#as a rom com -- it aged surprisingly well!!! and keanu is in it!!!

[bishicat]

posting this unfinished just cause!!

< the dialogue's from Something's Gotta Give (2003) >

[ladyreapermc]

Fic: This isn’t a rom-com 12/17

Summary: Keanu and Lilah meet at the set of John Wick. Rom-com shenanigans ensues

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6  Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

Wordcount: 3151

Warnings: lots of fluff, some sexy teasing, but still a very tame chapter. More smut to come next chapter.

Keanu wasn’t sure how he knew, but as soon as he stepped inside Lilah’s apartment, he could tell something was wrong. There was a lingering tension hanging between the three friends and he thought he saw Lilah shooting looks at both Isaac and Jean once she pulled away from the welcome hug and kiss she gave him.

“Everything ok?” he asked, carefully watching her expression. She nodded with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “How was brunch?”

“It was fine. Dr. Williams introduced me to the visiting professor who’s teaching a few seminars at NYU this month.”

“That’s good, right?” he asked, shrugging his coat and kicking his shoes off. She had been so excited about these seminars because they would be about cultural practices and media, her research theme. This time, when Lilah smiled and nodded it was a little more real and soft as if she was pleasantly surprised that he remembered.

“Where do I put this?” he asked showing his backpack and her smile shifted to a wide grin.

“My room,” she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck again. “You’re spending the night then?”

“If that’s ok.”

“It’s very ok,” Lilah replied meeting his lips for a kiss. She pulled away at the sound of fake retching coming from behind them.

“Stop being so sweet,” Jean complained grimacing. “It’s disgusting.”

“No, it’s not!” Isaac said with a big grin, bumping his shoulder against hers. “It’s adorable.”

Keanu just laughed awkwardly as Lilah rolled her eyes and let go of him, taking his backpack and disappearing into her room, leaving him alone with Isaac and Jean, who just watched him. Jean with narrowed eyes, her piercing green gaze seemed to be sizing him up and cataloging his sins. While Isaac’s chocolate eyes were warmer and friendly, but Keanu had seen him around set when he was a runner. The younger man might look fragile, but he was wirily strong.

Keanu knew it would take some getting used to being around her friends, feeling like he was being constantly evaluated. Something told him that if Keanu even as so much put a toe out of line with Lilah, hurt her in any way, they were gonna make him regret it. It was comforting to know that Lilah had that kind of support in her life.

“So, what are you up to tonight?” he asked when Lilah returned.

“It’s slasher Sunday!” she declared leading him to the couch and he noticed a stack of DVDs on the coffee table along with shot glasses, lime wedges, and an open bottle of tequila.

“Basically, we watch slasher movies and take a shot whenever someone breaks one of the slasher movies rules,” Jean added with a smirk.

“That’s a quick way to get drunk.” Keanu snorted.

“It’s silly. You don’t have to do it,” Lilah assured him with a frown.

“No, no. Let’s do this!” he said, rubbing his palms together and grinning at her. It had been a while since Keanu got drunk for no reason other than because he could. He would probably regret it in the morning, but that was a problem for tomorrow. “What are we watching?”

“Well, we have Wrong Turn 4 and Bloody, Bloody Bible Camp.” Lilah’s tone was way too cheerful, and Keanu winced. All of those sounded horrible. “And The Conjuring, which isn’t a slasher, but it’s an actual good movie!”

“Let’s start with Bible Camp,” Isaac suggested, phone in hand. “I’m gonna order pizza. Lih, you’re gonna wanna that pineapple atrocity as usual?”

“Not my fault if you can’t appreciate the deliciousness of sweet and savory food,” she replied sticking her tongue out at him and Keanu chuckled.

He liked seeing Lilah like this, playful and lighthearted. Keanu could see how her eyes shone with mirth and affection for her friends. How some of the weight of responsibility she always seemed to carry lifted off her shoulders. Sure, Keanu saw some of that whenever Lilah was with him but sometimes it still felt like holding back.

