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theycallmebeccawrites · 5 years

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Chris & Ellie Series: Episode 18

Hey loves! I hope you all had a nice weekend (I know some of you had an amazing weekend because you got to meet Chris), I spent the weekend with my aunt and uncle who are visiting from Australia. And my whole family is heading to the coast on Tuesday. So I’m super excited for that.

I went back and forth on when to post this chapter and I decided to just post it tonight. I would say more but SPOILERS, so I’ll wait and leave a post end-of-episode note.

Quick shout out to @heather-lynn @badassbaker @alievans007 and @nomadicpixel for helping me with this episode.

♥Becca♥

Pairing: Chris Evans x Ellie Spencer (OFC)

Rating: R-ish

Warnings: undescriptive sex, maybe some language

Episode Summary: This episode takes place in early April 2014 and is about Chris and Ellie's time together before he goes to film Avengers 2.

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

This episode can also be read on AO3.

The Chris and Ellie series is primarily chronological. It begins with a flash forward to 2016 and has a few other scenes in the future. However, the majority of their story is told in chronological order starting in 2013 and going through 2017. Each episode starts with a date to help you place it within the story.

The Chris & Ellie Series Masterlist | Chris & Ellie Masterlist

Episode 17

Episode 18: Decisions

Early April 2014

It was still dark outside when Chris got out of the hired car and looked up at his house. He'd spent the last two weeks traveling from one side of the world to the other and back. He was beyond exhausted.

"Here you go, Mr. Evans," the driver said, setting Chris's suitcase at his feet. "Have a good day."

His feet felt like lead as he made his way into the house and he paused in the entryway to breathe in the familiar scent. He couldn't put a finger on what exactly it smelled like, but there was a fruity note that hadn't been there before Ellie had moved in and it balanced everything else and made it homier. Just like the woman herself. Before Ellie, this had just been his house in Los Angeles and home had been in Boston, but every day, this place seemed a little more like home to him.

With no energy to carry his suitcase upstairs, Chris left it out at the bottom of the stairs before dragging himself up to his room. Normally, he showered after a flight before going to sleep, but he was too tired to even do that.

The desire to sleep comfortably forced him to take the additional time needed to strip down to his boxer briefs before he moved to the bed. Pulling back the covers, he slipped into bed, knowing full well that he'd have to wash them later that day if he had any hope of enticing Ellie into bed with him that night. His last thought as his head hit the pillow was that he was happy to be home with Ellie.

-----

The morning started normally for Ellie as she and Daisy left the guesthouse and came to the big house for breakfast. It wasn't until they were heading upstairs to the office, a bit later, that Ellie saw Chris's suitcase at the bottom of the stairs. She'd known he was coming home today, but she hadn't known what time.

She was both excited and nervous that he was home. Excited, because, obviously, she liked him and enjoyed spending time with him. Nervous, because she remembered how distant he'd been after getting back from his two weeks of isolation and how she'd felt lonely and hurt because of it. She hadn't expected Chris to text her during his two week escape from reality and he hadn't texted her while he'd been on the press tour, either. But he had finally texted her yesterday to let her know he would be home today. Trying to be optimistic about the situation, she took that text as a sign that things would be better than last time.

Glancing at the suitcase, Ellie knew she wouldn't be able to carry her stuff upstairs and it at the same time. Taking two trips, she carried her stuff up to the office and turned on her laptop before she returned for the suitcase. She hauled it up the stairs and deposited it in front of the laundry room door to make it easier for him to do a wash later.

Hearing a scratching noise, Ellie turned and saw Daisy sitting in front of Chris's closed bedroom door, whimpering for Chris to let her in. Shaking her head, Ellie scooped the pooch up and gave her a kiss on the nose before carrying her dog into the office and closing the door.

"He's sleeping," she told the dog as she set her down. "He'll come find us when he wakes up." Or so she hoped.

While Daisy stared at yet another closed door keeping her away from one of her humans, Ellie checked her email, responding to a couple inquiries from prospective writers and deleting junk mail.

Before diving into her latest project, Ellie left the office to use the bathroom. On her way back, however, curiosity got the better of her and she quietly opened the door to the master bedroom. The room was dark, thanks to black-out curtains, but she could just make out the Chris sized lump in the bed. His soft snores made her smile and made it that much harder for her to leave the room and get back to work, but she managed.

Daisy was lying on her dog bed under the desk when Ellie returned to the office and didn't even lift her head to see who had come in, as if she was giving her owner the cold shoulder. Shaking her head, Ellie sat down at the desk and soon lost herself in her work.

-----

Chris had no idea what time it was when he woke up, but he knew he had to get up or risk dealing with jetlag for even longer. He laid in bed for a few minutes, replying to texts he'd received while sleeping before he forced himself to get up. Cringing at the smell of himself, he made his way to the bathroom to shower.

When he exited twenty minutes later, he felt a little less zombie like, but not much. He pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt before he stripped the bed and exited the bedroom. He nearly ran into his suitcase, not expecting it to be upstairs yet, on his way into the laundry room. After several choice cuss words, he carried the sheets into the room and dropped them into the washing machine and added soap before hitting start. Then hauled his suitcase into the room and sorted through it, tossing his dirty clothes onto the floor before dragging what remained into his bedroom to deal with later.

As he stepped into the hallway, he glanced at the closed office door, knowing that Ellie would be in there hard at work. He'd decided, on one of his many flights, that since he was only home for two weeks before he jetted off again, he would spend as much time with her as possible and worry about the future later. It was a half-assed attempt to put his mind at ease about things, but it had worked.

His stomach growled then, reminding him that it had been hours since he'd last eaten. So, even though he really wanted to see Ellie, he went downstairs to find something to eat.

-----

Ellie had been working for a few hours and was so lost in her work that she didn't hear the door to the office open. It wasn't until she heard a throat clear that she looked up to find Chris peeking into the room. She felt an excited rush through her body at the sight of him and relief that he had sought her out so quickly.

She started to smile but then it faltered as she really took in his appearance. He was paler than normal, his eyes were baggy and there was a general air of exhaustion that radiated from him. "You look like shit," she remarked.

Whatever he'd been expecting her to say, that hadn't been it and it took him a second before he barked out a laugh. "Hello to you, too," he muttered, his voice still thick with sleep and maybe overuse.

The sound of his voice brought Daisy to her feet and the dog wagged her way towards him. "Hello, Daisy girl," he said as he lowered himself to the floor to greet her. "At least someone is happy to see me."

"For the record, I didn't say I wasn't happy you're home," Ellie stated as she put her pen down. "Because I'm happy you're home, too. But don't expect me to go around licking your face or begging you for tummy rubs."

