#acweek22

You watched Adrian clean his knives, the anxiety of what you were about to do bubbling up inside you. Sure, you were friends with Adrian, and you'd recently developed a little bit of a crush on the guy, but you had no idea how this was about to go. Your teeth clamped down on your bottom lip as you pushed yourself off the chair, ready to bite the bullet.

"Hey Adrian? I have a bit of a, uh, weird favor to ask."

"Murder weird, or sex weird?" Adrian asked. He didn't look at you, nor did he stop cleaning his knives.

"Um, neither?" You exhaled through your nose and picked at the skin around your fingers, unsure of how to proceed. Adrian glanced up at you and frowned.

"Are you okay? You seem nervous."

Yeah, of course you were nervous, you were about to ask your colleague to come to your cousin's wedding with you.

As your fake boyfriend.

Your mother had been visiting, and, after what seemed like hours of passive-aggressive remarks and little digs about your life, something inside you snapped, and you blurted out that you did, in fact, have a boyfriend. She badgered you, pressed for a name, and Adrian had slipped out before you'd even realized what you had said, and now you were stuck in a hole. You had spent days weighing up your options, either fake a break-up, and spend the wedding being reminded you were going to end up a lonely, old spinster, or bite the bullet and beg, barter, or even blackmail Adrian into being your boyfriend for your day.

"I'm fine, just listen?" Adrian hummed in response, and you spoke quickly. "Look, my mum's in town, and I, uh, I told her I have a boyfriend, and-"

Adrian's knives clattered onto the table as his head snapped up, his eyebrows knitted together and his lips curled downwards. "You have a boyfriend? When did this happen?"

"No, that's the thing. I kinda, maybe, definitely told my mum that you were my boyfriend."

"But...I'm not your boyfriend."

You rolled your eyes and sighed with exasperation. "Yes, I'm very aware of that Adrian. This is the favor, could you please just come to my cousin's stupid wedding? Pretend to be my boyfriend for like six hours?"

Adrian didn't say a word, he just stared at you. You were used to him staring, but this was different. It was an intense stare like he was trying to look inside you, deep in your soul, and the blood began to rush to your cheeks, the embarrassment almost drowning you.

"Look, you don't have to hold my hand, or kiss me, or anything like that." Adrian's eyes went wide, and you tried not to think about what that could mean. "I'll just tell my mum it's new, and in a few weeks, I'll tell her we broke up." You spoke, rapidly, and you'd be surprised if Adrian followed any of what you said. "You also don't have to do this, but just remember I have that photo-"

"I'll do it!" Adrian exclaimed. "I mean, I wanna do- I wanna help you."

So that's how you ended up here, sitting at a table with your parents at the wedding, with Adrian playing the role of your boyfriend perfectly. The nerves had been eating you up inside, but when you saw Adrian, in his black suit with a bow tie, your heart melted, and all the nerves disappeared. He looked so handsome, and you had to force your eyes to stick to the road and not stare at him.

Adrian had charmed your parents effortlessly, which took you completely by surprise, and now you were experiencing the usual drivel from your mom; she didn't like your job, she didn't like your home, and she didn't approve of how you dressed, or the fact that you weren't married yet. You knew this would happen, deep down you knew that bringing Adrian didn't matter, she was always going to find reasons to bring you down. So you knocked the drinks back, plastered on a smile, and used your thigh as a stress ball, your nails digging into the skin as you squeezed tightly.

Adrian had never felt so many conflicting feelings. He was ecstatic, being here with you, pretending to be a couple, having the best time, it was everything he'd wanted. He was smug, that you asked him to be your fake boyfriend, and said his name and not Chris, or someone else you knew. More than that, he was angry, at the way your mother was talking to you as if you weren't the most perfect person he'd ever met in his life. She was berating you, about everything, did she not know how utterly amazing you were? He was also confused because the person he knew you to be wouldn't let anyone talk to them this way. He remembered when you threw one of his knives at Chris for making remarks about your body, but here, he watched you get smaller, as you internalized everything your mother was saying. He could see the hurt clouding your eyes, and when he glanced down and saw the vice grip you had your thigh in, something inside him snapped.

"Your child is the most amazing person I know." Adrian said, abruptly. You stared at him, perplexed, and shook your head wildly, begging him not to do this, but he just grabbed your hand from your thigh and held it in his. "They look after me when I'm sick, or injured, they have my back constantly, they're fucking amazing at their job, and every day I've spent with them has made me a better person. Because they make me want to be a better person!"

You could feel everyone staring at you, but you only had eyes for Adrian. There was a burning, raging fire behind his eyes as he finished his passionate spiel, but they never left your mother. You tore your eyes from Adrian to glance at your mom, who was staring right back at Adrian, her jaw slacked and eyes narrowed, and it almost looked as if they were communicating. Then Adrian spoke again.

"You did a really fucking good job raising them, but you gotta come them some slack."

Your mom stayed silent while Adrian pulled you up from the chair and towards the bar. You let him, still shell-shocked about what just went down. Never in your wildest dreams did you think that you'd witness anybody, least of all, Adrian Chase, speak to your mom like that. And he did it for you.

"You didn't have to do that, Adrian." You said. "I can handle her."

Adrian glanced at you and you knew that look. He had seen you crumble apart so easily, he knew you couldn't handle her. But he still smiled at you as he pushed a shot towards you and said, "I know you can, but what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't stand up for you?

You chuckled, once again ignoring the tug of your heart at the sound of Adrian calling himself your boyfriend. You took the shot, appreciating the burn to your throat, but wincing all the same. "Fake boyfriend, remember?"

"Fake boyfriend?!"

You grit your teeth and grimaced before turning to face your mom. You were expecting to see her with steam coming out of her ears, her face as red as a firetruck, but when you looked at her, you saw she looked sad. You couldn't take the disappointed, doe-eyed look from her, so you averted your gaze, opting to look at the floor like you were 5 years old again, then she sighed and walked away.

"Shit." You mumbled to yourself, almost jumping out of your skin when Adrian touched your shoulder.

"Well, that was awkward." He stated, making you roll your eyes, but then his voice softened. "Are you okay?"

"No," you sighed as Adrian patted your shoulder in an effort to be comforting. "I should go talk to her, right?"

"I think so. I'll go steal a bottle of champagne and keep the engine running, so we can make a quick getaway if needed!" He joked. You couldn't help the slight grin from spreading, and your stomach flipped as you thought about how much you wanted to kiss him at that moment. Instead, with one last encouraging smile from Adrian, you went to face whatever wrath your mother was about to unleash on you.

You found her on the veranda, looking out over the beautiful hotel garden. The shrubbery and trees were green and lush, lining the fences, with red roses, purple foxgloves and pink orchids, among other flowers growing all around the garden. It truly was a beautiful sight, and you took it all in as you sat next to your mom.

