LET ME LOVE YOU 【SHARKY】
【Summary】 ; Finding yourself dragged in to join a video with the beta squad, you meet Sharky. You've promised before that you wouldn't fall for anyone anymore after all you've been through. But now that he's popped up in your life, maybe you're slowly breaking your promise.
【Warnings】 ; slow build, reader has a description of a past abusive (more toxic than abusive) relationship and insecurity, mentions of trauma from it, slow brains to comprehend feelings, words: "damn", "bastard", "Shit" are used, Sharky being a jokeman.
【Pairing】 ; Sharky x f!Reader
【Word Count】; hehe 15k !!
【A/N】 ;Hope you all enjoy this, and it did take a while, so please let me know what you all think about it ! @vctrvn-ls thank u so much for scenario ideas and motivation when I felt like my brain was fried, and @allygatcr for hyping me up for this fic 🫶🫶 and all my mutuals who have long awaited this fic I love u all !
Masterlist
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The cold, cool air of the summer breeze hit your face as you stared out the window of the moving car.
Chin leaning on your hand as you watched houses and landscapes moved past your eyes in a speedy manner.
You didn't know what to expect in this upcoming event you were attending, well not a big event but a video that was shooting.
It was your first collaboration with other youtubers as you yourself was an upcoming one. Well you were more a guest than a collaboration but that's what you liked to call it.
Being nervous was an understatement, you didn't know what to expect but all you could do was hope for the best. Knowing the Internet could do anything after the video was posted was what made you more nervous, you hope things go your way and all but is that really realistic?
"You better not be over there being worried about the whole thing Y/N." A voice spoke beside you, one who was driving the car you were in.
Turning to roll your eyes at him, Aj just shook his head, hand still on the steering wheel as he continued speaking, since you didn't say anything.
"Cmon, I told you it's all good. These guys are my trusted friends and good collabs too. It'll help you a lot. And maybe get over your fear of…" He trailed off, glancing to your side as he faked a cough to quickly recover from what he was originally going to say, "You know what I mean. I'm telling you right now it's all good."
"It better be." You mumbled, still staring out the window of the car trying to calm your nerves down. Sure, Aj tried giving you a pep talk, but right now, it wasn't really working. Still, you appreciated what he did for you.
Aj was one of your family friends, you both have known each other since you were really young and both grew up together. He was the older brother that you never had. Throughout your childhood, you would be able to count on his triangle head.
Even though you'd both insult and tease each other, you still cared and were thankful.
And being the good friend Aj was, he saw how you were trying to become a bigger youtuber. But he knew you were afraid to expand and get to know more people than your small circle of ones you already knew.
So, he told you about the beta squad and how he and his friends created this group, where they make videos together and live in the same house. They do collabs with others too to make their videos more fun and interesting when there's guests.
He invited you, despite you saying you were fine by yourself, he insisted that it would be fun. And now here you are, on your way to the beta squad house to film a video with some people you don't know.
Except the short triangle head.
"If things don't go great, I'm heading straight back to this car, Aj." Sitting up straight and turning your head to him as you spoke.
You could tell he was contemplating whether or not to say some insult or snappy remark back, but in the end, he just nodded and said alright.
The driving came to a slow as the car approached the driveway of the house. The house itself was actually impressive. You thought maybe it would not be the best-looking house you'd seen with Aj living in it, but clearly, you're wrong.
I mean, what did you expect? They live in a mansion for crying out loud. You thought to yourself, as if hearing you, Aj laughed and commented on that thought.
"Yep, this place cost a sh' ton of money, but it's worth it." He spoke as he parked the car and turned off the engine. Looking for his keys to open the front door.
You laughed, finding the key on the front window of the car and handing it to him "Okayy mind reader shabeel. Thanks for the info."
He rolled his eyes in response and exited the car, causing a laugh to escape you again. Taking your phone out of your pocket, you looked at the time as it read, 4:30pm. The video was scheduled to start preparing to shoot at 5:00pm.
You got out of the car and shut the door, following Aj to the front of the house as he unlocked the door with some passcode at which he told you to "look away I don't want you breaking into this house"
And then proceeding to use the key to unlock the front door.
Stepping inside the house, it was cooler than outside, probably because of the air conditioning, and the mansion was huge, bigger inside than what it looked like outside.
Cold marble flooring that matched the white of the walls. Taking a look around the house, you noticed posters of all the beta squad, sitting on their thrones and wearing royal king crowns, following with their names beneath the poster.
You admit this place is starting to look really cool, and the fact that all of them are still quite young and can afford a house like this amazes you. Perhaps one day you'd be able to do the same.
Sniffing, you smelt a savoury aroma enter the room, you guessed, coming from the kitchen as you imagined the delicious food being cooked.
But your attention to food was taken away when you heard a ringtone coming from Aj's phone.
Glancing at it, he started to speak, "I gotta take this sorry, you can go ahead and sit on the couch or take a look around. Sharky might be at home right now, too."
Before you could question further where the sitting room was, he already was on the call, speaking to someone and walking out the door outside to the carpark.
You sighed, putting a hand on your hips, guess you had to explore now.
Thankfully, you found the giant couch without too much effort. As there was a glass door in front of you, beside the posters you were looking at earlier.
Speed walking up to the couch and plopping onto it, you felt the comfort of it instantly sink in, you felt like you were in your own bed that's how comfortable it was.
You pulled your airpods out of your pocket and connected it to your phone as you put them into your ears to listen to some music to pass the time a bit.
Going into Spotify to find your most trusted thing, your music playlists.
Pressing shuffle, you were glad one of your favourite songs popped up, "Thinkin' bout you." By Frank Ocean.
You listened to a lot of music artists and you never really had a favourite, but whenever you did listen to Frank Ocean it's just something about the lyrics that always touched you. Either they were too real or too sad and it made the songs more enjoyable. Or they were also just a good beat to be honest.
Humming along to the song, you foot tapped to the beat, following along with your head in sync. As you scrolled through your phone to find something to do, quietly singing the song that played through your airpods.
Cause I been thinking 'bout forever, ooh
Most of the time, you could almost dance to the music when you were alone but here, you were content with just tapping your foot along with the beat.
No, I don't like you, I just thought you were cool enough to kick it
You started humming along to the words, enjoying the beat of the music.
Got a beach house I could sell you in Idaho, since you think
Now the music had taken over and you were singing along to the music, not singing too loud but enough to not classify it as a whisper.
I don't love you I just thought you were cute, that's why I kissed you
Got a fighter jet, I don't get to fly it though I'm lying down
Too lost in the music, you failed to hear the footsteps approaching beside you. You jumped slightly as a hand tapped your shoulder, causing you to remove one of your airpods and look up to see who it was.
"Hey, sorry for startling you. I just wanted to come over and say hi, You're Y/N, right? The guest today?"
You were greeted by dark chocolate eyes that were connected with a smile. A pretty face, you'll be honest. And he was tall. Damn, he was tall. Like 6 foot something, definitely. He had a good sense of style, wearing a grey backwards hat and matching hoodie and joggers that had a logo, Primo on it.
Still hooked on the fact that this beautiful man was standing in front of you. Were you daydreaming again?
Maybe you were observing him for too long, as he waved a hand in front of your face with a small chuckle.
"Oh! sorry, yes, I'm Y/N, I didn't mean to stare.." You internally punched yourself in the brain. He didn't have to know you were staring. Why did you say that out loud? You frickin idiot. You still haven't even turned off your music yet.
You paused the music on your phone and it caused an excited gasp to escape from the man in front of you, confused you looked back up at him to see him smiling with excitement as he was looking at your phone.
"Oh my days, you listen to Frank Ocean? Do you like his music?" He came over to sit beside you, still excited like a little kid who just made a friend for the first time.
You gave a slight giggle as you nodded, "I don't just like his music, I love his music. It's just something about the way his songs are always so real."
"Yeah, it's so relatable, and the way his lyrics are raw, it just makes it more enjoyable, you know?" He added, nodding while he talked and listening to you intently.
"I know, right? Honestly, one of the best music artists I know." You agreed, a small smile dusting your face as you talk about the one thing you enjoy, music.
He chuckled, "The greatest of all time," he stopped for a bit before asking, "What's your favourite song of his?"
"Ohh, it's hard to say because I love them all." You looked away to ponder for a minute, trying to differentiate which of his songs you would classify as a 'favourite.' No one really asked that before, too, so you never really had to think about it. "Honestly, I can't choose."
"Cmon, you have to have one that you could listen to forever."
You thought for a bit, "Hm, but if I had to have one, I'd say this song I'm listening to right now, Thinkin Bout You."
"Ohh, that song is so good, I'd say mine is Pink and White, only because I've been listening to it a lot." He admitted, one hand in the air as he said that last statement with a grin.
It's been a while since you've been able to connect and talk to someone about interesting topics you enjoy. You felt so welcomed, and something about him just warmed your heart, always managing to put a smile on your face every next sentence he spoke.
You could tell he was an open person, someone you could trust. This feeling you get of trust and instant friendship is rare and hard to find, and when you do find it, you've heard that you shouldn't lose it. It's a once in a lifetime chance.
Suddenly, he face palmed and mumbled an 'I'm so dumb,' "Sorry I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Sharky." He held a hand out to you to shake. You took it automatically and with a smile.
"Y/N L/N." Wait, you didn't even register what his name was for a second, and then it just clicked. "Sharky? Like a shark? Is that a nickname?"
"Aha, yeah, that's what I'm nicknamed as my actual name is Sharmarke. It's just that's what I'm better known as." He scratched the back of his neck while looking to the side, a small pink dusting his cheeks.
You were about to ask more on that before you heard more voices enter the room. Both of you turned your heads to see what you assumed was the beta squad, and some camera crew entered.
Sharky turned to you and smiled, "We can talk after, I think we're about to start. These are the rest of the beta squad." He said, standing up and pointing to the four guys. You followed his line of sight and saw them waving at the both of you.
Getting up and coming over to greet them all, you introduced yourself to the three and got their names as Niko, Kenny, and Chunkz. You were about to comment on the last one's name before he put up a hand and pointed to all of himself as his explanation to which he gave a laugh.
The camera crew set up everyone, placing mics on them and doing sound checks on everyone. Putting cameras in two rooms, one for the main video and the other for another part of the video, the part where an individual talks to the camera themselves.
