lights, camera, and love on air!
pairing: bob reynolds x reader
blurb: you and bob are star-partners in high-school, especially within the school publication of where you both first met. students often confuse you two between lovers or simply emotionally constipated idiots. that one coming summer of the outgoing Editorial Board members for the school publication held a one-last roundtable discussion, all eyes turn to you and bob for one last spiel.
a/n: this is an out of character bob and I tried reimagining his life during high school before everyone parts ways! i hope you like it!
warnings: not much, clingy bob! :D simply fluff, just a tinge of angst, and maybe subtle pinings. includes campus journalism sequences and potential jargons!
It’s Saturday and supposedly, You and Bob are meant to go the movies to catch up on the bucket list of films that he and yourself are supposed to cross out before the summer-break. Both of you sat down the couch of the press office at school, shoulders close together while your hands toy with each other.
“why do you think they called us in for a meeting? I thought we’re the resident behind-the-scenes kind of pair?” Bob says softly, his lips curve into a small pout somehow and you can’t help but giggle at his antics.
his hair is neatly combed yet the few strands of hair falls down to his blue orbs makes him even more adorable—one of which you can’t admit to him vocally, simply because you’ll never hear the end of it once people heard you say it out loud.
“I don’t know. I don’t like staying and waiting here longer, too. We could’ve been burning our asses at the theatre for thirty minutes now if they hadn’t called us in for god knows w–” you were cut short by the publication head when you heard a click of boots down the hallway.
“Bob! Y/N! I’m so sorry we ran this late—the headmistress discussed something to us that may need more than your expertise behind the cameras.” She says, her hands clasped together and noticed how her thumb seems to pad over her skin at a repetitive motion.
As you were about to speak, bob takes the lead by asking questions that about the why’s, what’s, and the how’s of the supposed spiel.
Bob’s hand never left yours as he continues to rub circles on your palm with the pad of his thumb–it was as if it’s his second nature to hold you with such care as if you’re a delicate flower. Your eyes soon glance over his features once again, the way he speaks eloquently is like listening to him like prayer and hymnals combined, the softness of his features glow within the light of the sun seeping through the office window like morning glory.
There are multiple things you can describe bob as something so beautiful yet so intriguing, and despite being so close with each-other, you still can’t seem to crack the façade he keeps under deep wraps.
“Y/N, do you agree? I mean—I’m on-board with this if you are, t-they said we’d be working together and I told them I won’t accept if you won’t because.. because i’m not used to working with anyone but y-”
you were pulled out of your reverie and realized you have been looking at him ever-so fondly, one way to put it.
“yeah? sorry, I kind of zoned out, Bob. If you wanna work with it, I’m good with it too. When do we start, by the way?”
“wait—really? this is the year-end spiel so this might be a month-long project that we’ll both be airing for the whole school to see.” he adds, absent-mindedly skinning his chapped lips with worry as if you’d decline.
“Yes, Bob,” You responded with a soft hum, a soft chuckle soon escape your lips as you watch him heave a sigh of relief and stopped nibbling on his chapped lower lip.
As if on cue, you took out your handkerchief and gently tap the cloth on the area that bleeds. You were quiet and focused on wiping it clean before it dawned on you that you’re clearly not alone.
You cleared your throat and gently pulled your hand away from his grasp, his eyes soon turned to you as if asking what did he do wrong. “Going back at the spiel you’re asking us to do, it’s a month-long project so that means that’s until we graduate, right? which is in three months?”
Jayle, the publication’s Editor-In-Chief, nodded her head in response to your queries, her eyes dart from you and bob at a time. You can still see Bob looking at you through your peripheral vision and by the rate of your heartbeat, an exaggeration to describe it is the best way to explain it.
She notices the subtle tension and curtly nods her head, gently patting both you and bob on your shoulders before she speaks once again. If you could have superpowers, it’d be mind reading because you can definitely tell simply by her expression that she noticed everything you and bob did even without speaking.
“uh, it seems like you both have plans today so I won’t keep you here. We’ll discuss everything on tuesday next week, after class. Would that be okay with you, two?” She asks, evidently trying to keep her smile in as she sat up from her seat.
“Yeah, sounds good to me.”
“Yes, it’s alright, my plans for that day is not until dinner comes anyway.”
“you have plans on tuesday?”
“I do, bob-”
“I thought we’ll go for taco tuesday?”
“right, so, i’ll see you two on tuesday.” Jayle says softly as if she was intruding on your and bob’s discussion about your whereabouts. Bob exited the office first, mumbling something under his breath that you can’t seem to decipher.