"Mom, I'm really sorry." You said, faintly. She didn't respond immediately, and you sat there for minutes, unsure of whether she actually heard you. Before you could repeat yourself, she exhaled and shook her head.

"No darling, I'm sorry."

You didn't know what to say as you sat in shock. This was the single last thing you'd ever expected her to say. In fact, it wasn't even on the list of things you'd thought would come out of her mouth. You weren't entirely sure you'd ever heard those words leave her mouth, at least not in this way. They were usually uttered as sarcasm, or in the most passive-aggressive way.

"You're sorry? I'm the one who lied, Mom."

"But I'm the one who made you feel like you had to." She replied, turning her body to look at you. "I know I'm hard on you, a little too hard. God, I swore I'd never be like my mom, but I just woke up one day and you weren't my baby anymore."

"Mom, I'll always be your baby." You replied, reaching your hand to hers. She grabbed it and squeezed it tightly, both of you painfully aware this was a rare moment between the two of you.

"I know you will, but you weren't this tiny thing that wanted me to do everything for you. You were a headstrong and independent person who didn't need me anymore, and it terrified me. But I never wanted you to feel like you had to lie and pretend with me."

"I'll always need you." You shrugged. "I just want to make you proud of me."

"Darling, I'm so fucking proud of you." Your mom said, her eyes filling with tears. "I'll always be proud of you. I love you."

You wiped the tears that had ran down your cheek and fell into your mom's arms. She hugged you tighter than you'd been hugged before, whispering promises into your hair as she kissed the top of your head.

"I love you too." You replied. Then, your mom chuckled, and you knew exactly where she was going next. "Mom, don't start..."

"I'm not starting!" She insisted. "So...Adrian isn't your boyfriend?"

You shook your head under her arm. "No, he's just a friend."

"Hmm. Okay."

"What does that mean?" You asked, pulling yourself from her grip and frowning at her. Your mom just laughed and shook her head.

"I have never, in my life, seen two friends look at each other the way you two do. Not to mention the way he spoke about you all night, not just when he gave me a piece of his mind, but when you weren't around too. He likes you."

"What?" You squeaked, giggling nervously. "He doesn't- well, I mean, of course he likes me, we work together! Not to mention we're friends!" You waved your hand dismissively and your mom laughed.

"Oh please, you don't think I know when my child has a huge crush on someone? I knew when you had a crush on that kid in 10th grade, what was their name again?"

"Mom! Adrian doesn't like me, okay?!"

"Whatever you say, sweetheart. Anyway, I like him." She remarked, and your cheeks started to burn again. "Look, I've gotta go, okay?" You said, rising from the chair, stretching.

She followed your lead and pulled you in for another hug. "Talk to Adrian, yeah? I'll phone you tomorrow, you can give me all the gossip then!"

Once you had said goodbye to the rest of your family, you found Adrian in the hotel parking garage, sitting on the hood of his car with the engine running. When he saw you, he revealed the bottle of champagne from behind his back, a grin beaming across his face. You laughed boisterously, and as your heart swelled up again, you realized your mom was right. She knew when her child had a crush on someone.

"Did it go well?" Adrian asked as you got closer to him. "I'm not usually good at reading people, but you seem okay?"

"Yeah, actually, it went great." You told him, and he raised his hand for a high five. You rolled your eyes and gave him one, and he laced his fingers around yours once your hands connected. You smiled shyly, your tongue running across your lips as your cheeks turned pink. Even under the dim, murky lights of the garage, Adrian's eyes shone brightly, his smile shining even brighter.

"I've been thinking..." Adrian started, and you grimanced.

"That's never a good thing." You teased, and he pouted, making you giggle. "I'm sorry, go on."

"I think we should go on a real date. One where I don't have to pretend to be your boyfriend."

"You wanna go on a date? Even after hearing all the stories my family told about me?"

"Especially after hearing those stories." Adrian grinned. "I meant what I said to your mom. I hope she doesn't hate me."

The size of your grin rivaled Adrian's, and you scrunched up your nose. "No, she approves of you."

"I got Mom's stamp of approval? Nice!" He said, punching the air. "So, about that date?"

He was looking at you with huge, pleading eyes, waiting for you to accept or reject him. You stepped closer, Adrian spreading his legs so you could step between them, your hand still being held and he watched open-mouthed as you leaned forward, closer to him.

"How about right now?" You asked, your lips inches from his.

"What do you have in mind?" He whispered, and you smirked.

"I was thinking we could drink that bottle of champagne and make out?"

Adrian's hands clasped your cheeks and he planted his lips on yours, hard. You both smiled as you kissed, your teeth clinking together awkwardly, making you both laugh.

Arriving unannounced at your best friends house wasn’t unusual, but you were here for one reason and one reason only.

To make Adrian jealous…

There was nothing else left to do, you had exhausted all previous endeavours trying to get the object of your affection to notice you.

To see you as someone other than one of his oldest friends, who has for at least three years crushed on Adrian from afar, to no avail.

But tonight you had a weapon, knowing Adrian would finally see you as more than just friends, you had previously seen signs that the feeling was mutual but he wasn’t making any moves.

Knocking on Adrian’s front door again, he answers with a smile then silently lets you in whilst you prepare yourself for your greatest performance yet.

Not that you was an actress or anything but you were just going to put Adrian on the spot, force your hand to make him decide and this was the only way how.

“Hey, Ade sorry I didn’t message-“

“That’s cool, y’know you can pop by anytime like any specific time and I will be probably here.” Adrian states with a smirk aimed back at you.

“Cool, cos I need your help I-“

“What’s happened, are you ok?!” Adrian cuts you off grabbing onto both of your arms, green eyes searching your own for a clue.

“It’s fine!” You begin with a laugh then add “ I just need to use your shower, mine is not working and I kind of have a date tonight.”

“A date?!” Adrian squeaks in surprise making you look up at him as he tries to pull a normal face, but you just know he is struggling with this information.

Feeling bad, you knew this was the only way to make up a fake date you had with some guy who hadn’t asked you out at work, just to make him jealous.

Sure, as plans go this one was hugely flawed but it was all you had, that and the secret weapon you had tucked in your large tote bag.

“Oh ok, I mean it’s free the shower and of course you have a date you deserve it but-“

“Thanks, Adrian!“ You lean across on tip toes to kiss him softly on his cheek, which sent you every single time because you adored this guy in front of you.

But there weren’t any words you hadn’t already told Adrian, trying to tell him how you felt with him usual passing it off as a joke keeping you at arms length, but enough was enough.

Leaving Adrian standing there you move around him to head to your destination, his bathroom where you hoped he would soon follow with more questions about your date.

Hearing the door softly click shut, Adrian tries and fails to get a complete hold on his thoughts, you had a date tonight?

Adrian instantly knew this was an awful chain of events, but what could he do other than barricade the bathroom door so you couldn’t get out.

