Coffee & Maladaptive Daydreaming @maladaptivecoffeedreaming - Tumblr Blog

That's Chemical

Part 3 of Vertigo { Part 1 } {Part 2}

Summary - "Personally I think the time travel screwed with your head and somehow re-wired your brain, like really screwed with all your neurotransmitters, and made you only attracted to unsociable, elderly men with severely overinflated ego's. It's the only logical explanation I can come up with and he should be so lucky by the way because you're brilliant"

Pairing - Five x Reader, mention of OCxReader

Warnings- Swearing, sexual innuendo, alcohol, canon divergence, pining, misunderstandings, angst, possible spoilers for The Office, set in season 4, 18+ MDNI

A/N - Ya'll I can't say i'm 100% happy with this at all, I went back, deleted and restarted and I'm still not satisfied, but live and let live. As much as I tried to get this one finished I couldn't stop writing and since it was getting too long i had to split it up, so here's the next part and another will soon be to follow. I hope you enjoy!

You woke to the sound of hushed voices right next to your ear. You groaned stretching your sore limbs and prying your eyes open to see the curious faces of three children very close to your own.

"Hey guys" Your voice was croaky.

"Why are you sleeping on our couch?" Grace asked.

"Bad decisions" You answered truthfully which only made them all look confused.

"You're up" Lila appeared in the door way much too chirpy for how you felt right now. "Water?" She asked. "Please" "Come on, give her time to wake up" She ushered the kids from the room. She really was too good to you. You sat up rubbing your still tired eyes and getting your fingers stuck in your knotted hair with a grimace. Lila returned with water just like she promised which you immediately downed, you were endlessly thankful you'd stopped drinking when you did. You hadn't gotten to bed until late, or early this morning actually, the Hargreeves siblings had bombarded you with questions at your admission of Five's rejection.

"Is that what he said exactly?"

"Maybe he misunderstood what you were saying?"

"Are you sure that's what he meant?"

"Are you sure, sure?"

You'd eventually refused to answer anymore questions and told them all you were going to sleep, but not before putting a blanket ban of ever mentioning the events of this night to Five on all siblings. Once they had finally left and Diego was very kindly setting up the couch for you, you'd turned to Lila and made her promise in no uncertain terms that there would be no more meddling with you and Five.

She'd tried to weasel her way around it before finally giving in and promising "I will not meddle with you and Five apparently non-existent love life, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye"

"Feeling like shit?" Lila asked gleefully.

"I need coffee" You said instead of answering intending on heading to the kitchen to make some.

"Actually Five's on his way and he said he'd get coffee" She said an edge of hesitance to her voice.

"Amazing" You sighed relaxing back into the couch thankful for small miracles.

"He called looking for you, I think he was half ready to sound the alarm" She huffed a laugh.

"What time is it?"

"Nine-Thirty" She answered, way too early.

"He was supposed to get in early, he probably realized I wasn't there and got worried, I'm not exactly known for being a party animal" You explained. Lila smiled softly averting her eyes from yours, you couldn't help but feel like she was handling you with unusual care. "What is it?" You drawled. "You're ok, with Five coming here?" She asked mouth turning down eyes almost pitying. "Ofcourse Lila, it was a year ago and like I said we're fine" You sighed annoyed, was this going to be your life now? We're the Hargreeves going to be treating you like you were walking around perpetually wounded and lovelorn over their brother. "I know, but just after last night" She trailed off as the front door opened. "It might be fresh for you, but it's really not for me" Admittedly you felt a little raw after having to open up about what happened last night. You made a very firm effort to forget about it even happening, maybe it wasn't the healthiest thing to do, but it was working well enough for you so far. Your heart still lurched into your chest when you heard the front door open and looked up to see Five appear in the doorway. He wasn't in his usual suit and jacket, as much as you liked the suit and tie get up there was something to nice about seeing him relaxed in casual clothes. Five's eyes immediately flit over your body, he did this with all his family members like an old habit he couldn't quite kick, like he was searching for injuries or something out of place. "Heard someone got themselves shit faced and desperately needed coffee" He said by way of greeting shrugging off his jacket. "Guilty" You smiled tiredly getting an upturn of lips from Five as he moved to hand you the cup of coffee you really did desperately need and taking a seat beside you. A little flutter raced up your spine when you saw which coffee shop it was from, one of your favorites but it wasn't in your neighborhood so it wasn't the most practical option everyday, which meant Five had gone out of his way to get it for you. He was good at doing little things for people, he hated if you ever acknowledged them though, but he remembered everything. He'd often pick up things for his family if whatever job he was on took him away, like these weird little figurines Luther liked collecting that Five would tell him were for kids but he'd still pick them up if he come across them although you suspected he never 'just' come across them and rather sought them out. Luther's face would light up when Five would toss the boxes at him, grumbling the whole time and pretending like it was an inconvenience. "Lila" Five nodded at her still standing in the doorway. "What was the occasion, i thought we were going out for breakfast?" Five asked relaxing back into the chair drinking his own coffee. "Sorry, it was just work drinks that went a little overboard" You hugged the warm cup closer to your chest. "Work drinks?" He raised an eyebrow "how'd you end up here from work drinks?" "I ran into your family, probably a good thing really, my tolerance for tequila isn't great apparently" "You little lightweight" He grinned glancing at the doorway as rushed footsteps were approaching from down the hall.

