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hiya-itsamber · 3 months

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COMING HOME - NASH HAWTHORNE X READER

Word count: about 4k, sorry if it's too long 😭 You’re welcome to be the first person to (help me) tag this under #nash hawthorne fanfic or something (: + this wasn't checked entirely, so sorry if there's any errors :,)

Having spent most of your childhood years in the area, Texas City was nothing new to you. However, now returning for the first time in almost a decade, it just didn’t quite feel the same.

Your life was quite literally perfect, you recalled, right up until nine years ago. Your childhood and early teenage years were filled with opulence, extravagant parties, and the privileges that came with being a member of one of the more wealthy families in the city. Being in these elite circles limited your social life, and only allowed you to mix with those of the same status. There weren’t too many rich folks in the South and even fewer of those who had children. Most of them were too snobbish, too stuck up for you to want to speak with, and the lack of options led to many failed attempts at making friends.

It didn’t come as a surprise to anyone when you finally clicked with the mischievous brothers Hawthorne.

At the ripe age of only seven, you were wreaking havoc with the Hawthorne grandson just a year older than you—Nash. As soon as you saw the little boy with the cowboy hat standing beside his grandfather at a social, you knew you wanted to be friends with him. And that you became.

Every soirée, fundraiser, gala, you name it, you and Nash were found fooling around. Crawling under the immaculate, cream colored dining cloths and holding your own parties under the tables? Check. Tossing handfuls of grapes at each other in the corner of ballrooms? Check. As you grew up, your little stunts only got bolder. Sneaking into the coat room and swapping the jackets, making a mess of the chocolate fountains, changing the classic violin music playing over the speakers to pop music that had guests gasping. Sometimes you didn’t get caught. When you did, the both of you would get scolded together, but it was so worth it.

You and Nash were inseparable. Where he went, you followed. Okay, maybe you were the one hanging onto him. But he didn’t mind. He liked having you around.

Of course, there was Grayson, Jameson, and Xander Hawthorne, too. The first you didn’t like so much. He reminded you too much of the kids you couldn’t make friends with. The two younger ones, though, were fun, also contributing to the entertaining chaos you and Nash loved to cause. But they were more of annoying younger brothers than friends to you.

What started out as seeing them during fancy dinners turned into meeting up outside of those said dinners. Countless afternoons were spent at Hawthorne house, playing board games and just talking. Occasionally, as you grew older, the esteemed Tobias Hawthorne even let you participate in their Saturday morning puzzles.

You were convinced you couldn’t live a better life once you were accepted into Heights Country Day School, the same school Nash had been attending since a year prior. You and Nash were closer than ever, and sometimes you let yourself wonder if maybe, just maybe, you were something a little more than close friends. Your fifteen year old self was convinced that nothing, nothing could go wrong.

That was, until something happened.

In the week you learnt that your father had gotten into the habit of gambling, he lost a very massive bet. You’d barely been at Heights Country Day for a term before you were stripped of the money to go to the school, the title your family held.

Somehow, your shrewd businessman of a father squandered your family’s wealth without you even knowing it until you were flying out of Texas City. You found yourself plummeting from the pinnacle of society to…plain old middle class.

A normal high school, with normal people. A normal apartment, normal dinners, normal, normal, normal. Gone were the extravagant banquets and social gatherings. Gone was the family legacy.

Gone were the Hawthorne boys. Most importantly, gone was Nash.

The only thing you had left and held dear was one of the many spare cowboy hats you took from Nash and never managed to return. You wore it on Halloween for that first year out of Texas City.

No matter how many times you tried to contact him, you couldn’t get through. You didn’t expect to, knowing how hard it was to reach someone of that status. You yourself were once up there.

Luckily, your father didn’t lose so much money that it was terrible. In fact, you guys were still quite well off. You didn’t miss the status, or the money, or the events. You missed something—someone far worse.

Nine years later, you find yourself in Texas City again, to speak to your uncle who took over the business after your father was displaced. To hopefully be able to work in the prestigious company and earn back what your father had lost.

Countless times, the many scenarios of what might have happened played over and over again in your head, all a little different from the last. Some of them were about taking over as the CEO of your family business—most of them were about meeting Nash.

