Summary: What if Viola's nighttime bicep gropes didn't go so unnoticed by a sleeping Duke?
A/N: Right. So, basically an AU storyline inspired by Viola's comment during the deleted dance scene. This is the first She's the Man fic that I've finished and I have more in the works. It's also the longest thing I've written that's actually finished and posted so I'm feeling very accomplished at the moment. There's also a mention of a comment made during the commentary, way towards the end of the credits. Kudos to you if you find it.
Word Count: 3691
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize obviously does not belong to me, including the following lyric snippets.
"If you knew how many nights
I've been sitting by your bed
Running fingers through your hair
While you're asleep"
-Around the Corner of Your Eye, ATeens
"I'll keep you my dirty little secret
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
My dirty little secret
Who has to know?"
-Dirty Little Secret, The All-American Rejects
Once again she found herself awake at ungodly hours of the night. The clock next to her bed currently read 3:22 AM. It was amazing really that with the amount of energy she was putting into soccer she could actually have enough left to be awake and semi-functioning at this time of night. But it seemed that no matter if she was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as her wigged head hit the pillow, she would find herself wide awake in the middle of the night.
Usually she would spend at least half an hour attempting to bury her head under the pillow and fall back into dream world. It always failed and she resigned herself to ridding herself of the stench that seemed to follow her in the world of boy and enjoyed a leisurely shower in the privacy of the middle of the night.
Of course she knew on some level why she was rendered to this irritating state. She just didn't want to admit it to herself. But as she sat curled up at the head of her bed, the thoughts she worked so hard during the day to ignore and push to the back of her mind came screaming through her head. It didn't help that she lived with the constant reminder himself.
Ever since their kiss and the subsequent heart to heart, sleeping through the night was her new archenemy. He had no idea, of course, what happened in his room at night. He had no idea that his roommate was actually not a boy, but in fact one very frustrated and troubled girl. He also had no idea that said girl was at the moment fighting a very strong urge to feel up his very appealing bicep that was attached to his very uncovered, naked chest, which was a feature she wouldn't let herself think about, even in the middle of the night, because that in turn would lead to other thoughts that while in normal circumstances would not be unwelcome, her current situation left them potentially problematic.
The urge, however, won over rational thought in the end and before said rational thought could return she had crossed the room and her fingertips were going where they chose. Her touch was light but apparently the sensations she was causing were enough to disturb the sleeping form in front of her. When he started to flinch, some form of reality must have entered her mind, because she had the sense to pull her hand away and crouch down so she wasn't as visible.
But in the process of this move, some of the water from her wet hair must have dripped on him, because his eyelids were starting to flutter to that in-between state of sleep and consciousness. She froze instantly when he slowly opened his eyes and looked at her.
How long that look lasted she had no idea as no thoughts were actually registering in her mind at that point. It wasn't until he gave her a lazy, goofy smile that she reacted in some way. She only managed blinking, but still it was something.
She was so distracted she never even registered the smile that crossed his face and his hand reaching out into her hair and pulling her toward him. It wasn't until he began running his tongue along her bottom lip, looking for a reaction that she even realized something was going on. She responded in turn, letting her eyes close and her hands to creep over his shoulders and across his neck up into his hair. Their position was awkward but she barely registered it as the feelings and sensations their kissing were creating were enough to knock her to her knees.
But the cramps in her legs were becoming an issue and she promptly climbed into the bed with him, almost on top of him. How long they continued their little make-out session she wasn't sure, but eventually the dream ended and they both fell asleep, curled up together.
The alarm the next morning was blaring as Duke slowly blinked open his eyes. He had been having some very lurid, and what seemed like very real, dreams about his roommate's sister and he was sad to see them end. That wasn't the only reason the alarm seemed more irritating this morning and it wasn't until he looked at his roommate's bed that he realized why. Sebastian usually got to the offending electronic before he did and Sebastian was currently not in his bed.
The alarm was still blaring and he tried to rollover to turn it off, but was met with resistance. He was confused and if his mind wasn't still hazy with sleep he probably would have registered the unfamiliar weight next to him with two strategically placed arms around his waist or the fact that he had to untangle his own arms from around the weight.
