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[dirtymartiniquinn]

Alias - A Valentine's special

Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: It's Valentine's Day and Joe finds a way to make sure you have a good day, despite the (literal) distance between you two.

CW / disclaimer: rpf (don't read if it's not your jam), fem!reader, tooth rotting fluff, a bit of smut~

Author's note: Hi, hello, here I am a bit later than expected. While I hadn't planned to continue Alias, I had been thinking of writing a fun special for a while. The ideas I originally had went down the drain, hence the long absence, but I hope this little Valentine's snippet can still grant you with some nice feel good feels. :) Enjoy! <3

Valentine’s Day this year sadly fell on a Tuesday. Now that you finally had someone to spend it with, of course it had to be on a day where it was impossible to meet. In all fairness, no day in the week would have worked, given that you and Joe lived at a distance from each other, but you liked to complain about it being on a weekday nonetheless. You had talked about it too, agreeing that it was all too commercial and that one day a year shouldn’t be the moment to love your partner a little extra. Joe made sure you knew how much he cared for you all the time, on random occasions. He was pretty much perfect in that regard. Yet, when you were watching some lengthy Valentine’s Day ad on YouTube, you couldn’t help but wish something similar happened to you. It was just a cliche, wasn’t it? And people asking what your plans were and having to say ‘nothing’.

So when the day came around, you were very surprised to see a gift box being brought to your desk. You were met with some jealous glances here and there and Deniz just smirked, telling you that you owed him a muffin for predicting Joe would definitely send something to work.

“I want a chocolate one, the big one.”

Turning your head as you were still admiring the outside of the gift box while looking for the note, you chuckled. He didn’t waste a second.

“Want it right now? I’ll go get it.”

“Yes, but find the note first. I want to see what it says.”

“Who says I’ll tell you?” you countered. Deniz rolled his eyes and poked your arm. You chuckled and reached for the note once you spotted it below the ribbon and read it, first to yourself, then out loud, your voice still hushed.

“Hi love, I know what we said about Valentine’s, but you know me well enough to know that I can’t stop myself. Just--”

“Told you. The man can’t stop himself,” Deniz interrupted.

“Shush! Do you want to hear it or not?”

“Yes, yes,” he quipped quickly and you continued. 

“Just wanted you to have a nice day even though I’m not there. Would have loved to just laze on the couch with you. Much love, your Joe,” you finished. You felt your cheeks grow warmer, your smile widening as you thought of him writing this note. It was handwritten, unlike the last time when he had sent flowers to the office after your recent meeting. You knew he wasn’t too fond of writing, so it warmed your heart that he put extra effort into making it look nice. Not only that, but you felt his absence even more now.

“Your Joe. God I’m melting, how are you not melting? Don’t get used to this, he’s special. Cherish that little Brit,” Deniz groaned affectionately.

“I am melting, I can assure you that. I just have developed better skills at hiding it, thanks to this little Brit,” you said amusedly.

“You’re being spoiled,” Deniz pouted and you could tell he felt extra single at that moment. You couldn’t blame him. Had it been the opposite, you would have longed for a limitless snack and movie night with some scented candles.

“So…? Open it!” Deniz urged impatiently. As much as you wanted to tease your colleague, you opened the box quickly as he wasn’t the only one who was curious. Inside, the first layer consisted of a heart shaped box with chocolates in it along with a scented candle. However, the familiar scent that had entered your nostrils as soon as you had opened the box definitely didn’t come from the candle, you realized as you took the two gifts out and was met with a black sweater save for the tiny red heart that was embroidered on the wrist. As you brought the sweater closer, you recognized Joe’s perfume and sighed, hugging the sweater tight. He must have sprayed a shit ton on it to still have it smell that strongly, you mused.

“No this… this is actually too adorable. I quit. I can’t stand him,” your colleague murmured. “A goddamn sweater… He knows what he’s doing, that man.”

“I’ll get your muffin sourpuss. Hell, I’ll even get you two,” you said with a sweet smile as you noticed the frown upon his face. You carefully put the gifts back into the box and got up to get to the vending machine.

“You’re the best!” he called after you with a grin. You smiled, already fantasizing about how you were going to wear Joe’s sweater tonight, pretending he was actually next to you instead of his apartment in London.

While you were on your way home, you received a text from Joe. You had thanked him by text earlier, as you hadn’t been able to call him at the time and decided you’d rather call him elaborately at home. Apparently, he had the same idea.

You home yet? Got time to call? x

After texting him back that you would be home in twenty and call him, you got into a cab and spent the ride home talking to the driver about the wonderful man who had given you the pretty gift box. The man himself, who had introduced himself as Cameron, couldn’t wait to bring home his wife’s favorite chocolates and wine and dance to their song. You felt a little jealous that he got to spend it with his loved one, but you wished him a great evening nonetheless.

As soon as you buzzed open the door to your apartment building, some obnoxious guy immediately rushed in after you. An infuriating thing, you always thought, considering you never knew whether you just let in a lazy person or a burglar. You briefly gave him a side eye but his head was hidden by the humongous bouquet of red roses in his hand, which made you assume that maybe he had rushed in to surprise his partner. No wonder he nearly bumped into the elevator door just now. It surprised you when he decided to take the stairs, as it seemed highly inconvenient, but maybe his partner lived on the first floor?

The elevator doors opened and you listened to the creaking sound of the mechanics that you liked to call “the elevator music” on your way up. On the seventh floor you got out and as you made your way to your apartment you could hear the faint huffing of a man who should have just gone with the elevator. Oh well, not your problem. You kicked off your shoes immediately and as soon as you had hung up your coat, you took off your sweater and flung your bra across the room as well, leaving you topless in the living room only for a moment until you put the sweater on that Joe had gifted you. It felt warm and cozy and the need to just lay in bed while hugging yourself was immense. Unfortunately, someone had other plans. The doorbell rang, which was odd, because normally no one rang your doorbell. You just let them in at the entrance and waited at the door for them to come up. So who would—

A faint out of breath sigh caught your attention as you neared your front door. There was no way. Was it the guy with the flowers? You nearly felt guilty, knowing you could have spared him all those stairs if you had known it was for you. Joe had really gone all out if it was indeed the flower guy, you thought with fondness, although the bouquet was so large that you weren’t sure you were going to be able to fit it in any vase you owned. 

You realized that the delivery guy was also lucky too, considering you only just got home. Joe knew you’d be home around this time but it was never precise due to the cabs and traffic. Had you been a little later, the man would have gone all the way up for nothing. Deciding that you shouldn’t let the poor guy wait, you quickly opened the door.

“Hi,” you said as you were faced with the flowers again.

“On behalf of your boyfriend, I am here to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day,” the guy spoke in an American accent. American? That was odd. Aside from that, he sounded like…

“Joe?!”

“Aw man, how’d you know ’t was me? I changed my accent and everything!” Joe mumbled, half American half British as he lowered the bouquet.

“Only you would be mental enough to take the stairs when there is a perfectly fine elevator,” you joked. Joe rolled his eyes and started gesturing with his free hand as he continued to explain himself.

“I did that because I saw you! My cover would have been blown otherwise,” Joe argued, still a little out of breath.

“You could have taken the other elevator, babe.”

“I was going to, but then you of all people were there so I panicked,” Joe huffed and you let out a giggle. “And then—”

“Joey,” you gently interrupted him, “I would really like to crush my boyfriend in a tight hug now, please,” you pleaded as you stepped aside to let him in. In the next few seconds he wrapped you in the tightest hug, the bouquet slightly nudging the back of your head. You couldn’t tell whether you smelled him, or if it was him on the sweater. It didn’t matter. He was here now, with you, in person. He was so going to tease you for not even wasting a minute to put on the sweater, you thought to yourself.

“Fuck, my hand’s cramping, this bouquet is too fucking heavy,” Joe groaned, reluctantly letting go of you to hand you the bouquet.

“It is massive,” you commented, feeling the weight in your hands. Joe snorted.

“Heard that before.”

“Oh shut up. I never said th—”

Joe gave you a look and you were tempted to swat at him with the bouquet.

“Not today, you arse! Be nice!”

“Oh so now I can’t tease you because it’s Valentine’s Day?” he pouted, mocking you as passionately as you had been teasing him earlier.

“No, you can’t.”

“How awfully commercially influenced of you,” he grinned, following you out of the hallway into the living area where you already started looking around for vases. You managed to put the flowers in your sink without it tipping over, which gave you the opportunity to gather several smaller vases to spread them in.

It didn’t take Joe long to wrap his arms around your waist from behind as you started cutting off the ends of the roses to match the size of the vases.

“Baby c’mon, this can wait,” he mumbled against your neck.

“Actually it can’t, and I don’t want to let them go to waste.”

“So you’ll let me go to waste instead?” he asked in feigned agony as his lips found your neck, showering the skin with sweet kisses.

“I think you’ll live,” you murmured with a smile. “It will only take a couple of minutes.”

“I think I’ll wither away,” Joe mumbled, letting go of you so he could fill the vases up with water. Once all the roses had found their neat little places scattered around your home, you turned around to look for Joe. To your surprise, he was right behind you and pushed you up the nearest wall as he devoured your lips. Your initial giggles died down as desire took over, already fumbling to get his shirt out of his pants so you could run your hands over his bare back. Joe was well on his way to doing the same when his thumb brushed the embroidered heart on your sleeve.

“Hold up,” he said softly as a grin spread on his lips. “Did you put this on in the three minutes you had between getting home and finding me at your door?” he asked smugly. You groaned as you hid your face in his chest, causing Joe to laugh.

“Shut up,” you mumbled against him. Joe was not having your face hiding antics and cupped your face between his hands.

“You’re so cute,” he mused, grinning from ear to ear before giving you a fat kiss on the lips, sound effects and everything.

“Says the one sending me a gift box, flowers and himself,” you grinned.

“Oh!”

Joe let go of your face suddenly and grasped at his chest instead. You raised your eyebrow at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

“I forgot my bow. I had a tiny little red bow to put like… here,” he mumbled while wiggling his finger between two buttons of his shirt. “Like a present, you know?”

“You did not really plan to do that,” you sought confirmation rather than asking him a question. Joe snorted and shook his head, still very smiley and giddy.

“I didn’t.”

Only now you noticed that he had discarded his coat over a chair and how amazing he looked underneath. His white button up wasn’t exactly special, but along with the two chains he was wearing and the buttons he had left open at the top, it made you want to eat him up. Not only that, but those fitted black pants?! A sight for sore eyes. You forgot you were staring at him all the while until he crossed his arms and broke the silence.

“Y/N, are you checking me out right now?” A smirk lay on his lips and he lifted an eyebrow in question.

“I am,” you admitted without second thought. “I just can’t believe you’re really here. The flowers distracted me for a second but— God I missed you.”

“I am but a mere human, love,” he teased you as he engulfed you in a warm hug. “I missed you too. Loads and loads. I hope this surprise isn’t inconvenient for you or anything? Not interrupting a date with your secret lover, am I?” he asked softly, leaning back to look at you. A gentle push against his chest combined with a laugh that left your lips was your response, ending with a shake of your head.

“I had plans with Netflix and a bunch of snacks,” you shrugged. “I’ll gladly sacrifice that if I can get you in return.”

“We could still do all of that, just together? The main thing I longed for was to just have you in my arms. Cuddle all evening, just being with you,” Joe confessed, looking away for a moment as his flushed cheeks betrayed how badly he had longed for it.

“That sounds amazing.”

To be fair, neither of you really had any idea what movie you had been watching for the past hour and a half. After settling snug against each other you may have lasted five minutes tops before Joe’s hand traveled down from your waist to your thigh. You had both changed into sweatpants, though you kept the top half, which made Joe look a little funny. Like those zoom calls where you only dressed up as far as they would be able to see you. Your hand in return wandered up his chest until it settled in his neck to have him lean against it as your lips devoured the other side. His lips parted, the softest of gasps escaping his lips as you sucked on his skin, creating a subtle hickey, easy to hide by his collars. He chuckled after you left about three more, his hand wandering down to your bum as you turning to him slightly had given him better access.

“The MUA is going to be so pissed at you. Well, more so pissed at me but it will be your doing,” he smirked right as you soothed your latest creation with your tongue.

“They can show off their skills then. What kind of shoot was it again?”

“Dunno, something topless though, I know that much.”

“Oh, then I guess I’ll behave a little,” you hummed, canceling your plans to make a whole trail all the way down to his waistband.

“What? No. Be a rebel baby,” he protested as he pulled you onto his lap. “My turn now though.” Before you could give a witty response his lips latched onto your neck, causing a soft noise that wasn’t a moan just yet but would become one in a minute or two to leave your mouth. In return, Joe did moan, your sounds always being the main thing to rile him up. Wanting to hear more of him, you decided to roll your hips against his with purpose, making sure he felt all of you. Surely enough, both of his hands came down to grab your hips and push you down harder as he left open mouthed kisses in your neck, his moans never subsiding.

“Nice movie, huh?” you teased, a little breathless.

“The best,” Joe agreed with a grunt and you could feel his smile against your skin. Your movements became more erratic as time went on and at one point, Joe suddenly got up, pulling your legs around his waist as he made his way to your bedroom. Or so he thought.

“Wrong room, it’s the one on the left,” you whispered in his ear with a giggle.

“Oh fuck me you’re right,” he mumbled, walking to the right one this time. “I swear you make my brain go all woozy and useless sometimes.”

“Fuck me, hm?” you repeated his words, grinning.

“Well, yes, though I kinda wanna do the fucking if you don’t mind, love,” he smirked as he let you down on the bed, immediately crawling over you.

“Hmmm let me think about it,” you said, putting a hand on his chest to prevent him from kissing you. Joe took hold of your hand, raising an eyebrow at you.

“Oh alright, I’ll allow it,” you gave in teasingly and Joe rolled his eyes as he lay down between your legs.

“You say that as if you won’t be begging me for it in a bit,” he responded sassily, already playing with the hem of your sweater as he slowly slid his hand underneath.

���I think you’d beg me first darling,” you said as you put on a mocking lower voice to imitate him (and his accent). “Oh, love, please let me come, please please I’m so close, baby baby baby—”

“Oh shut up,” he grinned, “You said you liked it when I was more vocal.”

“Oh I do. I really do. I just used this as an example to show how much of a beggar you are, baby,” you said with a sweet, innocent (not innocent at all) smile. It was a little hard to focus with Joe’s fingers teasing upwards from your stomach to your chest, especially not since he lay flush on top of you, his hard length teasing you as he casually moved.

“We both know you can do some decent begging of your own. Usually when I’m— Oh? No bra? You really are quick,” he mused as he let his thumb toy with your nipple until it hardened. All sassy comebacks died on your tongue when his other hand joined in as well to give both of your nipples the same attention and when you felt the softest twitch of his hard-on a moan left you.

“There’s my sweet girl,” he said softly, leaning in with a satisfied smile to kiss you. It was all you needed to completely melt for him, his smooth yet subtle confidence reigning you in like a drug as his hips started to move against you again. He nudged you to sit slightly upright and knowing what he wanted, you lifted your arms so he could take off the sweater. Not long after, both of you had gotten rid of all of your clothing and Joe was making you see stars as he worked his tongue between your legs. With a few fingers inside you he assisted his tongue as it circled over your heat, causing an orgasm to ripple through you in no time. Your hand was buried into his curls as you rolled your hips against him, the only sounds a mix of both your moans and the lewd noises coming from between your legs as he continued to pleasure you until you came down from your high.

With a gentle tug of his hair you signaled him to come up and you shared a heated kiss, tongues fighting for dominance until you distracted him by taking hold of his hard length and positioning it right at your entrance. A whine escaped his lips as you stopped after giving him only a few tugs, his eyes searching yours almost desperately.

“Fuck me,” you whispered against his lips, his lust blazen eyes meeting yours as he thrust into you, his eyes rolling back at the feeling of you surrounding him. He tried to kiss you sloppily as his movements became quicker, missing your lips occasionally but enjoying every second of it as your moans mixed together in breathy exhales. It didn’t take him long to get himself over the edge, your absence from each other being the cause of that. His hand slipped between you both and not much later a second wave of pure bliss washed over you as well.