Feelings that he had long since tried to ignore resurface, making his stomach ache like he had eaten far too much candy whilst he suddenly felt very inclined to punch the hallway wall, hard.

This was ridiculous, he knew what he had to do what words he needed to say to make things right to make this sick feeling disappear but his mouth felt bitter around the sentences they couldn’t form.

What if you laughed in his face? Adrian wasn’t very good at opening up to people even you sometimes, so the thought of telling you his true feelings wasn’t a pretty one to say the least.

Standing under the warm shower you smile to yourself when you use Adrian’s shower gel which reminds you of his face which always improved your mood, no matter what.

Finally stepping out you wrap a blue towel around yourself, a little sad that Adrian hadn’t come to talk to you usually he would follow you anywhere to finish a conversation he was invested in.

Maybe he didn’t care that you were actually going on a date , fake or otherwise so perhaps this was all just a waste.

It was time to make use of the secret weapon…

Making sure your towel was perfectly secure you head out of the bathroom, noticing that Adrian had gone from the hallway, where was he?

“Hey, can I get changed in your room?” You call out to Adrian who loudly grumbles some reply in your direction so you take that as a yes.

Heading into Adrian’s room you place your tote bag into the unmade bed, which was covered in his Fennel Fields uniform and cute hat, which you pick up and put on your head.

Feeling stupid you quickly take it off then decide to get changed into the underwear, you hoped that Adrian would see you in very soon and lose his mind.

The colour was very similar to the teal stripe he has adorned on his Vigilante costume, with you knowing full well want Adrian did, the masked anti hero of Evergreen.

For someone who was always so sure to keep himself discreet, you had caught Vigilante breaking into Adrian’a apartment months ago, freaked out obviously until he had started talking.

For a good twenty minutes Adrian had put on a fake voice, asking you why you were here making up lots of bullshit, until he realised it wasn’t working so he finally came clean.

So tonight you wanted him to see this outfit and it drive him nuts, like he would just go insane you wanted him on his knees begging in front or you, ready to be all yours.

Untying your hair from the bun you wore on top of your head, you let your mid length hair fall down into messy curls, that you thread your hands through hoping this was gonna work.

Pulling out the soft silk underwear from your bag you smile to yourself, admiring the teal colour you hoped that Adrian would see and basically just lose the plot.

Sitting on the couch in his small living room, Adrian wonders what he could do to change things, unless it was to late but you hadn’t left the apartment yet.

Perhaps Adrian could persuade you to stay here instead of going on this date, you could watch a couple of movies together instead on the couch cuddling up close.

Adrian always loved it when you threw your legs over his thighs snuggling against him, whilst you listened to him talk over said movie, with you hanging onto his every word.

Right now he wanted nothing more than to just have you here with him, even though you were in his room currently, making Adrian wonder why you were taking so long to get ready.

Before he could think about it Adrian decides to go see you, even though he wasn’t ready to see you looking good for another guy that wasn’t him, it just wasn’t right.

Hell, Adrian knew you looked good in anything he would stare at you happily, even in your old silk pjs with the pants that were too long but you looked gorgeous to him every single time.

Quickly getting up from the couch, Adrian walks towards his bedroom without even thinking about what he was going to say, he just needed to see you.

Standing in your underwear you were very close to just walking out to see Adrian, when you hear footsteps so you decided to put on a show hoping that he would take a good look.

The outfit in question was a soft silk bra, which had a thick ribbon at the front and matching underwear that also had a ribbon on each side of your hip it was very revealing and not something you would just wear everyday.

Adrian looks into his wide open bedroom door to see you standing there, in underwear which made his eyes widen partly because of the colour but mostly cos of how fucking hot you looked.

Hair down loose and curly Adrian takes you all in with a deep gulp that has you turning round, to see your best friend looking at you with big round eyes.

“Hey I-“

“You are not wearing that tonight!” Adrian snaps feeling his blood suddenly start to boil at the very idea of some other guy seeing you.

“Oh, why is that Adrian?” You ask him brushing some curls out of your face noticing the red flush creeping around the back of his neck and the very top of his ears.

“Because I don’t want no one else besides me seeing you like this, fuck you look so hot!” Adrian waves his hands in front of him as if to make a point which makes you smile.

“You think I look hot?” You asks Adrian placing a hand on your waist, whilst pulling your shoulders back so your chest was pushed out.

Adrian is just staring at you still with wide eyes and a open mouth, partly from what he had just admitted but seeing you wearing that underwear had rewired his brain, he wanted you so desperately.

“You know I do.” Adrian states taking a couple more steps into his room, which has you taking a step back when you notice the look on his face.

“So, what happens now?“ You ask Adrian in what you hoped was a confident voice but even you could hear the desperation yourself.

Grabbing onto your lower arm Adrian pulls you closer towards him, with a smug look on his face as he stares down at you with lust filled eyes, you had finally broken him.

“What happens.” Begins Adrian leaning closer to talk right next to the shell of your ear “ Is you stay here with me and I don’t let you out of my sight because your all mine.”

Hitching your breath in response to the words you had so longed to hear, Adrian smiles back at you then places his lips to your neck not moving them just breathing in your scent as you feel his hot breath.

“You drive me so fucking crazy, but I need you, like right now I want to rip off your underwear and fuck you so hard” Adrian finally says in a gravelly voice sounding unsure until he hears you gasp from his words which makes you lick your bottom lip excitedly.

“I’ve wanted this-“

“I know.” Adrian states lifting his head up from your neck to capture your surprised lips in a deep kiss, whilst his warm hands wrap around you middle pulling you closer to his firm chest.

Desperate kisses that make you sigh into Adrian’s mouth, whilst he tighten his grip around you his tongue gliding along your bottom lip only to slide eagerly across your own.

One of your hands reach up to the back of Adrian’s curly hair, running it through then holding firmly onto the soft tufts which makes him groan then bite your lip teasingly.

“Wow.” You announce moving away to catch your breath because Adrian clearly liked kissing, going by the look on his eyes, pupils blown but filled with something that excited you.

“Turn around.” Adrian demands in a voice which instantly has you spinning round on the spot, to feel his hand move some of your hair from your shoulder, then pulling you flush against him he places a chaste kiss on your neck.

Followed by another which makes you relax into the warm feeling of his body against yours, feeling the hard curve of his cock pressed tightly against your lower back.

“I need you-“

You cry out when you feel Adrian bite down on the soft skin of your neck, teeth sinking in only moments later to be replaced by a gentle lick of his tongue.

“Now your mine.” Adrian tells you only to bite down again over the same spot which makes you arch your back against him whilst he continued to feast on your neck.

“I’m yours.” You nod when you feel his warm lips gliding over the bite mark which makes you grab at his face, turning back round to kiss him again.

Lips collide hurriedly as Adrian replaces his hands on your hips pulling you towards his bed where he sits down and then directs you to straddle his lap, which you do in desperation whilst not even breaking the kiss between you two.

