Henry is stuck in the countryside as COVID-19 wreaks havoc in the world, leaving him with little else left to do but getting to know his spunky next door neighbour, Lizz.
Word count: 20k+
Author’s note: I felt like writing some romcom, since there’s not a whole lot of romcom Henry fanfiction available. Also, I was totally inspired by my grandparents old farmhouse. I used to visit them a lot as a teen / young adult and it has actually happened that I was taking a shower and, you guessed it: there was just no more water. If only Henry had been my neighbour back then.. 👀
Chapter 1 DEEP ROOTS (bit of strong language, meet cute, garden work)
The Girl Next Door - Chapter 6 INTERSTELLAR CELLAR
<Chap 5 | Chap 7>
Summary: A number of things are uncovered. A mysterious cellar, some wine bottles and seriously deep thoughts and feelings.
Word count: 2.531
Warnings: strong language, alcohol use
Tagsquad: @tumblnewby
(Link to my Masterlist)
‘Alright, now all together…put some muscle into it!’ Lennard commanded through clenched teeth, joining the others in trying to pull the very old door open.
Some days ago Lizz had found this door behind an old cupboard in the hallway. Her interest piqued so she had tried to open it with some help from Henry. But unfortunately the door hadn’t budged. Now however, the door finally seemed to give way, the heavy oak creaking under the force of three men tugging at it for dear life, their hands wound around the rope that they had tied to the door handle.
‘Yes, almost! Come on! Come on!’ Lizz squealed, immediately regretting her enthusiasm as her head started to spin again - yep, she had a bad, bad hangover.
It was a most ..typical morning.
Lizz had woken up in Henry’s bed. Which had confused her. Then Henry told her he had stopped her from..well…doing ’the thing’ - which had embarrassed her. Then her phone rang, alarming her that her friends had arrived. Which ..completely set her hungover head into overdrive as she had scrambled up from Henry’s bed to run back to her house.
Thankfully this time in more than just a towel.
Lizz had been red with embarrassment when she had finally set foot on her lawn again, her friends raising some eyebrows as they noticed her disheveled appearance. ‘Friendly neighbourly visit, hmm?’ Frankie had asked, a knowing smile tugging at his lips. ‘Yea. Uh..I eh..ran out of sugar.’ Lizz had quickly muttered, her fingers quick to dig for her keys to open the front door. ‘Ah…”sugar” hehe.’ They teased.
In order to prevent any further questioning on her neighbourly relations, she had immediately set her friends to work. It was in the end why they had come over; not only to see their good friend Lizz, but also to help out with some tasks that required a bit more man power. Man power that was most welcome when it came to opening this mysterious door.
‘Oh almost, I can..UGH..smell it. Oh gods.’ Lizz nearly started to vomit as the door cracked open and a dry, musky old smell escaped into the hallway. ‘Oh yes that’s old.’ She dry heaved, sticking her tongue out in disgust. It however didn’t stop the others from continuing their efforts, their heels now digging into the floorboards as they put their weight into pulling the door open.
And then, *WOOSH* the door relented, the men falling back as the door flung open wide. ‘Woa. Okay. Looks like the door gave up.’ Timothy smiled, quickly scrambling back up to his feet.
With some hesitance the four of them peeked inside the dark pit, the doorway apparently leading to some kind of cellar. Through the dark they saw an old stone staircase and large cobwebs, thick with dust, above their heads.
‘Indiana Jones would be proud of us.’ Lennard nodded, poking Frankie in his side as Frankie was obviously less enthusiastic. ‘I am NOT going in there. Oh no. Fuck me some ghost stories. That does NOT look like a good idea.’ Frankie turned on his heel, shaking his head, making Lizz chuckle and smile; ‘I’ll get a broom so we can clear a path.’
If renovating a whole house didn’t faze Lizz, a few spiders and ghosts definitely wouldn’t either.
Soon enough Lizz returned with a broom and, with a few wipes, their path was cleared enough so they could descend down the stairs.
Timothy’s phone threw a harsh blue-white light over the dusty old walls, the cellar untouched for quite a long time by the looks of it. The walls were cold, hewn from large blocks of rock, which they traced with their fingers as the stairs curved down.
Once they set foot in the cellar itself it became clear it wasn’t just any cellar..it was a wine cellar. Some eight square meters of history lay before them, rows and rows of dusty bottles neatly stacked in wooden racks.
‘Sweet.’ Lennard was quick to pull one of the bottles out, using his thick thumb to wipe off some of the dust. His eyes peered at the bottle, like he was figuring out some very difficult puzzle, only to come to the conclusion: ‘No label.’ He shrugged, showing it to Lizz and Timothy.
