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nevernotwriting · 3 years

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You, Me, and Yancy | Chapter 8: Rooftop Relations

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Previous chapter

Several weeks earlier…

“All right, here we are.”

Mark stopped the car and the two of you got out, grabbing your duffel bags from the backseat. The slam of the car doors echoed in the empty parking garage as the two of you made your way to a door reading “EMPLOYEES ONLY”.

This was your third rooftop night shift, but your stomach was filled with more butterflies than ever before, because this was your first one with Mark. You’d been eager to spend more time with him after how warmly he welcomed you to the group, and now your wish had finally come true.

“After you,” Mark said, opening the door for you. He tipped his beanie towards you as if it were a fedora.

“Cheesy,” you snorted, walking through the door. Mark followed you.

“Cheesy is my middle name!”

You ascended an endless staircase, eventually reaching one final door. Opening it, you stepped out onto the rooftop of the Glendale Galleria.

The glass sections of the roof revealed that the inside was lit up in a brilliant white. This was your first indicator that this place definitely had a night shift. You sighed internally, your last flicker of hope for an early night dying.

Mark finally appeared in the doorway, laying down his bag and walking to the edge of the rooftop. You joined his side as he stared out at the grid of lights that stretched in every direction as far as you could see.

“Nice view,” he commented.

“I prefer the one back home.”

“Oh yeah?” Mark turned to you with a curious expression.

“Yeah. You can actually see the stars at my parents’ house. And the Milky Way, if you turn the porch lights off.”

“That’s pretty awesome,” Mark smiled. “But who needs the Milky Way when you’ve got LA’s light pollution, right?”

You rolled your eyes with a loving smile. “Funny.”

“Funny is my middle name.”

“I thought cheesy was your middle name.”

“I have two.”

The two of you descended into laughter before picking up your bags once more and surveying your surroundings.

“All right, so what’s the plan here?”

Mark produced a rolled-up piece of paper from his bag; it was the map that Shrike and Gareth had compiled between them a few days prior. Mark scanned it and flitted his eyes up to the roof every few seconds. “Shark wants us to keep an eye on the guard rotation around the Swarovski store, which, according to this map, should be right… there.” He pointed to the largest glass dome in the middle of the roof.

“How about we get a quick scope of the whole place first, then settle in on the Swarovski store?” You suggested. “Might come in handy to know how many guards there’re gonna be overall.”

Mark nodded. “Good call.”

The two of you began to walk together from one edge of the roof to the next, sharing the map and marking out each guard you saw in light pencil. You caught Mark watching you out of the corner of your eye and you glanced at him, surprised to see an impressed smile on his face.

“You’re really good at this. And this is only, what, your third night shift?” His eyebrows raised along with his question.

You smiled, looking back down at the map. “Not like it’s hard.”

“Awh come on Zero, just take the compliment.”

“And if I don’t?” You teased.

“Well then this is gonna be a long night.”

You snorted, throwing your head back in laughter and continuing to walk. “That’s what I said to myself five minutes into what was possibly the worst date I’ve ever been on.”

Mark laughed, following you. “Oh no. What happened?”

You groaned. “I had to do like, ninety-nine percent of the talking. No joke. Me. Doing all the talking. You’ve seen how quiet I can be at work. God it was a nightmare, like why would you agree to a date with me if you don’t even really wanna be there?”

Mark shot you a sympathetic look as he scribbled on the map. “Maybe they were just super shy? But either way, that’s pretty rough. I’m sorry.”

You shrugged your shoulders. “No harm done. What about you, what’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?”

Mark paused, pursing his lips and looking up at the sky. “There was this one time I was asked to fill out my birth chart and do some online personality test before the date even started. That was… weird.”

You laughed, gasping in disbelief. “And how did that go?”

“Oh, the date?” Mark looked back down at you. “Technically, it didn’t even happen. My date decided we weren’t compatible cause I’m a Cancer and an extrovert, or some shit.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Mark grinned at you.

After about ninety minutes of slowly working your way up and down the roof and sharing stories, you and Mark finished up at the largest glass dome overlooking the Swarovski store. You were about to settle onto the cold concrete of the roof when Mark pulled out two foldable camping chairs from his duffel bag.