"Is that a challenge?" Chris asked, glancing up at her with a quirked brow as he rubbed Daisy's belly. "It sounds like a challenge."

"It's not a challenge," Ellie assured him as she shook her head nevertheless amused by his antics. God she had missed him. "How was your flight?"

"All of them were too long," Chris replied as he stood up. "I'm just happy to be in one place for a couple weeks." He walked around the desk and peered over her shoulder. "Working?"

"Yup, gotta be done by the end of this week," Ellie told him with a stress-filled sigh. "And my sister Sydney is in town with her family, which just adds to my time pressure because I promised to have dinner with them tomorrow night and go to Disneyland with them on Friday."

"Where are you guys going for dinner tomorrow?" Chris asked, casually.

"We hadn't decided yet," Ellie replied, eyeing him questioningly as she picked up on his tone. "They're staying at one of the Disney hotels so they wanted to eat somewhere else. Why, did you have a suggestion?"

"We could have them over for dinner," he suggested with a shrug. "And then I could meet them. After all, I've met your other sisters and you've met all of my siblings. We could order in if you're too busy to cook. Or I could grill burgers or something."

"I'll send Syd a text," Ellie told him with a smile as her worries about the next two weeks seemed to vanish thanks to a single conversation. "I'm sure she'll say yes. She's curious about you, too."

Chris didn't bother to contradict her assumption that he was curious about meeting her sister, because he was, and instead said, "Let me know if they're coming and I'll handle dinner so you can keep working." He hesitated for a second before he leaned down and kissed her lips briefly. He wanted to do more with her, but he knew she had a lot on her plate and he didn't want to get in the way of that. Straightening, he gave her a smile before he left the room, closing the door behind him.

-----

The next afternoon, Chris questioned his sanity for at least the fifth time that day as he looked at the groceries that he had picked up for dinner that night. Ellie's sister had accepted his invitation and had given her opinion that hot dogs and hamburgers would be the best given her kids' picky eating tendencies. Ellie had helped him make a grocery list last night after dinner and then had turned him loose to get the groceries and take care of the meal since he had offered to do it.

He had tried to convince her to sleep with him last night, but she'd insisted that he needed a good night's sleep before he would be any use to her. He knew she'd been joking, but damn if she hadn't been right. He'd fallen asleep before nine last night and had woken up at nine that morning, feeling more human than he had in days. By the time he'd gotten out of the shower, he'd felt like a new man and not a sleep deprived humanoid.

He couldn't help but appreciate the fact that Ellie had recognized what he had needed, even when he couldn't. In the past, he'd been in relationships where both his partner and himself, admittedly, had been looking out for themselves only. It was a refreshing change of pace, especially coming off the global promotional tour.

In some ways, promotional tours, especially those for Marvel movies, were the hardest part of the job for him. Sure, he got to interact with his friends, many of whom were like family by now, but then there were hours upon hours of interviews in the same room and usually with the same questions; many of which were ones he was contractually unable to answer. Not to mention that those hotel rooms were sometimes the only places he saw in some of the countries whose stamps he had in his passport.

Then there were the long flights and the endless nights when sleep just wouldn't come. They both left a lot of time for thinking and, more often than not, overthinking about other aspects of one's life. Case in point, Chris had spent many a night going over every part of his and Ellie's relationship. He liked her, he liked her a lot, but was that enough? Was he enough for her? He knew she would say he was enough, but would that just be her telling him what she knew he wanted to hear? Logically, he knew that was a definite no, especially not after the way she had greeted him yesterday; she wasn't one to be dishonest with herself or someone else. Then again, if she didn't know how she truly felt.

Chris shook his head, ridding himself of the troubling thoughts that had plagued him for weeks. It was in the moments where his stress levels were high that his anxiety caught up with him the most. But he could and would fight them down. He put the groceries into the fridge and then went out to the garage where he had his exercise equipment. He preferred to work out alone and in the privacy of his own home, especially when he was doing two or three workouts a day to prepare for Captain America. He put on his headphones and stretched before he got started on his midday workout routine.

-----

Ellie's stomach was full of butterflies as she got dressed for dinner with her sister, Garrett and the kids. When Izzy and Riley had met Chris, he'd just been her friend, but now he was the guy she was seeing, which made for a completely different set of circumstances with introducing him to her older sister and Garrett.

After opting for a casual jeans and t-shirt look, Ellie made her way up to the big house and found Chris and Scott in the kitchen working on dinner.

"It smells great in here," she complimented them. "Are you having dinner with us, Scott?"

"Of course, I'm supposed to give Izzy a full report on the grilling that Chris gets from Garrett," Scott replied with a grin that turned into a grunt as his brother elbowed him. "I mean, I'm here to help balance things out, if needed."

"The only grilling will be on the barbeque so there will be no need for anyone to balance anything out," Ellie told him. Yes, Garrett had been like an older brother to her since she had been 14, but he hadn't grilled Eric the first time Izzy had brought him around, so why would he grill Chris? "We're going to have a nice dinner and everything will go great."

And so it did. Her sister and family arrived on time and Ellie made introductions. The kids, Noah (6) and Chloe (4), fell in love with Daisy and spent the whole evening wanting to play with her. Ellie had panicked for a few minutes at the beginning, when Sydney had asked to see the guesthouse; but when they'd gotten back, they'd found Chris, Scott and Garrett laughing and telling jokes like old friends. Even her sister had warmed up to the Evans brothers, proving once again that those two could charm anyone they wanted to.

After her sister and her family left and the kitchen was clean, Ellie took Chris by the hand and led him up to his bedroom. Because of his help yesterday and today, she had gotten her edits done and all she had to do tomorrow, before meeting her sister's family at the theme park, was to make some final notes for the author and drop it off at the post office.

To demonstrate just how thankful she was for Chris's help, she took him into the shower and gave him a blow job that left him unable to speak for the remainder of their time in the bathroom. By the time they made it to his bed, he was more than recovered enough to return the favor and then some. When it was all said and done, they were both left sweaty, breathless and exhausted from their efforts. And very, very happy.

The next day found Ellie in Disneyland with her sister's family. Never one to turn down a day at Disney when he had nothing better to do, Scott had invited himself along and was currently sharing his vast knowledge of Disneyland secrets with Noah and Chloe. With Scott happy playing tour guide to the kids, Ellie had encouraged Sydney and Garrett to go off and experience Disneyland by themselves. They deserved a break and, if it meant her sister couldn't ask her questions about Chris, well then, it was a win for both of them.

