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cillianmesoftlyyy · 1 year ago

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The Gumshoe Is a Girl's Best Friend | Neil Lewis x Reader

Summary | Things have recently changed between them and the tension continues to grow after Neil's relationship with his current girlfriend, Megan, begins to sour. Opening night of Gumshoe Video's first commercial sets the stage for new romance.

Warnings | Arguing, Unhealthy domestic relationships, Cheating, and brief sexual language.

A World Without Love- Peter And Gordon 🎶

Silhouette- Pastel Ghost 🎵

ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?- Tyler, The Creator 🎶

word count: 3510k

Citation for quotes taken from original movie:

Watching the Detectives. Directed by Paul Soter, performances by Cillian Murphy and Lucy Liu, 2007.

Not proofread, sorry!

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We were standing in his office in the back of Gumshoe Video, and like usual, we were arguing.

“There is no way that I’m wearing that!” He pointed menacingly at the blue suit I had bought from the downtown consignment shop.

“But it goes so well with your eyes!” I argued and thrusted the matching baby blue shirt back into his hands.

“Listen, listen- hey wait, listen to me!” He backed himself up into the corner of his office and I followed him, holding the pressed suit between my arms.

“It has ruffles! I’m not wearing ruffles on opening night, Y/N. This is a serious event!” He held out his hands in an effort to stop me but I wrapped the silk bow tie around his neck and poked a finger harshly into his chest. He pressed his back against the wall, his arms crossed protectively around himself.

“Wear. the. suit. Neil.” I threatened darkly and he gulped, his blue eyes jumping comically from the suit to my face.

“Fine, damn it! But I am NOT wearing the bowtie.” He snatched the contrasting dark blue suit jacket with its velvet lapel and sighed.

“Good boy,” I teased with the best doll eyes I could muster and swiped the silk bow tie from around his neck and into my pocket.

“Yeah, yeah alright.” He waved me off and started to unbutton his shirt, showing the white t-shirt beneath his light green button-down. He paused and looked at me expectantly.

“Aren’t you gonna leave? I need to change into this ridiculous suit!” He pointed to the door to his office, plated with textured glass. I backed away and shrugged.

“I wanted to make sure you actually put it on… and besides, it's nothing I haven’t seen before.” I said the latter part of the sentence beneath my breath but somehow Neil still heard it and whipped around.

“How many times are you going to bring that up before I live it down?” He covered his face and groaned dramatically.

“As long as I want.” I hurried out of his office and closed the door behind me. I could hear the satisfying sound of clothes as they moved off and on his body. It’s just a joke, I reminded myself, nothing more. It had been a little over two months since he’d called me so late it was almost early morning, to ask me to help him. I was still awake by some stroke of luck and followed his directions: Bring a towel or a blanket, anything, and Drive to Megan’s (400 Caste Ave). Have the headlights off and stop outside the side door. I’ll meet you there. From the tone of his voice, I knew something was wrong.

Is everything ok, Neil? I whispered into the receiver.

Yeah, yeah. I just had a fight with Megan. Everything’s ok, I just couldn’t get a hold of Jonathan or Lucien. I’m sorry…” He sighed against the phone and I nodded, knowing that he couldn’t see me.

“Alright, I’ll be there soon.” I hung up.

When I got to 400 Caste Ave, I did as he said. I pulled up to the side of the house without my headlights on and opened the door. A grabbed the robe I had thrown into the passenger seat and jumped out, looking around in the dark for him. I was surprised how easy it was to see him, sitting on the side steps, completely naked. His pale skin stood out like an eerie glow in the dark.

“Could you throw me that?” He gestured to the robe with one arm, the other lying across his lap to cover himself. I stopped a few feet from him and tossed the robe into his arms. I turned away to give him some privacy until he cleared his throat and followed me back to the car.

I was 5”3 so the robe was too short on him and ended on his lower thigh. He fiddled with the hem self-consciously as he climbed into the passenger seat. I sat behind the wheel and looked over at him in the dim light of the automatic car light.

“Did she lock you out of the house? What the hell happened, Neil.” I asked finally and he closed his eyes, nearly smiling from discomfort and embarrassment.

“It’s not important.” He mumbled, his face bright pink.

“Not important? You were butt-ass naked! We have to leave your car here and everything.” I laughed in frustration, slapping the worn leather binding of the steering wheel.

“I’ll deal with everything tomorrow, I promise. I just want to go home. Could you drive me, Y/N?” He laid his head back against the headrest and stared at the ceiling.