Yet there were so many ‘what if’s. What if he didn’t remember you? What if he didn’t want to speak to you? And the one that haunted you the most. What if he’s in a relationship with someone else?

No matter how many times you tried to convince yourself that he wasn’t, he isn’t—you were sure it would’ve been reported in gossip sites if he was—you couldn’t help but stress over it.

Another thing you were stressing over? Forgetting how the bus system worked here and ended up getting stuck in front of the information board that just started looking like a bunch of colored boxes and bus numbers and stops.

Which is where you’d been for the last half an hour. It was the dead of the night, and taxis weren’t going to the airport frequently at that time.

You were about to give up and splurge on a taxi when a voice greeted you.

“You look a little lost, darlin’.” His voice was so much deeper, so much older and masculine, the Texan accent thickened that you almost didn’t recognize it at first.

Seeing the cowboy hat casting a shadow over those familiar mischievous eyes made you want to burst out laughing or sobbing, you weren’t sure. Maybe a mix of both. You weren’t sure how long you stood there, staring at Nash Hawthorne. You doubted you would even recognize him if not for seeing him occasionally on the news, but, oh, he was so different in real life.

Tall, slightly muscular build, broad shoulders, relaxed posture, the lines of his face that were difficult to make out in the dim lighting of the street lamp and much less under the hat. So, so different but so, so him.

“Do we know each other from somewhere? You look vaguely familiar,” he mused, removing the cowboy hat with one large hand to properly reveal his face.

You burst into tears, and any previous daydream scenarios about playing it cool all crumbled.

His eyebrows shot up. “I’m sorry, did I do somethin’ to offend you?”

“Nash,” you found yourself blubbering, tears falling onto your cheeks faster than you could swipe all of them away. You realized you probably looked a mess, and tried to pull yourself together. This was not how it was supposed to go.

“Oh.” His slightly awkward, pitying smile faded. “Oh, sweetheart. C’mere.”

Dropping your single duffel bag onto the floor with a thud, strong arms pulled you into his firm chest, the cowboy hat in one hand digging into your back but you didn’t mind. Looping your arms around his neck, you forced yourself to calm down. You didn’t even expect yourself to react like this. You thought he’d be a stranger to you, even though you prayed he thought about you.

Nash Hawthorne, your partner in crime, the odd little cowboy at functions, the Hawthorne with a heart as big as his hat.

The hug was more than just a simple hug. It felt like coming home. It wasn’t awkward or tense or anything you hoped it wouldn’t be. It was…perfect.

“I missed you so much,” you whispered into his shoulder, clinging onto him like he was your lifeline.

A warm chuckle vibrated through his chest and you could feel it buzz through your bones. “I missed you, too.”

Taking one last deep inhale, you took a step back. Without the tears clouding your eyes, you could make out the features of his face. He’d gotten way more handsome over the last few years, as if he wasn’t already attractive enough—to you, at least—at sixteen. Tender hazel eyes and tousled brown hair, his lips quirked up into that charming smile you missed so terribly. An unzipped leather jacket hugged his broad shoulders and arms, and he wore jeans and scuffed boots. Where he used to act a little awkward dressed like this, he seemed completely used to it now as if a leather jacket and a cowboy hat was what he slept in.

“Hi,” you whispered, tugging your own jacket closer to hide the flush creeping up your neck.

His grin widened, placing the cowboy hat back on top of it his head to cover the mess of brown hair. “Hi. Wanna explain what you’re doin’ here?”

“Yeah, um,” you hugged your arms around yourself. “Trying to figure out if a bus comes here at this time.”

“Not here here, just, y’know, in Texas.”

“Oh. Work, I guess.” You shrugged a shoulder.

“Okay,” Nash—Nash! Your brain still hadn’t recovered from seeing him, from the rush of dopamine he seemed to give you—drags the word out. “And to answer your question, no, buses don’t come here at this time. Do you need a ride?”

“Yes, please.” You told him your destination and picked your duffel off the floor, adjusting it over your shoulder. “What’re you doing at the airport in the middle of the night anyway?”

“Droppin’ somethin’ off for Xander, y’know how it is, kid,” he said in that smooth, drawling accent of his, easing the strap of your bag off your shoulder and hanging it over his instead.

