Fic: RPF: Tuck Your Shirt In (17/17).
Apr. 28th, 2008 09:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
x_moonshine_xTitle: Tuck Your Shirt In (17/17).
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
x_moonshine_x
Pairing: Rupert/Emma.
Rating: Light R.
Warnings: Real person fiction, teenage naughtiness.
Word count: 1,858.
Summary: After taking Rupert shopping ready for her 18th birthday party, Emma begins to realise her interest in him isn’t purely platonic after all and has trouble getting her head around this new revelation and how to deal with it. Meanwhile, Rupert is suffering some unwanted attention from an old school friend and comes to the conclusion that Emma might very well be his saviour.
A/N: I hate this chapter. Yeah, that's all I have to say.
Other chapters: Here.
Tuck Your Shirt In
Chapter 17 – Stupidly Happy
I’m stupidly happy, like the words to that song
I’m stupidly happy and nothing is wrong
And should the devil walk up with his business card out
I’ll tear it to confetti with a grin and shout
I’m stupidly happy all of the time
I’m stupidly happy now you’re mine
Emma awoke feeling lost. The sheets felt wrong against her fingertips, the mattress hard beneath her frame, the colours swimming into her vision brighter than normal and the sounds that surrounded her unusual. An old fashioned alarm clock ticking, dogs barking, too many voices and right there in her ear, someone snoring gently.
Turning on her side, away from the incessant ticking of the clock, she hesitantly opened an eye to her surroundings. She found Rupert lying before her, snuggled deep into the covers, his red hair a tangled mess across his face and the culprit of the very snoring she’d been able to hear.
Smiling brightly, she reached her hand out, gently running her fingertips in his hair, wanting to check that he was real. The auburn strands, soft to the touch, reassured her that he most definitely was. Next she grabbed hold of the duvet and lifted it over her head. Yep, that part was real too, they were both (without any doubt) naked.
Emma sat back from him with a giggle and then propped herself up on her elbows, moving to the edge of the bed and peering around his bedroom floor for something to slip on while she dashed to the bathroom. Typically she couldn’t see anything within arms reach, which meant she would have to get out of bed completely starkers to retrieve something.
Realising there was no other choice, she sighed softly and then slipped from beneath the welcoming warmth of the covers, darting across the room and picking up the hoodie she’d been wearing last night. She pulled it on, simply wrapping it around herself tightly instead of zipping it up, enjoying the feel of the fleecy fabric against her skin. Closing her eyes for a moment, she inhaled Rupert’s scent, the spicy fragrance of his aftershave still lingering on the material, claiming it as his.
She finally forced herself to move from his bedroom a minute later, pulling the door open quietly and tiptoeing across the landing. Unfortunately for her, she found the bathroom already in use and in a moment of panic, span on her heel to run back to Rupert’s room almost exposing herself in the process.
‘Emma?’
Too late, she’d been spotted.
Emma turned back around to face James, who was currently towel drying his dark hair, eyes anywhere but on her. She smiled bashfully at him and then pulled the hoodie down a little more to cover her modestly. ‘Hi,’ she mumbled, shuffling uneasily on the balls on her feet.
‘Hi,’ he replied, his discomfort coming through in his voice. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you still here this morning.’
‘Uh, no… me neither really, it just kind of-’ Laughing anxiously, she bit on her lip lightly. ‘Well, I think you can-‘ she cut herself off, giving up and shrugging her shoulders. ‘Here I am!’
Nodding, James dropped his towel, letting it hang loosely in his hand for a second. ‘Do you want me to keep guard? While you...’ His words trailed away and he pointed to the bathroom door behind him, his gaze finally meeting hers, but only very briefly.
Christ, could this get anymore awkward?
Emma ignored it however and jumped at his offer, darting into the room he’d recently vacated and shoving the door closed behind her. She stared at her reflection in the steamed up mirror for a second, realising then how red-faced she’d gone, as well as her apparent state of undress. One slip and James would have seen everything. But there was no time to dwell on it, he was stuck outside holding fort (doing her an actual favour) and she doubted he’d be too happy if she made him stand there all morning waiting for her to reappear.
