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keanureevesisbae · 3 years

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The alluring charm of Henry Cavill - Chapter 10

Summary: After the livestream, Henry is trying to move on from this. However, that is harder than it seems.

Henry Cavill x Adelaide Park (ofc)

Wordcount: 4.4k

Warnings: None

A/N: The formatting of this chapter is a bit different than usual, but I felt this would be the best way to describe Henry’s feelings.

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

1 hour after the livestream

Henry fucked up. Henry truly fucked up. After he watched Adelaide step into that cab, the tears so evident in her eyes, he pushed all the cameramen out of his sight and didn’t want the other contestants to ask him any questions about this.

And because Henry obviously has a mature and adult way of dealing with his emotions, he locks himself up in the bedroom. The same bedroom where he made all those memories with Adelaide. He remembers her sleeping as soon as she would hit the mattress. Her fingers grazing over his arm. Her sleeping body securely in his arms, her head on his chest and the soft good morning kisses when they slept in the tent during their last challenge.

He takes ahold of the pillow Adelaide slept on and as he sits on the bed, he brings it to his face. He pushes his nose into the fabric, as he can still smell the hints of her perfume, her skincare products and her shampoo.

Tears of frustration burn in his eyes, as he continues to remember the hurt in Adelaide’s eyes just now. All because of him.

He fucking hates himself.

Yes, he cannot and will not deny the fact he did talk poorly about her, however he regrets every syllable of it. He knows better now, so much better. Adelaide Park is amazing and has so much to offer. They were planing on getting to know each other even better after this stupid program had ended.

But that is all over now and it’s all is fault.

He hates this show, every single producer and editor who works here and his agency. Especially his agency. He wants to sue every single one of them who were involved in making that heinous compilation, the one blew everything out of proportion, but he needs to think this over, before he makes any rash decisions. Decisions that might only do more damage than any good.

Henry stands up from the bed, to grab his suitcase and starts packing. He needs to leave this place, go back to England, to his own place and think about this.

Adelaide specifically asked not to mention her or talk to her and he should honor her wishes. That is the least he can do after everything that happened.

However, he should release a statement of his own. He should leave his agency. He should reach out to her in another way than directly contacting her. He needs to know whether or not she is okay.

Well, she might not be okay, but he needs to know how she feels. That she knows he is sorry, because he is sorry.

Very sorry.

Fuck, he is such a loser for letting her go like this. Adelaide was totally right. He should’ve been honest with her. Told her about his earlier thoughts regarding her and why he participated in the first place, but also specifically tell her how he changed his mind.

About her, about them, about him playing James Bond.

Henry grabs his phone, so he can check when the first flight back to England is, but he stops mid unlocking his phone and stares at his background. A few days ago, he changed his wallpaper in a picture of the both of them, sitting on the couch. Adelaide’s arms wrapped around his neck, her cheek pressed against his and her eyes shine with happiness.

Henry growls out of frustration. ‘Fuck,’ he hisses between clenched jaws. He already misses her, only sixty minutes after the live stream. He needs to think about this, because he will do anything to clear her reputation, to make it up to her.

Simply because he cares about her and only her.

His Adelaide Park.

◎ ◎ ◎

1 day after the livestream

‘Pick up, pick up, pick up,’ Henry mutters impatiently when he has his phone pressed against his ear. He is back home, as he wanders through his house. He really needs her to pick up. He needs to talk to her.

‘Henry,’ he hears Angela say in a flat tone when she finally picks up. Okay, she is mad and rightly so. ‘How are you?’

‘Not good,’ he answers in all honesty, because lying to Angela Bassett is only asking for trouble really. ‘Please, don’t spare me. I know you saw the livestream, I know you think I fucked up.’

She scoffs. ‘Well, in that case: you truly messed this up. I can’t believe you did this, Henry. Adelaide Park has been nothing but an angel to you and I honestly thought you liked her.’

‘I do like her,’ he says in a defensive and louder tone.

She is not impressed with his tone. ‘And yet you still broke her heart. What a way to show her you care.’

He doesn’t need to get defensive. This is all his own fault and he deserves this. ‘I know. I’m a fucking idiot.’

‘That’s an understatement,’ she mumbles. ‘Tell me, what do you want from me?’

Henry lets out a deep sigh. ‘I don’t want to call her, because she told me not to talk to her. I want to respect that and I need to respect that, but I have to let her know at least one more time how sorry I am. I regret the words, I regret not being honest to her. I’ll accept whatever answer I get, but I need her to know how sorry I am.’

Angela doesn’t say anything and Henry fears he overstepped. Overstepped a lot.

‘Okay,’ she says, ‘I’ can do that. However, after this, you really need to reflect on this situation. You have broken her heart and ruined it for yourself. Get away from that abysmal agency you’re under contract with and share a statement on every social media platform you have.’

‘I’m already drafting something and I really want to leave that agency, I can tell you that.’

‘Good, because you need to clear your name. I don’t know if that is going to work, but you need to at least try.’

‘I know. Thanks Angela. I owe you.’

‘You sure do,’ she says and hangs up shortly afterwards.

Henry takes a seat on the stool at the bar and looks at the piece of paper on the counter, filled with scribbles and notes. He should make a neutral statement, where his sorry and remorse clearly comes through. He has seen the reactions on her pictures. Fans constantly tag him underneath her pictures and her underneath his and he sincerely hopes they stop doing that.

She doesn’t deserve this at all. She doesn’t need to be reminded of his actions on every social media platform she’s on.

He continues to scribble down words and eventual sentences he can use in his statement. Angela is right: he should do this.

He doesn’t know how long he is bend over the notebook, as he continues to write down a statement that actually satisfies him, but he gets pulled out of his thoughts when he sees the screenshot Angela has send to him.

And it’s what he expected. Adelaide doesn’t accept his apology (which he understands) and she tells Angela she doesn’t want to talk to him ever again, let alone see him. He opens up her Instagram, stares at her beautiful face. He misses her, but this is all his fault.

And Henry should live with that.

◎ ◎ ◎

2 weeks after the livestream

Henry stares at the screen on his laptop, as he checks out the announcement for the newest movie starring Adelaide and David Castañeda. He keeps wondering what would’ve happened if he actually had auditioned for it.

