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corrodedseraphine · 2 years

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stray heart | hughie campbell x fem!reader | one shot

Pairing: hughie campbell x fem!reader

Summary: After the mission is accomplished, the whole group allows themselves an evening of relaxation and celebration. In the course of it, you find out that too long-hidden feelings and wine are not a good combination.

The one shot is also avaliable on Ao3

5 226 words

Songs which I used here: Green Day - Stray Heart and Ed Sheeran - Tenerife Sea

hughie campbell masterlist | general masterlist

"I can't believe we managed to kill that asshole!" you shouted as you entered the house. For weeks the whole team had been hunting one of the supes, and today you finally managed to get rid of him.

"Let's not forget that he almost killed you too." Hughie sighed, extinguishing your enthusiasm.

"If it weren't for Kimiko you would have been lying dead a long time ago!"

"If it hadn't been for her distracting that cunt, we never would have caught him." interjected Butcher.

"You acted like a real badass!" Kimiko added, handing you the phone on which she had written the message.

"We... deserved a reward!" exclaimed Frenchie. "I will prepare the most wonderful supper, feel invited!"

"And I have to risk being poisoned?" M.M. laughed.

"That was a blow straight to my poor heart, bastard!" shouted Frenchie putting his hands to his chest. "Still, in two hours I invite you, dress up as if you were going on a date with the president or receiving an Oscar. This evening belongs to us!" After these words, you all dispersed to separate rooms to freshen up a bit and change clothes. From the moment you discovered that Neuman also had superpowers you knew that you had to be more careful, so a change of residence seemed to make sense. Together with Kimiko and Frenchie, you moved into a small house on the outskirts of New York City that you had inherited from your grandmother. Hughie, Butcher and Marvin had their own apartments, but you still spent most of your time at your place. It was a base of sorts, since no one knew of its existence. At least that's what you hoped.

After taking a shower, you started looking through your clothes. You didn't have a lot of them with you, but there were a few summer dresses. You liked the idea of Frenchie. After days of hunting supes, running and playing with death, you really deserved one evening of pleasure. You looked at the mirror standing against the wall. The reflection in the mirror showed you a person you couldn't recognize. Scuffed up eyes, bruises and cuts almost all over your body, scars that will probably never disappear again. A wreck of a person stood before you. You never thought of yourself as someone who could be called beautiful. Now you knew that you were far from beautiful. Especially when Annie appeared nearby. She was your friend, no doubt, but no matter how hard you tried you couldn't stop the feeling of jealousy. She had everything, a beautiful face, hair and a perfect figure. Something that, in your mind, you would never be able to match. When you were alone it didn't bother you so much, you had long accepted the fact that you wouldn't be like her. However, the green monster in you was awakened every time you saw how Hughie could not take his eyes off her. Every time you looked in his direction, his eyes were on her. For months you defended yourself against the thought that you felt something more for him. However, it was all stronger. Every night you lay staring at the ceiling wondering what to do so that he would finally give you the attention you so desperately craved. You prayed that for once he would look at you the way you looked at him. Every night before you went to sleep, you made up fake scenarios in which he would finally see something more in you. For a long time now, you no longer had the strength to hold back the storm of emotions that was inside you when he stayed intimately close to you. The warmth that filled you from the inside whenever you saw his smile, or heard his laugh. The chills that ran through your body every time you accidentally touched each other. Even a gentle flick of his hand was enough, nothing more. The way you are always there for each other and no matter how messed up the situation becomes you never leave each other. Every time one of you nearly died in the middle of the action, afterwards you threw yourselves into each other's arms feeling grateful that you made it. When you were still living in the basement under the pawn shop, every time you were haunted by nightmares and couldn't manage to sleep he always let you sleep with him. He told you silly stories just to occupy your thoughts with something and let you fall asleep peacefully. Even if at first you fell asleep with your backs to each other, in the morning you woke up in his embrace every time. You missed it so damn much. Along with the nostalgia, you also felt pain each time you were reminded that he would always see you as a friend. You sent your reflection a sad smile and began to change into a dress, and later decided to put on some makeup, hoping that maybe without the visible bruises and the cut wound on your forehead, Hughie would see at least some beauty in you. In the meantime, you heard a quiet knock on the door.

"Come in!" you shouted and saw Kimiko enter the room uncertainly. You grinned at the sight of her. The two of you had grown very close over the past few weeks.

"I need help." she signed. When you moved in together you began to teach her how to write and use the phone, and in return she taught you and Frenchie her language. So far you only knew basic phrases, so she communicated with you over the phone most of the time.

"Is something wrong?" you asked worriedly, and she shook her head negatively.

