Title: Handsome Stranger (Imagine)
Words: 1742
Summary: There is this handsome stranger that keeps popping up whenever she's making a fool of herself. And then she meets him again...
Gabriel x female!reader || fluff || romance || Guardian Angel!AU
EDIT: For some reason I'm not allowed to write a reader insert. "(Y/N)" has now been replaced by the name "Liz". You can still imagine your own name, though. Alternatively you can switch to my tumblr or ao3 to read it.
The first time she sees him is at the train station, when the lady almost knocks her over running for her train. She struggles and gets hold of the ticket machine. When she looks up he smiles at her and grabs his ticket.
The second time is in front of the gym, when she crashes her bike into a bush, just inches next to the solid wall of the building. He walks past and hesitates but she says "I'm okay." and picks a leave from her handlebars.
The third time is the first time she hears his voice. She is at the cinema, celebrating a friend's birthday. She trips over another woman's bag on the floor and drops her bag of popcorn.
"Whoops, got it!" She looks up into golden eyes and takes the hand offering to help her up.
"Thank you." She takes the popcorn from him. He winks and leaves without another word.
The fourth time she is at the swimming pool. She plans to not embarrass herself again this time. And then she slips, knocks her head on the edge of the pool and falls into the water. She can feel two arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her up. When she is back on the surface she gasps for air. He drags her to the edge where she finally opens her eyes.
"Thank you!," she says, still breathing heavily.
"That's my job," he replies, climbs out of the water and helps her onto the dry floor. She is shivering and the lifeguard hands her a big towel. "I'm Gabriel, by the way."
"Liz", she says.
She meets Gabriel on a bus the next day. When she sits down she immediately recognizes the blonde hair in front of her. She likes the soft curls falling onto his neck.
"Gabriel?" He turns around.
"Oh, hello there, Liz! Didn't think I'd see you again so soon. How are you doing?"
"Good, thank you. How are you?"
"Well, now that I've seen you, my day has definitely improved." He is flirting with her. She wants to say something but he stands up. "That's my station." He leaves and she doesn't see him in two weeks.
"Hi, Liz!" She knows this voice. She turns around. There he stands, hands in the pockets of his jacket, smiling down at her.
"Hello, Ga-" She feels a push in her back and stumbles forward, right into Gabriel's arms.
"Oh, we're hugging now?," he smirks and she blushes.
"Sorry, somebody pushed me," she mumbles and he releases her laughing.
"You have time for a hot chocolate? It's frigging cold out here!"
She blushes harder but nods. "Sure."
She sees the sign "caution wet floor" when she's already falling. The edge of the table is only inches away from her right eye when she feels two hands pulling her up.
"Easy there, the sign has a reason," he laughs.
She can feel her face burning and stutters: "I...usually I'm not that clumsy." And then: "Thanks."
"Don't worry, that's my job, after all."
She frowns. "I thought you were a lifeguard?"
He chuckles. "Well, that's a fitting description. Come on, let's find some place to sit and I'll explain."
He orders a hot chocolate and two pieces of chocolate cake. She orders a hot chocolate as well but she doesn't want cake. She wants answers.
"So?," she asks when their order arrives.
He smiles and takes a sip from his giant cup. "So?"
"So...are you a lifeguard or what?"
He grins. "Kind of."
When he doesn't continue she sighs. "Do I have to drag it out of you?"
He takes another sip. "Do you want cake?"
"No, thank you. So, what are you?"
"I am an angel." He puts the cake-loaded fork into his mouth.
"An angel." Sure. Gabriel is a joker. "I'm sure you have an angelic personality but what I meant was, what do you do for a living?"
"Oh, I wish I got paid!" He takes another sip of his hot chocolate. "No, really. I'm an angel. Your angel, actually."
Is he flirting again? "My angel?"
"Yep." Cake, fork, mouth. Those lips... "Your guardian angel."
"Yeah, sure." She rolls her eyes, takes a sip from her own cup and almost burns her tongue.
"Too hot?," he asks, pointing to her cup.
"Mhm."
"Fixed it."
"What?"
"Your drink."
"I'm sorry?"
"Just take another sip!"
Eyeing him questioning she picks up her cup and drinks. The cocoa is warm but not to hot anymore. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" He smirks.
