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orwocolor · 4 years ago

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Love Thy Neighbour - Chapter Seven

Pairing: Gwilym Lee x Reader

Word Count: 4k

Warnings: Cursing

Summary: Gwilym shows up in your bookstore to apologise but there still might be more obstacles on your way to happiness.

Author’s Note: And another sprinkle of angst so that chapter six doesn’t feel so lonely. Only one more chapter and an epilogue remain, so keep an eye out for those! Comments and reblogs are always very appreciated :) Check my masterlist to read the previous chapters. Dedicated to my sweetie @justgwilym.

Dragging your feet, you crash on your sofa, a floral pattern of one of the walls spinning around you. You squeeze your eyes shut, but as you lose the point of focus, you sense a rise of, so far, the most powerful wave of nausea. You fight the feeling and instead fix your gaze on one of the paintings decorating the living room.

Breathe in.

And breathe out.

You should not have drunk that much. But Jane and Charlotte were unstoppable and admittedly, you needed it. After a couple of drinks, you actually started having fun. Daniel turned out to be a very pleasant companion with a taste for slightly dry humour that, partially due to your inebriated state, made you burst in laughter multiple times during the party.

Oh god, you are going to hate yourself so much tomorrow.

Once it seems the whole world will not tilt again and toss you on your side, you brave a few steps into the kitchen and pour yourself a glass of water. Gulping it down, you can already feel its beneficial effects, which are further enhanced when you press the cold glass against your forehead. You serve yourself another drink and with each sip, you begin to trust your legs again.

You release a content sigh as a soft breeze and smell of rain touch your cheeks when you open the windows; it truly does a world of good. Grabbing yourself two slices of toast bread, you settle onto the sofa, open your laptop and click on a random video for you to watch while you wait to get better before you go to bed. If you lay down right now, you’re sure you would throw up.

With an occasional chuckle leaving your lips as you listen rather than watch a stand-up show, you almost miss a soft, hesitant knock on your door. Almost. Your fingers hover above the keyboard as you contemplate pausing the video. If you press the space key right now, there will be no doubt you’ve heard the knocking.

Slowly retracting your hand back to your side, you let the comedian continue in her sketch and you just wait. It probably takes only a minute, but for you, it’s an eternity before you can hear Gwil shut the door to his flat behind him.

You release a breath you have not realised you were holding and hide your face in your palms.

You are not in a state to face him right now. You need some time. And most importantly, you need to put some space between you, otherwise you’re going to care way too much, and you are not in the position of allowing yourself feelings of that sort.

“I’m sorry, sir, I’ll be back in a minute, just let me attend to this young lady,” you throw behind your shoulder as you rush to the cash desk and leave a customer in the historical section.

“Maybe I can be of service,” Mr Dean appears next to the customer’s shoulder, who jumps a bit, not expecting someone else, and you send a grateful glance to your friend. You knew you could count on him. Whenever he’s in a good mood, he loves to entertain people in the bookshop and no matter the topic or genre they’re looking for, he turns into an expert, gladly offering recommendations.

You hide a smile when you notice Mr Dean’s eyes sparkling as the man mentions the French revolution and he starts guiding him to the needed section.

“Here you go,” you hand the young woman her bag and say your goodbyes, a shrilling sound of chimes hanging at the entrance door announcing her departure.

While you bend down and disappear behind the till to throw away the receipt the woman didn’t want, the chimes sound again, and you emerge from behind the cash desk.

No.

He’s there, right in front of you, the surprise written in his face matching yours.

“Hello,” Gwil says softly and for a split of a second, you forget to breathe.

You’ve managed to avoid him the whole weekend by some miracle, although, admittedly, on one occasion, when you were forced out of your flat to do grocery shopping, you spotted him at the entrance door when you made a turn to your street. At that moment, you remembered you wanted to check something on your phone, and after fiddling with it long enough for Gwil to get home, you plucked up the courage to do the same.

You assured yourself you just needed some time and space and by the time you would meet him, you would have known what to tell him.

Well, your past self can go screw herself because here you are with your tongue tied.

“Hi, Y/N!” Ben is on Gwil’s tail and greets you cheerfully, his hand raised in a wave.

“Hi,” you manage to blurt out, quite happy with yourself for not butchering the single syllable. It’s all about little victories, right?

“So, uh, I’ll go check some books I guess,” Ben breaks the silence when neither you nor Gwil seems to do so, and scurries farther into the store.

“I am so, so sorry, Y/N,” Gwil eventually breathes out and raises his lowered eyes. “I wish I could have a good reason for not showing up the other day and for copping out on you like that, but I just don’t. I…”

He looks around and bites his lips, looking for a way of how to finish his sentence in books-filled shelves.

You wait patiently because you have the feeling that there is something he needs to say, and it would be ill-advised to interrupt his thoughts.

“Okay, I’m probably already not in your good books, so why not make even a bigger twat of myself, eh.”

“Ha, in the good books. Get it? You’re in a bookshop,” you chuckle, your voice not as strong as you would like it to be.

“Yeah,” he replies, and the corners of his lips rise up slightly. Soon, his voice turns serious again. “Well, I went to that stupid audition and I just fucked it up. Yeah, there’s no better word for that. I fucked it up, big time. I tried to persuade them to give me another chance, I said I would do anything, and the production assistant surprised me. She promised me another audition if I went for a drink with her afterwards, and I… didn’t refuse.” He takes a deep, shaky breath, presumably the first one since he started explaining what had happened. “I wasn’t thinking, and when I realised I was supposed to be with you, it was too late.”

“You could have called me,” you say slowly, daring to meet his gaze.

“My phone was dead. I was fiddling with it so much while I was waiting for the audition. Was driving Ben absolutely crazy.”

“Can confirm!” Ben’s head peeps out from behind a shelf and quickly hides again when he spots both your and Gwil’s not so amused expressions.

“Still,” you start and shake away the trembling feeling that is creeping to your voice, “You could have come by later and explain all of that to me that night.”

By some miracle, it’s as if he senses the direction of your thoughts, and rushes to set the record straight, offering the absolution you haven’t, until now, realised you desperately craved.

“The moment it dawned on me what a jerk I was, I said my goodbyes and left. But it was too late, and I felt like such a prick, so I actually dropped in another pub and drank some more. Was so shit-faced I stayed at my brother’s ‘cause he lives in that area.”

A great weight is lifted from your shoulders and you can finally take a deep and long breath. You feel a smile tugging at the corners of your lips but Gwilym does not see it; he is avoiding your eyes, as mortification keeps surrounding his whole person.

“I am so, so sorry,” he repeats once again and the moment the words leave his lips, you forgive him.

Actually, you already have.

You are just about to tell him so when he finally finds the courage to look into your eyes as he reaches out and gently grasps your hands that have been resting on the counter.

“Please, can you forgive me?”

His thumbs are lightly stroking your skin and you cannot tear away your gaze from his beautiful blue eyes.

“Sir, I must ask you to leave right now!”

Wait, what?

It takes you a moment to become aware of where you are and what is happening. The bookshop, right. And as for what is going on…

“Sir, I won’t repeat myself, leave this building immediately!” Peter’s voice reaches such volume that every customer stops in their tracks, their curiosity taking the better of themselves.

“I was only showing this young lad the historic section. I don’t reckon it’s a crime,” Mr Dean responds in his defence, which only infuriates Peter some more.

“You’re always just helping other customers, or browsing, or, God forbid, reading our books without paying a single penny for them. I want you gone. This is not a library!”

“Peter,” you say weakly, not capable of wrapping your head around it. He isn’t supposed to be here, otherwise you would have warned Mr Dean beforehand.

“Is that the Mr Dean you told me about?” Gwil whispers and it is only then when you notice your hands are still placed in his and his face is much closer to yours than you remember.

“Yes, I’m–” you start but Gwilym won’t let you finish the sentence.

“Trust me, darling. I’ll stop by at your place at around seven, okay?” he hastily says and places a soft kiss to your cheek before leaving you at the till dumbfounded.

“Grandpa!” he greets joyfully and rushes to Mr Dean to give him a proper hug. “Have you found the book you told me about?”

Mr Dean shoots a glance your way before he replies. “Ah, I… Yes. Yes, yes, I did, give me a second.” You’re taken aback by his quick reaction because you have not moved from your spot, your jaw down, and you are pretty sure your arms are still stretched in front of you although Gwilym’s warm palms are no longer holding them. You fix your posture in an instant and clear your throat, at least trying to give the impression of having everything under control.

Although you are not particularly proud of yourself, you’re still doing better than Peter. He is just standing there, opening his mouth like fish as no words are leaving his lips.

Gwilym pretends he has only just noticed him and raises his eyebrows in make-believe innocence. “Is there any problem here?”

It takes a couple of moments before Peter gathers his bearings.

“I’m sorry, but this is your grandfather?” he finally finds his voice and points an accusatory finger at your dear friend.

“Yeah! He’s been wearing my ear off about this wonderful book he discovered here, so I’m here to get it for him. For his birthday, you know? Which is coming soon, isn’t that right, grandpa?”

“In a couple of days, actually,” Mr Dean confirms and nods his head seriously as if contemplating the fleetingness of time and existence.

“Urgh, I’m the worst grandson ever, really, looking for gifts this late, I should be ashamed of myself.” You are fascinated by Gwil’s acting; he doesn’t miss a beat and comes up with lies so quickly, all you can do is stare in astonishment. It’s not like anyone needs you right now because all customers are watching the scene unfold.

“Ah, got it!” The victorious announcement of Mr Dean makes Gwil turn on his heel and leave Peter behind.

“Wow, that’s really pretty! You weren’t lying about the photographs.” Gwil expertly inspects the pictures of various relics and nods, approvement and appreciation readable from his pursed lips. “Excellent! We’ll take it.” He closes the book in one swift motion and heads to your cash desk.

By this time, you have composed yourself enough to remember all the common niceties, and you are quite proud of your performance as you easily scan the book that you’ve seen cradled in Mr Dean’s palms many afternoons and punch the price into the card reader so that Gwil can pay.

“Would you like it gift-wrapped?” you do not forget to ask and when your gaze meets Gwil, your heart starts beating so fast you almost can’t hear the answer.

“Oh yes, please, that is if we’re not bothering you.” Gwil’s smile lights up his whole face.

“No bother at all,” the corners of your lips rise in a matching smile and you procced to neatly wrap the book in a piece of brown paper, taking extra care to tie a dark blue ribbon around the package.

“Thank you so much, have a lovely day!” Gwilym places the book under his arm and leaves the shop, Mr Dean on his tail offers a wave and a wink that, hopefully, Peter cannot see.

Through the display window, you almost miss Gwil turning around and mouthing ‘see you tonight’ before he and Mr Dean disappear behind the corner. You almost burst into laughter when Ben suddenly emerges from behind the bookshelves and dashes after them.

You have got the feeling that Peter is mumbling something, but all you can think about is your lovely neighbour and the kiss he ever so gently placed on your cheek.

You resist the temptation to touch your face, wondering whether the imprint of Gwil’s lips can be found there, or whether the gesture is forever inscribed into your mind only.

But then, you finally register Peter’s words...

“I can’t believe it! And of all days he’s got to pick today and embarrass me in front of the buyers. God damn it!”

… and your smile freezes.

Buyers.

The sequence of syllables still sounds foreign and dangerous to your ears.

Buyers.

No matter how many times it rolls off your tongue, the word remains the same.

So that’s it. Peter’s made up his mind and he is going to sell the bookshop. And that leaves so many questions unanswered. The new owners, are they going to keep the staff, or do they plan to hire a new bunch of people? Is there even some certainty that they will not rebrand and establish a branch of a fast-food chain? It’s not like the city is flooded with them, right.

You feel the dizziness creeping up your neck as those thoughts swirl in your head, not permitting you a moment of peace. You almost crash into a passer-by, but thankfully you manage to keep yourself upright and the take-out bag with your late lunch intact in your hold.

Once you finally arrive home, you heat up the food you have brought with you and open your favourite book in a desperate attempt to diverge the direction of your thoughts.

You are torn between biting your nails from the uncertainty of your future career and halting in the story and daydreaming about Gwilym’s visit tonight. And with that mindset, you go about your day while you clean up, water plants, and dust your flat; you have been putting it off for ages.

Emerged in thoughts, you almost mishear the buzzing sound of the bell. You are wearing baggy trousers and an old t-shirt with stains God-knows from what. You have reckoned you’ve still got time to change before Gwil’s visit. Oh well, he has seen you at your worse.

However, your brows furrow as you step into the hall and catch a glimpse of the digital clock.

5.40 p.m.

Swinging the door open, you are met with no one. Another sound of the bell and the line on your forehead deepens.

“Hello,” you mutter when you press the intercom, and the static comes through.

“Y/N! Hi! Ready to go out and grab coffee with me?”

It takes a moment before the dots connect.

“Oh, Daniel, hi! I… erm… can you give me ten minutes?”

“Sure thing!”

The dash across your flat, from the door to the dresser, then to the bathroom and back to the hall could be considered a match to any Olympian’s winning sprint race, but it is too early after your accident and your ankle makes itself known. You grit your teeth and grab a purse, leaving your flat and hoping no appliances have stayed turned on.

How could you have forgotten?! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

“Hi!” you greet breathlessly when you fly from the entrance door, and Daniel gives you a lopsided smile.

“You forgot, didn’t you?” No matter how hard you try not to give anything away, the blush on your cheeks betrays you. “Oh my God, you did!” Barking out a laugh, he lets you take a couple of deep breaths before you start walking down the street. “Maybe it should be you who’s gonna buy the coffee today.”

“Gladly,” you smile and spot a cosy café. For a split second, you consider taking him to Hazel’s, but then you imagine the soft hues of brown and gold against black and white background of your most beloved café. Your mind goes straight to the day you bumped into Gwil and Ben in there and you do not wish to stain that memory. Besides, this café is right behind the corner of your block of flats, which means you shouldn’t get stuck at some far-off place. “Actually, I owe you ‘cos I’ve got some plans at seven and I need to get home by then.”

“Oh, okay,” he replies hesitantly, and you bite your lips, feeling like an arse. Well, you can make it up for him by paying for the coffee, right?

You are trying. You are really, truly trying. Daniel is nice. Funny, smart, and knows all the iconic movie lines off pat, however, the moment you look into his eyes, you feel nothing, there is no bated breath, no heart beating fast. Nothing. And honestly, it seems you are not making a particularly good impression either. He takes notice of your constant checking the time on your phone, and when you catch yourself doing it for an umpteenth time, you roll your eyes at yourself.

“I’m sorry,” you mutter after a moment of silence, which you wish were a companionable one, but you are too fidgety.

“It’s fine, I get it,” Dan offers a sheepish smile, which you return. “Let’s get you back home, okay?”

The wind is chilling and light drizzle lands on your hair. As you walk down the street, you notice that Daniel is trying to gently hold your hand. It starts with your fingers brushing and you would dismiss it as an accidental touch but when his fingertips graze the back of your palm, you sense the intention in the gesture. You bring your hand up, brushing off a damp strand of hair and scratching the back of your neck so as not to give him another opportunity for touch.

Hoping this debacle is behind you now, you say your goodbyes and grab the door handle to your building. Oh, how foolish!

“I know you’re lost in thought today but it was a nice date and honestly, I’m not ready for it to end.” He gives you a smile and his eyes sparkle when you stop in your tracks and turn your head to face him.

His gaze drops down to your lips and you are (literally) taken aback by the movement to such extent that your body shoots away. In the process, you press your back to the doorbell panel and jump a bit, not expecting that kind of contact.

“Careful.” Daniel’s fingers find your waist to keep you upright. “I realise I might not be the man of your dreams, but I hope we can go for dinner next time.”

“I…” you start, unable to find the words that would not hurt him.

“No, don’t say anything,” he whispers, and it is only then when you realise his face has inched closer to yours. And then he presses his lips to yours, and you freeze at the spot.

Your eyelids do not tremble with emotion, neither do you melt into his touch. You just stand there, barely moving your lips and thinking that this guy just cannot take a hint. You might have been waving the ‘I am not interested’ flag right in front of his face and he still would be none the wiser.

When he finally lets go, your gaze is still fixed forward and you suck in your lips in a subconscious effort to prevent him from another attempt of a kiss. However, you catch a flicker of light in the corner of your eyes and without giving it a second thought you twist your neck, and your gaze falls into the entrance hall. The windowpane which reflected two figures kissing a moment ago turns transparent and reveals a figure standing inside.

He’s there, at the top of the staircase, taking you by surprise for a second time this day.

But this time, his eyes are hurt behind his glasses, a deep line is forming on his forehead, and it seems as if he’s rooted to the cold stone floor. Your heart is breaking at the sight of him and you know you must do anything within your power to atone for this moment because you never ever want to see such pain written in his face.

“Gwil,” you breathe out softly and bend down to escape Daniel’s embrace. Pushing the main door, you rush to your neighbour, your friend, your… “Gwil, this means nothing, I’m not –”

“My doorbell rang, and I was foolish enough to think you couldn’t wait until seven. I…” He is avoiding your gaze, his eyes roving round the hall. He brings his hands to his sides, but quickly finds out there are no pockets in his soft camel pleated trousers and so he clasps them together. When he bites his trembling lips, it is almost unbearable to keep your eyes on him, but you cannot look away either.

Then, his features harden, and it is probably worse than before as your stomach tightens.

“Goodbye.”

You almost miss the sound, his voice barely above a whisper. Tears threaten to fall down your cheeks, but Gwilym is already gone, his moccasins tapping against the cold tiles of the stairs. You fight the urge to wrap your arms around yourself and have a breakdown right here and now. All you do is simply turn around, every movement calculated so as not to make an unnecessary one. Daniel is still standing at the entrance, his eyebrows raised in the piqued curiosity of what has just occurred.

“I can’t go for another date with you. I’m sorry.”

But you don’t feel sorry at all, well, not sorry for him at least. Your thoughts have turned into a tangled ball of turmoil and indescribable emotions, which are hard to make sense of.

When you reach your floor, you stop in your tracks to your flat. You have thought you lost all the courage, but you muster some from deep inside and cross the hall to knock on his door with determination.

God knows how long you are standing there, you knock again, and again.

Nothing.

Not even a sign of hope.

Your heart skips a beat when you finally hear the creak of a door being open, but a lump forms in your throat instead when it dawns on you that it is not Gwil’s door but Mrs Thompson’s.

“Hello Mrs Thompson,” you greet meekly the slightly open door of the 3A flat and drag your feet to your home.

You do not bother taking off your shoes or clothes. Crushing straight into your bed, you finally give yourself the permission to let your emotions flow and cry yourself to sleep.

Taglist: @lv7867, @spacedustmazzello, @queenwouldyourathers, @im-an-adult-ish, @fairestkillerqueenofall, @supernaturalee, @queenlover05, @geek-and-proud, @chlobo6, @mrsmazzello, @timeandpixiedust, @kerouacsroad, @gwilsmainhoe

#gwilym lee x reader #gwilym lee angst #gwilym lee fluff #gwilym lee fic #gwilym lee imagine #multichapter #fluff #angst #vee writes #*mine

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writingfortoomanyfandoms · 5 years ago

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Holding Up The Universe

Pairing: Gwilym Lee!Brian May x Reader

Summary: She worked in an animal shelter and sometimes it felt a bit too much like she was holding up the universe

Requested: No

Warnings: Swearing

A/N: I’ve been talking about this fic for so long but for Day Three of my 4K Write Fest I actually finished it!! I hope you guys enjoy reading it, I loved writing it. As always, please remember to let me know what you thought - comment, reblog, send an ask, anything! I love hearing from you guys!!!

And if you wanna check out the other things that will be coming out for the Write Fest click here: 4K Write Fest

The woman at the desk in the lobby of the animal shelter was reading a book.

Brian couldn’t help but stare at her as he paused in the doorway, the door being propped open by a chair to let in the warm summer breeze.

If it weren’t for the heavy cardboard box in his hands, the contents of which had just begun to move a little, the tiny animal inside seemingly having just woken up, he wondered whether or not he would have admired the woman for a little longer.

“Hi - sorry to bother you,” Brian spoke up instead, gaining the attention of the woman, whose head snapped up, wide eyed in surprise at her sudden company.

A smile quickly formed on her face as she bookmarked her page, shaking her head at him.

“Hey, sorry about that. Wasn’t expecting it to be busy today,” she assured him, placing her book down and standing up from behind the desk. “How can I help you?”

“I found a hedgehog in my garden earlier today,” Brian explained awkwardly and she gestured for him to bring the box over and set it down on the table.

“Was she injured at all?” The woman inquired, opening the cardboard box.

“Yeah, I think so. Sorry - I wasn’t sure where else to bring him,” Brian told her apologetically. The woman gave him a dazzling smile, shrugging her shoulders at his concerned tone.

“It’s alright - we mainly just do rescue animals like dogs, cats, rabbits and such but we’d never turn away a hedgehog in need,” she assured him, winking. That simple action went straight to his heart and had him beaming back at her.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Brian said, for lack of a witty response on his part.

“So he was just in your garden?”

“Yeah, just chilling there.” Brian confirmed.

“Aw, well, we’ll definitely get her checked out, make sure she’s okay and we’ll see what happens,” the woman said with a bright smile that lit up her eyes.

“Thanks!” Brian said. “Do you want me to move the box for you? It’s pretty heavy,” he offered.

“Um, yeah, sure if you’re offering - we’re low staffed today because it’s been so empty lately and one of my coworkers called in sick this morning anyway,” the woman laughed, pushing open the door behind the desk, which presumably led to where the animals currently being cared for in the rescue centre were kept.

“So how many are in today?”

“Just me and another girl,” she shrugged. “But I think she’s out in the back. She’s new so we don’t talk much,” Brian joined in with her laughter.

“I’m Brian, by the way,” the woman gestured for him to put down the box on the table in the back room, where there were pens filled with sawdust and little habitats, holes in the wall where the animals were able to go through into the garden outside the back of the rescue centre.

Brian presumed that this was where they would keep the nocturnal wild animals before they were able to be safely re-released into their natural habitats.

The woman held out her hand to Brian once he had placed the box containing the hedgehog onto the table she indicated to him.

“Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you,” Brian said as he took her hand, thrilled at having learnt her name.

“You too! Thanks for bringing the little guy in - a lot of people wouldn’t have,” Y/N said, letting go of Brian’s hand and opening the cardboard box to look at the hedgehog, which had nestled itself comfortably into the towels which Brian had put in the bottom of the box, unsure of the best course of action of how to care for the small animal on his trip over to the rescue shelter.

“Thanks for looking after him,” Brian shrugged in response, taking the chance as Y/N was examining the hedgehog to allow his eyes to trace over her features, drinking her in in a way that he knew would probably make her uncomfortable if she caught him doing it, but he couldn’t help it.

Brian thought she was beautiful.

///

Brian hated himself for how much he found himself visiting the rescue centre that Y/N worked at.

The first few times he came after coming in the first time to drop off the hedgehog, he had done so under the premise that he was checking up on the little animal that he had brought in, wanting to check up on it’s progress and make sure that it was healing from the broken leg it had - Y/N had explained the extent of the hedgehog’s injuries to him the second time he had come in, eager to let him know the progress of the animal he had saved.

By this point, three weeks after having originally met her, Brian didn’t even attempt to pretend that he was at the rescue centre for any reason other than to see Y/N.

Y/N didn’t seem to mind, though.

She never failed to greet him with a wide smile, her eyes sparkling with pure joy. Something which he would sometimes make fun of her for, claiming that he must be the best part of her day judging by how happy she seemed every time that he entered into the centre.

Y/N claimed that her happiness came as a result of the coffee which Brian had taken to buying her on his way over.

Everytime that he would pay her a visit, Y/N would take him to see the animals currently residing in the shelter under her care. Brian loved those moments, to be able to see Y/N completely in her element, walking around the shelter with such confidence, knowing exactly what she needed to do to ensure the safety and well-being of the animals.

“Back again?” Y/N teased when Brian walked into the rescue shelter. He raised his eyebrows at her and tilted his head back towards the door.

“I can go, if you want - I’m sure one of the guys would happily take this coffee if you don’t want it?”

“Let's not be rash now,” Y/N protested, making Brian laugh, taking the coffee over and placing it into her outstretched hand. “How’s it going with the guys anyway? Any advances on the record?”

It hadn’t taken long for Y/N to recognise Brian as being the guitarist in Queen, she was a fan of theirs and the second time Brian had come in she had been straight-up and asked him whether or not it was actually him.

Brian had been wary about agreeing, unsure of what her reaction would be. But she had jumped to apologise about ambushing him with the question, assuring him that she had no malicious intent against him through placing his identity.

Brian had trusted her immediately and confirmed her suspicions, laughing when she recounted her story to him about going to see them play at their last London show.

“Slowly,” Brian admitted with a sigh - he had taken to offloading his worries about the albums onto her, knowing that she wouldn’t spread his concerns any further than just between the two of them, thankful to now have a confidant. It went two ways, though, of course, he was often the person who Y/N would go to to vent about her coworkers and how stressed she felt with how understaffed they actually were at the shelter.

“Still no inspiration?” Y/N asked sympathetically as Brian dragged up a chair to sit opposite the desk she was sat behind.

“No - and the few songs we have managed to write we can’t agree on,” he added.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that Roger hates everything Freddie’s written, Freddie hates everything I’ve written, I hate everything Deaky’s written and he hates everything that Roger’s written. It all goes around in circles but it means that we can’t agree on any songs that all of us actually like,” Brian grumbled.

“Sounds like fun,” Brian released a quiet huff of laughter, shaking his head.

“I’m pretty close to just breaking my guitar over my head if I’m honest,” he stated, revelling in the sound of laughter it brought from her.

“How long are you there for?” Brian glanced at the clock on the desk and let out a sigh.

“I’m meant to be there in half an hour and we probably won’t leave until midnight, when Fred quite literally passes out,” Y/N pouted at him sympathetically. “How long are you working for?”

“I was meant to be getting off in an hour and a half but Jess called in sick-”

“Again?”

“My sentiments exactly,” Y/N agreed grimly. “So I’m staying late again.”

“You’re not working tomorrow though, are you?” Brian asked, trying to hide the hope in his voice but Y/N appeared to pick up on it regardless, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously.

“Not yet, but you never really know with this job,” Y/N confirmed. “What’s going on?”

“I just… I was wondering if you’d maybe want to get some coffee together,” Brian proposed. Y/N lifted her cup at him.

“What did you think we were doing right now?” She asked but when Brian looked at her he saw the mischievous twinkle in her eye and let out a sigh, rolling his eyes.

“You’re really gonna make me ask it?”

“How else will I know that we’re on the same page?”

“God you’re annoying.”