“Ok, Neil.” I cut my eyes away from his face and put the car in reverse, pulling out of the driveway and onto the road. We drove home listening to Billie Holiday, singing the lyrics to Lover Man quietly beneath our breath. When I pulled up to his house, he sighed and pushed the door open, leaning down to speak through the window.

“I’m sorry again, Y/N. I didn’t want to involve you but I didn’t know what else to do.”

“It's ok, Neil.” I smiled softly and chuckled as he looked down at himself in the small red robe with white piping along the lapels.

“This robe is ridiculous by the way. You need a new one.” He picked limply at the short hem, laughing.

“I’ll consult you on my next purchase.” I rolled my eyes and waved goodbye as he turned back to his house. He retrieved a key from a plastic goose, laying in the front yard and opened the front door. I drove home in light-headed fury. I didn’t like Megan and Neil knew it. She was strange, and though we were all strange in our own ways, she was almost psychopathic. She pulled these stunts on Neil all the time to see he would react and judge how far she could push him the next time. He’d stayed with her through it all because he thought he loved her but she had only ever caused him emotional and physical distress in the moments they spent alone. He refused to leave her, and despite his own flaws, it made him a good man.

She still poked fun at Neil for that night, mainly for her own amusement, and because that night signified a shift in her. She’d never thought of Neil as anything more than a friend, someone she saw a few times a week and talked to occasionally but hadn’t even known his favorite color (green) or remembered his birthday (May 25). Until that night, they had barely been friends. And since then, they had grown closer with me never being able to get him out of my mind the night I saw him on the steps, his back hunched over his chest and his dark brown hair fluttering in the small gusts of wind. The freckles that dotted his shoulders like shadows from eyelet curtains stuck with me, I’d never been able to let it go.

But things returned to normal a week or so afterwards. Megan apologized, returning his clothes, keys, and car; and he stayed with her, laughing off whatever deeply-rooted hurt he’d felt from the whole experience. And though we never really talked about that night, we’d grown unspokenly closer in the weeks that followed.

The shop’s front doors were propped open with milk crates weighed down with old VHS. The air smelled heavy and sour with cheap weed that flooded in dense clouds around the inside of the store. I weaved through the small cliques of people arranged throughout the aisles, holding plastic red cups of liquor and bad wine. I found Megan by the front doors, sitting alone and sipping from her drink.

“Hi, Megan.” I waved briefly and continued on to Jonathan and Lucien who were perched together on the store’s window seat, entertaining guests. Megan shifted in her plastic seat, her heavy black eyeliner cast a shadow over her eyes, saying nothing.

“Ah, here she is! Y/N, stylist to the stars.” Jonathan opened his arms, nearly knocking Lucien’s glasses off his face. The circle cheered as I sat down amongst them.

“Speaking of stylist, I love your outfit!” One friend, Lauren, smiled kindly.

I looked down at what I was wearing: A black velvet mini dress and a tweed blazer. I had my short hair tied back with a black ribbon and heeled sandals that made me two inches taller at 5”5.

“Thank you.” I blushed and tucked my hands beneath my knees as the wave of conversation continued. I watched the office door for Neil to emerge, preparing myself for a boy dressed in baby blue, however, I wasn’t prepared when he made his grand entrance.

“Here he comes now.” Lucien sighed and turned to a woman who was sitting beside him to start another story.

“Oh my god, THAT is blue.” Jonathan laughed into his palm, his face turning red as he rocked back and forth on the window seat. Neil approached confidently, his hands stretched out to welcome appreciation and applause. I giggled to myself, taken aback by how good he looked even in the outdated prom costume. Megan rolled her eyes and slurped loudly from her drink.

“What do we think, huh?” Neil did a twirl and flicked the jacket back to show off his shirt.

“I can’t tell if I'm turned on or if I just really need to sneeze. It probably had decades of dust on that thing.” Lucien grumbled into a handkerchief and everyone laughed.

“Well, Lucien may be allergic to me but other than that, the reviews seem good.” He raised an eyebrow at me and I started to laugh again.

