AN: This is not related to the All Paths Lead To You (And I'll Travel Fast) and will most likely be a two or three shot. I hope you like it. Please comment if you want to as feedback is always appreciated but if not, thanks for reading! My Tumblr username is fakeorganisms, if you want to send prompts or just chat.
You work in a highflying job in Los Angeles as a script coordinator for a major television production. Beverly's Pills is an award winning comedy that has been praised for combining the right amount of drama with laugh out loud jokes.
Your name appears on television screens all over the world and you frequently attend major award shows where you rub shoulders with the high and mighty of television and film. You seem to have it all, except you certainly don't feel that way. You feel lonely and a little directionless. You never wanted such huge success, you just wanted to be happy and you used to think that your career was the key to that.
You're twenty six, you've never been in love and you refuse to even engage with a girl after you've had sex because for you emotions are too raw and scary so you ignore them and, in turn, ignore the girl you've bedded too.
It's not that you're a player or a disrespectful kind of guy, you're just vulnerable after everything you went through as kid with the breakup of your family and your subsequent removal from your mom to state care. You wanted your mom badly but she had drug problems and your dad left without a trace, taking your younger brother and sister with him. You found them four years ago but they live in Arizona, so you don't see much of them. Your hatred for your dad ruled out any sort of relationship, but you're friends with your siblings on Facebook and you like keeping up to date with their lives.
You fought a lot in school and used people in the same way that you felt used but nothing made you feel better. Nothing makes you feel better now.
You see the flirty smiles that get thrown your way by the actresses and actors on set but you never bother returning them, you'll only fuck them over and get yourself some needless hassle from your superiors. Even if you did test the waters and take one of them to your bed (the actresses you mean, because despite a one-time kiss with your best friend who told you he was in love with you, you're not into men in a sexual way) they'd only want something more from you, like a bigger part on the show. Someone always wants something. It's just the way the world works.
You go the gym every morning because keeping fit gives your mind a healthy balance. You enjoy it because sculpting your body gives you a sense of control and satisfaction that you haven't been able to get elsewhere in life. Knowing that what you eat and how often you exercise will change the way you look intrigues you, so you have a healthy diet and always make sure to shop organically.
You have a specific routine, on workdays you're up before dawn to hit the gym and in work for 8am. You dress smart-casual because even though it's a pretty laid back atmosphere in the writing room where t-shirts, shorts and sneakers are regular attire, you think it's important to look professional so that your colleagues respect and listen to you.
You leave the office late and take the rewrites home with you. Your cat, Hannah, who you rescued from a local shelter greets you at the door and makes you smile. You love your cat a lot more than anyone would know. You pet her, feed her and let her snuggle up to you on the couch as you turn your laptop on and set to work. You fall asleep after midnight and start the same routine again the next morning.
On your days off (usually weekends) you go out with some of the crew from work or your best friend Kurt and have a few sociable drinks. You might even go back to a hot girl's place and leave before she wakes up. Kurt's worried about you, he says you're not living life to the fullest but you shrug him off and put on a brave smile. He's been worried about you your whole life; it's time for him to worry about himself because you're a grown man now. "I know you're trying to save face Santiago, but you'll always have me," Kurt insists on a drunken walk home from a club one night. He may think that, but he's settling down with a cool guy and maybe he'll even have kids and where does that leave you? You can't rely on him forever. You can't rely on anyone forever.
It's on a lonely night in with Hannah that you make the decision to get her a companion that can be with her all day. Just because you're a loner doesn't mean she needs to be too. She's purring on your lap when you call to make an appointment with the same shelter that you adopted her from and you're more than happy with your decision. Hannah deserves to have company all day long. She's a great cat who was treated horribly as a kitten. Half of her tail was burnt off and you'd like to do some serious damage to the disgusting assholes who did that to her. You love animals and would get a dog if you were home more. Dogs are pack animals whereas cats are independent, a little like yourself. Or maybe you're a pack animal who has been forced into independence, you're not really sure.
You have to work on set the next day. When you get there you go straight over to talk to the director, Tina, about the new script and she's having a run-through with the cast that you have to oversee, which can be a total pain sometimes, but generally they're fine. The lead actress, Quinn Fabray, likes to have tantrums when her character doesn't do the things she wants her to do but you're so used to it at this stage that you barely even notice. Finn Hudson, all round stud and leading man who has a penchant for snorting too much coke and turning up to work either too late or too early, is actually a breeze to work with compared to Quinn which is saying a lot. If fans of the show ever found out what their favorite character was really like, they'd be sorely disappointed. But you needn't worry about that, that's a job for the show's P.R team.
