is being a difficult thing.” Shelly groaned and put her face in her hands. Rosie went back to her tea to give her a minute. She knew her granddaughter was smart, so she knew that Shelly knew the answers to her own questions. Whether she’d verbalised those questions or not was immaterial. “By the sounds of it,” Rosie continued after another few minutes of Shelly not saying anything. “He’s been treating you right. He must be respecting you because I know you won’t stand for anything less. You’ve been much happier in the last couple of months than we’ve seen you in a while.” Shelly looked up at her grandmother with this last comment. “Even though we haven’t known the reason why, we’ve noticed. Just like we’ve noticed the drop in mood over the last week or so.” “What if I’m wrong? What if I’ve misread him and he really was acting?” Rosie gave her granddaughter the biggest “girl, please” look that Shelly had ever seen. “Do you really think you might be wrong?” Shelly thought about the tea, the mugs, the visit when she was unwell. She thought about sitting on his couch with him as he opened up to her. She thought about his affectionateness when they’d gone back to the restaurant the second time; when she thought she would’ve had to be a little more forward to get the waitress to back off more. Nope, he’d done that instead. She thought about all the times he’d kissed her, either on the cheek or the mouth, when he hadn’t needed to. Including the kiss while they were dancing at the wedding - that had been really unrequired, but he’d done it anyway and… Well, she hadn’t exactly been against it. “His brother and his grandmother did say to me that he’d been much happier recently too…” She said quietly, before biting her bottom lip. “His grandmother said to me at the rehearsal dinner that I’m good for him…“ “Mm hm.” “We all know that grandmothers are the wisest women.” Shelly added with a slight grin. Rosie chuckled. “Darling.” Shelly swallowed, remembering the rest of that conversation. “She said that Gerard dropped his shields for me.” “Like you seem to have done for him.” Rosie leant forward and took Shelly’s hands in her own. “Sweetheart.” “Mm?” She focused on her grandmother’s hands, impeccably cared for even with the work that she did. “Has he changed your life for the better since he’s been in it?” “Yes.” Shelly replied with little to no hesitation. “Do you think your life will be duller without him in it?” “Yes.” It was a whispered truth that she was almost afraid to admit. Rosie nodded. “Will you regret not trying to tell him how you feel?” “Yes, but I think I’m more afraid to try.” “That’s not like you.” She stood up, pulling Shelly up with her. “Where’s that feisty little madam who wasn’t afraid to tell him he was being a jerk for considering a certain fabric combination?” Shelly bit her lip and tried not to smile. “You heard that?” “I did. I was very impressed with you.” She tucked some hair behind Shelly’s ear. “I was even more impressed when he didn’t storm out in rage.” “Yeah,” Shelly whispered. “Me too.” Rosie gently held Shelly’s face in her hands. “Where’s that girl gone?” “She’s hiding I think,” Shelly confessed. “She wasn’t aware of what she could lose.” “Darling girl,” Rosie’s hands gently squeezed her cheeks. “You cannot win if you do not try.” “I…” “And you deserve to try. What if all it takes is you making the first move?” “Nana, I can’t. What if I’m wrong?” “What if you’re right?” She patted Shelly’s cheeks. “But what if all you have to do to start that conversation is show up?” Her hands slid to Shelly’s shoulders. “All you have to do is show up. Show up and go from there. You can do that.” Shelly’s eyes went to the clock on the wall, trying to figure if he’d be at work right then; if she was going to try she wouldn’t be able to wait. Then, she chewed her bottom lip. Rosie tutted softly, but didn’t say anything - it was a change from chewing the inside of her cheek, she guessed. “Come down to my level a little more please, Little Miss.” The younger woman did as she was told, only really needing to lean down a little bit. She hummed when Rosie kissed her forehead. “Go and get him, sweetheart.” “You think I can?” Shelly grabbed her phone from the desk and checked it quickly before pocketing it. “Psh, you’re my granddaughter. You can do anything.” Shelly giggled and made her way back into the shop, grabbing her bag on the way, her grandmother following her. “And, if by some crazy reason we’re both wrong?” Rosie waved it off. “The boy’s stupid and doesn’t know a good thing when he sees her. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.” “I hope you’re right.” “I’m your grandmother. I’m always right. Now shoo.”

#CMBFTW #CMBFTW fic #She Writes #fan fic #Gerard Way x OC

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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

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Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Twenty One

Series Masterpost

Word Count: Just under 9k.

