Girl Of My Dreams | Van x Fem!Reader
Summary: After being away at college for a few months, you come home to find your boyfriend more than happy to see you. However, something triggers a string of insecure thoughts, and it’s up to Van to ensure you that you are the girl of his dreams.
Genre: Slightly angsty, but mainly fluff.
Warnings: Swearing, allusions to cheating (there isn’t any because Van would never.), insecurities.
Word count: 1.7k
A/N: Requested by @cordelhya. This is my very first time writing for Van, so I hope I did an okay job. I hope y’all like this!
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A small shriek left your mouth at the sudden, unexpected contact from behind. You were lifted off your feet and spun around, that familiar melodic laugh filling the air, making you giggle as well. When you were finally lowered back down to the stableness of the earth, you turned around and locked eyes with those stunning, cerulean-coloured eyes of your boyfriend of almost two years, a breathtaking smile on his face.
Before you could say anything, he leaned down and captured your lips with his in a sweet, tender kiss, his large hands coming up to frame your face. You instantly reciprocated, looping your arms around his neck and kissing him softly. You nearly melted in his embrace, his familiar scent, his familiar touch, just him in general reminding you just how much you had missed him. How all those months away at college had proven that distance indeed makes the heart grow fonder.
You were the first to pull away. When you did, you smiled up at the blonde-haired man, admiring him up close for the first time in—what felt like—forever. God, how you had missed him.
“Van,” you said his name softly, one of your hands sliding up his neck to cup his cheeks.
Van smiled down at you as he instinctively leaned into your touch, his ocean-like eyes glimmering in the late morning sun. “Hey, Babe,” he greeted you in a voice just as soft, his hands moving down to settle on your hips. “Welcome back.”
You chuckled lightly at his words. “Thanks. It’s great to be back. I missed this place.” A beat of silence, before you continued. “I missed you.”
Van smiled softly at that. “I missed you, too. So much.”
Despite not really wanting to, Van stepped out of your embrace and instead extended his hand towards you, a silent offer for you to take it. When you did, he gently tugged you, making you fall into step beside him as the two of you began walking along the waterbed. The casualness of the small gesture made it feel like too much time and no time at all had passed.
“This place sucks without you, y’know,” Van commented, nudging your shoulder with his. “There’s only so much the rest of these lowlifes can do to keep me entertained when you’re not around. It gets lonely.”
Despite the joking tone he used, you knew that there was an underlying sadness to his words. It was no secret to you that Van longed to be able to do what you had done; go off to college, meet new people, make friends his age, and all the other things that came with being an independent young adult. But he could not. Or rather, he was not allowed to. His father needed him, and Van felt obligated to stay.
You called Van every night. He would reminisce about joining you at college, and even talked about enrolling to go with you next Fall. However, whether or not that would become a reality, you did not know.
You cleared your throat, hoping to make your tone as light and joking as your boyfriend’s. “I mean, I’m not surprised. I am pretty awesome.”
Van laughed and nodded. “Yeah, and not at all humble, it seems.”
“Why be humble when I know I’m amazing?” you joked, your heart thumping against your chest as you saw the beautiful smile you put on Van’s face. “It’s ridiculous.”
“You’re ridiculous,” he retorted playfully.
“Yeah, and yet you love me.”
“Eh, temporary fit of insanity. Some counseling and I’ll be fine.”
You giggled and shook your head. “Now who’s the ridiculous one?”
Van hummed, pretending to think about it, before smirking. “Still you.”
He laughed when you lightly shoved his shoulder, moving closer to press a quick kiss to your temple, before helping you up the step and onto the wooden platform. He led you to the few lawn chairs right on the edge of the dock, before settling down onto one of them and watching as you did the same.
“So, give me the rundown,” he began, lounging back in the chair. “How’s college.”
You shrugged. “It’s fine. Nothing to really complain about, other than the fact that I’m getting sick and tired of having to hear the people in the dorm next to mine going at it like fucking rabbits.”
“I think you mean “fucking like rabbits”,” he corrected you jokingly.
You chuckled and nodded. “Same thing.” You followed Van’s lead and settled against the chair, allowing the hot summer sun to bake down on you as you enjoyed the company of your boyfriend after so long of not seeing him. “What about you? How—”
“Van! Hey!”
