eclaire maire

Before Ilia even went onto the ice you had a bad feeling about how the day was going to go, almost all of the guys before Ilia had fallen and you could see it was getting to him. You knew he'd keep it to himself how he was feeling, no matter how much you had reassured him that no matter what might happen you'd still be on his side he kept it to himself until he became overwhelmed.

Standing next to Roman and Rafael as he went onto the ice and did a few warm ups before going to start position you saw the first chink in his armor as the lights and cameras zeroed in on him.

Watching him as his first mistake happened, you watched as his armor started to fall to pieces as he fought to continue his program. After his first fall you could see the distress on his face as everything came crashing down around him.

You knew the pressure was too much that having to complete in the team event before he could do his solo event was a bad, but it wasn't your decision, you could only watch and support him in all his endeavors.

As you glance at Roman you can see as the anxiety for his son creeps into his eyes as his face remains stoic, but the tension is growing between you, him, and, Rafael.

When Ilia fell for the second time you couldn't control as the silent tears fell from your eyes, but you couldn't take your eyes off of him. Ilia looked devastated as he finished his program. His brow was scrunched and you could see he was barely holding in tears as he took his bows before throwing his head into his hands.

As he started skating towards where you and Roman were, you watched as his face crumbled seeing your expression. When he did reach you he was trying so hard to school his expression because of the cameras.

As Roman handed him his guards and offered his arm to support him as he put them on, Roman asked if he was alright and Ilia shook his head.

You handed him his water and a towel, he looked at you and the grief you saw in his eyes, almost made you start to cry again. You moved to stand next to him slightly blocking him from the camera to give him a moment to recuperate.

Before he gave Rafael a hug before heading to the kiss and cry for his score. While they waited for his score you could hear him talking about how it wasn't fair how much pressure was on him and how it wasn't as easy as everyone thought.

Hearing his score and seeing his reaction as well as Romans was devastating. Roman throwing his head into his hands at hearing Ilia's score, made you a little peeved but you understood that his emotions were running just as high as Ilia's.

Ilia went to congratulate Mikhail, giving him a hug and speaking with him softly before he got down from the platform to come up to you.

You give him a hug and kiss the top of his head before giving him your hand and heading to his post interview with NBC. You wished he didn't have so many cameras following him.

After his interview which seemed very insensitive considering what Ilia just went through, you both headed to a secluded area where he could take his skates off in peace. Before heading to the locker room where he could change and put up all his gear.

Afterwards he came up to you, and gave you a long hug. His arms wrapped around your waist as his head rested on your chest and was tucked under your chin. Your arms wrapped around his shoulders holding him tight.

He started to shake lightly, shudders wracking his body as you hold him close. Placing a kiss to the top of his head, before nuzzling your cheek against his hair.

"I love you." You mumble into his hair.

"I love you so much, you don't know how proud I am of you for making it this far." He shudders against your frame as a silent sob tears through him, as he buries his head father into you.

"I blew it." He tries to say.

"No you didn't." You put your hands on either side of his face. "You listen to me right now." Wiping the tears off his cheeks.

"They put so much pressure on you as soon as you were announced as a member of Team USA for these Olympics. You have done so much, you have proved yourself in so many ways. These are your first Olympics, and you have done so much."

"You are still an Olympic champion, you won Gold in the team event, and you've proved that you belong here. Everyone had a difficult time today. This is not the end of your career."

"No one is more upset with you than yourself, I love you that hasn't changed, your dad still loves you." You kiss the tears of his cheeks before kissing his eyelids.

"But I failed-" you shut him up with a chaste kiss on his lips.

"You are human, you are allowed to make mistakes. You made a mistake, and from here we will grow and come back stronger. I love you so much." You kiss him softly then pulling him up.

"Thank you, I love you so much, you being here means the world." He says leaning his forehead to yours looking into your eyes. He kisses you again slow and sweet as if it's grounding him.

"Alright I'm texting Roman and letting him know we're going back to the village." You pull your phone from your pocket and shoot off a text, before turning back to Ilia and giving a peck before giving him another hug.

You both stay like that for a long time before Ilia is ready to help back to the village. As you move to grab a hold of his hand and release him from the hug he doesn't quite let go. So you turn around in his home and hoist him up onto your back, and bending down to grab his bag as he tucks his face into your neck.

You carry him throughout the rink facilities until you get to the buses headed back to the village, you try to avoid as many people as you can, especially the media, but I've must've passed your radar because later the evening or more likely early the next morning there was a new story, with you and Ilia right there front and center.

The title read 'Ilia Malinin's Girlfriend comforting him after devastating 8th place finish for Team USA's Gold medal prospect' and under it was a series of photos of you and Ilia together, one from just after he finished his, to after him congratulating Mikhail, another outside the locker room of you kissing him and one of you carrying him back to the buses. The top comment on the story was some one comparing you to an Amazon.

For the next several days lots of posts and threads followed you and Ilia, he received lots of support throughout the community and from the team, his coaches and yourself. You also received lots of attention as people online decided you were the next wonder woman.

Ilia had sent you a post someone had made where they made a compalation of videos and photos where Ilia could often be seen hanging off of you like a monkey or just clinging to you like a toddler, with a caption that read 'If my girlfriend was 6'2 goddess I'd be clinging to her 24/7 too🤣'

Lewis scrambles out of his seat to get his phone from where it was set on the counter next to the coffee machine. Grabbing it, he looks at the caller ID before answering and putting the phone to his ear. “Hello?” His voice is deeper than usual due to just waking up not even an hour ago, and not really speaking in that time.

Whoever is on the other end is speaking loudly enough that you could hear them, but you couldn't make out any of the words. Lewis moves to run his hand through his hair as he listens to the other person talk, he’s humming along, and then leans his hips against the counter behind him. The call continued for another 10 minutes, it was coming to an end when you brought Lewis his mug of coffee and a few pieces of bacon.

‘Thank you,’ he mouths to you. “Okay, thank you. Alright, I’ll talk to you more later. Bye.” He sighs after the call ends and tosses his phone onto the counter, before dragging his hands over his face.

“How bad is it?” Danny asks from his spot at the dining table. You move to stand next to Lewis, leaning a hip against the counter.

“Bad,” he breathes out as he moves his gaze over to you. “Since we’re both so private about our lives outside of events, this has blown up in our faces.” His sigh that follows tells you just how uncomfortable he is about this situation. You place a hand on his shoulder and start to rub in slow circles.

“Ok, what do we want to do?” You ask softly. 

He looks into your eyes and sees unending warmth; your expression is open, and your calm washes over him like a wave upon the shore.

Danny pipes up from his spot, “I can post something if you both would like me to? Or if you’d like to do something else to divert the attention elsewhere, I can help with that as well.” He stands slowly before walking over to both of you. Before either of you could come up with a response, your phone rings loudly from the coffee table in the living room.

“One moment, guys,” you go grab it before you walk back into the kitchen, answering the phone. 

“Hello?” There’s something said on the other line before you reply, “Yes, this is they. What can I do for you?” You stand a few feet in front of the boys, facing them.

“I do, why?” You say after a moment, looking to Lewis as you do. A few moments pass before you speak again.

“No, you may not. How exactly did you get this number?” The response to that question causes a low grumble in your throat.

“Great, thank you. Do not call this number again unless you wish to be black listed. Have a good day!” The end of your sentence was punctuated with false cheer before you hung up the phone.

“What was that about?” Danny asked, watching as you roughly placed the phone on the table.

“Some dickweed, asking about Lewis and how I seduced my way into his truck. Then I find out a previous client of mine was only all too happy to share my private contact info with the press.” You grab a piece of bacon off the table and shove it into your mouth. 

Lewis and Danny looked at each other and had a silent conversation before coming to a conclusion, nodding to each other. Danny heads to the table and starts to clean up, putting food in take-out containers, and Lewis goes to you, grabbing your hands and guiding you towards the couch.

“What, what are y’all doin’?” You question as Lewis forces you onto the couch.

“We’re doing a movie marathon, whichever series you want.” Was his reply as he started to drape your favorite blanket over you, and put all your favorite pillows around you.

You start to get up, “What? No. I have work to do today, I can’t drop that!” You exclaim, trying to get out of the blanket burrito Lewis had somehow wrapped around you. Before you can unfurl it very far, he places his hands on your shoulders before gently but firmly pushing you further into the couch.

“Yes, you can. I’m sure your clients will understand you taking a day off, after being publicly outed to society.” His voice was firm and still slightly gruff with sleep.

“What about you? You were also publicly outed, you should be pampered too, this is stressful as fuck.” He just gave you a look that told you to stay put. “Fine.” You huffed, relaxing into your spot on the couch. He smiled at you, leaning back and walking to the wall switch to turn on the fan, before sitting down next to you on the couch.

Handing you the remote, he asks, “So what do you want to watch?” Looking at you, he watches you ponder for a second before a mischievous look overtakes your face. “Why are you looking at me like that?” 

You reach across and grab the remote from his hand, flipping through the streaming services on his TV, trying to find the movie you were looking for. 

Danny finished what he was doing in the kitchen and came and sat in one of the other chairs in the living room. “So what are we watching?” he asks as he starts to melt into the cushions.

Once you finally found what you were looking for, you clicked play and watched as the opening scenes played on the screen, and the familiar music started to play. There on the screen stood Julia Andrews as she began to sing ‘The Sound of Music’.

“Are we seriously watching this movie?” Lewis groans out as he saggs into the cushions of the couch. “You listen to this music so often, I think it’s been carved into my brain.”

“It’s either this or Fiddler on the Roof, so pick your poison. You get one or the other before we watch Lord of the Rings.” You chirped from your blanket burrito as you started to get comfy again.

“Aren’t they both musicals focused on religion?” Danny pipes from his spot.

“Hush, that isn’t the important part.” You say as you watch Maria run back to the abbey. Lewis reluctantly watches the movie, although he joins you in singing along throughout the movie. 

The rest of the day was spent lounging in the living room, watching movies, and during breaks playing board games. It was relaxing taking a day to just unwind and getting to know Danny more. Both of the boys had comments and questions throughout the movies you watched. Lewis has more questions than comments, and Danny almost exclusively had comments about the decisions the characters made in the films. 

By the end of the last movie, you were watching Danny had fallen asleep and was snoring from his spot in the living room, and looked as though he was about to slide right out of his chair and onto the floor. 

Rain was pattering softly against the roof, and Lewis was drifting in and out of slumber from the full day of vegging on the sofa. Deciding it was a good idea to let them both rest, you carefully untangled yourself from your blanket burrito. Turning Nemo on in the background, you begin cleaning up the mess you've made throughout the day, picking up chip bags and various snack wrappers, and the occasional bowl of popcorn.