Adrian tries to pull at your underwear but it’s difficult with you grinding down into his groin, feeling his jeans tighten which could soon become a problem.

“Let me.” You tell Adrian who groans into your lips so you move letting his hands fall away, only for him to quickly remove his dark blue shirt revealing his toned chest and abs that made you lick your lips.

Adrian just sits there and watches as you slowly untie the silk ribbons either side of your hip, letting your underwear fall to the floor.

“Fuck, your gorgeous!” Adrian whines grabbing hold of your wrists, to pull you on top of him as he falls back onto the bed his lips meeting yours yet again in a hurried wet kiss.

“I-“

“I think you should sit on my face.” Adrian cuts you off already removing his glasses ready, whilst you balance between his waist considering his offer.

“I’ve never-“

“Please, I just want to eat you out and feel you ride my face it’s been a fantasy of mine for ages.” Adrian pleads then adds “ I will make you feel so good, you would look so hot riding me.”

“Ok.” You nod sitting up on your knees to quickly remove your bra which has Adrian staring at your tits, then grabbing them as you travel up his body.

Adrian’s mouth captures one of your breasts as he slowly glides his hot tongue across your already pebbled nipples, causing you to grind into his chest.

“Not yet, come closer.” Adrian jokes as you move your knees between either side of his face whilst he looks happily up at you, dimpled smirk on his face that makes your eager pussy throb.

“What if I-“

“I’ve got you.” Adrian smiles softly up at you placing a kiss on your thigh which makes you bite your lip as he adds “Are you ready?”

You nod silently at the same time that you feel Adrian’s hands grab your ass, then he lowers them to the back of your thighs gripping tightly to hold you in place.

“I need words, princess.” Adrian tells you encouragingly which makes you smirk back.

“I’m ready.” You state brushing some stray curls from his cute face which makes his dimples widen but moments later they disappear when Adrian pulls you down onto his face.

With a little readjusting you feel his hot breath on your soaked pussy, briefly feeling embarrassed, but that disappears when you feel Adrian‘s nose rub against your folds followed by his warm mouth.

Sure you have had someone go down on your before, but you had never sat on someone’s face and be as completely consumed, just like how Adrian was devouring you right now which felt like absolute bliss.

Rocking your hips against Adrian’s skilled mouth soon makes your muscles tighten in anticipation, the thread soon about to break whilst he continues to fuck you with his tongue deep in your pussy.

“Ahh!” You cry out after one last glide of his strong tongue has you fast approaching an orgasm which makes your thighs shake around Adrian’s face whilst he continues to lick you your muscles fluttering with every touch.

“Fuck that was hot.” Adrian smiles as you move back to see his wet mouth, and wide eyed smile placing your hand through his soft hair to momentarily ground yourself.

“I agree-“

“I’m not finished with you yet.” Adrian cuts you off whilst you move your knees back to balance yourself on his chest leaning down to kiss his soft lips tasting yourself whilst he groaned into your mouth.

Feeling Adrian wiggling you look behind you to see him undoing his jeans, freeing his cock which from even at this angle looks long and thick, two things you liked very much.

Backing up further Adrian watches as you lean done to spread kisses across his pecs, licking his nipples which has him sighing as he takes two hands into your mess of curls, moving them so he could see your pretty face.

He drops the hair when Adrian feels your wet folds brush agains the tip of his cock, which makes its bounce hard against your wanting slit.

“There is no going back after this, I want this and I need-“

“I need this too, please fuck me.” You cry out when Adrian jerks his hips up making the head of his cock rub against you teasingly, it was actual agony.

“Fuck your so beautiful.” Adrian begins with a smile then adds “ Let’s stay like this because I want to see your face when you lose control.”

“Ok.” You nod taking this moment to sink yourself slowly down onto Adrian’s cock which fits you perfectly, albeit filling you up completely your muscles throbbing against him in response.

“Dammit you feel so good, your pussy was made for me this is karma, damn is this my prize for waiting so long to fuck-“

“Adrian.” You soothe looking up at him seated on his dick, feeling safe, loved and above all else eager for this to start happening.

“Sorry! Oh fuck!” Adrian groans when you start to slowly move on top of him and he thrust upwards matching your pace, his eyes watching your face the whole time.

The air soon turns desperate when you are rocking faster onto his cock, whist he snaps his hips hurriedly both chasing your orgasms, when you feel yours hit you first closely followed by Adrian who curses loudly.

“That needs to happen again.” Adrian states whilst you chuckle placing your head on his chest, still inside him but smiling to yourself when he wraps his arms tightly around your middle.

“Can we cuddle first.” You smile looking up moving yourself from your seat on Adrian’s cock, laying down next to him as he quickly wraps you into a tight hug.

“I can’t believe you never realised how much I loved you.” Adrian sighs then adds “I was too afraid to say anything like a loser, but I have adored you for years.”

“I never knew what to say, so I wore this underwear to make you see.” You nod with a shy smile.

“My favourite colour, as soon as I saw it I just went mad.” Adrian chuckled placing a kiss on the top of your head.

“It was hot.” You admit teasingly making Adrian groan back.

“I don’t think we should leave this bedroom for the rest of the night, we can lick each other’s sweat to stay hydrated.” Laughs Adrian whilst you pulled a face back at him.

“I’m all for the first part, but I definitely need a water before we continue.” You wink at Adrian getting up from the bed as he grudgingly lets you go.

The team had been very little help when you asked them last week. Harcourt and John couldn’t think of any suggestions aside from “a swift kick in the ass” since they always had a tough time picking out gifts for Adrian. They already had theirs, so they were fresh out of ideas. Chris and Leota had a couple of good suggestions each. Chris’ all related to sex (one of which you would be doing tonight along with the lingerie) and the weapons Leota suggested as gifts Adrian would need to give his input on beforehand.

Hmm. Going to the movies maybe?

No, Adrian hated the theater. Or, rather, the theater hated him since he tended to talk through movies unless he was completely sucked into them, which was rare.

Go out to dinner?

No, that wouldn’t work. While you both weren’t really fussy eaters (him more so than you), going out to a restaurant always turned expensive as fuck because you both had the same damn problem of having zero self-control when it came to ordering food. If you both stuck to one entree each and two appetizers, it’d be fine. But no. You both usually ended up with one entree each, one entree both of you wanted to try so you’d split it, no less than three appetizers and something else to split, be it soup, salad or whatever.

You both were absolutely ridiculous, and you knew it.

Gift wise, you were completely stuck, too. You couldn’t think of anything to get him that he didn’t already have or wouldn’t break the bank. Anything small he might want, or if you saw something you thought he’d like, you always got it for him throughout the year. It could be anything from a rock you saw while working in your flower bed or a knife at one of those random corner convenience stores that have everything. Giving small gifts was one of your love languages.