For some time, you just lay there, whispering sweet nothings to each other as your bodies relaxed and your heartbeats slowed down again. The shower you took together afterwards resulted in some quick handjobs and you on your knees, making the bed seem all the better once you finally settled beside each other to get some rest. Your head resting on his bicep, leg over his waist which he caressed with his hand while giving you soft kisses on the lips.

“Happy Valentine’s Day darling,” Joe said softly, smiling warmly at you.

“Happy Valentine’s Day my love,” you whispered, leaning in for another kiss.

Dirty Martini taglist:

@thefemininemystiquee - @peaches-and-plums-motherfucker - @cup-half-full-of-anxiety - @emmysuebull22 - @figmentofquinn - @theonewiththecrackedmind - @squidscottjeansjeans - @freakymunson - add yourself

[dirtymartiniquinn]

Please add me to your tag list

Added! <3

[dirtymartiniquinn]

Your writting AAAAA SO GOOD

the slow burn got me on my knees hahah AMAZING i hope there’s a part 3 to Alias and if you could add me to your taglist 🥰

Thank you so much!! Kind words like these are what keep me going in terms of motivation for my writing <3 I will add you to the list! :)

[dirtymartiniquinn]

i 1000000% need to be on the tag list. you seriously have my kicking my legs and giggling like a school girl.

Aaaah I will definitely add you!! I'm happy that you enjoy my writing <3 Feels a bit surreal if I'm honest, but it's really cool that I can share this with you and others :)

Quick question, would you like to be tagged for Alias only (in case part 3 happens), or for other fics/drabbles as well? (The people that I have currently tagged will just hop on to each fic unless they tell me they want off the list, but I figured I might as well ask you while I've got you here!)

Hope you have a lovely day, you made me smile :)

[dirtymartiniquinn]

would it be such a crime to request a part 3 to alias?? it’s so fucking good and i’m so excited invested!!

I'm definitely flattered, I'll tell you that! Thank you so much for your kind words, you should've seen my face <3 First image is kinda accurate, second is a bonus :) I can't make any promises on a part 3 yet, as I do have plans do write other stuff (but then part 2 came in the way and basically wrote itself), BUT maybe??

Ughhh your excitement means a lot to me, you have no idea, thank you thank you thank you :)

[dirtymartiniquinn]

Alias

part one - part two

Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: At the end of part one, you were stuck with a bouquet that had been delivered to your work place with a note attached to it from Joe (or should I say Steven?). Attached to it was his number. Not only that, but he also mentioned hiding a note in the book he gifted you. A lot to digest, that's for sure. Which step are you gonna take next?

CW / disclaimer: rpf (don't read if it's not your jam), fem!reader, fluff, wee bit of sadness gifted in a comfortable blanket (i hope)

Author's note: I genuinely did not expect the love for part one, for which I want to thank you all a lot! I'll save the rest of my ramble for my note at the end. One quick thing though: Irish Tom makes an appearance. If you've got no idea who that is, then you're probably not on Twitter much, because he's a big deal over there. Simply put, it's the nickname that was given to Joe in the green shirt downing a guinness in that one music video. That's all you need to know really :) Enjoy!!

Word count: 16k (almost 17k - oops)

Your hand scrubbed the rag back and forth on the beat of Meghan Trainer’s “Made You Look” that blasted through your speakers. At least, until the stain seemed too stubborn for you to keep a casual pace and you started aggressively picking up the speed, only to slow down when your arm got tired. The song hadn’t been your decision, but rather the random radio station you had put on as you didn’t want to be indecisive about which music to pick for cleaning. While it had been fun that your friend came over for drinks, her spilling red wine over your carpet and you being too drunk to notice until the next morning certainly didn’t feel great. The carpet was a light taupe and you actually loved the feeling of it under your bare feet in the morning, so you weren’t ready to say goodbye to it just yet. Maybe you should ask your mom. Or Deniz. After all, he had been going on non-stop about these cleaning videos that he was totally obsessed with lately. If you were honest with yourself though, you knew you weren’t going to contact Deniz. You avoided him outside of work because of this one question he kept repeating:

“Have you texted him yet?”

And your answer would always be the same.

“No.”

It wasn’t as if you didn’t want to text him. Oh you wanted to. Badly. But what if he had changed his mind?

“Ridiculous,” Deniz had said, when you brought this excuse up for the umpteenth time. “Even if he regretted putting the note in your book, which he doesn’t, I assure you, he still wouldn’t have sent you flowers, Y/N. That wouldn’t make sense. Didn’t you say this guy is very careful with social media and all that stuff? Yet he was willing to risk giving out his number, not knowing you all that well. And he did it twice. This man didn’t make that decision on a whim. Or maybe he did, but it was a very confident first whim. The second time was definitely less of a whim.”

“Stop saying whim, it’s starting to sound weird when I think about it for too long,” you had grumbled, avoiding the subject.

“All I’m saying is if you, of all people, have ruined the cover of your book by opening and closing the book too often, I think the least you can do is text the man responsible for it. Just tell him that you’re mad and move on.”

Through the crack of your open bedroom door you could see the book Joe had given you on your nightstand. A too precious of a place for something you were trying to ignore. The thing was, you didn’t actually want to ignore it. And it was his fault that the cover of the paperback wasn’t sitting snugly on the story anymore but was lifting upwards, slightly bent at the ends. It was infuriating. You always went through a whole ordeal to ensure your books looked as neat as they did when you bought them. But then someone called Joseph had had the audacity to stick a note in between, and you, not wanting to move the note too much, had decided it would be best to just look at it from that position. Which resulted in you opening the book far too often to check if it was all real. Even if you had a very real wilting bouquet of flowers on your dinner table. No amount of proof was ever going to be enough to let it sink into your brain that you hadn’t just gone completely delusional. As much as you had seen Joe, the unapologetically British man, in those two days, you couldn’t shake that he was also still very much Joseph, the actor. You had been standing in front of the mirror, trying to convince yourself that even an actor could want you for who you were. And maybe it was true. But he wasn’t just an actor. He was Joseph, the actor. The unapologetically British man that was stupidly funny, handsome, had the right balance of wit and sarcasm and had a sense of style that made you want to eat your shoes. Everything just fit.

“And on the phone we have Steven—” The radio announced, and you groaned loudly. 

“Shut up, shut up, shut up,” you grumbled, getting up to rinse off the rag. The crack in the door was looming, calling for you like an annoying, attention seeking ray of sunshine that would take away all of your vision on a foggy morning. It worked. You gave it attention.

As you took the book in hand, you sat down on the edge of your bed and opened it. The note was still there. You had it pretty much memorized by now. Which was not something that had been on your to do list for the week, but it happened anyway.

Surprise! I doubt I’ll have the guts to ask you any other way before I have to leave, so I’m writing this in the comfort of my hotel room beforehand and hope to find a smart way to give it to you. 

If you like, I’d love to take you sightseeing sometime. Let’s discuss details over the phone, yeah? Here’s my number: +44793XXXXXXX

x Joe. Or Steven. Whatever you prefer at this point, really.

A week had already passed by now. Actually, it was a little over a week. If you waited even longer, he was going to think you didn’t want to talk to him. Which frankly was the last thing you wanted to achieve, but the fact that you had already waited more than a week to respond made that a nagging thought regardless. You knew you should just text him already. Get it over with. Whatever happened after was for then to worry about, right? It would be a waste to just… do nothing. That simply wasn’t an option. Your bed was a comfortable place to toss and turn around on with your phone, typing and erasing texts, over and over. Nothing seemed right. Did you have to apologize? Of course you did. You had ignored him and his pretty bouquet for more than a week. That was rude. And you had ignored the note as well, even though you had only found it after receiving the flowers. To him that was over two weeks ago already. Great. Your brain provided you with an endless cycle of worries and reasons why this would end like a shit show. 

Hi Joe, it’s Y/N. Sorry for the late response to your card. I loved the flowers a lot. I had indeed not found the note until you mentioned it, so good call! Sightseeing with you sounds lovely. I hope you’re doing alright! x Y/N

You despised the text. Nothing felt right. It was either too forward or too formal. Too cold or too desperate. It would be nice if he could smell your desperation through the text and perceive it as something beautiful. As soon as you hit send, you regret it. But there was also a sense of relief. And a newfound dread. What if it’s not really his number? What if he reads it but has already moved on to someone else he happened to meet at an event and deemed interesting enough? It was horrifying. To keep your body and mind occupied, you did a thorough cleaning of the rest of your apartment before going out and offering the neighbor to walk their dog. It was an elderly woman named Bertie, who always appreciated it whenever you offered to take her poodle Suzie on a long walk. While she was capable of letting Suzie out herself still, long walks were no longer an option for her. And so, you found yourself looking at a manic poodle who was no longer pearly white, but a combination of green and brown from the grass and mud she had been running and rolling around in. Which was fine, as she had an appointment at the dog groomer waiting for her tomorrow anyway. 

The amount of times that your phone had left your pocket to sit idly in your hand while you waited for the screen to light up had risen to an incredibly embarrassingly high number. He could be busy. Your time zones were a little off, but not enough to think it would be a highly inconvenient time. At least, if he was in London. Who knew where the man was at, with his busy schedule. Once you realized that you might have texted him at a weird time, your worries only increased. Surely he had enough experience with receiving texts at odd times by now? You groaned in frustration at being able to do nothing else but wait and were met with a funny look from a passerby. As much as you wanted to prolong your stay at the dog park, after a while even hyperactive Suzie had had enough and it was time to go home. On the way back you received a number of messages of which none were from Joe, resulting in you muting a couple of group chats and even a few people that you just didn’t want to let become the cause of one of your mini heart attacks right now.

The evening set and after a lousy dinner, you watched a comfort show on Netflix just to make time go faster. You figured he might give you a hard time and take his sweet time to respond, but you hoped he would spare you the horror. The horror you had so selfishly not spared him in return. Not that he would have been staring at his phone like you were doing right now, surely. Eventually, sleep got the better of you and you dragged your tired mind to bed. You fell into a fairly easy slumber after tiring your mind with overthinking. At least, until your phone started to buzz.

“Fuck me,” Joe mumbled to himself, looking at his phone with squinting eyes, the light being way too bright for his current state. Waking up to have this be the first thing he saw aside from the ceiling was not what he had anticipated for this morning. He read the text over and over, pinching himself as he very much felt like he was still asleep. His heart was steadily picking up the pace. By now he had honestly not expected you to text him. It had been over two weeks after all. One if you hadn’t seen the first note. He’d assumed that you would have texted him sooner if you had been willing to meet up. The text felt a little stand-offish somehow. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but then again he also couldn’t think of another way of forming those sentences to make it less… awkward? His note had been awkward too. Both of them. He groaned tiredly as he put his phone down to rub his face with his hands, only to pick it up to look at it again. At least you had texted him back, right?

Joe had had a pretty rough week. The first one had been pure agony already, but after not hearing from you a second time, he was sure he had misread the signs you apparently had not given him. He was single for a reason. It had been the third day of moping around after sending you the flowers that Andrew, one of his best mates whose apartment he was currently residing at, had told him to suck it up. There was no way in hell this woman didn’t like him, according to his mate.

“You’re the internet boyfriend now, no woman is gonna pass that up even if you looked like a donkey’s arse,” Andrew had told him, “and believe it or not, you don’t look like a donkey’s arse.”

Well wasn’t that lovely to know. Could definitely add that to his CV. It didn’t matter what Andrew said, though. He could care less about being the internet boyfriend or the knowledge that women would throw themselves at him given the chance. He only cared whether you had any interest in doing so, and preferably not in a ‘throwing yourself at him’ kind of way, but rather a ‘I am genuinely interested in you as a person and would love to get to know you better’ kind of way. Dating was a drag as it was, and the addition of becoming this internet sensation had only made it worse. He didn’t trust that the women he went on dates with actually went with him because of his silly one liners, or his music taste, or his knowledge of food. He could usually tell by the glint in their eyes whenever he started to bring his work into the conversation. It was the worst. And the best, because he hadn’t seen that familiar glint in your eyes in the slightest.

His eyes were still glued to his phone when he dragged himself out of the guest room, through the living room and towards the bathroom. What should he text back? He vaguely noticed movement on the couch from the corner of his eye, yet wasn’t alerted by it until he connected the sounds coming from that same direction to a certain leisure activity. His eyes flew up automatically as a high pitched voice shrieked, followed by the distressed voice of Andrew. The latter quickly scrambled to grab a blanket to cover what seemed to be a woman he was hooking up with. In the morning? A quick glance at the scattered clothes on the ground made Joe guess that they hadn’t slept yet.

“Uh— Shit, sorry,” Joe apologized quickly, averting his eyes and making his way to the bathroom a little quicker. He suddenly felt very naked in just his boxer briefs, even though he was the only one in the room wearing any clothes currently. Blankets didn’t count.

“You’re good,” Andrew sighed after he quickly guided the woman to his room and stuck his head outside, “I thought you were supposed to be gone like an hour ago? That event?”

Joe turned around and gaped at him for a good five seconds before looking down at his phone. Fuck. Fuck.

“What got you so distracted?” His mate asked, noting that it was quite out of character for Joe to be late.

“She texted.”

“Y/N?” “Y/N.”

“I told you she would. See? Fussing about and for what?” Andrew grinned, before glancing subtly into his room. “Anyway… I got something to do here.”

“You mean someone,” Joe pointed out dryly. This got a hearty laugh out of Andrew who disappeared into his room and resumed undisturbed this time. Within fifteen minutes, Joe found himself in an uber, which must have been a record. His hair looked a bit wild, but otherwise he was presentable. He took out his phone again, trying to think of what to say, when he got a text from his stylist asking where he was. Perhaps he’d reply later, then.

There had been no time to calmly put together a text to send you. He didn’t want to rush it, not now that you had finally replied. And now it was already evening. Instead of going back to the apartment straight away, he found himself at a rooftop bar with an outlook on the beach where he had had dinner and a drink. Still holding the Guinness in his hand, which he had been surprised to see on the menu at a bar like this, he watched as a flock of birds flew across the horizon where the sun was already setting so low it had taken most of its light away. Looking down at his phone again he shook his head and decided to just call you instead. About ten seconds in of listening to the beeping and absently wondering if the sunset had looked as pretty in London tonight as it did here right now in Los Angeles, he suddenly clasped his hand over his mouth and hung up the call with panicky fingers. Shit shit shit.

As you were from Europe, the time difference could well mean that he had just called you at possibly four in the morning, if not later. Way to make a first ‘distanced’ impression, Joe, he thought meekly. His screen suddenly lit up and in his haste he turned down your call, thinking he had accidentally been pressing things and called you again. He groaned out loud now, his hand finding his face to drag his fingers from his forehead down to his chin, an exasperated sigh following it.

“Right, that’s it,” he mumbled to himself. He was just going to call you again. Fuck up once, fuck up twice, might as well just pay the price.

“Hello?” You asked hesitantly, wondering if he was going to hang up again. Your heart was beating loudly in your chest.

“Uhm, hi! Sorry? Sorry. I didn’t think of the timezones. And then I accidentally hung up on you,” Joe said nervously on the other end. “We could call tomorrow, if— if you want, of course.”

“That sounds like a smart idea,” you agreed with a soft chuckle. “But first I want to say thank you, for the flowers, and the note. I really liked them both. Sorry if my text was, I don’t know, weird.” You winced at your rambling but a subtle laugh from him made up for it instantly.

“A little,” he agreed and you could literally hear him smiling, confirmed by a soft giggle leaving his lips. “It’s always a little awkward, isn’t it? I hope I didn’t push you to respond, with the flowers and all that.”

“Oh, no! Not at all. I was just overthinking it, delaying my response. Sorry about that.”

