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nashibirne · 3 years

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Painkiller -4

Here we go again. The date was a disaster and in chapter 4 Henry and Ella deal with their feelings and get some advice, even if they don't want to. I hope you enjoy it - likes, reblogs and comments are much appreciated, so feel free to let me know what you think!

Paring: Henry Cavill x OFC (Ella) Summary: What do you do after a disastrous date? You get unasked advice from your brother and your friends. Warnings: slight angst, that's it Unbeta'ed! English ist not my first language, so sorry in advance for mistakes in grammar or spelling. Credits: The pics for the moodboard are from pintrest, except Jax's pic, that one is from a screenshot from an app (moments - choose your story). If I violate any copyright, please let me know.

Previous parts can be found here: Nashi's Masterlist

Taglist: @hell1129-blog @lunedelorient @inlovewithhisblueeyes @willkatfanfromasia @mis-lil-red @agniavateira @omgkatinka @legendarywizarddetective @summersong69 @taebfada @xxxkatxo (let me know if you want to be added or removed!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night when Henry was back in Kensington, sitting on the couch in his living room, having a glass of whiskey, he couldn't stop his thoughts from running through the night's events again and again. He was disappointed, he was angry, he was sad - he simply felt terrible. Kal was lying beside him, his big head resting on Henry's lap, enjoying a bit of tender love and care.

When his phone beeped, his heart skipped a beat.

Ella?

He took a look at the screen and closed his eyes with a sigh. Charlie. His brother knew Henry had a date tonight and now he was trying to tease him.

"Hey, supes...how's your date going. Already saved the damsel in distress? Holding her in your arms rn?"

Henry considered ignoring the message but he decided to answer anyway.

"Nope. Back in my fortress of solitude. With empty arms."

His phone started ringing only seconds after he'd sent the message.

"Hi Charlie." Henry greeted his brother not too enthusiastically.

"Hey, Hen. What's up? You're already back from your date?"

"Yeah...."

"You don't sound so good. What happened?"

"I fucked it up, Charlie. That's what happened." Henry pinched the spot at the root of his nose with his thumb and middle finger. He felt a bad headache coming. He was going to need a painkiller.

"She turned you down?"

His little brother sounded much too amused for Henry's taste.

"Well, we had kind of a Daenerys-Ser-Jorah-moment..."

"Ouch...she friendzoned you?"

"Yep."

Charlie laughed.

"I can hardly believe it. But good to know even you can't have every woman you want. I mean normally they jump you before you can count to three."

"Oh shut up. That's not funny." Henry snapped, his voice loud and sharp.

"Okay, okay...I'm sorry brother. No need to get mad."

"But I am mad. Mad at myself."

"Why. What did you do?"

"I didn't listen to my intuition." Henry said with a deep sigh of exhaustion and disappointment. "You know when I asked Ella out and she agreed my gut feeling told me to take her to a simple Italian restaurant, nothing trendy, nothing too expensive. Just a normal place for a normal date. She even suggested going out in Uxbridge because she knows some nice restaurants in her neighbourhood. But my ego knew better. It was like...make this date different. Take her to a place ordinary guys don't have access to. Let her see how special you are and what you have to offer...and my intuition was beaten."

"You wanted to show off to her" Charlie stated the problem in one sentence.

"Yeah. I wanted to impress her. Of course I chose the Aston Martin and not the Audi or the Tesla. And I took her to "Gianni's"..."

"Oohh...Fort Knox..."

"Exactly. The food was great, she loved it, but she was intimidated by the atmosphere and the exclusivity. She was tense and felt uncomfortable and our conversation was dragging and uneasy. It didn't help much that I made a fool of myself, trying to make her loosen up. On set the director would have stopped me for overacting. And I don't know what happened when she went to the toilet but when she came back she was pretty jazzed and somehow distressed.

And now she thinks our lives are too different, that she doesn't fit into my world and that we're better off as friends. Oh and she mentioned not being completely over her ex but that was probably an excuse to make me feel better. To put it in a nutshell, I was bragging and it totally backfired"

"But why? Bragging is not much like you."

"Honestly? I don't know. There's just something about her that puts me off. And that's crazy because she is really down-to-earth, humble and nice. I'm sure she's not the kind of woman that's impressed by status symbols, money or fame. I knew that the minute I met her. But I have this irrational need to show her what I've got. Maybe it's because I subconsciously think that all that's left when I show her the real Henry, without all the luxurious and impressive extras, is an ordinary, average, nerdy bore."

"You can hardly call it subconscious when you can name the core problem so accurately." Charlie threw in.

"Shut up, smartass. That's not the point."

"No, it's not. The point is that somewhere underneath all these muscles and this superman aura you're still the insecure teen, who always had the feeling to be not good or cool or attractive enough."

"Oh come on, Doctor Freud. Don't try to analyze me."

"There's not much to analyze, Henry." Charlie sounded serious now. "You have this tendency to feel bad for who you really are. An ordinary guy who likes pc games, books, animals and sports. But that's not nerdy, it's perfectly normal. You're a home loving man in his late thirties who prefers a netflix marathon to a wild night out. That's not boring, it's what millions of people our age do. But it collides with your public image, with your looks and the characters you portray, so you play this role when you date women and they're attracted by the man you pretend to be, by all the glamour, money and VIP stuff and when you can't live up to their expectations when a relationship evolves it doesn't work and they leave or you leave or whatever."

