Five Times Henry Said “Absolutely Not”
Rating: PG
Fandom: Selfie
Genre: Het
Spoilers: 1x09 "Follow Through"
Pairing: Henry & Eliza. Because UST.
A/N: I asked for prompts &
odakota_rose said "NEXT TIME". Thanks for the prompt, hon. My apologies for it not being as perfect as these two deserve. Also, the rest of you should watch Selfie, even though there are only 13 episodes *cries*. It was fun & sweet & totally worth my time.
One.
The night is near middle aged & he really should head home but this ad campaign for a teething balm wasn’t going to write itself. He stared intently at the box, willing ideas into his head.
“Baby’s teeth. No crying. A winning combination.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to bang his head against a blunt object. Several times. Preferably until he had secured the concussion he so obviously needed. He & Eliza were “a winning combination”. And as much as he was loathe to admit it, he was here, in his office, trying to not think about her. Trying desperately to forget that she had waltzed out of here to meet Freddy’s parents, clad only in his jacket. Ever since he’d seen her in it, he wanted to be his jacket. But that line of reasoning was both impractical & overly wistful. No matter how much some small part of him seemed to yearn for his quirky, social media queen, red-headed antonym he needed to take that part out back & put two in its head. He sighed as he stood, turning off the light on his way out the door.
The elevator opened to reveal the very person he had spent hours trying to pretend he wasn’t thinking about. He couldn’t help the tiny smile that leaked onto his face. She was here, even if she was Freddy’s girlfriend.
“Hey. How did it go with Freddy?”
“It went exactly like it was supposed to.”
“Oh, good. Glad to hear it. Have a great night.”
What else was he supposed to say? “I desperately wish I was my jacket?” No. That was the kind of thing that preceded an extended stay at some kind of mental institution. The elevator door could not close fast enough. He needed to get some sleep & regroup. This was Eliza Dooley, for crying out loud. His life had been fine before her. And she’d been self-centred, vapid, lost without her phone and spoke in that annoying text language. As if he needed that & her ability to surprise him with her commitment to be a better person, or how it really didn’t take much for her to invest in others or how adorable she was when coming up with winning ideas. No. Definitely not. And then the door started opening. Would this night never end?
“Henry. Wait. I want to give you your jacket back.”
After tonight, he was either going to have to burn it or make it a shrine. He couldn’t decide which.
“You can just give it to me tomorrow.” When hopefully his brain would be back to normal & thoughts of red-heads weren’t about to give him pangs of anxiety.
“No. I really want to give it to you tonight. You sure you want to head home right now?”
And then his jacket was no longer concealing her naked body but framing it, in some kind of torturous twist of fate. Eliza’s body was as stunning as he’d thought it would be & she was so close & willing & suddenly it felt as though this entire floor was a hypoxic environment. He managed to look away – Eliza Dooley unleashing a seduction strategy he wasn’t sure he was allowed to reciprocate was more temptation than any mortal should have to endure. Did he want to be anywhere she wasn’t right this instant? Absolutely not.
“I have to go feed my cat,” he managed to choke out.
He saw the confusion shadow her face at his mendacity.
“You don't have a cat.”
“I have to go purchase a cat and then feed it generously.”
He went straight to bed that night & his every dream featured Eliza. He even managed to literally kick himself for walking away.
Two.
There was an insistent pounding on his front door that he could just make out over the thunder. He walked cautiously towards the entrance until he made out the form standing on the other side, then he couldn’t get the door open fast enough.
“Eliza, what’s wrong?” he pulled her inside & closed the door behind them.
“You’re soaked. Wait here.”
He hurried down the hall & returned with towels & a blanket. He moved to help her get warm & dry but Eliza had other ideas & wrapped cold arms around him, her face buried in his shirt.
“Hey now. What happened?”
“Freddy broke up with me.”
He managed to wrap a large fluffy white towel around her shoulders before helping her to sit beside him on his couch.
He sighed. “I’m sorry, Eliza.”