“No, no, it’s okay. Me too. At first. I kind of nearly called your office but decided against it,” he admitted. You couldn’t help but laugh, thinking of the reaction that would have had in the office. More than a few people had been jealous to hear that it had ended up being Joe instead of David, wanting to know all about it. Melody and Petra in particular. You had kept it professional, leaving out that you had had dinner and met up the day after. Nevertheless, their jealousy was evident. Had either of them picked up the phone… Remembering that you were still on a call you quickly shrugged it off.

“Oh that would have been a disaster, you’d never hear the end of it.”

“Is that so? Why’s that?”

“Some people at the office have the hots for you,” you said casually, earning a surprised hum from the other end.

“Do they now?” A quiet beat. “Have I met them? At the event, by any chance?” The question itself was innocent, his tone of voice however, was not. Was he flirting? A smile crept onto your lips as you tried to remain calm, your heart beating in your chest so loud you were scared he could hear it all the way over wherever he was.

“Not all of them. Do you want me to slip them your number?”

You heard him chuckle softly.

“Nah, I’m good. I recently met someone, kind of wanting to see where things will go with them.”

“Mmh, I see. Well, the offer stands,” you say lightly, although there was obviously no way in hell that you would ever give his number to the likes of them. If he wanted them to have his number, he could send them flowers. “Where are you now anyway?”

“LA. Flying back the day after tomorrow though.”

As much as you didn’t want to admit it, you were still incredibly tired. Which meant you had to yawn almost every 30 seconds to your own annoyance.

“Oh that’s,” another yawn escaped your mouth, “...nice. Sorry. How is it?”

“Maybe I should let you sleep,” he voiced kindly. “How about I call you again tomorrow? Or text, if you prefer that. I don’t want you to wake up exhausted tomorrow, or, in a few hours I should say.”

“No. It’s still today.” Another yawn. “Tomorrow comes after I really wake up.”

Joe let out a gentle laugh.

“Okay, tomorrow it is.”

“Maybe text first though, just in case.”

“Alright, will do. Well, uhm, good night then, yeah.”

You chuckled softly.

“Goodnight Joe.”

“Night Y/N.”

The next day you spent the majority of your time working on a training you were supposed to give some interns on Friday while trying hard to not check your phone all the time. If he was going to become the reason your hand was chronically glued to your phone, he would have to pay up. You weren’t sure how yet, but you’d think of something. When your phone lit up right as you were making yourself a coffee, you had expected it to be Deniz as you had just sent him some files to check. Working on the weekends wasn’t exactly your favorite and it wasn’t exactly the way things were supposed to go, but you made do. Something had to be done for you to be able to pay the rent. Your heart skipped a beat when it wasn’t Deniz, but Joe.

Hey x

Hope you slept well

You hadn’t, but you weren’t going to tell him that.

Hi x Like a baby. What about you? So… you woke up four times a night, crying for god knows what?

The corners of your mouth turned up into a smile and you found yourself typing back immediately, throwing all texting rules in the wind. He replied fast as well, so why shouldn’t you? Despite your eagerness you still took a sip from your well deserved coffee first.

Something like that! Except I woke up only once, because someone decided to call me in the middle of the night…

What a jerk. Did you tell him to fuck off?

Not exactly… we’re kind of texting.

Hmmm, not sure that’s the best idea… How about you call me instead? I’m fun

You’re fun?

Very

I dare you to prove it.

Not even ten seconds later, Joe called you. Did a silly impression of an actor you had no idea of, but you laughed anyway. It was the way he presented it, the sillyness, the charming giggle at the end. After that, he finally answered your question whether he had slept well, which he had, and he told you about his plans in LA for the upcoming days. You told him about your plans for the week, which were sadly mostly work related. As your conversation progressed, Joe seemed to dilly dally around a subject, which you certainly weren’t going to bring up yourself, but you really hoped he would. Finally, he cleared his throat after expressing his love for this little Italian place he had discovered yesterday. A short silence pursued, almost too long to not comment on it, but then he spoke up.

“So… the note. I was thinking, if you can get time off that is, as it’s a bit short notice, but maybe we could meet up next week? Friday 'till Sunday?”

“Oh, gosh, I’ll have to ask. But where do you want to meet? I know you mentioned sightseeing, but…”

“Amsterdam. I’ll arrange the hotel, separate rooms of course, you just have to get there. We could meet at the airport, go to the hotel together if you like.”

“I’m not sure if I have the budget for all of that,” you admitted hesitantly, already cursing yourself for being honest and possibly ruining the best opportunity in romance you’d ever had. Joseph hummed, sounding like he was taking in your words thoughtfully before responding.

“Oh, if the plane ticket is too expensive I can—“

“No no no, I just meant everything as a whole,” you said quickly.

“All you have to worry about is the plane ticket. The rest is on me.”

“Joe, I can’t… that’s too much.” You didn’t even want to think about what it would cost him, the answer would be the same no matter what: Too much. As much as you wanted to see him, you weren’t the type of person to just blindly accept huge gifts from someone. Not even people you were close to. So for him to offer a weekend getaway on his behalf was a lot to digest.

“Look, I really want to see you again. If the three days are a little much we could just meet up once and leave it at that, treat the rest as a little break from work. No obligations whatsoever. How’s that sound?” he asked you then. You noticed he sounded nervous. Not in an obvious way, rather that he seemed to be holding onto his breath, waiting for your answer.

“Only if you let me pay you back as soon as I can,” you demanded. It went against your principles to accept, but how could you not? This compromise made it a little easier to agree, and after some hesitation Joe went along with it.

“Alright, sure. Why not. Deal.”

“And of course I’d love to spend the majority of those days with you.” You didn’t want to say all, as it could possibly imply something. The fact that you were literally traveling to another country to meet up with a man you honestly barely knew was already enough of a challenge as it was, no matter how charming he was. You couldn’t help but ponder over the weirdness of it all. Wouldn’t normal people text longer instead? Keep it long distance? Then again, maybe he had become so used to traveling that perhaps it didn’t feel like that big of a deal. Or maybe he just wanted to see you as badly as you did him.

“Great! And I mean it, no obligations. If you change your mind after spending a never ending boring Friday with me, you’re free to change plans. Obviously. But I wanted to emphasize it,” he assured you.

“I’ll still have to get the okay from my boss though. There’s a possibility I might have to bring along some work… To get him to say yes.”

Joe understood that it wasn’t always easy to get days off from work which of course was no surprise. With the promise of immediately asking your boss, you eventually hung up. You decided to call your boss instead of text or email him, wanting to get an immediate response. Surprisingly, he agreed to your day off as long as you would do some extra hours the next week and still gave the interns their training on Friday evening. It wasn’t perfect, but certainly better than you had expected it to go. When you told Joe the good news, he was delighted.

That’s brilliant! I’ll find us a nice place to stay. Whenever you have time, can you let me know which flight you want to take? I’ll do my best to find one around the same hour. As for Friday, that’s a bit of a bummer, but it’ll be fine. I’m really excited! x

Up until Friday, you texted throughout the day whenever you could find the time. With your busy schedules and the time difference it wasn’t exactly easy to get quick responses, but you both found yourselves glued to your phones when you realized the other had a moment of free time to chat. You discussed the sightseeing that you wanted to do and decided on at least two that you had previously mentioned. It felt almost criminal how easy it was to talk to him. How normal it felt to be meeting him again in a couple days.

After his unwavering support, you had decided to tell Deniz about it. Not just for that reason, but also because you knew he would be texting you nonstop if you didn’t show up at work without telling him why. You had FaceTimed and his shiteating grin had been impossible to wipe from his face.

“Oh he is down bad, sister,” Deniz purred and you vigorously shook your head in front of your phone, getting a laugh out of your work bestie.

“He is! Paying for a hotel and whatnot? For three days straight, in another country? Come on Y/N. I know you’re a bit oblivious sometimes but you can’t be this oblivious,” he told you.

“As if you wouldn’t be if you were in my shoes!” You protested meekly. “It’s really weird, okay? He’s big.”

When Deniz nearly choked on his water and started to belt a mixture of coughing and laughter, you rolled your eyes.

“I mean as an actor. You know what I meant. Why am I even explaining it to you,” you sighed. Deniz shrugged, a grin still evident on his face.

“Oh I don’t know, getting a rise out of you is fun. So, tomorrow? What time?”

“I’m arriving just past one. He’ll be there a little sooner so if he can make it he’ll wait at my gate. If not, he’s going to text me where else to meet him.”

“I’m so excited for you.”

You smiled, nervous butterflies stealing the show in your stomach.

“So am I.”

FRIDAY Amsterdam 01:25 PM

The suitcase felt too heavy as you hastily made your way down to where you were going to meet Joe. His flight had been slightly delayed, meaning you would be out at around the same time. So instead of waiting at the terminal, he had offered to wait near the exit towards the trains.

You spotted him from a mile away. There was something about the way he stood there, suitcase in hand, standing straight while trying to blend in with everyone else in the area, wearing a black hat and sunglasses on top of them. Oh, Joe. He was wearing a white T-shirt and loose blue jeans, Adidas underneath. It was a nice, casual outfit. His jacket lay discarded on the suitcase. Although you spotted him quickly, it took him having you stand right in front of him to snap out of his daydream. If you could, you would have wanted to replay the way his face lit up upon seeing you over and over again.

“Y/N!” He stepped forward, his luggage forgotten as he pulled you into a tight hug. You wrapped your arm around him and you could smell his perfume as he tucked his chin into the crevice of your neck. It didn’t feel real yet that you were actually seeing him in real life again, but when his scent soared into your nostrils like a memory never forgotten, it sunk in. You answered his beaming smile with one of your own. “How was your flight?” He asked as he pulled back, keeping his hands on your elbows.

“Joe,” you said, greeting him back at last. “It was alright, yours?” He shrugged.

“Apart from the delay, it went pretty smoothly. Did you have lunch yet?” You nodded, suddenly feeling a little shy around him.

“Cat got your tongue?” He asked with a soft smile as you started to walk towards the exit that led to the trains.

“Sorry, no, just a bit nervous.”

“Well that makes two of us,” he smirked, lightly nudging you with his elbow. “I was thinking we could go to Anne Frank’s house after we get settled in our rooms? I assume we need less time for that one than the other stuff so the afternoon should be fine, according to the reviews. Of course, we can also just grab a drink if you’d rather relax today.” His eyes flicked to your face to check your expression, only to remove his gaze again as soon as you looked up. On top of that, his jacket had slipped off his suitcase and with a soft curse word he turned around to pick it up. That man was nervous.

“I think that’s a great idea, the first one. We’ll have time to relax in the evening, won’t we?” You offered kindly, your smile adding to the attempt to relax him even though you weren’t relaxed yourself at all. Somehow it was easier to pretend that you were because he clearly displayed the opposite. It seemed to help, as his shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Yeah, you’re right!” He turned to look at the departure times of the trains, trying to find the right one. “Let’s see…”

“Platform 8, right?” You offered, pointing to the left screen. Joe turned to look at you shortly and smiled before he let you lead him to the ticket station. You had been here several times before after all, it only made sense. The train ride was fairly short, so you decided to stay in the section near the doors where you sat down on tip-up seats instead of getting into a compartment. Due to the noise from the train that’s always louder in these in-between sections, you didn’t really talk. Instead, you gazed out of the small windows from the train door next to you, and Joe was doing the same on the opposite side. Or so you thought. In reality, he was watching you. 

Joe didn’t even wait to ask to carry your suitcase up the stairs when you realized the elevator was out of service. Didn’t wait for the other elevator to be cleaned, just hoisted up both your suitcases and started walking up the stairs. All the way up to the fifth floor. Your rooms weren’t next to one another due to unavailability, but they were in the same hallway with only about seven or eight rooms in between. After Joe guided you to your room, he excused himself to freshen up and change into something ‘more appropriate’ whatever that might have meant. In all honesty he didn’t even know the answer to that himself, he just needed to get rid of his sweaty T-shirt. Although it wasn’t exactly necessary, you felt the need to change as well, and swapped your T-shirt for a nice green top with a three quarter sleeve. Since the rest of your outfit was neutral and leaned to a pretty much colorless aesthetic, the pop of green worked delightfully for your overall appearance. You touched up your makeup just slightly, which only consisted of a bit of eyeshadow and mascara. When you looked into the mirror you debated adding more, but the gentle knock on the door stopped you from doing so.

“It’s Joe.” His voice came through the door. You had assumed as much, although nowadays it didn’t hurt to make yourself known just in case. When you opened the door, his eyes only widened slightly before a relaxed smile settled on his lips.

“Hey,” he said softly. “You ready?”

You nodded and quickly walked back to grab your jacket. “I am now.”

Joe had changed into a white button down, rolled up at the sleeves, same jeans, same shoes. Instead of his suitcase, his arm had now taken the role of carrying his jacket. Once you had left the hotel, it turned out that Joe knew exactly where to go and how to get there. Had it all planned out. When you mentioned it, a blush tainted his cheeks. It remained for the rest of the ride, although he did try to pretend that it was hot on the tram as an excuse for the pink shade.

“Just thought it would be nice if we didn’t have to think about all that on the spot,” he had said, and you could only agree.

After a fairly short time of waiting in line in front of the museum, you were allowed in. For the most part, the museum consisted of photos and tiny descriptions about the people that had been part of Anne’s life. It wasn’t a big museum, but it felt like one of those that you just had to have seen at least once in your life. There was a picture wall in Anne Frank’s room, and of course the famous bookcase where they had hidden behind. Joe took it all in quietly, just like you, and occasionally nudged you if he saw something he wanted to share. You went ahead on the small staircase that led to the attic and held out his hand for balance.

“Thank you,” you said softly, not wanting to disturb the people who were lost in their own thoughts. It bothered you a bit that you were at a loss on what to say to him. You had FaceTimed, texted, called, with not all that much awkwardness and now he stood next to you, his brows furrowed as he examined the room in full concentration, his hands behind his back, you had nothing to say. It worried you that he might find you boring, although he didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. You just weren’t sure. The gift shop had you occupied for a little while, mostly just to admire all the different products they had based on Anne and her story. 

You decided to go for a walk until you found something to get a drink, which resulted in you ending up at The Dam. It was nice to have a familiar sight where you had already been with him. Your eyes fell on a stall where you noticed the famous stroopwafels that you hadn’t had last time. After Joe had left at the bookstore last time, you had settled on getting some store bought ones, which were good but never as nice as the ones they prepared right on the spot.

“Have you ever had fresh, uhm, no idea how to pronounce this but… stroopwafels before?” You asked Joe curiously. He snapped his head towards you, immediately out of his trance that he had gotten into due to a comfortable silence and having lots of things around him to take in.

“I haven’t, is it good?” His eyes flicked over to the stall, following your gaze towards it after you nodded. He watched how a couple took one each and seemed pretty delighted after a bite. He focused on you again and found himself unable to look away from your pretty face. It was obvious you were craving one and you looked rather cute while doing so.

“You want one?”

“Yes, and I’m paying,” you said immediately before his hand could even move an inch towards his wallet. “They sell drinks too, want anything?”

“Y/N, you really don’t have to—”

“Come on, Joe. You’re not gonna win this argument,” you told him with a soft smile. He narrowed his eyes at you for a couple seconds and then caved, seeing that you were determined.

“I would love a coffee, thank you.”

“And a stroopwafel I presume?”

“Uhm— yes! Please.”

Joe scratched the back of his neck as he joined you in the short line in front of the stall and you couldn’t help but smile at his demeanor.

“What is it?” Joe wanted to know, curiosity getting the better of him after spending a couple minutes fidgeting with his sleeve, readjusting it.

“Nothing, just thought you looked cute.” When Joe’s eyes widened just slightly, yours nearly bulged out of their sockets as you scrambled together another response. “I— I mean, just—”

“No, no you're fine! I actually have been wanting to mention that you look really pretty today,” he said bashfully, his hand going back up to his neck to soothe his nerves a little. “Green suits you really well,” he managed to add.

“Oh, thank you, you’re making me shy now,” you mumbled softly, a shy smile on your lips. Joe smiled in return and nudged your side gently.