“Did you really think I was gonna let you sit on a roof all night without a bit of comfort?”

“Shrike did,” you replied, standing back up.

“That’s cause she’s an alien. I’m a human being.”

“That’s exactly what an alien would say if they were trying to pass as a human.”

“You got me,” Mark laughed, holding his hands up. “Got binoculars?”

You fished them out of your bag, throwing a pair to him. “Catch!”

Panic crossed his face, but he caught them just in time. “See that? Cat-like reflexes.”

“Sure thing, Catwoman.” You rolled your eyes, looking through your own pair of binoculars.

“Ten-fifteen, no guards,” you mumbled under your breath. Mark jotted down your observations on the sides of the map.

“What time d’you think they turn the lights off here?” You asked.

Mark shrugged. “Hopefully soon. It’s a little blinding.”

“Yeah,” you agreed. “Must be weird walking through a dark empty mall at night though. I dunno why, but it makes me think of this video game my friend made me play in college. You played as a security guard in a haunted pizzeria.”

“Not that animatronics one.” Mark’s voice was flat with dread.

You removed the binoculars from your eyes, shooting him a surprised look. “Yeah! You know it?”

“Man, don’t even talk to me about that game.”

You laughed. “It had me sleepless for days as well.”

There was silence between you two for several minutes as you went back to the task at hand, until Mark broke the silence once more.

“How’d you get into video games?”

You leaned back in your chair, surprised again at the inquisitive look Mark was giving you. You played with the binoculars in your hands.

“My dad got me into them, actually. He was always really into them as a kid, all the retro stuff. We used to spend a few nights each week completing a video game together whenever I was home.”

“That’s cute,” Mark smiled. “Do you miss Pennsylvania?”

Your stomach flipped. You normally hated that question, but something about the sincere, gentle look Mark was giving you made you want to open up to him even more.

“A little,” you replied, sitting forward and glancing down. “But LA is starting to feel like home. It took a while, but I’m getting there.”

You looked at Mark again. Your stomach continued flipping as a sweet smile spread across his face.

“Good.” His answer was so quiet you almost missed it.

“Y’know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually asked where you’re from, Mark.”

Amidst the darkness, you could’ve sworn a hint of pink spread across his cheeks. “Oh, it’s fine. I’m from Ohio originally.”

“Shut up! We were state neighbours this whole time and you never told me?”

Mark’s eyebrows raised as he let out a hearty laugh. “Yeah, I guess we were! But hey, look at us both now, living it up in the big city.”

“Damn right we are!” You held out your hand for a high five. Mark accepted it, the singular clap reverberating into the night.

You settled into another comfortable silence, only breaking it to make the occasional remark about the guard patterns. When the lights finally dimmed inside the mall, you and Mark let out a quiet cheer of relief. You dug your phone out of your bag to check the time, surprised to see that it was 12:30 am.

“Wow. Time flies, huh?” You flashed your phone screen at Mark.

“Sure does when you’re having fun,” he smiled back, jotting down another note on the side of the map. “Lights out, twelve-thirty.”

You stuffed your phone back into your bag, turning away to hide the huge grin that appeared on your face.

“By the way, what was that on your lock screen?”

Heat flushed to your face as you retrieved your phone once more. Damn this guy, he doesn’t miss a beat.

You passed your phone to him. “It’s the view of the city from the Griffith Observatory. I’ve not actually been up there yet, but I found that picture online and I liked it, so…”

Mark raised his eyebrows at you in disbelief as he gave you back your phone. “You’ve never been there? You should totally go!”

“I know, I know. I just didn’t have time what with school. It just fell to the back of my to do list.”

Mark hummed in response, but he was staring at the sky as if he were lost in space. He bit his lip.

“I could take you there some time. If you wanted,” he offered. His voice was uncharacteristically quiet once again.

“That’d be fun.” You smiled, trying to keep your cool despite the butterflies filling your stomach.

Out of nowhere, a chilling breeze picked up. You shivered violently with a groan of protest, rubbing up and down your arms.

“Son of a bitch, where did that come from?”

Mark reached for something in his bag. “LA weather can still surprise you sometimes. Here, put this on.”

He threw something black onto your lap. You picked it up, realising it was one of his sweatshirts. You cast him a bashful smile. The hit of warmth was immediate when you snuggled into the garment, and a faint smell of cologne enveloped you. You sighed happily to yourself.