"Uncle Five!" Grace shouted in excitement as she rounded the corner and launched herself at him, you could hear the pitter patter of smaller feet following down the hall followed by thunks of larger ones.

"Hey, man" Diego nodded at Five who was currently being overrun by small, delighted children.

"Uncle Five, you have to help me with my science project, Dad messed with it" Grace pouted up at him sending an unfairly unimpressed look at her father.

"Whoa, whoa, I'm working on it. Just let me do my thing and trust me we're getting A plus's, we don't need his help your papa's got it under control" Diego immediately interjected.

"You keep making it worse, Dad" She signed dramatically, rolling her eyes quite impressively for a five year old

"Come on, Uncle Five" She tugged on his sleeve as he followed willingly.

"Duty calls" He smirked at you "let's see what your idiot fathers been screwing with" Five let Grace lead the way as Diego sputtered after them. You smiled fondly as the twins toddled after them too, little legs working hard to keep up.

"I'll be back, bathroom" You groaned, forcing yourself to stand and stretch.

"Do you want a shower, I can give you some clothes?" Lila asked, she still seemed a little on edge despite what you'd said earlier.

"No, I'm good, I'll just wait until I get home" right now hot, fresh coffee took precedent over everything else.

"Go on, they'll be awhile in there, I saw what Diego was doing in there and even Five's big brain is going to take a hot minute to work that out"

"Thanks, but I'm good, really" You insisted.

"Are you sure, just a quick one, it'd make you feel better" She pressed.

"I'm sure" You frowned in amusement opening your mouth to ask her what her deal was.

"Breakfast then, I made breakfast burritos earlier?" Lila asked gesturing towards the kitchen.

"You really are the best" You smiled as you headed for the bathroom.

You stopped briefly to watch Five and Diego squabbling in Grace's room, Five slapping Diego's grabby hands as he tinkered with Grace's project as the three kids watched on.

Your appearance in the mirror was much worse than you were expecting, you'd barely gotten any sleep and it was noticeable. You were dreading work tomorrow, seeing Oliver so soon after last night was already making you feel more anxious on top of the residual nerves from the aftermath of last night.

It all felt like too much to deal with right now, what you needed was to spend the day watching movies and drifting in and out of consciousness.

You slid onto the stool after making your way to the kitchen counter, watching Lila move around their cozy kitchen getting both your food ready and also slipping you an aspirin for your head.

"What are you doing?" You laughed as she started fussing with your hair,she was very attentive this morning.

As much as coming to this timeline had been one of the worst days of your life sometimes moments like this made this whole experience worth it. The Hargreeves didn't feel like friends, they felt like your family. They accepted your presence like you were a sister, it had been a long time since you felt like a burden or like you were over staying any welcomes they extended.

They slotted themselves into your life so easily, you never batted an eye at Klaus just turning up at your apartment demanding you get take out and watch movies out of nowhere. Five always complained about his sudden intrusion, but never made him leave. It was the same for all of them, you all took up each others space without reservation and although the lack of boundaries and clashing personalities did cause countless heated arguments they were never anything that lasted long enough to cause any real issue.

You got lucky that they wanted you involved in their crazy family and you felt even luckier to have stumbled into Viktor's bar that day. Sometimes the way you found the Hargreeves almost seemed like fate, like it was by design somehow.

"So" She dragged out the word jolting you out of your thoughts.

"You've got a suitor" Lila smiled slyly as she began picking at her food.

Ofcourse, it made sense now, she was buttering you up for information.

"Lila please, I've been awake for like fifteen minutes" You moaned.

"I've been waiting for you to get up for hours" She exclaimed.

"He's not my 'suitor'" you muttered.

"Really, because last night he seemed to like you a whole lot and it seemed pretty mutual" She recounted.

"It was just a kiss" You answered biting into your burrito.

"But you work together" She pressed.

"We work together, we've been working together for over a year now and we're really good friends actually, and before you ask, yes he's asked me out twice before and I said no" You decided it would be easier to give her a brief summary then deal with her interrogation.

"Twice before?! You've never said that, you've never even mentioned him!" She looked at you incredulously.

"There wasn't much to tell Lila, I told you I said no, I told him we'd be better off as friends"

"Alot of romances start in offices" She leaned forward almost excited.