“Me too.”

“Volgende. Volgende! Oh… tourists. Next! Come on lovebirds, there's a line here.” The lady from the stall looked at you both impatiently and you hurriedly told her your order after you apologized. A few minutes later you had found yourselves a place to sit with a nice view of the performers on the square. Joe groaned in delight as soon as he got through his first bite and looked at you with big eyes.

“This is delicious! So fucking good— Sorry. I’ve got a foul mouth sometimes,” he said, though not really sounding sorry at all.

“Oh come on, no need to pretend like you care,” you smirked. “Swear away. It’s good, right? I can never skip it when I’m here.” Joe grinned and quickly covered his mouth and shrugged as he did before he replied.

“I mean I do care a little bit. Just trying to make a good impression I guess. Well neither will I from here on out, I know that much.”

“You’ve left a great impression already, I doubt you’ll taint it by a bit of swearing Joe.” You meant what you said, how could you not? He had literally gone out of his way to meet you again in the Netherlands to live out the plan you had had in mind for his last day before everything changed. He had sent you flowers. He had sent you sweet good night messages on occasion. There was nothing that he could—

“Thank you, by the way, for this.” He held up the stroopwafel and you smiled warmly as you gave him a nod. The man even showed his gratitude for something small while he had been treating you to so much already.

“It’s my pleasure.”

Yeah. There was nothing that he could do to jeopardize all that. And as of right now, all he had been doing so far was lift your impression of him even higher up the scale.

After having dinner together at the hotel, which was just for convenience, you had to give the training to your interns. None of them seemed very happy having to do that on a Friday evening, but your company did more questionable things like that, which they were sadly used to by now. Joe had given you some privacy and retreated to his own room while you sat in your own with your laptop, background blurred. You tried to keep the training as short as possible which the interns greatly appreciated and you told them to send any lingering questions to your email, as none of them seemed very insistent on keeping the call on any longer than necessary. It was after you shut your laptop down that you noticed you had a text. There was a photo attached to it.

Is your minibar also filled with this stuff?

You smiled and checked out your minibar which indeed showed the same contents as Joe had. Several bottles of wine, gin, tequila and vodka. Considering everything was probably insanely expensive,you quickly closed the minibar just to make sure you wouldn’t accidentally break something.

Yeah, it is!

It took less than fifteen seconds for Joe to respond.

Oh, you’re done? Wanna come over?

To your room?

Yeah

Oh dear. There was no way you were going to say no to that. Before you could even had a chance to overthink on what to respond he added:

Wear something comfortable

While you surely hadn’t intended for Joe to see you in anything but normal clothes, you still found yourself putting on your sports leggings and a T-shirt before heading over to his room. You gently knocked once and could hear his hurried footsteps as he made his way to the door.

“Hey you,” he greeted you with a smile as he stepped aside to let you in. Your rooms were pretty much identical apart from the fact that your armchair was yellow and his was a dark green.

“Hi, sorry it took so long,” you apologized, which in turn made Joe shake his head.

“No need, it’s work. I get that,” he told you while his gaze lingered on you, as if to say of all people, he’d definitely understand. “I was thinking we could maybe watch something. I got us some snacks and drinks from a local supermarket,” he explained as he sat down on the perfectly made up bed.

“I’d love that,” you told him with a smile and you hesitantly sat down on the other side of his bed, watching how he lifted his legs upon which you mirrored after taking your shoes off. He had already propped the pillows up behind himself and quickly reached over to do the same for you before you even had a chance to lean back. With the remote in hand, he started browsing through the hotel’s catalog and pointed out a few options.

“I’ve heard Miracle Workers is fun,” you mentioned after he had scrolled for a bit.

“Sure, let’s watch that.”

After going through the process of renting the first episode, he poured you both some drinks and put the bags of chips and candy in between the two of you.

“How was the work thing?”

“Oh, it was fine. We all wrapped it up as quickly as we could and we’ll deal with the rest on Monday.”

Joe nodded as he had just popped some candy into his mouth and made a funny gesture as he tried to speed up the process.

“That’s good. My god that took forever.”

You felt very aware of his presence next to you as you watched the show and you tried really hard not to be distracted. In a futile attempt to ground yourself you put both of your hands flat on the bed next to you, trying to focus on the soft sheets rather than the Sounds of his dry chuckles that made your heart skip a beat. He seemed completely engrossed in it, as if it was all that was left of his world now. Him and the TV show. You firmly believed he had forgotten about you even being there until you felt a warm hand cover yours and grab it. You didn’t dare to look at him at first, but when you did his eyes were still trained on the screen, his cheeks carrying a pinkish tint to them.

“I think that guy is gonna mess it all up. What’s his name again?”

“Alf…red? Brian? I don’t know.”

Joe snorted. “Yeah those names are absolutely similar too. Anyway, you know who I mean, yeah?”

You nodded and you felt him squeeze your hand for just a second. Just a subtle reminder that he was still in fact aware of your hand in his. It took him about 40 minutes and another rental to start stroking the back of your hand with his thumb. You sat like that for the rest of six or seven episodes, which made grabbing snacks somewhat of a challenge although Joe made sure to hold out one of the bags to you regularly. Occasionally either of you would comment on the show and you’d discuss or laugh about it and everything just felt very natural. Apart from the fact that it all happened in a hotel room, maybe.

“How do you feel about going to the Van Gogh museum tomorrow? It’s the last weekend of the exhibition,” he suggested, his thumb still running slow circles on your hand as he turned his head to look at you.

“Oh, you remembered!” You exclaimed, a tad too loudly for your liking but the grin on his face made up for it.

“I did,” he said almost proudly. “I’ll take that’s a yes then?” You nodded and matched his expression, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

“Yes, of course! It seems to be really beautiful.”

“That’s good, cause… I may already have tickets. Which is good because it was sold out when I checked earlier.” He shrugged casually and you softly shook your head at him.

“You really came prepared, huh?”

Joe smiled bashfully.

“I might have, yes.” He checked his phone for the time and gently let go of your hand.

“Let’s have breakfast at the hotel and then head to the museum. And we’ll just see how the day goes before we make other plans. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect.” You got up from the bed at the same time he did, feeling slightly mixed on how nothing happened but some hand holding. While you loved that he was taking his time, you just… wouldn’t have minded some making out, you know? At the same time you wouldn’t want to rush anything and if he took whatever you two had going on right now seriously, it was only a good thing. He followed you to the door and the moment you stepped back to get out of his room, he wrapped you in a hug. His scruffy beard tickled your neck a little.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Nine?”

“Nine’s a good time,” you agreed as you wrapped your arms around him. His hand found the back of your head and when he pulled away, you daringly pressed a kiss onto his cheek.

“Well, good night then!” You quickly said as you turned on your heel, making him stumble over his words as he was still recovering from your unexpected kiss on the cheek.

“Y-Yes! Good night Y/N.”

SATURDAY

When you took in each other’s appearance the next day, you realized you both had unconsciously gone for similar outfits, judging by your black from top to bottom turtle neck, jeans and boots, topping it off with a large coat. You later on confessed that you had debated wearing a black beanie to which he had replied that it was getting scary now, as he had been doing the exact same thing. The only difference in your outfits was the color of your coats, as you wore a brown one and he wore an emerald green. No matter how many times you stole a glance, you kept repeating the same thought in your mind over and over.

He looks so hot.

Joe sometimes lost sight of you in the large rooms but always managed to pop up right behind you the moment you realized you had wandered off too far. Sometimes, he’d rest his chin onto your shoulder to read along what the description of a painting said, or just to discuss some details of a painting with you. Right as you entered the hall of the exhibition, you felt lingering eyes on you. It made you want to look around to see where they came from, but then again you didn’t want to alert them to anything.

“I think we’re being watched,” you mentioned softly, wanting to give Joe a heads up so he had time to decide whatever he wanted to do with that information. Joe nodded and took your hand in yours, as if to comfort you.

“I know.” He continued to walk around unbothered, although you could tell he was slowly searching for an escape route. The subtle change in atmosphere almost made you miss out on the wonderful exhibition. Left and right of you, the walls consisted of four large paintings that seemed to move and next to each frame was a door that you could enter. In every room, there was a 3D version of one of the paintings where you could walk around in real time. It was an experience meant to bring Van Gogh’s art to you in a more immersive way. 

Only after you entered the door next to the painting of a sunflower field in front of a barn, you realized that the movement you had spotted on the paintings earlier had been people who were walking in this room, essentially bringing the painting to life. You noticed a group of girls now following you more obviously and you pulled Joe along in the sunflower field. It was much bigger and had way more layers to it than you’d expect it to have when looking at the frame displayed on the wall. Just when you wanted to say something, Joe pulled you to the back of the room towards the “barn”, past a large group of tourists. He took you aside, his body hovering closely next to you as he pulled you into a hug, his head buried into your neck which sketched a different view for outsiders to see.

“Sorry,” he mumbled into your neck, his lips grazing your skin by accident. “I thought it would maybe get them to leave before we do if they can’t find us.”

“You think their eyes didn’t follow you like hawks?” You mumbled in return, to which he softly chuckled while his arms relaxed around your waist.

“Fair point,” he mumbled as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Still… ‘s not so bad, is it?”

“You mean this, right now?”

Joe hummed to confirm and you shook your head, relaxing your arms as well. His warm breath tickled your skin and you could feel every nerve in your body focusing on the places where his body touched yours.

“No, it’s not,” you agreed softly, letting your eyes close for a moment to take it all in. His thumbs Never ceased their movement of drawing circles on your back and you soon found yourself copying the movement. After a moment, Joe decided to break the silence.

“Is it just me or has it become quiet in here?” You opened your eyes slowly, your eyes narrowing at the projector light and looked around.

“Everyone’s gone,” you said a little surprised, not expecting to literally be the only ones left. As soon as the words had left your mouth, new people came in.

“I guess the coast is clear,” Joe sighed and he finally let you go, though not before giving your hand a light squeeze. You smiled softly at him and gestured towards the exit.

“Do you want to check out the other rooms?”

“Absolutely.”

This time you spent a little longer in the gift shop and you decided to buy two tiny paintings on an easel with one being a replica of “Starry Night” and another one of “Almond Blossoms”. In turn, Joe had bought his best friend a print of “Head of a skeleton with a burning cigarette”, which he found undoubtedly funny because of their never ending love for nicotine. It was a curse, he had said, but one that brought you unexpected company every now and then. He had no idea you had bought two paintings as you had only shown him one, wanting to give the other one to him later. 

The next activity you had gone for was a boat excursion through the canals. You had some time to kill before dinner, which Joe had apparently already reserved a table for as well, so you decided you might as well check out the view by daylight this time. You sat near the window while Joe leaned closely to you whenever he wanted to get a closer look, his arm always on the backrest of the bench you were sitting on. He loved pointing out things to you that often had nothing to do with the sightseeing itself, such as two birds fighting over a piece of bread in the water and a third one flying away with it. Several people in the boat had wondered why he suddenly had belted out laughter and you had to cover your mouth to soften your giggles the moment his ears started to turn a crimson red.

“Oh shut up,” he had mumbled with a smile, giving your shoulder a little nudge as another giggle escaped your lips.

“So which one were you rooting for?” You had then asked him softly to which he had responded:

“The French one.” Which had not made sense at all, and by the time you arrived back at the dock you and Joe had descriptively been dressing up pigeons in your head, with baguettes and barrettes and all kinds of other things.

The restaurant had been fancier than any you’d ever stepped foot in. Five courses, each one more luxurious than the next. He wasn’t up for discussion about the bill and pointed out that you had treated him too earlier, as if the stroopwafel came anywhere near the price range of even one bite of your course. You hadn’t dared to bring up your gift for him in a place like that, as your plan originally had been. Instead, you enjoyed listening to Joe talk about his friends and family back home and you also shared some tidbits about your own. 

It didn’t surprise you that you had been holding a breath of relief until the moment you stepped out of the restaurant and Joe gave you a funny look.

“Not your scene?” He asked curiously and you shrugged.

“Just not used to it is all. The food was absolutely amazing though, as was the service. You really picked a good place.” You explained with a kind smile.

“Yeah someone recommended it to me, so I figured it was worth a shot. He usually has good taste. I’m glad you enjoyed it. So… where to next?” His eyes curiously watched your expression, trying to gauge what you wanted and if you’d actually be honest about it.

“Is it weird that I’m feeling a beer?” You asked as you slightly squinted your eyes at him, your eyebrows knitting together. Whatever answer he had expected, it certainly wasn’t this.

“You’re really asking me, Sir Guinness, whether I want to go for a beer?”

“Wait, Sir Guinness?”

Joe quickly shook his head, realizing he said too much. “Ignore that, focus on the other stuff,” he said hastily.

“I do recall overhearing this girl asking you about a music video where you were drinking Guinness last time…” you started, enjoying how his face turned a little desperate at the mention of it.

“You heard nothing.”

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t “Sir Guinness” that she said, though. I have to admit I tried finding what she was talking about at the time but, no luck…” you smiled slyly at him. “Maybe you could show me?” He shook his head so many times that you lost count, his hand going up to emphasize what he was saying.

“Oh hell no. Nope. Can’t do that. I won’t. I won’t! Out of the question. You can ask me anything but that,” he said resolutely.

“Your audition tape, then.”

“That was quick,” he remarked with a faint smirk.

“I have my priorities. It seems to be a big deal in your fandom still. Are you gatekeeping it?”

“It’s—,” Joseph sighed. “Sort of. I can show you some other time, it’s on my laptop at home.” Then, he blinked a couple times and pulled a funny expression as if he was confused.

“Hold on, how did this conversation start, for me to end up with me promising to show you my audition tape?”

“Beer.”

“Right! Beer. I know a nice Irish pub, do you want to go there?” He offered.

“Sure Sir Guinness, let’s go. Oh! I remembered. She called you Irish Tom.”

“Irish Tom?!”

“Don’t ask me, I haven’t even seen the video.”

“Tom, really? Why don’t I remember this?”

You simply shrugged.

“I believe you misheard them and then they didn’t repeat it because everything happened kinda rushed.”

“Oh, I see,” he replied simply, until a frown dawned on his face. “Wait. Why do you remember this?”

“Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t have anything to do.”

“So you eavesdropped?”

His teasing grin made you automatically follow him as he started to walk towards, you assumed, the Irish pub.

“I overheard.”

“That’s what they all say, don’t they?”

“I don’t know, Joe. Do they? You seem experienced in the matter.”

“Are you accusing me of being a professional eavesdropper? Cause if so—”

“No I was just—”

“— You’d be right.”

A laugh that could have matched one of a Disney villain who was bad at being a villain left his mouth and he leaned back to hook arms with you.

“Come on. This way.”

The pub was crowded in a good way. Meaning that it wasn’t so full of people that you couldn’t get your own table, but it had enough commotion to sit and chat fairly unnoticed unless you brought attention to yourself. You had started out at the bar, going for a tropical beer while Joe immediately went for a Guinness, true to his name. Two drinks later you had managed to snatch a booth for the two of you which gave you plenty of room. Although, Joe had decided he wanted to sit next to you instead of across, which didn’t leave you much room on the bench as he unapologetically spread his legs. At first, you let him. You liked the close proximity and you’d slap yourself in the face at the end of the night if you’d do anything to jeopardize that. But after bumping your knee against the foot of the table a few times after he nudged you, you spoke up. Blame the fact that there were already five beers in your system.

“Joe. Move.”

“What? You need to go to the restroom?”

“No, just move your leg, you’re manspreading as if you’re nine ft. You’re not that tall.”

He opened and closed his mouth a couple times with barely any sound coming out of it until he settled on a sneaky, all knowing smile.

“Did you really sit with that thought, fussing over it for god knows how long?” He wanted to know. You shook your head, which was only a partial deviation of the truth. Most of the time your brain had been occupied by appreciating his full lips, his luscious looks or his incredibly pretty eyes. And the lashes that man had?! Completely unfair.

