Unforgettable | E!Austin Butler X Plus! Reader | Part 6
Warnings: mentions of death, grief.
Word Count: 3K
A/N: I feel that an alternate name for this part would be "Pinky Promise With a Thumb Kiss." Just fluff that's part happy and part sad. Title is inspired by this song.
Have you read Part 5?
What do you do when he's just within your grasp and flying away the next...is his promise true?
“Can I ask you a question?” Elvis said after a while, his arms still wrapped around you.
You adjusted to look up at him. “Sure.”
“Don’t feel like you have to, but I-I-” He paused, keeping himself from continuing to stumble over his words. You swallowed nervously, unsure of what he was about to ask. “Well–”
You reached for his hand, squeezing it softly. “It’s okay. You can ask me whatever you like,” you reassured him.
“Well, I was just wondering what happened–” He began, his gaze gliding away from you. He licked his lips out of nervousness, his hands clasped over his chest. “I mean, well–” he started again.
“To my parents?” You offered, turning your head to the side, waiting for him to look at you. When he did, you watched his Adam’s apple rise and fall as he swallowed. He nodded softly.
“Of course, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” He placed his hand on the blanket between you, leaving his palm facing upward. You laced your fingers with his.
“I don’t mind,” You said quietly. You looked up at the stars for a few moments, watching the dark clouds glide through the night sky. You sighed softly before you spoke. “They died in a house fire when I was fifteen.” It had been four years since their passing and it was getting easier to talk about. Elvis nodded slowly, processing the information.
“I’m sorry,” He said, squeezing your hand firmly. “Really.”
“It’s okay. It was hard for a long time,” you said, pulling yourself closer to Elvis so that you could rest your head against his chest. He pulled his arm around you, his fingertips dancing softly on your skin. “But it’s getting easier to talk about.” You were quiet for another moment. “I feel safe with you.”
“You do?” He asked. You turned your head upward, watching a soft smile grace his lips.
“I do,” You told him. “I trust you, Elvis.”
“That means a whole lot, Y/n.” It was his turn to be quiet. You took his silence as your cue to continue.
“They were incredible,” You began. “My parents. You know, they did everything for me growing up. I’m an only child. At least that’s how it turned out. I had a baby brother, but he passed away when he was a baby. He died from influenza. Only six months old. Ever since then, Mom and Dad gave me everything I could have ever needed–at least of what they could afford.”
“I’ve got a brother in heaven, too,” He said, squeezing your arm softly. “He was my twin. Name was Jesse. Died when he was born.”
“Wow, I’m sorry, Elvis.” You got up on your elbow so that you could turn to look at him.
“I still believe I live for him,” Elvis said, reaching his hand out to the sky, pointing to the brightest star in the distance. “You see that star up there?” He said tenderly. “That’s him. I pray to him sometimes when I feel lost.”
“I like that.” You were quiet for a long moment, staring up at the enormous star. “Elvis, can I ask you a question?” You asked.
“Mm, and what’s that?” He asked, reaching to smooth your hair behind your ear.
“Do you ever get lonely?”
“Well, I think that depends,” He answered. “You know my life is surrounded by people.” He said, turning his head to look at you. “You haven’t seen what my day-to-day life is like yet–but I can tell you, behind all the–” he swished his hand in the air, searching for the word. “Chaos and craziness,” he continued, “I don’t have many people that I can talk to like this.” He reached down to take your hand again. “These last few years have been amazing for me, I won’t lie one bit. But at the same time, sometimes I wish I could be able to walk down the street without being trampled by strangers.” You couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
“Aw well, they’re fans. They adore you,” You said. He grinned, flashing a white smile. “They certainly do. Remember when I said that you treat me like I’m normal?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he questioned you. You nodded.
“As long as you continue doing that, I’ll be happy.”
***
“You’re yawning,” You said with a soft chuckle, turning your head up from where you lay on his chest, catching him with his mouth pulled all the way open, his features scrunched.
“I’m not tired,” he said, stretching, the yawn very evident in his voice.
You grinned, sitting up. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“I just don’t wanna go home,” He said, joining you.
“We will figure out how to see each other more often, Elvis.”
“I’m counting on it, Cheeks. You’re stuck with me, Darlin’.” Your body bloomed with butterflies when he called you that. You turned to him, quietly taking the time to gaze at him, taking in the beauty of his features. “What?” He asked after a while. “Do I have something on my face?”
“No,” You chuckled, shaking your head. “I just can’t help but wonder if I’m the luckiest girl in the world tonight.” And you meant it.
“No, I think that’s me. I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” Elvis said with a wink. He rose from the blanket, turning to extend his hand for you to take. “Lemme get you home before your uncle chases after me with a shotgun.” You took his hand and joined him to clean up the evidence from the midnight picnic. You walked the short distance to the car, swept up in bliss. It was a struggle to remove the silly smile from your face. So much so that after a while, you stopped fighting to hide it. You had learned so much about Elvis tonight and you never wanted the night to end. You selfishly wanted him to yourself every waking minute of the day. You knew that he would soon consume every waking thought. You’d walk around the bookstore wondering where Elvis was, who he was talking to, if he was thinking of you, etc. In truth, you’d never had the opportunity to fall for someone–and you couldn’t help but think that you may for Elvis.
