summary: though not a well-paid job, singing and playing music in the local bar definitely does have its perks - specifically free booze and cute scottish boys.
a/n: i basically stayed up way too late getting nostalgic with ed sheeran songs. also, this is kinda cringy but bare with me, please.
You were standing right outside the bar your friend owned in the small town you’d never had the luck (or courage) to leave. You were already on your third cigarette that night and it definitely was not going to be your last. Some days you thought it was becoming a problem, whereas you could go through whole packages without hesitation on other days. Tonight was one of those times - as long as it felt good and made you feel relieved, it didn’t really matter.
You blew the smoke into the chilly midnight air and watched it dissolve before taking another puff. Just as you raised it to your lips did the heavy metal door open behind you, allowing you to hear your guitarist’s solo clearly for a moment. You turned around to see who was going to give you company and you unintentionally locked eyes with the handsome stranger. You flashed a small smile before turning your back at him again, lighting another cigarette. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his thick jacket, raising his eyes at the starry sky. You wanted to take a quick look at the stranger without him noticing, but apparently you weren’t quick enough. He took a double-take before completely turning towards you, giving you a charming smile.
“It’s beautiful, innit? Such a rare sight, given the fact that the skies here are covered by clouds most of the year.” The stranger turned his gaze back at the stars, making you look up as well with no actual intention of doing so. Once he decided he’d seen enough, he looked down at you just again and introduced himself.
“Richard,” he said, sticking out his hand towards you and giving yours a firm shake.
“Y/N,” you replied, smiling at him again. “Wanna take a puff?” You offered, handing the rest of your cigarette to Richard. He gladly took it and inhaled deeply, even closing his eyes as he blew the smoke towards his beloved stars before giving it back. You tried to hide the small smile lingering in the corner of your mouth and took another puff of your cigarette before putting it out on the dirty wall of the bar.
“Y’know, everyone seems to be enjoying the music much less without you on stage,” he commented, looking for a reaction from you from the corner of his eye. You turned your head as much as your thick scarf let you and let out an incredulous laugh, shaking your head at Richard.
“You don’t have to lie here, I can hear they’re just fine,” you replied, lowering your eyes as a way of escape from Richard’s gaze. However, he stepped closer with his hands still in his pockets and the smell of smoke suddenly got mixed with that of whisky and - for whatever reason - pine. You could still feel him staring at you, so you decided to look up at him again, getting rewarded with an adorable smile.
“Maybe, but I saw their faces and they definitely do miss the pretty girl with the angelic voice.” Richard replied in a low husky voice and you couldn’t help but turn your head back to him again. He looked so simply handsome, nothing fake about him at all. His baby blue eyes kept attracting your E/C gaze even in the dim light and no matter how hard you tried to keep yourself collected, you could feel you were slowly giving in to his pure beauty.
“Well, they’ll have to wait for her return, I’m afraid. She’s being rudely distracted.” You decided it was time to start playing Richard’s game and you got the exact reaction you were waiting for- the boy smiled even wider at you and took a quick glance at his old shoes before looking back up at you again. Richard took the last puff of his cigarette before throwing it away, earning a serious look from you.
“I don’t think you should keep doing that. I don’t care for your lungs the least bit, but stop destroying the planet, Mister,” you said, earning a chuckle. When Richard realised you weren’t joking, he let out a huge sigh and picked up the remains of his cigarette to throw it in the nearest bin.
“Happy?”
“Yes, thank you very much. And now that you’ve become such a committed advocate for Mother Nature, can I treat you to a drink?” You smiled at him playfully, making him giggle just again. Man, this boy really cannot stop grinning, can he? It didn’t matter though. It was kind of growing on you, actually.
“I would love that.”
And just like that, before you had even realised, you were already on your fourth whisky that night, loosening up and laughing more and more at Richard’s corny jokes and adorable attempts at complimenting you. He was telling you an awful story about his high school experience, peppered with giggles and rosy cheeks and just before he looked in your eyes and created direct eye contact only to break it within seconds just again, did you realise that not only his giggles, but the boy as a whole was growing on you. You would’ve never thought a tipsy night would be enough for you to fall in love, but here you were, listening to an almost-stranger sorrounded by other strangers, and you could feel it was different than all those other nights spent flirting with any slightly handsome guy. This was different, Richard was different, and before you had even realised, your hand was already on the back of his head, his arms were draped around your waist and your lips pressed against his mid-sentence. He didn’t even hesitate to kiss back, and all of a sudden there you were, getting lost in the arms of someone you had literally met two hours ago. The taste of cigarettes and cheap spirits had never felt so good and you could’ve sworn you were on cloud nine. It felt so right and once you pulled away, there it was again- an adorable grin on his face.
