#i know its maybe unecessarily detailed but thats the only way i can write rn

[chocolatemillkk]

Glad You Came (JS)

A/N: trying to beat my writer's block and writing the first thing that came to me :////

It was your first art show and you were buzzing with nerves and excitement. You felt like throwing up and shouting at the top of your lungs in the same breath-you supposed it was possible. But you resist the urge and greet everyone with a flash of a smile instead.

Most of the people who came out, you didn't recognise. A lot of other artists and friends milled about but you had told your friends to invite anybody they knew, which resulted in a mix of people. But it was nice in a way, you liked the thrill of walking past people talking about your artwork without a clue that you were the artist.

Your childhood in the country and the shift of adulthood in the city played a role in the traditional work and prints you'd made. It was whimsical and sometimes nostalgic, you'd poured your heart into it and it was like your baby finally being revealed to the public.

"Babe you've got like two sales so far." Kira whispers beside you.

"That's amazing!" You squeal but a small part of you curls into itself. You didn't want to let any of these pieces go, but you'd made art with the purpose to share it. And you also seriously needed the money.

"That cute bloke over there could take convincing but I bet he would buy," Kira points to a blonde-ish guy who was wearing a black jacket, black jeans, and black boots. You look down at your own outfit which mirrored it except your boots were heeled. What was the harm?

"You think?" You ask as Kira pushes you towards him.

"Chat him up, he looks interested."

The two of you freeze when he turns around and looks over his shoulder as if he'd heard you two. But he glances around the room before looking back at the painting.

"He looks interesting too," you giggle. His face intrigued you. And the fact that he was alone.

Kira gives you one last shove and you move towards him, standing beside him for a moment as you both look at the piece. This one was about the chaos of adulthood, multiple blocks of colours coming to the center in a black dot.

"What do you think?" The guy speaks up before you could. You look at his nametag-everyone wore one including you. Joe. "Do you like Y/N's work?"

He knew your name. Who was he?

"It's interesting," you say as you discreetly cover your nametag with your jacket. "What do you think?"

"There's a lot going on," Joe chuckles and you bite back an awkward smile. Here comes the brutal honesty. "A bit shocking to look at but when you look at the center it evens out-I like looking at it."

You're speechless. You didn't expect this very attractive stranger to give such an accurate analysis of your work.

"Do you know the artist?" You ask.

"Y/N? My friend's friends with her but I don't know her personally."

"Thought so," You say, no longer covering your smile or your nametag.

Joe raises an eyebrow before looking down at your shirt.

"You're the artist."

"Yup!" You say gleefully.

"You made me...."

"It's a little trick I like to do," You laugh. "Don't worry, a lot of people weren't as nice as you."

"I..." Joe is still speechless. He looks you up and down, opens his mouth and then closes it. And then finally: "You're younger than I thought."

You can't help but laugh at the unlikely comment, shaking the awkwardness off as he joins in.

"I'm Joe," he finally introduces himself. "Byron invited me to the opening."

"Oh! You're Byron's roomate!" You realise you'd heard about Joe. He was a Youtuber. "He's mentioned you-I haven't seen him though."

"He had a thing in Manchester and his train got backed up so he asked if I could go in his place." Joe explains.

"Oh he could have just texted me-you didn't have to come all the way down here." Warmth envelops your heart for Byron's commitment-and this new friend apparently.

"Ah it's nothing," Joe says humbly. "I've never gone to one of these-it's nice. I can see why Byron likes the art crowd."

"Don't let it fool you though," you say. "It can get really pretentious really quickly."

"Like the way I'm drinking this champagne even though I hate it?" Joe holds up his flute.

"Why are you drinking that!" You grab Joe's arm and try to ignore how strong they felt under your hands. He lets you lead him to the bar. "What do you drink? It's covered."

You return the champagne and hand him a beer, grabbing your own glass of pretentious champagne. Joe looks a lot more relaxed as he drinks his beer and the two of you find a dim corner to lean against the wall, staring out at all the people who'd come out.

"This is really impressive though," Joe says after a while. He places a light hand on your waist so you could hear each other better and you move towards him an inch. "You should be proud."

"Yeah," you blush. "I'm overwhelmed with all the support. I poured my heart into all this."

"I can tell," Joe's gaze remains trained on your face. "I look around and it's like I know you. The paintings from your childhood remind me of my own. You're really good at what you do."

"Wow," you press a hand to your beating heart. "That's really...nice to hear."

"Where'd you grow up?" Joe asks and you tell him. "That's not too far from me..."

The two of you bond over the simplicty of childhood and how boring it also got sometimes.

"...so I climbed a lot of trees," you laugh as the two of you share your childhood hobbies. "My mum was always yelling at me for getting my hair in knots."

"I've climbed my fair share," Joe replies. "It's perfect for tearing holes in all your clothes isn't it?"

"Especially on your way down!" You say and the two of you laugh as you show him a scar from when you fell off a tree.

As the laughter subsides, you sneak a glance at Joe while he's not looking and feel your heart hammering. He was handsome and kind-the type of boy your mum would approve of. But more than that, he had an infectious smile and he was so easy going you were surprised every person in the room hadn't already asked him out.

