Vander x Reader-A Healthy Relationship
My first Vander request! Honestly, I'm so happy with how this turned out!
I hope you all enjoy this 💛
Warnings: Toxic relationships, manipulation, alcohol,
Meeting Vander was the best thing that ever happened to me; and that is no word of a lie. Before him, I’d never really had much luck with men. I seemed to always fall for the men who seemed charming to start with but after a few months would show their toxicity. And even though every time I told myself to not fall so easily…I would, without meaning too, and that made it all the much harder to leave.
Did I stay in these relationships longer than I should have? Yes.
Why? Because I loved them and I thought they might change back to how we were when we started, or perhaps that I could change them.
But every time I was proven wrong.
Though the reason why I stayed in my last relationship for as long as I did was not just because of love but because I believed them when they said that I would never find anyone else who wanted to date me.
And because I believed them; I allowed them to control me, to manipulate me, to wear down my confidence until there was barely anything left.
It may have taken me a lot longer than it should have to realise that I needed to leave that relationship but when I did finally realise it, I left. It was hard. Luckily I had friends I could stay with though not even they could stop the thoughts that often ran through my head about whether or not I had made a mistake.
One night my friends persuaded me to go to The Last Drop; I nursed my drink slowly while my friends drank multiple drinks back to back.
It wasn’t until later that night that I actually spoke to Vander.
~~~~
“You certainly know how to nurse a drink, darl,” Vander chuckled as he grabbed the empty glasses my friends had left behind before going to talk to various different people at the bar.
I didn’t know what to say to him. I wanted to drink more and I knew I could…but in the back of my mind all I could hear was my ex telling me that I could only have one drink. That’s all I could ever have when I went out with my friends and half the time I barely even finished that…scared that my ex would think I had more and start an argument over it.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make ya feel awkward,” Vander apologised, a frown tugging at his lips as his eyes studied me, clearly noticing my uncomfortableness about the situation.
“No, no I’m sorry, it’s just…it’s been a while since I’ve been to a bar,”
Or anywhere really.
My friends and my ex didn’t really see eye to eye; I guess that’s because my friends saw the truth about my ex before I did and even though they tried to tell me, I just ignored them. I let my ex win; I stopped hanging out with my friends as much, except for on their birthdays and in time I just stopped going out everywhere, knowing that if I did so, it would lead to an argument about who I was with, where I was and why.
“Well,” Vander began, collecting the last empty glass off of the table, “You’re welcome here anytime, darl, and if any of these bastards give you any hassle, come get me,” he stated with a smile on his lips before walking back to the bar.
~~~~~
And that was the beginning of our story.
After that night I started going to the bar more often; and he and I quickly went from strangers to friends.
Vander soon found out about my previous relationships…how toxic they were, how much they broke me down…he comforted me, listened to me and helped me.
He made me feel alive again.
He made me laugh, properly laugh, the type that makes your belly ache, something that I thought I would never do again.
He made the butterflies in my stomach flutter in a frenzy every time I saw him; and though I warned myself not to fall for him so quickly, I couldn’t help it.
So when he asked me to be his, I thought I was dreaming.
~~~~~
It had been one of those evenings.
A stressful, exhausting evening.
Looking after four kids was hard enough, especially when they all seemed to want to argue with me today. The majority of the time, things between us all were amazing, even though it had only been a few months since Vander introduced me to them, they welcomed me with open arms. Though, as any parent knows, not every day is easy and today was one of those days.
Arguments about curfews, bed times; you name it, they wanted to argue about it.
Not to mention that the bar was also extremely busy; so I was having to multitask between bartender and parent whilst Vander was out at Benzos.
It was a long night, but eventually the last of the customers staggered out of the bar, I couldn’t help but sigh as I leaned against the now locked down, revelling in the peace and quiet that now filled the air along with the stench of a variety of spilled alcoholic drinks.
Now was time to clean up.
I’d cleaned up the floor, the tables and the chairs, the only thing I had to do was clean all of the remaining glasses that were scattered along the bar, but I’d tidy them up when I let Vander in, right now, I needed a shower.