Now you saw that everyone had put on their silly costumes and understood why Aj had asked you previously to bring something too.
You had brought a red riding outfit since it was the only costume-like thing that you had owned. You changed into that, and you went to check out everyone's costumes, or if you didn't know what it was, you asked them.
Kenny was dressed as bigfoot, Chunkz as "Prince of Saudi Arabia", Niko as Sharky, well more specifically a Shark biting him, Sharky as a black viking and Aj a sheep. Quite accurate, you thought with a small giggle.
The lighting in each room took a while to set up as it had to change throughout the video. Green and red lights were the two colours. While getting mic'd up, Niko explained to you the video they were shooting.
A game called Mafia.
"So basically, there's 6 players, 6 cards, 2 for the mafia, 4 for the civilians. The cards are picked at random by all players. The mafia share their identity with each other, while the others close their eyes and are left in the dark. All players open their eyes, and the game is on." Niko spoke as they finished up the sound and led you all to the mafia game room upstairs. He continued to explain the game to you while also showing you a clip of the previous videos on how to play.
"The civilian's job is to find the mafias and get them out. They need to work together in catching these two and not letting them take over. The only problem is they don't know what card everyone else has. The mafia's job is to make all the civilians turn on each other and eventually vote each other out, making them the only remaining players."
"And at the end of every round, one person will be voted out and punished by being dunked into a tank of freezing water, the victim will then reveal their card showing the rest of the players whether they made the right choice or not." Aj laughed as he told you that this was his favourite part of the game. He just hoped he wasn't the one being dunked in the tank.
Everyone sat down in their respective places on the couch. You sat down next to Aj, obviously because he was the closest to you, following Chunkz beside Aj, Niko, and Kenny beside him. Leaving one space beside you, Sharky took that place with a smile on him.
"So the game ends when either both mafias are caught or all civilians are outnumbered and voted out, right?" You asked no one in particular, but they all nodded and that you now understood how the game was played.
You'll admit it does sound fun. You've never heard of this game before, but if it's as fun as it sounds, it probably would end up being one of your favourite games. And as Aj told you before your chance to get over your fear. You don't like being reminded about it, but just for a while, you didn't have to remember.
Looking around the grey but well lit room, you noticed an LED light sign that read "Mafia" in blue, and playing cards that had each beta squad member on it as a king or joker etc.
The camera director told you all it was starting in 1 minute, causing the chatter to cease as quickly so that they could start filming. You glanced to your side as Aj nudged you, giving you a thumbs up and mouthing an "you'll do great," to which you whispered a thanks.
Seeing this interaction, Sharky leaned in towards you but respecting your space and also whispered, "Don't worry, Y/N, it'll be fun." He smiled at you when he saw that the nerves in your face calmed down a little after both of the reassurance you've gotten.
"Camera rolling!" The cameraman shouted.
Aj was the first to speak, "Welcome to another game of Mafia! Please welcome our new guest, drum roll, please!" Everyone was hitting the table to sound a drum roll as they then all pointed at you, "Y/N L/N!" You waved at the camera and thanked everyone.
"Now that we've introduced her, it's time to pick the cards." Sharky glanced at you for a split second when he spoke, before reaching to grab the cards, everyone following suit to do the same.
If the cameras didn't pick it up, then you surely did when you both made eye contact with each other after looking at your card, which was the mafia card. The King. Why did you look at Sharky first after looking at your own card? You really don't know the reason for it. But you couldn't ponder any longer as you had to win this game.
Chunkz did the honour of telling everyone to put down their cards and close their eyes.
"Mafias! Open your eyes." Chunkz said cheekily while dragging out the 'eyes.'
Slowly, you opened your eyes and looked around, trying not to make any noise when you turned as you were still wearing your hood over your head.
Looking towards your right, not Aj, not any of the other boys so that must mean, as you turned your head to the left, you met eyes with Sharky, who smiled instantly and slowly nodded his head while you gave him a smile back.
"Mafias, close your eyes." Chunkz shouted, which caused the both of you to turn your heads back and shut your eyes. "Everyone, open your eyes."
When you opened your eyes, for some reason, you just couldn't hold in your smile. You were excited, genuinely. This already seems fun.
Aj must have caught on to this because he instantly went to attack you on that. "Nah, why you smiling Y/N, are you Mafia?"
"What? Can I not smile?" Damn it, where you about to get caught already? The game just started ain't no way you're letting them think you're mafia.
"Smiling is a bit suspicious, you know? I'm getting mafia vibes from Y/N." Aj turned around to the rest of the guys and pointed at you, who faked being shocked and hurt.
"Wow Aje, you know, you thinking I'm mafia without any other grounds other than me smiling is suspicious in itself. I'm thinking you're targeting me because you're mafia." You stated as a matter of fact, to which the others nodded.
"That does sound like Aj when he's mafia." Kenny said, rubbing his chin while looking at Aj with distrust.
"Yo HOW blud. She's trying to trick you all against me." Aj shouted as he threw both of his arms in the air to prove his point.
"Yeah, I think we should just vote Aj out. Personally, I don't like mafia infested rats." Niko laughed as he looked at the camera saying those last words.
"So all in favour of voting out, Aj?" Sharky spoke now, looking around the room as he raised his hand to see who would follow, and everyone did but Aj, causing the shorter man to stand up and leave, mumbling an "I hate you guys" making the rest of you laugh.
All of you were led outside and were about to watch Aj be dunked into a tank of freezing water. You laugh as you remember Aj saying earlier that the forfeits were his favourite part of the video, oh how the tables have turned for him.
Niko was the one to throw at the dart target board for Aj, he missed the first few times but when he finally made it, seeing Aj's face as he dropped in the water was one that made everyone burst into laughter and excitement.
As he got out of the tank, the boys shouted "Show your card" And when he did, it showed a 5 of spades. Everyone just groaned in disappointment.
"YOU LOT WASTED YOUR TIME, MAFIAS STILL OUT THERE." Aj yelled as he ran back into the house to change out of his now freezing cold clothes.
Obviously everyone knew Aj wasn't the mafia but if he was that would've been great, 1 out. But realistically they just wanted the rat gone. Kenny pointing a suspicious finger at you after Aj showed his card to everyone.
You glanced at Sharky, sending him a quick, worried look as you saw Kenny tell Niko his suspicions. And you both knew what you had to do in the next round.
As everyone sat down, Chunkz was the first to speak, "Now automatically I'm smelling Niko vibes." He giggled afterwards as a shocked and confused look went on Nikos face.
"What? I've not done anything? You can't always target me because you don't like me."
"Okay so Niko, who do you think is the mafia?" Sharky asked, because he knew that once Niko thought that one of you was the mafia, he would stop at no costs to prove his point and he might even end up winning the game.
"Well, earlier, Kenny told me that it could be Y/N. But I mean, you haven't really done anything that would be mafia suspicious in my eyes. But Chunkz keeps targeting me, so now he's my suspect."
You sighed quietly, hoping no one heard that. At least Niko didn't think you or Sharky were mafia.
"Yeah, actually," you started to speak, turning to Chunkz, "Why are you thinking Niko's mafia?"
"Nah, it's because every Mafia, I go for Niko, I just try to show from early that he's not my friend. There's like no coalition."
They all went back and forth with the banter and hurling suspicions left and right and each other, but surprisingly, no one thought you or Sharky were mafia. The only suspects were Niko, Kenny, or Chunkz.
Sure, they suspected you both a few times, but really, they didn't think much of it, as everyone was already pinning it against themselves they didn't have time to suspect you both fully.
Until the last round, Chunkz had been voted off and seeing as his card wasn't a king card the suspicions now turned to you again. Kenny was the first to pounce again on the argument.
"Listen, Niko, I'm thinking Y/N is mafia. One hundred percent, no doubt. But I think Sharky might be the other mafia. I'm not too sure about that."
"Niko, don't listen to him, I promise you, I am not Mafia." You looked at Niko and put on your best innocent face.
"I don't know, to be honest, I'm baffed." Niko threw his hands in the air in confusion and placed a hand over his mouth to think. "Then again, big foot here isn't really giving me much evidence to question on."
"Yeah, but it's not about evidence!" Kenny shouted, and it caused the rest of you to laugh at how serious he's being, even if he was telling the truth, you were a mafia. "Oh my days, Niko, can't you see? They literally are both mafia!"
"Niko man, vote out, Kenny, because clearly he is mafia by trying to lure you in and win. There is one other mafia. I think it's Y/N if not you. At least get one of them out." You turned your head as Sharky spoke those words. You thought he was supposed to work together with you?
But then he sent a sly wink and smile towards your way, if you blinked you would've missed it and then it hit you, if Niko voted our Kenny here, you and Sharky would've won, both the mafias would be left standing winners.
And so when it came to the vote, it started with Kenny voting for you, then it was up to Niko, who looked back and forth between you and Kenny, you pleaded one last time with him.
"Look Niko, if I was mafia I would've been out by now, this is my first time playing. If you think it's me, vote for me by all means but if you just use your brain you could clearly see Kenny is mafia."
And with that, Niko agreed and voted Kenny, leaving you and Sharky to vote for him as well. Instantly after the votes were complete, Kenny stood up and left yelling at the camera as he didn't want to get dunked in water.
But as soon as he did, and when he showed his card making him a civilian, you and Sharky both shouted and jumped with joy, while Niko just stood there mouth agape as he slowly went to cover his mouth still being shocked and the rest of the boys yelled at Niko for being an idiot.
While you and Sharky celebrated, he went up to wrap his arms around you while yelling "We did it!!"
And you laughed along, hugging him back. When you did, it instantly felt comfortable, being in his arms felt safe. You didn't know what it was, why did it make you feel all fuzzy?
It reminded you of your mother's hugs when you were a kid, and you won something, the genuine happiness and excitement you found in that hug reflected Sharky's hug. It felt familiar and you wouldn't admit it if anyone asked you but you could stay in that hug forever.
Maybe you lingered in that hug for a second too long as the others started teasing Sharky, saying ooo, and Chunkz started singing, causing him to let go of you as quick.
After they calmed down a bit, they filmed the outro, and thanked you as their guest, and they allowed you to do the honors of saying, "play the trailer."
After they finished the filming, you grabbed your belongings, and headed towards the bathroom to change out of your red riding outfit.
