#raisinwrites

[jealousraisin]

Title TBA, Luke x reader thing 💖

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Ch.1 - The party

You were sat on the deck in the backyard of a friend of a friends friend’s party, mind slightly buzzing from the alcohol and rejoicing in the calmer environment compared to inside; where the party was currently in full swing with no sign of slowing down for the night. You tilt your head up to look at the night sky, not too much to see in terms of stars when you’re in suburbia, but if you look hard enough you can make out orion’s belt.

You feel someone set themselves down next to you, the sound of a lighter rings in your ears.

“Is it okay if i smoke?” the person says

“huh? oh. yeah. Knock yourself out”

“Cool” the clicks of the lighter sound out again. You turn to look at the stranger, the light from inside the party dimly illuminating both of you from behind, the flame of the lighter momentarily showing his features in better light.

“so,” He takes a drag of his cigarette “what brings you out here and not in there?”

You fiddle with the rings on your fingers. “i got a bit overwhelmed in there, wanted a bit of a breather before i go back in there and find my friend,” You turn and point in the general direction of where you saw her last, currently deep in the dancing crowd “she’s my ride home”

“ah, have to say with the way this party is going, i don’t know if you’ll be heading back home any time soon. Your friend seems to be having quite the time in there”

“yeah, figures”

You both return to silence for a while, him finishing off his cigarette while you gently drum your fingers to the music that bleeds out to where you’re sitting. The break in conversation didn’t feel as awkward as it usually does with people, you partially blame that on the alcohol. But something about this stranger feels easygoing.

“So, you asked me now i ask you” You throw out “aside from a smoke break, you don’t look in a rush to get back in there either”

“you caught me” He gently chuckles, jokingly raising his hands up lazily. “if you must know, i too needed a break from all that…I mean I like to party as much as the next guy but sometimes people and sounds get to be too much”

You feel yourself sobering up a little as you nod in agreement with his statement. You want to keep your buzz going, so you start to stand up getting ready to offer to get a drink for him as well.

“Well uh…” you trail off, you realise you haven’t asked his name yet.

“Luke” He smiles up at you

“yes, Luke. I am going to grab another drink, would you like one?”

Luke leans back, resting on his palms. “Whatever you’re having i’ll have too”

You bravely stumble back into the party, mission in mind.

You return, drinks in hand. You pass one to Luke and sit back down in your previously claimed spot.

He mumbles out a thanks as you both enjoy your drinks.

About an hour passes, conversation easily flowing just like the drinks you are having, neither of you making any move to return to the party.

“Man, she’s totally not taking me home tonight is she?” you chuckle, a little pissed off your friend who earlier tonight promised ‘it will just be in and out! i promised my friend we would make an appearance’ How you believed her is beyond you, you think with a smile

“I don’t know about you but i’m ready get out of here.” Luke stretches as he makes a move to get up “I live nearby, walking distance, if you’d like to tag along i was thinking of ordering in some really greasy shit probably a good pizza” He offers his hand to help you up.

Your stomach growls at the mention of proper food, the chips and other finger food at the party doing the bare minimum to satiate the hunger, especially with you being outside and the snacks being deep inside the party. “How can i say no to such an offer? Sure i’ll go to your place stranger. Promise not to murder me?”

“We’re not really strangers now are we? you know my name, i know yours” he pulls you up with ease ‘does he work out?’ you think. “Plus the walk back to mine should give us enough time to become even less of strangers, no promises on the murder thing, gee you know i just loooovee doing that all the time” he throws in at the end jokingly. You let out a big laugh as you both make your way out of the party.

You message your friend,

‘Not kidnapped, left with a friend, I’ll see you tomorrow.’

[jealousraisin]

Ch.3 - Back Home

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“Who was that?” your friend interrogates the second you walk through the door.

“who was what?” you feign ignorance, partially as a joke and partially from mild embarrassment that you left your friend hanging in your own home to go hang out with a guy you just met at a party.

“don’t play dumb with me, what did you get up to? who was it? Who was the person who was able to convince you to go to a secondary location. You KNOW that’s how they get you” Vanessa huffs, and to think last night she barely had any concern for you at the party.

“well if you MUST know, I met a guy at the party last night while i was hanging out outside of the party and we-you know what ‘ness I don’t exactly have time to be interrogated right now I really do have to go and get ready for work. You should too or we’re going to be late. You know our manager is going to bite our heads off if we are” changing the subject to the currently more important matter at hand. Vanessa begrudgingly agrees with you, pocketing this conversation for later, maybe your lunch break.

Vanessa and you barely make it to work on time. The office where you both work isn’t necessarily far, but the bus times are inconvenient if you miss it; and miss it you almost did. Out of breath and a little frazzled from this morning’s series of events you take the elevator up to your floor, mentally flipping the switch to work mode. The elevator dings and any words that Vanessa wanted to say to you on that short ride up are lost to the wind as you both break off to your respective workstations. As you settle in your phone chimes, a notification lighting up the screen. You glance over at your phone as you’re fixing up a stack of papers left on your desk over the weekend.

‘Unsaved number: Have a good day at work ☆*’

Picking up your phone, you realise that in your hurry to get your day going you didn’t save Luke’s phone number as a contact yet. You settle down at your desk, while waiting for your computer to boot up you add him to your contacts.

‘Luke 🥞😋’

silly enough.

Shooting back a reply ‘I will do my best to do so 🤞, you have a good day too. Those pancakes are my saving grace this morning….still thinking about them’

The computer chimes its’ start up sound, calling you back to work. Opening up your various programs you begin your day.

Lunch break rolls around particularly quickly, you were getting a decent amount of work done today. You considered working through lunch but a voice in your head chimes in that ‘working through lunch earns you no medals, just hunger” and you nod in agreement to the thought.

“alright, you’re not getting out of this as easily as you did this morning, get up we are going to lunch and you are telling me everything” Vanessa practically materialises at your desk. You swivel your chair to face her, a look on your face that says ‘do i have to?’

“Yes. You do. For my friend to do such a thing and not want to tell me makes me want to know even more. I will not rest until you do” She nags as she’s pulling you up and out of your chair, leading you back towards the elevator.

The two of you head down to your favourite cafe that runs a spectacular lunch deal. Swiftly finding your usual seats, Vanessa is making some intense eye contact at you. She knows you can’t take much of her stare when she’s like this, she knows you’ll break and it’s only a matter of time. You fidget in your seat, avoiding eye contact at all costs. You chance a glance at her and it’s all over.

“fine.”