“You’re not getting this back.”

“I figured you’d say that.”

After another hour and yet more watching and waiting, you heard Mark’s stomach rumble faintly. An idea popped into your head. You reached into your bag, pulling out a large flask and holding it out to him.

“Here.”

Mark took the flask, unscrewing the lid and sniffing with a curious frown. “What is this?”

“Chicken soup.”

“You brought soup?”

“Well we’re gonna be out here for a while, what did you bring?”

“… Cookies.”

You shook your head. “Good thing you have me to keep you in check. Go on, it’s homemade.”

Mark took a sip. His eyes lit up in delight.

“Damn Zero, that’s good. You made that?”

“Mhmm,” you nodded. “Family recipe. Warms you right through to your bones.”

“In which case,” Mark began, a hint of mischief in his voice as he handed the flask back to you. “If you have this, can I have my sweatshirt back?”

“Nope!”

Mark leant back in laughter, picking up his binoculars again. “So, you’re stubborn and a good chef. I’m learning a lot tonight.”

You scoffed back at him, retreating further into his sweatshirt.

“Chicken soup’s my favourite kind actually.”

“Yeah?”

Mark hummed, binoculars still glued to his eyes. “My mom used to make it for me when I was sick. You’d think I’d hate it cause of that reminder of feeling crappy, but the opposite happened.” He lowered the binoculars, gazing at you for a few seconds in silence. “I guess it just reminds me of… I dunno, that I have people lookin’ out for me.”

Your heart felt like it had been lit on fire. You swallowed, trying to summon the right words, but your mind was blank. You managed a shy, wordless nod, pulling down the sleeves of Mark’s sweatshirt to cover your hands.

The next few hours seemed to fly by in a matter of minutes. By the time you were satisfied with the guard rotations you’d mapped out, it was nearly six in the morning. Your eyes felt like they had papercuts, and your brain ached for a dark room and warm blankets. You and Mark packed away your equipment into your bags. Just as you were about to make your way to the door, Mark unexpectedly grabbed your hand.

“Wait, this is the best part.”

“Whaaaat?” You groaned, desperate for sleep.

Mark led you to the edge of the rooftop once more. “Trust me, it’ll only take a couple of minutes, and it’s more than worth it.”

You looked across the landscape ahead of you. You were about to ask what the fuss was about when bright orange hues bled into the sky from the horizon, and everything stopped.

The sun was slowly rising over the city, bathing all of the buildings in a brilliant orange light. Wispy clouds drifted along, interfering with the sunbeams and creating dancing patterns in the sky. Your eyes widened, a small gasp escaping your mouth.

“You know, I’ve never really stopped to notice this before,” you admitted.

Mark turned to you. “Are you glad you did?”

You nodded at him. “Yeah.”

It dawned on you in that moment, after having looked at him through hours of darkness, just how incredible his eyes were. The early morning light blazed in them, highlighting all the brilliant brown tones that intertwined and danced with one another.

You cleared your throat, taking in a deep breath of the crisp air. Mark looked away, adjusting his bag on his shoulder.

“We, uh…” he shifted on the spot, smiling at the rising sun and scratching the back of his head. “We make a pretty good team, don’t we?”

You grinned back at him harder than ever before. “We sure do.”

Next chapter

#a heist with markiplier #ahwm #heist mark #heist mark x reader #heist! mark x reader #yancy x reader #ahwm yancy x reader #ahwm yancy #my writing #nevernotwriting

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thatbluegibson · 6 years

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CH 11

“Hold the pin straight,” Liz called from underneath the sidecar.

Dave did as he was told, peering down at her through the mounting bracket. “This isn’t going to fall on you, is it?” he asked, watching her loosen the last bolt. Her dark hair fanned around her as she wrenched on the bike.

“The legs are down, dummy,” Liz teased. She finished removing the last bolt and looked up at Dave. “K, pull the pin.”

He pulled the lynch pin away from the bracket and winced as the side car lurched down towards Liz’s face. The heavy metal barrel dropped a half an inch before it’s steel legs steadied it. Dave let out a long breath and a wide smile spread across Liz’s face before she burst into giggles.