‘There’s a little marking here though.’ Lizz noted, pointing at a handmarked silver star near the neck of the bottle.
‘Shame. Would be interesting to know how old they are.’ Lennard pouted.
‘And whether they are still drinkable.’ Timothy added, his hand also moving to pick up a bottle.
‘Well, only one way to find out,’ Lizz shrugged, pulling out two bottles and nodding back at the stairs.
Apparently, the wine had not gone sour. And so, here they were sitting and drinking wine in the soft morning sun - a shamefully early hour to be testing wine -, their bodies leaning back into some make-shift seats in Lizz’s frontyard.
It could actually be said this was a really good wine. Deep ruby red, soft on the tongue and with a long lasting, rich flavour. Perfect, also, for defeating one scrumptious hangover. Scrumptious indeed, Lizz thought, knitting her eyebrows together as the sunlight was just a touch too bright for her eyes this morning.
A familiar sound awoke her from her thoughts, her back quick to lift off her chair as she noticed a visitor popping his head around the hedge. Kal. Henry’s dog. Meaning Henry wasn’t far behind. Oh damn. Okay. Uhm. Relax Lizz. Nothing happened. You’re just neighbours. Friends. Friendly neighbours. Whatever.
She walked up to the hedge, her hand offering Kal a scratch behind the ears whilst her eyes tracked up the road, finding Kal was indeed not alone. Henry had a soft smile tugging at his lips, his hands stuck in his pockets like he always had when walking up to her house, his appearance far less disheveled then Lizz had looked this morning. He actually looked really, really good. A simple deep blue shirt and some dark jeans, his brown curls tumbling in effortless perfection around his face.
Oh shit. What if her friends started to fanboy over him? She hadn’t really told them that her neighbour was actually Henry fucking Cavill. Oh..That would be so embarra…
‘Hello Lizz.’ Henry smiled, his feet halting at the other side of her hedge. His eyes spoke of tumultuous thoughts, but he somehow managed to hide them well - he was an actor after all. His lips curled into a very relaxed smile, his eyes moving to her friends. ‘Morning.’ He nodded at her friends. Okay then. He was playing the “good ol’ friendly neighbour”.
‘Mm..morning..’ They choked. Lizz didn’t have to look over her shoulder to imagine what kind of faces her friends were pulling. Flabbergasted and pure utter shock, most likely. Especially when they were probably also thinking right now; didn’t Lizz come from…his house..this morning?
‘Good weather for a walk.’ Lizz tried, forcing herself to smile.
‘Yep.’ Henry looked back at her and smiled. They both were quiet, just smiling stupidly. Henry was quick to snap out of it, scraping his throat.
‘I just wanted to let you know I..eh.. have to.. go to London..’ He hesitated, almost as if surprised by what he just said, his eyes flying back to Lizz’s friends. It was quite probable they were hearing every word they shared. Henry swallowed, seeing Lizz’s confused look.
‘For work?’ She asked, trying her best to keep her voice level and friendly inquisitive.
‘Uh..yea..I eh..’ His eyes flew back to her friends once more. ‘London. I’ll be back. But eh..I just wanted to let you know.’
‘Okay.’ Lizz nodded, biting her lip to hide her disappointment while she quickly looked away, her eyes trailing back to Kal who had trodded further down the path, his big nose sniffing down a rabbit hole. Henry followed her gaze and nodded. ‘Yes, we better get going. Kal’s getting impatient.’
‘OH! Eh. I actually have something for you.’ Lizz quickly turned on her heel, walking to the table and picking up one of the unopened bottles of wine from the mysterious cellar.
‘We managed to finally crack open that door. Apparently it was a wine cellar and..eh..the wine’s actually still really good.’ Lizz hurried back to Henry, her hand reaching out to offer him the bottle. Henry smiled again, though this time more endearingly, making Lizz blush slightly. ‘Thank you, Lizz.’ He hummed, studying the bottle.
‘No labels?’
’Nope. Just these small silver marked stars.’ She shrugged, also looking down at the bottle in his hand. ‘Hmm.’ Henry smirked. ‘Mysterious stellar cellar wine.’
Lizz giggled and shook her head a bit. ‘Enjoy your walk Henry.’
‘Thanks Lizz.’ He looked back over her shoulder, waving at the others. ‘Good day gents!’
And off he went.
Lizz returned to the table and tried to keep a poker face, seeing the shocked looks on her friends faces.
‘What the…snack..Lizz. Henry Cavill? You forgot to mention your neighbour is Henry fucking CAVILL?’ Lennard exclaimed.