“Yes!” Ness pumps her fists in the air, exclaiming a little too loudly as she notices a couple of heads turning her way. She coughs “Proceed”

You tell her about how you were outside of the party, how a guy sat next to you and you both were out there for the same reason. The way you found it so incredibly easy to talk to him. The walk to his place, The food, the pool swim and the movie. You conveniently fail to mention that you fell asleep in the same bed, and the way he undressed in front of you with no shame after jumping in the pool, as far as Vanessa was currently concerned you were both fully clothed and slept in separate beds. She doesn’t need to know that just yet, you’re already embarrassed enough about the details you told her.

“You haven’t told me his name yet,” Her eyes widen “Don’t tell me you forgot to ask him? oh that is so you i-“

“NO! I did ask, AND i remembered it, Gee have some faith in me Ness” You interrupt her ramble, smiling as you take a sip of your drink.

“Well?”

“It’s Luke”

“Luke….that does sound familiar” Vanessa knows way too many people for her own good, she’s the person who always knows a guy. Figures she might know who Luke is just by first name alone you think.

Poking at your near finished food you glance up at your best friend and coworker. She loves nothing more than meet-cutes. Unfortunately for her, this is just a fast friendship in your eyes. Vanessa knows it’s more than that, and she is very willing to help you see that, but she’s going to play the long game. With someone like you, she can’t just throw you into the deep end of recognising subtle signs, advances and going through the gauntlets of going on a very obvious date scenario. She’s going to have to play this smart, let you feel like you’re taking the lead on this and not her. She loves to meddle in other peoples lives, when she sees a situation like this she just can’t help herself, she’s all over this.

Lunch finishes up quickly after that, the two of you having to get back to work sooner rather than later. You’re hyping yourself up for a meeting you have to present in, mentally going through the slides and steeling your nerves. The meeting goes by without a cinch and your work day comes to a close. Vanessa once again meets you by the elevator, she’s heading back home with you to pick up the stuff she left back at yours this morning.

Unlocking your door, Vanessa swiftly grabs her things and parts ways with you for the day.

“see you tomorrow! don’t stay up too late!” she waves as the elevator door closes, you wave back with a small giggle

“no promises!” The door shut.

Turning back into your apartment you take off your shoes and turn on the TV allowing for some background noise. You go through the motions of finishing up your day; you shower, do your skincare, put on some laundry and heat up the dinner you pre-prepared over the weekend.

You head back into your room to have some ‘phone in bed’ time when you notice the red hoodie staring at you as it sits on top of your bed. You haphazardly threw your clothes into the laundry basket minus that hoodie earlier that morning during your preparation flurry. You didn’t want to admit out loud that you wanted to wear it a little bit longer before having to return it.

Your phone pings, notifying you of another text.

‘Goodnight :3 talk to you tomorrow?’ It’s Luke

‘Talk to you tomorrow :)’ you quickly reply

‘sweet dreams’

[jealousraisin]

Ch.2 - His place

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Delivery of that pizza couldn’t have come any sooner, the walk to his place amplified your cravings. It didn’t help that he was listing off all the food and snacks they could be having, he was having fun mentally torturing you with images of obscenely over the top sundaes, hot pockets and milkshakes, describing them in a way that was borderline pornographic to your starved mind and stomach. One thing you learnt about him on the walk over is that he’s a bit of a little shit and he loves it.

“Nothing you can say right now can ruin the love affair i am about to have with this pizza” You proudly state as you grab the greasiest, largest slice your eyes land on. Luke leans on the kitchen counter, head leaning lazily on his palm, smiling.

“oh no of course your majesty, i, a mere peasant in your presence would dare not to” He jokes with ease. “Though i can offer, my world famous milkshake to compliment your current lover” Luke slides over a milkshake he prepared moments before the pizza arrived, you quickly finish up your slice and try it.

“holy shit” you speak after taking a sip.

Luke’s smile spreads into an all knowing shit eating grin “holy shit indeed, i did say they were world famous, i didn’t lie. I have made this for many people while i’m travelling and they all agree, it rocks”

He leads you out to his backyard, eager to enjoy the summer night air. You both each sit down on a pool chair. The night sky looks a bit clearer closer to the ocean, you relish in the sight. Comfortable silence blankets over you two for a minute.

“so you travel a lot?” you ask, making conversation.

“Oh yeah, i have a bit of a habit of just getting on a plane and going, my sister is sick to death of texting me and finding out i’m in some random country. Not like i’ll stop though, so long as i have my passport i’m good to go”

You find that mentality a little bit insane, but you have to respect the man for being so brave. You have to google ahead the menu of your local Mexican restaurant that you’ve been going to ever since you moved here, meanwhile this guy is going somewhere where he doesn’t even know the language aside from basic greetings.

“So is being spontaneous your thing? Or is it just the wanderlust?”

“oh, no i’m impulsive as shit” He chuckles

“Really?” you challenge

In the blink of an eye, he’s up. Luke gets a running start and jumps straight into the pool, making a big splash. He comes back up the surface pushing his hair back and out of his face.

“Really.” he grins up at you. You scoff in disbelief, a smile adorns your face.

Luke swims over to the pool ladder and hoists himself out of the water. Standing tall, the moonlight illuminates his towering figure, you get a chance to get a good look at him. His once dry outfit now soaking wet, his shirt is clinging to his body tightly. You can confirm your suspicions that he does indeed work out. So you were ogling the man, is that a crime? You quickly cough and look to the side as he goes to pull off his soaked shirt and starts to unbutton his pants.

“relax, i’m not totally naked see?” he coaxes, you focus your eyes back on him to find he is still in his boxer shorts.

“i knew that….”

Luke lets out a laugh, he’s grabbing your hand and pulling you up with the same practised ease as when he helped you up at the party.

“now I don’t know about you but i don’t think it’s fair i’m the only one who’s drenched right now

“huh? what do you mean? you were the one who-WHOAH” before you can finish your sentence you feel yourself falling down.

SPLASH

A hand still holding yours pulls you up to the surface. In your confused state you turn to look at the culprit of your current situation, you give him an incredulous look.

He shrugs at you with that smug smile.

You two swim around for a while, splashing each other and playing some games, the warm night making it easy to stay in the water. After a bit you get out, both of you having had your fill of swimming. As you are wringing out your now drenched shirt Luke, unbeknownst to you, is now looking at you as you did him.

“Come on, you can shower inside. i’ll give you some clothes to change into, and i’ll wash those” He points to your chlorine saturated outfit. You give him a grateful smile.

The warm water hitting your body was nothing short of a blessing, and you were absolutely going to use all his soaps, shampoos and creams he has in this bathroom. Alone, you start to think about the situation you’re in, it’s not like you to meet a random stranger at a party and then be fine with going to their place. Maybe it’s the fact your friend left you to handle that party alone or the drinks you had but you were feeling relaxed and a little brave tonight it seems. You go to shampoo your hair and think about what to tell your friend tomorrow about your disappearing act.

