lenore*:･ﾟ✧

adrian and chris had been at the bar for at least an hour. it was their regular bar they always met up at after work, usually with the other 11th street kids. but, even with all the hours spent drinking here, adrian had never seen you here before. trust he’d remember that face.

you honestly didn’t look like you belonged there, too pretty, too sweet looking. this dark, dingy bar didn’t deserve to have you in it. he noticed you the second you had walked in. about a half hour ago with your friend, a look on your face that read you’d rather be anywhere else, maybe it was your friends idea to come here, maybe that’s why he’s never seen you. you nursed one drink and chatted causally to your friend sitting across the table from you. adrian, ever observant, didn’t take long to notice a few cute little habits of yours (twirling the same piece of hair, messing with the lemon on the side on your drink, crossing your legs and kicking your foot almost nervously)

“dude, you’ve been staring at that chick for like 20 minutes, it’s getting creepy. when are you gonna go talk to her?” chris’ words snap him out of his daydream.

“what? i have not been staring at her!” adrian tries to defend himself.

“hey man it’s ok! she’s kinda cute. go buy her a drink!”

“first of all she’s way more than “kinda cute”, second of all—“ adrian’s eyes suddenly snap over to chris, who now has a huge grin on his face.

“i knew you were staring at her!” chris laughs, slapping adrian on the back,

“look, i’ve never seen you actually have the hots for a girl before, you need to go talk to her!”

“ew, i dont “have the hots” for her,” adrian grimaces.

“all im saying is if you don’t go talk to her soon….” chris sighs, adrian’s eyebrows pushing together.

“…i’m going to,” he rests a hand on adrian’s shoulder.

adrians eyes go wide.

“please don’t.”

“i’m gonna have to,” chris shrugs.

“no! fine. ugh! i’ll go,” adrian slowly and nervously gets off the shaky bar stool he was sitting on next to chris, reluctantly making his way in your direction.

you saw him across the bar, of course you did. he’s been staring at your friend basically the entire time you guys have been in here. you’re used to guys staring at her, she’s gorgeous.

it’s only a matter of time before he saunters over and cringingly asks to buy her a drink, it happens everywhere you guys go.

you never get hit on and honestly, you don’t really mind. the guys that usually hit on your friend are….unique looking… to put it nicely. and of…. below average intelligence with little to no emotional maturity or respect for women. again, to put it nicely.

you much prefer to be left alone, your distaste for men growing everyday anyway (especially the losers in these bars). it makes you feel bad for your friend even though she doesn’t seem to mind much. ordinarily giving the guy the time of day, for reasons unknown to you.

aaaand here he comes, right on cue!

he’s nervously wringing his hands and adjusting his big silver glasses again and again as he approaches. you stare into your drink, awkwardly stirring the straw as you wait for the usual dorky pick up lines.

“hi, uh, i’m adrian. and i just um…was just wondering if you would be ok with me buying you a drink?” he clears his throat as a beat of silence follows.

god, this guy sounds like he’s never talked to a girl in his life.

the silence drags on and finally, you look over at your friend to see why she isn’t answering him to find her staring at you. with furrowed brows you look up at the man to find him staring at you as well.

you look side to side with just your eyes.

“were you talking to me?” you ask with a monotone voice.

“well yeah,” he gives a small nervous smile and pushes up his glasses again.

you laugh dryly at his response and he presses his hands together again, his shoulders starting to slump, looking like a kicked puppy.

“sorry, this was dumb. i’ll just go.” he mumbles.

“no wait, you’re seriously asking to buy me a drink?” you raise an eyebrow.

“yeah?” his voice shakes a bit.

“why?” you cross your arms.

“why?” he repeats.

“yeah, why?” you stare at him, eyeing him up and down.

“cause…well cause, i think you’re pretty and my friend said that this is what you do when you think a girl in a bar is pretty,” he gestures behind him at his muscular friend who tips his beer bottle towards you with a smile, taking a sip.

you laugh at him again and look him over some more.

he’s actually sorta cute, in a dorky way. he looks like he’d have a comic book collection and unfortunately you’re into that.

“i guess so?” you’re still unsure but you look over at your friend who’s smiling brightly and giving you double thumbs up.

his eyes go wide and his smile stretches across his entire face, “really? sick!” he clears his throat again, “uh, i mean, what would you like? to drink, i mean,” leaning on your table. he’s really trying to be “cool” but it’s not working at all.

you give him your drink order and he shoots finger guns as he turns to make his way to the bar. hitting himself in the forehead with his palm and shaking his head on his way over there.

your friend immediately grabs your hand.