He’d never been the overly affectionate type, so it was a little surprising to him how natural it felt to sit with her, just holding her, until she calmed down. He was reaching over her for another towel when her lips crashed into his. It was a kiss of loss & desperation on her part but the fact that Eliza was in in arms & against his lips short-circuited his brain. He’d thought about this moment more than he would admit to & was overwhelmed by the sensations coursing through his blood & filling his soul with wonder. By the time he came to, the towel had been abandoned & both hands were buried in her hair. He pulled back & whispered her name against her lips.
“Not like this.”
“Why not ?”, she asked in a petulant tone that made him smile just the tiniest bit.
“You should kiss me because you want to not because you’re upset.”
“Can’t I be both?”
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
“You can. But I won’t take advantage of you. Absolutely not,” he ended with conviction.
He caught her hand before she turned away from him.
“Hey. I’m not saying ‘not ever’. I’m simply saying not like this.”
They looked at each other in a silence pregnant with unspoken words before she nodded imperceptibly & let him wrap her in a blanket. He invited her to spend the night in his guest bedroom.
Three.
“It’s open!”
Henry came through her apartment door looking genuinely displeased that she’d yet again issued that invitation without having the faintest inkling of who had been knocking on her door.
“Before you get all upset, I knew it was you.”
“How could you possibly know that, Eliza?”
“Because you’re a good friend, Henry & I knew as soon as I texted you that I was taking a sick day, you’d come by eventually.”
She moved the hot water bottle a little lower on her abdomen until it hit just the right spot before she looked over at where he was standing.
“Hey, you brought take out.” Her smile was bright. “Good call. I was going to go grocery shopping but I wound up on Zappo’s & forgot.”
He shook his head in reprimand but his smile was fond as he removed the containers & handed her chopsticks. Later, when he broke out the mocha almond fudge ice-cream she laughed outright.
“Henry, you’re the best!”
She kissed his cheek. It was just his cheek but it ramped up the tension in the room tenfold.
“Henry,” she began tentatively. “Is there a ‘no kissing after calling in sick’ rule?”
He scooched a little closer to her on the couch, hands resting lightly on her waist.
“Absolutely not.”
Four.
Henry had been alternately miserable & distracted all day. He had, however, agreed to have lunch with her in the park & he kept that promise.
“God, Henry, what’s wrong with you? You’re like the grumpy cat of people.”
He looked up from their picnic table with hostile eyes.
“Nothing.”
Eliza looked down at her sandwich & muttered a disbelieving, “Okaaaay.”
Just before taking a sip of her drink, she reached into her purse.
“Oh. I almost forgot.”
She placed an envelope on the table between them.
“I found this super serious looking envelope when I was in your house last night. Not all of it is in English but I figure this has to be a formal party invitation, right?” Her demeanour lit up as she did a little shimmy on the spot, already excited about a possible chance to go out.
“Damnit, Eliza! Why were you going through my trash?”
She rolled her eyes. “Good thing I was or else you’d be missing this perfectly good party-”
“Party? Is that all you care about?”
She jumped when he shouted. He waved the offending stationery in the air angrily.
“Why can’t you respect my privacy, Eliza? You barge into my office whenever the hell you feel like it. You held a goddamn surprise party in my house when I told you I didn’t want one. And now you’re going through my things? Is there no limit with you?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have been looking if you weren’t so cranky. I figured something had to be wrong & I was just the person to find out what. Besides, it’s an invitation from your parents & you haven’t seen them since-”
“Since I started dating you!”
Eliza’s face slowly made its way from shock to understanding.
“Henry-”
She laid a hand on his which he quickly shook off.
“It doesn’t matter that you’re beautiful or kind or so damned funny. It doesn’t matter that I’m happier than I’ve been in the longest while. All they can see is that you’re not Korean. You’re beneath me, apparently, & Mother won’t let me forget it.”
She had intended to be strong, but she was 13 years old again, the unwanted nobody awarded the title of Most Butt. She had come a long way since then & took a deep breath to ask a question whose potential answer terrified her. She stared at her hands folded neatly on the table.
“Are you ashamed of me?”
She might have forced the query past her lips but there was no way she was strong enough to risk seeing his rejection. She did, however, hear him leave the table & she closed her eyes as the shame threatened to stifle her. Henry’s arms found her though, encasing her in a hug that was fierce enough to lend credence to his words.
“Absolutely not.”