Moving into the kitchen to throw out all the trash and put the popcorn bowls into the dishwasher, you see your phone still sitting on the table where you tossed it earlier that morning. Grabbing it, you see various notifications, missed calls, and texts from friends and family back home. Unread emails from clients all with varying ranges of concern about your well-being regarding the (now multiple) articles about you and Lewis. All of your social media accounts have been blown up, new followers, messages, comments, people tagging you, and new hashtags surrounding you and Lewis, and what your relationship was. 

The thing was, you weren’t even sure what your relationship was. You’d both been dancing around each other for weeks after your move-in. Then yesterday you met Danny, Lewis’s best friend, for the first time. Before you went to a client's home for work (aka his party) to network and discuss details for a project you're wrapping up, all of that was going great, and having Lewis pick you up at the end of the evening to come home. Then Lewis spends the night with you, and you were planning to talk with him about it after Danny went home, but then the initial release of the first article went out, and chaos ensued.

You wanted to have a relationship with Lewis. He was sweet, shy, and so caring. He was nothing like some of the people you worked with on a daily basis. He wasn’t an entitled brat, of some famous person who hired you for a project or commission. He wasn’t someone who acted like the world owed him everything because he had the money. 

Letting out a quiet sigh, you sit down at the dining table, responding to client emails, and messaging back friends and family about the situation, and how you’re doing. Before going through your social media messages/requests, to discern potential clients and meetings from fan hate and fan appreciation, and messages from other famous individuals reaching out about anything and everything.

As you set your phone onto the table for a brief reprieve from all the attention now being placed on your person, the rain picks up a notch, and a loud crack of thunder rattles the house before there's a flash of lightning that can be seen through the parted curtains of the windows in the kitchen.

masterlist | playlist | part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5

Danny and Lewis watched you head out the front door, before Danny turned to Lewis, painting over his shoulder where you just left. “Dude, they’re hot, and they’re going to meet a client like that.” Danny started flailing his arm towards the end of his sentence.

Lewis was still looking in the direction you left before he looked back at Danny when he started flailing his arms. Lewis huffed a laugh, “Yeah, they are. Besides, they always look good.” Lewis had only seen you in an outfit like that once before, just a little after you moved in; you were going to meet with a client then, too. He realized you never drove to any of your client appointments; you always had a ride. He wasn’t sure why that was, though, because he’d never seen you drink once during your time living together.

“How is it that you pulled a stray from a diner that looks like they belong in the acting field, even though we’ve never heard of them? And they make enough money to dress like that, but are so down-to-earth.” Danny questioned as he went to take a drink of his beer.

“Luck? Honestly, I don’t know, Danny.” He sighed and looked at his beer before deciding it would probably be a good idea to stop drinking for the evening. Danny had a look on his face that was difficult to understand, a mix of amusement and frustration. Danny couldn’t believe that his shyest friend had somehow decided that this random person, about whom he had no information, should be his newest roommate, and that this person would be someone like you.

The evening dragged on after that. Danny and Lewis had some leftovers that were in the fridge, and then watched some movies for the rest of the evening before Lewis’s phone lit up on the coffee table, and ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’ by The Smiths started playing from his phone. Lewis was half asleep on the couch with Danny when it happened. Looking at the clock, it was 1:50 a.m., he answered the call half awake.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Hey, Lew, could you come pick me up?” He heard you ask, there was loud music playing in the background that had heavy bass, and he could tell that you were talking louder than normal so that he could hear you through the phone.

“Yeah, where are you?”

“I’m still at my client's house. I’ll send you the location. Come to the alley behind the house, there’s a shit load of press out front.” You say before his phone dings with a new message from you. Looking at the address, he puts it into his maps on his phone before he responds.

“Okay, I’ll be there in about 30 minutes.”

“Sounds good, I’ll see you when you get here.” With that, you hung up the phone, and Lewis started to get up from the couch, causing Danny to rouse slightly from his spot on the couch. 

“Hey, man, what's up?” Danny asked, his words slurred from a mixture of sleep and the alcohol in his system.

“I’m going to pick up my stray; you can stay here if you like; you’re welcome to use the couch or go to my room.” Lewis was shoving his wallet into his pocket and grabbing his keys from the tray on the coffee table before heading towards the shoe rack to get his boots. Danny let out a gurgled ok, and held a thumbs up before collapsing back onto the couch.

Lewis pulled up to the address you gave him, and he could feel the bass from the music in the house through his truck. Pulling out his phone, he texted you ‘Hey, I’m out back if you’re ready to go.’ It didn’t take long for you to respond. ‘Awesome, I’ll be out in just a moment.😘' Lewis smiled at your text before he put his phone down and turned toward the passenger seat to wait for you. After a moment, the garage door started to open, and he could see your shoes and the bottom of your maroon slacks, as well as someone else's shoes.

When the door was fully open, he could see you and the other person in the garage, as well as a large number of supercars, some of which he recognized from the photos you had hanging in the kitchen.

You were facing the other person, your back to him, your hands were in your pockets, and your stance was lax as this other person was still speaking. He couldn’t see the other person's face, but they were wearing a tailored Versace suit, and they’re voice carried a bit as they were speaking over the blaring music still coming from inside the house.

“It was lovely to see you, my dear. I hope to hear from you soon about how the car is coming along.” The voice had a British accent.

“Of course, Sir, thank you for having me this evening, and finding me some more clients!” Your laugh echoed slightly as the man you referred to as ‘Sir’ reached forward, and you shook his hand before he pulled you into a hug. When he released you, you turned toward where Lweis was waiting for you in his truck.

“My rides here, I’ll give you a call soon, Sir.” You give the man one last nod before you start toward Lewis’s truck.

“Goodnight, my Dear!” the man called as you waved to him over your shoulder before getting in the car. Lewis looked from you now settling into the seat to the garage, where the door was now closing. 

“Thank you for coming and getting me, Lew.” You say, bringing his attention to you from the now-shut garage door.

“You're welcome, Sweetheart, everything go well?” He asks as he pulls you into a hug across the center console, before placing a kiss on your cheek.

“Yes, very well, actually. Lots of new clientele and a commission that is coming to a close.” You also kiss him on the cheek. “Let’s head home, shall we? I’m exhausted.” You lean back into your seat.

“Will do.” Lewis puts the truck in drive and starts the drive back home. You connect your phone to the truck's Bluetooth to turn on some music, ‘Sunday’ by The Cranberries starts to play softly through the truck speakers.

“Oh, do you know where to go? Where to go? Oh Somethin' on your mind? Wanna leave me behind? Wanna leave me behind?”

You sing quietly along as you look out the window. Right as the next verse starts, you move your hand from your lap towards Lewis’s as you rest your hand on his right thigh, as you continue to sing along and look out the window. 

“You're spinnin' me around My feet are off the ground I don't know where I stand Do you have to hold my hand?”

Lewis moves one of his hands from the steering wheel to rest on your left thigh as he joins you in softly singing along.

“You mystify me You mystify me You mystify me Oh-oh, when you walk into the room It happened all so soon I didn't want to know Does he really have to go?”

You both look at each other and smile. Lewis gives your thigh a light squeeze before turning back to the road.

“You mystify me You mystify me You mystify me, oh” And I couldn't find the words to say, ‘I love you’ And I couldn't find the time to say, ‘I need you’ It wouldn't come out right It wouldn't come out right It just came out all wrong”

You move your hand to hold his that was resting on your thigh.

“Oh-whoa, you're spinnin' me around My feet are off the ground I don't know where I stand Do you have to hold my hand?”

He squeezes your hand softly, where they both rest in your lap, as you look at him, your gaze soft and appreciative.

“You mystify me You mystify me You mystify me Oh, do you know where to go? Where to go? Oh Somethin' on your mind? Wanna leave me behind? Wanna leave me behind?”

Lewis brings the back of your entwined hands to his lips before placing a kiss on the back of your hand. “Never,” he whispers against your hand, before placing another kiss on your knuckles, and placing your entwined hands back into your lap. 

The rest of the drive passes quietly after that, music continues softly until you both arrive home and see Danny no longer on the couch. You both arrive at your room.

It was Lewis’s first time being in your room since you moved in. It was organized chaos in a way; the walls were covered in movie posters, old band posters, game posters, and photos, along with shelves of books. You had a dresser sitting along the wall between the closet and bathroom doors, with a jewelry box on top, and other miscellaneous items. In a corner was a net filled with various stuffed animals; he could even see a pink Yoshi poking its head out of the pile. 

Your bed was only half made. Your closet was full of clothes, and cubbies were full of project bins. There were mugs full of pens, pencils, markers, and brushes all around the room, and a small pile of clothes on the floor at the foot of your bed. Your desk had your mic and speakers mounted to it, along with both of your monitors, and on a shelf unit next to it, he could see your pc and various gaming consoles, as well as multiple figures. There were string lights hanging from the ceiling that were on, and a few lamps around the room that cast it in a lo,w golden hue.

“I need to shower before I can even think of going to bed, there’s no way I’m sleeping with gel in my hair.” You start as you go around the room, grabbing various items to take with you to the bathroom. You remove your shoes first, followed by taking off all your rings and putting them into a jewelry box on your dresser. After that, you remove your watch and chain, along with most of your earrings. 

Lewis was looking around the room before he looked at you again. You had your back to him, and you had stripped down to just your undergarments. As he walked closer, he could see more of your tattoos as black eclipsed your skin. He reached out and lightly ran his fingers down your spine. Watching you shiver lightly before placing a kiss on your shoulder.

“Are you planning on joining, cowboy?” You tease as you lean back against him, as he wraps his arms around your waist to splay his hands along your front. 

“Is that an official invitation?” He murmurs against your skin as he leaves a trail of fire in his wake, as he kisses up to your jaw.

“Maybe,” you trail off with a sigh. Turning slowly in his grasp, you wrap your arms around his neck, similar to how you did the first night you met, before moving your hands to the sides of his face to pull him down so that you can kiss him. You both slot together like puzzle pieces. The kiss is unhurried but full of passion, lips smashing together.

You pull away first, in need of air. “I need to shower.” You state as you lean your forehead against his. “You are welcome to join me, but you need to go get your own clothes from your room because you are not wearing any of mine.” You pull back and start walking backward to the door of your bathroom.

Your alarm goes off at 8:30 am the next morning, and you groan as you try to turn it off, only to realize your phone is way too far away to turn off without getting up. Signing, you open your eyes and are met with the sight of golden tan skin littered with hickeys. Moving your gaze up, you see Lewis’s face, soft with sleep and the tiniest bit of drool by the corner of his mouth. His arm is wrapped firmly around your waist, pinning you to his side. As you start to sit up, he makes a noise of protest and tries to pull you back down. 

“Nuh-Uh,” you laugh at his small protest.

“Uh-huh. Rise and shine, sleeping beauty.” You place a kiss on his forehead as you free yourself from his grip and turn off the alarm, before getting dressed.

“Noooo,” He starts to paw at the area of the bed you were lying in just moments ago. “Come back to bed.” He pleads, not really moving from his spot.

