"Hey softie!"
Oh no, not again. I thought as I turned around on the balls of my heels, tried to ignore the plus-sized football captain as he spotted me down the hallway. He had beaten the crap out of me before, and I'm not going to let him have the privilege to do it again. I heard distinctive footsteps behind me, and my first response was to break into a small run. Enough to defend myself that I'm late for class, yet fast enough to make considerable distance from my pursuer.
My heart was drumming in my chest when I saw a shadow looming over me way too soon I had expected. I steadied myself, preparing for an attack, an assault on me or my belongings or both, but nothing came. Instead, I felt arms around me. Arms which are way too familiar to the touch.
"Eames," I grunted through gritted teeth, sounding annoyed when in fact, I was grateful for his appearance. I took a deep breath, steadying my rapid heartbeat. With Eames, it's all going to be okay, I thought.
"Good morning, Arthur!" came Eames' excited yell as he twirled me around with his strong arms. Yes, I am painfully aware that I have a frail and light figure. That was probably the reason Mark – the football captain – loved to beat me up. Maybe he was pleased with the sound of my bones cracking when he hit me. But with Eames, who had a figure almost like Mark himself, never made me feel afraid when he makes contact with me. He made extra care to not damage my skeletal system, with that I was grateful about him.
"Morning, Eames," I replied, feeling slightly dizzy from the spinning. I think I was going to throw up all my sandwich I had ate earlier this morning. He settled me down, and turned to face Mark, who had stopped in his tracks, looking at us with an disgusted expression on his face.
Eames waved cheerily at Mark, who did not reciprocate the gesture. Instead the bulkier male just stared straight at him. "Eames, are you really dating that geeky loser?"
"Yeppers." Eames grinned, and the boyish smile of his was his personal trademark throughout the school. It captivated everyone. I'm not even going to tell anyone I find it extremely attractive.
Mark sighed heavily and pointed a rude finger at Eames. This time, my protector did imitate his actions. "Let that nerd out of your sight, and I will beat him up into trash." He called out before heading towards the field. Total reassurance filled me as I watched his back drifted away.
I thought about how I first had this feeling. I was chased around school for accidentally knocking over Mark's drink in the cafeteria. People made way for me when they heard Mark's yells and curses at me, but some of his friends managed to block my way, and I immediately see red within a few seconds. I couldn't even raise my arm in front of me to protect myself. I prayed for it to stop.
And stop it had.
Help came in the form of Eames, sickeningly handsome and just came back from his rugby practice. I could still remember the moment when the rugby ball in his hands hit Mark squarely on the back of his head. He had wanted to direct his anger at Eames, but what Eames had said next baffled everyone.
"You need to lay your hands off my darling, Mark."
He rushed to my side before I could even say anything – I was too beat up to even open my mouth – and I let him guide me away from the stunned crowd. He brought me to the infirmary, letting the nurse look over me while he waited outside. When I was properly bandaged and healed, I questioned Eames about his actions. He just shrugged and had that stupid smile on his face, which I immediately succumbed to although I had defended my conflicting sexuality by stating that I could use with some protection.
Since then, he had changed most of his subjects, just to spend more time with me. Eames said that he didn't have a specific career he was going to pursue, and he would be better off learning a little bit of everything. By then, most of the school's population had known that Eames was my supposed boyfriend, and they let us sit together in class, occasionally checking at us if we had sneaked several kisses, which to their disappointment, we didn't.
"Arthur. Arthur, love, are you there?" Yes, that's Eames' voice calling me back to Earth. I nodded, and continued down the path where I had intended to go, with Eames trailing beside me.
"Want to go grab some breakfast? I'm starving." Eames suggested, and I politely shook my head, having already had some this morning. But knowing Eames, he ignored my refusal, grabbed my hand, and within moments I was dragged towards the cafeteria.
"Eames, no, really, I'm not…"
"I'm not going to let you out of my sight, remember?" Eames grinned, and I was again reluctantly obliged to follow him wherever he goes.
We had a pleasant breakfast. But no, that would be just Eames. I just sat there, watching as he wolfed down a burger while slurping on some Coke. I could never have an appetite like that. I would feel like throwing up when I had ate too much. Eames caught my eyes staring at him, and he handed the burger over to me.
"Here, have a bite." Eames said, and I looked at the half-eaten burger. My stomach was suddenly eager for a bite, but that would have meant we had indirectly kissed, and it was something I wanted to avoid. I cannot let Eames know that I'm actually secretly enjoying myself during every single second I spent with him. I refused it. He retracted his burger back to himself, took another bite of it, and that bastard, he fed me via his mouth!
I was taken aback by this, and of course, the burger was already down my throat without me realizing it. He watched me with that smirk on his face, and I felt myself heat up. I didn't even spare him a glare as I grabbed my bags and stormed towards my first class, which would be English.
After getting myself seated in class, I was still having flashbacks of his lips mashing against me, the smell of warm chicken meat and the soft touch of his full lips fresh in memory, until Eames walked in and plopped himself onto the seat right in front of me.
I huffed and stared determinedly at my notebook, trying to swat away at how his faint smell of cologne tickles my nose, his presence making my heart go haywire, and…
"You know, I was not joking when I said I wanted to be your boyfriend." Eames had shifted sideways in his chair, his one arm leaning on my desk as he tilted his body towards my desk. "I had observed you in a non-creepy way for months, and that time when Mark chased you down, I knew this was my perfect chance. They say pretend boyfriend was a great chance in nurturing love."
That sounded like a load of bull to me, but the part of me was screaming to just kiss him insisted to have it his way, and it took me a hard time just to quiet it down. In the process, my blush betrayed me. I knew it from the intense heat radiating off my face. I forced myself to look at him, to at least tell him to keep dreaming, but when I met those smiling blue eyes, I feel myself yet again a prey for Eames.
The aftermath of it? Our classmates finally got what they wanted.
A/N: So here I am, returning to the Inception fandom! This pairing is just too adorable to actually let go!
This was based on the art, thatfuzzyfeeling(dot deviantart dot com) / art / And-no-play - 268556490
It was cute, and I had to write this!
~Velonica Sushi