"Frenchie told us to look nice, and I don't know how to do it." she handed you a device.

"Let me just finish my makeup quickly and take care of you, 'kay?" you grinned. She answered you with the same. "In the meantime you can look through my clothes, maybe you'll find something you like."

Excitedly, she ran over to the clothes and started browsing. Every now and then she changed the idea by showing you more and more strange combinations, and when it was time for makeup she couldn't sit still as the brushes tickled her skin. When you were finished, you both stood in front of the mirror.

"You look beautiful." you said. She was wearing a slightly oversized red dress with open shoulders. It perfectly matched the red lips. At first she didn't want to agree, but you persisted and after a moment, she agreed. You could see little happy sparks in her eyes. She momentarily infected you with all the positive emotions that were from her.

"You too." she replied. You were dressed in a cream-colored floral dress with a large neckline, and a silver necklace sparkled around your neck. Kimiko insisted that since she had painted her lips such a conspicuous color you must too so you decided on a strong, bright pink. For the first time in a long time you looked at yourself in the mirror and saw someone you didn't want to look away from right away. Satisfied, you left the room. It turned out that everyone was just waiting for you.

"Ah! belles femmes!" shouted Frenchie. He was dressed in black pants and a shirt over which he wore a gold jacket. "Do you see, you yahoos? The girls understood the assignment! They look like a million dollars!" he excitedly grabbed both of you by the hands and pulled you towards the table. "y/n" he kissed your hand and pushed back the chair. When you sat down he squatted you back down. "mon cœur" He did the same with Kimiko. "I knew I could count on you. As punishment, the rest of you should only get a piece of dry bread and a glass of water, the feast should be for those who can appreciate the situation." He rolled his eyes. You were amused by this. In fact, Hughie, M.M and Butcher were sitting at the table in jeans and T-shirts.

"I think this one time we can forgive them," you laughed looking ahead.

"Frenchie is right, you do look beautiful." Hughie commented looking straight into your eyes. You felt a strange nervousness. You can't remember the last time you received eye contact.

"Ha, a homeless person would dress better than you!" Frenchie continued his dramatic performance pretending to be offended. However, at some point you zooned out completely focusing on the person sitting in front of you. Even in a simple T-shirt, he looked good. He didn't need a suit to impress you. He might as well have been sitting there now in a stretched out tracksuit, and you could still admire him for hours.

"Do I have something on my face?" his voice snapped you out of your reverie.

"Oh! N-no..." you choked out. You felt your cheeks burning from the embarrassment of being caught staring at him. You quickly got up from the table and went to the kitchen with the intention of helping to bring down the food. Once everything was set up on the table you turned on the music in the background and got busy eating. You were so hungry that no one even tried to talk. Only when your stomachs were finally full did Frenchie get up from his seat.

"I propose a toast, to a successful mission!" he grabbed a bottle of red wine and poured for everyone. After the first few sips, you felt your muscles gently relax. You sat like this recalling the course of the last mission. The wine was pouring at an amazingly fast tempo, thanks to which even Butcher seemed to be relaxed and joked with you like never before. The mask of the tough guy was put away for a while, you could even tell that he was enjoying sitting with you at that moment. At one point, a familiar tune reached your ears.

I lost my way, oh baby, this stray heart

Went to another

Can you recover, baby?

Oh, you're the only one that I'm dreamin' of

Your precious heart

Was torn apart by me

"I love this song!" Kimiko signed.

"Then let's dance," Frenchie pulled her by the hand to the middle of the living room where they began to move and jump to the rhythm of the music. "Petit Hughie! Invite y/n to dance!" he shouted. "Be a gentleman!"

And you, you're not alone, oh-oh

And now I'm where I belong

We're not alone, oh-oh

I'll hold your heart and never let go

The boy looked at you with uncertain eyes, and you responded with a slight smile. He drunk up the rest of his wine and extended his hand toward you sending you the most charming smile you had ever seen. It's a good thing you were still sitting at the time because you were sure your knees would have bent momentarily. Joining "the dance floor," you got close enough to smell his cologne. You had a feeling that your head was spinning, you didn't know if it was because of his presence and that smell or because of the wine. At that moment it was all the same to you, all that mattered was Hughie all the time smiling broadly at you as you moved to the rhythm of the music.

Everything that I want, I want from you

But I just can't have you

Everything that I need, I need from you

But I just can't have you

"I never thought I would dance to Green Day songs." he laughed, moving closer to you.

"I didn't either. But tonight we can do whatever we like!" you laughed feeling happy. He grabbed your hand and turned you around a few times.