“oh my god! he’s a cutie! and so nerdy! just your type!” she giggles.

you let out a small laugh,

“he’s probably just talking to me cause he was too nervous to talk to you first. 20 bucks says he’ll ask me for your number.”

“what? why would he do that?”

“you think guys don’t ask me for your number?”

her smile falters, “but he seems into you! and he was so nervous, it was so cute!”

“girl, guys are never into me. they don’t ask me out and they definitely don’t ask to buy me a drink,” you tilt your head at her.

“well maybe because you’ve never met this guy! maybe the universe was waiting!” she grips your hand tighter.

“ok that’s a little dramatic for a guy i just met at a bar,” you roll your eyes at her.

“omg he’s coming back! and i “conveniently” have to go to the bathroom,” she winks at you and shoots up out of her chair to leave you alone. your hand extends towards her and you open your mouth as if you’re going to yell at her not to leave you when the man sets your drinks down.

“i’m back!” he smiles brightly at you.

“i see that,” you nervously reach for your drink.

“what happened to your friend?”

there it is.

“what happened to your friend” trying to casually bring her up so he can ask if she’s single.

“i’m not giving you her number. if you want her number you should’ve just asked her, buying me a drink is not—“

“i don’t want her number?” he looks at you like you’re crazy.

“you don’t?”

“no, why would i? am i supposed to? cause i really don’t. i didn’t even notice her there until i walked up to your table, really. why would i ask to buy you a drink and then ask for your friends number, that’s crazy!” he laughs, probably louder than appropriate.

“you’d be surprised how many guys think that works.”

you grab at the stem of the cherry in your drink as he looks at you in surprise.

“is that why you were kinda mean when i asked to buy you a drink?” he asks sheepishly.

“oh, was i mean?” you ask condescendingly, pouting slightly.

“yeah you kinda scared me,” he admits while still smiling at you.

“and yet you still bought me a drink.”

“yeah cause like i said, you’re really pretty. i wanted to talk to you. well actually, to be honest, i didn’t wanna talk to you. i didn’t think you’d talk to me, but my friend kinda made me,” he winces.

“first of all you didn’t say i was “really pretty”, you just said pretty. also it’s great that you’re only talking to me cause your friend made you,” you roll your eyes at him.

“no that’s not why!” he waves a hand towards you.

you stare blankly at him.

“ok technically- if you wanna get technical, that is why. but it’s because he really wanted me to talk to you,” he defends himself, his voice getting a bit higher.

“i wouldn’t stop staring at you and he said it was creepy.”

“you were staring at me?”

“yeah, who else?” he laughs again like you’re crazy for thinking any different.

“it probably was creepy.” you deadpan but then give him a slight smile so he knows you’re joking.

“i wasn’t trying to be!” he whines, throwing his hands up.

you let out a small laugh and then pause for a moment,

“what was your name again?”

“adrian!”

“ok, adrian. what about me is so pretty to you?”

“you want me to tell you what i think is pretty about you?”

you nod, knowing he’s not going to have anything to say and you can prove that he really wants your friend.

“ok…well,” he begins, voice slightly shaky,

“the first thing i noticed was your eyes. they’re so big and pretty, i couldn’t stop looking. i like your outfit too, i don’t wanna sound like a perv but it looks really good on you. also your hair, it looks so soft and shiny. and your um, your lips, they look soft too,” he gets quiet at the end of his sentence but you still heard.

“and you smell good! which i didn’t know obviously until i was near you but still, you smell like a strawberry field!”

suddenly, you can’t look him in the eyes and you can feel your cheeks heating up. good thing you’re wearing blush otherwise he’d be able to see how pink they are right now. you’re not used to people, let alone cute guys, complimenting you.

“oh. well, thank you for the drink,” your voice comes out quieter than you mean it to.

“you haven’t told me your name,” he says after a moment of silence.

“well you haven’t asked, genius,” you cross your arms.

maybe you’re being a bit meaner to him that he deserves but whatever.

“shit sorry! ok, what’s your name?”

you tell him and he repeats it back with a smile.

“did you know penguins mate for life?” he asks suddenly.

“i did know that, actually.” you say, caught slightly off guard by the random animal fact.

“well did you know spiders dance to attract mates?” he leans excitedly towards you a bit.

“so what, are you gonna dance for me?” you laugh and tilt your head at him.

“do you want me to? i can.”

and then he’s out of his seat, next to your table, hands in his belt loops, moving his hips in a circle.

“oh my god stop!” you grab at him, a bit embarrassed, and make him sit back down as you laugh so hard your stomach starts to hurt.

“did it work?” he looks at you with big puppy-like eyes.

“that dance was supposed to attract me?” you’re still laughing so much you can barely get the words out.