“Hey i’m just going to leave the clothes out here, i’ll be downstairs preparing some snacks” Luke’s muffled voice rings out on the other side of the bathroom door. As you’re changing it’s not missed on you that what you’ve been given to wear is a men’s size red hoodie. Despite him having a sister around your age.

You tread down the stairs, towelling at your hair. You find Luke preparing some small sectioned plates with various snacks and treats. He looks up when he hears you coming down.

“better after the shower? hope you knew it was fine to use whatever was in there” He says as he puts the finishing touches on his whipped cream strawberry tower.

“I did, thank you. You have an impressive collection of stuff up there, good skincare. I’m almost jealous”

“Hey, a guy has to take care of himself. Did you think this dewy complexion was the work of god?”

You look off to the side and mumble “no but that face of yours is…”

He rounds the kitchen island and hands you one of the two plates he’s prepared along with another drink.

“I gave you some of my clothes because my sister would kill me if i went into her room without asking again, last time i did that she almost killed me with her laser beam stare of hate” he laughs

“besides,” he pauses, giving you a quick once over “you look good in my clothes”

You find yourself in his room, settled in a beanbag watching the hangover movies, he insists are so worth watching. The snack plate he constructed was amazing, fulfilling your cravings. He’s lazily spread on his bed on the side nearest to where you’re seated, occasionally taking treats from your plate for himself. You had to agree the movies did have some funny moments, couldn’t say you were bored with the company either. At some point in the night you migrate to sit on the bed with him, directly offering your plate of snacks after seeing he has finished his and was constantly picking off of yours. Finally the drinks, walking, swimming and socialising catch up with you, you doze off halfway through the third movie.

Buzz….BUZZ. You jolt up, vaguely remembering what happened the night before. Your phone is going off, your alarm and a barrage of texts hit you all at once. Ignoring the device for a moment you look to your side and find the ‘stranger’ from last night peacefully asleep, only just now starting to stir. Taking a moment you first and foremost freak out you fell asleep in a strangers’ bed, but secondly you take in his features in the warm morning sunlight. What was once obscured by moonlight is now revealed in daylight. You return your attention to your phone, which has been put on charge by someone. Texts from your friend fill up your notification drawer.

‘You WHAT?’

‘Turn on your location right now’

‘who is it?? do i know them?’

‘who are you and what have you done with my friend? you? going off with someone you barely know?’

‘message me back nowwwwwww’

Your friend’s concern makes you chuckle lightly. You start to text back, reassuring that you are in fact, not dead.

“man, when did we fall asleep? i don’t think i caught the end of the third movie” Luke pouts as he sits up behind you.

You turn back and acknowledge him “good morning, sorry i fell asleep in your bed i was exhausted”

He shrugs lazily “s’fine i was exhausted too” He stretches his arms, his shirt riding up a little, you catch a glimpse of a belly piercing. Luke reaches over to his nightstand and puts on some glasses he wasn’t wearing last night, they suit him.

“How about some breakfast?”

Your stomach growls at the mention of food, you nod in embarrassment as he laughs.

Both of you head back downstairs, you set yourself down on the stool of the kitchen island. Luke with practised ease goes around the kitchen collecting the ingredients and tools for pancakes.

The sweet smell fills the house, you’re just about ready to eat your plate when a decent stack lands on it.

“enjoy” he winks.

You do just that. Early morning conversation filling the quiet room as you and him devour the pancakes.

You glance at your phone. SHIT IS THAT THAT THE TIME? You barely had any time to get ready and leave here to make it back to your apartment so that you could head off to work.

“oh my god i’m so sorry i have to rush actually! i have work soon oh my god i forgot!!” You start to scramble a little, forgetting that you don’t know where your clothes from last night are. Luke calmly steps into a door next to the kitchen that you now realise is the laundry room. He comes back out, your clothes in a neat, folded pile. You thank him with a grateful look, heading into the bathroom to change and tame your hair enough to be presentable to your friend who was staying the night at your apartment. Folding up the clothes you borrowed, you decide to throw the hoodie back on as you feel the morning chill bite at you in the outfit you wore to the party last night. Composing yourself in the mirror You come out, a little less frazzled than 5 minutes ago.

You find Luke is also already dressed and at the door, keys in hand.

“I’ll drop you home, the least I can do” he offers. A small smile is on your face as you nod a small thank you to the offer.

He leads you to the garage where his car is, a red Lancer Evo stares back at you. Now you were by no means a car person but even you could tell this thing had some love put into it as evidenced by the stickers, decals and body mods added to it.

“This is ‘girl’, She will be our trusty steed that will get you home safely” he pats the hood of the car, unlocking it and opening the door for you before getting in the car himself. You look around the spotless interior.

He starts the car “I don’t think this is the use-case for my motorbike haha i think tilting and shaking you around on this particular morning would be a recipe for disaster after all the drinks and food we had in the past 12 hours”

“i have to agree with you on that one” Taking the phone he was handing over, you put in your address to the maps app he had open.

“Alright let’s take you home” Luke pulls out of the garage

Your apartment comes into view after a short calm drive. You gather your things, making sure you didn’t forget something in this well cared for car. Luke is parallel parking up to the curb with practised ease as you take off your seatbelt and turn to thank him and make a move to get out of the car. Luke’s hand reaches out to yours before you can get out a ‘thank you’ for the ride.

“Before you go, can i get your number?” his phone is once again outstretched to you.

“oh! of course” you put in your number and call yourself, letting it ring. “there we go”

You step out and round the car, coming to the driver’s side window. Luke rolls down the window as you lean down to make eye contact.

“Thanks for last night, i appreciate it” You smile at him

“Of course, i’m glad i got to meet you” he leans his arm out of the window “Now i’d love to stay and chat but I think you have things to do don’t you?” Luke reminds you of your previous rush to get ready and go home, your eyes widen remembering that you did NOT have time to exchange pleasantries right now. Turning towards your apartment you throw back a hurried wave as you step into your building. In the elevator, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, you’re still wearing his hoodie.

Shit.

[jealousraisin]

OC Masterpost

Character Tags

RaisinOcs - OC info tag

Luke - Luke Art

Charlie - Charlie Art

Jonothan - Jono Art

Jarlie (Jonothan&Charlie).