"Yeah, I guess"

"He's pining for you" You swear her eyes were sparkling.

"He is not pining" You spluttered trying to swallow the bite of burrito you'd taken. "He is! Was that your first kiss?" She look enraptured with what was a very boring story.

"Yes"

"Are you going to confess to him?" She looked like she was vibrating in her chair.

"I don't have anything to confess"

"You have to or he will think you don't want him back and then he won't be able to handle working together or being your friend and then he's going to transfer to a different company and meet another girl, is that what you want? There will be no more cute work pranks or banter or yogurt" Lila was gesturing wildly. "What?" You murmured struggling to make sense of her. "And then when you see him dating someone else you will realize he's the one for you and you'll think he loves this other girl, it will be a disaster" Lila exclaimed. "What is that?" You asked suspiciously after a small silence. "Whats what?" She replied too innocently. "What…" You looked away from her trying to search your brain. "it's just what could happen, trust me I know how this works" "He didn't-" You stopped turning to look back at Lila expression falling flat "Was that The Office?" "Huh?" "What you described just now, that was The Office" You snapped. "But this is just like Jim and Pam" She pleaded. "No, it isn't" You hissed. "Ok, ok" She raised her eyebrows like you were the one being difficult. "Anyway, he seemed very sweet" Lila said shoving the last bite of food in her mouth. "You didn't even speak to him, actually I think you called him a dickhead" You replied sipping at your coffee. "A wanker, actually" she corrected as you hummed in agreement. "I just want you to be happy you know" Lila said with sudden tenderness. "I am happy" you answered way too quickly by the sideways glance Lila shot you. "Look" she sighed deeply moving to lean on the counter infront of you "I know this whole new life thing has been hard for you and you're not exactly an open book when it comes to feelings, but we all know how you feel, we're probably the only people who really do" "I know you do, but I'm honestly fine I-" you stopped as she reached out to place her hand on top of yours leaning in to speak more quietly. "I also know you're like stupidly in love with Five, for reasons I really, really can't begin to understand and it's got you all messed up in the head" She continued, squeezing your hand lightly. You opened your mouth ready to deny it but the knowing look In her eyes stopped you. You let out a resigned sigh, what was the point in contesting it when it was so obvious? even though you'd tried to save face and tell his siblings you'd moved on from your misplaced crush it clearly hadn't convinced Lila. "I'm handling it" You tried to atleast sound convincing with that. "By what exactly? You and Five are so wrapped up in each other that we all thought the two of you were together this whole time, and don't get me started on how you didn't tell any of us about that little shit head rejecting you, not even ME" Lila sounded very offended by that in particular.

"I didn't really want to relive the embarrassment of that one, Lila" You averted your eyes moving to pull your hand back, but she tightened her grip.

"No" She said firmly making you look back up to meet her eyes "You didn't tell me because you knew what I'd say and you didn't want to hear it"

"Didn't want to hear what?" You questioned weakly.

"That you need to move out of that apartment and start spending time with people who aren't Five" It was hard to maintain eye contact when it felt like she was analyzing every slight change in your face, she reminded you of Five when she was like this.

You already knew that you and Five were too wrapped up in each other, that wasn't new information. You knew it in how you could tell what kind of mood Five was in just by the way he entered a room, you knew it in the way Five always seemed to know when you had a bad day at work just from a short conversation on the phone and made sure your favorite take out was en route by the time you walked through the door, you knew it in the way Five would divert to you whenever you were invited anywhere as if your answer dictated his own, you knew it in the way that even in a crowded room he sought you out until you'd carved out your own corner away from everyone else, in the way you knew his habits and quirks and he knew yours and in the way his family acted as if you were a package deal and you didn't do anything to deny the assumption.

You'd half come to terms with it yourself, that's why you kissed Oliver in the first place, you knew this couldn't go on forever. Eventually something would have to change even if it wasn't what you wanted because how long could you hang onto the fantasy that he'd change his mind?

He knew how you felt and he didn't want it.

He didn't want you.

"It's not healthy and if I'd have known I would have said something earlier" You already knew it wasn't healthy, but hearing it out loud made your chest tighten. You gave Lila a brisk nod of your head hoping to leave it at that.

"Look, I know I'm hardly the poster child for what's stable, but if Five can't see how amazing you are then that's his loss. I'm shocked someone willingly puts up with him and again I really, really can't comprehend why you do. Personally I think the time travel screwed with your head and somehow re-wired your brain, like really screwed with all your neurotransmitters, and made you only attracted to unsociable, elderly men with severely overinflated ego's. It's the only logical explanation I can come up with and he should be so lucky by the way because you're brilliant" Lila's hands were moving animatedly as she spoke, you couldn't help but smile.

