Change of Plans
Rodrick Heffley x Plus size!reader
Word Count: 2526 words
Warnings: none
Summary: Rodrick planning a date for your anniversary that doesn’t go exactly as planned.
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Tonight was supposed to be perfect.
Rodrick had been planning it all week, which was a big deal because you knew how much he didn’t like to do anything. Though, to be fair, this wasn’t just anything.
Today was your anniversary, which meant that it was a huge deal, and he wanted to treat it as such.
It wasn’t lost on Rodrick that you put up with a lot being with him, even with as awesome as he was, and he wanted you to know that he appreciated it.
For once in his life, all that crap about loving and appreciating your partner his mom had been spouting at him forever was going to come in handy.
He’d put a ton of effort into this, and if he could give himself some credit, he thought it was pretty great. All your favorite movies were on the coffee table, ready to be put in if you so pleased, and he’d even tried to make your favorite meal.
Of course that last part had gone horribly wrong and now you would be having a frozen pizza, but he really had tried his best to make it work.
By all accounts, tonight should have been one of the best nights you two had in a long time, where it could just be the two of you without anything else going on, but it was starting to look like that wasn’t going to happen after all.
Apparently, he was supposed to be watching Greg tonight.
All his planning and thinking about you, coupled with the fact that he couldn’t have cared less about his brother must have made it slip his mind.
The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Not only were you going to be here any minute, but Greg had invited Rowley to spend the night too.
The perfect anniversary dinner he’d planned so tirelessiy for the last week was going to be absolutely ruined, all because of his stupid brother.
After everything, this was just going to be another night in at home, the same as every other.
He couldn’t believe it.
Though, before he could get himself too worked up about it or forget the whole thing entirely, there was a knock at the front door. A knock that let him know you had finally made it, which was always going to be a good thing.
Even under such horrible circumstances.
“What’s up baby?” he hummed, leaning against the doorframe once it had opened, that cheesy grin on his face he often wore when looking down on you. He was doing his best to cover up the obvious distress he was in, of course, but at least for now, it seemed to be working.
Though, he knew it was only temporary.
After all, as soon as you entered the house, you would find both Rowley and Greg in the kitchen, microwaving hotdogs until they exploded. Because the copious threats of violence he’d thrown their way had not nearly been enough to deter them.
This was going to be too good to miss.
Greg was well aware of what today was, and how important it was to Rodrick, even if he tried to keep it hidden, and he wasn’t about to miss it. Especially not if he could personally put a damper on the whole evening.
Revenge was a dish best served covered in hot dog chunks, from where he was sitting.
“Nothing much, what’s going on here?” you responded, glancing back at him casually as you came into the home, almost immediately aware of whatever chaos was happening in the kitchen.
Whatever it was, it was loud. Very loud, which was strange for the Heffley household when Rodrick was babysitting.
Normally, the boys were well behaved when they were home with Rodrick, because they knew that they needed to be but not today.
Today, Greg knew that he could do things when you were around that would usually get him in trouble.
It wasn’t like Rodrick was going to beat him into the ground right in front of you, after all.
He had to be on his best behavior, which the younger of the two had all the confidence in the world over this whole thing. If there was ever a chance of him getting to his brother, tonight was going to be the night.
As long as you were here, he was as safe as a kitten.
“Uh, nothing” Rodrick tried, following you with quick steps as you made your way in the direction of the sound, obviously concerned with what was going on there. If the house exploded, you were sure you’d hear it from Susan later.
...and while Rodrick may not have cared about that, you certainly did.
The last thing you needed her thinking was that you two had some hand in whatever the boys were doing in there.
Still, the male on your heels couldn’t have given that a second thought. In fact, all he could think about right now was the state of the kitchen, which you weren’t going to be happy about and how far from plan this had gone.
It was supposed to be perfect.
Supposed to be.
The scene you actually walked into in the kitchen was far from perfect. The air in the small space is thick with smoke, partially from the pizza mishap from earlier, and partially from the hotdog bombs going off above the stove.
Not to mention the two prepubescent boys making a huge mess all over the place, having gotten into the only remaining surprise Rodrick had waiting in the fridge.
Angel food cake.
He had never been all that good at baking, or anything else technical in the kitchen but he knew that at the very least, he had to give making one of your favorite desserts a try and for the most part, it worked.
It rose in the oven, even though he wasn’t entirely sure it was going to and was even golden brown on the top.
Not that you would have known that with half the cake in Greg’s mouth, and the other half resting in a tub of whip cream that Rowley was eating with his hands.
He couldn’t believe it.
All you could do was stand there, at a loss for words, but that seemed to be enough for Rodrick to speak up. That cake was all he had left to try and salvage this special evening, and they had ruined that too.
It was too much.
“I’ll kill you! You little runt” He spit, the calm facade he’d been so desperately trying to project falling away immediately.
Everything else he could get past, but not that. Not the one thing he’d done specifically for you because he knew that you’d love it.
As soon as he spoke, chaos abruptly ensued as Rodrick all but pounced on his brother on the kitchen counter, wrestling him to the ground until he had him in a chokehold. Whether it slipped his mind that you were here or not, you weren’t sure but it didn’t really matter.
In either case, you weren’t about to let him beat up his kid brother, even if he had clearly done something wrong.
“Rodrick, it’s okay! It’s just a cake” you tried, not sure why this was such a big deal. They had made a mess of just about everything else too, but he hadn’t gotten nearly as upset about anything else.
All he seemed to care about was the dessert, and you weren’t sure why.
Not yet.