“Do you want to get coffee together or not?” Brian smiled at her expression.

“Y/N Y/L/N, if you could spare the time from your incredibly busy schedule, tomorrow would you like to go on a date with me?”

///

“You seem nervous,” Brian commented when he opened the door to his apartment to see his girlfriend on the other side, a bottle of wine in her hand and a nervous smile on her face.

“Probably because I am,” Y/N retorted, rolling her eyes. Brian stepped to the side to allow Y/N into the hallway, chuckling at her words.

“I don’t know why,” he said, pecking her lips quickly.

“Oh yeah, can’t imagine,” Y/N scoffed, rolling her eyes at his nonchalant attitude. “Not like I’m about to meet your best friends, nevermind the other members of Queen.”

“Trust me, they’re all tossers,” Brian assured her. “Nothing to worry about,” he added, pressing a kiss to her head.

“Easy for you to say,” Y/N muttered. “You’ve already met them.”

Brian laughed again, placing his hands on her shoulders and steering her further into his apartment, kicking the front door closed behind them.

“You’d hope I had wouldn’t you - considering that we’re in a band together and all,” Brian mused.

“Is that her, darling?” Freddie called from the kitchen, where he was standing with John, who was uncapping two bottles of beer.

“Yeah! This is Y/N,” he confirmed.

“Nice to meet you, darling, Bri has talked non-stop about you,” Freddie was swift to move over towards her, a charming smile on his face as he held his hand out towards her.

“N-nice to meet you too,” Brian squeezed Y/N’s shoulder affectionately.

“She’s a bit nervous. She’s a fan,” Brian informed Freddie, whose eyes lit up in response. John was watching the interaction with amusement dancing across his face. All the guys loved seeing people interacting with and talking to Freedie for the first time, especially people who were fans of the band as they never really knew what to expect from the singer.

“Oh that’s wonderful!” Freddie enthused, taking Y/N’s hand and shaking it, despite her not having offered it to him. “We’re also big fans - Deaky here is actually my biggest fan.”

John looked at him, expressionless other than a slightly raised eyebrow. He turned his eyes onto Y/N and said, completely deadpan: “I’ve never loved anyone more than I love Freddie.”

“Good to know,” a woman’s voice stated from behind Brian and Y/N.

“Y/N - this is Deaky’s girlfriend, Veronica. Veronica, this is Y/N.”

“Of course you are!” Veronica smiled, holding out her hand for Y/N to take. “We’ve all heard so much about you.”

“That seems to be the theme of the evening, yeah.” Y/N chuckled, looking at Brian in amusement. “How much do you talk about me, exactly?”

“Oh it’s fucking endless, honestly - hedgehog girl this, hedgehog girl that. Makes me consider taking a drumstick and shoving it through my own eye.” Roger grumbled.

“It’s nice to meet you too.”

///

“Shit - Y/N? What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

Y/N had gotten three steps into Brian’s apartment and started to cry.

Brian had rushed out of the kitchen, where he was preparing dinner for the two of them, at the sound of her sobs, his heart clenching with worry as he observed her.

“Fuck - come here,” Brian pulled her into his arms, hugging her as close as he could manage, dropping his chin on top of her head and rocking them both backwards and forwards gently.

“I’m sorry,” Y/N sobbed into his chest. Brian rubbed his hands up and down her arm in his best attempt at comforting her.

“You don’t need to be sorry, Angel,” Brian soothed, pressing his lips to her forehead. “Come on, let's get you sat down somewhere more comfortable, yeah?” He suggested and Y/N nodded with a little sniffle, pulling away and wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper.

Y/N allowed Brian to lead her into his living room, where he pushed her gently down onto the sofa, grabbing the blanket from its back and draping it over her, watching as she sunk into the pillows, the personification of exhaustion when her eyes fell closed, a few more tears slipping down her cheeks from under her now-closed eyelids.

“Where are you going?” Y/N whimpered, her eyes opening when Brian began to move away from the sofa.

“Just gonna turn the dinner off - don’t want it getting burnt, sweetheart,” Brian soothed her, kissing her forehead again before straightening up. “I’ll be back in two minutes,” he promised.

When he returned he brought with him two mugs of tea and a pack of biscuits, knowing by now in their relationship the best way to calm her down when she was upset.

Y/N wordlessly held her arms out for him, though, and Brian sat on the sofa next to her, pulling her into his grip as she began to cry a little again.

“You wanna talk about it, Angel?” Brian probed gently once Y/N’s tears seemed to subside, little sniffles and the occasional tear left in their wake.

“I’m just so stressed, Bri,” she admitted, nestling herself closer to him, a mournful expression on her face.

“Shelter stuff?” Brian asked sympathetically, kissing the top of her head.

“Yeah I just… it feels like I’m the only one working there, you know? And it’s just so stressful and I hate the people I work with and I love the animals - I do! I love that I can help them and everything but it just all feels so far out of my control so much of the time and I don’t… I just feel so alone there, like everyone and everything is relying solely on me,” the words tumbled quickly from her lips, as though she had been holding them inside of herself for so long that they were relieved to finally be able to burst free.

Brian’s arms tightened around her.

“I’m sorry, Angel.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know,” Brian conceded before shrugging a little helplessly. “But I’m still sorry that you feel like this.”

“Does it make me a bad person?” Y/N questioned after a couple of minutes of silence filling the room.

“No - you’re human, Y/N/N. And you do practically run that shelter alone half the time with how understaffed you are and the amount of times people call in sick. Of course you’re tired and stressed, anyone can see how much you love the animals and how good you are at looking after them. You’re not a bad person for needing a break, okay, Angel?”

“Okay.”

“You feeling better?” Brian asked and Y/N lent forwards to pick up her mug of tea before nestling back into Brian’s side.

“Much - sorry about that.”

“Stop apologising, sweetheart, I’m just glad I could help.”

#Brian May #brian may fanfiction #brian may imagine #brian may x reader #brian may fanfic #brian may fic #brian may fan #brian may fluff #brian may imagines #brian may x y/n #gwilym lee!brian may #bohemian rhapsody #queen #courts 4K Write Fest #courts writings

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adrenaline-roulette · 5 years ago

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MASTERLIST

Welcome one and all, to the shitshow MASTERLIST My requests are always open! Currently I write for Queen, the BohRhap cast, Six Underground, Jurassic Park, Until Dawn, Labyrinth, and Night at the Museum. Don’t see your fandom on the list? Hit me up anyways, I’ll happily try my hand at writing for other fandoms!

Smut = 💋 Angst = 👀 Violence = 🦴

Brian May x Reader

He’ll save every one of us -In Progress- Summary: “If you want to kick something, feel free to kick our van, Roger’s been pissing me off all week.” Came a deep voice from behind you both. “I’m sorry Mister, but I have a strict no kicking stranger’s cars policy. You’ll just have to kick Roger’s car yourself.” “Is there any particular reason as to why Roger’s car should be the victim of such abuse?”

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five 👀 Chapter Six 👀 Chapter Seven

Is this just fantasy? -Time Travel Fic In Progress- Summary: "Want me to bring back some ice-cream, and you can bitch about how horrible you day was?” The idea of ice-cream had never been more appealing. “I believe Ben and Jerry’s is on sale at the moment, I could really go from some chunky monkey.” “I never understood why you like that one so much!” “I try to convince myself that because it’s banana flavoured then it must be healthy.” “As a dietitian in training, it is my duty to tell you, that that is not by any means true.” “For a dietitian in training, you eat an awful lot of instant mac & cheese.” “Whoa now, there is no such thing as too much mac & cheese!”

Chapter One Chapter Two

It’s strange but it’s true -One Shot- Summary: It’s 1984, Queen are filming the music video for I want to break free, though Brian hasn’t told his girlfriend about the whole cross dressing aspect of the shoot yet. What happens when she decides to show up to filming one day? “Roger…. What the actual fuck are you wearing right now?”

Chapter One 💋

Roger Taylor x Reader

Love of my life -One shot- Summary: Roger Taylor's girlfriend is heavily pregnant, one night they decide to pick the perfect name for their unborn child, Though Roger has some seriously terrible suggestions. (Domestic Roger is my spirit animal)

Chapter One

Dining at the Ritz we’ll meet at 9 -One Shot- Summary: “I’m telling the truth! I know what – Who I saw!” “Brian, just because the waitress and Roger’s friend have the same name, does not mean they are the same person.” “Friend? I think she’s a bit more than that.” “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean." “A friend who you will not stop talking about? A friend who you couldn’t stop grinning after she agreed to have dinner with you? Shall I go on?” “Freddie, I will kill you if you don’t shut up!”

Chapter One

Crazy little thing called love -One Shot- Summary: “Turn around! Get your arse back in that fitting room right this second!” She yells, waving her arms above her head wildly. “Mary? What on Earth are you doing?” “Roger! The boys! They’re outside, they saw me and are coming in!” “Get rid of them! I don’t care what you have to do, but they cannot be in here!” You plead.

Chapter One

I’m in love with my car -One Shot- Summary: We all know Roger Taylor is in love with his car, but who is the song really about? Who do the metaphor's relate back to? "I’ve only just convinced myself not to walk back to London to see you after realising how long it would take me.” “You were going to walk back to London, just to see me?" “The thought did occur to me.”

Chapter One 💋

John Deacon x Reader

A permanent deal -One Shot- Summary: “Right, just promise me this isn’t going to become the new look for the band alright? I mean, Brian’s got enough hair already, and I’m not entirely sure Roger can even grow facial hair.” John shrugs. “I don’t have that much hair.” “Bri, we could shave you and have your hair turned into costumes for the entire cast of cats!”

Chapter One

Joe Mazzello x Reader

Everybody walk the dinosaur -Halloween One Shot-

Chapter One

Gwilym Lee x Reader

King of the pumpkin patch -Halloween One Shot-

Chapter One

Ben Hardy x Reader

Let’s split up gang! -Halloween One Shot-

Chapter One

Jet Lag -One Shot- Summary: “I use a different name when travelling. One that’s less likely to have people catch on to it being me.” “What name do you use?” “Probably something stupid, like Dinkleburg Flapjack.” “I like to go by a name literally no one will ever now. Joe Mazzello is one of my favourites to use. Shockingly, no one’s ever heard of him?”

Chapter One

Four x Eight (Reader) -Six Underground

Four Eighths -Work in progress- Summary: A tech genius turned freelance hacker, turns to a life of crime in order to make ends meet, and to pay her bills. But what happens when she robs the wrong man? “You’re lucky I only shot your arm, I was half tempted to aim one at your leg too!” “Is that supposed to make me feel better? Do you expect me to thank you for only shooting me once?” “You’re sassy, I like you.”

Chapter One 🦴 Chapter Two Chapter Three 👀🦴 Chapter Four 👀 Chapter Five 👀 Chapter Six 👀💋 (Both are minor) Chapter Seven 💋 Chapter Eight 💋 Chapter Nine 👀 (Very minor) Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven 👀

Ahkmenrah x Reader - Night at the museum

I am flesh and I am bone -Work in progress- Summary: At seven years old, you find yourself lost in the American Museum of Natural History. The magic of Ahkmenrah's tablet unfolds around you, and you find yourself living growing up amongst the people you had only ever read about! “Can I ask how old you are?” “At the time of my passing, I was nineteen. Though if you count my age by the years I have experienced, then I am a few thousand years old.” “So that means in twelve years, I’ll be the same age as you!” “Technically you are correct. There will come a day where we are both nineteen.”

Chapter One Chapter Two

Josh Washington x Reader -Until Dawn

I say no -Work in progress- Summary: Set after Hannah and Beth's disappearance, but before the return to the mountain.Straining your ears, you tried your best to pick up on what some of the surrounding people were talking about, though you were only able to pick up bits and pieces. “Washington sisters…” “-Police didn’t find any trace.” “Think Josh will come back?” “Hannah and Mike got cosy….”

Chapter One 👀 (Minor) Chapter Two 👀 (Minor)

Tim Murphy x Reader - Jurassic Park

Time of your life -One shot- Summary: “Come here for a second.” “What’s up?” “Well, we never got a photo of us on our first day here, but I want to remember this. It’s a big deal ya know, the whole moving out of your family home and all that jazz. So, let’s get a photo now, we can show off my artistic ability in the process too.” “A perfect idea, I’ll grab my camera, and I’ll get the photo printed next time I’m in the mall.” “Welcome home Tim.”

Chapter One 👀 (Minor)

Jareth x Sarah - Labyrinth

Absolute Beginners -Work in progress- Summary: “Remember that chat we had the other day?” “You mean the one where we discussed whether pork was really a type of vegetable?” “No, not that o- Wait, when did we have THAT conversation?!” “Perhaps that was with my advisor Garret, not matter, please continue.”

Chapter One Chapter Two

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nonstoplover · 4 years ago

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nonstoplover's song drabbles

about: so recently i got the idea to write short stories using song lyrics as inspiration. i read the lyrics and write the first thing that comes to my mind. to choose the person and song i usually use a random generator online. here is my main masterlist. notes: i just want to note here that i mean no disrespect to any of these people, these are all just fruits of my imagination, often including details that are not real in any way.

SEBASTIAN STAN:

☆ please don't say you love me | s.s. x fem!reader — (y/n)’s afraid of love because of her earlier experiences, but Sebastian’s determined to stick around for as long as it takes for her walls to crumble and let him love her as he wants to.

.*☆

TOM HOLLAND:

☆ met this girl | t.h. x fem!reader — tom is with his best friends at a bar just like every friday night when a group of girls walk through the door and his breath hitches in his throat catching sight of one of them. he knows he gotta have her, but it proves to be a much harder task than he thought. ☆ some kind of beautiful | t.h. x fem!reader — as soon as he can, tom jumps on a plane to get back to the uk, getting into his car right away to drive up to liverpool, where his girlfriend of years lives. he’s tired, hell, exhausted, but he knows that he has to ask her to move in with him tonight, because he won’t survive another day without her by his side.

.*☆

CHRIS EVANS:

☆ wasn't expecting that | c.e. x fem!reader, time montage — (y/n) spends her friday night at a club to let go of some of the stress her job causes in her and catches the eyes of a particularly attractive blonde man. he introduces himself, they start talking, and it eventually leads to them having a love-filled, amazing life together.

.*☆

BEN HARDY:

☆ beautiful people | b.h. x fem!reader — (y/n) never enjoyed parties, nor did ben, so when there’s yet another one they have to attend, they escape as soon as they can and instead spend their time doing what they love, aimlessly driving around, singing their hearts out and eating a huge amount of candy. ☆ wake me up | b.h. x best friend!reader — ben and (y/n) has been best friends ever since kindergarten, and after a night they spend together in her bed, he suddenly can’t decipher what he actually feels towards the girl.

.*☆

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET:

☆ trust fund baby v.1 | t.c. x mechanic!reader — timothée’s car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and he calls the closest auto repair garage to get help. what he doesn’t expect to see is a girl his age climb out from the arriving breakdown truck, and with every passing second, he’s more and more in awe of her and her expert knowledge. ☆ trust fund baby v.2 | t.c. x fem!reader — timothée’s car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and as he’s contemplating what he should do, a jeep approaches him with a young girl inside who offers her help with his car, and despite the boy’s disbelief, she manages to repair it, leaving him in awe of her.

.*☆

JOE MAZZELLO:

☆ sand in my shoes | j.m. x fem!reader, strangers to lovers trope — to get away from the non-stop work she’s done in the past years, (y/n) books a holiday to kauai. to get some rest before the shooting of his next movie starts, joe goes to kauai to have some peace and alone time. their paths cross and they can’t stop the fire that immediately sparks between the two of them, resulting in them spending the next two weeks together.

.*☆

DYLAN O'BRIEN:

☆ all that i know | d.o'b. x ex!reader, angst — three months have passed since (y/n) and Dylan broke up, but she still can’t get over him. one night - one particularly bad night - he appears in their previously shared flat to pick the rest of his stuff up.

.*☆

GWILYM LEE:

☆ worse | g.l. x ex!reader, angst — (y/n) and gwil broke up just a month ago when their paths cross again in a restaurant, and the girl asks her guy friend she’s having dinner with to fake date her so her ex thinks she’s over him, when in reality she’s not. gwilym notices and it hurts him like hell to see her with another guy.

.*☆

HARRY STYLES:

☆ too afraid to love you | h.s. x ex!reader, fluff — (y/n) met harry a couple years back, they had a summer fling, then he went to pursue a carrier and what they had ended. now, a few years down the line they bump into each other on the street and feelings come rushing back. ☆ what your father says | h.s. x next door girl!reader, somewhat slowburn — harry's been in love with the girl next door for like forever - but her father doesn't allow them even to meet. she's uncertain but he knows he can't give up.

.*☆

CALUM HOOD:

☆ friend of a friend | c.h. x fem!reader — at a wedding Calum’s eyes catch sight of a girl he immediately takes fancy of, and when he notices an old friend of his enter her group, he knows this is his only chance to get her.

.*☆

LUKE HEMMINGS:

☆ everglow | l.h. x fem!reader, angst, tw: death — three worried 5sos boys try to help a broken luke after his fiancée passes away because of cancer, but no matter what they say or do, he refuses any kind of help and advice. though one sentence catches his ears when he’s out of the room, and eventually he finds a method to gain control over his feelings.

.*☆

DANIEL SEAVEY:

☆ unbelievable | d.s. x best friend!reader, childhood friends to lovers trope — (y/n)’s family moves to vancouver, oregon when she’s a freshman in high school. on her first day of school there she bumps into a boy named daniel, and throughout the next couple years they become the closest best friends possible.

.*☆

TYLER JOSEPH:

☆ best part of me | t.j. x fem!reader, fluff — tyler’s in europe on tour. (y/n)’s in la for some work stuff. it’s the girl’s birthday, so they facetime, because there’s nothing more that they could do to celebrate, and it breaks tyler’s heart to see her alone in a hotel room on the other side of the world on this special day.

.*☆

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freddiesaysalright · 5 years ago

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Soft in Love Part 1

A Gwilym Lee x Student!Reader Fic

Summary: Y/N is an acting student in her last semester of college. When a professor unexpectedly can’t make it for the senior capstone class, a very famous (and handsome) substitute is called in. When they connect, they face a few challenges.

Word Count: 2.6k

Tag List: @psychosupernatural, @someone-get-a-medic, @bensrhapsody, @deakyclicks, @crazylittlethingcalledobsession, @minigranger, @crazyweirdocalledfriday, @benders-diamond-earring If you’d like to be added, let me know!

A/N: Well, you all voted, and here it is! The promised fic! I hope you all enjoy.

Warning(s): None. Just some eye contact and the beginnings of pining!

Part 1 here we go!!!

Gazing out at the auditorium, you swung your legs back and forth as they dangled over the edge of the stage. Your classmates chatted among each other, but you were content in your own thoughts. You preferred not to speculate on why Professor Bennett was so late. Since she was thirty-seven weeks pregnant, it could be anything.

“D’you want to run lines with me, Y/N?” came the voice of Sloan. “Might as well be productive while we wait.”

You turned your head and smiled at your best friend. “Yeah, sure.”

Pulling your knees up, you got to your feet, grabbing your script off the stage. You headed downstage with Sloan. You flipped to a scene you had together, of which there were plenty. You were playing sisters Esther and Rose Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis. You decided to pick the scene before the party in the Smith’s home. You started.

“I’m going to let John Truitt kiss me tonight,” you began.

“Esther Smith!” she gasped.

You shrugged. “Well, if we’re going to get married, I may as well start it.”

Sloan shook her head. “Nice girls don’t let men kiss them until after they’re engaged. Men don’t want the bloom rubbed off.”

“Personally, I think I have too much bloom,” you read. “Maybe that’s the trouble with me…”

Sloan opened her mouth to read the next line, but at that moment, the door burst open and two men walked in. One, you recognized from the department - Dr. Hugh Curtis. An elderly man that loved his job far too much to retire. He was also helping out your class by playing Grandpa in the show. The other man, much younger than Dr. Curtis, but older than you and your classmates, you didn’t recognize. He was handsome with angular features, rich brown hair, and startling blue eyes. He was tall as well. His eyes found yours and you inexplicably blushed.

“Holy shit,” Sloan said under her breath. “That’s Gwilym Lee.”

You pulled your eyes away from his blue depths and looked at your friend.

“Who?” you whispered.

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Y/N? Gwilym Lee, the actor. A famous one.”

“I’ve never seen him in anything,” you returned with a shrug.

“He was in Bohemian Rhapsody just last year,” she remarked.

“I never saw that,” you reminded her.

When the men reached the class, you and Sloan stopped your whispering debate and focused on them. Your eyes lingered on Gwilym, whose striking face made you feel so incredibly...something. You weren’t sure what. Attraction? That seemed too obvious. Desire? That wasn’t really like you. Attachment? You hardly knew him.

“Good morning, everyone,” said Dr. Curtis. “I’m pleased to announce that Professor Bennett went into labor last night, and delivered a healthy baby boy.”

Andrew, your other best friend and co-star in the show, whooped loudly while the rest of the class politely applauded. You and Sloan exchanged excited smiles.

“Yes, yes,” Dr. Curtis went on, quieting everyone down. “Mother and baby are perfectly well and are expected to go home from the hospital tomorrow. Unfortunately, since she is now on maternity leave, she’s unable to teach this class and direct your show. To replace her, I called in a dear friend and former student of mine, Mr. Gwilym Lee.”

Everyone clapped again as Gwilym smiled bashfully and looked around at the class. When his eyes met yours again, you nearly stopped breathing. His face seemed to freeze as well, but he quickly shook his head and cleared his throat. Then he looked at the other students.

“Hello, everyone,” he said with a friendly wave. “I’m very excited to be with your class. Luckily, you’re only a week into the semester, so I hope I don’t have too much catching up to do.”

“We’re lucky to have you,” Edith, your older classmate, spoke up. She was around thirty, and was going to college later since she had children so early in life. “If you need any help, catching up, you can always ask me.”

Gwilym smiled kindly and nodded at her.

Sloan leaned over your shoulder and whispered in your ear, “Desperate, much?”

You bit back a laugh. You didn’t enjoy making fun of Edith, but she did have such a superiority complex about being the oldest in the class. She was also a bit more experienced, acting in small productions outside the city. But she was awfully confident for someone who had never actually starred in anything. You could almost hear how everyone else rolled their eyes.

“Thank you, Edith,” said Dr. Curtis. “Now, this class is only seventy-five minutes, we’ve got to begin rehearsal.”

Gwilym looked over at you and your friend, willing you to catch his eye again. You didn’t. He sighed and wondered why that disappointed him so much. That first moment of eye contact had him reeling. You were captivating and beautiful. And he didn’t even know your name.

The woman named Edith tapped him on the shoulder, pulling him out of his reverie.

“I’m Edith,” she said, sticking out her hand.

“I gathered,” he returned, shaking it.

She giggled.

“It’s nice to meet you, Edith,” he said. “Gwilym.”

“Oh, I know who you are,” she replied, raising her eyebrows at him.

“Who are you playing in the show?” he asked, becoming slightly uncomfortable under her gaze.

“I’m Katie, the maid,” she told him, and he detected some bitterness there.

“That’s great,” he said. “I think I’m gonna just - well - introduce myself to everyone else.”

Dr. Curtis saved him further by grabbing his arm and insisting on the exact same thing. To Gwilym, it was like torture as he made his way from small group to small group, slowly approaching where you stood with two other students. You laughed and his heart skipped a beat. He hardly even heard the other students’ names or the parts they were playing. Finally, they made it to your group.

“This is Sloan, she’s playing Rose,” Dr. Curtis said. “That’s Andrew, and he’s playing John Truitt.”

Gwilym shook their hands.

“Wonderful to meet you,” he said.

“And now, we’ve saved the best for last, the star of our show,” said Dr. Curtis with an excited clap. “Y/N Y/L/N, who is our Esther.”

You held out your hand with a dazzling smile, and Gwilym shook it. A shock went from your palm to his, something only the two of you could feel. The warmth of familiarity went through your veins.

“Nice to meet you,” you said nervously.

“You as well,” Gwilym returned.

“Y/N is a bit of a diamond in the rough,” Dr. Curtis said. “She’s normally so quiet, you wouldn’t expect her to be an actress. But you put her on a stage with lights and an audience and she shines like the star over Bethlehem!”

“Dr. Curtis!” you replied, a deep blush turning your cheeks pink.

“Well, it’s true,” he insisted. He looked at Gwilym. “Such talent. And at just twenty-two years old!”

Gwilym’s chest tightened. Twenty-two. That made him thirteen years older than you. He forced all thoughts of your beauty down, tucking them away forever. Besides, you were a student and he was your teacher, at least for this semester.

“She’s graduating in December,” Dr. Curtis went on. “We’ll be very sorry to lose her. But I’m sure we’ll see her soon enough on Broadway!”

Your eyes remained fixed on Gwilym’s face. His expression shifted when Dr. Curtis had mentioned your age, but you couldn’t put your finger on the emotion. You figured that was expected. You hardly knew how to phrase what you were feeling.

“Who knows?” Gwilym said. “Maybe she’ll come to the West End.”

“If you steal this girl from New York City, we will never forgive you,” Dr. Curtis teased.

The two of them walked away together, Gwilym looking back at you just once more. You offered a soft smile before he turned away.

“Well,” said Sloan with a sigh. “I bet you’d let him kiss you before you were engaged.”

You elbowed her.

“Shut up!” you groaned. “He’s our teacher. That’s weird.”

“Not that weird,” Andrew pointed out. “There’s like, loads of porn out there about just that.”

“Ew!” you replied. “You just made it even weirder.”

He shrugged. “I’m just saying!”

“Well, don’t just say,” you said. “You guys are being ridiculous.”

You ignored the skeptical look they exchanged.

Finally, Sloan’s sister arrived with her daughters, Lily and June, who were playing Tootie and Agnes (the youngest Smith sisters) in the show, respectively. With them there, you could start from the beginning.

You were basically doing another read through. It was so early on, and this was Gwilym’s chance to see each of you read as your characters. Since Dr. Bennett’s husband was no longer able to play Mr. Neely the iceman, Gwilym filled in. A jolt of excitement went through you at seeing a real actor like him perform. Though you weren’t familiar with his work, he was still in exactly the career you wanted for yourself. You made mental notes of everything he did as he read. You quickly saw just how talented he really was.

As class drew to a close, Gwilym was giving everyone pointers. Edith thanked him excessively. You and Sloan met each other’s gaze and you both rolled your eyes.

“Y/N,” Gwilym said as he came to you for his critique. “Excellent work today.”

You paused, waiting for him to give you something to improve on. When he didn’t you just lowered your head and thanked him, blushing again.

