#CMBFTW

[thewordworrier]

Call Me Babe For The Weekend - A Prologue, Of Sorts?

Original Series Masterpost Word Count: 5.8k.

Do we remember that banner? Do we?

I... Did not think I would come back to this. [And past this point, I don’t think I will!] But! This wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote it. So here you go. It’s a little bit later than I wanted - I wanted to post it a year to the day of the last chapter, or a year to the day of the day after the last chapter. But... It is what it is.

I’m also going to add this in to the main masterlist, at the bottom of the chapter list because I don’t want to add it in as a ‘new thing’ when really it’s not. I’m also going to badge it as a ‘Deleted Scene’ - because it is. I’m also not sure that it came out quite as I thought it would but... I’m not totally unhappy with it. Not 100% happy but not unhappy enough to not post it.

A Prologue, Of Sorts aka A Deleted Scene.

“Good morning Shelly sweetheart.” Shelly closed the door of her grandparents’ tailors behind her and smiled brightly at the older woman sitting at the desk at the front of the shop. “Good morning grandmama.” “I didn’t think we’d be seeing you today,” Rosie, her grandmother, hummed as the younger girl joined her behind the desk. “Oh, you know that’s silly, I always end up here,” Shelly hugged her grandmother from behind, resting her chin gently on the older Sketcher’s shoulder, looking over it to see what she was looking at. “What’s on the books for today?” Rosie leant her head against her granddaughter’s and pulled the appointment book out from under a few sheets of paper to let Shelly look over the pages. “Not many actual appointments,” Rosie said quietly. “But we’ve got enough work to be doing anyway, so it’s not a big deal.” Shelly hummed, not sure how to feel about that. “Grandma, business is okay, isn’t it?” “Of course sweetheart,” she patted Shelly’s hands, feeling the girl let her go to stand up straight. “I promise that we’re alright.” She noticed that her granddaughter didn’t look completely convinced. “Now now Little Miss,” she raised an eyebrow at Shelly. “You can go and ask your grandfather to show you the other books if you don’t believe me. Or you can go and see the work in progress rack.” Shelly bit her bottom lip, a little scolded. “No, no it’s alright but… You would tell me if we were in trouble, right?” Rosie sighed very softly and moved to her feet, looking at her granddaughter. “Darling. You don’t need to worry about these matters. We’re alright.” “But if you weren’t -” She stopped Shelly mid sentence by cupping her hands around Shelly’s cheeks. “Sweetheart. We’re good. You do not need to worry about us. Okay?” Shelly nodded once. “I’ll try not to worry, but you know I can’t help it.” “Hm, yes, you are very much your mother’s daughter.” The younger girl didn’t have a chance to say anything to that because her grandfather appeared from one of the rooms at the back of the shop, in the middle of a conversation on the phone. “Of course, that shouldn’t be a problem, let me just double check the books -” At these words, Rosie handed her husband the appointment book, getting a smile from him in response. Alexander flicked through a few pages, looking back at the page for that day before speaking again. “Oh no, absolutely. We can fit you in whenever you’d like.” Shelly glanced over at her grandmother and mouthed a ‘what’s going on?’ Rosie shook her head in a ‘I’m not sure’ response and they both turned back to the Sketcher patriarch. “Today is absolutely fine,” Alexander said into the phone. “We can move a few things around for you, sure thing - what time were you thinking?” “What’s he going on about?” Shelly almost whispered into her grandmother’s ear. “He’s making it seem like we’re a little busier than we are,” she replied just as quietly. “Appointment wise anyway. And he’s making it seem like we’re doing this client a big favour.” “Who is it?” “I’m not completely sure, but I have a hunch.” They both turned to Alexander as he spoke again. “Of course that’s not a problem.” Roise raised her eyebrows, which Shelly noticed. She frowned at her grandmother, asking questions without words. The older woman shook her head slightly before nodding towards Alexander as if to say; “just wait a second.” “My pleasure Mr. Way, we’ll see you later.” Both women waited until the patriarch had hung up the phone before Rosie cleared her throat. “Mr. Way?” Alexander nodded. “He’s coming in today?” Rosie continued, getting another nod. “What for?” “The usual; it’s not urgent and he even said so,” Alexander scribbled in the appointment book for a moment. “But as you heard, I’ve said that we can see him today.” His wife hummed. “Well, he is a well paying client, so that makes sense.” Shelly blinked. “Um, who?” “Oh, hey Sea-Shell,” Alexander straightened up and moved to hug his granddaughter in greeting, smiling when she hugged him back quite tightly. “I didn’t think you were due in today?” “Mm, no I wasn’t, but I decided to anyway.” He held her, gently at arms’ length, giving her A Look. “Shelly…” Shelly blinked at him. “Yes?” “If you’re not supposed to be in, then you’re not supposed to be in. We give you the time off for a reason.” Rosie laughed as their granddaughter grinned up at her husband - a big, bright cheesy grin. “But grandpapa, I like being here, I like helping.” Alexander shook his head gently before leaning forward to kiss her forehead. “We love you for your helpfulness, but you really should take the time off.” “I know, I know, but I really don’t mind.” “Hmm…” She smiled up at him again. “Alright, you can stay for the day. You can come and help me sort the fitting room out for Mr. Way and when he gets here, we’ll see if he minds you shadowing.” Shelly blinked rapidly. “Okay, I can do that.” “I’ll let