snooperzz

[snooperzz]

Stupid Glasses

Clark Kent x female!Reader/OC Word count: 1.5k Warnings: third-person reader pov; none really, just fluff :) Note: this is written in third person & reader/oc is unnamed! (these are two excerpts from a bigger story i was writing that was a little more angsty & hurt/comfort, but i wasn't sure if i liked where it was going. i was happy with these though so i wanted to put them out into the world. ) Summary/Excerpt: She hadn’t found out the way that he wanted. Not that he ever really had a plan, but he certainly hadn’t meant for it to happen like this. (i.e., Clark really wants to kiss the reader, but his glasses keep getting in the way.)

She hadn’t found out the way that he wanted.

Not that he ever really had a plan, but he certainly hadn’t meant for it to happen like this.

They were at her apartment, and things were getting…heated to say the least. Hands roaming, exploring. Noses bumping, teeth clashing. Like if they stopped touching now the other might disappear.

His frame surrounded her own as he braced himself above her, careful not to put all his weight on her. Their couch-make-out-session quickly turning into something more. All he could think about was how he wanted her. To touch her. Taste her. To have her forever.

They had been official for a few months now. He still remembered the day he asked her, the soft snort she let out when he handed her the bouquet of flowers and asked if she wanted to “go steady.” How she made sure to tease him about not living in the fifties anymore before accepting his offer.

She was perfect. It was almost frightening.

He had quickly learned, the day they met, about how intelligent she was. How kind. How everyone went to her for advice, work-related or not. He read every single one of her stories, fascinated with seeing the world through her words, her eyes.

And right now? All he wanted to do was show her just how perfect she was, how much he appreciated her. Take her in. Let her bask in him.

But his stupid glasses were getting in the way.

He let out a frustrated huff, and lifted himself up from her. One hand pressed on the arm of her couch, while the other pushed his glasses up from where they had begun to slide down his nose.

“What is it?” she asked. Lips swollen. Hands pressed against his chest.

“Nothing,” he grunted, coming closer to her again, littering kisses around her neck as she caught her breath. “Just these–” He kissed her jaw this time. “–gosh darn–” Her cheeks then. “–glasses.”

His lips met hers again, and he melted into her. He kept his one arm braced against the cushions, careful not to crush her beneath him. But his other hand was everywhere. The side of her face. Her jaw. Sliding down her arm. Down her side. Beneath her shirt, on her skin. He finally rested it on her waist, feeling the goosebumps rise. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she shivered beneath him, pressing her body up onto his.

And, gosh, he felt everything. All of it. Her heart pounding in her chest. Her eyelashes fluttering across his cheeks. Her tongue dancing with his own.

He was so caught up in her, that this time when his glasses slid down his nose, once again trying to get in the way, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He simply pulled them off, absent-mindedly tossing them onto the coffee table beside them.

Neither of them noticed for a while. Not until they pulled apart, as they looked at each other while she tried to catch her breath once again.

And that’s when he noticed it. Something shifted in her eyes. Her brows furrowed.

“Huh,” she said, looking at him intensely, taking in every part of his face like she was seeing him for the first time.

He cocked his head, looking down at her with curious eyes. “What? What is it?”

She shifted, and he leaned back, giving her space to move as she sat up.

“You look a lot different without your glasses,” she stated. 

Simply. 

Almost too calm.

He swallowed. Hard. His eyes darted towards the frames that still sat on her coffee table. Almost like they were taunting him.

He stared at them as his thoughts consumed him. Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. This was not good. Did she realize? Had she noticed? How would he even explain it? What the glasses do. What he does. Who he was. Where he came from. Not to mention the fact he had been lying to her about all of this since the day he met her. Would she ever want to speak to him? Would she ever want to see him again?

“Clark,” she said, catching his attention. She didn’t sound upset. And when he finally turned to her, she didn’t look upset either.

She almost looked…knowing?

She reached over, grabbing his glasses from the table. She handed them to him with a soft smile.

“You…?” His question trailed off as he took his glasses. He didn’t put them on yet. Just looked at them as they sat in his hands.

“I kinda…figured it out after a while,” she spoke quietly, as if she was trying not to spook him.

When he didn’t say anything, she went on.

“I hate to say this, Clark, but you’ve got a bad habit of standing me up,” she teased.

He cringed at her words, sucking in a breath as he looked away. Embarrassed. He always had a good reason, but he never could tell her why. He had always wondered why she still stuck around.

“But,” she continued, bringing her hand up to his cheek and guiding him to face her again. “You always showed up eventually. With my favorite kind of ice cream and a slightly questionable excuse.”

She laughed before explaining further, “Coming into work late then disappearing randomly? Your constant exclusive interviews with the Superman? And you have to admit you can be a little defensive about the guy.”

She smiled. She was smiling at him. Why was she smiling at him? He had been lying to her for months. More than that. He had been lying to her ever since they met.

“I guess eventually just put two and two together.” She looked at him. Waiting for him to say something. Anything.

Finally, he let out a laugh. Small. Empty. Trying to play it off. “I’m not–”

“Clark,” she interrupted him, lifting her eyebrows. “Come on.”

He sighed, dropping his head. And nodded. “Okay. Yeah,” he admitted. “It’s me. He’s me.”

He didn’t look at her at first. But her hands found the sides of his face, and she brought his eyes to her own. And he had never seen anything more beautiful. More full of wonder. Adoration.

“I know,” she said. “I see him in you. And I see you in him.”

He swore his heart grew ten sizes then. “You’re not upset with me?”

“Why would I be upset with you?”

“Because I’ve been lying to you…hiding this from you.”

She let out a small laugh then. “You might need to work on your ‘lying’ skills, Kent. I’ve had my suspicions for a while now.”

He snorted, hiding his face in the crook of her shoulder as he shook his head. “Of course you have.”

“I guess you’re pretty lucky you have such a clever yet understanding girlfriend.”

He could hear the smile in her voice, and he lifted up his head to look at her. Their noses brushing against one another.

“I am,” he breathed, bringing his hands up to frame her face. He pulled her closer. “I really am.”

A week later.

“I could take you for a ride, you know?”

She had nearly choked on her turkey and cheese.

“Clark!”

His eyes widened as he realized what he just said, his ears turning a deep shade of red.

“Woah–okay! No,” he swatted her shoulder gently. “You know I didn’t mean it like that!”

She hid her face in her hands, a soft laugh escaping her. She peaked at him through her fingers.

“I would hope so,” her voice was muffled through her hands. “We’re at work!”

They were sat at his desk, huddled together over their lunches. Clark glanced around, checking to make sure no one had heard them. Of course, no one had. The chaos of the Daily Planet’s bullpen drowned out their conversation, their co-workers more concerned with their think-pieces and deadlines to worry about the two of them giggling like school girls in the corner. She picked up her sandwich, eyeing her next bite as he spoke again.

“I meant,” he reiterated. “That I could fly you somewhere. Anywhere you want, really.” He whispered this part, eyes shining mischievously as he looked at her.

“I don’t know,” she cringed, her mouth going crooked. When he gave her a questioning look, she continued, “I’m not…great with heights.”

“What do you mean? You told me you loved rollercoasters. That’s kind of the same thing, right?”

“Yeah, but with rollercoasters I know I have the the harness around me that I can death grip onto, and know that I won’t fall to my death.”

He let out a chuckle then, almost looking offended.

“You really think that I would let you fall to your death?” He crossed his arms on his desk, leaning closer to her. “I would be your harness…” he whispered, his eyes darting between her own. “...and you can hold onto me as tight as you want.”

She snorted, turning to face away from him in an attempt to hide how red her cheeks were getting. “Shut up, Clark.”

“I’m serious!” He smiled widely, his grin taking up the bottom half of his face. “I’ll keep you safe, no matter what.”

[snooperzz]

Bennie and the Jets

Clark Kent x female!Reader/OC Word count: 4.3k Warnings: angst, reader/oc has self esteem issues Note: this is written in third person & reader/oc is unnamed! you can also read this story on ao3 :) Summary/Excerpt: It wasn’t her proudest moment, sitting by herself in her apartment with a giant bucket of ice cream in her lap, watching her favorite comfort-film while emotionally exhausted from crying her eyes out for the past couple hours. There were a few questionable decisions she had made that had led her up to this point. And all of them began with her going to Jimmy Olsen for advice on her romantic life. (i.e., After the reader/oc tries and fails to get back into the dating scene, Clark Kent swoops in to save the day.)

It wasn’t her proudest moment, sitting by herself in her apartment with a giant bucket of ice cream in her lap, watching her favorite comfort-film while emotionally exhausted from crying her eyes out for the past couple hours. There were a few questionable decisions she had made that had led her up to this point. And all of them began with her going to Jimmy Olsen for advice on her romantic life.

It didn’t seem like a totally far-fetched strategy. She knew that Jimmy had quite the roster, and after years of no boyfriends, talking stages, or even dates, she was beginning to feel lonely. Just a little bit. 

And that compounded the day she met the clumsy, polite, new-hire Clark Kent a few years back.

Clark Kent who sat just a few desks from her, but despite this, always seemed to be lingering around her own desk, asking about her day or recounting the time he saved a squirrel from being run over by a taxi.

Clark Kent who instantly memorized her preferred coffee order, sliding it onto her desk each day as he walked into the office, sometimes right on time, but most of the time an hour or two late.

Not that she was complaining, though, because she definitely wasn’t. She enjoyed having him around, and even looked forward to seeing him everyday. His fluffy hair. His cute glasses that he constantly had to push up his nose.

Unfortunately, though, she had never worked up the courage to do anything about her little (huge) crush on the man. And anytime she finally convinced herself to approach him about maybe going to a coffee shop or to see a movie, he rushed away, blaming his abrupt exits on family emergencies or food poisoning from his dinner the previous night.

So of course, it seemed pretty clear to her that he just wasn’t interested in her like that. Which was fine (not really). And this was what led her to Jimmy, asking him for advice on how to meet someone. Anyone who might fill the gap in her heart.

And Jimmy, the idiot he was, told her to just download Hinge and make a profile, insistent there were plenty of guys in Metropolis who would love to get to know a girl like her.

So she did, and that was how she met Haden.

Haden was sweet. He was talkative over their messages, and even more talkative in person. He took her to the karaoke night at a local bar for their first date, which wouldn’t have been her first choice, but he was a big advocate for stepping out of your comfort zone. Trying new things. And she couldn’t help but find that sort of charming.

Even better, the first song he picked was a classic.

Bennie and the Jets by Elton John.

She nearly swooned on the spot.

She remembered talking his ear off as they walked back to his apartment that night, gushing about how the couple in one of her favorite rom-coms, 27 Dresses, sang that song together at a bar and how iconic it was. He laughed and agreed it was a cool coincidence.

Soon, their one date turned into two. Then three. Then four. They were meeting multiple times a week. Some days for lunch. Some days for dinner. Some days for lunch and dinner. Haden was great. Amazing even. So amazing that she almost forgot about her crush on Clark.

Almost.

In her defense, though, how could she forget about the guy who brought her a coffee every morning? How could she forget about the guy who would throw a bag of chips on her desk whenever she off-handedly mentioned having yet to eat anything that day.

But, of course, all good things must come to an end, and for her and Haden, that end was a little over a month after their first date.

He had taken her to get a sushi dinner that night, and as soon as they sat down she could tell something was off. After questioning him, he finally admitted that things were moving just a little too fast for him. This confused her at first. The conversation of becoming exclusive had never been brought up, and she wasn’t pushing for him to stop talking to other women or delete the dating apps off his phone. She knew that wasn’t a realistic expectation. 

She hoped that one day, maybe after a month or two, he might want to just focus on her, maybe make things a little more official, but she didn’t expect that to happen anytime soon.

Plus, in all honesty, she agreed with him a little bit. They had gotten pretty physical pretty fast, and she had definitely done some things with him that the past men she had been with had to wait a couple months for. But she had just chopped that up to her loneliness, and maybe a little bit of desperation (even if that thought made her cringe).

Then she realized where his concern was coming from. A few dates ago, she had briefly mentioned this fact to Haden, before continuing to say that she wasn’t really talking to anyone else at the moment. Just him. And ever since then, he had been a little different. More distant. In fact, this date was the first time he had reached out to her all week, and it was a Thursday night.

Shit. She hadn’t even thought twice about her comments at the time, but now she could see it coming off that maybe she was hinting at something, even if that was not the case. But before she could explain herself, he shot her down.

“Look,” he had said. “You’re a nice girl, but I’m just not looking to settle down. I’m talking to a few other girls right now. Just trying to have fun, you know?”

“Right,” she swallowed. “Yeah, I get that. I wasn’t trying to freak you out or anything, I just–”

“It was just bad timing,” he interrupted her, continuing on. “But also kind of good timing too, I guess? Because it made me realize that we should probably just stop now while we’re ahead, you know?”

She looked at him dumbly. “Oh.”

He sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Yeah, I mean I’m flattered that you were so focused on us, but it made me realize that this,” he pointed between the two of them, “isn’t really what I’m looking for. Like, you’re a really nice girl, like I said, but I’m just looking for someone with a little bit more…experience. If you know what I mean.”

She could feel her face pale as the blood drained from it. She tried not to crumble to the ground in embarrassment right then and there.

“Right, I understand,” she croaked out, looking at the table, out the window, anywhere but the man sitting in front of her.

He let out a sigh of relief. “See that’s why you’re so cool. You just get it, you know?”

She nodded again, even though she wasn’t really listening to him anymore. She was more focused on how to get the hell out of there before she started crying.

She ended up pulling the classic move, excusing herself to the bathroom before sneaking out the entrance. And she was sure to block Haden’s number and delete that stupid dating app before she made it home.

The next day she was quieter than usual. And Clark had definitely noticed.

She brushed off any questions Jimmy asked her about her date, and she declined Lois’ multiple invites to the bar with everyone else that night, simply stating that she didn’t feel too good and just wanted to get some rest after work.

But when Clark offered to get her some medicine, she refused.

She simply stayed glued to her computer all day, except for when slipped away for her lunch break. And when five o’clock rolled around, she left without a word.

And now she was here, wallowing on her couch with a tub of ice cream in her lap, her face puffy and red. It wasn’t her proudest moment. She had only known this guy for a month and some change, but she couldn’t get what he had said out of her head.

She knew she wasn’t the most experienced when it came to intimacy, and it was something she had always been self-conscious about. Intimacy was something she had shied away from in previous relationships out of nerves. Or maybe deep down her gut just knew that those guys weren’t the one. But she tried to be different for Haden. She put herself out there for him in ways that she hadn’t done in her previous relationships. But that had backfired big time, and now she found herself even more self-conscious than before.

Was she getting to the age where her lack of experience was embarrassing? Haden seemed to think so. And she had a feeling that most guys in her age range would probably have the same opinion.