“Right, well, since we’ve only got five minutes left, let me just say, I’m very excited about this semester,” Gwilym said, looking around at all of the class. “I think this is going to be a wonderful show, and I feel incredibly…” his eyes found yours and he froze. “Lucky. I really look forward to seeing how the semester goes.”

The whole time, he had held your gaze. When he looked away, he dismissed the class. You quickly retrieved your things and hurried out of the auditorium. The feelings you got when he looked at you were terrifying, especially considering the positions you were in. You inwardly scolded yourself. There was no way a man like that would be interested in you. He was too handsome, too successful, and too...too much older than you.

“Hey, Y/N!” Andrew called as he and Sloan jogged to catch up with you outside. “Why are you sprinting out of here?”

“Sorry,” you muttered. “I just...I need to get to the library.”

“For what?” Sloan asked.

“For a secret rendezvous with Gwilym,” Andrew joked.

During class, Gwilym had asked that you not refer to him as “Professor” or “Mr. Lee.” He wanted everyone to use his first name. His justification for which was that you were all adults. This wasn’t a lecture hall, and he considered the show something collaborative between himself as the director and the class as cast and crew.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” you snipped. “Edith was the one drooling over him.”

“Oh, God,” Sloan chuckled. “I hope we haven’t abandoned him to fend her off on his own.”

“Nah, Dr. Curtis is there,” Andrew replied. “He’ll swat her away if he has to.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, Y/N?” Sloan asked. “You look rattled.”

“It’s just…” you trailed off. You spotted the perfect excuse emerging from the theater as well. “Daniel.”

Daniel, who played your brother in the show, was your ex. You performed together in a showcase last semester, and had fallen for each other while rehearsing “We Kiss in a Shadow” from The King and I. But over the summer, when he went home and you stayed at school, he cheated on you. When you found out, you ended things immediately. He didn’t protest.

“Oh,” Sloan said with understanding. “It sucks that he’s in the capstone class with us.”

“Don’t worry about that cheating asshole,” Andrew added. “You’ve got one last semester here, and you should just enjoy it.”

You smiled. “You’re right, I should.”

“Now come on,” he said. “Let’s get to the dining hall, I’m starving.”

You started to follow your friends. Then, Gwilym and Dr. Curtis came out of the auditorium. Gwilym’s eyes - as if drawn by some magnetic force - found yours once more. He grinned and waved. You wiggled your fingers back shyly. Your heart rate quickened and you took a deep breath to try and steady it. You watched Gwilym go until he disappeared around the corner.

“Y/N?” said Andrew. “You coming?”

You shook your head to clear it.

“Yep!” you assured him, and hurried over, following your friends.

You didn’t see Gwilym shoot you one last look over his shoulder.

After lunch, you did go to the library. You needed to pick up a couple books for a paper you were writing on Shakespeare in another class. You loved classics, so you’d jumped on the opportunity to take a class entirely on the famous playwright. Sloan and Andrew had other classes, so you were on your own as you perused the shelves, scanning the spines of the volumes until at last you found the one you were looking for.

“Good choice,” said a voice from behind you, making you squeak and jump with fright.

You whipped around to come face to face with Gwilym. It was actually more like face to chest. He was well over a head taller than you.

“Sorry,” he chuckled. “Didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“You didn’t,” you lied.

He raised an eyebrow at you.

“You just surprised me, that’s all,” you said. “Anyway, I’m glad you approve. I’m writing a paper and validation of sources is important.”

“That is important,” he agreed.

“What are you doing in the library?” you asked.

“Browsing, really,” he said. “Since I’ve got so much time off, I’d like to read some more.”

“Time off?” you questioned. “You’re teaching a class.”

He shrugged. “I’m really acting as more of a director. Not that I’m complaining. But, I’ve always thought about teaching.”

You smiled. “I think you’ll be great. We’ll learn from you no matter what.”

He felt his cheeks warm. “Thank you.”

“You do have a sort of professor-y vibe,” you said. “I mean, your blazer has elbow patches on it.”

He laughed and you felt your heart race.

“It is sort of dorky isn’t it?” he joked.

You looked earnestly into his eyes.

“I didn’t say that.”

You looked at each other for another long moment. You felt certain that his eyes would be the death of you. That he would one day look a moment too long at you and your heart would explode out of your chest.

You cleared your throat.

“If you’re looking for something good to read,” you said, killing the moment. “Try that one.” You pointed to a book on the next shelf. “It’s about Shakespeare’s sonnets and how they reflect his view of women. Interesting stuff.”

He pulled it delicately down and looked it over.

“I think I will,” he said.

“And when you’re done, you can tell me your thoughts,” you blurted out. “And we can talk about it…”

He smiled kindly down at you. “I’d like that very much.”

“Great!” you said, just a little too loudly. “Sorry. Um, that’s great. But I’ve got to get to my next class, so I’ll see you on Thursday?”

“Unless something drastic happens, you will,” he replied.

You grinned. “See you later...Gwilym.”

His name rolled from your tongue comfortably. With one last meaningful look, you disappeared from behind the shelf. He stood there, book in his hand, stricken by how much you already affected him.

“Y/N…” he said to himself. Then he smiled. He really was looking forward to this semester.

237 notes · View notes

mirkwoodshewolf · 5 years ago

Text

Little Mercury protege; AU Alive!Freddie Mercury x Malek!teen reader

*Author’s note*

Okay well guys I didn’t get inspired till Freddie’s birthday had passed, so I know this is late but here is a request I think should’ve been done. To the anon who gave me this request, I hope this is what you were wanting. And I hope to all of you who read this get a thrill out of this :)

Okay warnings; FLUFF. bit of angst, racial discrimination (I mean NO OFFENSE BY THIS if this makes you uncomfortable just skip ahead and don’t read the one scene in question), and just personal opinions on a certain fact of another casting choice (if you belong to team S.B.C playing Freddie, please don’t start a war with me on this okay.)

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

@geek-and-proud

@queendeakyy

@coolcxt

@platawnic

@leah-halliwell92

________________________________________________________

Being the daughter of Rami Malek sometimes has its perks. I’ve been going with him to premieres, I’ve seen my dad film some of his shows, but now my dad is about to become a legend as he had just gotten the role of one of my favorite lead singers of Rock and roll. Freddie Mercury.

For the past eight weeks my dad has been in London practicing his piano skills, because he and the rest of the actors would begin to film the first sequence which was the famous Live Aid performance. And since I had to finish up school, he wouldn’t allow me to come visit the set but now that it’s summertime, my jida (grandma) got me my plane ticket to London so that I could visit my dad on set.

After a long night flight, I finally arrived in London and as soon as I came out of the gate, there I saw my dad holding a sign that said.

“Welcome (y/n)” in full decorated lettering colored in with markers, stickers and glitter. Dad smiled at me and said.

“There’s my girl.” I raced over to him and hugged him and he hugged me back just as tightly. “How was the rest of your school year?”

“It was fine.”

“How’d you do on your finals?” I shrugged and he said. “Oh no, no c’mon now don’t you lie to me. You know I could call your uncle Sami to tell me how you did.”

“I passed dad, got all A’s and B’s.”

“Ehh that’s my girl.” He ruffled my hair and kissed the top of my head. “Wait, are you getting taller?” I giggled and he wrapped his arm around me and guided me away from the gate to the luggage claim.

“So how’s piano lessons going dad? You up to Freddie Mercury standards?”

“Well let’s face it no one except maybe Elton John could match Freddie’s piano skills, but I’d say I’m up to it darling.” I fangirled a bit and said.

“God you can’t drop the mannerisms can you?”

“Guess even off camera I find myself doing minor Freddie things.”

“But it’s so awesome that they picked you to play Freddie, I can’t wait to see you in full getup. So are the cast friendly?”

“Yeah we’ve really bonded with each other very well. Especially the band and I. It’s like we’re the new generation of Queen.”

“Who all’s playing the rest of the band?”

“Ahh now that is a surprise.” I whined out. “Don’t pout you’ll meet them once we get to set. We’re gonna film Live Aid later today once the weather’s just right.”

“I can’t wait.”

“I know you can’t. You’ve made me watch that footage every Live Aid anniversary since you became a fan of Queen.” We arrived at baggage claim and we waited till my suitcase finally came out. He grabbed hold of it and guided me out of the airport and the two of us hopped into a car and drove off to set.

Since this was my first time in London, you know as any tourist I had to take pictures of what I could. The Big Ben clocktower, the London Eye, the many statues, everything and anything in between.

Finally after about a 2 and a half hour drive, we finally arrived at an abandoned lot where I could see hundreds of people running around a mock stadium.

“So this is where you guys are gonna be filming?” I asked.

“Just for Live Aid. The original stadium was torn down so our brilliant set design team found this area and built Wembley stadium from the ground up. You’ll get a better look at it once you see if from the front.” I ahhed in understandment and that’s when our car stopped and he said. “You ready to see everyone?”

“A little nervous too.”

“Don’t worry darling, everything will be alright. You trust me?” he held out his hand for me.

It was a common thing he’s done to help ease my nervousness, and yeah we did kinda steal it from Aladdin but hey it works.

“Yes.” I said as I reached out for his hand and he helped me out of the car.

“Just stay close to me and you won’t get lost among the volunteers and workers.” I held his hand and he guided me towards the stadium. We went around it and when I finally got a good look at it, I was just in awe.

“Whoa.”

“Pretty cool huh? So does it look like Wembley stadium?”

“It’s…..it’s like we’re actually there. And you said they built it from the ground up?”

“Yeah. Did it all while the guys and I were practicing our instruments. C’mon I need to get to makeup anyways so might as well show you that during our tour.” He then guided me over away from the stadium and we went into this large van-like trailer and there I saw rows of chairs and makeup areas.

“Ahh Rami glad to see you’re back.” A voice said. When I looked up, I thought I was actually looking at Brian May back during the original live aid. God this guy he—he’s practically Brian.

“Yep, traffic wasn’t too bad getting out of the airport.”

“So is this your daughter?” the Brian look alike asked.

“Yes. (Y/n) this is Gwilym Lee, our actor for Brian May. Gwil this is the light of my life, (Y/n).”

“It’s so good to finally meet you (y/n). Rami would not stop talking about you. I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.”

“Really, well here I am. And can I just say that you look—exactly like Brian May.” Both my dad and Gwilym chuckled and he said.

“Thank you, I only hope Brian himself approves. I’m told that Queen’s gonna be coming here to watch us perform.”

“Wait—Queen’s coming here? As in all four members?”

“Yep.” Oh shit. “So I hope we all don’t screw up, that’d be the next big disaster.”

“I’m sure we’ll do fine Gwil.”

“Yeah well see you on set. Nice meeting you (y/n).” He and I shook hands with each other and then he left to probably get into wardrobe and costuming.

“Alright Rami, you’re turn.” One of the makeup artists said. My dad sat down and he got fitted into his wig and got his makeup done. It wasn’t until he put the teeth in and the famed mustache, that I swore it was like my father was actually Freddie Mercury and not Rami Malek. Once he was done he turned around and said.

“Well darling what do you think?”

“You look—amazing dad.”

“Thank you, you lovely darling.” Okay now he was really getting the mannerisms done, god I love it when my dad gets committed to a role.

“Right now I need to get into my costume and then we’ll head out to punch a hole in the sky. What do you say dear?”

“Lead the way, Freddie.” I said. He wrapped his arm around me and we were now heading to the costume trailer. He got into the famed Live aid Freddie outfit of the white tank-top, jeans, Adidas black and white sneakers, and the diamond encrusted black armband.

Okay it’s official, I am Freddie Mercury’s daughter.

In full get up my dad had not only acted the part but also looked exactly like Freddie.

We were now heading for the stage where I saw Gwilym talking with another man who wore a should length blonde haired wig and wore the Roger Taylor white shirt and black pants. He was twirling around some drumsticks and that’s when the two of them turned towards us.

“Wow, you look awesome Rami.” The actor playing Roger said.

“Rami? I’m only Freddie darling.” I playfully giggled and rolled my eyes at him.

“And I assume this is your daughter?” he asked again.

“Yep, that’s (y/n). (Y/n) this is Ben Hardy, he’ll be playing Roger Taylor.” Gwilym introduced us.

“It’s great to meet you at last (y/n).” the actor known as Ben held out his hand and we both shook hands. Now I’ll admit I don’t know why they gave him the wrong wig but he did sorta resemble Roger to a degree. I’ll just have to wait and see how he portrays Roger in the film before I make any quick assumptions.

Suddenly I was picked up by the waist and twirled around. I shrieked and told whomever it was that was spinning me around to put me down.

“Ahh now that’s no fun. Is that anyway to treat your favorite uncle?” Oh my god it—it couldn’t be? I quickly turned around to see a big ball of fluffy brown hair but I knew those eyes and that sunshine smile anywhere.

“Uncle Joey!” I exclaimed as I turned and hugged him. He laughed and embraced me in those big arms of his giving me a big bear hug. He laughed as he spun me around and pressed a big kiss to my cheek.

See I had known the famed child actor Joe Mazzello since I was 5 years old. Just shortly after my dad had gotten a role in the HBO series ‘The Pacific’, my mom got into a car accident by a drunk driver and was killed before she even got to the hospital.

I was devastated as was my dad. Since my uncle Sami was too busy to take care of me at the time and figuring out that I needed my father now more than ever, my grandma and auntie sent me to be with my dad.

I was so quiet and barely spoke a word, all I did was just sit far away and cry. It was then I had met Joe, he said he hated seeing kids cry so he tried to make me smile by telling me some jokes of showing me funny cat videos. Amazingly it did make me feel a bit better, at least got me to smile since the accident happened.

As my dad and Joe became closer with each other and soon became best friends, I got to call Joe Mazzello my uncle Joey. And since we were all in New York, anytime my dad had to go away to film something, nine times out of ten Joe was the one to babysit me until my dad got back.

Fun little fact, he’s the one who introduced me to Queen during filming of “The Pacific”. He set me back down and I exclaimed.

“You’re in the film too?!”

“Of course, I thought your dad told you.” I turned to my dad and he briefly broke character as he said.

“I wanted to surprise you. Figured it’d be nice to know that I wasn’t the only one you’d know in this film.”

“So you’re playing John Deacon?”

“Yep, I can’t believe I even made the cut myself, I was stressing out like you wouldn’t believe it. And all they wanted was to hear my accent.”

“God I just gotta say, like Gwilym you—look exactly like John Deacon.”

“I know, so much so that I just had to ask my mom what she was doing in 1983, whether or not she was in London or anything.” I chuckled and hugged him as I said.

“Ahh I’ve missed your dorkiness uncle Joey.”

“Hey it’s not dorkiness, it’s coolness that people wish they could have.” He said as he gave me a playful noogie. “So tell me what’s been up with you in the last two years since I’ve seen you?”

“Well I’m about to go into high school.”

“Get out of town!” he teased.

“No seriously.”

“Oh my god where has the time gone? When I first met you, you were in the middle of kindergarten and now you’re going into big bad high school. Why couldn’t you just stay that adorable little girl that used to hang around my waist and that I could cradle in my arms?” he leaned his forehead against mine and gave me a gentle and loving peck on my nose.

“Sorry uncle Joey, I had to grow up.”

“Noo! I’m Peter Pan and I forbid you from growing up anymore!”

“Alright you big softie layoff her.” Ben said.

“Shut it Benjamin!”

“Okay guys, they’re pulling in now to see the performance. Get into positions.” At this point all four men including my dad were really starting to feel the nerves.

“Who votes for hiding at this point?” asked uncle Joey. All three of them raised their hands and soon we all took off running.

I don’t know how it happened, maybe with a sharp turn or maybe my grip slipped from my uncle Joey’s hand but as we went to hide from the arrival of the band in question, I ended up separated from my dad and his friends.

And since the set was so big, I didn’t know where they could’ve gone. I kept trying to go down a hallway but it only lead me further and further down more corridors and hallways. God the production team wasn’t fooling around when they got every single detail down.

That’s when I bump into someone. I was taken back as I quickly apologized but when I finally looked up to see just who it was that I bumped into, that’s when I just felt the deer in headlights freeze come over me.

For standing there before me was the legend and my number one idol in music, Freddie Mercury. He may have looked much older than he used to back in the day long before my time, his once raven black hair now greying like snow on the road but he still held that famed spark of a true showman even at the age of 70.

“Well hello there darling. A young newbie groupie welcoming committee.” He said with that famed smile of his. He gently ruffled my hair which made me blush but I couldn’t help but smile. But it wasn’t until I noticed that he was also referring to my Queen t-shirt that uncle Joey got me as a birthday present last year and I wrapped my arms around the pictured embarrassed.

“Now, now there’s no need to be ashamed love. It just means you’ve got good taste.” Roger spoke up.

“Alright you two no need to embarrass the girl further.” Deacy said. It was then Brian stepped up and asked me.

“What’s your name love?” Oh my god Brian May just called me love. Though I’ll never admit it, when I was little I did have a bit of a crush viewing some of Brian’s old videos.

“(Y/n). (Y/n) Malek.” I said shyly.

“Malek? You don’t mean like the same Malek dear that’s playing me would it?” I nodded and he said, “Oh that’s perfect. Have you any idea where your father is (y/n) dear?” I shrugged.

“I—I sorta lost them I guess.”

“They wouldn’t happen to be hiding from us would they?” asked Roger. I shrugged and remained silent.

“Well I think we’ve got the perfect leverage to get them out, wouldn’t you agree lads?” Deacy said. Oh I did not like where this was going.

I was then guided by the four senior band members up onto the actual stage where I saw crew members running about and extras getting their markers on where each person should stand.

“So we came across this lovely young lady while getting the layout backstage, and I know she was in proximity to the young actors portraying us.” Freddie exclaimed loud enough so that the people on stage could hear.

“And we did come such a long way it’d be a shame to not see the young men in full shtick after taking such time off our hands.” Brian said.

“So if you young boys would kindly come out we’d greatly appreciate it.” Answered Deacy.

“If not then we’ll just keep the girl hostage until you lot decide to come out.” Roger playfully threatened.

“NO DON’T TAKE HER!! SHE’S JUST A CHILD TAKE ME INSTEAD!!” I heard my uncle Joey proclaim. It was then coming out from behind the flaps of the stage, were my dad, uncle Joey and Gwilym and Ben.

“Ahh so there they are. Knew using this lovely darling would get you four to come out of hiding.” Freddie teased which caused all the guys to blush or look away.

The four legends of Rock and roll then walked up towards their counterparts and studied them carefully. Brian looked like he had went through a time relapse as he stared at Gwilym Lee.

“Bloody hell it’s like looking at me former self, but….” He then began adjusting the hairline of the curls slightly as he said, “The curls actually go this way.” I softly giggled and that’s when I noticed John Deacon stand before my uncle.

“Not bad, I must say you—you definitely resemble me to a T.”

“Believe me Mr. John Deacon sir I—I couldn’t even believe it myself, but the second the wig came on it was—mind blowing.” John smiled and said.

“It’s almost like in a way you’re a long lost child of mine.” Right? Roger was looking at Ben and he even agreed there were some critics but he knew it wasn’t Ben’s fault, mostly blame hair and makeup but Roger did give his sign of approval. But when he said he couldn’t wait to hear Ben play the drums, that’s when I noticed Ben went a bit pale.

And now the moment of truth was when I turned towards my dad to see Freddie circling around him like a lion circling its prey.

“A bit skinner than I was, different eye color but hell I always wanted to have blue eyes. But like Brian and Deacy they chose the right one. At least you’re a lot better than that previous actor they tried to get to play me. God what an arsehole.”

“It’s an honor Freddie Mercury, I know I wasn’t the best choice but—”

“Oh don’t be so humble Rami darling. You already look the part, now I look forward to seeing you act the part. Cause of course no one is as outrageous as me.”

“Alright lads. We’re all set up. We’re ready to film the entire Live Aid sequence from start to finish.” Dexter came up with his cup of coffee.

“Go kill em boys.” Brian wished them all good luck. Dad came up to me and he gave me a hug and a kiss.

“Ready to see Live Aid?”

“I’ve been waiting nine years to see this dad. You guys are gonna kill it out there.” The guys went behind the flaps for their cue to rush on out, but then just before I could step aside in the wings to watch that’s when Freddie said to me.

“Hold on darling, come down and watch it with us. You’ll get a much better angle than from the stage.”

“Ohh I couldn’t impose on you four I—”

“Nonsense love, c’mon I know your dad would want to see you clearly as he performs.” Roger insisted. Okay who was I to deny them? I then walked down the steps with them and we watched at the lower level of the stage as everyone was getting into their final places.

“Alright guys full run through. No stopping. Extras cue your cheering!” The crowd began to cheer. “Sound! Roll camera. And……action!” Soon my dad and the rest of the band came running out on stage causing the cheering to go louder. I even cheered along as I took out my phone and couldn’t help but take a few pictures of my dad, uncle and their new friends in full getup.

Then the run through began. Even with the actual audio from Live Aid rolling since my dad couldn’t sing a tune, it was still amazing to see him actually playing the piano of Bohemian Rhapsody and uncle Joey playing the bass.

I briefly turned to look at the four rock gods and they all looked amazed, it was like they had jumped back in time to see their greatest performance for themselves. Brian especially couldn’t believe his eyes and same thing with Freddie.

As promised by Dexter it was the full run through of Live Aid. Once Radio Gaga came on, I couldn’t help but participate in the claps, and I noticed that not only the extras but some of the crew members who were behind the stage or even behind the camera were participating.

The Aye-oh’s, Hammer to fall, Crazy little thing called love, We will rock you, and We are the champions. And just seeing my dad up there becoming Freddie Mercury, it was unbelievable.

The dedication he had put in to becoming this legend whom I have always looked up to throughout my whole life.

By the end of the run through, I was cheering so loudly that if I were to turn around along with them applauding for a well performed first take, Queen was smiling at me seeing my excitement and pure joy.

When the guys walked backstage, I immediately raced over once Dexter called cut to find my dad. Once I spotted him I immediately raced over to him and glomped him in a hug.

“That was amazing daddy! You guys slayed it!”

“Thank you baby girl.”

“You were amazing up there.”

“Well that’s because I knew you were watching.” I giggled and hugged him again.

“Ohh I see go hug your dad but no love for your uncle.” Joe teased.

“Ohh uncle Joey.”

“No, no, no I see how it is. I’ll just continue to go through the film being neglected from my favorite snuggle-cuddle bunny.” He said as he crossed his arms over his chest, turning his back on me.

“Snuggle-cuddle bunny?” Ben and Gwilym gaped.

“Yeah see when she was just five during our filming of the Pacific whenever she got too tired, she’d always cuddle up close to me. And since she always had this pink bunny wherever she went I dubbed her snuggle-cuddle bunny.” I blushed embarrassedly.

“I will cling onto you for the rest of the time I’m here if you take that back.” I pleaded.

“Not a chance kidda-roo.” He pulled me into his arm and playfully gave me a noogie.

“Well done boys, that was phenomenal.” We turned around to see all four members of Queen standing before us.

“They definitely chose the right boys for the job. I can’t wait to see what else we’ve got planned here.” Roger said.

“Seeing that performance brought me back to the real Live Aid concert. Well done lads.” Said John with a warm smile.

“You four lovely darlings. It’s like you four were born for the stage, just like all of us. Work your magic just right and you could be the next generation of Queen. You look the part and now you sound the part. Especially you Rami you beautiful darling.” Freddie then walked up to my dad and gave him two kisses, one on each cheek.

From then on the filming commenced with the final approval of Queen seeing my dad and the rest of the cast in full shtick.

As the weeks went on and they were starting to film the Rockfield farm scenes, I was in the building since everyone was on a break before filming would begin. I sat down by the piano and lightly stroked the keys.

I then raised my hands and I played the first Queen song I had ever learned “Somebody to love”. I did a bit of vocalizing before finally singing the song.

Each morning I get up I die a little Can barely stand on my feet Take a look in the mirror and cry Lord, what you're doing to me I’ve spent all my years in believing you But I just can't get no relief, Lord! Somebody (somebody) somebody (somebody) Can anybody find me somebody to love?

“I know you’ve got more soul than that darling.” I ceased my playing to see Freddie standing behind me. He walked over and sat on the piano bench beside me and continued, “Don’t hold back, let it out.” He then picked the song back up and stared at me nodding for me to go on.

I went straight to the bridge where I would usually give the song as much soul as I could.

Got no feel, I got no rhythm I just keep losing my beat I'm OK, I'm alright I ain't gonna face no defeat I just gotta get out of this prison cell One day I'm gonna be free, Lord!

Somebody (somebody) somebody (somebody) Can anybody find me somebody to love?

I guess my nerves made me repeat the last couple lines that really belonged in the first and second verse, but as Freddie nodded along to the song, he looked like a proud teacher watching his student succeed, especially when I made that key change on the ‘love’.

And what was even more amazing; was when Freddie actually joined in singing my favorite Queen song with me. He first played off of my at the beginning but by around the middle, the two of us blended out voices together in perfect sync, while at the same time the two of us were playing the piano.

(She works hard) Everyday (everyday)

I try and I try and I try But everybody wants to put me down They say I'm going crazy They say I got a lot of water in my brain Ah, got no common sense I got nobody left to believe in Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

As he continued playing the piano I quickly grabbed the first guitar I could and began playing Brian’s solo. Not only was I good with the piano, I was also fairly decent with the guitar. I mean I can only play a few songs on guitar but Somebody to love, I could practically play every instrument cause I can just hear the tune in my head.

We then sang the repeated mantra and just to add a little spice I began to vocalize. Going up and sliding perfectly down or going from a low to a high rang. By the end of it, I took over the last two lines.

Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love

Can anybody find me….

*Me*

Somebody to……

Love.

*Both*

Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love Find me somebody to love

By the end of our playing, all I heard was the sound of an applause. There standing behind us were some of the crew, the producer Graham, Dexter the director, Brian, Deacy, Roger, my dad and the rest of the cast.

Freddie stood up and gestured towards me and the applause seemed to get louder. I even heard some whistles that you could only hear at a rock concert.

That’s when my dad came over to me and embraced me as tight as he could and peppered kisses all over my face, repeatedly telling me he was so proud of me.

Later on that day I was out on the deck sitting on the stoop of the house.

“I was wondering where you had gone off to since our duet. Figured you’d want to be basking in the praises.” I smiled and said.

“I don’t want to get a big head full of ego. I deal with that at school already from those who think they’re richer than me.”

“I understand that well darling. Little children can be bastards can’t they?” I hummed in agreement. “You really do have an amazing gift (y/n). Why don’t you share it with those who don’t know you?” I looked down solemnly.

“Well Freddie…..how can one share their gift when they look like me?”

“What the fuck are you talking about dear? All I see in front of me is a blossoming young woman who is not only beautiful but talented as well.”