you know as soon as he gets here,” Rosie leant up to kiss her husband’s cheek. “Thank you, love,” he turned to Shelly. “Come on then, you little menace.” Shelly giggled and Rosie watched Shelly follow Alexander into one of the other rooms. She shook her head ever so slightly and started tidying the front desk. “Right,” Alexander took Shelly to one of the back fitting rooms; the larger of the two and they set about tidying it - not that it was untidy to begin with. “Obviously I’m going to get the client’s permission first, but I think this might be a good time for you to shadow me a little more closely than normal.” “Is this… Mr. Way?” Shelly glanced at her grandfather who nodded. “Is he special or something?” “Mr. Way is…” Alexander paused and watched his granddaughter check the table in the room - making sure it had the required tools they would normally need for altering garments, for example. “Well, there’s no other way to say it. He’s very rich. He actually buys quite a bit from us.” Shelly tilted her head, counting the table supplies but still listening. “He’s incredibly complimentary too,” he continued. “He seems to think that traditional tailoring is a lost art.” “Hmm,” Shelly muttered. “How long has he been coming here?” “Months, though I couldn’t say for certain how many,” Alexander beckoned the younger girl to follow him into the material room. “Your grandmother would be able to tell you for certain.” “How come I haven’t seen or heard of him before?” She started helping her grandfather sort out some samples of the newest fabrics. “Coincidence? He normally ends up coming in when you’re scheduled to be off.” “I guess I’m glad I stopped in today then,” Shelly watched her grandfather triple checking a measurement. “And doubly glad that I dressed for work and not just a visit.” He smiled up at her. “I’m very glad about that second one. He is a high tier client and impressions are important.” “Do you think he’d be the type to pull back his business if I was here in jeans?” “Hmn. I’m not sure. But truthfully, I wouldn’t want to risk it. I think he’s bringing in more business - we had someone call the other day who mentioned him,” he handed the new samples to her and watched her look over them. “So it makes sense to pretend to move schedules around, to be even more impeccably dressed than normal and to be on the most perfect of behaviours?” Shelly looked from the samples to her grandfather. “These are really nice, I really like them.” “Do you think they’ll be difficult to work with?” She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.” Alexander nodded. “But yes, doing those things does make sense when it comes to Mr. Way, you’re very right.” Shelly hesitated for a moment, looking thoughtful as she nibbled her bottom lip. “Sea-Shell,” Alexander said quietly. “Don’t do that.” Shelly grinned a little at him. “Sorry grandpapa, I guess I'm a little nervous.” He frowned at her in question and she swallowed, glancing down at the fabric in her hands. “I’m worried that I’m going to mess up, that I’m going to ruin this for you somehow.” Alexander gently took the fabric samples from her and hugged her. “Don’t worry sweetheart. You’ve got no reason to worry.” Shelly huffed softly but hugged him back tightly. “I hope you’re right.” He drew back and gently held her by her arms. “Ashely.” Her eyes widened at the use of her full name - it wasn’t something she was really fond of, especially not coming from her grandparents. But she knew why he was using it and she looked a little guilty. “Don’t talk like that. You’ve never let me down before, I don’t see you starting now.” Shelly hugged him again, but tighter this time. “I’ll do my best.” “I know you will darling. You always do and your grandmother and I are always so proud of you.” She swallowed a little and moved to pick up the fabric samples again, taking a step back. “Do I need to put these in the fitting room?” “Yes, please. While you do that, I’ll see if I can find his file.” Shelly nodded and left the fabric room while her grandfather went to find the client’s file. She took a moment to make sure that the room was definitely tidy, stocked and spotless before heading to find him. Meanwhile, in the front of the store, Rosie heard the bell above the door chime softly and looked up from her papers on the desk. “Well, good day Mr. Way.” The well dressed, younger man closed the door behind him and nodded politely to the woman. “Hello ma’am.” Rosie tutted gently. “Now now, I’ve told you that you don’t need to call me that.” “It’s respectful ma’am,” he smiled a little more. “How are you? How’s your day been?” “Very pleasant, actually, thank you,” she hummed a little. “How about yours?” “Yeah, pretty decent, thank you.” Rosie was about to say something else but she heard the voices of her husband and her granddaughter moving closer to her from where they’d been at the back of the shop. She could hear the two in conversation but she wasn’t really paying too much attention to the words as she was actually more interested in the reaction of the other man. She glanced over at him, who looked ever so slightly confused - he had a slight frown on his face. This reminded Rosie that he hadn’t been present in the shop at the same time as her granddaughter. The pair entered the ‘reception’ area of the store and Alexander looked up. “Ah, Mr. Way, nice to see you,” he crossed the room in a few strides and shook the younger man’s hand. “I hope you haven’t been waiting for too long.” “Oh no, not long at all,” he shook the tailor’s hand warmly; because he was polite and actually, he respected this man. “I’ve pretty much only just arrived.” “I’m glad. Can we get you anything?” “No, thank you, I’m good.” Alexander nodded and stepped back, hearing Shelly clear her throat almost silently - he knew that she wasn’t