Just as you were about to enter, you heard your name being called, you turned your head to see Sharky running up to you with a wave.
When he finally reached you, you gave him a small smile to which he returned it and then rubbed the back of his neck while looking away.
"Hey, I just wanted to ask if you'd like to hang out sometime?" Sharky asked, a small cough erupting out of him at the end of his sentence. As he gazed back at you with those same soft brown eyes.
You were about to say sure, but then you hesitate. Why did he want to hang out with you? Did he mean romantically or platonically? And if you were about to fall in love again, you didn't know how you would feel about it. The last relationship you had, let's say … didn't end nicely.
But you were thinking too far ahead, for now you could make friends. And you always stick to the same branch of people that you hang out with, and these guys all seem really nice, and Sharky did have the same interest as you in music so why not?
"Sure, I'd, uh, I'd like that." You hated that against your own will. Your cheeks started to burn a little. You just hoped it wasn't noticeable to him.
"Yes!" He did a mini punch in the air but then realised what he did and scratched his head and cleared his throat, "I mean, that's great. Could I get your number? If you're okay with that, that is?"
Nodding, he quickly took out his phone and handed it to you, and you typed in your number, putting your contact name in too. He waited patiently as you did and when you handed it back to him, he called the number and the phone in your pocket buzzed.
He smiled and thanked you, "Hey, you know we make a good team. You actually did really well for your first mafia game."
"We do," You laughed, "you guys should invite me more on your mafia videos."
Sharky was about to say something when Aj yelled, "Hey lovebirds! I gotta drop Y/N back off so be quick and finish your conversation!"
Your eyes widened, Lovebirds?? Oh hell no, Aj's not getting away with that, you mumbled under your breath. Glancing up at Sharky to see his reaction he had the same reaction as you, but he just rolled his eyes and smiled at you saying that he'll leave you to it and pointed at the clothes you were holding. He waved as left to head towards the group.
Going into the bathroom and shutting the door, you looked at the mirror. Damn it, you were blushing. Shaking your head, this was gonna be a long car ride.
When you were done changing, you walked towards the door, where Aj was standing, waiting for you on his phone, when he looked up at you he rolled his eyes and said finally.
"Alright, I'm gonna drop Y/N off. See you guys later!" He yelled into the house, causing the boys to yell out a bye to you, and Niko popped around the corner to shake your hand and say bye to you.
"By the way, Y/N, all that banter that we said earlier, that was just for the video, so don't mind it." Niko admitted, waving a hand off towards Aj, who just laughed as he agreed with him, and then you both left to head to the car.
"So, what was that all about, ay?" Aj teased, as he had a smug grin on his face. As he glanced over at you, who was there looking straight ahead on the road, trying to avoid this conversation.
"I don't know what you're talking about." You shrugged, crossing your arms over your chest.
"Y/N, cmon, don't think I didn't see that idiot Sharks flirt with you."
"Flirt? I don't think he was flirting, he was just being friendly. We just met after all."
"Nah, he definitely was. Knowing Sharks, he just sucks at flirting. Actually," he started as he turned into the street you lived in. "Yeah, maybe he might just be friendly. But I'll be honest, it looked like flirting to me, Y/N. So just be careful. Don't want him breaking your heart or vice versa aight?"
You scoffed. Aj was definitely overreacting with this. But it did make you think, was he really flirting with you? Or was he just being overly friendly. You hoped it was the latter, though. You don't think you could handle a relationship right now.
࿙ ࿚ ࿙ ࿚ ࿙ ࿚
He watched as the car drove away, and when he turned around, he was frightened to see Chunkz looking at him with a sly smirk on his face. He just rolled his eyes as he made his way towards the couch, Chunkz following him as he continued to pester the other Somali.
"Oh my days, I know I made it so awkward. You know how awkward that was? I'm not good with girls at all." Sharky covered his face with hands as he slouched down onto the couch and sighed.
"You seemed fine when you hugged her." Chunkz did his famous laugh, as he went to sit beside Sharky.
"Stop, man, that was just -" Sharky cut himself off. What was that hug actually? Shaking his head, he cleared his throat as he pulled out his phone to ignore looking at Chunkz. "A winning hug. Like I hug all of you when we win a game."
"A winning hug? Sharky, you're a joke man. I know you fell in love instantly, bruva." He elbowed his friend as he laughed in his face. Causing the fellow Somali to pull over his hood to cover his face, which started to warm up.
Fell in love instantly? Sharky's not like that. Or was he? He didn't know at this point, just the very thought of you got his face heating up and the flutter of wings in his stomach grew out of nowhere. You've got him second-guessing himself. Usually, he's a confident guy, but now.
Now, he's definitely not.
Sharky was in the kitchen when he first saw you, he was making something to eat while waiting for the guys to arrive back at the house, but that's when he saw you walk toward the couch and sit there like you owned the place.
He was about to ask who you were, but then he remembered there was a guest for today's video. Normally, he would just call out loud and make his presence known, but he was caught off guard by your singing or, well, whispering the words to a song.
A song to which he also listened to.
He started to smile after hearing the words to the song you were singing. He leaned back against the counter to listen, but he then decided it would be a bit weird if he just stood there listening to you without you knowing, and that's how he decided to confront you.
As he moved closer to you, he realised how pretty you were. Like genuinely pretty, stunning even. The way your face smiled in that look of content as you listened to the music and-
Oh no. Maybe Chunkz was right.
You head down the stairs to make your breakfast. It was about a week since you met the beta squad. And you were currently at home. You just finished getting ready to go on your morning run.
Usually, you don't go on runs in the morning as you'd sleep in, but for some reason, you had the urge to just get up and exercise.
As you were making your breakfast, a classic bowl of cereal and toast, your phone buzzed on the table. Turning your head, you stopped making the cereal and opened your phone, and checked the notifications.
A big smile cracked on your face against your will as you read the text from Sharky.
Message sent at 8:16 am
Sharky 🦈
Good morning 👋🏻
I was thinking, do you wanna … maybe hang out today?
IF YOU'RE NOT BUSY THAT IS😅
You 💟
Morning Sharky !
Nah I'm not busy, where do you wanna go?
Sharky 🦈
Hmm, wherever you want! I don't mind honestly 😁
You 💟
Ok, how about let's meet up in the park since I'm gonna go on a run there anyway and we'll see where it goes from there 😂
I'll see you at 9
Sharky 🦈
👍
See you then ❤️
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You stared at the message he last sent, "See you then ❤️"
Oh my days, you're going nuts over a heart emoji? You thought, internally slapping yourself, but you can't help but look over the message, and then you shook your head. Get yourself together, you send hearts to everyone, why did it surprise you when he did?
Finally taking the pieces of toast, and finishing off your cereal. You ate as quickly as you could, as soon as you finished it you grabbed your house keys and headed out to the park.
Locking your door, you put on your headphones and play your music playlist. You start to jog towards the park. You were thinking of running, but maybe you'll save that last bit of energy when you're closer to the park.
It was a chilly morning, the cool, crisp air hitting your body, but not enough to make you freeze, especially since you were jogging.
You don't remember the last time you jogged, maybe a few weeks or months, who knows at this point. Perhaps the conversation you had with Aj last time slightly may have hinted that Sharky does like his runs in the morning.
Is that what motivated you to run? Or was it just the fact that you haven't been out in a while?
The warmth hit you as soon as you closed in near the park. It wasn't that far from your house, maybe about 20-24 minutes.
You reached the entrance of the park, the soft scent of the array of flowers surrounded the area, and the tall trees moved with the gentle breeze.
People walked around the park, and some kids played as they ran around the park, chasing each other and shouting with joy when they caught up.
Nearing a bench, you sat down and pulled out your phone, checking the time, 8:42 am.
Maybe he was here already?
You hesitated. Should you call or text him? You ended up calling Sharky to see if he was here already or not. The phone rang twice before he picked up the phone.
"Hey Y/N, I'm at the park where are you?" Sharky's voice spoke through the phone.
"Just near the entrance, I'm sitting at a bench, uh," looking around, you tried to describe your surroundings, "near this really tall tree."
You heard him laugh softly through the phone, instantly causing you to smile and ask, "What's so funny?"
"Nah, it's because you said you're near this really tall tree, but Y/N, there's trees everywhere." He laughed again, making you roll your eyes but still have a smile on your face.
You ended up sending him your location, and he followed it, finally making his way as he caught sight of you sitting on the bench.
He stood there for a split second because call him crazy if you will, but he swore he saw some light shine upon you as the trees moved their way to do so. He softened his gaze, as the scene in front of him seemed like a movie.
It was a chilly day, yes, but somehow the sun came around just as he arrived. And especially when he saw you, the trees, sunlight and wind might have been paid actors if it wasn't for the fact that they're not people.
"Is this seat taken?" A familiar voice spoke as you looked up and met eyes with Sharky, who smiled as soon as you did. You motioned for him to take the seat beside you, and he gladly did.
The sounds of the park all muffled out, no person walking past, the rustle of trees in the breeze or even the cars on the far side could be heard as you drowned out all noise to listen to the Somali in front of you.
As you both talked, you ended up deciding to head to a cafe nearby, just to grab a drink, to talk and get to know each other. The walk wasn't that far and it was a small cafe.
A blue and white awning hung over the entrance and window of the shop, the inside was decorated nicely with tables and chairs surrounding the room. The warmth from the coffee being made radiated throughout the cafe, and the smell of baked goods added to it.
Both of you waited in line to order your drinks and pastries if you were feeling like it. You stared at the menu board behind the counter, looking at what to order. They had a wide range of drinks and food. Checking the prices beside them surely they couldn't be-
Why the hell are they so expensive??? You thought a small cafe like this would surely have good prices, but this was insane. £6.80 for a coffee? Crazy. And that was the cheapest thing there.
"What ya thinking of getting?" Sharky asked, leaning down to ask while still keeping his eyes on the menu board. You looked up at him briefly and made eye contact, causing you to turn your head swiftly back to the menu and pretend to look at it.
"Hmm, I was thinking of getting just the coffee because it's the cheapest thing there." You scoffed, shaking your head at the insane prices of this place.
"Just coffee? You could get something else too. You know I'm paying right?" He blurted that out like you were supposed to know that already, a giant grin forming on his face. You raised your brows, surprised.
