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Richard Campbell Gansey III is a man with a plan. One that he is 110% sure will work. One that will free him from this soul crushing agonizing suffering thing he has for Blue Sargent.
At least that’s what Ronan says when Gansey makes him, Adam, Noah, and Henry sit down for his edited and colour coded PowerPoint ( God, it’s Google Slides, Ronan. Don’t you know anything? ). The presentation is very well written, with a thesis, three main arguments and a thorough conclusion. He had accidentally submitted it to his history of modern languages professor and she had sent it back fully marked and said Good luck, Gansey!
His operation is simple: I wanna be with you (stylized as Iwannabewithu!).
With Gansey’s Guide to Success, as he had confidently assured with arms crossed over his chest and head held high, he had one simple mission: Win over Blue Sargent.
Ronan and Adam were quiet for a moment after his confident declaration, faces devoid of emotion before they did that weird in sync thing they did and turned to one another at the same time, seemingly communicating telepathically. If he was being completely honest, their whole horror twins schtick was very unnerving to him. Especially now, when their faces gave nothing away. It definitely wasn’t helping with his already existing nerves about his whole plan.
When the silence in the room got increasingly more stifling, a frowning Gansey opened his mouth to confront his friends.
He didn’t have the chance to, because Ronan’s slight smirk turned into Adam covering up a laugh with a cough, which turned into Ronan barking out a loud laugh and Adam quickly following suit. Soon, Ronan had tears of laughter springing from his eyes and Adam was clutching at his stomach.
“He said I Wanna Be With U! Like some sort of,” Ronan had to break off to laugh even harder and catch his breath. “Like a trashy two thousands song!”
“Hey Gansey, when is your latest single dropping? Should I preorder it on Spotify? Do you sell vinyls?” Adam managed to wheeze out between breaths. This only made the two of them laugh harder.
Ronan finally contained himself, but Adam was still laughing into his shoulder. “It’s a great idea, man. I’m sure the maggot will love it. I just - I wanna be with u! I can’t-” He went back to laughing and Gansey raised his eyebrow at his best friends and roommates as they howled in laughter at his plan.
Regardless, their reaction only made Gansey even more sure of his plan. He was incredibly competitive and he was now absolutely positive that he would win Blue over just to spite his friends.
Richard Campbell Gansey III was going to confess his love to Blue Sargent.
Adam and Ronan laughed even harder at that, rudely reminding Gansey of his past attempts of wooing Blue. Including his most recent, most embarrassing Operation: Wildflower.
In his attempt to profess his love to Blue, Gansey had a bouquet of flowers delivered to their shared townhouse, addressing it to one Ms. Blue Sargent along with a card detailing his big fat crush on her. Things were going splendidly, until Gansey had noticed that a wasp had snuck in with the bouquet. The wasp had planted its little bug body on Gansey’s hand and he freaked out before Blue could even register anything. Ronan, thankfully, had been in the room and had promptly grabbed the wasp in his palm and ordered Blue to get rid of the flowers to which she had readily agreed to.
“You ordered flowers to the house in August. During the afternoon! And you didn’t think that any sort of bee or wasp would manage to sneak in with it! Then you froze, leaving Ronan to kill the wasp and Blue had to toss the flowers before she could even open the card.”
“I wasn’t thinking,” Gansey laments. Ronan reaches out to pat his shoulder in a soothing manner, if you could ever describe Ronan as soothing.
It was going fine. Truly. They hadn’t seen the look on Blue’s face when she had received the bouquet. The way her cheeks turned a light, pretty shade of pink and the look of amazement as she had analyzed the bouquet. Gansey had picked out all her favourite flowers.
They weren’t on the receiving end of the hopeful expression on Blue’s face as she quietly said, “What a nice, thoughtful gift. They even remembered all my favourites. I wonder who it was from.”
They hadn’t felt Gansey’s heart jumping under his skin as her fingers went to open the card. Unfortunately, they had been there when they heard the plastic of the flower wrap drop on the floor and Blue exclaimed, “Oh my God! Gansey! Wasp!”
Then Ronan had barrelled into the room, EpiPen in hand, ready for war. He had saved the day, truly. Gansey was eternally grateful, and also eternally embarrassed about his failed attempt.