They managed to squeeze themselves on the couch, Lilah practically on Keanu’s lap, which he wasn’t about to complain, as they started the movie. It was a horrible as Keanu expected to be but it was funny to watch as Lilah shouted at the screen, between taking shots. He always knew horror was her favorite genre but he didn’t expect her to be this fanatic about it. it was cute.

To his surprise, Jean who looked so tough and mean jumped and squealed at every jump scare, no matter how obvious they were. Keanu did his best not to laugh since the last thing he wanted was to get on her bad side. Isaac obviously wasn’t worried about that because he cackled gleefully every time it happened.

Halfway through it, their pizzas arrived, and they paused the movie to eat. Keanu waited until Lilah had the slice of Hawaiian in her hand to grab her wrist and bring it closer so he could take a bite.

“I thought you didn’t like Hawaiian,” she smirked.

“I do when you feed it to me,” he smirked back, taking another bite.

Lilah indulged him and once the slice was over, Keanu sucked the excess of sauce from her fingers, keeping eye contact with Lilah as he did it.

“You guys do remember you’re not alone, right?” Jean asked with an arched eyebrow, cutting through the mood. Keanu just laughed already a little too tipsy to care, but Lilah blushed bright red and buried her face on his shoulder, giggling.

“Sorry!”

They all decided the movie was way too bad to actually watch it and o they just left it playing while they talked and laughed and drank. It was a chance for Keanu to know a little bit more about these people Lilah loved so much.

He learned that Jean had an MBA and she was fighting to revert the dreadful financial situation her bookstore found itself in. While Isaac was a truly amazing musician and their band was pretty good, still on the early stages of getting itself together and it made Keanu miss Dogstar a little bit.

In the end, they skipped Wrong Turn 4 and went straight to The Conjuring, which was surprisingly good. Keanu rarely liked horror movies, but this one was fine. It got a couple of starts from him. Jean watched with her hands over her eyes and he was pretty sure Isaac was mumbling prayers. Lilah, on the other hand, would randomly bust out laughing at scary scenes, but at the same time, her grip on Keanu’s arm would tighten a little so he knew she wasn’t as unaffected as she would like to seem.

“This was fun,” Lilah said once the door of her bedroom was closed, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him. “I really needed this.” So, he was right. She wasn’t ok when he arrived, but he was glad to see that shadow has passed, at least for the moment.

“I’m glad.” He kissed her nose, making her giggle, scrunching it up in the most adorable way. “And you know I’m here, right? If you want to talk about whatever is bothering you.”

“I know,” Lilah sighed pulling away from him and Keanu immediately regretted bringing it up. “And I really appreciate that, but I’m fine.”

Part of him wanted to press it, to ask why she couldn’t open up to him on this. They were doing so well but in less than a day everything changed and he hated it.

“Ok,” he said instead of pushing it and they busied themselves in getting ready for bed, curling up together to sleep.

“Goodnight, Keanu.”

“Goodnight, Lil,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her head and feeling her smile against his chest at the nickname.

Keanu didn’t get to see Lilah for a week after that Sunday since his schedule went a little hectic. With the quick approach of 47 Ronin premiere in Tokyo, Chad and David decided to cram as much shooting time they could in the days before Keanu had to take off, especially if they wanted to avoid snow.

They were filming 10 to 12 hours a day; when Keanu finally got home, he was exhausted and feeling every second of his 49 years of age, but he made an effort to call Lilah every night. It was nice, but not nearly enough. Not when he missed the feel of her skin and taste of her mouth.

He was relieved to see that she was very understanding of the entire thing, but it still made him feel bad for canceling on her or going hours without replying to her messages. Lilah just waved off his apologies, assuring him that she understood, even if she did miss him. It made Keanu fall in love even more. Especially the way Lilah wanted to hear every detail about what he did that day on set.

