Day 29 Challenge: Doing Something Sweet
Title: "Paparazzi"
Enjoy!
Matthew Williams was shy, not many people knew that. Most people saw him only as they did in the movies, but he was just a good actor. When he wasn't around many people, he was shy and awkward and adorable. Gilbert knew. Of course he knew. Ever since that one day he managed to bump into the movie star when he was caught off guard, he fell in love. Deeply. He went to all of the autograph signings, but never got an autograph. He actually just liked watching the actor, the small nervous ticks he would get, but made sure not to show anyone else because he didn't like large crowds. How he was always extremely polite to everyone but his brother, but again that was done quietly. The small quirk of his smile for people that wanted pictures. But Gilbert managed to get a real smile caught on camera. Naturally, he knew he couldn't just take a picture of the actor without paying, so when no one was looking, he paid the 20 dollars that paid for the picture he took in secret. A picture he would treasure forever.
He knew it sounded weird and…stalkerish, maybe, but he loved the pictures he was able to take of the actor, treasuring each one in secret. When he went for walks alone in the park, when he ate at that one Italian place, when he dozed off in the limo after a long day of work. Matthew Williams was always beautiful. And Gilbert loved to think about what they would look like together. But he never dared to tamper with the perfect photos he got, he would never risk messing them up. So he had to settle with his imagination. Which was fine.
There were times in that little Italian restaurant where Gilbert could hear Matthew talking to the people that owned it (Gilbert never went inside, he wasn't stupid), and he was always kind and respectful, and a tad shy as always. He was adorable and Gilbert loved him. He had to find subtle ways to get Matthew to fall for him, so they could be together. He wouldn't force the actor into anything, but they were perfect for each other, he was sure. They just had to get to know each other a little better.
Finally, one day, a miracle happened. Matthew was leaving a studio where they were reading over lines for a movie and there were quite a few stairs between the door and the street. Matthew was alone and was extremely tired, which happened often. His yawns were adorable. Gilbert saw it happening before it actually happened. Matthew's foot stumbled and Gilbert immediately sprang into action. Matthew fell and Gilbert caught him easily. He was lighter than Gilbert imagined he would be, but he made this adorable sound of surprise. Those indigo eyes looked up at him before he moved away, too quickly, out of Gilbert's arms.
"Thank you," came his beautiful, quiet voice.
"No problem," Gilbert shrugged. "I saw you trip and I was just walking by. I couldn't let someone just fall like that. Definitely not awesome." He had to act cool. His heart was pounding in his chest and his mind was going haywire. He was actually talking to Matthew Williams.
"That was very good luck," Matthew smiled at him. "If I had hurt myself, I don't know what Arthur would say." Arthur was his manager, the one that got him all of his roles. It made sense that if Matthew got hurt and he was out of commission for a while, Arthur would be upset.
"Hey, uh, you're that actor, right?" Gilbert asked. "Matthew Williams?"
"Uh, yeah," Matthew slumped just slightly. Not enough for a random bystander to see, but enough for Gilbert's trained eye to catch. "Look, if you want anything, you did save me, so I won't mind, really."
"Oh, no, I don't want anything," Gilbert shrugged. He knew how to get into Matthew's good graces. Recognize who he was and don't ask for anything special. Treat him like a regular person. That way Matthew would think that, even though Gilbert knew who he was, he didn't care. "I just thought it was awesome, that I could meet a real actor." Gilbert inwardly cursed at the amount of times he was using the word awesome. He wasn't that nervous, jeez.
"Oh, well, it was nice meeting you, then, uh…" Matthew paused, waiting for Gilbert's name.
"Gilbert."
"Nice meeting you, Gilbert," Matthew smiled, one of those true smiles that made Gilbert's heart flutter so fast he thought he was about to have a heart attack. That was a smile directed at him.
"You, too," Gilbert smiled and nonchalantly stuck his hands in his pockets as Matthew walked away and went on his own way. For only a few seconds before he turned around and followed Matthew as usual. He knew the path Matthew took to get home from that studio. One thing Gilbert always admired about the actor was that, despite living in New York City, he wasn't afraid to walk around on his own. Gilbert was around to protect him, though, so nothing bad could happen to him.
It was a few more days until something else happened. Days filled with dreaming about that smile and replaying the conversation a thousand times in his head. He took more pictures, paying for each one in secret, naturally, and loved each one more than the last. And then Gilbert's luck was even better than before. He was leaning casually against a grocery store. Matthew was going to be walking by in just a minute to pick up a few things. Before Matthew came, however, an extremely suspicious man walked by, dressed in black and wearing a ski mask. He was holding a very large duffle bag in one hand, and in another, very poorly concealed, was a pistol. Immediately, Gilbert's mind started whirring and the man entered the grocery store. He had to keep Matthew out of there, he could get hurt.