Henry reaches out and ruffles Gansey’s hair, “You are too cute, RichardMan. It isn’t your fault you are hopeless when you are in love. Blue Sargent is probably just the one woman on Earth that you couldn’t charm with your money or your boyish good looks.”
Somewhere on the couch, Ronan made an over exaggerated gagging noise.
Noah giggles, “Doesn’t help that this is the fifth time, this year alone, that you have tried to confess your feelings.”
Gansey shoots a non threatening glare at Noah. Gansey is just lucky that Blue was nice enough to even be his friend after their disastrous first meeting. And to tolerate his chronic foot in mouth syndrome.
Adam waves a hand, “I just don’t understand why you have to get so elaborate about this. Blue will say yes either way you know.”
Gansey protests, “Oh please, Ronan seriously had like a twelve step plan to seduce you and it worked! Blue deserves the planning and something elaborate. I want her to know I would do anything for her.”
Noah speaks up again, “Maybe you should have Ronan seduce Blue for you. Since his plans work so well.”
Henry and Ronan laugh loudly when Ronan says, “Ew, as if.”
Gansey doesn’t miss the way Adam’s palm tightens on Ronan’s thigh as a sign of possession. Gansey almost wants to speak up and say that no one is taking Ronan, but Adam would probably come back with an alphabetized list of every single person who has ever looked at Ronan with any shred of desire in their eyes. He’s weird like that.
“I didn’t even need the twelve step plan, he just did that. I already liked him. Blue already likes you, just talk to her.”
“Awe.” Ronan says, and the rest of the group besides the Demonic Duo (Ronan and Adam) get closer on the couch.
“If it makes you feel better, this will probably be the one that works. You know what they say, sixth time's a charm.” The Demonic Duo says in sync, again. He should have never introduced them.
Gansey remembers the first time he met Blue.
It had been the end of their freshman year, just before the end of exams. Everyone else had finished their exams except for him.
Ronan, although not in university, had followed his boyfriend and his best friend to Boston. Adam at Harvard and Gansey at Northeastern. The three of them lived in a townhouse between the two universities. Ronan had decided that he was going out to a bar and getting “absolutely plastered”.
He had walked into the main room wearing a tank top and jeans tighter than any piece of clothing Gansey had ever seen. He had also acquired eyeliner somewhere, and had ringed his eyes with it. Adam had taken one look at him and refused to let him go out alone in public looking like that .
This meant that Gansey had the place to himself and he planned on utilizing it to the fullest. He had only one exam left, and it was his Europe in the Middle Ages final. What better way to study than to order his favourite pizza (a hungover Ronan would appreciate the leftovers in the morning), strip down to his boxers, wrap himself in a blanket he stole from Adam’s room, and throw on a three hour Glendower documentary.
Half way through both the pizza and the documentary, Gansey had gotten up to pee and stretch out his limbs. Maybe he stayed in the washroom a little longer than necessary, analyzing the state his first year of university had left his formerly perfect skin in. Probably thanks to cafeteria coffee’s and on campus restaurants.
He hears a soft noise, like a door opening or closing. He assumes it’s Ronan and Adam, and resumes picking at a stubborn whitehead. Two more whiteheads down, and he realizes that he hasn’t heard the tell tale sounds of a drunk Ronan, especially a drunk Ronan around Adam. He should be hearing at least five different noises that would scar him for life right now.
Before he could completely register this, he heard another noise, this time louder and with a more resound thunking. Then there was a loud thud. Immediately, Gansey shielded himself with Ronan’s toothbrush as his weapon against the intruder. He was fit enough to put up a fight and Ronan had taught him how to throw a punch.
He slowly exited the bathroom and wandered into the living room wielding the toothbrush. However, when he got to the living room, he was surprised to find that instead of a giant man, or a career criminal who had broken into his condo, it was a small woman laying face down on their welcome mat.
She seemed harmless, but looks can be deceiving. He crouches down and pokes her with the plastic end of the toothbrush. She lets out a snore that shouldn’t have come from someone her size.
How did she manage to get in? Gansey was sure he had locked the door after they had left. He feels bad for disturbing her sleep, but he knows he wouldn’t want to be a woman alone on the floor of some random man’s townhouse. He pokes her with the toothbrush again, “Ms. Um - ma’am. I think you’re at the wrong address.”
The woman shifts a bit and looks up at him, big brown eyes blinking tiredly at him. “Is this not Ronan and Adam’s place? Am I in the wrong house?”