In turn, Lilah would share about her own day and for a week Keanu had to hear all about Arthur Pierce, how great his seminars were or how he was helping with her data analysis and everything in between. To make matters worse, since it was Arthur’s first visit to New York, Lilah’s advisor had asked her to show him the city, which meant Lilah was spending most of her day with the other man.

Keanu prided himself on being rational and reasonable. He recognized that Lilah was just thrilled to have another behavior scientist in the social psychology department. Someone that could speak the same language as she did. Still, it was hard for him not to grit his teeth whenever her tone went a little high pitched with excitement as Lilah mentioned something Arthur did or said.

He managed three days before he succumbed to his curiosity and googled the man. Keanu wasn’t proud of it, but he needed to know. He regretted instantly because Arthur looked straight out of a Disney fairytale movie.

And even though he knew the burning on his stomach had less to do with Arthur and more to do with the fact that the man got to be around Lilah when Keanu himself couldn’t, he still couldn’t avoid it and it was driving him crazy.

Keanu was never one to eagerly wait for the weekend and time off, but he was anxious to finish rehearsing that Saturday because, after six days, he would finally get to see Lilah in person.

He took her in his arms as soon as she stepped inside the apartment, pressing her against the closed front door and claiming her mouth. He missed how she always seemed to taste and smell of cinnamon. As he licked into her mouth, chasing her taste, Lilah combed her fingers through his hair, scratching his nape. Keanu purred in pleasure. He missed the feel of her hands in his scalp and her body against his and he didn’t know where to touch first. If her thighs, the soft flesh of her ass, her hips that fit so perfectly in his hands… Keanu just really missed her.

He let go of her lips to pepper kisses down her jaw and neck, enjoying the gasps and soft little moans escaping Lilah’s lips as she held onto his arms. As he shoved her coat off so he could sneak his hands under her shirt, the print finally registered in his mind making him take a step back and grin. Lilah blinked at him dazedly, before looking down and grimacing.

“It was a gift from one of my students,” she replied, crossing her arms, but it did very little to cover the words take the red pill. “I was gonna change before coming over but didn’t have time.”

“Why?” he asked, digging through his pockets for his cell.

“I don’t know. Don’t want you to think I’m a crazy fan or something,” Lilah said, fidgeting with the hem.

“Lil, I like that you like my movies,” Keanu replied, aiming the camera at her.

“Hey! No! I look awful!” she complained, covering her face.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, gently prying her hands away. “Just one, please? So, I have something to look at when I’m in Japan.” Keanu was playing dirty, he knew. He had several selfies of Lilah that she sent him over the last month but he always wanted more.

“Fine!” Lilah huffed, turning to the mirror by the entry wall to check herself.

Keanu walked up behind her and he wasn’t one for selfies, especially not in front of the mirror, but as he hugged her from behind, resting his chin on top of her head, Lilah grinning wide and glancing up at him, he couldn’t resist snapping a picture.

“Ok, that one looks really good,” she commented as peeked over his arm to see the picture.

Keanu nodded before setting it as his background and turning his attention back to her. He pulled her back into his arms, still too starved from her touch to control himself. Fortunately, Lilah didn’t seem to mind, hugging him back and peppering his jaw and neck with kisses.

“Dinner?” he asked, breathing into her hair. “We can order in or I can cook…”

“Oh. I, uh, already ate…” she said with a hesitant tone and Keanu sighed because he caught the unvoiced end of that sentence: with Arthur.

“That’s fine,” he assured with a smile, hoping the tightening of his jaw wasn’t too obvious. “So, what you wanna do?”  

“Movie?” Lilah suggested, her hands coming up his chest. “Or we could just… get to bed earlier?” she wiggled her eyebrows and Keanu let out a dramatic sigh.

“I knew it. You only want me for my body,” he teased, making Lilah laugh and how he missed that sound. “That’s fine. I accept my fate”

“You’re such a dork, oh my God!” she said between giggles, burying her face on his chest and he hugged her close, overwhelming affection making his chest warm.

“You love it,” he said grinning.

