#i love deuce hes so rmhrpmhmr <33 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cloudcountry · 2 years ago

Text

love me (for a while)

Genre/Tropes: Fluffy!! Fake dating, friends to lovers.

Summary: Deuce asks a favor of you. Date him to get Ace off his back, just for a week. Won't you love him, just for a little while?

Author's Comments: I wanted to write some fake dating stuff for Deuce plus Ace shenanigans, and it turned out to be really long. I also wrote this a week before I officially started playing Twisted Wonderland, and it's my first really long piece. It holds a special place in my heart. This was cross-posted on AO3 and Quotev!!

~~~~~

“Can I ask a favor of you?” he asked, eyes shining in the darkness of your dorm.

“Sure.” you answered, awaiting a request to assist him with some scheme to get Ace out of trouble again.

A pause.

“Can you pretend to date me?” he blurted, the words smashed together like crushed raspberries (which would have been the same shade as his face.)

Silence.

Neither one of you spoke for a moment—Deuce, too anxious about your reaction, and you, too shocked to make sense of his words for a moment.

“What did you do this time?” you straightened up, amusement in your voice.

“I told Ace I wasn’t that inexperienced when he was teasing me about my lack of romantic relationships and he asked what I meant by that and I told him that I was dating you just to rub it in his face and he laughed at me and said there was no way and that he’d ask you about it tomorrow so I want to—”

“I’ll do it.” you patted him on the shoulder, successfully stopping his rambling.

“Really? You don’t have, I’m serious, this is my fault and I—”

“Deuce.”

“Huh?”

“It’s no problem. Really. Besides, I can’t wait to see the look on Ace’s face.” you snickered.

That was Sunday. Today was another day, the day when you put your plan into action and officially became Deuce’s fake partner.

Monday.

Monday is when it was announced.

You and Deuce were sitting at the lunch table with Grim and Ace, the latter staring at the two of you expectantly. You rolled your eyes as Grim paid the three of you no mind, gobbling up his food with no regard for any table manners.

“So. You know what I want.” Ace smirked, pointing his spoon at Deuce across the table, “Are you two dating?”

You almost started laughing but managed to keep a straight face. In a moment of boldness, you took Deuce’s hand on your own and slammed them both on the table. He yelped at your boldness, staring at you with wide eyes as you smirked back at Ace.

“Yeah. What’s it to you?”

The look on his face was priceless—his smug smirk and twinkling eyes slowly turned into a look of shock, his eyes wide and jaw hanging. Before you had time to really relish Ace’s reaction, he was shaking it off with a loud sputter.

“I don’t believe it!” Ace groaned, slamming his forehead on the table, “That’s...I can’t believe you weren’t lying.”

He gripped your hand a little tighter, his face flushed red and lips pressed in a thin line. Ace didn’t seem to notice, his attention fixated on his beloved cherry pie. He sighed, looking like he was about to give up on everything.

“Hand it over!” Grim cackled, holding out his paws.

Ace rolled his eyes and slid his slice of cherry pie in front of the monster. He grumbled something under his breath as Grim dug into it with a triumphant grin.

“What was that about?” you asked, watching Grim gobble up Ace’s favorite food right in front of his face.

“We made a bet.” Ace huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You made a bet about whether Deuce and I were actually dating?”

“Sure did. I thought there was no way Deuce and you would ever end up together so I told Grim I’d give him my cherry pie if you confirmed it tomorrow.”

“That’s a stupid bet you made, Ace.”

“Listen, I thought I had a better understanding of what was happening between my bestest friends in the whole world-”

You laughed, squeezing Deuce’s hand. He hadn’t said a single word since you’d grabbed his hand, and you were worried that the action had broken him. Deciding that you might as well sell the idea of this relationship if you were to pretend this was real for who knows how long, you turned your attention away from your tablemates and to him.

“Are you okay honey?” you asked, placing your free hand over your intertwined fingers.

That was the right thing to say, you noted, as his face flushed an even brighter shade of red. So he liked pet names. You could work with that.

“Yeah. Just...nervous.” he cleared his throat, straightening his back. He tore his eyes away from yours, only for them to dart back to your face. You smiled. He ducked his head, staring at his untouched lunch.

“Bleh. Honeymoon stage.” Ace grumbled, still glaring at the spot where his pie used to be.