Wondering is all he does nowadays. Wondering how his life would look like now if he has just been honest with Adelaide. Wondering about them together, if the livestream went well, instead of exploded in the way it did.

He “broke up” with his agency and is currently looking at others, hoping to find himself a new and suitable one. One that wouldn’t do something like this. He always had a little bit of issues with the previous agency, but they offered him pretty decent jobs and he figured that was the most important thing. He never realized how much they interfered in his own personal life.

Henry closes his laptop. He barely left the house after he got back from Italy, except to do some groceries, so he wouldn’t starve to death. He is barely on his phone, just to let Angela, his family and friends know he is sort of doing okay. However he does turn down every invitation to hang out, simply because he can’t face anyone right now. He can barely face himself.

While he continues to attend his own pity party, he has checked what Adelaide has been doing and from the looks of it, she is doing great. She is absolutely glowing and obviously dealing much better with this than he is. She has been putting on a brave face for years now, so dealing with this seems like a piece of cake to her.

At least, that’s what it looks like to the public. During Tommy Hilfiger collaboration, she had this calm glow over her and the reactions underneath the pictures told her so as well.

Later the newest movie announcement with her, David, Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd was made. After that announcement, she has been pretty active on Instagram again and he has seen the pictures pop up at his explore page. He resists the urge to check her stories, but decides it would be for the best he doesn’t do that, simply because he feels like he shouldn’t intrude like that.

Fuck, he wishes he would feel better, but he doesn’t. Deep down he feels like he should forgive himself and at least try and move on, but he can’t seem to find the strength to forgive himself for his actions.

His fans reacted well to his statement and lots of people said reality tv can make everything look worse than it actually is. While it was definitely made worse than it actually was, he still feels bad and realizes he shouldn’t be as easily forgiven as he is now.

Henry is still thinking about suing the program, but he decided to just drop it. He doesn’t even have the energy to think about a lawsuit, let alone actually do it.

There is one thing to be happy and grateful about: Adelaide seems to do okay and for now, that is all that actually matters to him.

◎ ◎ ◎

1 month after the livestream

The 8seconds event Adelaide attended for her collaboration with them, might’ve been the worst things that happened to either of them since the livestream. Henry did look up the event, because he just wants to continue to see how she is doing. He saw the moment the journalists could ask questions and especially the second one journalist asked if Adelaide had spoken to Henry after the statement and what she thought of it. Her face never showed any emotions and she simply thanked everyone for their time and walked off.

Almost as if it was a diversion planned beforehand, David Castañeda posted a picture on his Instagram of her and the attention was immediately shifted away of the awkward matter. People are now speculating whether or not the two of them are dating and while Henry thinks that is not the case, you simply never know. The public at least is already shipping them and Henry would lie if he didn’t think the two of them would be a great match.

Henry finally managed to drag himself out of his own house and he is now at his parents. He did ask them if they couldn’t ask about Adelaide, since he would like to forget about the situation and so far, they thankfully honored his wishes.

She continues to feed him with extra little cupcakes and cookies and normally he would politely decline, but now he eats like he hasn’t eaten for days. He goes to the gym a whole lot nowadays, to get his mind of the whole Adelaide situation, so he doesn’t really care.

‘Okay, dear, I know you are still sad, but it has been four weeks,’ his mom says, as she places her hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. So much for not mentioning Adelaide. ‘You released the statement, you let go of your old management and you are keeping your side of the bargain. You are not texting her, you are not mentioning her. Yes, you hurt her, but you have learned from this.’

‘I know, I know.’ He rubs his face and looks up at his mom. ‘I just can’t believe I did this.’

‘Me neither,’ his dad mumbles. ‘I thought we taught you better than that.’

This hurts, but Henry deserves this. ‘You did.’

His dad sits up straight on the couch and stares at him, without even saying anything to him. No matter how old Henry is, that still makes him nervous. ‘You better have learned from this, Henry, because I’m rather disappointed in you.’

◎ ◎ ◎

2 months after the livestream

◎ ◎ ◎

5 months after the livestream

Henry managed to get his life kinda back to how it was pre-Adelaide. He has found himself a new agency and a wonderful agent, Julia, who managed to get him a great new role in a sci-fi movie. The filming process went great and he loved to be on set again.

Right now he is on his first press tour for the movie he did before the Celebrity Project ‘The Royal Heist’ with Anne Hathaway as his co-star.

Of course he still thinks about Adelaide, he thinks about her quite often as a matter of fact. He watches her interviews, he sometimes sees a picture of her on his Instagram explore page. Sometimes it’s a picture she posted herself, sometimes it’s a picture posted by David or someone else from the crew or a fan account.

It’s hard sometimes, not to think about her. Occasionally he wakes up un the middle of the night, thinking about her and seeing her laugh flash in front of his eyes. He realizes that of course he misses her, but it’s for the best they both move on without one another. From the looks of it, she is absolutely glowing and for that he is forever grateful. He feared she would blame herself, maybe completely hide herself, but she doesn’t. She has flourished and is not afraid to show it to the entire world. During her interviews she seems relaxed and makes a joke every now and then.

Henry sits next to Anne, as they are about to answer some questions about the new movie. The two of them joke around a bit, as Anne just recently discovered the wonders of Snapchat filters. It’s nice to have fun and not feel guilty as he did before. When he witnessed Adelaide having fun and being happy again, he felt it was okay for him to do so as well.

The questions about the movie are pretty basic, but after a while the interviewer seems less nervous than when he started. However, him feeling more confident, might have given him the impression he can actually ask questions he really shouldn’t be asking.

‘After the Celebrity Project, have you and Adelaide Park cleared the air with one another?’

Henry clenches his jaw. He wants to say a lot to this man. How he should mind his own fucking business, how Henry is going to rearrange his face for asking such thing, but then he remembers what Adelaide wanted from him.

He managed to do so for five months and he will not quit. Not now. ‘I thought my agent told you before hand I will not answer any Celebrity Project related questions.’

The interviewer doesn’t seem to care and continues to ask questions about how Adelaide was in real life, what they did when the camera’s were off and what he would do to make it up to the actress.

While he is nearly exploding with rage and anger, Anne manages to divert the conversation and when the end is near, Henry doesn’t thank the interviewer. He simply gets up to go outside for a fresh breath of air. The second he is outside, he takes a deep breath. Turned out he maybe wasn’t over Adelaide as much as he thought he was.