Gansey deeply inhales, there is no doubt in his mind that Ronan is behind this somehow. He squeezes the bridge of his nose.
“They do live here, they just aren’t here right now. I can call one of them.”
“No don’t, they’re still at the club.” The strange woman replied, face smushed into the admittedly comfortable looking welcome mat.
“Um. If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here instead of at your own house?” To his surprise, she giggled. Gansey thought she had a nice laugh.
She pulled herself off the welcome mat and walked to Gansey. She raised an eyebrow at him, then let out a catcallish whistle. Gansey had never been catcalled before, so he did what anyone would do in his position, drop the tooth brush and cover his pecs. He guided her to the couch, where she helped herself to a piece of pizza and said, “I don’t know anyone else who likes avocado on their pizza.”
Where the tiny woman curled herself up in the blankets left on the couch, he dialed Ronan’s number. He didn’t really expect him to answer, but he did on the first ring.
“Hey, Dick! Just what I want, and what this call is interrupting me getting. This better be good, because I’m trying to do something here.”
Pushing that image out of his mind, Gansey said, “Ronan, there is a random woman in our house. She wolf whistled at me. Why is she here?”
“Oh that’s the maggot! I put our address in the Uber.”
Gansey let out an unGansey-like swear, “ Maggot?! Why our address? Why did you tell her to come here?”
“Just let her rest for a bit, you guys would have met soon anyways! I’m about to suck Adam off in the club washroom, so don’t call back unless you want to hear that. Love you, bye!”
Gansey could feel his face shriveling up in disgust. “Wait, what do you mean we would have met? You are so gross, I don’t need to know what you and Adam get up to.”
Ronan is clearly talking to someone on the other end, Adam probably, “ Yeah, I know. You’re so impatient. Gansey’s just on my ass about Blue. Toodles, Dad. I really have better things to be doing with my mouth than having this conversation. Take care of the Hobbit for me.”
Ronan hangs up and Gansey throws his phone across the room. Gansey didn’t want to be a rude host, but the tiny lady is somehow taking up their entire couch.
“Excuse me, um, Blue Maggot? Can I get you anything? Water? An aspirin?”
The Blue Maggot poked her head out from her pile of blankets, causing her already spiky hair to get even spikier, sticking up in every which direction.
“Do you have a shower I could use? I smell like the red Four Loko Ronan spilled all over me.” It’s the most coherent sentence the Blue Maggot has uttered since breaking into his place.
Gansey leads her to the bathroom and ignores her grimace at the four separate bottles of 3-in-1 that litter the shower shelf. He runs into Ronan’s room and grabs one of his tank tops, that will probably fit the strange lady like a dress. He runs into Adam's room next and grabs a worn pair of his shorts. He does a sniff test to make sure both items are clean before settling them into the Blue Maggot’s outstretched arms.
Gansey left her to shower, sitting back down and resuming his riveting documentary, rewinding a few minutes to catch up. Fifteen minutes later, Blue emerged back into the living area. She didn’t speak as Gansey paused his documentary again . She slid to his side, pressing her cold toes underneath his calf. He looked at her, she looked at him.
“Well, what are you waiting for? I want to know about Glendower’s illegitimate children.”
That’s when he knew. They sat on the couch for the rest of the night, surprisingly easy banter flowing between the two of them like they had known each other forever.
Maybe it was because Gansey had always had a hard time truly relating with others. Maybe it was because Blue acted on the outside while Gansey kept everything in. Maybe it was because Blue had moved into Adam’s old bedroom when he decided that he wanted to sleep in the same bed as Ronan every night.
There were a lot of reasons, but Gansey couldn’t help but think it was because they were the same. They matched, even when it didn’t seem like they would. She was a force of nature and Gansey was all too eager to let himself be swept into the storm.
He did have a plan, courtesy of Wikihow’s How to Confess Your Love To Someone step by step guide.
STEP ONE: WEIGH THE SITUATION
Gansey had already weighed the situation. Several times over. Rationally, he knows that there is a good chance that Blue likes him as well. Everyone says she does. He knows that he is in love with Blue Sargent. He wants to be with her. Romantic life partner and everything. She doesn't seem like the marriage type, so he's content with the life partner title. He has a mental script written in his mind. He’s going to do it. Life is short, Gansey knows this better than anyone. This feeling is something inside him that he can’t push away anymore.
