A smidge early this week. Iโm sure yโall have your hands full with Frozen Over reading but in case youโre looking for something elseโฆ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐บ๐ฆ๐ด by @this-will-be-our-year. Iโve been meaning to do this one for weeks so it delights me to finally make it happen. ๐๐ฆ
๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ฒ: โCan you give me anything else here? Who is he? Why is he unhappy?โ
โDavid Rose. And Iโll let you figure that out. Letโs just say heโs very protective of his brand and how itโs marketed.โ
โAh, a client who thinks heโs in advertising - creative is going to love that.โ
โWell, getting to see him and Ray go back and forth during a presentation might be worth the headache. I may even stop by to watch.โ
โIs this your best pitch?โ
โItโs not a pitch, itโs a favor. You donโt have to call him.โ
Patrick shrugged. โYou know I like a challenge.โ *** The ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ-inspired AU no one asked for
Rating: T Words: 41645 Let me start by saying I have no idea how Iโm going to distill this magic into a summary. I canโt possibly do it justice so youโre going to have to trust me. If my life depended on it I will likely never remember the very first SC fic I read. Iโm at least 87% sure Iโll remember this one because this is the fic that made me create an AO3 account just so I could comment on it. ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ takes us back to 1960 with newly promoted Head of Accounts Patrick Brewer working for Currie Mullens Advertising. In typical Patrick fashion he is a take-charge guy with everything figured out - or so it seems. We learn quickly that he is in the middle of a divorce with the prospect of making partner being dangled in front of him. The trajectory of his life changes when one of his best clients, Stevie, tosses him a business card from the owner of a pretentious apothecary looking for a new ad firm. It throws typically level-headed Patrick into an emotional storm of navigating who he wants to be with who he thinks he needs to be.
If you havenโt read it, this is the strangers to lovers fic youโre looking for. The use of canon elements are brilliantly placed. I adore the cat-and-mouse aspect of the Boys trying to figure each other out in the beginning. Watching Patrick slowly come to terms with the hidden desires heโs never let himself feel before. And the endingโฆI will gladly discuss it with anyone who wants to in another format.
๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ (seriously so many I had to narrow it down): Patrick remained irked by his meeting with David. Protective of his brand, Stevie had said. Patrick laughed to himself - that was an understatement. Heโd had difficult clients before, so this shouldnโt be bothering him so much. Why was it bothering him so much? โ And even though Patrick couldnโt understand for the life of him why David was like this, he was still a client, and Patrick had to take the high road. โGood night, David!โ Patrick called, a last-ditch effort to part on good terms.
David kept on walking and he didnโt turn around, but he yelled back over his shoulder.
โGood night, Patrick!โ
As he sat in the back of the cab, heading home and watching the city lights blend together in streaks of color, Patrick tried not to think too hard about why he liked the sound of David saying his first name. โ And then David kissed him, his lips crushing into Patrickโs as though he couldnโt hold back - and Patrick let him.
Almost as soon as he had moved in, David pulled back, his hair askew and falling down in strands over his forehead.
โFuck,โ he breathed, stepping backwards, leaving Patrick shocked and wide-eyed, still glued to the brick wall. David swallowed. โShit, Iโm sorry.โ
Their eyes met, and Davidโs usual bravado and teasing glint were gone; all Patrick could see was shame - and fear.
โDo it again.โ โ โฆPatrick didnโt think heโd be able to stop. But they didnโt stop kissing, passionate and lazy and then back again. Patrick leaned into all of it, for the first time in so long feeling wanted, safe, home...himself. โ And the next morning, when David awoke before sunrise to slip out quietly, the way they always did, Patrick reached an arm across his chest to hold him back.
โStay,โ he whispered. โI can make you breakfast.โ ๐๐ค