"I really do just want you to be happy and I think you need to actually give this Oliver guy a chance, give your life a chance, but you can't do that if you don't actually try and move on" Lila finished with a soft smile.

"I didn't know you had it in you to be this cheesy" You teased trying to lighten the vulnerable moment.

"I had to actively stop myself from throwing up several times" She beamed, eyes brightening as you laughed.

You heard voices in the living room, they must have sorted out Grace's project already, you really should head off and try and wash this whole experience a way with a much needed shower in the comfort of your own home.

"I just need some time to figure out what's next for me. I'm not even sure if I really am interested in him or if I'm only into him because he's into me, I'm kind of confused about it" Oliver was a good man and as much as it felt wrong right now you'd put the effort in to move on whether it was with Oliver or not, maybe you should send him a message.

"My stuff" You gasped looking at Lila in panic "I left my bag there last night, I have to call Charlotte" You really hoped between nabbing whatever man she had set her eyes on last night that she grabbed your things.

"No need, I already did" Lila said stopping you in your tracks as you stood from the stool.

"What?" You turned to face her, she currently had her head buried in the fridge pulling out a bag of grapes.

"I called your phone to see who had your stuff, I'm a great friend I know, and guess who answered" She looked at you encouragingly, but didn't give you time to answer her question "Oliver! Turns out he took your things home, he really is such a nice guy, it's almost gross to be honest. Did you know he doesn't live far from here? He even offered to bring your things over, total gentleman" Her voice was overly casual enough to be suspicious.

"What do you mean bring my things over?" You asked apprehensively.

"Oh, he's on his way, did I not mention that?" She answered simply as she popped a grape into her mouth offering one out to you.

"Why would you tell him to come here?" You sputtered ignoring her offer.

"I didn't tell him anything, like I said he offered" She shoved another grape in her mouth talking with her mouth full though you could see the grin she was failing to suppress.

"You promised! You said no more meddling" Your voice slid up several octaves, not only were you severely hungover, tired and desperate to lay on your couch cuddled up to Mr. Pennycrumb you also weren't ready to face Oliver so soon after crossing the line of friendship.

"Well, technically I only promised no meddling with you and Five, I didn't say anything about meddling in general" She moved to stand infront of you from behind the kitchen island head tilting in that smile you hated, the one she wore when she was enjoying watching you squirm.

"Why?" You begged, brow furrowing in desperation.

"It's kind of my love language" She shrugged.

"I look like shit" You hurriedly ran your fingers through your hair and adjusted your clothes, the same clothes from last night. "I did try to get you in the shower" Lila pointed out.

"You didn't say he was coming here" You were trying to keep your voice down so the others wouldn't hear, but it was becoming difficult.

"You're a runner, I couldn't risk it, besides I thought you weren't that into him so why do you care?" She asked with expectant eyes.

The sound of the door bell ringing made your head jerk towards the front of the house. You may have been forced to deal with the awkward after effects of your drunken antics last night, but there was no way in hell he was coming inside, not when you weren't mentally prepared to combat whatever unhinged thing came out of Lila or Diego's mouth.

As you stepped forward to make a direct line to the front door Lila's hand struck out so fast you jumped back in shock, but her fingers were gripped tightly around your wrist keeping you in place. As you turned your body towards her another hand shot out to capture your free arm before you could try to pry yourself free of her grasp.

"Just let it happen" The comfort in her tone was ruined by the grin at the scandalized expression across your face. You had no choice but to do just that as you heard footsteps heading to answer the door.

"Hey, man. Come on in" Diego's cheerful voice rang throughout the house, he was in on it too, the traitor.

"I hate you" You breathed out as Lila released you.

"I love you too kitten, come on I want to meet him properly" She motioned her head towards the living room already making her way in there ahead of you, pulling you along with her, for someone so small she was oddly strong. Lila tugged you into the room just as Oliver made his way inside, you tried to ignore the way his face lit up when his gaze found you across the room. Lila finally released you and dumped herself into the couch next to Five jostling him as she did. You smiled to yourself at the put out expression he aimed at her as he adjusted himself to accommodate her intrusion and put space between them.

"Looks like the tequila got you good too, huh?" Oliver laughed when he took in your tired appearance, he also looked like he'd hardly slept.

"It certainly did" You inwardly cringed, fortunately he looked like he was very much struggling with being awake right now too.

"Thankyou, you really didn't have to bring this to me" You moved closer, reaching out to take the bag from him briefly checking that all your things were still inside.

"No, it's fine really, I wanted to see you anyway" He beamed, he was way too lively for someone who practically went drink for drink with you.

"Awww" you heard Lila coo from behind you, trained assassin or not you were sure you could take her armed the red hot heat of embarrassment that was flowing up your neck.

"I was kind of worried you were kidnapped at first, but Charlotte said you left with your friends" Oliver added.