“No can do, Cowboy. I’ve got lots of work to do today, no time to sleep in.” You smack him lightly on the shoulder as you move towards the door leading out of your room. “I’ll be in the kitchen making breakfast, get up soon to eat.”

Thirty minutes later, both Lewis and Danny walk into the kitchen. Danny was dressed in workout clothes and looked as though he had just gotten back from a run, and Lewis was wearing a pair of mismatched socks and pajama pants. Lewis walked straight to the coffee maker, and Danny grabbed the OJ from the fridge and drank it straight from the bottle.

“Oi, Oi!” You yell, spoon in hand, pointed right at him. “You need to buy me a new thing of Orange Juice. You don’t live here anymore. Now, how do you like your eggs?”

“Um, scrambled is fine,” Danny said as he looked at the spoon pointed at him. 

Lewis was now sitting at the table nursing a coffee, you were standing at the cooktop with a pan cooking eggs and bacon, with toast in the oven. Danny sat down at the table and brought out his phone to scroll through Instagram. 

It was a few minutes later, when you were placing all the food on the table, along with plates, that Danny spat the oj he had just taken a sip of out.

“Holy shit,” He said, wiping his mouth, before looking between you and Lewis. Both you and Lewis wore concerned expressions before Danny passed his phone to Lewis for him to look at. Lewis took the phone and looked at the screen before he too did a spit take, after seeing the screen. After seeing Lewis also spit out his drink, you picked up the phone to look at the screen.

Right there on the screen was a photo of you and Lewis from last night. It was taken right after you had gotten into Lewis’s Truck and as he was kissing you on your cheek. Above it was a header saying ‘BREAKING NEWS’ in big, bold red letters. Under it was captioned ‘Lewis Pullman not so single?’ and then proceeds to talk about both of your interactions after you finished speaking with your client.

One line caught your attention, though. ‘Lewis Pullman spotted with acclaimed mechanic and artist outside another actor's home during a party, are they dating?’. Whoever wrote this did their homework; most of the public was not aware of your status among the rich. You made sure to stay out of the media’s eye, so that you could live normally outside of your client meetings. Now your face was clearly associated with Lewis’s. Just as you finished reading the blurb from the article in the caption, Lewis’s phone rang.

masterlist | playlist | part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 6

During lunch, Danny shared many stories about his time living with Lewis, what he was like on set, and how he was at the beginning of filming for Top Gun. You also shared a few stories about your time living with him for the past month or so. At some point, the topic changed to what you did for work.

“So what do you do for work?” Danny asked.

“Oh, you know this and that. I took on a variety of odd jobs while traveling to earn some extra cash. Before that, I restored and sold vintage cars while working part-time as a sales representative at a dealership to earn a commission.” You took a sip from your drink, noting that Lewis had brought you one of the alcohol-free seltzers from the fridge.

“So the wicked-looking car in the garage is yours?” Danny asked, setting his fork down next to his empty plate.

“Yup, had that thing since I was 19, I think? It was my second car that I ever owned, bought it as a rust bucket that was sitting in an old barn, fixed it up over time, and it eventually became what it is now.” You answer, standing and going to grab everyone's dishes, now that everyone has finished eating, but Lewis slapped your hand away and took your plate before grabbing his and Danny’s to put them in the dishwasher himself.

“That’s awesome, can I get a ride in it sometime…?” Danny started to ask, but saw Lewis behind you aggressively shaking his head and waving his arms around in a gesture that clearly meant ‘No DO NOT ask that’. But it was too late, when Danny looked back at you, you had this look on your face that screamed mischief and danger.

“Of course, but that car’s made for track racing more so than day-to-day driving, so you’ll have to wait for me to find an opening somewhere to take you. That Ok?” You still had that look, but slightly more manic. Danny looked from you to Lewis and saw that he had given up hope that Danny might survive the endeavor.

“Yeah, totally. So what do you do now that you live here?” Danny tried to steer the conversation back to your work.

“I’m currently unemployed, officially. I make passive income through affiliate programs and do commission work.” You reply, standing up, and grabbing your drink. 

“Speaking of, I’ve got to go finish working on my current commission. It was nice meeting you, Danny.” You smile at Danny, kiss Lewis on the cheek, and leave the kitchen.

Lewis sits back down at the table with two beers and places one in front of Danny. Danny is still looking towards the door you went through to leave the kitchen when Lewis nudges his shoulder. “You good, dude?”

“Your new roommate kinda scares me, but is so chill, I’m confused.” He replies while grabbing the beer in front of him and taking a swig, before finally looking at Lewis.

“They’re pretty great, aren’t they?” Lewis had a goofy smile on his face as he took a drink of his beer. 

“I thought I had the wrong house when I first pulled up outside,” Danny admitted. Lewis laughed at that. 

“Yeah, they’ve quite the green thumb, along with all their other talents, I’m not even sure there’s something they can’t do, to be honest,” he grinned.

“Man, you’re whipped.” Danny sighed. Looking around the kitchen, he could see all of Lewis’s things that he had when he lived with him, but he also saw so many new things, a mug rack now hung on the underside of a cabinet that had some of Lewis’s favorite mugs hanging there and a few others. One had a shakespeare quote on it, another was cow printed, and the bottom was pink with four nubs like a cow's udder, and a few others that he couldn’t see the details of. 

A large Dutch oven sat on the cabinets above the oven, and there was a crockpot on the counter next to a rice cooker that was definitely new to Lewis’s kitchen but was well-loved. 

There was new art on the walls beside the photos of Lewis’s family and the ranch. Photos of race cars and a family photo with each member holding helmets, wearing matching shirts, and two dogs sitting at their feet, another with the same family where each member was sitting on the hood of a car.

There were new magnets on the fridge too, one was a whale shark, which said ‘Atlanta Georgia Aquarium’ on it, another was a star with a small child’s face on it, and there was another that had a Star Wars reference. There were also coasters scattered around that looked like tiny vinyls.

“They really came through here like a hurricane, huh?” Danny said after he finished looking around.

Lewis shrugged, “I like it, they’re stuff complements mine.” 

Danny and Lewis eventually migrated to the living room and were talking there when you finally came out of your hiding spot.

You looked more put together now, your hair was styled, you had on a black crocodile belt, and a pair of maroon slacks that hugged your thighs like a second skin, showing off the muscles that resided there. You also wore a black dress shirt, top three buttons undone, sleeves rolled up to your elbows, and a silver chain around your neck that was glinting in the low light. Your hands were covered in rings, and you had a Snoopy Timex on your left wrist, and your ears were now decked with jewelry. You had a pair of shiny black dress shoes in one hand and your phone in the other. As Danny looked closer, he could see ink on your forearms, and noticed for the first time you were decked in tattoos.

“Hey Lew, I’m not going to be home for dinner, a client called, and now I have this meeting I gotta get to. I’ll see you later when I get home.” You called out, before looking up and seeing them both sitting on the couch.

“You're going to a meeting?” Danny asked as he looked you up and down, his mouth hanging open a little. “You’re dressed like how we do when we walk the red carpet for a movie!”

“Yeah, high-profile client, doing some commission pieces for him.” You answer, walking in further and shoving your phone into your pocket, before running a hand through your hair.

“I don’t know when I’ll be home. He’s hosting a party and wants me there to meet some of his coworkers and investors. I’ll call you if I need anything; my ride should be here soon.” You reach for Lewis’s hand and give it a squeeze before leaving.

masterlist | playlist | part 1 part 2 part 3 part 5 part 6

Lewis puts his phone onto the dash as you plop into the passenger seat, you sigh and throw yours up there as well. He watches as you rest your elbows on your knees and stare at the floorboard for a minute. 

“Ok,” you say after a moment.

“Ok?” he asks in response.

“Yeah, Ok.” You look at him for the first time since you got into the car. “I will move in with you.” Lewis looks like he’s about to start talking, but you hold up a finger to stop him.

“But there are some conditions.” Your tone brooks no argument from him, so he nods and waits for you to continue. 

“First,” you hold up a finger. “I will NOT mooch off your wealth or take any freebies. Therefore, I will not just live with you; I will be paying rent, and you can decide how much that is later. But this is non-negotiable.” Lewis nods, but doesn’t look like he quite agrees with it.

“Second,” you raise a second finger. “You need to be aware that I am not very fond of people, so if you have a ton of people over or something to that effect, give me like a 30-minute warning so I can prepare myself.”

“I understand that.”

“Third,” you raise a third finger. “I know your family is very private about your lives, I ask that you extend that courtesy to me. I have no interest in being a public figure, I don’t want fame, I don’t want your money. I just want to be me, and if that includes being your friend or whatever, great. I respect your boundaries and you respect mine.” Lewis hums low in his throat and nods agreement.

“I think I can do those things, but I want to add something.” He says, “You continue to treat me just like anybody else. Not an Actor or an important Musician, just me, Lewis.” 

“I think you’ve got yourself a deal.” You put out your hand for him to shake, and he does. After that, he starts the truck, and y’all continue on your journey to Lewis’s home.

It’s a week after your initial move-in that you have a slight conundrum, it’s around mid-afternoon, and Lewis was just finishing up a call when you messaged him.

‘Hey, we need to talk when you get the chance.’  He read your message and let you know that he was free now for the rest of the afternoon.

Knocking on his office door, you wait for him to respond, “Come in.” He turns and smiles at you as you open the door and lean on the door frame. “What’s up?” 

“We need to figure out how to get my stuff from my storage unit.” You say.

“Okay, well, where’s your storage unit?” He asks.

“It’s a U-Haul unit in Oklahoma. Got all my shit in there, my piano, my violin and my car to name a few things.” You say as you walk further into his office. 

“I didn’t know you knew how to play violin,” he mused as you stopped in front of him in his desk chair.

“Believe it or not, there are quite a few things you don’t know about me.” You reply.

“Well, we could use a moving service, have them go to your unit, get your stuff, and haul it out here.” He said, as he turned to look one up on his computer. 

“Yeah, that’s where the issue comes up, I don’t think anybody we sent would know how to drive my car…” You trail off at the end of your sentence, and Lewis turns back around to look at you.

“Why wouldn’t someone know how to drive your car?” His gaze was curious as he eyed where you stood, fiddling with your fingers.

“Uhh… becauseitsavintagejapaneseimportedcar.” You said it so fast that he missed the majority of what you said.

“Care to repeat that slower?” He requested.

“Because it’s a vintage Japanese import car.” You repeated, slower, ducking your head down in slight embarrassment.

“You have a vintage import car?” He didn’t seem to believe you.

“Yeah, remember I said I’d been driving since I could sit in a go-kart. That later translated into working on and owning vintage cars. How do you think I made enough money to hitchhike for three months by myself?” You ask, putting your hands on your hips as you stared him down in his seat. He raised his hands in surrender before responding.