Henry grabs his phone and does something he hasn’t done for a while now. He goes to her account and checks the pictures. He sees the amount of David Castañeda related posts, so he goes to the actor’s page, where he sees excess of Adelaide pictures. She looks radiant and beautiful.

‘You okay?’ Anne asks, as she walks out of the building to stand next to him.

‘Yeah, I’m okay,’ he says, closing off Instagram and pushing his phone back into his pocket. ‘I made a promise and I wanted to keep that one.’

‘You did,’ she says with a smile. ‘Really, don’t let that idiot get to you. Weirdly enough, this is his job and you did well. As a thank you for diffusing the situation, you can buy me a coffee later today. Now, let’s go back inside. I’m wearing a flimsy bra and I don’t want the entire world to know I’m freezing.’

◎ ◎ ◎

8 months after the livestream

It has been eight whole months after the livestream and Henry finally thinks he is actually over the entire situation. The Royal Heist is nominated for an award, just like he was for his role in the movie. The rude interviewer three months ago was the last one to bring up Adelaide and thankfully he was, because Henry might’ve thrown some punches if someone asked about it.

He runs his hand over his black velvet jacket, before Anne stands next to him and says: ‘Maybe you should frown a little less.’

‘I’m not frowning,’ he says with a smile. ‘Just concentrated.’

‘Thus frowning.’

The two of them are guided by some very nervous assistants, who are managing the photo opts. And while he is slightly distracted by Anne and her embarrassing stories about other red carpets events, the commands of the paparazzi are becoming louder and louder and it gains his attention.

‘Adelaide, look over here! You look beautiful!’ Henry stretches out his neck and sees Adelaide Park, looking beautiful as ever.

The white dress she wears hugs her figure nicely and the matching heels create the illusion her legs are endless. Her long blonde hair, probably lengthened by extensions, is pulled together in a fancy ponytail.

Henry thought he was doing pretty well over the past months, thinking he was over her, but seeing her in real life… It makes him realize him being over her was all pretend. He can’t forget her.

Adelaide Park is the love of his life.

Fuck, what a moment to come to that realization.

He watches closely as David Castañeda stands next to her as he joins her. He plays her love interest in the movie, the man that has been all over her Instagram and the same man who she has done multiple interviews with. David looks like a nice guy, who seems a great friend to Adelaide.

David places his hand on her waist and together they pose for the camera. It’s weird seeing her like this. This at ease with someone else. When Henry met her, she was tense with stress, but that all disappeared. Of course he kept track of her, mostly to see how she was doing.

And she was blossoming and still is.

Henry watched their new movie, ‘Warm Up Period’ and it was an amazing romantic comedy, one of the best he has ever seen. Adelaide sure has a way of acting in these types of movies. It was all part of the job of course, he knows that, but he couldn’t push away those jealous thoughts he experienced when he watched their more intimate scenes. It’s all pretend—he knows that—but he could feel their connection through the screen. The way David touched her bare back, how the camera zoomed in on the goosebumps on her skin, the kisses they shared.

It was enough to make him green with jealousy.

‘You haven’t heard one single bit of what I was telling,’ Anne Hathaway concludes and he quickly looks at her. ‘You’re still not over her, aren’t you?’

He doesn’t know what to say. ‘I’m just happy to see she’s doing good,’ he eventually says, while still looking at her. Maybe she senses that someone is gawking at her, because she looks to the side, but he quickly looks away.

That’s what she wanted from him. If he saw her before she saw him, he should walk away.

◎ ◎ ◎

Afterparties aren’t really Henry’s thing, but he feels obligated to stay, especially after he won ‘Best Actor’. Other actors congratulate him as he makes his way through the hall and he puts on a brave face, but in all honesty: he is feeling miserable.

From a distance, he sees Adelaide standing all by herself. He could simply do it, he thinks to himself. He could walk up to her and talk to her. If she doesn’t want him there, he’ll understand and walk away.

Reluctantly, he walks up to her and when he is close enough for her to hear him, he takes a deep breath. He really is going to do this… ‘Hi Adelaide,’ he gently says to her.

She looks up, her eyes enlarging when she realizes it’s him. From up close she is even more beautiful. She looks breathtakingly gorgeous with blonde hair, but he misses the way her light brown hair made her look. It reminds him of a time where things were simpler and better.

Adelaide blinks a few times and says: ‘Hi,’ in a soft tone.

He missed hearing her voice. ‘If you don’t want to talk to me, just say so. I was just wondering how you’ve been.’

She clears her throat, as she studies his face. ‘I’m good,’ she answers and he lets out a sigh of relief. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m okay,’ he says, but his voice is telling otherwise. He is not okay, he is an utter mess. He just became a bit better at hiding it over the past couple of month.

She must sense that too, because she frowns for a split second. ‘Congratulations,’ she tells him and it sounds sincere. Of course it sounds sincere, the words come from Adelaide herself, the embodiment of sincerity. ‘The movie was really good and you deserved to win best actor. You were great.’

‘Thank you,’ he says. Henry can’t believe he used to be so comfortable around her and now he’s getting heart palpitations simply by looking at her. ‘You look amazing, Adelaide.’

She nods. ‘Thank you.’ She takes a sip of her champagne and purses her lips for a brief moment, probably thinking about what she can say. ‘I heard you turned down James Bond.’

Henry nods. ‘Yes, I did. I didn’t want to be part of that franchise.’

‘Was it because of me?’ she asks.

He sighs. ‘Well, I think you were part of my decision. I think I should thank you.’

Adelaide simply nods. ‘Right.’

Henry knows he shouldn’t do it, but he can’t stop himself. ‘Adelaide, I’m so terribly sorry for everything I did. I know I hurt you and it pains me every single day to know I betrayed your trust. Trust I didn’t even deserve in the first place.’

She simply shakes her head. ‘Please don’t do this, Henry. It’s all okay.’

‘No, it’s not okay,’ he tells her, taking a step closer to her, while still maintaining an appropriate distance from her. She doesn’t step back and from the looks of it, she actually is open to what he has to say to her, so he better make it worth while. ‘You had every right to be as mad as you were and I totally understand. I was just hoping that maybe we can talk about it, clear the air, so we can be in the same room together.’