As the end credits to her movie began to roll, she sighed deeply. She plopped the half-empty, half-melted ice cream bucket on her coffee table and sunk further into her couch, burying her head into her pillows and wishing to disappear from the world. She thought about how she should probably get up, brush her teeth, and just get ready for bed, but the idea just seemed too exhausting. Maybe she would just sleep on the couch tonight.

A knock on her apartment door caused her to jolt up. She looked over at her clock.

It was nine o’clock.

Who the hell was knocking on her door at nine o’clock?

She got up and stumbled over to her front door, not bothering to check out her peep hole before opening the door in a moment of delirium.

But oh boy did she wish she had when she saw who was standing outside her door.

Clark Kent, with a can of chicken noodle soup in his hand.

She was suddenly very aware of how insane she looked right now. Her face was still red and puffy, her hair was most likely a rat’s nest. She was wearing an old t-shirt from high school that was about three sizes too big along with a pair of sweats that made her look like a penguin waddling around whenever she walked, but hey, at least she was comfortable.

“Clark,” she squeaked as she smoothed her hands over her hair in an attempt to look somewhat presentable. “What are you doing here?”

He looked down at her, his eyes soft as he provided a polite smile and lifted up the soup can. “I–uh–brought you some soup. Since you said you weren’t feeling good,” he stumbled over his words.

“It’s nine o’clock at night, Clark,” she responded. Why was he bringing her soup this late? Why was he bringing her soup at all? She didn’t deserve it, not after how she treated him and the rest of her co-workers that day.

“I was just worried about you, I guess. So I wanted to check in,” he explained. He looked at her carefully as she took in his words.

She didn’t say anything for a moment, not quite sure what to do with the fact that Clark was standing at her front door because he was worried about her. 

After an awkward beat of silence he cleared his throat, “May I come in?” he asked, swallowing hard.

“Oh shit! Yeah sorry. Please,” she stumbled, opening the door wider and gesturing him in. “Sorry, sorry. I’m just…tired, I guess. Not thinking straight.”

“I can go–”

“No!” she said a little too quickly, surprising the both of them. She coughed awkwardly. “I mean, you can. If you want. But you came all this way, so if you want to stay…you can. If you want.”

He smiled, letting out a soft chuckle.

“I can stay for a little bit. Make you the soup?” He lifted the can up again.

She looked at it for a moment. “Ummm…I’m not really…hungry.” 

Her eyes darted towards the bucket of half-melted ice cream sitting a few feet away on her coffee table, and Clark followed her gaze.

“I see,” he stated, trying and failing to hold back a grin. “You’re feeling better then?”

She sighed. “I guess. I wasn’t really sick, just…feeling shitty…mentally.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Why were you feeling crappy? If you don’t mind me asking?”

She chewed on her lips for a moment, trying to decide if she really wanted to talk to Clark, who she had been crushing on non-stop for the past several months, about her boy troubles. But she didn’t really have anyone else to talk to about it. She sure as hell wasn’t going to talk to Jimmy, and Lois was never really into boy-talk. She sucked in a deep breath and nodded toward her couch, and Clark followed as she walked over and sat down.

He looked at her expectantly as he sat down, waiting for her to speak.

She stewed around in her thoughts for a moment, before she finally began.

“You know how I’ve been seeing this guy for the past few weeks? A little over a month, I guess.”

He nodded, a dark look coming over his eyes.

“Did he do something?” he asked, looking at her carefully. He looked like he was ready to fight the man, and she hadn’t even said anything yet.

“He didn’t necessarily do anything. I mean, he ended things, I guess. Which is fine, I mean, we didn’t see each other for that long, that’s not why I’m upset,” she rambled. “He just said some other things that kind of hurt…I guess.”

She snuck a look at him as she finished her answer, and he looked absolutely pissed off. “What did he say?” 

“He said…” she began. She could feel her eyes burning again, and she blinked hard to keep the tears from falling. She turned her head away from Clark. God, this was so embarrassing.

He reached out and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No,” she sniffled. “I do. I’m just embarrassed.” She let out a nervous laugh.

“Well, you shouldn’t be,” he argued. “If anything he should be for letting a girl like you down.”

She huffed out a laugh, quickly wiping the tears from her face before continuing. “He just commented on how…inexperienced I am. And I just didn’t realize I was that bad that he needed to comment on it. So I’m just feeling a bit insecure. And wondering now if I’m ever going to find another man without completely humiliating myself.”

His forehead creased as he shook his head. “You should not be humiliated. He should be. That’s just,” he let out a frustrated breath. “That’s no way to speak to a woman. Especially you.”

She looked at him for a moment, noticing his clenched hands, one nearly crushing the soup can he was still holding. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Clark look so angry before. So disappointed. She didn’t understand why he was getting so worked up over what happened to her.

She wasn’t quite sure how to respond to his words, so neither said anything for a moment. Suddenly, she let out a short laugh, and he shot her a confused look.

“Sorry,” she shook her head. “I just realized that this whole relationship, or situationship, or whatever, totally ruined one of my favorite songs.”

“What song?”

She snorted before continuing. “Bennie and the Jets? Elton John?”

He smiled. “Yeah I’ve heard that one. How’d this jerk ruin it?”

“Well we sang it together at a karaoke bar on our first date. And I told him about how this couple also sings it together in one of my favorite movies. Then we went to his place and watched that movie. I don’t know. Maybe it sounds stupid, but I kinda saw it as like our song. And now I guess it will always be linked to him in my head. Which sucks because I love that song. It was one of my dad’s favorites. It was on the first record he bought for me when he gave me my record player.” She was rambling again, but she didn’t really care.

And it didn’t seem to bother Clark, thankfully.

Instead he looked at her carefully again, before his eyes began to search the room. They landed on the record player next to the large bay window that sat in her living room, and they lit up immediately.

She watched him curiously as he finally let go of the chicken soup can he had been holding since he got there, placing it gently on her coffee table, right next to the forgotten ice cream.

“Come here,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her up from the couch. He led her over to her record player. It was older, her father had gifted it to her many birthdays ago. He crouched down and began sifting through the line up of records that she had carefully organized in the cupboard beneath the player. His left hand carefully traced the spine of each record case as he searched. 

His right hand still held her own, gentle but firm.

“Where is Sir Elton John…?” he mumbled to himself, entranced by the selection in front of him.

She watched him in awe, completely astonished that he was here, in her living room, searching through her prized collection of music, and holding her hand like it was a completely normal thing.

“Aha!” he said suddenly. He stood up, dropping her hand in the process, and turned towards the record player, quickly and efficiently taking the record out of its case and placing it onto the player.

As he fiddled with the player’s arm, making sure he picked the correct track, she eyed the album he had selected.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

She let out a quiet laugh, and he turned to look down at her.

“What’s so funny?” he questioned. His eyebrows scrunched together as he glared, humour dancing in his eyes.

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just trying to figure out what you are doing,” she shrugged. She pressed her lips together and watched him as he finally found the track he was searching for. He straightened up, somehow growing even taller, and grabbed both of her hands this time, leading her to the center of her living room.

She was nervous. Undoubtedly so. Her head caught up in all of the times her coworkers had caught her staring at him from across the room, the playful jests at her obvious crush on the man. The sly looks they gave her whenever he visited her desk. He had a way of making her feel like she was back in school, all red-faced and giggly, and right now was no exception.

He was handsome. Extremely. And he was extremely more handsome at this moment. With the city lights breaking through the bay window of her apartment, shining like a disco ball throughout the living room. With her lamp casting a warm glow around them, its orange glow highlighting his features in all the right places. 

And for some reason he had chosen to be extremely handsome here, with her, holding her hands like they held the answer to the universe.

She suddenly realized she was definitely just standing there staring at him like a dope. She felt her face get hot, and she looked down at the ground quickly trying to hide the growing redness in her cheeks.

She heard him laugh softly before whispering her name.

She looked at him again, only to find his eyes locked on her. She glanced away, out the bay window and into the night. Then back at him. Then away again, not really sure what to do with all of the attention he was giving her at this moment.

He tugged her arms lightly, finally sealing her attention. Then he looked at her. Really looked at her.

“You know you’re beautiful right?”

His words caught her off guard, and she rolled her eyes slightly, looking down at the ground again. It didn’t really help though. Everytime she looked down “at the ground,” her gaze just landed on her hands, which were still enveloped in his.

She snorted and shook her head, almost as if she was shaking off his compliment. “I don’t know about that, Kent.” She shot a quick look at him, clocking the furrow in his brows, before looking out the window towards the city line again.

“You don’t have to say that. I’m average at best. It’s fine.”

“No you’re not.” His response was instantaneous, and he shook his head fervently. “You’re not ‘average’ at all.”

He craned his neck, leaning over as he tried to catch her eyes. He said her name, squeezing her hands as he reiterated, “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

She looked at him again, her eyes searching his own for the meaning of his words. Trying to figure out what he was doing and why he was doing it. Clark Kent wasn’t known for being a prankster, but maybe Jimmy had dared him to come over tonight just to mess with her.

Elton John continued to serenade them, his voice and the piano accompaniment flowing through her apartment as she finally paid attention to which song Clark had chosen.

…Hey, kids, shake it loose together,

The spotlight’s hitting something,

That's been known to change the weather…

She bit back the smile threatening to grow on her face. “You turned on this song?” she questioned, her mind wandering back to Haden.

“I don’t know, I just wanted to try something,” he whispered.

A small smile played on his lips as he pulled her closer. Much closer.

...You’re gonna hear electric music,

Solid walls of sound…

He guided her hands carefully, moving one to rest on his shoulder while still grasping the other to their side. Their chests were pressed together now, and he wrapped his arm around her waist as he swayed her gently along with the music.

“Whenever you hear this song…” he began, leaning back slightly to look down at her. She looked up at him, curiosity bright in her eyes.

Elton John continued on, and he let go of her waist, using his other hand to twirl her. 

…She’s got electric boots, a mohair suit…

She let out a quiet laugh as they collided again. He pulled her arms up and wrapped them around his shoulders, moving his own to rest on her waist, and continued as they began to sway again.

“...I want you to think of this.”

He leaned in slightly as he looked down at her. She looked back up at him in shock, her eyes dancing back and forth between his own, then down to his mouth as he leaned in closer. Was this actually happening? He stopped for a moment, hesitating, almost as if he noticed her nervousness. Like he could hear how fast her heart was pounding in her chest.

“If it’s okay?” he asked. He looked at her softly, waiting patiently for her reassurance.

She tried to respond, but her nerves kept her from being able to form any type of coherent word, let alone a sentence. So instead she nodded quickly, quietly laughing at herself and how ridiculous she must’ve looked.

“It’s okay?” he confirmed, smiling as he nodded along with her.

She wondered if her face could grow more red than it already was. She couldn’t believe that this is what her night led to. She had probably dreamed of this moment a thousand times, but she never really thought it would actually happen. But it was happening. Clark Kent was in her living room, arms wrapped around her, waiting for her to kiss him. If she had known being in an embarrassing situationship would have led to this, she would have downloaded Hinge way sooner.

“Yes,” she whispered, words finally coming to her.

His grin grew ever-wider, and she could feel his smile as their lips finally touched.

…B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets…

Elton John’s piano keys fluttered around them as Clark kissed her softly, their lips dancing around each other. 

She hadn’t kissed many people in her lifetime, but, God, none of them came close to Clark. He felt safe, like she didn’t have to worry about messing it up. He guided her through it, just like his hands guided her through their dance. His hands eventually left her waist, moving up slowly along her sides until they cusped the sides of her face. 

It felt as if he was her air. She didn’t need oxygen anymore, she could just breathe him in.

But, of course, that wasn’t really the case, and she did break away eventually, if only to catch her breath. His lips trailed her own, giving her quick, short kisses as they finally broke apart.

“Gosh, I’ve been waiting to do that for a long time,” he confessed, peppering kisses along her cheeks, her nose, her forehead.

She breathed out a laugh and nodded her head, causing their noses to bump together.

“Yeah, me too.”

He smiled at her words, and she wasn’t sure if she had ever seen him as happy as he was in that moment. She wasn’t sure if she had ever been as happy as she was in that moment. They stood like that for a moment, smiling dopily at each other before he pressed another kiss to her temple and pulled her in again.

[snooperzz]

Back on You- pt. 3

Part 3 to this story !! Robert "Bob" Reynolds x female!Reader/OC (ft. Peter Quill) Word count: 5.4k Warnings: angst, self-deprecative thoughts Note: this is written in third person & reader/oc is unnamed! you can also read this story on ao3 :)

She didn’t think she had ever been as nervous as she was at this moment, riding in Alexei’s limo to the airport. Which was a crazy thought, considering the trajectory of her life up until that point. She helped save the galaxy multiple times, fighting egotistical, crazed lunatics. But, for some reason, this was going to be what broke her? This is what made her so nauseous she might puke her guts out, despite not even eating anything this morning simply because of how nervous she was?

She dragged her hands across her face. She felt light headed. Maybe she should just tell Alexei to turn around. Maybe she wasn’t as ready as she thought she was. Maybe this was a bad idea.

She had decided on it a few weeks ago, sitting out on the penthouse’s balcony with Bob. It had become a routine of theirs. After the team’s “family dinner,” or whatever group activity Alexei coerced everyone to do every night, she and Bob would go outside and just talk, filling each other in on their days.

She was leaning her head against Bob’s shoulder, admiring the city below them as it lit up the night sky. She began to wonder if Peter had ever been to New York City, if he would like it.

It wasn’t a totally random thought. They had kept in touch the past couple of months, ever since their phone call, sending texts here and there to see how the other was doing. And this more consistent communication had caught the attention of her teammates. Really, their attention had been caught back when they walked in on her phone call that day. Ever since then, they constantly pestered her about when Peter was “finally going to visit.”

She had been dealing with this internal struggle for a while. The fight between the side of her that missed Peter so much she didn’t care about the what-ifs of him meeting her new friends. Her new family. But there was still the other side. The side that cared a little too much. The side that was still hurt by the loneliness he caused, whether he meant to or not. 

But that side of her also knew that he was trying now. To be there for her. The weekly texts from him said enough, reminding her to stay safe on missions or asking what TV shows she was currently watching (and of course, giving her plenty of suggestions).

So, in the comfort that came with the gentle stillness of the night, curled up next to Bob, she whispered, “I think I’m going to invite Peter to New York.”

Bob shifted, turning to look at her. 

“Really?”

“I think so.” She sat up, turning to face him head on. “Why? Do you think it’s a bad idea?”

“No,” he replied immediately. “I guess I’m just a little surprised.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but she could see it didn’t quite meet his eyes. There was still worry in them as he watched her carefully.

She looked back at him for a moment, trying to decipher what he was really thinking. He didn’t seem totally opposed to her idea. She wasn’t sure why he would be, he was the one who suggested it in the first place, after she told him about her phone call with Peter. But at the same time, he didn’t seem totally for the idea either.

