Saroo Bierley (LION, 2016)

Your first date with Saroo was a little impromptu. You meet him at one in the morning when you lost your group. He was in a similar position, and the two of you just ended up talking and walking around from about 2AM to about 8AM. 

He’s lovely. He doesn’t count this as your first date, because in his mind, date = effort, but it does. 

And you definitely go out again. 

Jay Menha (The Wedding Guest, 2018)

Jay’s not in the position to plan a date, but he does anyway. It’s low-key, but he makes the two of you a nice dinner and he listens to you chat about whatever’s going through your head. 

He’s a pretty great cook, and your stunned. 

It’s simple, but it’s nice. Jay doesn’t talk too much, but you pick up what he’s trying to tell you. 

It becomes a weekly habit. 

David Copperfield (2019)

You had to ask David out, because for as good as he is with his words, he couldn’t find the ones that would actually ask to spend time with you. 

You tell him that your going shopping on a certain date, time, location, and he could either be there or be square. 

He helps you pick out new dresses, new drapes for your room, but once you’ve made him suffer through (not that he suffered, he loves being around you), you both go to a book shop. 

The two of you wrap up at a book shop where you both browse in silence, a comfortable one. 

Anwar Kharral (SKINS)

Anwar’s extra, you knew this. You’d been his co-star, and you thought you knew him well.

You were nervous when he’d bought out a restaurant just for the two of you to have a nice meal. Your not sure what he’s trying to prove, because he’s got nothing to prove to you. But the truth quickly comes clear with a text.

It’s a red herring. 

The two of you dress down and proceed to waste the night away at a second-run theater playing movies from the 1970s and 80s. You must have been in there for at least 6 hours, but yelling at Jeff Goldblum makes time pass quickly. 

Even though you’d both just filmed a movie together, you’d never actually been alone. You get to know him as he is and not as he presents himself, even if it’s over a matter of hours. 

He’s pretty fantastic, actually. 

Joshua Madika (Modern Love, 2019)

Joshua takes dates seriously. It’s not a joke, it’s not playtime, he almost sees planning dates as a sport, especially when it’s been such a long time coming for the two of you. 

It’s winter in New York, so you start with ice skating. Joshua does surprisingly well, but it becomes clear, he’s clinging to you because someone so tall has never needed to have balance before. 

The two of you walk back to his place, where he warms you up with hot chocolate and he makes you dinner. 

You stay over. It’s snowing outside anyway. 

Neal Sampat (Newsroom, 2011-2014)

Neal’s usually busy, and you are too. 

And yet you make it work. 

Your job is literally right across the street, so at the set time, the two of you sprint out side and meet in between. 

You beat him there and buy some hot dogs for the two of you, and when he shows up, you both walk for the entirety of your lunch breaks and scream about your days are going. 

It’s not fancy, but it’s reliable, it becomes routine. 

You quickly find it’s weird to not talk to Neal every day. It’s not technically a date, but it counts. 

Deon Wilson (Chappie, 2015) ​

It takes a minute. Deon frequents the same coffee shop as you. He likes to work there, and you like to hang out and read before your shift starts at the movie theater. It’s been two months of staring at each other, like the socially-distance version of footsie. 

He’s tapping away at his laptop, doing whatever the hell smart people do, and you just come and sit down at his table and introduce yourself. 

Something had to give, and you gave it.

“Hi, I’m YN.”

“Deon.” 

“What are you having Deon?” He wants to say you, but that’s reserved for someone a lot stronger, more handsome than he is. There’s no way that you’re really sitting with him! 

“Coffee?” Why did he say that like a question? It’s because your smiling at him and his brain’s melting. 

“Just coffee?”

“Yeah.” You laugh and it’s as if the sun had just come out. 

I can’t lie @galinda-not-glinda​ did most of the work here. 

@umbrielchip000​

Saroo Bierley LION, 2016)

It’s a regular night out. 

Your with Saroo and your friends, out for drinks and catching up after a long week. Everything is fine until Saroo steps away. 

Some asshole at the bar starts shouting at you. Mean, vile things, that would be better left unsaid and unremembered. You hate that strangers can pick up on things you don’t like about yourself, and it leaves you unusually disarmed. You usually come back swinging with an insult that brings an asshole to his knees, but Saroo comes back swinging. 

Literally. 

Your group is asked to leave. 

That’s your lion. 

Jay Menha (The Wedding Guest, 2018)

You have to study Jay to pick up any real information on him. He’s nearly a closed book, but what he gives you is more than enough. Sometimes you can add words to the few he gives you to make a full sentence. 