Raisinwrites - Tag for my writing :)

Posts (infodumps)

Character Introductions

Luke Facts

Charlie Facts

Jonothan Facts

Jono & Charlie's Relationship

Jonothan's "Backstory"/Past

Ocs and Cars! (Little art wip/info post) D&D/Medieval AU Info post Jarlie D&D/Mediaval AU Drabble

[jealousraisin]

Ch.6 - Insomnia

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Tonight was just one of those nights, sleep was not coming. Luke has been tossing and turning for a while now, he doesn’t have a clock in his room so that he doesn’t stare at it all night wishing and hoping he was asleep at that very moment. It’s late, Luke knows that. He refuses to turn around and look at the time on his phone. He knows glancing over is only going to make the anxious, heavy feeling in his chest grow. He’s glancing up at the bedroom ceiling, he is sure he would have stared holes into the ceiling by now with all the sleepless nights he’s spent in his room. Trying to calm his mind, trying to think of anything to get his mind off of the anxious feeling and the gnawing thought that he should be soundly asleep by now…

‘What do I have to do tomorrow? list off the tasks in order. Reorganise them. Run through scenarios.’

‘Visualise a place where I am calm, a place where I am at peace just by being there’

No. Nothing is working; sometimes boring himself with trivial thoughts affords him at least a little bit of shut eye in this scenario.

Not tonight it seems.

Luke sits up in his bed, he admits defeat and looks at the time on his phone.

‘2:17 AM’ The numbers stare back at him; he sighs as he feels that desperation settle in his stomach. He’s been trying to sleep since 9:30 PM.

“I just want to be asleep” He anxiously runs his hands across his face and hair.

As he says that, his phone quietly pings with a notification. He glances at his phone; he’s obviously not sleeping tonight so he might as well look.

‘You awake?’

It’s you.

‘I am…. what are you doing still awake? Work have you doing another all-nighter?’

‘Nope. Can’t sleep :/‘

Luke feels a little reassured that at least he isn’t alone in this situation, though he’s certain the reasons for why either of you can’t sleep are different, you are still in the same boat.

‘Me neither’ He turns on the lamp beside his bed ‘tried all my usual tricks, looks like tonight isn’t a night that I sleep’

‘Wish I was asleep right now’ You don’t know why you’re messaging him, you kind of did it on autopilot since you’re always texting him. As you sent that first message you felt a little bad, worried you might have woken him up or that he was going to see that message whenever he woke up and it would have been awkward to have a missed ‘you up?’ text from a friend sitting in his notifications.

Your phone starts buzzing in your hand, you jump a little from the sudden noise in your quiet apartment. These past few weeks you learnt he likes to call rather than text whenever the two of you are able to. You’re still getting used to calling instead of texting, since you text all of your friends and only really call them to get them to answer the door or get an urgent message through.

“Hello?” your voice comes out a little awkward, having not really used your voice since you got home from work.

“hey” He’s speaking softly, Charlie must be home and asleep in her room. “Is it okay if we talk this way?” His voice sounds deeper, tired and soft. You shake away any straying thoughts from your head, your friend is calling because they can’t sleep, get your head in the game.

“Uh, yeah” you roll over to the side where your bedroom window is, looking outside at the night sky.

You hear shuffling on the other side, a beat of silence passes.

���This might sound a little silly…but could we hang out right now? I kind of don’t want to be alone tonight” He asks. You can hear the slight hesitation in his voice, how he said that last part a lot quieter than the first.

You nod, before realising he can’t see you. “Come over” your quiet voice rings through Luke’s speaker. You swear you can hear a faint sigh of relief at your response.

“I’ll be there soon”

The dial tone beeps.

You’re in the kitchen, having a late-night hot drink when the buzzer rings. You pad over to the small screen affixed your wall, seeing Luke’s familiar figure.

You buzz him in, shortly after there is a soft knock on your door.

“hey” you greet as you open the door to let him enter your apartment.

“hey” he mirrors back.

You get a good look at him; his figure is hunched over and showing obvious signs of exhaustion and anxiety. It’s strange to see the guy who is always smiling throwing joke after joke like this. You shut the door and lead the two of you to settle down on your couch.

“You look like shit” you joke.

He lets out a small laugh “Thanks, you too” he’s looking up at your barely tamed hair and mismatched choice of pyjamas. You both share a chuckle; Luke relaxes a bit.

“So neither of us could sleep tonight huh?”

“noPe” Luke pops the ‘P’ as he leans his head back on your couch, getting comfortable.

“I tried all of my usual tricks, hell, I even counted sheep” you recall.

“Did you get far?”

“I got up to about 260 sheep before I gave up, I don’t think anyone needs that many anyway”

“That sounds like way too many”

You really want to ask him why he can’t sleep but glancing over at him you can tell he definitely wants to think about anything but whatever is on his mind right now. You brush it aside for another time, if ever. You return to the topic at hand; the lack of sleep blighting the two of you right now. You’re twiddling with your fingers as a possible solution comes to mind, you hesitate a little bit before steeling yourself to suggest your idea.

“What if we slept together?”

Luke’s head turns to look at you so fast you fear it may snap.

Oh wait.

You realise the mistake in your wording.

“NO WAIT THAT CAME OUT WRONG!” You’re blocking the stupid mischievous look slowly spreading on his face with your hands as you hear him start to spew out teasing words, there’s the Luke you know again.

“You haven’t even wined and dined me yet”

You try to cover his mouth so he’ll shut up. He easily removes your hand without any difficulty

“Man, I knew I was irresistible, but to try to bed me when I’m in such a state? Wooowww, you dog”

You’re embarrassed, you should have known he would have taken your words the wrong way as they were coming out of your mouth. ‘Ground swallow me up now, I’m ready to go’ is all you can think as you turn red.

“You know that’s not what I meant!” as you say that you realise that this “misunderstanding” prompted a bit of a wrestling situation as Luke’s teasing and your need to hide and make him shut up at the same time put the two of you in a bit of a position. A position that if anyone were to walk in, they would hurriedly muster up a ‘sorry, you’re busy’ and back out of the room. Thank goodness you don’t have roommates.

Luke relents his teasing; feeling he has done enough. “Okay okay,” He repositions himself back on his side of the couch, letting you get back up as well, “What did you mean then?”

“What if we just, went to bed together. Talked there? No pressure to actually fall asleep. You know, sleepover style where you talk all night but somehow along the way you seemingly pass out?”

Luke never thought of that as a way to combat his sleeplessness, but you had a point. He felt a bit confident with your idea, having someone by his side while trying to sleep might curb his overthinking.

“Ya know what, that’s not a bad idea,” He’s stroking his chin as if he had a long beard “Let’s do it”

As you’re leading him over to your room your mind thinks over to your friend Vanessa, who you’re certain would be having a field day if she heard of what was currently happening. You can hear her voice now ‘YOU? Leading a MAN?? To your room late at night??? I’m not ready to be a cool aunt yet’ you smile and shake the thought out of your head. Vanessa can find out later. Currently Luke and you were insomnia warriors, ready to fight sleeplessness and win.