“You don’t have to be nervous, I’m not gonna hurt you.” you teased, “Come on, let's eat so we can hang out for a bit longer before classes start.”

“Can I walk you?”

“Of course you can, honey. I’d feel safer with you around.”

He swallowed thickly, his eyes trained on your smiling lips for only a second before he ripped his gaze away. You felt your heart skip a beat at the implication, missing the suspicious gaze of Ace as he looked between the two of you.

♠

Tuesday.

Tuesday is when you both forgot your scheme.

In the morning, you walked into school with a mission, and the first thing you saw threw you off. Deuce was waiting for you, standing up straight and staring into nothingness with a slight scowl on his face. You almost laughed at how silly he looked, hands clasped behind his back as various students stared at him.

“Hi, Deuce.” you greeted, wrapping your arms around him.

“Hey.” he murmured, softening immediately under your touch.

The hug lasted for a few seconds, Deuce’s body warmth lulling you into a gentle sense of security. It wasn’t until Deuce dragged his hands down your arms and took your hands in his as he pulled away that you allowed yourself to slip away, too. His head was down, gaze trained on your hands like he didn’t know what to do with them. You watched as his furrowed brow relaxed, his head lifting to meet your gaze.

“I’m sorry, I—I should be walking you to class right now.”

Deuce was once again looking so painfully indifferent, slowly taking his hands out of your grip. You tensed for a second, going to grab them and bring your fingers back to their beautiful, intertwined state—

His arms fell at his sides, and your hands were painfully empty.

You walked to class with him, staring straight at him as he stared straight at the end of whatever hallway you were walking down. You huffed and pursed your lips, eyes drinking in how stiff he looked.

If only you’d held his hand.

He stopped outside your classroom, briefly making eye contact and saying goodbye, his gaze softening for a second when you smiled and thanked him. Deuce opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to say something, but closed it again.

“I shouldn’t hold you too long, but…” you bit your lip—really, why were you acting like a fool? “I’d like to walk back to my dorm with you. If you don’t mind.”

You should have held his hand.

The back of his hand brushed the side of your face, his dark blue eyes swallowing you whole.

“I’d love to walk you back.” he nodded, cheeks flushed pink.

No more words were exchanged as he turned on his heel and walked away, the interaction that lasted a few seconds replaying in your mind like it had more importance than anything else in your day.

A thought interrupted them.

Your hand was so devastatingly cold.

♠

In the afternoon, you met up with Deuce the second class let out. He was waiting for you again, this time out in the hallway you went through every day to head back to Ramshackle.

“Did you bring an umbrella?” he asked, eyeing the nearest window.

Oh.

You followed his gaze, taking in the misty gray clouds and the watery blotches splattering against the window. The glass was completely covered in little water spots that decorated the glass, sliding down and combining with each other at an unreasonably fast rate.

Oh man, it was raining?

“No.” you laughed, beaming at him, “I didn’t bring an umbrella.”

Deuce cracked the smallest of smiles at your laugh, but you could tell he was still worried.

“We could try waiting out the storm…” Deuce suggested.

Silence. Neither of you spoke.

“Let's run.” you said, turning to face Deuce with a grin on your face that spelled nothing but mischief.

“And get wet?” Deuce furrowed his brow, “Why would we do that?”

He said that even though he knew he couldn’t say no to you.

“Because it’s fun.” you grabbed his hand, tugging him in the direction of the downpour, “Does Riddle have a rule against wet clothes or something?”

“Do you think I could remember if there was?” Deuce huffed, staring fiercely at where your hands connected.

“No.” you snickered, “And I wouldn’t remember either.”

Deuce didn’t have a second to react before you yanked him along, running into the rain and clearly expecting him to run with you, since your hand was still in his and you were squeezing even tighter and he swears the second a raindrop lands on his face it would evaporate.

It didn’t.

The rain is cool when it hit his skin, and he can hear your shrieks of delight as you let go of his hand and spin, throwing your hands up like you wanted to catch all of the raindrops. Vaguely, he feels his socks getting wet but he can’t even bring himself to hate the feeling when all he can stare at is you.

“Hey! What do you two think you’re doing out there?!”

The shout of someone makes you stop your twirling dance and look, but Deuce’s mind is too foggy with you to understand what's happening.

A flash of red hair appears in his vision as you raise your hand for a high five. He sees the person now, and it's Ace—thank goodness it’s Ace—and he’s high-fiving you and slinging an arm around your shoulders. You laugh and shove him off, and Ace fakes a wound right over his heart.