‘Eh..’ Her cheeks started to flush - again, dammit - and words seemed to elude her.
‘I eh..yea.’ She shrugged, smiling feebly.
‘Okay. We’re not going to lift one more finger until you have told us exactly what is happening between the two of you. Because we don’t buy the whole “borrowing sugar”-stuff, mkey?’ Lennard continued, giving Lizz a warning look.
Lizz bit her lip and quickly took another sip of the wine. It was 10 am in the morning, she had a hangover and she was drinking - again. Yet the worst of it was? Her friends had just asked her to tell about the relationship with her neighbour, a question to which she couldn’t really give any answer. Because it was plain and simple; she didn’t know either what was going on between her and Henry.
’Okay..so..I was working in my garden..’
Lizz told them everything, from beginning to end. From the moment she met Henry while she was doing garden work and he had simply sauntered in, to the heavy make out sessions, to the nearly having sex, to the really quite romantic spa-at-home day of the night before.
‘Woa. Okay, Lizz. It’s no rocket science to me. He’s into you.’ Frankie said, grinning as Lizz shook her head in disagreement.
‘It can’t be. I mean. For instance; just now he said he had to go to London. He didn’t mention a thing about that yesterday.’
‘Well maybe it’s an emergency. Or, he didn’t know about it yet last night?’
‘That. Or he wants to get away from me. Especially after what I did..’ Lizz sighed, scolding herself for forcing herself upon her way too perfect, much too sexy, sweet, talented neighbour.
Long after her friends left, Lizz still couldn’t push her thoughts aside. She was sitting outside as the stars shone like little diamonds in the heavens above, her body folded up in her chair and her hand wrapped around a glass of the silver starred wine.
Henry left for London. For how long? She didn’t know. Why? She could only guess. Should she ask? Probably not. Did she care about him? Probably yes. Did they really, really need to start talking about all that had happened between them? Absolute, definite yes.
But tonight she just had to leave it be. She just had to still her thoughts with this “stellar cellar wine” and hope she hadn’t completely ruined it with Henry. She sighed and leaned back, gazing up at the millions of stars up above, the night gentle and inviting. Just like last night. Only this time she wasn’t sitting shoulder to shoulder with the man that made her body go putty and her heart all aflutter.
Kal woofed nervously at the sound of an ambulance racing past, his body pressed up against Henry’s leg. The two of them were sitting outside on Henry’s London patio, the city a rather dizzying blur of sounds and lights, especially after living for a few months in the countryside.
Henry let his fingers glide through Kal’s fur, his hand soothing the large dog as he slowly slumped down again, ears still twitching. ‘Ssh.. It’s okay Kal. It’s okay.’ It’s okay. Is it though? He had just..left her. From the very moment the words slipped out of his mouth, he had been scolding himself. It honestly had just been a thought, but once he said he was to leave for London..well..he had to. Especially since her friends had heard him say it too. And perhaps it was better for the both of them. If they had a moment to think. Even though Henry hated every single second of it.
Regretting his sudden departure from the place that very much felt like home, he gazed at the bottle with the mysterious little silver star marked on it, the bottle standing forlorn on the small side table. He had poured himself a glass of it for dinner and the wine was indeed lovely. So much so that he may have nearly finished the bottle by himself. Oops..
Sighing he picked up the bottle, his finger grazing over the small silver star on the otherwise naked bottle. Lizz. The simply seductive, sweet Lizz. Seeing her today with her friends had awoken him from the dream-like state the two of them had lived in for the passed weeks. It couldn’t always be like this. At some point they would have to go back to real life. To get back to work, to seeing friends and family, to be apart from each other. And especially for him that would mean there would be very little opportunity to go see Lizz. It would most definitely kill whatever thing they had going. It would definitely stop them from being a couple.
Fuck.
Just realising how he had let this go so far, made him even more sad..and lonely.
‘What is it with me and women Kal?’ He sighed, mindlessly tracing his hand through Kal’s thick fur. The dog looked up, laying his head in Henry’s lap and giving him a curious look. What’s the matter human? Why are you sad?
‘Maybe in another universe it could have worked, you know. Me and her.’ Henry sulked, making Kal whine softly, his nose pushing further up Henry’s lap. You can’t give up now human. I don’t like it.
Henry knit his eyebrows together, placing both hands over Kal’s head as he cast his eyes back up at the sky. He and Lizz would probably have very different lives again once the Corona regulations were subdued, but at least they’d get to share the same views of the sky each night, right?
A thought that should have been comforting. Yet it didn’t. His heart still ached all the same.