“yeah! it’s the best one i’ve got! maybe you need to see it again.”

“please no! it worked, okay! i don’t need to see it again!” you force him to stay in his seat, covering your face a bit with your hand.

“ok i-i’ll stop as long as you don’t cover that…pr-pretty face,” he stutters through that line, trying to flirt but he’s obviously not very good at it, grabbing your hand to move it away from your face.

“ew that was so corny,” you scrunch up your nose.

he smiles wide at you in response. his smile is actually really cute, it’s so big it takes up most of his face and he’s got dimples.

damnit.

“did you know crows can remember faces?” he tells you.

“you sure know a lot of animal facts,” you smile at him because it’s weirdly appealing.

“i know so many! i could probably take a test right now and become like a zoologist or something.”

you giggle because unfortunately his big glasses and nerdy facts are charming you.

suddenly, you feel eyes on you. turning to your left, you see adrian’s strong friend still at the bar but now with three other people, 2 women and 1 super tall man, all staring at you guys.

“do you know them?”

he looks over to where you’re gesturing and sighs.

“yea sorry, those are my best friends and coworkers. we come here a lot but they’ve never seen me talk to a girl before so they’re just being nosey. you can ignore them.”

he waves his hand in their direction as if waving them off but just as he finishes his sentence an absolutely beautiful woman with dark braids starts walking over to you.

“hi! my name is adebayo! i’m really sorry to interrupt cause this is super cute,” she points between the two of you, “but i have to steal adrian.” she gives you a sad look as adrian whines.

“nooooo, seriously? why?”

“look, i wouldn’t if it wasn’t important, okay? we have to go.” she gives him a weird look that he apparently understands and he sighs as he starts to stand up.

“sorry, i actually do have to go. i really liked talking to you though,” he pouts.

“it’s okay, i liked talking to you too,” you stand awkwardly infront of him.

“you did?” he says it like he almost doesn’t believe you but you huff out a small laugh and nod your head yes.

both of you smile at each other for a moment too long before adebayo interrupts.

“but you got her number, right adrian?” she nudges him with her elbow.

“oh shit! i would’ve killed someone if i left here without your number.” he laughs and shakes his head.

weird joke but okay.

he fishes for his phone in the pocket of his jeans that look like a dad from a 90’s sitcom should be wearing. you get your phone out of your purse and you swap, typing your number in as he types his. when you trade back he notices you put a little pink heart emoji next to your name and his stomach does a small flip.

he thanks god for ads reminding him to get your number even though, had he forgot, he 100% would’ve just found you and followed you around a bit to see you again. there was no way he was letting you get away.

“well, we really gotta go! nice to meet you girl, you’re adorable!” adebayo smiles as she drags adrian, who hasn’t taken his eyes off you, away. you give him a small shy wave, wiggling your fingers and he copies you, tripping over his own feet as the woman pushes him away.

he meets back up with the team and they immediately leave the bar, harcourt explaining that she’ll go over the mission on the way there. he steals one more glance at you before he’s shoved out the door and he can’t believe that you were already looking at him, your friend back by your side, a big smile on her face, you two no doubt talking about him.

maybe he should feel too needy about texting you immediately but he can’t stop himself. his fingers hit send before he even has his seatbelt buckled in the back of economos’ van.

adrian 🧜‍♂️: did you know that if the female spider doesn’t like the male spiders mating dance, she eats him?

why the hell did he save his name with the mer-man emoji? he’s so weird, you think as you smile to yourself.

you: good thing i wasn’t hungry

adrian laughs out loud at your response, making the rest of the team look his direction.

“awwww look who’s texting his girlfriend,” chris teases, tousling adrian’s hair.

“she’s not my girlfriend,” he rolls his eyes and unsuccessfully bites back a smile.

“this is so cute,” ads smiles.

“it’s weird. but anyway you need to focus.” harcourt adds, harshly.

adrian pouts but puts his phone away, already thinking about how when this mission is over he’s going to call you and tell you every manta ray fact he knows.

“ugh he’s so obsessed with you it’s disgusting,” harcourt rolled her eyes.

“what? no it’s cute!” ads smiled over at you.

your eyes were focused across the room on adrian who, after a 20 minute long heated discussion about which ninja turtle is the strongest, decided you needed another drink. now he’s at the bar, struggling to get the bartenders attention to buy you a new one.

“he is not obsessed with me,” you tell the girls sitting next to you. they both give to that exact same “girl, be serious” look.

“alright, maybe he likes me a little but obsessed? really?”

“adrian doesn’t know how to like things “a little”, he’s in love with you,” ads takes another swig of her beer.

