Disclaimer: I enjoyed the Ready Player One movie, but I nowhere near own it.
Story: Life outside the Oasis was horrible and no one knows that better than Wade. So if she found solace in a jerk like Nolan Sorrento, that's her luck. Nolan just finds himself caught up on her, even if it may come time to choose between her and IOI.
Set as an AU genderbending fic.
Spoilers: Yes, definitely for the movie, but I have started to slip in stuff from the book.
Warnings: Age disparity, cursing and violence for now…hm, just in case since I'm usually writing it, bit of crazy humor, perverted humor, morbid or sarcastic humor, and maybe some sexual situations…
Pairings: Nolan Sorrento/Wade Watts

The Cigarette Duet
Chapter Ten: If I Know You

They must've known each other. They had to. It was the only thing that made sense. Why else had Nolan come for her when Lacero was the one she'd messaged?

She watched him as he continued to talk on the phone, fiddling with her IM Interface. She thought about it and tried to make sense of it. She had so very clearly sent the message to Lacero. That meant the other was connected to Nolan somehow…

Hadn't Lacero once complained to her about dealing with "annoying old bastards that wouldn't get out of his hair?" It wouldn't be too out there to say that he could be attending board meetings, the very same ones that Nolan could be in at the same time. It could also make Lacero's prodding and questions about her opinion on Nolan a little less random, if he was asking about her opinion on his boss…And it would make sense on Lacero's secrecy about his work, if he worked in IOI and in a high position at that…

Did that mean they knew the other knew her and what she was to both of them? She didn't think Lacero would go to Nolan and ask him to help her, if he hadn't known Nolan knew her and cared for her , if they did know what they were to her, made her hesitant and awkward, considering the different intimacies to their individual relationships and her own feelings for both of them…

Then again, if Lacero had asked Nolan for help, why hadn't he come himself? Was something wrong? Where was he? Did something happen to him? Was he stuck somewhere or hurt? Did he need her help —

"You look like your mind is crammed with thoughts," Nolan said, off of the phone finally and watching her curiously.

"Do you know Lacero?" she blurted out.

She could see how that made him pause and how his pretty, pretty blue eyes widened and knew she'd gotten her confirmation just from that.

"Lacero? I know…him," he said slowly and she froze.

She knew Nolan.

The way he shifted slightly, the way his captivating blues looked away from her, the way he swallowed slowly…

She knew him and knew he was lying.

Wade was angry and upset. Why would he lie to her? This didn't make sense anymore and the idea that he would lie to her after everything made her want to cry and shout at him, shove at him and demand the truth.

She wanted answers. She wanted him to tell her the truth and why he'd lied. If he didn't know Lacero, why did he say he did? Why was he there, what was he doing with her?

Was he just playing with her? Was this some kind of sick game? She should've known. After all, what was someone like Nolan doing being with her? There had always been this voice in the back of her head, sounding just like Aunt Alice, calling her a stupid, pathetic, naive girl.

Why would a rich, handsome man like Nolan be with her but to amuse himself and entertain himself with her for the moment?

It whispered things like that and made her want to clamp her hands over her ears. It always lingered, just there in her head, always making disdainful remarks about Wade and bringing her to lows.

She had never been able to avoid that voice, in the real world or in her dreams, and not even in the OASIS.

"Wade, darling, are you okay?" his voice cut through her thoughts and she looked at him.

He looked and sounded so, so worried and tender, and it was all for her.

Wade took a deep breath and focused on not spiraling down, like her emotions were dragging her to. She made herself remember that Nolan had, for some reason and above all, cared enough to rush towards where she was to help her. That he had been helping and caring for her since then, and that he hadn't been anything but sincere and wanting to help her. That he still was right now.

His lovely blues were watching her and she gave him a trembling smile.

She walked towards him and pushed him back towards his chair, clambering on top of him and straddling him. His hands shot up and went to stop her, but she firmly pushed them away and settled on his lap decisively. She lay her head against his chest, resting her ear against it and hearing and feeling the sound of his heart thumping against his chest in a loud rhythm. His hands, failing to stop her, hovered around in the air for a moment, before moving to embrace her to him. She grabbed one of his wrists and let her hand hang it down by their sides, closing her eyes. She took a deep breath and inhaled, smelling his scent and memorizing it.

"Do you work with Lacero?" she whispered.

"…I work with him occasionally," he said, his heart skipping a beat. Lie.

She bit down on her lip.

"Did he tell you about me and ask for your help?…Does he know about us?"

"He did….and he does," another lie.

She listened to his heart for a few moments, feeling his arm tighten around her while his wrist moved from her grasp to instead hold her hand in his. She blinked back tears.

"Do you care for me?" She'd said it so low, she wondered if she had said it at all.

His heart stuttered before relaxing. He squeezed her and moved back to look at her, his beautiful eyes looking so damn sweet at her, it made her ache with longing and tenderness.

Then he brought his other arm up and then she was being picked up and placed onto his desk. He took her chin in hand and gave her a pained look.

"Wade, I care for you so fucking much I would kill Rick for you," and he sounded and looked so damn sincere.

She didn't know why he lied about Lacero or what their true connection was. All she knew was that he was honest about his feelings for her and always had been, had never shown her that he didn't care for her.

From the moment he'd first cared for her, he had done nothing but care.

All her life, Aunt Alice had told her no one would care or love a worthless girl like her, but here was Nolan Sorrento who was saying otherwise.

She did know Nolan and knew that at the very least she could trust in him and his feelings.

So she would wait for him to tell the truth, when he was ready to tell her, and wouldn't push him until then. She could wait patiently for Nolan, and until then she wouldn't ask him again.

Nolan saved her and has been saving her all this time. It was the least she could do.

