Work Text:
It was a cool night at Shady Belle. Off in the far distance you could hear the rumble of thunder but it had yet to reach camp. Dark clouds slowly crept closer to your celebrations though everyone seemed too happy to care. Jack was finally home and Dutch decided it was time to relax and have a party. Some people downed as many bottle of beers as possible but you took a steady approach to the alcohol. Sure, you were tipsy but looking around at Kieran and Pearson, you knew you weren’t that drunk.
At the beginning of the celebrations, Javier played his guitar and everyone sang along but since then, he kept to himself. He watched on as everyone chatted and laughed together, enjoying the moment. You were always sweet on Javier, some of the others picked up on this and teased you but you always brushed it off. Javier was a great friend to you, someone you could always rely on and talk to for hours. The thoughts of messing up your friendship with him by confessing your feelings was terrifying and so you never mentioned how you truly felt to him.
It was late though most people were still awake and enjoying the night. You glanced around camp until your eyes settled on Javier. He was sitting by himself, an empty beet bottle on the table in front of him as he watched people gather by the campfire.
You sat down at the table, across from Javier. “How’s your night been?” you asked, sparking up conversation. Javier had a relaxed smile on his face as he looked over at you, his attention completely focused on you now. “It’s been good,” he nodded to himself “it’s nice to see everyone smiling again”. As you agreed with him, Dutch strolled by and went to his tent. You paid no attention to Dutch, too busy getting lost in Javier’s warm eyes.
“What about you?” Javier turned the question on you, nudging your foot underneath the table “Are you having a good time?”.
“Yeah, I think everyone needed something good to happen” you shrugged, hearing another low rumble of thunder. The clouds were much closer now, looming over camp.
“So I was wondering if uh…” Javier trailed off as Dutch put a record on his gramophone and began to loudly play music. You thought that there might’ve been another deep grumble of thunder but it was hard to hear over the classical music.
Lowering your eyes to the table, you watched as Javier extended his arm and opened his hand to you. “May I have this dance?” he asked. Trying to contain your smile, you nodded and took his hand.
Javier led you out to an open area in the middle of camp before gently guiding you into position. Keeping your hand in his, Javier placed his other hand on your waist. “Is this ok?” he asked, not wanting to overstep any boundaries.
“Yeah but I’m not the best dancer” you warned him, putting your other hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry,” he assured you, leaning a little closer “between you and me, I’m not a good dancer either”.
Beginning a little awkwardly, you both began to sway to the music. Slowly, ye relaxed and became more comfortable, Javier opting to move his other hand down by your waist too as you wrapped both of your arms around his neck.
It wasn’t anything fancy. He didn’t dramatically dip you or twirl you around and around. Javier didn’t need to do any of that to make you feel special.
Just as you were fully embracing the moment, the rain started to fall. In the background, you could hear some of the others complain about the rain as they rushed inside Shady Belle, yet you and Javier stayed where you were. Neither one of you made any effort to let go and run for cover.
You rested your head by his collarbone, savouring his warmth. Making your ears perk up, Javier cleared his throat “You know, I was about to ask you something before Dutch started up his gramophone”. “What was the question?” you coaxed, subconsciously playing with the ends of his hair. You didn’t notice you were doing it, too relaxing to realise. But Javier noticed and it made him hold you a little tighter, craving your touch.
“I was wondering if maybe you’d like to get a drink sometime, just the two of us” he hoped you couldn’t hear how his heart was loudly thumping in his chest. You tried to play it cool but it was hard to mask your excitement in your voice. “Like a date?” you asked.
“That’s what I was thinking,” replied Javier “but if you don’t want it to be a date then don’t worry, we can just hang out as friends”.
“No, I like it being a date” you assured him, tilting your head up to look at him properly.
“You do?” Javier’s eye went wide. He didn’t expect that, in fact Javier had already prepared himself for that awkward ‘we can still be friends though, right?’ conversation.
“Then it’s a date” he smiled, his face only a mere few inches away. Instinctively, your eyes flicked down to his lips before shyly looking away. Your body felt hot but thankfully the rain helped keep you cool.
In a voice just above a whisper, Javier said your name. You expectantly looked back at him again and before you had time to think, Javier’s lips were on yours. It was a sweet, lingering kiss as his lips delicately pressed against yours.
It ended too soon for your liking but Javier made up for that by whispering “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time”. You were happy Javier had his arms wrapped around you in case you swooned as your heart swelled with passion. “I have too” you giggled, feeling the excitement rush through your veins. Javier gave a little, slightly relived chuckle as he began to sway with you to the music again. The thunder was much closer now and the rain continued to pour down on you both yet somehow, everything felt perfect and you continued to dance.