“Alright everyone! Thank you so much for being here tonight to see the premier of Gumshoe’s first ever commercial,” he paused for the applause, “I want to thank my closest friends and film crew Lucien, Jonathan, and Y/N for helping me make this wonderful film-er- commercial. Thank you to all of our loyal customers that are here tonight, keeping Gumshoe open. Um,” His voice quivered and he faked emotion, pitching the place between his eyebrows as if he was overcome with emotion, “‘I told myself that I wouldn’t cry. Um,’” he wiped an invisible tear from his eye before turning back to the audience, ‘“no seriously,’” he regained his composure, ‘“I know I can’t compete with the big guys, but as long as I have you guys, my small and loyal following of geeks and weirdos, I know I’ll be alright.’”

We all cooed and applauded, laughing at his performance.

“And of course, I need to thank my wonderful girlfriend, Megan, for being my rock through all of this. No one is more… stable and supportive than her.” He smiled awkwardly and cleared his throat after the scattering of applause from the people who knew Megan well. Luciene glanced at me and I returned his suggestive gaze. Megan responded with a small, annoyed smile and checked her flip-phone.

“Y/N?” He turned quickly with finger guns trained at my chest.

“Oh right!” I jumped up and retrieved the VHS from behind the counter. Neil switched on the large box tv and inserted the tape into the player. The VHS loaded into the dock and clicked into place, the tape beginning to wind forwards. I returned to my seat and joined in the rest of the room’s applause as the screen blinked. Neil hurried across the couches to Megan and dropped down into the plastic seat beside her, draping an arm around her shoulders. She rested her head against the crook of his shoulder, smiling sweetly. I tore my eyes away and watched the screen as the image appeared.

It was a film noir and Neil was the disgruntled gangster, fixing his revolver at a man’s chest. His face was dark in the shadows but you could still see the slender cigarette wedged between his teeth like a toothpick. The man, holding a Gumshoe Video tape, ran away comically from Neil and received a clear shot to the back, taking a good few seconds to fall to the dark pavement. Neil restored the gun to the inside of his trench coat and walked around to the front of a dark storefront where I, playing the gangster’s lover, stood expectantly. I was turned away from the camera when he approached. When I turned around, my dark black sequined gown glittered across the screen. The dress was inspired by Marylin Monroe’s Ladies of the Chorus gown, hugging my curves and showing off my whitish-blonde hair. A few whistles escaped from the crowd and I laughed, blushing. Neil stubbed out his cigarette.

“‘Nice shot, lover. What was that for?’” I asked breathily in my best Monroe voice.

“‘This was due back last Thursday, and besides, he forgot to rewind.” Neil answered in a silly mock-mafia accent, holding the overdue tape in his hand.The storefront lit up, and the stacks of VHS stood far back in the picture, glowing in black and white. ‘Gumshoe Video’ was visible in large letters across the store’s window, gray instead of bubblegum pink.

“Say, what’s Gumshoe got for a girl like me?” I strutted over and fixed the popped collar on Neil’s trench coat and he chucked dramatically (the audience laughed).

“Why darling, Gumshoe’s a girl’s best friend!” He pulled out one more tap from his jacket pocket and gave it to me. Jonathan (the cameraman) zoomed in on the tape’s label Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The camera zoomed out and I squealed and took the tape, clutching it to my chest.

“‘Gumshoe Video,’” the picture changed into color, “‘if we don’t have it, we’ll hit the pavement looking for it.’” Neil winked at the camera with a thumb’s up. I kissed him on the cheek with my Monroe-red lips and it was caught in the freezeframe at the end of the ad. Everyone applauded, some whistled as Neil jumped back up and acknowledged the crowd once again.

“Another round-of-applause to my camera man, Jonathan, and my lovely costar, Y/N!” He pointed us out and Jonathan and I took our bows.

“Thank you everyone for coming out tonight. Have some cheap wine and beer and hang around because we have a very special midnight showing of the 1944 Arsenic and Old Lace.” He waggled his fingers and laughed awkwardly as people started to stand. I watched Megan start to frown deeper on her plastic chair, her arms tightly crossed against her chest. Neil noticed her reaction and started to go over but she bolted from the seat, heading into the back office. He followed her without a word.

“Do you think it was the kiss?” I asked Lucien and he shrugged.

“It was a pretty lousy kiss, I doubt it was that.” He fixed his thick glasses. Jonathan leaned over, smiling.

“I think she’s upset that he cast you at all.”

“Gee thanks, Jonathan.” I huffed, “it's not fair that she’s upset. He asked her first but she didn’t want to be in the ad. I was the second choice.” I hardened my voice and Jonathan nodded.

“And thank god she said no.” Lucien laughed dryly, watching as Neil tried to get into his own office in the back room.