You had too many things to say, but none of them could come out fast enough before the both of you stopped by a motorbike. Your jaw dropped, eyes wide as you looked between him and the bike. “Is this yours?”

“Yeah.” He ran a hand over the seat of the bike with a proud smile before picking the helmet up and catching you off guard by placing it over your head. It was a little big but cramped at the same time, but it smelt like him—wood and leather and paper money, so you didn’t mind. “Let’s go.” He jerks his head to the bike.

Excitement buzzed through you as you climbed onto the beautiful bike, feeling the handles appreciatively. “This is insane! When-”

Before you could continue, Nash was behind you, his chest pressed against your back. He dumps your bag onto your lap, telling you to hang on to it, before his arms caged you in as he reached for the handles. He was so warm, so comfortable, you wanted to sink into him and stay there forever.

“Wait, don’t you need a helmet?”

“Nah,” he adjusted his hat so that it wouldn’t fly off. “No one’s policin’ the roads at this time, it’ll be fine. Just sayin’, allowin’ you to sit in front of me is also illegal, but then-”

A thrilled yelp left your lips instead of a reply as the engine rumbled to life and Nash kicked off, picking up speed as you two zoomed down the empty road lit only by streetlamps and the half moon. You had one hand steadying the bag between your legs, the other on the metal of the handlebar. The wind on your skin and the rumbling of the engine mixed together to create the most exhilarating experience of your life as the two of you zoomed down the open road. Halfway through, light raindrops started to fall, the drizzle turning into a full-on shower as you two pulled up by the apartment you rented for the time being.

With your bag under Nash’s arm, the two of you raced to the shelter where you keyed in the passcode to open the door to the apartment building with his hand casually on the small of your back. The door swung shut behind him, muting the sound of the heavy rain. Then the both of you looked at one another and started to laugh, all disheveled appearance and wet clothes.

“Come on,” he said, shaking his head and still smiling. “Where’s your place?”

“Seventh floor,” you replied, looking around for a lift and groaning when you didn’t find one. “I don’t wanna take the stairs.”

A mischievous smile toyed at the corners of Nash’s lips and you couldn’t even form a protest before he was hoisting you over his shoulder and your surprised shriek sounded through the corridor. “Nash!”

“Shh, people are sleeping,” he chided, hands on the back of your thighs to lock you in place.

His hat jabbed into your side with each step and you brought your fists down on his muscled back. “Let me down, asshole! There is no way in hell you are going to make it up seven flights of stairs without one of us dying and it’s going to be me if you don’t put me down!”

“Yeah, yeah, sweetheart, I missed you too.”

He started going up the stairs, his hard shoulder digging into your stomach and your legs kicking, watching as your duffel bag swung against his other hip with every step. Giving up, you slumped down against him, a scowl on your face.

Eventually your feet touched the ground in front of the only door on level seven. Turning to Nash with your hands on your hips, you were about to open your mouth and grumble at him, but the young man flashed you a dashing grin and raised an eyebrow. He didn’t even have the decency to look slightly winded. “Yeah, darlin’?”

You scoffed at him despite the warm rush that made its way through your veins at his words, smacking the side of his bicep. “Don’t do that next time.”

“Why not?” he asked while you unlocked the door. “You said you didn’t wanna climb the stairs, and you didn’t. You should be happy. Where’s my thank you?”

“Thank you,” you bit out, shoving him into the house and locking the door behind you. “You’re ridiculous.”

“That I am, darlin’.” He dropped the duffel bag on the floor and removed his hat, leaving it on the small table that was too tiny to be considered a dining table.

He flicked the light on. The place was a small, cozy studio apartment you found for cheap on a B&B app, and rented out for the next two months. There was a queen sized bed in the corner, a sofa so tiny it could probably only sit two people if you squeezed, a closet, two chairs at a small table beside the kitchenette, and a bathroom. The time on the clock showed 2 in the morning, and the rain outside was pouring down heavily, hitting the windows even as you drew the curtains shut.

Nash frowns and nudges the bag with the heel of his boot. “You’re staying here for a while and all you have is this?”

“My dad’s coming down for a little while next week so he’ll bring the rest of my stuff,” you said, picking the bag up and starting to unpack. “You wanna stay around for a while? I don’t think the rain’s gonna stop anytime soon and I doubt it’s safe to get back in this weather.”

Nash took his brown leather jacket off and draped it over one of the chairs before sitting on it, and you tried your best not to stare at the way his arms and chest filled out the white shirt snugly. You couldn’t look away fast enough, and he caught you staring. “Yes?”

“Nothing.” Kicking your now empty bag to the side, you sat on the floor with your legs drawn up to your chest. “So, how’s everything lately? I’m sorry about your grandfather.”

He hummed in response. “Apart from that, nothin’ much. You?”

“Oh, you know. Been spending time trying to avoid my dad and help mom.”

“I’m sorry.” He pulls a face.

Unsure of what to say, you exhaled. The silence between the both of you was a little awkward—or was it just you? A yawn stretched across your face that had Nash saying, “If you’re tired or anythin’ I can leave-”

“No!” You cleared your throat, embarrassed. “I mean, don’t go.”

There was an amused grin on his face as he stood and stretched. “Go take a shower. I’ll wait.”

Half an hour later when you got out of the shower, there were fresh sheets on the bed and pillows and Nash’s large frame was sprawled out across the couch, making it look almost minuscule. You couldn’t help but smile to yourself.

“Made the bed,” he told you. “Connected your phone to the WiFi too. Don’t worry, I didn’t go through anything.”

“How did you get into my phone?”

He shrugs. “I guessed. Don’t you change your password?”

“Why do you remember my password?”

“I remember everything.”

The words made your heart still and beat even faster at the same time, hear rising to your cheeks.

Nash offered you a lazy smile and raked his eyes over you as he got up, moving to stand closer to you. You were so close you could count the few sun freckles on his nose and cheeks if you wanted to.

And of course you had to ruin the moment by blurting out, “Do you want to spend the night? I mean- I can, like, sleep on the sofa, you can have the bed. You made the bed anyway. I just don’t want you driving in the rain-”

You shut up when his gaze dropped to your lips and lingered there a second too long.

“Sorry if that was weird,” you apologized, wringing your hands.

One corner of his lips quirked up. “You were always weird anyway.”

“Hey!”

“It’s okay. I like you better like that.”

Butterflies. Butterflies you hadn’t felt in your stomach since you last saw him as a hormonal teenager. You thought they went extinct as you grew, but apparently not.

“If your offer still stands, then, sure, I wouldn’t mind staying. And don’t be silly, darlin’, that’s not a sofa you can sleep on.” He spared a glance at said sofa, then turned back to you. “I don’t see why the bed’s a problem. There’s plenty o’ space.”

Heat rose to your cheeks. “If you’re fine with that.”

“If you’re fine with that. My clothes are dry now, if that’s what’s botherin’ you.”

You didn’t care about his clothes being wet. You were more than fine. Way more than fine.

As you tucked yourself under the cold duvet, Nash turned the lights off before walking in long strides over to the bed. You felt the bed dip as he lay down beside you, the both of you staring at the ceiling silently, quiet breaths drowned out by the sound of rain.

“Nash?”

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

Turning over, you let your eyes wander the silhouette of his face in the dark. The little ridge in his high nose, his lips slightly parted. He was handsome in a way you couldn’t explain.

You could see the way his lips tilted up a little before he turned on his side to face you too. “Tell me a secret.”

“I stole one of your hats before I left. Still have it,” you said proudly, then laughed.

“That’s not a secret. I knew that.” He was so, so close, you could feel his minty breath on your cheek. Of course, leave it to the Hawthorne boys to still have fresh-smelling breath in the middle of the night.

“I dunno.” You shrugged. “You tell me one.”

“Hm,” Nash pretended to think, a glint in his eyes despite the dark. “You promise not to tell anyone?”

You grinned. “Pinky promise.”

“Okay, well. I…wanted to be your first kiss, and I had everything planned out, but you left before I had the guts to do it.”

You didn’t seem to hear anything past the word kiss, everything in your head coming to a halt. Nash flashed you that charming grin of his, raising an eyebrow.

“Nash…”

“Hm?” The low rumble of his hum almost had you shivering.

“You said ‘wanted to’. Do you still want to? I mean, you won’t be my first kiss, but maybe you’ll be the first one I actually like,” you returned his smile, albeit rather shy.