He heard her breath catch a second before she relaxed into his grip.
“Eliza…I’m sorry I blew up on you. I just…I didn’t want to talk to you about this because I knew we couldn’t go.”
She started to object so he held up a finger.
“You’ve never met them but I assure you they would make you feel small from the moment they opened the door. And I am not ashamed of you – how could I be? – but if I took you to this party they would passive-aggressively rip you to shreds. & I won’t let them do that.”
She looked at him for a long minute before she kissed him.
“Oooorrrr we could go to this party & show them how rad a power couple we are.”
He laughed.
“Rad, huh?”
“Totally. I did dry hump Mackelmore.” She flipped her hair dramatically & Henry couldn’t keep the laugh from escaping. How he loved this woman.
Five.
Eliza slammed the door & made a very unladylike noise simultaneously.
“Get the hell away from me!”
She listened for a minute & was satisfied that she was alone judging by the silence. She grabbed a pastel pink polish from the cupboard, sat on the closed toilet seat & began painting her toes. As she waited for the top coat to dry, she caught sight of the candles still sitting at the corners of the Jacuzzi bath. Which made her think of the previous night when she’d been feeling worse than that time Brit had accidentally flashed the paps & Henry had run her a bubble bath with like her favourite bath salts & these new scented candles that made the whole house smell like spring. And the next thing Eliza knew she was crying. Not cute sniffling; flat out bawling. She didn’t even hear Henry come in but she felt his presence & turned to the comfort of his chest. He caught her & rubbed soothing patterns on her back.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“I’m sorry you feel so terrible all the time.”
“Blame the baby. I know I do,” she stated matter-of-factly before patting her stomach & speaking louder.
“Your Daddy’s a great guy, Baby. Stop messing with my hormones & making me be mean to him.”
She interrupted Henry’s chuckling.
“Hey how come you’re still here? I was crystal with my instructions for you to gtfo.”
“And leave my wife when she’s not feeling well? Absolutely not.”
She held her left hand out. “I always did love Cartier.”
“Heeey!”
“And you. Mostly you,” she said before she gave him a kiss that could leave no room for doubt.
Fandom: Selfie
Genre: Het
Spoilers: 1x09 "Follow Through"
Pairing: Henry & Eliza. Because UST.
A/N: I asked for prompts &
odakota_rose said "NEXT TIME". Thanks for the prompt, hon. My apologies for it not being as perfect as these two deserve. Also, the rest of you should watch Selfie, even though there are only 13 episodes *cries*. It was fun & sweet & totally worth my time.One.
The night is near middle aged & he really should head home but this ad campaign for a teething balm wasn’t going to write itself. He stared intently at the box, willing ideas into his head.
“Baby’s teeth. No crying. A winning combination.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to bang his head against a blunt object. Several times. Preferably until he had secured the concussion he so obviously needed. He & Eliza were “a winning combination”. And as much as he was loathe to admit it, he was here, in his office, trying to not think about her. Trying desperately to forget that she had waltzed out of here to meet Freddy’s parents, clad only in his jacket. Ever since he’d seen her in it, he wanted to be his jacket. But that line of reasoning was both impractical & overly wistful. No matter how much some small part of him seemed to yearn for his quirky, social media queen, red-headed antonym he needed to take that part out back & put two in its head. He sighed as he stood, turning off the light on his way out the door.
The elevator opened to reveal the very person he had spent hours trying to pretend he wasn’t thinking about. He couldn’t help the tiny smile that leaked onto his face. She was here, even if she was Freddy’s girlfriend.
“Hey. How did it go with Freddy?”
“It went exactly like it was supposed to.”
“Oh, good. Glad to hear it. Have a great night.”
What else was he supposed to say? “I desperately wish I was my jacket?” No. That was the kind of thing that preceded an extended stay at some kind of mental institution. The elevator door could not close fast enough. He needed to get some sleep & regroup. This was Eliza Dooley, for crying out loud. His life had been fine before her. And she’d been self-centred, vapid, lost without her phone and spoke in that annoying text language. As if he needed that & her ability to surprise him with her commitment to be a better person, or how it really didn’t take much for her to invest in others or how adorable she was when coming up with winning ideas. No. Definitely not. And then the door started opening. Would this night never end?