Finally, the day arrived, and you weren’t any closer to figuring it out. You were still awake even when Adrian got home from patrol. That was highly unusual for you. You laid in bed, feigning sleep when you heard him come into the room. Usually, he could tell by your breathing and heart rate that you weren’t asleep, but if he knew you were awake, he didn’t say anything. He just climbed into bed and cuddled up next to you. You figured he knew and guessed what it was about considering what the day was now. You were calmy awake, not panicky awake or worried awake. But at least with him in bed now and holding you close, you were able to finally dose off and get some sleep.

A nap is all it really ended up amounting too. No matter how late you went to bed, you never could sleep past 10am. Even on Saturday’s, like today. It was annoying, but what could you do? Four hours was better than none though.

You carefully slipped out of bed to not wake Adrian, which was easy today. Sometime during the night, he had let you go and rolled over. You quietly picked your clothes from yesterday up off the floor and slipped out of the bedroom. He was still snoring, so you didn’t want to risk waking him by getting into the closet or dresser. After you changed in the living room, foregoing a shower at the moment for the same reasons, you quietly slipped out of your shared apartment.

After that, you sat in your car for a while, still waking up and still trying to decide what to do. Money was definitely a factor in your plans since neither of you made a whole lot. This kind of black ops work didn’t pay well at all since you didn’t technically exist. Hell, after you had moved to Evergreen on your permanent reassignment, you ended up needing to get a second job. You needed up going to work waitressing at Fennel Fields. While you worked closely with Vigilante on the team, working together at the restaurant was actually how you two ended up falling for each other. You didn’t actually know Adrian was Vigilante for five months until you had to take his mask off while he was unconscious, a fact everyone still teases you about. While you still felt bad to this day for de-masking him without his permission, you didn’t have choice. If you hadn’t done it, Chris would’ve. Blood had been pouring out of Adrian’s mask thanks to a broken nose and busted lip, but neither of you knew that’s what it was, and panicked thinking Adrian was drowning in his own blood. He woke up swinging from you attempting to reset his nose while still unconscious, which resulted in a black eye for you. But that was actually the catalyst that finally made you ask him out, which you did later on that night at HQ as he was apologizing profusely while you held ice on your eye.

No, you couldn’t do anything too fancy, you knew, so that narrowed your options quite a bit.

“Oh, fuck it,” you finally said, starting your car. “Simple birthdays full of favorites are good, right?”

It only took a little over two hours to get back to the apartment from shopping and stopping for breakfast. Since it was still fairly early on a Saturday, there weren’t many people out and about. Adrian was still sound asleep. You could hear him snoring from the bedroom as you put the groceries away for dinner tonight. It wasn’t going to be anything fancy, just the one thing you made that Adrian always seemed to request the most often. Your beef enchiladas with Mexican rice.

You didn’t really know why he loved the enchiladas so much. The rice you could understand. That recipe you had learned while briefly living down by the border in Texas on an assignment. One of your coworkers had taught you her recipe, which was taught by her mom and so on, and made absolutely sure you prepared it correctly. The enchiladas though? That was just the recipe off the cans of Old El Paso sauce that you had tweaked to your taste over the years. Regardless, he loved them and raved about them to anyone that would listen, and that’s all that mattered right now.

After putting everything away, you picked up the McDonald’s bag and drink tray, and quietly made your way back to the bedroom.

Adrian had flipped over in his sleep and was now on his stomach, spread eagle in the middle of the bed, with his head between your pillows and his. The blankets had been tossed back, leaving him mostly open to the air except for his boxers.

A grin came to your face as you got an idea. You went over to the dresser, quietly setting the bag and tray down on it. Why the dresser? Well, you knew how Adrian could be when surprised unexpectedly and, if a struggle ensued, the dresser was the farthest from the bed. You didn’t want anything knocked over, especially not the coffee. For once, the frozen drink machine had been clean, so you treated the both of you to Frappe’s. Mocha for you, caramel for him.

With everything sat down, you went back over to the doorway and faced the bed. You got a little bit of a running started, jumped, and tackled Adrian, screaming, “Happy Birthday” as you landed on him.

As expected, Adrian came up swinging. Luckily, since he was on his stomach and you had jumped onto his back, this resulted in the best possible outcome you could’ve hoped for. You were unceremoniously bucked off of him and to the floor, like you had just jumped on a mechanical bull in mid spin.

Adrian sat up then, looking around in sleepy, but alert, confusion. You didn’t say anything, just grinned, as you watched him get more and more confused until he saw you.

“Happy Birthday, sweetie!” you said again with a grin.

He blinked a few times, the confusion not leaving his face.

“Huh?” he finally said, staring at you with a blank look.

Even though he had been talking about his birthday for a week now, Adrian was very easily confused sometimes first thing in the morning.

You hopped up, retrieved everything off the dresser and plopped down at the foot of the bed, sitting across from him.

“Allow me to present, on this most glorious of days, breakfast in bed!” you proclaimed, then gently took his drink out of the tray, and held it out to him. “First, the important bit. One caramel Frappe with extra caramel.”

A smile slowly started to spread over Adrian’s face as he started figuring out what was going on, his green eyes sparkling as he took the drink from you.

Next, you started rifling through the bag, pulling out breakfast sandwiches and hash browns.

“Next, we got a sausage McGriddle, a bacon and egg biscuit with an extra layer of egg and the bacon in between, and two orders of hash browns.”

As you went to hand Adrian those, he softly took ahold of your wrist and gently pulled on your arm, so you were leaning towards him. He softly kissed you.

“Thank you, baby,” he said softly, the tone of his voice filled with love. “You always make me feel special. I don’t deserve you.”

“Sure, you do,” you smiled, reaching up to stroke the side of his face. “You deserve the world and more.”

After looking into each other’s eyes for a moment, it apparently got too serious for Adrian.

“So, when do I get my presents?” he asked, bouncing up and down.

“Later!” you answered, laughing.

“Oh. Later, huh?” Adrian grinned, then waggled his eyebrows at you. “What if I wanted a present now?”

It took you a second to catch his meaning. When you did, your smile turned into a grin.

“Now, huh?” you said playfully, casually resting your hand on his knee. “But isn’t it too early for birthday presents?”

“Absolutely fucking not!” Adrian exclaimed, his eyes wide. “There’s no law that says presents have to be given at a specific time. Or sex, for that matter.”

You chuckled, your hand starting to slowly slide up his thigh.

“Well, you know what they say about having too much of a good thing….” you let yourself trail off as your fingertips started playing with the leg hem of his boxers.

“And they, whoever the fuck ‘they’ even are, are deadass wrong,” Adrian licked his lips, his gaze locked on your hand as you slipped it up further.

“Hmmm, I dunno,” you said, continuing on until your hand was over the growing bulge in his boxers. “Sometimes They can be pretty smart about things.”

“Not this fucking time,” Adrian groaned deeply, his head tilting back on the headboard as you started rubbing him. “Definitely not this fucking time.”