The run-through goes better than expected and you're out of there by 4.30pm meaning that you'll actually make it for your appointment with the shelter. You had been worried about getting caught up in work so it was a relief when you checked your watch. You climb into your fancy car, with the expensive extras, and make your way toward the shelter. You have a strange feeling of anticipation in your stomach and you're not sure why. Maybe you're just excited about how Hannah will react to having another cat around the place; you're not worried about her being jealous because she gets along so well with the neighbors cats. You pull into a parking space beside a bright pink moped and you smile because even though pink isn't your color, it's still an awesome looking moped.
You wonder who owns it.
You walk into the reception of the shelter and ignore the ladies who are openly ogling you, it makes you uncomfortable but you suspect they don't even notice they're doing it.
"Hi, I have an appointment for five thirty," you tell the receptionist who does a double take when she sees you. She blushes and checks her appointment book.
"Santiago Lopez?" she asks without making eye contact.
"That'd be me," you smile warmly. She's only about seventeen and this is probably her summer job and you think it's flattering how she's clearly flustered because of you.
"If you go straight down the hallway and take the first left, you'll be meeting with Dr. Pierce. She's one of our volunteers." She points down toward the beige hallway.
You take her hand a shake it. She almost jolts back into her seat and you laugh good-naturedly.
"Thank you…?" You wait for her to give you her name.
"Marley. Um, Marley Rose," she wipes her hand on her skirt, you had noticed they were a little clammy.
You're not flirting but a girl like her who's so shy should be noticed in a positive way. You guess she might be bullied in school, or has low self-esteem. You were the same in high school but no one ever noticed. Girls just wanted to fuck you because you were surly and closed off. They thought that by dropping their panties, you would drop your barriers but they were wrong. It's strange because women are still doing that to you. Some things never change.
"Thank you, Marley." You pat your hand on the desk twice and nod a goodbye.
"Bye, Mr. Lopez," she half shouts after you. You can almost hear her cringing but you just wave and head in the direction she told you to.
You take the first left but halt when you spot the finest ass you've ever seen bent over into one of the kennels that line the walls. You slowly walk toward it, finding yourself mesmerized by the view. You want to hug the person who designed those tight blue jeans that hug the perfect ass so wonderfully. You haven't actually been laid in over two months (you were worried that you had lost your libido, but you realize that you definitely haven't) so you're guessing that's why you're being such a pervert.
You startle when you hear a giggle and your eyes snap up and meet those of the person whose ass you've been shamelessly admiring.
"There's a mirror in the kennels so that the animals can't hide from us," she explains, you glance into the kennel and just about refrain from face palming. She had a clear view of your leering. What a great first impression you've just made.
You look her over again and your heart jumps in your chest, because she's the most beautiful woman you've ever seen. She has long, wavy blonde hair that goes past her shoulders and she's wearing a baggy t-shirt with those jeans and you've never been more attracted to someone in your life. You are literally dumbfounded. She reaches her hand out and it takes an awkward moment for you to do so too. When your skin touches hers, you inhale sharply and notice goose bumps appearing on your arm.
"It's ok, I'll forgive you for staring. If the positions were reversed, I would have done the same thing. I'm Brittany by the way," she holds your hand tightly, barely shaking it and you're too busy trying not to blush to form a coherent response.
"This is usually where you introduce yourself," she smirks at you and it's all kinds of sexy.
You pull your hand back to regain some control and clear your throat before putting on your charming smile.
"Santiago. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry for… you know," You make a motion with your hand towards her ass and you see a very light blush creep up onto her cheeks. You have no idea why you're being such a dork, usually women are putty in your hands but this Brittany chick is a clear exception.
"Don't worry. I would feel special except a handsome man like you surely has ladies swooning all over him," she's outright flirting with you now and you feel butterflies in your stomach. Why? You're not sure because it's never happened before. No woman has ever made you tingle and excited.
"I'd be lucky to have a lady like you swoon all over me," you say, finding your charm somewhere within the mess of nerves you've become.
She giggles and ducks her head, twisting her foot on the ground. You smile widely because you can't believe you just made her do that.
"Anyway," you say hoping to move the conversation forward, "I'm here to adopt a cat." You tilt your head over at the kennel she was leaning into when you first saw her, where an overwhelmingly fat cat is hoovering its way through a bowl of meaty chunks.
"Oh right, yeah… well, this is Lord Tubbington. He's my cat but I bring him with me when I'm volunteering because this is where I got him and he likes to visit some of the staff," she moves to pick the cat up and fuck, she must have some super strength because she does it without so much as a grunt.
"He's cute," you say while petting his fur. You're convinced you hear him hiss but Brittany seems completely oblivious so you assume that you're being a little paranoid.
"Yes. He. Is," Brittany says in a baby voice that would usually make your eyes roll but instead you get those pesky butterflies again.
"Enough about Tubbs, we better get started with finding you a kitty," Brittany drops the fattest cat in the world to the ground and you're genuinely surprised that the room doesn't shake. Instead the cat skulks back into the kennel and goes straight for the food, finishing it off without another glance at either of you.
Brittany pulls you with her as she shows you the various different cats in their different states of abandonment. You make idle chitchat but feel, for the first time in your life, that Brittany actually interests you. You don't get interested in people. Ever. You eagerly anticipate what she's going to say and instead of focusing on what cat you're going to take home, you instead pay close attention to the way her lips move as she speaks or the adorable way she smiles at the animals, like they're going to smile back at her.
After about twenty minutes, you've found the perfect cat. It's always hard for you to come to the shelter because you wish you could take all the animals home but you know you've got to distance yourself from that feeling. It's actually become normal for you to distance yourself from feelings in general.
Brittany steps up to the kennel first and makes kissing noises in an attempt to encourage the cat inside to come up to the barriers but she's having no luck.
"She's always super shy. Her last owner was pretty mean to her so she doesn't trust a lot of people. It's so sad, no one ever wants her because she won't snuggle up to them like the others." She's pouting and it kills you and for some unfathomable reason you want her to stop.
You stand beside her and peer into the kennel, all you can see is a ball of black fur crouched under the perched cat bed. You don't make any noises or movements. Brittany doesn't speak or try to get you to move, she just waits patiently. You're not sure what you're expecting to happen but when the cat suddenly moves and stands up, its green eyes bore through you as it approaches cautiously. Brittany grabs your hand and squeezes it, you grip her back tightly, excited at what's happening.
The cat stalks toward the barrier, sniffs at you and rubs itself up against the steel bars. Brittany nudges you and you raise your free hand, cautiously running it through the soft fur. Brittany is practically bouncing on the balls of her feet and you know she's suppressing a squeal.
This one moment has filled you with more happiness than you've experience your whole life and it scares the crap out of you.
"She's never done this," Brittany whispers, a quiver in her voice and it's only now that you notice she's almost crying.
"She's beautiful," you say, and you don't just mean the cat. You've never connected with any other person on this planet in the why you've connected with this girl beside you. You've never felt at ease with anyone like you do right now and the moment is overwhelmingly terrifying but invigorating at the same time.
"Yeah," Brittany tentatively reaches up and places her hand just above yours as she pets the cat and you notice that your two hands are touching hers and you're close enough to kiss her cheek, but you don't because you're not a fucking creep. Despite having been caught staring at her ass not long ago.
"What's her name?" you ask after a moment of awed silence.
"Midnight," she answers with a smile, her eyes are still watery but she's not going to cry anymore, you know that.
"Midnight is coming home with me," you confirm, even though you had made the decision already.
You spend another little while with Midnight before Brittany drops your hand and brings you into an office to fill out the paperwork and process your donation to the shelter.
You tell her about Hannah and she comments that she'd love to meet her some time, so without giving yourself time to reconsider you blurt out an invitation to dinner.
She stops writing and looks straight at you. You're sitting in the chair opposite her with a desk between you, yet you feel totally exposed. You almost backtrack but a beautiful smile breaks out on her face and you sigh in relief.
"That sounds lovely, have you anywhere in mind?" she goes back to completing the adoption form in an attempt to cover her blush but you notice anyway.
You actually have nowhere in mind, but it doesn't matter because you've never felt this amazing in forever so you decide to go all out and invite her to Kurt's restaurant. You've never brought anyone there before because it's a sanctuary for you but for some reason you feel like Brittany could be a sanctuary too.
"There's a great place downtown, it's all organic and even has some of that weird vegan food. Unless you're a vegan, in which case it's totally not weird and is definitely cool," you're babbling and it's so unlike you but you can't help it.
"Give me a name, a time and a date and I'll be there," she gets you to sign the bottom of the adoption papers and comments on your cute handwriting. She folds the papers up and puts them in an envelope, licking the seal and closing it. You could almost get hard just watching her tongue move across the paper.
You think that you're already falling for someone you've just met.
And you couldn't be happier.