“Get up, fucker,” Dave laughed, pulling himself off the concrete.

Liz slid out from under the side car and hopped up. She pulled her leather jacket out of side car and slipped it on while Dave started his bike. She jumped at the roar from the Harley Deuce, spinning around towards the bike with wide eyes. Dave threw his head back in laughter, but Liz couldn’t hear him over the rumble of his bike echoing off the parking garage walls. She quickly hopped onto her Ural, now free of its side car and fired it up. She nodded at Dave when she was ready and they took off down the garage ramp.

They rode easily through the city, avoiding traffic due to the early hour. Dave led her onto the 101 headed north and eventually onto I5. Liz felt her mood improve the further they rode from LA. The cool air felt amazing against her skin and the sunrise was turning the sky to the east a vivid pink as they passed Glendale and Griffith Park before exiting the freeway in San Fernando. Dave pulled into a tiny parking lot next to an equally tiny mid-century style building.

“Sorry about the distance. This is the best time of day to ride and I get carried away,” Dave admitted, taking his helmet off.

“I don’t mind at all,” Liz said as they walked towards the building. “Feels good to finally get miles on that bike.”

Bells hanging from the door handle jingled as Dave pushed it open for Liz, causing the old men sitting at the bar to look up, but immediately return to their coffee and newspapers.

“This is the only place to get breakfast in Southern Ca-,” Dave explained, but was interrupted by a shrieking noise from the kitchen. A short older woman burst from behind a double hinged door and ran down the tiled walkway behind the counter towards them. Liz took a few steps backwards out of her way as the woman crashed into Dave, wrapping her arms around his waist. He staggered a bit and handed his helmet to Liz once he regained his balance. The woman was excitedly speaking in mixed English, but was holding Dave so tightly that his shirt muffled her words. Liz held back a laugh as he tried to untangle himself from the woman.

“Hi Gloria, I know-,” he tried to interject, but she was too excited.

“And now a-nother Grammy, David?” she cried. “What else is there left for you, young man? You work too hard, too much, so much that you can’t stay marri-“ she suddenly stopped when she noticed Liz and looked up at Dave. She slowly released him and stepped back, pushing her hair into place and adjusting her crisp white apron. Turning to face Liz, she crossed her arms and slowly inspected every inch of the girl Dave had with him. Liz felt her face getting hot under Gloria’s intense stare. “And who is this?” she asked sharply, never taking her eyes of Liz.

Dave stepped around Gloria and next to Liz, putting his arm around her shoulders. “Gloria, this is Liz. She’s a friend.” He over enunciated the last word to drive his point home.

Gloria stared for a moment more before her face broke into a wide smile. “Your spot is open, David!” she said, happily throwing her hands in the air and returned to the bar.

Dave sat a stunned Liz at the counter and took the seat next to her.

“Come here often?” Liz teased once he had settled.

Dave laughed, “You could say that.” He pulled a laminated menu from behind the counter and handed it to her.

She looked it over before deciding on an omelet and slid the menu over for Dave to look at, but he immediately put it back behind the counter.

“Same thing every time, huh?” she asked, thinking of her dad who did the same at his own favorite joint.

Dave shrugged, looking a little guilty.

“My dad-,” Liz paused a moment wondering if she should even bring her parents up, “is the same way. Eggs over easy, two strips of bacon, toast and three pancakes. Every time.” She watched as Dave’s eyes widened a bit and immediately regretting bringing it up.

“Your dad has excellent taste in breakfast foods,” Dave finally replied as Gloria returned with two cups of black coffee.

“What to eat?” she asked Liz, leaning on the counter in front of her.

Liz gave her simple order and turned to Dave expecting him to order as well, but Gloria just smiled and disappeared into the back. “Are you not eating?” Liz asked, confused.

“Same thing, every time,” he replied, picking up his coffee.

They sat quietly drinking their coffee for a moment before Liz spoke up. “So do you live around here? Or do you make the epic journey just for the same breakfast, every time?”

Dave set his cup down and shifted so he was facing her. “Just up on that hill,” he pointed out the large window behind her to a swath of large homes covering a desert hillside.

“And you longingly stare out your window at this place, waiting for the open sign to light up?” she laughed and took a sip of her coffee.