You didn’t fix your bed when you got up earlier so slipping back in was as easy as ever. You pat the empty side of the bed inviting him to join you, Luke hesitates for a split second before removing his hoodie; leaving him in his beloved band t-shirt he uses for sleep. He gets into the opposite side of the bed and mirrors your action of facing each other to talk.

Just like a sleepover, silly late-night conversations flow easily. Luke’s earlier demeanour of tension and nerves shifting to a lighter one as the two of you talk about nothing and everything all at once. You’re both laying on your backs, finding talking up to the darkness of the night freeing; like you can say whatever comes to mind. As Luke is recounting his various spontaneous adventures you feel the familiar and very welcomed sensation of sleep taking over.

“Hey"

"Mm?" You hum, sleep just about taking you.

"Let's make a deal"

You keep your eyes shut, silence prompting him to continue

"Whenever you can't sleep, you can always pester me. Y’know; Call me, beep me, if you wanna reach me"

You turn around to face him

"Was that a Kim possible reference…"

"No..." You can hear the smile in his voice.

"You dork. It's a deal," Before dozing off you add "and you have to do the same."

Silence envelops the two of you, finally able to sleep.

Sometime throughout the night the two of you end up in a tangle of limbs. As you wake up between dreams you feel the weight of an arm keeping your back glued to his slowly rising and falling chest, as you try to readjust you feel said arm hold you tighter. Seems his subconscious doesn’t want to let you go; What’s that about? Before going back to sleep you think about the other side of Luke, the little glimpse you got tonight sparking your curiosity and need to understand him.

The next morning Luke wakes up feeling unusually rested considering how late he ended up finally sleeping. He recalls falling asleep by your side but as he turns to your side he notices that it’s empty. He gets up, eyes still heavy from sleep as he makes his way to your living room. He finds you in the kitchen plating up an incredibly delicious breakfast. You seem to notice him at the last second, a smile spreads on your face as you greet him good morning.

“Welcome to the land of the living sleeping beauty!” You joke as you put down the final plate of breakfast options on the table. “I didn’t know what you wanted for breakfast but I didn’t want to wake you up to ask so I just made a bit of everything.”

Luke settles into the dining table chair, a dopey smile and messy bedhead accented by the sunlight that filtered in through the balcony sliding door. The two of you enjoy your varied breakfast in light conversation.

What a way to start off your weekend.

[jealousraisin]

Ch.5 - Chance Meetings

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

These days it seems you have company at your place more often than not. Vanessa was always a frequent flier in your home; staying multiple nights was common place for her. Now though, Luke has managed to be added to that roster of people who always seem to be at your place. The two of them have yet to officially cross paths, Vanessa is constantly asking about ‘your new friend’ and Luke always hears about the hi-jinks the two of you get up to in and out of work.

Today was one of those rare days you have your apartment to yourself, it feels a little strange. You woke up decently early for your standards, treading out to the living room only after having some phone in bed time. Taking a look around your apartment you realise a bit of a clean is in order, so you put on your go to playlist and get to work.

It looked like it was going to take longer but after all that sweating, running around and off-key singing, you check your phone to see that it’s only 11 A.M. Moving some stray hairs out of your slightly sweaty face, you decide it was a good idea to treat yourself with some form of sweet treat from your favourite local café and some window shopping. You take a quick shower and put an effort into dressing up a little, accessorising and putting a bit of flair to your look. Grabbing your tote-bag, you’re out the door and on your way.

The door to the café rings as you push it open, the sounds and smells you have grown to love over the years flooding your senses. Making a beeline to the counter, the barista recognises you and greets you with a smile.  You smile back, rattling off your usual order and adding a pastry for good measure. There was no need to tell them your name, you’ve spent countless hours here ever since your last year in college; finishing assessments and homework while being a little bit too caffeinated sometimes.

You take a seat, now able to have a proper look around, you see that it’s quite busy today; an electric buzz in the air. It wasn’t unusual for things to be busy around here, the café is on a main street and has received many a dazzling review by a handful of food bloggers. A part of you sometimes wishes that this café stayed as popular as it was when you first started coming here, lowkey and underrated; but another part of you swells with pride knowing that you were here before it was cool, that you were here first. A bit of a silly thought you think. Before you can get too deep into your thoughts; you hear your name being called out. Making your way over to the counter, you grab your order but not before generously tipping your barista.

You were about to make your way over to the door and be on your way when you feel a tap on your shoulder. Turning around you’re met face to face with a girl, she looks slightly nervous.

“Yes?” you ask, hopefully giving her the courage to say what she seemed to want to ask.

“Um…you wouldn’t happen to know a Luke Miller, would you?” She asks, her eyes say she is second guessing every word as it was coming out of her mouth.

You smile, a little confused on her question, but decide to answer truthfully anyways. “Yes, I do? Why?”

Her eyes widen, relaxing a bit when hearing your answer, “That probably sounded so so creepy to hear from a stranger just now oh my god sorry! It’s just I heard your name, and like, you looked like someone my brother was telling me about, actually he’s been talking about non-stop – wait TMI for the moment….uhh,” She rambles, she steadies herself by breathing out “I’m Charlie, Luke’s sister.” Charlie extends her hand out to you.

Now it’s your turn to be surprised, a smile spreading out on your face as you take her hand. “Charlie! I’ve heard so much about you it’s nice to put a face to the name and stories”

“Good things I hope?” she giggles.

“About as good as a sibling can get when talking about their little sister” you chuckle.

“Oh my gosh I totally wasn’t thinking!! You were literally about to walk out when I interrupted you! Did you like, have some place to go? Did I keep you?” Charlie steps back a little, which admittedly is hard to do with the amount of people in the café today.

You’re quickly shaking your head in disagreement “Oh no you’re fine! Actually, today is a bit of a free day for me. I was just going to go and do some window shopping really,”

“If that’s the case, how about you join me and my boyfriend today? We were going to do the same thing! Great minds think alike”

You find it’s hard to not be absorbed into her enthusiasm. You agree to join them. Next thing you know, you’re being led by the hand to a table near the back corner of the café by Charlie. As you awkwardly stand at the table with Charlie beaming down at her partner, you’re struck with a feeling that you’ve seen this guy before but can’t quite place it. That train of thought gets interrupted by Charlie introducing you to him.

“Jono! This is that person Luke keeps talking about, can you believe it?? That we just happened to be here at the same time??” She beams at him as she brings the two of you to sit down. ‘Jono’ is staring at his phone, rapidly typing something.

“I’ve heard of YOU talking about how he goes on about them. I barely listen to a word that comes out of that guy’s mouth” He coldly says. Such a contrast to Charlie’s enthusiasm…

“Don’t mind him, he’s not good with new people. I promise he’s not mad at you, like, at all. He’s also a bit of a hater towards Luke.” She reaffirms, laughing about that last fact.