"Sorry, took a turn and definitely needed to go home"

"Well, atleast you're ok. Hey Five, good to see you again" Oliver raised his hand in greeting like he'd only just noticed him sitting there. Five was busy scrutinising Lila with a curious, pinched expression.

"Likewise" Five glanced over mouth upturning quickly before falling back down and returning his suspicious gaze to Lila who was beaming at the both of you.

You really wished he was still distracted with Grace's project during this unwanted visit, but it would seem you were all out of small miracles today.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Diego urged after a beat of silence.

"Oh, sorry" You jerked back into reality finding your manners.

"This is Diego, Diego this is Oliver a friend from work" You gestured between them as Diego leaned in to shake Oliver's hand, you could see the way Diego was squeezing too hard to be casual.

"Oliver, I like that, that's a strong name" Diego bobbed his head while shaking Oliver's hand aggressively once more before letting go, you seen Oliver shake out his hand, but he didn't look put out by whatever the hell Diego was doing. "Diego is Five's brother" you added.

"Oh, cool" Oliver's gaze flicked between Diego and Five, you were sure he was surprised at the lack of family resemblance like everyone else usually was.

"And this is Lila apparently you spoke on the phone" You snipped turning your fake smile toward her.

"I'm his lovely sister in-law" Lila swung an arm around Five's shoulders.

"Lovely isn't the word I would use" Five shot back immediately shrugging her arm off him in annoyance.

"He loves me" Lila said reassuringly at Oliver ignoring Five's eye roll.

"I definitely do not" Five quipped adjusting himself on the couch again to put even more space between them.

"It's nice to meet you all" Oliver smiled politely before turning towards you.

“So Oliver, what’s your type of-“ Lila began before you interrupted.

"Last night was fun" You said the only thing that jumped into your head.

"It was" He nodded. His eyes darted down to your lips and you powerless at the heat that flushed in your cheeks at the memory of his mouth against yours.

“Speaking of fun-“ Lila just wasn’t going to let up.

“We should all do that more often, make it a regular thing” You once again interjected. You’d replay this awkward conversation trying to sleep tonight atleast five times.

“We should, I know Charlotte and Braden would be in” there was a lull in conversation that was painful “You ready for work tomorrow?" Oliver asked looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable, Oliver was so confident in social situations you could safely describe him as cocky.

"Yeah, shouldn't be too crazy" You felt yourself shrug, fidgeting under his nervous eyes and your audience.

"So, if you're not busy on your break tomorrow we should get lunch" He rushed out so quickly it surprised you "There's this deli that does these really, really good subs not far from the office so I was thinking there unless there's, you know somewhere you'd rather go?" He was rambling and you couldn't stop the fond smile.

"Oh, um" There really was no reason to say no, was there?

"She's busy tomorrow" Five's voice cut through the room before you could answer.

Your head swirled quickly to see that fake smile he gave people who were annoying him, though you didn't think Oliver deserved to be on the receiving end of it at the moment.

"Oh, yeah Five and I have lunch plans, sorry" You'd forgotten about that, You felt guilty at the way Oliver's shoulders physically deflated.

Five had met Oliver on a few occasions and you were well aware he wasn't exactly Five's cup of tea, certainly not someone he'd shoot the shit with of his own free will, but that didn't mean he had to be a dick to his face.

"Tuesday?" You asked hoping to wipe the disappointed look off his face.

"Yeah" He perked back up immediately "Tuesday works"

"Well" You heard Five's annoyed sigh as he lifted himself out of the chair "we better head off, things to do" He looked at you expectantly.

"Me too, promised I'd take my nephews out for pancakes, really didn't plan on getting that drunk last night" He laughed.

"Good for you" Five replied dryly looking at you raising his eyebrows and motioning his head towards the door not at all unfazed by the withering look you were giving him.

"That's nice, I'll see you tomorrow" You smiled sweetly hoping to compensate for Five's rudeness.

"You will! It was nice to meet you guys, I mean I already said that, but it really was, see ya" He spoke quickly as he left and you shuffled to follow him to the door. He waved back at you, grinning widely as he got to his car. You waved back and shut the door and turning to cast an even more scathing look at Five.

"What?" He asked further pissing you off.

"You idiot, why are you cock blocking her?" Lila scolded her face screwed up in annoyance at Five. You couldn't help the laugh you let out at appalled look on Five's face, not many people could get a reaction out of, let alone surprise Five, but Lila quite often made it look easy.

"Lila" You reprimanded failing to hide your amusement.

"Why'd you do that Five, man was already nervous trying to rizz her up and you threw him off his game" Diego threw his hands up.

"Diego, I have already told you I'm not having a conversation with you if keep talking like a 12 year old" Five looked entirely exasperated.

