Chapter Text
Your arm reached across the bar and wiped it down as you did anytime someone left the bar. Soft tendrils of hair fell down into your face from the messy bun on top of your head. As you finished wiping, you tucked a piece behind your ear. The momentary distraction keeping you from noticing the man who walked in.
“Got any good gin around here?” His voice made you freeze. You knew that voice. That accent. How many times before had you dreamt of hearing that voice in person? And there it was. After only a moment you turned, your hand still tucking the hair back.
You put on a warm smile but your heart was racing and you could feel the blood rushing to your face. “Uh, hi! Yes we do! Here let me show you some!” You replied happily, hoping that turning away from Ben Barnes would be enough to calm your heart down a bit.
You rummaged on the shelves to find three of the highest quality gin. You placed them carefully in front of him. Standing closer to him only made the waft of his cologne hit your nose, making your chest feel tight. He was even more gorgeous up close.
His eyes found you and he cocked an eyebrow. “You alright love?” He asked quietly, his brows furrowing as his jaw clenched slightly. Little things that you had never noticed about another man at the bar before. But this was Ben fucking Barnes. Of course, you’d be staring.
You cleared your throat nervously. “Oh, um yes. It just- I’m a big fan of your work and I guess I’m a bit nervous to meet you” your voice shakily stammered out the words. But Ben, being the sweetheart he is, just held out his hand promptly. “Ben Barnes, obviously,” he laughed. That laugh made your stomach flip.
Your hand slipped into his effortlessly, the warmth radiating from his palm felt like a fire was being lit into your bloodstream. “y/n” you said politely with a soft nervous giggle of your own. But the way his hand held onto yours and the way his smile made those little wrinkles by his eyes appear, made your heart feel suddenly calm.
He finally let go of your hand and turned his attention back to the bottles. Both of his arms came onto the bar crossing over as he leaned in to read the labels. “So” he started as you realized you were staring again and forced your eyes to look at the bottles instead.
“You’re a fan of my work hm? What have you seen?” His eyes didn’t leave bottles as he spoke but his finger reached out to touch the label probably to more easily read the fine print. You took a sharp breath in before responding.
“Well, let’s see. I think Prince Capsian was my first experience with you-” why did you word it like that? Ben’s eyes found your face and suddenly he smiled, his teeth showing through his beard. “I mean cinematically of course” you quickly covered your tracks. Ben chuckled quietly before his eyes went back to the bottles.
He had probably finished reading the labels a while ago. He was a smart man. “And I’ve seen The Big Wedding, Dorian Grey, The Punisher, Westworld, Gold Digger..” you held out your fingers trying to recall everything.
Ben sat back and looked at you as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Impressive list” he said with a slow nod of his head. “You weren’t kidding when you’re said you were a fan,” he said, his face showing his genuine impression.
You felt the heat grow in your cheeks. Ben must have noticed the color change too because he was smiling brighter at you. You turned your eyes away to look at the bottles as you stepped closer and placed a hand on one.
“Made a choice?” You ask finally looking to him and noticing his eyes didn’t budge from you. Not in a creepy way but an endearing way. Ben just had this air about him that you could just tell he was a really nice human being.
His hand came forward and his pointer finger landed softly on your hand to point at the bottle you just happened to touch. “That one,” his voice rang into your ears softly before he pulled back and chewed on his lower lip quickly.
After pouring him a glass, you found that no one else had come into the bar in some time. Perhaps it was a security thing to make sure Ben wasn’t disturbed but having a bit of alone with one of your celeb crushes wasn’t exactly a bad time. You set the glass in front of him and smiled weakly. “Enjoy” you spoke warmly, trying to ease your nerves.
You turned around and busied yourself with wiping down another part of the bar. You were sure there was no reason to but how rude would it be to just stare at Ben as he drank gin from a glass? You took the opportunity to slip your phone from your front pocket and do a quick little search.
This had to be some sort of boredom dream right? Or someone just doing a really good impersonation of Ben Barnes? Right? Your fingers flew across the digital keyboard, holding out a glimmer of hope that this wasn’t real. But it was. There it was. An Instagram story posted only an hour before with the location tag of the hotel you were currently stood in. Damn.
Ben cleared his throat as the sound of the glass touching the wooden bar top hit you. You spun feeling like a deer caught in headlights. He gave you a curious look then smiled warmly. “That was excellent. You have great taste” he sat back and you noticed a little twinkle in his eye.
Was he… flirting? There was no possible way Ben Barnes would be flirting with you. There just wasn’t. He was Ben Barnes and you were just… you. This was just his smile, his kind demeanor getting the better of your hormones.
Just then a large man in a suit came into the bar behind you. “Mr. Barnes, your car is ready.” Ben gave the man a quick nod and held up a finger to signal to give him a minute. Ben turned his attention back to you and you smiled nervously.
Ben stood and reached into his pocket pulling out a genuine leather wallet. Because of course, he would have one. He placed a few bills on the bar and placed his glass over them, locking his gaze with your eyes the entire time. “Don’t lift the glass till I’m gone” he instructed and you nodded with a half-smirk. “Nice to meet you y/n. See you around” he said with a slight tap on the bar before leaving.
The moment he was out of your sight you let out a breath you didn’t know you had been holding. Your eyes immediately zoned in on the empty glass with dollar bills under it. Swallowing a hard lump you move toward it and picked up the glass daintily. Under it was four 20-dollar bills. Far more than the drink was worth. He had left you a nearly 120% tip.
Your hands moved slowly to pick up the bills, your eyes wider and your mouth agape. This was a mistake. Ben just didn’t realize what he was taking out of his wallet. You finally turned and used the cash to close out his tab which was not nearly the amount he had given you. You decided to pocket the cash for now but would need to find out which room he was staying in to give back the money.