Adelaide blinks her eyes a few times. ‘Really?’

‘Really,’ he confirms. ‘And if you don’t want to, I respect that. Just wanted to at least have suggested the idea to you.’

She nods. ‘Okay, just not here.’

‘Of course not,’ he quickly says. ‘How about we do coffee tomorrow? I know a nice place around here. They have nice cappuccino’s. If you want to of course. Maybe you want to meet up somewhere else, that’s fine with me.’

She shakes her head. ‘Coffee tomorrow is good,’ she says. Her eyes are brighter than the first few moments he started to talk to her. That’s a good sign, right?

Henry nods, as he counts his blessings, thankful that she actually agrees to this idea. ‘Good, good.’

Her co-star David walks over to the two of them and stands next to Adelaide. ‘Hi,’ he says when his eyes fall on Henry, holding out his hand. ‘Congratulations, man. I loved the movie and you were great. Very well deserved.’

‘Oh, thank you,’ he says with a smile, because David’s friendliness is contagious.

David places his hand on Adelaide waist. ‘Ready to go? Our limo is ready.’

Adelaide tears her gaze away from Henry and meets David’s eyes. She smiles at her co-star, in a way only she can do. This shouldn’t make him jealous, not after all these months they spend apart.

But seeing her this close to someone other than him, confirms what he thought earlier that night.

He missed her more than he originally figured.

‘I am,’ she tells David. ‘Henry, I’ll see you tomorrow then. You still have my number?’

As if he would erase her number. Ever. ‘I do.’

‘Text me a time and address and I’ll be there.’ She sends him a soft smile, before turning around. She walks off to the exit with David, his hand still in the dip her waist.

Henry stares after the pair, as his blood boils with rage and jealousy.

But he shouldn’t be. He can’t be.

Besides, the most important thing is: he is going to talk with Adelaide Park, face to face. He quickly looks over the crowd, to see if he can find Anne, so he can say his goodbye and go to his hotelroom to prepare, because this might be his only chance to make things right between him and Adelaide.

#henry cavill #henry cavill x ofc #henry cavill x oc #henry cavill x asian ofc #henry cavill x adelaide park #adelaide park #asian ofc #the alluring charm of henry cavill #henry cavill fandom #Henry cavill fanfic

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emmy-writes-sometimes · 4 years

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2:15

You sneak back in the house after breaking a promise to your brother, Tom, and have a hard conversation.

“Promise me you won’t be too late?” Your brother asked as you got out of his car. He was going off to another pub quiz, while he was dropping you off at a party at a friend’s house. You rolled your eyes, pulling your dress down. He’d already covered for you so your parents wouldn’t see how short it was, and he was letting you stay the night at his house so you didn’t have to sneak back in and wake up the rest of the family. He was doing you a favor, really.

“I promise, Tommy,” you groaned in response, shutting the door to the car and stepping out onto the curb.

“Remember I have Life 360!” He called out to you, rolling down the window, before he pulled away from the curb. You looked down to see that your phone was fully charged, even though the battery would probably die within a couple of hours, and the app was going in the background. Your parents didn’t really care to see your every move, so it was just you and your brothers on the app. Despite being only fourteen months older than you, Tom was extremely over-protective. Extremely. He was your best friend, sure, but he was also your worst nightmare sometimes. You’d already decided that if you needed help that night you’d call one of the twins because only one of them would answer you, and you had so many things over them that there was no way they’d rat you out to your parents.

You walked into the house to find your friends, going right to the drink table. Your friend Alyssa was getting a drink, your friend Alex tending the bar, and for the most part you were able to let go. You didn’t go to parties often – you were usually traveling with Tom if you weren’t at home doing university online, so it had been a while since you’d seen your friends. And you were leaving again tomorrow night to go Los Angeles with Tom and Harrison for three months, so you wanted a chance to see all of your friends again. You watched your drinks to make sure nobody touched them, even pouring it out before you went out to the bathroom, and you thankfully didn’t get spiked. You had to fight off a few boys, and then another one just went ahead and left anyway when your phone lit up to show a picture of you, your brothers, and Harrison along with Tessa. The fact that you had so many male family members often freaked boys out, and this time you were able to use it to your advantage.

“Ugh, I think I’m heading out,” you said finally, realizing your phone was on ten percent. Tom had texted you already, multiple times, saying you’d better be home soon, and you’d been hanging out by the drink table anyway. You weren’t completely intoxicated, but you knew your limits and you had laundry to start, too.

“Take my jacket,” Alex said, grabbing onto your arm, handing you his suede jacket. Alex was one of your best friends, and had been for years, and you had a thing going on that you both wouldn’t admit that you liked each other, so you were stuck doing meaningless gestures until someone made a move, which would probably be never. Still, though, you were thankful.

“Thank you, it’s freezing out there,” you said as you shrugged the jacket on, then grabbed onto your straightened hair to pull it from where it was underneath the heavy jacket.

“Text me when you get home, too.”

“Yeah, if Tom ever lets me go. I know he’s going to yell because it’s so late.”

“Oh, fuck that. He’s your brother, not your dad.” You scoffed, pressing the button on your phone to call an Uber.

“You’d be surprised. He’s the one that set my curfew in the first place.” Alex laughed, not even realizing that it was true, and you said goodbye before heading out to the front porch to wait on a car. You hopped in after checking the license plate, but asked the driver to drop you off a block away from Tom’s house. You could see that the lights were off, except for the string lights in the room you usually stayed in, and sighed. Tom must already be asleep. Good. You didn’t want to face his wrath for coming home at two in the morning, even though you were above age and could take care of yourself.

“Thank you,” you said to the driver, giving him a smile, and you looked around before opening and shutting the gate to the backyard as quietly as you could. The front door would be too loud, and the back door was quieter because it slid open instead of pulled open. The only motion sensing light was in the front, too, and you’d managed to avoid it. It wasn’t the first time you’d snuck into the house, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

You took off your high heels so they wouldn’t click against the tile floor and slid the door open, slipping inside, and then you shut it and locked it. The downstairs was completely dark, thankfully, and you walked over to the carpeted living room and put your shoes down. Your phone was dead, so you couldn’t see that Tom had texted you frantically, wondering why you weren’t answering. You also couldn’t see where he’d texted you that he was waiting for you.

