#//kyle: :3c | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kil-g · 8 months

Text

sweet like a flower in blue

a/n: my contribution to gaz fest 2023 <3 hehe. thank u very much @glitterypirateduck for planning this !! <333

university!gaz with prompt 10 ("just like that")

kyle "gaz" garrick x gn!reader (as always mwah <3)

word count: 2.1k

warnings: none

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You’re late.

It wasn’t even your fault that you were late, which made your morning all the more irritating. Because, despite the fact that you left your place an hour earlier than usual, somehow everything fell into its exact place to create some fabrication of errors against you. Your key got stuck in the door (one out of many perks of having to pay slightly less than average on rent than others). The street you usually take your walk on was closed off for maintenance, forcing you to detour. And, when you finally got to the station, every ticket station decided not to cooperate (it’s not like the city wants you to pay the fee. Because, why would it want that?) So, when you finally gave up on paying for a ticket at all, some bright-eyed freak thought you were the perfect candidate to heckle for jumping the gate.

You very politely told them to fuck off. You told them so about four times before they got the message.

And, if none of that was enough, by the time you got to the actual platform, your train was already pulling out of the station. The next one wasn’t coming for another twelve minutes.

So, it was a bad morning. You were seriously considering skipping class all together to salvage whatever good you could out of the day. You could wander the city and loiter in a bookstore. You could take the next train all the way down to its last line and see what happens. You could go back to your apartment and go back to sleep.

But, then a distance away all the way down the platform, someone calls your name. Your full name.

And, through the morning haze, you catch the sight of someone breaking into a jog. They soon come into focus and it’s Kyle Garrick. Kyle who you haven’t seen since high school. Who you assumed you’d seen for the last time since graduation.

He jogs up to you with a wide smile.

“I thought it was you.”

“I’m surprised that you even remembered me.”

“Are you kidding? How could I forget you?” He says. Despite the fact that you haven’t seen him since high school, he still has the same boyish smile he’s always had.

It felt like forever ago. Kyle was the only foreign student in your high school. You were friends on the most casual level. Certainly not close enough to justify maintaining contact with him. But, now in retrospect, you almost regret it.

“I thought you were going to school in the UK. What are you doing here?”

“What? Not happy to see me?”

“No, of course I am.” You laugh, your irritation from the hour before melting away, little by little. “Just surprised.”

“To answer your question, I moved back. I guess you could say that I just got homesick.”

You tilt your head to the side. “By yourself? What about John?”

As far as you knew, John was the only real family he had. Though, you couldn’t be sure of what the exact relation was. When Kyle got accepted by a university in the UK, the two of them had decidedly packed their things and left. You thought that you’d seen the last of them.

“John’s still there. But, he was planning to visit soon.”

“Intriguing."

“You still doing art?”

“I hope so. That’s what I’m going to school for.”

“That’s right.” He says, all too pleased to hear it.

There’s a moment that passes where nothing is said. But, you’re desperate to get him to keep talking.

“Speaking of…” You say, “Seeing as you’re not going anywhere any time soon, could I ask you for a favor?”

“Uh oh. Shoot.”

“It’s nothing serious. It’s just that you’re kind of my only friend in the area anymore and I need to build my portfolio for my art class.” A train going the opposite way pushes the air around, nearly whipping your coat open. “I was wondering if you could pose for a portrait. It would only take about fifteen minutes. I’ll even give you like twenty dollars… for your trouble.”

“Would I be taking my clothes off?”

“Of course not. I said portrait. As in I’m only doing a bust. Also, we have actual models for that.”

“I don’t know what those words mean.” He says, “Besides, would it really be so bad if I did take my clothes off?”

“You know, I could ask someone else.”

“No, don’t! I’m just kidding.” Kyle’s mouth forms into a lopsided, goofy smile. One that you remember quite well. One that washes you in relief to see. “I’ll do it.”

“You will?” You say, a little more excited than you should’ve been. He nods and hums. “How can I contact you?”

“Right, give me your phone.” He says. Another train pulls into the station. Quickly, he begins making his own contact. “Just text me whatever time and place works for you. I’ll be there.”

“Is your schedule really so open?”

The train settles into a full stop. There’s a reluctant sink in your stomach when you realize it’s his train. The doors slide open. He puts your phone back in your hands and makes a step closer to the doors. “Whatever works for you, you know?”

You roll your eyes again even though the flattery is kind of working. “Then, I’ll see you soon.”

Just before the doors slide back closed, he says through that same lopsided smile, “I look forward to it.”

His eyes stay on you for a second too long through the window. The train goes further and further away, his face gets harder to make out. Nonetheless, you’ve forgotten all about keys getting stuck in locks, or detours, or public transportation fees, or public transportation fee hecklers. You look down at his contact, then tuck your phone back into your pocket.

The two of you agree to meet the following week. You walk him through your campus until eventually, you reach the art building. It’s a brick building. Old with bad plumbing. All the trappings of a typical art building on any college campus.

You set up a spot with just the right lighting and begin. For the first few minutes it’s almost completely silent. You look up from your sketch only to find Kyle sitting stiffly and awkwardly.

You chuckle, “You look like you’re gonna shit yourself.”

“This is my first time doing something like this.” He says, laughing to himself.

“Just loosen up, breathe. I’m not gonna bite your head off.” You look back down at your half-portrait, and he inhales, then exhales. He relaxes slowly. “Just like that.”