Matthew walked by and Gilbert immediately sprung into action, holding onto Matthew's soft wrist.
"I wouldn't go in there," Gilbert said quickly and Matthew gave him an odd look that was almost afraid, before he recognized him. Matthew opened his mouth to question, but a shot was fired inside the store and there was screaming, multiple people running out of it as fast as possible.
"Oh, my God," Matthew mumbled. "We have to call the police," he muttered and immediately pulled out his phone. It occurred to Gilbert that he thought of warning Matthew before the police, but that didn't matter much. As long as Matthew was safe, nothing else mattered. The police were told eventually, anyway. Matthew stayed with Gilbert, saying "thank you"s for the warning while they waited for the police to arrive. It was a few, blissful minutes of just the two of them. Matthew was incredibly nervous the whole time, looking at the store and hoping everyone was alright. Gilbert didn't care, really. Matthew was safe and sound. Nothing would harm him as long as Gilbert could help it.
The police arrived eventually, took the shooter into custody, and asked around. Gilbert told them that he could distinguish the man easily enough in the crowd and told them that he thought of saving more people from the shooting before informing the police, which earned him a good pat on the back from the older gentlemen. In reality, Gilbert had only thought of saving Matthew, but saying something like that put him even more in Matthew's good graces.
Eventually, Matthew had to leave, and since cops were still crawling around everywhere, Gilbert carefully chose his path to look like he wasn't following Matthew. He knew these streets well, especially after he started following Matthew around. Now he was more determined than ever. This was the second time he had saved Matthew. If that wasn't a sign that they were meant to be together, then nothing was.
After another week, Gilbert saved him from being trampled by a mob in a mall, hiding away with him in a random department store until the coast was clear. After a few days, Matthew nearly went to restaurant that had rats and Gilbert convinced him to go someplace else. Matthew saw that it was closed just the next day. Another week and Gilbert caught him after a biker nearly made Matthew trip into the water at a dock where he was admiring a sunset. Matthew was thankful each time, but Gilbert could see that he was starting to get nervous at the amount of times Gilbert was showing up. Gilbert was taking less pictures now, as the amount of time he could spend with the actor was more than enough to get him through the day.
But then something went wrong. Matthew had gone to see a movie, something that was the direct opposite of the one he was currently working on, and it was nighttime. He was about to cross a street and Gilbert noticed that the person driving had fallen asleep at the wheel. He immediately pulled Matthew out of the road, just in time to avoid the driver.
"Gilbert?" Was Matthew's first question after he recovered from the shock. "Again?"
"I'm just really lucky, huh?" Gilbert said nervously, scratching the back of his head. Matthew was definitely weary around him now. Gilbert was always there when he was about to get in trouble, but that was because he was following him. Matthew didn't have to know that. If Gilbert could chalk it up to luck, that would be the best situation.
"You're always there," Matthew muttered. "Are you following me or something?"
That was the one question Gilbert didn't want him to ask. Gilbert would never lie to Matthew's face, not a blatant lie like saying no to a question like that. Gilbert hesitated and bit his lip. Matthew saw this and hesitantly took a small step back.
"Are you following me?" Matthew asked again.
"Uh…yeah…" Gilbert said slowly, wincing.
"Are you…stalking me?" Matthew asked now.
Gilbert desperately wanted to say no. Matthew wasn't smiling at him anymore. He stopped smiling after Gilbert saved him from the mob at the mall. Gilbert was always there to save him, of course it looked suspicious. They were always in different places, when Gilbert saved him. He should have been more careful, then Matthew wouldn't have noticed that he was following him. Gilbert didn't answer him and Matthew took another step back.
"Thank you, very much for saving me all of those times," Matthew said carefully, picking his words like he was dealing with a crazy person. If he thought Gilbert was a stalker, of course he'd think he was crazy. "But please, don't follow me. I can take care of myself."
Gilbert was about to say that it was obvious he couldn't with how many times Gilbert had saved him, but he held his tongue. He wanted to stay in Matthew's good graces, he really did. But if he was always around and his lack of an answer just proved that he was a stalker, then he couldn't really say anything.