"Everything?" he asked having his lips right next to your ear.

"No limits," you answered on the inhale.

I said a thousand times, and now a thousand one

We'll never part

I'll never stray again from you

This dog is destined for a home to your heart

We'll never part

I'll never stray again from you

Not wanting to interrupt the touch, you placed your other hand on his shoulder and he placed his own on your waist. A familiar shiver ran through your body, but you hoped he didn't notice.

You're not alone, oh-oh

And now I'm where I belong

We're not alone, oh-oh

I'll hold your heart and never let go

It's been a long time since you were as close to each other as you are now. Again you could feel the warmth that you so badly missed. The closer you got to the source, the more all the rest seemed distant to you. Suddenly everyone who was with you in the living room dissolved into nothingness leaving you alone.

Everything that I want, I want from you

But I just can't have you

Everything that I need, I need from you

But I just can't have you

"Everything that I want, I want from you..." you sang softly. You lifted your gaze meeting his bright eyes. Soft wrinkles appeared at their corners when he once again smiled. Then it occurred to you that despite the countless times you had cuddled and slept in the same bed, your faces had never been as close together as they were now. With your gaze you wandered over his face until you finally stopped at his lips.

Everything that I want, I want from you

But I just can't have you

The words of the song rumbled in your head as you decided to close the minimal gap that was between you. His lips were exactly as you had imagined. Warm and soft. The kind you might never have pulled away from again. However, a shocked Hughie violently drew in air and put his hands on your shoulders gently moving away. The confusion on his face terrified you and before he could say anything you panickedly ran out of the house.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked looking around the room.

"I'll ask it another way, what the hell are you still doing here?" asked M.M. Kimiko aggressively signed to him, telling him he was an idiot and ran off after you. "You've been playing cat and mouse for months. You stare at each other as if you were the eighth wonder of the world, but only when the other one isn't looking, like in some damn kindergarten, Hughie."

"We can feel your hearts getting off the hook, Petit Hughie." interjected Frenchie.

"After all, we're just friends!" he said sitting down on the couch wiping his sweaty palms in his pants.

"And you want to be just friends?"

"No...but that would ruin the whole relationship between us. W-what if it doesn't work out between us?" he combed his hand through his hair.

"I've never seen anyone look at someone with so much love in their eyes as she does at you! With that kiss she gives you her heart on a tray, and you threw it on the floor and trampled it!" At the sound of these words, he felt a strange pain in his chest. And the thought you feeling rejected only intensified it. He remembered the moment when he first felt that you meant much more to him than he would have expected.

A quiet knock on the door rang through the room. Puzzled, he looked at his watch, which showed three o'clock in the morning.

"Yeah?" he asked loudly and turned on the lamp. The door opened and there stood you with a far too large t-shirt and fabric shorts that revealed your bruised legs. When he shifted his gaze to your face he noticed swollen and glazed eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, sitting up straight.

"I can't sleep... I don't even know why I came here... These nightmares don't let me rest, I can't handle them alone." The sound of your breaking voice awakened in him the desire to protect you from all the evil of the world. He never wanted to hear it again. Without thinking, he quickly jumped out of bed and took you in his arms. You stood like that for a long moment, until he felt you shivering.

"Shit, are you cold? Come on, cover yourself." He pulled you to the bed, where you sat with your legs crossed, which he immediately covered with a quilt, then he went to close the door and when he returned, he sat down opposite you. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know... every time I close my eyes I see blood. Blood everywhere. Blood, guts and limbs scattered all over the room. And then I'm in a completely different place, tied to a chair when Homelander makes me choose who to kill first. There you all are M.M, Kimiko, Frenchie, and Butcher. He makes me watch as he slowly kills each of you. Every night I'm afraid to go to sleep because I know I'll have to relive it all over again like I'm in some kind of cursed hell loop!" tears began to run down your cheeks. The sight of you at that moment was breaking his heart, he couldn't explain why, but he couldn't stand it and felt an incredibly great need to hug you and take from you all the pain you were feeling.

"Y/n, listen to me please." he began, grabbing your hands. "I'm here, okay?" he started moving closer. "We're all okay, I think even Butcher, who is rambling God knows where, is okay. After all, a bad things never dies." A quiet giggle came out of your mouth hearing the last sentence. However, his touch also made the fear slowly begin to retreat. "Everything will be fine, I promise. You're not alone in all this, you know. You're always welcome here, even in the middle of the night." he assured. Unexpectedly, you took your hands from his and shifted so that you could hug him. A pleasant warmth spread over his body, and a smile crept onto his lips.

"Thank you." you whispered.