“Henry. Wait. I want to give you your jacket back.”
After tonight, he was either going to have to burn it or make it a shrine. He couldn’t decide which.
“You can just give it to me tomorrow.” When hopefully his brain would be back to normal & thoughts of red-heads weren’t about to give him pangs of anxiety.
“No. I really want to give it to you tonight. You sure you want to head home right now?”
And then his jacket was no longer concealing her naked body but framing it, in some kind of torturous twist of fate. Eliza’s body was as stunning as he’d thought it would be & she was so close & willing & suddenly it felt as though this entire floor was a hypoxic environment. He managed to look away – Eliza Dooley unleashing a seduction strategy he wasn’t sure he was allowed to reciprocate was more temptation than any mortal should have to endure. Did he want to be anywhere she wasn’t right this instant? Absolutely not.
“I have to go feed my cat,” he managed to choke out.
He saw the confusion shadow her face at his mendacity.
“You don't have a cat.”
“I have to go purchase a cat and then feed it generously.”
He went straight to bed that night & his every dream featured Eliza. He even managed to literally kick himself for walking away.
Two.
There was an insistent pounding on his front door that he could just make out over the thunder. He walked cautiously towards the entrance until he made out the form standing on the other side, then he couldn’t get the door open fast enough.
“Eliza, what’s wrong?” he pulled her inside & closed the door behind them.
“You’re soaked. Wait here.”
He hurried down the hall & returned with towels & a blanket. He moved to help her get warm & dry but Eliza had other ideas & wrapped cold arms around him, her face buried in his shirt.
“Hey now. What happened?”
“Freddy broke up with me.”
He managed to wrap a large fluffy white towel around her shoulders before helping her to sit beside him on his couch.
He sighed. “I’m sorry, Eliza.”
He’d never been the overly affectionate type, so it was a little surprising to him how natural it felt to sit with her, just holding her, until she calmed down. He was reaching over her for another towel when her lips crashed into his. It was a kiss of loss & desperation on her part but the fact that Eliza was in in arms & against his lips short-circuited his brain. He’d thought about this moment more than he would admit to & was overwhelmed by the sensations coursing through his blood & filling his soul with wonder. By the time he came to, the towel had been abandoned & both hands were buried in her hair. He pulled back & whispered her name against her lips.
“Not like this.”
“Why not ?”, she asked in a petulant tone that made him smile just the tiniest bit.
“You should kiss me because you want to not because you’re upset.”
“Can’t I be both?”
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
“You can. But I won’t take advantage of you. Absolutely not,” he ended with conviction.
He caught her hand before she turned away from him.
“Hey. I’m not saying ‘not ever’. I’m simply saying not like this.”
They looked at each other in a silence pregnant with unspoken words before she nodded imperceptibly & let him wrap her in a blanket. He invited her to spend the night in his guest bedroom.
Three.
“It’s open!”
Henry came through her apartment door looking genuinely displeased that she’d yet again issued that invitation without having the faintest inkling of who had been knocking on her door.
“Before you get all upset, I knew it was you.”
“How could you possibly know that, Eliza?”
“Because you’re a good friend, Henry & I knew as soon as I texted you that I was taking a sick day, you’d come by eventually.”
She moved the hot water bottle a little lower on her abdomen until it hit just the right spot before she looked over at where he was standing.
“Hey, you brought take out.” Her smile was bright. “Good call. I was going to go grocery shopping but I wound up on Zappo’s & forgot.”
He shook his head in reprimand but his smile was fond as he removed the containers & handed her chopsticks. Later, when he broke out the mocha almond fudge ice-cream she laughed outright.
“Henry, you’re the best!”
She kissed his cheek. It was just his cheek but it ramped up the tension in the room tenfold.
“Henry,” she began tentatively. “Is there a ‘no kissing after calling in sick’ rule?”
He scooched a little closer to her on the couch, hands resting lightly on her waist.
“Absolutely not.”
Four.
Henry had been alternately miserable & distracted all day. He had, however, agreed to have lunch with her in the park & he kept that promise.
“God, Henry, what’s wrong with you? You’re like the grumpy cat of people.”
