hollie

I’D GO ANYWHERE WITH YOU — ARTHURTV x READER

SYNOPSIS…a regular saturday night at the pub spirals into something more when your friends have enough of his pining!

INFO…use of she/her pronouns and many mentions of alcohol consumption!

OTHERS…i wrote this idea down in my notes on the brink of sleep i have no explanation imsosososorry

A cacophony of laughter and shouting echoed throughout the pub, cheesy music vibrating against the floorboards. The crowd left a thick scent of sweat, a drunken fog of bodies dancing among one another in a flory of ecstasy.

You pranced among the drunken horde beneath the bright lights, a mix of laughter and intoxicated singing fulfilling your desire to let loose for once. Your arm was lazily hooked around a squealing Becky, who twirled around in a pink cowboy hat with a drink in either hand — You two probably looked ridiculous from afar, but you were having too good of a time to be embarrassed.

The sticky floor was a blur of beaming colours and ear piercing music, a sight that merely made the others who sat comfortably in a booth sick at the thought of accompanying you.

George made no attempt to mask the mix of amusement and horror casted upon his features, shaking his head at the sight before their table. “How long do you think they can go without hydrating?”

Chris snorted as he downed the contents of his glass, dismissing the question with a shake of his head. “They are hydrating, what do you think the 4 rounds of shots were for?”

Arthur Hill suppressed a cackle before pulling his phone out from his pocket and beginning to record the two, zooming in on their wild antics. “I’m filming this and using it as blackmail. They’re never living it down.”

The boys erupt into a fit of laughter, watching the chaotic scene unfold before them, pacing themselves unlike the dancing pair.

Arthur was hunched over the booth, his hands tightly holding a half empty pint that he had no intention of re-filling. He couldn’t help but let his gaze linger on the dance floor despite the distant chatter, reminding himself every few moments that he was staring.

Before he could advert his eyes back to his empty glass once more, George sent a prying elbow into his side. “Mate, if I catch you looking at her one more time without making a move, I’m organising an intervention.”

Chris tosses his head back with a cackle, leaning into his friend with a tipsy smirk. “Don’t question his game, she’ll float over and fall in love with him soon enough. Right, Arthur?”

The discussion elicited a groan from said man, rolling his eyes as he swirled around the single drop that sat at the bottom of his drink like a distracted teenager after his first shot. “I’m not talking about this again…”

Arthur Hill let out a bark of laughter, exchanging an amused glance with the others sat in the booth. “Seems like she’s all you ever want to talk about these days.”

Chris props his chin on his hand, offering his friend a tipsy grin at the sight of his discomfort. “Arthur, you gotta recognise the opportunity you have here, mate.”

Arthur’s heart hammered in his chest, once again letting his gaze drift from his cup to the dance floor, the words of confidence from his friends drowned out by the mere sight of you. “I can’t afford for her to never speak to me again…”

George grunted in frustration, clanking a now empty shot glass back atop the bench with a seethe and resting his arms atop the sticky surface. “I’ve had enough! She clearly likes you!”

Arthur shakes his head the second the words leave George’s mouth — He’d heard this many a times and every time he made the safe assumption that it was a weak attempt from his friends to push him into something that could potentially soar his confidence, or absolutely annihilate it.

He let out a heavy sigh and his ran his hands through his hair is a distressed manner. “She’s like that with everybody, it’s not just me.”

Arthur shrugs, George rolling his eyes as he lets his friend go back to staring longingly at the girl he refused to make a move on. “Really, mate? She laughs at your jokes! She only teases you, and you were the only person she asked about when we first walked in!”

Arthur’s gaze still remained stuck on you, your figure rapidly moving to the absent beat that he failed to take any notice of. He was too focused on you and what his friends were saying about you before eventually managing to mumble a response, tearing his eyes away from you to meet his friend’s annoyed expressions. “She was probably being polite,”

Arthur Hill dragged out a groan, throwing his head back with his face concealed by his hands. “No, she was looking for you! How can you not see that?”

He struggled to form an excuse, furrowing his brows and tapping his fingers on edge the glass gripped between in hands. “She was probably just making conversation, she didn’t actually want to know.”

Arthur Hill suppressed the urge to slap his friend, posture going limp as he slides down the back of the booth in a feign of exhaustion. George was similar, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration whilst Chris childishly chuckled at his friend’s dynamic.