“Filming would have been hell.” Jonathan added below his breath and I held in my laugh.

They were in Neil’s office for the better part of an hour, Megan yelling and throwing this around the entire time. Their shadows behind the door played out for everyone to see in the store like a puppet show. When midnight neared, Jonathan switched the tapes in the player and I handed out popcorn in large paper bags. Most of the guests stayed, going back to their seats around the tv for the movie. Lucien talked for what felt like fifteen minutes about the film while also smoking on his pipe. Jonathan and I rolled our eyes at most of what he had to say, asserting himself as the real film-expert at Gumshoe Video.

I heard the office door slam and looked up in time to see Megan leave out the back door. I didn’t see Neil leave his office though his door was wide open. I slipped away from the movie and made my way to Neil’s office with the smoky, textured glass, and knocked lightly on the doorframe. I heard a drawn out sigh before a quiet, “come in.”

He was sitting at his desk with his head cradled between his arms. I stood by the door, leaning against the inside of the doorframe and waited for him to look up. When he did, his blue eyes found mine, bloodshot and tired.

“The movie’s starting. Do you want a drink?” I asked.

“Yeah… yeah.” He nodded. I went to the drink cooler and took out two beers. I set them down on the desk in front of him and beckoned with my free hand.

“Come on.” I whispered below the movie’s dialogue in the front of the store.

We went out the backdoor and sat on the cinderblock wall beside the old basketball net. He unbuttoned the top few buttons of his ruffled dress shirt and sighed, taking a long drink from his beer.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked hesitantly.

“Nah. It doesn’t matter anyway.” He looked over and smiled tiredly.

“She’s not mad?” I asked, shocked.

“No, no she’s mad but it's over something stupid.” He looked down at his beer.

“Is it me?”

He looked at me again and smiled. He chuckled softly before raising the beer to his lips, looking up at the distant sky.

“Yeah.” Was all he said and I didn’t ask further.

“The commercial was a big hit, Neil.” I smiled and recounted the compliments I had received from guests. “They think we should make more.”

“I don’t know if Jonathan would like that.” He laughed.

“Maybe, but we were good. That’s all that matters.” I smiled over at him and he smiled back, silence falling between us. He looked down at my lips and I exhaled a cloud of crystalized air. He kissed me quickly, catching me off guard. He pulled me closer with his lips and took my jaw with his fingers. I put my hand on his knee, pushing myself into him and taking in his tongue. He pulled away just as quickly as he had started and blushed deeply.

“I shouldn’t have done that.” He shook his head. “I’m drunk.” He stood and stepped away from me, running a head through his hair.

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry.” He took another step back and rubbed his forehead.

“It’s ok.” I whispered.

“No, no. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s OK, Neil.” I stood too and held out my hands like I was calming an animal. He was breathing heavily, his eyes wet from overwhelmed tears. Then he did it again. He rushed to me, dropping his beer bottle and taking my face in his hands. He kissed me deeply and I kissed him back, taking him in. He had the lovely warm scent of manhood that lingered in every corner of his skin. I sighed against his lips and he kissed me slower, more passionately.

He walked me backwards and held me gently against the cinder block wall. He put his hands around my hips and pushed his pelvis against mine, releasing his lips to rest his forehead against mine. I trailed my hands up his chest, helping them find their way through the patterns in the ruffles.

“Are you sorry now?” I asked against his lips and I felt him smile against mine.

“No.” He kissed me again, sucking gently on my tongue. He held my face and turned it as he kissed me, searching for every place of my lips that he hadn’t yet kissed. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist, putting most of my weight against the wall behind me. He rutted his hips against me again and I gasped softly, squirming against his body.

“Wait,” I whispered, “what about Megan?” He opened his eyes and looked down into mine. “What about Megan?” I repeated.

“We’re done.” His smile was strained as he remembered his last interaction with Megan. “I ended things. I should have done it before and I’m sorry.” He rubbed his nose against mine, breathing softly on my lips. “I-I think I love you, Y/N. I’ve been so confused lately but all I know is that things changed after that night when you saved me. I should have done something then but I didn’t. I think I’ve loved you this whole time.” He shook his head. I took his face in my hands and kissed him softly before pulling away.

“I think I love you too.” I whispered back.

#cillian murphy x reader #cillian x fem!reader #neil lewis #neil lewis x y/n #fluff #fanfic #cillian murphy #watching the detectives

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