It didn’t take long before he was pulling you over to straddle his lap and breakfast in bed was completely forgotten about. Neither of you really cared.

That’s another reason it was so hard to plan things for Adrian. Plans usually ended up getting tossed out the window in favor of fucking.

It was one of Adrian’s favorite pastimes. And also, his favorite present for any occasion.

My mother says if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all.

He smiled and snickered once before covering it with a cough. Something about his body language said he didn’t want to alienate himself from the assholes across the room. Which was a shame because clearly they’d already done it for him.

The manager ducked his head into the room and laid into the whole group five minutes later, telling them to get their asses back on the floor – apparently, it wasn’t their break. You didn’t move when they left and after another five minutes passed, Adrian asked, “Sorry, should I have said something?”

“Hmm?” You looked up from your phone.

“To them. Earlier.” He nodded to the empty table littered with a comical number of chairs.

“Nah,” you answered and stood. Your break was almost over and you still had to use the bathroom before you headed back to the hostess stand. “I’m a big girl,” you assured. “I can make him regret it all on my own.”

Adrian looked doubtful, eyes narrowed, nose wrinkled. “How?”

You nodded sagely from the doorway. “Tell you what. If you haven’t figured it out by the end of your shift, come find me, I’ll let you know.” You punctuated the sentence with a conspiratorial wink and let the door close behind you.

A few hours later you caught Adrian as he headed out the back door to his car.

“Hey!” He turned to look at you, a little surprised – eyebrows up and lips parted.

“You didn’t come see me; you figure it out on your own?” You asked, head cocked to the side.

He nodded and an open mouth smile stretched across his face.

“Told you,” you shrugged, and laughed when Adrian smiled even broader.

Marshall was still pacing in and out of the breakroom complaining to anyone who would listen about how shitty the back half of his shift was. A whole six dollars in tips for the last four hours. ‘Bullshit’ he kept yelling. Adrian had noticed you sitting less people in his section but he wasn’t certain how you managed to sit only people who wouldn’t leave tips at Marshall’s tables. He briefly wondered if you had asked them at the door.

“Good night!” you called across the parking lot, throwing up your hand and heading back inside. Adrian waved back, still smiling.

***

A few days later, maybe weeks, it wasn’t like your sense of time was intact with two shitty minimum wage jobs, Adrian and you ended up on the same late break near the end of your shift. He seemed happy to sit silently across the table from you for most of the break. The last few minutes, though, he started to fidget incessantly, drawing your attention. When you finally made eye contact, he sat up straighter.

“I was gonna get dinner after we got out – at the Forest Diner. They’ve got really awesome burgers, like the best in town. Probably the whole state? You could come with, if you wanted.” He had tried to shrug casually but it wasn’t convincing.

“Oh, that’s super nice. I just.” You grimaced, hearing how textbook your answer was at this point. “I really want to go home and sleep.” You had said it a million times at your other job to the two girls nice enough to try and include you in their evening plans. You felt guilty as you watched Adrian shake his head and scoff, seemingly at himself, “Yeah, no of course.”

“I do appreciate the offer.” You meant that but whether it mattered to him right now was hard to say. “Maybe some other night,” you tacked on. Thankfully Adrian didn’t actually suggest a specific night as a make-up.

You had pulled your phone out after your shift ended at Fennel Field’s to see that your evening plans had been cancelled. About two minutes later as you shoved your phone back in your bag and got ready to bolt for the door, you heard the waiters rebuffing Adrian as he tried to ask about their evening out. One of the younger waitresses started to ask you if you want to go with all of them to wherever it is they were drinking.

***

The Forest Diner did indeed have awesome burgers, you eventually found out.

“I’ve got plans already,” you answered and didn’t look back at her. It didn’t surprise you the group wasn’t inviting Adrian but they were being downright rude and it pissed you off. You hopped in front of Adrian and interrupted before he could say anything else to them. “So what time does the diner close? Or are they an all-night place?”

Adrian stared at you, obviously lost.

“If we leave now, do we have time to eat or are they gonna lock up before our food gets out?” You jerked your head to the door and he patted his pockets like he was checking for something. “You gonna grab your stuff?”

Adrian headed back over to the lockers, shoved the contents of one into his pockets, and threw his apron and hat in it. Marshall offered you an invite to their gathering as you turned to the door, Adrian not far behind. You sneered, “In what fucking world would I want to do that.”

You had planned on following him there but the second you made it to your car you remembered your basically empty gas tank. Enough to get you to your apartment but not… “Shit, I forgot to fill up before. Can you drive?” Adrian nodded, uncharacteristically nonverbal.

“We didn’t actually have plans, right?” he sounded like he knew the answer but needed the closure.

“Can I ask you something?” he said after you had made it out of the parking lot.

“Yeah?”

“Why didn’t you want to go to Stoney’s?” he asked quietly after a beat.

“No, I,” you laughed. “My friend cancelled on me last minute and I skipped dinner so I figured we could go to the diner you mentioned a while back.”

“As it stands, I am only willing to be in the same room with Marshall if you pay me. I sure as fuck am not about to do it for free.”

“Sorry about your friend. Are they okay?” he changed the subject.

“Oh no, they’re fine. They ditched me…” you hummed as you thumbed through your text log again, “twelve minutes before my shift ended. I seriously don’t know why we’re still friends.”

“That seems kind of harsh.” His voice was hushed, almost shy.

“I feel like I always go out of my way to make time for the stuff she wants to do and she doesn’t even meet me halfway,” Your memory floated to last Christmas with alarming clarity. “Every gift she’s ever gotten me has just been something she likes.” You added, without meaning to.

“But she got you gifts, that’s being a good friend?” Adrian either didn’t follow your logic or was a little defensive. You couldn’t be sure.

“Yeah, it’s better than nothing I guess but I meant… I don’t know.” You tried to articulate a stray thought that had been living in your periphery for a while now. “I don’t think she even knows my favorite color. I know hers but I don’t think she knows mine.” It was childish and simplified but it’s how you had started to feel about her lately.

Adrian said nothing for a solid minute and you wondered if you had sounded mad at him for defending her. At the next light, he finally broke the silence.

“What’s your favorite color?”

You laughed involuntarily. Snorted, actually. “Oh no you’re not supposed to ask that. I have to think about it,” you covered your face with your hands. It was a shotgun blast to your theory – how can you expect someone to know it if you don’t? Thankfully Adrian didn’t point that out, just waited patiently.

“Phthalo green.” You answered after a not so brief consideration, adding, “My mom watched a lot of Bob Ross when I was kid.”

“Mine’s teal.” He responded proudly. He hadn’t had to think about it.

The two of you have been separated all week, work bullshit— both from your real jobs and your side-jobs, your super-jobs— landing you in different places at different times, more often than not. Though you’ve wanted to spend the entire week celebrating his birthday, there’s rarely been any time for him to celebrate at all, let alone time where you’re both together to celebrate. Most of the time you’ve spent together has been eating something quickly for dinner, falling asleep tangled up in each other at home, then eating a quick breakfast the next morning before you have to part ways this again.