“I was not,” you replied, trying to remain serious. “Now, if you don’t move…”

Joe seemed to love the sound of that and rested his head on top of his palm with a cheeky grin.

“Then what?”

“Then I’ll claim what’s mine.”

“Ooh,” he feigned to sound intrigued. “Is your name on it?”

You frowned at him.

“On what, the booth?”

Joe shrugged and gestured around, pointing at various objects.

“The booth, the seat, wherever.”

A fake annoyed sigh escaped your lips, but not before he caught your little smile, making him grin even wider.

“No.”

“Then what do you plan to claim?” If he wasn’t so cute with his amused eyes and goofy smile, you would have been annoyed when he gave you another nudge with his knee.

“My rightful space. Half of the bench,” you demanded, your eyes narrowing playfully. Joe’s jaw slacked as he looked at you as if you had said the weirdest thing.

“Half?! I need at least 60%,” Joe protested.

“For what? I need 50. No compromise.”

“Alright, just claim it then, like you said. I’d like to see you try,” he told you with a smirk that gave away that he was enjoying himself far too much. You gave him a glare that was too playful to be taken seriously and he mockingly patted your leg.

“Don’t be upset, love.” 

The use of the pet name surprised not only you but him as well, as did the hand that did not seem to want to be removed from your leg. Hesitantly, he let his thumb glide over the fabric of your pants, his eyes no longer teasing as they instead focused on your leg and the way his hand seemed to look just right in that position. Somehow, somewhere in your brain which was going all over the place due to his hand, alcohol, his face and his hand, you managed to notice that his guard was down and you decided to do the first thing that came to mind to claim your place. He looked up at you in surprise when you swung your leg over his, his hand following it as if it had been glued to you and you settled the weight down. Joe seemed too stunned to speak for a moment but automatically leaned back to give you enough room for your leg, though his hand now lay frozen.

“So that’s how you do it,” he commented softly, a smile so genuine it hurt your fragile heart. You nodded, shifting your leg for comfort and took your glass in hand.

“That’s how I do it,” you confirmed with a nod. You gazed at each other for a brief moment until he averted his eyes to grab his glass again, a chuckle escaping his lips.

“You’re so interesting,” he told you as he gazed up at you, a small smile lighting up his face. You reciprocated his smile and then cocked your eyebrow gently.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” The question left your lips so softly it made him lean in to catch the words before he nodded.

“Good. Definitely good.” He finally dared to move his hand again, gently caressing your leg, watching your expression carefully as he did. You quietly took a few sips from your beer before the silence was interrupted by three loud guys, singing what sounded like a birthday song except it was probably in Dutch. They halted in front of your table, telling you both that it was the blonde guy’s birthday, then proceeded to repeat that information in English when they realized you weren’t Dutch, and presented you with a shot of tequila and a slice of lemon. After thanking them, they didn’t wait for you to take the shots and just went onto the next table.

“Well, it would be a waste to leave it,” Joe said, already licking his hand and shaking some salt onto it before holding it out to you. You smirked at his eagerness and copied him, taking one of the shot glasses in hand.

“Cheers!”

You watched as Joe took the slice of lemon into his mouth and only left the peel. Once the burn of the alcohol had subsided, he excused himself for the bathroom and you immediately missed the warmth of his leg beneath yours. When he returned, he didn’t immediately sit back down, but instead invited you along as he wanted to go for a smoke, though not before he ordered you both another drink.

“Do you smoke?” he asked as soon as you stood outside the pub, leaning against the wall closest to the entrance. The light from inside illuminated his face and you wondered if he could ever not look good. Even with a cigarette in hand, a habit you normally quite disliked, you found yourself focussing on his little gestures as he smoked. Taking a drag, holding it, the way his eyes followed the smoke upwards as he exhaled, everything. It was stupidly mesmerizing.

“Y/N?” He glanced at you amusedly as he flicked off some ash and watched you regain your composure.

“I, uhm, no. I don’t.” You had to bite your tongue not to stupidly ask “you?” in an automatic response. You watched as he took another drag, letting it swim around in his lungs before he exhaled up towards the sky.

“Do you mind it?”

“No,” you lied. Or well, in this case, maybe you weren’t lying. You actually really liked what you saw and couldn’t care less that he was paving a black, ashy road inside his lungs. No, that wasn’t true either, you did care for his health.

“Penny for your thoughts?” If you weren’t mistaken, he looked a little concerned. You were certain when he gently took hold of your elbow, cocking his head to the side.

“I’m sorry, I’m just—”

Joe held up a hand, interrupting your apology.

“If I did something to, I don’t know, make you uncomfortable—”

“No no no, not at all! Please don’t mind me,” you quickly saved him from worrying. “Sometimes I just get lost in thought a little.”

Joe’s expression relaxed a little and you felt his thumb gently graze the side of your elbow.

“Pray tell, what was going on in your mind that got you so distracted?” He asked you curiously, his hand dropping again as he leaned against the wall. You calmly took a sip from your beer as you watched him, expression curious, body language open and inviting.

“You,” you say boldly and you watch his expression go from curious to intrigued. Then, a lazy smile appeared on his face.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” He mimicked you from earlier.

“Good. Definitely good,” you returned the favor of not coming up with an original response and his lazy smile turned into a toothy grin before he chuckled. A shiver ran through your body and demanded to be seen.

“Are you cold?”

You weren’t sure. Had it really been the cold that made you shiver or had it just been the raw sound of his chuckle rumbling up his throat? You said yes anyway.

“A little.”

“I’d give you my coat but…” he cocked his head towards the window, as both of you had decided to leave your coats inside. Then, after taking a drag of his cigarette and exhaling it to the side, he took a step closer to you and wrapped his arm around your shoulders.

“I can do this though.”

You allowed yourself to feel the comfort of his embrace as you leaned into his body, sliding your arm around his waist.

“Better?” He asked looking down at you, his eyes widening just a touch when he realized how close your faces were right now. You nodded shyly, cheeks warming up.

“Much better.”

His hand caressed your shoulder as well as your upper arm and once he was done with his cigarette, he rested his cheek against your head and only lifted it to take an occasional sip from his beer.

“I think the pub’s about to close,” Joe mentioned softly as more people started to drift outside, chatting away way too loud for the quiet night among them after being used to raise their voices inside the pub for some time. You chugged the last bit of your beer and nodded towards the door.

“Shall we grab our coats then?”

For the time of the hour that it was, the tram towards your hotel was packed. Judging by the appearances of most people you assumed they were going clubbing somewhere. It was around 2 AM already, but surely in a place like Amsterdam some clubs stayed open until the early hours, making it essentially still ‘early’ to start your party. You didn’t have a seat, so instead you and Joe stood closely together, his arm only hovering behind you in case the tram made a sudden movement. The people around you were so noisy that you both took the time to give your vocal chords a little rest until your stop.

He stepped out of the tram first only so he could extend a hand to you to help you as well. Once you started walking he weaved his fingers through yours and you both let the return of the silence around you sink in as the noise of the tram ebbed away in the distance. 

As you stepped in the elevator, your silence continued and was only broken when Joe pressed the button of the fifth floor and the elevator voice announced that the doors were closing. That and the elevator music, which was exactly as you would imagine. Since you were no longer holding hands as Joe had needed both to push open the heavy entrance of the hotel, you stood on opposite sides of the elevator. Joe leaned against the railing and you noticed he was already looking at you when you turned your gaze in his direction. A soft smile played on his lips and he nodded upwards at the speaker.

“Horrible, isn’t it?” He said, his voice sounding a little raw from the need to clear his throat, which he did right after. 

“The worst.” You nodded and smiled while you watched him push himself off the railing and take two steps towards you to close the distance. He looked down at you and took your hand in his own, giving it a light squeeze. Just as he was about to say something, the elevator paused its movement.

“Third floor. Doors opening.”

With a startled look he turned around to see a group of five men, very obviously drunk, enter the elevator.

“Is it going down or up?” One of them asked the others. None of them seemed to know the answer and whilst they were discussing it, the elevator doors closed again. They took up lots of space in the elevator and Joe made sure you both had enough room by barricading the corner where you stood with his arms.

“Up. Why’s it going up? Go down!” Another guy said, pressing all the buttons.

“Idiot, now it’s just gonna go to every floor, this is gonna take ages.” A third one sighed. They barely took notice of you and Joe, who raised a subtle eyebrow at you and smiled reassuringly as you looked a little uncomfortable. When the elevator stopped on the fourth floor one of them looked at you expectantly and you gave him a thin lipped smile as you shook your head. Before it stopped on the fifth, Joe had already grabbed your hand again and guided you along the side of the elevator to the front while being faced with some drunken commentary that neither of you paid much attention to. After quickly exiting the elevator and taking a right turn you halted at the parting, your room being on the left side and his on the right and a sigh escaped his lips when he heard the elevator doors close again.

“That was something,” he mumbled.

“I think they’re gonna go up all the way to the fifteenth floor now, unless they realize they might as well hop onto the other elevator instead,” you remarked and Joe nodded.

“Maybe the guy who pushed all the buttons simply didn’t want the night to end yet,” he said softly, implying that this thought didn’t just come up out of nowhere.

“Who knows,” you responded feebly, suddenly feeling a little shy. Joe seemed to match your shyness and smiled bashfully.

“Well then. I guess, good night? Or should I say good morning?”

“Don’t,” you groaned. “It’s still today, remember?”

“I know,” he agreed with a soft smile, “just like teasing you is all.” He pulled you into a tight hug that seemed to last longer than the one he gave you last night, but maybe your sense of time was just a little twisted. Nevertheless, it felt nice. Which was why it was a shame when he pulled back, his eyes taking in yours and then looking away and down at his hands as he released you from his grip.

“See you tomorrow. Shall I come by your room when I’m awake?” He suggested.

“Yeah, I’ll do the same if I happen to be awake sooner.”

“I’ll text first, to check,” he added with a smirk.

“Okay,” you nodded, smiling sweetly at him.

“Okay, yeah. Good night then, y/n.”

“Good night Joe.”

He gave you a last, breathtaking smile before you both turned around and walked to your rooms. You could hear a door being opened and closed and you were sure it was his. Something inside you wanted to go to his room, tell him you also didn’t want the night to end yet, but instead you found yourself holding the card in front of the reader to unlock your door and you stepped inside.

However, before you could turn around to make sure the door was closed, you felt two hands grabbing your waist and you shrieked. Quickly you turned around, your eyes frantically searching for the perpetrator, only to find a sweet, familiar face full of worry.

“Oh god, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was really just thinking that I didn’t want to regret holding back another time so I’m gonna kiss you right now if— if that’s okay,” Joe told you in one breath.

“I— what did you just say?” you stammered as your heart was still racing from being grabbed so suddenly. He had said it so quickly that your brain was still catching up. Joe licked his lips nervously and a pink shade colored his cheeks as he let one hand slip off your waist to run it through his hair.

“I was just overthinking things, a lot, about if I should just go for it and uh—” he grabbed his chin, his thumb and index finger following the scruff of his beard as his thoughts rushed in all at once, making it unable to make sense of them. 

Watching him being so nervous, the realization of what he had said just now finally dawned on you. He wanted to—

“Kiss me,” you blurted out, cheeks growing warmer.

“Oh— okay, yeah.” His eyes darted to yours, not knowing which eye to focus on because both looked so pretty and he wanted to take in all of you and not just one thing. He lightly shook his head to come back to his senses and finally found the courage to do what he had wanted to do since the day he left you in front of the bookshop. His hand cupped your cheek ever so gently, a soft but shy smile on his lips as he leaned in closer. You met him halfway and pressed your lips against his, an appreciative hum softly leaving his lips. When he felt you leaning back his hand found the back of your head, keeping you in place as he teased his tongue along your bottom lip, asking for access. Simultaneously as you opened your mouth to deepen the kiss, he pulled you closer by your waist. Your hand reached up to smooth your fingers through his curls, something you had been craving to do all weekend. 

You had totally forgotten about the fact that you were still very much standing inside your doorway for everyone to see and when someone suddenly shrieked, Joe panicked and rushed you inside. The romantic moment had gone, although you could still taste it blissfully on your lips. A combination of mint and cigarettes and something else that was just him. His hand lingered on your waist as he stared at the door, thinking of all possible repercussions this action might have.

“Do you think they saw?” He asked you, his eyes darting from the door, to you and back. You shrugged and glanced at him empathetically.

“I couldn’t tell if they made that sound because of us, you, or if it might have been something else.”

“Fuck me,” Joe groaned, his hand coming up to his face. You nudged him gently with your hip and smiled softly.

“Not so fast casanova,” you joked. He looked at you, his expression softening upon the realization that you weren’t as freaked out as he was. “And I don’t think you have to worry. Even if they saw us, I doubt they had enough time to get any evidence anyway. It will be fine,” you reassured him.

“They might be waiting for the moment I, or we, for all they know, get out of this room though,” he mumbled. His gaze was directed at the door again, wishing he could see through it to know if the coast was clear.

“Then stay, if that makes you more comfortable.”

Joe quickly turned his head towards you in surprise and then presented you with a cocky grin.

“I thought you said “not so fast”, love,” he teased as his grin grew wider. You gave him a light push against his chest and laughter escaped his mouth, his shoulders visibly relaxing. “I’m joking,” he then added in a more serious tone while he took your hand in his. He looked over at the double bed.

“You really wouldn’t mind?” His thumb brushed over the top of your hand lightly as he carefully watched your expression.

“No. I did mean what I said though,” you warned him gently.

“I know you did,” he responded with a soft smile, leaning in just slightly to plant a kiss on your forehead. “Same goes for me.”

Joe was grateful for your spare toothbrush and stayed out of your way as you changed into a T-shirt and leggings to sleep in. You realized with dread that he was about to see you without any makeup on and while you hadn’t been wearing a lot, it still scared you a little. Joe had taken it upon himself to get under the covers on the side of the empty nightstand and was scrolling through his phone when you joined him after getting ready for bed in the bathroom. His expression made you suspect that he was looking for anything troublesome on social media, which he confirmed as soon as you slipped under the covers.

“Can’t find anything yet, so I guess we might be in luck. Nothing on the museum stuff either.”

“Oh! I’m an idiot. Jeez, hold on.” You lifted the covers to slip out of the bed again and searched in one of your bags.

“What… Why did this suddenly trigger a response like that?” Joe asked, confused as he watched you. When you turned around holding something tiny, he squinted trying to see what you were holding and you smirked.

“Here,” you said, presenting it up close. “For you.”

“For me…? Why?” His mouth still stood agape in surprise when he took the tiny canvas of the “Starry Night” replica in hand and inspected it closely.

“You said it was your favorite, so…” You shrugged, hoping you didn’t just give him a corny gift in comparison to all that he had already given you.

“I love it. I absolutely love it. Thank you so much, that’s so kind of you.” He wrapped you in a slightly awkward hug, with you hovering over the side of the bed a little as you had been standing a little too far away for it to be comfortable.

“You really like it?” You asked softly as he carefully put it on his nightstand and he turned his head to look at you in surprise.

“Of course! Why do you sound so doubtful?” He asked curiously as his gaze followed you back into bed. You got comfortable first, turning off the big light leaving only the ledstrip above the headboard of the bed on and then laid down on your side.

“I don’t know, I just don’t know how to make up for all that you did,” you confessed, feeling a little silly about it. Joe matched your position and carefully lifted a hand towards your face to brush away a stray strand of hair.

“You’re already doing plenty by just being here with me. I want you to know that. And I really appreciate the kind gestures but don’t feel like you have to catch up or something. That’s not why I invited you to this… I don’t know, three-day-date?” A snort escaped his lips and his shoulders shook a little as he laughed. “I just really, really like spending time with you. And kissing you isn’t half bad either,” he grinned as you feigned indignance until you giggled and then suddenly his lips were on yours again and your silly banter was drowned out by a shuffling of sheets and soft sounds escaping the both of you.

