Hasan Piker Midwest Princess Chapter 2, A Tumultuous Brunch
This is the second chapter of a fic I've been Frankenstein-ing from a non-related series of one-shots I never intended on posting, but once it reached fifty pages, I was like, I feel like it's more psycho if I don't post it? Mad respect to all of the work Hasan does; fanfic is a coping mechanism. Sorry to this man. If I didn't see that podcast episode of him telling the TikTok edit people he doesn't care I would not have posted. I'll post a (y/n) version of each chapter eventually as well. My first slow burn! (allegedly)
My second warning is that I had to split this chapter in half because the first half could stand on its own, and the important part of the second half remains completely unwritten. So, chapter 3 might take a while.
Warnings: Slight homophobia, bad date, swearing, references to family drama, x OC
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Hasan had successfully gone on with the following hour in normalcy. Well, the call was made, but the intention was to continue to be normal. Just calling his best friend, (Caroline’s boyfriend,) Will to invite them to dinner. Both of them seemed really excited about it and were going to try to move some things around to go.
“That would be so much fun! Will is gonna love Vivian. She works in movies, I think. We hung out the other night. Plus, she needs a redo date, anyway.” Will coos in approval, but Caroline’s use of the word date is like the first rock in a landslide. At least that's how Hasan’s insides started to feel.
“What do you mean?” He asks without really thinking. “Oh, well,we only ended up meeting Vivian that night because she thought she was having a drink with this gay co-worker, but he was actually just some demanding, horny, idiot who didn’t know what The Abby was. So she had to run over to our table. Thank god we were there. Austin didn’t even know she was in town before that.” Will’s laugh makes Hasan’s phone buzz against the counter. He wasn't sure if the increased happen-stance of last night made it more comforting or not.
“Hasan, why weren’t you at girl’s night? You could have been her knight in shining go-go boots.” Will’s tone is caked in all-knowing sarcasm, he’d realized as soon as the follow up question about their meeting was asked. Hasan groans, displeased. Caroline, on the other hand did not have the context, but giggled anyway before bidding the both of them adieu to continue her kitchen stream across the house.
Once the door closed behind her, Will took him off speaker for a moment. “You good, dude?” Not sincere, chuckling as he asked. Hasan paused, but eventually decided it would be worth it to discuss. “Do you think Austin is going to make it awkward?” That was not the question his friend anticipated from him; he hesitates for a second before choosing to answer lightheartedly. “In a different way than usual?” a grunt from the other side of the phone. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“Oh, that? man, I think you’re fine. Austin is devious, but he cares about her meeting his friends and he has since before you did that. I won’t make promises in the long run, but Austin wants a smooth intro, I think. Why do you care so much all of a sudden?”
Will did not seem to be worried, almost discomfortingly unworried. Even when reminded of Austin’s muttering and the state himself when he’d met the woman, so that must be a good sign. It was definitely perturbing to be this anxious about something that normally he is almost too unbothered by. It feels… prolonged, maybe? For no real reason, he reminds himself. The lack of control over their meeting wasn’t really helping either.
After Will hung up with the promise of a solid “probably,” Hasan became easily irritated just sitting there, stewing, waiting. He would feel a lot better if there were more people at dinner to up the distraction factor. As if on cue, Austin’s muffled voice started travelling through the vents. It’s barely decipherable but it sounds like he’s telling Vivian that QT and Ludwig are busy tonight. It doesn’t stop there but Austin must have moved; he became too quiet to hear. Knowing that he could be saying just about anything right now worsened Hasan’s state.
Fortunately, nothing could serve as a better distraction than working and preparing for work. He felt like any contact with Austin before this dinner could cause additional concern, so he resigned himself to researching in his bedroom. His laptop held a welcoming, but monstrous pile of open tabs that he kept for that day and just dove in after locking the door. It took a second for the eerie feeling to subside and allow him to lock in, but it thankfully happened not too long after he began.
Thirty minutes or eight hours could have passed for all he knew. The only thing that was ever worthy of lifting his head for was Austin’s iconic doorslam and subsequent goodbye text, indicating that it was time for brunch and he could move into his office. The clock had kept ticking in spite of all signs pointing to limbo. It had actually been about two hours but this bullshit article muddled time like no other. Sitting at his PC, preparing to start the stream, as compared to his bed, did anchor his reality a bit more.
While he continued to fight unnecessary and frankly, uncharacteristic turmoil with the news, Vivian, Austin and Ava reunited, hugged, and the prying began effective immediately.
“So how did that business meeting go with that guy? Anything good?” Vivian was too busy thanking the waiter for their drinks to give her sister’s question a prompt response, so Austin fixed it.
“Noooo, It was terrible!” His friend scoffs, and Ava looks smug.