Jonothan looks up from his phone, putting it down on the table. “You know, if you have any dirt on him. I’m willing to pay”

“Jonothan!” Charlie scolds.

You’re a little taken aback, but realise he is mostly joking so you laugh and tell him you would ‘most definitely’ pass on all the gossip to him. Charlie is a little flustered that this is how your first interaction with her and him is going. The three of you enjoy your respective orders at the table before heading out of the café.

Charlie and you are getting along fantastically, from the way Luke was describing her she truly is a ‘girly girl’. She radiates femininity in concentrations you didn’t know were possible, if this were high school you would have been way too intimidated to even look her way. Glad that those days are in the past; you find her energy and conversation easy to enjoy and reciprocate.

“So, anything in particular you wanted to look at?”

You think a bit before shrugging “I was thinking of landing myself a new accessory today but I’m honestly not sure” speaking honestly

“Hmm, if that’s the case why don’t we check out some stores nearby and once we’re properly in the shopping mood we can find you the perfect accessory?” Charlie suggests thoughtfully. She truly is an experienced shopper if you’ve ever seen one. Jonothan seems to be absorbing in the sights of the manicured shop displays as you all walk through the shopping district.

The further you walk, the fancier the stores get. You feel a little uneasy about the growing price tags with every step you take, but don’t say anything. If it comes down to it you can just say nothing caught your eye. Charlie takes the three of you into various stores along the way, telling the two of you all about how ‘this piece is an offshoot of something that was in Paris fashion week this year’ and that ‘The stitching could have been better’ on this; clearly, she knows her stuff. Before you know it, you’re in the luxury brand side of the shopping district. You feel out of place, but Charlie and Jonothan guide you through these brands like it’s an average Tuesday.

As you walk through one particular store, one of their adverts catch your eye. It was promoting their summer perfume. The face staring back at you was about as familiar as three seconds ago.

“Haha hey Jono look! It’s you, BUT BIGGER. Ah man they totally edited out your freckles this time ‘round” You hear Charlie jab at Jonothan, your pale face must have been absolutely hilarious because you could hear Jonothan let out a quick laugh. Charlie smacks the back of his head.

“Be nice, not everyone rubs shoulders with high fashion models everyday like you do. Oh my gosh don’t be snooty” She reprimands.

It’s not that you’re in shock that your friends’ sister’s boyfriend is a famous model; but the fact that you didn’t recognise THE Jonothan Turner. The exact same model that Vanessa has been religiously following since you guys met in college. You have heard about basically every single online escapade this guy has had, which has stressed out his poor manager and social media team to no end. His latest shoots and promotional videos shoved in your face by her while you’re trying to get reports done at work.

You recompose yourself and shake your head “No it’s not that at all! I just can’t believe I met you and didn’t recognise you! My friend is a big fan, she’s shown me all of your shoots and despite all that I totally didn’t register that THAT was who I was talking to and hanging out with” You’re rambling.

“Ah, so that was it” Jonothan now had a slight smirk on his face “And I take it you’re…not a fan?”

“NO, it’s not that, just that this kind of stuff” you gesture to the various fancy displays and salespeople around the store “never really caught my eye, not my scene…”

Jonothan gently nods, and then goes off to continue wandering the store. I guess that’s that.

“Did your friend really show you every single shoot?” Charlie was back next to you in an instant, leaving Jonothan to do his own thing.

“Every single one since I’ve met her at least, I guess I’m up to date”

“How would she feel about seeing my own personal shoots with him”

“I think she would implode seeing stuff that hasn’t been released to the public,” you pause “But wouldn’t you feel weird showing them to her? I mean she’s a big fan…like ravenous almost”

Charlie giggles “Not really. A fan is a fan, at the end of the day that guy is still my boyfriend despite it all.”  You’re both sifting through some clothes “Besides, he’s a model. It’s his job to be looked at”

You guess you have to agree with that.

“Oooh let’s go in here! They have some amazing accessories!! Maybe we’ll find something for you” She enthuses. You not so much. The three of you were very much in the crazy expensive side of the shopping district now, so expensive that the pieces don’t have any price tags on them. But she wasn’t wrong, the pieces were amazing and so absolutely your style. Within the short amount of time you have been hanging out, Charlie has figured out your tastes with scary accuracy. As Jonothan is on the other side, trying out some new rings with one of the attendants; Charlie and you are taking a look at the necklaces and bracelets. Your eyes land on a stunning piece, something so your style it’s basically torture to look at knowing that it is most certainly out of your price range. You will yourself to look away, you can fantasise about it later while buying cheap jewellery online.

“See anything you like?” She asks, suddenly close to you. You jump a bit, so absorbed in that piece you didn’t notice her right next to you.

“Uhh, no, not really” You lie. “I don’t think today is my lucky day”

“Oh, that’s a shame”

Leaving the store, Charlie and Jonothan are walking out each with matching black paper shopping bags. You on the other hand are empty handed, save for those pair of sunglasses and shirt you bought earlier on in the day when the stores were a lot cheaper. Despite your lack of purchases, you were satisfied with the day, you well and truly did window shop. Charlie and Jonothan being professionals at such a thing. If you were to do it alone, you would have never dared to even step foot in the direction of the stores and boutiques you saw today. It really did refresh you to imagine styling and wearing all the clothes and accessories that piqued your interest. It helped that the energy Charlie and Jonothan brought to the table was easy enough to match. You still couldn’t believe you met THE Jonothan, Vanessa would be bouncing off the walls at this information.

“Thanks for today guys, it was really great meeting you”

“No way!! I should be thanking YOU” Charlie makes a move to give you a goodbye hug, Jonothan gives you an awkward wave “Honestly, sorry for coming up to you in the café like that. Not my smoothest introduction hahaha” She’s looking flustered, how cute.

“Yeah, it was alright meeting you” Jonothan adds.

“Oh!! Wait, like…I totally was going to ask when we were walking around the stores earlier. Can we exchange numbers?” She asks, fishing around her bag for her phone. You agree and add each other as contacts. “One more thing! Haha sorry I keep almost forgetting things. Let’s take a selfie to commemorate our meeting! What crazy chance we had today”

“As long as you promise to send it to me” you smile as you position yourself in the frame of the picture. Charlie quickly snaps various poses and angles. Once you’re done, you say goodbye to them and head in the opposite direction; waving them off for a little bit longer.

Your phone pings

’10 attachments’

‘Hope we get to hang out soon!’

You’re smiling down at your phone, something that seems to be happening more and more often these days.

‘Of course ;3 Thank you for today!!’ you reply back.