Chapter Twenty One - Wine, Half Wishes And Almost Weddings

The rehearsal finished and the family split off to eat or socialise or… Whatever it was they were doing. Shelly wasn’t really paying that much attention - she was a little lost in her head as she stood by Gerard’s side as he was talking to someone. She leant against his arm a little, playing the attentive and utterly in love girlfriend. “Well, maybe it’ll be you two next, hm?” Shelly blinked herself out of her thoughts and felt herself blushing. “Oh, um!” Gerard coughed slightly as she squeaked but he recovered quickly, wrapping his arm tighter around her waist, pulled her against him more and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Well,” he said. “You never know. I don’t know if she’d want to put up with me for that long.” Shelly giggled, unable to really help herself. But she was grateful when Gerard steered them away from… Whoever it was they’d been talking to before letting her waist go. She found herself feeling a bit disappointed by this action, but not for long because almost as soon as he let her waist go, his hand found hers and entwined their fingers as he took her hand in his. “You hungry?” He asked her gently. “Oh, god, yes.” Gerard chuckled. “Alright, well, we have a couple of options. We can either get room service, go to a restaurant down the street with some of the family, or go to the restaurant here on our own.” Shelly thought about this, before turning to face him. She looked up at him. “I’m not sure I want room service. I might just end up falling asleep or making a mess?” “I’m not sure I want to go and eat with some of the family right now,” Gerard nibbled his bottom lip and caught himself looking her over. “Do you?” “Um, no, not really,” she tilted her head before running her hands up his chest to straighten his collar. When she noticed him raise an eyebrow at this action, she lowered her voice. “I think we’re being watched a little. Gotta look like we’re in love and can’t keep our hands off of each other, right? And sometimes weddings and all of that bring more of that out in couples so…” “Which direction?” Gerard copied her volume and pulled her a little closer. “Sort of behind you, maybe like, two o clock if you’re noon?” “Ah, so I can’t see unless I make it obvious. Is it my immediate family?” He watched her shake her head. “Okay. Then it’s not so bad if I do this...” Shelly was about to question the “this” when he tilted her chin up, leant down and pressed his lips against hers. It was a single kiss, but a lingering one. It wasn’t until he pulled away that she realised that she still had her hands on his chest as his hands gripped her waist. “Hmm.” “What?” He tried not to grin at her too much. “You’re going pink again.” “Well! You will kiss me in public like that.” He grinned widely at her. “You wanna go and eat in the restaurant here?” Shelly nodded. “We can’t just go straight up to our room anyway. People will talk and think we’re up to something.” “Mm,” he let her waist go and took her hand again in order to lead the way. “Probably. I’d rather they just gossiped about us being the next to get married instead of gossiping about us announcing a pregnancy.” Shelly spluttered in surprise. “Oh, Christ.” “Because that’s what would probably happen if they caught us disappearing to our room I guess? More comments about us not even being married yet but still being unable to keep our hands to ourselves.” The blonde hummed a little as they made their way to the restaurant and were shown to a table. Once they were seated and had menus, Gerard looked across the table at her as she leant her cheek on her hand. Her eyes were completely focused on the menu in front of her, but he wasn’t entirely sure that she was thinking about what she wanted to order. “Shell?” He tried gently. “Are you okay?” “Um…” She rubbed the inner corner of her eye gently, blinked rapidly for a few seconds and glanced back down at the menu. “I think I need a drink.” Gerard tilted his head. “Wine?” She hesitated before nodding a little. “Yeah, I mean, it’s a special occasion, right?” He smiled. “I don’t mind, just try not to drink too much?” “I’m not going to give myself a hangover,” she shook her head gently and went back to looking at the menu. “I promise. I don’t know an awful lot about wine though.” “I can pick something, if you want?” Shelly agreed to that and when the waiter returned, Gerard ordered wine and (after checking with her) water, before they ordered food. When the waiter disappeared to input their order, Gerard watched Shelly lean her cheek on her hand again, the tip of her nail tracing shapes in the tablecloth. He focused on the shapes she was drawing, trying to figure out what they were, even though he was looking at them upside down. He was about to say something to her when the waiter returned with the water and the wine, so he went through that ritual. He noticed that Shelly had looked up when the water was placed on their table, and she’d thanked the waiter softly before he left. She hesitated before pulling her glass of wine closer before she sniffed it and sipped it cautiously. “What do you think?” He asked, watching her take a few small sips. “Mm,” she took another tiny sip before nodding. “It’s quite nice. It definitely tastes more expensive than what I normally drink. When I drink, if I drink. But I like it.” Gerard relaxed a little. “Good. I wasn’t entirely… Hmn, confident with my choice. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the best, it’s not a label I’m completely familiar with… But it was the one I thought you’d like the most.” Shelly nodded. “I do like it, it’s really nice.” He beamed and took a sip from his own glass, still watching her. “Shelly?” It took her a moment before she looked up and blinked at him. “Mm?” “Are you okay? You seem a bit… Out of it?” He tilted his head at her. She thought about it. “I think so. I’ve just been, um, lost in my head a little, I guess?” “Do you want to talk about it?” He sipped his wine and settled back in his chair. The waiter appeared with their food just as she was about to say something. They thanked him and fell quiet for a little while so they could start eating. He tried not to watch her too much, because that was just a little bit weird, but he did catch her looking at him. She noticed that she’d been caught and went a little pink, averting her eyes as she drank from her wine glass. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He leant forward and placed his hand over the one that wasn’t still delicately holding her glass. “Um,” her eyes darted to his hand as she put the glass down. “Yeah, I’m okay. I was just wondering a few things, that’s all.” Gerard cocked his head and squeezed her hand. “What’re you wondering? You know you can ask me anything at any time.” “Um…” She paused and took a mouthful, not a sip, of wine before pushing the glass away. “How… What…” “Take your time,” he said gently. “No rush.” The blonde let out a soft sigh, but she seemed to relax back in her seat. Her hand slipped out from under his, but she sort of entwined the tips of their fingers once she’d re-settled in her chair. He noticed that she was nibbling her bottom lip, just a little, and he assumed that she was trying to figure out how to word whatever it was she wanted to say. He waited patiently. “That family member of yours back there,” she started. “Friend of a friend, or whoever it was…” “The one who said that it might be us next?” He clarified. Shelly nodded and sat up again, leaning more on the table and lowering the volume of her voice, which just made him copy her position, but that was okay - the fact that they were leaning towards each other across the table, sort of holding hands; it just made them look even more like a young couple in love. “Um…” She glanced up at him for a moment before looking back down at their hands. “Is marriage a thing that you would actually want? Like, the whole; wedding, wife, kids kinda thing?” Gerard observed her as she asked this; she’d gone very pink in the face and he knew that if he pointed it out that she’d just blame the wine. Probably. He hummed and scratched his neck a little as he thought about it. “I think the kids thing would depend on my partner,” he said after a minute. “At least for the most part. But I do think I’d like to get married. I mean, I like the idea of having one person be like, my person, for the rest of my life.” “Mm,” she nodded a little. “But, say your partner wanted your opinion first. Do you think you’d want kids?” Gerard looked at her, catching her eye for a little under a minute. She went pink, nibbled her bottom lip and dropped her gaze to the table. He was about to respond when a waiter came to remove their plates and offer them the dessert menu. “Wouldn’t hurt to look if you wanted?” He said softly. “Okay.” Gerard nodded to the waiter who returned with the dessert menu very quickly, leaving them to look over it. Shelly hummed. “I won’t entertain the idea of cake, if we’re gonna have that tomorrow. Kristin’s excited about that - we were talking about it earlier and it sounds like it’s going to be gorgeous.” “Oh, yeah, Mikey was telling me about it, though I think he was telling me more about the flavours than what it’s going to look like.” “Mmm, Kristin was telling me about the flavours too, but I think I’ll avoid cake from the menu as I don’t want to ruin myself.” Gerard was reminded of a conversation about fairy cakes they’d had once, and how he’d immediately thought about her making fairy cakes for children. Children that looked like the pair of them. Except now, his brain decided to show him an image of her in the kitchen of his apartment making those cakes for those children. His brain then decided to remind him of how tiny she was when she was curled up on his couch - but instead of focusing on the empty space around her, she was cuddling with one of those children - and she was clearly pregnant with another. The waiter returned, they ordered dessert and Shelly sipped some water as she looked out of the window they were sitting next to. Gerard took a mouthful of wine before gently clearing his throat. This drew her attention back to him. “To answer your question,” he started quietly, watching her tilt her head in curiosity. “Providing that my…” He paused. “Well, provided that my wife agrees, then…” Shelly leant her chin on her hand as she listened to him, noticing him bite his bottom lip for a few seconds as he thought about it for a little longer. “Then yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I would like kids.” A small smile spread across her face as she looked him over. “How many? Providing your wife agrees?” Gerard leant back in his chair, thanking the waiter who dropped off their desserts at that moment and watched her as she sat up, thanked the waiter herself and almost pounced on the dessert in front of her. “Is that cheesecake?” He asked gently, trying not to grin too wide. Shelly nodded guiltily. “Shut up. You know it’s my favourite.” He chuckled and held his hands up. “I know, I know. Is that the toffee and cinnamon crunch one?” “Yes,” she nodded again. “I liked the idea of like, the crumble topping without the fruit? And combined with toffee? Um, yes please.” Gerard laughed. “Yeah, I thought you’d like that.” “What did you get?” She peered over to look at his plate. “Oh, is that the apple crumble waffle? I nearly got that.” He leant across the table, took her hand and brought it to his lips so he could kiss the back of it. She just giggled and when he let her have her hand back, they went back to their desserts. “I think I would like at least one,” he continued. “Maybe two, if I could have one of each. If my wife agrees to go through that ordeal twice for me.” Shelly giggled. “But you’d like both?” “Maybe. I’d be more than happy with one kid,” he chewed some of his dessert thoughtfully. “I don’t think I’d truly mind if I had a son or a daughter though; as long as mama and baby were healthy and happy.” He glanced up from his plate to look at the blonde across the table from him, hoping to be able to catch her reaction to this. He noticed that the expression on her face had softened considerably. He just wished he knew which bit of what he said had made her look at him like that, so he could say something like it again. “What about you?” He asked quietly. “I know you said to my family that you’d like to be a mother one day. Is that still something you want? Is that something you actually do want, or were you telling them what you thought they wanted to hear?” Shelly hummed and stayed quiet for a moment. “I wasn’t lying, or just telling them what they wanted to hear. I didn’t see the point in lying about something pretty innocent like that. It’s easier to keep up with what you’re telling people if you tell the truth as much as you can.” “I do remember you saying that.” “So, um,” she paused and smiled a little, looking down at her empty dessert plate. “That’s… That’s actually something I do want; the family thing. I really do want to be a mother.” Their plates were cleared away and their wine glasses were topped up once more. Shelly sipped at her water while this was happening before carefully reaching for the wine when the waiter left but only after Gerard had a quiet word with him. Once the waiter left, Gerard leant across the table and took her free hand, rubbing his thumb over her nails. “How many do you want? Or are you still not quite sure?” “Mm,” she hummed as she watched him. “Definitely at least one. But, I’d definitely like a daughter, I really kinda want to continue my strong female lineage,” she frowned a little. “Even though now I’ve said that, I think it sounds weird.” “No, it doesn’t. You’re proud of your family and you want to continue it,” he smiled at her when she looked up at him. “That makes sense to me.” She went a little pink. “It does?” “Of course,” Gerard nodded, squeezed her hand and let it go to drink his wine. “Besides, of course you want a daughter; you’re beautiful and your daughter is bound to turn out like you. Every generation needs a mini you.” The pink on her face darkened and she bit her bottom lip, suddenly overly interested in her wine glass. This made Gerard smile. “You’ll make a great mother Shelly,” he admitted quietly. “I just know it.” She put down her now empty glass and focused on her water. “I… Thank you. I have to get to that point first.” They fell quiet for a few minutes before Gerard checked in with her to see if she’d had enough, and whether or not she wanted to go for a walk or just go back to the room. Shelly thought about this, but a small yawn escaped her and she shook her head. “Maybe we should just go back to the room. I can figure out what I can do tonight versus what I can do tomorrow morning and all of that.” Gerard frowned, not quite understanding what she was going on about, and Shelly caught his expression. “I mean, I can probably do my nails and shave my legs and whatnot tonight,” she took his offered arm before they made their way back up to their room. “You’re going to paint your nails while slightly tipsy?” He raised an eyebrow at her. She giggled. “Mm, no, I wouldn’t say I’m tipsy enough to be unco-orderinated.” “But you are tipsy. Just a little.” Gerard couldn’t help but smile at her soft giggle, and he watched her shake her head. “No, don’t shake your head at me, you are a little tipsy.” “Nope,” she leant forward to call the elevator and didn’t press the button hard enough. She frowned at herself and tried again, getting it right this time. “I think I’ve been worse.” Gerard guided her into the elevator and hit the button to take them to their floor. As the doors were closing, he slid an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. If she were to ask, he’d tell her that he was just making sure that she stayed upright. If she asked. (But she didn’t.) There was a little squeak from her, but nothing else. At least not a word of complaint. If anything, she rested her head against his arm and almost nestled against him. Well, he wasn’t going to complain about that. “To be fair,” he said as they waited to reach their floor. “You don’t seem tipsy or drunk at all. You just seem… Happy. A little giggly.” He glanced down at her leaning against his arm. “It’s really nice to see.” The blonde hummed and nodded against his arm. “I might get a little bit tired a little faster though. I don’t actually drink that often.” “You’re cute when you’re giggly though,” he added, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, just as the elevator doors opened. “Oh!” The doors opening had made her jump in surprise and let go of his arm. She stood in the elevator for a little longer than him, so she had to quickly scamper down the corridor after him. He chuckled and opened the door, letting her in first and making sure it was locked behind them. He stayed standing by the door and watched as she made her way over to the bed, sitting on the very end of the bed, right on the edge to take her shoes off. Once her sandals hit the floor she flopped onto her back on the bed and sighed loudly. He watched her cover her face with her hands for a moment. “Shell, are you alright?” He moved away from the door and went to stand by the bed. He heard her sigh again and he sat on the bed next to her. “I…” She removed her hands from her face and leant up on her elbows for a minute before pushing herself to sit up properly. “Yeah, I think I’m okay.” Gerard watched her sit up and it took him a few seconds to realise how close she was when she sat up. He could’ve just leant forward a fraction and he’d be able to kiss her. But there was no need for that - it wasn’t like they needed to practise more to make it look real or anything. “Are you sure?” He asked again, gently moving her hair over her shoulder so it fell down her back. Shelly felt his fingers brush against her cheek and against her ear as he moved her hair over her shoulder. She hoped that he didn’t notice that she trembled when he touched her. She was going to blame the wine. Yeah. It was all the wine’s fault. “Y- yeah,” she managed. “Um. Did you want to shower first? Did you want to shower at all tonight?” “Erm,” he found himself stroking her hair gently as he thought about it. “It might be better if you go first, because you might take longer? Then you have more time to dry your hair if it gets wet or whatever?” “Hmm,” she lifted a hand to cup his cheek, giving it a gentle squeeze as she spoke. “Not just a pretty face, are you?” He smiled into the palm of her hand. “I’m glad you think so.” Shelly giggled softly and dropped her hand to join the other one in her lap. She hummed for a minute before a thought occurred to her. “Oh. Maybe you should go first. I might get overly sleepy afterwards.” Gerard shook his head. “No, it’s fine. You go first.” Shelly hesitated before getting up and going to take the few hair pins out of her hair before she ran a brush through it. Gerard watched her do this, still sitting on the end of the bed. She started to take off her simple jewellery and he hummed. “Alternatively,” he started, watching her stop in what she was doing. “We could always just share.” Shelly almost dropped her hairbrush. “Excuse me?” He pushed himself off of the bed and made his way over to stand behind her, where she was sitting at the vanity table. Gently, he rested his hands on her shoulders and leant down to speak near her ear. “I mean,” he continued softly. “It would solve an argument, no? It would be quicker, surely.” Shelly blushed and swallowed slowly. “I… I think you might be teasing me, Mr. Way.” He laughed softly and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Maybe just a little bit. You are so pretty when you blush after all.” This just made her blush more before she pouted at him a little. “I think you’re mean.” Gerard moved to her other side, pressing a kiss to her other cheek. “Mm, but you haven’t strangled me with my own ties yet, so you can’t think that I’m that mean…” “Hmm,” Shelly hummed and tilted her head slightly, giggling softly as he kissed her other cheek. “No comment.” He laughed. “Can I shower first then?” She asked. Gerard nodded. “Sure you can.” Shelly smiled gently at him. “Thank you. You might have to move though…” He nodded and moved to go and sit on the edge of the end of the bed, watching her as best as he could as she stood up and padded over to where she’d left her stuff; the drawers by the side of the bed mostly. “Last chance to share,” he teased lightly. “Ooooh. Shush!” Gerard chuckled and tilted his head in her direction when he heard her humming to herself as she gathered clothes before she disappeared into the bathroom. When the bathroom door closed, he let himself fall onto his back on the mattress, not unlike what she'd done when they’d gotten in. He drummed his fingers on his stomach for a bit until he got bored and moved his arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. He was trying not to think about her in the shower, really he was, but… He wasn’t having a lot of luck with that. It wasn’t until he found himself wondering if the bathroom door was locked that he covered his face with both of his hands and groaned. More at himself for being a little… Too much. It was too much. Shelly found herself scrubbing her skin maybe a little bit too hard as she thought about the last thing that he’d said. She found herself thinking about that maybe a little too much, so she blasted herself with overly cold water for a few seconds - a bit like a giant spritzer bottle. She didn’t stay under the cold spray for too long before she turned it back to a much warmer temperature. It was a shock to her system, but it worked. Not too long later, she quietly opened the bathroom door and peeked around it to see Gerard stretched out in the middle of the bed, lying on his stomach. She moved a little closer to see that he was resting his forehead on his arms, his phone in front of him - he’d obviously been looking at something, and then possibly had given up? But he was now resting his head on his arms. Maybe he had dozed off? She tiptoed up to the side of the bed so she could see his face; he had his eyes closed but she wasn’t entirely sure if he was asleep or not. She moved and dropped to her knees by the edge of the bed before, cautiously, reaching out and running her hand over his hair. Gerard jumped, just a tiny bit, but hummed, keeping his eyes closed. “Hello.” “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to make you jump.” “It’s alright. It wasn’t that much,” he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her. “Did the shower help?” Shelly nodded, her fingers still in his hair. “Yeah. I decided against doing my nails tonight though. I’m kinda tired and don’t want to concentrate that hard.” Gerard laughed and buried his face in his arms again, feeling her fingers trail down his neck for a moment before they stopped and disappeared. He looked up and saw her moving to perch on the edge of the bed next to him. She was wearing one of the hotel’s robes, and for some reason, that was all he could focus on. “Are you gonna go and shower?” She asked quietly, her hands in her lap. “Um. Yeah. I should do that.” The blonde giggled and then frowned at her nails. “I should take this polish off tonight. Less to do tomorrow.” “Good idea.” She hummed and moved off of the bed to go and sit and remove her nail polish. Almost as soon as she moved and had her back to him, Gerard managed to get up and sit up properly. He didn’t do it very gracefully, which is why he was glad that she wasn’t really paying attention. Thank god. He grabbed his clothes and sauntered to the bathroom to take his own shower. It didn’t take Shelly long to remove her current shade of nail polish. When she was done and had cleaned up, she hung the robe up and started working on her hair - she’d dried off what needed drying while she was in the bathroom. It hadn’t been that wet as she had chosen not to wash it again (she’d already done it that morning and would do it again tomorrow) but now it just needed a good brushing. She braided her hair quickly before turning around on the vanity’s stool. She stared at the bed, chewing on her bottom lip. That was the sight that greeted Gerard when he returned from showering. She had her elbow on her knee and her chin on her hand. But the thing that was more… Interesting to him, was the fact that she was nibbling and sucking on her bottom lip. “Shell?” He tried. No response. “Shelly?” He crossed the room and gently laid a hand on her shoulder, making her jump. “Sorry.” “Um… Did you say something?” She looked up at him. “I just wanted to check that you’re alright?” He tilted his head. “You were kinda staring into space a little.” “I… Oh. Um,” her eyes darted towards the bed again, if only briefly, before returning to look at him. “Yeah, I think so.” He’d noticed the movement of her eyes and moved his hand from her shoulder to stroke the top of her head. “I’ll take the sofa.” Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No, I’ll take it. I’m small, I’ll fit without hurting myself and waking up achy in the morning.” “I can’t let you do that,” Gerard shook his head. “No. I’ll take the sofa.” “I can fit under the robes though,” Shelly pointed out quickly. “And I sleep curled up anyway, so I’ll really fit.” Gerard sighed and shook his head. “What?” He pointed to the bed. “Just get in it.” Shelly shook her head. “I’ll be fine. The sofa will be alright.” “Ashely.” She squeaked very softly at the use of her full name, but she sat up straighter at his tone of voice, watching as Gerard moved to stand behind her. She almost jumped when he put both hands on her shoulders, and she felt his breath against her ear after he leant down to speak into it. “Do as you’re told and get in the bed.” “Gerard,” her voice was almost a whine. “That’s not fair.” He chuckled softly next to her ear. “I thought we weren’t talking about that any more,” she stuttered out before biting her lip. “I’m not talking about it exactly,” he said, keeping his voice quiet and low. “I’m just… Borrowing it.” Shelly huffed and folded her arms across her chest. “I cannot let you sleep on the sofa,” he slowly slid his hands from her shoulders, down her arms until he moved them to rest on her waist, still speaking quietly into her ear, but talking just a tiny bit louder when she started to protest. “I know, I know. You’re small enough, you’d fit.” She made a “hmph” noise. “But, with that in mind,” he wrapped his arms around her and ‘helped’ her to her feet. “If you’re so small, then you’ll fit in the bed with me too. You’re tiny, the bed is huge - we probably won’t even need to worry about invading each others’ space.” Shelly squeaked as he moved her to her feet, and immediately felt annoyed that not a single fibre of her being had tried to resist it. “You’re… Stronger than you look,” was all she had to say. “No, not really,” Gerard chuckled, his arms still around her waist. “You’re just small.” “Hm!” “Please?” He said quietly, his voice dropping its more dominant tone and adopting a gentler one. “I don’t want to risk you not being warm enough or sleeping well enough or anything like that. We can top to tail if that would make you less against it, or we can build a wall with… Something, if that would help.” “No,” she sighed. “No, it’s fine. We don’t have to do that.” She paused and cleared her throat quietly. “I mean, I’ve fallen asleep against you, haven’t I? This shouldn’t be too different.” “Mm, that’s the spirit.” He felt her shift in his arms and, reluctantly, let her go before he watched her trot over to ‘her’ side of the bed. “There’s just one thing,” she pulled back the covers, shuffled her pillows around a bit and slipped into bed. “What’s that?” He grabbed her phone from the vanity table and took it over to her, even going as far as plugging it in. “Oh, thanks,” she sunk down into bed as she covered herself up. Before she could continue, Gerard proceeded to tuck her in properly, making her “oh!” in surprise before he leant down and kissed her forehead. This made her giggle softly and go a pretty shade of pink. “What’s the one thing?” He asked again before going around to his side of the bed, turning on the lamp and then turning off the main lights. Shelly watched this, mostly watching the way he moved when he wasn’t wearing the heavier fabrics of his suits or his jeans. He looked smaller somehow too, but… It wasn’t a bad thing. She liked the way he looked out of suits, she knew this from going on ‘dates’ with him in jeans, but… It was nice seeing him a little physically more… Was vulnerable the right word here? Physically softer? “You best not steal all the covers from me overnight, pretty boy,” she muttered, remembering that he’d asked her a question. She was trying so hard not to smile too widely but she was almost completely failing at that. Gerard stopped in the middle of getting into bed, but only for a fraction of a second. He noticed that she wasn’t looking at him anyway so she wouldn’t’ve seen him do that. “Oh no,” he said quietly, his voice almost falling back into that dominant tone he’d used on her earlier. “Oh, no I won’t do that,” he settled into bed and turned the bedside lamp out. “For you, sweet thing? For you, I’ll share.” Shelly was so glad that he’d already turned the light off because she was certain that her blush not only reached her ears but it probably spread further as well - she wasn’t exactly going to check. “Well!” She managed to get out eventually, her voice coming out a little higher in pitch than normal. “I’m so glad you’re able to share.” Gerard laughed. “Just for you though.” Her face definitely felt like it was burning now. “Goodnight Gerard.” “G’night Shell.” Shelly was the first to wake up the next morning, which didn’t really surprise her. She wriggled a little as she half stretched, feeling incredibly warm and comfortable and… Oddly safe. She shifted again and it was only then that she realised that she was backed up against something… Or someone? She shifted the duvet to peer under it and noticed that Gerard had his arms wrapped around her waist really quite tightly. It didn’t hurt at all but… Oh. He had his head against her shoulder, and he’d just snuggled against her. Just… Oh. She sighed softly and managed to grope around on the bedside table for her phone. Her alarm wasn’t due to go off just yet, so she was allowed to settle down, she was allowed to indulge herself, she was allowed to enjoy this moment for just a little longer. She probably shouldn’t though. She should just get up and get on with getting ready. She should. But she couldn’t bring herself to. Maybe it was a dangerous thing to do; to enjoy being this close, to let herself be this close for this long. On the other hand, maybe she should just let herself enjoy it while she could. It wasn’t too long after she had that thought that she felt the man behind her move a little; he pulled her back against him a bit more and nuzzled the back of her neck. She could feel herself almost melting at this action, but then he pressed a sleepy kiss to the nearest bit of skin; which happened to be near where her neck met her shoulder. If she hadn’t melted before, she certainly did then. He did this… She was so certain that he was still pretty much asleep and she almost whined. Oh, why did he have to do the things he did? He was just making this just so difficult for her and it just wasn’t fair. Sure, admittedly, he probably wasn’t aware that he was doing these things, so she really couldn’t and shouldn't blame him, but… She was going to. That was just a thing that was going to happen. She sighed again before she tried to pry his hands apart so she could move. Gerard made a soft grunting noise in his sleep and held her tighter. She shook her head a little bit and gently tapped his hands. “Gerard,” she said softly. “Gerard, c’mon.” He grumbled and rubbed his cheek against her shoulder, but he didn’t let her go. “C’mon Gee,” she said a little louder. “You gotta let me go. I have to get up.” “No,” he mumbled against her. “Not happening.” Shelly sighed. “Hey, your brother is getting married today. I’ve got to get up and start getting ready.” “He’s not marrying you is he?” He was still mumbling. “You can stay for a little longer.” She couldn't help herself - she let out a soft snort and a giggle. “No, he’s not marrying me. God, are you always this insufferable?” “I’m not that,” he grumbled, although now he was sounding a little more awake. “I haven’t heard your alarm yet.” Shelly giggled softly, again. “Mm, that’s because it hasn’t. I don’t think I’ve got too much longer before it does though.” “Then it won’t hurt for you to stay here for a bit longer then, will it?” She hummed a little before eventually speaking. “Well, I guess not.” “Good,” he murmured. Shelly rolled her eyes to herself, unable to stop herself from smiling as she did so. But she let herself settle down more comfortably again, hearing Gerard hum in approval near her ear as he shifted to bury his nose in her hair. “How did you sleep?” She asked quietly. “Mm, pretty well actually. You?” She hummed again. “Yeah, I slept well. Really well actually.” “Warm enough?” He was still speaking softly near her ear. “Comfortable enough?” “Mmm hm.” Gerard chuckled at how… Satisfied, she sounded (and immediately tried not to think about other situations where he could get her to make that noise. That might involve a bed. It didn’t have to involve a bed, of course, but it could.) “Are you glad that you shared the bed with me now?” “Oh hush,” she grumbled quietly, but not sounding too grumpy at all. “You really should let me get up so I can start to get ready. It might take me a little while.” “Nope, not until I hear your alarm.” Shelly mock sighed loudly. “Oh, well fine. I suppose I can go with that. But you must let me up when the alarm goes off.” “I will,” he nuzzled against whatever he could reach again. “I promise.” She tried really hard not to read too much into just how affectionate he was being. She told herself that he was always like this first thing in the morning. That this was normal for him and had absolutely nothing to do with her. Nope. Not at all. He was true to his word though - as soon as her alarm went off and she grumbled as she silenced it, Gerard unwound his arms from around her waist. “Go on then,” he mumbled as he moved onto his back, letting himself stretch out properly afterwards. Shelly sighed and shuffled away from him, managing to sit up. She heard him stretch and glanced over her shoulder to see him stretching and arching. She shook her head at herself and managed to push herself out of bed, before padding to the bathroom. She shut the door behind her and Gerard heard this, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. He hummed to himself and started to look at his phone. He glanced up from the screen a few minutes later when Shelly returned from the bathroom, hiding a yawn behind her hand. “Do you wanna get in there before I go and shower?” She asked as she started to unbraid her hair. “Oh, yeah, please.” She waved him off while she sorted herself out, and she was in the middle of gathering the underwear she’d purchased especially for the dress she was going to wear. In fact, said underwear was out on the end of the bed as she hunted for something else, which meant that Gerard got a pretty decent look at it when he returned to the room. “Um…” Shelly looked up from brushing out her hair and followed his eyeline. When she realised what he was looking at, she swore under her breath and quickly snatched up the “offending” articles. “Sorry,” she said quietly, her cheeks going very pink. “I should’ve hidden that better.” Gerard swallowed and cleared his throat. “It’s not a bother. The bathroom is all yours.” She smiled, made sure she had everything and disappeared back into the bathroom, leaving Gerard to try and not think about the underwear he’d just seen. And boy, did he try. He made the bed, brushed his hair, and tried to focus on something on his phone but… His brain kept drifting. After the third time his brain drifted instead of reading… Whatever it was he was trying to read, he let it wander. Just for a little bit, just to hopefully shut it up. Well. A little bit turned into a lot longer and he was still kind of settled on that train of thought when the bathroom door opened and Shelly padded back into the room, towel drying her hair and wearing one of the hotel’s robes again. She stood in the bathroom doorway for a moment, noticed that Gerard hadn’t heard her, noticed that he was nibbling his bottom lip and noticed that he had a faint blush gracing his face. “Gerard.” Nothing; not even a little twitch. She grinned to herself and tiptoed over, managing to get to the end of the bed without him hearing her. “Oh, sugar?” Nope. She rolled her eyes, got a little closer and dropped to her knees beside him, resting her hand on his leg, near his knee. That got his attention and he jumped a fraction, startled. He blinked rapidly and glanced down at her, the light pink on his face darkening as he noticed her position. She rested her chin on her hand before looking up at him and smiling when her eyes met his. “What…” His voice came out as more of a croak before he cleared his throat. “Um. What are you doing down there?” “You didn’t hear me. You were very clearly lost in your head. Did you go somewhere nice?” His brain replayed those mental images of her in that underwear and he hummed, looking elsewhere and just not at her. “Um. Yeah. It was nice.” She giggled. “It must’ve been, you’ve been sitting there like that for a good five minutes.” Gerard hummed and watched as Shelly pushed herself to her feet, using the edge of the bed as support. Once she’d managed to stand up straight, she leant down and kissed his cheek. “You should go and shower. I might need you to help me into my dress, but I’m gonna do my hair and make-up first.” “I… Okay.” He watched her move to go and sit at the vanity table to try and deal with her hair. “Let me know if you need any more help?” “I will. Go and shower.” Needless to say, he did as he was told, and when he returned, she had some of her hair pinned up and back off of her face. He wasn’t sure if it was in the style that she was going to wear that day, but he’d guess that it was as she looked really pretty. She hadn’t even finished her make-up and she still looked pretty. To try and stop himself from staring at her, or just watching her creepily, he went to check himself over in the mirror in the wardrobe. Shelly was half watching him using the mirror in front of her, as she sort of focused on doing her make-up. She didn’t need to focus overly hard on what she was doing so she was free to watch the man wandering around in the room behind her. “Gerard?” “Mm?” “Can you get the little blue pouch from the top bedside drawer for me please?” He nodded and did as she asked, placing the small blue pouch on the table in front of her. “Here you go.” “Thanks.” She opened it gently and pulled out a simple pair of stud earrings in a colour that was pretty close to her dress. He watched her carefully put the studs into her ears, always a little… Maybe weirded out? By the way women did this; just poking these things through tiny holes in their ears. He looked up to see her looking at him via the mirror and she smiled when his eyes met hers. “Hey,” she said quietly. “Can I borrow you again?” Gerard blinked rapidly and nodded. “Sure. What do you need?” She hummed. “Specifically? Your hands.” He almost choked on his own tongue. “Um, yeah, okay. How can I help you?” The short blonde giggled softly and beckoned him closer before she took his hand and gently placed a simple silver necklace in it. “Can you do this up for me please? If I hold my hair out of the way?” “I… Sure thing, I can do that,” he nodded as he found the clasp of the chain and unfastened it. “Does it matter which way around it goes?” “Nope,” she carefully gathered her hair and held it out of the way for him, watching him in the mirror. “Okay.” Gerard wove the necklace around her neck, hearing her let out a soft “hmn!” as the pendant touched her skin. “You okay?” “Yeah, that was just a little colder than I thought it was going to be, that’s all,” Shelly sat up a little straighter so she could hold her hair a bit better. “Ah. Let me know if I hurt you or something.” He looked up at her via the mirror until he saw her nod before he went back to fiddling with the little clasp. Shelly watched this in the mirror, humming as she felt the clasp fall against the skin on her neck. “Thank you.” “No problem,” he helped her rearrange her hair, mostly so he didn’t give in and kiss the back of her neck. That might cause him to do something… Inappropriate that might lead to them being late for, or even missing, his brother’s wedding. “You just have to put your dress and shoes on now?” “Yeah. I think I might need help with the zip of my dress though,” she watched him nod. “Okay. Can you maybe, turn around for me? I don’t want to take the dress into the bathroom.” Gerard nodded again, turned around and nibbled his bottom lip as he waited. He could hear her padding around the room and after a few minutes he heard the rustling of the garment bag her dress was in. She started humming quietly and he was more focused on that as soon as he heard it. A few moments later, he heard her sigh. “Is everything alright?” “Yeah. Just that… Removing the robe was…” She paused to find the right words. “I didn’t want to do it. Those things are really comfortable.” Gerard cleared his throat a little and tried not to think about the fact that she might be standing there in her underwear right then. “They are really soft, yeah.” “Magically so,” she paused for a moment. “Okay, I think, I think I’m going to need your hands again now.” That was a comment that was going to linger in his head for quite a while, he knew it, as well as her comment from earlier. Gerard sighed as quietly as he could at that, and turned to go and help her with her dress. She was standing by the vanity table, holding her dress up a little with one arm. Gerard approached her slowly, gently resting his hands on her waist when he was close enough. She didn’t jump, he didn’t startle her, and he guessed that’s because she saw him in the mirror. “You okay?” He asked, squeezing her hips very gently. “Mm hm!” She nodded, looking at him in the mirror. “Can you zip me up please?” “Sure.” Gerard carefully pulled the zip up the back of her dress, doing his best to ignore her bra strap because if he focused on that, he would get very distracted. Even more so than he already was at any rate. When he pulled the zip half way up her back, she let the front of her dress go, knowing it was less likely to fall down now, and held her hair out of the way so it didn’t get caught. “Thank you,” Gerard said after she’d done this. “I was wondering how I was going to avoid catching your hair.” “Mm hm, not a problem.” She waited a few more minutes until she felt Gerard put his hands back on her waist before letting her hair go. “Thank you Gerard.” “Always welcome,” his voice was almost a whisper, watching her turn around and look up at him. He was about to speak when she frowned. “Sit,” she gestured to the edge of the bed. “Go on.” Not one to argue with her anyway, he did as he was told, raising an eyebrow as she nudged his knees apart before resting her hand on his shoulder to support herself as she leant around him to grab something. She straightened up, stood between his knees and started to fiddle with his shirt collar. “Oh, yeah, tie.” “Mm hm.” “If I recall correctly,” Gerard started, quietly. “Fixing my tie was one of the first things you did for me when we started this whole thing.” Shelly blinked rapidly as she thought about this and as the memory came back to her, she blushed. “I might’ve made some suggestive comment alongside it.” “You did,” he grinned. “You said something about how no boyfriend of yours would be at work looking like such a mess unless you went in to visit him.” She went even pinker. “Mm, something like that.” Gerard laughed and glanced up at her instead of trying to focus on her hands. She was bent over ever so slightly in front of him as she focused on knotting the tie. It was enough for the pendant to hang away from her body at any rate, and that drew his attention. “What is that anyway?” He gestured to it, making her look down quickly before going back to tidying his collar. “I didn’t really look at it before I put it on you.” “It’s a little silver seashell,” she replied with a small smile, giving his collar one more gentle tug before straightening up and stepping back. “Oh. That’s kinda cute.” Gerard moved to his feet and smiled at her. “Thanks. I assume that I look far more presentable now?” “Just your suit jacket,” she said, going to retrieve it before handing it over, watching him put it on. “Do you have your notes for your speech? Or have you decided that you don’t need them?” He checked his pockets before going over to his bag, sliding some sheets of paper into the inside pocket. “I’ve got them now, thank you.” Shelly just beamed and went to put her shoes on. “Do you have everything else?” “Just need my notes and my phone I think.” “Oh! We should take photos.” She trotted over to the bedside table to grab her phone. “You know we’re going to have professional ones taken later, don’t you?” “Yeah,” she said quietly, focusing on her nails that she’d re-painted earlier that morning. “I might not be in those.” Gerard sighed softly, crossed the room and pulled her against him. “I think you will be. How many times do I have to tell you that my family loves you?” “Don’t,” she whispered. “You’ll make me cry and I’ll ruin my make-up. I never planned on this. I never expected them to actually like me this much.” Concerned, Gerard held her a little tighter. “I don’t want you to get it in the neck too much when you tell them we’ve broken up,” she admitted against his suit jacket. “I don’t think that’s fair.” He stayed quiet for a few minutes, still holding her against him, before he spoke quietly into her hair. “I’ll be alright. I’ll work something out. I keep telling you that.” “It would be easier if they didn’t like me as much.” “Mm, maybe,” he leant his cheek on the top of her head as he fiddled with his phone. When he next spoke, his voice was quiet, and almost shy. “But I’m glad that they do.” Shelly moved away from him, enough so she could look up at him, but not enough that he couldn’t hold her anymore. “Even if it makes the last part of this, ah, quest, harder?” Gerard just nodded. “Even if it does that.” She stayed quiet for a moment before clearing her throat. “We should take our photos and get going, probably.” “Alright, c’mere.” He pulled her back to him and they snapped some coupley photos in their hotel room with the gorgeous view from the window behind them. They took a couple on his phone and a few on hers, sending each other any picture that was different. “I’m not taking my phone because I don’t have any pockets,” Shelly said quietly. “Are you taking yours?” “Mm hm, but it’ll be on silent all day,” he nodded. “So if you… We… Want more not-professional pictures, I'll take them and send them to you.” Shelly nodded. “I appreciate that, thank you.” “Of course Shell,” Gerard murmured. “Any time.” He watched as she checked herself over in the mirror again, choosing to check his hair over at the same time. When she seemed like she was done, he turned to her. “Ready?” “I… I think so.” Gerard offered her his arm. “C’mon then.”

#CMBFTW #CMBFTW fic #fan fic #She Writes #Gerard Way x OC

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thewordworrier · 3 years ago

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Call Me Babe For The Weekend - Chapter Ten

Series Masterpost

Word Count: 9.5k Notes: Chapter title from “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift - but with like, one word change. Still her’s though!

Chapter Ten - Maybe This Thing Is A Masterpiece

The brothers managed to arrange a quiet, very casual breakfast-like get together between themselves and their women, a few days later, just so Kristin wouldn’t have a complete stranger in the closer, ‘family section’ of her wedding. Shelly wasn’t sure why, but she felt so much more at ease about this meeting. Maybe it was because she already knew Mikey and Gerard - the ratio of people she knew to those she didn’t was more in her favour, so to speak. She also didn’t feel quite as much pressure about looking so… Perfect? So pristine maybe? She’d checked in with Gerard, who had said that casual, everyday wear would be completely fine, so she’d gone with that. She’d still found something nice of course, she wasn’t just going to turn up looking like she’d just rolled out of bed - she was still trying to make a good impression after all (that and she highly doubted that Gerard would be seen with anyone not well dressed on any occasion anyway.) While she managed to find something that was comfortable and casual (and a little bit cute as well), she still found herself putting in a little more effort than she probably should’ve, purely because she knew she was going to be seeing Gerard, and she wanted to look good for him. She wanted him to look at her and feel happy about being seen with her. She was just trying to live up to his standards, she told herself. That’s why her clothes were a little more fitted in the right places. No other reason - she just wanted to feel like she deserved to stand by his side. No other reason at all. (She did however, make a small batch of family cookies, just for him, which earned her a very tight hug and a forehead kiss outside her apartment building that morning when he came to pick her up. She decided that yes, that was very much worth nearly burning her fingertips off for.) Mikey and Kristin were there before Gerard and Shelly, which the blonde felt bad about - she didn’t like keeping people waiting. Although, she didn’t really have anything to worry about because as soon as they approached the table that the younger brother and his soon-to-be wife were sitting at, the other woman stood up and embraced her. “Mikey has told me so much about you!” She said, “Gosh, you’re so cute!” Shelly blushed and stuttered out a “thank you” before they all sat down again. The brothers disappeared to order coffee (although Shelly would have something different, considering the fact that she really didn’t like coffee) as well as some food, and as soon as they were out of earshot, Kristin leant across the table. “Mikey told me that you got grilled when the family met you, is that right?” “Yeah, it was actually a little uncomfortable,” Shelly nodded before shrugging a little. “But I figured that it was pretty normal.” Kristin frowned. “I’m not sure about that…” “You didn’t get questioned like that, did you?” Shelly watched the other woman shake her head. “I’m going to hazard a guess, please correct me if I’m wrong, that you move in the same sort of social circles as them?” She nodded. “Yeah, I do. You think that might be why you got questioned so much?” “Probably. I think I might’ve been questioned a little more had I not reacted the way I did to some of it.” The other woman winced and gently took Shelly’s hand from across the table. “Yeah, Mikey told me about that one; he was really angry about it, actually. I am so sorry you had to sit through that.” “I really appreciate him speaking up about it to be honest,” Shelly admitted quietly. “And I appreciate your words, thank you.” Kristin smiled and patted Shelly’s hands gently. “Oh, any time.” “You have yourself a very good man there, I think. I mean, I don’t know him too well, but first impressions and gut instincts are normally pretty spot on, aren’t they?” “Oh, I absolutely agree with that.” Shelly relaxed a little more before biting her lip. “Can I ask you something?” “Of course.” Shelly grinned. “Can I see the ring?” Kristin giggled and obliged, letting Shelly take her hands and examine the engagement ring on her finger. This image, the girls essentially holding hands, is what the brothers saw first as they started making their way back to the table. “Hmn,” Gerard noticed them first. “What?” Mikey turned to see what he was looking at. “Aha. That’s sweet.” “- and I love this nail polish, by the way,” Shelly finished as the brothers returned, sitting back next to their respective women. “It’s really pretty and makes the ring really stand out, you clever thing.” Kristin beamed, brightening considerably and noticeably at the compliment. “It’s one of my favourites and always has been.” “It’s a lovely colour on you.” “Are you two planning on running away together?” Gerard asked as he sat down. “There’s a lot of hand holding going on over here,” Mikey added. “Oh, darn, they’re onto us already.” Kristin rolled her eyes with a smile as the comment and the action made Shelly laugh. “I am many things,” Shelly said. “But a homewrecker is not one of them.” “I appreciate you not stealing my fiancee from me,” Mikey grinned at her. “And I appreciate you not leaving me,” Gerard slid his arm around Shelly’s waist. “Why would I break up a lovely, obviously well suited and utterly in love couple?” Shelly asked, stirring sugar into her hot chocolate. “You two look gorgeous together.” “You and Gerard look really, really good together too you know,” Mikey sipped his coffee. “You’re clearly the reason why he’s been different recently. Happier, more relaxed, perhaps. I’ve certainly noticed that in the short time I’ve known of your existence.” Shelly and Gerard shared a look and she smiled a little before speaking. “That’s very sweet.” “I… I guess I feel better not hiding her,” Gerard said, side-eying his brother a little. “I understand about wanting to keep your relationship to yourself until you know it’s going somewhere though,” Kristin sipped her coffee. “Or just wanting to keep it to yourselves in the early stages anyway. You can get so wrapped up in each other that you forget the rest of the world exists.” “I feel like that when I’m with him anyway,” Shelly said quietly, clearing her throat and sipping her drink before speaking up, just a little. “I mean, that feeling hasn’t really left, for me at least.” Gerard had heard the first part and had started looking at her when she was sipping her drink. She put her mug down and glanced at him, obviously feeling like she was being looked at. When her eyes met his, he grinned at her. “You are so cute,” he said, placing his hand over hers on the table. “But, I feel the same.” “You do look really good together. It’s like you compliment each other somehow,” Kristin leant against Mikey and beamed up at him when he slipped an arm around her. “It’s so very cute.” Shelly went pink and Gerard chuckled before engaging his brother in some conversation that Shelly found herself unable to pay too much attention to. Instead, she focused on the other woman, a really beautiful creature, she thought. “So, Kristin,” she said quietly as the guys conversed next to her. “Tell me about how you and Mikey met? How did he propose?” “Are you sure?” She actually looked embarrassed and apologetic, which Shelly found both adorable and unnecessary. “I’m likely to get very mushy.” “Oh, I’m absolutely sure! The mushier the better.” Kristin giggled quietly before starting to tell Shelly what she wanted to know; more than happy to do so after Shelly’s encouragement. Shelly was more than happy to listen, too - she honestly wanted to know, that’s why she asked. She did like a cute love story after all, and Kristin and Mikey were just so sweet together. And they were so obviously in love. Truthfully, she was a teeny, tiny bit jealous. Only the smallest amount, and she didn’t begrudge them their happiness at all. Of course she didn’t - why would she? If they weren’t getting married, then she highly doubted that she’d be spending as much time as she was with Gerard. Sure, he might still be a regular at her grandfather’s shop, but she highly doubted that she’d know as much about him, if their only interactions were her double checking his measurements and helping to make his suits. She didn’t begrudge them their happiness because they were so good together. She didn’t begrudge them their happiness because, and she really hated to admit this, she really appreciated having Gerard around. Even if it was all a means to an end, even if it was all fake and even if it wasn’t going to last, even if they went back to being… Well, next to nothing, after this, it was showing her that she might be able to stop being quite so guarded. That she might be able to open up and let people - men even, get close to her again. Well. If she ever found one who ever matched up to her fake boyfriend. “Well,” Gerard said, later on as they walked away from the little cafe they’d all met up in. “I think that went well.” Shelly hummed. “Mm hm.” “You don’t sound so sure?” He glanced down at her as they walked, his eyes widening a little bit when she let go of his hand, even though she really didn’t need to and he was surprised that she was willingly doing so; normally she’d stay holding his hand for as long as she could. He watched her shrug and shove both of her hands in her jacket pockets. “Oh, no. I’m pretty certain that went really well. Kristin is lovely and she and Mikey are so perfect for one another.” She smiled a tiny bit. “It’s very cute, and she’s a total doll.” “She seemed to like you,” Gerard said with a nod. “You exchanged numbers right?” “Mm hm”, Shelly nodded, chewing her lip a little. “Shelly?” Gerard gently took her by the elbow, steering her to a quieter part of the street. “Are you alright?” “Um,” she looked from the hand cupping her elbow up to his face. “Maybe.” “You want to talk about it?” He pulled her a little closer to him so she didn’t have to talk so loudly. She looked around and sighed. “I don’t know. Can we walk a bit more?” He looked her over carefully before nodding. “Sure.” They walked for a little bit, neither really saying anything until Shelly stopped to look in the window of a jewellery store. Gerard almost walked on without her, until he realised that she had stopped. He took a few steps back to stand by her side, looking at her for a moment before turning to see what she was looking at. “I…” Shelly started quietly. “I am concerned that I’m getting too close.” Gerard moved to stand a little closer to her. “Too close to what?” “Your family. They are not going to like you when we break up.” She moved along to see a different part of the window display and tucked some hair behind her ears. “Yeah, I know, but it’s not going to come back badly on you,” he tried to figure out what she was looking at specifically. “We’ve already agreed on that, I think.” “It could just be mutual? We could just work it out that it’s a mutual split?” “We’ll discuss that later on.” Gerard looked at the displays a little better. “What are you looking at anyway?” The shorter girl went very pink. “Oh, it’s not important. I just like looking at pretty things.” “I don’t believe you,” he leant down a little bit to be more at her eye level. “C’mon. What’re you looking at? Shouldn’t I know what type of jewellery my girlfriend likes?” Shelly side-eyed him. “Do not even think about buying anything.” He raised an eyebrow at her, more out of curiosity, but also slightly in question. The blonde sighed and shook her head before turning to look at him. “Promise me you won’t.” “I promise I won’t think about buying anything.” “Hmn…” She frowned. “Promise you won’t buy anything. I mean it.” “I promise.” Shelly narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. “Alright. I think I believe you.” Gerard smiled at her. “So, what caught your eye?” She sighed before tapping lightly on the glass. “That circular frame pendant, with the moon in it?” It took him a minute before he found it. “Oh?” “That’s the moon from Starry Night, the Van Gough painting. Except I think there’s a few gold flecks in that pendant.” Gerard stayed quiet for a moment as he looked at it. “It’s pretty.” Shelly straightened up a little and studied him, staying silent for a moment. He must’ve noticed that she’d gone quiet because he turned his head to look at her. He could tell that she was thinking about something, but he couldn’t quite tell what. He wouldn’t have to wait too long to find out though. “It’s my favourite painting,” she said after another minute. “I’ve been drawn to it since I was a kid. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was just because of the colours when I was younger, but I don’t know.” She turned to look in the window again. “I’ve always been drawn to the stars and the sky. I think that’s why I read up on astrology, despite the fact that I don’t follow it religiously.” “You’ve mentioned that before,” Gerard added, remembering some of the information he’d read - about the different types of compatibilities between signs; romantic and sexual compatibilities specifically. “You said something about how we’re both fire signs, and how that makes things,” he paused and created quotation marks with his fingers. “Interesting.” It took her a moment to remember the conversation and then to remember what she’d meant by that. When she remembered, her cheeks went a little pink and she nibbled her bottom lip. “Hmn. You remembered.” “I did,” he focused on the window display for a moment. “Anyone would think that, with your name and the nicknames your family has given you, that you would be more drawn to the sea, or to water. Not the sky and stars.” Shelly smiled a little and tucked some hair behind her ear. “I am the weirdest fire sign you’ll ever meet.” Gerard found himself grinning as he snapped a photo of her; fingers still behind her ear, that smile still on her face. She blinked rapidly in surprise at him before taking his phone out of his hand and getting a picture of him too. “You are the most obvious fire sign I’ll ever meet,” he said, grabbing her by the waist, pulling her to him and taking his phone back to get a photo of them both, unintentionally getting the jewellery store window display in the background. “You are so obviously a Leo.” “Alright Aries,” she muttered, feeling his arm slide under her jacket as he pulled her closer to get another photo. “Difficult beast.” “Shush and pose.” Shelly just rolled her eyes before doing as she was told. When he was finished, she hummed and took his hand again, leading him away from the store and out of the side street. He didn’t mind any of this in the slightest. “So, what do you want to do?” She asked. “You suggested hanging out; do you have any ideas?” “Erm, not really?” He confessed, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that she wasn’t holding. “I didn’t know what you’d feel like doing so I didn’t really plan anything. I figured that we could maybe play it by ear?” “Hmmm,” she slowed down beside him. It wasn’t until she let his hand go again that he turned to look at her properly. She’d pulled her phone out of her pocket and was tapping away at the screen, her bottom lip caught between teeth as she concentrated. He took a step or two closer to her, just to be close, and waited patiently, one hand resting on the small of her back. What had surprised him, actually, was the fact that she hadn’t even flinched, or jumped, when he’d touched her. If anything, she’d shifted her body so she was leaning more towards him, like she was moving into his touch almost. He had to bite the inside of his cheek briefly to distract himself from turning that thought into something… Less than pure. “What’re you doing?” He asked a few minutes later, quietly so he didn’t make her jump or anything. “I’m checking to see if there’s anything interesting going on locally today, but it depends on what you’re into, really.” “Hmn.” Shelly glanced up from looking at her phone screen to look right into his face. He was looking at her so… Intently. Her instincts were almost screaming at her to run, to put some distance between them. Well, she was never really one to immediately listen to those instincts, and, because they’d just been talking about astrology, she had been partially reminded that yes, she was very Leo-like (especially in appearance). Whereas he was an Aries; a ram, and therefore more likely to be her prey. It made sense in her head, despite the fact that in reality, he really was the one calling the shots. In the long term at any rate. Maybe that’s why she was trying to gain the upper hand in the short term. Even if it was just mentally. So, she stood her ground and raised an eyebrow at him. “And what does that mean?” She asked, noticing that he was still looking at her like that and trying not to acknowledge the fact that she didn’t mind. “It doesn’t mean anything,” he watched her, tilting his head slightly. “What are the options?” She rolled her eyes again and shook her head before looking back at her phone. “How do you feel about art?” “Oh?” He perked up a little. “Go on?” “It’s not like a big fancy gallery; there’s a small, travelling show kinda deal in town.” She explained as she scrolled through her phone. “Brings together a couple of artists from some local towns or colleges, and they travel between their hometowns. Sort of a “look what the other cities have to offer” kind of deal. I’m not explaining this very well.” “You’re explaining it fine. Is it nearby?” Shelly showed him the map on her phone, letting him take it from her fingertips so he could have a better look. She watched him look over the page she’d left open (the map was on the “event’s website'') and she swore that his eyes lit up a little bit. “Can we go?” She smiled. “Sure we can. We can probably walk there from here too, it’s not that far.” “Lead the way.” She did, consulting the map once or twice, just to be certain. It didn’t take them too long, and Shelly still found herself grateful for not wearing heels that day. Sure, she could walk in them without falling over, and spend hours on her feet in her grandfather’s shop while wearing them, but she didn’t have to walk long distances there. When they got there, there was some kind of suggested entrance fee, which Gerard paid, and more than the recommended, she noticed. He did it happily, despite her objections to paying for her again (especially considering the fact that he’d paid for their/her breakfast at the cafe with his brother too). He hushed her protests gently and they went to look around the exhibits and displays of local artists’ work. Shelly kept a close eye on him as they looked around. He seemed to have a bit more energy somehow, and he seemed brighter. Almost like he was in his element somewhat. That was interesting, she thought to herself for a moment before turning her attention to something he was showing her. It wasn’t just paintings - there were a few sculptures as well, which she found interesting, although paintings were her personal favourite. Maybe she just liked wall art a bit more than something she had to display, she wasn’t sure. But she could appreciate the beauty and talent in sculptures too. They spent a couple of hours looking at the artwork and talking to the people running the event. Shelly spent a lot of time listening to Gerard talk about composition or use of colour, or… Other art terminology, and as he talked, she listened; when he spoke about art, he started to speak with his hands, and occasionally he would start going off on little tangents. She found that she didn’t mind any of this in the slightest. He sounded like he really knew what he was talking about and she found herself really wanting to listen to anything he had to say about it all. If anything, she found that he was more attractive when he was being as animated and as… Passionate as he was being. And considering the fact that he was damn attractive anyway, this was something else. If anything, she found herself thinking that he seemed more… Human. Gerard was talking to one of the ‘top’ people who had created this travelling gallery when he felt her lean against his arm a little bit. He paused and glanced down at her; she was reading a leaflet. He smiled and wrapped an arm around her to hold her against him before going back to his (really rather enlightening) conversation for a little while. When he was finished, he shook the other man’s hand before turning his attention to the girl reading leaflets against his side. “What’ve you got there, sweet thing?” He asked quietly. She held up some of them so he could have a look, trying to ignore the term of endearment and how it made the heat flood her cheeks. “Each town’s section has a little pamphlet to tell you about the artist and their showcased work. I grabbed them as we walked around.” “Hmn, smart idea. Both theirs and yours.” He took the papers from her, dropping a kiss to the top of her head as he did so. “Did you want to look around again or are you done?” “I’m good, unless you want to look again?” Gerard’s answer was a growl from his stomach. Shelly looked from his face, to his stomach and then back to his face again, all while biting her lip to hold in a giggle. It didn’t work, and she giggled loudly. Normally Gerard would feel embarrassed, but… Hearing her giggle like that seemed like a fair exchange, to be perfectly honest. Besides, not long later, her stomach growled a little too. She stopped giggling and went pink. “Okay,” she said. “Maybe some food?” “I think that’s an excellent idea. Do you want to go to our restaurant again?” Shelly raised her eyebrows a little. “Er?” “The one we went to on our ‘first date,’ I mean?” Gerard corrected, although maybe not quickly enough. “Ours in that sense?” Shelly hummed and nodded. “Okay.” Gerard huffed to himself a little as she put the leaflets in her jacket pocket and took his hand before they started making their way back to his car. Yeah, sure, he could’ve taken her to any restaurant that time - he wasn’t entirely sure why, he just had a good initial feeling about her from the time they spent together before they went out on that ‘date.’ The feeling had been good enough for him to take her to his favourite place, with the best cheesecake. And he still had that feeling - he still wanted to take her there. He wanted to swap cheesecake with her again. They got back to his car and headed to the restaurant for some food. Cheesecake included, which they discussed first, because that way they could trade bites. Shelly had actually been the one to suggest this, which he had been pleased about, to be honest. He didn’t want to come across… Weird. (He wasn’t ever to know that she didn’t think she could see him that way. Ever.) The pair were served by the same waitress as before, except for the fact that this time, Shelly noticed that the waitress was just friendly and polite; she didn’t flirt. Maybe she remembered them from last time. Or maybe the fact that Gerard never seemed to take his hands off of her had something to do with it. Seriously, his hand was either holding hers or on her hip with his arm around her waist. It surprised her a little bit, if anything, she had expected to have to up the physical affection levels on her end, sort of in a ‘hands off, this is my man’ kind of way. But no, instead Gerard was being a little handsier in that kind of ‘she’s my woman, not you’ fashion. Or maybe Shelly was just reading it that way, because that was entirely possible. But there was… Something, something she couldn’t place or put a name to, that was just… Different, about the way he sat closer, the way he angled himself towards her. It felt like he was being more attentive? Maybe that wasn’t the right word, but she wasn’t sure. Maybe she was just reading too much into something that she wished was there but wasn’t. “So, um, I wanted to say something.” She said half way through their meal. “Although… Maybe it’s more of a statement than a question? But it might be the other way around. I’m not sure.” Gerard sipped his drink. “Sure. You can ask me anything.” She hummed in affirmation and took a moment before speaking again. “Kristin didn’t get the third degree like I did.” He put his glass down and gave her his complete, undivided attention. “I asked her,” the blonde continued. “And she said that she moves in the same sort of social circles as your family, and we both think that’s why I got the third degree.” Gerard took the time to think about this, noticing that she looked up from her plate to look at him when he’d been quiet for a moment. He smiled gently at her, which made her smile back. “I think,” he said after another minute. “I think that might have something to do with it, yes.” She sighed and her shoulders slumped sadly. “I figured. I knew I wasn’t going to be good enough.” “Hey,” he leant across the small table and lifted her chin. “I think there’s another, more prominent reason though.” “What’s that?” She gently removed his hand from her face, but held onto it to give it a gentle squeeze for the briefest of moments - he had actually felt it, even though he had a feeling that she’d meant for it to be almost… Untraceable. “I think it’s probably because I so, so rarely bring anyone home to meet the family. Like they said a few times over the meal.” He paused and watched her play with her fork for a moment. “I genuinely think it was because they were so curious about you. Like, why you? What was it about you that was so different? That kinda thing. Does that make sense?” Shelly thought about this. “I… I suppose so. Do you think it was that then? Instead of the social circle thing?” “Yeah, I do.” He took her hand across the table. “I don’t think it’s got anything to do with the social circle thing at all to be honest. Your grandfather’s profession is actually considered highly respectable.” “Is it?” She tilted her head a little as she looked at him. “Why?” “Because it’s a difficult job, it’s a fairly old fashioned one, and it’s a skill,” Gerard listed off quietly. “They’ll have even more respect now they know of the workmanship; now they know it’s the only place I go to get my suits now. I’m quite picky.” Shelly giggled softly at that. “Hmn, you can’t be that picky, you asked me to help you with this after all.” Gerard blinked rapidly. “Well, that’s… I am picky. You said once I could’ve asked anyone to help out. I could’ve paid anyone, I could’ve… Convinced anyone. And yet I still chose the opinionated young lady, who openly disagreed with me, who regularly puts her hands all over me to make my suits.” The blonde giggled and smirked a little. “Apparently that’s not the only reason I want to put my hands all over you.” He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Or y’know, so I’ve heard.” She put on an innocent expression. “I might’ve read it somewhere.” “Hmm. I might’ve read that somewhere too. I might read those, ah, reasons regularly.” Shelly felt her face heat up and she swallowed, reaching for her drink. Gerard noticed her trying to look anywhere but at him, which just made him chuckle. “Anyway,” he continued quietly. “I think the fact that your grandparents still do all this work by hand instead of just giving in and selling up for a mass produced kinda thing is incredibly respectable and my family will feel the same way.” “Mmm,” she fiddled with her napkin for a moment. “I hope so.” “I haven’t heard back from them yet,” he admitted quietly. “I’m hoping to soon, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do.” He watched her nod before he continued. “I really don’t think there’s going to be a problem. Kristin, Mikey and my grandmother - they all like you. I don’t think my father is going to oppose it because he’ll still feel bad about what he said, and I don’t think my mother will oppose it either. I think she likes you, but honestly she can be a little difficult to read sometimes.” Shelly nodded once again. “But honestly, I think you’ll be alright,” he leant across the small table and gently took the napkin out of her hands, covering both of hers with both of his. “And even if my parents don’t like you? Everyone else does. I’ll take you anyway. As long as the bride is happy, everyone else has to be. And Kristin adores you.” She looked from the napkin, to his hands, to his eyes as he spoke. “I like her too. She’s so lovely. We’ve exchanged numbers, but, like I said, I’m a bit nervous that I’m getting too close to your family.” “It’s alright,” he squeezed her hands gently. “This is never going to reflect badly on you. I won’t let it. You’ll get out of this unscathed.” Shelly forced a smile, which he seemed to buy. She knew that, physically, he was right. She’d “escape” this whole situation physically fine. She couldn’t really say the same about her heart, as cheesy as that might sound. Yeah, it was really cheesy but it was true. She knew that she enjoyed the way he looked, that much was obvious - look at what she’d written; look at the stuff that had gotten her into this situation in the first place. But now? There was more to it. She was very aware of that. Probably not aware enough for her to really think about it too much. No, she actively chose not to think about it, because she knew she shouldn’t. She knew this was all a means to an end, that it was all technically fake, so she needed to stop feeling… However it was she was feeling. She tried really hard not to give this situation any “air time” so she couldn’t… Analyse herself. So she couldn’t put a name to whatever it was that was going on with her. If you name it then you get attached to it. So to speak. And she didn’t want to do that. Any more than she already had. She hoped it wasn’t too late for her but, the longer this went on, the less hopeful she was. “Shell?” She heard him say her name gently and looked up at him. “Hmn?” “Are you okay? You zoned out for a little bit there.” “Um,” she shook her head slowly. “Yeah, I think so. I got a little lost in my thoughts I think.” Gerard frowned at her. “What were you thinking about? Can I help with anything?” “No, it’s okay. I’m alright. I think I was thinking about something to do with work, but it diverted into other topics.” She removed her hands from under his and patted his gently. “Are you sure?” Shelly nodded and smiled at him. “Yeah, I’m sure.” Gerard studied her for a moment. He wasn’t entirely sure that he believed her, but he also didn’t want to push her - she never did with him so it felt wrong to do it to her. “Alright,” he said eventually. “If you’re sure. But, if you ever want to talk about anything, you can talk to me, you know that right?” Shelly sipped her drink and nodded. “I know. Thank you.” He smiled and cleared his throat. “So, um, do you want cheesecake?” “Oh god, you know I can’t say no to that.” “Girl after my own heart really,” he grinned and they had a look at the dessert menu together. Shelly had replayed that in her head a few times as they looked at the menu, glancing up to look at him. Thankfully, he didn’t catch her looking, because he would’ve seen her with a very confused expression on her face, and a light blush on her cheeks. Even though she kept telling herself that she was reading too much into things again and she really needed to stop that. He spent dessert watching her carefully, hoping that he wasn’t being creepy about it (he wasn’t - in fact, she didn’t really notice him watching her) and they spent the rest of their meal talking about the art exhibition again, which Shelly was grateful for, as it meant that she could sit back and just listen to him talk without doing much talking herself. She also found that when she listened to him talking, she didn’t get lost in her head either - because she was so focused on paying attention to him and listening to him, she didn’t drift off. When they’d finished eating and Gerard had settled the bill (which he didn’t let her contribute towards again, which only mildly annoyed her, especially considering the fact that he hadn’t let her pay any of the suggested entrance fee for the art exhibition either or for breakfast at the cafe), she nipped to the ladies, only somewhat shaking her head at herself in the mirror, before they left. They made their way back to his car and got in, buckling up. Gerard turned to ask her a question only to see her nibbling on the pad of her thumb, her eyes too focused on the console in front of them. He watched her, wondering if she’d feel him watching her and snap out of it. She didn’t, so he leant forward and gently took her thumb out of her mouth before bringing her hand a little closer to him so he could examine it, to see what damage she’d done. As soon as she felt her thumb being moved, she blinked rapidly and focused on Gerard instead, frowning a little as he started examining her thumb. “Gerard?” “Mm hm?” He looked at her thumb for a little longer before looking up at her. “Are you okay?” He slowly rubbed his thumb over hers before gently letting her hand go. “I was going to ask you the same thing. You zoned out there.” “Um,” she rubbed the side of her eye. “I think so. I mean, it’s not really a big deal, I’m probably just over-thinking.” “Do you want to talk about it?” She shook her head. “I don’t… I don’t even think I know how to put anything into words, so there’s really no point in doing that.” “Okay, I won’t push you. But if I can help, please let me know?” He watched her nod before adjusting his position in his seat. “Do you want me to take you home?” “Well, maybe. I suppose I should do some adulting things. I don’t want to, but, needs must and all of that.” Gerard chuckled. “Is there anything you want help with?” “Nah, I’ll be alright.” “Okay. I’ll take you home,” he tapped on the car console for a moment. “I want to make a stop first if that’s alright?” “Of course.” Gerard put the radio on and started the car up properly. Shelly hummed along quietly as she spent her time pretending to look out of the window, but really watching him as much as she could get away with. She did briefly wonder what stop off he wanted to make, but she didn’t have to wait too long to find out, because soon enough, they were pulling up outside a high end specialty store. “Do you want to come in?” He asked. “Um, yeah sure.” Gerard smiled and stepped out of the car, moving around to open her door and offer her his hand, which she took with a giggle. He was a little bit surprised when she kept a hold of his hand as he took her into the store. As soon as Gerard opened the shop door for her, she was assaulted by the smell of coffee. “Oh, gosh that’s strong.” Gerard laughed. “This is almost my home away from home.” “I bet!” Shelly looked around. “Oh, this reminds me of one of those old school candy stores.” Gerard smiled a little as he looked around at all the glass jars or sacks of beans. He understood why she felt like that. “Yeah, I get that. More for adults than kids though.” Shelly nodded as she looked around a little more, not straying too far from his side. “You don’t know much about coffee do you?” He watched her shake her head. “Would you like to learn?” “It couldn’t hurt to learn a little.” He let go of her hand so he could move his arm around her waist, his fingers hooking into the belt loops of her jeans so he could hold her close against him as he took her around the store. Shelly felt his fingers tug on the belt loops and glanced down to see what he was doing - anchoring her to him essentially. Not a single molecule of her minded, if anything, she kinda relished in the fact that he wanted to keep her that close. She let herself be led around the store, listening as he explained little facts and figures about some of the coffee types in there, although she had a feeling that she probably wouldn’t remember much, if any of it. She’d have to make a note to read up on it later on so it looked like she actually had been listening. Which she had been, really! But she was finding him really distracting today, even more so than normal and she wished she knew why. “Ah, Mr. Way! How good to see you again!” Shelly glanced over to where the new voice was coming from. There was a man standing near the counter, so she guessed he had been the one to speak. “And you too,” Gerard said, slowly letting Shelly go, even though he was reluctant to do so. “How’s the family?” The blonde stepped away a little as Gerard went to go and converse with the other man. She assumed he was the manager or the owner or something like that, and judging by the familiarity, Gerard came here a fair bit. Or maybe he just purchased a lot - you didn’t have to be a regular customer to be noticed. Just one who spent a lot of money. (She was kinda glad that Gerard was both when it came to his patronage at her grandparents’ shop.) She half listened as she had a little look around on her own, soon coming to a mug display and getting thoroughly distracted. “The little lady, is she with you?” “Little -?” Gerard turned to see where Shelly had gotten to and smiled when he found her. “Yeah, she’s with me.” “You two look very good together.” Shelly heard this and looked up from what she was looking at. She almost said “but we’re not” but managed to bite her tongue and ducked her head to attempt to hide her blush. Gerard noticed every second of this and just grinned. “Thank you. I don’t know how she puts up with me.” The shop owner chuckled politely. “Are you after your usual, Mr. Way?” “Yes, please. Though could I also get an additional smaller bag as well?” “Oh, most certainly. I’ll go and sort that out for you.” “Thank you. Take your time.” The shop owner disappeared to deal with what Gerard wanted and Gerard made his way over to where Shelly was, still looking at the mugs. He made sure she wasn’t holding anything before he spoke. “Hello sweet thing. What’re you doing?” She squeaked and went even pinker. “Um!” Gerard just laughed. “I’m sorry.” “I don’t think you are,” she narrowed her eyes at him a little bit before swallowing. “I have a bit of a weakness for nice mugs and things.” He moved to stand next to her properly, examining the offerings. “That’s fair. I know what you mean. Although when you drink as much coffee as I do, it’s nice to have something decent to drink it from.” “I’m the same with tea really,” she confessed. “Or hot chocolate. Either or.” Gerard hummed and shifted to stand behind her, purely so he could follow her eyeline better and also so he could rest his chin on her shoulder. She tilted her head when he did the latter, arched an eyebrow at him and tried not to edge back against him as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. “And just what are you doing Mr. Way?” She asked softly. “Using my girlfriend as a chin rest, and trying to figure out if anything in