Deuce realizes two things.

One, you’re not actually dating him, which is frankly the more appalling one of the two.

Two, Ace thinks you’re dating and Deuce isn’t doing anything to convince him further that he’s actually dating someone like you.

“Yo, are you good?” Ace gives him a weird look, and that’s when Deuce realizes that you’re looking at him too and his throat dries up.

He never does know what you’re thinking, does he?

“I was walking them back to their dorm,” Deuce explains as if he needs an explanation even though nobody asked.

Ace looks from you to him, an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, I bet you were. That’s why I caught them dancing in the rain and you staring at them with your mouth hanging open like a goof.” he laughed, slapping Deuce on the back, “Have fun lovebirds, I’m off to meet up with Jamil and Floyd.”

Deuce couldn’t bring himself to meet your gaze and Ace walked off, clearly thinking he’d done Deuce a favor.

“I’m not gonna lie,” you breathed, amusement in your voice, “I forgot we were supposed to be dating.”

He stops and thinks this over because despite his realization a few moments earlier, he’d forgotten too.

♠

Wednesday.

Wednesday is when you dealt with a third wheel.

After Tuesday, you both tried to drill the fact that you were supposed to be dating into your heads. It just seemed so natural to forget, especially when your relationship had always involved some physical contact (mostly courtesy of Ace.) You couldn’t have him getting suspicious, as he was still sour over the loss of his cherry pie—you weren’t as worried about Grim, since he was mostly interested in the food he’d get and not your love life, thankfully.

So Deuce asking you on this date was justified. To keep up with appearances, you two were headed to a cafe after school, however sketchy that cafe may be.

You planned on holding his hand on the way there, working towards getting him comfortable with physical affection.

You planned on watching in amusement as his face turned beet red.

You planned a nice afternoon with Deuce with refreshing drinks and delicious treats.

You did not plan on Ace tagging along.

Despite the redhead following a short distance behind the two of you, humming some tune to seem occupied while he blatantly stared at your intertwined hands. It would be so much harder to make Deuce comfortable now.

You sighed, briefly considering just giving up this farce and telling Ace it was a prank. That would also be funny, but you didn’t want to leave poor Deuce hanging.

Your brain halted for a second, stalling on the territory you never dared to explore. You paused. You looked over at Deuce, whose face was red and hands were sweaty and eyes were trained far ahead in the distance because if he looked at you he’d explode.

Okay, you weren’t an idiot. You thought Deuce was cute and had thought about him in a less than platonic way on multiple occasions (especially the fantasy of making him eggs in the morning after watching horror movies all night and having to comfort him.) Judging by the way he acted around you, he may have felt the same way as you did. You weren’t an idiot. The entire reason you wanted this to keep up wasn’t because of Ace or Grim.

You just wanted to see what Deuce would do by the end of the week.

“Let me get that for you.” Deuce murmured, letting go of your hand.

It was seconds later that you recognized the door to the cafe was open in front of you, Deuce staring at you expectantly.

Ah, so now he was avoiding Ace.

You smiled at him and walked through, waiting for him on the other side. Ace ceased his humming, shooting you a smug grin as Deuce took his place at your side again.

“Well, I hope you two didn’t think you were going to feed each other food or share a drink or something cheesy, because I think I’d throw up.”

Damn it.

♠

The cafe was pleasant enough.

Except for when Ace threw a straw at Deuce’s head.

Except for when Deuce kicked Ace under the table, and Ace kicked you instead of Deuce.

Except for when Deuce almost started yelling at Ace because how dare he do something so childish in public and to you no less—

Except for when one of the eel twins started laughing at the commotion you three were causing, his grin revealing his sharp teeth.

Except for when you had to tell Deuce to let it go and he looked at you for real and it was like the world stopped for a minute but then Ace started making fun of him again—

It was pleasant enough because Ace and Deuce were Ace and Deuce, and with the former acting as your third wheel, it could have gone much differently.

Deuce seemed to have apologized three times over by the time you were back at the dorms, convinced that Ace had messed up what you two had (first date jitters, you assumed. He wanted to make a good first impression, even though all of this was fake.)

Well, half of it was fake anyway.