How you both were able to show restraint to not let making out turn into something more was a mystery to you both. However once he settled on his back, one arm around you as your head rested on his naked chest, you knew exactly why. No words were needed to express how you felt in that moment, as it just felt right. You weren’t in a rush. When you both became too tired to really hold a conversation, which was probably around the time that even the clubs in Amsterdam were closing, Joe gave you a sweet good night kiss. After that, his hand gently nudged you to roll on your side so he could be the big spoon and he wrapped his arm comfortably around your waist. You turned your head towards him to steal another kiss and with a soft smile on his lips, he kissed your shoulder before burying his face into your neck. It turned into the first night of great sleep you both had had in a long time.

As blissful as the night had ended, all the more dreadful became the morning when it dawned on you that this was your last day together. Joe was no longer spooning you, but instead your leg was hoisted over his waist, hand curled up in his neck. You would have assumed he was still asleep by his slow breathing, but the hand caressing your thigh gave away the opposite. Instead of looking up, you uncurled your hand and brushed your fingers along his neck and played with the ends of his hair.

“Morning,” he whispered, his voice sounding a little raspy. “Sleep well?”

“Until I woke up, yes,” you mumbled, the sadness of your realization squeezing your chest tightly. Blissfully unaware, Joe chuckled and his hand came up to caress your cheek.

“Isn’t that usually when sleep ends?” He asked jokingly, his hand dropping to your arm. When you didn’t reply right away, he gently squeezed your arm. “Hm?”

“I just don’t want today to end,” you mumbled, sounding smaller and more fragile than you wanted to. Joe sighed and wrapped his arms around you for a tight hug and kissed your forehead.

“Me neither. But we have,” he picked up his watch to check the time and frowned slightly, clearly not happy with the news he was about to bring, “two hours left.”

“Two hours?!” You sat up immediately and Joe’s arms slacked off your body.

“And then some, at the airport. But two hours before we have to leave yeah,” Joe said apologetically, taking your hand in his and tugging on it lightly. You felt a lump growing in your throat and his beautiful brown eyes looking up at you with compassion only made it worse.

“Come cuddle?” Joe tugged on your hand again and you relented, resuming your old position. He pulled the covers back up and lifted your chin so he could look at you. Your eyes met his and a moment of silence was shared between the two of you before Joe captured your lips in a gentle kiss. He leaned back again to look at you once more, his hand cupping your cheek and you could see his eyes shift back and forth between your own.

“You’re so beautiful.”

His soft spoken words sounded so sincere that any retort of denial died on your lips. You licked your lips and tried to find a response in your mind but his eyes and the light touch of his thumb caressing your cheekbone distracted you.

“So are you,” you eventually told him softly, causing him to smile and shake his head a little in disbelief.

“Don’t know about that,” he smirked, to which he was met with a stern look on your face and his expression immediately turned into looking caught while doing something bad.

“Don’t do that,” you told him, “you’re very handsome.”

“God, stop it,” he chuckled as he hid his face behind his hand.

“You started it,” you pointed out dryly, tearing his hand away from his face. Joe was slightly red in the face and he groaned as his face got revealed.

“Not so you could say it back!” He protested, more laughter escaping his lips when you started a back and forth fussing around with your hands. At some point he had you flat on your back, hands pressed into the mattress by his own on either side of your head.

His eyes darkened slightly as he leaned in, his lips almost touching yours when—

“Housekeeping!” A loud knock on the door followed by a rattling sound made you both jump up and scramble away from the bed. You urged Joe to hide in the bathroom and opened the door to find a small, blonde haired woman in front of you.

“I’m so sorry, I haven’t packed all my stuff yet. I’ll be out as soon as I can,” you promised quickly, not knowing what Joe had booked precisely but assuming you were both supposed to have checked out already. The woman assured you it was fine as long as you were out within half an hour. As soon as the door closed, Joe stuck his head out the door.

“I completely forgot about that, I’m such an idiot,” he sighed, looking for his clothes to put on while you got your suitcase out.

“I should’ve thought of it as well honestly… Maybe you can use your charm on one of the clerks though?”

“My charm? Doubt it.”

“You, Mr. Quinn, are very charming.”

“And you,” he said while pointing at you with his shoe, “should remember that you just lost that battle earlier and will lose again.” You shared some gentle laughter with him until he suddenly got distracted by needing to grab your gift and holding it close so he wouldn’t forget it.

Your clothes were tossed in a somewhat folded stack into your suitcase apart from what you were planning to wear, and you were relieved that you had plenty of room left in your suitcase for once because you didn’t want to waste time properly packing it all up.

“Alright, I’m gonna head to my room and pack real quick. Meet you in the lobby?” He offered, stepping closer to steal a quick kiss from your lips that immediately threatened to turn into a longer one. When his hands started to roam over your back you reluctantly stopped him, as twenty minutes since the lady left had already passed and you still had to get dressed.

“See you at the lobby,” you nodded. As soon as the door clicked shut you quickly got ready, putting on simple blue jeans with sneakers and a light gray sweater after you freshened up in the bathroom and lastly added the tiniest bit of makeup. With two minutes on the clock you met up with Joe at the lobby and he looked pleasantly impressed with what you had managed to do in such a short time. He looked more disheveled than you did and you assumed that’s why he was wearing a black beanie on top of his head. His black shirt was tucked into his jeans and he was wearing his boots again.

“All good,” he told you, nodding at the clerks behind the desk. “Turns out a photo with Eddie Munson can be used as leverage sometimes,” he mumbled underneath his breath.

“See? I told you,” you told him proudly and he rolled his eyes, nudging you with his elbow.

“Yeah, yeah, fine, alright. So… should we drop our stuff here and grab a bite, chill at The Dam for a bit until it’s time?”

“Sounds lovely.”

Wanting as much ‘alone’ time as you could have, you went for a sandwich and a drink from a food stall, finishing up with another stroopwafel on The Dam as a treat. You sat down on a bench together where you had the perfect view of someone painting caricatures of tourists who sat down with them.

“Next time we’re gonna get one of those. As soon as we see one,” Joe told you as he gave a nod towards the painter.

“Ooh, there’s gonna be a next time?” You teased, to which he gave you an unimpressed look.

“There’d better be. Doesn’t have to be Amsterdam though. Lots of caricature painters all around the world.” He slung his arm loosely around your waist, stroking your side.

“You seem to have big plans,” you said with a smile.

“Well, yeah. I wanna make this work.” Joe turned his head to look at you and you could tell he was serious.

“Do you think it will work, though? With me being from Y/B/P and you basically being everywhere and nowhere all the time?” It wasn’t something that you wanted to ask. The last thing you desired was putting doubts into his mind. But you had to know for your own sanity how he viewed that part of your lives and possibly, futures together.

“It will have to, won’t it?” Joe shrugged. “In case it’s not obvious yet, I really like you. And it fills me with dread that I can’t just hop onto the tube to see you but that’s just how it is. I fully intend to see you in person as often as I can, though. I… We’ll make it work,” he promised, not only to you but to himself as well. You rested your head onto his shoulder and he followed your gesture by resting his cheek on the top of your head.

“We will,” you softly agreed. Silence. For some time, neither of you spoke, until you did.

“I’ll miss you.”

“I’m gonna miss you too, Y/N. So much.”

All of your willpower was required not to cry at that moment. Instead, you hugged him tight and he lifted your chin to plant a soft kiss onto your lips.

“Are you not worried anyone will see?”

“Did some thinking last night,” Joe shrugged. “Figured to hell with it.”

You chuckled and put your hand on his cheek to make him look at you.

“I’d like another kiss then,” you said sweetly. Joe smiled and leaned in so close your lips were almost touching but without kissing you.

“You’d like one, hm? But are you getting one?”

“Don’t test me Joseph.”

Joe smirked and kissed you sweetly.

“I kinda like it when you call me Joseph. Though I’m not sure if it’s because of you saying it, or if it was the fact that you looked annoyed with me.”

“I’m sure you’ll find out at some point,” you assured him with a grin.

“You’re not even gonna repeat it for me while looking happy with me?” He pouted for extra dramatics and when you shook your head he heaved a deep sigh.

“Well then—” The alarm on his phone signaling that it was time to get your stuff interrupted him, and the next sigh that left him was a real one.

“Time to go love.”

With the little time you had left at the airport, you decided to stroll around a bit until you were expected at the gate. Joe had gone for a quick bathroom break and came back with what seemed to be a notebook and a pen.

“Need something to do on the plane?” You asked curiously. When he shook his head and sat down next to you, handing you the notebook and pen, you frowned.

“We’re gonna make a list,” he started, “of things we’re gonna do when we meet again next time. First up: caricature. I assume you have better handwriting than I do.”

You smiled, thinking back on the note he had written and decided that yes, you probably did indeed. After writing it down, you looked up at him.

“Alright. What’s next?”

“Go to a zoo? Or an aquarium,” he suggested. “Cook together.”

You wrote it all down with a smile on your lips.

“You’re full of ideas,” you mentioned. “I think you should take it for when something comes to mind.” Joe immediately shook his head and nodded down at the book.

“We need your handwriting, otherwise we’re gonna wonder what the fuck we’re supposed to be doing. I’ll text you if I think of something.”

A few more things were added to the list and then Joe decided it was time to put it in your bag so he could hold you for a little while. At one point you softly giggled to yourself, gaining Joe’s curiosity.

“What’s up?”

“I was just considering whether your freaking out last night was just a subtle ploy to get into my bed,” you said jokingly. He put his hands on your shoulders to make you lean back so he could look at you, mouth agape in shock.

“How dare you? I’m much smoother than using a silly excuse like that!”

“Are you now?”

“I’ll prove it to you next time.”

“Doesn’t really count, does it? It already happened.”

“Maybe. And maybe there’s something else that hasn’t happened yet that we need a bed for. Or well, not necessarily but, you know, for comfort—”

“Joe. You can just tell me you want a massage.”

He laughed a little louder than even he expected to do and gave your chest a light push with his fingers.

“How’d you guess? My back’s been sore from carrying these conversations…”

“Now you’re treading on a dangerous path.”

Your banter got interrupted by an announcement that you had to go to the gate and his shoulders visibly slumped. Every step you took towards your gate felt heavy and you used up as much time as you could to get there, holding Joe’s hand the whole time. He sensed that you were getting emotional and did his best to comfort you with the caress of his thumb until you finally halted in front of the gate.

“Alright. We’re not gonna be sad, because I need to see your pretty smile before I go, okay? And we will call as soon as we’re both able to. It’s only temporary,” he promised as he cupped your face with his hands to kiss you softly. It was hard not to demand more of this little moment, but you had no choice.

“It’s only temporary,” you repeated with a nod, biting down on your lip when you felt it threatening to wobble. Joe nodded and wrapped you in a tight hug, his arm around your waist and his hand on the back of your head.

“I’ll see you soon.” Another promise fell from his lips as he rubbed your back.

You stole one last kiss from his lips, touching his face with both hands before running your hand through his hair and squeezing him tight, and then it was time to let go. You turned around before you would change your mind and felt him reach for your arm for a quick last squeeze. You knew you’d burst into tears if you looked back, so you didn’t, but your resolve to give your tear ducts a break crumbled as soon as you sat down in your seat at the window. Needing him more than ever, you opened your phone to text him only to find that he had already texted you. There was a photo attached of himself sitting at his own gate with a playful, sad expression on his face. You could tell by his eyes that he was only adding the playfulness because he was actually really sad.

Joe: Miss you already x

You: I’d send a selfie back but you don’t want to see this right now

Joe: Aw, that bad?

You: Literally rivers. They had to mop the floor three times already

Joe: Wow. Next time you do that, we should fill up a pool or something.

You: Sounds like a lot of work. How often do you intend to make me cry?

Joe: Lots. But only because I’m super funny

You: We’ll see about that

Joe: Yeah. Soon. Very soon x

You: I have to turn off my phone now

Joe: Don’t flirt with strangers

You: Can I flirt with people I know?

Joe: No

You: You can’t either

Joe: Wouldn’t dream of it. Although…

You: ?

Joe: With Jamie I can’t really help it. I mean… have you seen Jamie?

You: Fine, he gets a pass. Really gotta go now :(

Joe: Ok. Talk to you soon love x

You: Have a safe flight x

Joe: You too x

Joe: Another thing for the book. We didn’t take any photos together, it’s a crime. Joe: BTW. What is your opinion on shitty weather?

FIN

Author's note: This fic got out of haaaand. Literally twice the size than part 2 simply because no ending felt right. I know this may feel a little sad, but I hope you all enjoyed your fun times together. I couldn’t just randomly end it and well, airplane goodbyes suck. Hopefully the texting at the end lightened the mood a bit. Thank you so much for the love on part 1, I hope I did part 2 justice and that you’re not throwing tomatoes through the screen right now :) Lots of love x

Dirty Martini taglist:

@thefemininemystiquee - @peaches-and-plums-motherfucker - @cup-half-full-of-anxiety - @emmysuebull22 - add yourself

[dirtymartiniquinn]

Alias

part one - part two

Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: You were supposed to guide David Harbour during the launch of the Stranger Things game that the company you work for created, however, he cancels at the last minute. His replacement? Joseph Quinn.

CW / disclaimer: rpf (don't read if it's not your jam), fem!reader, fluff

Author’s note: This is the kick-off fic for this page, so please be kind. I have several ideas in mind that I'm currently working on, so stay tuned for more!

Word count: 8k

“Ladies and gentlemen, Corendon Airlines welcomes you to Amsterdam. The local time is 9 P.M. For your safety and the safety of those around you, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened and keep the aisle clear until we are parked at the gate.”

While this hadn’t been your first time visiting Amsterdam, the reason why was very different this time. Or perhaps not that different, were it not that you had a very personal reason why it was so different for you. The company you worked for, GED International, had developed an immersive multiplayer game to kick off the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. Aside from your love from the show, you also had a huge admiration for the cast. And while being a part of the release of Stranger Things: Invading The Upside Down was really cool in itself, the fact that you were pointed to be the guide of the one and only David Harbour had you jittery for weeks. It made sense that an actor would fly over to promote it, but you hadn’t expected it regardless. It just wasn’t how your luck usually worked. Not this time though. This time, you were the one who was going to show Jim Hopper around Amsterdam, as that was where the event would take place all around the city. You were well acquainted enough with the city, having spent several years working there on and off. It always felt like a weird coming home, although this time you would reside in a hotel for a couple days. One day for the event, two leisure days.

After waiting for a good twenty minutes, you were finally able to get up from your seat and out of the plane, on your way to get your luggage. Your colleagues already arrived earlier to set up several things, but since your task was literally getting David from A to B and entertaining him a little during, you didn’t have to be earlier than the evening beforehand. The wait for your luggage to show up was as stressful as ever, but thankfully the rollerband hadn’t disappointed you once and quietly (not really) provided you with your suitcase after some time. On your way to the hotel you decided to grab a quick bite from the popular fries shack that was quite literally on your way towards The Dam, along with what the Dutch call a “frikandel”, which was essentially a lengthy meat stick. It was a craving you had whenever you visited the Netherlands, which your colleagues thought was the funniest thing after you described it to them for the first time. The Dutch had more things you had a weak spot for though, such as “stroopwafels” and their delicious tiny pancakes that they called “poffertjes”. You’d probably indulge and get it the next day, if you had the time. Your hotel wasn’t far removed from The Dam, which was still bustling in the late summer evening, with their street artists keeping up the crowd. You had to unpack, iron your clothes and get ready for bed though, so there was no time to stick around.

You nearly bumped into a guy on your way into your hotel, who was so focused on holding his head down that he hadn’t noticed you and apologized with a quick and very British “sorry”, though not even glancing in your direction. You had been too busy saving your suitcase from falling down the stairs to whip your head around in time. The guy had already gone and with him, the familiar voice that left you wondering whether your mind was just playing tricks on you.