"No, it's alright," you waved him off, "I can pay for my own one."
"Cmon Y/N, I insist." He started to grab his wallet from back pocket, but you stopped him by pushing his hand away from reaching it.
"Well, then I insist back?? And I don't want you to waste your money."
"It's not a waste if it's for you, plus I asked to hang out with you today. It's the least I could do." He shrugged, finally managing to reach for his wallet without you stopping him.
You were about to argue on that until he shot you a look, and you ended up rolling your eyes and accepting. Inside, you were grateful. At least your wallet was saved.
"Fine." You sighed. When you looked back at him, he had a smug grin on his face. He looked as if he had achieved the impossible, but he laughed when he saw the frown on your face.
He ordered for the both of you, and you waited for about three minutes before you collected your coffee and a pastry.
Heading over to a table that had two free seats, you sat down across from each other. Sipping your drink as he started a conversation. Turning to face you as he put down his own cup of tea.
"You have a channel, right? What videos do you make?" Sharky asked, genuinely curious since he didn't actually know much about you being an influencer.
"Honestly, I haven't made many videos, just a few prank videos with Aj and some beauty videos. A mix of everything I'd say." Chuckling as you took another sip of your coffee. He nodded at your answer and smiled.
"What else do you like to do then? Do you have any hobbies?" Laying his hand on his chin as his soft eyes met your gaze.
"Um," you ponder for a bit, "I like music, and I sing," you hesitate, scratching the side of your head, "well sometimes."
"Ohh, of course!" He throws his hands up in realisation, "Frank Ocean! So you like singing, that's good to know."
"Maybe one day you could put on a show and sing for me." Sharky's lips curled into a small smile, creasing the outer corner of his eyes. And seeing your face get slightly warmer only made his smile grow wider.
It seemed as if you've talked forever, the way the conversations you've had with him flowed like honey. Almost as if you've known him your whole life, it was almost … comforting.
You don't know how you ended up talking about football, but it led to a conversation with him explaining the basic mechanics and how it's "so easy" even a baby could do it.
"You really don't know how to play football?"
Seeing you shake your head, must've lit a light bulb in his head, as his gaze turned from one of confusion to his sienna brown eyes widening.
"Unacceptable." He shook his head and stood up, taking your hand in his as he left you out of the cafe.
By the looks of the sky, it was evening already, the sun slowly setting as the sky painted a canvas of light orange hues and yellow rays.
You laughed, still holding on to his grasp, "Where are we going?" As he led you both down the street.
Your laugh rang in his ears, a small thing motivating him to stay by your side. It was angelic. You may not have thought so, but to him, if his heart had melted from it, he would fix it all up just to hear it again.
He brought you to a stadium, a football stadium. The grand entrance of the place staring you in the face as he entered in with some ID card and brought you to the pitch.
"I'm teaching you how to play football." Sharky spoke as he grabbed a nearby football that was lying in a basket full of other ones. Putting one hand on his hips as he beckoned you to come closer.
You were in awe of the stadium, it was huge, and it especially looked amazing in the evening, the peach coloured rays hitting the walls of the stadium emitting a soft hue around the pitch.
"How were you able to even get in?" You inquired of him, slowly walking closer to him as you looked around the stadium.
He led you to the middle of the huge pitch. The whole stadium was empty, except you thought you saw two cleaners, but other than them, it was just you and Sharky on the field.
He grinned, "Perks of being an ex-emirates stadium worker. Plus, I'm a youtuber, they know me." Putting a hand on his chest, as it was something that always deeply touched him.
"So," He started, as he kicked the football to go in front of him, "I'll show you how to kick the football first." He motioned for you to come closer, pointing at his right foot as he told you to kick it with the side of your foot instead of the tip.
He took a few steps back and sped up towards the ball and kicked it just as he showed you, evidently making a goal.
Earning a cheer from you, to which he gave a small bow, running up to get the ball back and placing it in front of you. "Now you try." He placed his hands on his hips as he waited for you. You looked at him as your face contorted into one of confusion.
"Uh, I don't think I'll be able to score a goal just like that? "
"Well, try it first then you can complain." He laughed, ushering you forward towards the ball, you looked at him and then back at the ball.
'Well here goes nothing' you thought and tried to kick as Sharky showed you, but you ended up only kicking it more than a meter away from you, and heading off to an angle to your right.
You heard a small snort come from Sharky as he tried not to laugh at that kick, earning an embarrassed chuckle from you, as you tried to shorten yourself from this situation.
Making Sharky feel bad so he put on a smile for you, to make you feel less awkward about this, he really did want you to learn and he has tons of patience so this would be really easy he thought.
"Yeah, maybe we should practice other things before goals. I realised that may be a bit difficult." He rubbed his chin, thinking of what to do next and his brows raised as it came to him.
He moved towards the storage room and brought out a few cones, placing them in a row in front of you, measuring the width of the spacing between each cone with his own body, he placed six cones in a row.
Taking the ball back and bringing it near the both of you, he started to move it between his feet, looking up at you as he did.
"So what I'm doing right now is called dribbling." Slowly moving towards the cones, the football still between his feet as he demonstrated going around the cones left and then right, up until the very end where he repeated it again heading back to you.
"Dribbling is basically just moving the ball between your feet, like kicking it a little."
Passing the ball to you as you stopped it with your foot, the small of your lips turning upwards, "You could practice by going around each cone and coming back to me here."
You nodded, placing it between your feet, moving closer to the cones as you tried to kick it back and forth between your feet, but it's easier said than done. As you tried but ultimately failed, crashing into the cones as you almost tripped over the ball, trying to go through the cones.
Causing a small laugh to come out of Sharky, as he walked over to you and extended a hand to help you up. He put the cones back in their place and let you try again, repeating to you how to do it as he watched you try to dribble between the cones. Evidently crashing into them again, at least it wasn't all of them this time.
After a couple more training sessions (more like failed attempts) you managed to do somewhat of a decent job at dribbling and sometimes you scored a goal. Almost always you earned a high five from Sharky, even if you did fail an attempt, he'd just smile and say we can try again. Never did he sigh and give up.
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"Wait, what did you just do right there?" You asked, after he suggested you can take a break, since you seemed out of breath after all the training.
You were kicking the ball back towards the seating area when Sharky quickly kicked the ball from beneath you, taking it back towards him as he tossed it up into his hands.
"This? It's called a nutmeg, you simply just kick the ball through your opponent's legs, to retrieve it back so that they won't have it anymore."
You laughed, sitting down in one of the chairs, gazing up at Sharky as he messed around with the ball. "I thought nutmeg was a spice?"
He furrowed his brows for a split second and then let out a laugh, "Yeah, it is, but that's just the term for it. We're not really cooking here, are we?" Shrugging his shoulders as he went to sit beside you.
A soft silence filled the area, as both you and Sharky didn't speak a word. Even the usual white noise, when things got quiet, couldn't be heard, but instead, a delicate soft breathing between the two of you.
Fiddling with your thumbs as you stared at your feet. When is there ever just silence? Normally overpowering the peace, the sounds would get louder, the steady rhythm of your beating heart, sometimes going off track to stumble you.
But now, it's at ease, the quietness, an instant comfort to soothe your mind and heart. Lifting your head up to look around the stadium, it's not normally quiet in a place like this, but now, now is a rare time.
Sharky was looking at you now, eyes softening at your figure, the way you're peacefully sitting here, content, and the soft breathing from you showing him that you're alright with him being here. Alright, with him being beside you. And that, that's what makes him smile.
"You know what," you say, suddenly standing up and placing your hand on your hips, catching him off guard as he didn't expect you to move suddenly, "Let's do a 1v1."
Sharky squints slightly, uncertainty written upon his face, "Are you sure? It seems a bit unfair from my point of view."
"Are you doubting me?" You scoff, picking up the football that was tossed to the side earlier and holding it in your arms.
He laughed quietly, gazing up at you with his brown doe eyes, "Not at all."
Both of you moved towards the centre of the pitch, placing the ball in the middle of you and Sharky. You glanced up to see he was already looking at you. You thought it was to prepare himself, but something was telling you it was anything but that, behind his eyes. Shaking off the thought and ignoring it, you stood ground and prepared for the 1v1.
"Don't go easy on me." You grinned, winking at that statement.
He pretended to think for a minute but then smirked and locked eyes with you, "Never, don't worry. First, to score wins."
He counted to three, and you both aimed towards the ball, you managed to grab it first but he took it off of you, heading towards the goal while dribbling, you tried to run after him but then you saw that he was about to make a goal.
You remember him doing a nutmeg, earlier and thought maybe this was your ticket to victory, moving closer as you ran beside him trying to get the football.
But as you did, your foot got caught on his ankle causing you to spin. Your eyes widen as you see him fall back and you shut them waiting for impact.
Only when opening them do you find yourself fallen.
on top.
of Sharky.
It was too fast to stop it, and both of you didn't react until it was too late. Landing on his chest, you slowly lifted your head up to see him, his hand reaching to touch the back of his head. Your brows furrowed in worry, and pupils written in fear.
You watched as his gaze instantly shot to you, raising his head just as quick and the same worried expression you had on your face, reflecting his own one. "Are you alright?"
"No! Wait yes, I mean, are you alright? I should be asking you, not the other way around…"
Your voice trailing off, you found yourself frozen in place, a shiver of nervousness hitting your skin. Despite your brains commands to move, your body ignored it.
As part of you wanted to get up, the brain telling you to do so, the common sense in this situation, but your longing heart, the other, just wanted to keep looking into his dark eyes and get lost in them.
Dark chocolate rays fanning out around the bottomless pit of an iris, inky crescent moons trapped by a hazy, black limbal ring.
Those eyes are the colour of every tree in the forest, richer, due to the golden light from dawn to dusk. The warmth of an eternal hearth felt in those deep brown eyes.
Holding eye contact was the strongest thing you could have ever done. An achievement, a rare feeling inside of you bubbling up just waiting to come out.
For a second, you thought you imagined it, but reality hit you as you see his eyes flicker to your lips. Your mind finally taking over the reins, causing your heart to match the speed of the beads of sweat falling down.
You blinked, clearing your throat and getting up off of Sharky. You got up, stumbling, almost tripping on your own foot as you do so. The normal colour of your cheeks suddenly changing to a red hue as the warmth builds up.