“No, I have a telescope and an alarm clock. It’s much more scientific that way,” he shot back. “We have a studio right around the corner. I come here to write in peace most of the time,” he added looking down at his hands.

Liz glanced around the restaurant at the red vinyl booths wondering which songs he had written there when Gloria appeared from the back with plates stacked all the way up her arms, gracefully setting them down on the counter in front of them. She turned to grab the pot of black coffee and as she refilled their mugs she gasped, “Oh linda, I’m sorry! I didn’t bring you any sugar!”

Liz shook her head. “Black coffee is best,” she said with a smile.

Gloria’s eyes darted to Dave. “Tu alma gemela,” she mumbled before refilling the other coffees at the counter.

Liz didn’t realize how hungry she was until she saw all the food set out in front of her. “Thank you for bringing me here,” she said as she picked up her fork. “I would have been stuck with shitty Starbucks and a bagel if it weren’t for-“ Liz stopped short when she looked at Dave’s plate.

Eggs over easy, two strips of bacon, toast and three pancakes. “It’s a really common breakfast combination,” Dave offered, sheepishly poking the eggs with his fork.

“You are such a dad,” Liz giggled, turning to her own plate.

They chatted a little while they ate, Dave recalling how nervous he was when he first met Paul. “I thought I was going to throw up when he shook my hand,” he laughed.

Liz smiled and spotted some framed newspaper articles on the wall beside Dave. Rocker Donates to Save Local Boy the top one read in a thick, bold headline. Just below was a color photo of a younger Dave with short hair and a goofy grin, his arms around Gloria and a small boy about six. Liz slowly lowered her fork and stood up to get a closer look while Dave sat in uncomfortable silence as she read the article. When she finished she slowly turned around to face him. “How’s he doing now?” she asked, her voice almost a whisper.

Dave shrugged. “He’s in college, doing fine,” he muttered and took another bite of his food.

Liz kept her eyes on him as she walked back to her seat, staring at him long enough that he set his fork back down and turned to her with a frustrated sigh.

“Look, they give me far too much money for fucking around with a drum kit. You know how much I get a month just in Nirvana royalties?” Liz took a breath to answer, but Dave went on. “Too. Fucking. Much. No one needs that kind of money. What am I going to do? Build a massive safe like Scrooge McDuck? You can’t swim in coins, Liz. That’s just physics.” He spun back around and snatched his coffee from the counter.

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” she said laughed quietly. “When I got that first Disney check, I paid off my student loans, bought the things I’ve always wanted, I secured my kid’s future, maybe not in that order, but I still had money left over. Why should we get to keep all the money when there are people that need it more than us?”

Dave nodded and held his hand out in agreement while finishing his coffee.

“Definitely explains your warm welcome here, though,” she added.

Dave laughed into his cup. “She’s my second mom,” he nodded his head towards Gloria, who was at the other end of the counter taking orders. “She tutors my daughters, too.” He nodded when Liz looked surprised. “Algebra, Geometry, Spanish and… uh…” he snapped his fingers trying to remember when Gloria walked by with an arm full of dirty plates.

“Trigonometry,” she mumbled, kicking the door to the kitchen open.

Dave snapped his fingers again and pointed at the flapping door. “That’s it! I’m clearly the high school drop out here.”

Liz smiled and shook her head, setting her empty coffee cup on the counter.

“Ready?” he asked and reached for their helmets.

“Yup,” Liz reached into her jacket pocket for her wallet when Dave snatched it out of her hands. “Hey!”

She swung for it, but Dave leaned too far out of the way. He opened the ball clasp and looked inside, laughing a little and pulling her ID from it’s pocket.

“Look at this picture!” he giggled as Liz tried one more time to grab it out of his hands. “You were blonde?”

“In my twenties. I just keep renewing my license by mail so I don’t have an updated picture,” Liz shrugged.

“Wait,” Dave flipped the card over a couple times in confusion. “Your name isn’t Liz?”

“Uh… no? Well, kinda” she laughed. “Stage name turned legal name thanks to the ‘No Duplicate Names’ SAG rule. Believe me, my mother is heartbroken over it.”

“So what’s your real name?” Dave asked, looking closer at the ID. “This just says Official Name Change To, then Elizabeth N Colbert. N…,” he said thoughtfully, “Is it Nancy?”