“It’s not about beauty Fred, I know I’m beautiful it’s just….I’m the wrong skin color.” He paused and just stared at me, urging me to go on. “I—I did try to perform once at my 6th grade talent show. But just before I could play I heard one boy cry out ‘why’s the terrorist playing the piano? I thought they played bombs?’ It…..it was just after the suspected suicide bomber tried to sneak into the New York subway but was detained and stopped. I couldn’t even perform after hearing that. Took me a whole weeks before I had the courage to go back to school.”

I sniffled and tried not to cry in front of the frontman of Queen. But I felt him rub my back as I continued.

“If middle school was that bad, I can only imagine just how worse high school’s gonna be. My dad was mistreated and bullied during his school year. So that means I will be too, and not just physically but online too possible.” I felt a few tears fall from my face, until a finger wiped them away.

“My darling (y/n). If there’s anything you should listen to me on, it’s this. People can be utter little shits. Some people still stick with the ancient ways of thinking, that if you’re not their skin color then you aren’t worth their time. Believe me, I’ve had racial slurs being shouted at me, both on and off stage. What you can do, is look them in the eye and say fuck you. Because I know who I am. And I don’t let anyone define who I am as a person. Because people who talk down to you like that, have got no future ahead of them. You on the other hand my dear, I could see you getting a gold disk by the time you’re 19 with that voice of yours. Hell you’ll surpass both Elton and I with the way you play the piano.”

“Well I don’t know about that.”

“Of course you will. If Sharon heard you, she’d be begging on her hands and knees to let you perform alongside them.” I looked at him confused. “Oh that’s our drag queen alter egos to each other. I’m Melina and Elton’s Sharon.” I ahhed in understandment. “So darling, you can either do two things; One you can take those comments and let them control your life. Or like your father step out there and show the world just who (Y/n) Malek really is. From how your father’s been portraying me in this film, I have no doubt that that lovely darling is going to win so many awards, including the famed Oscar. And soon enough little girls that are Arabic and Egyptian will look up to you and say when you win your first Grammy ‘is she could do it, so could I’.” I smiled at him and said.

“You really think so?”

“I know so darling. I believe you’re going to go far in the music industry one day. Or whatever you choose in life, it don’t have to be music if you don’t want it to be. But if you are ever interested, when you’re a little older the lads and I would love to have you as an opening act for our tours.”

“Wow that’s—it would be an honor Freddie.”

“You deserve it you lovely darling.” He said as he gingerly ruffled my hair. “Now (y/n) I have to ask you because every fan has expressed this especially through a website called Tumblr.”

“You know Tumblr?”

“Still trying to get a grasp of it, mostly I just look at it for the cat pictures to see if I could get in contact with some good photographers for my lovely children back home.” He fully turned towards me and continued, “Of course you can choose not to answer it. Though I feel like if you don’t answer it though, it’ll only prolong…..”

“What is it Fred?” I laughed out.

“Who amongst us four aging Queens do you favor most?”

“Trying to make me be the bad guy.” I mocked.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Well that’s what that question means.”

“No I—just wanted to know if you have a preference.”

“So that you can get a bigger ego if it’s you?”

“So it’s me?”

“No Freddie. You maybe my idol but that doesn’t automatically mean you take the number one spot.”

“So not one of us has that special place in that golden heart of yours?” I lightly scoffed and said.

“Well…..”

“Ah-ha I knew it! So c’mon just tell me. Think of my as one of your little girl friends gossiping in gym class, I won’t squeal I promise.” I groaned as I buried my head into my lap.

He wasn’t gonna let this go, I can feel it. But if I didn’t I knew he’d just keep pestering and pestering until I finally cracked. I then softly muttered the name of my favorite Queen member.

“Huh?”

“Brian.” I muttered slightly louder.

“I’m sorry love you’re gonna have to speak up. Me old ears aren’t what they used to be.” I smelt bullshit on that statement.

“Brian, okay it’s Brian.” I said to him. Freddie grinned and said.

“I sorta had a feeling. You always seem a bit more shyer than Deacy whenever our smart animal loving, spaceman guitarist is around.”

“Just promise me you won’t say anything to him!” I pleaded.

“No worries darling, my lips are sealed.” I sighed with relief. “Now how’s about I teach you how to play Bohemian rhapsody? Your uncle Joe told me of how you once tried to play it but couldn’t get the keys right.” He stood up and held his hand out to me.

I took it and he lead me towards the other side house where my dad would be playing the song in question for a brief moment in the film.

I’ll say that never did I imagine that I would get an actual piano lesson from the Queen legend himself. But here I am at the piano with Freddie Mercury sitting beside me teaching me how to play his famed song, the baby that changed the way music was ever made forever.

However little did I know of the ultimate embarrassment that I would have within the next couple of days. Right now everyone was filming the guitar solo recording as well as the operatic session of Bohemian Rhapsody.

But what was fun was that we actually got the real Brian May to step in while uncle Gwil stepped aside and we allowed Brian to play his guitar solo in the song, just for the fun of it.

I was in awe as I leaned against the arm of my chair and just let Brian’s red special take me away on a flight across the galaxy. When the solo ended, uncle Gwil stepped back into the shot and I heard my dad say as Freddie.

“That’s brilliant. I love that.”

“So now what?” asked Gwil as Brian. My dad took a beat before saying,

“The operatic session.” Both uncle Gwil and Brian May nodded as I could hear Gwil say.

“Ahh the operatic session. Good.”

“Of course.” Brian spoke in the same tone as Gwilym did.

Oh god it was so uncanny of how similar these two were at this point. They definitely chose the right actor to play my favorite Queen member.

When break time came around and I was getting a snack from the snack table and drinking some water. I soon heard a voice say.

“Hello (y/n).” I choked briefly on my water as I turned to see Brian standing there. “Sorry love I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay. Just went down the wrong pipe is all. I’m-I’m-I’m-I’m good. What—what are you I mean….” Oh god why am I so starstruck right now in front of him. You’re making a fool of yourself (y/n)!

“It’s okay (y/n). There’s no need to be shy around me. Beyond the titles and glamour I’m just like every other man my age.” Yeah except the fact that you’re not only a rock god but a brilliant astrophysicist as well as animal organizer.

That’s one of the main reasons why I had followed his Instagram because I loved getting the updates on all the animals he posts up and interacts with.

“So what do you think of the film so far?” he asked me as he took a seat beside me on the empty chair.

“It’s amazing. I mean I’ve been to sets before with my dad like the Mr. Robot, the Pacific where I met uncle Joey over there, but this—this is unlike anything I’ve seen. And just the fact that you guys are allowing young fans like me to see your story from the beginning.”

“Yeah we were on the fence about but we knew that if we all didn’t get involved with the project then it wouldn’t get done right.”

“I’m glad you guys get to come visit whenever you’re not busy doing your concerts.” I shyly admitted.

“Well thank you (y/n), that’s very sweet of you to say.” I lightly blushed and twirled my water bottle around letting the water spin around. “You know funny thing Fred told me the other day. He said he had talked to you and asked you about who your favorite Queen member was.”

Oh fuck no.

“FREDDIE!!” I screamed as loudly as I could. It was the both my dad and the real Freddie peeked out from behind the booth saying.

“Yes?”

“I mean the real Freddie dad! Why did you tell him!? You swore you wouldn’t!?”

“Word of the wise darling, never trust me with a juicy secret. Especially when it regards to secret crushes or fancies.” I groaned and felt my face glow red in embarrassment.

“Aww (y/n) look at you, you’re like a little pouty tomato.” Uncle Joey teased in his John Deacon get up. I turned away and hid my face as the guys all continued to awe at me. It was then I was brought into a big but gentle bear hug from Brian himself as he said.

“No need to be embarrassed love. I’m flattered.”

“Okay that’s it, this calls for a photo it’s too damn adorable.” Uncle Joey proclaimed.

“Took the words right out of my mouth, Joe.” My dad said. I was humiliated! Soon enough pretty much everyone of the guys needed a picture of this but that’s when Ben said.

“Wait! I’ve got a better idea. Gwil get in there.”

“Ooo good thinking Benjamin, what’s better than one Brian May?” uncle Joey awed.

“Two Brian Mays!” they both exclaimed.

“I hate you guys!” I whined out.

“Now, now mind your uncles (y/n) they mean well.” Brian said to me.

“Besides, we’re always happy to indulge our number one fan.” Gwil spoke as Brian.

“Great minds think alike.” Praised Brian. Soon I had uncle Gwil to my left and the real Brian May to my right. Each of them had their arms wrapped around me and leaned down against me as everyone took out their phones.

Suddenly I felt both of them kiss each side of my cheeks and that’s when my heart really sped up and I felt like I was gonna explode. But of course everyone just awed at how adorable I was.

“Oh my god (n/n) you look so freakin adorable. This is so going on my Instagram.” Uncle Joey said.

“Post that pic and you’re dead Mazzello!” I threatened. I then chased after him and he took off running. “Give me that phone! You’re dead Mazzello!”

“Jesus someone get this raptor off of me!” I managed to hop onto his back and reach for his phone but he kept drifting left or right trying to avoid my reach as his arm extended as far as he would allow it.

As the summer began to draw to a close, unfortunately I couldn’t stay in England anymore because I was about to go back to school in just four weeks.

So a week just before open house started, I had gotten my ticket and was ready to take the non-stop flight from London back to New York.

My dad, uncle Joey and newly deemed uncle Gwil and uncle Ben as well as Lucy, my dad’s new girlfriend came to bid me a final farewell till the award seasons would begin come around Winter break. I was currently hugging uncle Gwil as he said to me.

“Hope to see you for the award shows love. Good luck in high school.”

“Thanks uncle Gwil.” I then turned to uncle Ben and he said.

“You know you don’t need an invitation, come here.” I giggled and he wrapped me up in his strong arms. “Have a safe flight back to the states love.”

“I will uncle Ben. Send me more videos of your drumming, maybe one with you and Rog together.”

“We’ll try and arrange it.” He gave me a kiss on the top of my head and that’s when uncle Joey said.

“I don’t know whether to feel squishy or be jealous.” We both laughed and I said.

“Don’t worry uncle Joey. You’ll always be my favorite uncle.”

“Oh no I was actually referring to Ben.” I faked a gasp and punched him in the arm making him cry out. “I’m kidding squirt! God you’ve got a strong arm, when did you get so strong?” I rolled my eyes at him and hugged him.

“Bye uncle Joey.”

“See yah soon kiddo. I expect a call every single night and a facetime after your first day of high school. I don’t care what time it’ll be, I will freakin answer it and have these three with me to chat with you about your first day.”

“I’ll call and text you, don’t worry.”

“You better.” He bopped my nose before giving me a long, wet kiss right on my cheek. I groaned and whined out as I wiped away the access spit while he just looked at me all innocently. I then turned to my dad and Lucy.

“Take care of my dad while I’m gone.” I said to Lucy.

“Don’t worry I’ll make sure he doesn’t work himself too hard. It was great to finally meet you (y/n), and thank you for your approval of us.”

“You’ve made my dad happier than I’ve seen him since mom. It’s…..just like Freddie and Mary were, you are the love of his life. And I can see that.” She smiled and the two of us hugged each other before I turned to my dad. He brought me into his arms and he said.

“Be sure to text me as soon as you land okay?”

“I will I promise. Thanks for letting me stay the summer dad. I know you’re gonna do great come award season.”

“All I care about is that you’re proud of me and that you’re happy about the project.”

“I am.” He cupped each side of my face and kissed the center of my forehead.

“Last call for flight 5487621 nonstop to New York City.” We heard over the intercom. I grabbed my bag and bid my family a final farewell and they waved goodbye to me as I handed the gate keeper my ticket and boarding pass.

He accepted it and allowed me to walk in with the flight attendant who would keep an eye on me throughout the flight since I was an unaccompanied minor.

She lead me to my seat and helped put my luggage up along the ceiling console.

“If you need anything else, just ask for the name Tabitha.”

“Thank you Tabitha.” I thanked her and she smiled as she walked off. I then went into my purse to take out my phone to turn it off but before I did, I noticed a group chat with four numbers I didn’t recognize. I unlocked my phone using my passcode and opened up my messages to see the following.

Hello (y/n), this is John Deacon. I hope you have a safe flight. It was wonderful to getting to know you, and you have so much talent to give to the world. Good luck with your final young years of school before you move on to university. I know you’ll soon go far in life if you stay as you are.

And….Always be happy 😊

I smiled as I read the next message under that.

Hey lovie,

It was so great to meet you, you’re sweet, loving, and have an ear for talent. Thank you for being a fan of ours and for always supporting us. You’re an amazing kid (sometimes I wish my own were like you at your age hehehe) anyways thank you for coming to visit us and see the filming. You made our days brighter whenever you were on set. Good luck with high school and crush all those bastards who think you can’t make it. I’ve got a solo single coming out soon and you shall receive the first copy signed by yours truly.

Rock hard and….havealovely flight, bye 😉 Roger Taylor

He even gave me the drum emoji and I couldn’t help but smile as his final farewell sounded like the old fan club message they gave in 1991. I scrolled down again and I saw the next message.

Hello (y/n)

I hope you have a safe flight back to the US and that you enjoyed seeing London for the first time. It was great to meet you and as the previous two have said, you are talented. I know eventually you’ll make it big in whatever you do.

Also thanks for the lovely support you’ve helped given to some of my animal organizations, I greatly appreciate it. You are a kind soul and I know that you’ll grow up to be an even kinder young woman. Lots of love from me and safe journeys home my number 1 fan.

-Bri.

I blushed. God I still can’t believe Fred tattled on me about my secret girl crush on Brian. That was going to loom over me for the rest of my life, especially since he had sent a copy of the picture of him, Gwil and me with that double cheek kiss and my ugly shocked face. Then finally I read the last message who I already had an idea by now of who it was from.

My little protégé *sparkles emoji*

I had a wonderful time of not only getting to know your lovely father, but his radiant daughter as well. You Maleks are gonna go far in life. Thank you for gifting us with your sunshine aurora and bubbly personality.

If you keep believing in yourself and face each day with courage and pride about who you are, you’re gonna slay them all and even break some hearts along the way. (And if any break yours first, you just let me know and I’ll sort it out darling)

Have a lovely trip back home and I hope you come to see us at our next concert in Madison Square Garden after all this award seasonal shit is done.

Keep smiling and lots of love and hugs

Freddie Fucking Mercury *heart eyes, kisses emojis*

I smiled and held my phone close to my heart.

“Excuse me Ms. Malek, we’re about to start taking off, may I please ask you to turn off your phone.” I nodded but not before quickly making a screenshot of the messages from each of the band members and saving it to my phone.

Separately labeling it as POSITIVE FEEDBACK. I then turned off my phone and prepared for a long flight back to the states to meet with uncle Sami since the high school I was going to was the one he teaches at.

As we took off into the air I kept thinking to myself of all the great memories I had with my family and couldn’t believe that even meeting the band that I have loved for almost ten years now. They treated me like I was part of the cast family.

And I will take that with me to my grave.

*Extended ending*

“And the winner is…..Rami Malek!” I cheered as loudly as I could as tears of happiness came running down my face. Sitting with my uncles Joe, Gwil and Ben as well as other cast and crew members of the film we all stood up and cheered as Allison Janey and Gary Oldman presented my dad with the Oscar for Best Actor for Bohemian Rhapsody.

I hugged my uncle Joey as he lifted me off the ground and I kissed his cheek and he peppered kisses all over me. Uncle Gwil wrapped me in his arms and uncle Ben hugged me from behind and kissed the back of my head as we all tried to calm down so we could hear my dad’s speech.

God he deserved this. Golden globe, Emmy, BAFTA, SAG, AACTA and now Oscar winner. Not only was this is first Oscar nomination and award, but he would forever be known as the first ever Arabic actor to win an Academy award.

“And one final shout out to a very special young lady who is out there somewhere with the rest of my cast. This award also goes out to my beautiful daughter who is now starting to figure out her own identity as she marches towards the final steps of life. This award goes out to her, to show her that if I can do it, then so can she. I love you my baby girl, thank you for believing in me. For being my number one fan forever and always. And I love you 3000 my heart.” He blew a kiss towards the camera and I couldn’t help but cry.

I felt uncle Joey wrap his arm around me as he rubbed my arm up and down, leaning his head against mine placing a kiss on top of it.

“I love you 3000 too baba.”

At the afterparty when my dad came in after doing some interviews, we all cheered and the first one to glomp him in a hug was uncle Joey. They patted each other’s backs in a brotherly manner before Gwil and Ben stepped in and the four of them group hugged with each other.

“Where is she?” asked my dad.

“I’m here baba.” I said. He smiled widely and came over to me and immediately hugged me.

“You did it dad, you’re a champion.”

“No lovebug, we are the champions.” I smiled and buried my face into his neck as he placed his hand behind my head and he just held onto me.

Being the daughter of Rami Malek would soon change my life after the Oscars. Now that everyone knew my dad’s name, he was going to go on to do bigger and bigger things. Like just recently he’s been named the James Bond villain. And now his famed show Mr. Robot is coming to an end.

But even through the bigger fame to his name, he still remained as humble as ever and still managed to make time for me as I continued on throughout my high school years.

And when the time came for me to graduate I saw all my uncles, my dad, auntie, grandma, on Instagram live (curtest of uncle Joey) I knew Queen was watching from all the way across the sea, and my new stepmom Lucy all cheering for me as I was given my diploma.

Yeah, life was good. And I sure as hell had a pretty cool dad to be there for me whenever I need him.

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likesomekindofcheese · 5 years ago

Text

Songbird of Jamestown (Samuel Castell x fem! Reader) Chapter Six

Summary: The year is 1619. You are one among the “maids to make wives” who landed in the Jamestown colony. Despite the hardships faced, a kind recorder helps you through and catches your eye. However, he is engaged to another woman who has given you an ultimatum- be near him or be alive.

Word Count: 6K

Content Warnings: illness, mentions of death and sex and things get really...heavy for a bit (but no smut, I promise...not yet)

Taglist: @bluesfortheredj @queenlover05 @themficsilike @itscale @itsametaphorgwil @supernaturalee for help with the ending and when I was feeling stressed about the drafting process, i love you), @blamerogertaylor , @yourlocalmusicalprostitute, @theworksgaga @theoneandonlyeclecticepileptic @rubystarflight @theoneandonlyeclecticepilepic @joemazzhello

“Master Castell,” you began, breathing in deep.

He was dressed in his yellow clothes. The same he wore on that first day. It was oddly poetic.

“Master Castell…I’m leaving,” you announce plainly.

“I know, I got your message as soon as I left the assembly. And I saw you walking by I…I…why are you leaving?” he asked, he folded his hands behind his back politely.

“I was not…successful here. The company has a price on me that must be repaid. I came here to be married. And I have other, uhm, offers in the next community over,” you say.

You look down on the dirt. It is hard to look at him. You do not want to. You did not want this pain.

“But Y/N…are you well? You’ve been sick. The other day you were barely there, it seemed. I knew not if you would even live and now…you are walking and talking. And now you’re going to leave the next day?” he asked.

You swallowed hard, “Doctor Priestly says I’m fine.”

“Look at your bags, they’re touching the mud! You look like you can hardly carry them! Something has happened to you, please tell me!” he begged.

“Please leave, Samuel,” you ordered him, you feel a crack in your throat.

“What, why? Have I…Y/N…are you leaving because…of me? Have I been cruel? I promise, if I have, it was an accident!”

“Don’t play games with me…don’t play pretend and then act like you’re sorry…” you protested.

He was right about your bag. Its weight feels unbearably heavy now. You dropped it, sighing from the release. Your breathing feels shakier.

“I’ve…I’ve cried so much these few days, don’t m-m-mind me…I’m just weak and womanly, you know, and I keep trying to be strong but…” you mumbled, tears finally breaking out.

“There, there, shhh…” he offered

He ran up as you as you finally released those suppressed tears.

Then he takes you in his arms and embraces you.

It is surreal, the feeling of his arms around you. It is too close. Your body stiffens from how close you are to him, unused to such physical intimacy from a man. His warmth and musky scent of ink and tobacco were overwhelming.

As much as you wanted to toss him aside, to throw your fists at him and scream “I hate you!” from how angry you felt at everything, at how angry that his letter put you into such danger…you could not.

The cart driver walked up and asked, “is the lady alright?”

“She’s just upset. She’s saying her goodbyes.” Samuel assured him, with a gesture of peace.

Feeling embarrassment from crying in front of a stranger, you turn up to see the driver. He tipped his straw hat at you as you wiped your face with your sleeve.

“Well, jus’ let me know when she is ready.” he ordered, lighting up a tobacco pipe and smoking.

He walked out into the fields, noting you both and leaving to give room for privacy

You saw Samuel watch him until he walked away and then led you to stand aside, near to where the graves stood like crosses growing on the field. Where no one else about town could see.

“Are you planning to leave or is the company sending you? Was this your choice?” he asked.

“Yes! But…no, not actually, no, no, no because…b-because…neither, because…because…” you fretted, the words were failing to come out of you.

There was one thing that would explain it all. Or explain as much as he needed to know. As much as would keep you safe before you left, and he was wedded.

“I’m doing it for your good and for mine too,” you informed him.

You pulled him away and then got into your bag and pulled out the copy of Ovid, flipping the pages to the letter in the back.

Samuel’s face turned pink and his jaw fell open slightly. He folded his arms and covered his mouth.

“Samuel…did you actually write this?” you asked.

“Yes…I was going to give it to you when you were better and…I lost it. Y/N, how did you find it?”

“Did you really mean it, every word?” you interrogated, ignoring the question.

He paused and then answered very softly, “yes.”

“So…this isn’t a trick or a trap? Something that could get me hanged?” you continued.

“Y/N…I meant every word.”

“You see, I have to go. It is too dangerous to be here. And even if this letter weren’t found, I’m the one standing in the way of you and everything you’ve been promised,” You explained.

“Y/N…I’m so sorry. It was on my desk in my house among my personal things. I hid it and locked it away. I never thought anyone would…”

She must have snuck into there and retrieved it.

You blinked your eyes quickly, looking up at him softly.

“I will miss you so much, you were the best part about Jamestown.” You blabbered, holding the book close to your chest.

“As were you, Y/N. I wish you to stay, but if you want to leave, you can leave. I could…I could visit you. Give you a wedding present See your husband. See your children. See you happy and smiling. Like you used to be. Help you if you needed it…”

Remembering Jocelyn’s threats, you shook your head.

“You can’t…you can’t visit me. I can’t risk being seen with you at all. This is the last time we will ever talk to each other,” you assured.

“Y/N…before you leave, tell me…do you feel the same?” he questioned.

You paused Your head lowered to the ground.

“Goodbye, Samuel,” you lamented.

“Just know, every last letter of that is true, Y/N, ” he mentioned, pointing to the book.

You turned your back and walked forward to the cart.

You paused before getting on it. You pulled out the letter and looked at it, though you had reread it a few times, still processing it, there was one phrase that struck you now. A phrase you remembered from Samuel’s words.

“If you are ever in dire need of assistance…”

You looked at him, the letter, and the cart. Your legs shook from inside as you walked to the driver and shyly requested “Sir, go on without me.”

“Are you sure, miss?”

“You have been paid already, so there’s no need. Go home. I am staying here.”

You turned around to Samuel as you heard him whistle at the horses and click his tongue as a signal to move.

Samuel’s face began to lighten, and you saw his frown turn to a smile as you walked back to him.

“The real reason I was leaving…. I was just afraid. I am afraid, now. But I’m not going to run. I’m not going to hide. I’m going to stay, and I’m going to fight. I won’t just sit by and let the worst things here happen…just…you said in the letter if I ever needed help…” you began.

“Yes?”

“I need it…I…I’m in danger. That was the real reason I was leaving.” You confided.

“Is someone threatening you?”

Stomach cramping, you kept eyeing around you in case anyone was nearby.

“Is it possible to go somewhere private?” you pleaded.

“Of course, there’s a place around the fort. Where the forest begins,” he offered, pointing to the trees.

The sun was moving into the later afternoon, its bright yellow glow drowning the village now turning everything a little orange. There was a small smell of cooking fires preparing suppers across homes.

You both walked around the fort and then to the opening of the forest beneath some trees. The wind whistled around some trunks that fluttered the leaves on their heads in answer. The bushes were high enough that most heads couldn’t see you. You felt the crunch of sticks beneath your feet and the footfalls of rabbits, expecting hunters.

“It involves someone you know…You will want to sit down…” you began quietly.

He sat down on the grass, sticks creaking beneath his weight as he rests on his knees. You lay down, feeling the soft dirt and smelling the earth around you, sitting on your knees as well.

You take a minute, then your eyes met.

“First of all, you must promise that you believe every word I say. I’m not making any of this up. I’m not saying this for any reason or plan of my own accord or yours. I am not lying in order to spread harm to people. I only want to save myself right now. I’m in danger. Someone’s threatening to kill me.”

“Who…who is it?” he asked.

Pausing, your fists clenched. Heart slowly picking up speed again, you dared not back away from looking into his eyes.

“Jocelyn Woodybrg,” You answered flatly. “She found the book with the letter. Then she poisoned me.”

“Jocelyn?”

You took a deep breath in, all of it seeming surreal

“That was why I was sick. She poisoned my water. I could be dead now if it weren’t for Verity. Then after I woke up, she confronted me. She said since I was her maid and because she had befriended the governor, no one would believe me if I reported it. I was shown the letter from the book. Samuel, I swear to you, I never saw this letter or knew of it until she showed it to me…”

Swallowing again, you saw that although his brows furrowed, Other than that he seemed frozen, his blue eyes wide.

You continued, “she said she had arranged the cart and contacted men who might be interested in marrying me in the town over these past weeks. I had to leave or else…she would find a way to destroy me!”

You backed down, your hand gripping onto your skirt. Not even believing the words that were coming out of you. A couple tears returned. But it felt amazing to finally tell someone. An inhale long denied came through you, as if finally gasping for air after swimming underwater for ages.

He handed you a handkerchief again to wipe off tears and snot now filling your nose from all your crying. You kept twisting it in your hands as you spoke.

“I…I know it…it all seems ridiculous. But…you have to believe me. I’m not lying. I’m not making this up to make her look bad in front of you. I thought if I told anyone, they would just think I’m saying these things out of jealousy and…it would be useless,” you said.

“I believe you, Y/N. I believe you! You already have my sympathy and my admiration.”

“Admiration?” you ask. Your head tilted a little.

“Things like these break people. Make them cruel. But you seem yourself. And you could have held that pain in, you could have run off and not consider asking for help, but you’re asking for it now. I believe you. You don’t have to let that worry torture you anymore…” he sympathized.