You smiled as the two of them started bickering, Diego worked helping troubled kids and quite often came home with colorful new slang words that seemed to particularly annoy Five.

That wasn't nearly as bad as you thought it would be, you'd somehow scored a lunch date hungover and still wearing the same clothes from the night before and Lila and Diego had for the most part stayed quiet.

You glanced over to see Five's equally confused and irritated face and decided to stop their bickering before Five's sharp tongue actually kicked into gear.

"Anyway, we better go, we've got things to do apparently?"

"Yeah Five, what was so important that you had to run him out of here like that?" Diego asked mocking edge to his voice.

"None of your damn business, Diego" Five grabbed his jacket holding the door for you on the way out as you waved back at Lila and Diego thanking them for taking care of you.

"Goodbye Five" Lila yelled out at his retreating figure.

"See ya" He raised a hand without looking back.

"Such a pleasure as always" She called out and you heard Five sigh loudly.

"You're in a mood this morning" You cooed as you slid into the passenger seat.

"Yeah, well you made me deal with Lila and Diego before ten AM on my only day off" He responded starting the engine.

You rolled your eyes in way of reply as Five pulled out from the driveway.

"So, you dating that Oliver guy now?" Five asked before you'd even left the street.

"Hardly" You scoffed "It's just lunch Five"

"The guys persistent" Five hummed.

"Persistent?" You questioned with a furrowed brow.

"He was following you around like a puppy at that Christmas party you dragged me to this time last year, long time to carry a torch" He elaborated, glancing over at you. "He wasn't doing that" you snapped back as Five just smirked raising his eyebrow in amusement.

"Thought you weren't into him?" He questioned, his tone sounded forced.

"It's just lunch, I'm not marrying him. What's your problem with Oliver anyway?" You probed.

"I don't have a problem, I barely know that guy"

You looked over at Five's profile as he focused more on driving. You could see the tense set of his shoulders and the overly calm expression he wore. Five was the hardest book you'd ever tried to read, but you'd become somewhat fluent over time, enough to know this conversation was bothering him.

You wondered, maybe hoped, that he cared. You wanted to think that the idea of there being someone else for you is what was bothering him and maybe even made his stomach feel like it was wrapping itself in knots at the thought, much like yours did whenever you let your mind wander into images of Five with someone else.

"Well, I think you could be nicer" You mumbled.

"Really? I don't" He smirked at the look on your face.

Your phone vibrated in your bag and you riffled through it searching for your phone. You had several missed calls, mostly from Five from earlier this morning. There was a bunch of messages from Charlotte you needed to respond to and a couple from Oliver, but that wasn't what set your phone off.

Lila - Five seemed a little jealous for someone who definitely only wants to be your friend Lila - Not meddling, observing only

You groaned leaning back into your seat and throwing your phone back into your bag.

~ Thursday rolled around quickly, work days blurring together and more exciting afternoons since you got to have Five at home rather than working away, which he'd been doing alot of lately.

Your lunch date with Oliver had been nice. He was endearingly sweet, easy to talk to and not at all pushy. You weren't sure what exactly about you piqued his interest so much, you knew he wasn't sitting there pining after you like Lila accused him of and there had definitely been other women over the last year, just none that had stuck. That being said he never made it subtle that he wanted a chance with you.

Oliver was the opposite of Five Hargreeves in a way that was almost comical.

Oliver made you feel light, like everything was unserious and easy. You could see a life with him, he really was a good guy, he made you laugh and he seemed to have a never ending amount of energy and excitement that was infectious. Conversations weren't forced and you genuinely enjoyed spending time with him, you always had.

But it wasn't the same.

He didn't make you feel safe and secure in the way seeing Five did, it's like your body had programmed itself to let go of any stress the second you caught sight of him. He made you feel quiet in the most warm way possible that was hard for you to even explain. It was like everything just stopped whenever you were with him, you didn't have to pretend or think about entertaining him, it was just this contentment you'd never known before now.

You never got tired of him, not really. You could talk for hours, spend day after day together and you still wanted more. Sure, you bickered with each other, you lived together so that was inevitable, but you'd barely call it arguing. Even just sharing space and doing your own thing, not even speaking felt nice.

And as much as you loved Five you were well aware of his flaws, but they melded so well with your own it wasn't even hard to navigate them, the only ones that really irked you was trying to have a vulnerable conversation with him, something he avoided as much as possible and how sometimes he could be so rude or abrupt without, or sometimes with, realizing.

Maybe Oliver could be that for you one day if you let yourself let Five go. You couldn't even begin to think of how'd you'd go about explaining your appearance in this timeline, about your old life, if you would even tell him about it. But that wasn't something that was going to pop up anytime soon.

He was currently sitting across from you biting into a burger, you'd agreed to go to lunch with him again today after he'd asked before your last lunch date had even ended.