By the time they met up with Sydney and Garrett for dinner, Ellie was exhausted. She'd had a blast with her niece and nephew and they'd ridden nearly every ride both kids were tall enough for at least once. She and Chloe had done some sightseeing on their own as well while Scott took Noah on a couple rides for older kids. Compared to some of the other kids they had seen in the park, Noah and Chloe had been remarkably well-behaved and extremely polite. It had made Ellie proud to be their auntie.

After dinner with them, Ellie and her sister made plans to have dinner alone together the next night. Then Ellie and Scott left the park and went home while her sister's family returned to their hotel.

Upon their arrival home, Chris had taken one look at Ellie, looking adorable with her Minnie Mouse ears but showing the exhaustion of a long day, and laughed when she told him she was up for anything that night. Instead, he'd sent her upstairs to take a bath and had annoyingly been correct, she discovered, when she'd woken up in his bed the next morning still wearing the robe she'd put on after getting out of the bathtub.

With her shift at the bookstore scheduled to end thirty minutes before her dinner plans with her sister, Ellie put a little extra time into her appearance that morning and asked Scott to drive her to the bookstore so she wouldn't have to leave her car there overnight since she and Sydney would more than likely be drinking. Thanks to an accident that had tied traffic up, she was nearly twenty minutes late for her shift and things hadn't gotten any better as the day wore on.

By the time she'd walked the two blocks to the restaurant that she and Sydney were having dinner at, Ellie was more than ready for a drink. She found Sydney already at a table and nearly wept when she saw that Sydney had already ordered them margaritas.

"You sounded like you'd had a rough day," Sydney said, gesturing towards the drinks. "Dinner is on me, by the way."

"Bless you, you're a saint," Ellie replied as she took a sip of the icy drink. She closed her eyes, savoring the tropical taste of the drink. Then cringed as the brain freeze hit.

"You always drink too much too fast," Sydney said with a shake of her head.

"I forget about the brain freezes," Ellie muttered once the tension had let up.

The waiter appeared then and Ellie scrambled to choose an entree while her sister placed a complicated order substituting just about every ingredient for something else. By the time Sydney finished ordering, Ellie had chosen a chicken bacon ranch sandwich with a side of fries.

The sisters chatted as they waited for their food, mostly about Noah and Chloe, but about other topics as well. Their conversation waned a bit while they ate, but picked back up as they neared completion. It was only as Ellie was waiting for Sydney to finish eating that her sister got to the apparent point of her invitation to dinner.

"Garrett and I like Chris," she started Ellie and Ellie felt the hairs on her arms stand up. "But we don't like your situation. You living in his house and working for him."

"I work for his mom," Ellie replied in an automatically defensive manner. She wasn't sure where Sydney was headed with this conversation, but she didn't have a good feeling about it. "I don't work for him. There is a difference."

"Either way, we don't like it that you're living with him and dependent on him," Sydney said in her 'older sister knows best' tone that had irritated Ellie to no end as a kid. "We want to give you money so you can move out and find your own place to live."

Ellie's mouth dropped open in shock at her sister's words and she found herself unable to come up with the words to respond. Sydney didn't seem to notice as she continued to eat her Greek salad as if she hadn't just stuck her nose where it didn't belong. The longer her sister chewed each bite, the more Ellie felt the anger growing within her

"I don't need your money," Ellie said, finally to speak, surprised at how calm her voice sounded even to her own ears. "And I don't want it either."

"Ellie, be rational." Sydney stated. "If you and Chris break up -"

"If we break up then I'll figure something out," Ellie snapped in response. "Just because you met Garrett at age 15 and have had a charmed, happily ever after, doesn't mean the way you fell in love is the only way to fall in love."

"Oh god, Ellie, don't tell me you've fallen in love with him," her sister sighed. "Honestly, if I had realized -"

"It's none of your business if I have or haven't!" Ellie exclaimed as she stood up abruptly. "It's my life, Sydney, and I can live it however the hell I want to." She pulled a ten dollar bill from her purse and threw it onto the table. "Thank you for dinner, but I need to leave before I say something I can't take back."

-----

Chris could feel the anger radiating off of Ellie as soon she came into the house. He and Daisy had been lounging in the living room when Ellie had stormed into the house and slammed the door behind her. Daisy let out a timid bark of hello, but Ellie either didn't hear her or didn't care as she marched down the hall towards the kitchen.

Getting off the couch, Chris followed her into the kitchen and found her pouring herself a large glass of wine. "Didn't get enough to drink at dinner?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Busybody older sisters ruin margaritas," Ellie replied as she picked up the wine glass. She tipped her glass towards him in a solo cheers before taking a long sip.

"Ok, slow down there," Chris said, reaching for the wine glass as Ellie lowered it, hoping to keep her from chugging the whole thing. "Tell me what happened."

As Ellie relayed the conversation she'd had with her sister, Chris found his eyes traveling to the cabinet where he kept the liquor. Wine might do enough for Ellie, but it would take a lot of beer to get himself properly drunk to forget the offer her sister had made to her. A shot or two of something though would be quicker, though. He had liked Sydney and her husband Garrett and he thought they'd liked him, too. Yeah, Garrett had asked him what his intentions towards Ellie were, but he had seemed to accept Chris's answer that he only wanted what was best for Ellie and he had no intention of hurting her.

"Can you believe the nerve of her?" Ellie ranted as she paced the kitchen with her wine glass in hand. "And I can't believe she included Garrett in this. I know damn well he had no part in it. This has Sydney written all over it."

Knowing she needed to vent, Chris let her and he found his own mind wondering. If Ellie's sister was uncomfortable with their living situation, how would his mom feel about it? He was certain that she and Tara had compared notes by now, but he also knew that his best friend wouldn't confirm to his mom that he and Ellie were seeing each other without his permission. Likewise, his mom wouldn't ask unless he mentioned something to her about it. And if he did, would she want Ellie to move out, too? Knowing his mom, she probably would, but he knew she wouldn't say anything unless she was asked for an opinion.

He knew Ellie herself had had similar concerns last fall, but she had moved past them. Or had at least decided they weren't a significant reason to keep them from seeing each other. That was all that mattered right? This relationship was between the two of them and as long as they were happy with the way things were, that was all that mattered.

Or so he told himself.

Shaking off his own thoughts, he saw Ellie taking the wine bottle out of the fridge to refill her glass. He wasn't sure how much she'd had to drink at the restaurant, but he knew that getting drunk wouldn't put her mind at ease enough to sleep. Stepping forward, he took the wine bottle from her and bit back a smile when she complained.

"Do you trust me?" he asked her.