“Yeah, yeah, it was bad. He wasn’t gay, just a fucking idiot who had like, heard that the Abby was a good place to get laid and didn’t process that he heard that from an out-of-towner baby gay who’d heard it from another, definitely gay man? But Austin was there so, like, it's fine.” She puncuates her sentence with a long sip of water, long enough to indicate her disinterest in this conversation.
“Hm. I’m choosing kindness, so I won’t say “I told you so,” but speaking of multiple men, Jason will get you the list next wednesday.” Ava’s gaze shifted to Austin, speaking silently. But Vivian just snorted, amused and unaware. His face lit up. “Ooooh! a list of men for Vivian?” Now she was aware. “Of groomsmen, Austin… This is great, so many more opportunities to cold email.” We’re doing damage control; she does not want to have this conversation. It persists anyway. “It certainly should open up “opportunities.” I think it's obvious that we should be taking this list very seriously, Ava.” She slams her palms down on the table in delight, frightening off the waiter who could’ve offered distraction and reprieve.
“Oh my gosh, it's like you read my mind! We have an incoming list of eligible, pre- approved bachelors, Viv. I’ll send you their pictures with the list.” Everyone shimmies their shoulders, but the victim in question folds into herself. She takes a moment to mask her upset and keep riffing. “Already covered, I’m just gonna marry Austin after he returns to the light of God, just like grandma always wanted.” She grabs his jaw and puts their temples together, smiling too widely for anyone’s comfort.
“That is so sweet!” He leans into it, but the sister is not impressed. “Austin you figuratively and literally cannot play both teams like this, your straight passing relationship is sick and twisted and I’ll never be an aunt at this rate.” As funny as that was, Austin pings this as a potential problem, watching Vivian go to speak but ultimately choosing to shut herself up and recollect. He puts his arm around the chair and squeezes her forearm knowingly.
“We are aunts.” It was colder, but pretty manageable all things considered. Ava rolls her eyes. She walked into this, but it’s just not fair. “Yeah, but their mother hates me. I’m not even allowed to send them christmas gifts anymore.” Vivian holds eye contact. Under the table she digs her pinky nail into the denim covering Austin’s thigh. He hooks it with his own.
“Subject veto.” Was all she could say. Before Ava could respond, he clears his throat and buds in. “Adjourned. Ava, what are you and Jason doing later?” Table-wide relief occured. “Yeah, do you guys want to come to dinner tonight?” The perpetual olive branch. Vivian can tell it was reciprocated by her facial expression. “I can’tttttt, I’m flying back to Michigan to help dad and figure out who's an acceptable invitation to the wedding. It sucks that I can’t be there, though. We've wanted you to be in the group for so long now.” Now that peace has been restored, the not-a-couple un-entangle themselves and Vivian’s shoulders un-tense as she comments jokingly: “Too much pressure, they could hate me.” Her sister waves her off.
“Sure.” Austin laughed at Ava’s blatant disregard, rubbing his eyes the way a dad does after a fight and waving over the waiter.
Hasan had long already gone live and was completely dropped in at the time of the three ordering. Vivian was the only one who knew this after checking her notifications, but said nothing, enjoying her pancakes and her secret.
The next two hours flew by for everyone involved. It seemed almost too fast when Austin and Vivian arrived back at Hasan's together, but she was just thankful she’d managed to pay for her own bill between the overly-douting company she held. The quietness of the house, save for the muffled, rumbling sound of Hasan explaining something to chat, was immediately noticeable to her. The contrast between this vibe and most of Vivian’s life was palpable.
The homeowner in question only blinked an eye when he happened to have heard the patio door open a bit later, realizing Vivian must already be there, and she must have been the one to close the front door. He listened in, debating whether or not to go out there for a moment, but the two guests had started a rolling conversation so quickly that he didn’t want to interrupt. Instead, he announced that the end of the live was incoming, and continued to eavesdrop carefully. Not very secretively, though, as the chat was intermittently filled with people guessing what was going on in the house that had Hasan so distracted.
Outside the office, Austin gave the grand tour of the house he has become so acquainted with to Vivian, making up various lies on the way to add some variety. Once they’ve made their way upstairs and finished Austin’s room’s portion, they discover the master bedroom’s door was left open. So obviously he busted in. The woman with him chose to stand respectfully in the doorway, feeling a bit surreal. She laughed at his antics nervously. From her planted spot she didn’t really see much, but it was easily noted how clean it was. Care put into it.
Under their feet, Hasan began to actually wrap up the last topic of the day once the sounds of footsteps on the second floor pointed back to the stairs. Vivian couldn’t quite make out what he was saying but the tone was quite familiar, the stream was over. He pressed the end button literally just in time for the door to slide open and both of their heads to pop in, ridiculously.
“Are you done yet?” Austin whisper-yells. Vivian holds back a laugh and sticks her hand through the door, waving. Hasan is left wondering where his nervousness went. He waved back, in a rather cute way, one might add, and confirmed. Hasan was so busy with his wave that he had forgotten that the tour wasn’t over yet until: "And last but not least,” with much pizzazz, Austin slides open the door. “with special guest Hasan Piker himself!” He guides Vivian inside clumsily, pointing at his friend. “This is where the magic happens baby! Look at the paint job, the decor, the wood grain, it's just fantastic!" Hasan cannot stop himself from commenting on something he clearly found so shocking.
“Austin, you are literally the one who started the set complaints, what are you talking about?” Vivian giggled. He looked up and noticed she's been covering her mouth, trying not to get involved. Like she knew it was coming. “It has its ways.” He rolled his eyes at this response, but chose amicablity, watching Viv look around the room, seemingly in genuine interest instead.
"In the flesh... The camera makes it look so different." Her fingertips trace the top of each chair as she looks around at the complete mixed bag of wall art, posters, and decor, amused. Vivian was so enthralled that she’d unknowingly admitted to something alarming. Hasan, who was struggling to disguise his urgency, questioned it immediately. "You watch the podcast?" Shit. Is that embarrassing? It feels really embarrassing.
"Yeah, of course I do. Since Austin told me about it.” Blame everything on Austin. Vivan had sworn that Hasan’s face held a look of concern but in a millisecond it was gone. “Yeah, she’s my biggest fan.” Austin went to wrap an arm around her shoulder for the bit, ignoring her disgusted face, but his phone buzzed before he could land it. “Oh wow, Will and Caroline are actually available for dinner tonight! We're on a lucky streak for plans. Oh god, I have to go change the reservation." He shuffles out, sliding the door closed behind him out of habit.
Vivian meandered over to Hasan’s desk, where his streaming setup was anchored, smirking at the cardboard cutouts she had definitely never seen on camera before. Hasan followed. "So how would you rate your tour experience?" She glances over her shoulder at the door and puts on a little show like she’s really contemplating hard, tapping her chin, hand on her hip. "I'd give it…. Annnnnnn.. 8.5 out of ten." He feigns offense. "What??? That’s bullshit." She turns her attention to shelves on the back wall, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, you’ll have to give me a new one then, because I’m pretty sure half of what he said was a lie." It evokes a laugh, and he a little sheepishly responds, “Maybe.”
Vivian started browsing the shelves in more detail, trying to think of something to say to continue the conversation that's not weird. Hasan watches, doing something similar. It does not take them too long. “Oh, is this one from the show QT hosted?” She pointed at the award, looking back at him over her shoulder. He gets closer to see which one she’s pointing at. The table’s proximity to the shelf forced his arm to be grazing her back. “Yeah, best Just Chatting 2023, no big deal.” She scrunched her nose, giggling. “Only if you say so… What about this one?” He scoffs, more comfortable now. “It's the goddamn queen of England, no further questions.” She touches his forearm in fake apology, then has to pretend that she still can’t feel it on her fingertips as she pulls away. “Oh, god bless.” They keep playing this game, her pointing to an unfamiliar or silly object and laughing at his responses. Her continued, real curiosity made him a bit shy.
There is a pause as she looks for another item she doesn’t have context for, so she fills it without really thinking. “This is good lore for me. Austin is not a consistent news source.” After saying that she became afraid it would sound like she had been hounding her friend for facts and news about Hasan, but if he felt that way he definitely didn’t show it. “No, literally because he doesn’t fucking tell me anything either.” She tilted her head back, laughing. Perfect timing; from this angle she can see Austin’s silhouette approaching the door.
“I had to push it back an hour but we could go grab a drink or wait and have them meet us here first?” The implications of that sentence alarmed Vivian. She knew what he was doing. No medium-scale restaurant would have to push the reservation for two chairs. She turns to him, her back brushing up against Hasan’s chest in doing so. “Is this place fancy?” Her eyebrow was raised, her tone accusatory, and everything she needed to know was revealed when both boys answered in tandem.
“Yes.” Firm, to override Austin. It echoed above her head from behind.
She turned back to Hasan, looking up almost to a ridiculous degree from their proximity, pointing at him. “I trust you, I knew he was going to do this to me. Is there a bathroom I can use to get ready?” He grinned, feeling complemented. “Yeah, you can use mine. I have to change too, but I’ll go in the closet.” Hasan moved out of her way and headed out of the room, but waited for her at the door. As she ducks under his arm she can’t help but think that this is the type of thing that would only happen at the beginning of a rom-com. Or at least it would be if Austin wasn’t following them up the stairs.
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