"Hey, can I ask you a personal question" Oliver asked his tone apprehensive. "Yeah, ofcourse" You answered unsure of where this was going. "What's the deal with you and Five?" You straightened at the question, could this guy read your mind? "What do you mean?" You asked to give yourself time to come up with an answer to such a loaded question. "You guys are just kind of close?" He posed it like a question. "We live together" You were being purposefully obtuse. "I guess I'm asking if you guys have a thing or maybe had a thing?" He looked like it pained him to pry, but curiosity must have outweighed it. "We're just friends" You answered honestly. "Right" He nodded, he didn't sound very convinced "He just seems really possessive over you, that's all" He glanced up at you before picking his burger up to take another bite. "He's…." You trailed off trying to find the best way to describe someone like Five "an acquired taste, he's got alot of quirks" "I noticed' He said not unkindly.

"He doesn't have alot of close friends" You further clarified.

"I just don't want to get caught in the middle of something" "You're not" Was that half a lie or a full one? You weren't sure.

"Listen Oliver" You breathed out trying to think of a way to make him understand "I've had a rough few years and I don't know what I'm ready for, I don't want to waste your time, but I can't promise you anything" You couldn't lie to him, you couldn't make him think this was going to go anywhere when you really weren't sure it wasn't. "It's ok, I'm not pushing for anything really. Don't worry, I'm patient" He smiled teasingly. "I noticed" you quipped and he laughed before his face fell. "Only if you want me to be though, not in a creepy way-" You laughed loudly at the horrified expression that fell on his face. "I know what you meant" Work dragged on unnecessarily long after that, you welcomed your phone lighting up with Five's name on your phone.

"Hey" You answered still typing the end of sentence with your phone pressed to your ear with your shoulder.

"Hey, how's corporate hell going today?" He asked, Five would rather have died than sit in an office and he didn't work well with any authority other than his own.

"Wonderful" You answered flatly.

"Well, hopefully I can brighten your day because I made dinner, Tagliatelle alla Bolognese" He sounded very excited.

"Lucky me, is that not just fancy spaghetti bolognese?" You queried smiling to yourself.

"If you're an idiot, yeah" He quipped.

"You're so lovely to me" You checked over your shoulder to make sure your boss wasn't going to catch you on the phone. "I am, truly. I won't be here when you get back going to head off early" If Five wasn't working away he would go to poker nights with Merv and John, they had a little club that would meet up every Thursday "I'll take us out for dinner tomorrow with whatever I win, maybe even breakfast before Grace's party depending on how my luck runs" "Your 'luck' always seems to run very well" You noted. "What can I say, I'm a lucky guy" You could hear the grin through the phone, Five always came home even or better off and you were sure the nights he didn't come out better was him taking mercy on his friends. "Don't wait up for me" "I never do" You answered fondly and disconnected the call. You were exhausted by the time your shift finally ended, you'd had to stay back later than usual just to rub salt in the wound and didn't make it back home until well after you should have. You were looking forward to dinner, Five was oddly good at cooking, he didn't do it often but when he did he approached it like an experiment until it was exactly the way he wanted it. You got to your floor of your building ready to spend the night decompressing from your day when you heard your name from down the hallway while you were fishing your key out of your bag. Merv and John were waving to your from down the hall, you raised your hand in greeting, but frowned in confusion, weren't they back too early? "Hey" You responded adjusting the grip on your bag and heading towards them "What happened, did you both strike out early?" You teased. "Early from what?" John answered confusion twisting his features. "Poker?" You asked thrown off by their confusion. "Oh!" Merv chuckled "No, the club breaks up over Christmas, still a few weeks before we start up again, it gives the others some time to recover from funding my retirement" He joked. "Oh, right" You heard yourself reply, but your mind was drifting away to earlier that afternoon. Five had said he was still going to poker, didn't he? You couldn't remember him saying that exactly, maybe you'd assumed wrong. "You should join when we do, we're taking new members in the start of the year, we could make a real card shark out of you" John added excitedly. "I would, but my poker face is horrible" You countered trying to stay present in the conversation while your brain was spinning, you were certain that's where Five had said he was going over breakfast this morning. "Don't worry about that, John has the worst poker face I've ever seen and he still wins once every blue moon" Merv bantered as John elbowed him in the side, face screwing up in offense.