“Well, look who’s finally home,” you heard a voice say. Tom’s. You rolled your eyes and tried to pretend like you weren’t a tiny bit drunk, watching as he sat up from where he was on the couch.

“Didn’t see you there, scrawny,” you responded. “I’m home, you can call off the search party.”

“You said you’d be home at midnight. It’s two fifteen.” You scoffed and started climbing the stairs, where he climbed after you. “Y/n.”

“Tom, it’s fine, I’m home,” you said, now just completely annoyed. “I’m going to change clothes.” You went into your room and grabbed a t-shirt that had once belonged to Harry that you’d cropped to look cute and a pair of shorts, changing out of your slinky party dress. You walked into the bathroom that had two doors only to find that the light was already on, and it shocked you a little bit. There were dots in your eyes, but you could easily see that Tom was standing there by the vanity, arms crossed, looking angry at you. You just didn’t pay attention to him and started wiping off your makeup and brushing through your hair. You could tell that he was mad, and eventually you just sighed, eyeing your toothbrush that you’d have to get past him for.

“Can I have my toothbrush?” You asked.

“No. Not until you talk to me.”

“There is nothing to talk about. Stop being an asshole. I’m allowed to go out and have fun, you do all the time. So stop…”

“No,” he said again, like it was completely obvious that it was his answer. “I’m not being an asshole, I’m trying to protect you.”

“Tom, it’s fine. I know how to watch my drinks, I know how to check license plates, I know…”

“You have to come home when you say you’re coming home. It freaks me out, alright? Especially when your phone dies.”

“Well then buy me a new one.” He scoffed. You started taking your contacts out, hoping that the conversation was over, but you slid your glasses on to see that he wasn’t done. “I appreciate you trying to protect me, but I can take care of myself.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is?” Your voice was raised slightly, and you lowered it when you realized that the twins were sleeping in the next room.

“I’m saying that something could happen to you and I wouldn’t even know. You’re my little sister and you’re my best friend and I’m scared to lose you. As soon as I turned on the news tonight it was about some girl going missing after a party. And her parents only knew because she didn’t come home when she said she was going to.” You tried to understand where Tom was coming from. Not once had you worried for his safety walking the streets, ever. You never feared for him when he and the boys got into cabs drunk, or wandered around foreign cities at the same time you’d just come home. You’d never worried for him, ever. And you understood why he would worry about you, and you sighed. You shifted your feet, looking down at the floor.

“You need to trust me, Tom.”

“I try to, and I do. I just don’t trust other people.” You looked up at him to see that he was completely serious. He actually did look a little scared. And the fact that you hadn’t answered your phone would’ve freaked you out, too, because you two had a rule to always answer, no matter how angry you are at each other.

“I’ll try to be better about answering, okay? I was just having fun and I was drunk and I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“It shouldn’t be a big deal, but it is. I’m sorry if you thought I was just being an ass to be an ass.” You let go of the arms that were crossed across your chest and stood on your toes, giving him a hug. He hugged you back, a little tighter than he usually did.

“I’m home. So you don’t need to worry, okay? At least not tonight.” You let go of him and stood back on your toes. “Can I go to bed now?” Tom smiled at you a little bit.

“Yeah. Lecture over, I guess.” He followed you back out to your room, and before he shut the door, he turned back to look at you. “Good night, Y/n.”

“Good night, Tom.”

Taglist (if you’d like to be added, send me a message!): @an-adventureland, @firstangeldragonranch, @ssebstann, @winterreader-nowwriter

#tom holland x sister!reader #tom holland fluff #tom holland imagine

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ohemgeeitscoley · 7 years

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Chase the Light: Chapter Twelve

When Felicity Smoak’s romantic home-for-the-holidays plans fall through, Tommy Merlyn offers to act as substitute at the last second. Felicity is reluctant, worried the situation might forever alter the very nature of their friendship. But, well…

He is cheaper than an escort.

Graphic by @andyouweremine

Fandom: Arrow

Pairing: Felicity Smoak/Tommy Merlyn (Flommy)

Characters: Tommy Merlyn, Felicity Smoak, Donna Smoak, Oliver Queen, Sara Lance

Words: 4,398

Tag List: @bytemegeekette @sweetme86 (it has been forever since I’ve updated, so if you want on the list let me know, if you want off the list let me know!)

Previous Chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven

Read on AO3 or below!

Pushing her feet into the soft dirt underneath the swing’s seat, Felicity tried to ignore all of the thoughts that were barging into her head. Tommy had said that he loved her. He loved her. At first, after she left, she had tried to convince herself that he had meant it platonically. That he loved her because he was her best friend.

When that excuse stopped working, she decided that it was the sex. Having sex temporarily ruined his thinking ability and that's why he had told her he loved her. Which was, admittedly, a little conceited, to think that sex with her would have that kind of impact on him. But it was currently the reason she was holding on to for why she almost said it back.

Years of keeping her feelings to herself, locked up inside of her, and she almost told him without a second thought. And then where would they be? In an even more complicated situation when he tried to take it back.

As much as Felicity wanted to believe that he wouldn't, that somehow he had fallen in love with her over the last few days, she knew it couldn't be true. You don't just fall in love with someone you've known for years in just a few days. He was confused and when they got home he would realize it. And then she would lose him.

If she hadn't already lost him.

Felicity sighed as the swing slowed down to a stop again, blinking back tears as her grasp on the chain tightened. For a moment, she had everything she wanted. A glimpse into what it would be like to be loved by Tommy.

And then she ruined it. Or reality ruined it. Either way, the moment was gone.

He had looked so hurt when she started to leave. A part of her wanted to stay, wanted to do whatever it took for him to not look at her like she was breaking his heart. It was an image she didn’t think she would ever be able to forget, the absolute look of panic that passed across his face as she took off. She should have stayed. Felicity wasn’t sure what could have happened if she had stayed, but she knew that there would have been answers. A potential solution.

Instead, the urge to run as far away from the situation overwhelmed her. She didn’t want to get hurt. If she left, and they never talked, she might be able to stop everything from becoming real. Leaving then felt like the best option.

Maybe she was her father’s daughter, always just a moment away from leaving for good.

She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to go back to the apartment. She left because she didn’t know what to say to Tommy. But he would be there no matter when she went back. They were going to have to talk at some point. She wasn’t going to be able to run away forever.