“Ok, so what do you suggest doing if we can't do the moving service?”

“I’ll probably call my dad to be honest, get our enclosed trailer, and meet up with him at the storage unit and drive back here with my shit. Then I can ‘officially’ move in.” You state matter-of-factly.

“Sounds like a plan, what do you need from me?” He asked, not seeing where he came into play in this situation.

“I need you to drop me off at the airport in a few days, and not be here when we get there. I know it’s your place and all, but my dad’s really overprotective, and I really don’t want him scaring you off, because then I’ll have to find a new place to live.” You state with a deadpan expression on your face.

“I uh yeah, when do you think you’ll be back?” He asked after checking his calendar for the next week or so.

“I’ll fly out in two days, it’ll be a little over 22 22-hour drive, so maybe two days after that, I can text you when we’re five hours away.” You say as you look at your phone, and then over to him. He nods, and then his phone rings, and you take that as your cue to exit his office and leave him be.

Four days later your unloading all your shit from your dad’s trailer and taking it into the house and putting the various boxes in their designated places, kitchen things in the kitchen, your toiletries in your bathroom, your tool box in the garage, and all your other possessions is going into your room the only thing you don’t know what to do with is your piano. 

So you call Lewis. He picks up after the second ring. “Hey Lew,” you say as you look around the living room.

“Hey, what’s up? How’s unloading going?” he asks.

“Good, only one thing left.” You answer.

“Oh, that’s good, what is it?”

“You wouldn’t be opposed to having a piano in the living room, right?” Your voice is soft as you ask.

“Why don’t you just put it in the studio?” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Um, because the studio is full of the bands equipment, I wouldn’t want to fuck anything up.” Was your answer.

“You wouldn’t fuck anything up.” He laughed, but you weren’t joking. If you somehow broke any of that equipment, you wouldn’t be able to face him ever again.

“Yeah, I don’t know about that, you’ve seen what a clutz I am sometimes,” you mutter.

“Here, how about this, you and your dad can leave it in the living room for now and when I get back, we'll move it to the studio?”

“Ok.”

“Great, see you later, Sweetheart.”

“Bye, Lew.” You sigh as you hang up the phone and shove it into your pocket, before going to the kitchen, where your dad is sitting at the table on his phone.

“We can put it in the living room, but we need to leave it on the furniture dollies.” You state as he looks up from his phone. “I’ll mail them back home to y’all, lord knows no one else is moving anytime soon.”

“When do I get to meet your new roommate?” He asks as he gets up, and y’all both go to get the piano from outside. 

“You likely won’t, they’re busy, and won’t be back for a day or two.” You say as you begin to push the piano into the house and towards the living room. Your dad doesn’t have a response to that, and you both carry on. He leaves an hour later after making sure you had everything, and goes to his hotel for the night before he leaves in the morning.

Lewis comes back home around eight pm to see you in your pajamas dancing around as you pull stuff out of boxes and put them in places around the kitchen. ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’ by Jeff Buckley was playing throughout the house. The lyrics were ringing in his ears as he listened to you sing them.

“My body turns And yearns for a sleep that won't ever come It's never over My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder It's never over All my riches for her smiles When I've slept so soft against her It's never over All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter It's never over She is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever Oh, but maybe I'm just too young To keep good love from going wrong”

You spun around to get a box from near the door when you finally saw him, your smile beaming as your eyes lit up. You turned down the music but didn’t turn it off as you walked over to him, where he leaned against the door frame. He smiled at you as you came to a halt in front of him. He reached out and wrapped his arms around your shoulders and rested his chin on your head, as your arms wrapped around his waist. 

“How was the drive?” He asks, voice quiet.

“Long, but good, Dad’s heading out tomorrow morning.” You murmur against his chest.

“I missed you,” his voice was thick with emotion.

“Hey, I was only gone like three days,” you pull back and put your hands on either side of his face. “What are you going to do when you go on tour, or leave to film? Can’t just put me in your pocket and go with.” You giggle as he pouts at you.

“So where’s this mysterious car you were worried someone wouldn’t be able to drive?” He asked.

“In the garage, you can see it tomorrow. Right now, you have to help me move the piano into the studio.” You say as you pull out of his hold entirely to walk to the living room. 

You both got the piano into the studio successfully without damaging any of the equipment, but it was significantly more difficult than either of you thought it would be and took a whole hour; you both collapsed into a heap onto the couch after.

Over the following weeks, you and Lewis got to know each other more. You learned about how went to college to be a social worker, and he learned that you went to trade school and had a shit ton of certifications in different fields, so you could do odd jobs while you traveled. You both continued to bond over music, with him being the drummer for his band, and you as a ‘classically’ trained musician. 

During those weeks, your stuff had started to appear all over the house, goofy mugs sat on the drying rack by the sink, and in the cabinets, books of various genres littered bookshelves, and at least 2 of your blankets could be found in the living room, car parts were sitting in boxes in the garage waiting to be installed either onto your car or his truck, and sheet music could be found on almost any flat surface within the house. Your jackets and shoes had made homes in his entryway. And the number of plants around the home had skyrocketed.

~ 

Danny wasn’t sure he had the right house when he pulled up; the porch had a significantly larger number of potted plants than he remembered from his time living with Lewis. The garage door was open, and he could see a wicked-looking car inside that he didn’t think Lewis could ever justify buying for himself. But he double-checked the address, and it was Lewis’s house, and it was the day they had planned to meet up.

Lewis had told him that he could come straight in when he got there, and he did have his own key after all. He paused at the front door. He could hear music playing throughout the house, and he was sure that if he did have to knock, whoever was inside wouldn’t have been able to hear it. Unlocking the door, he was greeted by the smell of food coming from the kitchen and the sound of singing, which wasn’t Lewis's.

“Hey Lewis, I’m here!” He yelled into the house as he was taking his shoes off, before heading towards the kitchen. When Danny walked into the kitchen, he wasn’t expecting to see you at the dining table, in what appeared to be one of Lewis’s shirts and a pair of pants covered in paint. You were on a laptop and had a notebook next to you, and were chewing on the end of a pencil as you stared at the screen in front of you.

“Lew’s in his office,” you say, jamming a finger in that direction without looking up from your laptop. “Tell him lunch is almost ready and if he wants some he needs to get his butt out here in the next five minutes.” You add before you scribble something down in your notebook. Before you stand, crack your back and pick up your things, and leave the kitchen.

Danny was not expecting that to be how you would act, but he still wasn’t even sure who you were, and you left before he could even get a word in. Deciding to find Lewis, he goes to his office and knocks on the door. Lewis opens the door and up seeing Danny, smiles brightly.

“Hey man,” He pulls Danny into a hug.

“There was a random person in your kitchen who told me to tell you, quote unquote ‘lunch is almost ready and if he wants some he needs to get his butt out here in the next five minutes.’” Danny said after they separated.

“That’s my supposed stray I picked up a month ago.” Lewis laughed and started for the kitchen.

“Wait, they’re actually living with you?” Danny asked incredulously.

“Uh, yeah. Moved in officially like a week and a half after we got back.” Lewis answered. 

When they reached the kitchen, the music had been turned down, and you were pulling something out of the oven. It smelled even better than it did earlier. You set down the lasagna on a marble slab in the middle of the dining table, which had been set for three people. Once your hands were empty, Lewis decided to introduce you both.

“Danny, this is the stray,” He says, gesturing to you, “Sweetheart, this is Danny Ramirez.” You stick out your hand to shake Danny’s.

“Nice to meet you, Danny. Lew’s been singing your praises the past few days.” You say voice fond as you glance at Lewis.

“Nice to meet you as well, though I haven’t heard as much about you, I’m afraid,” Danny says as you release his hand and move to sit down. 

“Not surprising, I’ve asked Lewis to keep me under wraps, people aren’t my forte.” You reply.

“That explains why I haven’t heard about you since that first phone call,” Danny says, sitting across from you at the table. At the mention of the phone call, you shoot a look towards Lewis as he goes to grab drinks, you can see that his ears are slightly pink, from where you are sitting.

“I wasn’t aware that Lewis had told anyone besides the band that I was living with him.” Your tone was curious as you looked back over to Danny.

“Haha,” Lewis gave an awkward laugh as he sat down. “Well, it was before you actually agreed you’d stay. “ Lewis muttered.

“Oh, so that’s who you were talking to before I came back to the truck. Gotcha.” Was your response.

masterlist | playlist | part 1 part 2 part 4 part 5 part 6

Lewis still had hold of your hand as he pushed out the door of the diner into the pouring rain and toward his truck, completely ignoring your outburst. Once you were both settled in the vehicle, him in the driver's seat and you in the passenger seat, you turned to face him, a grave expression on your face, as you took in his facial features more acutely. He was attractive, but you knew that already, his eyes that dark, stormy blue. After staring at his face for so long, he started to flush and look sheepish, and that's when you started to recognise him for seemingly the first time since you met him earlier in the day. 

Lewis watched as astonishment and realisation started to fill your expression, until you were openly gaping at him. “Holy shit,” it was a whisper, hardly sounded like you meant to say it at all and then louder “Holy shit, sweet baby jesus…” Your swearing continued for a solid two minutes, your head was in your hands as your elbows rested on your knees, and you looked like you were contemplating your whole existence. 

Lewis was very amused, watching you have a slight existential crisis in the passenger seat of his Tacoma. After a minute of watching you contemplate, he put his key in the ignition and started the car, before putting in an address into the navigation. “Buckle up,” he muttered as he started to put on his seatbelt.

The rumble of the engine and his speaking seemed to break you out of your downward spiral. “Oh my fucking lord, I’m living every sixteen year olds dream right now,” your voice was a murmur as you went through the motions of buckling up and plugging in your phone to charge. “It makes so much sense why that waitress was flirting with you.” He laughed, the one where he sounded like he was in pain, as he started to reverse out of his parking spot before turning onto the road.

“Thank you, by the way, for asking me what song you should turn on. Saved me the trouble of telling her I wasn’t interested,” he spoke, eyes now focused on the road.

“Oh, you’re welcome, you seemed uncomfortable, just thought you could use an out of the conversation, she clearly couldn’t take a hint,” you reply as you go to grab a book out of your bag to read while he drives. 

The conversations dwindled from there; it wasn’t quite silence, the navigation gave directions here and there, and there was some quiet contemporary music playing in the background. It was far from awkward; you were both content to share the space as you both embarked on a journey.

At some point, you had fallen asleep, and you were woken up by Lewis, who had stopped at a gas station to refill the tank and get some food. 

“Hey, sleepy head,” He smiled at you as you opened your eyes. It was bright now, but the sun wasn’t high in the sky yet, meaning it was still before noon. “Thought you might want to get something to eat and to maybe use the restroom before we continue on.”