“ok if he’s so obsessed with me then why hasn’t he asked me out?”

“he’s a coward. and a little bit oblivious, he probably thinks you guys are just friends.” harcourt says matter of factly.

“we know you like him back, why don’t you ask him out?” ads nudges your arm.

“cause i’m a coward too.”

you all laugh as adrian makes his way back over to your table, 2 drinks in his hands.

“ok, i know margaritas are your favorite but the guy said they were out of triple sec so i got you a mai tai, your second fave,” adrian tells you, setting the drinks down with a big smile on his face.

ads and harcourt immediately shoot you a look, both holding back smiles and you thank him and take a sip.

the night goes on as usual, chris and economos somewhere off playing darts or pool, harcourt and ads betting on how long it takes chris to get mad that he’s losing and you and adrian giggling amongst yourselves as he tells you animal fact after wrong animal fact.

“no really! they can sharpen it and stab another crow with it!”

“that’s kinda fucked up,” you giggle.

“well, just be careful to never make a crow angry, they have great memories. they’ll remember your face and come back and stab you.” you laugh at how serious he is.

maybe it’s the way he’s making you laugh, maybe it’s the one too many drinks you’ve had but you’re feeling brave.

“i like you,” you blurt out before you can talk yourself out of it.

“well, yeah we’re besties!”

“no i mean like, i like you, ade. you always make me laugh and you’re so sweet and um, very cute,” you avoid eye contact, suddenly a little embarrassed.

“wait seriously?” his eyes go wide like he can’t believe what he’s hearing. you nod shyly and a huge smile spreads across his face.

“wow! i can’t believe i didn’t catch on sooner! you know, chris said you liked me but i didn’t really believe him! this is so sick!” he exclaims, as you smile brightly back at him.

“i—“

“who? that vigilante dude? no way, that guys a psycho.”

adrian is cut off when you suddenly overhear the table next to you.

“well yea definitely, but he’s just some guy right? i could totally take him in a fight!”

“nah but he’s got weapons! he’s fuckin dangerous.”

“ok hand to hand then! no weapons, im definitely beating his ass.”

“bro, fuck no! he’d kill you in like 2 seconds dude. the guys crazy!”

“wait, didn’t he take out like 5 dudes at once one time?”

“yes man! i’m telling you! the guys insane!”

the men laugh and you look over at adrian who has an unreadable expression on his face, a mix of sadness and realization.

“ade, you’re not—“

you reach for his hand but before you can finish your sentence he’s standing up.

“what are you—“

“i should probably go home, it’s late.”

you’ve never seen adrian look sad before, it’s not something you want to get used to.

“i’ll see you tomorrow, get home safe okay?”

and then he’s walking out the door, not even letting you respond. you want to follow him and tell him he’s not crazy (maybe not the most mentally sound) but you know there’s no point, he’ll feel better tomorrow.

tomorrow morning rolls around and even with your terrible headache, you still make yourself get up and get dressed.

its sunday and adrian always comes over to spend the whole day with you, you’re actually surprised he hasn’t shown up at your door or at least called you yet. he’s probably just as hungover as you are so you decide to give him some time but the call never comes.

around noon you decide to call him.

“hello?”

it almost doesn’t even sound like him, no usual affection or chipperness in his voice.

“hey ade! are you coming over today? i got those chips you like and—“

“actually i can’t make it.”

he cuts you off and it catches you off guard.

“oh- but we always do sundays, is everything ok?”

“ohmygod everything’s fine i just can’t make it,” he mumbles into the phone.

“uh, ok, well i’ll see you tomorrow at work then?” you try to sound not so disappointed.

“yea i guess.”

he hangs up without saying goodbye.

you furrow your eyebrows and take a breath. maybe he doesn’t feel good, he did drink a lot last night. or maybe he’s still upset about those guys? whatever it is, why is he taking it out on you?

Monday morning you arrive at Checkmate. heading to your desk you see adrian in his usual spot. (he got the desk next to yours because no one else wanted to be desk mates)

on a normal day, once adrian spots you he rolls his chair over to start bombarding you with animal facts or teasing you with how many times he beat you at mario kart the day before, but today, he stays at his desk, eyes glued to his computer screen.

“hi ade!” you gently tussle his hair as you walk by.

“hey.” he grumbles, smoothing his hair out.

he doesn’t even look in your direction. you try to pretend you don’t feel that sinking feeling in your chest.

“i need you two to run an errand for me,” harcourt suddenly walks up to the two of you holding a clipboard.

“seriously? why us?” adrian huffs.

“you guys work well together. stop complaining,” she pushes a piece of paper in your direction.

“go pick up everything on this list. be back by 2.”