Several minutes later, she pulled the door open again, flashed James a smile and then ran back to Rupert’s bedroom, hoodie now zipped up. He was still asleep when she slipped into the room, flat out on his back and his eyes darting around wildly beneath their lids. As she approached the bed, she couldn’t help but wonder what he was dreaming about and smiled softly to herself as the different scenarios raced through her mind.
Curling up beside him once more, she leant back against the headboard, her fingers lightly playing in his hair as he slept. She hoped he would wake up soon, the last thing she needed was for his parents to find them this way, and she didn’t want to be the one having to do the explaining.
In fact, perhaps waking him up would solve the problem. She would have to.
Emma sighed and then leant down closer to him, gently stroking her fingers across his cheekbone and tickling his skin. ‘Come on Rupes, it’s time to get up,’ she murmured.
It took numerous attempts to get him to stir and even then Rupert swatted her hand out of the way, mumbling something about not wanting to kiss Lavender again, before rolling onto his side with a deep sigh. She laughed, poking the end of his nose playfully and this time he did wake up, his eyes shooting open and darting around the room in wild panic.
‘Good morning,’ said Emma with a bright smile.
Once his eyes had regained focus and moved to her, he returned the smile for a moment, lazily. Then he groaned, covering his face with his hands and shaking his head in disbelief. ‘What time is it?’ he muttered. ‘It can’t be morning yet.’
With a smile, she edged a little closer and then leant over him, her tangled hair framing their faces for a moment. ‘You need to get up,’ she told him. ‘Now! I don’t want to answer to your parents if they come up here and find us like this. You were meant to be taking me home last night, not hiding me away in your bedroom.’
Rupert slowly lowered his hands, rolling his eyes at her as he laughed. ‘But Em…’ he started.
Shaking her head, Emma closed the gap between them until they were mere centimetres apart and her lips brushed his as she spoke. ‘No ifs and no buts, come on sleepy head, get a move on.’ She placed a soft kiss to his lips, smiling brightly, her hands laid against his chest.
He was stationary for a second, staring up into her eyes, but then his gaze faltered and dropped downwards. ‘I, umm – I can see right down that hoodie you’re wearing, you know,’ he said with a grin.
She froze, eyes wide, and then with a high-pitched shriek brought her hands up to her chest, obscuring his view as she leapt off him and crawled to the edge of the bed out of his way. A moment later, she found his arms wrapped around her from behind and he laid his chin on her shoulder, turning his face to hers the tiniest bit.
‘Yes?’ whispered Emma, perking an eyebrow.
Laughing again softly, Rupert kissed her cheek and then let go of her. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘Don’t want to answer to the wrath of my mum, I guess.’
She glanced back at him with a smile before swiftly getting to her feet and starting to collect her clothes. They were scattered around the room and it took longer than she thought it would to locate everything. Upon careful inspection, she found one half of her pink lingerie set under the chair in the corner of the room. When she looked over in Rupert’s direction for some kind of explanation, he simply shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.
It took another fifteen minutes until they were both presentable enough to face the day and he led her slowly out of the bedroom, checking for parents and sisters before beginning to descend the staircase.
By the time they reached the front door, following two false alarms and one dash back upstairs, Emma was finding it very hard to contain her giggles. He simply nudged her, pressed a finger to his lips and hissed at her to be quiet, although they both knew it would have little effect. She was too far gone to be saved now.
Emma didn’t know why the thought of having to sneak out hadn’t crossed her mind until waking up that morning. Then again, they had been pretty distracted last night, it was hardly important.
‘OK,’ Rupert started, handing over his car keys. She stared, aghast, but then continued to listen to his further instructions. ‘You go and get in the car and I’ll tell them I’m going out or something.’