“I would.” One large hand came up to the side of your face, hovering above your cheek so you could barely feel the warmth radiating from his palm before he pushed some stray hair off your cheek. His hand lingered there and suddenly he didn’t feel quite as confident as he did just moments ago.

“Okay,” your voice was barely above a breath, and your fingers wrapped around his wrist. “My turn to tell you a secret.”

“Go on.”

“I wanna kiss you too.”

“Yeah?” He wet his lips, and your heart flipped in your chest as your gaze dropped to his mouth. His hand locked itself behind your neck, half tangled in your hair, as the both of you slowly seemed to draw closer together, almost like magnets in slow motion.

Raising yourself up on his elbows, you gasped as his lips met yours, going completely still. Everything stopped making sense as your entire universe narrowed in on where his lips were against yours and his hand was warm at the nape of your neck, buzzing with heat and energy you were so sure you were about to explode.

Nash began to murmur, right up against your lips, “It’s okay if you-”

You pressed your lips harder to his, cutting the words off with a deep groan that reverberated under your palm that was on his chest.

God, oh god, oh god, oh god.

Suddenly you were on top of him, your face cupped on both of his hands as he led the kiss. Slow, steady, strong presses of his lips against yours, short circuiting your brain. And oh you almost melted when he groaned into your mouth again, carving out a place in your memory for that sweet sound in hopes that you’ll never forget it.

The kiss said everything you didn’t. Secrets and promises and much the two of you missed one another and all the stories yet to be told, but this was far more efficient than talking.

You’d take kissing Nash Hawthorne over anything and everything all day, every day.

His pupils were wide and blown out when you two finally stopped, circled by that ring of amber in his gorgeous eyes. Your hair fell to the sides of you like a curtain as you looked down at him, but two of his hands pushed it back before pulling you down again and crushing his mouth to yours. It was more feverish this time, almost messy with the way your teeth and tongues clashed, heavy breaths hanging low in the air alongside the sound of the lightening rain.

He kissed you until you were dizzy and senseless and when he finally lay you down beside him and wrapped an arm around your waist, dropping a kiss on your hair, you fell asleep with a smile on your face.

You weren’t sure about how things were going to work out, regarding your job, your personal life, him. But you knew that his kiss held a promise, and you heard it loud and clear. He was going to stick around this time, no matter where it took either of you. He wasn’t going to lose you for a second time.

It wasn’t easy to be comfortable or fit in anywhere you went, but you fit with him like the perfect puzzle piece. He knew that, and he was determined to offer himself to you as your home for as long as you'd stay.

-🍀

ANON???? BHUFVJDKCM ANON. ANON!?!?!??

ok i've read this a stupid amount of times before i'm posting this and i just wanna say that you did him SO much justice. (also "4k, sorry if it's too long" !??!?!?! CMON I FEEL BLESSED THAT IT'S EVEN 4K THAT'S INCREDIBLE, THIS IS A MASTERPIECE) you wrote nash SO WELL!? so in character i was kicking and giggling and screaming the entire time?????

also when i tell you i shouldve recorded my reaction to reading this because the AMOUNT OF TIMES i fully had to put my phone down and compose myself cuz i was giggling like an idiot.

the cowboy hat stealing, the motorbike ride, the forced proximity, ONE BED??? HE CARRIED HER UP THE STAIRS???? LIKE HELLO!!!!!! HE'S TJHE MOST PERFECT MAN EVER AND 🍀 ANON YOU WROTE HIM SO SO WELL I CANNOT BTGUFRHDJNK!!!!

i FULLY melted into my chair at the kiss, i was SCREAMING. "tell me a secret" oH MY GOD??? also the fucking pet names i couldnt contain myself ofc we have darlin' which is a nash classic BUT ALSO THE SWEETHEART GOT ME ALL TWIRLING MY HAIR AND SHIT LIKE HELLLLLOOO!!!!!!!!

sorry this is just one big mass of me screaming and crying and throwing up because i'm in love with nash hawthorne AND THIS FANFIC. bestie you are a BLESSING to the nash girlies i hope they all find this and read it a million times like i did

thank you sm for writing this!!! it was the best thing ever to wake up to, hugs and kisses x100!!! mwah <333

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