“She gave me a choice, leave here or die. She made a threat, and she will act on it. She’s proven it’s possible for her to kill me. I…I only want you to understand what she has done to me and this…this side of her.”

“She wasn’t like that when I met her, years ago. I could have never guessed she was capable of such acts. Y/N…I’m so sorry that I let this happen,” he said.

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t know.” you comforted.

It then hits you.

“Mercy…do you remember the time she struck Mercy? Has anything else happened between them?”

“Jocelyn’s always on edge with the poor girl…and then she turns around and is cheerful as ever. And Mercy never complained about anything to me…not that she would. Mercy’s too used to cruel people, poor soul, and you know how the child worships Jocelyn if you ask her.”

“Where will Mercy be by now? Perhaps I could ask her some questions, she could know something. That could give everyone proof and no one would think I’m making it up. Oh, where on earth would she be…” you babbled, your eyes darting with your racing thoughts.

“She’s in my house!” he replied.

“How do you know?”

“She lives and works there, of course!”

You both smiled. You feel it grow, curving up- almost like stretching a limb. It is a little painful from lack of use, but present.

“Y/N…thank you for telling me…but there is one thing I have to be sure of before I do anything else…” he whispered.

There was a rustle from a few more rabbits scurrying away. A few birds let out long, descending notes above you.

“Y/N…do you…tolerate me?” he asked, backing away a little bit.

“Tolerate?” you ask, your voice squeaks a little and you duck your head, avoiding his eyes. You notice his cheeks growing pinker.

“I…you have read the letter” he turned pink “you understand how it is I…I feel about you. And I’ve promised to protect you, which I will always do. Y/N, all I need is an answer. If you don’t feel the same about me, I will still help you, but I will never bother about it again. But…do you feel the same?”

You looked up at him, almost pulling the handkerchief apart.

“Y-y-yes” you stuttered out timidly.

You went red and held your face in your hands. The little cloth fluttered to the dirt. Laughing a little, you returned it with it’s brown stains.

“Oh my goodness, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t believe I…I’ve said it to you, please, oh, I’m so embarrassed. I love you so much, I’ve worshiped you the moment I saw you, isn’t that silly?” you prattled, overwhelmed.

“It’s not, Y/N…I’m….I’m happy you do.”

He gently takes your hand and rubs on it a little bit. You savor the feeling, warm and smooth. You feel a few cold rings press into you, but not too hard, and you both sit there a while. Though you notice a ring for the engagement is still there. Reminding you, like a little demon.

A small breeze picks up and you feel its coolness. It becomes sunnier.

“I can’t believe, I actually love someone who loves me in return! I thought it’d never happen!” you say.

He pulls you to him and embraces you for a bit, then you both stand up and he presses his forehead to yours gently.

“Can I…Can I kiss you?” he asked.

Freezing a little bit, you looked around. No one seemed to be watching. There were no movements anywhere. Not even from the rabbits.

Breath hitched, you gulped and said “You’ve made a promise to her…”

gesturing to the engagement ring you saw in his hand and fiddling with it.

“I’m…learning more about her. I’m not even sure if she loves me. But you love me. And I love you. And we may not have this moment again. We’re safe here.”

You nodded. “You may.”

He pulled you close and kissed you very sweetly. It was odd and wet, but beautiful. He barely finished one when he went in for another deeper one.

You pulled back for bit.

“We…we can’t!” you say, pulling away, though laughing a little like a child stealing a pastry.

“Just one more, please!” he begged.

“Alright!”

So he pulled back for a third and you let him. You smiled and he gently caressed your cheek.

“Thank you…Y/N…for indulging me.”

“You’re a fine kisser, I was the one indulged! Could you…could you walk out first…I will follow after I just…let’s not give anyone reason to talk…” you suggested.

He took both your hands and kissed them “I will”

The gesture made you grin wider again and his eyes were bright.

“Thank you, dear Samuel.”

“I could hear it all day if I could!”

He let your hands go and walked back albeit with a slight hop.

Waiting for as long as you could, you took in the sun now shining. You heard bugs and the small lizards climbing the trees. Laying down, you saw as the trees rustled above you and clouds floated slowly. You wanted to stay here forever.

You knew you had to return. But you took your time tracing your lips delicately and wondering if all of this had happened.

After you were sure enough time had passed, you walked back.

Once you were sure it was the time of the meeting in church, taking Samuel with it to record the events (with Jocelyn in the audience knowing every small event that happened here like a hawk) you knocked the door of the Castell house.

Mercy answered it, with a broom in her hand, and jumped, letting out a squeal of surprise.

“Oh, Y/N! Y/N!” she cried with joy.

She ran over and hugged you, and you smiled, hugging her back.

“Shhhh, Mercy, I need you to stay quiet!”

“How can I be quiet when there is such joy! But…why are you here? Shouldn’t you be away by now?”

“Mercy, I’m here to see you! May I come in?”

“Please!”

It was rather simple: wooden and light with a large table as soon as you walked in, a little vase stood in a corner with a few white flowers on top of a chest. You saw a large table in front of you as you walked in.

“Mercy, I’m…I’m going to stay. I’ve rejected the marriage offers.” You told her as she pulled up a chair.

“You aren’t leaving! Oh, what happy news! What a heavenly day!” she cried.

“Mercy, yes I’m staying. And I have a few questions to ask you…could you sit down for a bit?”

“Yes, I can!” she said, settling herself into a chair. Wiggling a bit with excitement.

“How are you, Mercy?” you ask.

“Today, I am quite well. This morning God has given me another day to live and so every day I wake up I am thankful.” She answered.

“That is good, and Mercy… do you enjoy working for Miss Woodbyrg?” you asked.

“Oh yes, I have never had a Mistress before! And as beautiful and good as Mistress Woodbyrg is- I could have married her myself!”

“Even when she struck you?” you asked.

“I…I deserved it. Sometimes she would chide me about my mouth but…it is a fault, and I should learn to control it. She had her moods, yes, but she is a kind, sweet, dear lady!”

“How has she…how has she felt since being here? Has she acted strange?” you ask.

“She…she doesn’t like it here. She doesn’t seem happy with anything. When she asked me to change the sheets on her bed to be clean- this was the very day she arrived, see- I told her they were washed this morning. Clean as can be. And she frowned! Thinking clean sheets as dirty, can you imagine! But she is so troubled, it seems…”

“Troubled? How come?”

“She says she has trouble sleeping! So the master asked me to stay the night a few times to attend her. I saw her, middle of the night on her chair and there was something in her hands- it was belladonna. She has been taking it to ease her pain to sleep!”

She paused a little, frowning.

“I don’t know if I should have said that. There are so many things I am to say and not to say it gets a little confusing.”

You slowed your breath.

“Really? Isn’t it poisonous?”

“That’s what I told her, but she said it wasn’t no harm and was helping her sleep, but I said I couldn’t sleep as long as she was troubled and she sent me away to my room.”

You wondered if you could trust her. To tell one other soul the truth. Perhaps.

“Mercy I…I may have seen her with the belladonna too, as I was working with her…do you think me a gossip?

“If I am honest, a bit…”

You smiled a little “I’m just worried… I wanted to be sure. I just…I just needed to hear something from you. I wanted to be sure it was real and not my imagination.”

“What is it, miss? Is something troubling you too?”

“Mercy…I’m just scared because…your mistress…doesn’t like me.”

“But you’re so good to everyone, miss! Why shouldn’t she?”

“No matter what I do…I can’t get her to stop hating me…” you confess.

“Well, she prayed for you! I saw it myself. But I prayed for you even more, just to be sure.” She added.

You decided to leave it at that.

“I must be going…” you finish.

“But Miss…even if our mistress has her little angers it’s only because she has pain. And even if she doesn’t like you… you’re still a kind lady, in my eyes.”

You smiled and said a simple “thank you, Mistress Mercy.”

She gave her wildest smile at that and walked you outside.

Then there was the next step of your plan, hurry home. Some people glanced to see you running back with a full sack. Joy and that odd mix of anxiety and certainty gave strength to your arms and you carried it as if it were nothing.

You went into your home, thankfully undisturbed by any presence since you left. Dropping the sack, shutting the door, locking it and shutting the window, you set to searching.

You looked among the food and pots. You looked under the table, under the bed, blankets, and pillows.

Something under your pillow was shining too bright to be a crumb of food or a hair.

Looking carefully, you saw it as a pearl earring.

It was Jocelyn’s, no doubt. She had planted and planned your fate had you refused her ultimatum.

Now came the time to wait until the next church service tomorrow.

You dressed simply, washed your face with water, and taking a few careful bites of bread and fruit and drinking milk from one of the goats. You could not seem weak to anyone and your appetite was returning.

As the church bells rang, you took the pearl earring in your hand and clasped it tightly. People gathered in and you followed. The familiar sight of brown wooden walls, pews, and the altar that seemed still despite everything that had happened. Though a few curious faces turned to looked at you.

People went to you and said “oh, Miss Y/L/N! You are well again!” Every face, even a few who weren’t familiar, smiled at the sight of you. It was like being surrounded by a flurry of concerned chickens. The church groaned as feet shuffled your way.

And at that moment you saw Jocelyn’s blonde head turn.

Now, if you wait forever, this will never be done. Not with everyone in town here.

“Oh, Miss Woodbyrg! You left something at my house.” You said.

Her reaction to your appearance was that of large eyes and a slightly lowered jaw, only showing a bit of her teeth. Her eyes scattered away from you, briefly, as if figuring out what she could say.

“Misstress, when you were nursing me the other day, as you were so kind, you forgot something by accident! Allow me to return it to you- you must have dropped it!” you insisted loudly.

With as long and clear a movement as you could, so everyone going into church could see, you handed the earring back to her, placing it in her hand.

“I’m glad you have your earring back!” you chirruped.

Her nostrils flared.

“Oh Miss Y/L/N, as am I…and what of your…your proposals?” she asked.

You heard the footsteps of the minister make his way; the service would begin soon.

“I only wish to stay here. Seeing I’ve made a name of myself and there are plenty of men. Will you need my services tonight? I can also check my house, perhaps nursing there may have been more things you have forgotten?”

“Oh, no, Miss Y/L/N you can…you can be dismissed from my service. I…I wish you to rest and…and find yourself a proper husband in that time,” she said.

Her face was still frozen, though her cheeks were getting redder and the slight scowl couldn’t lie.

You smiled wider and wider; it was easier to focus on the sermon today. People continually looked at you, hoping you were well.

And as you knelt to pray, you remembered Mercy’s words, the simplicity of her gratitude in just living. Things that a week ago perhaps you took for granted.

“Please…give me one more day…one more day to breathe…one more day…”

Once you returned home, you ripped the back page of Dante. Looking at the table, you saw the pen and ink you had borrowed thankfully still remained. Dipping in the pen, you wrote:

“MERCY SAW HER WITH POISON. ASK HER. BURN THIS” in your shaky, clumsy handwriting.

It would be better to wait. Perhaps tomorrow there would be less business in the evening for the church meetings. Once you were sure it was the right time, the sun dipping into the evening, you hurried to the meeting hall to the corner on the far right where Samuel always sat with his book, scribbling away. You could hide the note for him to find.

The next evening came and your heart hammered as you prayed Jocelyn’s wandering eyes would not search his records. But as you passed the Castell house with its door open, you noticed Mercy sweeping.

A “hello” barely escaped your lips when you saw her suddenly stand still. She swayed for a little, barely able to hold the broom.

Then she collapsed on the floor.

Letting out a little scream you ran to her.

“Mercy! Wake up! What’s wrong!?” you asked.

“Miss Y/L/N…I…I’m so sorry, I…I just feel so…so horrid…” she mumbled, there were a few tears and she was shaking.

With all your strength, you pulled her to her feet, noticing a little curtain with a small room, just enough for a servant, you dragged her there and placed her on the bed.

“Mercy stay on the bed, I’ll be back,” you promised.

Lifting your green skirt, you ran out. Eyes searching, you noticed Silas looking at the butcher’s wares perhaps for the Sharrow’s supper.

You shook his shoulder and said “Silas! Do you know where the apothecary is?”

Feeling the panic in your voice he replied, “Miss Y/L/N? Yes, I do!”

“Please get him at once, hurry! Mercy’s sick-she could be dying!”

“Should I bring Master Castell as well, miss?”

Pausing a little, you said “yes…yes, of course!”

He dipped your head, offering “Miss Y/L/N…you were a great help to Alice…she wouldn’t be here, in body or spirit perhaps if it weren’t for you, and…and I don’t think I would be either, thank you” before bounding away.

You immediately fetched some water, brought it into Mercy’s bedroom. and lapped off her forehead With a cloth

“Mercy…oh, Mercy…can you hear me?” you wonder.

“It’s…spinning…everything spinning…” she mumbled.

You untied her cap to cool her off, brushing out her long, wavy hair with her fingers. It was incredibly beautiful, thick and the color of a dark chestnut tree. If only she did not have to tie it beneath a cap all day long.

“Mercy, stay awake, please stay with me…please don’t pass out!” you begged.

But then a memory struck you. This was not too different from your condition a few days ago.

Running with all your strength and a newfound anger, you went home and returned with a bit of the medicine Priestly had given you. It was only a little from what was left in that vial, but it was enough. Rushing back, huffing a little from all your activity, you went before Mercy on her sickbed and tipped the vial to her small mouth.

“Take this…”

“No…I need to rely on…God…if my faith is strong enough…he’ll save me…” she mourned.

“Mercy, I…I think God would want you to take it. I think you caught my sickness. This saved me and…I don’t want to lose you, why else would God give it to me first? It’s a sign, Mercy …so please take it!”

You lifted it to her lips and the girl swallowed a little obediently.

“Mercy…tell me at once…do you remember…when were you with Mistress Woodbyrg?” you asked nervously.

“I…the other day…I just asked her if the belladonna was helping…with her sleep…and she told me not to talk of it…and…and I said I was just worried…and I have to talk of a thought if it consumes me…do you understand?”

Your heart raced, all you could think was no, no, no, no, no…it couldn’t be…but, she can be like that…you found that out already…

You nodded.

“I understand, Mercy…”

Doctor Priestly entered in a few minutes.

“Doctor, I leave you to examine her but…I suspect she has the same symptoms I did…” you explain, holding out the medicine in your hand.

“I gave her this medicine to be safe…”

“Quick thinking, miss, thank you! Could you…could you strip her down to her shift? I’ll…. I’ll leave the room…” he walked out a bit.

You undid Mercy’s apron and pulled her dress over her head then laid her down. The girl was very slight, like a thimble, and she did not resist. She was only barely conscious, holding on with the medicine.

You laid her down and then walked out, waiting for a while as Priestly spoke with her and examined her. You sat at the table, trying to listen to the sounds outside to distract yourself, wondering how on earth you would explain to anyone what you were doing in a man’s house unaccompanied.

Doctor Priestly returned.

He looked at you and nodded his head with a worried look.

You handed him the rest of the medicine and said you had to leave. But once you left the house, Samuel was running up with Silas.

“She’s sick?” he asked, eyes wide with worry.

Silas bowed to you and ran off to carry on with his evening duties.

You nodded and before anyone else could catch you, you passed the note to his hands.

“The same as me,” you confirmed before you ran away.

You wanted no reason to give anyone suspicions about you two. The least you could do right now was pray and wait.

That evening, Samuel made sure Mercy was peacefully sleeping by the time it would be dinner. He was going to din with his fiancée. Or that was what she thought. That was what was normal.

She walked into his house to find there was no smell of cooking. And his face did not look warm. There was no Mercy either. Only a small, soft snore coming from her closed room was a sign the servant was there at all.

“Is the supper ready?” she asked coolly.

There was no answer. Samuel stood in the middle of the room, his hands behind his back and his eyes like steel.

“You can’t let your maid sleep when there’s a meal to prepare.”

“I can’t have supper with poisoned food a maid ate…Jocelyn…what were you doing with belladonna?” he asked sternly.

“Was…was Mercy spreading something false?” she asked.

“Jocelyn…please tell me the truth, yes, Mercy fell sick. Christopher said it was poison. And I learned you had it. What is it belladonna for?”

“I…I needed it.” She answered.

“Why would you use it on a child who poses no threat to you?”

“I…I must have…have dropped it. I needed it to sleep.”

“The symptoms matched Y/N’s. When I asked Priestly, he said she was poisoned too. I don’t see how attacking both of your servants would have helped you sleep.”

“She…just wouldn’t… would not keep quiet that I had it!”

“Why didn’t you tell her you were finally at peace then? That you were sleeping well. Is it her fault that you kept saying you were worried and kept the thing with you? Why were you keeping belladonna in the first place? Do you really need it to sleep or is it something else…are you lying to me? Who else are you trying to poison.”

Jocelyn backed a little bit. Then she folded her hands in front of her, calm as ever.

“See, Samuel…if the Marshal was out of the way- Think of how many people would be help. How they would love it once you were governor.”

“Jocelyn, if you were caught, you would have been hung!”

“I would not have! The men here are corrupt, they’re going to ruin everything and everyone! You should know that better than anyone.”

“Well, what about Mercy? Or even Miss Y/L/N? How could they ruin the town? What would people here think of a woman who poisons her servants?”

“Miss Y/L/N had to be taught a lesson. She…she’s mad for you, Samuel. You’ve…you hurt me! You hurt me when you mention her name!”

She walked toward him, backing him before the fireplace.

“And you retaliate by trying to kill her? Jocelyn, I chose you to marry. I even told her in private that I chose you for my wife. How can I marry a woman who tries to kill any person I talk to? Would you have hurt her if you knew that?”

“As long as she’s here, as long as she can even look at you, I know you’ll never be mine and…she’s going to ruin you,” She spat softly.

“Ruin me? How?”

She pushed him down to a chair.

“Little Y/N won’t give you anything. Do you know what she even told me when I finally asked her about you?”

She touched the sides of his face to look right at hers.

“She said she wished you were a poor farmer and not a recorder so she could be with you! What will that entail, hmm? Think of what that means. No house, no money, nothing but the dirt and plants and heat and work when Massenger, Farlow, and the rest destroy everything. How could you live like that?”

He stood up a little more, he took her hands but pushed her away, lifting from his chair.

“Jocelyn, when I met you, I thought I loved you. You were kind. You cared about others. I thought when I paid your passage that I was agreeing to marry that woman I met in Oxford. But you’re not the woman I thought you were.”

He let go of her hands. But she didn’t keep her distance.

“Don’t you want rule over everything you see? Don’t you want to change things here? See what kind of leader you would be …”

“You mean, what kind of leader you would be…”

She paused.

“We could work together…I could make you like a king…we could be happy…and I love you”

She moves closer, touching his face and kisses him. By instinct, Samuel kisses her back. Something about her was so attractive and her kissing was indescribable.

“And…just imagine the wedding night with me…she could not please you like I could, Samuel. And…we do not have to wait until then…Technically we are married now. I could show you what it would be like, starting tonight”

She kept kissing him and moved her hands underneath his clothes, finding the buttons.

He squinted his eyes. She was cool and soft. His lower body felt tight and hot.

But he thought of Mercy, asleep in her room a few feet over. Just a few steps ahead of death. He thought of Y/N, darling Y/N, crying and afraid to even tell what happened to her.

Who would be next? Was it worth this one moment of pleasure?

Fighting the heat rising in his body, he pushed her away gently.

“Don’t touch me, please” he asked.

“But I know you like it, I know you like danger, I know you like fun…and looking there, I know you like me,” she purred glancing to his breeches.

Her hands lowered from his chest and seemed to go to the seam of his pants. Resisting his own arousal, he finally pushed her away.

“I asked you to stop!” he said.

“You don’t understand, Samuel…pleasure, safety, change…!” she said. As she stepped forward, he stepped back.

Breathing in deep, his hands shaking a little he said “the money has been paid, I promised I would pay for your passage here and it’s been covered, the company won’t care. I talked with the governor today. I wanted this to be done quietly and peacefully. And he gave me his consent.”

He slipped off his engagement ring and placed it on his desk away from her.

“I refuse you, Miss Woodbyrg. You’re free now,” he said.

“You could be a king with me!” Jocelyn argued.

“I think I would rather be a farmer. Now please leave,” he finished.

Once he thought his heart would stop racing, right before she turned the door, she looked at him and said:

“The slut will die for what she has done to us. To the colony. She wants to stay here, then she’ll die here.”

Samuel’s stomach dropped as she shut the door with an odd quietness. But her words still echoed in the room. If he had to help Y/N like she asked him to, he had to act fast.

18 notes · View notes

ijustreallylovezebras · 5 years ago

Text

Courtney’s Crisis Writing Challenge

So yeah as I’m sure all of you are aware of by now I’m having a crisis

and I figured what better way to deal with an emotional crisis than to do a writing challenge and read all the wonderful thing’s y’all can write to distract myself from my ever-growing list of responsibilities

maybe i should change it to Courtney’s Procrastination and Existential Worry Writing Challenge instead

ANYWAY

This is a whole-ass mega writing challenge, going across ALL the people I’ve ever written for and all the people I lowkey want to write for/kinda have a current obsession/love for atm

I’ll give a full comprehensive list below the rules

But yeah this is going to have an English Literature theme bc I’m a nerd like that and have been reading too many books lately, again, to distract myself

So the prompts are split into three categories - “The Heartbreakingly Beautiful”, “The Hilariously Relateable” and “Fuck I’m Drowning In Fluff”

yeah the categories are just what went through my mind when I read the things these authors wrote

The Rules

1) You don’t have to be following me but it would be nice because I’m lonely and want friends plz

2) If your piece of writing is over 500 words, please use the ‘read more’ feature

3) Reblog this post to get the word out (and tag anyone who may be interested!)

4) It’s going to be one person per prompt but if needed I can add more prompts

5) Smut is fine but please leave warnings as appropriate (THOUGH NO UNDERAGE CHARACTER SMUT THANKS)

6) On the back of that one, no inappropriate pairings pleaseeeeee

7) Also please make sure you leave appropriate warnings at the beginnings of fics if any sensitive subjects are brought up (e.g. mental health etc)

8) Ships and OC’s are welcome

9) Tag me in your writing! - on any of my blogs or all three if you’re keen whoooo

10) Use the hashtag #CourtsCrisisWC

11) If you want to enter send me an ask with the prompt you want and the pairing you’ll be writing it with - again the ask can be sent to either of my writing blogs

12) The deadline for this is 15th December (this can be extended if y’all need it)

Characters/People/Pairings

Okay so imma split this section into parts real quick

Main Blog

1) Pretty much anyone from the MCU is welcome - with the exception of Tony Stark and Clint Barton

2) Tom Holland & Harrison Osterfield and HOCO cast and the Holland boys (NOT PADDY)

3) Any of Les Amis

4) The characters from Peaky Blinders as well

5) Poly ships (e.g. Steve x Reader x Bucky or Tom x Reader x Harrison)

Side Blog

1) Ben Hardy (+ Warren Worthington)

2) Joe Mazzello (+ Eugene Sledge, Gardner Langway, Pat Murray, Dr Tim Murphy)

3) Gwilym Lee (+ Charlie Nelson)

4) (BoRhap!)Queen members (Freddie only platonically)

5) Roger x Reader x Ben

6) Joe x Reader x Ben

7) The Hargreeves Children (older!Five only)

8) Richard Madden (+ David Budd, Robb Stark, Prince Kit)

9) Taron Egerton (+ Eggsy)

10) Rocketman!Bernie Taupin and Ray Williams

11) Smosh Members

12) Jake Gyllenhaal (+ all his various characters)

13) Chris Evans (+ Ari Levinson, Frank Adler)

Just For Funsies (i.e. current obsessions I don’t officially write for but lowkey want to)

1) Ashton Irwin

2) Calum Hood

3) Sebastian Stan (+ Chris Beck)

tbh y’all can just send me a person and I’ll let you know if I’m cool with you writing for them but judging by this list I think you can rest fairly assured that I’m going to be okay with whoever you want to write for

Prompts

The Heartbreakingly Beautiful

“I have measured out my life in coffee spoons” - The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S Eliot // the most beautiful and wonderful poem ever written don’t fight me on this // ( @writingsoftheloser w/ BLANK)

“I am so busy keeping my head above water that I scarcely know who I am, much less who anyone else is” - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

“Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do you start missing everybody” - The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger ( @takenbyheartstrings w/ Peter Parker)

“I should have made it as hard for you to leave me as it is now for me to leave you” - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë ( @bensakindofmagic w/ Ben Hardy)

"The universe is bigger than anything that can fit into your mind." - Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira ( @petersfreckles w/ Peter Parker)

“You never forget the face of the person that is your last hope” - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins ( @tom-holland-stuff w/ BLANK)

“Hope may be the thing that pulls you forward (may be the thing that keeps you going) but that it’s painful and dangerous and risky it’s making a dare to the world and when has the world ever let us win a dare?” - The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

“We can't fight another person's battle, no matter how much we want to.” - Holding Up The Universe by Jenifer Niven

“I'm sure I never used to be so sensitive. I think it is due to this nervous condition.” - The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“Sometimes, I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there's no room for the present at all.” - Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

The Hilariously and Painfully Relatable

“As far as I'm concerned, I came out of the womb spouting cynicism and wishing for rain.” - Solitaire by Alice Oseman

“Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

"And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." - East of Eden by John Steinbeck ( @queen-paladin w/ Joe/Eugene/Charlie/Les Amis boy)

"We cross our bridges as we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and the presumption that once our eyes watered." - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard ( @lilulo-12 w/ Bucky)

"It's just that…I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It's the universe's way of providing contrast, you know? There have to be a few holes in the road. It's how life is." - The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen ( @sataninsatin w/ Detective Loki)

“It was books that made me feel that I was not completely alone” - The Night Circus by Erin Mogenstern

“Was there some kind of rule against drop kicking arseholes in the face? Probably. They always had rules against things that needed to be done” - Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

“I would challenge you to a battle of wits but I see you are unarmed” - Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare ( @icantspellanything w/ Poe Dameron)

“Some people are born with an ear for music, some people are born with a talent for drawing, some people...have a built-in radar that tells them where a comma needs to go in a sentence.” - Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

“Sometimes people are beautiful. Not in looks. Not in what they say. Just in what they are.” I Am The Messenger by Marcus Zusak

Fuck I’m Drowning In Fluff

“You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you” - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin ( @mavalenovaninagavi w/ Andrew Garfield!Peter Parker)

“I love her, and that’s the beginning and end of everything” - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Flitzgerald ( @angiefangirlworld-2 w/ Ben Hardy)

“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” - Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë ( @fichoe21 w/ Bucky)

"The curves of your lips rewrite history." - Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde ( @sarahp879 w/ Bucky)

"[BLANK] was right. [They] never looked nice. [They] looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something." - Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell ( @writing-of-a-british-bitch w/ Eggsy/Warren)

“Here’s my secret. It’s quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eye.” - The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“Love is worth everything. Everything.” - Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

“I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.” - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens ( @natdoesthings w/ Jake Gyllenhaal)

“I just want you to know that you’re very special and the only reason I’m telling you is that I don’t know if anyone else ever has” - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chebowsky ( @d-is-for-delightfull w/ Enjolras)

“Don’t you understand? You mean more to me than anything in this whole world!” - Peter Pan by J.M Barrie

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forever-rogue · 6 years ago

Text

The Edge of Thirty - Part 8

Summary: Everyone seems to be getting married, having babies, or “growing up.” Except Y/N. Suddenly at almost thirty, reality seems to be crashing down on her – and hard. Nothing seemed as daunting as turning thirty…until she met Gwilym Lee anyway.