“I don’t know. We’ve just been texting for a while, and I think he’d like it here,” she stated, a defensive edge to her voice. “Plus, it would probably be good for me to see him again.”

Bob didn’t say anything at first. He just nodded silently, turning to stare out into the night.

Her eyebrows furrowed at his lack of response. She didn’t understand. Did he really think it was a bad idea but was too afraid to tell her? She gave him a hard look.

“I wish you’d just tell me what you were thinking.” 

His eyes widened, and he shifted to sit up too. “Yeah, sorry,” he sputtered, eyes flicking back and forth between her and the city skyline. “I don’t know– I just,” he swallowed hard. “I just don’t want you to feel pressured to invite him here or anything. I know you’ve been hesitant to…and everyone teasing you so much about it lately probably hasn’t helped.”

“You think I shouldn’t.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” he pushed back. He grabbed her arm, gentle enough that she could pull away if she really wanted to, and he looked at her. Really looked at her. He said her name softly before continuing, “I– I just want you to do this because you want to. Not because you think it's what the rest of us want. Including Peter.”

She breathed in, taking in his words. Looking right back at him.

“I just think if I don’t do this now…I probably never will.”

She went to Bucky about it the next day. He was surprised by her decision, but he and Yelena wasted no time meeting with Valentina to get approval for Peter to visit the Watchtower. Really, this approval wasn’t very hard to get, given the dirt the team held over Valentina’s career. That, along with Peter's help in the battle against Thanos, sealed the deal, and soon, the arrangements were made. 

Valentina’s team organized for Peter to be flown out  to New York for one day. It wasn’t as long as she had anticipated, but given the hectic, often unreliable schedule of the team, it was hard to set more than one day aside. Valentina was not exactly happy about the entire situation, either, and was sure to pointedly remind them they couldn’t just take a week off work.

She told herself that one day was better than nothing. Peter didn’t seem to mind anyway, agreeing to the plan immediately. Neither did the rest of her team. It was a rare occasion having someone from outside their little group, especially a friend, come to visit the Watchtower. They had even begun making their own arrangements for his visit, much to her dismay.

“What kind of food does he like? Maybe we could do a lunch-slash-dinner thing?” John suggested as the team was gathered in the kitchen, making their way through his carefully-curated taco bar. It was a Tuesday night, and he had a strict rule that every Tuesday was “Taco Tuesday,” which was apparently something his family always did growing up.

She shrugged her shoulders, slopping some beef onto her taco. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in years. Last food I remember him eating is probably zarg-nuts.”

John let out an exasperated sigh. “What the hell are zarg-nuts?”

“Obviously some sort of space food,” Ava interjected, shooting him an unimpressed look. “She grew up there.”

“I know that,” he retaliated. ���I’m not stupid. Jesus. Sorry for expecting a normal answer every once and a while.”

“They’re like…nuts, I guess,” she tried to explain the food lamely. 

“That’s great,” John deadpanned, giving her a flat look.

“Hopefully he’s coming on a Tuesday, so you won’t have to think too hard,” Ava quipped, launching a scoop of sour cream at him with her spoon.

As the two began to bicker, she felt a large hand land on her shoulder, almost causing her to drop her entire plate of food.

“I have great news, my friend,” Alexei announced, coming up beside her with his own plate. “You will be so excited!”

She swallowed, the sickening feeling that she would probably not be excited about this news slowly creeping up her body. “...What is it?”

“I will take you to pick up Peter in my limo!” He waved his arms around, thrilled by his own words.

“Oh.” She could feel the blood drain from her face. Oh no. “You don’t have to–”

“Nonsense! I already ask Valentina. She says it’s fine,” he waved her objection away.

She swallowed hard, and gave him a tight smile. “Oh. Then that’s great.” She turned back to her tacos, loading them up with cheese as she tried to not think about the growing pit of anxiety in her stomach. She didn’t know why she felt like this. She should be excited, Peter was practically her brother. So why was a small part of her almost dreading seeing him again?

“Are you alright?” Yelena asked, eyeing her from across the kitchen.

“Mm hmm,” she nodded stiffly, moving to sit down next to Bob at the dining table. He gave her arm a reassuring squeeze as she took her seat and passed her a cup of water.

Yelena lifted her eyebrows, not convinced by her response, but before she could say anything else, Bucky spoke up.

“Are you guys planning to do anything when he gets here?”

“Uh, I’m not sure. Maybe just go for a walk and…catch up, I guess.” She took a sip of her water, trying to hide behind her cup.

John snorted. “Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out– ow.” He glowered at Ava, who smacked the back of his head.

“Can you not be an asshole for like three seconds?” she accused.

He scoffed. “I’m not being an asshole!”

As the two began to argue once again, other conversations broke out around the table. She took a deep breath, thankful to not be at the center of the group’s attention anymore. Bucky leaned in closer to her from across the table, looking at her sincerely.

“A walk sounds nice. I’m sure he’ll appreciate whatever you decide to do.”

“Yes! Because you are family!” Alexei butted in, slamming his hands down on the table. A smile was plastered across his face. “Always good to see family again. Right, Yelena?”

Yelena nodded, trying to hide the smile creeping onto her own, “It is fine, I guess.”

She watched as Alexei wrapped an arm around his daughter, squeezing her tightly to his side, and let out a small laugh.

“What’s he like?” Bob asked, before adding, “I mean, we’ve heard a little bit about him, but is there anything else we should know before he’s here?”

She thought about his question for a moment, trying to figure out how to describe her friend.

“I don’t know. I guess…he’s a really caring guy. Definitely a nerd.” She smiled to herself before continuing, “He always made references to movies and TV shows he watched back on Earth even though none of us knew what he was talking about. He loves music. I think he got that from his mom.”

“He sounds pretty cool,” Bob offered.

“He is, yeah,” she agreed. She giggled before adding, “Just don’t tell him I said that. He’s got a big head.”

Bob let out a quiet laugh, moving to say something else before he was interrupted by John, who had just decided to tune back into their conversation.

“Wait, he has a big head? Is that like an alien thing?”

She furrowed her eyebrows at his question. “What?”

“Like is his head abnormally large? Bigger than ours?” He motioned to everyone sitting at the table, and they all looked at him like his own head had grown five sizes.

“No,” she huffed out a surprised laugh. “I just meant he can be cocky sometimes. Bigheaded.”

“Did your super soldier serum destroy all of your critical thinking skills?” Ava asked, causing John to roll his eyes.

“Maybe it just enhanced the dumb blonde in him,” Bucky egged on, taking a sip of his drink.

“Okay, I get it.” John held his hands up in mock surrender. “We’re all making fun of me tonight. But it’s not a far off assumption, okay? She literally told us a few days ago this guy’s dad was a planet. He’s gotta have some alien genes in him.”

She laughed as he defended himself. He did kind of have a point. 

“Don’t worry,” she assured. “The size of his head is completely normal.”

As Alexei’s limo pulled up to the airport, anxiety still stirred in the pit of her stomach. But there was some excitement there too. Anticipation.

“You go on ahead, I will wait here for you both,” Alexei urged her, leaning across to open her door.

She attempted to wipe the sweat off her clammy hands before climbing out. As she rounded around the vehicle, Alexei called out her name.

“I almost forgot!” he shouted, turning to grab something from the back of his seat. He pulled out a poster and shoved it through the window at her.

“What is this?” Her words came out slow, and she looked at him cautiously.

“A welcome sign! So he knows you’re the one picking him up!”

“I’m pretty sure he’ll recognize me, Alexei. At least, I’d hope he would,” she commented, opening up the poster. Across the white background, the “Star-Lord” was scrawled out with a black marker. Great. She tried to hide her alarm as she internally berated herself for bringing up Peter’s superhero name.

“What? You don’t like it?” Alexei questioned. “That is his name, no?”

“No, no, it’s a great sign,” she assured him. “He’ll love it, yeah.” It was true. He would.

She wasn’t sure if she really wanted to hold a large sign with Peter’s rarely-used-often-mocked superhero name on it. But he would probably get a kick out of it. And it would make Alexei happy. She nodded, more to herself than to him, before continuing, “I’m gonna go get him. I’ll be back soon.”

She walked into the large crowd of people, keeping her eyes locked on the large sliding glass doors ahead. Numerous passengers exited the airport looking for their family, their friends, or their ride to the next destination. She held up Alexei’s handcrafted sign in her hands, desperately avoiding the eyes of those around her as they curiously looked between her and the poster.

Then, finally, she saw him.

He looked different. His hair was a little bit longer and wilder, fiery curls framing his face. His beard was fuller, and this was probably the first time she had ever seen him wearing normal clothes. Instead of a spacesuit or Ravagers uniform, he wore a flannel and jeans. But, naturally, he still had his favorite backpack slung over his shoulder, the one he had kept ever since Yondu stole him from Earth as a kid.

He didn’t see her at first, but when his eyes finally landed on her, it felt like the whole world stopped. Like everyone around them had disappeared. For a moment, they both paused, looking at each other from across the crowd. Then, he adjusted the backpack on his shoulder and beelined towards her, sending small apologies to everyone he brushed passed along the way.

When he made it to her, he pulled her in, wrapping her up in a tight embrace. Just like the one all those years ago, when they were fighting Thanos’ army. Except this time, he didn’t let go.

“Hey, kid,” he whispered, leaning back to look at her. His eyes danced all around her, taking her in. “Everytime I see you, you look even more grown up.”

She snorted, rolling her eyes playfully. “That is how time works.”

He chuckled, moving his hand up to scruff up her hair as she tried and failed to swat him away. “It’s good to see you again. Like really good.”

“Yeah, you too,” she returned. Matching grins spread across their faces.

“Woah, wait a minute.” He reached for the welcome sign she still gripped tightly in her hand. “What’s this?” he prodded, lifting an eyebrow as he read what it said.

“It’s a welcome sign,” she huffed, shaking her head as a stupid smirk began to grow on his face.

“You made this?”

“No, Alexei did.”

As if on cue, she heard her name being hollered, and they both looked behind her. Alexei stood outside his limo, waving his hands around as he jumped up and down.

“Is that him?!” he shouted to them from the road, effectively gaining the attention of everyone around them. “Is that Star-Lord?!”

She hung her head in embarrassment, grabbing Peter’s arm to guide him to the limo and get out of there as fast as possible. She heard him chuckle from behind her. “I see my reputation precedes me.”

She scoffed at his joke. “Yeah, you wish.”

“We are back, my friends!” Alexei’s voice thundered through the penthouse as the Watchtower’s elevator doors opened.

His announcement, however, was unnecessary. The rest of the team was already standing near the entrance, eagerly waiting for the three to walk through the doors. They looked at the three expectantly as they stepped out of the elevator.

She had tried to convince them not to wait around all day for them to get back, but clearly, that had been useless. It was obvious they had been hovering around the penthouse’s living area all morning, anticipating the elevator’s chime.

She swallowed hard. This was it. There was no going back now. Really, the point of no return was back when she sent the invitation text to Peter. For some reason, though, this felt more final. Peter was here, after all these years, actually meeting her new friends. Her new family.

“Okay guys, this is, uh, Peter.” Her words came out more quiet than she meant for them to, but she still gestured to him as he walked up beside her. He lifted his hand up in an awkward wave, adjusting his backpack.

“You met Alexei,” she continued, looking at Peter, before moving on to introduce the rest of her new friends. They each gave him a small greeting as she stated their names until she landed on the last introduction. “And this is Bob,” she stated, offering a small smile.

“Bob?” Peter grinned widely. “Boyfriend Bob?”

She let out a cough, nearly choking on her own breath. Her eyes grew, and she could feel her cheeks heat up as she looked over to Bob, who was already staring wide-eyed at her. Before anyone either of them could say anything further, Peter stepped up to Bob.

“Nice to finally meet you, Boyfriend Bob,” he smiled, holding out his hand for a shake with a smile as cocky as ever.

Bob sputtered for a moment, looking between her and the man in front of him. Finally, he gave a quick nod and gripped Peter’s hand firmly.

“Y–you too.”

The rest of them watched this interaction in silence. The only form of communication between each other were brief side-eyes and questioning looks. All of them unsure what to say or do. She could feel the awkward tension enveloping the room. It was almost suffocating.

Peter turned to look at the rest of them as he dropped Bob’s hand. When his eyes finally landed on her, noticing her beet-red face and saucer-sized eyes, he backtracked, “It’s nice to finally meet all of you, of course.”

Yelena was the first to speak up, and she tried to hide the smirk developing across her face. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

Everyone hummed in agreement, nodding their heads. As they mumbled their own greetings to the new visitor, Yelena looked over to the girl and lifted her eyebrows.

She took Yelena’s hint and cleared her throat, catching everyone’s attention. “Yeah, uh, thanks for saying hi, guys,” she stated, giving everyone a thankful smile. “I think I’m gonna just show Peter around, but, uh, we should be back in time for dinner.”

They all began to break apart, with the rest of her team promising to see them later. She gave a few appreciative nods before turning back to Peter and let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding.

She tilted her head towards the hallway. “Come on, I’ll show you my room.”

Her room really wasn’t much, and she realized this as she led him inside. It wasn’t a surprising realization. She didn’t have a lot of stuff. When she decided to stick around on Earth, she didn’t have anything except for Peter’s walkman, her pager, and the clothes on her back. A result of living on spaceships for so long, and the glorified closet she had moved into after finally getting her own place did not help matters.

It wasn’t like her room was barren, it had definitely been lived in. There were various posters of her favorite artists and movies scattered across the walls. A few books from Bob stacked on her desk, along with a small radio nestled beside a box of CDs and cassette tapes. A giant, fluffy rug was spread out across the floor, taken from the thrift store where she had landed her first job after moving to New York.

Her bed looked the most lived in, covered with pillows and throw blankets. A board game rested on top, abandoned by her and Bob. She had been restless the night before, the anticipation of seeing Peter consuming her brain, so he stayed up with her to play Clue.

Peter didn’t say anything at first, he just stood for a moment in the middle of her room, looking around, taking everything in. It was odd, seeing him stand there. She felt like her worlds were colliding, like her past had opened up a portal into her future.

“Oh shit,” he said suddenly, eyeing the edge of her desk. He walked over and picked up his old walkman, turning to look at her. “You still have this stuff?”

She lifted her eyebrows and let out a quiet scoff. “Of course I do.” She pointed to the pager that had been sitting right next to it. “How do you think I got the number you sent me?”

He nodded, lifting his hand to pinch his nose. “Right. Duh.”

“Was the flight okay?” She moved to her bed, picking up the abandoned board game to sit criss-crossed on it.

“Not too bad,” he responded. He pulled out her desk chair and sat down across from her. “Some turbulence, but I’ve been through worse.”

She breathed out a laugh as they fell into a stiff silence. The kind of quiet that comes around when you haven’t seen a friend in a while, and neither of you really know what to say.

“So you’re an Avenger now, huh?”