Why can't you function properly today?? Placing a hand on your face, you can feel the warmth radiating, no doubt an obvious hue, seeping and shown through, you could not let him see you like this.
His brows knitted together as he took a glimpse at you, and he shifted to sit upwards, What happened? What did I do? Sharky thought, as he observed you, watching as you stood there covering your face with your hands.
Standing up now, rushing to your side, he put a hand on your shoulder as he tried to get your attention, "Are you okay?"
The smoky sound of his voice, making you feel intoxicated. The sound of your heart beating like crazy rang through your ears as you could barely make out the words Sharky was saying. Your breathing, quickening, and uneven, why were you like this?
Sharky didn't know what was happening at this point, he guessed maybe you were a bit overwhelmed with the whole football thing, and tired from all the running. He was worried but he didn't want to overthink it if it was a minor issue.
"Do you want some water?" He offered, handing you an extra bottle of water, he brought with him earlier.
"Uh, yeah…" You accepted, nodding your head frantically and taking the water from him, "Thank you." turning away from him as you drank.
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The night sky was aglow with the bright city lights of London, the shades of navy and black painted across the sky like a giant canvass, and yet the stars fought their way onto this canvass, outnumbering and conveying their glow to the eyes of people.
You were heading home now, and even though you insisted you'd be fine heading back yourself, Sharky wouldn't take no for an answer and made sure that you had to return home safely.
Walking beside each other as a small breeze hits your backs. Sometimes when you walked your hand would brush against his, and your stomach would get butterflies. Causing you to pull your hand back but not enough to make it too obvious.
The touch was electric, one that sent your nervous system to jealousy, but you couldn't help but think about it. The soft touch of his hand, what would it be like to hold it again? But… longer?
Little did you know, he was thinking the exact same thing. Earlier, he did manage to grab your hand, but only for a short spur of the moment. It wasn't technically holding your hand. It was more of a… guiding you.
Sharky wasn't gonna back down this time. He had an amazing time with you. Your laugh, your smile? He really didn't want it to end. Just one day isn't enough time with you.
How did he do it before? How did he manage to take hold of your hand earlier? Maybe it was because he wasn't overthinking back then, but now he was.
I've done way more scarier things, I got this. He reminded himself, taking a deep breath to prepare, hyping up himself as he tried to get rid of the nerves.
3… 2… 1… He reached out for your hand, but you suddenly stopped in your tracks. Turning to face the other way, he retracted his hand.
"This is my stop." You mention, as you came to a stop in front of the pathway of your home.
Shit, Sharky sighed, gaze turning to the floor. There goes that opportunity, he sighed. Why couldn't he have just done it faster?
"Alright… uh, I'm gonna go? Thank you for walking me home, Sharky." You beamed at him, flashing a shy smile as you tried to hug him goodbye.
Clearly, he didn't know it was going to be a hug because he tried to elbow bump or more of a fistbump you instead. You tried to motion to him that it was a hug and he ended up realising it with a laugh, then engulfed you in a hug, wrapping his arms around your waist as you wrapped yours around his shoulders.
"Of course," He spoke just above a whisper into the hug, and smiled to himself, good thing you couldn't see his face right now because if you could, rosy cheeks dusted his face and a wide smile stuck on his face.
If you could stay in this hug, you would, the warmth radiating from it shielding you from the night breeze. The soft fabric of his clothing hugged your figure as it provided comfort in his arms.
As you tried to pull apart, a piece of your jewelry got caught on a stray thread of his jumper, an awkward chuckle coming out the both of you as you attempted to try and just break the thread off of your necklace.
Instead, it just made the thread longer, to which you just resorted to taking off your necklace and handing it to Sharky, giving up on trying to remove the stray piece of thread.
"Just… when you get home, cut it off and give it back when you next see me." You say, a tinge of hope in your voice, hoping that he did want to see you again.
But your worries were gone when you saw him flash you a smile while he gave you a nod, holding your necklace in his hand.
As you both walk your separate ways, you're both thinking, "Why the hell, did I make that awkward?"
Days turned into weeks, and during that whole time, you'd hang out with the beta squad more and more, being in their videos to just movie nights and snacks, which included more time spent with Sharky. He did give back the necklace after a couple days, but from your perspective it looked as if he was busy those couple days.
But in reality, he was debating what day to give it back to you and how. Should it have been a gift he gives you along with the necklace? Or just hand it back to you normally? He did the latter, but it did really mess him up, a flustered mess thinking how he actually had something of yours with him.
Throughout the weeks going by, Sharky invited you to join in his videos, the fans loved you with the beta squad so he thought it would be a great thing to have you on his channel. He said it would be great for your channel too but honestly in his heart, he just craved to spend more time with you.
Every minute with you was precious, every moment and every smile. Hearing your voice, brightened his whole day, yes his heart would race and yes his breathing would be uneven thinking about you. But it didn't matter, none of it mattered as long as he was by your side.
You made everything better, and he knew it, in fact he wished every day would be with you.
He had learned a lot just by hanging out with you for videos or even just football sessions. He loved listening to your voice as you talked about your passions or just random things that came to your mind. He'd often smile as you talked, sometimes not even realising he was staring at your features.
Gazing at you was like daydreaming outside a window, it wasn't much to people on the outside, but to himself, it was something he couldn't stop himself from doing. It was addicting to say the least. You've got him hooked from the start.
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"No. Way. You have to come over right now, spill all the tea."
You let out a laugh, currently you were on a call with your friend, trying to catch up but she realised it wasn't easy to get to know all that's happened through the phone so she arranged for you to meet at her place later today.
She drove to your house, waiting in the driveway as you hurriedly got out of your house, locking the door as you left. And making your way to her car.
The weather wasn't the best, it could've been better but the raindrops hitting against the roof of the car and the floor outside didn't seem that the weather was going to get better anytime soon.
On the way to her place, she started to tell you stuff that's been going on for the past couple of weeks, exciting things and sometimes boring ones, you'd be honest sometimes you could fall asleep to what she says at times.
When you arrived at her house, she got you some warmer clothes and brought you a hot drink. Thanking her as you took a seat on her couch, her following suit.
As soon as she sat down, you knew she was going to ask you what happened in your life so far. Usually, you'd laugh and say nothing much, as she almost basically told her whole life story in the car. But this time, there was something interesting to talk about.
More like… someone.
Explaining the start of when you met Sharky, to the football training, the videos and the hangouts you told her all about the fun, but you also told her about how you couldn't function at times around him.
When you finished telling everything, she put a hand on your shoulder and looked deeply into your eyes, "You're in love, no doubt in my mind."
"Are you joking? In love?" You scoffed, averting your gaze from her to the mug you were holding, sloshing around the liquid inside of it.
"You're so delusional. Can you not see it?" She sighed in exasperation, throwing her head back to lean it against the couch.
"Last time I was in love, it didn't really turn out well." You mumbled an air of melancholy surrounding you as it clouded your features. Placing the cup onto the table as you crossed your arms in front of you and leaning back.
"Hey," She turned to you, nudging you to make you face her, "Your ex was a piece of shit." You let out a small chuckle as she continued. "You didn't ruin anything. He ruined it."
"This Sharky you're talking about clearly isn't like that. From what you're describing to me anyway. And clearly, you like him." She grins, a stupid grin on her face.
"I don't—"
"Look me in the eyes and tell me that again." She cuts you off, glaring and raising one brow at you.
Your mouth snapped shut, pressing into a thin line. She has a point, one that you couldn't argue on, and even if tried, it would make you look stupid.
"C'mon, you can't deny that you didn't like that date." She teased, a knowing smirk lingering on her face as she drank the rest of her coffee.
"What date?" You raised eyebrows surprised, turning to face her.
"You know, where y'all went to a restaurant and then he taught you how to play football after?" She giggled as she saw the look on your face.
You rolled your eyes playfully, shoving her arm slightly, "Stop messing around. We didn't go on a date! It was a friendly hangout. He sees me as a friend for sure."
She gave you a look which said really? Are you kidding me?
"But is that really all he is to you?"
You gulped and thought about it, shifting your gaze to the ground. Your mind suddenly goes back to the past weeks.
When your hand would brush against his, or when his arm would be pushed near yours in a tight space, your heart would race each time without fail, and you'd think about it for days.
Or when he'd speak, his voice warm and calm, like a flowing river, soothing to one's heart. And that's how he made you feel, all warm and fuzzy on the inside, a tingle in your stomach building up.
When you'd happen to look across the room and he was standing there so perfectly, talking about something you couldn't hear with a glimmer in his eyes and the corners of his lips upturned.
And when he'd notice you looking, turning his gaze to your direction and you'd stare into his dark golden eyes, suddenly everything around you would blur out, the voice of someone speaking disappeared, and the sound of your surroundings vanished. And all you'd notice was … Sharky.
"Just date already!" Your friend laughed, cutting you out of your thoughts, shaking your head to focus again.
You would laugh it off, but the truth was that you were scared on the inside. You didn't want it to end up like your last relationship, cold and cut off. But then again, Sharky wasn't your ex. Sharky was a whole different person.
You had promised before that you wouldn't love for a long time, to heal you had said, you roll your eyes at that, you couldn't stay away.
Why? Because here you are catching feelings.
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The talk with your friend really made you think this week, made you think a lot, actually. Maybe you'd try to accept that you've fallen in love, but it's hard when you don't even know if the other person feels the same way.
It's honestly so frustrating, and yet you hate that you love the way he's making you act up like this. It's like a high school girl with a stupid crush.
You don't even know if you've been obvious to him this whole time.
But you had to ignore it, just for today, because right now you were heading to the beta squad house to film a video for Sharky's channel. A general knowledge video is what he mentioned to you.
As you arrived at the house, you were greeted by Niko as he brought you along to the sitting room. Aj, Chunkz, and Sharky were standing there talking to the camera crew.
While you walked in, you caught the eye of Sharky, waving to you as soon as he saw you, of course you waved back, but this time you took more notice of Sharky, specifically the way his eyes lit up as soon as he saw you.
Or maybe it was the way Chunkz elbowed him in the ribs immediately after Sharky waved at you, a knowing smirk on his face as he switched his focus between the both of you.
Niko turned to all of you, reminding you all that the video would start in 10 minutes, "So if you guys need to do anything, now's the time not later."