"Of course," Ellie replied as she eyed the bottle. "Maybe not right this second, though."

"Getting drunk won't help you tonight," he told her. "But I know what will."

"What?" she asked, curiosity peaked.

"Go take a shower, I'll be up in a minute," he told her.

Ellie studied him for a moment before she obeyed and went upstairs to take a shower. Even with her brain a little fuzzy from the alcohol she had consumed, she knew he was right that getting drunk wouldn't solve her problems. If anything, it would make it all worse in the morning.

When she exited the bathroom some twenty minutes later, he was sitting on the bed wearing a towel, a sign that he had taken a shower, too. Wearing only a towel herself, she sat down beside him.

He could still feel the anger radiating from her, it was less than when she'd first gotten home, but he knew she wouldn't be able to sleep with her mind whirling at top speed over the situation. He'd considered taking her out to the garage to use a punching bag, but she needed her hands for all of her jobs and he couldn't risk her breaking something.

With the punching bag out, the next thing that came to Chris's mind was helping her work things out using sex. He had a feeling that if she could shut her brain off and listen to her body that she would be able to break free of the anger. It was a way he had worked things out in the past, but he wasn't sure if she ever had.

"Do you trust me?" he asked her, repeating the question he'd asked her down stairs.

"Yes, of course," Ellie replied.

"Let me help you relax tonight," he said as he stood up. He undid his towel and let it fall to the floor before he got back onto the bed. It took her a minute to follow his lead, but when she joined him, he could see that she was with him completely.

As they made out and touched each other, Chris knew he had to make his move to encourage her to let loose. Taking a chance, he drew his hand back and slapped her ass hard. She jerked back in surprise, but he caught the spark in her eyes as desire replaced the shock.

What followed was the most intense sex they'd had together. It was raw and rough and she'd taken complete control of the situation. She'd paid a significant amount of attention to his body, giving him an amazing blow job, but also biting him in a couple places that he was certain would leave a mark.

When they'd finally joined together, she had been on top and she'd ridden him hard. But eventually, she'd begged him to fuck her into the mattress and he'd done so. It had been the early hours of the morning before they'd finally passed out from sheer exhaustion.

Ellie slept peacefully; her body relaxed. Chris, however, slept fitfully. His attempt to help Ellie had backfired on him, all the stress that had left her body seemed to have invaded his and he was plagued with bad dreams.

-----

Something had shifted the night of her argument with Sydney and not with her sister, but with Chris. Ellie knew that eventually, she and Sydney would talk things out; Izzy would force them to once she found out what was going on. Chris, though, had distanced himself from her in the days following the argument.

He'd thrown himself into his workouts and his boring protein meals in preparation for the movie. He was so ultra-focused that he moved around the house as if in a fog and only surfaced every now and then. When he would, he would search her out and things would be ok for a while, before he'd get lost in his head again.

With Scott away with friends so she and Chris could have the house to themselves for the majority of his last week in town, Ellie found herself feeling lonelier than she did when she was there by herself. A part of her wanted to escape to the guesthouse when Chris went into one of his moods, but she couldn't do that to him. Especially when he seemed to become himself around bedtime. They hadn't had sex since the night of her fight with her sister, but he held her close at night which made the days easier to manage.

With their days together winding down, Ellie planned a special dinner date for them a couple days before he was scheduled to fly out to Georgia. She'd told him about her plans a couple days in advance, in hopes that he'd be able to come out of his fog to enjoy the evening with her. And he had. He had even humored her request to dress nicely.

Keeping his diet in mind, she made lemon chicken with a salad of fresh greens. Then, just in case he decided he wanted dessert, she'd made chocolate brownies, but had hidden them away as to not tempt him.

He arrived in the kitchen, dressed in black slacks and a dark blue button down shirt, and holding a bouquet of flowers, just as she came in from putting dinner on the dining room table.

"These are for you," he said, holding them out to her. "I know they can't make up for how busy I've been, but I wanted to get you something."

"It's ok," she assured him as she took the flowers. "You're here now. That's the important part."

After putting the flowers in water, she put them on the dining room table for them to enjoy while they ate. He raved over the chicken, joking about how he'd forgotten that chicken could taste so good. Conversation flowed easily as they ate and then he helped her clean up the kitchen before convincing her to tell him where the dessert was.

They laughed as they ate brownies and it was like everything was back to normal. Especially when, instead of telling her she had chocolate on her lips, he leaned in and kissed her, cleaning the chocolate off in the process. One thing led to another and soon the skirt of her dress was up around her waist and his hand was in her panties. She panted in his ear as she came and he kissed her hard on the mouth.

He sent her upstairs while he checked the locks and made sure the house was secure. Then he followed her up to the bedroom, where he found her naked and waiting for him. He quickly discarded his clothes and joined her, claiming her body once again as his own. Their coupling was frenzied, but in a hurried, gotta have you now way; it was nothing like the last time they'd had sex.

The second round had been farther still from the intense, rough sex, now a week previous. Ellie had been hot that night, telling him what to do and biting him, but he preferred the softer side of her. The side of her that made him want to cling on tightly and never let her go. The side that spoke to his soul and promised that everything would be ok as she climaxed in his arms.

-----

"I can't believe we're about to do this," Ellie said excitedly as they stood in an obnoxious holding room. She brought her left hand up to brush hair out of her face and that's when he saw the gaudy, Saturn-sized diamond ring on her left hand. "Getting married in Vegas seems absolutely insane. But exciting."

"Mom is going to kill you," his brother's voice said from somewhere behind him.

"She loves Ellie," Chris replied, glancing back at his brother. When he turned back to look at Ellie, she had changed into a white dress version of Elvis's iconic white jumpsuit, which the Elvis impersonator who was officiating the wedding was wearing.

There were some terrible Elvis-related puns, but that didn't matter, because he was marrying Ellie. It didn't matter that they'd been apart longer than they'd been together during the year they'd known each other. At least not to Chris. And Elvis didn't seem to care either way as long as their credit card hadn't been denied (it hadn't).

The ceremony went quickly and soon Chris was leaning in to kiss his bride. When they parted, they were no longer in the quickie wedding chapel, but in a bathroom. Ellie's eyes were full of happy tears and there was a positive pregnancy test on the counter. They were going to be parents.

He heard her say his name and when he turned to look at her, her belly was showing the advanced stages of pregnancy. Damn that had gone by fast.

He blinked and became aware of her screaming in agony. Blaming him for doing this to her and he knew they were in the delivery room in the midst of her delivery. But where had the time gone?