A/N: Hiya! Thanks for reading and supporting this story. I hope you enjoy! Please note there are a lot of up and downs in this chapter and more to come! Also, if tags aren’t working please let me know, or if I’ve accidentally forgotten to add (my b)! Taglists are open! xx

Pairing: Gwilym Lee x Reader

Word Count: 5k

Warnings: slight language, sexual innuendos

MASTERLIST

“And I love you.”

Gwil gently put his arms around her waist and picked her up, holding her tightly and securely against him as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Neither of them exchanged anymore words as their lips never seemed to part, breathless kisses exchanged with a sense of passionate urgency.

He kicked the door shut and set her down, pushing her against the cool wood, his hands freely roaming her body. She opened her mouth in a silent moan as he kissed along her jawline, working his way down the column of her throat, effortlessly finding her sweet spot and nipping at the soft delicate skin his came into contact with.

As much as she wanted him to take her then and there, and God knows her body was screaming out for him, she put her hands on his shoulders and stopped him. She shook her head gently, and pecked his lips gently before pushing him a step back gently.

“What’s wrong, love?” he asked quietly as he traced over the contours of her face gently, his warm, sweet breath fanning over her face. She relished in his touch, enjoying the sweet smell of mint washing over her.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she reassured him, putting his hands on either side of his face, pressing her lips against his, “not with you. You’re perfect. But I’ve got a few things to talk to you about.”

“Are you okay? What’s happened?” he took her hand in his and and led her over to the kitchen, pulling out a stool at bar and motioning for her to hop up on it. She stared at the marbled countertop, tracing a finger over the quartz vein, doing her best to prevent any fingerprints. His apartment was always immaculate, and she always worried that she’d break something, or damage anything. But he insisted that it didn’t matter - he gave her the run of the place and had even offered her a key, so she could come over whenever her heart desired.

He gave her a shoulder a reassuring squeeze, sensing that she was trying to avoid the issue but doing her best to overcome it. She turned to face him for a moment, giving him a small smile as he got up and walked over to the fridge.

“You, my darling, look like you could use a drink,” he said as he opened the luxe looking fridge, ready to grab the chilled bottle of wine he kept for these types of situations. Y/N started to giggle to herself knowing full well that she was the last person in the world that needed a drink. He turned to her, an eyebrow cocked as he tried to read her, “and just what might be so funny?”

“I’d like a drink, but perhaps some sparkling water?” she said once she’d calmed down from her fit. He looked between her and the bottle, trying to make the connection between it and her refusal, a nervous look crossing his handsome features, “oh, no, no! I’m not pregnant or anything like that! I’ve just…pretty much consumed enough alcohol for a small army over the last several days.”

“Oh,” he let out a sigh of relief as he placed the bottle back into the fridge and pulled out a couple of ornate glass bottles filled with fizzy water. He handed her one of them, opening his own and down a long drag. She watched him for a moment, admiring his side profile, getting lost in her own daydream before snapping back into reality, “what’s been going on then, pretty girl?”

“Well, I, ugh it’s a lot,” she admitted as she put focused her attention onto the glass bottle, tracing her fingertip over the design. It was now or never, and she knew she needed to be honest with him, “I feel like there’s a lot more to me than you would probably think.”

“Try me,” his voice remained calm and unchanged as he set the bottle down and leaned against the counter, giving her his full attention. Noticing her hesitation, he leaned over and touched her cheek gently for a moment, his warm hand sending shivers down her spine - even the simplest of touches was electric, “you’re not the only one who’s ever done a bad thing. I’ve made my fair share of rash, impulsive decisions that I’m not too fond of.”

“Hard to believe,” she let out a long breath, chuckling slightly, “look at you, the picture of perfection: cool, calm, collected, composed, Professor Lee. And then there’s me: reckless, wild, and upsetting everyone. What a pair.”

“That’s what we call a dynamic duo, my dear,” the corner of his mouth pulled up into a smirk, “just because I don’t look it, don’t think there haven’t been plenty of fuck ups when I was your age.”

“I suppose I’ll just have to take your word for it, won’t I?” she pondered, and he gave her a swift nod, pointedly making eye contact so she would continue. Straightening on her stool, she pushed the bottle away, a soft scraping sound echoing throughout otherwise quiet kitchen. The only real sound in the pristine apartment was the soft ticking of the clock that hung in the living room, “so I may or may not have lost my job. I won’t know for another two weeks. I’m on suspension.”

“What the hell happened?! Was it because of me? I-I can go right down there-“

“No, Gwil, it’s not you. Definitely. You’re the only good thing that’s happened to me in so long,” she confessed, hoping he won’t overreact and blame himself for everything. Not that he would, likely, he was cool as ice and didn’t jump to rash conclusions unlike she had a tendency to do, “it’s Crickle and his endless vendetta against me. He’s been wanting to get me fired since I started teaching there. He’s always loved Ben but had a disdain for me. I don’t know what it is – probably because I’m not fancy like you lot with your PhDs. But he hasn’t liked me from day one.”

“I mean...it is pretty hard to beat a fancy, overly hyped up degree,” he joked but she just stuck out her tongue at him.

“Whatever it is actually is,” she cocked an eyebrow at him, “he’s always had it out for me. I think he only hired me because Ben’s my best friend, and he practically adores him. But, last week he went to Ben to try and get information on me, and to have Ben basically try and throw me under the bus. Which, if we’re being completely honest, I totally thought he did. I jumped to a bad conclusion, and ended up in a big argument with him over everything. I stormed into office and yeah...things weren’t pretty. We had a fairly bad falling out.”

“Are you still fighting with him?” he asked sympathetically, but thankfully she was able to shake her head and say no. He was curious to meet this mysterious best friend Ben. If he didn’t know her, he could have easily beloved they were lovers, with how fondly she spoke of him. It would be an interesting treat, he concluded, to finally meet her friends, and have her meet his. Who you chose to keep close by often spoke volumes about a person. But by the way her eyes lit up whenever she spoke of him, told him he was extremely special to her, “I’m curious to finally meet him.”

“No, we’re not fighting anymore. He came by and we talked,” she said quietly, “he’s probably the reason I’m here. He dragged me out of bed and told me to stop feeling sorry for myself and set things right. He’s a good man, and I’m often not even sure why he’s dealt with me for so long-”

“Probably because he loves you, just like you love him.”

“I do love him,” she hoped he didn’t feel the need to compete with him or was overshadowed by his presence in her life. Ben was a constant and he wasn’t going anymore, others had come and gone but never him, “he’s like my brother. Don’t you worry Gwilly, he’ll never be like you though. But you will get to meet him soon - this weekend at the wedding.”

“Ahh, well, I’m looking forward to it...I’m sure he’s got plenty of stories to tell me,” he gave her the softest of smiles as he walked around the counter and effortlessly hoped onto the stool next to her. He nudged her knee with his, a sort of intimate gesture, as he indicated for her to carry on, “I’ve already told you, love, I don’t care about your past. You are a good person, whether or not you choose to believe it.”

“Promise?” she asked quietly and reached down and gave her knee a soft squeeze, “after my little outburst with Ben, I went home and started drinking. I was sure I was going to lose my job, and to be quite frank, I’m not positive it’ll still be there for me. So, I suppose I better start keeping my options open. It was just everything, it set me off and I don’t handle these things well...but I’m working on it.”

“Why do you think this demonic headmaster has it out for you?” Gwil mused out loud, ran a handle over his stubble in contemplation, “is he jealous that he’ll never get to shag you?”

“Gwilym Lee!” her eyes widened in both horror and disgust as she pictured him lusting after her. She sincerely hoped that wasn’t his motive - she’d rather have gone after a slug than ever get closer than three feet to Crickle, “that’s the biggest horror story ever. I do hope not, otherwise I should be finding a new job either way. No...he’s just...I don’t fit the stereotypical picture of what he has for a young woman. I don’t think the others teachers like me either, they’re the ones that started telling him they’ve seen me around town when I’ve gone out. And that I was out drunk one morning and causing a scene. Which wasn’t entirely true - I was hungover and reacting to the news that one of my other best friends was pregnant!”

“Hmm,” he teased her, “sounds like a perfectly valid reason to hate you. Young, pretty, likes to go out and have fun...”

“Be serious!” she giggled in spite of herself, sticking out her tongue at him, “I could lose my job! What am I going to do then?”

“You have me,” he stated as it was the most obvious thing in the world, “you know I could take care of you if you needed it-”

“I-I’m not going to take advantage of you like that Gwil,” she felt a blush rising in her cheeks in spite of herself, “I want this to be an equal partnership, and that involves me contributing. Not living off of the hot English professor that everyone wants to shag!”

“Fair enough,” he agreed, “you think everyone wants to shag me, huh? Am I really that good looking?”

“I mean, you’re alright,” she made a so-so gesture with her hand. She knew he was more than alright, as close to perfect as a man could get really, “enough for a bunch of little uni students to pretend Professor Lee is fucking them when they’re with their inexperienced boyfriends.”

“Professor Lee...I could fuck you in my classroom sometime. You can be a naughty school girl, and we could do it in every inch of my office,” he said everything so calmly, like he wasn’t just pondering about wild, passionate sex, which was enough to cause her cheeks to turn a bright crimson, “you know if you want.”

“Of course I want to!” she practically blurted with overly zealous eagerness, her hands flying to her face - she hadn’t wanted to come off that desperate. He raised an eyebrow at her as he took a drink from his bottle, and she wished more than anything else to be that bottle, and to have his lips on her. Shaking her head, she realized she needed to pull herself together and not just lust over him, that could be reserved for later, “but in all seriousness, Gwilym, what am I going to do? I don’t want to lose my job, I love it, and my kids.”

“You’re not going to get fired, love,” he said quietly, “I know the kids love you just as much as you love them. Jenny almost never stops talking about you, or Deacon. If you’re a good teacher, which I can see that you are, you have nothing to be worried about. We can fight it if something does happen.”

“We,” she repeated the word out loud. It was such a nice word, she decided, and she wanted to hear more of it, “I like the sound of that. It has a nice ring to it.”

“Indeed it does,” he reached down and pulled her stool closer to him so there was very little distance between them, “please just promise you won’t just shut me out again. I don’t want to hear that you’ve been feeling so down and drinking so much. You can tell me anything - anything.”

“T-there is one other thing...” she started, swallowing the lump in her throat that had suddenly appeared. He looked at her expectantly, such a soft expression in those bright blue eyes, She tried to get the words out, but it just wasn’t working. Instead, she just smiled at him before forcing out, “that I love you. Very much, and it’s both amazing and terrifying. That’s all.”

“I love you too,” he beamed at her, closing the distance and pecking her lips with each slow, punctuated word, “why don’t I show you how much?”

Lucy and Rami’s wedding rolled around faster than she could have imagined. After months of laborious planning, hours spent over the tiniest details, their big day was finally here. Y/N had worked hard to make amends with her friends throughout the remainder of the week, feigning that she’d been under the weather - Ben had been a good sport and hadn’t spilled the beans on what had actually transpired between them. What was done was done and they didn’t need to know all the details. Knowing that everything was going to be okay was enough.

And they had finally all met Gwil - a feat nothing short of a miracle considering her recent relationships had been nothing more than a few days long, if more than a night. But no, he had accompanied her and presented the picture of tranquil perfection. He was dressed smartly, putting almost everyone else there to shame, but he carried no false bravado or swagger about anything, he was just utterly himself.

And of course everyone, including Ben, had wholeheartedly approved of them, whispering under their breath about how lovely he was, as if she was not already aware. So tall! So handsome! So kind! So lovely!

But as she was standing there at the altar, perched next to Becca and Tessa as Lucy and Rami exchanged their vows, she found herself slipping into her own thoughts, hoping she didn’t appear too lost or gone. She forced herself to look at the nervous and giggling bride and groom, trying to intently memorize every word they were saying, but it was no use.

A million thoughts raced through her mind as she realized that could have been her in Lucy’s position. It would have been, it should have been her - but it wasn’t. She knew, of course, that things happened and life was what was, but it still caused a pang of sadness in her heart. She had wanted this so desperately and was denied, but as her gaze started to wander, she spied Gwil sitting among some random members of Lucy’s family, several rows back, his eyes glued to her. He was her future now and that made her very happy indeed.

The corners of her mouth stretched into a small as she realized she must have been frowning before. Praying she hadn’t made anyone odd faces and didn’t seem to be disparaging anyone, she chanced the quickest of winks at Gwil before giving her full attention back to the others. Maybe life didn’t always work out how it was supposed to, or how one planned, but that was okay. Sometimes the future held what you’d been looking for and needed.

She almost bounded into Gwil’s arms when she spied him after the ceremony, milling about near the entrance, waiting for her with a big grin on his face. He held his arms open to her and picked her up off of her feet, clinging onto her tightly in his strong arms, planting a gentle kiss on her cheek, trying his best not mess up the makeup that had been meticulously applied.

“You look absolutely beautiful,” he said tenderly, letting her back down onto her feet, helping to keep her balanced in the sky-high heels. Lucy had always had a love of stilettos and everyone would be damned if she didn’t have her bridal party wearing them on her big day, “you okay there, champ? You’re almost as tall as me for once!”

“Very funny, Gwilliam,” she teased, running a hand over his cheek, touching the delicious stubble he had there. He appeared so divine in his suit, opting to wear a bow tie instead of a regular tie, and easily put everyone else to shame. But she couldn’t wait to tell all the intricate layers off of him later and have him stripped under her. Trying her best to suppress the thought, she remembered where she was, and spied Ben walking over to them, “not everyone can be a tall tree like you. By the way, this is my best friend, Ben. Ben, this is Gwil and I can now confidently say that I wasn’t making either of you up!”

“Ben,” he wrapped an around her waist, tucking her securely into his side before extending his hand, “it’s an absolute pleasure to meet you. She goes on so much about you, I almost thought you might be conjoined at the hip.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Ben eagerly shook the other man’s hand, and it was clear that the two of them were sizing each other up. There were calm smiles on their faces, and they seemingly approved each other. It mean the world to her that her best friend and boyfriend got on. Neither of them appeared to be going anywhere, so it didn’t really give them much of a choice. Ben looked over at her, giving her a wink before giving his attention back to Gwil, “this one’s been absolutely over the moon about you. Gwil this, Gwil that, I feel like I’ve been dating you as well.”

“Ben!” she burrowed her face into Gwil’s chest, in a vain attempt at hiding her crimson cheeks. He soothingly rubbed her arm up and down, laughing at her sudden shyness, but kissed the top of her head, careful not to muss her hair, “you’re supposed to be on my side, not his!”

“I am on your side,” he innocently shrugged, gave her wide doe eyes, “I’m just pointing out the facts. But, Gwil, trust me, if you ever need any good stories, I’ve got them all. We’ve known each other since we were about six, I know almost everything about this one. I’m sure you’ll fit right in with the group!”

“I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for you later!” Gwil promised Ben as Tessa came over to drag the two of them outside for pictures. Y/N gave him a look of warning, waggling a finger pointedly at him before turning her attention back to Tessa, who had one of each of her hands on either arms. She sighed lightly at the giggled best friends, wondering how she had ended up playing babysitter to the two of them.

“I like him,” Ben commented under his breath, nudging her arm gently. She smiled in spite of herself but nodded excitedly, biting on her lower lip lightly.

“You’ve barely exchanged more than a few words with him,” she reminded him, looking at him with a raised eyebrow, but relief flooded her veins at the knowledge that he approved of her boyfriend.

“That may be so,” he said as his face turned into a serious expression, one he normally reserved for when he was putting on his Dr. Jones persona, “but I can tell. He gives off good vibes.”

“Thank you,” she whispered quietly in response to his declaration, “you have no idea how much that means to me. I love you, Benny.”

“I love you too,” he promised before he was removed from her, lined up along Rami’s side along with the rest of the groomsmen. She tried to hold back her tears at the touching scene, feeling for the first time in a long time that everyone was slowly falling into place.

A few days ago she would have been glad for all the free flowing alcohol, but today it was almost enough to make her stomach churn, so she vehemently avoided it, opting instead to remain drinking her water, sparkling never still of course.

“Hey! Are you gonna come and dance with me?” she grinned at Gwil as she flopped down in the seat next to him, her face flushed from all moving and gyrating from the dance floor. Gwil had been posted up at one of the abandoned tables, nursing a beer while he chatted away with Ben. She had been worried for a few moments, wondering just what Ben would tell him, hoping it wasn’t all sorts of embarrassing stories from when they were teenagers.

“Of course love,” he took a swig from the bottle, “give me five more minutes and I’ll join you, yeah?”

“Only if you absolutely promise,” she stood back up, kicking off her heels, finally as her feet screamed for relief, before kissing his cheek, and seeking out Becca and Tessa. She turned around and gave him one last wave.

“You’d better go and join her,” Ben chuckled, “she’s impatient and has a hot head, which I’m sure you know all about.”

“She’s something else,” Gwil agreed, tapping the lip of his bottle thoughtfully, “but I happen to love her very much. It feels silly to admit, but I’m really happy to have met you all now. It means a lot you know.”

“We’re glad too,” Ben clinked his bottle against his, “it’s been a long time since she’s been with anyone. Sometimes I wondered if she’d ever find anyone again-”

“Again?” setting down his bottle, he gave Ben a mystified glance, trying to decipher what he meant.

“Losing James was really hard for her. It seemed like she’d never get that spark back, but you’d never be able to see that now,” he stated, not realizing that Y/N had still neglected to tell Gwil anything about James. She had planned on it several days prior, but wasn’t able to do it, leaving it for another time, “what’s wrong?”

“James?”

“Her fiance...he passed away after getting hit by a drunk driver in a car accident several years ago,” Gwil’s jaw almost hit the ground at Ben’s words. He had no clue, not an inclination even, about the existence of James. But here it was - a mountainous revelation laid out before him at once, “s-she must have told you? I mean, he was a huge part of her life, she was going to marry him...”

“I-I’ve got to go,” he said suddenly, almost jumping out of his chair as a confused expression fell on Ben’s face. It took him a moment to put two and two together, and then it hit; Y/N had never mentioned so much as a word about James.

Y/N looked over to see a distressed Ben and Gwil exited the room, clutching his suit jacket in his hand. She made eye contact with Ben, who gave her a forlorn expression as he shook his head and mouthed I’m sorry at her.

She pulled up her dress and ran after him, hoping her strides would catch up to his long legs. Following his path, she bounded down the hall, which luckily contained no other people, when she spotted him.

“Gwil! Gwilym!” she put her hand on his arm, but he flinched out of her touch, turning on his heel to face her, an unreadable expression on his handsome features, “what’s wrong, love?”

“James,” the name rolled off his tongue with more salt than he intended and he could tell he had struck a nerve by the way she recoiled from him. Her eyes widened with fear as she realized that the truth had somehow slipped out. He didn’t break eye contact with her, even she tried her best to avoid looking at him, “who is James, Y/N? Tell me who he is.”

“I-I, Gwil, you have to understand that it wasn’t easy for me. I don’t just go around telling people-”

“I’m not people, Y/N!” he raised his voice, and she was taken aback for a brief moment - he’d never been this loud with her before, “I’m your boyfriend! I’m supposedly the man you love.”

“Gwil, please just listen to me,” she was desperate, trying to hold back her tears as she internally urged him to see reason, “I-I wanted to tell you-”

“Then why didn’t you?” there was an exasperated look on his face, and he ran a hand over his stubble, trying to calm himself down. He didn’t know how to feel - there was sense of annoyance, sadness, and a little bit of anger. He had been begged her, on several occasions, to just open up to him, “what prevented you from telling me, Y/N? I have told you so many times to just open up and talk to me.”

“I was scared,” she dabbed at her eyes with the back of her hand, “it’s just...I can’t just open up and spill all of my secrets. It took me years to get over him.”

“He was a secret?! What other secrets are you hiding?” they were both breathing heavily, chests rising and falling in anger and annoyance.

“Nothing - I just don’t like talking about it. I was supposed to marry him, and he’s dead, okay? I don’t why you’re making such a big deal out of this!” her own voice was rising and she hoped no one would come in and over hear their argument. She didn’t need to go on and ruin Lucy and Rami’s big day.

“Because it is! I asked you about past relationships, I’ve told you about my own almost marriage,” he was flailing around wildly now, trying to get his point across, “I’ve asked you to open up to me, Y/N. I told you that your past doesn’t matter to me, besides what would have happened if you’d told me? It’s not like I would have been upset! I know what’s like to lose people too.”

“Well, you’re sure acting upset right now,” she pouted at him through tears, wishing she’d just gone and told him the truth from the beginning. But she was too stubborn for her own good and held back a big part of her past, and now it had come back full circle to bite her in the butt.

“That’s because I am upset!” he sighed and furrowed his brow, taking a moment to calm himself, “I have tried my best to be patient with you, darling, I really have. I have asked you repeatedly to open up to me, and you still haven’t. I don’t know what you need, Y/N, and I can only give you so much.”

“Gwilym-”

“Y/N, I love you, I really do,” he bit his lip, mulling over his words carefully, “but I can’t keep doing this anymore. This constant up and down, going in circles, back and forth. I just...I don’t know if this is going to work.”

“P-please no,” she grabbed onto his arm, ready to cling onto him and be for forgiveness, “please don’t leave me. I-I love you, please. You have to understand-”

“And that’s what makes this so hard,” he took his arm out of her hands, letting his fingers brush over hers one last time, “I know you’re being honest...this time. But what about in a few years from now? What if we got married? Had children? Would you be hiding things from me then? I asked for one thing, Y/N, that’s all. It was never supposed to be this complicated.”

“Don’t walk away,” she almost sunk to her knees, begging him to stop and not leave. He had welcomed her back before with open arms, but she wasn’t so sure he’d do it a second time, “please, I’ll tell you everything, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Gwilym-”

“Goodbye, Y/N,” he said quietly, taking a step back from her, a pained expression on his own face. This was just as hard for him as it was for her, “I do love you, you know, truly.”

“Don’t leave me,” she repeated quietly as she watched his retreated back, staying there for a long time even after he had gone. She was on her knees, weeping only, wishing that she could take it all back. But she couldn’t - he was gone. For good this time.

“Y/N?” Ben asked quietly as he finally found her. He leaned down and put a hand on her back gently, but she just brushed him off, “love, I swear I thought he knew, I-I wouldn’t have said anything if I knew.”

“It’s okay, Benny,” she sighed, letting a sob rack her body as she plopped down the floor and leaned against the wall, “it’s my own fault. It’s over. It’s all over. He’s gone.”

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killerqueenmachine · 5 years ago

Text

Wonderwall - Gwilym Lee x Reader

Pairing: Gwilym Lee x Reader Words: 3685

Prompt: Wonderwall by Oasis

Warnings: Swearing, alcohol, ANGST - turns to fluff. Note: This is my contribution to @rogerina-deacon writing challenge!

Lyrics to the song are written in cursive. Lines marked with * __ * is a text-message.

A big thank you to @imsusx and @brianandthemays for BETA reading this. I really truly had a hard time making this one work out and you really helped me out. Thank you so much! I couldn't have done this without you guys. ❤️

__________________

Today is gonna be the day That they're gonna throw it back to you By now you should've somehow Realized what you gotta do I don't believe that anybody Feels the way I do, about you now

"It's been going on for way too long already. It's too late to do or say anything now, and you know it! Besides... I think he might be in love with someone else." The words barely left your lips before you started to feel the heat rise to your face as you argued with your best friend. She was the only person in the whole world who knew about your crush on Gwilym and, as things were going, she would be the only person in the world to ever know. You had met Gwilym through your old classmate about a year and a half or so ago. He had invited you and Gwilym to the same party a while back. You hit it off instantly and became really good friends. But never more than that. Just friends.

Gwilym had brought you along for a lot of things that had to do with his work, though. Premiers, shoots, red carpets even a few interviews where you weren't on camera at all you were just there as moral support and because you really wanted to be there with him. Today was no different. He had invited you to a big release party for his newest movie, at least a thousand guests would be there, he had said. You had agreed in a heartbeat, taking up any opportunity to be with him.

"But you know today is going to be the best chance you have to tell him!" your friend whined, clearly as frustrated as you were.

"I don't have to tell him anything. It's just a stupid crush and-"

"A STUPID CRUSH?!" she yelled, cutting you off.

"You've been completely smitten with him for at least a year! That's not a stupid crush!"

You sighed, feeling the tears well up in your eyes. The feeling of hopelessness flooded through your veins. You knew she was right. At the bottom of your heart, you just knew. Every night for the past year you had fallen asleep pretending to be laying next to Gwilym, his arms wrapped around you and having his soft snores lull you to sleep. You had even started kissing your pillow, pretending to be kissing him instead.

"Hello? Earth is calling! You can't just back out of this by not answering me!" Your friend continued after a few moments.

"I'm... I know. I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do." you whined, walking backward until your back hit the wall behind you, allowing you to slide down until you were situated on the floor. You pulled up your knees and wrapped your arms around your legs, trying to become as small as possible.

"Then listen to me" she sighed, clearly getting fed up with the constant struggle with you being too shy to admit your feelings and her having to deal with all your emotional breakdowns. "You go to that fucking party, you turn it the fuck out and you get your sorry little ass together and tell Gwilym that you're in love with him and then you deal with whatever outcome there is!" she listed, pointing at you after every step in her plan.

"Yeah yeah yeah" you replied, resting your forehead on your arms.

"No! Don't 'yeah-yeah-yeah' me! Listen to my advice and do as I tell you. I love you - but man am I getting sick and tired of listening to your complaints about being single and how much to fancy this guy! Go out and do something about it!" your friend was still fuming.

"I know, sorry," you said and lifted your head, obtaining eye contact with your friend.

"Thank you for being there for me, though. Even though you are being a bit harsh right now” you continued while not-so-elegantly getting up from the floor again. “Are you hungry?"

"Yeah... I'm a little hungry. Hangry even, maybe" she laughed and shook her head.

"Thought so - let's go out. I'll treat us to some nachos, yeah?"