You waited for him to stop talking about how sorry he was for Ace kicking you, asking if your leg felt okay, and saying he could go kick him back if you wanted him to. He sucked in a breath when he looked up from his shoes and realized you were staring at him again. You took your chance. You asked if he’d like a kiss. You watched as Deuce turned a million shades of red, his stomach no doubt doing flips from nerves.

Okay, yours was fluttering too. He was just not as good at hiding his as you were.

“If you don’t mind…could I give you one back?” he said so quietly as if terrified that you would run screaming for the hills at the idea of sharing affection.

“Please do.” you smiled, trying to ease his nerves even though it was so much fun seeing him flustered.

Your smugness dissipated when he leaned in, pressing a single, delicate kiss to your cheek. The breath had been sucked out of your lungs at the brush of skin and skin, the hand intertwined with yours squeezing and squeezing—

He pulled away too quickly, lips drawn into a thin line. Swallowing your nerves, you lean in and kiss his cheek as well. You let it linger just as he had, pulling away only when you felt his palm grow sweaty again.

His slack-jawed look was absolutely worth it.

♠

Thursday.

Thursday is when the realization happened.

Though, you wished it went a little smoother.

You found Deuce standing over a flower bed that morning, his hair tousled and face red. His flustered face fluttered across your mind for a moment, but you stamped the thought down when you saw the smashed vase at his feet.

Oh.

“Oh!” Deuce jumped, locking eyes with you, “Oh man, I thought you were Riddle.”

Wow, he must be really anxious if he mistook you for Riddle.

“He’s going to kill me.” Deuce murmured, combing a hand through his hair again, “I try so hard to be a good honors student and not get in anyone’s way but I keep messing up—”

“Hey.” you cupped his face, halting his train of thought immediately, “Hey. Calm down. I got this.”

There it was again. That same, slack-jawed look he always gave you. You smiled reassuringly, grabbing the hand that was dangling at his side and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

“Let me handle this. I promise I won’t let you get in trouble.” you wrapped your pinky around his and squeezed.

Before he had a chance to respond, you started dragging Deuce out of the gardens. It took him a second to realize that you were trying to find Riddle. His grip tightened as panicked yells filled his brain, but he tried to quell them as best as he could. Even if you were a little weird sometimes, he trusted your judgment.

“Housewarden Rosehearts?” you called, poking your head through the doorway to the dorms.

Deuce’s panic increased tenfold when the boy himself stepped into your view. He must have been surveying the dorms to make sure nobody had trashed them—though it's not like anyone would with him around (except for Ace, but there was always at least one exception.)

“I broke a vase in your garden by accident. I went to see Deuce this morning and tripped. I’m unfamiliar with the way things work in your dorm, but I’m aware that this clumsy mistake has caused an inconvenience for everyone here. Deuce told me I should tell you immediately and apologize. I’m so sorry for my actions.” your head was lowered through the entire speech, and Deuce couldn’t help but think you were laying it on thick.

Riddle sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. You could see his face turning bright red, a telltale sign that he was getting angry that you’d learned from both Ace and Deuce. Speaking of Deuce, he was gripping your hand so tight you thought he might cut off circulation. You made no move to acknowledge him though,

“Very well.” Riddle breathed, seemingly handling himself with a lot more composure than you expected from the stories you heard from Ace and Deuce, “If you are to be here regularly to visit your romantic partner or friends, it would do you well to learn the rules. Next time I will not be so merciful. You are dismissed.”

“Thank you, Housewarden Rosehearts. I’m grateful.” you squeezed Deuce’s hand and turned on your heel, dragging him back out into the garden.

Once you were out of earshot, Deuce let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“How did you do that?” he hissed, eyes wide.

“I don’t know, I just didn’t want you to get in trouble.” you shrugged as if getting away with breaking a vase was nothing.

You really were amazing.

Deuce swallowed and began to let go of your hand, but you held him there.

“I don’t mind that your hand is sweaty.” you said, your voice sounding more like a demand than anything.

An unsaid demand for him to keep holding your hand.

You, with your pretty eyes and blinding smiles. You with your voice that could never get out of his head. You, with your pretty hands that he wanted to hold forever if he could, and you with your neverending tolerance for him.

Every time he messed up you reminded him of how good he was doing. You reminded him of what he stood for and why he tried so hard for the people he loved.

You reminded him that chances were to be taken, lest they slip away from you forever.

“I have to tell you something.” Deuce murmured, heart inching its way up his throat.