She cringed at the question. The public’s response to Valentina’s announcement hadn’t been exactly welcoming, and she still wasn’t used to the title. Or comfortable with it, really. Sure, she was a Guardian before living in New York, but she wouldn’t call herself a hero based on her track record on Earth.

“I guess, yeah,” she responded, grabbing a pillow from beside her and clutching it to her chest.

“How’d that happen?” he shook his head in disbelief, grinning. He looked proud, but she wasn’t sure if she deserved his praise.

She caught him up on the past few years of her life. She told him about her move to New York. How she worked at a dingy thrift store for a while, until one day, a woman who was dressed way too nice to be there walked up to her, offering her a new job that paid more. Much more.

She had needed that money. Badly. She could barely afford her rent at the time, and as a result, she didn’t have enough money for food or more clothes. So, she put her Ravager skills to work, sneaking cup noodles and granola bars into her pockets from the local CVS. Her scores grew and grew, until eventually, she was caught. Bucky was the one who bailed her out. He was pissed, of course. He had tried to help her out when he first heard about her money issues, insisting she could move back in with him, but she refused, not wanting to add on to his stress. Ironic. And her slip-up had led her right into Valentina’s grip.

She told Peter about the O.X.E. vault and meeting the rest of her team. About how they worked together to fight against the Void. How Valentina stepped in and did what she did best, manipulating the entire situation to her own benefit. They fell into an easy conversation, talking about her life.

Then, it was Peter’s turn. He told her the Guardians had separated from Thor eventually, moving on to their own adventures. He told her about the headquarters the Guardians set up on Knowhere. He said it had been rough at first, living without her and Gamora. He began to drift away from the rest of the group, falling into a drunken stupor, and it wasn’t until they had to save Rocket that he finally pulled himself together. And he realized he needed to come back to Earth.

Wait. What? She felt her heart plummet.

His eyes widened as he realized what he had said. “Don’t freak out–”

“You saved Rocket? What does that mean?” She spoke at the same time, interrupting him.

“Well, one of the Sovereign ambushed the place looking for him,” Peter started, words coming out too quickly as he tried to explain. “Rocket got shot, and when we tried to use the med-pack on him, it tripped the kill switch on his heart, but we–”

“A kill switch?” she choked out. Her throat felt dry, and her face paled.

“He’s fine now,” Peter tried to assure her, but she was already standing up, pacing around her room.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she accused. Her voice came out louder than she meant for it to. She realized everyone could probably hear her from the living area, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“I don’t know, we were a little bit busy saving his life,” he defended himself.

“You could have at least sent something on the pager,” she bit back.

“He was dying! Was I supposed to drop everything just to tell you? I had given you that pager years ago and never heard anything!”

“What? So I was supposed to just magically know that something happened to Rocket and reach out?”

“No, it would have been pointless! You were on Earth,” he scoffed. “Maybe you shouldn’t have left us. Then you would’ve been there.”

Silence followed. 

She looked at him. He was standing now, jaw clenched, nose flared. His eyes were sharp, boring into her own. She shook her head, fighting against the burning in her eyes.

“So that’s it? It’s my fault?”

He blinked at her words, his hard expression slipping.

“No, I didn’t mean that,” his voice was quieter now, and he reached out to grab her arm.

She dodged his hand, backing up towards her bedroom door.

“I just,” she started. She looked at the floor, blinking rapidly. Avoiding his gaze. “I need a minute.”

And she was gone.

She ended up at the park. It was growing dark outside, stars peaking through the sky. She found a bench along the trail, and that was where she sat now, face buried into her hands as her mind twisted around her conversation with Peter.

She couldn’t believe it.

Rocket had almost died and she hadn’t even been there. Maybe Peter was right. Maybe if she hadn’t abandoned him, abandoned Rocket, things would’ve turned out differently.

Maybe if she hadn’t been so focused on Peter and Gamora…maybe if she had just been grateful for what she had and not so caught up on what she wanted, she would’ve just stayed with the guardians. Then she could’ve been there for them when they needed it, instead of wandering aimlessly on earth with no friends. No family.

She knew it was stupid, running away out here and throwing a pity party for herself. And deep down she knew she didn’t regret staying on this planet. If she hadn’t, she would’ve never met her new family. She would’ve never met Bob.

“You okay?”

Speak of the devil. She stiffened, rubbing her eyes as she sat up and looked over. Bob stood there awkwardly. His hands grasped tightly together as he leaned side to side, clearly trying to decide whether or not he should sit down next to her.

She shrugged, trying to turn away and hide how red her face had become from crying.

He approached her slowly, carefully sitting down next to her. “What happened?”

She finally looked over at him, and the look on his face was enough to send her into another spiral. He looked at her so gently, as if the answer to his question was deep within her eyes.

She sniffled, looking down at the pavement.

“I just found out one of my old friends almost died. Rocket.”

Bob was quiet for a moment, watching her closely, trying to decipher what was going on in her head.

“But he’s okay?”

“Yeah,” she huffed. “No thanks to me.”

His eyebrows creased. “Well, there was no way for you to know,” he reasoned.

“I would’ve known if I had been there. If I hadn’t abandoned the Guardians to stay on Earth for no reason.”

“It wasn’t for no reason, though.”

She rolled her eyes. Not at him but at herself.

“It was a selfish reason,” she protested. “I was so caught up in the Peter-Gamora of it all. If I had just stuck by their side instead of running away, maybe I could’ve stopped anything from happening to Rocket.”

Bob shook his head. “You don’t know that.”

“Yeah, but–”

“Look, if I’ve learned anything from being around you and Yelena and everyone else, it’s not to focus on what you wish you had done differently. You didn’t make a mistake staying here. If you hadn’t, who knows what the Void would have done to New York. To me.”

“New York would have been fine,” she scoffed. “They had Bucky and Yelena and–”

“No,” Bob stated sharply. “It wouldn’t have been. I wouldn’t have been, okay?”

He turned to face her fully, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close to his chest. He rested his chin on her head and continued. “I swear I don’t know what I’d do without you here.”

They both paused as they heard footsteps approaching. Bob kept her in his arms as she turned to see Peter in front of them, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just…uh, followed you out here because I wanted to, uh…apoligize.”

She felt Bob stiffen as he began to pull away. “S-sorry, I can go if you–”

“No, no, that’s okay,” Peter insisted. He looked at her, and she could see the regret in his eyes. “I don’t think Rocket’s accident was your fault. And I’m sorry I made it seem like I did. That’s not what I wanted this trip to be about…so I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry for running away,” she croaked.

“You don’t have to be sorry for that,” Peter replied.

“No, I mean like running away from you guys. The Guardians."

“You don’t have to be sorry for that,” he repeated. “I mean it.”

He held his arms out before continuing, a glint in his eye. “I mean look at me, I’m back on Earth now.” He smiled at her, his eyes warm. “I think we all ended up right where we needed to be. Me with my grandpa, and you with Boyfriend Bob.”

She nearly choked as they both pulled away from each other, Bob coughing awkwardly.

“You can’t be serious for one conversation, can you?” she accused, trying to fight the growing smile on her face.

He laughed, “I’ve got a reputation to keep. Besides, you two were the ones all snuggled up when I got here.”

“You know, we should probably head back before the tacos get cold,” Bob suggested, looking at her with wide eyes.

“That’s a great idea, actually,” she quickly agreed, taking any excuse to avoid Peter’s insistence for awkward conversations.

Still, she realized she felt lighter, like a weight had finally been lifted off her shoulders. Finally, she had seen Peter again and knew he was okay. 

She didn’t think she had ever been as happy as she was at this moment, walking with Bob and Peter back to the Watchtower. Which was a crazy thought, considering the trajectory of the night until that point. But despite everything, she was grateful that she was here with Peter. With Bob and the Thunderboltz. With her family.

[snooperzz]

Back on You- pt. 2

Part 2 to this story !! Robert "Bob" Reynolds x female!Reader/OC (ft. Peter Quill) Word count: 4.3k Warnings: very little angst Note: this is written in third person & reader/oc is unnamed! you can also read this story on ao3 :)

She had gotten a message.

It was on her pager. The one that Peter gave her before he left. It had happened earlier that morning, while she was in the kitchen eating breakfast with the rest of her team. She hadn’t seen it until she got back to her room.

It was a number. A phone number, she thought, and it was different from the one Peter had put on the pager. 

She wasn’t sure what to do about it, so she decided to go for a walk to clear her head. Ever since Bucky had found her out on the helicopter pad that night, he had been a broken record, telling her day in and out how walking always helped a burdened mind. Probably something he heard from his therapist.

So, she left the Watchtower, grabbing one of the books Bob lent her on her way out. Normally, he might join her, but today was one of his bad days. One of the days where the pit inside him, the void, threatened to get out. To take over. He usually preferred to stay in his room on those days, away from everyone else. They all understood, of course, and gave him his space. 

She did send him a text before she left, just to keep him updated. To let him know she was still there for him. 

Texting was new to her. She had gotten a cheap flip phone back when she and Bucky lived in Brooklyn together. Bucky was insistent on buying her one after she told him she found her own place, adamant that she had it so they could stay in touch. 

Then, a few days ago, John had seen her in the penthouse’s living area struggling to navigate the T9 keyboard. 

He snorted at her. “What the fuck are you doing?” 

He leaned against the bar counter, eyeing her up and down. She was sitting on the couch, slouched over, trying to get a good look at the machine.

“I’m trying to text Yelena. She went to the store, and I forgot to tell her we ran out of cheez its.”

“Your obsession with cheez its should be studied,” he mused, laughing at her. “Why don’t you just call her?”

“I tried, but she won’t answer.”

“Are you sure the call’s even going through? That thing is ancient,” he pointed to her phone. “I mean, who let you buy that?”

“Bucky got it for me,” she defended herself, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Well, that makes a lot of sense now. He knows nothing about technology.”

She ignored him, shifting her attention back to her phone. She began jamming the buttons on it again, trying to get it to work.

John took a deep breath and hung his head. “Alright, I can’t take it anymore. Come on,” he ordered, waving her over.

She looked up at him but didn’t move quite yet. “What? What are you doing?”

“I’m taking you to get a new phone. I can’t stand to look at you trying to use that thing.”

“Walker, I don’t need a new phone.” Despite her words, she got up from the couch, following him as he led her to the elevator and out of the building.

“You know how to hack into alien technology. You deserve to know how to use a smartphone.”

Now, she was using the map on her new smartphone to find her way to a nearby park, breathing in the crisp air as she walked along the sidewalk. It was peaceful outside today. The sun was warm on her skin, and she could hear birds singing all around her. She found a bench to sit on and closed her eyes, trying to clear her head.

However, her mind was still buzzing, still trailing back to when she found that new number on her pager. Sighing, she pulled out Bob’s book, flipping to the first chapter. Maybe if she just focused on something else, focused on this story, she could get her mind off things for a little bit. 

And that’s exactly what she did. For hours, actually. She didn’t realize how long she had been sitting at the park, entranced by the novel in her hands.

She was finally alerted by a soft buzz in her lap, and she looked down to see her phone screen light up. Bob had responded to her text from earlier with a thumbs up emoji. It was little, but it let her know that he was still there.

Her thoughts began to drift back to the pager, to the new number, to Peter. What if something had happened to him? What if he was in trouble? Was that why he sent her a message? She realized that as much as she was scared to, as much as she had avoided it the past few years, she needed to reach out to him. She needed to call that number. Even if it was just to make sure he was okay.

Plus a part of her almost wanted to call. To hear his voice again.

So, she made a deal with herself. She would make her way back to the Watchtower, and if she hadn’t changed her mind by the time she got there, if she hadn’t convinced herself not to, she would do it.

By the time she got back to the Watchtower, her mind was still determined to make the call. Which had to be a good thing, right? A step in the weight direction, at least. 

Luckily, the penthouse was empty, save for Bob. The New Avengers had been called out on a mission that day, but she had opted to stay behind and watch out for him. They usually tried not to leave him all alone on his off days, choosing to keep at least one other person around in case he needed anything. Or anyone. And lately, that person had been her.

She sat down on the couch in their living area and pulled out her phone, then her pager. With shaking hands, she opened up the phone app and typed in the number.

She paused for a moment, staring at the screen. It felt crazy how such a small movement, just pushing that green call button, felt so heavy. So daunting.

Before she could think about it any longer, she pressed it, quickly moving the phone up to her ear.

It rang.

Once.

Twice.

Just when the third ring began, it was cut off.

“Hello?” said a voice on the other end. A voice she would know anywhere, no matter how long it had been since they had last seen each other.

“Peter?” It came out quiet. Shaky.

He didn’t say anything for a moment. Until, she heard him call her name quietly, as if he couldn’t believe he was actually talking to her.

She nodded, then remembered he couldn’t actually see her. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Hey, ” came his voice again. He said it with such familiarity, her heart skipped a beat. “I wasn’t sure if you’d actually call.”

“Yeah, me either,” she laughed awkwardly.

“You never paged me.”

She felt a pang in her chest. Guilt. “Yeah, I know. I was…scared to I guess.”

“Scared?” He sounded shocked, maybe even a little offended. “Why?”

That was a loaded question. She looked up at the ceiling, trying to think of what to say. How to explain how she felt the past few years. How she was feeling right then.

“I don’t know. I just…figured you were busy, you know? Tracking down Gamora and all.”

He didn’t say anything, but she heard him sigh on the other end.

“Did you ever catch up to her?” she asked, confused at his lack of response.

He huffed out a laugh. “We did, yeah. It’s a bit of a long story, but, uh,” he paused for a moment. “She’s moved on.”

“Oh,” her eyes widened at his words. She was definitely not expecting that. Last time she saw him, he had been so determined to get her back. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I guess it makes sense. Since she was technically a different Gamora. From a different time and all that. Not sure I really understand what happened there, but it is what it is.” 

He was trying to sound cool, relaxed, but she could tell that he was hurting more than he let on. Peter was good at lying to con-men or talking his way out of sticky situations with the Ravagers, but he had never been able to get anything past her. She knew him too well.

“What about everyone else? Rocket? Drax?” she asked, pivoting to a different subject.

“I think they’re good. We all sorta moved on, I guess. Mantis and Drax are doing their own thing now, and Rocket recruited some more Guardians to his team.”

“His team? Is he the leader now?”

“Yeah, I figured it was time to pass the torch. He probably won’t live up to the epic captain that I was, but I decided to at least let him try.”

She snorted, remembering the countless arguments between Peter and Rocket over who actually was the leader of their little group.

“What about you? How have you been?” he asked.

“Pretty good. Busy, which is nice. Helps get my mind off things.”

“Yeah, I bet. I, uh…I saw you on the news. The New Avengers? Sounds pretty badass,” he commented, curiosity evident in his tone.

She could feel her chest grow warm, flattered by his words, but something he said caught her attention.

“Wait, you saw me on the news?”

“Uh…yeah,” he sounded stiff.

