The Judgement of Friends
Request: Can I request a Jaime Reyes x Reader where he takes his girlfriend to meet his skater friends in El Paso, and they end up not really liking her and be mean to her (but Jaime does not realize) and the reader fake smiles here way through it. Late Jaime hears her talking about it to Artemis. Thanks
Requested by: @bloatedandlonly
Word Count: 894
Requests are Open HERE.
You had been excited for today. You’d baked cookies in an act of good faith, only to have that plan backfire. You knew Jaime was excited for you to meet his friends out in El Paso, and he was overjoyed to know that your best cookies were coming along for the trip too.
You tried to be yourself around his friends, asking questions and trying to genuinely get to know them better. They rebuffed every effort, rolling their eyes as if you’d asked the most obvious things about them. No matter how hard you tried, they had no interest in welcoming you or supporting your relationship.
Jaime knew it was tough for you sometimes, being one of the members on the team who didn’t have a family to go home to after a mission. You made the most out of your chosen family of teammates, but it still wasn’t the same.
When you first joined the team, Artemis had taken you under her wing becoming the big sister you always wanted. You went to her with everything, and to her credit, she never seemed to be fed up with helping you. When you got back after having your heart stomped on in El Paso, it was only natural that she was the first person you looked for. The anxiety you’d bottled up before the ‘meet the friends’ event came pouring out as you went through every last interaction of the afternoon and how much aggression had been directed towards you.
“Artemis, I just don’t know what else I could’ve done,” you wept onto her shoulder.
Artemis paused before turning to console you. You’d buried your face into her shoulder, unable to see the stern face she’d given Jaime as he walked into the lounge. For the moment, it would be best for him to digest what he heard and figure out the best way to make it up to you. Knowing he’d already heard how hurt you were by his friends, Jaime decided to stay close when listening to Artemis calm you down.
“It’s not a matter of what you could have or should have done, Y/N,” Artemis said, while rubbing your back. “Not everybody is going to like you, but that doesn’t change how much your friends or your boyfriend love you. In fact, I feel like that it makes how much they love you so much more special. And Jaime’s friends may grow to like you eventually, but right now, my bet is they see you as competition for his time and attention.
“He already spends so much time with the team, they probably think he’s either spending that time with you over them, or that what free time he has outside of the excuse he’s given for team activities he’ll choose to spend with you. They’re afraid of losing their friend, and given how sweet you are, they could probably tell that by driving you away you wouldn’t try to make Jaime choose between them or you.”
“I guess you’re right,” you whispered as you lifted your head from her shoulder. “It doesn’t have to be my fault that they didn’t like me and I’ll just have to keep putting my best foot forward until they can at least treat me with civility.”
You stayed on the couch with Artemis, listening to the newscast playing on the television until you were calmed down enough to be around the rest of the team and your boyfriend. M’gann had been quietly working on tonight’s team dinner in the kitchen area behind the lounge while you worked to get your mind off of what happened in El Paso.
As M’gann called the rest of the team for dinner, you decided this would be the perfect time to have some privacy. You caught Jaime before he made it to the dining room and pulled him aside into a secluded area. You needed to know that his friends’ poor opinions of you weren’t going to change the way he felt about you.
“I know about earlier,” Jaime blurted as you closed the door leading to the bedrooms.
That was enough to bring the tears back once again. You were terrified that one bad interaction was going to cost you the best relationship you’d ever known. “How?” you squeaked out between silent sobs.
“Even if I hadn’t heard you and Artemis when I was walking by, Scarab was quick to point out how uncomfortable you were and your emotional distress. His words, not mine,” Jaime explained. “I think Artemis is on to something about the guys, and it’s not fair to you. You’re the best person I’ve ever met and I know it’s kind of soon to say this, but I love you, Y/N.”
“Please don’t just say that to make me feel better and stop crying,” you pleaded.
“I’m not.” Jaime took your face into his hands, making sure you were looking him straight in the eyes. “I love you, Y/N.”
You flung yourself into Jaime, kissing his cheek. “I love you, too.”
“The guys may be thick headed,” he started. “They’ll either come around on this or they won’t, but I’m not going to let it stop us from being happy. Besides the only other opinion I’d even need is Scarab and he’s trying to make sure I don’t mess this up.”
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