“Well, aren’t you a gentleman?” You let out a quiet yawn as you stretched your arms above your head. You get out of the car to take care of business and to grab some food. Looking at the sign, you saw he had stopped at a 7/11, it looked to be one of the less-shitty ones that you had seen throughout your time hitchhiking. 

After using the restroom and refilling your water bottle and grabbing some of the shitty gas station food you walk back over to the truck. Lewis had just finished pumping the gas when you walked up. “You need me to drive the next leg?” You ask as he turns to look at you before wiping his hands on his pants. “No offence, but you look dead on your feet.”

“Do you even know how to drive?” His voice had a teasing lilt to it as he watched your expression change from a smile to affronted.

“I’ll have you know I’ve been driving since I could sit in a go-kart.” You put your finger to his chest in an accusing manner before pushing slightly, and he rocked back onto his heels as he raised his hands in surrender.

“Ok, ok, I believe you.” He digs the keys out of his pocket to hand them to you, “I’ll be back in just a moment.” With that, he heads toward the entrance of the gas station, and you go around to the driver's seat. When you get in, you put the key in the ignition and adjust the seat to your height. You put on a ball cap, from inside his truck, not really paying attention to which one. So you don't have to deal with your hair. You connect to the truck's Bluetooth and turn on ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ by Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim. You’re singing along when Lewis opens the passenger door. 

“Tall and tan and young and lovely The girl from Ipanema goes walking And when she passes, each one she passes goes "aah" When she walks, she's like a samba That swings so cool and sways so gentle that When she passes, each one she passes goes "ooh" Ooh, but I watch her so sadly How can I tell her I love her? Yes I would give my heart gladly But each day, when she walks to the sea She looks straight ahead, not at me”

You smile at him and pause the music, and look towards him as he settles into the passenger seat. He turns to look at you after finally settling, and he sees the hat that you're wearing and cracks a large grin. 

“Are you wearing my hat?” he asks.

“I mean, I just grabbed one from in here,” you gesture to the interior of the truck. “I assume it's your hat. I didn’t want to get mine from my bag.” You say as you take the hat off to look at it. It was one of his Mack truck hats that had a bulldog on it, you smile to yourself before putting it back on your head, and giving him a smirk and a wink before you turn the music back on and pull out of the gas station lot. 

You continue to sing softly under your breath as you drive. After maybe 30 minutes of doing whatever on his phone, Lewis falls asleep.

It isn’t until a few hours later that he wakes up, you don’t notice whats so ever, still singing under your breath as you tap along to the beat of the song playing. That’s when he noticed the song playing for the first time, ‘A Dog’s Adventure’.

“Dance, feels like another life Go through days to see only black and white Take me to gold trees out the windows Like me 'cause I like you Let's watch water turn blue We're just dogs out in the street, ooh”

He couldn’t help but admire you in all your chaotic beauty. You still wore his hat, covering your sleep-mussed hair, and at some point during his nap found a pair of his golf oakley’s that looked a touch too big for your face. You were still in the clothes you were wearing at the diner, but you had shed a layer or two since then, now just in a faded t-shirt covered in oil stains and a pair of jeans that had loads of paint stains on them and cowboy boots. The light from the afternoon sun was hitting your face in a way that made your skin glow, and reflected in your eyes that he could faintly see them through the sunglasses.

When you finally noticed he was awake, it was just after the song had ended, you sent a beaming smile in his direction, and reached out to pause the next song before it even really started.

“Hey, how was your nap?” You grab a water bottle out of one of the cup holders and hold it towards him. “You were sleeping like a log, tried to wake you up earlier when I stopped to refill the tank, you didn’t so much as move a muscle.” He took the water bottle from you, and you moved your hand back to resting on the bottom of the steering wheel.

“What song were you listing to just a moment ago?” He asked acting oblivious as he took a swig from the bottle.

“Oh, did you enjoy it? It’s called ‘A Dog’s Adventure’, it’s by an indie band called Atta Boy. I’m going to one of their shows in September.” You reply, completely oblivious to his scheming as he hides a smirk behind another swig of his water bottle.

“They haven’t released much music, but I think the quality of their music makes up for it.” You say with a smile, the compliment so genuine, he almost didn’t have the heart to break the news to you.

“Do you know who wrote the song?” He was trying so hard to suppress his smile. You looked over at him with a look that said ‘Of course I do’.

“Yeah, their drummer wrote it while they were still in high school.” He was impressed but also so confounded by you, still not putting the pieces together. “Ya’ know his name's Lewis, too. I never really bothered learning their last names. He was a cute kid. I found the video online, back when I still lived with my parents. Glasses, a little bit of baby fat in his cheeks.” 

Lewis couldn’t believe what he was hearing, you still didn’t realise that he was the very quote unquote kid you were describing.

“Sweetheart…” He said with an exasperated sigh.

“Huh? What? Why are you calling me Sweetheart all a sudden?” You gave him a glance, your eyes held confusion as you looked towards him. He gave you a look. “No. Don’t you dare!” You jab a finger towards him. “I am driving. Do not give me that look. I don’t think I can handle you dropping a bomb like that while I’m driving. We’re putting a pin in this, and we can continue at the next stop.” Your words were final, and you punctuated the end of the conversation by turning the music back on and turning up the volume. ‘Linger’ by The Cranberries is now playing through the truck's speakers.

An hour later, you pull into a parking spot at a rest stop. You roll the windows down slightly before turning off the truck and taking the keys out of the ignition, and stuffing them into your pocket.

Turning to Lewis, you look at him as you take his sunglasses off your face to rest them on the bill of the hat you wore. You cross your arms over your chest as he also turns to face you, resting his arms on the center console, looking very amused. 

During the hour after he woke up and you arriving at the rest stop two more songs by Atta Boy had cycled through your playlist and each time he’d get a smug expression on his face, that slightly made you want to smack him on the shoulder. 

You gather all your mental strength as you prepare yourself for the question you’re about to ask him. “Are you the drummer for the band Atta Boy?” He nods his head, a grin starting to stretch across his face. “And you're also the same guy who played Bob in Top Gun?” He nodded again, his grin now like a cheshire cat, as a mortified expression overcame your face. 

“I’m such a fucking idiot, how the hell did I not recognise you?” Your voice started soft. “I mean come on your fucking GORGEOUS! What the fuck is wrong with me?” Your voice grew louder the longer you questioned the usefulness of your brain.

“It was quite endearing hearing your unfiltered opinion about my band, and you not knowing who I was when we met,” Lewis interjected. You looked at him with a look of renewed embarrassment.

“I talked about how cute you looked as a high schooler. I said that to your face. I never thought I’d actually meet you. Lord knows I’m just as delusional as the next person. But hell, I somehow ended up in your car." You pause, "Oh my god, I’ve been driving you around for the past seven hours. I need a walk.” With that being the end of your rant you grabbed his keys out of your pocket set them on the center console near where he was resting his arms and then proceeded to what could only be hurling yourself out of the truck like your ass was on fire.

Lewis just looked from where you were once sitting to where you were now pacing around the rest stop through the windshield. Deciding it was probably better to let you figure out your feelings, he went through the motions of a rest stop break, restroom, brief walk, snack, and getting water. You were still pacing when he got back to the truck, but you now had your phone held up to your ear and seemed to be talking to someone on the phone, your other hand was making dramatic motions as you wore a hole into the ground from your pacing.

Getting his own phone out he called Danny, it rang once before he picked up. “Hey man what’s up?” Danny asked through the line.

“I might have made a spontaneous decision that may affect me for the rest of my life.” Lewis said his voice not hiding his amusement.

“What did you get a tattoo or something on your drive back to Cali?” He could hear the smile in Danny’s voice.

“Or Something…” Lewis trailed off as he looked at you still on the phone, your expression exasperated, you still had his hat and sunglasses on, the sunglasses were sliding down the bridge of your nose slightly, and you had since turned the cap backwards.

“Whoa, what did you do? You didn’t like shave your head right, like Sebastian, your designer would be so pissed if you did that, hell I’d be mad if you did that, your hair is amazing man.”

“I met someone.” Lewis said his voice fond.

“You met someone… Is this like a ‘Lewis Pullman Movie Star’ met someone, or a Lewis ‘Let me be’ met someone?” Danny asked, his voice was inquisitive and slightly cautious.

“Both, you’ll get to meet ‘em when you visit next month. Hopefully,” he tacked on at the end as he watched you put your phone into your pocket and plop yourself onto the ground a moment later.

“Meet them? Are you taking them home like they’re a stray?” Danny asked voice incredulous. “Did you pick someone up off the street?”

Lewis seemed to finally start feeling sheepish, “Maybe?”

“Maybe what do you mean ‘Maybe?’ What does that mean? Did you really pick someone off the side of a street and decide they needed to come with you? I know you have a heart of gold, but they could be a serial killer!” Danny seemed extremely concerned now.

“They’re not gonna kill me,” Lewis said when he saw you start approaching the truck again. “Anyway, I gotta go talk later. Bye.” And with that, he ended the call just as you got into the passenger seat.

masterlist | playlist | part 1 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6

You were sitting in a booth in a small 24-hour diner in the outskirts of a little town you couldn’t remember the name of, in the middle of nowhere. You had a shake in front of you, half finished, and a pile of unfinished fries on a plate, soaking up the remnants of grease that fell from your burger while you were eating earlier. 

The diner was mostly empty, a few people here and there, an older man sat at the bar top, he was stout, his face round and covered in sunspots and wrinkles that showed his age, he wore an old Carhartt coat over a flannel, with jeans and a pair of work boots caked in mud. There were a few teenagers in a booth farther down, who seemed to have just left a party: three girls and two boys. One of the girls looked to be about 18. She had mid-length, wavy brown hair, wore a purple Henley, a coat over it, and a pair of jeans with boots. Another looked about 17 or 18, her hair braided and resting on her shoulder. She wore a cable knit sweater and a long denim skirt with fluffy socks and chunky tennis shoes. The last girl looked to be the youngest and the least thrilled to be there, she had an aviator coat on over an old faded band tee, with baggy jeans, and tennis shoes. The boys were both dressed similarly in t-shirts with a flannel and a coat over top, and denim jeans and work boots. One was tall, possibly 6 feet, with dark skin and dimples. The other was about 5 feet 9 inches, with shaggy brown hair.

There were two waitresses whom you had seen, and presumably at least one cook in the kitchen; both were polite, considering it was well past midnight, and they were working the red eye shift. One was older, looked to be around her mid to late forties, with streaks of grey in her hair that were noticeable even pulled back into her bun, frail, with a stern face and crow's feet. The younger one was petite, her hair a dark auburn, and hanging in a braid down her back as she bounced around the diner when she was needed.