It’s been so, so chaotic that you specifically took today and tomorrow off work. Adrian did the same, and you both told Emilia not to expect you around for any missions on these two days.

“Even for emergencies?” Emilia had teased, but you’d immediately agreed.

“Yes,” you’d told her. “Even for emergencies. Actually, especially for emergencies,” while Emilia fought down a laugh and told you that she’d make a point not to bother either of you.

You’d only gone out to get groceries to make his (first) birthday breakfast together, and you had been pretty immediately snatched off the street, still in your plainclothes. Not even in your uniform, which is just— embarrassing, honestly. They must’ve been watching you— Or, at least, knew enough of Adrian and Chris to be able to figure out you lived with him. From there, it was probably just a matter of waiting for you to come out alone and vulnerable.

Or, vulnerable as far as they know. You’re trained to endure far worse than this. The worst you’ve had to put up with so far is the headache from getting knocked out, and the uncomfortable rough-pain of being strapped to this wall with these metal straps. You could endure torture from any of the tools your captor has on the opposite wall. You don’t want to, but you could.

Really, the worst part is that you’re still not celebrating Adrian’s birthday. You specifically took these days off, and you couldn’t even have that.

When you didn’t come back in a few minutes, though, Adrian instantly would’ve gone to look for you. He’s smart; he would’ve figured out what happened quickly. It’s probably only a matter of minutes before he actually s—

The room rattles, then, in the split second before there’s a distant boom, a shuddering explosion at some great distance, muffled by something strange.

Lifting your head as much as you can, with your neck bound the way it is, you ask, “I’m fucking underground, aren’t I? F—”

“Shut up,” your captor orders you, moving to the center of the room. He’s grabbed a long, curved blade in one hand; the other holds a gun, hanging at his side, finger close to the trigger. “They weren’t supposed to come that fast.”

“Vigilante can last when he wants to,” you tell him. You’re mildly disappointed that Adrian wasn’t here to hear that one; it’s not your best work, but you know it would’ve made him laugh, anyway. “Sometimes he just gets excited. You know h—”

“I said,” the man says, turning to glare at you, “Shut up.”

You frown again, but you draw your mouth shut. He’s got the weapons, and Adrian’s not in the room just yet; you’re not stupid, even if you are getting very, very pissed off.

There’s another rattling boom then, closer this time. It sounds like Adrian’s blowing the place apart to get to them, which probably isn’t far off of what the team’s actually doing. You grin, shifting slightly against the wall, trying to get a better position to see the direction they’re going to be coming from.

“Wipe that stupid fucking smile off your face,” your captor tells you. You honestly did not notice he was looking at you again; you don’t stop smiling fast enough, and he advances on you, slashes at you without any real finesse. It’s more a threat than anything, but he manages to catch your cheek for only a second before his blade glances further down your shoulder, across your collarbone, and then away, splitting the collar of your shirt and the skin beneath.

You cry out automatically, your body’s instinctive reaction to the shock of the pain, even though it’s not that bad compared to other injuries you’ve had.

In the instant after your cry of pain, the wall to the underground chamber you’re being held in blows inwards, dirt and rock flying apart into tiny shards of rubble and dust, tearing a hole in the wall. You can’t turn your head away, so you just slam your eyes and mouth shut, trying not to let anything go into your throat, trying to protect yourself.

You’re still unable to stop yourself from coughing, crumbling silt in your throat. Your eyes won’t open, in the dust-fog that’s filled the space, so you just keep them closed, trying to breathe.

It only takes a couple of seconds before two hands are touching your face. They’re strangely smooth, before you realize they have seams—

Gloves, you realize, through the chaos. Your ears are ringing, so you can’t make out the voice that’s speaking to you, but you recognize the feeling on your cheeks, stroking through your hair. Adrian’s here.

“—fucking shit,” Adrian’s saying, when the sharp ringing in your ears fades enough for his voice to become clear. “You’re okay, it’s alright— Fuck—”

You take a shaking breath, coughing again when the dirt in your lungs all comes up and out as you do. It’s easier to breathe, now, with your lungs clear, but you still cough a couple of times to get it all out.

“Hey, you’re okay,” Adrian says. He tilts your face up, gloved thumbs wiping at your eyes. “I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t realize how close you were. Hey, there you go— You can open your eyes now, it’s okay, you’re all set.”

You trust him implicitly, automatically, and so you instantly open your eyes, blinking a few times to clear the last bits of dust clinging to your eyelashes. Adrian sweeps under your eyes, then, and across your cheeks, your mouth, cleaning you off with every clean bit of his gloves he can find. His hands track down, then, as you’re finally focusing your eyes on him. He’s in his entire Vigilante get-up, the full uniform, mask and all; behind him, you can see Chris throwing your captor to the ground while Leota quickly scopes the room with Emilia, searching for anybody else and finding nobody.

“I told you,” John says, stepping through the hole blasted in the wall beside them. “It’s just this one schmuck. We didn’t have to blow the whole thing up, the door’s right there. It would’ve taken five extra minutes.”

“Thanks for hurrying,” you reply dryly, voice gritting with dust. You cough again.

“What if (Y/N) died in the next five minutes, you shithead?” Adrian snaps over his shoulder, hands finding the edges of the wound on your cheek, down your throat, your shoulder, your collarbone, your chest. Gently probing the sides has blood on his gloves and you wincing at the sharp pain of it. It’s not deep, but it still hurts like a fucker, and you want it cleaned and bandaged sooner rather than later. “Aw, shit. Alright— Shit, okay. I can fix this—”

“It’s not that bad,” you assure him. “I’m just sorry about your birthday.”

Adrian’s head lifts, his visor connecting with you as if your eyes could meet through it. This close up, you nearly can see his eyes; you can see the vague shapes of them through the prescription-thick redness of the screen between you.

For a beat, it seems like he’s confused before he huffs a laugh and demands, “My birthday? You dick, you got taken—”

“But I’m fine,” you remind him. “What I wanted to be doing was— I don’t know, getting a cake from that place at the corner with the ones in the case and seeing some dumb movie and enjoying ourselves, like normal people—”

“Hey, no, wait, it’s okay,” Adrian insists, catching your face between his hands again when you start to get worked up. Behind him, over his shoulder, you watch Emilia stand over your captor and blow his head off without hesitation. Just another day in the life, honestly. Your only regret is you and Adrian didn’t get to kill him yourselves for wasting your time. “It’s just my birthday. It’s not a big deal. It’s more important you’re okay.”

While he’s talking, he’s making quick work of the straps keeping you held to the wall. He breaks the one confining your wrists first, then your throat; he has to summon Chris over to help him snap off the ones around your chest and waist, Emilia breaking apart the lock around your ankles while they work.