“Are they broadcasting Terran news up in space now or something?”

“No, uh,” he responded. A beat of silence followed. “I’m in Missouri. With my grandpa.”

“Oh.” Her mind was racing. Peter was back on Earth? He had left the Guardians too?

“Yeah, Mantis kinda convinced me to do it,” he explained. “Ever since my mom died, I’ve just avoided the idea of coming back here. But, I finally realized it might be good for me to see my family again. Spend some time with them.”

“That’s great,” she said softly, nodding her head. A past version of her would have been jealous of him. Jealous that he had a family to go back to. But now she had a family too, and she was grateful for the family she had found in the New Avengers.

Of course she had loved being a part of the Guardians, traversing space with them everyday, protecting the galaxy. But space never felt like home. There was always a piece of her missing, and she felt like she had finally found it, here with the Thunderbolts. With Bob.

Peter said her name, grabbing her attention.

“Yeah?” she whispered, waiting for his next words.

“I’m sorry for how I treated you those last few years,” he replied, voice etched in guilt.

“You don’t have to–”

“No,” he interrupted. “I do. When we all became the Guardians of the Galaxy, it all went to my head. I wanted so badly to impress everyone, all our new friends. Especially Gamora. But you… you’re like the little sister I never had, and what I became during that time…I wasn’t a good brother.”

“You were still there for me, though. I knew you were.”

“Not as much as I should have been. You know that. And I know it too,” he argued.

In all honesty, she was surprised to hear him say all this. Back then, she never confronted him about how she felt. Jealous. Pushed aside. She just ignored it, choosing to complain to Rocket rather than confront Peter. She was pretty sure Rocket eventually got annoyed listening to her vent about Peter all the time. But griping about the man was one of his favorite pastimes, so he tolerated it.

Her feelings had come to a head, though, right before everything went down with Thanos. They had just picked up Thor, and Rocket and Groot had decided to leave with the god for Nidavellir to help him get his hammer. She chose to tag along, but before the team split up, Peter pulled her aside.

“Why are you siding with Rocket on this?” he accused. “We all know that I’m the leader, not him. This ‘god’ has no idea what he’s talking about.” He chuckled in disbelief, gesturing towards Thor. 

She simply rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her. “Are you serious, Peter? That’s what you’re concerned about right now?”

His eyes widened, jaw dropping at her words. “No,” he sputtered. “I’m concerned about Thanos too! Obviously. But why are you leaving with them? We need to stick together,” he pushed, gesturing between the two of them.

She shook her head. “No. They need my help. You’ve got plenty of people going with you to Knowhere already.”

“But I need to protect you,” he protested.

She scoffed. “You do not need to protect me. You don’t need me at all. You’ve got Gamora.” She patted his shoulder, giving him a tight-lipped smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

She winced as she turned away from him, part of her regretting her words. But she was tired of following him around all the time. She wanted to make her own decisions for once. Still, the little piece of her that regretted how she spoke to him that day grew each day she didn’t see him after the Snap.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Peter spoke again, pulling her back into their phone call. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” she finally replied. “I probably could have done things a little differently back then too.”

Neither of them said anything for a moment. She felt a sense of relief, like a pit had been sitting in the bottom of her stomach for years, and it was finally starting to disappear. She didn’t regret calling him at all. Part of her even wished she had reached out sooner.

“I did have another question, though,” Peter said suddenly.

“What’s up?” Her eyebrows furrowed.

“Who was that random dude up there with you guys? When that ‘Valentine’ lady said you guys were the New Avengers?”

She pursed her lips, confused. “Random guy?”

“Yeah,” he continued. “There were the six of you guys looking all cool and badass, and then some rando in frumpy clothes.”

She laughed as she realized who he meant. “I think you’re talking about Bob.”

“Bob?”

“Yes, Bob.”

“You guys were standing up there with a guy named Bob?”

She smiled, glad they were talking over the phone and not in person, so he couldn’t see how red her face was getting. She definitely did not expect the conversation to turn in this direction. “It’s a long story, but he’s pretty cool. I think you’d like him.”

Just as she finished her sentence, the elevator to the penthouse opened, and the rest of her team walked through the doors. They each gave her a funny look as they entered the room, clearly not expecting to find her on the phone.

Peter had been telling her something, but between her embarrassment of being under the watchful eye of her friends and trying not to pay attention to their not-so-quiet whispers of who she could be talking to, she didn’t catch anything her old friend had said.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear y–”

“Who could you possibly be talking to right now?” John called out, his voice thundering from across the room. “Is that Bob?”

“Bob?” she heard Peter’s voice repeat in her ear.

Of course he heard him. If her face wasn’t red before, it definitely was now. “You know,” she started. “I think I’m going to let you g–”

“Why would she be talking to her boyfriend on the phone when he’s just down the hall? That makes no sense,” Alexei’s voice boomed, cutting her off.

“Boyfriend?” Peter repeated again. “Wait a minute, is Bob your boyfriend?” She could hear him holding back a laugh.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she retaliated, talking to both Peter and the people standing across from her.

“Oh, we all know you guys kiss now,” John taunted, earning a kick from Yelena. He yelped in surprise. “What? We do!”

“I’m hanging up now,” she groaned, using her free hand to cover her face. “But I’ll keep in touch, okay?” She ended the call before she could hear his answer, quickly setting her phone face down before looking up at the rest of them. “What the hell, guys? Are you serious?”

“Very serious,” Alexei responded. “Very serious that we want to know who you were talking to.”

They looked at her expectantly, finally quiet now that she wasn’t on the phone anymore. Naturally.

“That was Peter,” she stated, her eyes darting over to Bucky. His eyebrows raised at her words.

“Ah!” Alexei gasped. “Peter the brother!”

She tilted her head side to side and shrugged. “He’s like a brother.”

“Is he looking for new members for the Guardians of the Galaxy? ” Alexei continued, wiggling his eyebrows. “I have some free time on the weekends.”

“No, you do not,” Ava rebutted, shooting him an incredulous look.

“I could give them a ride in my limo! No charge,” he defended.

“In space?” Ava’s face scrunched up as she shook her head at him.

“How is he?” Bucky spoke up, cutting off their conversation. He looked at her carefully.

“He’s good,” she nodded. “Not recruiting any Guardians, though.” She gave Alexei a sympathetic look.

Alexei shrugged, waving his hand at her. “That’s fine. Ava’s right. The limo was a dumb idea.”

“And you? Are you good too?” Bucky pressed further, eyes not leaving her.

“Yeah I’m okay,” she assured, a smile growing on her face. “I’m really good.”

That night, she found herself on the couch once again. She was alone, everyone else having gone to bed, and she had wrapped herself up in a throw blanket, the warm glow of the lamp beside her lighting up the pages of Bob’s book. She had nearly finished it while at the park that day, and she hoped to reach the ending before heading to bed.

“Hey,” a quiet voice said, pulling her from the book in her hands.

She looked up to see Bob, freshly showered and sporting his favorite sweater. He walked over to where she was sitting, lifted up the empty side of her blanket, and settled into the couch beside her, placing the blanket back over them.

“Hi.” She looked over at him, taking in how the orange hues of the lamp highlighted his face. They were close. Shoulder to shoulder. Thigh to thigh. He let out a deep breath and shifted beside her, pulling out another one of his books. And her walkman. She smiled when she saw it.

“Did that help at all today?” she asked, tapping the device.

She had given it to him a few days earlier, suggesting he use it next time the emptiness, the void, tried to take over. Listening to music always provided a small distraction for her, a small relief. It always helped her feel a bit better on her worst days, and she told him as much. 

He lifted the walkman up, giving her a short nod. “A little. I listened to uh…” He peaked at the tape sitting inside. “‘Awesome Mix Volume 1.’”

She laughed softly. She had probably heard the entirety of that tape millions of times. “That’s a good one.”

“I liked it,” he glanced over to her, a hint of a smile on his lips. “How was, uh– how was your walk?”

“It was good,” she supplied. “I went to the park and read this for a while.” She raised his book.

“Oh yeah?” His smile grew. “You like it?”

“I love it,” she nudged him with her shoulder. “You’ve got great taste in books.”

“Thanks, yeah,” he began, his smile turning into a coy smirk. “That…among other things.” He shot a quick look at her again, as if he were testing the waters, waiting to see how’d she react.

Her face flushed, and she let out a surprised giggle. “Okay, Robert,” she gave him a teasing look. “I didn’t know you had game.”

“What do you mean? It’s how I got you wrapped around my finger.”

She scoffed, a shocked laugh escaping her. “Okay, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.”

“Right, sorry,” he chuckled.

As they both fell into a comfortable silence, she began to shift in her spot on the couch, trying to stretch her legs.

“You okay?” Bob asked, watching as she tried to get comfortable.

“Yeah, sorry. I’ve just been sitting here for a while,” she gave him an apologetic smile. “Just a little stiff.”

“I can move if you want–”

“No!” She stopped him immediately. She definitely did not want him to move. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Okay,” he laughed nervously. He thought for a moment before speaking again. “You could stretch your legs across me.”

She considered his offer quietly, biting the inside of her bottom lip. It was pretty tempting.

“Only if you want,” he added, stuttering over his words. He was watching her intensely, like he was trying to figure out what was going on inside her head.

“I do,” she said finally, so quiet he almost didn’t hear her.

Nodding, he lifted the blanket again, letting her turn to face him and drape her legs across his lap. Once she got comfortable, he put the blanket back down. He left one hand below the cover, gently gripping her thigh, just above her knee.

“This okay?” he asked, situating the blanket to fully cover their laps.

“Perfect,” she breathed, leaning her head against the back of the couch. They sat like that for a while, not saying anything. Both reading their books. She could feel Bob’s thumb graze back and forth against her skin, his grip on her leg firm. Steady. She yawned, the end of the day beginning to catch up with her.

“I’m happy I got to see you tonight,” she confessed. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you at all today.”

“Me neither, honestly. Not one of my best days.” He looked over to her, taking her in. “What about you? How was your day?”

“It was good. I, uh…I talked to Peter today.”

“Really?” His eyes widened, and he set his book down, sitting up a little straighter. “You messaged him?”

She had talked to him about Peter before, of course, and the pager gave her. She talked about all of the Guardians. He had always been curious about her old friends, and he loved listening to all of her stories about them. He swore he could do it for hours.

“He messaged me, actually. He sent me his phone number, and I decided to call him.”

“How did it go? Was it okay?”

“Yeah,” she assured him. “I think it went pretty well. He apologized. He’s back on Earth too, in Missouri with his family.”

“That sounds nice,” he commented, nodding.

“...He asked about you too,” she added, waiting to see his reaction.

His eyes widened. “Me? Why did he ask about me?”

She shrugged casually, a teasing smile on her face. “He saw you on the news with us. Wanted to know who you were.”

“What did you say?”

“I said you were Bob,” she informed him. “And that you’re pretty cool.” She chose not to mention the whole boyfriend-kissing-conversation that went down after everyone else got back from their mission that day.

“Nice,” he chuckled, looking somewhat relieved. “High praise.”

“Exactly,” she affirmed, poking him in the shoulder playfully.

“Maybe he could come visit sometime,” he offered, squeezing her leg.

“Maybe.” She thought about his suggestion. 

She still wasn’t sure if she was ready to see Peter in person again after all this time. After all the years she had spent avoiding reaching out, she wondered if she would ever really be ready to see him face to face again. To have him meet her new friends. Have him meet Bob. It would be odd, for sure, seeing her two worlds collide like that. At the same time, though…she wasn’t totally opposed to it.

Only time would tell.

She had fallen asleep. There, on the couch, trying to finish her book with Bob right there with her, reading his own. His presence was warm. Comforting. So really, it was no surprise.

He had dozed off too, the weight of her legs on his lap leaving him feeling secure. Relaxed. When he awoke, he gazed at her for a moment. She was snuggled against the back of the couch, wrapped cozily in their blanket. She looked peaceful, content. She looked beautiful.

He looked over to the clock sitting behind her, realizing how late it had gotten. Not wanting to disturb her, he stood up slowly, gently lifting the blanket off of them. He slung the blanket over his shoulder and grabbed their books, slipping them into his waistband. Then, he bent down and picked her up, careful not to wake her.

He carried her back to her room, gently placing her onto her bed. He left both their books on her nightstand, figuring she might like another one once she finished the one he’d already given her. He took the blanket off his shoulder, gingerly laying it upon her. Once he was satisfied she looked comfortable, he squatted down and placed a light kiss to her temple, tracing his fingers through her hair.

Eventually, he made his way back to his own room. As he climbed into bed, his chest was warm with anticipation, with the promise of seeing her tomorrow. And the next day.

And the next.

And the next.

And the next.

Read pt. 3 here !!

[snooperzz]

Back on You

Robert "Bob" Reynolds x female!Reader/OC Word count: 5.9k Warnings: angst, reader/oc has self esteem issues Note: this is written in third person & reader/oc is unnamed! you can also read this story on ao3 :) Summary/Excerpt: She liked Bob. She liked hearing about his favorite characters in the book he was working his way through, or the crazy stories from his time working at a bail bonds company as a sign-spinning chicken. She liked spending time with him and seeing his dorky smile, and she didn’t want to ruin that by telling him how much she liked it. How much she liked him. (i.e., A former member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, now a member of the New Avengers, has a crush on Bob.)

They had cornered her. 

“They” being Yelena and Ava. She had just gotten out of training with Bucky, and all she wanted to do was take a shower and disappear into her room for the rest of the day. But, of course, Yelena and Ava spotted her raiding the pantry and had now made it their top priority to make her talk about the one subject she avoided at all costs.

Bob .

Not that it was really his fault. He was just possibly the sweetest person that she had never met, and he unfortunately was not hard to look at. It was embarrassing, really, how often she was caught sneaking glimpses at him from across the room. It seemed like everyone was onto her. Well, everyone except for Bob, thankfully. He was oblivious, from what she could tell, and she did not plan to do anything to mess that up.

They were good friends. Ever since the New Avengers were announced, and she found herself moving from her closet-sized apartment into the Watchtower, she and Bob had been spending more and more time together. But that was just out of convenience. It wasn’t her fault his room was right across the hall from her own, and they just so happened to leave their rooms at the same time every morning. And it definitely wasn’t her fault they developed a habit of concocting smoothies together each morning, testing out new, sometimes questionable, combinations (this morning’s was strawberries, bananas, and jalapenos).

She liked Bob. She liked hearing about his favorite characters in the book he was working his way through, or the crazy stories from his time working at a bail bonds company as a sign-spinning chicken. She liked spending time with him and seeing his dorky smile, and she didn’t want to ruin that by telling him how much she liked it. How much she liked him .

So, she avoided the topic altogether. At least, she tried to. Just like she was doing right now, shoving whatever snacks she laid her eyes on into her arms in an attempt to get out of the impending conversation with Yelena and Ava as fast as possible.