STEP TWO: SETTING THE SCENE
The article had said to try for a quiet place where they could be alone. To make it mean something. Gansey has already exhausted a majority of the places where only the two of them have a shared connection. The couch at the house, the kitchen at the house, his car when he has dropped her off at work. Nowhere has felt right.
Right now, they’re in a fabric store. Blue said she needed to buy some zippers to sew onto a zipper themed dress she has her mind set on making. The aisle they’re in is overpowered by what appears to be neon animal print fabrics. Blue grabs a roll of one, bright pink cheetah print and velvet.
She holds it up, “Should I make Ronan something out of this? I’m sure Adam would be into it.”
Gansey laughs at the image.
“Oh, you definitely should. A full tuxedo. Matching ones for their wedding.”
Thinking about Adam and Ronan’s wedding is something that Gansey spends a ‘concerning’ amount of time doing, according to the pair themselves. It makes him both excited and nervous.
Blue laughs, “God, can you imagine? The whole thing is hot pink and cheetah print themed. Your tie would have to be, because you’ll obviously be the best man.”
Before he knows it, Gansey is thinking out loud about it. He knows he is rambling about it, and it must be a little odd for anyone to witness. Gansey yapping about how much he wants to be in the wedding to Blue, roll of fabric still in her arms.
She doesn’t tell him to stop, she just listens intently when he goes on about how he is scared that they will both ask him to be the best man, and how then he’ll have to give a speech. He doesn’t know the etiquette of gay weddings, what if he says something wrong?
He feels his face flushing under Blue’s unblinking gaze, big brown eyes staring, head tilted. She looks intense and concentrated, but he knows that it isn’t judgemental. It’s mixed with something else, a softer undertone. Looks like the one she is giving him now is his beacon of hope. He’s seen it on Adam and Ronan’s faces enough that he knows what it means.
I have to do it now. This is it.
“Blue?”
She tilts her head in the opposite direction, “Yes?”
“I have to tell you something.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a long time -”
At that exact moment, a chipper employee interrupts them.
“Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that the animal print is actually 45% off until the end of next week! If you are part of our rewards program, FabricStarz, you can get another 20% off on top of in-store discounts.”
Blue shoots an apologetic look at Gansey before her face lights up at the mention of the additional money off. She turns to the employee to have an animated conversation about all the fabric the store has.
Gansey stands there awkwardly for about twenty more minutes until Blue goes up to the checkout with the employee and makes Blue an official FabricStar.
They cram all six rolls of fabric into the back of the Pig and Blue settles into the passenger seat as Gansey hypes the car into working.
Over the roar of the engine, Blue yells “Gansey! What did you want to tell me earlier? I’m sorry that I let the employee interrupt you!”
Gansey is all too aware of her questioning eyes on him, he avoids it. “It slipped my mind. Don’t worry about it.”
Another failed STEP TWO might be what was needed to deter Gansey. He couldn’t even get through a step by step plan. He takes his time (Ronan called it wallowing in his bed) to become self aware and to self reflect. It’s gotten to the point that he is wearing sweatpants and one of Ronan’s distressed band t-shirts. His mother would be disappointed to see him so slovenly.
The constant cycle is dragging Gansey by the collar of his polos. He can’t take the rejection anymore.
Midterms have been an excellent distraction, February is especially hectic for students. Thankfully, it gives him a chance to distance himself from Blue, who spends most of her time studying at the library or at work. It allows Gansey to be productive, he gets a lot of school work done, flies back to D.C for Helen’s birthday then drives all the way back to Boston.
It’s gotten to a point where even Ronan and Adam are worried about him, judging by the fact that both of them try to have sit down talks with him at separate times. It feels like the roles have been reversed, and he isn’t sure he is all that crazy about it.
He pulls a Ronan and ignores the incessant buzzing of his phone, especially when he knows it’s Blue.
She’s probably mad that he is ignoring her. Probably worried, hopefully she just thinks that he fought with Helen or his mother.
Right now, in the darkness of his bedroom, his head is killing him. He reaches for the water bottle on his nightstand. Empty. He could have sworn that it was full. He fumbles for his glasses and heads out to the kitchen.
He’s lightheaded on his way to the kitchen when he stumbles his way to the fridge to fill his water bottle.
