Title: Trouble Bubble
Author: Watoshimi Kairou
Fandom: Hollywood U: Rising Stars
Characters: Thomas Hunt / Jane Doe, Priya Singh
Rating: General
Status: Complete
Summary: He was gentle in a way she's never seen before.

Prompt by starshapedchocolate (on Tumblr): MC gets her hair stuck on gum. Hunt tries to help.

Oh look, another drabble prompt that became ficlet instead.

Trouble Bubble

They were in the middle of their lunch break when she came in; waltzing into the office like she owned the place. Thomas didn't appeared to be surprised at all, making Priya wonder if this was a common occurrence. While his students may look up to him, she knew Thomas was not well-liked enough where they would actually want to visit after graduating. Besides, weren't Jane and Thomas on bad terms? She had heard horror stories about their arguments even before Jane became one of her students during her last two years of university.

Priya watched, feeling slightly confused as Thomas simply took one look at her and sighed. "How?" he asked.

Red lips pulled together into a delicate pout. "I was learning how to blow a bubble."

"And?"

"I blew a bubble."

He narrowed his eyes.

"It popped," she elaborated sadly.

Considering Thomas' personality, Priya had expected him to snap at her but instead, he only sighed and held out a hand. "Come over here." Then, almost like an afterthought, he turned back towards Priya and said, "Continue, what are the details of the new project?"

"Professor Singh," Jane greeted politely with a smile as Thomas stood up, removing his jacket and placing it on the back of his armchair behind his desk. She immediately took over the vacant seat, gracefully settling herself down.

"Right," Priya said slowly, nodding back her greeting while trying to comprehend exactly what was going on. It was the little, almost unnoticeable details that were confusing her; like how Jane seemed comfortable enough to place her hand on Thomas' arm for a brief second as they passed by each other or how Thomas was letting her. From past experience, she knew Thomas didn't like to be touched but he also didn't seem to notice when she did it.

She watched carefully as Thomas went behind his desk and bent down to open a drawer. He pulled out a can of coke and a towel which he set onto his desk and then paused when he realized that both other occupants in the room was staring at him. "Priya?" he asked, looking over the top of his desk at her.

Priya blinked. "Ah, right, of course. So the dean wanted to start a new program in which the university would invite the media onto campus once or twice a month." Her brows furrowed as Thomas opened the can and handed it to Jane.

"Hold," he told her quietly.

Jane took the can, raised it to her lips, and sipped.

He flicked her forehead in response. "That's not for you to drink."

"It's a good idea, of course," Priya continued when Thomas looked over in her direction again. Jane scowled as she reached up and rubbed her forehead. "Students should learn how to deal with the media before they graduate but there are so many things that could go wrong with this idea."

Thomas snorted softly through his nose in amusement. "They're going to end up destroying their reputation along with the university's."

She nodded. "Exactly."

Jane huffed. "Ruude," she muttered.

"Quiet," Thomas repeated, flicking her forehead again.

Priya blinked; it wasn't just her imagination, is seemed. The two of them really are comfortable with each other. She was sure they hated one another during Jane's graduation ceremony only a few months ago. When had this changed?

Thomas reached over Jane's shoulder, plucking the can from her hand and poured a little bit of it onto the towel in his hand. "The dean just wants to make money," Thomas said, addressing Priya again as he handed the coke can back to Jane. "That's why he hired that fool of a professor."

Jane perked up. "There's a new professor?" she asked.

"Unfortunately," Priya answered, rolling her eyes while watching Thomas massage the coke-stained towel around the gum that was stuck in Jane's hair. "He has nothing going for him except for his looks. And money."

"I almost wish you still attended the university," Thomas muttered quietly to Jane. "You would have made him run for the hills." Priya didn't doubt it. They may have gotten off on the wrong foot but two years with Jane as her student was enough for her to understand how the younger woman worked. If Jane liked you, she was nice, no strings attached; it was as simple as that. But if she didn't... ah, Bianca Stone; poor Bianca Stone.

"What?" Jane asked. "And you can't?"

"It wouldn't be professional." Priya was pretty sure the dean had forbidden Thomas from doing anything that may make Rockford want to leave the university but she wisely chose to keep her mouth shut.

"Really?" Jane huffed in amusement. "Like bullying your students is professional." She turned towards Priya and raised her eyebrows. "So, who's the new guy?"

"William Rockford," she answered, still watching Thomas as he worked through the mess of Jane's hair, easing silky strands out of the gum.

"The model?" Jane asked in surprise. "Ooh! He's very good-looking!"

Thomas' hands jerked suddenly.

"Ow!" Jane cried out sharply, turning to glare at him. "That hurt!"

"Then hold still!" he snapped, forcefully turning her face away from him. Despite the tone of his voice, his hands were gentle when he brought the towel back to her hair. Priya watched as he ran his fingers through her thick locks, his touch lingering.

And suddenly, Priya understood.

Her first thought, of course, was how utterly wrong it was; Jane had only graduated a few months ago. But then, seeing the gentle look in Thomas' eyes, the small, almost unnoticeable smile gracing his lips, and the overall relaxed appearance in his usually stiff form, Priya had to admit Jane was a good fit for him.

Even if it broke her heart to think so.

I finally finished the bodyguard help quest, so guess who's going to go write some angsty HuntxMC with one-sided MCxBodyguard fanfic now? Me!

Of course that's the plan... but we all know my fics never ends up the way I planned them to.