The drive back home was quiet, but in the best way. You didn’t feel the need to fill the silence with words and neither did he. As the street signs became familiar, so did the sadness of you having to say goodnight to Elvis, unsure of where and when you’d see him again. He reached over to take your hand as he drove, his thumb stroking the softness of your skin.
“I can feel you gettin’ sad,” He said, glancing to you from over the steering wheel. You didn’t look over at him for fear of embarrassment. “Don’t be sad, Cheeks. Look at me,” he instructed. You turned to him, a tear threatening to slip from your eyes. You forced it back, feeling immature for being so upset.
“I’m scared that this is just one night–that I won’t see you again. And that’s okay, I just–” You spoke, stopping when Elvis cut you off.
“I will always find you. I will always come back. I promise.” He looked at you with concern in his expression. He meant what he said. “I wouldn’t lie to you.” You believed him, despite anything and everything you knew about fame. Sure, you weren’t famous, but you knew the stories. How a young star burst into the scene, be it Hollywood or musical stardom, and eventually abandoned their humility, including friends and sometimes even family.
“Pinky promise?” You asked with a small grin, sticking up your pinky in the air. You watched as he tied his pinky into yours, squeezing firmly.
“Pinky promise, Cheeks.”
You continued to rest your head against the window as he drove closer and closer to your neighborhood. You realized after some time that he was humming soft hymn tunes as he tapped his thumb against the steering wheel. You looked over at his fingertips, watching them drum as he took the wheel. Something about it was comforting, sitting there just listening to him humming within his own little world. He sensed you were looking at him and turned his head to you, offering you a warm smile. His hand reached for your thigh, squeezing it familiarly before returning his hands to the wheel.
You couldn’t help the disappointment that sank your mood as Elvis’s headlights approached your driveway. “I’ll turn my lights off so I don’t wake up your family.” You watched him switch off the headlights of the Cadillac, driving slowly, parking back in the driveway of the vacant house across the street. The engine cut off, leaving nothing but the roar of crickets and the sway of the wind against the trees outside. Both of you didn’t want to say goodbye and it was evident in the way that you turned to each other, silent in one another’s presence for an extended moment.
“You have work in the morning, Darlin.” You sighed heavily in response.
“Don’t remind me,” You said, looking down at your wrist watch to check the time. Well past two A. M. You didn’t care, even though you knew that you’d definitely feel exhausted at work. His lip curled upward as he laughed, an image that you knew would replay in your head for days to come. When you both had gained the courage to end the night, Elvis rose from his seat, walking around the vehicle to open your door for you. He stood tall above you, his eyes never leaving you.
“Go on, Cheeks.” He said sweetly, closing the car door.
“Goodnight, Elvis.” You said with a gentle smile before stepping away from him.
“Hey, hey,” he said, catching and pulling you back by your arm. “I want you to take this,” He said, handing you a pale blue cotton handkerchief. In the corner, you noticed a gold embroidered ‘E.P.’ You pinched the fabric between your fingers, feeling the texture of the initials. “I’m going to be gone for the next month.” He dropped the bomb on you.
“What?” You blurted, your eyes darting upward to meet his. You watched his expression fall into disappointment.
“I didn’t want to ruin the evening by telling you.” He said the words softly. You could see the regret of having to tell you all over his face; he wore his emotions honestly, unable to disguise them.
“You’re gonna be gone for an entire month?” You repeated, this time the words leaving your mouth instead of his. He nodded slowly before answering.
“Yes. Gonna be filming the next movie–Jailhouse Rock. MGM wants me there by the seventh of May.” He spoke softly, dancing lightly around the upsetting news. “I’ll be in California. Beverly Hills.”
“Oh,” was all you could say in response to him. “Wow. Okay. Well, I hope it goes well.” The words fell from your mouth as if they were automated. You avoided eye contact with him.
“Hey, don’t be like that,” He said, tilting your head upward with the knuckle of his pointer finger. “It’s not forever. I’ll be back bothering you before you know it,” He added. You offered him a thin smile. He bent to kiss you softly on the top of your head.
“I don’t want you to be sad. I don’t want to see you cryin’, either.” He forced you to look at him. “We’ve just gotten started.” You nodded dejectedly. “Smile for me, Cheeks. Please.” He pleaded expectantly. You reset your stance, offering him the best smile you could offer, though you only felt sadness in your heart. Though you knew it wasn’t very long at all, a month felt like forever, especially after such an amazing night with him. “I’ll still call you. I’ll send you letters. Pinky promise,” He said with a warm smile, holding up his pinky in front of him for you to take. You looked at it for a moment before grinning and taking it and squeezing it with your pinky.
“Pinky promise. And I’m holding you to it. You can’t break pinky promises. They’re sacred. Kiss your thumb to seal it, Presley.”