"Are you done with your psychological profile?" Henry was annoyed and Charlie could almost hear him rolling his eyes.

"Not yet. What your little brother is trying to tell you is the following. When you're not showing your true self you attract the kind of women you actually don't really want and who don't really want you. Physically maybe but not for the real thing. So the fact that Ella doesn't want your jet-set self, that she doesn't like all the glitter and gold, shows that she's perfect for you. For the real Henry. Got it?"

"I don't know. Sounds a little complicated to me. But even if you were right. The damage is done. She just wants me as a friend."

"Then be a friend. Spend time with her, talk to her, show her your world outside the biz and when she gets to know you better she'll realize that you're not a poser and maybe there'll be a second chance someday."

"Mmhhh..."

"That's all you have to say?"

"I'll think about it, Charlie."

"Good. Maybe, just for once, you listen to your annoying little brother."

"Yeah...maybe."

*****

Jackson took a big bite of his slice of pizza looking at Ella with a frown. Ella had invited him and Katie for a crisis meeting at her place and they had shown up with lunch exactly after Ella's taste: Pizza and donuts. Ella had put them in the picture about last night and now they were discussing the events.

"But I don't understand why you're not willing to go out with him on another date. Why not give him a second chance?"

"Why would I? This one date was enough to tell that I don't fit into his world."

"You're just scared, he's really 10 inch." Jackson teased with a lewd expression and Katie started to giggle.

Ella made a face at him but she couldn't help but grin. "Why would I be scared? Have you seen your brother naked lately." She asked with raised eyebrows and a smirk.

"Eww...Elsie...gross" Jackson made a puking noise.

"You started it..." She gave him a friendly nudge.

"Guys..." Katie laughed. "Back on topic, okay? I understand Ella, Jax. Maybe his lifestyle really isn't what Ella's looking for in a man."

"You can hardly judge his lifestyle after one date. Maybe he tried to impress her and went a little over the top. And Ella, I'm not saying I know the guy but what I've seen of him on set was all humble, decent and very friendly. No signs of airs and graces, no extravagance.

"Yeah, maybe. But it's not just the car and the restaurant and his VIP friends or his job. I really think it's too early. I'm not ready for something new...after Craig." Ella nibbled a donut, shaking her head before giving Jax a shrug.

"That's bullshit, Elsie, and you know it." Jackson replied, his tone pretty annoyed. "You had zero problems fucking my brother only two months after the break up. And now you're trying to tell me you're not ready to date after one year? He wasn't asking you to marry him. He was asking for a second date. You have to be open minded if you want to move on"

"Oh, stop lecturing me, Jax. That's not what I need right now." Ella got up from her chair with an angry snort. "I need to pee." She left the room and slammed the door behind her.

Jackson took a deep breath and rolled his eyes.

Katie turned to him with a soft smile. "We both know you're right about Craig but don't be so hard on her."

"I'm not hard on her, Katie. She's hard on herself. Why does she make such a fuss about a little swagger? He tried to impress her, so what? Isn't that kind of a compliment that he tried so hard? Truth is...she's scared to be not good enough for him...that's all. Elsie thinks she has to be glamorous and extravagant to fit into his world. She feels not special enough, not beautiful enough, too average or whatever strange fantasies are running around on her mind. She is afraid that he loses interest soon but instead of taking a risk she chickens out and just wants to be friends with him."

"Maybe it's for the best...A bird in the hand...you know. I don't want her to get hurt…"

"No, Katie. You didn't see them at the party. There was this chemistry between them...it was incredible. Like in a movie, you could almost see the sparks and little hearts fly from their eyes. They're meant for each other. As lovers, not as friends." Jackson let out a sigh. He sounded just as frustrated as helpless.

"Yeah...I thought so, when she told me about it. The way she talked about him, with so much enthusiasm, it was remarkable. But Ella doesn't see it that way. Or she doesn't want to." Katie shrugged. "You know how stubborn she is. And how much a cerebral person. Reason tells her that he's out of her league and that his world is too different from hers, from ours. She won't let us tell her otherwise. So just let them be friends and if you're right, if they're made for each other, destiny will find its way."

Katie patted Jackson's knee giving him a comforting smile.

"Yeah. Or maybe she wastes the chance of finding the love of her life and ends up on her own..."

"That's not our responsibility, Jax."

"What's not your responsibility?" Ella asked, entering the room, obviously in a better mood again. It was typical for her. Close to throwing a tantrum the one minute and back to cool, calm and collected the other. Her temper was unpredictable sometimes.

"Your happiness." Jackson replied, giving her an apologetic smile. "I didn't mean to lecture you, Elsie. I'm just trying to help."

"I know, doofus. And I didn't mean to snap. It's just...let me handle this my way, okay?"

"Okay, at your own risk." Jackson got up and hugged her.

"At my own risk." Ella mumbled into his chest.

~~~~~

tbc

#henry cavill #henry cavill fanfiction #cavillry #henry cavill fandom #henry cavill x ofc #friends to lovers

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