"It's...it's no hot anymore!"
"I cooled it down."
"How?!"
"Told you, I'm an angel. I have powers."
She stares at him in disbelief. "No."
"No?"
"I can't believe that!"
"You don't believe in angels?"
"I..." She hesitates. She has always believed that there were weird things, unexplainable things living among humans on the planet. But she never even dreamed of meeting one, especially not an angel. Her angel. "How come I never saw you?"
"But you have seen me!," he protests. "At the train station, in front of the gym, in the cinema! And don't you remember the other times? When you were three, you almost fell off the swing if it hadn't been for your friend's dad who suddenly was behind you and caught you. Or the time you got lost on your second day of primary school and the friendly teacher led you all the way across the playground. Or that time when the guy at that party pushed you against a wall and threatened to hurt you if you didn't lend him money for his drugs. Don't you remember your friend's 'distant cousin' who punched this guy in the nose? Or when -"
"Okay! Okay. I get it. But how was that all you? None of these people looked like you?"
"I can change my appearance. It's less conspicuous if I'm not always in the same body."
"But...why did you look like you do now for the past months then?"
He sighed. "Because," a sip of his drink, "because I wanted to get to know you. Really, not just watching you all the time and stepping in, whenever you are in danger."
She is surprised. "So, why were you only around when I was making a fool of myself?"
"I was around more often. But I didn't want it to seem like I was stalking you. And you only seemed to notice me, whenever you were in danger of getting hurt."
"Hm, makes sense..."
They're sitting in silence for a minute, she stares into her cup, he finishes his second slice of cake.
Finally, he breaks the silence: "Liz? Can I ask you something?"
"Sure!"
"Does this creep you out?"
"Um...no, should it?"
"No! It's just...I've been watching you for your whole life and now I suddenly appear out of nowhere and tell you, I'm your guardian angel and -"
"Does it creep you out if I do this?," she interrupts, leans forward and gently presses her lips onto his.
First, he looks puzzled but then his lips curl into a smile. "Not at all." She smiles.
To her disappointment they both have finished their cups by now and he says: "I'm sorry, I gotta go."
"Already?"
"I'll be around. Just call me if you need me." He puts a few dollars on the table and gets up.
"I don't even have your number!"
"But you have my name!" Before she has a chance to respond, he is out of the door.
She doesn't see him the next day. Or the day after. Or the day after that. She thinks about getting herself into some kind of trouble. Falling down the stairs, crossing the street in front of a car, jumping into a lake. But she doesn't do it.
Four days after they went to the cafe she does the only thing she can think of. You have my name. "Gabriel?" Nothing happens. She sits down on her bed and closes her eyes. "Gabriel, can you hear me?" She hopes no one else can hear her. And a third time: "Gabriel, if you can hear me, please talk to me!"
"What do you want me to say?"
She rips her eyes open and there he is, leaning on the wall next to her desk, eating a lollipop.
"How long have you been there?!"
"Since the first time you called." He continues to suck on his lollipop. Her eyes wander to his lips and she swallows hard. "Anything you need?"
She gets up. "A kiss would be great." Wait. Did she just say that out loud?!
He laughs. Apparently she has. She blushes. "A little demanding today, aren't we?"
"I-I, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -"
"Come here."
She slowly crossed the distance between them and stops two feet away from him.
"That's not close enough for a kiss," he grins and steps toward her, wraps his arms around her and looks down. She is blushing harder.
He takes the lollipop out of his mouth and leans down. Her heart is beating faster. His eyes are not brown, not green: They don't just look golden, they are made from pure gold. They are sparkling and when she looks really closely she can see something bright shining from the inside. She can feel his breath on her skin. He smells like a mixture of candy and something warm, that she can't identify. Their lips meet and she closes her eyes. His lips are soft and warm. They taste sweet. One of his hands is on her back, pulling her closer towards him. With his other hand he is cupping her face, the thumb gently stroking over her cheek. He is sucking her lower lip into his mouth, gently nibbling, then releases her again and breaks the kiss.
"Anything else I can assist you with?," he whispers.
She slowly opens her eyes and looks into his gold ones. Her heart is still racing.
"Just do me a favor. Don't leave this time."