His stance and pacing seem a little too fast for you, evidently showcasing how upset he had been after the Tuesday revelation that unravelled within the confinements of the publication office, Jayle, on the other hand, walked in pace with you while you kept your eyes on Bob whose pace now slowed down for a bit.
“Why don’t you tell him how you feel, really? He seemed obviously upset about not being with you on your weekly routine that’s supposedly meant to be with him?” She says, a soft smile curled on her lips while you heaved a sigh–feeling like the whole world was trying to crush you just because you liked a guy who does not want you back.
“He told me he likes someone but he did not disclose who that was, how can I compete with that? He even asked me how to ask her out and I gave him pointers!” You told Jayle in a whisper-like manner, watching how Bob now waits for you by the exit of the hallway, leaning through the frame while toying with his fingers.
“I don’t know what kind of goose-chasing crap you both got going on, but nothing will ever work out for the both of you if no one tries to talk about it.”
“but-”
“no buts, i’ll see you on tuesday.”
you were left with a mind running on thoughts and questions that even you can’t answer, you take a deep breath and mumbled mantras of ‘you got this’ and ‘god fucking help me now’ before walking towards bob.
Despite having his lips curled into a pout, his aura is visibly sad and upset, but his hand is still extended out for you to hold on to. Your lips soon curved into a smile that almost reached your eyes, one of which Bob soon returned—his mood seemingly shift from downright call of blues to a kid who seemingly got his requested lollipop.
Neither of you decided to start a small talk, it was like silence is enough conversation for the both of you. It didn’t take a while before you both reached your car–nothing fancy but a beaten up corolla works better than relying on your adoptive father for transport.
You take your keys out of your pocket and unlocked the passenger door, letting Bob enter the vehicle first before you do, and it wasn’t long before you take up the driver’s seat and maneuvered away from the school premises and towards the movie theatre you both worked part-time every summer.
Much to your dismay, the last running hour for Star Wars had already been shown, with pursed lips and nowhere else to go apart from this particular plan, there is no other choice but to go home.
“Star Wars screening had already started, it might be at its climax already. Do you have other plans in mind?” Bob says almost in a careful whisper, his fingers toy with the hem of his sweater–evidently shy about his attitude earlier.
“We can always stay at the rooftop of the theatre and watch the sundown with popcorn, since we’re already here.” You quipped, a small smile curve on your lips as you try to shake away the feeling of being rejected with the offer.
“I’d.. I’d like that.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, then.”
You managed to get a bucket of popcorn and two large sodas for you and bob. Since both of you worked as staffers for the community theatre, even then, you both knew how to make your way up the rooftop.
You both decided to sit in front of the pillar, your backs leaning onto it while you eat the buttered popcorn without saying a word. Even the smallest gestures of where your fingers would touch, your heart would skip a beat and feel as if it wanted to get out of your ribcage.
You leaned your head against the wall of the pillar and took a piece of the popcorn and into your mouth, closing your eyes as you chew quietly–not wanting to look at Bob and do something incredibly stupid that you’ll regret doing at some point in the future.
You didn’t notice how Bob was looking at you with the same care you had in him. His head ran questions only you can answer on his behalf, ‘why does she keep me around?’, ‘does she like someone else?’ and the mere thought of you having to hold someone else other than him makes his heart ache, his stomach churn, and even wanting to cry out loud.
“Bob?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think we’ll still be together after high-school?”
and the question in itself, made Bob wonder to all sorts of possible futures that you might have with him, and without him. Bob pondered and realized that life is easier and happier to live with when you came, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
but you? having to spend the rest of your life without him? It aches every bit of his soul and feels the muscles on his heart clench like he had been heartbroken by the thought of it. Bob wanted you in the picture in all ways, always.
“I—I haven’t thought about it. But I’m certain that I want you in every bit of it.” Bob says as he turns to look at you and you meet his eyes. It was the prettiest shade of blue that you have ever laid your eyes on, you’d rather live and dive into it than not be able to see it.
“I want you in every bit of my life too, Bob. You’re the only constant thing there is in my life and I don’t want that to ever stop.”
those are the exact words you want to say, and in your head and in your heart, you knew you wanted him to know that, but now is not the time, or so you believe.
“Likewise, Bob.” you responded, your eyes focused on his—it was as if the world had only revolved in him and around him at that time. You could only muster up a soft smile on your lips before leaning your head on his shoulder, watching as the sun fall down to its horizons.
You both stayed in each other’s warmth, silence enveloping yet doesn’t deafen your heartbeats. No words could ever describe the serene feeling of simply being with the presence of each other.