“Save some for the rest of us,” Yelena teased, causing her to turn around. She could already feel her face turning hot.

“You’re ravaging this place like you haven’t eaten in weeks,” Ava commented. “Which I know isn’t true because I was forced to try the disgusting smoothie you and Bob made this morning.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” she muttered, placing a family-sized box of cheez its back onto the shelf.

“Speaking of Bob,” Yelena began, giving her a knowing look. “How is he?”

She shrugged, jostling the remaining snacks in her arms. “I don’t know. You should ask him.”

They both looked at her suspiciously. Then at each other. Then back at her.

“We just noticed you guys have been spending a lot of time together,” Ava hinted, raising her eyebrows. “So we thought you might know.”

“I haven’t seen him since this morning. I’ve been training with Bucky all day, so I’m starved,” she laughed awkwardly. 

They groaned at her excuse.

“Come on,” Yelena sighed. “We all see you guys looking all goo-goo eyed at each other. It’s disgusting.”

“What?! I don’t—”

Ava interrupted her, stating her name sharply.

“You do,” Yelena continued. “You definitely do, even Alexei is getting annoyed.”

“Why don’t you say something?” Ava questioned her. 

Her face was burning under their pointed gazes, and she shifted from side to side, unsure how to respond.

Ava said her name again, waiting for the girl to look up at her before continuing. “You’re a badass, and he likes you. You’ve got nothing to be afraid of.”

“I don’t know—”

“Oh my God,” Yelena groaned, walking up to her and grabbing the snacks out of her arms and putting them back in the pantry shelf. “Why don’t you invite him out for food instead of stuffing your face with cheese crackers.”

She grabbed the girl’s shoulders and gently pushed her out of the kitchen.

“And take a shower! You stink!” Ava called out after her as she rushed back to her room. 

The two women watched her scurry away before looking at each other, unable to hide the coy smiles growing on their faces.

When she got back to her room, she had hoped she would feel some type of relief. She wasn’t under the prying eyes of Yelena and Ava anymore, but her mind was still racing. Did they really believe that Bob had feelings towards her too? She had sometimes thought maybe he did, like when he stayed up with her until the next morning on movie nights. Long after everyone else went to bed, they would make home on the couch, a bucket of popcorn in between them, having their own movie marathons.

Last week, Bob had introduced her to Back to the Future . Well, she had heard of it before but had never had the time to actually watch it. 

She hadn’t grown up on Earth. She was raised by Ravagers and grew up surrounded by dingy ship walls and bitter outcasts. Her parents had abandoned her as a child, and she was on her own for a while. Until one day, a little boy not that much older than her with fiery red hair picked her up and refused to let her go. Peter Quill became like an older brother to her. A piece of family she never thought she would have. He taught her how to shoot a gun and break out of a jail cell. He showed her which vents in the Ravagers’ ship led to the kitchen and where Yondu kept his spare arrows. She missed him. More than she thought she would when she decided to stay on Earth while the rest of the Guardians travelled back into space with Thor. 

She remembered saying goodbye. Peter almost refused to leave, but she had always been more stubborn. After each Guardian insisted on having their turn to hug her, Peter approached her again, handing her a small box.

“What is this?” she had asked, eyeing him with a quirked brow before taking the box from his hands. When she opened it, she found his walkman along with some other device.

“I can’t take this,” she said immediately, automatically ripping it out the box and pushing it onto his chest.

“Nah, you have to take it,” he chuckled. His eyes were glassy, and his smile was teasing, almost mournful. “You gotta have something to remember me by. Remember how you abandoned me with these losers.” He put the walkman back in her box.

“Then what’s this for?” She picked up the second device.

“That’s a pager. I put my number in there in case you ever want to reach out.”

She smiled, holding the box of gifts close to her chest. She tried to ignore the burning in her eyes. “Does it work even if we’re on different planets?”

“You’ll have to test it out,” his eyes were watering too, and he pulled her in for a final hug.

She hadn’t seen him since that day, and she hadn’t reached out either. Sometimes she would find herself just sitting with the pager, her mind dancing with the decision of sending Peter a message. But she could never do it. She usually ended up slipping on his old headphones and listening to one of his mixes on the walkman. It reminded her of home. Her old home on the Milano. This happened more often, though, before she met Yelena, Ava, and the rest of the Thunderbolts.

She felt happier now. She liked being on Earth. It was something she never got growing up. She also liked her new friends. Her new friends that became more and more like family everyday, no matter how much they tried to deny it. And, as much as she tried not to think about it, she really liked hanging out with Bob.

Sighing, she shook her head.

Fuck it.

She would say something. Tell him how she felt. But only because Yelena and Ava seemed so sure he reciprocated her feelings.

She spent her entire shower trying to find the right words to ask him to dinner, but nothing sounded right. She felt stupid. She had fought side by side Iron Man and Captain America to defeat Thanos. She could fly a spaceship. Was she really going to let the idea of talking to a boy scare her?

No.

Ava was right. She was a badass. She reminded herself of this as she walked towards her bedroom door. All she had to do was open it up, walk across the hallway, and ask Bob if he wanted to get burgers or something. She took a deep breath and swung the door open, only to find a figure already standing there, arm raised as if he were about to knock on her door.

It was Bob. Bob in his navy blue sweater and corduroy pants. Bob with his curly hair framing his face, with that dorky smile that always made her face turn red. He swallowed nervously, letting out an awkward laugh as he slowly brought his arm down.

“Hi,” he said, his voice almost a whisper as he looked at her intensely.

“Hey,” she squeaked back, her confidence from five seconds ago quickly depleting.

He cleared his throat, his hands clasped tightly together in front of him. Despite his efforts to make himself seem smaller, his broad shoulders felt like they took up her entire door frame. She tried not to think about how good he looked.

“I was wondering if maybe you wanted to grab dinner with me?” His words came out quick, like if he didn’t say them now, he probably never would. “I heard the burger place down the block also has good milkshakes.”

She didn’t say anything at first. Really, she was shocked. He asked her before she had even gotten the chance to approach him. When she didn’t say anything for a moment, he began to look worried.

“We don’t have to, though, if that’s too wei–”

“No!” she interrupted him quickly. “I would really like that.”

“Really?” A soft smile began to grow on his face.

“Of course.” She smiled right back.

So, they went to dinner. They both ordered a burger, fries, and a milkshake, hers chocolate and his vanilla, of course. They talked about anything and everything. Bob caught her up on the current book he was reading (Bucky had recommended The Hobbit ), and they made plans to binge all of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies once he finished all of the books. She told him about her adventures with the Guardians and all of the stupid arguments her old teammates always had. He was still fascinated by the fact that she had not only been to space, but she had also grown up there too. That, and the fact she also knew a talking racoon.

They spent hours at the diner, talking and sipping on their milkshakes, until finally, a waiter came over and told them the restaurant was closing soon. Bob picked up the check, refusing to let her pay no matter how much she insisted, and they walked back to the Watchtower.

She thought about holding his hand, but she didn’t want to push it.

When they got back to the team’s penthouse, it was quiet. Not quite ready to go to bed, they sat down on the couch. She tried not to think about how close they were to each other. How their legs were brushing against one another’s. They sat like that for a while, quietly. It was a comfortable silence for the most part, but her mind was racing, the butterflies in her stomach picking up.

She wanted to kiss him. She really did. But she had never kissed anyone before. Before she was on Earth, she never really had the time. Or the want. She saw how many women Peter tried sneaking into his room, and she never really understood why. She had never been interested in anyone like that. 

Not until she met Bob. 

But now that she knew she wanted to kiss him, she also knew that she had no idea how to kiss anyone. It was embarrassing, really. Most people her age had been in relationships already, and she had never even had her first kiss.

Bob whispered her name so quietly she could barely hear it, but she still jumped in surprise as his voice pulled her from her thoughts.

“Thanks for getting dinner with me,” he smiled shyly at her, and she returned his look.

“Thanks for asking.”

“Maybe we could go again tomorrow?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I'd like that a lot.”

They were quiet again for a moment, but before she could spiral into her thoughts for the second time, Bob spoke.

He said her name softly as he shifted his body on the couch to face her head on. His eyes were serious, and they shifted between looking at her own eyes and her lips. He leaned in closer, placing a hand softly onto her thigh and the other on her waist.

She froze. This was it. He was going to kiss her, and she wanted him to kiss her. But she also had no idea how to kiss him back.

He leaned in even closer (somehow that was possible) and stopped for a moment, looking at her, waiting for a sign that she was good, that he could keep going. She took in a shaky breath and gave him a small nod.

When his lips finally touched hers, they felt surprisingly warm, assured. The complete opposite of how she was feeling. She felt like a bumbling mess. She had no idea what to do with her hands. She had always heard not to think about how to kiss someone and just to let it happen. But that felt impossible at the moment. She tried to let him guide the kiss and simply follow his lead, and that worked for a moment until suddenly, he wasn’t there anymore. And neither was the silence they had found comfort in.

In its place was the thunderous sound of thousands of heroes and aliens charging towards each other, attacking each other all around her.

Then she saw it. Herself. Fighting the Chitauri, shooting down every alien that she could, but she was running out of time. They were starting to corner her. She remembered when this happened. It was years ago, in the Avengers’ final fight against Thanos. 

Then she saw him. Peter. After five years of not knowing if he was alive. After hearing from Nebula he had been turned to dust. He was there, in front of her and alive. She remembered how happy she was, how thankful she was to see him.

She watched as he helped take down the remaining Chitauri that had her trapped. She watched her past self as she ran toward him, jumping into his embrace. They gripped each other tightly, and her past self laughed almost hysterically as she fought against tears.

Then there was a shift. He paused. He had seen something else. Someone else . His grip loosened, slowly releasing her, and her past and present self turned to look at what he saw.

It was her. Gamora.

Peter had left her side now, walking slowly towards Gamora, his eyes wide in awe and admiration. He left her alone to watch as he ran back to Gamora. Again. 

It wasn’t that she was jealous of Gamora. She just felt intimidated anytime she was around. And a little bit sad. Forgotten, maybe. She had grown up with Peter, watching him bulldoze through thousands of hookups and one-night stands. Sure, it was annoying, but at the end of the day, she knew she still had him. He would always look out for her, always have her back. Not to say that after he met Gamora he didn’t look out for her anymore, but things were definitely different. He started going to Gamora for second opinions instead of her, and started only looking for Gamora’s approval of his ideas.

So, it hurt when he ran straight to Gamora after not seeing him for years. And watching it all over again, those feelings came right back.

She shook her head violently, wanting to be anywhere but in that memory. She closed her eyes tightly, pushing against her tears and her own brain. She wanted out, out, out .

Then, it was quiet again. A panicked voice was calling her name, and a hand nudged her shoulder softly. She opened her eyes to see Bob again, a worried look on his face. She looked all around her, taking in the environment. She wasn’t in the past anymore. She was here, in the penthouse, with Bob.

“A-are you okay?” Bob asked, his voice laced with concern.

She nodded quickly. She was pretty sure she was fine. Her face felt wet, though, and she wiped her cheeks with her sleeve. Had she been crying?

“You went somewhere else, didn’t you?”

She looked at him dumbly. She felt like an idiot. She had spent the past few months thinking about kissing Bob, and when she had finally gotten the chance, she blew it. Maybe if she hadn’t been in her own head so much, she wouldn’t have ruined it.

“I’m sorry,” Bob muttered, his eyes down cast. He scooted away from her, not wanting to touch her. Not wanting to accidentally send her into another bad memory.

She shook her head, watching as he moved away. Even though she didn’t really want him to. “It’s not your fault,” she tried to reassure him, but she could tell he didn’t believe her.

“I’m gonna, uh,” she continued. She stood up, hugging herself. “I’m gonna go to bed. I’ll, uh–I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She rushed out of the living area and back to her room, wishing she could disappear.

The next few days felt never ending. She sunk herself into her training, using it as a distraction from the fact she hadn’t spoken to Bob in days. He was clearly avoiding her. Every morning when she made her way into the kitchen, he was already there, eating a bowl of cereal and refusing to even glance in her direction.

It hurt, but she understood. She had run away after he kissed her, with no explanation. And, in all honesty, she had been avoiding him since that night too. She just missed him. Missed getting to spend time with him every day. 

Instead, she spent time in the gym. And when she wasn’t attacking punching bags or trying not to die on the treadmill, she was in her room. Alone with her thoughts and Peter’s walkman. She tried to use the music to drown out the old memories flooding her brain. Ever since seeing her past self that night, she kept remembering her life before being on Earth. Before the Blip. Before the Guardians, even.

Back when Yondu would send her on smuggling missions once Peter was too big to actually fit in the vents anymore. Back when Yondu deemed missions “too dangerous” for her to join him and Peter, and he would leave her behind. Stuck with the rest of the Ravagers. The Ravagers that would leave her on less-than-safe planets for “fun,” forcing her to find her way back on her own. When she did eventually find her way back, they would still taunt her relentlessly, telling her she would never be a real Ravager. Not that she even wanted to be anyway.

She wanted to be just like Peter. Peter, who was charismatic and good at taking down whatever enemies got in Yondu’s way. Peter was always Yondu’s favorite, and she was always the second choice. The one Yondu would take along only when Peter was too busy with another mission.

She had finally left the confines of her room, choosing to go sit outside instead. She was sitting on the edge of the landing pad, her feet dangling over the streets of New York. She held her pager, staring at the number Peter left for her.

Maybe she should finally reach out. It had been a few years since the Guardians left on their search for Gamora. Maybe they had found her. Her fingers hovered over the device. A small part of her told her to just do it. To not think about it and send him a message. It didn’t have to be anything crazy or deep, maybe just a simple “Hey, how are you?” But, a bigger part of her was scared. Scared to reach out to him only to never hear back.

That was where Bucky found her, sitting at the rails of the helicopter pad. The rest of the New Avengers knew something was up. They had noticed she and Bob were never together anymore, annoying the rest of them with their constant, yet somehow oblivious, flirting with each other. They noticed that she had also spent less and less time with them as a group, choosing instead to hide away in the gym or her room.

He had been looking for her that evening. They had just finished eating dinner, and she opted not to join them once again. So, he took it upon himself to make her a plate and bring it to her room. When he knocked on her door, though, she didn’t answer. She wasn't there, and he also didn’t find her in the gym either. He asked around, to see if anyone else knew where she was, but all he was met with were shrugs. 

That was until he ran into Bob. Bob, who quietly informed him he saw her make her way outside to the landing pad. And, sure enough, that’s where he found her.

He called her name softly, and she turned to look at him, watching as he sat down beside her and placed a bowl of mac and cheese in between them. 

“I brought you some food.” He looked at her carefully, as if he was trying to figure out what was going on inside her head. “We missed you at dinner.”

She scoffed. “Thank you.” She looked back down at the pager in her hands.

“What’s that?” Bucky asked, nodding towards the device.