At first she hesitated but then shrugged her shoulders in response. All of this sneaking around was ridiculous, although it couldn’t be helped she supposed. She turned to open the front door after kissing him quickly on the lips, tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and flashed him one last smile.
What happened next though, she hadn’t been expecting.
It took literally seconds for the dogs to find them after James opened the kitchen door, and then, mere moments after that, they both came face-to-face with Jo Grint and the escape plan went out of the window.
Oh crap, caught again!
‘Good morning, Emma.’ She was still smiling and awfully close to laughter by the looks of things. ‘Breakfast’s on the table if you guys want any, unless of course you have somewhere better to be…’ She raised an eyebrow at Emma’s hand on the door.
Rupert looked as though he was about to keel over and began to babble, ‘Mum, hi! We were – Emma was just-‘ He stopped, realising soon after he sounded like an idiot. ‘I can explain, honest.’
The laughter broke out seconds later and Emma soon found herself joining in, nudging the shell-shocked redhead beside her in the ribs playfully. He glared and she doubled over, thankful she had been hanging onto the door handle.
Shortly afterwards, as soon as everyone had composed themselves once more, she followed Jo’s advice and took hold of Rupert’s hand, pulling him towards the kitchen. ‘Come on, we’ve been rumbled, no point in trying to hide anymore,’ she said.
At first Rupert didn’t move and she had to tug on his arm, practically dragging him in to join his family. No one said anything about her still being there, which she was thankful for and in fact, Nigel kept offering her second helpings of everything. By the time she started on her third round of toast, Rupert’s reluctance had worn off and he was chatting away animatedly to his brother whilst munching his way through a bowl of Corn Flakes.
Moments later, Emma felt his hand slide over hers and she smiled, lightly lacing their fingers together. Their panic this morning had been for nothing. Much like the rest of the world, Rupert’s family had been waiting for this to happen for an awful long time and when it finally did, acceptance was easy.
It wasn’t long until they realised that their newly found relationship was hardly a surprise for anyone.
Well, aside from themselves at least…
Fin.
.x.
Author:
x_moonshine_xPairing: Rupert/Emma.
Rating: Light R.
Warnings: Real person fiction, teenage naughtiness.
Word count: 1,858.
Summary: After taking Rupert shopping ready for her 18th birthday party, Emma begins to realise her interest in him isn’t purely platonic after all and has trouble getting her head around this new revelation and how to deal with it. Meanwhile, Rupert is suffering some unwanted attention from an old school friend and comes to the conclusion that Emma might very well be his saviour.
A/N: I hate this chapter. Yeah, that's all I have to say.
Other chapters: Here.
Chapter 17 – Stupidly Happy
I’m stupidly happy, like the words to that song
I’m stupidly happy and nothing is wrong
And should the devil walk up with his business card out
I’ll tear it to confetti with a grin and shout
I’m stupidly happy all of the time
I’m stupidly happy now you’re mine
Emma awoke feeling lost. The sheets felt wrong against her fingertips, the mattress hard beneath her frame, the colours swimming into her vision brighter than normal and the sounds that surrounded her unusual. An old fashioned alarm clock ticking, dogs barking, too many voices and right there in her ear, someone snoring gently.
Turning on her side, away from the incessant ticking of the clock, she hesitantly opened an eye to her surroundings. She found Rupert lying before her, snuggled deep into the covers, his red hair a tangled mess across his face and the culprit of the very snoring she’d been able to hear.
Smiling brightly, she reached her hand out, gently running her fingertips in his hair, wanting to check that he was real. The auburn strands, soft to the touch, reassured her that he most definitely was. Next she grabbed hold of the duvet and lifted it over her head. Yep, that part was real too, they were both (without any doubt) naked.
Emma sat back from him with a giggle and then propped herself up on her elbows, moving to the edge of the bed and peering around his bedroom floor for something to slip on while she dashed to the bathroom. Typically she couldn’t see anything within arms reach, which meant she would have to get out of bed completely starkers to retrieve something.
