Chapter Text
I look up from my phone and see Bash enter the room with three bags of food from the Thai restaurant down the street.
“Babe!” I laugh, “There’s only two of us. I don’t know who you’re expecting to eat all of that”
He giggled slightly and replied, “Well I guess we’ll just have leftovers tomorrow.”
My smile fades, “Except tomorrow we’ll be on a flight back to London”
Bash sighs and looks at me, “I wish we could stay here forever, you know?”
And I do know. We’ve been in Spain for six days now, taking a vacation that we were craving so badly. It’s not that we haven’t seen each other every day. We’ve gone to events, traveled to Paris, and explored nearly every inch of London this summer. Yet at the end of the night we’re always back in Bash’s house under the eyes of his parents who love and support us greatly, but don’t seem to understand our desire for privacy.
If it isn’t his parents, it’s my mum. Or it’s Connor, who is amazing and a great friend but also at times prevents us from spending time alone together. It’s not always a bad thing, God knows we need our friends and other people in our lives. Yet it’s times like this, this week, where I remember how incredible it is to be alone with Bash.
Bash is unlike anyone I’ve ever met. The world knows him as a confident, goofy, and genuinely kind human being. All of that is true, but only I know him as the hopeless romantic who cries during rom coms and wouldn’t dare to hurt a fly. I know him as the secret nerd who sometimes finds himself apologizing for going on a tangent on something he’s passionate about, even though I tell him not to be sorry. It’s cute.
I go to get up and get food but Bash shakes his head and points to where I’m sitting. “No need to get up babe, I’ll bring you your food.”
“Thank you,” I say with a blush on my face. It’s the little things that he does that make my face turn red and make me feel like a little kid. It’s things he doesn’t even realize mean a lot to me, like how he bought my toothpaste and my own toothbrush for his house, or how he always leaves two bites of his food and says he’s full, when I know that he’s really just letting me have a taste.
After piling on more than enough food for the both of us on two plates, he joins me on the bed and we eat with little to no talking besides a few comments about how good it is, just watching the local news on the hotel TV.
After we finished eating I grabbed the remote and turned off the TV, before turning myself so I’m laying facing Bash and wrapped my hand over him. “I sometimes can’t believe this is my life,” I say to him.
“Which part?” He chuckles, “You being the star of a Netflix show or you eating Thai food in a hotel in Spain?”
“Well, both,” I reply, “But I was thinking more of the ‘being in another country with my sexy boyfriend of over a year’”.
Bash grinned as he pulled me so I’m basically laying on top of him and started rubbing circles on my arms, “I could say the same thing. Who would’ve thought that we would’ve found each other? Must be fate.”
I smile like an idiot back at him, “Must be.” Then I start to laugh, “Remember how we got together?”
“Do I remember?!?” Bash exclaimed, faking being offended, “Of course I bloody remember it was only the best day of my life!”
“Tell me your side of the story,” I beg him. He’s told it to me before but I would do anything to hear it again. I have my own perspective on how everything happened, how I had a crush that seemed hopeless and how I confided in Yaz and she helped to hype me up enough to imagine it working out. It didn’t occur to me until Bash first told me his side, that he had a similar situation.
“Again?”
“Please?” I whisper before placing a lingering kiss on his cheek.
“Okay,” he sighs, “You’re lucky you’re beautiful. It’s impossible to say no to you”
I just laugh and settle in comfortably next to Bash, my hand resting on his chest.
“So it all started when we first got the cast list……
——Flashback: Bash’s POV———
“See anyone you recognize?” Connor asks over FaceTime.
“Ummm…the guy who played young Elton John in rocketman is playing Nick” I say.
“Who’s Charlie!” I hear Emilia ask from behind Connor.
“Yeah I wanna see who beat you out for the role,” Connor agreed.
“His name is Joe Locke,” I replied. “This is his first professional role and there’s not a picture attached so I don’t know what he looks like”
“Hm. Well, you have to let us know when you meet him what he’s like. I hope he’s a terrible actor and they regret not casting you as Charlie” Connor said.
“Stop that!” I laughed, “I wasn’t right for it anyway. And I hope he’s amazing I really want this show to be good.”