So much for a day just by yourself…this was better.

[jealousraisin]

Ch.4 - Texting & Little Treats

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

These past weeks Luke and you have been texting non-stop. You sending him pictures of your lunches and craft projects. Him sending you updates on the most mundane things like how he went to the grocery store today and got a candy bar. During your breaks, your co-workers can find you head down, smiling at your phone at some stupid text. Vanessa is always trying to read your texts between him and you.

‘I am FIENDING for a little treat right now, work has been so stressful lately 🙄’ You relay. It was true. You had to help manage an important project with another department and some of the people on your assigned team just were NOT pulling their weight.

‘What kind of treat?’

You sigh, leaning back into your chair. You’re staying late tonight to catch up on some reports that slipped through the cracks while you were gone from the office doing field research. Your mind thinking about the only thing that could satisfy these stress cravings; an iced coffee and a donut, it would keep you awake enough to smash out this report, get home and crash for the weekend.

‘I would kill for an iced coffee and a donut rn 😫. Sucks everywhere is closed right now waaaaa’

‘I’m just complaining, ignore me’ you quickly follow up

‘I’ll get you some if you want’

‘Dude, everything is closed rn. As if’

‘I have my ways….drop your location and give me 20 minutes’

You doubt he’s serious. But there’s no harm in humouring him you think.

‘*Address* 👈 Where I am currently suffering’

Read.

You turn back to your work, having been distracted for long enough. These spreadsheets aren’t going to graph themselves and this report won’t write itself either. Tapping away at your keyboard you almost forget about the exchange you had earlier until your phone buzzes again.

Luke is calling…

You pick up.

“Hello?”

“Come downstairs I don’t have a keycard to get in”

“Huh?”

“Come down, let me in. I’m in the lobby”

You get up from your chair and head to the elevator. The floor numbers steadily going down until they hit the ground floor. As the elevator door opens, you catch a glimpse of Luke, phone still up to his ear. He turns around, face lighting up as he makes eye contact with you.

“There you are” muffles out from your phone’s speaker.

In his hand is an iced coffee and a paper bag, which from your assumption is a donut. He makes his way over; you tap your I.D lanyard on the terminal allowing him to pass through the automatic gates. Luke raises the items to you, nudging you to take them. Your face is one of disbelief.

“No way! Thankyou?!” looking down at the items, you feel your energy coming back to you already. “Did you want to come up? I could use the company”

“Sure, I’ve been curious about where you work. You have been mentioning it a lot”

Luke follows you to the elevator. Pressing your floor’s button; the doors close and now it’s just you and your late-night saviour. A bit of awkwardness blooms in your chest, you haven’t physically seen the guy since the morning after the party and have only been communicating with him through texting. That call two minutes ago being the first time you have called each other.

“so…” you awkwardly start “you gonna tell me where you got this so late?”

“Nope.”

You stare down at the iced coffee once again, still not believing this is the turn of events for the night.

“A magician never reveals his secrets” He jokes.

The elevator door opens, revealing the dark office floor where you have been holed up in the entire evening. The lamp on your desk the only real source of light aside from the lights in the hallway which are always on. You make your way over to your desk, Luke trailing close behind. Setting down your precious little treats, you wake your computer up from sleep. You get to work, starting to take a sip of the iced coffee

“Nothing for you?” You ask, noticing aside from your late-night snack, he didn’t bring anything else along.

Luke shakes his head. “Just wanted to help you out”

“Oh come on now, I can’t be the only one enjoying a little something right now” You offer up your drink “have some of mine, we can split it”

He wordlessly accepts, a little hesitant at first. He got this just for you. Taking a sip, he leans back in your coworkers’ swivel chair. You both quietly split the treats as you go back to working on your reports and spreadsheets, now with renewed energy you hammer away at the remaining tasks.

Finishing up a lot faster with a full stomach and company, you smile as you send off that last report and log off for the day. Stretching in your chair you revel at being able to finally start off your weekend. Save for a couple of questions here and there Luke kept relatively quiet throughout.

“I’m done! Hello weekend!” You quietly cheer “and I couldn’t have done it this quickly without your help”

“Glad to be of service” he jokingly salutes.

“Hey um…if you’re not doing anything after this…” you hesitate a little “did you want to come over to my place?”

“Bringing me back to yours already? At least take me to dinner first” He teases

“Does half of an iced coffee and a donut count as dinner?” You joke back as you walk to the elevator for the final time this week.

“You got me there, alright let’s go” He follows you

Once again on the ground floor you head outside, about to walk to the bus stop when Luke gets your attention; of course, how could you forget? He drove here.

“Unless you’re planning on meeting me at your own place, I would suggest I drive us both there”

You flush red a little, autopilot is one heck of a thing. Getting in the familiar car you find that you don’t have to put your address in again; he has it saved. Pulling out from the curb, Luke makes quick work of the commute back home. In the blink of a tired eye, you’re already parked and heading towards the doors of your apartment complex.

“Welcome to my humble abode” You jest in a regal tone as you open your door. You mentally high-five yourself for tidying up this morning so that he doesn’t have to see your laundry and miscellaneous scattered objects everywhere.

“Nice place” He looks around, taking off his shoes near the door “Roommates?”

 “Nope, just me” You think back to when you had roommates back in college “I’d rather not chance a repeat of my previous roommate experiences”

Luke nods as he takes in your apartment properly. It wasn’t a big place by any means, but it was more than enough for you and everything you wanted to do in your space. A 2-bedroom place, with a decent view out onto the city below.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Sure, I’ll take whatever you’re having”

‘Just like last time’ you think.

Bringing him the same drink you’re having to kick off the weekend, you both settle in on your couch. Taking your first sip you can’t help but sigh, it’s been a week. You can’t wait to sleep in and then go out and have some ‘me time’. You turn on the TV, opening a streaming app.

“We didn’t get to finish the last hangover movie; I feel like we have to commit to the bit after seeing the first two”

Luke turns to you; a smile is on his lips as he takes a sip of his drink. “Aww you remembered”

“I may have been vaguely drunk and exhausted at that point in the night but I do remember seeing those movies with you. Though I will admit, number three is fuzzy around the edges”

“Let’s watch it then” he nods.

The movie begins.

Throughout the movie you both end up finding various snacks and go through a few more drinks. By the end of it you’re feeling the effects of the drinks you’ve had. You get up to clear the plates, you stumble a little; tripping over your own feet. Your hands try to steady you by grabbing onto any surface it can find. Half-landing onto Luke, half-landing on the couch; You embarrassedly scramble to get off him.