Realising there was no other choice, she sighed softly and then slipped from beneath the welcoming warmth of the covers, darting across the room and picking up the hoodie she’d been wearing last night. She pulled it on, simply wrapping it around herself tightly instead of zipping it up, enjoying the feel of the fleecy fabric against her skin. Closing her eyes for a moment, she inhaled Rupert’s scent, the spicy fragrance of his aftershave still lingering on the material, claiming it as his.
She finally forced herself to move from his bedroom a minute later, pulling the door open quietly and tiptoeing across the landing. Unfortunately for her, she found the bathroom already in use and in a moment of panic, span on her heel to run back to Rupert’s room almost exposing herself in the process.
‘Emma?’
Too late, she’d been spotted.
Emma turned back around to face James, who was currently towel drying his dark hair, eyes anywhere but on her. She smiled bashfully at him and then pulled the hoodie down a little more to cover her modestly. ‘Hi,’ she mumbled, shuffling uneasily on the balls on her feet.
‘Hi,’ he replied, his discomfort coming through in his voice. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you still here this morning.’
‘Uh, no… me neither really, it just kind of-’ Laughing anxiously, she bit on her lip lightly. ‘Well, I think you can-‘ she cut herself off, giving up and shrugging her shoulders. ‘Here I am!’
Nodding, James dropped his towel, letting it hang loosely in his hand for a second. ‘Do you want me to keep guard? While you...’ His words trailed away and he pointed to the bathroom door behind him, his gaze finally meeting hers, but only very briefly.
Christ, could this get anymore awkward?
Emma ignored it however and jumped at his offer, darting into the room he’d recently vacated and shoving the door closed behind her. She stared at her reflection in the steamed up mirror for a second, realising then how red-faced she’d gone, as well as her apparent state of undress. One slip and James would have seen everything. But there was no time to dwell on it, he was stuck outside holding fort (doing her an actual favour) and she doubted he’d be too happy if she made him stand there all morning waiting for her to reappear.
Several minutes later, she pulled the door open again, flashed James a smile and then ran back to Rupert’s bedroom, hoodie now zipped up. He was still asleep when she slipped into the room, flat out on his back and his eyes darting around wildly beneath their lids. As she approached the bed, she couldn’t help but wonder what he was dreaming about and smiled softly to herself as the different scenarios raced through her mind.
Curling up beside him once more, she leant back against the headboard, her fingers lightly playing in his hair as he slept. She hoped he would wake up soon, the last thing she needed was for his parents to find them this way, and she didn’t want to be the one having to do the explaining.
In fact, perhaps waking him up would solve the problem. She would have to.
Emma sighed and then leant down closer to him, gently stroking her fingers across his cheekbone and tickling his skin. ‘Come on Rupes, it’s time to get up,’ she murmured.
It took numerous attempts to get him to stir and even then Rupert swatted her hand out of the way, mumbling something about not wanting to kiss Lavender again, before rolling onto his side with a deep sigh. She laughed, poking the end of his nose playfully and this time he did wake up, his eyes shooting open and darting around the room in wild panic.
‘Good morning,’ said Emma with a bright smile.
Once his eyes had regained focus and moved to her, he returned the smile for a moment, lazily. Then he groaned, covering his face with his hands and shaking his head in disbelief. ‘What time is it?’ he muttered. ‘It can’t be morning yet.’
With a smile, she edged a little closer and then leant over him, her tangled hair framing their faces for a moment. ‘You need to get up,’ she told him. ‘Now! I don’t want to answer to your parents if they come up here and find us like this. You were meant to be taking me home last night, not hiding me away in your bedroom.’
Rupert slowly lowered his hands, rolling his eyes at her as he laughed. ‘But Em…’ he started.