If she waited until dinner to go back, she and Tommy would have to keep pretending in front of her mom. Would Tommy even do that now? It wasn’t fair that he had to spend the last few days doing that, but making him pretend like everything was fine between them now seemed worse. But if she went back before… she wasn’t ready to talk to him.

She needed to leave Vegas.

Leaning back, Felicity dug her phone out of her pocket, calling Sara before she could think of the consequences.

“Hey, what's up?” Sara asked as a greeting, the sound of traffic behind her making it hard to hear her.

“Bad time?” Felicity asked, hoping that her voice didn't sound as wavering over the phone as it did to her ears.

“No,” Sara said. “Just give me a second and I'll stop at the next building. What's wrong?”

Felicity sighed, running her free hand through her hair. She waited until the background noise faded before replying. “Well, to start you're a terrible friend who gives the worst advice and do you think you could still call in an emergency and I'll take the next flight home?”

“Felicity--"

“I can't go back to the apartment Sara,” Felicity continued, her voice cracking, “I just… I can't.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“We slept together,” Felicity admitted. “We slept together and then he told me he loved me.”

Sara didn't say anything, the silence over the phone overwhelming Felicity as she started to rock the swing. Sara was never quiet for this long. She was also quick with a response or an idea.

Calling her was a bad idea, Felicity realized.

“I feel like I'm missing the problem,” Sara finally said.

“The problem is that Tommy said he loved me and I know he can't mean it,” Felicity said, blinking back tears.

“Felicity--"

“Don't ‘Felicity' me, Sara,” Felicity interrupted sharply. “If Tommy loved me don't you think he would have brought that up before all of this?”

“Did you?”

“That's not… that's not fair.”

“Do you think you’re being fair to Tommy right now?”

“I hate you,” Felicity muttered, closing her eyes.

Felicity had purposefully not asked herself that question. Refused to even consider that maybe Tommy had been hiding his feelings about her the same way she had hidden her own. It was too much of a dream. Real life didn't work that way. Her life didn't work like that.

“You love me,” Sara teased and Felicity could practically see her shrugging. “And you love Tommy.”

“I do,” Felicity admitted, running the toes of her shoes across the bark underneath her. “But I'm not what he needs. Sara, I'm already messing things up. He told me he loved me and I ran away. What does that say about me?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Sara sighed. “Maybe that you are scared. But I need you to be brave. You need to talk to him. You need to tell him how you feel and, Felicity, you need to believe him when he tells you how he feels.”

A single car passed by on the road fronting the park, and for a moment the only sound was the breeze and the car’s engine fading away.

“What if I’ve already ruined this?” Felicity asked in a small voice.

“Then I'll have an emergency and you'll be on the next flight home.”

“I'm scared that I don't know how to fix this,” Felicity admitted. “I should have told him the truth before. Maybe all of this could have been avoided.”

“You can't change the past,” Sara gently reminded her. “But you can go back home and change your future.”

“But what--"

“Felicity,” Sara interrupted with a small laugh. “Stop stalling and go talk about the ifs and the buts with the guy that matters.”

“Okay,” Felicity nodded, nervously biting down on her lip. “If I call again, just assume it's emergency time and book my flight home.”

---

Tommy stared at the rather large box in the postal man’s arms.

Arms. Plural. As in the box was too large to reasonably be held with one hand.

“Were you not expecting a package?” the man asked, momentarily struggling with the package before holding out the clunky electronic device for Tommy to sign.

“No,” Tommy said, shaking his head as he signed his name. “I mean, I was. Just a much smaller one.”

The guy sort of shrugged, clearly annoyed by his limited movement. “Last name?” He asked, taking the device back and holding out the package.

“Merlyn,” Tommy confirmed, grabbing the package and stepping back into the apartment.

The box was definitely from Oliver. Tommy studied the label while he walked into the kitchen, grabbing a knife before placing the box on the dining room table.

It took fifteen minutes for Tommy to cut through the nineteen boxes Oliver had needlessly decided to include. Another ten to figure out what to do with all of the newspaper and packing material that was shoved inside every single box.

He spent five minutes with his eyebrows knitted in frustration on the last box, wondering where Oliver even found that much tape.

Finally, the small, black box was in his hands. Tommy ran his finger down the edge of the container before opening it.

The yellow gold band glinted in the box as Tommy leaned back against the wall. He pulled the ring from the box, carefully holding it up to the light. The ring was rather simple compared to some others he had seen, but his mom had loved it. The three stones were cushion cut, the middle one slightly raised. It was the only one that was new to his mom’s family, the two side stones had belonged to her mother’s mother’s mother, or something like that. Tommy hadn't been overly keen on listening to a history lesson on his mom’s wedding ring when he was younger.

Tommy had a hard time imagining Malcolm picking such a simple design and using diamonds that weren't the biggest or brightest. Logically, he knew that before her death, Malcolm had been different, especially with Rebecca. But that didn't make it any easier to see his father taking the time to design the ring.

Tommy placed the jewelry box on top of the pile of other boxes, taking a few minutes to strategically pull out some of the packaging materials before he reached for his cell phone. He took a picture, sending it to Oliver.

Tommy: seriously??

Oliver: Are you actually complaining that I did what you asked.

Tommy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose while he read Oliver’s reply. He rolled his eyes, leaning back against the kitchen counter as he typed out his response.

Tommy: I asked you to send me my mom’s ring, not a starting pack to open a new shipping company.

Oliver: Did you get the ring?

Tommy: You’re an asshole.

Oliver: You didn't get the ring?

Tommy: Of course I did

Oliver: That's right. Because I am a damn good friend.

Tommy sighed as he stared at the message. Oliver was a good friend. He hadn't taken any of Oliver's advice since he gotten to Vegas. Tommy was certain that he knew exactly how to handle the situation. Coming out and telling Felicity about his true feelings wasn't going to work; she would have immediately doubted him.

She would have wondered why he hadn't told her. Why was he telling her now? How long had he had feelings for her? It would have opened him up for a spew of questions he wasn't prepared for, some that he wasn't positive even had answers.