The event had just gone to your head. Of course you had hoped it would have been him to promote the game. His character’s return had already been announced in a subtle teaser that had the world in their grasp at the moment, so soon before the release of the last season. Besides, with him residing in London it almost felt like it made the most sense. You shook your head, it hadn’t been him. It was just a random Brit with a similar voice. They were out there. You realized you had been standing in the middle of the lobby where the receptionist had been looking at you with her eyebrow raised for a moment now. Time to check in.

Just as you came out of the shower, you received a call. It hadn’t been the first time they had tried to call you according to your phone and you were only just in time to pick up this time around.

“Deniz, hi, sorry I was just in the shower,” you explained quickly.

“All good. Listen, change of plans.”

“Change of plans?”

Now?! The evening before the event? You groaned inwardly, already dreading whatever changes he was about to inform you with. You sat down on your bed, dressed in the hotel’s bathrobe and waited.

“Yeah, so… David Harbour canceled. I know how excited you were about that, I’m sorry,” he said apologetically. You felt your heart sink. There it was, reality coming right back to kick you in the face as usual. Of fucking course.

“I see, so… what’s going to happen now?” Were you just going to have a little vacation then? Would they let you join the event differently? Maybe it would mean you could sleep in. That would be nice.

“Well, miracles happened and another actor agreed to come. We just got the memo way later. David canceled earlier this week apparently so they’ve been making calls and such.”

“Who is it?” It was time for Deniz to drop the information you actually gave a damn about. Your mind immediately went back to the guy who had bumped into you. It couldn’t be…

“Joseph Quinn? I googled him quickly while I called you but I have no clue. Is he one of the smaller actors?” You had to bite your tongue not to lecture him on how Joseph Quinn was anything but. It didn’t matter. Deniz didn’t give a damn about celebrities, and since Joseph looked quite different from his character Eddie, you weren’t surprised he had no idea who he was based off of that.

“No. He plays Eddie Munson.”

“Hold up. The guy who died but then didn’t?”

“That’s the one.”

“That’s actually pretty cool. Looks nothing like him though. Insane.”

Tell me about it, you thought. You had spent enough hours ogling both his character and his regular appearance, still unable to grasp at how they were the same person.

“Okay so, I’ve emailed you the details of his PA Leah, she’s been briefed on when and where he’s expected. You’ll meet after breakfast in the lobby at ten sharp, same as the original plan. Just make sure you’re a little early, yeah?”

“Will do.” You continued your convo casually but eventually you cut it off because you really needed your sleep. And before you could do that, you needed at least an hour to silently scream into your pillow because you were going to meet him. Chances were that the hand that had quickly searched for balance on your arm earlier had been his. You felt a little lightheaded. This was a nightmare cocooned in a dream. Undoubtedly you were going to make a fool of yourself and he would hate your guts. Or he’d laugh at you. You didn’t know what was worse. All you knew was that while the change of plans theoretically would have been a dream come true, a nightmare had never felt more realistic.

The next morning you were fidgeting with the hem of your blouse as you waited in the lobby, half an hour too early. You had barely managed to eat breakfast due to your nerves but had forced a few things in your system because a grumbling stomach would be worse. Maybe you should have just eaten a bit more slowly so that you didn’t have to wait ridiculously long. It was killing you, perking your head up at every movement and often receiving an odd glance from the stranger who you’d been so eager to look at. Not with Joseph though. His voice alerted you long before the man even came into view. Laughter had escaped his lips and it sounded all too familiar. Granted, you had a bit of a crush on the man you had only seen through a screen so far. You were relieved he sounded chipper, as you had noticed that he hadn’t been so delighted at some other events he had attended. Those were all just assumptions, but you liked to think that your people skills gave you enough knowledge to assess someone’s body language at least a little. You turned your body in his direction at the right timing, where you wouldn’t have to stare for too long but had enough time to grab his attention. It looked like his assistant had received a photo from you, because recognition flashed her face and she walked up to you before Joseph had even noticed you. With a quick B-line, he followed her.

“Hi, you must be Y/N?”

“That’s me, nice to meet you,” you said politely as you shook her hand.

“Leah, you as well.”

Then, it was Joseph’s turn. Your smile faltered only for a second when he shook your hand and it was a good thing you already knew the man’s name, because his eyes were so distracting that you could only see his lips move and not hear a thing he said.

“Nice to meet you,” you managed to say to him as well and he let go of your hand with a subtle squeeze to finish off the greeting.

“The car should be up front soon,” you said as you checked your phone for the time. The nerves, which you would have had just the same if it had been David, we’re eating you alive from the inside as a silence pursued. All you had been briefed to do was getting them from location to location and you had no idea how much they had been told about the game already. To your relief the silence was cut short when you received a message that your ride was there. After announcing that, you went ahead and led Joseph and his PA to the car waiting outside. 

“Are you from here?” Joseph’s voice perched your ears and you turned your head to look into his curious brown eyes.

“I’m not actually. I’m from Y/B/P.” You had to bite your tongue to automatically ask the same question in return because you knew.

“Oh! That’s cool. I’ve been there once, on vacation,” he told you. “Would love to go back sometime.”

I’ll gladly take you back home with me, you thought, but instead you nodded.

“What about Amsterdam? You’ve been here often?” You asked to keep the conversation going. He told you about the two times he visited Amsterdam, how he hadn’t managed to visit any museums because his mates had wanted to get high and go out most of the time. Fun times, still, but he wanted to see if he could squeeze in a museum or two before he left again. Once you arrived at The Dam, a noticeable crowd had already gathered and their heads all turned towards the car. Oh boy.

“Alright, let’s go this way,” you decided and Joseph shifted in the seat to get out on your end, his assistant following suit. Phones were shoved into your faces and Joseph took the time to take a few photos and sign some things before he followed you towards the stage. His assistant stood on the sidelines, leaving Joseph alone with you and the host who would present the game.

“I had no idea what to expect but this is pretty big,” Joseph mumbled, gesturing at the game setup. There was a platform on which you could walk continuously without moving, a round treadmill so to say. It had a railing around the front and VR glasses hung over it.

“It is. They found it important that walking around felt natural, hence the big platform. It’s pretty cool.”

“Have you played it yet?”

“No, I’ve only seen some test runs.”

“The concept sounded pretty cool, like working together and all that. I believe it’s also available on other stuff right? PC and everything?”

You nodded and went into detail about how the PC version would be different, in terms of VR and without VR, but also the general difference in running around physically versus only digitally. Joseph seemed very intrigued at everything you had to say while they set him up with a microphone on his shirt. So much, even, that he nearly missed his announcement for coming up the stage.

“My bad. Hi everyone.”

You watched the conversation from the side between Joseph and the host, who explained the game again in detail and held a little presentation about it. Then, it was time for Joseph to actually join the game. Throughout Amsterdam there were several setups like this one, and a few lucky fans had been selected to take part in the immersive game together with Joseph. Each wearing a headset and being in a party together, all with a different task ahead. The people on the Dam could watch Joseph’s gameplay on a big screen behind him. Joseph seemed to enjoy it a lot, completely into the game as he stepped and jumped over things, running over to clues and communicating with his party. It was his task to gather camouflage to bring over to the others, who each had their own task to explore as well. It all went down on a timer and it was important that everyone finished their task in time. Of course, there were enemies as well which would progress into severity the closer everyone game to the middle, also known as their meeting point.

You loved watching Joseph do his thing, with his tongue darting out and making wild gestures at creatures that tried to attack him. He shouted, did his best not to swear and often went into a giggle fit when he did something silly. It was the most endearing thing to watch and while you thought David Harbour would have been a very funny candidate to watch as well, nothing could beat Joseph being Joseph.

“It says I can pick up an ally? I want an ally!” Joseph suddenly exclaimed, looking around as he perked his head up. “Can I?” He then asked a bit unsurely. His VR headset was soundproof, meaning he wouldn’t even be able to hear the answer unless he took his headset off. You watched the guy monitoring the screen discuss something with one of the developers and then nodded over to you. What? When the developer approached you, holding another VR headset, you felt dread seeping into your shoes. Oh no. You enjoyed playing the occasional game but you weren’t any good, and you definitely didn’t have a wide experience with VR games. This was doomed to make you look like a fool. Great.

“We’ll set you up if you want to join as his ally?”

You weren’t going to say no, of course.

“Sure. Just tell me what to do.”

The developer briefly explained that you would join the game as an extra help during fights, making your health double up. You were handed a stick that represented a bat in the game and were put on a similar platform like Joseph was. After connecting the two together, you would be launched into the same spot he was, and you would be able to play once you entered a nickname.

IN GAME: Your ally Y/N has arrived, Joseph

“Hello? Y/N?” “Hi, it’s me.”

“Oh! Hi! I didn’t expect them to insert an actual person, I thought they meant like an NPC or something. This is even better!” Immediately, he got back to business, as he took the game quite seriously. “So. We have to find our way through this forest, but there are demobats trying to kill us. And apparently wild dogs.” 

Joseph turned to you in the game, and it felt surreal to have a pretty decent looking Eddie avatar look at you and communicate with you in a British accent. You had no idea what your character looked like.

“Alright, we’ve got to get… Oh! You’re Robin, that’s cool. We need to go this way, it seems.”

You discussed your options and decided to look around first for any clues if you were going in the right direction. When a demobat attack forced you to run into the forest, you knew you had been right. It was pretty fun to use your bat to slam the demons away, but the VR aspect of it all was harder than you expected. It was a good thing you and Joseph were about two meters apart from each other in real life, or you would have played whack-a-mole with each other’s heads. At one point you had to run, which meant physically running in real life too. As if you wanted to be sweaty! Luckily, you soon met up with the other players, who had all achieved their tasks and slayed some enemies like you had. Now it was time for the final battle: Defeating Vecna. While you had expected things to be pretty hectic with at least four other voices outside of you and Joseph, it wasn’t all that bad. If anything, it made it feel more realistic to have several people shout their battle cries. It required working together and using each other’s strengths, timing them perfectly after one another. The person with Nancy’s character would shoot at him, while you threw bottles lit with fire, and Joseph had to use his catapult to distract Vecna and weaken his sight. Eventually, you managed to defeat Vecna without having to replay the game or anyone dying. You always liked how the developers made Eddie an available character as well, regardless when they knew if he was going to return or not.

Finally, you took off your headset and quickly fixed your hair, stepped away from the platform and found that Joseph joined you immediately. 

“That was fun,” he grinned, clearly wanting to share his experience with someone. His hair was a bit of a mess now, his curls no longer as tamed as before. After he noticed you looking he quickly ran a hand through his hair and you wondered if you had made him self conscious. For whatever reason his PA was nowhere to be found. Joseph was called over to give a quick review on the game and after that it was time to acknowledge the fans who had long since gathered at the barricades for some selfies and photographs. You could tell that he was in a good mood by the way he wore a relaxed smile on his face as he interacted with the fans. All you could hope was that it would stay the same after visiting the other locations. You never really understood why they wanted him to visit all locations, instead of just having everyone come up to one, but apparently they didn’t want to overcrowd any spot and considering people had to buy tickets to even get to stand near the barricades, it started to dawn on you. Of course these money hungry bastards took the opportunity and ran away with it in ten folds.

Joseph seemed to handle it all perfectly well until you were back in the car and he slumped in his seat. As it turned out, his PA had suddenly gotten sick and had gone back to the hotel. It was just you and him now, for the rest of the day.

“That was intense,” Joseph said softly, unsure whether he should even be sharing his thoughts with you. All you could do was nod.

“It was. I’m surprised you have to visit so many spots if I’m honest,” you admitted and Joseph nodded in agreement.

“I hadn’t expected that either. I just figured it would be one location and go, until we received the schedule yesterday.”

“That gave you little time to prepare then… I’m sorry about that.”

“Oh it’s alright. Can’t complain, it’s a great opportunity.”

You smiled softly.

“It’s fine to complain a little, even if it’s a great opportunity,” you assured him. That granted a smile out of him as well. You could imagine it was hard to cut yourself some slack when you had been so lucky, yet incredibly overwhelmed by it all. And he wasn’t even allowed to call it luck according to people because it was talent, but to him it sure had felt like luck.

When the driver stopped the car, you were surprised to see you weren’t at the next location yet.

“Roadblocks all around. You’ll have to walk from here,” he said apologetically. The thought alone filled you with dread. Joseph had been stalked in every place he had been and Amsterdam was about to become the next. They knew what he looked like down to the shoes he was wearing at the moment, so the watchful eye would definitely notice.

“Alright, not a problem at all,” Joseph told the driver before turning to you. “Is it far?”

“Ten minutes max, I think,” you replied, getting your phone out to find a route. Once you got it, you both left the car. The driver assured you he would be in the same spot in time for the next one, but you exchanged numbers just in case.

The first couple of minutes went fine. No one batted an eye. Not until one teenager shouted his name.

“Oh fuck,” you mumbled softly, watching as the many heads turned around frantically in search of the man next to you.

“It’ll be fine,” he assured you, as if you were the one who needed assurance. You were very ready to elbow these people in the head if they were behaving like idiots. It would cost you your job if you caused a scandal, though.

“Where do we have to go?” Joseph asked you, sounding a little hurried. You showed him the route on your phone and watched how he scanned the area quickly.

“Alright. Come.” Before you realized what was going on, he had grabbed your hand and guided you through the masses who were dawning in on you, taking photos and trying to get their picture taken with him as well. He greeted them kindly, effortlessly. Apologized for moving on and explaining you had to get to your destination quickly. You wondered if anyone else noticed how draining this seemed to be for him. His frown deepening, his lips disappearing into a thin line. His hand squeezed yours tighter every now and then, although he often relaxed it shortly after and grazed the top of your hand with his thumb, as if to apologize.

When you finally made it to the next stage, you let out a breath of relief. This unorganized shit show was a drag. Joseph let go of your hand and listened to the host of that location, who guided him to the fans where he could do his service of taking photos and interacting with them shortly. Then, he met with a handful of people who had won a meet & greet with him for a good five minutes and after that it was time to move to the next. Two down, four to go. It wasn’t until the transition from the fourth to the fifth that you and Joseph decided to skip the car and just walk all the way. You had been hopeful the other times that the car would actually be able to drop you off at a good spot, but it had become clear that Amsterdam wasn’t great to go through by car, especially not on a day like this. When you asked him about security, it turned out that he had turned them down as he hadn’t expected the getting from one location to the other would have gone so hectic.

“God that smells delicious,” Joseph exclaimed softly as you were walking through crowds, trying to blend in as well as you could. You had smelled it too, or at least you thought you did. If you were honest, you were pretty hungry after that lousy breakfast, considering it was way past lunch time already.

“The bakery, right?” You ask as you point into the direction of a bakery on the other side of the street.

“Yes. Mind if we make a quick stop? I’ve really got to eat something.”

“Not at all. Some more delay isn’t going to matter at this point,” you pointed out. You made your way towards the bakery that luckily wasn’t too crowded, and got yourselves a pastry , two in Joe’s case. He had been eyeing the croissants but decided against it because of the crumbs. Not that these pastries were any better. They were delicious though, you concluded, and Joseph seemed to agree judging by the sounds he made.

“Right, I needed that,” he said as he cleaned off his fingers with a napkin. Once you got closer to the last stage, he turned to you.

“Am I good?” He asked, gesturing at his face so you could tell him if he missed a crumb. He had, so you pointed it out with words, until he didn’t catch it at the third try and you lifted your finger to his face instead and gently took it off.

“You also have some…” he started, brushing his thumb over the corner of your mouth, “right there. All good now.” His gaze lingered longer than it should have and you blamed your burning cheeks for it. He probably noticed your shift in attitude right away. Despite that, he seemed unbothered and you entered the last stage, where Joseph did his thing again and you watched him do it all effortlessly. 

It was already way past dinner time when you finally made your way back to the hotel. That was it then, you thought. You had had fun, and it had been great to get to know him briefly, but you would have loved more. Somehow it made you feel greedy, though you blamed the man himself for being the exact way you had imagined him to be. All sweet and nice and gentlemanly. So annoying.

“Would you like to join me for dinner?”