Shaking her head, Emma closed the gap between them until they were mere centimetres apart and her lips brushed his as she spoke. ‘No ifs and no buts, come on sleepy head, get a move on.’ She placed a soft kiss to his lips, smiling brightly, her hands laid against his chest.
He was stationary for a second, staring up into her eyes, but then his gaze faltered and dropped downwards. ‘I, umm – I can see right down that hoodie you’re wearing, you know,’ he said with a grin.
She froze, eyes wide, and then with a high-pitched shriek brought her hands up to her chest, obscuring his view as she leapt off him and crawled to the edge of the bed out of his way. A moment later, she found his arms wrapped around her from behind and he laid his chin on her shoulder, turning his face to hers the tiniest bit.
‘Yes?’ whispered Emma, perking an eyebrow.
Laughing again softly, Rupert kissed her cheek and then let go of her. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘Don’t want to answer to the wrath of my mum, I guess.’
She glanced back at him with a smile before swiftly getting to her feet and starting to collect her clothes. They were scattered around the room and it took longer than she thought it would to locate everything. Upon careful inspection, she found one half of her pink lingerie set under the chair in the corner of the room. When she looked over in Rupert’s direction for some kind of explanation, he simply shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.
It took another fifteen minutes until they were both presentable enough to face the day and he led her slowly out of the bedroom, checking for parents and sisters before beginning to descend the staircase.
By the time they reached the front door, following two false alarms and one dash back upstairs, Emma was finding it very hard to contain her giggles. He simply nudged her, pressed a finger to his lips and hissed at her to be quiet, although they both knew it would have little effect. She was too far gone to be saved now.
Emma didn’t know why the thought of having to sneak out hadn’t crossed her mind until waking up that morning. Then again, they had been pretty distracted last night, it was hardly important.
‘OK,’ Rupert started, handing over his car keys. She stared, aghast, but then continued to listen to his further instructions. ‘You go and get in the car and I’ll tell them I’m going out or something.’
At first she hesitated but then shrugged her shoulders in response. All of this sneaking around was ridiculous, although it couldn’t be helped she supposed. She turned to open the front door after kissing him quickly on the lips, tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and flashed him one last smile.
What happened next though, she hadn’t been expecting.
It took literally seconds for the dogs to find them after James opened the kitchen door, and then, mere moments after that, they both came face-to-face with Jo Grint and the escape plan went out of the window.
Oh crap, caught again!
‘Good morning, Emma.’ She was still smiling and awfully close to laughter by the looks of things. ‘Breakfast’s on the table if you guys want any, unless of course you have somewhere better to be…’ She raised an eyebrow at Emma’s hand on the door.
Rupert looked as though he was about to keel over and began to babble, ‘Mum, hi! We were – Emma was just-‘ He stopped, realising soon after he sounded like an idiot. ‘I can explain, honest.’
The laughter broke out seconds later and Emma soon found herself joining in, nudging the shell-shocked redhead beside her in the ribs playfully. He glared and she doubled over, thankful she had been hanging onto the door handle.
Shortly afterwards, as soon as everyone had composed themselves once more, she followed Jo’s advice and took hold of Rupert’s hand, pulling him towards the kitchen. ‘Come on, we’ve been rumbled, no point in trying to hide anymore,’ she said.
At first Rupert didn’t move and she had to tug on his arm, practically dragging him in to join his family. No one said anything about her still being there, which she was thankful for and in fact, Nigel kept offering her second helpings of everything. By the time she started on her third round of toast, Rupert’s reluctance had worn off and he was chatting away animatedly to his brother whilst munching his way through a bowl of Corn Flakes.
Moments later, Emma felt his hand slide over hers and she smiled, lightly lacing their fingers together. Their panic this morning had been for nothing. Much like the rest of the world, Rupert’s family had been waiting for this to happen for an awful long time and when it finally did, acceptance was easy.
It wasn’t long until they realised that their newly found relationship was hardly a surprise for anyone.
Well, aside from themselves at least…
Fin.
.x.