“You stupid motherfucker.” That’s Ronan’s voice. Gansey hears his heavy footsteps before he feels his shoulders in the grip of Ronan’s hands.
“When was the last time you ate?”
Gansey doesn’t actually know the answer to that question. He can’t hear Adam, but by the tone of Ronan’s voice, he knows he is there somewhere. Plus the toaster pops.
“I’ve just been busy with midterms.”
“Cut the bullshit. This is the type of behaviour I expect from Parrish, not you. You have an excellent work life balance. We’ve given you time to sort out your feelings on your own terms, but finding out that you can’t remember the last time you ate is something else entirely.”
Gansey takes a sip of water. He doesn’t want to fight.
Adam speaks up now, “You need to take better care of yourself. You can’t forget to eat and drink and sit in your room in the dark for hours on end.”
“That's rich coming from you, Adam. I’ve just been caught up with school. I just forgot to drink or have a meal. I don’t need Ronan to swoop in and pull me away from my studies so I can spend time with him.”
It’s a low blow and he knows it as soon as it comes out of his mouth. He knows it’s an issue in their relationship, probably the biggest one. He has the urge to apologize when he sees the glare that Ronan is currently fixing on him.
“Look, we’re talking about you right now. If you’re so okay, why are you ignoring Blue’s calls and text messages? You’ve been busy before, you never leave her stuff unanswered. What’s up with that?” Adam thankfully doesn’t sound offended, but Gansey knows better. As soon as Gansey sorts himself out, Adam will have his foot on his neck.
Ronan keeps glaring at him. “We aren’t trying to like, attack you or whatever,” Adam continues, stepping closer to get Ronan’s intense gaze off of Gansey. “Blue is worried, man. You should see her, she doesn’t know what she did wrong. She doesn’t know why you’re being such a dick and avoiding her.”
Gansey’ heart breaks at the words, he never wanted her to think it was something she did.
“It’s nothing she did, it’s my fault. I just, I can’t do it anymore. I can’t keep bothering her.”
Ronan sounds fed up with him as he says, “What the fuck do you mean? You’re annoying as fuck, sure, but you don’t bother her. Everyone knows she lo- you’re her favourite.”
“Except for Noah, duh.”
“Noah is everyone’s favourite.” Ronan nods and Adam gives him a side eye.
“Just talk to her please. I can’t deal with all this bad energy in the house, it messes with my chakras.”
Adam rolls his eyes at Ronan’s words, and Gansey laughs and he feels like an asshole and he’s so happy that his friends love him.
Blue Sargent is 75% sure she fucked up.
She isn’t entirely sure she actually did something wrong, but it is incredibly unlike Gansey to ignore someone with no reason. Usually it's the other way around, he puts his foot in his mouth, she ignores him for however long, then they work out their issue.
He isn’t answering her texts or her calls. Every time she tries to knock on his door, she is met with no answer and when she cracks the door open to peek inside, he isn’t in there.
The entire situation is strange, especially because it seemingly started after the fabric store. Maybe Gansey really hated the employee. Maybe he secretly hated going fabric shopping with Blue and was only doing it because he wanted to be nice.
She walks through the door to the kitchen, where she finds Gansey struggling with the coffee machine.
He doesn’t even look up at her and it makes her miss the days when he would always greet her with a “You’re home!” and would invite her to join in whatever he was doing.
Ronan’s in the opposite corner of the kitchen, glowering at Gansey from where shoves a bagel in his mouth. Adam is sitting at the table, laptop open as he types away. Every few seconds he glances at Ronan.
The energy in the air is weird, like they’ve fought. However, she can’t read what any of their expressions and body language means.
She breaks the silence, “Hi, guys.”
Ronan nods at her and Adam says a little greeting. Gansey doesn’t face her, still fumbling with the coffee machine.
She points at Ronan and Adam, “You two go make out somewhere or do whatever else perverted shit you do. Gansey and I need to talk.”
The two of them disappear and she’s honestly thinking that giving them instructions may lead to her hearing something she doesn’t want to, but there are more important matters at hand.
Gansey turns to her and gives her a small, sheepish smile. He doesn’t look great, still handsome as usual, but he has bags under his eyes and his hair is a mess.
She has a lot of things that she wants to say, but what comes out is “What the fuck is your problem?’