He looked up from their picnic table with hostile eyes.
“Nothing.”
Eliza looked down at her sandwich & muttered a disbelieving, “Okaaaay.”
Just before taking a sip of her drink, she reached into her purse.
“Oh. I almost forgot.”
She placed an envelope on the table between them.
“I found this super serious looking envelope when I was in your house last night. Not all of it is in English but I figure this has to be a formal party invitation, right?” Her demeanour lit up as she did a little shimmy on the spot, already excited about a possible chance to go out.
“Damnit, Eliza! Why were you going through my trash?”
She rolled her eyes. “Good thing I was or else you’d be missing this perfectly good party-”
“Party? Is that all you care about?”
She jumped when he shouted. He waved the offending stationery in the air angrily.
“Why can’t you respect my privacy, Eliza? You barge into my office whenever the hell you feel like it. You held a goddamn surprise party in my house when I told you I didn’t want one. And now you’re going through my things? Is there no limit with you?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have been looking if you weren’t so cranky. I figured something had to be wrong & I was just the person to find out what. Besides, it’s an invitation from your parents & you haven’t seen them since-”
“Since I started dating you!”
Eliza’s face slowly made its way from shock to understanding.
“Henry-”
She laid a hand on his which he quickly shook off.
“It doesn’t matter that you’re beautiful or kind or so damned funny. It doesn’t matter that I’m happier than I’ve been in the longest while. All they can see is that you’re not Korean. You’re beneath me, apparently, & Mother won’t let me forget it.”
She had intended to be strong, but she was 13 years old again, the unwanted nobody awarded the title of Most Butt. She had come a long way since then & took a deep breath to ask a question whose potential answer terrified her. She stared at her hands folded neatly on the table.
“Are you ashamed of me?”
She might have forced the query past her lips but there was no way she was strong enough to risk seeing his rejection. She did, however, hear him leave the table & she closed her eyes as the shame threatened to stifle her. Henry’s arms found her though, encasing her in a hug that was fierce enough to lend credence to his words.
“Absolutely not.”
He heard her breath catch a second before she relaxed into his grip.
“Eliza…I’m sorry I blew up on you. I just…I didn’t want to talk to you about this because I knew we couldn’t go.”
She started to object so he held up a finger.
“You’ve never met them but I assure you they would make you feel small from the moment they opened the door. And I am not ashamed of you – how could I be? – but if I took you to this party they would passive-aggressively rip you to shreds. & I won’t let them do that.”
She looked at him for a long minute before she kissed him.
“Oooorrrr we could go to this party & show them how rad a power couple we are.”
He laughed.
“Rad, huh?”
“Totally. I did dry hump Mackelmore.” She flipped her hair dramatically & Henry couldn’t keep the laugh from escaping. How he loved this woman.
Five.
Eliza slammed the door & made a very unladylike noise simultaneously.
“Get the hell away from me!”
She listened for a minute & was satisfied that she was alone judging by the silence. She grabbed a pastel pink polish from the cupboard, sat on the closed toilet seat & began painting her toes. As she waited for the top coat to dry, she caught sight of the candles still sitting at the corners of the Jacuzzi bath. Which made her think of the previous night when she’d been feeling worse than that time Brit had accidentally flashed the paps & Henry had run her a bubble bath with like her favourite bath salts & these new scented candles that made the whole house smell like spring. And the next thing Eliza knew she was crying. Not cute sniffling; flat out bawling. She didn’t even hear Henry come in but she felt his presence & turned to the comfort of his chest. He caught her & rubbed soothing patterns on her back.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“I’m sorry you feel so terrible all the time.”
“Blame the baby. I know I do,” she stated matter-of-factly before patting her stomach & speaking louder.
“Your Daddy’s a great guy, Baby. Stop messing with my hormones & making me be mean to him.”
She interrupted Henry’s chuckling.
“Hey how come you’re still here? I was crystal with my instructions for you to gtfo.”
“And leave my wife when she’s not feeling well? Absolutely not.”
She held her left hand out. “I always did love Cartier.”
“Heeey!”
“And you. Mostly you,” she said before she gave him a kiss that could leave no room for doubt.