Liz laughed and made a face, “No, that’s actually my mom’s name.”

“C’mon,” Dave feigned a whine and looked back in the wallet.

“Nope!” Liz grinned and folded her hands in her lap.

Dave pouted a bit while slipping her ID back into its windowed pocket. He noticed all the other cards she had stuffed in her wallet and shot her a side smile. “I bet you didn’t change everything,” he teased.

Liz’s mind raced for a moment, trying to think of what she might have with her real name. “You can look!” she offered and smugly settled back with her arms crossed.

Dave began pulling out each of her cards and reading them before sliding them back in their pockets. Bank cards, health insurance, car insurance, coffee cards, studio access cards, laminate passes, elementary school volunteer badge… everything said Liz Colbert.

“God damnit,” Dave whispered, now pawing through back pockets and zipper pouches.

“I told you!” Liz laughed and stood up, reaching over his shoulder to pull a $100 bill from the wallet.

“Are you trying to get me killed?” Dave whispered harshly, snatching the bill out of her hand and stuffed it back in her wallet just as Gloria stepped up to the counter.

“So soon?” Gloria asked, gathering their plates.

“We’re on the bikes so we should try and beat the traffic,” he said, calmly pulling a $100 out of his own wallet and setting it on the counter. He smiled at Liz, who was glaring at him for paying.

Gloria looked between Dave and Liz for a moment. “You make that pretty girl ride on the back of that death machine?”

“I have my own death machine,” Liz replied cheerfully.

“Oh no,” she heard Dave whisper and hang his head.

Gloria narrowed her eyes at Liz and set the plates back down. “You’ll ruin your ovaries parading around on one of those… those… those… crotch rockets!” she scolded. Liz stifled a laugh, but nodded earnestly. “And you’re a young woman,” Gloria went on, “Several more years before you dry up and let me tell you, this boy,” she pointed a sharp, red fingernail at Dave, “needs a boy. He’s got three sweet little girls, but-“

Dave spun around in his chair and stood up. “Okay bye, Gloria!” he said loudly. He quickly grabbed their helmets and grabbed Liz’s hand, pulling her towards the door, but Gloria wasn’t missing a beat. She followed them on the other side of the counter, still scolding over the tops of the other customer’s heads.

“… he’s a good man and needs more babies! Just look at your hips!” she cried causing all the men sitting at the counter to turn and look at Liz’s ass. “Perfect birthing hips. They wouldn’t dare threaten a cesarean with hips like that!”

Dave desperately tried to speak over her to keep their humiliation at a low, “Right. Yes, Gloria. Okay. See you later!”

The last thing Liz heard when the door closed behind them was the best position to conceive a boy in. Dave walked as fast as he could towards the bikes, waving at Liz to hurry up, but as soon as Liz reached the bikes, she burst out laughing so hard that she had to lean on her bike to steady herself. Dave looked at her in surprise, he was sure she would be humiliated by Gloria’s little tirade. Finally Liz was able to take a breath.

“Can I just say,” she giggled, “that I’ve had two boys; one via c-section and that is not how they were conceived.”

Dave smiled and shook his head at her contagious laugh before handing her helmet over. “Hurry up before she comes out to finish her argument.”

#dave grohl fanfiction #dave grohl fanfic #dave grohl #thatbluegibson

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sutterbabe · 7 years

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#1 Clayton Keller

can u do a clayton keller one where you two are best friends and very snarky and sarcastic with each other but it TURNS OUT that he actually has a huge crush on you and this is just how he flirts and you overhear him talking about it with a teammate and you're just like 'ooooohh so that's what this has been'

WILL WRITE A PREQUEL BC BEST FRIEND ROAD TRIPS GOT ME THINKING

song suggestion: Milk by the 1975

“Go get your daily coffee fix or I am not driving you home.”

“Because what else would I do in a coffee shop?” you rolled your eyes. It was way too early for this shit. For his shit. Sure, you could be a little grumpy in the mornings but that was not the lack of caffeine. That was you being woken up way too early because Clayton wanted you to meet him and chych after practice before you both road tripped it back up to Missouri.