He’s well aware of what he lets slip, but you’re not aware of any subliminal information he studies from you.  

He notices that you like to read while you walk, and it’s the reason your shoulders are always bruised. You never remember when you bump into things, so your always surprised. 

He notices during breakfast that you always eat your food in a certain order, and one day he wants to ask why. 

And, he also notices that if your eyes squint a certain way when you look at yourself in the mirror, something is wrong. 

You hold your breath while Jay wraps you up in a hug, pressing his face into your neck

“[You keep tearing yourself apart] for what?” And any other thoughts you were having evaporate, just like he planned. He’s intense on a good day, but when he’s trying to prove a point, Jay’s next to relentless. 

Jay proceeds to lay you down and start worshipping. 

It’s not conventional, but your his other half. He is yours. 

David Copperfield (2019)

You had been critically unwell for the past year, on bedrest for several months. Not only has your body been under a great deal of stress, but you fought your way back. You still are! Isn’t your body cool? 

But your tired, your so goddamn tired. Things aren’t okay. You can’t quite look at yourself straight on yet. 

Your days are short, and David’s with you as much as he possibly can be, escorting you up and down the stairs. He’s tired too. 

He falls asleep before you one night after quietly scribbling in his notebook, and curiosity, 

It’s poetry, a lot of it. Beautifully written and extremely explicit, all about you and your body. If it wasn’t midnight, you would have let him know how flustered his words had gotten you. 

Being ill is a strange thing, you have to focus on yourself first, you’re unaware that you’re being perceived. David sees everything, and he’d written it down.  

How your body fought for you, and all of his favorite things about it when the two of you are together. 

You tuck it right back under his arm, and cuddle in. 

Things are gonna just fine. 

 Anwar Kharral (SKINS)

Anwar’s a dunce when it comes to social media. 

Anwar’s a bit of a dunce in general, and he’s proud of it. But it was an entire segment on one of those trashy morning shows, about you. They just picked you apart. Your you. Your perfect the way you are. 

He’s only been livid twice in his life and one of those days was today. This Perez Hilton person needs to pay, so Anwar does what he swore he would never do. 

He joins Twitter. 

It’s not his cup of tea, but he’s got a mission. He spends the rest of the day posting various photos comparing you to some of the so-called “most beautiful women” of the 1940s.

Americans like the 40′s, right? 

Anwar’s polite, unusually restrained, but he does get Perez to write an apology in the notes app. 

“Anwar and YN” are trending worldwide for the next week.

Joshua Madika (Modern Love, 2019)

Your supposed to be going to a fancy gala tonight, and it’s not starting well. Joshua had a dress made for you, and it’s stunning, but it doesn’t seem quite right. Lighting? Makeup? 

Ugh it’s just you. 

The dress was made for you but you don’t fit the dress. You pinch your stomach for a minute, trying to expel the little goblin of self-doubt that follows you around whenever you wear something that’s not a sweatshirt. 

Begone, demon! And it doesn’t work. 

“YN, are you almost-” Joshua walks into your room, stopping abruptly to look at you, words choking off. 

He feigns like he’s been winded, leaning against the door frame. Joshua’s eyes are dark, he’s practically salivating. 

Okay...

“Maybe we should stay home.” And the crummy little goblin evaporates. 

You practically have to bribe Joshua to go to the party and hobnob, but his hands are on your ass the entire night. 

Neal Sampat (Newsroom, 2011-2014)

It starts when your chatting with Sloan. With a single offhand comment, your work week escalates so quickly. 

Sloan’s not one for self-deprecation, so of course she talks to Neal. Neal can make it right. 

He’s not going to admit to anything because that would mean Sloan broke your confidence, and that wouldn’t be good for anyone, but what he doesn’t know, is that you don’t care. Like, at all,  you know they’re friends, they probably talk too. 

He gets you flowers. He’s a lot more touchy-feely than usual, with a hand on your stomach, lower back, or ass. He’s handsy on a good day, and this is an extremely good day. 

He flirts with you more than usual, not stopping until you have to look down at your lap. 

Neal’s not very smart when it comes to stuff like this, but he just wants to make you feel good!

Also, nsfw texts. All of the time, it’s practically spam. Sometimes you need to step out of the building, because your face turns too hot. 

Also he stares at your chest a lot, but that’s pretty normal. 

He finally talks to you about the Thing you said about yourself, and you basically laugh it off.