"I bet I could climb a tree faster than you-I was champion in my class." You say suddenly. Maybe you just wanted to see him again, or maybe this was your way of flirting. But Joe responds appropriately.

"Not a chance, I would beat you by a landslide."

"Oh it's on," you say seriously. "You are so on."

"Yeah?" Joe leans in. "What happens when I win."

"Oi, it's if you win not when you win."

Joe lets out a hearty laugh, laced with a challenge.

You cross your arms, "You don't think I could do it but once I change into my sneakers-I'll have bragging rights from now until infinity."

Joe wipes his eyes, "We'll see, love. I'm going to actually set this up."

"You can record it too! So no one's cheating!"

"Are you calling me a cheater," Joe grabs your hips again and this time the touch is familiar as you fall closer to him with a smile.

"Heyy," Kira suddenly walks up and Joe drops his hand, turning his attention to her. "Cozying up with the artist, I see."

"Oh uh," Joe laughs awkwardly. "We've just agreed on a tree climbing contest."

"A what?" Kira looks between you two and you know she wouldn't get it. As a city girl, your tree climbing escapades were a funny anecdote for her. "As long as you make sure her arms are still intact by the end of it."

"I've actually seen artists paint with their toes," you say which earns an odd look from both Kira and Joe. "Just saying."

"I'll leave you two," Kira glances at you and shifts her eyes to Joe. You shake your head subtly-he was a friend now-not a potential customer. She shrugs and leaves.

You turn to Joe. "Sorry, Kira can be a little hard to warm to."

"That's alright," Joe shrugs. "I'm used to meeting all sorts."

"That's right-you do Youtube right? How do you like that?"

"It's great. Really rewarding-I wouldn't change it for anything."

"So I should check your work out now that you've seen mine," you tease.

"Oh it's nothing compared to this."

"Maybe I can learn something about you?"

"Maybe," Joe says with a wry smile. "I can tell you anything you want to know about me now though. Including how good I am at climbing trees."

"I already know that particular bit-you're good but not as good as me," you inch closer. "What I want to know is if you have a girlfriend?"

"No," he says. "It's...it's complicated."

"Oh," you step back, red flags shooting up. "Oh-okay I-"

Joe laughs and you shift uncomfortably but he yanks your hand towards him. You stumble closer to him and he curls his hand around the back of your waist.

"I'm kidding-I'm very very single. No commitments. No complications. And yourself?"

"Oh, you had me...jeez." You chuckle. "Same though. I'm uh-I'm very single."

"Hm," Joe nods slowly, his eyes memorizing your face. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Um," you bite you lip, enjoying the way Joe seems to linger on your features. His icy eyes were art in itself and his gaze was suggestive of another kind of art. "That's all I can think of right now."

"That's it?" Joe smiles.

"Well," you finally rest both arms on Joe's shoulders and he shifts to wrap both arms around your waist. "What were you doing after the show? Say, around 10?"

"Hm," Joe smiles lazily, moving you closer to him. Your heart hammered away yet you couldn't move away, you knew what was coming. As his blue eyes and slight stubble came closer to you, you glance at his lips and back up at him, knowing he was going to kiss you. He tilts down and you let him press his lips to yours; they're gentle, his lips soft on yours and your hand curls around the back of his neck in response as you push yourself closer to him. You didn't really want him to be a gentleman right now.

"We'll have the artist present her statement on this collection...." the loud voice booms around you two and Joe pulls away. Your hand goes to your lips and you stare at him, startled, as you remember that despite the dim area you were in, you two were still in public. "....Y/N? Can we get a short final speech?"

Shit. "Um," you widen your eyes and Joe laughs, lipstick smudged slightly on his lower lip.

"You'll be fine," his eyes crinkle with a smile. "Go."

You swipe at his bottom lip and squeeze his hand before stepping out in view of the gallery's collector.

"There she is!" He holds out the mic and you rush to grab it. Your eyes search for your friends as you thank everyone for coming after explaining your statement.

"Here's to more art and here's to more friends," you hold out your empty champagne glass which you were surprised to be still clutching. You find Joe as you say your last bit and he's leaning on the far wall with his arms crossed. Even though his body language showed no interest, he looks at you with a shining happiness.

"So where are we headed after this?" Kira asks after you hand back the mic.

"Do you mind..." you glance at where you saw Joe last. "I might head out with the guy I met."

"The one I pushed you to?" Kira squeals.

"Yeah sure," you roll your eyes. "Take credit."

"Obviously," Kira says and the two of you laugh. "Have fun-you've earned it babe."

She kisses you on the cheek and heads to another friend as you look for Joe. Many people side track you including the gallery owner who tell you you made five sales in total. You bounce away, feeling like you're on cloud nine.

Looking for Joe, you eventually find him near the entrance, on his phone.

"Ready?" Joe asks you and you grin, too excited for words. "I was thinking about a bottle of wine I have at home-would you be interested?"

"Sounds perfect," you hurry out with him and let him hold your hand. First art showing down and many more to go-you hoped.

With that thought you glance at Joe who's getting the two of you an Uber. Maybe he could be there for the many more to come...right after you beat his ass in tree climbing.

"What are you smiling at?" Joe asks you as he catches you looking.

"Nothing," you shake your head, your smile turning into a grin. "Just really glad you came."