She agreed and the two of you quickly popped out for lunch before returning to your flat. Your friend had offered to help you get ready before Gwilym would come and pick you up so you could go to the party together. Now that you knew that this was going to be the night that you finally told him about your feelings, you wanted to look your best. Mainly because looking your best coincidentally also made you feel your best.

The sound of your doorbell went off and you knew exactly what that meant. Gwilym was finally here and you couldn't wait to see him. Quickly you downed the last of your drink and made your way to the front door. You pushed up your boobs one final time and straightened the front of your dress before slowly opening the door.

"Well well well, hello there little missy - aren't you a treat for the eye!" Gwilym said as he saw you. His words made the blood rush to your cheeks and a goofy smile made its way over your lips.

"Oh Gwil, you're too sweet" you laughed as you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him in for a hug.

He hummed in a non-verbal answer and placed a soft kiss to your cheek as he pulled away from the hug.

"Are you ready for a wild night?" he asked, offering his arm for you to hold on to, as he lead you away from your flat.

"Sure am, Sir. Sure am," you laughed and locked your door before following him to the car.

The car ride to the event went smoothly. Whenever you were alone with Gwilym it felt like it was the most natural thing in the world - like everything had fallen in to place. Yet, you still didn't dare to tell him how you actually felt. You just barely hinted at it during your conversation but he didn't seem to catch on - or if he did, he brushed it off.

You arrived at the party and Gwilym graciously lead you inside where you greeted all of his friends; friends that you had become very well acquainted with at this point, due to all the events you had been at, at this point. Within an hour or so Gwilym had left your side to go chat with someone else, while you stayed with Ben and Lucy.

"So how're things between you and Gwil?" Lucy asked, taking a slow sip of her drink.

"Things?" you asked, slightly confused, quickly scanning the room to see if Gwilym was anywhere close.

"Yeah? Aren't you guys like... A thing? I mean you've been to every single get together for the past 6 months?" she asked obviously more confused than you were.

"No, God no - we're absolutely just friends," you stammered, feeling a slight panic race through your body.

"Just friends, yeah?" Ben chimed in.

"Yeah, yeah. There's never been- uh... Never been anything," you said and your eyes darted to the floor, desperate to avoid any eye contact.

"Never? Really?" Lucy asked sounding almost flabbergasted.

"Yeah," you admitted with a defeated tone of voice.

"Do you want anything to be there?" Ben asked cautiously.

You kept your eyes glued to the floor, clearly spending way to much time thinking about your answer.

"I..." you said and sighed deeply. "I don't know. He's lovely, really - and I've thought-" you started. "No - no. Forget it. It doesn't matter" you sighed again deciding that it was better to keep your feelings a complete secret.

"It absolutely does matter! You have a crush on him, don't you?" Lucy said, sounding way more excited than you wanted her to.

"I.. Lucy I don't know how to-" You finally looked up from the ground and as your eyes searched to obtain eye contact with Lucy you accidentally looked over her shoulder.

Behind her across the room was Gwilym with some woman you had never seen before. Her hands on his bicep and cheek, his hands around her waist and their lips absolutely glued together. Your breath got caught in your throat and a million thoughts and feelings rushed through your mind before everything went black. Nothing mattered anymore.

"I'm sorry... I have to- uh- go," you whispered, feeling the tears starting to well up in your eyes.

"(Y/N) wait! What's-" Ben started before he saw Gwilym. "Oh," he gasped.

"Oh no," Lucy whispered and looked after you, only to see the very back of your head as you disappeared out of the front door.

The tears had started freely flowing down your cheeks ruining your make-up in no time. Frustration rushed through your veins and the uncontrollable urge to break things started filling your consciousness. At this point, you couldn't even be bothered to call a taxi. You need the fresh air, the break, the silence. In your fury, your hurt - and your stilettos - you just started walking, running almost, in the direction of your home. You managed to walk for an hour before the physical pain of wearing stilettos got too much and you had to call a taxi for the last few kilometers.

When you finally got home you slammed the door with a force you didn't even know you possessed. Kicked off your shoes and threw your purse on the floor. You stomped your way to your bedroom and violently got out of your clothes and right before you slammed on to the bed, a heartbreakingly primal scream left your lips, finally allowing you to collapse on to your bed. Your brain went crazy, running over every memory you have of you and Gwilym, causing you to violently sob and cry. The only thing that stopped your crying was when you finally fell asleep.

Backbeat, the word was on the street That the fire in your heart is out I'm sure you've heard it all before But you never really had a doubt I don't believe that anybody Feels the way I do about you now

It had been 3 months since the last time you had spoken to Gwilym. In the days after the party, he had desperately trying to get a hold of you, calling you, texting you - he even showed up to your flat. Yet you gave him no answer. Ben had been your main source of finding out what was going on with Gwilym and he had truly been there for you, allowing you to empty your heart and mind right onto his shoulders. Through him, you had found out that the woman Gwilym had been kissing on the night of the party continued to pop up alongside Gwilym, and at one point, Ben finally confirmed that the two of them were a couple. The message had broken the final piece of your heart, leaving you a sobbing mess once again.

Today you were woken up by a new text from Ben simply saying 'It's over. They're over'. You read the text and felt your heart started to race. Within a few minutes, you had gained control over your breathing and partly some control over your thoughts and you decided to call Ben. Luckily he picked up his phone quickly.

"It's me," his dark voice beamed through your phone.

"It's the mess calling," you softly said with a voice dripping with self-pity.

"Hello, Miss Mess. How are you doing?" he asked sounding genuinely worried about you.

"I'm... Okay. I think. Uhm, I actually called because of your text. Are they really? I mean have they broken up?" you nervously asked, fearing what Ben might tell you.

"Absolutely. Gwilym just popped over earlier. Apparently, she cheated on him but he didn't sound as upset as you would think someone who had just been cheated on would sound. He said something about their ‘thing’ never really 'feeling right' - whatever that was supposed to mean. He didn’t even refer to her as a girlfriend or well, ex-girlfriend.."

"Uh-huh. Well, that’s great - or, you know. Not great but.. yeah," you softly laughed. Ben always had a way to make you feel better, even on your darkest days. Well, almost. "Thank you so much for telling me, Ben. I'll call you back some other time okay? Miss you - bye!" You said and hung up once he had said his goodbyes too.

A strange feeling started to soar through your body. On one hand, it felt really good to know that Gwilym was no longer with anyone and on the other hand you felt bad for enjoying someone's misery. Even though you had felt like your heart had been shattered all those months ago your crush on Gwilym never disappeared. He was still the only man on your mind. Just as your thoughts started to wander another text ticked in on your phone.

*Are you ready to talk yet? I miss you so much. Please*

The text was from Gwilym and just seeing his name on your phone again made your heart skip a beat.

*I’m so sorry. I miss you too, can I call you?*

It didn’t take long before your phone rang and after a few deep breaths you picked it up.

“Gwilym?” you asked.

“Yes, God I’ve missed you so much,” he whined.

The conversation between the two of you wasn’t very long. It just didn’t seem right to have such a serious conversation through the phone. Just hearing his voice again made your heartache. Instead, you decided it was better to meet up, face to face, which ended up with you inviting him to your flat as soon as he had time to sit down and really talk. Three days. In three days from now, he would be over.

And all the roads we have to walk are winding And all the lights that lead us there are blinding There are many things that I Would like to say to you but I don't know how

The three days seemed to be longer than any other days you had ever lived through. You spent a lot of time tidying and cleaning your flat to hide the fact that you had barely been able to leave your bed out of pure self-pity for the past few months.

The nervousness of finally meeting up with Gwilym again started to spread throughout your body. For 3 whole months, you hadn't seen or talked to the man you once considered to be your best friend. But before the nerve-numbing feeling of panic managed to spread too far, you heard a very familiar voice call your name and a few subtle knocks on your door.

"Gwilym… Hi," you whispered softly as you opened the door, finally seeing him again. The look on this face made your body instantly fill with guilt and shame. The guilt of just leaving him behind and flat out ignore him for all those months, without even telling him why.

"I've missed you," he whined. He had already had quite the day and seeing you were the cherry on top of a very miserable cake.

"I'm so sorry. I'm just the wor-"

Gwilym took a single long stride forwards and scooped you into his arms, pulling you in for a rib-crushingly tight hug.

You could feel yourself melt into his touch, desperately trying to forget that the past 3 months had happened. You just wanted everything to go back to normal. After a few moments of silence, and just the two of you glued together in your doorway, you pulled out of the hug, finally inviting him inside and closing the door slowly behind him.

"Gwilym, I'm so so sorry for being such a bad friend. There are so many things I'd like to say to you, I just don't know how," you started to apologize as you turned around to face him again.

"God, I've missed the sound of your voice," he said in a laughing sigh.

"Listen, we've got a lot to talk about. Do you mind if I make myself a cuppa?" he asked quickly afterward.

"No - no, let me do it. Earl grey, no sugar, a splash of milk, yeah?" you said, making your way to your kitchen, quickly getting a pot of water ready for boiling.

"Please. That would be perfect," he said and dumped down on one of your kitchen chairs.

A few moments of silence passed through your tiny kitchen while the pot started to boil and you made two cups of tea. You slowly walked over and handed the milky one to Gwilym and sat down opposite from him.

"I.." you started but ended up sighing, not knowing how to word all the feelings you wanted to tell Gwilym about.

"No, let me," he insisted.

"I went by Ben's place earlier today and he told me about... Some things." he started and placed the cup of tea on the table.

"That party. I.. I just feel so bad. I didn't even realize you had left until three hours after. God, I felt horrible when I found out. I tried to call you but... You didn’t pick up - for three months," he said. It stung - bad. He hadn't even noticed that you had left.

"Listen, Gwil. You don't have-"

"No, please don't interrupt. I have so many things I need to say." he laughed softly, holding up his forefinger as if to shush you.

"But why now?" you said. You knew why he came by now and not earlier, but you wanted to hear it from him.

"She... I mean you know, the woman from the party, we... uh," he seemed to fumble with his words. "Erica was her name. Well, it still is, she isn't dead. Uh. We sorta.. Oh, you know already don't you?" It was obvious that he felt uncomfortable with the conversation.

"I know.. Some things. Ben really loves his gossip doesn't he?" you laughed. "You guys were a couple and now you're... not?" you softly said, taking a sip of your tea.

"We were never an official couple... We dated, sure... But it never really... Felt right, you know? We just didn't click."

"And that took you three months to figure out?"

"Yeah- well... She cheated on me. So I guess it didn't feel right for her either" Gwilym sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear," you softly said, offering a bit of sympathy, even though you didn't really have any.

"It's okay, really. I wasn't ever meant to be, was it?" he laughed.

Before you got the chance to answer him, he cleared his throat and started talking again. You took in a deep breath of air and slumped back in your chair allowing Gwilym to say what he needed to say.

"Anyway - I didn't.." he paused for a while, clearly unsure of how to word his next sentence. "Listen. I didn't know that you felt like that... you know, the- uh... the crush and all. But if I had known, of course, I would've never gone after someone else. I thought that... what we had was simply platonic. That's how I thought you wanted it. I spent so much time trying to hint at us becoming something… more. But since you never picked up on any of the hints I just thought you weren't interested." He sighed defeated stopping for a moment to take a sip of his tea.

You didn't say anything. You focused on breathing steadily and not pouring your tea into your lap.

"I'm so sorry for... everything you've been through. I just wish I had known - I wish you would've told me instead of just... Freezing me out. I get it - I really do. Couldn't have been easy seeing what you saw." You could clearly see the pain in his eyes as he thought back on that night.

"Gwilym…" you chimed in, only to be cut off by him again.

"No - listen. I just want to let you know that… I'm not mad at you. I unknowingly broke your heart - yes, Ben talks too much and let me in on everything. He was my only source to check in on you," he admitted, lowering his head in some sort of shame.

"You checked in on me?" your voice was fragile and barely louder than a whisper.

"Of course I did. You're still my main squeeze." He softly said placing his hands down on the table, open and inviting you to place yours directly in his. And so you did.

"Gwilym I'm-"

"I'm not done"

"I don't care - it's my turn now," you laughed and squeezed his hands. "Listen," you started and sighed "What I did was wrong. It was bad. And I feel so ashamed of the way I've been acting. You didn't do anything wrong, really. I just overreacted and I realized that fairly quickly but... I was way too ashamed to tell you that."

A soft laugh emitted from Gwilym's mouth as you finished your sentence.

"God this is a strange conversation to have," you sighed through a soft laugh.

"Yeah, it really is. But I think I understand what the main point of all of it is," he said and stood from his chair.

You followed his lead and rose to your feet, not exactly knowing why you did it. It only took him two long strides to move around your table and stand right in front of you. He quickly grabbed a hold of your hands and held them tight to his chest.

"I might have misinterpreted something now, so tell me if I'm all off," he started and squeezed your hands a little tighter.

"But it's always been us, hasn't it. We've just never… dared to act upon it," he continued, scanning your face for some sort of confirmation.

The tension between the two of you grew rapidly. The air almost felt thick and the sudden silence seemed deafening. You wanted him more than ever. To just jump into his arms and forget anything bad had ever happened. But you hadn’t spoken in three months. A slight twinge of fear soared through your body. A fear that he was merely using you to get back up after been cheated on. Not that he ever struck you like the type of person who would just go about and mindlessly play with other people's feelings.

"Gwilym, I don't want to be your stupid rebound." At this point, you were almost crying.

"You're not! Absolutely not!" he protested and pulled you a little closer to his body. "I know my timing is awful, but you're the reason things between Erica and I never got really serious. You're the reason it never felt right. I thought about you every single day and these few months have been hell for me. Please just believe me. You're not a rebound. You're so much more than that. I'll show you every single day for the rest of my life - if you'll allow me into your heart again"

He looked at you with the most vulnerable and pleading eyes you had ever seen from him. His warm hands still covering yours had started to shake just a little and his energy had changed. You had never had him so raw and vulnerable before and it broke your heart, but in a good way. Slowly you took a step closer to him, to the point where your feet were between his and your hips almost touched - almost a hug without arms.

"I'm still in love with you," you whispered softer than ever, scared of what would happen next.

Gwilym sighed and you felt him melt into you. His sigh made him sound relieved and he seemed to be more relaxed than before. The two of your shared a moment of the most intense silence and the deepest eye contact you had ever had with anyone before. The moment didn’t last too long before Gwilym finally let go of your hands and instead cupped your face and rested his forehead against yours.

You stood completely still barely even breathing.

“Kiss me,” you whispered, lips hovering just above his.

“Oh, I’m planning on it,” he laughed softly before he finally closed his eyes and leaned forward to close the tiny space that had been between your mouths.

His soft lips slowly moved against yours, kissing you softer than you had been kissed before. It felt like it was your very first kiss. The butterflies in your stomach started to spread and you couldn’t think about anything other than Gwilym’s mouth against yours and the feeling of his stubble against your chin.

“You’re right,” you said, just as you broke the kiss.

“Right about what?”

“It has always been us. It really has.”

“Thought so,” he laughed and slid his hands down your body, bringing them to rest on your lower back, just above your butt.

“Now this might seem rushed, but I have one final question I need to ask you today,” he said and pulled your body closer to his.

“Yeah?”

“Would you do me the utmost honour of becoming my girlfriend?” His voice was calmer than you had thought it would be by now. But his calmness gave you a boost of confidence. He felt safe around you and really wanted you in his life - wanted you, as his girlfriend, and he wasn’t scared to ask you or to admit his feelings to you.

“Yes - Oh my, yes! Gwilym, yes!” you whined, almost crying again.

You placed your hands around his neck pulling his face close to yours again before desperately crashing your lips against his. It felt like he was the only thing on the planet that you needed to survive. Finally, everything felt as if it had fallen into place.

Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me And after all, you're my Wonderwall.

#rogerina deacon’s 1k writing challenge #gwilym lee x reader #gwilym lee fan fic #fluff #angst #fan fic #gwilym lee fluff #gwilym lee angst #gwilym lee #my work #my writing #writing challenge #gwilym lee x reader fluff #gwilym lee x reader angst #borhap #borhap fic #borhap fluff #borhap angst

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writingfortoomanyfandoms · 6 years ago

Text

Shyer Than Me

Pairing: Gwilym Lee!Brian May x Reader

Summary: The band want to meet Brian’s girlfriend - Brian reflects on his time with her

Requested: No but I love Brian so fucking much and haven’t written for him properly before

Warnings: Swearing, lots of references to English literature (whoops), italics mean it’s set in the past!

A/N: so this is my first full-length Brian fic! Please remember to let me know what you think - I love hearing from you guys!! Reading your comments, reblogs and asks really make my day and inspire me to write more and I also kinda love the way this turned out so please let me know if you want me to write more for Brian (bc I totally want to write more for him :))

“We’re just saying, Bri, you guys have been dating for how long now?” Roger asked the university student as he tuned his guitar.

“A year and three months,” the soft-spoken man said, not looking up at the drummer as he answered his question, though there was a smile on his face, a smile that was always present whenever Y/N was brought into the conversation.

“Right, you guys have been dating a year and three months now, you’ve told her you love her, she loves you, she’s met your family and yet we can’t meet her?” Brian raised his mop of curly hair just in time to see Roger gesturing between himself and the other two band members.

“You’d scare her off,” Brian shrugged and Freddie scoffed.

“Please, darling, if she’s stuck around this long I hardly think meeting the rest of us will scare her,” Brian rolled his eyes, setting his guitar to the side, finally finished with tuning. He stood and stretched, feeling the satisfying click of his muscles as they stretched out.

“We don’t know anything about her other than you love her, Brian, and that one photo in your wallet,” John said, putting it more gently than the other two. Brian raised his eyebrows at his friends.

“How do you know about the photo of her in my wallet?”

“None of us wanted to pay for the food when we went out a few months and you had left you wallet unattended,” Roger waved him off.

“It was Roger’s idea if you couldn’t tell,” John added, laughing at Roger’s nonchalant response.

“She’s hot though,” Roger added helpfully. Brian’s smile widened and he nodded.

“She’s beautiful,” he agreed.

“So we can meet her?” Brian shook his head, a laugh escaping his lips at his best friend’s persistence.

“Nope!”

“Then at least tell us about her!” Freddie demanded. Brian rolled his eyes, becoming well aware of the fact that, for once, the men weren’t going to back down on the subject of his girlfriend.

“We need to prepare for the show,” he tried but the men shook their heads, each of them taking a seat. Freddie pulled Mary onto his lap and they all looked at him expectantly.

“We have hours to go before the show, we’re fine,”

“We just want to hear about your girlfriend!” Roger groaned, throwing his head back. Brian let out a long sigh before giving a slow nod, taking a seat on his amp.

“What do you want to know?” The boys eyes lit up at the question.

“How did you meet?” A smile crossed his face as he remembered meeting Y/N for the first time.

“Are you okay?” Brian asked, approaching the girl. She was stood on her tiptoes, desperately reaching for a book at the top of the shelf in the bookstore. She turned to Brian and immediately looked away, ducking down to hide her face.

“I’m fine, thank you,” she whispered and Brian noticed the adorable way in which she played with her fingers, clearly shy and embarrassed.

“Do you want me to get that down for you?” He offered gently, not wanting to scare off the woman but at the same time not wanting to stop talking to her - she was gorgeous, there was no doubt about that. And this was probably the longest conversation he had successfully held with an attractive woman in over a month.

“I don’t want to be a bother,” she denied quickly, twisting her fingers together as she risked a look at Brian under her lashes. He gave her a reassuring smile and shook his head easily.

“No bother at all, love, don’t worry. For once my height may actually come in handy,” he joked and a sense of accomplishment and pride filled his chest at the sound of her quiet laughter filling his ears.

“Then if you don’t mind,” she agreed shyly. Brian shook his head and reached his hand up.

“Which one?”

“Keats, please,” the pretty woman asked, holding her hands out for Brian to place the large book of poetry into.

“You read a lot of poetry?” He asked, not wanting to stop talking to her.

“I study English Literature at the university,” she explained, a quiet smile on her face.

“That’s cool! I study Astrophysics there,” Brian said. The woman bit her lip and looked at Brian through her lashes.

“I have some other books to pick up,” she whispered and Brian nodded, feeling disheartened that the woman didn’t appear to want to spend more time with her. “Would you um...” she trailed off, looking away as she tried to collect herself. Brian’s heart picked up a little at how adorably confused she seemed.

“It’s okay, love,” Brian chuckled.

“Would you like to come with me?” She offered, closing her eyes as though preparing herself for rejection.

“I’d love to,” Brian agreed. “I’m Brian, by the way, your own personal step ladder,” she giggled at his words and shifted the book of poetry to rest in just one of her arms so that she could shake his hand.

“Y/N,”

“That’s... kind of really sweet,” Roger said uncomfortably, clearly not used to enjoying hearing romantic stories of his friends.

Roger never was the romantic type.

Brian looked down, shifting awkwardly.

“Yeah, well...” he trailed off, clearly unsure of how to finish his sentence.

“So you two just hit it off from there?” Mary asked, clearly invested in the story. Brian shrugged, smiling a little at the memory.

“Pretty much,” he agreed.

“Did she stop being shy and awkward?” Roger asked and John elbowed him, causing both of them to start laughing. Brian shook his head at them rolling his eyes but smiling nonetheless.

“On our first date she was still pretty shy at first but opened up a little more as it went on,”

Brian bounced on the balls of his feet, biting his lip as he stared down at his watch. He was stood outside of her home - it was a house that she shared with her roommates from university, Y/N had mentioned over the phone that there were six of them including herself living there.

It must be a completely different dynamic to that between him and Roger living together.

He didn’t want to be too early for there date - not wanting to come across as too eager or anything that may scare her off after she had agreed to it, which had taken a lot of convincing in itself.

It was safe to say that Y/N was probably the shyest person Brian had ever met.

It was fine, though. If anything he found it cute. Her shyness made him want to be more confident, to look after her.

“Are you Brian?” His head snapped up towards the door. A man stood in the doorway, eyebrows raised as he looked at the guitarrist.

“Uh - yeah,”

“Here for Y/N then?”

“Yeah,” the man stepped back, offering him entrance to the house.

“Come inside - it’s cold out,” Brian nodded and walked up to the door, entering into the hallway. “I’m James - one of her roommates,”

“It’s nice to meet you,”

“You too - Y/N/N hasn’t stopped talking about you,” James laughed before walking to the stairs. “Y/N/N! Your date’s here!” He shouted loudly and turned back to Brian. “Cat’s just helping her finish getting ready,” he informed the musician. Brian nodded, swallowing and wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans.

“Well I’m quite early,”

“It’s fine - good, actually. Put Y/N’s mind at rest,” he laughed, shaking his head and then seemed to pick up on Brian’s confused expression. “She was fairly sure you were going to cancel on her or something,” Brian chuckled and shook his head quickly.

“Definitely not - I’ve been looking forward to this for the past two days - just ask my roommate, he’s sick to death of hearing about it,” James threw back his head and laughed just as there were light footsteps on the staircase.

“Hey Brian,” she said quietly. Brian struggled to keep his mouth closed as he stared at her in wonder.

She was dressed simply in a cute sundress, her hair done up properly and her make-up done to perfection and yet Brian had never been quite so awestruck by a woman before.

“I wasn’t sure how smart or casual you meant by smart-casual,” Y/N admitted, a shy smile on her face as she awaited Brian’s response. The curly-haired man cleared his throat and grinned at her.

“You look amazing,” Y/N giggled a little at his words and took his outstretched hand, grabbing her bag from the side as the two of them passed the table on their way out of her home. “Do you like Italian food?”

“I love it,” she grinned, squeezing his hand, sending Brian’s heart into a frenzy of out of time beats.

Every time that he looked at her Brian felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her. When she laughed at his jokes, when she was telling anecdotes about her roommates, when she started speaking so passionately about English Literature and poetry. Everything she did made him want to kiss her.

But he didn’t.

He wasn’t about to mess this up.

“You didn’t kiss her?” John asked, eyes widening slightly. Brian shrugged and shook his head.

“It wasn’t the right time,” Brian explained. Roger scoffed.

“It’s always the right time,”

“And that, Roger, is why you have yet to be in a serious relationship,” Mary added, the comment taking all of them by surprise, the group of them busting up into laughter.

“I don’t know how you like this shit,” Y/N laughed, closing Brian’s heavy textbook and tossing it to the side, turning instead to face him. He pouted.

“You were meant to be testing me,”

“You know it all,” Y/N waved him off, the smile on her face wide and genuine, a far cry from the shy one that had seemed a near-permanent fixture on her face for the first two weeks of their relationship.

“Is that so?” Brian asked, rolling over on her bed so that he was hovering above her, eyes crinkled as he smiled down at her.

Y/N reached up and gently tucked one of his unruly curls behind his ear, out of his face and ran her hand tenderly down his jaw, her face softening.

“Definitely,” she agreed.

“Yeah?”

“You’re the smartest person I know, Bri - you’re going to ace the test,” she promised. Brian chuckle a little, his heart swelling with adoration and he ducked down to press his lips to one cheek, then the other.

Before he could pull away again, Y/N caught his face in her small hands, her palms resting on his cheeks.

“Kiss me?” She asked, her original shyness coming back as she spoke her words, though Brian grinned and nodded.

“I’d love to,”

The kiss was soft and innocent, a brushing of lips and a bumping of noses but it left the two of them grinning insanely widely as they stared at one another.

Finally Y/N moved her arms to wrap around his shoulders, tangling in his long curly hair and pulling him back down into a kiss.

“You guys are so cute,” Mary sighed, smiling at the stories as she relaxed back into Freddie’s arms.

“You guys study together?” John asked, raising his brows at him.

“Yeah, used to get quite a lot done,” Brian agreed. He picked up his guitar, just for something to do and moved his fingers back to the tuning pegs, despite knowing it was already tuned.

“You know nothing about English Literature,” Roger pointed out and Brian shrugged.

“I try to learn about it though - it doesn’t matter, she tests me on Astrophysics and she has no idea what half the words even mean,”

“How did your parents react when they met her,”

It was one of the few weekends that Y/N was spending at Brian’s home.

The couple rarely spent time at Brian’s apartment on account of Roger always being there.

Not that Y/N had anything against Roger, it was just that she wasn’t ready to meet all of Brian’s friends, particularly the most outgoing ones such as Roger and Freddie.

But this was one of the few weekends that Roger had gone back to his family to spend time there.

And Brian saw it as a good opportunity to invite his parents down to meet his girlfriend. By this point they had been dating for five months and had even managed to exchange “I love you”’s with one another and it was needless to say that Brian had talked his parents ears off about Y/N.

“Are you sure they’ll like me?” Y/N asked nervously as she bustled around the kitchen, preparing the meal for them to eat. Brian laughed, coming up behind her and kissing her cheek gently.