Not to mention the inevitable moment when Felicity would have to tell him that she didn't feel the same way. Somehow, in his head, he figured avoiding any conversation about his feelings while they were pretending to be together was a great idea. It would come up organically, he didn't need to push the conversation. But he was terrified. And any moment that may have been right seemed too soon, too rushed. He was convinced he would ruin things before they truly began.

By the time he was ready to talk about how he felt, Felicity began avoiding the topic. He missed all of the signs. Felicity must have figured it out. Somewhere along the way, he had stopped trying to hide his feelings for her because he let himself think that he didn't need to anymore. Of course she figured it out. Which is why she avoided the conversation.

He wasn't sure why he thought pretending to be her boyfriend wasn't going to ruin their friendship. Or how he managed to convince himself that he could be with her in the way he had been dreaming of for only a few days and then go back to how things were before.

He was an idiot.

Oliver: So, how are you planning on proposing to Felicity with your mom’s ring without giving away the fact that you are in love with her?

Tommy groaned as he read the message.

Tommy: I already fucked that up.

Tommy was halfway through a follow up message to explain what he had done when Oliver’s image flashed across his screen. Tommy answered the call without meaning to, his fingers still sliding along the glass to finish his message.

For a moment, Tommy considered hanging up, finishing the text he was in the middle of and turning off his phone so he didn’t have to deal with whatever Oliver was going to say. He didn’t need to hear about how he could have done this differently, or how maybe he misunderstood Felicity’s actions. Or, really, anything Oliver was going to say.

What he needed to do was figure out how he was going to get out of this mess. How he was going to look at Felicity and act like he was completely fine, like they were completely fine.

“Tommy,” Oliver’s voice rang out from his cell phone.

“Fuck,” Tommy muttered, lifting the phone up to his ear. “Look, man, I’m not--”

“Getting out of this conversation,” Oliver interrupted, his tone firm. “How did you fuck this up more?”

“Go to hell,” Tommy snapped. “I don’t--” he paused, clenching his hand into a fist while he shook his head. He wasn’t angry at Oliver. The last thing he needed was to push Oliver away too. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Oliver was silent. Tommy hated talking on the phone. He had no way of figuring out what Oliver was thinking, no way of preparing himself for what may come.

“It sounds like you need to though,” Oliver said, his voice more concerned than Tommy had been expecting. “What happened?”

“I fucked up,” Tommy said as if that was enough. He wasn’t sure why Oliver needed to hear about how exactly he fucked up. Wasn’t it enough to just know that he fucked up? Why did he need Tommy to replay one of the worst moments of his life?

“Wow,” Oliver sighed. “Feel free to expand on the details whenever you are ready. I don’t have to be anywhere for a few hours.”

Tommy closed his eyes, his shoulders sagging as he took a deep breath. He hated when Oliver got like this: calm with an amount of patience that would surprise anyone else. Pushing off of the counter, he walked into the living room. He didn’t say anything as he stretched out across the couch, a small part of him still hoping that Oliver would drop the conversation.

“How’s the weather?” Tommy asked after a few minutes of silence. “Should I wear a jacket on the plane?”

Oliver didn’t say anything.

“You’re right,” Tommy said to fill the silence. “I should bring one just in case. Or download a weather app.”

“Tommy,” Oliver warned. “The flight to Vegas isn’t a very long one. I could probably make it down and back before I have to be at Verdant. So unless you really want to have this conversation in person, tell me what happened.”

“I told her the truth,” Tommy managed to get out after a few seconds, each word heavy in his throat. “I told her the truth and she left.”

“And by truth, you mean you told her--”

“I told her I fucking loved her,” Tommy cut Oliver off, not needing to hear Oliver say it. He bit down on the inside of his cheeks as he waited for Oliver to ask another question or to make some remark about how it took him long enough. He figured that at least Oliver would ask, again, what he had done to fuck things up.

He didn’t. Even Oliver knew that telling Felicity the truth was how he had fucked up. He didn’t need any additional confirmation.

“I told her that I loved her. That I didn’t want to just be her friend. That I want more. And she… God, Ollie--” Tommy paused, awkwardly clearing his throat before continuing, “she left. She just… she left.”

“Okay,” Oliver said after a long moment. “I’m going to need more details. Because that doesn’t make sense, Tommy.”

“What do you--” Tommy’s eyes narrowed as he laughed, “what do you mean that doesn’t make sense? That’s what happened.”

“I--I get that man,” Oliver sighed, the sound only adding to Tommy’s irritation. “I’m not arguing that it didn’t happen. But I need context to understand how this happened because I know you and Felicity. And it doesn’t make sense.”

“Of course it makes sense,” Tommy ground out, his voice full of contempt. “She doesn’t have feelings for me Oliver. I have no idea what we’ve been doing for the last few days. But she doesn’t feel the same way. And I have about four hours to figure out how to undo… all of this.”

“No,” Oliver simply said. “You aren’t getting out of this Tommy. I get that Felicity left. And that you may not want to hear that you’re too close to the situation… but you’re too close to the situation. There could be a million reasons for Felicity’s reaction.”

“99% of which are that she doesn’t feel the same and realized that sleeping with me was a mistake.”

“Wait,” Oliver said with a cough. “You slept with her? Seriously, Tommy? How was that?”

Tommy groaned, exhaling sharply. He needed to find a reason to get off of the phone. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to Oliver about this. He didn’t want to think about having sex with Felicity. Not when he knew it wasn’t going to happen again.

“Yeah,” Tommy replied. “I did. It was… it was amazing. So, there you go, you know the details. Can I go now?”

“Before or after?” Oliver asked, ignoring Tommy’s question.

“Before or after what?”

“Did you tell Felicity that you loved her before or after you had sex?” Oliver clarified, his original annoyance creeping back into his voice.

“Right after,” Tommy answered, tapping his fingers against the side of the couch. “What does it matter?”

“What does-- what does it matter?” Oliver snickered. “God, you are a fucking idiot.”

“Yeah, I think we’ve covered that one already. Thanks for bringing it back up. You’re really a great friend,” Tommy bit out, not caring for a moment if he had no friends when he got back to Starling.

“We’ve definitely covered what a great friend I am,” Oliver reminded him. “C’mon man, you can’t honestly have expected Felicity to react well to that?”

“I mean,” Tommy paused, briefly wondering how exactly else he was supposed to have expected her to react. “I was supposed to expect her to run away from me within seconds of telling her?”