It feels as though you’re released all at once, and you slump downwards, limbs numb and tingling after being held prone at those strange angles for so long. Adrian catches you against himself, swings you up so you’re in his arms, feeling starting to tingle back through you, now.

“But it’s your birthday,” you repeat, lamenting. You’re just— frustrated, is all. You had plans. You had plans to have no plans, and here you still are, doing your stupid fucking jobs. Well— second jobs, but still. Working.

“And what a great present,” Adrian says, hauling you up and out of the hole they’ve blown into the place. He only briefly releases you so Chris can help him drag you up and out into the sunshine above. It’s not even dinnertime; at least the whole day hasn’t been wasted, and Adrian’s birthday is still coming, so. You can celebrate as much as you want. “You’re alive and well. I’m overjoyed. Thanks, you really shouldn’t have—”

“Shut up,” you tell him, endeared, fond. He knows you don’t mean it, kisses you on the forehead. “Let’s go home.”

“Uh, let’s go to the hospital—”

“This literally doesn’t even hurt,” you tell him, which is an exaggeration, but still. He doesn’t put you down, continuing to carry you out towards the cars in the lot. You can’t help smiling when you see them; everyone drove here separately, it looks like. It makes you want to laugh, thinking of them all meeting up here like they’re just going to hang out, then instantly blowing holes into the ground. “I just want to go home.”

Adrian evaluates you for a suspicious moment. Before he can argue with you, though, Emilia says, “I don’t know, they look fine to me. Clean that shit and stick a band-aid on it, you’ll be good.”

You can’t tell what Adrian’s expression is through his mask, exactly, but you can make a reasonable enough guess. He’s probably exasperated; you know him well enough, though, to know that he’s probably also excited. He had to have been disappointed not to celebrate properly; getting it back is obviously making him happy.

“Are you sure?” Adrian asks. You reach up to tug his mask off, freeing him from it so you can see his face. He’s flush-faced and his hair’s a mess from the motion, but he looks cautiously optimistic, nearly smiling when he sees you.

“Yeah, they’re fine,” Chris says. “Fuck off, go home.”

“Thanks for your help,” you call to them. John’s already most of the way to his own car.

“Glad you’re okay,” Leota stops to tell you. “See you for dinner tomorrow.”

“Seven sharp,” you remind her. You’d been planning to make Adrian a birthday dinner, but with the way you’re anticipating your back feeling tomorrow, you’re— probably going to end up ordering in instead, honestly, which is fine. You can make it a buffet; Adrian can pick out a whole bunch of options, from anywhere he wants.

“Seven sharp,” Leota echoes, smiling. She gives you a wave before she’s gone, too, and Adrian takes you to his car, gingerly loading you into the passenger’s seat.

“You’re sure you don’t want—” he starts to ask, but you cut him off before he can even finish.

“I’m sure,” you insist. “I want to go home. It’s your birthday—”

“Alright, alright,” Adrian says, and shuts your door for you. When he climbs into the driver’s side, still wearing his entire uniform— except the mask, still clutched in your hands— you’re just reminded intensely of how sideways today has gone.

“I’m sorry,” you tell him.

“You’re sorry?” he repeats, incredulous. “Sorry, what the fuck are you sorry for?”

“Fucking up your birthday—”

“You didn’t fuck up my birthday,” Adrian insists to you. He takes your bare hand in his gloved one over the console between you, kisses the dusty back of it. “The doper birthday gift is to have you back. Stop worrying so much, I swear, I’m not mad at you. Why the fuck would I be mad at you? You’re such a dingus sometimes.”

“You’re such a dingus sometimes,” you tell him, but he only grins.

“Got that right,” he says. He glances over at you, though, as he grabs his glasses from the dashboard and shoves them into place belatedly, correcting the car’s course as he does so. “I’m serious. It’s totally okay. I’m not mad at anyone except the shitface that took you. We can still celebrate my birthday.” Drawing your hand up once more so he can press an even harder kiss to the back of it, he promises you, “I’m having a great day, I swear. I love you.”

You smile, leaning back in your seat, just watching him. “I love you, too.”

His eyes are bright when he gives you another smile before turning back to the road, taking you back home. It doesn’t take long to get there, but it feels like an eternity when you weren’t supposed to go anywhere in the first place. You’re also getting uncomfortable, and you’re eternally grateful when Adrian gets you home and immediately helps deposit you in the shower, turning the water on hot and helping you scrub off.

It takes a bit of effort, but, between the two of you, you get yourself cleaned off, your wounds disinfected and bandaged, and the both of you back on the sofa before the sun has even set. Maybe the day hasn’t gone the way you wanted it too, but— You’ve still managed to spend a good chunk of it together, anyway.

“So,” you say, when Adrian’s sprawling himself across the sofa, dropping his head into your lap, burying his face in your thigh. “What do you wanna do now, birthday boy?”

You start carding your fingers through his hair. Your limbs don’t hurt so badly, anymore, and your throat and chest are better, and you’re not even all that mad. Just happy to be home, glad to be with him, again.

His fingers wrap around your ankles, holding tight to you. You let your nails drag along his scalp a bit, pulling through the dark, still-drying curls, soft as you stroke through.

“Kinda just wanna do this,” he tells you. His lips move against the bare skin of your thigh as he speaks. In the next beat, he twists a bit so he’s laying on his side, able to turn his head up enough to look at you without displacing your hand in his hair. “That okay? Or do you want me to go get something for—”

“This is perfect,” you assure him. This is what you’d been hoping for while you’d been held in that stupid place, anyway. You weren’t there long, which— small mercies. You’re just glad to be here now, glad that that was— really, no more than a minor inconvenience, in the grand scheme of things. “Anything you want. Like I said— It’s your birthday.”

He grins. Tilting his head to kiss your thigh, he tells you, “Maybe tomorrow I’ll be up for more,” breath warm across your skin.

“Maybe,” you agree. Stroking along to the crown of his head again, and again, and again— down to the nape of his neck again, and again, and again— along his temples again, and again, and again— you fall into the repetitive rhythm of it, watching as his breaths even, as his color calms, as he relaxes. You hadn’t even realized how much tension was coursing through him until he’s releasing it, holding onto you as he sinks out of panic and into contentment one inch at a time.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” Adrian murmurs sleepily, letting his own fingertips lazily drag up your leg in a slow stroke before he repeats the path in an absent-minded loop. “Don’t ever leave again.”

“You got it,” you agree easily, knowing neither of you could ever keep that promise. You bend down a bit, contorting at a slightly strange angle so you can kiss the side of his head, the temple of his glasses skin-warmed beneath your lips. He smiles when you do, holding you a bit tighter. “Happy birthday.”

“You, too,” he mumbles nonsensically. You smile, hugging him at this sideways-angle before leaning back again, continuing to stroke his hair whale he relaxes, just happy to be home with him.

-

adrian chase taglist pt. 1: