Hero was shaking. No, not shaking, she was trembling, and at an alarming rate. Lucky for her, clad in a gorgeous white dress that had been expertly chosen from her closet by Hunter, she was able to blame it on the cold, rather than her overwhelming nerves. Calvin had, true to his word, treated her to an incredible night. She hadn’t ever been to a drive-in cinema, nor had she ever been overly interested in the concept, but anything that involved her excitedly watching her favourite movies had her seal of approval.
Calvin had proven himself to be quite the gentleman. He had shown up to her flat at the exact time that he had promised he would, had escorted her downstairs to where his car was waiting in front of the apartment complex, and had even let her pick the music on the radio on the way (Hero had opted for no music as she’d been much more eager to talk to and get to know Calvin instead). Naturally, the showing hadn’t been all of the Harry Potter movies, as that would’ve been ridiculous, but as first dates go, she had had a wonderful time. After a long drive back to Messina – Calvin wasn’t a fan of short cuts, much to her delight – and a, perhaps, too giddy recap of exactly who was who and just why Calvin shouldn’t trust Severus Snape, they had reached their destination.
Opening the door for her, Calvin held out his hand, a soft smile on his face, and Hero – in all her social anxiety and shock at such a cute guy wanting to spend time with her – had snatched it a little too eagerly, linking her fingers with his own. She hadn’t ever held hands with anybody that wasn’t family, and a part of her had expected his hands to be clammy, or for her to feel a little uncomfortable, but it felt nice. Now that the night was drawing to a close, Hero could feel herself getting increasingly more nervous, surprisingly moreso than she had at the start of the night. While so far Calvin had been nothing but a delight, she hadn’t ever been on a date, and she knew that a lot of people were only ever interested in one thing, and sex was the last thing on her mind right now.
“Oh,” Hero muttered, mostly to herself. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t even noticed that they had already passed her floor, and were now standing outside of an apartment that was not her own. Maybe Calvin did have ulterior motives. As they stood there, Calvin looking as rugged and handsome as he had the day they had first met, she felt a flutter in her chest. It wasn’t even that she didn’t want to be with Calvin, but this was her first ever date and she’d never been with anyone – male, female, or otherwise – in any capacity, and she certainly wasn’t ready after just one outing.
“Are we… Coffee?” she asked, nervously. She looked down at their hands, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks. Taking a deep breath she looked back up at Calvin, who was now staring at her in a way that nobody had ever looked at her. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she recalled his comments from earlier in the night, when he had told her that she looked beautiful, and the way he had brushed a strand of hair from her eyes as they watched the movie. She was sure that the blush hadn’t left her cheeks all night, a broad smile present on her face throughout the evening, and now all she could do was stare dumbly back at Calvin unsure of what the right thing to say or do was.
She knew that she could just say goodnight and leave things awkwardly, regretting her own idiocy for the rest of her life, or she could be honest with Calvin and scare him off entirely. As she deliberated over several unappealing possibilities, Calvin’s hand was at her face again, lightly tucking her hair over her ear. His face was mere inches away from her own, the butterflies in her stomach were increasing tenfold, and her breath was shaky as she stared into his eyes.
“Th- thanks,” she breathed, her voice shaky from anticipation. Was he going to kiss her? He looked as though he was going to kiss her. She wasn’t even sure how she felt about the situation. She liked Calvin, of course she did. He was handsome, and incredibly sweet, and his smile sent the same fluttery feeling through her chest as Bennett’s did – not that that was relevant, obviously – but she wasn’t sure if she was quite ready. What if she was a terrible kisser? What if she had bad breath? Oh God, what if she tasted of the awful tuna melt she had eaten for lunch that morning? She had brushed her teeth four times when getting ready for her date, and Hunter had even made her promise to keep a packet of chewing gum on hand.
As Calvin’s face closed in on her own, the soft touch of his hand carefully pressed to her cheek, she shut her eyes. She knew that she should say something, give him the opportunity to opt out now, but she didn’t know what, or how. She could feel his breath, warm against her skin, and just as his lips should have been brushing her own, she heard a soft creak beside them.
Snapping her eyes wide open, she stared back at Calvin, whose face was still a bare inch away from her own, his eyebrows furrowed in a look of confusion. Not quite the look she wanted to see on the face of the first ever person she might kiss.
Calvin had been on a good few dates in his life, and while he always did his best to be polite and well-mannered he couldn’t remember any of those making him feel like he wanted to make the absolute best impression possible, not like this one. No one like Hero. He’d been taken with her from the moment he’d met her, all red hair and swearing profusely every other word, and for once he wasn’t cursing himself for kleptomania when he’d found her keychain in his jacket pocket. He wouldn’t go so far as to say it was fate, that was stupid, but it didn’t seem like just a coincidence that he’d met her, and he hoped he wouldn’t ruin it this time.
He vaguely remembered seeing the Harry Potter movies as a kid, though he was far more enamoured with superheroes and preferred to sit and read his comics, but Hero seemed to love them with an intensity almost as strong as his love for Barry Allen, and so he would sit through all 8 movies if that was what she wanted. He’d caught wind of some sort of play by the same author but was disappointed to see that it was only playing in London, however the quaint little drive-in cinema in downtown Wellington had saved his ass and decided to show the first two films during the week of their date, and he’d excitedly booked them a spot and taken his car to be washed and made presentable by the time Friday rolled around.
All in all it was set up to be a lovely evening, even though Calvin would have had a good time anywhere as long as Hero was there too, but he wanted to make it special for her and even more so after she admitted to him that she’d never really been on a date before. He couldn’t believe that no one had asked her out before him but he also felt honoured that she’d agreed to go with him of all people, and he was determined to make sure she had a good time. She chatted excitedly on the drive there, giving him an overview of the story beforehand so he would know what was going on, and he listened along happily, answering questions here and there when she asked about him, too. She’d bounced excitedly in her seat when the opening credits started and he nearly forgot to look at the screen, too taken with the girl next to him to bother paying attention to the movie. Overall he did enjoy them, and the little comments whispered to him by Hero throughout the films about who was good and bad and why he shouldn’t trust them had made it even better. He could go on and on about superheroes for hours and he knew what it was like to have people show disinterest when he was excited, and he wouldn’t ever do that to her no matter the subject. He probably didn’t look nearly as cute as she did when doing that, though.
She’d taken his hand quickly when they arrived back at the building and he’d held onto it firmly, enjoying the feeling of her smaller hand in his own. She started to look a little nervous once they passed her floor and he paused, hoping it wasn’t too presumptuous of him not to have asked if she wanted to come in first. “Coffee, yes. If you’d like?” he asked hopefully, trying to figure out a way to let her know that it wouldn’t be anything more than that if she didn’t want it to be. “I have tea, too, if you’d prefer that.” he said, reaching out to tuck a wayward strand of red hair back behind her ear. It was entirely cliche, them standing in front of his door at the end of the date and staring at each other, but it felt right to him. He wanted to kiss her, he’d wanted to since he’d first met her but now was a perfect time, and he grinned at her while taking a small step closer.
Everything was perfect for a few seconds as he leaned in, his mouth barely brushing hers as he felt her hands bunched up on the lapel of his jacket, when the door suddenly opened. He turned his head to the side with a look of confused that soon turned to utter annoyance when he spotted Bennett behind the door, and he stood there with his eyebrows furrowed. God fucking dammit, Pemberley. You absolute cockblock.
“Uh, this is my roommate.” he said to Hero, clearing his throat loudly so that the man in question might take the hint and scram.
Bennett wasn’t sure who was more displeased about Calvin announcing that he was going on a date. Whilst he had gaped at the man, Ellis had simply been appalled upon realising that Calvin wasn’t making good on his promise to marry her one day – something she had made him agree to under duress when Bennett had half-carried her home one night, drunk off her ass and crooning that his roommate was destined to be her husband if he didn’t hurry up and make a move first. Bennett hadn’t made that move, yet neither had Ellis, and it turned out that both of them were losing their roommate to a girl that, so far, Calvin had been very secretive about.
Eventually, the two of them had pulled themselves together, with Ellis clamouring to pick out an outfit for Calvin, and Bennett cheekily throwing a handful of condoms at his best friend. They had been batted away, but Bennett was unperturbed.
Watching Calvin leave had sent an uncomfortable pinching feeling shooting through his gut, but he had pushed it away. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t have anyone else if he wanted them. His dates had always ended up with himself and whatever man or woman he had charmed stumbling into the apartment and disturbing the other residents. He had little care for being considerate, and had always relished in the absolute stink eye that Calvin often sent him when he ‘accidentally’ ended up tugging his date into the other man’s room instead of his own.
Ellis seemed to have gotten over losing Calvin to another girl remarkably well, and Bennett could hear her laughing with Rory in their bedroom. He had long since resigned himself to the fact that his little sister insisted on platonically sharing a sleeping space with a man who went through more of Wellington’s women than he did, but the sound of them giggling together put him on edge. Grinding his teeth together, he shouted at the two of them to shut the fuck up. Ellis’ cheeky retort had resulted in him yelling a cheerful reminder that he had fucked Henry, and by the end of their argument, he was sure that the whole of Messina had been made aware of Bennett’s sex life, Ellis’ distaste for it and Rory’s desire for them to both quieten down so he could continue to nurse the hangover that Bennett’s sister was happy to treat.
All in all, Bennett was in an absolute dire mood. He lifted his phone and scrolled through his contacts to see if there was anyone on there that hadn’t had their hands down his pants yet. Shane was always worth considering, although Bennett knew he had more luck with Eddie given that Harvelle was insistent on adhering to those insane rules put in place. That, and he only seemed to have eyes for that bloody bookworm he lived with. He was busy deciding between a threesome with Shane and Eddie, and simply texting Monty to ask if he wanted sucked off in the hallway when he heard a familiar voice outside his door.
Apparently, Calvin was home. And he had brought his date with him.
Bennett raised an eyebrow and stared at the closed door. Ellis’ giggling sounded from her bedroom again, grating on his nerves, and between his sister’s ability to easily get over Calvin bloody Dunne and the bell-end in question sweet talking his mystery girl outside the apartment, Bennett realised that he was the only one not having any fun tonight. He decided that wouldn’t do, and picked himself up off the couch. He quickly strode over the apartment, deciding that his night couldn’t get any worse, only to open the door and realise that he had never been more wrong.
There stood Calvin, and his face was inches away from the redhead that had been occupying Bennett’s thoughts for weeks. They were thoughts that Bennett had been eager to suppress, as whenever he imagined spending time with Hero, it wasn’t for some quickie that he’d forget about a few hours later. He’d foolishly imagined hand-holding and the woman’s awkward laughter when she stumbled over sentences riddled with swear words that made her blush as soon as they left her mouth. Those thoughts had been buried underneath the well-intentioned roses he’d purchased from Ellis’ shop, now stuffed into a bin outside with broken stems and dying petals.
Of course this was who Calvin had taken on a date.
The three of them stood awkwardly in the hallway, Calvin now pulling away from what had presumably been an almost kiss as he attempted to introduce Bennett. He obviously had no idea that his roommate and date knew each other, Hero’s confused face making it clear that she had no idea the two men were friends either. Despite his heart sinking in his chest in a rare moment of genuine devastation and humiliation that he wasn’t used to, Bennett recovered first.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” he burst, a wide grin forcing itself onto his face. The situation was amusing, but to a bystander, not to Bennett who wanted to slam the door on his fucking head. Still, he screeched out a painfully over-exaggerated laugh anyway and clapped Calvin heavily on the shoulder.
“This is your date?” he asked, before jabbing a finger in Hero’s direction. He focused on a spot above her head, unable to look her directly in the eyes. “Mate, I hope you sang Enrique to her. That’s her favourite. Isn’t it, Hero?”
gamechangershow
amandla
turnnoffyourmind
titsay