At least you went back to your normal self after a couple of hours, or, as clayton suggested, a cup of coffee. Meanwhile, Clayton had been stuck perpetually in sarcastic morning mode since that one time you’d dragged him out of bed for a spontaneous off-season road trip last year. You could deal, he was still your bestest friend in the world but he tended to get on your nerves so much more than usual.

“Hey chych,” you added, greeting the guy sat across from Clayton.

Chych raised a hand and smiled warmly. “Hey, Y/n.”

“Do you want anything?” you asked the boys. At that Clayton held up his cup and rolled his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No thanks, I’m all set.” Chych replied.

You narrowed your eyes at Clayton. “Well sorry I was trying to be nice.” you retorted, stalking off to the register to order. Sometimes Clayton was just so... ugh! Still, boys are weird so you continued to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was just... well he was just anything except naturally a little shit. The barista seemed to sense your frustration and smiled warmly at you as they took your order. At least that helped to calm you a little.

“Rough night?”

“Rough morning.” you corrected.

“Well, it can only get better from here.” they chimed, handing you your receipt as a small smile tugged at the corner of your cheeks.

“Yeah, guess so.” you replied, unconsciously glancing back at Clayton out of reflex. You hadn’t even noticed you were doing it till you picked up on the way he was scowling into his coffee mug at whatever chych was saying. You frowned at that and sent his a quizzical eyebrow when he happened to glance your way. He seemed to sink lower in his seat at that and glanced away from you without reply. God he was so weird now, you couldn’t figure him out. Sometimes he’d give you this look and you could not for the life of you decipher its meaning. He was always so sarcastic now too but could not for the life of him take a joke. Just the other day you’d joked that he “hated you and wanted to see you suffer” (this was after a rather heated game of mario kart... which he won) and he had given you such a pained look that you’d felt your heart stop because his pain tended to hurt you, a lot. As it should, he was your best friend and that was only natural but dear god you had made a mental note never to say that again.

“Y/n”

You smiled as you collected your coffee from the other barista on duty.

“Thanks,” you replied softly.

“You’re most welcome!”

You started making your way back over to the boys, why they’d chosen the furthest table away, you may never know, when a voice called you name. You grinned, stopping to talk to a group of a couple of kids in some of your classes. You were lucky to get accepted into college in Phoenix and you’d moved with Clayton from Missouri (well technically you’d moved while he was still in Boston) down to Arizona. It was nice to see him so much now. Since his trade to Boston, he’d gone from 7 and a half hours away to almost 18 and you really had missed him.

Jakob and clayton were still deep in conversation a few tables over and if you really strained, you could faintly hear what they were saying.

“We’ll maybe you should, I don’t know, try and flirt with her more?” chych suggested, the faintest hint of sarcasm in his tone.

“What do you think I’m doing?”

“Being an a pain?” Chych offered. “Seriously, you call that flirting?”

“I don’t know! i’m new to this whole thing and in my defence when i was younger, I always assumed that I could just ask Y/n for help with all of the girl stuff.” Clayton replied, gesturing wildly. You almost dropped your coffee. Clayton had always asked you for help when it came to dating. You felt a little hurt that he didn’t trust you now. Truthfully, you felt more hurt of the thought of Clayton liking another girl but you tried not to dwell on that.

“How’s that working out for you?” chych snorted.

“Shut up.” Clayton snapped.

“It doesn’t matter if you did, Y/n’s too oblivious to know it was about her. See maybe you should go for the old cliche ‘i need help asking out a girl’ and then ask her out the way she told you.” chych suggested.

Okay, for one that was a little unfair. You weren’t totally oblivious but you were also pretty sure you had not heard that last part correctly. It made it sound like you were the one Clayton had a crush on!

“I don;t even know if she likes me.” Clayton groaned. “We’re best friends, I don’t want to say something and ruin everything.”

What.

Maybe he had another best friend. GOd that made your chest hurt. Jealousy was not a good feeling.

Why couldn’t it be you though? That would explain all his weirdness, his sarcasm and how snarky he’d been. He was trying to flirt with you! He’d kinda failed at it but it wasn’t that still the cutest thing? He was such an idiot. The way he’d overreacted the other night? all those pained expressions? You felt all this tension that you didn’t even know you had been holding, ebb from you in the realisation.