~~~~
I could feel the warm water ease my muscles almost instantly when I stepped into the shower. I quickly cleaned my body,getting rid of the smell of the alcohol that covered my body, but that is what happens when you work at a bar, especially one as busy as The Last Drop. As the last of the soapy suds fell off of my body, I simply took a moment to enjoy the feeling of bliss that covered my body as the warm water fell on me. Tonight this was definitely something I needed, simply just to relax after the busy and slightly stressful night.
I left the shower, throwing on a clean set of clothes before checking on the kids; thankfully after many arguments, they were all peacefully sound asleep in their beds.
Having checked on the kids, there was only one thing left to do, tidy up the rest of the glasses that I’d left on the bar.
I practically froze when I saw Vander at the bar, humming away whilst cleaning the glasses I left. My heart dropped, guilt and shame washed over me as I mentally prepared myself for the long lecture that I would get about how I was lazy, selfish and useless…I had one job that I needed to do and I didn’t do it.
I took a deep breath, trying to compose myself as I slowly stepped towards the large man at the bar.
“Vander…I’m so sorry, I was gonna clear everything up after I had showered,” I apologised quickly, hoping that if I apologised quick enough I wouldn’t get the lecture I knew I probably deserved. I knew I should’ve cleaned all of the glasses before I showered.
“It’s okay, darl, I know it was probably pretty hectic in here and you needed to go and destress a little,” Vander replied, with a reassuring smile on his face. The kindness that was not only in his voice but in his eyes as well, confused me. He wasn’t angry?
“I should have done it before you got back…I didn’t even realise I’d been that long, I’m sorry,” I apologised again; still confused about why he wasn’t angry, still mentally preparing the reasons why I’d left the glasses on the bar.
“Hey,” Vander whispered softly, snapping me out of my thoughts as he placed his hand under my chin, tilting my head up so I could look at him, “stop apologising doll, you haven’t done anything wrong,”
“You’re not mad at me?” I asked, still expecting him to tell me that he was…still expecting the harsh words that were running around in my head to fall from his mouth.
“Why would I be mad at you?” He asked, the confusion evident in his eyes. It was a look that just confused me even more. If this had been Y/e/n, they’d have been yelling at me already.
“Because I left this place in a mess-” I quietly answered, wanting nothing more than to just hang my head in shame, though Vanders hand kept my head up.
“You didn’t, this place is normally twice as messy when I close after a busy night,” he assured me; his thumb softly running along my chin.
“But I-” I began only to be interrupted by Vanders lips on mine. It took my brain a few seconds to realise what was actually happening before I melted into the kiss.
“You need to stop worrying so much,” he breathed against my lips, his hand now resting on my face, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on my cheek.
“It’s a force of habit,” I admitted; not that I needed to, Vander already knew that. Being in a healthy relationship was still something I was adjusting too; more often than not I ended up apologising too much and worrying and overthinking things Vander told me he would never be mad at me for.
“I just don’t wanna upset you…” I mumbled, letting out a shaky breath at the thought of upsetting the man I’d fallen completely in love with.
A soft chuckle fell from Vanders lips as he rested his forehead against mine, “It would take a lot more than a few dirty glasses to upset me, darl.”
I opened my mouth to say something but he just quickly captured my lips in another kiss before any words could leave my mouth.
“I’m serious, stop being so hard on yourself, you don’t deserve it, I know those arseholes before made you believe that you did, but I promise you, you don’t.”
This was just another example of a scar that was left from my previous relationships; another example of how Vander was different to every other person I’d been with. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t harsh. He was kind, reassuring and just the best; not that he would ever admit it himself, but he was a truly wonderful man.
“Thank you,” I whispered, turning my head slightly to place a soft kiss on his large palm.
“You don’t need to thank me for telling you the truth,” Vander gently soothed, “And I promise, I’ll keep telling ye it until you believe it.”
Tagging some people that might be interested:
@xacatalepsyx @yn-ymn-yln @lttlemer @juxl25 @mothratic @cass-brightwood @barbersjoy @stickyrice5096 @simping-ella @the-lone-librarian @abadamn
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