#celiac

Lay’s very recently took the gluten free label off of their sour cream and onion chips. The only allergen listed is milk, but not having the label anymore means it’s cross contaminated.

I found out the hard way. 🙃

It was a cheerful night inside the Polar Tang.

Drinks and bottles scattered all around while everyone celebrated Y/n's birthday.

Law sat on a corner, watching his crew play drunken games and laugh loudly at their own stupid jokes

Everything was going well, so he decided to go fetch some more ice for them and take a break from their noise

Ten minutes later and with a pack of ice in hands, Law stepped back in the room and noticed the laughs had stopped

"What happ–" before he could even finish his sentence, his eyes landed on a very swollen and wet face.

MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST OF THE SERIES

TAG LIST

Tags: @afroditezj @justheretoreadthxxs @foxmp @itmekelpy

Pairing: John Tucker x fem reader

Summary: You've got a celiac disease (an autoimmun. Disease that can be passed from a parent to a child), you got glutened while eating out and your crush whose apparently got a crush on you too, tries to learn how to cook homemade gluten free meals just for you.

Warnings: just celiac disease and being glutened (nothing graphic), otherwise just pure cutness

a/n: This series is gonna be short, like only two or three chapters but i just love the idea as i'm myself celiac. Originaly it was supposed to be John Logan or Garret Graham series but while i was writing i changed it to Tucker as think it suits him the best😄 I hope you're going to love this series as i do!

Requests are still open!♥️

You should have known better, not because you had done anything wrong just because you knew how these things usually went.

Eating out with people always looked easy from the outside. Friends laughing, stealing fries, sharing drinks, ordering appetizers for the table.

Normal.

You had gotten good at pretending it was normal too; checking menus beforehand, asking questions, smiling when servers looked annoyed and saying "No, really, it's okay, I can figure something out"

Eating out with people always look like act.

Pretending it didn’t sting when everyone else got spontaneous dinners and midnight takeout while your life worked in ingredient lists and cross contamination.

So when the group decided to go out after practice and everyone started talking over each other:

"Burger place"

"No, tacos!"

"No, burgers!"

"You always want burgers..."

You had checked the menu, there were some gluten free options, you asked questions as always and the server seemed confident. So you ordered.

For twenty minutes everything felt normal. Garrett was arguing with Dean, Logan was making comments just quiet enough to pretend he wasn't making comments.

Tucker sat across from you, stealing fries off Garrett's plate while insisting he wasn't that hungry.

You caught him watching you from time to time; you looked up and he looked away immediately.

You smiled and he frowned at his plate.

Normal.

Then halfway through your meal something felt wrong. Not dramatic yet just… that horrible moment where your body knows before your brain does.

You put your fork down,Tucker noticed first.

"You okay?"

You smiled automatically."Yeah"

He looked unconvinced.

Five minutes later you excused yourself, by the time you got home your stomach hurt. Then worse, then unmistakable.

You stared at the bathroom tiles and closed your eyes.

Gluten.

Again.

You texted the group.

YOU: Got home, just not feeling good...

Three dots appeared.

Garrett: Food poisoning??

Dean: Weak👀

Logan: Hydrate!

Then Tucker.

CHEFF: Did they mess up your food?🫤

You stared, you typed, deleted. Typed again.

YOU: Probably but it's okay

His reply came almost imediately.

CHEFF: That's not okay🤨

You looked at the message too long, then locked your phone.

The next day sucked, the day after sucked less. By the third day you were mostly human again.

Your phone buzzed.

CHEFF: You busy tonight? 👀

You frowned.

YOU: No? 🫣

CHEFF: Come over then

You blinked.

YOU: Why?

Three dots, stopped. Started again.

CHEFF: Dinner

You stared.

YOU: You cook for everyone all the time

CHEFF: Yeah🤷🏻‍♂️

YOU: So why are you texting me like it's weird?

Long pause.

CHEFF: Just come over

You arrived expecting chaos but instead the apartment was… clean? Like suspiciusly clean.

You stood in the doorway and Tucker appeared from the kitchen.His sleeves were pushed up, his hair looked like he'd run his hands through it twenty times.

His expression did something strange when he saw you, like relief.

"Hey!"

You blinked. "Did… someone die?"

He frowned "What?"

"The apartment..."

He looked around. "Oh..." Pause. "I cleaned"

You stared at him, "Voluntarily?"

His eyes narrowed. "You're funny"

You stepped inside and stopped.

The kitchen looked… different.

Counters were wiped and everything put away. Fresh new towels and you noticed a new sponge, a separate cutting board, new wooden utensils and then you noticed there was basket on the counter.

Gluten free pretzels, certified gluten free cookies and a few packaged snacks.

Your chest tightened and you looked at him slowly. "Tucker..."

His shoulders imediately got awkward which somehow made this worse. "What?"

You looked back. "...what is all this?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets and his voice got quieter. "I looked some stuff up"

Your eyes flicked to him.

He continued. "I read that if you clean badly it can still transfer"

You stared and his ears got slightly pink.

"So I cleaned everything" He kept going. "There was apparently flour in places that shouldn't have flour"

You blinked.