The diner itself was old and did not appear as though it had been redecorated since the late 80s, with black and white checkered floors, with cracking red vinyl booths, and chairs. The tables were scuffed stainless steel with rickety feet that made them move if you put too much weight on them.  The walls were painted white, but you could hardly see them from under all the posters of old music stars and various license plates that hung from the walls. The windows had neon signs in them, an open one hanging above one of the doors, and one that said ‘24 hour breakfast’ in bold lettering, another stating that they had fried pies. There was a juke box in the corner that was playing various artists as it shuffled from one song to another. It smelled like old coffee and fried oil.

Turning back to take a drink of your shake, you grab a map from your bag to see if there are any motels nearby that you could stay in, or at least charge your phone. You were still looking for a motel when you heard the sound of an engine shutting off faintly before the bell over the door to the diner rang, and in walked a new stranger. He was about your age, tall, with light brown hair that curled around his ears from underneath his ball cap, wearing a sweatshirt, and denim jacket, and khaki Carhartt work pants and cowboy boots. You noticed he looked slightly wet. Turning outside, you see that it has started to rain, and then a huge crack of thunder is heard overhead, and then the real downpour starts.

“Oh for the love of…” You curse as you see how hard it's coming down. “How the hell am I going to get anywhere now?” You mumble to yourself, shoving your face into your hands as you groan. 

The teenagers, seeing how hard the rain was starting to come down, decided it was time to head out. They waved over the younger waitress and paid their bill, and walked out the door and clambered into a Toyota 4Runner parked in the lot. The old man was next to leave, paying his bill and getting into a beat-up old Ford F-150. 

It was just you and the guy; he was sitting at the bar to the right of where you were sitting in your booth, looking over the menu. The younger waitress goes over to him, and he orders a breakfast plate and some coffee.

The older waitress comes to your table, “Need anything else, dearie?” She asks as she starts to pick up your plate of fries and your now empty shake glass.

“Yeah, how close is the nearest motel from here?” You request as you hand her some bills for your check.

“Oh,” she ponders as she takes the money, “The closest motel isn’t for at least 50 miles east of here.”

“Son of a bitch.” You curse after hearing the distance. “Uh, sorry.” You apologized to her as she looked at you in shock at your outburst. The guy at the bar just slightly turned to look at you from the corner of his eye, before his food was placed in front of him. 

The older waitress had gone and taken your dishes to the back and had placed your cash on your table with a receipt, when you sighed and dramatically let your head thunk against the table. “This is just fucking great. Stuck in the middle of bumfuck nowhere with nothing but whats on my person.” You start to periodically thunk your head on the table now and then just to remind yourself how stupid of an idea it was to hitchhike around the country. You can hear the younger waitress trying to make conversation with the guy at the bar as he eats his food, but he doesn’t seem to be paying her any mind as he barely answers any of her questions. 

Deciding to give your head a break from smacking it against the table, you grab some change and go put something you enjoy on the jukebox, seeing as you’ll be stuck in the diner till the rain lets up. Walking up to the jukebox, you look over your options and try to decide between ‘American Pie’ by Don McLean or ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’ by Thin Lizzy. 

“Hey Stranger!” You hollered to the guy at the bar, he turns toward you and you make eye contact, his eyes are deep blue, and look almost as if they held a storm within them. “Pick a number, one or two.” You say, holding up a corresponding finger for each number. His expression was quizzical as he continued to look you in your eyes.

He pondered for a moment and let out a low hum before answering, “One.” His voice was deep a low timber that made you forget for a moment that he was responding to your inquiry. Shaking your head, you turn back to the jukebox and input the numbers for ‘American Pie’. Soon, you heard the opening lyrics and the opening chords.

“A long, long time ago I can still remember how that music Used to make me smile And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And maybe they'd be happy for a while”

Hearing the rhythm and the familiar lyrics wash over the diner with the cracks of thunder in the background and pounding of rain on the roof of the old diner, you start to sway and sing softly along with the music, now completely lost in your own world as the music takes over. When the second verse started, you opened your eyes and looked over towards the stranger as you sang along with Don.

“Did you write the book of love? And do you have faith in God above If the Bible tells you so? Now, do you believe in rock 'n' roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance real slow? Well, I know that you're in love with him 'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym You both kicked off your shoes Man, I dig those rhythm and blues I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck With a pink carnation and a pickup truck But I knew I was out of luck The day the music died”

The stranger had a look in his eye that you couldn’t recognize as he sang the chorus with you.

“I started singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye And singin', ‘This'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die’ ”

He stood up and started to make his way over to you, his food and the waitress long forgotten.

“Now, for ten years we've been on our own And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone But that's not how it used to be When the jester sang for the king and queen In a coat he borrowed from James Dean And a voice that came from you and me Oh, and while the king was looking down The jester stole his thorny crown The courtroom was adjourned No verdict was returned And while Lenin read a book on Marx The quartet practiced in the park And we sang dirges in the dark The day the music died”

Standing in front of you, he started to sway with you to the beat, his head tilted down towards you, and a heavy glint in his eye as he sang and danced with you. Your mind still wrapped up in the music, you didn’t question why this very attractive stranger was suddenly very interested in what you were doing. You continued to sing your heart out along to the music and started rocking and stepping with the sway, your hands moving into the air.

“We were singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye And singin', ‘This'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die’ ”

It continued with you and him dancing around in that small corner of the diner, the rest of the world long forgotten, and you both drunk on the music. His hands had found their way around your waist, and he hooked his thumbs into the belt loops as you continued to sing.

“Helter skelter in a summer swelter The birds flew off with a fallout shelter Eight miles high and fallin' fast It landed foul on the grass The players tried for a forward pass With the jester on the sidelines in a cast Now, the halftime air was sweet perfume While sergeants played a marching tune We all got up to dance Oh, but we never got the chance 'Cause the players tried to take the field The marching band refused to yield Do you recall what was revealed The day the music died? We started singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singin', ‘This'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die’ “

He picked up the next verse, his voice low as though he was singing just for you to hear, as he continued to sway.

“Oh, and there we were all in one place A generation lost in space With no time left to start again So, come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Jack Flash sat on a candlestick 'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend Oh, and as I watched him on the stage My hands were clenched in fists of rage No angel born in Hell Could break that Satan spell And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw Satan laughing with delight The day the music died”

He had a smile on his face, it was small, nothing big and fake, but something that seemed so genuine. Your eyes closed after seeing it as you wrapped your arms tighter around his shoulders, now both standing significantly closer together, voices low but still loud enough for you both to hear.

“He was singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singin', ‘This'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die’ “

You sing the chorus once more as he leans to place his forehead against yours.

“I met a girl who sang the blues And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away I went down to the sacred store Where I'd heard the music years before But the man there said the music wouldn't play And in the streets, the children screamed The lovers cried and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken And the three men I admire most The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost They caught the last train for the coast The day the music died”

His eyes had closed as he now seemed fully relaxed, singing with his heart on his sleeve. Both of your voices were low, and you finished the rest of the lyrics.

“And they were singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singin', ‘This'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die’ “ They were singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singin', ‘This'll be the day that I die’ “

Once the song finished, you were slightly out of breath and leaning against one another, and it seemed as though you both had known each other for years before this moment. He huffed out a small laugh, his forehead still pressed to yours, you felt his breath fan you face as he shifted his hands from your hips, unhooking his thumbs from your belt loops to wrap them around your lower back, and moving his head to rest on top of yours as he lightly hugged you. Your arms had moved from around his neck to wrap around his midsection as you rested your head against his chest, listening to his breathing and the beating of his heart. You both stayed like that for a little over a minute before he started to pull away. You let go and feel your arms drop back down to your sides as he placed his into the pockets of his coat.

“Hi,” He said after a moment of you both looking at each other and digesting what just happened.

“Hi.” You say your voice hushed as realisation started to crash over you as to what you and this man had just done. The music had consumed you so wholly that you just adhered yourself to this man almost as soon as he had come up to you. You could feel the heat moving up your neck and resting high on your cheeks and the tips of your ears as you darted your head down to try and hide your embarrassment at your actions. The man, who you still had no idea as to what his name was, placed a finger under your chin and tilted your head back up, so he could see your face. You noticed his face seemed to mirror your own in the sense that he was also heavily flushed from the events that had just transpired.

“Why don’t you and I talk while I finish my food?” He asked, his voice gentle, as he removed his finger from under your chin. You nod, too afraid your voice would crack if you tried to speak. He turned to go back to his spot at the bar, as you scamper over to where your bag sits in the booth you previously occupied. Once you had your bag in hand and you double checked you had everything, you walked over to where he sat at the bar, and placed your bag against the base of the stool, as you sat down and turned to face him.

He had somehow finished his food in the time frame between you getting your stuff and him coming back over; now all he had left was a mug of coffee. He had his left arm propped up on the counter, and he was turned to face you, where you sat to his right. Sticking out his hand, he introduced himself, “I’m Lewis.”

You take his hand in yours and give him a polite but firm handshake, and you also introduce yourself. He gives your hand a slight squeeze before he drops it, his attention fully on you. “So what are you doing out here?”

“I’ve been traveling for a few months, going from place to place. This is where my last ride decided to drop me off before going on their way.” You reply, your tone light, as you start to fiddle with a thread on your sleeve. “What about you? What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?” You question.

“I’m headed home, just finished a job, and didn’t want to fly, so I figured I’d take the scenic route.”

“This is the scenic route?” You laugh, “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but this is probably one of the least scenic areas in all of the states.” He laughs at your statement, it’s a genuine laugh. You like it, he kinda sounds like he’s in pain, but he has this smile on his face that shows he’s not in any physical pain whatsoever.

“You’re right, but hey, if I didn’t go this way, I wouldn’t have met you.” He was still smiling, and his cheeks were slightly flushed again. “You look so delighted when you’re immersed in music.” He voices as he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, then he rests his hand there.

Leaning into his hand, you respond, “So do you. Music is one of life's greatest gifts, expressing yourself and your thoughts in a form that others can enjoy, while having an outlet for your emotions, it’s exhilarating.”

“I don’t think there’s a better way to put it.” He murmurs. 

You both continue to talk for quite some time, everything going by in a blur as you share experiences and stories of how music has affected your life. The moment fades when he gets a call, he stands as he grabs his phone and puts it to his ear, and he walks over to another area of the diner. When he comes back over to where you were sitting, he looks disappointed.

“I have to head out, something came up at home and I’m needed home sooner than anticipated.” He stood in front of you as he reached for your hand to fiddle with your fingers. 

“I enjoyed talking with you, and would love if we could continue to keep having these conversations.” 

“Lewis, I would love to keep having these conversations, but I’m not sure how reliable I’d be with a steady form of communication right now.” He looked so dejected at what you said as though you’d sucker punched him in the gut. “It’s not that I wouldn't love to communicate, it’s just that my phone is almost always dead, and I’ve been hitchhiking for the past three months. I don’t even know when I’ll be back home.”