A baby's wail caught his ear, but even he knew it wasn't that of a newborn. It was a different kind of cry. The type of a cry that a parent should know what to do with, but he had no clue.

"Chris, please, just pick up the baby for five minutes, that's all I ask," Ellie's exhausted voice said from somewhere in the fog that was suddenly around him.

He soon found himself standing in the doorway of his bedroom, a suitcase by his feet. The room looked exactly as it had since he'd moved in, which he found out because Ellie tended to sprinkle her joy around the house. He'd found it annoying at first, but it had made her happy so he'd let it go. But there was nothing in the room that said Ellie to him.

"Damnit, Chris, please!" she exclaimed.

Spotting the portable crib, Chris crossed the room and picked up the baby. He studied the baby's face, trying to figure out if it was a boy or girl, but he couldn't tell and the white onesie didn't give him any hints. The child obviously didn't like him, however, because they started crying harder once they were in his arms.

Ellie let out an exasperated sigh and appeared at his side, taking the baby from him. "Shh," she said to the baby, cuddling him or her to her chest.

"Guess I should work on my baby soothing skills," Chris remarked.

"That would require you to be here more than a weekend a month," Ellie said in a tone that made it clear that they'd had this conversation before.

Turning to look at her, Chris found his eyes pulled to a large suitcase on the bed. A chill raced up his spine and he glanced back at the suitcase by the door. "Are we going somewhere?" he asked, even though his gut told him he wasn't the one leaving.

Ellie sighed and seemed to steady herself before she turned to look at him. "I can't do this anymore, Chris. You're never home. I can't do this by myself. My parents have offered to take us in until I figure something out."

"Don't do this," he begged, his voice just above a whisper. "Please don't leave me."

"You leave me, us, all the time," she replied. Her voice held no emotion and yet it cut deep into his heart. "Doesn't feel great, does it?"

"I'll quit acting! I'll quit everything, just don't leave me," he cried out in desperation as he watched her walk towards the door with a suitcase in her hand and a baby's car seat in the other.

"That's not the answer and you know it," she replied. "I'm doing this for both of us, Chris. Maybe someday you'll have time for me, for your family, but we both know it isn't right now. You're too busy to be a husband and a father. I should have listened to my sister and moved out before you started playing house."

As the door in his dream closed, Chris woke with a start. Feeling tears on his cheeks, he wiped them away and then glanced next to him to make sure Ellie was still in bed next to him. She was and was seemingly undisturbed by his dreams.

Climbing out of bed, Chris made his way to the bathroom and splashed his face with water. He'd been having these dreams for a week now, each one becoming worse than the night before. He couldn't recall all of the dream, but her words 'I should have listened to my sister' echoed through his mind. He shook his head, attempting to get them to go away, but that only made it worse as other phrases from the dream joined them: 'You're never home' and 'Maybe someday you'll have time for me.'

Still haunted by the dream, Chris left the bathroom and went into the walk-in closet. He knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep with the dream still fresh in his mind, but if he could distract himself for a bit, maybe that would help. After pulling on a pair of shorts, he grabbed his suitcase off of the shelf and he started to pack what he'd need while he was gone filming the second Avengers movie. He wasn't scheduled to leave for another couple of days, but there was no time like the present to pack.

Knowing that he would spend most of his time on set, he didn't pay much attention to what he threw into the suitcase. The clothes he packed would be for everyday; if a nice outfit was needed for an event, he knew Marvel would send the information to his stylist who would then send him an outfit to wear. He kept adding clothes until his suitcase was nearly overflowing and then he zipped it closed.

Standing in the middle of his closet at three in the morning, Chris should have felt tired or at least calmed from the activity. Instead, the voices in his head were still harassing him, but instead of just being Ellie's voice, they were now other voices that he knew and trusted. All saying virtually the same thing: you don't have the time to be the man she deserves.

With panic expanding in his chest, Chris pulled on a t-shirt and a hoodie then shoved his feet into a pair of sneakers. He couldn't stay in the house a moment longer; he needed to leave and think. Grabbing his suitcase, he quietly left the closet, pausing only to grab his cellphone, before heading towards the door.

He avoided looking at the bed, because he knew that if he did, he'd lose the courage to do what he had to do. He'd promised Ellie that her job would never be in jeopardy regardless of what happened between them and he intended to keep that promise. He knew now that he couldn't be the man she needed him to be and it was better to cut those ties now before their feelings became too strong.

"I'm sorry," he whispered before he left.

Episode 19

Author’s note: Before y’all come after me with the pitchforks and torches, I just want to remind you that this episode takes place two years BEFORE the first episode in which Chris and Ellie are engaged. So have no fear, they do end up together. This is just a little stumbling block they have to get past. As I told one of my friends "it can't be all World Series and Super Bowl wins" for them.

Want to find me off tumblr? I'm @beccatheycallme on twitter. I also post my stories on AO3.

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#chris evans #chris evans fanfic #chris and ellie series #beccaheartschrisevans #theycallmebecca #chris and ellie #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x ofc #chris evans fan fiction #chris evas x original character #friends to lovers

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writerunsolved · 5 years

Text

The Drunken Mistake - Ch. 8

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: F/M

Fandom: Real Person Fiction

Relationship: Tom Hiddleston/Reader

Genres: Fluff and Humor

Language: English

Chapters: 8/?

Summary: You're a young up-and-coming singer based in London who has just released her first album.

After a wild night at the VMAs and some heavy partying and drinking at the afterparty, you write and publish a drunken tweet about a certain celebrity and one of their friends. You only realise what you've done the next day when a slew of texts and calls wakes you up to a dreadful but expected hangover. You immediately delete the tweet, but you're left to deal with the consequences. A public apology would probably be enough to make everything go away if you hadn't been invited to a movie premiere where said celebrity is most certainly going to be.

You decide that the best course of action will be to try and avoid them, but your plans almost never go the way you want them to.

Author’s Note: Just a reminder that, because of Tumblr’s block of links - even internal ones - I can’t link to my previous and next chapters anymore. So be extra sure not to miss any updates by following this blog or subscribing to this fic on AO3 (link in the bio!).

Once again, your reblogs are an essential instrument for your favourite creators’ works to get around and reach a wider audience!

This one took a while to get fished out of whatever place it is I get my muse, but it did come out in the end. Fun fact: with this chapter we've officially surpassed the length of Animal Farm by George Orwell and we're a few words away from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl!

Thank you for your patience, and I hope you enjoy!

Previous chapters can be found on this blog.