“Woah there” he gently laughs as he helps you back up “I think we hit our limit of drinks for the night, here let me help you with the plates” You gratefully accept the offer. The two of you do the dishes in quiet synchronicity, him washing up and you drying and putting away. As you are finishing up finding all the proper places for your dishes, Luke takes a seat on the stools of your kitchen bench. He watches you as you go back and forth in your kitchen space. He makes conversation.

“So, no roommates…but surely your partner comes over and stays the night, right?”

You laugh a little, with your back to him as you put away some plates “No partner to come over and stay the night. Although my friend Vanessa, the one who left me to fend for myself at the party, does come and stay here with me often enough”

You miss the small smile that graces Luke’s face. As you turn back around, he quickly returns to a neutral expression. You finished tidying up and the two of you are feeling tired.

“I’d really rather you not drive after having drinks, I have a bed in the other room you can use” You offer.

He takes you up on your offer, but wants to take a shower before bed. You show him where your bathroom is and let him get to it.

As Luke is stepping out of the bathroom you realise you should give him something slightly more comfortable to wear to sleep, you remember that his red hoodie is still in your possession. You’re slightly embarrassed that you have been using it for so long without mentioning to him that you still have it. You go into your room to go and get it, the garment laying on your bed as you left it this morning.

“Here, I forgot to give this back to you that morning you dropped me back home.” You look off to the side as you offer it up to him.

“Oh! Thanks, I was starting to miss my beloved comfort hoodie” He sleepily smiles “It’s fine that it’s been with you though”

You nod in flustered agreement. Leading the way to the spare bedroom, you show him where he can charge his phone and let him know to feel free to have whatever is in the fridge and do as he does at his place.

“Mi casa es tu casa” You exclaim as you bid him goodnight.

“goodnight” He replies as he watches you go into your room right in front of his. Once you close the door he does as well. His eyes look down onto the hoodie he was holding in his hand, as he puts it on an unfamiliar smell hits him, your soap and shampoo. You’ve been wearing this more than just that morning he dropped you off home.

[jealousraisin]

“you can’t keep running off like this”

“who said you had to follow?”

“it’s my job to follow”

“i didn’t hire you”

“you didn’t have to”

Charlie tips her head back, a small laugh escapes her. She starts to idly run her fingers through the small patch of clovers, eyes scanning for any sign of luck she can pluck from the ground.

Jonathan scans their surroundings, relaxing just slightly once certain they are not under watch of anyone or anything. This isn’t the first nor last time he would have to follow Charlie’s little escapes throughout the castle and kingdom.

When they were younger, just reaching their teen years, Charlie (much to her dismay) was to be attending a small gathering in the courtyard. Her Majesty and a small number of her closer friends were having a high tea, an excellent opportunity for a young Charlie to put her etiquette lessons to practise. Jonathan was stationed nearby, monitoring the area for any threats as he was taught to do. First mistake. This was yet to be known to him, but Charlie was not, even for a second, intending on staying at this gathering for long. And a new annoying habit was about to begin, a habit which he could never voice annoyed him, lest he wanted his head to roll.

Finishing his assessment of their surroundings and deeming it safe, he took a glance to Charlie. Who was not there anymore. Oh. OH.

A sharp spear of internal panic ran through his spine, his face nor demeanour showing the thrashing flow of thoughts going through his head at that moment.

Focus.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement. Got you.

He casually and calmly moved towards the direction he saw her go off to. Her Majesty much too absorbed in entertaining her company to notice. Rounding the corner, he spots her heading into the hedge maze.

Great.

Making her way through the various turns and dead ends, she finds herself in a corner of the meticulously trimmed hedges that people often miss, with a bench and one of her many notebooks stashed away in a box hidden in the bush. Smiling lightly, she pulls out her notebook and pencil and is about to begin exploring her ideas for honing her artificer items.

“Princess, I strongly suggest returning to the gathering, lest your mother become upset at your absence”

Charlie practically jumped out of her skin. Unfortunately it seems she wrongly assumed this would be the best way to skirt the ever watchful eye of her knight and the incessant silent nagging from her mother to ‘use her etiquette knowledge’. A short huff of annoyance left her.

“Come on, you and I both know that you would rather be doing anything BUT standing there while my mother and her friends chat away about whatever is going on throughout the kingdom.” She looked at him head on, His expression not shifting from the look he always has; slightly scowling, brows and eyes set in a way that feels more and more threatening the longer you look, like he’s ready to bite at any second.

“I would much rather prefer if you would please return to the gathering Miss”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then i have no choice but to take you back by force, I can assure you, your highness, that it will not be difficult for me to do so, but it most definitely will be embarrassing for you”

Charlie’s mind envisioned her being carried by him all the way through the maze and back to the tea party, her cheeks flushed a deep red, her eyebrows furrowing.

“Fine,” She huffed “but i’m not happy about this, i’ll tell mother about this” Turning on her heel she started to head back towards the courtyard.

“Glad to hear you have had a change of heart, i am sure your mother would be delighted to hear that you would much rather not be in attendance of her gatherings.”

Charlie could have sworn she heard a smile through his words, but when she turned around to glare at him, that same stone like expression was still on his stupid stupid face.

“Well done on handling Charlie’s little escape today” An off handed remark from Her Majesty was said as Jonathan was retiring for the night. “Oh come on now don’t look so surprised, she is my daughter after all. She has been doing her best to slip by me from the moment she could crawl, today was the day i pass that responsibility of keeping her where she needs to be from me to you.” Jonathan blinked at her.

“Thank-you your Majesty, i apologise for any inconvenience I may have caused today” He bowed, The queen gently nods her head in return and continues down the hall.

“I remember the first time i tried sneaking off like it was yesterday, you have to admit i’ve gotten better at it” Charlie laughed softly

“i truly wish you wouldn’t” Jonathan replies, joining in on the search. Instantly his eyes land on one, a four leaf clover. He reaches towards it at the exact same time as Charlie does. He instantly retracts his hand at the sudden contact, clearing his throat.

“Sharp eyes Jono, here.” She picks the clover and places it behind his ear. “maybe with this your wish will come true, i doubt it though. I don’t plan on stopping this any time soon”

A gentle exasperated laugh escapes him. “Thank you” he relishes in the casual way they can interact with each other during these little escapes, over the years finding each others company more and more comfortable. “But i do believe it is time to head back your highness”

“aww come on, they definitely haven’t noticed us missing just yet”

“exactly, i would like to keep it that way, come on let’s go” he smiled while offering his hand to help her back up, Charlie gently taking the offer, brushing off her dress of any grass and clovers tangled in the lace.

They return, and it’s like they never even left the hall. Back is the unreadable mask Jonathan wears, and Charlie’s masterful manners and etiquette are on full display again to the company the Castle keeps. But a sharp eye would notice the extra little accessory a knight is wearing.