The sound of a woman’s voice cut you off. Looking up, you saw a brunette, wearing a tight crop top and shorts so short that it left almost nothing to the imagination, approaching you and Van. Or, more so, just Van.
Van sent the woman a friendly smile, looking up at her through squinted eyes against the sun’s rays. “Allie, hi.”
“Hi,” she greeted him, a girlish giggle tumbling out of her plush, red lips. “Sorry to bother you when you’re hanging out with your friend, but I just wanted to ask—”
The woman’s voice slowly faded from your ears. A frown tugged at your eyebrows, and you focused on the wood of the chair instead of the woman and Van. Unwillingly, nasty, unwanted, miserable thoughts plagued your mind, and you had to resist the urge to just jump up and leave.
There was no denying that the woman Van was talking to was downright gorgeous. There was definitely also no denying that Van looked like he had been sculpted by Greek gods. Back in high school, all the girls had wanted him. You had been one of those girls not so long ago.
You never fully understood why Van had chosen you, but you chose to ignore that voice at the back of your head telling you that you did not deserve hm. However, as you watched Van interact with the woman, all those insecurities came flooding back.
You had been away at college for months. You had not come back home for Spring break, meaning that the last time Van had seen you was around Christmas. He went half a year without being able to see you. Half a year… That was an awfully long time, and anything could have happened in that time. Anything...
“Babe? Are you okay?”
The sound of Van’s voice snapped you from your agonizingly cruel thoughts. You snapped your head up and locked eyes with your boyfriend, and your heart almost melted at the concerned look on his face.
You swallowed at the lump in your throat and nodded slowly. “Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Where’d you go?” he inquired, motioning over to his own head to show you that he was talking about where you had gone mentally.
You shook your head. “Nowhere great,” you admitted softly, your eyebrows furrowing together once more. You did not really want to voice your insecurities to Van, but you knew that communication was important, so it was better to get this out of the way than let it consume you from the inside out. “Just thinking…”
“’Bout what?” he asked, leaning forward to see you better.
“Just…” you trailed off, taking a deep breath before continuing. “We haven’t seen each other in a while, and I’ve heard from some of my friends that their long distance relationships didn’t work out because of, well, lying and—”
“Cheatin’?” Van finished for you, a look of understanding crossing his features. He sat up properly, swung his legs over the side of the chair, and leaned forward to take your hand in his. He rubbed his thumb over your knuckles soothingly, a look of sincerity on his face.
“First of all, don’t feel bad for bringing this up, okay?” When you nodded, he continued. “Okay. I understand where you’re comin’ from, and I don’t blame you for being scared about this. I know we haven’t been together in person for a while, but that did not change the fact that I love you, and only you. No other girl exists to me like that. I promise. When I’m lonely and I miss you, you know what I do?”
“What?” you asked softly.
Van reached into his pocket. He pulled out his wallet and flipped it open, before showing you the small picture in it; a picture of the two of you together, in a photo booth, smiling brightly at the camera. The picture had a few crinkles in it, showing that it had been handled multiple times.
“I look at this picture,” he replied, a small smile on his face. “I look at this picture, and I remind myself that the wait is worth it. That I’m gonna see you soon and that everythin’ will be better.” He closed his wallet and slipped it back into his pocket, before looking back at you again. “I don’t think you realize just how much I love you, Sweetheart. Why would I want to lose you, the girl of my dreams, because of some meaningless fling? Not only is that fuckin’ stupid, it’s goddamn mental. I mean, have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? I wanna know what they feed you at that school because you look good enough to eat.”
You giggled lightly at his words. “Yeah?”
“Hell yeah,” he agreed without a second thought. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve got every guy at that school wantin’ you. But for now, and as long as you will have me, you’ll be my girl, and I will be your guy. Nobody else matters. Okay?”
You nodded, a soft, genuine smile on your face. “Okay,” you whispered. “I love you, Van.”
“Love you too, Sweetheart.” A few moments of silence passed, before Van tugged you up from your chair.
“Where are we going?” you asked in confusion, but allowed him to lead you away.
Van sent you a look you knew all too well, a look that had a shiver rolling up your spine. “You were right, though. You have been away for a while. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to properly take care of you, and I’m plannin’ on correctin’ that.”
You laughed and shook your head. “Then take me home, Van.”
“Yes, ma’am.”