Chapter Eight - Whispered Words And Jumping Sparks

You spent the next couple of days alternatively nursing your sister’s broken heart, and trying - without much success - to understand what happened. Amelia, for her own part, couldn’t do much more than cry and eat ice cream. Ben and she hadn’t been together long, but the relationship had seemed serious enough that you could perfectly understand your sister’s sorrow. In the last period, they’d even been considering getting a house together, which was one of the reasons you were struggling to guess what could have been grave enough to end the relationship.

You didn’t press the issue, Amelia seemed far from keen on sharing the details, so you just made sure he hadn’t laid a hand on her and that she was settled in as comfortably as you could make her. To you, Ben didn’t seem that kind of man, and it luckily turned out he wasn’t, but you could never be too careful.

From the little information you’d managed to gather, Amelia had gone home after work on Friday and she’d had some kind of argument with Ben - about what you didn’t know - after which she’d hastily decided to pack a few clothes and move to your house until she could be sure Ben wouldn’t go to hers again. However, Ben had easily guessed where he would be able to find her and, by Sunday morning, he’d come knocking at your door.

You were still completely clueless about the reason for their falling out when Ben profusely apologised to Amelia, saying that he was wrong and that he had made a huge mistake by hurting her and making her believe he didn’t love her anymore. He insisted that he’d been stupid, acting like a scared child and that he wanted to work hard so that she could forgive him. For her part, Amelia had made him promise that he would talk about his problems next time so that they could solve them together, and had accepted to let him accompany her home. She’d quickly gathered the few things she’d brought and reassured you that she was fine, with the promise to let you know when she got home.

You were briefly tempted to pull Ben aside before they left to ensure that he wouldn’t hurt your sister again, but he turned to you before you had a chance to do so and said with a regretful expression on his face, “I’m sorry,” so you decided to drop it and let them go on their way.

You closed the door behind them and let out a sigh of relief. Now that you were alone, you felt like you’d been keeping your breath for the whole time Amelia had been there. Seeing your usually cheerful sister in such pain had made you restless, and hidden worry had been quietly eating at you for the whole time.

You looked around at the empty house and wondered what to do. Amelia had completely disrupted any plans you might have made for the weekend - not that you’d had any in the first place - and with Monday off too, you found yourself at a complete loss for how to fill your free time. You resolved to make some comfort food after the crisis and to text Tom to let him know what had happened. You’d completely neglected your usual conversation in favour of assisting your sister, but he’d been worried too when you’d left the café and it only seemed right to make him privy to what was going on.

You entered the kitchen and started rummaging through your fridge and cabinet, determined to make a bowl of hot soup. The weather had finally turned for the worst the previous day, and an icy rain had been tapping incessantly at the windows of your apartment since the night. You managed to find some fresh pumpkin that you’d picked up during the week, so you took it out and gathered the ingredients to make pumpkin soup, leaving them on the kitchen island while you texted Tom before starting on the food preparations.

“Hey,” you wrote, “I’m sorry I didn’t text sooner, my sister just left and I’ve been away from my phone to be with her.”

You put your phone aside and started cutting and peeling the pumpkin. A few minutes later, you received an answer.

“Hi, I’m so glad to hear from you,” he replied, “Is everything okay? How is your sister?”

“She’s better now, she and her boyfriend had an argument and she crashed at mine.” You distractedly texted back, while continuing to work on your food. The exchange went back and forth like that for a while.

“I’m very sorry to hear that, is she going to be okay?”

“Well, the thing is,” you wrote, “He actually came and apologised and I guess they’re back together now?”

“That sure is a rollercoaster… a short one,” he joked, “But a rollercoaster nonetheless.”

You couldn’t help smiling down at your phone, grateful for the attempt to cheer you up. “Haha I know, right? But I’m relieved they sorted things out...” You went back to the food briefly, then sent more, “Anyway, how’s your weekend going?”

“Pretty uneventful,” he replied, “I met my younger sister for breakfast in the morning, but I don’t have plans for the rest of the day. What about you?”

“My sister was kind of unexpected, but aside from that, I didn’t really have anything planned to start with. And I have tomorrow off too, so that’s going to be a lot of free time with nothing to do.”

“Oh, wow! Long weekend? Is anything happening tomorrow?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that. Nina’s (my manager) parents are visiting from France and she’s giving me a day off too. I’m actually meeting them for dinner tomorrow.”

“That sounds nice,” he wrote back. You kept stirring the quickly-cooking pumpkin and after a few seconds, he wrote again, “So no plans at all for tonight?”

“Nope, nada, zilch.”

“Would you like to go to dinner? My treat.”

Your heart missed a beat or two, his invite both unexpected and exciting. You took a deep breath and turned off the heat, gathering your composure. Then you finally texted back, “I’d like that :) but if I remember correctly, it’s my turn to pay.”

You grabbed a bowl from the cabinet above the sink and made to pour the creamy liquid into it. When your phone vibrated again, you looked away from your hands for just a second, trying to peer at the notification preview and in doing so, spilt some of the bright orange soup on the marble countertop of your kitchen island. You cursed and hastened to put the small pot back on the stove while you grabbed a couple of tissues to clean up the stain, ultimately unable to see what Tom had replied.

When you finally managed to get a hold of your phone, you saw that he’d written, “That’s true in theory, but I’m the one inviting you so etiquette dictates I’m the one who pays,” accompanied by a winky face.

You smirked and wrote back, “Sigh… I can sense a losing battle, so I’ll let it go this time...” followed by, “But I have a good memory.”

He sent back an open-mouthed smiling face, then asked, “Any cuisine preferences?”

“Is it my turn to choose?” you asked him in turn, buying time while you thought about it.

“Why not, I was the one to choose Mama Thai so I guess it’s only fair.”

“How gentlemanly,” you joked, still unsure. Then, you remembered that Nadia had been raving about what she claimed to be the best vegetarian restaurant in the whole of London. Before he answered, you added, “Actually, I might have a place in mind.”

You left your house just past 6:30 that evening, having agreed to meet on location at 7:15 PM. The rain had thankfully let up earlier in the afternoon, but it wouldn’t have mattered either way seen as you were going to take the subway to the meeting spot. The restaurant Nadia had been talking about wasn’t too far from King’s Cross station, you’d texted her asking for the name during your conversation with Tom and had reported back to him to make the arrangements to meet. You would have to take the same tube line as when you went to work, and it would take you around half an hour to get there.

You’d kept texting Tom through your lunch and for a couple more hours after that and, when you’d gotten off the phone, you’d looked up the restaurant to decide on an outfit. You’d ended up selecting a fairly casual ensemble composed by a peachy tan silk shirt half-tucked into a pair of light blue mid-rise skinny jeans. You completed the look with a pair of black suede boots and your trusted mid-thigh black coat which you used almost every day. You were strangely aware of Linda’s absence this time, and you almost missed her irreverent opinion and determination to do your makeup, especially when you finally made up your mind and decided to forgo it entirely.