Arthur could sense he was boring them, he always did when they brought you up. They insisted the same thing every time - that you were absolutely head over heels for him, but no matter how much convincing they did — he never took their word for it.

He wasn’t a coward and he wasn’t suppressing himself from finding love like his friends had assumed, he just couldn’t stand the thought of you breaking contact with him due to the discomfort of unrequited love.

George sighed, collecting his composure as his hand dropped from his face. “So, when she saved you a seat next to her at the cinema, did she do that because she didn’t want you to sit next to her?”

Arthur parts his lips in preparation, Chris quick to jump in before he could even form a sentence. “What about the time she made you a care package when you were hungover last week?”

He can only bashes his closed fist against the table top, eliciting an eruption of empty glasses clanking against the surface. “She just felt bad!”

The table goes quiet and the boys are unsure if they should press any further judging by the manner in which the distressed man tilts his head down, concealing his face with the brim of his cap.

Arthur Hill is the first to break their silence, clearing his throat and leaning forward to speak with a gentle tone. “She’s not going to wait around forever, I’d rather risk rejection rather than die never knowing how she really felt.”

George and Chris exchange a glance, suppressing a mutual grin at their friend’s drunken attempt at giving wise advice despite also being a hopeless romantic.

Arthur wearily met the man’s eyes from across the table, furrowing his brows as he assess his expression for any sign of sarcasm. A small part of Arthur hoped to see a joking grin plastered on his face, for George to pat him on the shoulder and tell him that ‘she’s way out of your league’ and ‘you could only dream’ - but it never came.

George is quick to interrupt Arthur before he can respond, adverting the group’s attention to your returning figure.

You stumbled through the crowd with a half-empty glass sloshing in your hand, a wide grin plastered on your lips as you shimmied beside a confidently striding Becky, arms linked together as you made your way to the table.

Arthur began to internally panic, their previous conversation still fresh his memory as your eyes flickered across the group before eventually falling on him.

Your smile only widened as your eyes connected with his, slamming the nearly empty drink on the surface of the bench and sliding into the booth — coincidentally beside Arthur who sat completely frozen on the edge. “Did you see us out there?”

George looked between you and Becky, assessing the state the two of you were in before shaking his head and suppressing a snicker at the sight of Becky now pestering Bach. “Yeah, it was tragic to watch…”

Chris smirks at the sight of you practically pressed into Arthur’s side, completely unaware that they were tearing apart every interaction you and him ever had just seconds prior to your arrival. The man beside you visibly tensed, his hands tightening around the cup in his hands.

He hoped you didn’t notice, but judging by the way your eyes flickered to his stiff form and the small frown that tugged at your lips, Arthur knew you weren’t oblivious.

He suppressed the urge to inhale sharply as you raised a gentle hand to rest on his shoulder, brows furrowing in concern. “You okay? You haven’t being speaking much,” Your eyes fall to the empty drink that held his attention for majority of the night. “And you’ve been babysitting that glass all night.”

Arthur looked at you liked a deer in headlights, racking his thoughts for the correct answer as if you had just asked him to recite the bible. “Yeah, ‘m fine. I just would’ve preferred to stay in tonight, that’s all.”

He answered shortly and you offer him a small nod, humming softly as you attempted to mask your vivid disappointment. “Oh, I get that.”

George sends a demanding kick into Arthur’s shin, clearing his throat roughly to conceal the yelp that left his friend’s mouth. “You were looking for him when we showed up, weren’t you?”

Arthur sent the smirking man a glare from across the table, noting the way you whipped your head around at the statement, your body mirroring Arthur’s tense form.

The boys watched the interaction like hawks, suppressing the urge to smile at the sight of you scrambling to come up for a valid excuse for your not-so-subtle search to find him barley seconds after they first entered the pub.

“No- yes- kinda…” You stammered, an embarrassed grin tugging at your lips as you wearily lifted both of your hands to cover your face and pausing for a moment to compose your thoughts. “Sorry, I can’t really think straight in here…”

Arthur is quick to take a notice of your rapid shift in demeanour, meeting the intense stares from across the table — a silent attempt to push him to take that extra step and make a damn move. “Come get some air with me? I can’t really think clearly in here either.”