"You're welcome, that's what ... friends are for." the last words didn't want to pass his lips. Until now he had no problem calling you his friend, but now he wasn't quite sure if what he felt for you at that moment could be described as a purely friendly reaction. He wanted to kiss every tear from your face ending with your lips. He quickly shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts. Unfortunately, feeling his sudden movement, you moved away, and the warmth in which he could have drowned just a moment ago was replaced by a cold longing.

"I should go back, I'm sorry I woke you up." You said getting out of bed.

"No!" his mouth was faster than his brain. "I mean..." he grunted. "You can stay here if you want, I haven't been sleeping very well lately either." He scratched his neck nervously while watching your reaction. He was relieved to see the corners of your mouth lift up and you were next to him again. "Maybe in company we can get over it." Without a word you both lay down with your backs touching.

"I can't stop thinking about it, Hughie..." you whispered.

"Maybe you want to listen to music?" he suggested, remembering how he always played his favorite playlist during sleepless nights and focused only on it.

"Will you pick something for me?" you asked uncertainly. You had several songs in your head that you could listen to, but you felt that you wanted him to choose one. Something special, something just for you. After a while, a quiet melody reached your ears.

"Just don't make fun of me!" he laughed. He didn't care if you laughed at him. At that moment, all he cared about was driving all the bad thoughts away from you and putting you to sleep. "And um- try not to think too much, okay? Just focus on the song." he instructed.

You closed your eyes focusing on the pleasant sounds of the guitar and Sheeran's soothing voice. You smiled to yourself, wondering if the choice of singer was intentional. You had mentioned several times in the past how much you liked him. There was a veritable storm going on in Campbell's head. He wondered if he had not exaggerated, if the choice of just this song was too obvious and if it would scare you off. What he didn't know was that you would never in your life be able to believe that he could dedicate any love song to you under any circumstances. Focusing only and only on the song, just as he told you to, you fell asleep with the conviction that he had chosen it only because it was peaceful and soothing. One that allowed you to feel safe enough to fall asleep. Nothing more.

Should this be the last thing I see

I want you to know it's enough for me

'Cause all that you are is all that I'll ever need

I'm so in love

So in love...

Listening to the words of the song himself, he wondered if what he was feeling now could be called falling in love? Tonight he felt as if these feelings fell on him suddenly and powerfully. But he didn't want to defend himself against them. There was something about you that made him want to go further. Unfortunately, he didn't know how. Nor did he know how to find out if you would feel the same. So he decided that for the foreseeable future he would act as if nothing had ever changed. Good old friend Hughie. Except for tonight. Making sure you were definitely asleep he gently put his arm around you pulling you closer. "Fuck it." he thought and dipped his nose into your hair sniffing it. Intoxicated by the fruity scent, he couldn't stop the thought that he wanted to be like this forever. Cursing himself in his soul for his selfish attitude, he prayed that the nightmares would haunt you more often, if that was the only way to spend the night with you by his side.

"Jesus Hughie, quit being a pussy and run for her you moron! I'm not going to buy you chocolate ice cream for a broken heart later!" Said Butcher while topping up his wine. "Go before it's too late."

"But what should I tell her?" he asked panicked.

"The truth!" the loud voice of M.M brought him down to earth a bit. Without waiting any longer he went out in front of the house to look for you.

You were sitting on a bench looking up at the sky. Kimiko silently sat next to you holding your hand. The makeup you had put so much effort into was already smudged by tears. You felt ugly again. In the simplest sense of the word. Simply ugly. You knew that when you got home and looked in the mirror you would feel bad.

"He's a douche." Kimiko signed.

"Nice, you say, but it's not true." you said sending her a sad smile. "We can't blame him for not feeling the same way I do."

"But..." sadness and sympathy were painted on her face.

"It's okay." interrupted her by grabbing both her hands. "I've made peace with it, you know? I'll never be beautiful enough or my character equal to Annie's." She sent you a questioning look.

"Every time I look at him, his gaze is on her. I am not surprised at all, probably for him she is a walking ideal. You don't even know how much I would give to have him look at me like that even once..." You sighed, returning your gaze to the stars.

"You don't even know how many times I looked at you with such admiration that it hurt." you heard a voice say. Kimiko immediately stood up and walked towards it. "Kimiko, please let me talk to her." he said. Under the influence of his voice, you became still. You didn't dare turn around. After a moment, however, out of the corner of your eye you saw him sit down next to you.

"You don't have to be here Hughie, I can handle it." you said quietly.