You thought you might have run late when your hair-drier had suddenly stopped working, but you managed to borrow your neighbour Laura’s - who was thankfully home - and you left your house almost perfectly on time if a few minutes later than you’d planned to.

Nevertheless, you arrived at the restaurant a little earlier than anticipated and resolved to wait for Tom outside, when you saw that he was already waiting for you a few steps away from the entrance. He was listening intently to what you supposed was a call on his phone, distractedly looking down on the ground and adjusting a fold on his shirt through his opened coat every few seconds without much thought. You approached him slowly, making time to take him in and unwilling to interrupt the call. You could see his mouth move but you weren’t close enough to hear what he was saying, but you did hear the surprised thrill of a laugh at whatever the person on the other end had said.

You felt tender warmth bloom in your chest. Then, for a split second, a wave of anxiety washed over you, like a portent of fear and danger, but the feeling was gone before you could put your finger on it, leaving behind the prick of confusion. You brushed off the strange sensation, determined to enjoy the evening.

When you finally reached him, Tom was putting his phone away into his pocket and lifting his eyes. He spotted you to his left and greeted you with a sweet smile, turning his entire body towards you and immediately going in to kiss you on both cheeks. You reciprocated the gesture instinctively, your body allowing no time at all for hesitation to settle in.

“Hi!” you blurted, a little louder than you’d intended. His smile widened. You got your voice under control and spoke again, “Sorry for making you wait.”

“It’s no problem at all. I only just got here myself,” he reassured you. “I’m so glad we could meet again,” he paused for a second. His smile turned shy and he hesitantly added, “You look gorgeous.”

“I- I...” you stuttered, at loss for words. You felt like your face was on fire. You hoped with your entire being that your cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. “Thank you,” you finally mumbled, returning his smile.

“You’re very welcome,” he replied. Then he gestured to the door and asked, “What do you say we go in?” You nodded, he pulled the door open and waited for you to enter before following behind you. You hurried inside, surreptitiously touching one of your reddened cheeks, internally chastising yourself for your embarrassment.

As soon as the door closed behind Tom, a blonde woman wearing a black polo shirt with the name of the restaurant stitched on the chest in thick red thread approached you. “Table for two?” she asked, looking between you.

“Yes, please,” was Tom’s reply.

“Please follow me,” she smiled politely, then turned around and started walking towards a row of tables overlooking the street outside.

You followed closely behind, zigzagging through occupied tables, Tom at your side.

Soon enough, you got to your table. You and Tom stopped, while the waitress continued past you to a small wooden structured pushed to the wall where some cutlery and glasses were kept, along with various condiments and a stack of menus. She grabbed two and got back to you, settling them down between you and Tom. He thanked her, and then she was gone.

You took off your coat and sat down, looking around.

The place was a spacious room with tables of different styles, unified by the same colour palette. High windows surrounded two sides of the restaurant, offering a comforting look at the eerie glow of the nightlife outside. Alongside the windows, the tables were higher and the seats consisted of dark wooden stools you were grateful not to have been seated at. The rest of the seatings were arranged in two more rows, one of which was separated from the main corridor of small light beige tables by ornate wooden panels.

Families, as well as young couples, filled the space that appeared moderately crowded but not stifled. A convivial murmur flowed over the entire place, reaching the elegant bar located at the left end of the room, where more wooden stools allowed patrons to grab a drink without the commitment of dinner. The atmosphere was relaxed and homey but carefully curated like restaurant chains tend to be.

“I like the place,” Tom spoke, breaking your observations.

You turned to him and smiled, “Yeah, it feels very cosy.” He’d taken his coat off too and draped it on the back of his chair, which gave you a better look at what he was wearing. He was more put together than the first time, he’d gone for jeans again but this time he’d opted for a white shirt and a dark blue suit jacket instead of a sweater. His hair was as wild as ever, you could almost picture him absent-mindedly moving his unruly curls out of his face. Just as you were thinking this, one of his curls fell on his forehead. He moved it away and to the wrong side, leaving it sticking up and out from the rest of his hair. You tried to hide the small affectionate smile that took over your face.

A moment of silence fell between you. It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but it seemed like Tom was determined to say something he couldn’t quite gather the courage to push out. He inadvertently shook his head in a small movement, as if putting aside whatever thought was going through his mind. Then he looked up at you with a gentle smile and said, “We should probably check out the menu.”

You nodded and handed him one of the menus, then grabbed one for yourself. “Shall we share like last time?” you asked him.

“I’d like that, yes,” he replied, so you both concentrated on the list in front of you.

A few minutes passed, and eventually, you both made up your minds. The waitress came over to take your orders almost as soon as you put down the menus and shortly after you were served drinks.

“So, how was your day?” you asked with a nervous but sincere smile, the awkwardness getting to you. You had no idea why you couldn’t seem to make yourselves talk as easily as last time. Even then, it had definitely been slow-going in the beginning, but some embarrassment for a first-time dinner was to be expected. However, you’d met several times now and the painstaking rhythm of your current conversation was starting to take a toll on you.

Tom swallowed the sip of the Roasted Pecan Old Fashioned he’d ordered and smiled back. “It was pretty relaxed,” he answered, “I met my sister in the morning,” - you nodded, he’d said as much in his texts - “But the afternoon was quite slow. How about you? Are you feeling better after what happened with Amelia?”

“Oh, yes, I think so,” you played idly with your own cocktail glass, “I heard from her after we talked, and she seemed to have made up with her boyfriend.”

“Did you manage to find out what happened?” he asked, polite curiosity clear on his face.

“I actually didn’t,” you shook your head and laughed incredulously, “She only sent me a text saying that she was fine, that they were fine.” You shrugged, “Other than that, no explanation.”

He laughed too, “Your sister is quite something.” Then, he seemed to catch himself and hastily retracted, ”That sounded so rude, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“Oh, no, don’t worry,” you interrupted him, smiling reassuringly, “I get what you mean. It was kind of a weird situation for me, too. But in the end, I’m just glad everything worked out for the best.”

He nodded, ”Yeah, I’m happy for them. Have they been together long?”

You frowned and looked away, trying to think back to when they started going out. “Uhm… Not very long, no.” You looked back to him and added, “About half a year, I believe. But they did seem to hit it off pretty quickly.” Tom took another sip from his drink and kept listening attentively. You explained, “My sister was super in love straight from the beginning, and it did seem reciprocated. He’s already met our parents, too, it got serious pretty fast.”