His tone is hesitant as he resists the urge to fiddle with the collar of his shirt, tipping his cap in the direction of the back door with a feign of confidence. He swears for a moment that he can read your mind, that the moment those words left his mouth all of his insecurities became visible to you.

But he’s left fucking astounded when the edge of your lips tug into a small grin that he can only read as shy - he stares dumbfounded when you tuck a few strands of your messy hair behind your ears, nodding profusely. “Please, take me anywhere other than this pub.”

George is surprised at the willpower it took not to throw his arms around his mate, settling for an alerting jab into Chris’s side and a wiggle of his eyebrows in Arthur Hills direction.

But Arthur doesn’t articulate your words in the manner his friends do, gathering his composure once more and offering you a small nod and a sweet smile - completely masking the fact that he was freaking the fuck out.

The girl he’d been pining over for months, the friend he had sworn to dismiss all feelings for, the person his friends would relentlessly mock him about — could possibly like him back?

He’s quick to glance back at the boys whilst you were sliding out of the booth, distracted by a drunken Becky who hung off of Bach, half asleep as he awkwardly attempted to shake her awake.

Chris only winked, hooking an arm around George and jokingly pulling his jaw in the direction of his own face before he began to hysterically struggle in his hold. Arthur Hill gave him a thumbs up, mouthing something that he could only decipher as ‘you’ve got this!’

Arthur rolled his eyes at his friends useless antics, following closely behind your retreating figure in the crowd - fighting the intense urge to reach out and lock his hand with yours, the possessive desire to stay close to you, to make it clear to this entire drunken pub that you chose him to leave with - even if he asked and it were for only a few minutes.

The cheesy song that blared distantly began to fade as you exited through the back doors, Arthur trailing behind you as he notes the sweet smile you send the bouncer like it was your second nature - god, you were an angel.

Ascending shortly down the street before coming to a halt, you huffed tiredly before leaning your back against the brick wall, letting your eyes fall shut in a relieved manner. Arthur stood beside you rather awkwardly as he watched you sigh, peeking through your eyelashes briefly to meet his gaze.

He swore his heart stopped in that very moment.

You looked at him, lazily pressed against the grimy wall as the fur coat wrapped around your form bunched up, tipping your head to the side slightly — pupils dilating as you met his lingering gaze, a grin painting your lips. “I forgot that I’m significantly more drunk than you.”

Arthur could only chuckle, tilting his head down to mask the flush of his face that he convinced himself stemmed from his small consumption of booze, rather than your mere presence alone. “That might be the 3 pints and 5 shots talking..”

He couldn’t tell if it were due to the cold air that bit at your cheeks, or if his statement really flustered you — either way he watched you stand against the wall with your hands buried in the pockets of your coat like shy public speaker.

You glanced down at your shoes, tone defensive despite the wide smile that was displayed on your lips and prying your eyes up to send him a glare that only earned a laughs. “5 shots it’s a stretch..”

A comfortable silence falls over you two, the only sound echoing from the back door of the pub - but Arthur was too enthralled in your refusal to drop the intense gaze you held.

Surprisingly, you’re the first to look away, mumbling something under your breath before your eyes flickered back in Arthur’s direction, offering him a wry smile. “I’m glad you came tonight, even though we both know you’d rather be at home.”

He couldn’t help but groan, throwing his head back and pinching the bridge of his nose in a spur of annoyance — stemming from nobody but himself. “I didn’t mean that, I just meant…tonight isn’t exactly my night.”

You didn’t pry, it wasn’t your place.

Instead you settled for a glancing down the street, tugging your bottom lip between your teeth as you lulled in your thoughts for a brief moment. The action doesn’t go unnoticed by Arthur but before he can let his eyes linger on your lips, your attention is back on him. “Do you wanna…maybe leave?“

Your words are barely audible, spoken in the manner a child would whisper a secret, and for a moment Arthur worried that you might hear the heavy thump of his heart.

He takes one look at your expression — gnawing on your bottom lip, anxiously awaiting his answer and wonders for a brief moment if his friends were right all this time - were you just as into him as he was into you?

He never took the chance that his heart was yearning for out of fear of losing you for good, but he realised he was putting a potential future with you at risk — and in the moment he knew he had to see where this would go.

“I’d go anywhere with you.”

i haven’t posted a fanfic since my aot days so im sorry if this is horribly written:-)