“Of course they will, love - they’re going to love you,” he promised. Y/N sighed and turned to face him properly.

“I’ve never really met my boyfriend’s parents before,” she admitted, playing with the necklace resting on his chest. Brian gave her an affectionate smile and shook his head.

“You’re going to do amazingly, my love. They already love you anyway,”

“Oh yeah?”

“I love you and that’s enough for them,” Brian promised, kissing her tenderly for a moment before breaking away. “Come on, I’ll set the table,”

When Brian’s parents did arrive, they were swift to pull Y/N into hugs, introducing themselves with their first names and complimenting her on both her appearance and how the food smelt delicious.

Brian held Y/N’s hand under the table all through the meal, squeezing it tightly whenever he could sense her nerves, though they seemed to quickly dissipitate once her and his father got onto the conversation of their favourite Shakespeare plays - arguing over who the best villain was (Harold thought Don John whereas Y/N insisted that Richard III was far more complex and misunderstood and was therefore a better villain as a result of his complex reasonings and lack of any other personality traits) and seeing her getting along so well with his family made his heart beat out of his chest.

When they left that night, Brian’s mum invited Y/N to come stay with them in a couple of weeks time when Brian was coming up, insisting that they had to get to know each other better.

“I told you they’d love you,” Y/N let out a sigh of relief and allowed herself to fall back into Brian’s embrace.

“That was the most stressful dinner of my entire adult life,” she informed him.

“Excuse me, Brian? There’s someone here who says they know you?” Brian frowned at the man and stood up, walking over to the door. “A Y/H/C woman, she was quite shy and said that she was your girlfriend?” Brian completely lit up at that and nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah, yeah of course! I’ll be right there!” Brian grinned, before turning back to his band mates. “I’ll be ready to play I promise,” was all he said before moving out into the main area of the pub.

It didn’t take him long to locate Y/N because, a soon as he exited the backstage area, Y/N flew towards him and hugged him as tight as she could. Brian gave a laugh of delight and returned the affection, nestling his face in her hair and breathing deeply.

“You came!”

“Of course I did, Bri,” Y/N laughed quietly, looking up at him and then moving to connect their lips together.

“I love you so much,”

“I love you too,” Y/N giggled. Brian looked behind him towards the door through which he had just arrived and bit his lip unsurely before turning back to Y/N.

“Do you want to meet some people?”

#Queen #bohemian rhapsody #bohemian rhapsody cast #Brian May #brian may fanfiction #brian may fluff #brian may fan #brian may fanfic #brian may fic #brian may imagine #brian may imagines #brian may x reader #brian may x y/n #not a request

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orwocolor · 5 years ago

Text

Love Thy Neighbour - Chapter Two

Pairing: Gwilym Lee x Reader

Word Count: 3.1k

Warnings: Nothing.

Summary: Party time! Gwilym hosts a housewarming party and you’re one of the guests.

Author’s Note: Feedback is always appreciated :) Check my masterlist to find the preceding parts. As always, this fic is dedicated to @justgwilym.

“So, I thought that we should surprise Charlotte and throw her a birthday party,” Jane announces as soon as you pick up your phone.

“Yeah, that sounds great! Is it gonna be just an ordinary birthday party or something themed?” You hitch your bag up your shoulder and take three grocery bags into a hand while pressing the phone to your ear so that you can hear Jane. The traffic around you is crazy today. Honking of horns and a swear word here and there from nervous drivers create a cacophony of sounds in which those you wish to hear die down.

“I beg your pardon, my dear, but no celebration I hold is ordinary,” Jane scoffs and you roll your eyes.

“Ok, but is it going to be themed or not? If you want to force me into a disco-themed outfit like the last time, I wanna know beforehand, so I can pretend illness.”

“Hush, you loved it.”

You chuckle into your phone while you wait for the green light.

“But no, I plan on–” Jane’s words on the other end are drowned by the roar of a passing motorcycle.

“Sorry, what?” you shout. Your bag keeps sliding down your shoulder and you huff as you fail to hoist it up, with one hand grasping your phone and the other full as well, as the handles of the plastic bags dig into your skin.

“I said,” Jane raises her voice to the maximum and you jerk your head away from the phone. You pity everyone who’s standing right next to her when the volume is enough for your ear to start ringing, “I plan on throwing a themed party, however, there are no costumes required.”

“Oh, thank God!” You push your way through a group of teenagers and reach your home. “Hang on, I just…” You’re trying to figure out how to unlock and open the main door with all the stuff that you’re carrying and the phone in your hands. Jane continues in her monologue as if you didn’t say anything, but you pay her little attention. You squeeze the mobile in between your ear and shoulder, twisting your neck in a most uncomfortable angle. While the grocery bags form deep dark red lines on your right hand, you unzip the bag on your shoulder with the left, but as you dig down to fish your keys, the bag skids down the smooth material of your jacket and you barely catch it before it drops down.

You see a movement on the other side of the door through a long glass windowpane, but your own reflection blocks out the view. Suddenly, the door opens as if on its own accord.

“Hello,” Gwil greets you with a wide smile on his face and holds the door for you to come in.

“Thanks,” you mouth as Jane continues to list all perks of the last birthday party you organised for Charlotte.

“And what was so bad about your outfit? It was perfect!” she argues, quite poorly, in your opinion.

“Let’s just say that the days of me wearing spandex bell-bottoms are long gone.”

Gwilym snorts and gives you an amused look, his eyes sparkling with mirth.

“What? Why?”

“Look, I gotta go, I’ll call you later and we’ll plan everything, okay?”

Placing the bags on the floor, you say your goodbye and hang up the phone.

“Hi,” you greet Gwil properly, tossing your phone into your bag and finally digging out the keys.

“I’ll help you,” he says as you move to lift the plastic bags, but Gwil beats you to it and grasps the handles easily in his large hand.

“Thanks! And thanks for the door, too, you’re a lifesaver.” Your eyes skim over your mailbox, but there are no mails poking out of it. Good.

“You’re welcome,” he says as you begin to climb the stairs, side by side, and his lips curve in a smile matching your own. “I would just like to clarify that I was just collecting my mail when I saw you struggling out there,” he shows you the envelopes in his grasp, “I wasn’t lurking in the shadows, waiting for your arrival or anything.”

“Well, but now it sounds like you did exactly that,” you dead-pan and enjoy the way his eyebrows raise in shock.

“I really didn’t, I swear,” he protests with vigour and you can’t resist a grin.

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” you laugh as you reach the second floor. “I’m only teasing you,” you smirk, and he breathes a sigh of relief, a light shade of pink gracing his cheeks.

“So,” you start, “is tomorrow still on?”

“Yes, absolutely! There’ll be a few of my friends and colleagues, but nothing too big.”

“Should I bring something? A housewarming gift? What do you even like?” Damn it, you probably should, right? It would be rude to attend a party and give nothing to the host.

“Just bring your lovely self and I’ll be happy,” he flashes you a smile.

“Pff, please! That’s so cheesy! But okay, if you don’t wanna tell, I’ll figure it out myself.”

Reaching your floor, he hands you the bags and pulls out his keys.

“See you tomorrow, then.”

“At seven?”

“At seven,” he confirms.

“Bye,” you smile and turn the key in the door.

“Just one question,” Gwilym says in a suddenly very serious tone, which makes you expect the worst, “spandex bell-bottoms?”

You laugh out loud. “Don’t ask!”

It’s a quarter to eight when you finally get out of your apartment and ring the doorbell at Gwil’s. You didn’t want to arrive among the first guests; you wanted to be fashionably late. Okay, okay, forty-five minutes is hardly fashionable, but who could blame you? You did not dare to come when there were only a few of his friends. The only person, except for Gwil, that you know is Ben and you had to make sure that he would be there by the time you appeared. But you didn’t wish to watch the party guests heading to the flat 3C through a peephole like some kind of a pervert. So, while you were waiting, you busied yourself around your apartment, tidied up the kitchen, organised the one shelf in the hall which had been driving you up the wall every time you saw the mess inside, and watered your plants.

“You’re late,” are the first words that leave Gwil’s mouth the moment he opens the door and music reaches your ears.

You squint your eyes and nod your head. “I know, I’m sorry. There’s been a traffic jam.”

“A traffic jam. Between your flat and mine.” A small smile is playing on his lips and you catch yourself staring at his mouth. Blinking, you snap out of your daydreaming and focus on the conversation at hand.

“Uh-huh. It was awful! You should have seen it.”

“Right,” he chuckles and makes a motion for you to come in.

“Y/N!”

“Ben! Good to see you!” The blonde man wraps you in a bear hug and sways with you from side to side. It’s a bit unexpected, but once he lets go of you, you notice the bottle of beer and you guess it’s probably not his first this evening.

(What you miss, however, is the silent conversation Ben and Gwil have over your shoulder. Gwil’s eyes widen as Ben throws himself at you, and he gives him a confused, what-are-you-doing look. But all Ben does in response is raise his eyebrows in a manner that could only be translated as and-what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it.)

“I think we haven’t been introduced yet,” an unknown voice says, and you turn after the sound. You’re met with a sweet smile, kind eyes, a pointy nose, and a tuft of auburn hair. “I’m Joe, pleasure to meet you.” He squeezes your offered hand and his thumb gently strokes your inner wrist.

“Hi, I’m Y/N, Gwil’s neighbour.”

“Now, you seem like a really nice girl,” he begins and you’re listening intently, curious where this is going, “I’ve known you for only a few seconds but I can tell that you’re a good person and I don’t want you to come to harm. So, please, please, do not eat the salmon canapés. Instead, try the bruschetta, which is, in my humble opinion, far more superior. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.” He puts a hand on your shoulder, nodding solemnly.

“Nah, someone’s just a sore loser and can’t accept that people prefer my delicious canapés,” Ben explains, “because the bruschetta he talks about? It’s inedible and guess who made it.”

“How dare you, inedible?” Joe puts his hand on his chest in faking a heart attack, “you’re gonna pay for that, Hardy!”

“I forgot to order some food that the guests could nibble on, so I asked these two idiots to bring something. Should have known that this was going to change into a pissing contest,” Gwilym whispers into your ear, leaning down to you while Ben and Joe keep bickering.

“Well, I’m having fun,” you admit, and he gives you an appreciative smile. “By the way, here’s something for you.”

You pull two gift bags from behind your back and pass them to him.

“I told you not to,” he says but quickly opens them to see what’s inside.

“I wasn’t sure whether you preferred red or white, so I’ve brought both,” you tell him, all of a sudden unsure and nervous.

“I love red, but I’ve never turned down any wine. Thank you. And what’s in this?”

He takes out a neatly wrapped parcel with a dark green ribbon tied around. Delicately unsticking the tapes that hold the cardboard-brown paper together, he unwraps it without tearing it and inspects the front cover of a book. You bite your lower lip and hold your breath, waiting for his reaction.

“The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson. Wait, isn’t he the one who wrote The Room?”

“Yes! You know him?” Your heart is pounding and you can’t believe your ears. What are the odds that Gwil would know one of your most favourite authors?

“Of course, he’s excellent! Thank you so much, I’ve been meaning to buy it for ages now!” He leafs through it briefly and almost starts bouncing on the balls of his feet. “It would probably be rude to just disappear and go read it, huh? Don’t answer,” he chuckles and turns around to put the book into his bookshelf. “Come, I’ll introduce you to my friends.”

He walks you around his living room, always stopping by small groups of people. Their names are forgotten the moment they utter them as it usually is in gatherings like these when you’re met with a lot of people in a short span of time. One of the few who catches your attention is Gwil’s brother Geraint, who, according to Gwil, wasn’t invited and decided to stop by anyway.

“Can you believe that my little brother did not send me an invite to his housewarming party? Me, who actually helped him to move in? The audacity.” He shakes his head at Gwil and gives him a playful shove. What you can’t believe is someone describing Gwilym as ‘little’, since he’s anything but that. Truth be told, Geraint is probably an inch taller than his brother, but still.

“I thought you were gonna be home with the kids?”

“Shannon’s with them. I wouldn’t have missed this,” he winks.

Eventually, you end up with Ben and Joe while Gwilym tends his other guests. With a glass of wine in your hand, you look around his flat. It’s identical to yours in terms of the room arrangement, the only exception the wall that separates the living room space from the kitchen. It’s not exactly what you imagined, though. You don’t know why, but you expected a lot of grayscale tones and minimalism. Probably because Gwil looks like he’s a model who just stopped posing for a photoshoot, even whilst wearing a plain white t-shirt and jeans. No, his living room is decorated in brown, gold and green hues with a lot of knick-knacks on every flat surface. Postcards that his friends have sent from all over the world, playbills from plays he’s been in, small clay figures and drawings that his nephews and nieces have made for him, and all sorts of keepsakes.

Even though he’s been living in this flat for only a fortnight, it is apparent that he’s taken great care to make the place his home. Yes, there are still some unopened boxes hidden from prying eyes of his guests, but the flat is already homely. (Look, it was an accident that you caught a glimpse of them when you were passing his bedroom and he had forgotten to close the door.)

“So, you’re leaving in two days?”

“Yeah, need to head back home,” Joe replies, “but first, these two are going to do a pub crawl with me!” He slings his arm around Ben’s shoulder and kisses him on a cheek, “wanna join us?” His words are slightly slurred and he shifts his weight so that he basically leans against Ben.

“Sorry, I can’t. I’ve got a movie night with my friends.”

“Really? What are you guys going to watch?” Ben asks as he pushes Joe to a nearby chair.

“Don’t know yet. We’re coming over to Charlotte’s place so she’s the one who has the right to pick something.”

“Okay guys, screw you, I’m gonna watch something with Charlotte,” Joe howls from the chair.

“Nobody’s invited you, mate,” Ben chuckles and notices Gwil watching you three intently from the other side of the room. Now or never. “Erm, Y/N?” he asks and leans closer to you, “can I ask you something?” he whispers and you involuntarily shorten the distance between you, so that you can hear him.

“Yeah, sure, what is it?” you frown, finding the shift in the mood weird.

He puts his warm palm on your bare arm and starts stroking it slowly.

“I need you to do something for me.”

“Y/N! I think you haven’t tasted the cake, yet!” You and Ben jump away from each other as Gwilym suddenly materialises right next to you.

“There’s a cake?”

“Yes, there is, come on,” he insists and leads you far away from Ben.

“What are you doing?” Joe asks, confused.

“Trust me,” Ben answers, mischief sparkling in his eyes and a delighted smile on his face.

“Wow, Gwil, it looks amazing!” you say when you enter the kitchen and spot the cake on the counter, ready to be cut. It’s a naked chocolate cake with mascarpone, blueberries and raspberries. Gwilym has also put several edible flowers to create a delicate look.

“Thanks,” he blushes and rubs the back of his neck.

“And you made it?” He says yes and you’re astonished. “You need to give me the recipe. It’s incredible! My friend’s gonna have a birthday soon and I would love to make something like that for her.”

“Sure,” he smiles and after a few minutes of contemplation he adds, “or I could help you make it if you want.”

“Yes! You’re the best. Thank you.”

He pulls out a sharp knife out of the knife holder. “Would you do the honours?”

“See, it’s clear you don’t know me that much otherwise you wouldn’t trust me with sharp objects,” you laugh, taking the knife from his hand.

“I’ll take my chances,” he chuckles and lays out a bunch of dessert plates.

Working side by side, you cut the cake and place each piece on one of the plates. Every time a blueberry falls of and rolls on the counter, you play a game of catching it and promptly eating it. The first time your fingers brush Gwil’s, you’re quick to draw your hand away and let him win that round. There are no electric shocks or sparks, but the mere touch of his skin makes your breath hitch and your hands slightly tremble. But then it happens again, and again, and soon you’re grinning and nudging each other’s shoulders.

“Here, have a bite.” Gwil pushes a fork of cake towards your face and you willingly open your mouth.

The soft texture of the sponge perfectly combines with the mascarpone and the fruit provides a tang of sourness, complementing the sweetness of the chocolate cake. You catch yourself moaning involuntarily around the fork, which makes you absolutely thunderstruck, your eyes snapped wide and a shock written in your face.

“You have a bit of mascarpone…” Gwilym says and brings his thumb to a corner of your lips. However, he stops immediately, only a few millimetres away from your skin.

The door swings open out of nowhere and the bubble you have created around yourselves pops.

“Hey guys, how are you?” Joe’s smiling face pokes out of the living room, his cheeks flushed.

Gwilym clears his throat and withdraws his hand, passing you a stack of napkins. “We’re good, just about to serve the cake.” Gwilym points to the plates in front of him and Joe immediately pushes a chair to the counter, takes one plate and starts shovelling down the piece of cake.

Wiping your mouth clean, you look at the clock. “Actually, I have to go. I work weekends and I’ve got an early shift tomorrow.”

“What? I thought…” Gwilym begins to say when Ben bursts into the kitchen.

“Joe, what the hell? What were you thinking?”

“Look, Ben, I’m going home. Hopefully, we’ll see each other again soon, okay?” You give him a hug. “And Joe, don’t get too drunk tomorrow. Travelling by plane when hungover is no walk in the park.” You turn to Gwilym and clasp your hands, tugging at your fingers in a jittery manner. “I guess we’ll run into each other soon again. See you, guys!”

And with that, you leave the kitchen and head towards the door, waving at Geraint, who reciprocates the gesture with a smile.

“Y/N, wait!” Gwil rushes after you and catches up with you right at the moment you open the door. “I just wanted to thank you, for everything. It was really nice to have you here.” He takes you by surprise when he gives you a quick hug and presses a light kiss on your cheek.

“Yeah, I had the time of my life, really,” you smile when he lets go of you, hoping that the butterflies you feel in your stomach are invisible to everyone else, “love what you’ve done with the place.”

“Thanks,” he says sheepishly. “I would love to be a gentleman and walk you home, but…” he points to the few feet between your flats.

“Yeah, I think I’ll manage,” you chuckle and move to your door, “goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Shutting the door behind you, your fingers touch your cheek as the ghost of the kiss makes your skin tingle with excitement.

#gwilym lee x reader #gwilym lee imagine #gwilym lee fic #gwilym lee fluff #multichapter #fluff #vee writes #*mine

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queen-paladin · 5 years ago

Text

How I Loved You, How I Cried

Context: Gwiylim Lee x F! Reader. A few minutes after your virginity loss to Gwilym and their first night together, (Y/N) feels the courage to confess something personal from her past to him and let him know about a personal trauma... Angst/Fluff

CONTENT WARNINGS: mentions of sex, swearing, sexual assault, not the world’s best grammar.

(I have been a fanfiction reading stan on this site for months and now it is my turn to share what I myself wrote! Hello there! This is the not the first fanfic I have ever written, but definitely the first Bohrap cast fanfiction I have written. The original came in two parts and I am hesitant to post the first one with the actual v-card loss and sexytimes in it, unless asked for so maybe ? a ? oneshot ? I would personally love to thank the support I have gotten for this decision to post my own Bohrap/Queen writing online. I will give copyrights to @theborhapboysawakenedmywhatever for a little bit of inspiration in the beginning from the Aftercare headcanons. Also tagging @sohoneyspreadyourwings and @musicalprostitue for the encouragement today...so here we go! Other fics to come soon!

Also, I read or saw somewhere Gwilym was Cassio in Othello in a stage production at some point, but if I am wrong, let me know immediately and I will fix it. And if I am right, someone please say so and tell me what other Shakespeare he has done. Because I am curious. Maybe it may play into some future fics *wink*)

You lie panting for a little bit, now that the climax has tizzied away. You hear Gwil next to you, doing the same. You start to get up on your elbows.

“Let me go get you-”

“Oh no, you don’t have to. You’re the one new to this. Please let me take care of you, let me hold you.”

“Okay.”

He pulls a soft, grey blanket scrunched in a corner of the duvet and wraps it over you like a cape. You feel one of his arms scoop under you and the other around you and you do the same. He nuzzles his face in your hair and you in his chest, smelling his soap. Both of you silently play footsie for a bit, giggling like children for a second. He’s so tall you had to stretch your toes to reach his until you give up and use part of your foot to gently poke his shin.

“How was I?” you ask.

“You were incredible, Y/N”

“Thank you, for everything you did for me tonight” you say, nuzzling his chest a bit.

“You’re welcome” he says. You feel his hand reach your back and trace bits of your spine and ribs. You start to lightly tickle what chest hairs you see and trace figure eights.

“Fy cariad bach, my little goddess, Rydych yn hardd, my sweet bird” he whispers.

Eventually he lets go and you feel a bit of coolness. The blanket drapes off some of him, but he doesn’t seem to mind. Gwil goes to put on some blue boxers and offers you some of his that can fit you and an old, white t-shirt. It’s not your most fashionable look, but neither of you care.

A sudden urge hits you. If you don’t talk about it now, you don’t think you ever will.

“Now that we’ve done this, Gwilym...” you say. He perks a bit at the mention of his fuller name.

“There’s something I’d like to tell you. But could you hold me again while I talk about it...I mean, like spoon me?” you ask. It would be easier if you couldn’t feel the pressure to make eye contact or see his face.

“Yes”

You turn over to face the wall and the bedside desk. A couple of the leftover rose petals tumble in your hair and a couple rest in your peripheral vision. He was so sure you were comfortable tonight he made the effort to decorate the bed with rose petals. You feel his arms wrap around your stomach and his chin on your head. You take a deep breath, enjoying the moment. Outside,birds are chirping a little in the night. A fan in the room was turned on in the midst of the scramble for comfy clothes and it purrs and blows cool air. You take five seconds to enjoy it before you begin.

“I told you I am-was a virgin. And it’s true. But only technically true. Everything I am about to tell you really happened. Please believe me.”

You sigh deeply. Then you feel ready to relive it one more time.

“There was another boy. He was my cousin. It was Easter and the family were all together after church. When everyone was preoccupied, he took me to the guest bedroom. He asked me to take my clothes off. I did. Then he took off his. He led me to the closet and turned off the lights. It was pitch dark and I couldn’t see a thing, but I could feel. I don’t even remember much. I was in such shock. I’ve kept blocking it from my mind. I remember his...his penis touching me, though. I was lying on the floor and he was doing something like push ups over me. I don’t know if he went into me or not. I don’t remember. I felt so uncomfortable I cried and begged him to stop. He did. We got out and dressed and he told me not to tell anyone. I’ve only told my immediate family and the odd counselor or rare friend and now you.”

You pause for a little to let it soak in. You hear that he has no comment yet to say. Maybe he is taking it in. Then you decide to include the last, and most important detail.

“I was nine years old.”

There is a pause even stiller than before.

“And at the time, I didn’t even know what sex was at the time, much less what happened to me.”

Your heart is picking up speed again. At once you feel relief that you don’ t have to hide or bury this burden with your boyfriend anymore. But at the same time, here you were, out in the open. Nowehere to hide. After all, moments before you decided to reveal your naked body to him. Now it seemed as if he saw your own inner nakedness and was waiting for his verdict.

“Do you believe me?” you ask.

“I do”

You feel his arms tense up a little bit. Almost in anger, almost to keep you secure.

“Oh my god...that bastard...that’s horrible.”

You feel a couple of tears well up. The pain and confusion and loss that hit you years ago has returned. It returns every time you recount it.

“I was so scared...You would think that I was so inexperienced you would be bored and tired of me or that...that I was ...was damaged goods. Either way, I wasn’t good enough, especially not for you.”

“No, no, not at all.” he insists. You give yourself permission to cry for a bit.

“The whole damaged goods thing is just old-fashioned bullshit” Gwilym insists “ And even if you were inexperienced, if you wanted anything or needed help, I could help you. You were wonderful just now, cariad. I had a wonderful hour I will never forget.”

You feel him gently turn around. By this point, there have been more tears wiping off what makeup you have put on for tonight. The little blemishes on your face and eyes are revealed. It almost makes you cry more, since you are worried this is the most unattractive you seem in front of Gwil. You decide to look at him in his blue eyes and continue rambling. More things, things you have rearely talked about, begin unpiling.

“I sometimes wonder if I led him on-”

“A nine year old girl? If a man or any guy is turned on by a nine year old girl, he’s the one with a problem.” He wipes away a couple tears with his hands. He cups your face with all the gentleness in the world.

“I can’t imagine what it was like or how it is like. But it was not your fault. You didn’t even bloody know what was happening. He was just some prick who took advantage of a child. That’s the nicest thing I can say about him.”

Gwil begins to wipe a few more tears that fall down from your cheeks. Even with your bare, blemished face, reddened and scrunched from crying, he loves you deeply.

“Three words from me, and Rami, Ben and Joe would have a man hunt for him. I think Lucy would especially enjoy parading around town waving your cousin’s head on a spike”

You smile, both of you chuckling at the image. You move over and kiss him softly, in gratitude.

“That’s why I thank you. Because for years, I hated the idea of sex once I learned about it. If I ever got aroused, I hated myself and called myself a slut and a whore. The idea of a wedding night felt like an execution to me. I had my first boyfriend, he loved that I was virtuous or whatever but whenever he hugged or wanted to kiss me, I was a little terrified. And it showed. He was mad that I wouldn't let him touch me. He broke up with me before we could even kiss. I felt like if I wasn’t the way I was, if I wasn’t such a prude when it came to those kinds of things, he would have stayed with me.”

“Honestly, the whole prude idea can go to hell. No one should be rushed or humiliated into anything they aren’t ready for” he whispers.

You flinch, wondering how Gwil would feel with you talking about past relationships. But he is still. His eyes are crying a little bit too. One hand is wrapped around to caress you and the other still holding your cheek.

“Then I met you.” you say. “And I agreed to date you. And be your girlfriend. You never do anything without asking me first. And whenever I let you, I feel good. Warm. Safe. Loved. I decided it was right to make my sex debut with you. It felt...natural. I actually wanted to do it...And there’s no one else on earth I would rather have it be, than you.”

Gwil hugs you tighter and peppers you with loving kisses. He is now smiling, in spite of the tears both of you have shed, starting to dry.

“Y/N, you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. I promise to you, now, you are always safe with me, especially in here. You have no reason to hide. It is never easy to live with this, but I will be with you and help you every step of the way. I love you so much. And I will always protect you. Even though it still haunts you, just know, at least, even when it feels unbearable, know I am here. And I adore you. And you are safe” Gwil says, leaving a slow, romantic, tender kiss on your lips. You both begin to smile again through it.

After a moment, he fetches you both a glass of water. Crying always made both of you thirsty, and now that your deepest emotions are released, the water replenishes. You ask him about his experience with Shakespeare and if there are some of the Shakespeare lines he still remembers and you fall asleep safe in Gwil’s arms, bits of Cassio’s lines from Othello lulling you both to peace.

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