"Oh! That reminds me we've gotta get the boxes for the challenge upstairs." Sharky added, heading towards the door, but stopping before he reached it, half turning to face you all with a questioning look.
"Anyone gonna help me?"
"We three are a bit busy so," Chunkz stated, Shrugging his shoulders as he put on a cheeky smile. "Y/N can help you with that? Right Y/N?" Chunkz wrapped an arm around your shoulders as he observed his friend's reaction.
You glanced between Chunkz and Sharky, both of them waiting for your answer. You nodded hesitantly before following Sharky upstairs.
There were forfeits to this challenge, most of them being hidden in boxes that you'd have to find out during the recording of the video.
As you both walked towards the room, you hated that your hands started to sweat, and your heart started to race. The silence was deafening to your ears, you wanted to break the silence but what could you say? But you didn't have to worry much as he ended up speaking first.
Sharky cleared his throat as he opened the door, revealing a small room that had a poster covering the walls, some few items scattered around the floor and the stack of boxes, "We don't have to take them all in one go, by the way."
"Obviously not." You giggled, watching as he moved towards the boxes only to stop after hearing your sarcasm.
"Sorry." You groaned, diverting your gaze as you covered half of your face with your hand out of embarrassment.
He rolled his eyes at your response, shaking his head with a small smile.
With your help almost all of the boxes had been brought down in no time, leaving only a couple of things on the bed. You were so focused on actually helping that you hadn’t noticed Sharky walk in whilst you were picking up the cards with the questions on them.
His hand grazed over yours, slightly brushing just the back of your hand, but it was enough to make you freeze and make your heart beat like crazy.
Your mind was all over the place, nervous and flustered. Your gaze darted up and down and all over him, struggling to focus. As you glanced at his face you noticed something different…
He wasn't wearing his usual backwards hat or a durag this time, but just his hair, the way the curls formed faultlessly on top of his head, accentuating the rest of his features. He'd be on the front cover of a modelling magazine, and you could stare at it all day long.
And when he looked at you, oh boy, that's when you knew you were in for it. You can't go back, you've fallen too far ahead now. Those eyes, they hypnotise you, draw you in instantly and it's hard to get out.
"Stop looking at me like that." You half-rolled your eyes, but the corners of your mouth started to curl up against your will.
"Like what?" He chuckled, making your heart skip a beat once again. Genuinely smiling and you could tell he was curious to know what you meant as he leaned just maybe an inch closer than he already was.
When you look at me and it speaks a thousand words when our voices couldn't and when our gaze crosses from a distance, and it fills my heart with comfort.
The way your eyes have that slight crinkle at the corner of them and that makes your face the cutest when you smile and makes my heart skip a beat, all. the. damn. time.
And when those eyes are looking only at me.
"Nevermind," You dismiss him waving a hand, while looking away, missing to see that he frowns, he has that longing behind his eyes to ask what you meant but he knew he shouldn't pry any further, he didn't want to scare you away.
But he had to know. His mind couldn't stop his curious heart, and so he moved without thought, stepping closer towards you and grabbing your waist.
You yelped at the sudden closeness, eyes widening in shock at how close you both were. His face leaning towards yours with longing eyes, his lips slightly upturned at your reaction as your face started burning.
"Tell me." Sharky breathed, his eyes flickering to your lips for a second too long before gazing back into your eyes.
He was too close, too close that you could see all of his features, the small crinkle on the side of his smile, the unrivalled shape of his eyes, making him unique.
And you'd dare say you also saw a small pink dusting his cheeks.
He was too close, too close that you could feel his breath upon your lips, just centimetres away from you.
His lips looked inviting,
craving something from you.
Asking you to complete it, to fill in that emptiness, it so longed for.
Or maybe you were the one that longed for it?
And you watched as it slowly formed into a smile, glancing back up to the eyes of the owner.
You could see that he was inching closer and closer, your heart denying your every wish to stay calm.
Your mind was frightened, scared of the outcome; it was like stepping on glass, afraid to fall into nothingness and yet your heart thrived in it, determined to see through it.
Honestly, you could move, you should move. It was the smart thing to do.
And yet why didn't you move? You could've moved, told him you weren't okay with him being that close.
But you just… couldn't? It was like you were frozen in place, stuck, bound to stay here for eternity.
And so maybe that's why you shut your eyes slowly.
Waiting to accept the invitation.
But the creaking of a door opening made both of you jump and pull away, swiftly turning your heads to see who it was.
Niko raised his eyebrows, glancing back and forth between the two of you, "Am I interrupting something here?" His mouth formed into a thin line as he scratched the back of his neck, silence dawning upon his answer.
Only until a cough came from Sharky, did Niko return back to his normal self, disregarding what he said earlier and advancing towards the middle of the room, lifting a box, "Guys, we're starting the shoot in 3 minutes and you both didn't even bring down one last box?"
Walking to the door before turning to the two of you, "By the way, when I said earlier, if you have something to do, do it now. This is not what I meant." He laughed, bolting downstairs not to see yours or Sharky's reaction.
Sharky rolled his eyes, scoffing as he couldn't help but let a smile sneak on his face, as he placed his hands in his pockets. "We better head back down, I guess."
You nodded, swallowing the nerves as you took the cards back into your hands, walking beside Sharky downstairs, avoiding any contact with him.
Throughout the whole video, your mind just couldn't focus. Your thoughts going back to earlier, what would have happened if Niko didn't walk in? What would you have done if he didn't? Was Sharky even trying to kiss you and you were just delusional?
Aj kept snapping his fingers in your face every time he noticed you weren't focusing. People who would watch the video would think he's just being his usual Aj self, but in reality, he was worried.
Worried that maybe something happened, and you were going back to not feeling like your usual self.
He hated that time, he hated whenever his friends felt at their worst. He knows because he's felt that same way before, and to feel it multiple times? There's nothing worse.
And so after the video, he went up to you, to see if you were alright. He caught up to you, right as you were about to leave the house, calling out your name.
"Ay Y/N, why you leaving so fast? Are you alright?" Worry surrounded his voice as he placed a hand on your shoulder.
"I'm okay Aje, thanks." You chuckled nervously, "Just uh, tired, yeah..." Scratching the back of your neck as you glanced away.
You hoped he hadn't seen the way you tried to avoid Sharky, or the glances you took during the video, causing your heart to race every second you did.
"Thanks for having me, tell that to the boys alright?" You gave Aj a small smile, patting him on the shoulder as you pointed towards the door with your thumb, indicating you were gonna leave, stepping out the door.
"How are ya gonna get home?" He shouted after you, still at the door, watching as you walked towards the driveway.
Turning around, you pulled out your phone in your pocket showing it to him, "Uh, I'll just call a taxi." You waved at him as you left.
As soon as you turned round the corner, where the eyes of the houses were gone, you took a deep breath, trying to steady it, as you wiped your sweaty hands. You cursed under your breath, How'd one guy get you messed up like this?
࿙ ࿚ ࿙ ࿚ ࿙ ࿚
Aj closed the door when you were out of sight, as he turned towards the sitting room where the rest of his friends were. But he stopped in his tracks, a light bulb flickering in his head as he remembered something.
He scoffed as he peered inside the room, showing Sharky, Chunkz and Niko, having a conversation around the table, sitting back with their phones in their hands.
When he turned to head to the kitchen, Aj heard Sharky's voice call out to him as he glanced back and saw Sharky walk up to him.
"What's up Aj?" Sharky asked, darting his gaze around the room, it's as if he was looking for something, "Where's Y/N?"
Aj raised a brow, something clicking in his head, as he eyed the taller man in front of him. He placed his hands in his pockets as he spoke.
"She left." Aj started, squinting his eyes at Sharky as he continued to speak, suspicion drawing in his voice, "But I was just thinking, Sharks, what happened upstairs earlier?"
Sharkys eyes went round for a split second before returning to his normal face, "What do you mean?" He chuckled.
"Don't play stupid, I know you know what I mean." Pointing a finger at him, his voice raising slightly.
Sharky diverted his gaze, staring at the ground as he scratched the back of his neck. He knew what Aj was talking about, but was it what Sharky was thinking?
Aj shook his head and sighed, "I know you like her Sharks, but …" He trailed off, getting the other Somalis' attention as he watched Aj continue.
"I was worried. She wasn't herself today. It reminded me how she acted after her ex, dazed, fake smiles, and all that shit." Aj narrowed his eyes.
Sharky's brows upturned as he listened, something aching his heart. Would it be right to ask what happened? Or would it be overstepping his boundaries if he did?
He shook his head. If it was overstepping, Aj would tell him, and so he spoke, "I don't want to pry too much, but what happened?"
"Her ex was fine at first you know? No one noticed anything off with him, he was great until he started being toxic, then we could see it from a mile away. Man flippin gaslit her into believing that he loved her the whole time." Aj furrowed his brows in annoyance, as he placed his hands on his hips.
Sharky's face was stern, no emotion on it other than in his eyes, flames of anger burning behind them, his brows knitted together.
If looks could kill, his one would have.
How could someone do that to you? Play someone's feelings like it was a game? He hated people like that. He thought it was so disgusting to even think about it. For sure, if he ever sees the guy, he's gonna have a serious talk with him.
"I don't want you breaking her heart. You're a good guy for sure so just stay that way, blud." Aj pulled a smile, looking up at Sharky as he patted his shoulder, going to the kitchen and leaving Sharky with his own thoughts.
࿙ ࿚ ࿙ ࿚ ࿙ ࿚
He slowly went over to sit on his bed, still in disbelief. You had to go through all that? And that bastard treated you like that? Proper mad, that guy.
Something in his heart suddenly twisted, an ache, or a pain, he wasn't sure. But he didn't like the feeling, the feeling of someone hurting you? Sharky would never do that to you.
He knew he didn't like you, because he loved you. He loved you so much that it hurt to think of someone hurting you. He wanted to be there for you, always. To let you lean on him when you needed to, and to be there just to see you laugh, to see you smile.
Pulling out his phone and putting on his Frank Ocean playlist, the song "Thinkin' bout you" popped up.
He sighed quietly as he put on his airpods and laid his head on the headboard of his bed, shutting his eyes close as he listened to the song.
"I've been thinking 'bout you"
A song that was your favourite of Frank Ocean.
"Do you think about me still? Do ya, do ya?"
He smiled, remembering you first singing it.