He put down his glass and nodded, looking to his lap for just a second. He reached for his glass again but before taking it in his hand he paused and thought better of it. He hesitated, then he finally spoke, “And… Uhm… What about you?”

He was looking intently at you, examining you for an answer, but you weren’t quite sure what he was asking about. You fidgeted nervously but tried not to let your smile falter. “What about me?” you asked him.

He cleared his throat and, with a small wave of his hand, he explained, “I mean, you and Andrea from the café seemed pretty close, are you together?” and looked at you expectantly, frowning slightly and touching his lips with a finger pensively.

You sputtered, opening your mouth several times with no sound coming out. You were completely taken off guard and had no idea what to say. “Oh! No! No, no no, no no no,” you blurted, that was definitely too many No’s. A laugh croaked out of you unintentionally, you slapped your hand on your lips attempting to cover up the noise. When you’d finally regained control over your mouth you tried again, more calmly, “No, we’re not.”

His smile returned at last, and his posture seemed to relax. You hadn’t noticed the tension in his shoulders, but once it was gone, it was unmistakable. He sat back in his chair and fingered one of the corners of his folded napkin on the side of his plate. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply, you just seemed very friendly-”

“Oh no, I mean, we are,” you confirmed, “But that’s just because we’ve known each other for almost two years now,” you explained. You laughed slightly at the thought, and added, “He has a huge crush on Nina, actually.”

“Oh,” he considered, “Oh!” He seemed to come to a realisation. “I didn’t- I mean… I don’t- Is that,” he stuttered, “Is that something that bothers you?” You frowned, confused, so he elaborated, “Is it an unrequited interest situation?”

“No! No,” you denied vehemently, “No, oh my god, not at all.” You couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ve known him since before I signed with the label, and he’s always been so supportive,” you clarified, “He’s like a very encouraging brother to me. And his parents have been so kind, too.”

“Oh, I see,” he sighed. He seemed somewhat relieved, “Well, I guess I hope things go well for him. With Nina, I mean,” he finished.

You winced slightly, “Eh… I don’t know about that.” You saw the confusion on his face so you told him, “Nina is a lesbian,” you smiled.

“Ah,” he rubbed at his neck skittishly and smiled nervously, “I had no idea, sorry. I seem to be putting my foot in my mouth a lot tonight.”

You laughed, “It’s completely fine. And well, seen as I’m usually the one doing that, it’s a nice change of pace for once,” you joked.

At that, he laughed too. You lifted your cocktail to your mouth and took another drink. Just then, the waitress accosted your table, carrying several plates with your order in her arms. She put them down in front of you and you both thanked her, finally digging in.

You moved the food around from plate to plate, dividing the dishes you’d ordered so you could both try everything, and spent a couple of minutes just sampling and commenting the dinner. Then the conversation picked up again.

You braced yourself and, trying to gather your courage in the most nonchalant way you could manage, between one bite and the other, you asked him, “And what about you? Are you seeing someone?” Immediately, something in your lower stomach squeezed tight, anticipation from his answer growing steadily in your belly. You looked at him and brought the fork to your lips again, trying to masquerade your nervousness.

He swallowed the bite he’d been chewing and patted at his lips with his napkin. Then he smiled and looked up at you. “Not at the moment, no,” he said, without elaborating further.

His answer was more than enough for your nervousness to dissipate, the painful grip of worry releasing your lungs. Your lips moved to reciprocate his smile and you said briefly, “Oh, I see,” before taking another bite.

You both continued eating, idly chatting away the dinner. Around 9:30 PM, the waitress who’d welcomed you approached your table again and took away your empty plates. Shorty after she came by asking if you’d like dessert and, as you’d already done the first time you’d had dinner together, you opted to share and ordered a slice of Forest Berry Mousse Cake. In what felt like no time at all, that was gone too, and all that remained for you to do was nurse the last inch of cocktail that was left in both your glasses.

You decided it was time to leave when the waitress neared your table again, asking if you cared for something else or if you wanted for her to bring the bill. You accepted the bill and, as you’d predicted, Tom insisted on being the one to pay. You could tell by his determination that there was no way to win the argument and resignedly accepted his kindness, thanking him profusely. You both grabbed your coats and put them on, exiting the restaurant right after. As you’d also done before, you stopped on the curb on the side of the restaurant door again and Tom asked you, “Are you taking the tube?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “I’m taking the Northern like towards Morden, how about you?”

“I’m also taking that one, but in the direction toward Edgware,” he replied, then, “We can walk to the station together if you’d like.”

You agreed enthusiastically, “Of course!” And so you started walking through the people passing by pressed side to side.

“Thank you so much for coming out tonight,” he said, hands pushed deep into the pockets of his coat and head turned to you so he could look into your eyes. He was smiling gently.

“Oh, no, I should be the one thanking you,” you protested, absentmindedly playing with one of the corners of your bag, “It was a welcome distraction after the whole ordeal with Amelia, and I had a great time.”

“Me, too,” he replied, “But it was kind of on short notice, so I would have understood if you’d said no.”

You smiled and looked ahead to the road, uncertain if you could say the next few words while looking in his eyes, “I would never have,” you almost whispered. He didn’t respond, and you instinctively looked up, the curiosity to see the expression on his face too strong to resist.

He wasn’t looking at you anymore. He’d lowered his eyes to the pavement, and for a second you thought you’d embarrassed him. You were ready to apologise but just then, you saw a small smile grace his lips, and you noticed the faintest blush high on his cheeks. You looked away again, and another smile flourished on your own lips, filling your mouth with delightful sweetness. Something in your chest exploded with the tiniest pop, and your skin prickled as if dotted by sparklers.

He finally lifted his eyes and looked straight into yours, the smile on his face growing surer and brighter. He offered you his elbow, and you leaned your hand in the bend of his arm, getting ever closer. You spent the remainder of the walk in companionable silence, heat spreading into your bodies from the spot where you touched.

When you reached the station, you stopped a little ways from the entrance and separated, facing each other.

“Thank you,” you told him. If pressed, you wouldn’t have been able to explain what you were thanking him for, but it didn’t seem to matter because he pressed close to you and delicately put his arms around your shoulders. The tenderness of the hug left you breathless, disarmed to the point of being unable to reciprocate for the first few seconds. When you regained clarity, you squeezed him back.

After what felt like an endless time, he let you go.

“I’ll see you soon,” he told you, and you both went your separate ways.

Chapter 9 coming soon

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