His eyes widen, but he doesn’t look all that surprised. If anything, his eyes look apologetic.
“Can we talk?”
“Oh, so now you want to talk to me?
She debates being kinder with her words, but then thinks that she wasn’t the one who decided to randomly ghost over fabric. She leans against the kitchen island, facing him. She can see the words queuing up in his brain, and she has to mentally prepare herself for what he’s going to say.
“I’m sorry for being an asshole and ignoring you, it wasn’t anything that you did. I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that it was. I just needed to figure it out. I know I messed up, and I know I was wrong for what I did. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I know it’s selfish, but it’s hard to be around you when I know it isn’t working, that I can’t have you in the way I want.”
The words tumble out of Gansey. Blue opens her mouth to respond, needing some clarification because what the fuck , but Gansey holds up a hand and continues:
“You’re already pissed at me, so I figure that now is probably the best time. I really like you, Blue. I'm in love with you, I have been for the past three years. I was fine with the pining from afar, but over the past year it has become too much for me. Before, I was fine with just being your best friend, just to be the person you trusted and wanted to watch four hour documentaries with.”
Blue doesn’t know what to say.
“The thing is that recently, it’s been so difficult for me to be okay with that. It’s too much for me to pretend like there is nothing there. I’ve been trying to tell you for a long time. I’m aware I’m self centred for thinking that you might want me too, that you like me back. I’ve made like six of these little stupid plans to confess but I keep fucking them up.”
Gansey finally looks at her, eyes warm but longing and sad. Hazel eyes that Blue loves, has loved for years. She’s confused, and doesn't know what to do with all of this information.
“That day at the fabric store, I was so certain it was going to work. Well, I obviously didn’t completely expect for you to accept it. I was just certain that I was going to be finally able to tell you how I felt. It was the perfect time, it aligned with the steps of my plan. Then that employee came up and you seemed so eager to talk about everything with her and I didn’t want to interrupt. I couldn’t just pretend that there was nothing wrong, like that didn’t discourage me.”
“Who am I to get upset at you for that, it wasn’t your fault. It’s fine, like truly, you don’t owe it to me to reciprocate my feelings toward you. I just needed to tell you.”
He stares at her. His presence feels the opposite of what it usually is, smaller, fragile.
“Again, I’m really so- oh!”
Blue has heard enough, grabbing his face in two hands to pull him in. Eyes closing as she leans forward to press a kiss on his lips.
She pulls back before he truly has time to react. He kind of just stares at her, mouth gaping. His face is still in her hands, pink cheeks squished between her palms. “Are you done?”
“Um, yeah, huh?” His eyes are wide with confusion.
“I love you, but holy shit you talk a lot.” Gansey lets out a sound that could probably be best described as a squeak. His face is hot beneath her hands. He brings one hand up to rest over hers against his face, leaning down to press their foreheads together.
Some moments pass, and then Gansey begins to laugh. “Why are we so stupid? Why am I so stupid? This is so embarrassing.”
Blue isn’t entirely sure who leans in this time, but they’re kissing again. She loves the feeling of his lips against hers, mouths moving in a hypnotic rhythm. Her back is pressed against the counter.
She reaches up to wrap her arms around his neck, letting out a pleased noise when his hands come to rest on her waist in order to pull them closer together.
He pulls away to tuck his face into the crook of her neck, breathing in, lips slightly pressed against her skin.
“You always smell so good, like wildflowers. It’s pretty.” He lightly bites at a spot below her ear and it makes her pull him in closer and reconnect their lips. This kiss is more eager, open mouthed, his tongue coming out to lick into her mouth in a way that leaves her breathless.
When they pull away for air again, she feels his hands gripping at the flesh of her thighs, hoisting her up on the counter.
Her legs come to bracket his hips as they kiss again. Her hands are struggling to push up his shirt to feel the smooth skin of his torso. His are gripping against her thighs, fingers dipping underneath the fabric of the legs of her shorts.
Their kisses are frantic now, and she can tell that at least four of her hair clips have become dislodged from his wandering hands. His fingers hover over the button of her shorts, asking permission. She nods, lips still connected.
She can’t really believe that they are about to defile this countertop, but when his hand slips down her shorts she stops thinking so much about it.
She can’t focus on anything but the feeling of his fingers. She scrambles for a grip on the counter to move back, pulling him closer so he can move his hips against her. He’s hard in his sweats and she reaches for him.