"Or do you not think so far ahead"
"Cause I been thinking bout forever, ooh"
And that's when it hit him, forever is a long time. And he didn't want to just think forever. He wanted to experience things, experience them with you.
But how could he, if he didn't tell you that he loved you?
He wanted you, no, he needed you.
That's why he got up and ran out of his room, grabbing a jacket on the way out as quickly as possible.
That's why he fumbled rushing to get his car keys to drive to your house.
That's why he's getting into his car, not even bothering to put on a seat belt, but focusing on getting out of the driveway to head to you.
And that's why he's running up to your house, knocking at your door, in the middle of the night.
And when the door opens, revealing you, looking up shocked when you see him, that's when he knew he wasn't too late, that he could still tell you.
Sharky is always a prepared guy. He plans out things for everything, and he's normally very organised. But this was hasty, reckless even, for the first time from what he can remember, he's unprepared.
No planning, no nothing, he was just following what his heart desired in this very moment. And in this moment, he desired you.
Rushing to you? Was definitely spontaneous. But how could he complain? He'd change up his life. He'd endure through any hard circumstances if it meant he'd be by your side.
This was why he wanted to let you know, to let you know now before it was too late, before someone tried to take you away from him.
He turned his gaze to the floor, fumbling for the words to say, suddenly his mind was everywhere, words didn't exist, only feelings at this point.
But he tried, calming his heart down as he shifted his gaze back to you, taking a deep breath in to say something, anything to you.
Sharky rushed to speak, "Y/N, I'm never this impulsive, I think things through, I … I … I'm organised, I plan it all out but…" His brows drew together, sighing in exasperation.
"Agh, I can't stop thinking about you. You're making me act all different, I can't focus anymore." He rubbed his temple, trying to calm his voice, to speak clearer.
"My heart races everytime I think about you, my palms start to sweat and my brain just can't focus. Everytime I close my eyes at night your face shows up and I can't sleep."
His eyes were darting everywhere but you at this point, "Every song I listen to suddenly reminds me of you and I can't get you out of my head."
"And every. damn. glance. I take is because I can't take my eyes off you, you really steal the spotlight when you're in the same room as me. I can't concentrate."
"You honestly looked so perfect when we were filming the video earlier and before upstairs… I'm sorry. I couldn't control myself. The urge to kiss you was killing me, and if Niko didn't walk in, I would have kissed you without thinking properly."
He realised he hadn't looked at you the whole time he talked because he was afraid, afraid of what your reaction would be, afraid maybe you wouldn't have felt the same way as him.
Maybe he read the signs wrong? Maybe you didn't love him back as he did with you?
But the thing was when he did look at you, you were in shock, you stood there wide-eyed, frozen in place at his confession. You couldn't say anything, you wanted to, but nothing was coming out.
He thought he was done for, that you didn't feel the same way until he saw the bright red flush creep upon your cheeks. Your gaze softening at the Somali in front of you.
He took a deep breath, inhaling as much air physically possible because right now he felt like he couldn't breathe either. You were just there in front of him, barely even an arms reach away from him. And the urge to envelop you in his arms was too strong.
"I will treat you right, the way you should be treated. I would never do anything to harm you or hurt you. And it's because I love you. I truly love you. Please…"
This was the minimum he could do for now, Taking your hands in his soft ones, moving your gaze to his soft sienna eyes.
He knows he shouldn't be doing this right here. But he couldn't help it.
It was now or never, to think he would lose you was one mistake he never wants to make, not later, not now.
But if the pain of not having you in his heart was stronger than in his head where his logical thinking was, just for once, just one time in his life he could ignore it.
He would do anything.
Anything for you.
So he spoke, words coming out of his loving heart rather than his mind, his brain allowed his heart to speak just this once, to know, truly know what you feel.
"Let me love you."
Taglist: @b4tasquad @p3drii @n1kodl @elora-k @slutforpablogavi @enhacolor @amwife @distantfromu
Mutuals Taglist: @b4tasquad @p3drii @vctrvn-ls @allygatcr @slutforpablogavi @kennysboxergf @n1kodl @amwife @heartsforaj
Taglist for this fic: @vctrvn-ls @allygatcr @kennysboxergf @lunasmindinwriting @heartsbyvalentina @heartsforaj @elyse3s @leanamaybank
I'm sorry if anyone else wanted to be on the taglist here. Send me an ask, and I'll add you! Currently cannot think rn of who I have to add-
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FORGOTTEN, Niko Omilana
———————————
———————————
summary: you and Niko were friends right before he got famous. One by one, day by day, he started to forget that you even exist. Months started to pass by, and you found yourself questioning if he ever thought about you. It began piling up to years. On a random workday, you bump into the least expected person.
warnings: mentions of death, maybe some curse words?!
A/N: sorry to break but there won't be a part two for this! (maybe if I get an idea on how to complete it then sure)
"That is going to be disgusting." you cringe at the ingredients put in the blender. Infront of the camera, an 18 year old Niko Omilana sat there blindfolded.
You both decided to do a challenge that was currently trending on youtube where you get the most random ingredients and pile them up with numbers. One person says the number while blindfolded and the other makes the drink. Then the one with the best ingredients wins.
"Is it that bad?" A worried Niko speaks.
"It's horrid." You remark with a nervous laugh, pouring it in a cup where he can't see the contents and how the drink looked like.
"Alright– let me take this off." You say as you capture your lips between your teeth. You takes the blindfold off gently and that results to Niko's heart fluttering, butterflies in his stomach erupted at you just doing a simple task to him.
"This is going to be really delicious!" You smile at the camera and Niko tries to sniff whatever that was in the cup but you immediately tut in disappointment.
"That's cheating! Come on just drink. It's really tasty." You bring it up to his mouth and you make him take more than a gulp, before Niko chokes and begins to gag at the taste. Your mouth is wide at how Niko tries to keep it down, despite the disgusting ingredients in the drink.
"What is that? Did you poison my drink? It tastes like the entire sea in there." He forcefully swallows it, bringing the cup down.
You just laugh until tears began forming in your eyes, "Your reaction is priceless!" You say through cries of laughing as you clutch your stomach.
Just the sight of you laughing, made him let out small laughs, "What was in there?"
You let out a huge amount of air when you finally stop laughing, "Anchovies, nutella, cereal, an egg, and pomegranate juice."
"Why was yours much better?" He wonders. Yours only consisted of spinach, chocolate milk, ice cream, beans, and the chocolate Aero. The spinach and the beans barely effected the drink and it resulted to you having the tastier drink.
"We already know who won. It's me, again." You point at yourself with both of your index finger.
"She's rigging every challenge, it's not fair." He shakes his head and drinks the leftover of your drink. Deep down inside, he'd get excited by just looking at how excited you get when you win. It was like he won aswell.
"I guess that's it for the video. Unless you want me to win you over again." You shrug and aggressively take your drink back.
"Crazy how this drink has beans and it tastes quite nice–" You hum pleasure at how tasty your drinks was.
"Shush. Nobody cares. Alright that's the end of the video. We'll see you again next Sunday." Niko finishes the outro and right after he was done, you both began cleaning up and setting everything in its place.
When you place some of the stuff in the fridge, a thought hits you when you look over at Niko and you let out a small laugh. He turns around, confused on why you were laughing.
"What is it?"
"I just have a feeling you'll be big someday. As in millions of subscribers and all of that." You smile at the thought. Niko's dream of doing pranks and becoming big was the only thing he'd talk about.
"Impossible." He says under his breath, chuckling.
"Oh you'll see. I'll be the first person to tell you that I told you so. Just don't forget about me, Omilana."
He scoffs in disbelief, "You're my best friend since childhood and you're the most annoying person i ever met," He starts, placing all the dishes in the sink.
"it'll be impossible to forget about you, y/l/n. " He snakes his arm around your waist to pull you into a side hug. You thought this was a friendly hug, but nevertheless, you felt the exact same familiar butterflies errupt in your stomach whenever he would hold your hand or pull you into hugs.
"Plus, you'll be there to see it for yourself. You're not getting rid of me that easily." He narrows his eyes at you and walks off to get the rest of the things that were in his room.
You really hoped his words were true, because even if he didn't like you back, you wanted to spend your lifespan with him as his best friend.
—
4 months later*
Niko: the last video that we made
together got over 10,000 views,
I can't believe it
Link attachment
Y/N: not surprised, your videos
are entertaining especially when
I'm in it!
Niko: shush. that's not true, you
always lower my views you schmuck
Y/N: whatever helps you sleep at
night! I'm coming tomorrow to
celebrate
Niko: thought you had work?
Y/N: convinced my boss to let
me off for tomorrow, that's how
much I hate you 👍🏻
Niko: say whatever that helps you
sleep at night! mcdonald's worker 🤣
Seen
8 months later*
Y/N: do you wanna hang out? just
came back from vacation and It's
been like 4 months since we've
seen each other
Niko: sure, but it'll be like for an
hour and then I'll leave since I
have to edit something
Y/N: I could help you?
Niko: No its alright. I'll see you
in 10
Seen
5 months later *
Y/N: congratulations on your
recent video !!! It really has a
huge amount of views, very
proud like always
Niko: it's not that much but thank you
Y/N: of course it is, idiot. Do you
wanna hang?
Niko: later, I'm busy and I have got
something to do
Y/N: that's what you've been saying
for the past few months but alright.
Seen
4 days later *
Y/N: it's a saturday, don't tell me you're
busy on a weekend
Niko: I'm not, but i'm really exhausted
Y/N: alright then... text me when
you're free since you keep refusing
all my invites
Seen
—
2 years later*
And that was the last time since you've heard from Niko. He wasn't even that famous at that time, only around 50 thousand subscribers to his channel. So you sometimes wondered why would he be busy at the time?
You even thought if he ever thought about your name or if he ever felt ashamed whenever the thought of it just popped up in his mind.
You even thought that the little crush you had on Niko would be gone after a few months of him never getting back to you, but no, your feelings just got stronger.
Today, a 21 year old you was seated across the laptop since you had to do some work about searching for a topic to speak about. You sip on your hot coffee as you sigh deeply, too exhausted to do anything.
That was until you came across an article about a special someone, your back immediately straightened up. He had hit 1 million subs today, August 26th 2019. You scoff, clicking on the article and pressing 'not interested.'