"I'm sorry," Gilbert tried to apologize, but Matthew just started walking away. And he glanced back, multiple times, to make sure Gilbert wasn't following him. So for the first night in months, Gilbert didn't follow him to make sure he made it home alright. He sat in his bed and his mind raced with all of the possibilities of what could have happened to Matthew now that Gilbert wasn't there to protect him.
It was a whole month. Gilbert followed Matthew, a lot more discretely. He watched Matthew trip quite a few times and Matthew seemed satisfied with the fact that Gilbert didn't rush to save him. It was heartbreaking, to say the truth. Gilbert loved him, very much, but Matthew obviously didn't. He wouldn't force anything on the actor. He could be fine with his pictures, but nothing was better than that smile Matthew would give him.
However, one night, Gilbert couldn't just stand back and watch anymore. A thug shoved Matthew into an alleyway suddenly and Gilbert immediately ran into action. He was far away, however, and it took him a few seconds to reach the alleyway. When he got there, the man, obviously shaking, was about to shoot the gun he was holding to Matthew's head. Gilbert ran up to him, knocking the man away and grabbing the hand that was holding the gun. The man fired, but the bullet thankfully only fired up. The man continued to fire and Gilbert cursed. This was attracting a lot of attention. Finally, he ran out of bullets and Gilbert tore the gun out of his hands, hitting the butt end of it to the man's head and the thug dropped to the ground.
"Gilbert?" Matthew asked quietly. He was obviously terrified and Gilbert immediately dropped the gun, as he saw red and blue lights flashing around them.
"I'm sorry," Gilbert muttered. "I wasn't going to…I haven't for…He was going to shoot you, I couldn't let that happen." He dared to turn towards Matthew, whose eyes were wide with fear. "I'll leave or…you can turn me into the police but…"
The policemen shoved their way into the alley and quickly assessed the situation. Gilbert stood still as they questioned Matthew. He was expecting the actor to go ahead and tell them that Gilbert was stalking him. To get him out of his hair. With police intervention and probably a restraining order, Gilbert would never see Matthew again. His pictures would be taken away. He wouldn't know what to do with his life anymore.
"I was being mugged, but I didn't have anything," Matthew explained slowly. "The mugger didn't believe me and attempted to shoot, but…Gilbert saved me. He knocked the man out to protect me." And now Gilbert was surprised. Matthew hadn't told them anything about him. When the police officers asked him their relationship with each other, Matthew responded with a simple, "He's my friend." And no other words in the world could have made Gilbert happier.
The police officers questioned him next and he was able to stretch the truth enough to make it seem like he was really just passing by and saw his…his friend…in trouble and saved him. The police lugged the passed out mugger into their car and drove off, after a medic made sure both men were in good condition. They had no further questions to ask them.
And after the lights were gone, Gilbert felt something on his cheek. It took him a second to fully register what it was, but he eventually ascertained that it was a pair of lips, silky soft. His cheek felt like it was on fire, even after the lips were removed.
"Thank you," Matthew said softly. "You saved my life."
Gilbert was speechless. He had expected Matthew to be scared of him, after finding out that he was still following him. But Matthew gave him that sincere smile.
"Give me your number," Matthew said, pulling out his phone. Gilbert slowly obeyed and he understood when Matthew didn't offer to give Gilbert his number. "I will call you if I decide that I really do want to be friends. In the meantime, as much as I am thankful, truly, that you saved my life a few times now, please stop following me."
"Of course," Gilbert mumbled and watched as Matthew walked away.
Gilbert slowly moved home, feeling as though he was in a daze. And he was extremely surprised when he saw that he got a text from an unknown number, who he supposed was Matthew. They were to meet at a café on a busy corner at noon, in broad daylight. Matthew did want to hang out with him, but he was just going to be wary at first.
The first thing Gilbert did that day, before leaving his apartment, was throw away all of the pictures he had taken of Matthew. He would be able to live without them, considering he had a new…friend now.
Gilbert has good intentions, really, he just has a bad way of going about it. Anyway, it occurred to me that I had yet to do a song-based one-shot yet in this fic, so I threw away my first two ideas for this challenge, which were fishing and prison, to be based on the song Paparazzi by Lady Gaga. Loosely based, but still based nonetheless. Anyway, I got a lot of plot in this one and I really do like it. Gilbert's not one of the bad stalkers anyway, he only helped Matthew…Yeah…don't stalk people, kids.
Please review!
And join me tomorrow for the LAST challenge, Doing Something Hot, titled "Three Strikes". (Just so we're clear here, I don't do lemon, so this will be a lime, at most. A very fanservicey lime.)