“Well in that case, I hope he’s at least sexy since you do have to kiss him” Emilia interjects.
“Oh yeah,” I say, “I kind of forgot about that part”
“We’ve got to go but tell us when you meet him! Bye Bash!”
“Bye Connor, bye Emilia”
——-End Flashback———-
“I keep forgetting to bring this up to Connor!” I laughed, “He wanted me to be terrible!”
“Look at you now,” Bash smiled, “best mates”. And that was true. A great part of my relationship with Bash is that his friends became my own, and mine his. It’s one big interconnected web of friends and nothing makes me happier.
“Keep going,” I urge him to continue the story
“Okay, then there was the first time that we met in person after only seeing you on Zoom….
——Flashback: Bash’s POV——
message from Joe Locke in HEARTSTOPPER 🍃: hey guys! I’m in London for the weekend and was wondering if any of you were free and wanted to grab lunch tomorrow. It’d be great to meet some of you in person before rehearsals start :)
Jenny: Count me in! Would love to meet my little bro
Yaz: Me too!!!!
Will: Me three!
Kit: Me four!
I smiled as I typed back, “me five”
And less than twenty four hours later I found myself at a bakery with five of my cast mates all meeting for the first time.
I spotted Joe first. There was no missing his signature black curls that sat perfectly on his face. He was wearing an oversized sweater and some tan trousers and he looked nervous as hell.
As I began to walk towards him I was intercepted by the others, who had all seemingly just arrived as well. I gave my hugs to Jenny Will Kit and Yaz before I finally got to Joe.
“So nice to finally meet you,” I said as I reached out and hugged him. He hugged me back almost nervously and I could smell the faint cologne on his sweater.
“You too,” he said
For the entire time that we sat in the bakery Joe barely spoke to me. He wasn’t a super outgoing person in general, but he at least seemed to make an effort with everyone else. He sat beside me for two hours and hardly even looked my way, let alone ask me a question about myself.
It wasn’t until I was on my way home that I realized that Jenny hadn’t really talked to me either. Yet somehow my mind only cared about Joe. It bothered me that he hadn’t talked to me, because god knows I wanted to talk to him. He was so new to the industry and still in school and balancing a million things at once and he intrigued me. He was also stupid funny and I found myself laughing a lot at what he said. And yes, I’ll admit, he was gorgeous.
I wouldn’t say that I have a type, but if you look at the boys that I’ve had crushes on before, Joe doesn’t seem to fit in the same category. Yet I couldn’t have been more drawn to him from just the first time that I met him. His face was flawless and his curly hair was just so distinctly him and fit his personality perfectly. I was aware of the fact that he didn’t really acknowledge me and did not want to get my hopes up, so I refused to call it a crush. Besides, he was two years younger than me and was new to the industry and I didn’t want to pursue something with him in case he didn’t feel the same (which it seemed clear he didn’t) or he thought badly of me. So instead I tried to suppress the way he made me feel and told myself it was a bad idea to mix business with pleasure.
——-End Flashback ———-
“I didn’t talk to you because I was nervous!” I exclaimed, “I was sitting next to the most attractive man I have ever met- I could barely breathe let alone talk to you!”
“Oh stop it,” Bash laughed, “It’s okay. The story just gets better from here”.
—-Flashback: Bash’s POV——
Weeks went by and our group chat became more and more active. I quickly learned that everyone had a great sense of humor and i found myself laughing at my phone constantly. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t send a rush of excitement through my veins whenever I got the notification that Joe Locke has liked a message that I sent.
Two weeks after our first meeting everyone came to London. Rehearsals had barely begun but as a cast we wanted to do some bonding. We hung out almost everyday, and each time Joe and I talked more and more.
I learned that we had very similar tastes in music, we debated our favorite movies, and he told me story after story of what life was like growing up in the Isle of Man. I found that I could tell him anything, and even realized I was sharing stuff that only my closest friends know. It wasn’t uncommon during these days for the rest of the cast to turn around as we were walking somewhere and see the two of us lagging behind, deep in conversation.