"There was flour… in the spice drawer" He looked offended by the memory and you almost laughed.

Instead your throat hurt and he looked away.

"I bought new stuff"

Your eyes moved; new butter, new jars, separate condiments.

You knew exactly why.

No crumbs. No contaminated knives.

Your stomach dropped and he noticed, his face shifted.

"What?"

You looked at him "...you know why you had to buy those?"

He frowned. "Yeah!"

You swallowed hard. Most people didn't,most people thought picking off croutons worked. Most people thought celiac meant preference and most people got annoyed.

Your own family still forgot sometimes, still used the same toaster and still told you 'a little won't hurt'

You looked around again. Separate everything.

You asked quietly "You did all this because I got sick again?"

He shrugged. "You got sick because somebody wasn't careful and i coudnt bare it..." His jaw shifted. "I figured I could be"

That that almost did you in, you looked away.

His voice softened. "Hey..."

You forced a smile. "Sorry"

His forehead wrinkled. "For what?"

You laughed once, too sharp. Tears starting to form i your eyes. "Nothing..."

He leaned against the counter. "No"

You looked at him and he looked directly back.

"That's your face"

You blinked. "My face?"

"Yeah" His expression softened. "The one where you're pretending something isn't a big deal"

You swallowed, your eyes burned.

Stupid.

You laughed quietly. "It's nothing"

He didn't move and you looked at the basket again, then said before you could stop yourself:

"Noone's ever done this'

His expression changed and you looked down.

"I usually just cook for myself" Your voice got smaller. "Or bring my own food..." You shrugged. "People forget or maybe don't know"

Silence.

You regretted saying it immediately so you smiled. "It's fine though"

Tucker looked at you for a second. "Who said that?"

You frowned. "What?"

He crossed his arms. "The 'it's fine' thing?"

You blinked.

He looked around. "This doesn't seem fine."

Your throat tightened.

He spoke softer. "You always check menus and you never complain"

Pause.

"You never eat the fries"

Your chest tightened because apparently he noticed all.

He rubbed the back of his neck, then nodded toward the stove. "Anyway" His voice got lighter. "I made food"

You blinked. "...you made gluten free food?"

He looked offended. "I made gluten free bread"

Your eyes widened. "What!?"

His expression got imediately defensive. "Don't get excited. It fought me"

You laughed and his shoulders relaxed.

He pointed, dinner, soup, fresh bread, some roasted vegetables and even a dessert in the fridge.

You stared. "You made dessert?"

He looked away. "...maybe?"

You laughed again and this time it felt easier.

The bread was warm when you broke it open, steam escaped. You stared at it for a moment then looked at him.

He was pretending not to care. "Okay?"

You took a bite and it wasn't perfect; slightly dense, little uneven but good. Really good, better than the store bought.

You looked at him and his eyes searched your face. You smiled, his shoulders dropped.

You swallowed. "It's really good"

His grin appeered before he could stop it. You looked at him and sudenly you understood something.

This wasn't dinner and wasn't just cooking. This was someone standing in a grocery store reading labels. Someone cleaning cabinets, someone googling symptoms and someone learning things nobody had learned for you.

Your eyes burned again. You set your fork down. "John...."

He looked up and you stood, walked over.

He watched you confused as you stopped in front of him.

His voice got quieter. "What?"

You looked at him and asked softly "Why?"

His face changed like you asked something dangerus.

He looked away, laughed quietly. "...you seriously don't know?"

Your stomach flipped. He looked back and suddenly looked nervous. John Tucker. Nervous.

He shrugged. "I like taking care of people" Pause. Then quieter "But with you it's diffrent"

Your breath caught, he swallowed. Then add:

"I notice things about you..."

Your chest tightened, his eyes stayed on yours. "You always act like needing acommodations is annoying" His jaw shifted. "It isn't"

Your throat closed. He continued "And I hated that you got sick and your first response was telling everyone it was okay"

His voice softened. "So..." Small shrug. "I made dinner"

You stared.

He laughed once. "That sounded cooler in my head..."

You smiled while your eyes stung then stepped closer. His breath caught.

You looked at him and said softly "No one's ever made me feel easy"

His expression changed.

You swallowed. "...until now"

Silence.

His eyes moved over your face. Then very quietly "Can I tell you something?"

You nodded.

He looked nervous. "I-i've wanted to kiss you for a while..."

Your entire body stopped.

His eyes widened imediately. "Okay that sounded insane!"

You laughed.

He groaned. "No_"

You stepped closer and his voice got smaller. "You don't have to_!"

You kissed him softly and he froze completely like his brain left. After a moment his hand came up slowly and rested against your jaw, he kissed you back.

Not dramatic, not desperate just careful like something he'd wanted for so long he didn't want to scare it.

When you pulled back he looked stunned.

You smiled.

He just stared then blinked. "...okay"

You laughed.

"I had a better line prepared."

You smiled wider. "What line?"

He looked away. "...I forgot"

You looked around the kitchen; the clean counters, the separate utensils, the basket of snacks. The ruined bread experiments you suddenly knew existed.

Then back at him and for the first time being cared for didn't feel heavy instead it felt easy. You leaned in again and he smiled before you even kissed him.