doing it to draw attention to herself; she had other things she did to do that. “Ah, yes. Mr. Way, please let me introduce to you my granddaughter, Ashely.” Shelly shot her grandfather A Look at the use of her full name before she stepped forward to shake his hand. “Pleasure to meet you,” she said sweetly. “Likewise,” he said, shaking her hand. Her handshake was pretty firm actually, he noted, despite the softness of her hands. Rosie watched this with interest. She recognised the look on her granddaughter’s face as one of curiosity. Which is something she understood - Mr. Way was a very… Striking looking young man. Taller than both herself and her granddaughter (but then again, that wasn’t hard - every female in their family was short), an almost classical facial structure, pale skin paired with dark eyes… And the most unusual thing about him was the short, platinum (almost-white) blond hair. Clearly not his natural colour and certainly an… Interesting choice. The look on his face, as he looked at her granddaughter however, she couldn’t really read. She hoped that there was at least a shred of… Interest, there. Maybe. But he was definitely looking at her - Rosie might even say that he might be purposely looking at her. She wasn’t surprised in the slightest, her granddaughter was a very pretty young thing, and she sometimes garnered a lot of looks and attention because of that. Not that Shelly agreed with this, but Rosie knew, Rosie saw it. Not that she was trying to pair them up or anything of the sort - hell, she didn’t think Shelly would be completely impressed with him. She wasn’t always with the richer types - most of the time she thought that they could be a bit… Snobby (and truth be told, she was normally right - Rosie was very proud of how observant her granddaughter could be. But the girl would always more than happily admit if she was wrong. And Rosie was proud of her for that too.) “If you’re amenable to it, I would like her to shadow me today,” Alexander said, a tiny drop of nervousness in his voice. Mr. Way blinked rapidly for a few seconds. “That… That shouldn’t be an issue. That’s fine.” Alexander relaxed a little bit. “Thank you, we appreciate that. Would you like to get started?” “Sure thing.” “Would you like me to take your coat first, my dear?” Rosie asked him. “Oh, that’s kind of you.” He gently shrugged off his jacket and handed it to the older woman, smiling a tiny bit when she took it from him ever so gently before placing it on a hanger and then on the clothing rack by the door. He noticed that she purposely kept it away from the few other items on that rack. She did that every time he came here, and really, it was appreciated. Then again, look at where he was. They obviously knew the benefit of looking after well made clothing. Of course they did. The three headed to the fitting room that Alexander and Shelly had been tidying, where Alexander closed the door behind them and he started to measure Mr. Way again, Shelly taking down the numbers. She stayed quiet for the most part, sometimes getting her grandfather to repeat numbers, but otherwise just listening and observing. Just before they were going to start re-measuring for new shirts, Alexander’s phone started ringing. “I am so sorry Mr. Way, do you mind if I take this?” “Not at all, go ahead.” Alexander nodded gratefully and stepped out of the room, leaving his granddaughter alone with the man. Shelly had watched him leave before she cleared her throat softly and looked back down at the information sheet on her clipboard. “I haven’t seen you here before.” Shelly glanced up to see the man fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt as he looked at her. She tilted her head ever so slightly as she noticed that he was actually fiddling with his cufflinks. And those things looked fancy and expensive. She hummed for a moment as she considered her reply. “I just don’t think my schedule has ever coincided with one of your…” She paused and hesitated for a moment. “With one of your appointments, before. But I’ve been working with my grandparents for years.” He nodded. “Are you an apprentice, or do you work for them because they’re family?” “A little of both, I think,” she tucked some loose hair behind her ear. “I know how to do what they do, and I have my own, ah, specialty here? And I work here because I want to. Plus, I enjoy it.” “So, could you do what your grandfather does if you needed to?” Shelly thought about this, looking up at him instead of down at her sheet of numbers. “I think so, yes. Maybe not with his confidence, at least not at first, but I’m sure with some time I’d get there.” He nodded politely, not entirely sure why he was making conversation, but not totally hating it. He was about to enquire after her speciality when Alexander returned. “I’m sorry about that, suppliers, you know? So, where were we?” “A few more numbers and then the fabric choices, I think grandpapa,” Shelly said softly. “Ah, right, yes.” Much to Alexander’s delight - Shelly remained quiet and respectful towards Mr. Way. She was friendly and… Soft would be the right word, when she was spoken to. She watched her tone, was pleasant and complimentary when she could add something like that into the conversation; she didn’t do it unnecessarily. He always thought his granddaughter was good with people, good with the clients like that. She was very good at massaging their egos when it was needed; she had a very pleasing ‘customer service’ voice. He was, actually, grateful that apart from maybe a singular, raised eyebrow, she kept her opinions on the fabric choices to herself. He knew that she wasn’t best fond of at least one of the choices - she just thought it was a little… Ugly really, and he knew because she’d told him when they’d gotten a delivery of the fabric in question;

“The customer is always right, Shell,” Alexander had said to her.

“In a matter of taste,” she’d rolled her eyes playfully. “They have every right to buy the hat, or indeed fabric, I think is ugly, I know, I know.”

“Exactly.”

“But wouldn’t they want to know that it looks bad?”

Alexander had thought about this. “I don’t think the fabric will look bad on everyone, but there are better ways to go about telling them than telling them outright.”

She sighed. “I guess? But you know that if I had my way, we wouldn’t even have that fabric.”

He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, hugging her gently. “I know dear, I know.”

She’d stood quietly, taking a few notes as her grandfather and Mr. Way had been talking about some styles or details that he’d wanted, but truthfully, she hadn’t been completely listening. Maybe she should’ve paid a little more attention to the conversation as a whole, but her brain was good at tuning in for the things she would need to know. She was pretty good at making it look like she was being fully attentive when she was only being partially attentive. That was a skill that she’d learnt and it was very useful with some of their clients. Once the final measurements and style discussions were over, Shelly followed behind the two men as Alexander showed Mr. Way to the door. She watched from a slight distance as the men shook hands, her grandfather promising to keep Mr. Way updated. She was slightly amused when her grandmother almost flirted with the younger man and her eyebrows rose when he took Rosie’s hand and kissed the back of it. Rosie giggled. “Not in front of my husband, good sir.” Mr. Way had flashed her a smile before looking over to Shelly. “It was nice to meet you.” Shelly blinked rapidly and straightened her spine before smiling at him. “Pleasure’s all mine.” He nodded politely, finished putting his coat on and said final goodbyes to her grandparents, before he left. Once the door had closed behind him, Shelly watched him walk past the front window; she could see that he had his hands in his pockets and he sort of kept his head down as he walked. That was… Interesting to her, but she didn’t know why. Rosie had turned to look at her granddaughter as soon as Mr. Way had left the shop, so she had seen her watch him go past the window, and she had seen the expression on Shelly’s face. “Little Miss, you look like you have something to say.” Shelly blinked rapidly, stopped leaning against the wall and straightened up. She huffed out a sigh. “Well. He’s not what I expected.” “Oh?” Rosie glanced at her husband as he went to write something down in one of the books on the front desk. “He’s younger than I thought he’d be,” Shelly said. “But that’s about it. He still seems as much of a…” She paused, searching for the right word. “Stuffed shirt as our other higher clients do.” Rosie couldn’t help it, she let out a soft snort just as Alexander full-named his granddaughter, causing the girl to wince. “Sorry,” she mumbled, tugging on the sleeves of her blouse a little. “But it’s true!” “Shelly…” Rosie shook her head slightly. “Well, at least you were quiet and polite when he was around,” Alexander rubbed a hand over his face. “I wouldn’t dream of being anything less,” Shelly shrugged a little. “For the business and all of that.” “Now now sweetheart,” Rosie tutted at her granddaughter. “I don’t think you should judge him so harshly. Or so quickly.” Shelly raised an eyebrow at her grandmother. “And why do you say that?” Rosie raised an eyebrow in response to Shelly. “Well, a couple of reasons, really. First, because it’s just polite to be open and not overly judgemental.” “Hmmm,” Shelly tucked some hair behind her ear and looked down at her shoes. “Secondly,” Rosie crossed the room and lifted Shelly’s chin. “He’s been coming here for a few months; he’s really not that bad.” “He’s very polite with your grandmother,” Alexander added quietly. Rosie cupped Shelly’s cheeks in her hands and gently squeezed them. “Give. The. Boy. A. Chance.” “It will do you some good to be a little more open Sea-Shell.” Shelly glanced over at her grandfather, her grandmother’s hands now resting on her shoulders. “If you’re not, it’s going to start showing in your words and in your attitude,” he continued. “What he’s trying to say, sweetheart,” Rosie interrupted gently. “Is that you need to watch yourself, just a bit. Please.” She sighed very softly. “Okay. I will try. And I’ll try to not be so judgy.” “We’re not saying that you have to be best buddies or anything,” Rosie said with a small nod. “But, be a little bit nice, okay? Be the soft, sweet and gentle young lady that I know you are. You’ve only met him once.” “I’ve already said that I’ll try,” Shelly said. “But, I know men of his age, of his type.” Alexander sighed. “Ashely.” “I’ll try, grandpapa, I will! I really will!” Rosie gently squeezed Shelly’s shoulders and let her go, watching her granddaughter follow her husband to the fabric room. “Shelly,” Alexander said softly. “He’s brought in a lot of money in the short amount of time he’s been a customer with us. And you might need to work with him without me at some point. So please… Just be nice.” “I will!” Shelly almost pouted at her grandfather. “You know I will be - I’m even really nice to those one or two who are a little bit creepy with me.” “And as soon as they do something within my earshot Shell, I’ll do something about it, you know I will, and it’s not that I don’t believe you, but I need to see or hear it myself.” “I know grandpa, I know.” Alexander watched her as she looked over the notes she’d made for Mr. Way’s order, comparing the new numbers to the old ones before she went to find the right pattern. He stayed in the doorway to the fabric room, just watching her as she pottered around, starting to gather everything they’d need. “I’m not going to do anything to cause him to stop being a customer grandpa,” she said quietly, going through fabrics. “I know, sweetheart. You do good; not only as a granddaughter, as an employee and as a human. We’re very proud of you and of the person, the woman you’ve become.” Shelly hummed softly, going a little bit pink. “Are you sure that you want to stay helping us?” He moved closer to check over everything that she’d gathered. “You know you don’t have to, you know.” “Grandpa,” Shelly looked up at him. “I love working here. I do it because I want to, because I enjoy it. I don’t feel like I have to.” Alexander studied her for what felt like a long time, but might have only been two minutes at the most. He sighed softly. “We don’t want you to feel like you’re trapped here, you know?” “I don’t feel that,” Shelly replied, not looking up from the sheets she was looking at. “I could never feel that. You and grandma are important to me, this place is important to me. I enjoy being a part of this.” “As long as you’re sure, Shelly.” “I am.” “Alright,” Alexander hummed for a moment. “Right, are you going to help me with this?” Over the next few months, Shelly was true to her word. That is, she was nice to Mr. Way - who’s first name she soon learnt was Gerard - whenever she was around during his appointments. Those two things - her shift times and his appointment times, soon started to overlap, whereas they hadn’t before. (It took her an embarrassing amount of time to figure that out, actually.) She was especially nice when her grandfather left her alone with the man, whether that was to help with measurements or so she could help with adjustments - she found it easier to do all the fabric tucking and all the pinning in place because her fingers were a little more nimble than her grandfather’s. His precision regarding measuring and cutting was unmatched though - he could eyeball measurements and 99.9% of the time get them spot on. Of course, he would always measure things out properly to be sure, but still. Shelly was pretty good, but not that good. She was certain that her grandfather had some kind of magic when it came to this stuff. The same went for her grandmother - that woman hardly ever seemed to poke herself with the pins. Shelly knew, because she watched, so she couldn’t even say that it was because her grandmother was so used to everything that she had thicker skin on her fingers. She probably did, but it wasn’t that. And at least, if her grandmother did poke herself, she never even muttered anything about it. Unlike Shelly, who ended up pricking herself a little during one such appointment with Gerard - Mr. Way. She hissed very slightly and muttered to herself under her breath. “Are you... Alright?” “Mm hm,” Shelly stuck the tip of her finger in her mouth for a second before wiping it on her skirt. “Just stabbed myself with a pin, that’s all. You don’t need to worry yourself. I’m always more likely to stab myself than our clients. You’re pretty safe.” “Just ‘pretty’ safe?” He asked, raising an eyebrow and trying to use the mirror to look at the girl pinning and tucking fabric at his back. “Well, I’ve been doing this a fairly long time, for my age, and I haven’t hurt anyone other than myself yet. I mean,” she paused to concentrate for a moment. “I’m not going to guarantee that you’re one hundred percent safe, that would be stupid.” “I suppose nothing is guaranteed to that certainty in the world,” he replied. “Except maybe death and taxes,” Shelly muttered. He snorted very slightly, clearly a little amused by this. “Hm! Yes, except maybe those.” She heard his amused sounding snort and couldn’t help but smile. That was progress, kinda. They had… Well, they weren’t conversations exactly, more like small exchanges of dialogue when they worked together; neither of them particularly attempted to prolong or initiate a conversation, but they did still speak to each other when the other said something, or when Shelly pricked her fingers, apparently. Truthfully, she didn’t mind it. She enjoyed working quietly - some of their other clients just… Spoke too much and sometimes it meant that she couldn’t concentrate. This one spoke to her grandfather more than her, and that meant that she could listen in while still working. She had noticed that she seemed to be soloing Gerard’s appointments more and more recently, which was an… Interesting development? Although she hoped that this wouldn’t be a permanent thing, as the man actually made her a little nervous. Not that she had given the reason why much thought - she tried not to give him much thought outside of work, to be completely honest. “Right,” she said quietly, taking a step back from him. “How are those adjustments?” Shelly decided not to confront her grandfather about the fact that she felt like he was leaving her to solo Mr. Way’s appointments more. For now at least. She decided to wait and see; to see if it continued or if the last few had been a coincidence, because knowing her luck, she’d confront her grandfather and it would turn out to just be a fluke or something. And then she’d feel bad. So she decided to just wait. She waited for a long time, and due to work commitments, she pretty much forgot about wanting to say anything. Some of these work commitments included more of Mr. Way’s appointments. Although less of these appointments involved Shelly working with Mr. Way on her own, which is another reason why asking her grandfather about the… Coincidences slipped her mind. She did, however, get a few chances to talk to the man a bit more; nothing too deep, or too soul-defining, but light conversations happened and… They were almost nice. They certainly weren’t like some of the things she had to endure with some other clients. He was very polite, maybe overly so, in comparison. It was after one such appointment that Shelly found herself being… Not quite cornered, but approached by her grandmother. She was in the little kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil when the other woman appeared in the doorway. Shelly smiled and immediately pulled out another mug to make her grandmother a drink as well. “Thank you darling,” Rosie said softly when Shelly handed her the mug. “Come and sit in the office with me? Your grandfather’s up front for a little bit.” Shelly nodded and followed behind her grandmother to the main office, both women sitting in the “visitor’s chairs” and putting their mugs on the desk next to them. “Okay,” Rosie settled comfortably. “How have you been finding working with Mr. Way?” Shelly thought about it, sipping her tea. “Quiet. He’s quiet. Kinda respectful, like, he doesn’t make the same sort of comments that some others do.” Rosie sighed, and shook her head gently. “Are you sure you’re alright with that?” “Eh, they’re just words, I can get over it.” The older woman looked at her granddaughter over her mug. “Ashely.” She winced. “I mean it! I’ll do something if it gets too bad, and I’ll definitely do something if they start getting physical, I promise - but until then, I don’t really want to rock the boat and risk losing them as clients.” “You know that your health, safety and well being are more important than the business? To both myself and your grandfather, right?” Rosie asked, leaning forward to put her hand on Shelly’s knee. “I know grandma, I know,” Shelly placed her hand over Rosie’s and squeezed gently. “I promise I’ll speak up if it gets too bad, or if I feel like I’ve had enough.” Rosie studied her granddaughter for a few minutes before nodding, deciding that she believed the younger girl. “Alright sweetheart.” Shelly just smiled, maybe a little relieved. It wasn’t that she was lying, because she wasn’t - she honestly would let them know if something was really getting that bad. “Now, back to Mr. Way.” “What about him?” Shelly rolled her eyes a little bit, playfully. “Working with him is just quiet?” Rosie sipped her drink. “Mm, well, yeah. He doesn’t talk much, or at least, when he does talk it’s nothing…” Shelly paused to think about it. “It’s not about anything I need to worry about concentrating on, really. It’s nothing deep and meaningful, but there’s bits of interest there.” “The fact that he’s having little conversations with you is a good thing. But he’s being nice to you, right?” Shelly nodded. “He’s not the same with me as he is with you.” Rosie chuckled. “He's very complimentary towards me.” “I’ve noticed! I like that though, I like that he doesn’t seem to talk down to you or anything, but he’s still pleasant and nice. And respectful!” Rosie nodded. “Keep talking to him Shell. He’s warming up to you, I think.” Shelly tutted and shook her head before she sipped her tea some more, not noticing the look her grandmother was giving her - which was paired with a raised eyebrow. “And what was that Little Miss?” Rosie tilted her head. “That noise and expression?” “I just… I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I still don’t like his type, because I do know his type. I’m grateful he’s so quiet, it means I can get my work regarding him done and get out as soon as possible to work on whatever’s next.” “Ashely,” Rosie watched her wince again - she really didn’t like being full-named like that. “You shouldn’t be judgemental.” “He hasn’t exactly proved me completely wrong though grandma,” she tried to argue. “I mean, yeah, he’s not as bad as he could be, and he’s not as bad as I thought but…” Shelly paused and shrugged. “There’s still time.” “Little Miss…” “Just because he’s not as bad to me… Doesn’t mean he’s a good person though,” the blonde shrugged gently. “Miss… Has he been bad to you?” Shelly shrunk back in her seat and shook her head. “No, not exactly.” “Shelly…” “Fine, not at all.” Rosie nodded. “That’s what I thought. You need to take a step back from those thoughts, you know.” “I know,” Shelly sighed deeply and adjusted her position in her chair. “I know. And I’m trying.” “You’re doing alright with not letting that seep through to how you talk to him, or how you are around him though.” Rosie nodded. “That’s good.” “Mm.“ Shelly grinned at her grandmother, both women standing to take their mugs to the kitchen. “I will admit one thing though.” Rosie raised an eyebrow in question. “And what is that?” “Well,” Shelly nibbled her bottom lip. “He’s not awful to look at, is he?”

[robinrunsfiction]

✏️ What is your fave fic from another writer?

Oh nooo this one is hard because I've read so much fan fic over the last few years! I always genuinely enjoy fics that I reblog on here and tag with fic recommendation. Like Ron Swanson, if I recommend something, it's a guarantee.

To give some specific shout outs to friends on here:

From @xxfanfiction-emo-trinityxx His Smile Will Keep You Safe, a Ryan Seaman x Reader that wrecked me in the best way, I've been aspiring to write like that for ages

From @mcrxreader The Five of Us Are Dying, and the subsequent sequels. I've toyed with the idea of doing a choose your own adventure sort of thing, but I haven't done it yet, but this one is the inspiration for it

From @mariawritesfanfic Underappreciated and not just because I requested it 😅 it really blends the sorta shitty parts with the fluff in a great way that feels really real and how life be sometimes

From @sunsetinmyvein I Know That I'll Lose like I'm not even that much of a 1975 stan, but this fic is that good that it doesn't matter

From @thewordworrier (because CMBFTW isn't done yet) Just Sleep is so cute and fluffy. Also a lot of great stuff is coming soon, yall just need to stay tuned

From @ghoulgirlwrites All I Want Is Nothing which I literally just read and it's super sweet and cute

A couple randoms I loved that I can't link to because they've been deleted, or the author deactivated: On here there was an arraigned marriage AU with Mikey that was so sweet, but that one went away sadly. I always forget how much I like an arranged marriage AU, especially if they're historical or like fantasy. I forget that one of my favorite fics that I wrote has that element to it lol. Also there was a filthy filthy Dallon smut that I loved on AO3 and I am very sad that that one went away, R.I.P.

[thewordworrier]

July 2023 Writing Wrap Up

Words Written: 33,705 words. it's July, that means it's another Camp NaNoWriMo month. My goal was 24,800 words which meant I needed to write 800 words a day. As you can see, I hit that. The NaNoWriMo website says my progress was 136% so... You know. Things I’ve worked on: ~ Normal AU scenes. ~ Lots of Normal AU scenes. ~ Seriously, so many Normal AU scenerios. ~ The HalfBakedIdea ~ A Cardboard Box Of Photos Of The Life We Made ~ the new thing that I worked on for the last 3 days

Things Published: ~ not here, but we're up to chapter 9 of CMBFTW on AO3, so that's cool. ~ A Cardboard Box Of Photos Of The Life We Made

Uh yeah, just that. August Plans! ~ back to my 500 words a day. It'll give the meatlump a break, and I think I need that at the moment.

Yeah. I think that'll do for now. Just keep the chain going. Don't put too much pressure on myself. All that good stuff.

[thewordworrier]

2nd August - 628 words. Worked On: ~ the same thing from the other nights. ~ a lil NormalAU thirst scene. As a lil treat. Favourite Line: Heh.

Shelly hummed and reached to touch him again but stopped, hesitating. “You can touch,” Gerard said softly, a little surprised that he was saying those words. “I kinda enjoyed it, really.”

I feel like I could've done more today. But I always feel that way on my days off. I slept in a bit, I put some chapters of CMBFTW into AO3's drafts (at least 4 chapters I think), I managed a chunk of my cross stitch projects and I wrote a little. That's not bad I guess.