"You could convince Five to start coming again, we've missed him. I know he's a busy guy and all, but the guys miss the competition even if their wallets don't" Merv continued casually unaware of the bomb he'd set off in your brain. His words spun circles in your mind. Missed him? Five had went to poker with them two weeks ago, you were sure of it. The sound of your name broke you out of your spiralling thoughts, you had to clarify, you must be mistaken. "Yeah, actually that would be fun" You smiled brightly trying to ease the worry on their faces at your spacey demeanor "How long has it been since Five's been to the club, did you say?" You asked as nonchalantly as possible. "It would have had to of been May, he said business was booming and he didn't have the spare time, didn't want to take his time away from you I'm sure" John winked mouth tilting up in a smile. May? "Right, then I'm sure a reunion is overdue" You laughed shortly and turned your body back towards your door "I'll ask him about it, I better get dinner going" you waved quickly and set back off towards the apartment shoving the key in the door roughly not sparing a look behind you over your much too hasty exit. There had to be some sort of misunderstanding. Five had definitely, without a doubt, said many times since May that he was going to poker, maybe he joined a different club and didn't want John and Merv to know?

That had to be it because if not that implied Five had been routinely lying to you about his whereabouts for the better part of seven months and you couldn't understand why he would ever do that.

You tried not to dwell on the conversation for the rest of the night, but your stomach was twisting in knots no matter how much you tried to think of anything else. You didn't want to be overbearing, you didn't think you were, it's not like you knew where Five was at every minute of every day, but you never thought he ever lied about where he was. You showered, fed Mr. Pennycrumb, heated up dinner and even had the nervous energy to clean the kitchen, living room and do all of your laundry. The clock seemed to tick slower than usual as you waited for ten to roll around when Five usually returned home. You had been lying on the couch not paying any attention to whatever was on tv when you heard the front door finally open. You sat up trying not to seem edgy, Five would notice immediately if you were being cagey.

Five walked in arms sliding through his coat and shaking it off, he looked surprised to see you.

"You're still up" He stated with a raised eyebrow.

You glanced at the clock on the wall, eleven-thirty, he was late. You felt like some house wife waiting up to confront her adulterous husband.

"Wasn't tired" You smiled as he dropped into the couch beside you stretching his arms over his head with a groan. Alright, go for natural and keep eye contact to a minimum. Don't let Five get suspicious, a suspicious Five was a bad Five.

"How was your night?" You asked keeping your voice light.

"Good, won a few hands, you?" He replied turning his head to look at you. He seemed curious about you already, or mayne that was just paranoia.

"Nothing crazy" You bent down the pat Mr Pennycrumb's head to avoid his gaze "You win us dinner?"

"And breakfast" He smirked, nothing seemed off, nothing to tell he was lying.

"Don't look so smug, you have an unfair advantage" You replied back pretending that your heart hadn't fell into your stomach.

"How is it unfair, we're the same age?" Five countered.

"Yeah, but none of them have you're huge, genius brain" You swallowed thickly before asking the question you really wanted to ask. "How's John and Merv, haven't seen them around lately?" You lied, nerves standing on edge. "They're good, you should go down and visit them one afternoon, they'd love that" He answered. "Yeah, I will" You stood up from the couch making for the kitchen, for what you weren't sure. You could hear Five saying something in response, but you didn't take it in. You reached for the cupboard to get a glass for some water grabbing onto the kitchen counter for support. He lied. So easily too, if you hadn't acquired conflicting information earlier you would have been none the wiser. You had honestly expected that Five would have cleared up whatever doubts you'd been having when he got home, you weren't prepared for the reality that he really was hiding something. Had he been staying out late every night, you weren't sure since you were usually in bed before he got home. It didn't make sense, what would warrant him sneaking around, up until a few hours ago you thought that Five told you everything, what would make him want to hide something? The answer ploughed into your chest so suddenly you lost your breath. Was he seeing someone? It was the only logical conclusion, what else would Five be this secretive about? Nausea pooled in your stomach, what if he felt bad for you? what if he thought he couldn't tell you because of how you felt about him? A part of you was keenly aware that there may have come a day when Five met someone, you had pushed the thought down many times and reasoned with yourself that Five had cited the peculiar age gap as a reason for not wanting to pursue something romantically with you so why would that change for someone else. But what If he'd met someone who made him want that anyway? Someone older, someone smart enough to keep up with him, someone with life experience to match his, someone who wasn't you. Was it something casual he indulged in or was it something more?You wanted to ask, you wanted to demand an answer for the lies you uncovered, but you couldn't because clearly Five didn't want you to know about this part of his life, he went to lengths to make sure it was hidden from you. "You ok?" Five's voice made you jump, you turned to see him standing in the kitchen door way, concern etched across his face, green eyes shining with worry. "Yeah, sorry, just tired" You answered quickly continuing with getting your glass of water realizing that you hadn't moved. You couldn't be weird about this. You supposed this is exactly what Lila meant by not healthy, the idea of your friend getting a partner shouldn't knock the wind out of you like this, it shouldn't have made your hands shake while you were trying to hold a glass just so you could drink some water even if you felt like throwing up rather than facing said friend. You were pretty sure all you were going to be was weird about this.

A/N - I already have about 3,000 words written for the next part, so i'm hoping it will follow sooner than the last did!

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