“I do,” Lilah said, looking up at him.

There was something on her eyes, in the way they were soft and bright and vulnerable, and Keanu realized she was baring her heart to him in that exact moment and his own skipped a beat.

Keanu kissed her, trying to convey his own feelings, the ones he couldn’t quite put in words yet because he was still scared how deep he fell for Lilah in such a short time. He just hoped she get it.  

“Maybe let’s just stay in the balcony for a bit?” Lilah asked once they broke away. Her eyes were still closed and there was a soft little smile on her lips.

“Anything you want.”

They cuddled together on the lounge under the blanket, much like that first time, just talking about their day. Keanu talked a bit about rehearsal and the action sequence he was practicing for. This week he got to shoot some car scenes, which was so fun and Lilah grinned wide all the while he shared his thrill about driving such an amazing car.

In turn, Lilah told him about spending the day at the Metropolitan museum with Arthur and Keanu did his best not to react, but he knew his smile was just a little too tense and frozen for Lilah to really buy it. She twisted around in his lap so she could look at him, eyes narrowed for a second and to Keanu’s surprise, her expression turned almost gleeful, brown eyes alight under the city lights.

“Oh! You’re jealous.”

“I’m not,” he retorted, avoiding her gaze. “It’s just…”

Lilah straddled his lap fully, her smile amused and teasing, and Keanu knew he was flustered and he hated being like this.

“Keanu, I don’t see Arthur that way. You know that, right?” She assured, caressing his face and he sighed.

“I know.” His voice was low, barely a whisper because he was a little terrified of his next words. “But I also know that I won’t be able to talk about some of the things you’re interested as well as he can and… I can’t help but notice he’s way closer in age to you and I know how you feel about couples with too big age gaps.”

He watched as Lilah hesitated, catching her bottom lip between her teeth, a dead giveaway that she was nervous.

“I guess we just gonna have to be careful,” she said at last, brow furrowing in concentration in that way he found adorable. “We know what we have to avoid, so I’ll do my best not to be too insecure.”

“And I try not to be paternalist and controlling,” Keanu replied with a relieved sigh.

“Well… I mean, you can be a little controlling,” she started with a small smile and dragged her nails down his stomach, over his scar. “I don’t mind you bossing me in bed.”

“I’ve noticed,” Keanu smirked, hand coming to her nape to pull her face closer to his. “You know what else I noticed?” he asked against her lips and she shook her head.

He shifted his hand from her nape to around her throat, holding it loosely, but it was enough for Lilah’s breath to hitch, her eyes fluttering close, and she squirmed in his lap.

“My girl wants to be choked?” he asked almost in a growl and just the sight of her like this, flushed with arousal, rooting against his hardening cock was driving him crazy.

“Yes,” Lilah gasped and he brushed his thumb over her pouty lips. She pulled it into her mouth, making him groan and thrust up. “Please.”

“Do you have a safe word?”

Lilah paused for a moment before her lips drew into a smirk and she let go of his thumb with a small, obscene pop sound.

“Neo.”

“No,” Keanu laughed, shaking his head and letting go of her neck.

“Why not? It’s not like I’ll shout that during sex. Unless…”

“Absolutely not!” he declared, guessing where she was going with that train of thought. “Pick something else, please.”

Lilah thought, eyes darting around until it landed on his chest and she smiled.

“Bike?” Keanu smiled too and nodded.

“That works.” He brought her down for a kiss that turned very dirty very fast. “Bed?”

“Yes, please.”

Lilah tightened her legs around his waist and arms around his neck and Keanu just stood up with her in his arms, bringing her inside and lying her in bed.

“We’re ok, right?” he asked as he rested on top of her holding his weight on his elbows.

“Yeah,” Lilah replied with a nod, tracing his face. “We’re perfect.”

And before Keanu could really wonder why there seemed to be a hint of sadness in her eyes, Lilah kissed him again and made him forget everything else.

 x(tbc)x

Go to part 13

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