He looked at you for a moment, and then it was like a light bulb turned on in his head; his eyes lit up so much. “Come with me. I’ve got room, my truck is big enough for us both, and I have a spare room in my house that's not being used for anything.” He looked like a golden retriever in that moment.

“Are you sure? Lewis, you’ve only known me for a few hours, and you’re inviting me to move in with you?” You gave him an incredulous look. He nodded so enthusiastically, you thought his head was about to detach from his neck.

“Of course I’m sure. You’re one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met.” He grabbed your hand as you stood from the stool and picked up your bag. Once you reached the door leading out of the diner, he dropped a bomb you weren’t prepared for. “Plus, you don’t care that I’m famous.” He said it nonchalantly, and you froze for a second, and then did a double-take.

“I beg your finest pardon!”

masterlist | playlist | part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6

Everyone had started making their plates for lunch as you and Bob started to sort through what everyone brought. Nat brought hard seltzers and brownies. Payback brought a salad and a variety of dressings, and Sprite. Fanboy brought some homemade salsa and tres leches cake, along with some Mexican Cokes. Coyote brought oven-baked Mac ‘n cheese and fruit salad. Hangman brought ribs, banana pudding, and beer. Maverick, Penny, and Amelia brought a nice bottle of wine and sparkling grape juice for the girls so they wouldn’t feel left out later. Rooster brought sugar cookies from the grocery store and various snack foods.

After finishing sorting the rest of the food and drinks, Bob goes to help Riley make her plate, and you move to turn music on, the first song being Pink Floyd’s ‘Time’ from the Dark Side of the Moon album. Before moving back into the kitchen to make you a plate, grab some ribs, smoked sausage, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, chips, and ranch dip before heading out to the back patio.

Everyone had lots of food on their plates and had started eating before you had sat down. “This is some bomb food, Mrs. Floyd. I mean, I knew the food you made was good from how Bob’s always melting into his seat at lunch, but this is on a whole other level.” Fanboy said as he took a bite out of his burger.

“Thank you, Mickey,” you say as you start to eat food off your plate.

“So, I know everyone wants to know, how did you two meet?” Hangman asked as he looked between you and Bob.

“Well, it's kind of silly.” You say, making eye contact with Bob as you move to take a sip of your drink.

“It was back when I still rode broncos in rodeos. After I graduated from high school and before I enlisted in the Navy.” He said, picking at his food.

“Wait, you actually rode broncos?” Coyote asked, his face showing his disbelief.

“Hell yes he did, damn good at it too.” You exclaim as you scoop up some mac and cheese onto your fork. “That rodeo buckle I wore the first night at the hard deck was the one he got the night we met.” 

Hangman looked so surprised, “You won at a rodeo? I’ve been to many a rodeo; those broncos are brutal.” 

“I’d been riding my whole life, I was raised on a ranch, you know,” Bob said, turning to wipe some food off Riley’s face.

“Wait, what were you doing at the rodeo?” Maverick asked as he looked at you.

“I was there looking for work. I needed a job after high school, and I’d been going to and from ranches for as long as I could remember, so it was almost a no-brainer to try and get a job that dealt with livestock.” Turning to look at Bob, you continue to speak. “My grandparents had horses when my mama was growing up; she had always ridden, and even though we didn’t live in a rural area. I was taught when I was younger, and often spent time in the barns tending the animals.”

“I saw her when she was riding one of the mechanical bulls there -” “I’d never ridden a real bull, mind you.” You interjected as Bob mentioned the mechanical bull.

“Anyway, she was the only one who could stay on longer than anybody else. She was intimidating as shit back then.”

“Back then?” Nat asked incredulously, “She’s intimidating now.”

“NO, well, yes, you are still very intimidating,” Bob fumbled as he looked from Phoenix to you. He smiled at you before continuing with the story.

“I’d never seen anybody like her before. All the women in my life, while very strong in their own ways, were always soft in comparison to my wife. None of the girls I went to school with wanted to deal with hard labour, they would rather watcha movie, paint their nails, or do their hair and makeup.” He said, looking at you with adoration.

“Granted, I didn’t want to do that forever, example A, my life now,” You say, gesturing around you to your house and towards Riley.

“She was beautiful, and as she mentioned, looking for work. My dad hired her to help out on the ranch. We met her first day when I walked up on her changing into her work clothes behind our barn.” He huffed a laugh at the memory.

“We worked together for months before I worked up the nerve to ask her out. Then I enlisted in the Navy, and she went back to her hometown for college,” he said before shoveling some food into his mouth.

“We wrote letters to each other like total dorks and met up frequently while he was on leave. When we found out I was pregnant with Riley, we got married, and he took a few months off to help me with Riley after she was born, and then he got stationed at Lemoore, and we lived out there until we came here for the special detachment.” You say, looking around at everyone, and then your gaze landed on Riley. 

“Wait, so Bob, did you marry your first love?” Payback asked.

“No, I’d dated other people during high school,” Bob answered like that was obvious.

“What about you, Mrs. Floyd?” Penny asked as she spoke up.

“Me? No, actually, when we first met,” you start pointing between yourself and Bob, “I was at that rodeo with my girlfriend. We broke up shortly after I started working at the Floyd family ranch.” You say with a deadpan expression on your face. A few members of the squad looked shocked at your mentioning of a girlfriend, namely Payback and Coyote.

Rooster just huffed out through his nose, “I knew you were fruity somehow.” He said, pointing at you.

“You don’t get to call anybody fruity while you and Hangman dance around each other the way you have been, for as long as I’ve heard about you.” You point your fork at him with an eyebrow raised. Rooster raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Whoa, what did I do? I haven’t said anything.” Hangman asked, giving a brief glare in Rooster's direction, for somehow bringing the attention to their situation. You just gave him a pointed look.

“Mama?” Riley came to stand in front of you. “Can I have some dessert? And can Amelia and I go play games in the living room after?” She asks, her eyes were big, and she was giving you that look that you cannot deny.

“Sure, Bug, what do you want?” You ask as you stand and pick her up as you walk into the house. Yours and hers conversation fades out as you go inside.

Amelia went inside briefly after you and Riley. She had a vague idea as to what the team was going to start pestering Bob about and didn’t feel inclined to listen.

“So you got her pregnant before you married her?” Fanboy wiggled his eyebrows at Bob as he asked what everyone was thinking.

“Okay, do not say it like that, we were planning on having a kid, and we were both prepared for everything that could happen, plus it’s not like we had her when we were teenagers. We just so happened to have her before we got married.” Bob explained after sighing like his friends were his kids instead of his child, who was with you getting dessert inside. 

The day of the much-awaited cookout has finally arrived, and the Floyd household is buzzing with anticipation and subdued chaos as the final touches are being made throughout the home.

“BOB, please make sure everything is ready in the back!” You yell out to your husband as you put the last of the food onto the island in the kitchen. “Riley, sweety, can you please make sure all the board games are in the living room?” You say, turning to your daughter.

“Sure thing, Mama!” She chirps brightly before skipping that way.

“Okay, so I have humus, ranch dip, crackers, veggies for the dip, grilled veg for burgers, buns, cheese, charcuterie board, corn on the cob, condiments, and the burgers are out by the grill, along with the hot dogs and sausages, ok,” mumbling to yourself as you go through the mental checklist of food, “What am I missing?” you mutter looking at the spread before you.

“Mama, can I have some pretzels?” Riley asks, appearing at your side, both Nuggs and Beans with her.

“That's it! Chips.” Turning to Riley, you pick her up as you place a kiss on her cheek. “Yes, you may, my dear.” Opening the pantry door, you set her down and reach for the pretzels to give her, before facing the chip collection on the shelf. You grab almost every chip bag from the pantry, having no idea what the team might want.

Phoenix was the first to arrive, which wasn’t surprising, seeing as she had babysat for you and Bob before, she came right in as you finished putting the chips on the counter.

“Auntie Nat!” Riley squealed as she saw Phoenix enter the kitchen. Phoenix was holding a bag, and she put it on the counter before squatting down to hug Riley.

“Hey mini Floyd,” she said, hugging her close before standing up with her in her arms. “Man, you’re getting big, soon I won’t be able to call you mini Floyd,” she remarked while feigning a stagger from Riley’s weight.

“I’ve grown 2 ½ inches!” Riley exclaimed to Phoenix while she beamed at her.

“Hey, Mama Floyd, there’s some dessert and some seltzers in there for later,” Phoenix said as she nodded towards the bag she placed on the counter. “Where’s Bobby boy at?” she asks as she swivels around. As though he were summoned, Bob entered the kitchen at that moment.

“Ah, there he is.”

“Huh, what?” He looked up from his phone, hearing Phoenix’s voice. “Hey Nat,” He smiled as he walked over to sit on one of the stools at the island. “Hangman just texted to let us know he’s gonna be here soon, as well as Coyote, Payback, and Fanboy. I think Rooster is coming with Mav and them.” He says as he dips a chip into the ranch dip. “Hey, Hun, you forgot the pickles.” 

You turn around from where you were putting seltzers into the fridge “Oh shit,” you say, turning back to the fridge and grabbing the jar from door “There we go. Anything else?”

Bob looks at the clock on the oven. “No, but I think you might want to start grilling the meat soon.” He said, putting another chip in his mouth. You look at your watch and then start heading to the back door.

“You need any help?” Phoenix asks.

“Yeah, that’d be great. Bob, you’re on door greater duty.” You say, pointing at him as you back away. “No pouting!” You shout after stepping outside. Phoenix rises to follow you, taking Riley with her. Bob just stares at the space you both were occupying just a moment before.

~

Hangman wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he imagined you and Bob’s house, but it wasn’t a 2 story, almost cookie-cutter house, with a pickup in the driveway. He could see Phoenix’s car parked next to the truck in the driveway. There were plants all over the front porch, along with a porch swing and some rocking chairs. Walking up to the front door, he could see into what appeared to be a living room through a window, which looked significantly cozier than the exterior of the home. Just as he was about to knock, he heard some chattering behind him. 

“Hey Hangman,” Coyote called as he jogged to catch up with him at the door. Behind him, Payback and Fanboy were talking while walking up, their hands full of stuff.

“Wassup, guys!” Fanboy said once they reached the door. Before anyone could respond, they all jumped as barking was heard from within the house, followed by some light scolding as the barking died down and the front door opened.

“Welcome, everyone,” Bob said as he opened the door wider to let everyone in, and saw two dogs go through a dog door at the end of the hallway. The entryway had a bench pushed along the edge of the stairs that had Bob’s workbag and dog leashes, and harnesses on it. Under the bench were several pairs of shoes, including what appeared to be 3 sets of cowboy boots. The coat rack was full, filled with jackets and coats alike, as well as a few ball caps. Next to it was a cowboy hat rack on which was Bob’s black hat, followed by a chocolate colored one, and then at the bottom was Riley's pink one covered in rhinestones and pink feathers.