She vaguely hears the sound of glass breaking, but it doesn’t register in her mind until she hears two familiar voices say, “Oh my God.”
Her and Gansey spring apart and Gansey effectively yells “Ouch!”
Ronan and Adam stare at the state of the two of them. Gansey hard in his sweats, shirt off, clutching at his bleeding foot. Blue with her shorts unbuttoned, face flushed as she sits on the counter.
That's when she notices the coffee machine. The pot is shattered beyond repair and the glass is everywhere. It takes her a second to realize that is probably what is causing Gansey’s foot to bleed.
“My coffee machine.” Adam says solemnly.
“I’ll buy you a new one,” Gansey grits out, teeth clenched in pain.
“Should we take him to the hospital? He has a piece of glass wedged in his foot.” Ronan says.
Blue clears her throat and zips her pants back up. “I’ll go start the BMW.”
The car ride to the hospital is incredibly awkward. Ronan and Adam don’t speak, but they do their weird mind reading thing. Expressions starting out serious, gradually changing from annoyed to amused. Then they both shake their heads with a smirk on their faces.
Gansey is sitting in the seat, foot wrapped in a piece of gauze of unknown origin. Ronan has to piggyback him into the waiting room.
Thankfully the waiting room isn’t busy, and Gansey gets called in to triage quickly. Adam and Ronan help him hobble in, Blue closely following behind.
The nurse, a woman wearing bright pink scrubs raises an eyebrow at the state of all four of them huddled in her tiny triage office.
“Name?”
“Richard Campbell Gansey the Third.” Gansey sounds dejected. Ronan scoffs a little and Adam elbows him. The nurse's eyebrow hikes up even higher.
“Injury?”
“He has half of my coffee pot wedged in his foot.” Adam deadpans. This doesn’t seem to faze the nurse as she types quickly on her keyboard.
The nurse dismisses them back to the waiting room and tells Gansey that a doctor will see him soon. Blue instructs Ronan and Adam to find a nurses’ station and get Gansey an ice pack.
With them left alone, Blue speaks, “I’m sorry about your foot. I didn’t even realize I had knocked the coffee machine over.”
Gansey grins sheepishly, a pretty blush spreading up his neck to his cheeks. “I’m rather embarrassed, but it’s kind of an ego boost. If I’m being completely honest.”
He reaches for her hand, connecting their fingers and settling them in his lap.
“Gansey?”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to be my boyfriend?”
She doesn’t get the reaction she thought she would get, because Gansey groans. She doesn’t know if she should be offended or confused.
He reads her facial expression and immediately tries to save the interaction, “Yes! I want nothing more, I just wanted to ask you first.”
“That’s cute, Gansey.” She leans her head against his shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.
Ronan and Adam come back wielding an ice pack, and a pair of crutches.
The doctor eventually stitches up Gansey's foot, and Ronan carries him back out to the car. Adam takes a picture, and Blue is so, so happy.
The next time Henry and Noah come over, Noah hands a hundred dollar bill to Ronan, who has a very satisfied smirk on his face. Henry ruffles both Blue’s and Gansey’s hair and says, “It was about time, kiddos,” like they aren’t the same age.
Blue confronts Ronan and Noah, “You shitheads bet on this? Our relationship isn’t monetary!”
Gansey smiles softly from the couch, despite the itchiness of the stitches on his foot. Blue and Ronan have progressed to play fighting, with her throwing punches at what she can reach of him.
Beside him on the couch, Adam smiles fondly when Ronan lifts Blue over his shoulder as she shrieks for him to put her down.
“I’m glad that your sixth plan worked out. You two are good together. I couldn’t bear to watch the pining any longer.”
Gansey laughs. “Pay back for how bad you and Ronan were. Thank you though. I’m glad it worked out too.”
“I’m still a bit mad about the coffee maker. I’m a little scarred by what I saw, but it's definitely not the worst thing that has been done on that counter.”
Gansey groans and then chuckles. Then he says, “Wait what?”
Adam just smirks and gets up to break up the fight between Blue and Ronan, as well as reaching into Ronan’s pocket for the hundred dollar bill.
Sitting there, even with the stitches in his foot, he feels so lucky that it worked out this way. Turns out sixth time's the charm.