When Wade had asked him about Lacero, he'd nearly had a panic attack there and then. He didn't know how she'd figured out there was a connection, but he'd panicked and hadn't known what to say.

Part of him almost admitted to the truth. He'd wanted to.

Instead, he'd lied and continued to separate the two of them like they were two different people. He knew Wade was still hurting after what that bastard Rick had done and how her aunt had been pushing her, and after her whole life being one shitty mess.

This would be just one more issue to pile on her after everything and he didn't want to push her anymore. This would be a conversation for another day and when she wasn't about to fall apart and he wasn't becoming a mess trying his best to keep her together and be a good man for her.

There was also that he was still a bit attached to being Lacero, someone she was endeared to and was comfortable with. She and Nolan were still on unsteady, uncertain grounds, but when it came to Lacero, he was her confidant and friend —someone she had had an easy camaraderie from the start and whom she had a different intimacy with than the one she had with Nolan. In some ways, she and 'Lacero' were closer than Nolan was to her.

He would eventually tell her the truth, he swore it, but tonight wasn't that night.

"I care for him," she said softly, looking at him hesitantly under her lashes. "Lacero is…I care for him a lot. I have feelings for him."

It made his stomach twist into knots and ache for her and want to tell her he cared for her too. But he couldn't.

He wasn't Lacero.

It made him want to tell her, but he couldn't be selfish. All he could do was give her time and be there.

"I have feelings for you too," she confessed, nibbling on her lip and watching him uneasily. "I like you so much, even though I know that you could have anyone and I'm just some silly, pathetic girl who should've never caught your attention. There's always this voice in my head that says I'm not good enough and that you don't really care about me and just looking for entertainment until you get bored with me."

He hated Wade's aunt. There was something seriously wrong with that woman and he wished he could just get rid of her. But doing that wouldn't get rid of Wade's problems, no matter how much he wished it did. Besides, there would never be a quick fix to Wade's issues and he knew that.

Nolan cupped her face, clenching his jaw. He debated with himself, keeping himself so still as he stared into her eyes and wanting to grab those awful glasses and throw them away.

He loved her eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere, Wade," he told her gently. "As for Lacero," he gave her a pained smile. "…I know. It's okay. I'm here. I'll always be here."

And Nolan kissed her, wanting her to feel everything he felt and promised in that kiss.

She was hurting and he wanted to and would do all he could to make sure she wouldn't hurt any more.

He told her, "Don't be afraid," and then picked her up, letting her wrap herself around him and then heading over to his wall, pressing up against it and unlocking a section that he pushed aside. He went inside the attached bedroom to his office and headed to his bed, where he lay her down before joining her. He pulled her back to him and curved his front against her back, holding onto her and feeling her small hands reach for his wrists and hold on tightly. He bent his head and buried his nose against her hair, inhaling her scent and committing it to memory.

"I'll wait for you, Wade," he murmured..

He's made so many mistakes, even with her, and he'll probably keep making mistakes.

But he could give her all the time in the world and keep piecing her together with faulty hands.

The next morning, Wade woke up and had somehow turned towards Nolan in her sleep. His arms were still around her, and she traced over his face with her eyes and wondered about this man that somehow came into her life.

"Good morning," he said tiredly, still not opening his eyes.

"Morning," she said softly, reaching up and barely touching his face with her hand.

He slowly opened his eyes and his lips twitched up. "What do you feel like doing today?"

"I don't know. Don't you have work?" she asked.

"Don't care. I'm physically here," he grumbled. "Let's do something."

"Like what?"

He smiled crookedly. "I have an idea. We have to log into the OASIS though."

Curious now, she let him lead her off the bed and head towards the giant haptic feedback unit in his office.

"I don't have a suit," she pointed out but he waved it off, and gestured towards his couches, where there was a X1 bootsuit laid out.

"Should be your size," he said casually. "I had F'Nale bring one earlier, when I woke up briefly. F'Nale is my…second in command, you could say. I'll have you two meet later."

"Okay," she said, wondering about this F'Nale. Would she have something to say about Wade or would they even get along? She hoped so. She didn't want to cause problems for Nolan.

"Put it on," Nolan said. "I'll put mine on over here."

She nodded distractedly, putting it on and noting it fit well enough on her. It was just a bit loose, but not enough to be unfit for her use. When she turned around, she saw Nolan had just finished as well and had turned to her.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, even as she wondered how they were going to use his feedback unit.

She watched him mess with the attached wires, pulling some out and adjusting things, and then he was sitting down and holding out his hand to hers. Confused, she came over and let him sit her on his lap and he kind of turned towards her while attaching a few of the wires to her suit.

"There's extra cables to manually attach to another bootsuit in here," he explained. "It'll still be cramped, since it's not really meant to seat two, but I thought we could share the seat instead of extracting the cables farther out and having you sit on the ground or something. I'll make sure to have an arm chair or another OASIS seat installed for next time."

"Oh," she said flustered. "You don't have to do that." Although the thought of being on his lap this whole time flustered her more and yet just a tinged happy to be so close to him.

"Don't worry about it," he said and then he hugged her.

"You mean the world to me, Wade. And you deserve the world."

It tempted her to say the same back to him, when she hesitated because she knew the truth.

Nolan did want the world and no matter how much she cared about him or he her…

That truth hadn't changed.

Started 8/16/19 — Completed 8/18/19

A/n: Oooh my god! I had like most of this chapter done and then my computer sort of glitched on me or something, and I freaking lost everything I wrote (cries). Like I wrote the first version within 2 days and the new one in 1to make up for the loss. Sooo…this is for you guys XD Just so you know I love y'all!

Anon Reviews:

1. Shiranai Atsune: Haha, and hopefully more updates to go! Thanks for enjoying!