[thewordworrier]

July Camp NaNoWriMo - Day 24

Words Written Today: 982 / 800 words. Today’s Goal: 19,200 words. Today’s (Total) Word Count: 25,968 / 24,800 words. Worked On: the Half Baked Idea Favourite Line: Oh, oof.

“If things go bad, our priority is you,” Lux said. “Not him.”

Mikey nodded in agreement. “You’re an innocent here.”

“You mean a mortal,” Shelly said, sounding a tiny bit bitter.

Comments? A few scattered thoughts: ~ Well, the plot thickens for the HBI. Interesting. Tempted to give my meatlump of a brain a cookie for the work. ~ Putting CMBFTW up on AO3 is scary. It wasn’t scary uploading it here. I’m not entirely sure what the difference is. ~ I need to start figuring out what to write for Shelly’s birthday this year. She’s not being helpful. ~ I’m 4k away from 30k for the month. 7 days to do it in. I think that’s 500 and change a day. Pshhhhhhh. That’s cakeeeee.

[thewordworrier]

Me: -posts the CMBFTW prologue/deleted scene-

Robin: MA'AM

Robin: WHAT IS THIS

Me: Teehehehe

Robin: GET BACK HERE

[thewordworrier]

27th May - 1,224 words. Worked On: ~ ReverseVampire AU ~ Future NormalAU stuff Favourite Line: Heheh.

“You’re serious about the red?”

He hesitated before nodding once. “I- I think so. Should I be?”

“Well, that depends,” she smiled a little at him.

“On?”

“How certain you are about being ready to have kids.”

He raised an eyebrow but looked a little confused.

“Because if you’re gonna look like that, there is no chance in hell that I’m ever going to keep my hands off of you.”

. Plenty of words done, plenty of cross-stitching done today. Good, good. Eating normally seems to be going well, salt water rinses aren’t as awful as I thought so... Yeah, okay, cool. I’m assuming by the likes, that someone’s been binge reading CMBFTW and got through like 11 chapters today. That’s a lot of words! I hope they remembered to take breaks and to stay hydrated.

[thewordworrier]

April 2023 Writing Wrap Up

Words Written: 28,094 words. A Camp NaNoWriMo month, of course. My goal was 21,000 words at the end of the month which was about 700 words a day. I never missed my daily goal (though came super close, actually) and actually reached 28,094 words by the end of the month (I think I hit my main goal on the 23rd). Considering the fact that I’ve had to deal with Audit at work, a frantic week where I thought I might be made homeless/be served my two months’ notice, and news of my dog having seizures and then having to be put down, I think the fact that I’ve still shown up every day is an achievement. And the fact that I’ve still hit my goals? Miracle. Or I’m just really stubborn and refused to let anything get in my way. Things I’ve worked on: ~ Normal AU stuff. ~ a little of the Poly!College AU. ~ The Origin Story ~ a MultiEra... Thing. Not sure if this will ever see the light of day, but we’ll see. ~ Future NormalAU stuff. ~ a little on the Succubus Fic. ~ a lil brainstorming for an Exchange Student Gerard universe - again, don’t know if this will see the light of day but it’s fun to think about. ~ the 3rd? Vampire AU I have. ~ a ‘deleted scene’ for Call Me Babe For The Weekend. Things Published: ~ It Started With An Alright Scene (aka - The Origin Story) ~ Call Me Babe For The Weekend - A Prologue, Of Sorts? - a deleted scene. May Plans! ~ we can go back to 500 words a day now. Sometimes the 700 was a struggle this month. I don’t know if there’s anything in particular that I want to focus on now. I focused on The Origin Story/ISWAAS until it was finished, bounced around a little, then focused on the CMBFTW Prologue (ish). I might just spend some more time bouncing around again, start planning out what I wanna do for the July Camp (I already have a few ideas for that. It’ll be a nice slice of Shelly’s canon to post afterwards if I go through with it.)

[thewordworrier]

15th March - 1,275 words. Well, I posted something about my writing process at a silly time this morning. Last night? I don’t know anymore. So there’s a link to that if you missed it. Worked On: Something Completely New. File [5] YEAH OKAY HUSH LEAVE ME ALONE I HAD AN IDEA. Also, using 5 kinda hurts me as that was CMBFTW’s number before it got a name. Favourite Line: ;)

She was a new face - Gerard would know; he and Frank had been coming to this place for years. He would’ve remembered her in her tight black jeans and her blonde ponytail.

.

[thewordworrier]

2nd June - 510 words. Worked On: the Reverse Vampire AU Favourite Line: Heh.

Mercy laughed and patted Shelly’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll be nice to your chew toy.”

. Oh thank god that week is over. It’s felt like a really, really long one and I’m tiredddddd. I’m looking forward to not going much this week. Ah! I’ve finished uploading Born Bob Dylan to AO3 now. Just CMBFTW to go.