“Is it cool to talk?”

“Of course.” You smile, you continue on the portrait. Sometimes when you look up from it to see him, his eyes are already on you.

“Okay, how long have you been making art?”

“Since, I could even pick up a pencil.”

“Oh, yeah? Did you always know you wanted to do this?”

You erase a little bit of the sketch, carefully brushing shavings off and blowing at them. “No, for a while it was just a hobby I visited on and off.”

“Then, what made you decide on it?”

You shrug. “Nothing in particular. Just don’t think I’d be happy doing anything else.”

“I get that.” He says.

A beat passes. Then, curiosity gets the better of you. “Why did you come back?”

He shrugs, then remembers himself and relaxes again.“I don’t know. Back home just didn’t feel like… back home. Not to say that it was bad. I like it there. But, I missed being out here.”

You hum, briefly stealing a glance at him.

It goes quiet again. Though, this time it’s a much more comfortable silence. You study his face and the way it interacts with the light. You put the shapes his face makes down on paper. Like, how his cheeks have slight roundness. The angle of his nose, the shadows just under his brows.

You banter back and forth a few times to little consequence. And, the portrait is complete in the blink of an eye. You’re almost nervous to flip the canvas and show him.

You stand up, and position yourself slightly behind him to present him the portrait.

“What do you think?” You ask, only slightly nervous.

Kyle stares down at the portrait. His smile returns slowly, and he says, “It’s fantastic.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I love it. It’s really nice.” He pulls out his phone to take a quick picture of it.

“Nice enough that I don’t have to pay you?”

“Not quite, I’d still appreciate the twenty bucks.” His smile doesn’t go away. “Besides, look at my eyes. You didn’t get them exactly right.”

You stand up and lift the paper to be side-by-side with Kyle’s face. You’re only slightly embarrassed and maybe only kind of a fraud, perhaps. “I did my best. The semester just started. I’m out of practice and I practically had to beg the professor to get into this class—“

He sputters more laughter. “I’m joking. You don’t owe me anything. I wouldn’t just take your money.”

“Oh, haha.” You reply, dryly.

“I’m serious. It fucking looks exactly like me. I really like it.”

You look for a sign of some kind of joke in his face and surprisingly find none.

“You mean it?”

“Oh, yeah.” He nods. “Though, I think you’ve made me more handsome than usual.”

“I think it looks about right, actually.”

“Who am I to argue?” He leans back slightly, forgetting in the moment that his stool has no back and catching himself at the last second.

You don’t know how long you’ve been smiling but at this point it’s making your cheeks ache. Kyle looks back at you and for a moment you’re stunned at how you’d even gotten here. It’s been years since you had last seen him. You were quite certain that you would never see him again.

“I’m really glad you called out to me at the station last week.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I am, too.” He’s disgustingly sweet. To have his attention like this was thrilling. “Can I tell you something?”

“Anything.” You say, half joking.

“Back in school, I kind of had this huge crush on you but I was too shy to do anything about it.“

“Kyle Garrick? Shy?”

He nods, “Felt like an idiot when we graduated.”

“Bullshit.”

“I’m serious.”

“Whatever, dude.”

“You had this cool kind of thing going on. Like, this artsy mysterious kind of thing–”

You laugh, “That’s what you’re calling it?--”

“–too cool for me!” He says.

“We had like how many classes together. We were in the same group for our final project in bio.” You say in disbelief.

“That was for school, though. I was a workmate. Not like an actual… mate.”

“Well, I thought you were cool.” You reply.

“Now I just feel even sillier.” He laughs.

“Okay, then why did you call out to me at the station if you’re so shy?”

“Um, because how could I live with myself if I let it happen a second time?”

You laugh. “I guess I should take you on a date then, huh?”

A scandalized look comes across Kyle’s face, “No, I’d be taking you on a date.” His brows wrinkle, making lines on his forehead. It’s cute.

“Is this a competition? You haven’t lived here for like… since high school. A lot of stuff changed.” The words come out a little more smug than you mean for them to be.

“I’m determined.” He nods.

“Well, so am I.”

You cross your arms over your chest and he sits up.

“No, but seriously, I wanna take you out”.

“Fine.” You say. “But, next time I’ll take you out.”

“Wow, are things going so well we’ve already got a second date?”

“If you’re nice enough, then why not?”

“I guess I’ll be on my best behavior, then.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“Next Thursday?” He says. There’s a hopeful little twinkle in his eye that coaxes another bit of laughter out of you.

“That works for me.”

“Perfect.” He stands up from his stool. “I gotta go. But, let’s figure out the details later. I’ll text you.”

“Okay.” You say, your smile quickly becomes bashful as the reality sets in the further he walks backwards away from you.

“See you.”

“Bye.”

Kyle turns around so that he’s walking forward. You watch as he gets further away. Just before he hits the door he turns to give you one last look and suddenly, you’re shy in the fact that he’d caught you staring. He smiles widely, waves and leans his weight onto the crash bar. Then, he steps over the threshold out of sight.

The giddiness of what had just occurred doesn’t leave you as you clean up and pack your things. Your chest feels as light as feathers the whole way back to your apartment.

#kyle gaz garrick x reader #kyle garrick x reader #kyle gaze garrick reader insert #GAZFEST #gaz x you #gaz x reader #kyle gaz garrick x you #cod reader insert #hai :3c

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