The silence that hung in the air got way too much time to spread when you looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. God, please act cool for once, you thought to yourself. To top it off, he smiled softly at you and even seemed a little nervous. Why in the world would he be nervous?

“I— Yes! That sounds lovely, where would you like to go? Just here at the hotel, or…”

“Oh no. I’d prefer to get into the city if that’s okay. I heard you can get dinner on a boat, no idea if you have to book a spot for that though. We could check? I just want to change into something else once we’re back at the hotel, freshen up a little. Is that alright with you?” His eyes darted away as he spoke and his hand softly scratched behind his ear in a repeat motion until he finished his sentence. Absolutely endearing. Your conversation briefly paused as you left the car and headed back inside your hotel.

“Dinner on a boat sounds…” Romantic as hell. “Great! And if it’s not available I’m sure we can find a nice spot somewhere. At the canals maybe?” You offered, wanting to throw in your two cents as well instead of just completely going along with what he said.

“I’ll give them a call. The canals would be nice as well!” He agreed, and shifted his weight from one foot to another as he looked at you. “Meet down here in an hour?”

You agreed and both went opposite ways towards your rooms. His was in a much more luxurious area of the hotel, which made sense. Once in your hotel room you quickly turned your suitcase upside down in search of something appropriate to wear. Would a dress be too much? The rest all seemed too casual and you had no idea how fancy that boat restaurant was. The dress would have to do. It was a simple, black, a-line dress but it looked very elegant on your figure. You freshened up in the bathroom and reapplied your makeup, hoping it all looked fine. 

Miraculously you had some time to kill, which basically meant you sat alone with your thoughts. Those that hadn’t stopped running the same sentence over and over after he had said it. Would you like to join me for dinner? You were genuinely confused why he had asked you. Maybe he just didn’t want to eat alone because it would attract extra attention to himself. Yeah. That must be it. And you guessed you were deemed nice enough to have a chat with. Which was great, but everything else was just confusing and slightly stressful. When you finally allowed yourself to go down ten minutes early, you found that Joseph was already waiting there. Dressed in black pants and a dark blue blouse, he looked incredibly handsome. He immediately noticed you as you exited the elevator, his neutral expression lighting up into a smile.

“Y/N, thank god, you made it. I managed to get a reservation in twenty minutes, so I was secretly hoping you’d be early too. They happened to have a cancellation. Our uber is ready too.”

“Oh that’s great! I’m really curious about this restaurant. Is it just docked in one of the canals or does it actually fare?” You asked curiously, while trying to calm yourself down inwardly that you were going to sit in front of this handsome man for a whole meal. Oh god. What if you made a total fool of yourself?

They have a route that goes partially through the canals, so we’ll be able to do a slight bit of sightseeing if we’re lucky. It might be too dark outside already.”

He held the door open for you to slide inside the uber and then joined from the other side. Again. What a gentleman.

“Have you decided on what you might want to visit tomorrow?” You wanted to know. While you hadn’t made specific plans just yet, you wanted to check out some things as well before you had to go back. Your silly brain allowed yourself to hope that maybe you could do some sightseeing together. Not that you were going to ask him that, oh no. That was way too embarrassing. What if he said no?

“I have some time to squeeze in one or two things. Later tomorrow I have an interview through zoom with someone in New York though, and we leave again early the next day. So I have a bit of time but nothing too grand. Any recommendations?”

“I was thinking of visiting Anne Frank’s house. I’ve heard many stories about that. And Rijksmuseum, maybe. Those are things I’d want to do, but I can’t exactly recommend them because I’ve never been.”

“Those were on my list as well as the Vincent van Gogh museum. Haven’t decided yet.”

“I heard there was a special exhibition there, temporarily.”

“Oh, really? Can’t miss out on that now, can I? It’s not like I’m a very artsy person, I don’t necessarily feel things when I look at paintings, but I do appreciate the craft. And Van Gogh does have a nice style. I’ve got a small print of one of his works in my hallway. Sorry,” he winced and chuckled awkwardly.

“For what?” You genuinely wanted to know. He shrugged and avoided your gaze, disguised by looking out the car window for scenery.

“For going on a ramble.”

“Don’t be silly! I’m the same with art. Especially abstract pieces. I try to find a meaning in them but sometimes… a blob is just a blob.” You shrugged.

“Yes!” Joseph seemed happy that someone agreed. You briefly wondered if he was just always happy when he met someone like minded or if he simply had a lot of artsy friends. He seemed to relax after you didn’t make a fuss about him being talkative and suddenly mentioned how disappointed he was in the Mona Lisa.

“She’s just so small. I never expected a huge painting, but I also didn’t expect people to gather in rows and rows to catch a glimpse of this tiny painted woman,” he mumbled. When you arrived at the dock where the boat would set sail from, you both got out and Joseph gallantly held out his arm for you to take.

“I’ve noticed the streets can be pretty uneven here,” he used to reason as to why he provided his arm. You nodded, looking down at your low boots. There was a reason you didn’t wear heels. One, the streets. Two, Joseph wasn’t that tall and you didn’t want to be taller. Three, fine. Maybe you didn’t bring any heels.

“Careful, these stairs are a little slippery,” he warned you softly, making sure he held onto the railing tightly while continuing to hand out stability to you with his arm.

“You look really pretty. I wanted to say so earlier but words got away from me,” he told you right before you entered the boat. A blush tainted your cheeks and you smiled softly.

“Oh— Thank you. You look very handsome yourself.”

“Oh, stop it,” he chuckled abashedly as he let you go in first. After Joseph checked in with the waiter for your reservation under the name of Steven Johnson and sat you down near a window, you couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Should I call you Steven for the time being?” You asked him softly. Joseph covered half his face with his hand and groaned.

“I panicked when they asked for a name alright? I know it’s not the best.”

“It’s fine.”

When the waiter came over for drinks you decided on red wine, while he went with a dark beer. You discussed your food options thoroughly, with Joseph managing to get totally lost into his food related stories at nearly each one. You had had a short world tour of his experiences in several countries by the time you had both made up your minds, nearly able to taste it after Joseph’s detailed descriptions. His eyes lit up when the breadbasket was brought to the table and he eyed it eagerly, waiting for you to go first. You took the butter knife and added salty butter to one, looking up.

“Do you want one too?” You asked politely, holding the one you just smeared out for him to take.

“I’d— Oh, thank you,” he responded slightly flustered, accepting the slice from you and then watched you make another one. When the main course arrived, you were well into your third, maybe fourth topic of the evening. It all felt so natural that you sometimes forgot that you had been putting this man onto a pedestal for some time. Not that he didn’t deserve a pedestal anymore, he was an amazing guy still, but he felt more leveled. Equal. In reach. Quite literally so, but also figuratively. He was just Joe. That’s what he preferred to be called. Though you stubbornly kept the joke up and only called him Steven for the rest of the evening. Whenever there was silence, you would look out the window and admire the city, as far as the darkness allowed you to. The reflection of the windows in combination with the lights from both inside and out made it a tricky view, but a pretty one nonetheless. When Joe’s knee nudged yours, you turned your head to look at him but his eyes weren’t on you. After subtly nudging his leg back with your own, he kept it there. It seemed to be intentional. You decided it was late enough to go for a stroll on your way back to the hotel instead of getting a ride, and found yourselves admiring the pretty lit canals, where you were momentarily distracted by a stray cat. Joe watched you with a calm nature while he smoked a cigarette, passing the time until you had told the cat goodbye. Passing the Dam, you noticed it was still pretty lively, and you spent a bit of time watching a performer dance with fire.

“Oh, it’s my agent, hang on.” Joe excused himself and walked away from the small crowd that had gathered around the performer. While you were curious, you didn’t want to be impolite and stare, so instead you looked around the crowd. After what seemed like ten minutes, the crowd had thinned out and the performer was packing up his stuff. You stood there awkwardly, not wanting to ogle the performer who was clearly done, but also not wanting to bother Joe. Instead, you took some distance from both and sat down on a stone bench. It was obvious that Joe’s mood was sour when he returned to your side, slumping down next to you.

“Turns out I only have the morning left tomorrow. Change of plans. So I won’t be able to check out anything, not enough time. I was going to ask you if you wanted to join me but unfortunately I can’t even do that.”

“Oh I’m sorry, that’s a bummer. Where do you need to be?” It was hard to keep your expression in check. To not look too disappointed at this news while in reality you felt down to cry. The fact that he had wanted to go sightseeing with you possibly made it even worse.

“You can’t tell anyone, but I’ve got a photoshoot for this magazine thing in LA.”

“That sounds, uhm, cool,” you tried to say enthusiastically but failed horribly once you saw his expression.

“Yeah, it is. Just not so fond of last minute changes.” He rubbed his palms onto his knees, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling that welled up in his stomach.

“I get that. I don’t like them either. I guess I’ll have to enjoy tomorrow for both of us.”

“Please do.”

You would do anything to get that sad expression off his face. If only you knew how. A random idea sprung to mind and instead of thinking it through like you usually did, assessing the pros and cons and whatnot, you blurted out a question.

“Do you like reading?”

Joe frowned a little at the sudden topic change but nodded. 

“I do, yeah, why?”

“Would you like to check out a bookstore with me? We could have breakfast somewhere and do just that, before you have to leave? Unless you don’t have the time or,” you laughed softly, “don’t really want to.” Joe shifted so he could turn for a better look at you.

“I’d love to.” His voice was sincere. Much more sincere than you had heard him be all day. Apart from during dinner, maybe. It was a relief to see his clouded expression had lifted almost instantly. 

You decided that you both wanted to be well rested for the day after and headed back to the hotel, though there was a reluctance on both sides to work towards the end of today. It was obvious when the two of you parted ways, at the elevators, and even more obvious when you both stole glances from each other at different moments, convinced the other hadn’t looked at all. Even more obvious was the fact that neither of you could fall asleep, not until you accepted that the other person was going to be on your mind all night.

The last morning

Joe met you in the lobby dressed in black jeans, a white tucked in blouse and a coat that was already on his arm, his smile lighting up at the sight of you. 

“Good morning,” he greeted you softly, his voice a little hoarse still. He cleared his throat and reached for his vape, as if that was going to make it better. You smiled softly.

“Morning, Steven.”

“Oh stop it,” he groaned. “I’m never gonna get away with that, am I?”

“Nah. Especially not after accidentally telling me Steven is actually your go to alias and not just one slip up. From Australia, no less!”

“Think of a better name then, on the spot. Go. Go!” He urged you on with a youthful grin.

“Legolas.” You responded deadpanned.

Joe snorted and shook his head, already heading to the exit. “Oh come on, you didn’t even try,” he protested.

“I did! I was trying to think of an easy to remember name for you and couldn’t help but think about that massive cardboard you told me ab—”

“Now you’re just taking the mick,” he sighed. “I need more leverage to do the same to you, this is unfair.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you.”

You and Joe made your way into the city to find a nice place to have breakfast at and you were quite relieved that you weren’t spotted. You loved watching him devour his breakfast, which was three times as extensive as yours, and see pure joy on his face at each bite he took. Time flew by as you shared more about your lives, and before you knew it you only had half an hour to get to the bookstore before Joe would be picked up to go to the airport. He was apologizing profusely, feeling guilty for messing up your nice idea to spend your morning, and you had to assure him it was okay.

“Honestly, don't worry about it. We had a great time at breakfast too, did we not?” You told him.

“Yes, but now there’s so little time left—”

“Would it be better if we skipped it altogether? I don’t want you to feel hurried,” you offered, as much as you would love to check out some books with him. Joe simply refused.

“No, we’re going to the bookstore. Even if I can only stick around for ten minutes.” He was steadfast and you decided it was best not to argue and lose more time. His concerned face was not something you liked to see on the man. The bookstore had several levels and wasn’t too crowded, but you noticed Joe wasn’t exactly relaxed either.

“Were you looking for something specific?” He asked after you reached the top level. You shook your head and shrugged.

“There are some books I still want to read, but… nothing specific in mind. Maybe The Midnight Library. It’s been out for a few years already but I still haven’t gotten around to it,” you explained. Joe hummed to let you know he heard you and the next moment, he had disappeared. For a hot second you worried that he had ditched you. Maybe for having a bad taste in books, or him suddenly realizing the time and not bothering to say goodbye. Neither scenario sounded very sensible, but your brain loved to make up scenarios that weren't sensible. You shrieked softly when he suddenly popped up next to you again, holding a paper bag with a book in it. The Midnight Library.

“A parting gift,” he said with a small, nervous smile. “A little hurried and a little lame, but there’s no time for something better. I had a great time with you so I wanted to give you a token of my gratitude.”

You stared at him, his big brown eyes peering nervously into yours to figure out your expression, when you suddenly hugged him.

“But I didn’t get you anything,” you mumbled next to his ear as you felt your cheeks grow warm when he wrapped his arms around your waist.

“We weren’t exchanging gifts, so there’s no need,” Joseph said softly into your hair, his hand coming up to the back of your head. There were so many things you wanted to say to him at that moment, but no words came out. Eventually you uttered a thank you as you held on to the embrace that was lasting way too long for it to not be awkward.

Except it wasn’t awkward at all. And you didn’t want it to end. Neither did he, it seemed, when his phone went off and he reluctantly let go of you to pick up.

“My ride’s here,” he announced sourly. You followed him outside, wanting to properly send him off despite the growing lump in your throat. You wanted to say something. Exchange numbers, or whatever, but your fear of having him reject you was too big of a risk. This was it. You should be happy, having gotten to spend so much time with him already, right? So why did it feel like you lost a part of you when he finally stepped into the car after one last, quick hug? When he looked at you through the window and smiled a smile that didn’t meet his eyes? You felt simply horrible. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. It was always much better in fiction, you thought. With their sappy happy endings and people running out of cars or going to airports to confess their love to each other after spending a mere day together. You hated the unrealistic part of it, and yet you craved it like nothing else right now.

A week later

Things had gone back to normal again. All but for one thing. He was on your mind all the time. It distracted you from everything you had to do. Stupid man. With his stupid handsome face and his stupid pretty smile and his stupid gorgeous hair. You never expected to suddenly fly off into the sunset with him, but man did you wish it had gone exactly like that. Instead, you had watched him leave in a car with a sad expression on his face that told you he didn’t want to leave you either. Or maybe you had just imagined it. You never even brought yourself to do more than hold the book, only to put it back in the paper bag that you didn’t want to throw away. It was all you had to go with your memories. To remember it was real. That, and some photos on Getty Images that you found highly unflattering. You had saved them anyway. Deniz had comforted you when you told him about what had happened and he was convinced that you would meet him again.

“He likes you. It’s obvious from what you’ve told me. He invited you to dinner right away, didn’t want the evening to end, wanted to spend his only other free day with you as well and did so until the last minute? Come on. I’m sure the asshat just forgot to give him your number and is eating himself up over it. I promise. I’ll eat my keyboard if you don’t end up dating him.”

You laughed softly and shook your head at him, and you loved him for trying to make you feel better.

“Please don’t eat your keyboard, I am busy enough as it is without getting your tasks piled up on me as well,” you joked. Deniz wanted to respond but suddenly got distracted by a view that was coming into your direction.

“Who do you think that’s for?” Deniz asked, gesturing at the bouquet of flowers that was definitely larger than your head. You shrugged.

“Probably Melody’s. Or Petra’s,” you listed the two pretty blondes in the office. Deniz shrieked softly when the person holding the bouquet passed both their desks.

“Oh my god. Never manifested something so quickly,” he whispered to himself. When they finally stopped at your desk and handed it to you, you were at a loss for words.

“The card, check the card!” Deniz urged on.

You searched through a bouquet of beautiful gerberas, lilies and other flowers you didn’t know the name of and finally found a tiny card. You barely heard Deniz’s confused reaction about the name on the card, as all sounds seemed to die down instantly as you read the card.

Just in case the note I secretly put into your book didn’t make it safely to your hotel for whatever reason. - Steven x

Below his name was a phone number and you recognized the country code immediately. Definitely not Australia.

FIN