“It isn’t. I made it for you and they knew it” he grumbled out, still keeping the younger of the two from wiggling out of his grip, the other boy nowhere to be found. By this point, you were sure Rowley was hiding.
You couldn’t blame him.
If you had been in his position, you would have started walking home by now.
You couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto your face at that. Had your rock-and-roll, shittalking boyfriend really tried to bake for you? It didn’t seem like something he’d do.
Though, this wouldn’t be the first time Rodrick surprised you with that sentimentality he usually kept hidden away.
“Rodrick, let him go” you suggested, deciding not to bother with cleaning up the mess that both younger males had made before your arrival. Instead, you had your sights set on something very different.
It might not have been the anniversary he had planned, but you had an idea.
Reluctantly, the man you loved got up from the floor, finally letting his brother stand from the ground beside him, though Greg kept his distance. Again, you couldn’t blame him.
“Why don’t you go start the van, I’ll be right there” you hummed, giving him a gentle smile as you asked, sure that it wouldn’t make a lot of sense right now but that didn’t matter.
Rodrick looked understandably confused by what you had planned but did as you suggested anyway, leaving to fetch the keys without a word.
Obviously he was upset, but you weren’t bothered by the mess.
The fact that he’d gone through so much trouble for you was more than enough to prove how much this meant to him.
...and you were about to make it all okay.
There was silence in the kitchen for a moment or two as you heard the lanky man you loved make his way out the front door with a defeated sigh but you didn’t even bat an eye. Rodrick wasn’t the only one who’d been planning for tonight.
“We’ll be back in half an hour, the kitchen better be clean by then or I’m calling Susan'' you threatened, a soft smile still present on your face as if you hadn’t just uttered the one name that would actually scare him.
Greg may not have been afraid of what his brother would do to him but his mom was a whole other story.
Then, once he’d nodded and you were content he’d do as you’d asked, you turned on your heels and went to join a still reeling Rodrick in the car.
“Where are we going?” he asked, pretty sure that he needed to know if he was going to drive but you only shook your head, holding your hand out for the keys.
You weren’t going to ruin the surprise so early.
Again, Rodrick sighs, still bothered by the anniversary night he’d provided you with before he complied, switching spots with you in the van without complaint. Whatever you had in mind, it couldn’t be any worse than he’d done.
He knew that much for sure.
Whatever it was.
You didn’t stop the van until you reached your destination, Plainview Convenience.
It was hardly glamorous and may have seemed like a strange choice for something as important as an Anniversary but given the context, you were sure it would be just what the doctor ordered for the man you loved.
...or at least, it would make him feel a little better.
It was little more than a convenience store, the kind that was only known for cheap hotdogs and slushies but for you and Rodrick, it was so much more.
It was his favorite.
“Ta-da!” you grinned, parking the van in front of the building, sure that the two of you were bound to have a good time.
This was going to be perfect, all you had to do was grab some snacks and hang out a little bit before you had to get back to the house, where you could just relax even more.
He just had to trust you.
~
“Happy Anniversary baby” You cooed, plopping down beside Rodrick on the curb, handing him a blue raspberry slushie and a hot dog, your own cherry slushie in hand.
Not that Rodrick seemed quite as enthusiastic about your arrival as you were.
He was just so bummed about how much he’d managed to mess this all up. You deserved the greatest surprise anyone could have ever had but it just didn’t work out. How was he not supposed to be bothered by that?
“Why are you still upset?” you wondered, watching that far away look stuck to his handsome face that told you everything you needed to know.
Of course, he was glad you’d thought of this but he was just a little grumpy.
He’d put more effort into tonight than he’d ever put into anything, and it was still a disaster. It was just supposed to go so differently.
“I just wanted to prove to you that I could do something romantic” he shrugged, shocking you with his earnest confession. You knew that it was probably something like that but there was something so real in the words he chose.
He really loved you.
Not that you ever doubted it.
It was just shocking to hear it sometimes, in such a genuine context.
“You did! You put so much work into tonight and I’m sure it would have been wonderful” you assured, bumping his foot with your own converse, hoping to really capture his attention.
You were serious.
...and when he finally dared to glance up from his slushie, he saw it too.
It was clear to you that Rodrick had really tried hard to make this special and it was, even if it didn’t look like what he pictured.
You were having a blast, just like you always did when the two of you were together.
“Happy Anniversary Babe” Rodrick hummed, after giving your words a few more moments of thought, ultimately deciding that you were right.
He planned this whole thing hoping he could give you a unique, romantic experience but that didn’t make this any less romantic. After all, if there was anything that was a huge hallmark for your relationship, it was this.
You had spent several nights just like this, eating junk food and drinking slushies in the parking lot.
It wasn’t bad, as far as date nights went.
“So, this is pretty good?” you prompted, hoping that he was serious about this. You really weren’t having a bad time, and you wanted him to have as good of a time as you were.
You weren’t stressed about how it could have been, you were just glad that you were here with him.
“Yeah, this is good. You wanna know what could make it even better?” he grinned, his entire demeanor changing as the pressure fell away from him and he decided to just have a good time with his girlfriend.
Oh no.
This was going to be good.
“What?” you questioned, preparing yourself for whatever he could have possibly thought of in the time you’d been sitting here.
It could have been anything, knowing Rodrick.
“We could make purple” he winked, gesturing to both his blue slushie and your red one in one solid motion, earning a small snort from you.
Of all the things you could have come up with, that wouldn’t have cracked the top ten things you expected to come out of his mouth.
At least you knew he was in a better mood now.