particular has caught her eye.” Shelly “hmmm’d” and rested one of her hands over the pair of his that were clasped over her stomach. “Would you like to guess what might’ve caught my eye?” “Hmmm,” he shifted so he could look properly. “I mean,” she started, biting the tip of her tongue as he looked at her. “Aside from you, obviously.” Shelly watched with an odd sense of pride as he actually blushed. She giggled to herself before turning back to the display. “I think,” he said, a little croakily before clearing his throat. “I think maybe these ones.” “Mm, and why do you think that?” She found his hand again and held it. Well, if he was going to go around telling people who weren’t his family that she was his girlfriend… She’d just have to play up for that too, wouldn’t she? “They’re a good size, have a decent handle and they’re very,” he paused as he felt her slip her hand in his and smiled to himself. “They’re very cosmic.” “That they are. I like the fact that they come in a set of reversed, almost opposite, colours too.” Gerard glanced over to where she was gesturing to see that she was right. “Oh, I didn’t notice that. Those look good too.” Shelly was about to say something when her phone started ringing. “Oh, sorry, I should get that.” “It’s fine,” he squeezed her hand before letting it go and watching her step away. He waited until she was focused on some of the bags of coffee during her phone conversation, with her back to him before he picked up four of the mugs; two of each colour-way, and took them over to the counter to get his coffee too. He had the shop owner box them up in pairs - one of each colour per box. Odd pairs; a bit like them. Although he had to stop himself before his brain went down the “his and hers” route. One box of mugs went into a bag with the smaller bag of his favourite coffee for her to take home and the other box went into a bag with the larger bag for him to take home. It might be ridiculous for him to buy a mug especially for her to keep at his place but… He found himself wanting to do it anyway. He paid the shop owner, grabbed both bags and went to wait for Shelly to be done with her phone call, which didn’t take too long. “You okay?” He asked as she pocketed her phone again. “Mm, yeah, just something work related. It’s not a big deal so don’t worry.” She glanced down and raised an eyebrow at the fact that he was carrying two bags. “You got everything you need?” He nodded. “Ready to go?” “If you are.” “Alright,” he waved to the shop owner and opened the door to let Shelly out first. Shelly waited patiently on the other side of the door for Gerard and they headed back to his car. She waited again while he put his bags in the back before he returned to her and opened the passenger side door. She blinked rapidly for a moment - that wasn’t what she’d been waiting for, she had just been waiting for the door to be unlocked. Which it probably had been while he was putting the bags in the back, but she hadn’t really been thinking hard enough to connect those dots. He opened the car door for her and she settled in the seat, gently batting his hands away when he went to buckle her in, making him laugh and withdraw his hands before going to get in the driver’s seat. He hesitated, turning to look at her. “Everything’s okay, right?” She blinked at him and frowned a little. “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” Gerard shook his head. “I don’t know.” “You’re strange, you know that right?” She leant against the window. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t the first time you’ve told me this. And that’s just today,” he flashed her a smile which widened when she giggled. He drove her home, not in silence because the radio was on. And it wasn’t uncomfortable, at least not to him, he obviously couldn’t speak for her. (For the record, it wasn’t uncomfortable to her either, she was actually quite content with the quietness.) When he pulled up outside her apartment building, it took her a minute to realise where she was. For some reason being in his car was overly soothing to her, and she wasn’t sure why. When she realised that they were outside her apartment building, she rubbed the outer corners of her eyes and sighed deeply. Gerard heard this and glanced at her, frowning a little bit. “Are you okay?” She nodded. “I think so. I think we arrived here sooner than I thought we would, that’s all.” “You sound disappointed,” Gerard said quietly, almost hesitantly. “Ah,” Shelly smiled a tiny bit. “I guess maybe I am. I’ve enjoyed spending time with you today and I’m a little sad that it’s over.” Gerard hummed softly and leant forward, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek. “I’ve enjoyed spending time with you today too.” Shelly went pink and giggled softly. “I’m glad.” “It’s not like we can’t do it again though,” he added. “Mm, that’s true,” Shelly paused and twisted her fingers in her shirt. “I… Um…” Gerard tilted his head. “What’s wrong?” “I…” Shelly nibbled her bottom lip for a moment before speaking. “We just have to wait for the inevitable approval phone call from your family now, right?” He nodded. “That’s right.” “Um,” she kept her eyes on the fingers that were still twisted in her shirt. “Who do you think will make that call?” Gerard leant back in his seat, taking a moment to think about this. “I’m not sure to be honest. It’s entirely possible that I might get more than one call about it.” Shelly nodded and spoke softly. “Okay.” He leant forward again and lifted her chin gently. “Are you still worried about that?” She nodded before glancing up to look at his face; he looked concerned, actually. “Oh, Shell. You don’t need to worry. Kristin clearly adores you, Mikey likes you, grandmother loves you. That’s the majority vote at the least. It’ll be fine.” “I… I want to believe you, I do.” She paused for a second. “I wish I wasn’t still so concerned about this. We’ve discussed what happens if I’ve tried my best and they still don’t want me there.” “We have,” he kept his voice gentle. “And we’ve established that if you’ve done your best, which you did, and they still don’t like you, then it counts as a success on your part.” Shelly nodded again. “Okay.” “But I don’t think we’re going to have that problem, so don’t worry. Or at least, try not to, okay?” She nodded again and went pink as he kissed her cheek, again. “I’ll try.” “Good enough, I know you’ll try.” They sat quietly for a minute before Gerard continued. “I’ll let you know as soon as they’ve called me, you know that right? You’ll know as soon as I do.” Shelly nodded and sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, I know. Ugh.” Gerard watched her for a moment before getting out of his car. Shelly blinked rapidly and turned in her seat a little - he’d left the driver’s side door open so she looked out of that as best as she could. After a minute, she heard the lid of the trunk shut and soon Gerard was getting back into the car, carrying the smaller bag from the coffee store. She tilted her head as he handed it over. “Before I forget about this. I want you to take this with you. I’m not kicking you out of my car, I honestly just want to make sure we don’t forget it.” Shelly put it between her feet with a nod. “You’ve just given me this coffee because you just want an excuse to come and see me more often.” Gerard chuckled. “Mm, maybe.” After a minute, Shelly lifted the bag to her face and sniffed inside it. Gerard watched this with his head tilted, a small smile of fondness on his face. “I do like the smell of coffee though,” she hummed for a moment before looking up at him. “Can I use this for baking too?” “As long as I get to eat the results.” Shelly laughed. “Of course. I wouldn’t make coffee flavoured baked goods with expensive coffee that you purchased, for anyone other than you.” Gerard beamed at hearing this, trying to ignore the warm, yet comfortable squirming in his gut. “Well, good. I’m glad.” “I’m not sure what I’m going to make though. I’ll find something.” “I look forward to it.” They shared a smile before Shelly looked at the time on the clock on the dashboard. She sighed and rubbed the side of her eye. “I supposed I should go then,” she nodded towards the building they’d been sitting outside of for a little while. “Unless…” Gerard glanced at her to see her nibbling on her bottom lip. “Mm?” “Unless,” she continued in an almost whisper. “You want to come up?” He hummed softly. “I’m surprised you want to spend any more time with me today.” She just giggled and blinked rapidly. “Oh. Um, I didn’t account for the fact that you might be tired of me - ” “Don’t even think about that.” He interrupted with a shake of his head. “Don’t even go that far.” “Oh.” She sucked her bottom lip, having bitten it just a tiny bit too hard. “I should go home though,” he said quietly. “As much as I would like to spend more time with you, I really should do a few, y’know, adulting things.” “Mm,” Shelly nodded. “Oh, I know that feeling. I’ve probably got some laundry I need to do or something.” “Otherwise, I would come up,” he leant forward and took her hand, squeezing it before pressing a kiss to the back of it. “Rain check then?” She said with a soft giggle as he kissed the back of her hand. “Yes, please. Maybe I’ll take you up on it once you’ve done some baking,” he wriggled his eyebrows and grinned as she laughed. “Alright, I get the hint.” Gerard smiled and felt his face warm up a little as she leant across and kissed his cheek. She smiled against his cheek, which he felt before moving away and getting out of his car. He watched her walk around the front of his car before she moved to peer into the driver’s side window. He hit the button to wind the window down fully and she smiled as she leant on the door a little. “So, um. I had a massively amazingly good time today,” she smiled a little before rolling her eyes at herself and her choice of words. Her cheeks went pink. “Thank you, very much.” “Oh, you’re more than welcome,” he watched her cheeks change colour and grinned at her. “I had a good time too. Thank you for suggesting that travelling gallery. That was a wonderful idea.” “I’m glad.” “Oh. Be a bit gentle with that bag, yeah?” Shelly blinked and glanced down at it. “Oh, of course. Make sure you text me when you get home?” “Sure,” he said softly. “Always.” “Thank you. And thank you, again, for today.” “More than welcome Shell,” he said happily. “You best go though, or we’ll never get anything done.” She giggled, ducked her head and stepped away from his car before turning and heading to the door of her apartment building. She stopped before opening the door, turned and waved a little before she disappeared inside. Gerard watched all of this with a small smile on his face and, as always, he waited for the door to close behind her before he put his seatbelt back on and drove off. Shelly made her way up to her apartment and went straight to her kitchen to find a home for the coffee. Well, that had been the plan at any rate. She pulled the box out of the bottom of the bag, carefully as she remembered his gentle warning and put it on her kitchen counter. She moved the bag out of the way before pulling the lid off of the box, almost dropping it when she saw the mis-matched but almost matching pair of mugs, nestled in the tissue paper. She bit her bottom lip in an attempt to stop herself smiling so much she knew it would make her cheeks hurt. “Oh Gerard,” she sighed softly, gently tracing some of the stars on one of the mugs. “Oh, you terrible man. Stop spending money on me like this.” She nudged the box right to the back of the counter, so it was up against the wall and as far away from the edge as possible before she went to take off her shoes and jacket. Once her jacket was hung up, she wandered back to the kitchen and started dealing with the laundry she had told Gerard she probably had to do. She hadn’t been wrong. This didn’t mean that she didn’t get distracted part way through when Gerard texted her to let her know that he’d gotten home alright. They texted a little bit as Shelly worked on her laundry - she did keep glancing at the box containing the two mugs on her kitchen counter. Every time she did, she shook her head, more at herself than anything and forced herself to go back to her chores. She wasn’t sure what Gerard was doing. But he did text her when he got home, like she’d asked and like he said he would. She liked that he kept his word like that, even if it was “just” about something small and silly like making sure that he got home okay. Even if it was during the day and bright outside. It was such a stupid little thing, especially during the day, but the fact that he kept his word and still texted her… It meant something to her. If he was able to keep his word for something ‘so small’ then, she liked to think that he’d be good at keeping his word for the bigger things. It was encouraging, really.

#CMBFTW fic #CMBFTW #She Writes #fan fic #Gerard Way x OC

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