“Pager,” she responded. Her brows furrowed. “Shouldn’t you know that? Aren’t you like a hundred years old?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Over one hundred, and that’s actually past my time.”

She smiled, “Right.” 

There was a beat of silence between them.

“It’s from Peter,” she spoke again. “He was one of my friends before being here. Before the Blip.”

Bucky nodded, but he didn’t say anything. He just waited for her to continue.

She took a deep breath. “He gave it to me in case I ever wanted to reach out. Put his number on it.”

“Have you?”

She shook her head.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. I guess…I guess I’m just afraid he won’t answer.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t give you his number if he wasn’t going to answer.”

She shrugged. “He’s probably too busy to respond, anyway.”

“How would you know that if you haven’t reached out?”

“What are you doing?” she huffed. “Did you come out here just to lecture me?” She looked at him, her furrowed eyebrows turning into a scowl.

His head dropped. “No. No, I came out to make sure you’re okay. We’re worried about you.”

She turned to stare at the streets below them. “I’m fine. Just…tired I guess.”

“Did something happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t been around. You missed movie night yesterday. I don’t know, I just feel like something’s up.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, and he said her name again. “You can talk to me.”

She thought about his offer, chewing on her lip. She knew she could trust him. Bucky was there for her after the final battle with Thanos. He took her under his wing, offering her a place to stay. But she knew he had his own demons, his own battles. She didn’t want to be a burden on him, so when she finally got a job, she moved into her own place. Then, they found each other again. Through Valentina, of all people.

“Me and Bob…kissed,” she said finally, so quiet he almost didn’t hear her.

“Really?” Bucky mused. “How’d that go?”

She grimaced. “Not great. I ran out on him. Left him alone on the couch.”

“Ouch.”

“Wait, no! It wasn’t his fault. It was me,” she stammered. “I mean, he was great.”

Bucky tried and failed to hide his smile. “I’m sure he was.”

She felt her face burning. What was she doing?  

“Geez,” she groaned, hiding her face in her hands, the pager dropping to the floor beside her. She lifted her head to look at it again, the memories of Peter and the Guardians rushing back into her mind.

“When we kissed,” she continued. “It took me back to a memory. From when we fought Thanos for the last time.”

Bucky nodded, letting her continue.

“I saw myself. And Peter. I hadn’t seen him in five years at the time. I thought I would never see him again. When we saw each other, we hugged each other so tight. I didn’t want to let go.”

She could feel the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“But then he let go. Because he saw her. ”

Bucky looked at her carefully. “Who?”

She laughed dryly. She sounded ridiculous. “Gamora. His girlfriend . He ran straight to her. It didn’t surprise me, really, but it still hurt. You know?”

Bucky nodded.

She went on, “I didn’t know it at the time, but he thought she was dead. Well, technically she was . But he didn’t think he would ever see her again, and then he did. And I understood that, I thought the same thing about him. But I just…”

She paused for a moment, gathering her words. “Ever since Gamora came into our lives, and we became the Guardians of the Galaxy, it felt like I lost a piece of him. Like I used to be his number one. His best friend. And then that became…her.

“And it was fine. I mean, I made new friends too, but…my new best friend was a talking racoon. And his best friend was a tree.” She laughed pathetically. She felt stupid, sitting there crying in front of the Winter Soldier about having no friends. He must have had better things to worry about.

He shifted closer to her, placing a firm hand on her shoulder and squeezing it gently. “You’re being too hard on yourself,” he said softly.

She sniffled. “I’m just tired of always being everyone’s second choice. My parents abandoned me. Then my fake-dad liked my fake-brother better than me. And then my fake-brother decided to get a girlfriend that was ten times better than I was.” Her words came out in hiccups.

Bucky let out a quiet, “Come here,” before pulling her into a tight embrace. She hid her face into her hands, tucking herself into his side.

“You’re not everyone’s second choice,” he told her, adamant. “We all care about you. We all want you here. You’re an asset to our team, and you’re a great friend.” He squeezed her to his chest, letting her release all of the emotions she had been holding back for years.

He didn’t let her go until she pulled back on her own.

“For what it’s worth, I can definitely think of one person who considers you their first choice.” Bucky paused, pretending to think. “Hmm, yeah. You are definitely their favorite out of our little group, although,” he grimaced. “Your competition isn’t that great, so I don’t know how flattered you should be.”

He nudged her shoulder playfully, and she laughed, her sniffles fading away. “Oh yeah? Who’s that?”

He looked at her as if it was obvious. “Oh I don’t know, the one person that knew exactly where to find you when I asked.”

She nodded her head and looked down, attempting to hide the smile sneaking onto her face. “Bob,” she whispered.

“Bob,” Bucky confirmed. Another beat of silence. “You should talk to him.”

She took a deep breath in. “I don’t think he wants me to do that. He avoids me like the plague, he can’t even look at me.”

“Okay, now that,” he pointed at her. “That is a lie. He cannot take his eyes off of you. He’s just good at hiding it.”

She shook her head, eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t kn–”

“I’m serious,” he butted in, giving her a sharp look. “Just at least try. Please. Okay? If not for your sake then for the rest of ours.”

She nodded. “Okay, I will.”

“And eat this,” he continued, picking up the bowl of mac and cheese and plopping it down on her lap. “Before it gets cold. Yelena worked too hard on it for it to go to waste.”

That night, she found herself pacing back and forth in her room, trying to muster up the courage to go knock on Bob’s door. It reminded her of just a few days ago, when she was convincing herself to ask him on a date. Except when she opened the door this time, he was not already there, waiting for her. So, she took a deep breath and made the short trek to his side of the hallway. Before she could even think about turning around and running back to her room, she lifted her hand and landed three soft knocks on his door.

She waited for a moment, nothing happened. She couldn’t hear anything on the other side of the door. Maybe he was out. Just as she was turning to walk back to her room, the door swung open, and Bob’s voice called out her name.

She turned to face him. He was in his pajamas, a hoodie pulled over his head. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, I, uh,” she ran her hand through her hair, trying to release some of her nerves. “I wanted to talk to you.”

He swallowed, nodding quickly. “Sure. Do you wanna…” he trailed off, opening his door a little bit wider. He motioned inside.

She nodded back, stepping into his room. It wasn’t her first time in there. There was one night where she had woken up from a nightmare, unable to fall back asleep. When she went to the kitchen to grab herself some water, she found Bob already there, raiding the fridge for a midnight snack. Since they both knew sleep was not in the cards for them that night, they grabbed a Monopoly board from the living area and took it back to Bob’s room. They played Monopoly until six in the morning, and both ended up falling asleep on the bedroom floor.

They stood there for a moment. Bob waited for her to speak, but she was wrapped up in her own thoughts, remembering that night. Finally, she broke the quiet tension between them.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry, Bob. For leaving you the other night. And for ignoring you the past few days. I was just…scared I guess.”

He watched her for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry for scaring you.” 

Her eyes grew. That wasn’t what she meant at all .

“No!” she said suddenly, startling him. “ You didn’t scare me, Bob. I just…when we kissed, you disappeared, and I saw myself. Myself from years ago. It was a memory I forgot about, one pushed down, but it came back that night. and I’ve kind of just been…wallowing since then.”

“That was my fault,” he argued. “That still happens sometimes when I touch someone. They see things they don’t want to. They have to relive memories they hate. I knew that it could’ve happened to you, but I kissed you anyway.”

“I knew that, though.”

He stared at her, eyebrows creased in confusion. “Wh-what?”

“I knew that there was a chance it would happen, but I didn’t care.”

“You didn’t?”

“No, I didn’t. Because I like you, Bob. And I wanted to kiss you,” she was rambling now, the words flowing out of her like a waterfall. “And I’ve missed you the past few days. A lot.”

“I like you too,” he confessed. She could see his cheeks turning red, and she could feel her face heating up.

She went to grab his hand, but he backed away from her touch. He apologized. “I don’t want to send you back there again.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think you did. I think I did.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was so nervous that night. So in my own head. I had never kissed anyone before, and I was so worried about messing it up. About not being good enough. I think all those negative thoughts are what brought that memory back.”

He nodded, taking in her words. Trying to understand. “You could never not be good enough,” he promised. 

His words caused her face to heat up even more, and she looked away, trying to hide it. He said her name, and she turned to look at him again.

He stepped closer to her, grabbing the arm of her sweatshirt. “Would you maybe want to try again?”

She didn’t even have to think about her answer. She nodded softly, her breath hitching as his hand moved from her sweatshirt to her neck, cupping her jaw, his other hand placed on the small of her back. She was still nervous, yes, the butterflies dancing around her stomach made that obvious. But it was a different kind of nervous than before. It was more of an anticipation. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him in closer until, finally, their lips touched. She didn’t even have to think about it this time. It was natural. Right.

The kiss started off tender, sweet. But soon, it turned into something more hungry, like they had been waiting months to explore each other in this way. And honestly, they had.

After what felt like hours, they finally broke apart, but they didn’t let go, still holding each other close.

“You still here with me?” Bob breathed, his hands traveling down her sides to rest on her waist.

She laughed breathlessly and nodded, their noses bumping together with her movement. “I’m here,” she whispered.

He leaned in again, and she could feel the smile in his kiss.

“For someone so worried about messing up, you’re pretty good at this,” he teased, squeezing her sides.

His words sent heat through her body, and she shoved him back playfully. “Shut up,” she rolled her eyes.

He laughed along with her, and they both settled into a comfortable silence.

“Maybe now everyone can get off our backs about this,” he said, pointing between the two of them.

“God, yes,” she groaned, shaking her head. “Yelena and Ava would not leave me alone.”

“It was John for me,” he chuckled.

“You’re kidding.”

“I really wish I was. That guy’s an asshole.”

“...Sooo, how are we feeling about getting some milkshakes right now?”

“I was about to say the same thing.”

Read pt. 2 here !!

[snooperzz]

Weird Night

This is a re-upload of this story because I got shy and deleted it from my tumblr (oops). You can also find it on ao3 :) John Carter x female!OC (platonic) Word count: 4.1k Warnings: awkard conversations, medical inaccuracies, non-consensual touching (nothing too bad, just a rejected kiss), minor spoilers for ER season 1 Summary: Amelia, a medical student shadowing at County General, has an awkward encounter with Dr. Ross. Luckily, Carter is there to offer a listening ear.

It had been a long day, and it was going to be a long night. 

Amelia had spent the morning assisting Dr. Lewis with both her and Dr. Greene’s patients, so she was exhausted to say the least. The only thing keeping her sane was the assurance that came with Christmas Eve: no upcoming exams to dread and no mundane shift at the laundromat tomorrow. 

She was only in her second year of med-school, and she knew shadowing at County General would get her a head start before beginning rotations. While she was grateful for the opportunity to observe Dr. Lewis, it did have its downfalls. Including where she found herself now, still awake in the wee hours of Christmas morning, trying to catch up on reports for her patients that day. Her efforts, however, were interrupted by a certain resident walking in with a bloody nose.

“Dr. Ross!” She closed her notebook and stood up from her seat at the front desk. It probably was a better idea for her to work in the doctor’s lounge where there was less possibility for interruptions like this. But Jerry was tired of waiting for the new clerk to show, and Amelia said she would cover for him. Thankfully, the ER wasn’t too busy. 

“I’m fine, Amelia. It’s just a small bleed,” Ross slowed as he approached the desk, lowering his hand to show her the damage.

“But bad enough you came back to the ER? Maybe you should sit down. Exam four is empty,” she nodded her head in the direction of the room and rounded the corner of the desk. “I can get a closer look in there.”

“It’s not necessary,” he shook his head.

“At least let me check to see if it’s broken.” She grabbed a pair of gloves from a crash cart before turning to him again. “For practice?”

Sighing, he dipped his head and followed her into the room, his feet dragging across the tile floor. He sat on the flimsy mattress of one of the patient beds, watching as she grabbed a clean cloth and dipped it under some water. 

“It’s not still bleeding, is it?” She turned to him, and he shook his head. 

She sat down beside him on the bed, gently leaning his head back to wipe off his nose. Despite her efforts not to push too hard on any tender spots, she still managed to hit one, causing Ross to flinch.

“Sorry,” she cringed, giving him a sympathetic smile. “How did this happen anyway?”

She had worked with him for around six months now, and she had seen how worked up he got when kids came in malnourished or hurt by their parents. It wasn’t unreasonable to assume maybe he ran into one of these parents on his way home. He was emotional, maybe a little hot-headed, but she understood where he was coming from. She just hoped his impulsiveness never cost him his job; he was a decent guy who seemed to care a lot about the kids he helped. Also, she was interested in focusing on peds EM when she started her rotations, and Ross’ recommendation would help her get a foot in the door.

“Tag punched me,” he huffed.

Her eyes widened. “Tag? Like, Carol Hathaway’s Tag?”

He looked at her for a moment, a defeated smile taking over his face. “Yes, Carol’s Tag.”

She nodded quietly, not really knowing what to say. Sure, she had a lot of questions, but she wasn’t exactly sure they would be appropriate to ask. As she was wiping off the dried up blood, she noticed a fresh spot just under his nose.

“Oh shoot, lean your head forward,” she placed one hand on the back of his head to carefully lean him forward, while her other hand put pressure on his nose just above the bridge. He flinched at the touch, and she apologized again. “Your nose is still bleeding a little bit, but luckily it doesn’t feel broken.” 

He chuckled lowly. “Yeah, ‘luckily.’ I probably deserve a broken nose.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, but she kept a steady hand on his nose. After a moment, she let go, leaning in to get a closer look.

“Looks much better.” A soft smile spread on her face as she used the cloth to wipe off the last spots of blood. “Might have a little bruise though.”

It wasn’t until she leaned back to look at him that she realized how close they were. Definitely way too close for what would be considered appropriate between a resident and a student. Ross had at some point placed his hand behind her back on the mattress, and now he was sitting entirely too close to her. He had a funny look in his eyes, almost like he was looking through her own. She swallowed nervously. He drew closer to her, if that was even possible, and she could feel her hands start to sweat as she noticed his glances shifting between her eyes and her lips. 

She cleared her throat, and he placed his hand on the small of her back. Eyes locked on her own now. “You remind me of Carol, you know?”

“Dr. Ross, I don’t think—”

“Doug is fine.”

“ Dr. Ross , I don’t think you should be…you know.” She leaned back, which finally seemed to catch his attention. His eyes grew with the realization of what he was trying to do. He was trying to kiss her. He quickly removed his hand from her back, shooting up off the bed.

“Oh Jesus , I’m sorry Am—” 

“Oh no, that’s okay! I’m just going to, um,” she paused and awkwardly stood up from the bed and picked up her used supplies. “I’m just going to clean this up.”

She was at the exam room door now, arms full and scrambling to get it open. Ross still stood by the bed, frozen in embarrassment. 