“No,” Oliver hesitantly started. “No, that might have been a little extreme. But are you telling me that you can’t see where she was coming from at all?”

“I guess?” Tommy answered, unsure of his real answer. “Maybe if she didn’t have any idea how I felt before? She had to know though, Ollie. There’s no way--”

“Do you see now why you should have taken my advice on telling her the truth from the beginning? I’m positive all of this would have been avoided had you just talked first.”

“Fuck off,” Tommy said, trying to shake the truth of Oliver’s words. “I tried to talk to her yesterday. She didn’t want to talk. Probably because she realized that she was going to have to tell me that she didn’t feel the same way.”

“So she slept with you because she doesn’t have feelings for you? You can’t honest--”

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Tommy interrupted, sitting up on the couch. “I know what happened.”

“No,” Oliver said with such certainty that Tommy wanted to scream. “You don’t. And you won’t until you talk to her.”

“I tried that. I told her that I lo--”

“Fuck, Tommy,” Oliver sighed. “You told her you loved her after you slept with her. After days of telling her that you guys were just friends. You need to actually have a conversation about your feelings that doesn’t start with the two of you making out or getting engaged and pretending like that’s something friends just do.”

Of course Oliver would say that. Oliver would know just the words to string together to reflect what he and Felicity had said. Do friend do this? Is this something friends do? Friends don’t say that.

“We said--” Tommy started, pressing his fingers against his temple. “We said that they did? That we could. Friends can have sex.”

“You two actually…” Oliver’s sentence trailed off as he started laughing. “You two managed to have that discussion but couldn’t find time to talk about how just maybe you’re both full of shit and in love with each other? If it makes you feel better, you and Felicity are both idiots.”

Despite himself, Tommy laughed. He was getting relationship advice from Oliver Queen and it was making sense. Maybe the flight from Starling to Vegas had thrown him into some kind of alternate universe.

“When did you become the mature one in this friendship? Tommy asked, leaning back into the couch.

“I’ve, uh, well,” Oliver stuttered, and for a second Tommy thought he sounded almost embarrassed. “I’ve been going to therapy.”

“What?” Tommy asked, he pulled the phone away from his ear for a second to confirm that he was still talking to Oliver. “Did something happen?”

“Nothing, nothing big?” Oliver responded vaguely. “I’m kind of a fuck up too, you know? And I don’t-- I decided that I didn’t want to always be one. I had no idea how to change that, so, therapy.”

“Wow.” Tommy looked across the coffee table in front of him, focusing on the scratches on the far right corner. He had know idea what to say to that.

“Good timing apparently. Who knew you’d need this much advice.”

“Yeah, you should send me your next bill.” Tommy smiled. “In fact, does your therapist do emergency, over-the-phone appointments? Because I… Ollie, I have no idea what to do here.”

“Do you know when she’ll be back? Maybe you should try to call her?”

“She was supposed to have lunch with her mom.” Tommy sighed as he glanced at the clock on the wall next to the kitchen. It was almost noon. “I doubt she’ll answer any call from me right now. And I’d be surprised if she came back here until Donna gets off work.”

“But won’t Donna get off at like--”

“Yeah, man,” Tommy answered before Oliver could finish his question. “If I remember correctly, Donna’s picking up dinner when she gets off work.”

“Okay,” Oliver paused, the noise in the background getting louder. “You can either call her or you can sit around in an empty apartment for a few more hours and talk yourself out of even trying to have this conversation with Felicity.”

“She won’t ans--”

“Did you try?” Oliver asked. “Before you called me? Since you’ve been on the phone with me?”

Tommy sighed, annoyed with the way Oliver had managed to turn the conversation back to him talking to Felicity. He wasn’t going to call Felicity. He didn’t want to talk to Felicity. If she wanted to talk, she would have stayed. She would have at least given him half a chance to explain.

But she didn’t.

At first, Tommy thought about chasing after her, he needed her to understand what he meant. He loved her and, for a moment, he let himself believe that she felt the same way. He had thought that maybe she was scared. He knew Felicity; he should have expected her to react that way.

Her head start was too much though, by the time had had gotten clothes on and out the front door, he couldn’t see her. They weren’t in Starling, he couldn’t even begin to guess where she would go to be alone in Vegas.

Felicity knew that. She knew when she left that he wouldn’t be able to find her to talk to her. That’s when Tommy realized that Felicity didn’t leave because she needed time to process anything, but because she didn’t feel the same way and wanted to avoid telling him.

“If she wanted to talk to me,” Tommy began, clearing his throat before continuing, “don’t you think she would have stayed?”

“No,” Oliver answered quickly. “We’re just going to keep talking in circles and I have a meeting with a new vendor I need to prep for. So, keep having this conversation with yourself, and every time you ask a question just know my answer would likely fall under ‘no,’ ‘you’re an idiot,’ and ‘call Felicity.’”

Tommy was about to interrupt Oliver and tell him that he could stop being such an asshole anytime when he heard the lock turn in the front door. He looked up at the sound, his heart hammering in his chest, and watched Felicity walk in.

Oliver was still talking, but Tommy wasn't listening. All of his attention focused on Felicity. She had been crying, her cheeks were still puffy and slightly red. He wanted to hang up on Oliver then, to hug Felicity and find some way to make her happy. It's what he did.

He had no idea what to do when he was the one that made her sad in the first place.

“So call--”

“Felicity,” Tommy whispered, his eyes still glued on her as she shut the door.

“Yes!” Oliver said loudly, Tommy pulled the phone away from his ear a bit. “Call Felicity.”

“What?” Tommy asked shaking his head . “No, Felicity just got here.”

“Oh,” Oliver sounded surprised. “Okay. So talk to her.”

“Yeah,” Tommy sighed, watching as Felicity walked over to the couch, sitting on the opposite side of him. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Tommy sat the phone down on the edge of the coffee table, waiting for Felicity to say something, anything. She kicked off her shoes in silence, turning so that she was facing him, her back pressed against the armrest of the couch.

Felicity nodded once, a sad smile on her lips. It felt like hours passed before she finally said something.

“We should probably talk.”

#flommy #felicity smoak #tommy merlyn #arrow #arrow fic #sara lance #oliver queen #my fic #chase the light #the hanukkah au

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