Even though you both might've aren't friends anymore, you couldn't help but feel proud of his success. You just knew it from the bottom of your heart, that he'll be big someday. And he was. You knew it wasn't far from becoming millions.
You knew him and you knew his personality would get him famous.
You just wished you were there to see him grow big with his following.
—
1 month later*
Your parents death hit hard. You could feel your life crashing down at the decisions that life had been giving you lately. It seemed like it just wanted you to suffer in life.
The strings in your heart was slowly starting to be ripped apart, you were sure that your life has come to an end.
You arrive at a random hotel since you sold your family house to get by until you find a job since you had been fired. The hallways looked a little too depressing to you or maybe it was just your thinking made everything look sad and horrible.
When you finally makes it to your room, you stand infront of the door and you put your hotel key and twist the door knob once it makes a click noise.
You close the door behind you and you take a glance at the hotel room, for some reason you used to always be excited whenever you got into a hotel room because you had someone with you and it would be for an exciting reason, like being on vacation, visiting your family and friends, and laughing so hard and becoming annoyed because the sheets were tucked in and they couldn't get it out.
But walking in and looking around at the room, made your heart ache. And when you felt it, tears began falling and so did your body. So you immediately got closer to the bed and sat down, your hands instinctively going to your mouth to at least muffle your cries.
When you heard your parents had died from the car losing control and driving off of a bridge, you were completely numb. You couldn't even cry. You just nodded and clarified that the two lifeless bodies were indeed your parents. You felt the pain in every part of your body, but still couldn't shed a tear. Now that it all hit you and your life was possibly over, you just felt the feeling of heartbreak and it was the complete worse.
All the voices going through your mind like the strings of the guitar when it goes smoothly towards your auricle, always hits you with guilt. For what it's worth, you knew there was no going back when the car lost control, fear, was all you felt.
The screams you heard before the car hit the water was constantly replaying in your mind, because you were also in the car, yet somehow you managed to live and escape the car and not your parents. Survivors guilt.
No one there to help you stop thinking about those thoughts. When you pathetically tried to help your father was no use, because you blacked out. You accepted your fate, only to wake up without your parents surviving, or even next to them. The rescues told you when they found you, you had already gotten out of the car so it was easier to rescue you.
You even thought about calling Niko, you needed him terribly.
You needed him to give you a break from overthinking it and replaying the events back. The thoughts of you being alone forever attacked you at most nights, you drowned into the depths of trauma, when your life flashed before your way to death. You were the only family member of your own that was still standing.
You were given a second chance at life, but why? You thought you didn't deserve it. Your brain constantly kept reminding you that you weren't worth being alive, your heart telling her that life was no use.
The way your heart ached when you realized your parents passed, all your surroundings weren't important. Nothing was important. It was all one nightmare that had came true. All you thought as a kid was growing old without your parents, and your thoughts became reality.
You were angry at yourself, you wanted to just scream at yourself for thinking that you were going to grow old with your parents and they could see you finish college and for you to get married one day.
But nothing like that will happen, right?
—
11 months later*
You finally got your bachelor degree and you were now working as a director and an editor at a young age, and everything almost seemed great for you.
That was of course until you heard rumors about Nicholas Omilana getting a girlfriend. You couldn't careless about him anymore in which you were convincing herself, but It was all over the place that even the people you worked with always teases you since they seemed to have watched Niko's old videos.
It was starting to get annoying that you threatened to fire them if they weren't professional enough.
You aren't just a film director, you usually edited for YouTube channels and directed for them aswell. So it was really easy to find people to work for you.
You loved youd job so much, it was something that you always wanted to work as, especially with Niko.
Now his name was everywhere, but he was still nowhere to be found.
—
3 years later, present*
"I've been trying to find Henry, but he's nowhere to be found." you say to the phone that's clutched in your hands as you walk around the rented mall.
You rented the mall only for the first floor to advertise some brands and it was going to be a long hectic week. You were currently in Germany with one of your biggest clients, renting an entire floor wasn't something you'd tell someone daily.
You didn't know you could make it this far. You were an actress, a director, and a model aswell.
"Just go to the second floor and see if he's there."
"I don't think we're allowed to step in there since im pretty sure some other people rented the second floor." You say confused as you look up, finding it a huge coincidence that people are renting a mall at the same time.
"If we don't find Henry, we'll be making them wait and they'll probably spit in our faces. They're sending me very mean stares. They look grumpy." You hear your boyfriend describe them which makes you giggle.
"Alright, babe. Just ramble and ramble like how you always do so they don't get bored. I'll be right back." You turn the call off and you go to the non working escalator and you start walking up.
When you reach on the second floor, you look around, trying to find the familiar face. You get startled once you hear your phone ringing, starting to walk around the mall.
You checks your phone and you roll your eyes once you see on the screen that it was written Henry.
You accept the call and you places the phone to your ear, "Henry, where are you? We've been trying to get to you after you just randomly disappeared!" You yell angrily since you could easily lose your client if one of the most important people weren't there.
"Yes, yes– I'm just meeting up with other problems since I have other clients aswell so it's a bit hectic." You hear him ramble, and it seems like he was out of breath.
"What ?! Another client? Why didn't you just tell me to move it to another day–"
"You don't understand. I'm still in the mall with other clients. They're just on the second floor." You grip the side of your forehead in disappointment. You we're practically just walking so fast around the mall without a thought.
"Yeah well our clients are currently very grumpy. They look like they'll about to sue our ass Henry! Get your ass down or I swear to–" Your words were cut off when you're bumped into a tall, large masculine body.
You scoff in anger, too pissed off to mutter an apology, "Watch where you're going dickhead–"
You were immediately slapped on the face with shock when you're met with the face you haven't seen since years, words were tied to your tounge, and suddenly there was no words to say. The mean words that you had in mind was now completely gone.
Your eyes are wide and filled with betrayal and his are wide and shocked. "Get my ass down or you'll swear to what?" You hear Henry with a little bit of an attitude, but you're too focused on the face that you haven't seen this face since you were 18.
Now you both were 25 and even matured in looks and definitely the way you acted around people.
He stares at you and he was even surprised at how much you've grown into your looks. Your facial structure matured since you were 18 and you became a little taller. Your hair was let down, not like when you used to put into a bun. You've abandoned your usual tracksuits and you were now wearing a suit.
"Hello? Where the hell are you–"
"Im sorry, I'll have to call you back." You mumble into your phone and close the call immediately.
"y/n."
"Niko."
You both say in union.
You hear Niko swallow and slightly tense at your name being spilled from his mouth, as if it was foreign on his tounge.
"How have you been?" You were shocked at how there was so much change in his voice. He can't seem to say anything except this sentence, too lost in how much you've changed and all the memories in the depths of his brain that were locked away we're being unlocked by each second he stared at you.
All those years went by too fast and in this exact moment, you asked yourself how it would've been like for you if this friendship didn't come to an end too soon.
"How have I been?" You scoff in confusion, disgust, and disappointment at the stupid question, shaking your head.
You try to compose yourself and try to hide the pain that twisted in your heart. Even after all these years, deep down you knew you would never be over him.
You sigh at how rude you sounded in the beginning, "Everything's great. It was great seeing you again, but I have somewhere to be." You try to walk past him, begging silently for him to beg you not to leave.
"Hey, hey–" He grips your hands, too scared let go after he's seen you after all those years. Just like you hoped for how this would work, you were still contemplating whether it was worth it even yelling at him or even talking to him. You turn around reluctantly, looking again at those familiar brown eyes.
"I want to talk." He says hesitantly and you scoff.
"We had plenty of years to talk. You didn't. You didn't even try contacting me, Niko. You just completely forgot about—" You didn't know what was the sudden pause, but you couldn't even complete the sentence.
You wanted to cry in his arms and you wanted him to run his fingers across your hair, like he always did before whenever you cried about something.
But, he didn't deserve your yelling.
"I don't see the point in telling you everything, or anything at all because you never cared. Did you?" You say aggressively, your arms crossing.
Niko was tall, but at this moment, he felt like he was the shorter one and you felt like you were taller than him.
"Of course I care. I swear I care. But–" He says immediately without thinking, but you cut him off.
"We were kids. I don't think this conversation will work because clearly you don't know who I am now." He felt his heart break at your statement, and he felt true fear if you actually did change.
He felt hurt that he couldn't see you grow up into the woman you were, or see how your personality evolved over the years.
He felt his heart twist and his stomach turn, realizing that there was no returning back.
"It was good seeing you–" You were cut off when you hear another familiar voice calling from behind.
"I guess you've seen– my other client." Henry pants, he's out of breath. But there was a nervousness that played in his eyes, like he knew he did something wrong.
"You work with Henry?" Niko's eyes are wide, surpised. Henry was a famous producer in the UK, which meant only one thing.
You were successful and Niko wasn't there to see you. And you weren't there either to see him grow like this.
It went both ways.
You and Niko were battling with your eyes, wanting so badly to hold each other with the other's arms and you both knew it. You both knew how much you both missed each other.
You could see a layer of tear on his eyes, but he tried so hard not to let it go. He felt like he was dumb at the moment and also wanted to yell at you for not letting him tell his reason before Henry interrupted.
"Yes I do." You mumble, feeling that all of those years were wasted.
You wanted him to see the struggles you went through and wanted for it to be him that helped you stand up back again, but you did it all by yourself.
But you? You helped him in every way. You were the one who pushed him to do everything, you were the one who encouraged him to start it all.
He didn't deserve having you, did he?
You wanted for this to never happen.
"Told you so, Omilana." You walk past him, and he was so confused with the sentence, and he was left dumbfounded.
This had just proved to you that he has forgotten every memory and every moment you both spent together. He forgot the moment where you promised him you were going to tell him 'I told you so.' He forgot.
And just like that, the void, the emptiness that he felt before seeing you, came back again. He wanted to run after you, apologize, and kiss the shit out of you. Something that he should've done a while ago.
You left for a reason.
Because you knew the older you both got and one of you leaves the earth, you'd always remember the things Niko taught you and he will aswell. Those were just memories. Something that we had in the past and are meant to be forgotten.
But it hurt the both of you for it to end this way.
Tears fell down as you walked off at the memories that came like a storm, wishing your ending included Niko Omilana by your side.
taglist: @bigdikzaddy (if you wanna be included in the taglist just ask !)
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