“but—“ adrian starts to agrue but she’s already walking away.

“let’s get this over with,” he sighs, leaving you confused. he doesn’t even want to run an errand with you? this is usually his favorite part of the job, anything that lets you two be alone together.

you sit in the passengers seat of the old sebring as adrian drives. he hasn’t said a word to you the entire time, which for adrian, is very very weird.

you take a deep breath, breaking the long silence,

“did i do something?”

he finally glances in your direction.

“what are you talking about?” you notice his hands gripping the steering wheel tighter.

“you’ve been kinda mean to me the past two days which is weird cause you’re never mean to me and it’s almost like you want nothing to do with me anymore. you were pissed that harcourt made us do this together and now you haven’t said a single word to me the whole drive.”

you pause for a moment,

“it’s just….the other night, after our talk, i thought…”

he continues staring straight ahead at the road. you sigh and your shoulders slump.

“are you still upset about those guys?” you try and he glances over at you again.

“look, those guys at the bar were assholes. they were just some drunk losers that have no idea what they’re talking about,” you try to reassure him.

“they were right though.” he finally speaks up.

“about what?”

“me being dangerous. anyone around me who knows my identity is put in danger. and i’m an idiot for putting you in that position.”

“adrian, i work at the same place you do, i know the risks. and i’ve known you were vigilante from like, the moment we met! why are you just now being like this?”

he pulls the car over and puts it in park, turning to look at you.

“those guys are…normal. and i’m not. you deserve normal.”

“normal?” you tilt your head trying to understand what he’s saying.

he sighs,

“i know you know i like you. everybody knows, i’m not very good at hiding it.”

you breathe out a small laugh at that.

“but hearing those guys made me realize we won’t work. i’m crazy and scary and dangerous and i always have a weapon on me,” he lifts up his pants leg to show a knife hidden in his sock, as if to prove his point.

“i never thought you and i would actually be…a thing, i never thought you’d like me back. but now that i know you like me too….” he trails off and you furrow your brows.

“plus those guys……you should be with someone you know you’re safe with. someone who hasn’t murdered a shit ton of people. someone who doesn’t have warrants out for his arrest.”

you stare at him, dumbfounded.

“right ok, so the reason you were being a dick to me is cause you like me but you think you can’t be with me?”

“i just want you to be safe. and being with me is not safe. someone could hurt you to get to me and i’m not letting that happen.”

“so since we can’t date, you decided we can’t be friends either? and you thought the best way for us to not be friends is for you to just be an asshole to me?”

you watched as he thought for a moment, it was almost as if you could see him trying to connect the dots and make sense of it to himself.

“adrian how does that make any sense?!” you throw you hands up at him.

“i don’t know! i just thought if i was mean to you, you’d stop liking me and then the problem would fix itself!”

“im sorry ade but you’re so stupid sometimes,” you laugh and shake your head.

“hey!” he whines.

“look, i don’t care about normal. i wouldn’t have the job i have if i cared about that. and i wouldn’t like you so much either!”

“but im dangerous.”

“ade, ive never felt unsafe around you. even when i found out you were vigilante. even when you show me some new huge knife you bought or when you tell me how you shot some guy 36 times. i trust you.”

“but what if somebody else—“

“i know for a fact that if anybody ever tried to come near me youd cut their head off. i feel way safer having you here to protect me. you’d never let anyone hurt me, i know that.”

your hand moves to push his glasses up a bit, he grabs it before you can pull away and holds on to it.

“i’m an idiot,” he pouts, playing with your fingers.

“you’re not, you’re just……protective.”

“and by the way, i’ve never thought you were crazy.”

“yea well, you’re the only one.”

“so? it’s not like we’re surrounded by sane people. literally look at our friends.”

he smiles at that, “true.”

“plus those guys at the bar were weirdos. one of them was wearing sunglasses indoors and the other was like 5 feet tall, you could totally take both of them,”

you think for a second,

“actually, you should kill them.”

adrian’s eyebrows shoot up, you’ve never directly told him to kill someone before.

“really?” he asks, almost giddy.

“yea why not? they were being really mean, and they definitely drove home drunk, which is like, super illegal.”

“but i didn’t even see what they looked like,” he says, disappointed, shoulders slumping.

“oh i took pictures,” you say causally, pulling out your phone.

he perks back up at your words, head shooting in your direction.

“what? i wanted pictures in case one day i see them again. i didn’t get to tell them off the other night and im not missing the chance again. maybe i see them and my taser happens to slip out of my purse, you never know.”

adrian beams at you, eyes sparkling, kissing the back of your hand,

“please, please, please, be my girlfriend.”