“Amelia, I’m sorry. It’s been a long day and even longer night, but I shouldn’t have—”

“You should get some rest, doctor. I think Dr. Greene is taking a nap in the lounge, you could join him?” She was rambling, still trying to get the door open. “And you should probably get some ice for your nose to help with the, um, purpleness.”

Ross finally seemed to notice her struggling with the door, but just as he made his way over to help, she was able to swiftly push it open and rush out.

“I’ll be at the front desk if you need anything!” And with that, she raced down the hallway, leaving Ross on his own. 

Around an hour later, she still sat at the front desk, working through what felt like a never ending pile of medical paperwork. And her racing mind was not helping. Why did Dr. Ross try to kiss her? Sure, they had gotten closer during her time as a medical student at County General, but never that close. And he was slightly attractive, but he was a ways older than her and he was one of her teachers. Part of her worried that maybe she had done something to give him the wrong idea. Her thoughts were interrupted by a trashed golden gift box being thrown on the desk, causing her stack of charts to tumble to the ground.

“Hey! Really?” she grumbled, looking up to see a disheveled John Carter standing in front of her. “You just made a mess of my carefully organized reports.”

“Right, sorry,” he sighed, making his way around the desk to help pick up the mess. “It’s been a weird night.”

Amelia scoffed. “Yeah you can say that again.” She crouched down to start picking up the charts , but Carter swatted her away.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get them. What are you still doing here, anyway?”

“This,” she stated, tapping her pen on the current report she was working on. “Dr. Lewis helped Dr. Greene with a bunch of his patients today. I told her I could help out too, which led to that.” She pointed the bundle of charts Carter dumped back onto the desk.

“Is this how much you have left?”

“Yup.”

“But it’s almost one in the morning.”

“Yup.” The thought gave her a headache.

“Jeez,” he was quiet for a moment. “Do you want anything? I was going to check on Miss Cavanaugh, but I could grab some coffee from the lounge room and come help out.”

“That and some Advil and you’re my own personal Santa Claus.”

He sang out a “ho, ho, ho” before disappearing into the doctor’s lounge and returning soon after with two coffees and medicine in hand.

Two hours later, the two had finally finished her reports from that day. She was exhausted, but still managing to run off the four cups of coffee she consumed during that time. They had taken over exam room three, claiming the only two beds that occupied that room in an attempt to get some rest before more patients consumed the ER.

“Soooo, what made it a weird night for you?” Carter questioned, glancing over at Amelia. He laid on his back atop the patient bed juggling two rolls of gauze into the air. Amelia sat criss-crossed at the head of her own bed, sorting a basket of bandages by size.

Amelia let out a huff, covering her face with her hands. “God, I don’t even know if I’m ready to talk about that.”

“Come on,” Carter dragged out his words as he teased her. “It can’t be worse than what happened to me.”

She turned to face him, cocking one eyebrow. “What happened to you?”

“If I tell you mine,” he paused, dropping the gauze on the floor to point a finger at her. “You tell me yours.”

Amelia churned over his deal. John was a good friend, and they had both started working in the ER on the same day. Even though he had already started his rotation, and she was only shadowing the residents, they had both been through, and learned, a lot together during their time at County General. She had also had many breaks meant for studying interrupted by his rants about Benton. Enough ranting that she had plenty of blackmail to use against him if any of what she was debating telling him got out. Not that she really thought that was necessary, though. Sure, John was clumsy and a bit too ambitious for his own good at times, but he was a good guy. And she trusted him. 

She held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, I promise.”

He moved from his bed onto hers, sitting criss-cross at the end of it. A mischievous grin grew on his face. “Amelia Bradley finally getting into drama? Never thought I’d see the day.”

She grimaced at his comment but still laughed. “Be careful, or I may have second thoughts about telling you.”

He chuckled, nodding, then his face went serious. He held out his pinky in front of him, a playful glint in his eyes. “I swear to you that anything mentioned in this room will not leave it. Promise?”

A smirk crept onto her face and she interlocked her pinky finger with his. “Okay, but you go first.”

His head dipped, and he let out a breath, releasing her pinky. “Yeah, okay.” He ran his hands through his hair, leaving it disheveled. “Okay, so. You know how I gave Susan a ride home tonight, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

He mimicked her nods. “Yeah, so I think I’m taking her to her place, right? And we get there, and it’s really her boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend’s , place. I don’t know. But she opens the door, and it’s empty, like, completely trashed.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh.”

He’s still nodding. “Yeah, oh , that’s what I thought too. He’s not even there and his phone’s ringing off the hook. But when I pick it up,” he paused and mimed picking up the phone. “They just hang up.”

“Wait, what?”

He points at her, “ Exactly , that’s what I thought too. So we leave this guy's house and finally get back to her apartment building, and she’s all,” he paused again and cleared his throat, continuing his story with what Amelia assumed to be his best Dr. Lewis impression. “ Thank you, Carter, you’re such a good friend! Thank you for my Secret Santa gift! It’s so sweet! ”

Amelia stifled a giggle as he continued. “And I’m making sure she’s okay. She says she is, but I feel like I could see in her eyes she needed someone to be there for her tonight. Like maybe she wanted me there. I tell her I can keep her company, and I swear she had that look in her eye. A look saying ‘kiss me, John,’ but when I make the move—”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes. Rejected.” His face screwed up, and he shook his head in disbelief. “I mean, probably one of the most embarrassing things that has ever happened to me. And I’ve fallen off a horse in front of a crowd of a hundred during high school.”

“I mean,” she grimaced with him. “The signs were kind of there though. She did say you were a good friend .”

“No.” He pointed at her accusingly. “You’re supposed to be on my side right now, and you weren’t even there, so…” he trailed off.

She dipped her head apologetically, but a teasing smile still sat on her face. “Right, sorry.”

“Somehow it got worse, though,” he continued. “She gives me what was supposed to be this other guy’s gift, a robe. After she goes inside, I try it on in the hallway, just to make sure it’s breathable, you know. I do a little spin, and as I’m turning,” he paused again. “Her neighbors walk up. They definitely saw the whole thing.” He hid his face in his hands.

Amelia laughed, unable to hold it in anymore. “At least she got you a gift?” she giggled.

He shoved her shoulder lightly. “Shut up,” he chuckled. “It’s your turn anyway.”

She felt nervous suddenly. What if he judged her? He had just been the one getting rejected that night. She probably hesitated for a moment too long, as Carter spoke up.

“Are you okay? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t--”

“No, no, it’s okay. I promised,” she let out a breathy laugh.

He nodded supportively, his attention fully invested in what she was going to say next.

“Okay, well.” She rubbed her sweaty hands on her legs. “Dr. Ross came back to the ER a little while ago with a bloody nose. I thought it might have been broken.”

“Jesus,” Carter commented, his eyebrows raised. He had leaned back, arms crossed.

“Yeah,” Amelia ringed her hands together as she continued. “He said it was a small bleed, but it looked pretty bad, so I took him to an exam room to help him clean it up. I thought getting some practice couldn’t hurt.”

She paused to look at Carter, who nodded encouragingly for her to continue.

“I helped him clean off his nose and made sure the bleeding had stopped and nothing was broken. I don’t know if I gave him the wrong idea by leaning in too close or what happened. I just wanted to get a good look at his nose,” she laughed at her last sentence. She probably sounded ridiculous. “But, um, he… he tried to kiss me.”

“Wait, what? Did you want him to kiss you?” A scowl took over Carter’s face as he looked at her.

Not good. He was upset. She tried to save it.

“Obviously, I wasn’t trying to flirt with him or anything. He’s one of my mentors, and I don’t… see him like that,” she reasoned, laughing uncomfortably.

Realization dawned in his eyes. “No! No, obviously it’s not your fault. He tried to kiss you, ” he backtracked. “He’s in the wrong here. I mean he’s basically like your boss, and you’re a second year med student. Are you going to say anything to Morgenstern?”

“I don’t know,” she was quiet for a moment, but Carter still waited for her to continue. “I just think he was confused and upset. I don’t think he really meant it.”

Carter scrunched his eyebrows together, considering her words. “What do you mean?”

“When I asked him what happened to his nose, he said Tag punched him. Like Nurse Hathaway’s fiance, Tag. I think he went to go see her, and she rejected him.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah… he also told me I reminded him of her.”

Carter’s face twisted, his nose flaring. “That’s really weird.”

She nodded. They were both quiet for a moment. Honestly, Amelia was glad to at least tell someone else about what happened. It got some weight off her chest, but she still wasn’t sure she wanted to go to their attending. Ross was a good doctor, a really good doctor, and he had a lot of friends around the ER who would likely be upset if he left the hospital. Plus, he was a great teacher; she had learned a lot from seeing how he examined his patients. She really didn’t think he meant anything when he tried to kiss her. He was most likely just in the wrong headspace after whatever went down between him, Carol, and Tag that night.

“Look, whether or not you decide to say anything to Morgenstern. I support your decision,” Carter interrupted her thoughts. “Just as long as you’re still comfortable working with him.”

“It’s definitely going to be awkward for a bit, but I don’t think he meant anything by it,” she paused for a moment and let out a small laugh. “Have you seen how he looks at Nurse Hathaway?”

Carter smiled too. “I think everyone sees how he looks at Hathaway.”

“I didn’t get that look. He looked like he just had the shit punched out of him to me. Maybe a little dazed.”

Carter chuckled, shaking his head. “And then you turned him down. Poor man had two rejections in one night.”

“Maybe you can go to him for advice about Dr. Lewis,” she teased.

Carter rolled his eyes and pushed her shoulder again playfully. “Shut up. Anyway, it’s probably for the best that she turned me down. Don't want to bring too much drama to the workplace.”

The door to exam room three swung open. “What are you two doing in here?”

The new voice startled the two, and they looked over to see Dr. Greene standing at the door, eyebrows raised.

They both quickly pushed themselves off the patient bed as Carter replied. “I was just helping Amelia with her reports from the day. And we were taking a break after finishing up.”

“Your shift ended yesterday,” he scolded Carter, before turning to Amelia. "And weren't you observing Susan today? She left hours ago."

Carter nodded, glancing at Amelia. She stood still, the basket of bandages she was previously sifting through before their gossip session was now tightly gripped in her hands. “Well, Amelia had to write the reports for yours and Dr. Lewis’ patients today, so it was a long night. And now we were just…” He paused his explanation and motioned towards her, waiting for her to help him out.

“Organizing bandages,” she answered.

He nodded with a tight lipped smile, “...organizing bandages.”

Dr. Greene looked at the two of them for a moment, tilting his head. Amelia thought she might throw up. Had he heard anything she had just said? Did he know what they were talking about before he opened that door?

“You two should head home. It’s late. Or early, depending on how you look at it.”

Carter nodded, looking over at Amelia who stood silently staring at the floor and looking like she wanted to disappear. He grabbed the basket from her hands and handed it to Dr. Greene before leading her towards the door.

“We will do that. Merry Christmas, doctor.”

“Merry Christmas. And Bradley?”

She turned to look at Dr. Greene, eyes wide.

“Thanks for all your help today. I appreciate it, and I’m sure Susan does too.”

She finally relaxed and gave him a small smile. “Of course, no problem.”

Dr. Greene nodded and walked away.

The two left the exam room and grabbed their things from the lounge. Amelia looked around for Dr. Ross, but thankfully didn’t see him anywhere. She finally took notice of the time: four o’clock. She had been stuck at the hospital for the first four hours of Christmas morning, and Greene was right. It was definitely time to head home. Carter insisted on driving her back to the small apartment she shared with her brother, so she didn’t have to take the L. He also insisted on driving her again to their next shift so that they could walk in together and avoid any awkward one-on-ones. Part of her thought it was probably unnecessary, but a bigger part of her was thankful for his suggestion. She was definitely dreading seeing Dr. Ross again. She hoped that things wouldn't be too awkward or dramatic in the emergency department the next time she came in, but she knew deep down that avoiding drama at County General was near impossible.

Amelia had managed to avoid Dr. Ross for approximately ten minutes. She had hoped to stick close to Dr. Lewis during her next shift and tried busying herself with taking the history of any extra patients the resident ran into. Unfortunately, Susan insisted her help wasn’t needed. The ER was evidently slow for it being the day after Christmas, save for the dozen kids hit by the winter flu season, which meant Amelia was stuck in the pediatrics department. And, therefore, stuck with Dr. Ross.

On the bright side, Ross had also seemed to avoid her at all costs. Unless she was observing his examinations or delivering his charts, the two did not speak. Any conversations were strictly professional, albeit stiff. She had managed to steer clear of the resident for her entire shift, but of course, he had to stop her before she could make it out the door.

She was walking with Carter since he committed to be her ride that day and refused to let her take the L. He had stuck by her side a lot that day, smoothly saving her from any interaction with Ross, but unfortunately, he could not whisk her away from this one.

“Amelia, I need to talk to you.” Ross grabbed her forearm as he spoke, and Amelia could see Carter eyeing his every move. “...Privately,” Ross continued after a moment.

She swallowed, but nodded her head. “Yeah, sure.”

Carter nodded too, looking at her intently, and she nodded in agreement when he told her he’d wait for her outside.

She followed Dr. Ross into the lounge, and as the door closed behind him, he spoke again, “First, I want to apologize for the other night. It was completely inappropriate, and it won’t happen again. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

She nodded, wringing her hands together. “It’s okay, Dr. Ross. I don’t plan on telling anyone.” Except she did already tell Carter. She could barely look Ross in the eyes, but she could feel his own boring down on her.

Ross scoffed, “That’s not what I mean, Amelia.”

“Well, I just meant that I figured you were going through some things, given the condition you came in that night. And I’m not holding what happened against you, so you don’t have to worry.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, and it was long enough for her to actually look up at him. He held a tight smile on his face, but his eyes told a different story. She expected them to be sharp, piercing into her own, but instead they were soft. And maybe even worried.

“Look, I’m not worried about me right now. I’m worried about you,” he started. He lifted his hand to put it on her shoulder but then thought better, putting it back down at his side. “You avoided me all day today. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable working with me.”

“I’m fine, Dr. Ross.” She could feel how red her face was getting while talking to him. She really just wanted to leave. “There’s not really anything you can do, I mean, what happened…happened.”

He nodded, scratching the back of his head.

“I think I just need time,” she continued. “And space. And I’ll get over it.”

He took a deep breath and nodded, offering another tight smile. “Right…okay.”

“I should probably go. Carter’s waiting on me.”

He watched her as she headed towards the door, turning to give him a small wave. “Have a good night, Dr. Ross.”

“I’m sorry, Amelia. Really.”

She nodded a final time and walked out the door, leaving Ross on his own again.

[snooperzz]

masterlist

check out my ao3 here! :)

Weird Night - John Carter x female!OC (platonic)

Back on You (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3) - Robert "Bob" Reynolds x female!Reader/OC

Bennie and the Jets - Clark Kent x female!Reader/OC

Stupid Glasses - Clark Kent x female!Reader/OC