Looking further into the home, they could see that the walls were covered with frames and full of many different paintings. Going through the living room toward the kitchen, they passed the well-loved sectional couch on the right, which was covered in throw pillows and had a basket next to it that was full of blankets. Across from the couch was the TV and media center, filled with movies, games, and game consoles. There were two dog beds placed in front of the windows that looked out into the front yard. The wall with the doorway to the kitchen had a large bookcase pushed against it, almost spanning the whole wall, which was filled with books, model planes and cars, as well as a few Lego sets here and there.

There was another knock on the door as they all reached the kitchen. “You guys can set your stuff on the counter, and anything that needs to stay cold, you can go ahead and put into the fridge. The girls are all out back,” Bob says, walking backwards and pointing from the fridge to the back door, just through a hallway off to the right, past the dining table. 

“Hey, Mav, Penny, Rooster. And you must be Amelia. My wife is looking forward to meeting you, so is my daughter.” Bob said as he started to lead them the same way to the kitchen to set their stuff on the island. Then Riley came barreling around the corner from the back door into the kitchen.

“Daddy, Mama needs another tray for the rest of the meat.” She hollered, running right up to Bob and grappling straight to his leg. Completely oblivious to all the other people in the room. All of the guys looked at her in astonishment, that Bob did in fact have a child. She looked like Bob and you, having Bob’s facial structure, his dark blue eyes, and his height, but had your nose and lips and that same lightly tanned skin, her hair a mixture of both of you, with his color, and your curls. 

“Okay, Bug. Can you say ‘Hi’ to everyone for me?” He asks, running his fingers through her hair as he starts to turn to where you stored the baking trays. Riley looked up and saw all the new people in the room and tried to follow Bob and hide behind his legs, once she realised they were all looking at her. “It’s ok, Bug, none of them bite.” He lightly nudged her out from behind himself as he made to go out the back door to give you the tray.

“Hi,” she said very softly. She gave everyone a little hesitant wave as she looked at them all again. 

Maverick was the first one to introduce himself, lowering himself to be on the same level as Riley so as not to intimidate her more. “ Hello, Riley. I’m Captain Pete Mitchell, callsign Maverick.” He put his hand out for her to shake, looking at him, and then to his hand, she took it gingerly, hers significantly smaller, and gave it a light shake. 

After that, her confidence went up a bit. “Hello, Captain Mitchell, I’m Riley Floyd.” She stated, some of her mom’s southern charm was coming through with how polite she was. She then turned to Penny and Amelia, Rooster had moved over to the rest of the guys and was watching from beside the fridge.

“Hi Riley, I’m Penny, and this is my daughter Amelia.” Penny also crouched down and pointed to Amelia, who was behind her and had sat down in front of the dinner table. Amelia waved from where she was and gave Riley a small smile. She shook Penny’s hand in the same fashion as Maverick, and did the same with Amelia before turning to face the boys.

Deciding to be very brave, Riley walked over to one of the stools by the island where they were all congregated and got up onto one and stood up on it. Upon seeing her approach, all of them grew hushed as she tried to reach their height by standing on the stool.

“You better be careful there, Little Lady,” Hangman said as he approached with his arms braced so that if she fell, he could catch her easily. “You’re parents wouldn’t be happy if we let you fall now, would they?” He asked once he was fully in front of her.

“Lt. Jake Seresin, callsign Hangman." He put one hand forward to shake, and she looked at him, then at his hand. Promptly, she slapped it as hard as she could, which was significantly harder than any of the guys would have thought.

“I don’t like you, Bagman,” She said in a very serious tone as she glared at him. All the guys behind him were snickering and smacking each other as they didn’t even try to hold it together as they watched Hangman get snubbed by Bob’s daughter. Hangman looked at his hand and then at Riley with a look of slight disbelief as though he couldn’t comprehend what had just happened, and backed away slowly. Rooster was the next to approach her, and she eyed him critically.

“Lt. Bradley Bradshaw, ma’am, callsign Rooster," he gave her the utmost respect he could muster without cooing at her. Riley’s look lightened as he also put out his hand for her to shake. 

“Hello, Lieutenant Bradshaw, I’m Riley Floyd.” She squeezed his hand as hard as he could and gave it a firm shake. The rest of the boys followed Rooster's example, and right after Fanboy finished his introduction, you came in with trays of patties, hot dogs, and sausages, with  Phoenix and Bob right behind you also carrying food, and freshly grilled corn on the cob.

“Alright, Everybody, lunch is served!!” You said as you started to place trays on the counter.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

First Floor ⤵

Second Floor ⤵

Heading to the cafeteria for lunch, as soon as Bob sits down, he’s surrounded by the rest of the squad. Phoenix on his right, Fanboy on the left, Rooster across from Bob, Hangman across from Phoenix, Payback across from Fanboy, and Coyote on the other side of Hangman. All of them leaning towards him as though they were high school kids waiting for the newest piece of gossip. Fanboy was almost completely pressed against Bob’s side as he started to unpack his leftovers from last night’s dinner.

“So are we going to get to try any of your Missus’ lovely food at this cookout that you mentioned yesterday?” Fanboy asked as he ogled the food that looked mouth-wateringly good. Bob hummed as he got up to reheat his food, like a pack of strays, the rest of the squad started to get up to follow him to the microwave.

“You will,” he said non-committedly as he put the food in the microwave and started it up. Looking up and seeing the team still surrounding him, he quirked up a brow, “Don’t y’all need to go get your own food?” Watching with an amused glint as the team seemed to realize they did not, in fact, have any food of their own to eat for lunch yet, and seemed to scatter to retrieve their respective meals.

Meeting back at their table, Bob was quietly typing on his phone and smiling fondly while waiting. Once everyone arrived, he stowed his phone into one of the pockets of his uniform. “Missus has decided that the cookout will be next Saturday, you will be expected to bring food or drink, you don’t have to bring both, but if you want to, you can to get in my wife's good graces.” He said after finishing the first bite of his lunch, letting out a low hum of satisfaction at the flavor.

“So what can we expect from this cookout? Will there be games? Any more munchkins besides yours?” Hangman asked as he started to dig into his food, Coyote nodding along beside him.

“Is it going to be similar to the one Riley talked about from when you were stationed at Lemoore?” Phoenix drew her attention to Bob as he thought of an answer to the questions.

Deciding to answer Hangman first, “There will be games, board games, and some digital. Maybe some dogfight football if we’re lucky. As for other kids, I’m not sure,” there might be some of Rileys friends, but that entirely depends on whether you wanted to host a sleepover, which wasn’t likely; your social battery would be pretty drained after having so many people over all day. “ We’ll likely be eating lunch around one-ish, do games for a little bit afterwards, then Riley’ll konk out for like an hour and a half for a nap, and then it’ll just be us adults for a while.” Turning to face Phoenix, he answers her question.

“Yes, and no, none of our relatives are going to be here this time, and her friends likely aren’t either. It’ll be the same in the sense that it’s essentially a party of sorts, but with y’all instead of our families.” He stated while continuing to eat his food.

“Ok, so for food, does anyone have any allergies that might have detrimental effects if said allergen is ingested?” Fanboy asked as he examined the group and turned back towards Bob. Nos and nope's flowed from everyone's mouths after pondering for a moment. “Great!” he exclaimed, shifting back towards his food.

“Sounds like we’ve all got an idea what to expect. What time should we be there?” Rooster asked.

“Shoot for around 12:30, that way Missus can have a time to have everything fresh and hot to go,” Bob stated. 

After that conversation flowed as usual, talking about drills and other happenings going on throughout the base, and the day continued. 

Before leaving, Maverick pulled Bob aside, “What’s this I hear about a cookout?” he inquires as he looks at Bob with curiosity.

“Oh,” Bob fumbles briefly, “My wife and I are hosting a cookout next weekend, and we invited the squad over. Are you interested in coming as well, Mav?” Bob asks, while twiddling his thumbs behind his back at the sudden inquiry about personal plans.

“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to meet your wife, whom I’ve heard so much about from Penny. Is Amelia welcome to come as well?” He asks as he looks at Bob’s face. Bob relaxes, remembering that you get along quite well with Penny and have been mentioning wanting to introduce her to Riley

“That sounds like a good idea, sir. I’ll make sure to let her know that you all are coming as well.” Turning to leave, Bob remembers that he needs to tell Maverick to bring food or a drink. “Sir, please, bring a drink or food dish with you, otherwise my wife may not let you into our home.” He smiles sheepishly before heading to the parking lot. Once in his car, he messages everyone your home address and the date and time to be there. 

~

Arriving home followed a similar fashion as the day before, Bob was greeted first by Nuggs, who was eagerly awaiting pats, before almost being bulldozed by your second dog, Beans, who was significantly larger than Nuggs. Followed by a “Welcome home, Sweetheart,” being shouted from the direction of the kitchen. 

“We’re still making dinner,” you say as Bob enters the kitchen to see you sprinkling cheese over a pizza. “How was work?” you ask as you grab the pizza stone to put it into the oven. Riley runs over to Bob and gives his legs a squeeze and a big grin at him before going into the living room, where he then proceeds to hear the opening of ‘Magic School Bus’ play in the background.

“Good, everyone has a vague idea of what to expect for next Saturday,” He says, coming up behind you and wrapping you up in his arms, and pressing a kiss to your temple. “Mavrick heard about the cookout, I’m assuming Hangman and Rooseter were talking about it in the hangar,” He mumbles into your hair, as you hum as a response and turn to start cleaning up the kitchen while you wait for the pizza to cook, Bob clining to you like a koala all the way.

“Is he coming?” You ask as you continue to maneuver around the kitchen.

“Yeah, he asked if he, Penny, and Amelia could come. I told him yes, I figured you’d likely hear from Penny about what she plans on bringing,” he answered.

“Amelia's coming? That’s good, I wanted to meet her soon, plus I think she and Riley would get along quite well.” You finally finished cleaning up. Spinning around in Bob’s hold to lean him against the counter. You give him a kiss and a sweet smile.

“What do you plan on making for the cookout?” He asks, there's a teasing smile on his face, the one that makes his eyes crinkle just around the edges.

“You’ll find out with everyone else.” You giggle as he starts to pout just a little bit.

“But I’m your husband!” He squawks indignantly, starting to gain a flush in his cheeks.

“And you’ll find out with everyone else,” giving him a mischievous smile, as reach your hands around him to place them right below his ass, and with a firm grip you hoist him up and over your shoulder and start to head to the living room where your daughter resides. 

He lets out a harrumph and then proceeds to yell, “Riley, come save me! I’ve been captured by your mama!” Entering the living room, you hear a squeal from Riley followed by uncontrolled giggles, as she sees you with Bob slung over your shoulder.

“Da–Dad–Daddy,” giggles, interrupting her as she tried to speak, “I can’t help you, Mama’s too strong!”

“You Traitor!!” He yells in false devastation as he feigns going limp in your hold.

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