“Y/n, are you okay.” your friend asked. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”

You couldn’t stop the grin that lit up your features. “I’m great. I’ll see you guys after summer break okay?”

They exchanged glances but nodded nonetheless. “Okay, Y/n.”

Clayton jumped three feet in the air when you plonked yourself into a seat beside him and Chych.

“Jesus! Don’t scare me like that.” he muttered. When he glanced up to see your delighted expression, you watched the corners of his mouth lift upwards in a small smile, unable to keep a straight face. “What?” he asked. You shrugged, still grinning. “Y/n, what’s so funny?”

“Nothing’s funny. I’m just happy. Can’t I be happy? Don’t you like seeing me happy, Clayton?” you questioned, trying to hide the little smirk that formed when the words left your lips.

Beside you, chych mouthed “that’s flirting” but you were too busy grinning at your best friend to see it.

“of course I do.” He replied without thinking before proceeding to flush bright pink and look very lost, glancing at Chych for help. “I mean, as long as its not because you killed someone.” he drawled sarcastically, immediately returning to old habits. Chych rolled his eyes and was probably mentally-face palming.

“This is going to be a fun road trip.” you muttered.

It was 21 hours from Glendale to Chesterfield. You’d set off just after three and you knew you’d probably arrive about 2am tomorrow morning depending on how long you stopped for along the way. It was a way shorter trip to fly (just under three hours) but road trips had sort of become your ‘thing’. You slept for the first few hours while Clayton drove (kept alert with coffee) till he was shaking you awake. He’d pulled up on the side of the road and it was still dark out.

“Why?” you groaned. There was a light in his eyes as he grinned at you, successfully getting you out of the back of the car and outside into the chilling Arizona pre-dawn air. “Clayton, it’s freezing!” you mumbled groggily. Before you realised what was happening, he’d slid is jacket around you and was jumping up to sit on top of the car, shoes resting against the windshield.

“Come on.” he encouraged, taking your hand and helping you crawl up from the bonnet of the car to sit beside him on the roof, wrapped an arm around your waist and pulling you against his side. You gratefully cuddled up against him for warmth.

“Its 5.30.” you protested, smothering a yawn. “What are we doing?”

“Watch.” he told you. You could still faintly smell the coffee he’d downed before you’d set off. You gently leaned your head on his shoulder and were close to falling back asleep when you saw what he was so excited about.

“The sunrise.” you whispered quietly, lifting your head off of his shoulder to watch it as the sky began to lighten to a rosy pink hue as a little sliver of sun began to appear at the horizon. The first time you’d ever gone on a road trip together, you’d woken him up to watch the sunrise with you. Little did you know he’d done more looking at you than he did the sunrise. That’s when he’d realised he was in love with you.

“Y/n,”

you turned to look at him, watching the way the sun caught the colours in his hair and eyes before he glanced away from you. He looked nervous and you reached over to grab his hand. He smiled at that.

“I want to tell you something- I need to tell you something.” he managed to get out. You squeezed his hand gently watching as he took a deep breath. “I think I’m in love with you.” he choked out and when he turned to look at you he looked so clearly distraught that you couldn’t help but fling your arms around him. “I didn’t want to make things... I’m so sorry.”

“Clayton.” you said firmly, pulling back to look at him. He stopped talking immediately and stared at you with wide eyes. He looked so upset and so terrified that before you knew what you were doing, you’d leaned forward and kissed you. He’d hugged you so tightly after that before sliding off the roof and returning with a blanket and an extra two cups of coffee he’d bought while you were asleep. You’d both huddled under the blanket, cradling your coffee as you watched the remainder of the sunrise.

“You know, I was never going to say anything until chych pointed out you were flirting with me yesterday.” Clayton admitted.

You giggled. “I’ve been trying to flirt with you since forever. I only made it super obvious yesterday after...” you stopped and trailed off.

Clayton caught on. “You overheard chych.” he stated turning bright pink. “god, that’s embarrassing. You weren’t supposed to-”

“Clearly.” you chuckled. “you are horrible at flirting.”

He rolled his eyes with a laugh. “well you still love it apparently.” he replied.

You smiled at that. “What can i say?”

#writing #Team USA #Arizona coyotes #clayton keller #hey mtv im emma welcome to my queue

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