[thewordworrier]

Some Musings

I know it’s after midnight now, but BEFORE midnight, this was my list -  ~ words done ✔ ~ evening post posted ✔ ~ hair washed ✔ ~ chapter uploaded on AO3 ✔ ~ next chapter saved in drafts ✔ ~ NaNoWriMo site updated ✔ After tomorrow’s chapter is posted, I just have three more works to upload to AO3: IACIS, BBD and CMBFTW. IACIS isn’t too bad, I know I have to put an on hiatus tag on that and a note in the summary. I should go back to that next NaNo event, ‘cause I know how it ends now and I didn’t really have a clue when I started writing/posting. Now I just wait until things are finished before I post. Ugh. I’m pretty nervous about uploading those last two, to be honest. I’m a bit nervous about a reaction, or maybe lack thereof. I poured a lot of... Everything into those fics, those two especially, and... I know it’s really common for the things you pour your everything into to get tumbleweeds, but something you whipped up on a whim in 10 minutes, gets all the attention. I know, I know, readers owe me nowt. I’m still SO proud of the feelings in BBD, and I’m still SO proud of the... Everything in CMBFTW - probably because I actually planned and plotted that one. I breathed that story for like 7 months. [8 if you include the month I took posting it - that’s a long ass time, that’s almost baby-creating time you know!] idk, it’ll take some time to get to CMBFTW - there’s 4 chapters of IACIS and 14/15 of BBD. So even if I kept updating once a day, that’s easily the rest of the month. And there’s 28 for CMBFTW when it goes up on AO3. So that’s another month. (Even though there’s 27 on here - I found a place to split one of the bigger chapters. There’s no extra content, just an extra split. I didn’t want to mess around with it on here because it was already posted and done and whatever.) Uploading that thing is gonna be a lot of work.

[thewordworrier]

19th February - 539 words. Sundays are always a bit weird. I’m still sort of reading CMBFTW and I’m just... I forgot about some of these bits. Good lord <3 Worked On: the Origin Story Favourite Line: :D

“Ashely, right?” He asked, gesturing to one of the seats opposite them. “I guess we have to get to know you, so why don’t you take a seat?”

.

[thewordworrier]

18th February - 521 words. Yup, back on the Origin Story stuff again. I wanna catch up with the re-write/fleshing out, and then I gotta finish it. Finding the cutting off point is the tricky bit. I’m also ski-reading CMBFTW again so I can deal with a formatting thing and I’m just... Damn. I really poured everything into this. Worked On: the Origin Story. Favourite Line: Hehe.

They were much nicer to look at in real life than the potato quality photos of them in the lyrics booklet that came with Bullets.

.

[thewordworrier]

Call Me Babe For The Weekend

An AU in which Gerard is a rich businessman in need of a favour. Shelly is his tailor’s granddaugher whose mistake weaves her into his selfish fabrications.

So dignified, in your well-pressed suit ~ Mr Perfectly Fine, Taylor Swift Most perfect of perfect headers made by @robinruns​ - as usual <3

Word Count: 170k and change. Rating: Late Teen and up. Warnings: ~ Female OC. ~ Mentions of suggestive situations. ~ It’s an AU. ~ There may be a funky detail or two, but it’s fanfic, take it with a sprinkle of salt. ~ I think I’ve messed around with timings too. But again, it’s fanfic, don’t take it too seriously. ~ Inconsistant chapter lengths. ~ the author has a consistant love affair with the comma. ~ Title is from “’Tis The Damn Season” by Taylor Swift.

Right! Important notes!

This is Paul Harries’ fault. He shared this and that short-circuited my brain for a little bit, then, when it woke up, BAM. I drew some inspiration from the following fanfics: ~ Bruised; Dallon Weekes x Reader by robinrunsfiction ~ Irresistible; Pete Wentz x Reader by robinrunsfiction I was also inspired by Robin’s genius brain - ily girl <3 Seriously, pretty much the entire plot for this was run by her first XD I just fleshed it out. Thank you for letting me ramble at you at inappropriate times (like, 2:30am my time XD) Other Notes: This is bigger than Born Bob Dylan. Not something I thought would happen, but here we go. Robin can attest to my growing distress as the word count has increased though. I’ve been working on this since like, early September 2021, so a good few months. It has been... Something. Fun though. I hope you enjoy reading it! For the most part, when I wasn’t stressing about the word count; I had a blast writing it! Chapters under the cut!

                           ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ (A note: Yes, I’m aware there’s a weird spread of original titles and lyrics. Roll with me please.) Chapter One - The Words Don’t Mean A Thing Chapter Two - So It Begins Chapter Three - Kiss And Tell Chapter Four - Sweetness And (Good) Light Chapter Five - A Family Recipe And A Distraction Chapter Six - Pleasantries, A Proposition And Pondering Chapter Seven - Closet Confidence Chapter Eight - Mama, We’re All Full Of Lies Chapter Nine - I Love Your Handshake, Meeting My Father Chapter Ten - Maybe This Thing Is A Masterpiece Chapter Eleven - A Kiss Of Approval Chapter Twelve - I Know That It’s Delicate Chapter Thirteen - Semi Permanent Damage Chapter Fourteen - So Get Me Out Of My Head… Chapter Fifteen - …Because It’s Getting Kinda Cramped Chapter Sixteen - Dinner And A Movie? Chapter Seventeen - I’ve Lost My Fear Of Falling Chapter Eighteen - Cookies, Countdowns And Comic Movies Chapter Nineteen - Put On Your Smile For The Good Times Chapter Twenty - Something Good And Right And Real Chapter Twenty One - Wine, Half-Wishes and Almost Weddings Chapter Twenty Two - We Could Be Perfect One Last Night Chapter Twenty Three - Mornings, Motorways And Musings Chapter Twenty Four - Loving Him Was Red Chapter Twenty Five - A Kiss And I Will Surrender Chapter Twenty Five And A Half - Caught Up In A Moment Epilogue - Meet Me In The Afterglow

Deleted Scenes, so to speak. ~ technically 25.5 should be here. ~ A Prologue, Of Sorts?

[thewordworrier]

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.

[thewordworrier]

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.”