You stopped, still holding his hand in your grip, your fingers intertwined and Deuce could help but feel like he’d pass out.

Clenching his jaw, he reminded himself to not be a coward.

You stared. Waiting patiently, always waiting for him. He refused to make you wait any longer, especially not for him.

“I’m in love with—”

“Deuce.” you interrupted, bringing a shaky hand to cup his face and that’s when he knew you were just as nervous as he was right now and that made his heart flutter and sing and jump in his chest and briefly he wonders how it got back down there when he’s been so nervous but his throat doesn’t even feel tight anymore and—

“I know.” you smiled.

And that’s all you said.

“And I get it.”

Nevermind.

“What…What do you mean?” Deuce stuttered, his eyes wide and he’s certain his pupils are blown right now.

It’s like you’re the only thing that exists anymore.

“Do you want to stop this whole thing then?” you asked, letting go of his hand and he doesn’t even have the opportunity to be disappointed because you’re wrapping your arms around his neck—

But no.

He comprehends what you just said and his heart drops.

Do you want to stop?

“What does that mean?” he can feel his palms getting sweaty again, his heart racing, and blood rushing to his head.

“I mean, we can stop this now. This fake relationship we have going on. Unless I misunderstood you?” you also seem panicked, Deuce notes, as you slowly step away from him.

“You definitely didn’t.” he says, his arms dangling at his sides like dead weights, “But I’m really hoping that I’m misunderstanding you.”

“Deuce…you don’t want to keep up this front forever, do you? I mean the whole reason you asked me to do this was because of Ace. Don’t you want to make this official?”

Your words are falling out like water droplets from the clouds on that day you forgot you were dating when he stared at you with so much admiration.

His thoughts immediately grind to a halt as you say the word official and suddenly he’s light and happy and radiant instead of panicked.

“You want to date me?” he points to himself, as if the mere idea is preposterous, “What?”

“Yes!” you all but shout, throwing your hands up in the air, “I thought it would be funny to mess with Ace at first but I started realizing that I feel differently for you than I do him and that I want to be with you regardless of whatever hijinks we need to pull on Ace to get him back!”

“I—” Deuce stops himself like he’s processing everything you just said.

And you know. You understand, because he’s never been confronted like this before.

“You want to be with me.” he murmurs to himself, beginning to pace, “And I want…I want the same thing.”

“Deuce. Are we going to make this whole thing official now or not?” you grab his hand again, and he looks at you like you just asked him the most serious question in the world.

“Yeah. Yes. I’d like that.” he smiles.

And you smile back, as brilliantly beautiful as ever.

♠

Friday.

Friday is when you were confronted.

There was a noticeable change in Deuce’s attitude towards you, a switch from nervous and unsure to flustered and elated. He followed you around like a lost puppy, carrying your things as staring at you frequently. Ace was even more confused by this change in mood, if that was even possible. You thought it was charming, how quickly he switched, even if everyone around you two thought it was strange. You had no reason to believe you weren’t guilty of the same behavior, if the head pat you bestowed upon Deuce before heading into your second class of the day was an indication. You made sure you kept the public displays of affection on the down low though—you didn’t want to embarrass him too much, lest he be scared away.

“What is wrong with you two?” Ace grumbled, eyeing the two of you like he was personally offended.

“What do you mean?” you asked, tearing your eyes away from Deuce to look at your third wheel.

“You’ve been even mushier since the first few days. I thought it would get less gross.” Ace narrowed his eyes, “You guys are weird.”

There were a thousand things you could have said. You could tell Ace about how you and Deuce had been faking dating for only four days before cracking, you could tell him about the time you two gave each other kisses, you could tell him about how all of this started because Deuce had asked you to pretend to date him. Pretend to like him.

As if you needed to.

Instead, you laughed. Deuce exhaled sharply, a small smile on his face too.

“Guess it’s just weird how those things work.” you hummed, flicking Ace’s forehead.

He swatted your hand, snorting as you reached out more to whack him. Ace dodged, taking off down the hall with a taunting laugh. Deuce watched as you ran after Ace, his hand burning where you let go.

But this time, it wasn’t a burn of longing.

It was a burn of affection.

#auburn's fics <3 #deuce spade x reader #deuce spade #twisted wonderland #twst x reader #i love deuce hes so rmhrpmhmr <33 #deuce spade fluff #twisted wonderland x reader #ace trappola #twst grim

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