You watched as he grinned, leaning in to kiss his thumb as you did the same to yours. He dropped his hand from the exchange, lifting both hands to your cheeks, pulling your face in with his, his lips smushed with yours in a kiss of security and promise. “I promise, Y/n.” He said, still holding your face in his hands. “We have so much time.” He kissed you softly on the forehead before placing his own against yours for a long moment.
“Go on before the sun rises. I’m terrible at saying goodbye,” Elvis said, dropping his hands.
“Don’t say that. It’s not goodbye. It’s only a ‘see you later’.” You chastised him with a soft smile, feeling rejuvenated from his touch.
“You’re exactly right. I’ll miss you, Cheeks,” He said, taking hold of your hand.
“You’ll be plenty busy, sir. Just don’t let the starlets kiss you too much. Save the last kiss for me, even if you have to send it in an envelope.”
“Bet on it, princess.”
You stepped away from him with your hand still in his, letting the increasing distance pull your last embrace apart because in truth, you were both far too stubborn to do it yourselves. Elvis watched you walk across the street. He sat against the hood of his car with his arms crossed across his chest, his feet crossed below him. You decided to not look back at him until you made it back to the window, pulling it open and carefully stepping inside of it, turning to watch him grinning at you, nodding goodbye. You watched through your curtains as he drove off, your heart sinking with the increasing distance.
You woke up still wearing the outfit from last night. You stripped off the clothing, smelling your armpits, weighing the options of showering despite how late you were already running. You decided to forego the shower, brushing and pinning your hair as best as you could make it look, checking yourself over in the mirror before heading out of your bedroom. Something caught your eye as you stepped over the heap of clothing on the floor. You turned to catch the edge of the handkerchief that Elvis had given you popping out of the pocket of your skirt. You bent to pick it up, folding it nicely, letting your fingers touch the fabric again, recollecting last night.
“Why do you look like that?” Evelyn said, stopping at your door, devouring a half-eaten banana.
“Like what?” You said, tucking the handkerchief into your handbag out of sight.
“Like if I were to pinch your cheeks and pull, they’d snap straight off of your face from how hard you’re smiling.” Her cheeks were full of the fruit, grinning from her wisecrack.
“Can’t a girl just be happy?” You asked, eyeing her with a raised eyebrow. You stepped out of your bedroom, closing the door. She shrugged a response, walking with you to the dining room table. Uncle Harold stood leaning up against the counter, drinking his last cup of coffee.
“Evelyn, can you go warm up the truck? We will be out there in five minutes. Do not mess with the gears. I’d like to speak with Y/n.” Evelyn eyed you suspiciously before panning back over to her father.
“Okay, daddy.” You felt a massive boulder form in your throat, guilt plowing through your body. Evelyn grabbed the car keys from the peg board and left.
“Young lady, sit down.” Uncle Harold demanded sternly. You wasted no time getting yourself into the seat, straightening your back with dignity. “You look awfully tired for going to bed so early.” You thought quickly.
“Yeah, I stayed up pretty late reading.” You forced yourself to look him in the eye. He took a final sip from his coffee before lowering himself into the chair directly opposite the table from you.
“Y/n. It’s not like you to lie to me. I know where you were.” You felt his eyes on you. You looked up at him. His expression was unreadable, leaving you feeling even worse in the moment.
“Y–you do?” You asked rhetorically.
“Do you take me as being dim-witted?”
“No sir, not at all. I–” he put his hand up to stop you from speaking.
“You are nineteen years old. You are no longer a child, which means that I cannot stop you.”
You swallowed down the lump in your throat, nodding. “That doesn’t mean that you can lie to me and sneak out of my house at midnight.”
“Yes sir.” You said quietly, turning your gaze down.
“The Presley kid. I don’t trust him yet.” He clasped his hands together, resting them on the table as he spoke. “But he makes you happy. I haven’t seen you smile like this in a long time.” He pulled a nervous hand to the nape of his neck. “And uh, well. I was young once, too.” You thought you saw blush creeping up his cheeks. Silence drifted between the two of you. “Tread lightly, baby. Men like that will break your heart, even if they don’t mean to. Fame does things to people.”
“He’s not like that, Uncle Harold.” You defended Elvis. Uncle Harold nodded.
“Don’t blame your old man for being protective. No one hurts my baby and gets away with it. Not even Elvis Presley.” He stood up, putting his coffee cup in the sink, before walking around the table, bending to kiss you on the top of your head. “Please think before you act. You are intelligent and beautiful and I trust you. You don’t have to ask me to date him, but I want you to be honest with me instead of sneaking around. You weren’t raised like that. Your mother and father would have wanted me to watch over you.”
“Yes, sir.” You nodded, tilting your head into him as he bent to kiss you.
“I love you, sweetheart. You have my blessing.” You breathed a deep sigh of relief, grateful for the impromptu conversation to have gone as well as it did. You rose from the table, pushing in your chair and followed your uncle to the truck, remaining quiet for the entirety of the drive to the bookstore.