"But I want to. I want to be by your side." he grabbed your hand. Feeling his touch, you felt another wave of tears come to your eyes. "Do you know why you keep catching me staring at Annie?" He continued. "Because you are always next to her. And when I see that your sight wanders in my direction I panic and stare at her. It's not that I don't like your eyes! No, I love your eyes and could stare into them for hours! Sometimes I feel like you hide all the stars in the sky in them, especially when you talk about something you like, they get so glassy and shiny then." he laughed nervously.

"Hughie, you don't have to lie, you know that?" the words struggled to pass through your throat.

"What are you talking about? I'm just trying to tell you that I love you, and you think I'm lying?" you could sense the irritation in his voice, but that's not what you focused on. His confession completely caught you off guard.

"Y-you love me?" you howled.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "From the moment you first came to my bed in the middle of the night in that damn basement! Wasn't it obvious? The song I played?"

"I... I thought you only played it because it was peaceful and was able to put me to sleep," you said.

"From that night I started to create a special playlist that I could play to you every time you came to see me again." he confessed.

"Why didn't you ever play it?" you asked disappointedly.

"I was panicking. Every time I wanted to do it I thought that if you guessed that I felt something more you would run away from me and never come back. That's why I preferred to tell you silly stories not at all related to my feelings." you answered nothing. You still couldn't believe that everything he said was true, and then, as if reading your mind, he went on. "Why is it so hard for you to believe that I can love you y/n? I know I didn't show it. I was a coward. I always waited for the right moment to tell you, but it never came. But I'm here now and I have to finally get it off my chest because I can't take it anymore! You did something today that I should have done months ago. Something I've dreamed of every time I've seen you!" He squated in front of you forcing you to look at him. "Now I know what a big mistake I made keeping it a secret all this time. You deserve the truth, y/n. You deserve to know that you are the most beautiful in the world and about how I feel about you."

"But... I'm not like Annie. I will never be. I don't have a perfect figure, most of my body is bruises and scars that I won't get rid of too soon because I'm not one of the supes and I don't have the ability to heal myself." you let out a torrent of words. " For the rest of your life looking at my face you will see this nasty scar." you said pointing with your hand to your forehead.

"They make you even more beautiful." he commented without thinking.

"What are you talking about?"

"Every scar makes you more beautiful. And this one here?" he said putting your hair behind your ear. "It will always remind me how without hesitation you threw yourself at one psycho with superpowers just to save me and M.M from being sawed through by a laser in that asshole's eyes. If you hadn't distracted him then we would have been long gone. This is a reminder that in addition to your beautiful appearance, you also have a beautiful inside. And about not messing with you, because if you weren't scared at that time, that means you could easily kick my ass."

"I was terrified Hughie..." you said.

"I am so sorry for my reaction. I shouldn't have pulled away from you, but I was in complete shock."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

"No, I'm glad you did. Now I have confidence that you feel the same." A familiar charming smile appeared on his face. The one that always made your heart melt irrevocably. The one that always infected you and made you smile too. "I love this view."

"What?" you asked.

"Your smile. I sometimes feel that it's your superpower. All you have to do is smile and everything bad disappears."

"Stop it, I probably look awful," you jokingly regarded him in the shoulder. "With that smeared makeup? As if some psycho clown escaped from the circus."

"As for me, even with smeared makeup you look awfully beautiful." Feeling the atmosphere between the two of you improving, he stood up and pulled you behind him. You were now standing facing each other. With a gentle flick of his hand, he rubbed your cheeks wanting to get rid of the mascara marks. "Damn. I think I smeared it even more." he laughed. He heard your giggle in response. You stood there with your head facing up and watched him. In the moonlight, he looked as if he wasn't real. He looked fairy-tale, almost mystical. As if it was just another dream starring him. "Still beautiful." he whispered while hugging you close. Both of you wanted to stop time in that moment. Your hearts, after a moment, synced up beating just as hard as if they wanted to tear your ribs apart and merge into one.

"If this is a dream, I never want to wake up again." you muttered into his chest.

"Y/n." he said quietly. "This is not a dream, please believe me that everything I said is true. If you don't believe me I will never forgive myself for how I lost the greatest person in the world through my own cowardice."

"I believe you, Hughie." you replied touched. Was that really it? Was this really the evening in which your dreams came true? You thought back to all the fake scenarios you created in your head with him in the lead role. None of them could match the beauty of that moment. Nothing could.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked even more quietly. You nodded, and as he slowly began to lean toward you, unable to wait you stood on tiptoe connecting your lips. This time no one pushed anyone away. On the contrary, you desperately tried to be as close to each other as possible.

"Everything that I want, I want from you," you sang softly pulling away from his lips.

"And you can have me. You have all of me." He assured again finding your lips with a smile.

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