As it were, he was not completely clearheaded and it took him more moments than were necessary to realize that this weight and those arms belonged to a girl. A girl wearing his roommate's pajamas. A girl named Viola, who was slowly opening her eyes and stretching lazily, like a cat after a mid-afternoon nap. She obviously hadn't realized the situation yet. A slow smile crossed his lips as he looked down at her form. She really was quite beautiful, all tussled and half-asleep. But then the reality of the situation hit him like a metal bat to the head and his smile quickly turned to one of fear.
He wanted to run, to bolt out of the room and out of the situation all together. But as every muscle in his body had gone catatonic and the possibility of him getting away with it were slim to none, he ended up staying put, however, not without his signature terrified expression.
She woke up more rested than usual and with a strong feeling of contentment. She wasn't quite sure of the cause or why there was some blaring noise interrupting her wake-up time. She stretched and then attempted to bury herself farther into her pillow, however that was becoming increasingly difficult, as it wasn't scrunching up into a ball like it was supposed to. Come to think of it, it wasn't entirely that soft either and it was moving…was that a heartbeat?
That was perhaps the first inkling that she was perhaps not alone in the bed. And when she finally looked up into Duke's terrified and pale face, everything from the night before came rushing back, full and detailed. She sat bolt upright, untangling herself from him and her face took on an equally flushed look, though her terrified expression had nothing to do with the fact that she was in some guy's bed.
Her secret was out, or at least she thought it was. She couldn't bring herself to say anything and even if she could she knew no words would actually be uttered, more like syllables that sounded like she was being strangled.
Thankfully she wouldn't have to bring herself to that point, as Duke had beaten her to it.
He was moving his mouth and she thought words were escaping, but upon closer inspection she realized they were only syllables and what could very well be animal noises. In retrospect, it would seem funny, but the green tint that was gracing Duke's face caused it to lose all its humor.
He was visibly having difficulty with the situation. Not that it was really all that surprising to her, he was so shy with girls sometimes it was almost sad. Having one in his bed that he obviously didn't remember inviting there was probably enough to cause a heart attack.
"Ho…?Wha…?Hmm…Yea…Uh…What?" he finally managed.
She didn't quite know what to say, mostly because she didn't know what he was asking exactly, but really because she really had no idea where to start. They sat there in silence for what seemed like hours, but was probably, realistically, only a few minutes.
Viola couldn't stand the tension anymore and reached over and gave Duke a kiss. She meant it to be a chaste little peck, but as soon as their lips met, something else besides what would be considered rational thought took over and they gave in, deepening and prolonging the kiss. However, the kiss wasn't really solving anything and they eventually realized this when their brains began screaming for air.
When they finally parted Duke was the first to speak, "Okay, so I'm not dreaming."
"Afraid not," she replied, giving a little nod and a small smile.
"But, how did you get into my bed?" came the bewildered question.
"Do you remember anything from last night?" came the sheepish reply.
"Um…no?"
"You don't remember waking up and kissing me?"
"Wait…I still don't understand how you even got in here."
"I don't think you're going to like the answer to that."
"What do you mean? How could I not like anything about you?"
His questions made her heart ache. He was so wonderful and he didn't even know. He didn't even know how she was falling in love with him. The thought of the hurt that she was going to undoubtedly cause him was almost too much for her to handle and she had to look away from him.
"That's sweet but I really don't think you're going to like me much when you hear what I have to say."
"Well we won't know unless you tell me, Vi."
"Right well, as you've obviously noticed Sebastian is nowhere to be seen and the reason for that is because he's sitting right here in your bed."
Duke gave her a confused look, not really seeing where she was going with this. Because obviously Sebastian was a boy and the breasts on his bedfellow told him very clearly that she was not in fact a boy.
"I've been disguising myself as my brother for the past week and a half so that I could play on the boy's soccer team," she explained, finally chancing a glance at him with a sheepish smile on her face, hoping he wouldn't be too harsh on her.
He was staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face. He was silent for a long time before he finally said in a disbelieving voice that sounded like it hadn't been used in a very long time, "What?"
"The girls' team at Cornwall got cut and the boys wouldn't let us try out for their team so when my brother decided to go to London for two weeks, I decided to disguise myself so I could make the boys' team here and beat Cornwall."
"Oh," he answered as if this were an everyday occurrence.
By this time Viola was beyond confused. She snapped her head up so fast to look at him she was surprised she wasn't suffering from whiplash. She expected him to be furious. She expected him to kick her out of the bed, the room, his life. She never expected cool, calm and collected Duke. She never expected him to understand. Her answer of, "What?" was very similar to his only moments ago.
"You're not mad that I lied to you? You're not going to kick me out and never speak to me again?"
He was silent for a minute before he responded to her interrogation. "I'm not saying I'm not mad, furious even that you lied to me, but I don't know Vi, it's like I'm actually happy that you're here. I don't know how to explain it without sounding too much like a girl."
She was still staring at him, not really believing the scene that was playing out between them. This was NOT the way he was supposed to react. Duke was a hothead, ruled by testosterone and the idea that he had to be the superior alpha-male. Apparently she made him into, as Coach Dinklage would say, a "Nancy boy."
"Vi?" he questioned as he reached a hand out and into her hair, essentially cupping her head in his hand.
She reached a hand up and mirrored his movement, as a single tear slid down her face. And then she promptly pulled him into a tight hug, never wanting to let go.
"I thought you were going to hate me and I was never going to see you again."
"I think you underestimate how attached I've become to my roommate in the past week and a half," he said, smiling into her hair.
She laughed and the vibrations ran thorough him causing his heart to jump. He really was in deep. He was falling in love with this girl and he barely knew anything about her.
They pulled back from the hug, though they were still quite close together. They leaned in for a tentative kiss. It was like the first kiss after that first date, just testing the waters, not doing anything too rash, as to scare the other away. They pulled apart, slowly opening their eyes to look at the other. They had the same dopey look in their eyes and after small smiles, they were attached at the lips once more.
They were both a bit more adventurous this time and as they had already done this once before they were quick to be spread out on the bed, Viola on top of Duke and hands wandering.
Viola was in heaven as her arms went to all the places she had longed to touch. Last night was nothing compared to what was happening now. She had been cautious then, not really understanding the situation. Now her hands were everywhere, exploring his shoulders, his arms, his chest. She wandered lower, her fingers lightly tracing the outline of his more than washboard stomach. She felt like she was drowning in this boy. No, make that man. Those were the abs of no boy. One man, thirty-two abs, it seemed like. She reached around running her hand over his hipbone and down the outline oh his pelvis that made that oh so scandalous V.
Duke groaned against her mouth and flipped them over so that he was now on top, somehow his lips never losing contact with her body, as they could now be found against her neck. And then he hoarsely whispered into her ear, "Hands, Viola. You're getting naughty."
"I hope you're not implying that you've been so PG yourself," she replied, as she looked up at him with a smirk, playing with the soft hair that made up her favorite trail.
And it was true. While Viola had been doing her exploring, Duke had been doing his own. His hands had moved from around her neck, down to her waist and finally slowly under the back of her pajama top and up her back. He had moved them down her sides, his fingertips just brushing the sides of her breasts, which had caused her to moan and arch against him, all without her even realizing it of course.
"I can't help it, you drive me to insanity."
"Well I hope that was a complement."
He answered her by leaning down and giving her a quick kiss before it could turn into something more. He wasn't stupid, he knew where they were headed if they continued down this path and he wasn't quite ready to play that game, at least not when anyone could walk in the door. It was that terrifying thought that made him realize he couldn't stay in this position much longer, his arms were starting to cramp up from holding himself off of Viola.
They were now on their sides, facing each other, closer than they probably should be, but they still weren't ready to let go completely. They stayed like that for a long time, getting lost in memorizing every aspect of the other's face, leaning in for a kiss every so often. It was during this time that the seriousness of their situation became apparent to both of them.
Everyone still thought Viola was a boy and until her brother got back from overseas, she still had to disguise herself. The only problem was how were they supposed to keep up the appearance of being roommates and BOYS when their relationship had obviously changed? Not to mention that they couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other. Subconsciously they must have seen that they could be pulled apart, because they were now hugging so tightly that air couldn't get between them
"What are we going to do?" Viola finally ventured, voicing the thoughts that were both thinking.
Duke sighed and then quickly rolled her over, his hands tickling her middle, while he said in the most devious voice he could muster, "Well, I'll just have to keep you my dirty little secret."
He made her giggle at his actions, but the prospect of those words and the underlying sexiness of them sent a backlash of shivers down her spine, but she swiftly gave him the kiss he deserved.
When they had both settled down, the seriousness air fell over both of them again, though it was slightly lighter.
"Seriously Duke, what are we going to do?"
He sighed again and she tensed slightly, weary of his earlier assault, but he only proceeded to talk, "Look Vi, I know enough about you, regardless if you're disguised as Sebastian or Viola, to know that soccer is the most important thing in your life and I can't ask you to give that up. So I think that you should keep being your brother, at least until the Cornwall game and then we can figure out what to do after that."
"You're really think we're gonna be able to handle that?"
"Probably not, but we're gonna have to try. Besides, it's only for a few more days."
"What about Olivia?" came the shy question.
"What about her?" came the weary answer.
"I thought you were in love with her or something."
"I thought I was too, but then I kissed this girl at a kissing booth and I just can't…seem…to stop…thinking...about…her," each of these words interrupted by a kiss to somewhere on her face, before the last one claimed her lips.
Viola smiled at this and laughed before she quipped, "You're such a girl sometimes."
Duke was visually appalled at this thought, his image of the alpha-male jock coming into question.
"Stop saying things like that. You're going to ruin my reputation."
She laughed again and said, "You forget I already know how sensitive you really are."
He groaned as he remembered their conversation after the carnival. She had remembered something about that conversation too.
"You never did answer my question you know."
He was back to kissing her neck again, "Hmm…what question was that?"
"Who would you rather see naked, Olivia? Or me?"
He stopped mid kiss as she asked this question and he slowly lifted his head to look at her.
"You're not serious," he said slowly, unbelief clouding his words.
"Dead."
"I would think that would be obvious by now, as you're the one in my bed."
"And then?"
He didn't answer her for a while and she was afraid he was going to say Olivia and ruin this whole moment, but just as she was going to say something else he surprised her.
"You."
It was so quiet she almost didn't hear.
"I told you, Vi. Ever since the moment I stopped kissing you, it's the only thing I think about. You did something to me."
She was speechless for a minute, not really believing what he was saying, but then thinking how could it not be true, when his voice held such warmth and conviction in it.
"Like I said, girl."
"Oh, shut up."
And he started to assault her with his fingers once again, making her squirm beneath him.
They ended up in a pile of limbs on the bed, both in the tail end of giggles.
It must have been then that Viola looked at the alarm clock beside the bed. It read 7:12 AM. They had been going on for over two hours, the alarm had gone off somewhere around five. She groaned when she saw it, realizing they were supposed to work out this morning.
"What's wrong?"
"We were supposed to be working on my soccer over two hours ago."
"I think we put our time to better use, wouldn't you say?"
"I suppose."
"Look, we still don't have to get up for at least another two hours. Why don't we go back to sleep? I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted after all this."
She thought about it for a minute, the possibility of a couple more hours of sleep in Duke's arms not really sounding all that bad. And she WAS tired. She hadn't been sleeping that much and this morning really had done a number on her.
She nodded and answered, "That actually sounds close to perfect. We don't have class until 11:30 and I haven't been sleeping much lately, but what about Andrew and Toby? They don't exactly knock."
"Right. Hang on."
He pulled himself away from her and got up to lock the door. He turned around and was walking back to the bed when he noticed the look on Viola's face.
"Enjoying the view?" he said with a smirk.
"Mmmm," was the answer he received, as Viola licked her lips and reached a hand out summoning him back to the bed.
He grabbed her hand and climbed back into the bed next to her. He reached over and set the alarm, so they wouldn't attract attention if they didn't show up for class. He pulled Viola close against him, her back to his chest, and wrapped an arm around her. His other hand tucked her hair behind her ear while he leaned down to give her temple a kiss.
"Sweet Dreams, Viola," he whispered.
"Night, Duke," she slurred, already half-asleep.
He smiled a content, dopey smile and snuggled down against her, slipping into his own dreams.
A/N2: Well, what'd you think? There is the possibility of a second part to this detailing what happens after this: how they interact the next day, the possibility of people finding out, the Cornwall game, etc., but it depends on what you guys think, so let me know.