Yaz brought it up to me first.
“Seems like you and Joe have gotten pretty close,” she said to me one night that we went out for drinks.
“Yeah,” I smiled, “we have”
“You look good together,” she says casually, as she sips on her martini
“Oh no no no,” I stammered, “It’s not like that”
Yaz raised an eyebrow at me, “But you like him, I can tell.”
“I mean, I like him a lot as a friend. He’s super funny and easy to talk to and we have a lot in common”
“Yeah okay,” Yaz rolled her eyes, “Get back to me whenever you’re finally ready to admit you have a crush”
It turns out that I was ready to admit it only two hours and four drinks later.
“I knew it!” Yaz laughed, “I knew it I knew it I knew it,”
“Ughhhh,” I groaned as I put my head down on the table, “What do I do? I don’t know how he feels and don’t want to weird him out or make him uncomfortable. But Yaz I really really like him.”
“Well I think that he likes you too,” she replied. “You can just tell.”
“How?” I asked, “He’s given me no reason to think that he does”
“That’s not true! He’s always gravitating to you and trying to be next to you. Even when we all go out together he still finds a way to talk just to you.” Yaz insisted, “He’s a little younger than you and is probably too scared to be forward so he just spends all his time with you”
“Could it even work out?” I asked as I ignored everything she just told me, “I mean we’re working together. Rehearsals are about to start and i don’t want to cause any problems on set, especially if it didn’t work out”
Yaz smiled at me, “You want to date him don’t you”
“Have I not made that extremely obvious?” I scoffed
“Well I knew you had a crush on him, I couldn’t tell if you just wanted a fling or to hookup”.
“No no no,” I quickly responded, “Joe deserves so much more than just a hookup. I want to take him out on dates and go to the theater with him and I want him to show me the Isle of Man and I’ll show him my favorite spots in London and…”
Yaz cut me off with a laugh, “My GOD you’re such a hopeless romantic”
“I know,” I sighed
“Just promise me you’ll try,” she said earnestly, “I’m not telling you to flat out tell Joe that you like him, but don’t be afraid to flirt. I think you’d be surprised at his reaction”
“Fine”
“Good”
——-End Flashback——-
“Bash!” I exclaimed, “If you had just listened to Yaz we could’ve been together so much sooner. Instead we had to wait all the way until the party”
“Speaking of, let’s get to it. The best day of my life….”
——Flashback: Bash’s POV——
I had tried to take Yaz’s advice but I just couldn’t seem to flirt. I was so scared of rejection that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. That was fine, though, as we were still growing closer every day and soon we were hanging out together without any of the other cast members.
Before we knew it rehearsals were over and we were going to start filming in a week. To celebrate, I decided to throw a little party for the cast and some crew in the flat I was renting out. I hung streamers and hooked up my speaker and we just had a great night.
As usual, Joe and I were attached at the hip. When I went to pick up the food, he came with me. When I brought Tobie and Kizzy to see my room, Joe tagged along although he has seen it before.
Yaz kept making faces at me all night, seemingly trying to get me to make a move. At one point she pulled me aside, “Filming starts next week!” She whispered, “Do you really want your first kiss with Joe to be in front of a bunch of cameras?”
“Shhhhh,” I hissed back, “He doesn’t like me like that”. With that Yaz rolled her eyes and went across the room to talk to Kit and Will.
Before I knew it, it was late and people began to leave. Soon it was just me Yaz and Joe beginning to clean up my kitchen. Suddenly Yaz went, “I’m going to head out but thanks so much for everything Bash!” And before I could respond she walked out the door after giving me a look and winking.
Joe continued to stay and help me clean up. “You don’t have to stay you know,” I said as I stepped on a stool to take some decorations down.
“I know,” he said as he looked me in the eyes, “But I want to.”
I couldn’t tell if he was blushing or if my mind was making that up. I shrugged and said, “Suit yourself, but if you’re here I’m putting you to work”
Joe smiled, “Bring it on”
After about half an hour of scrubbing and mopping and throwing away plates and cups, we were done.
“Thank you so much,” I sighed, exhausted from the night, “This would’ve taken so much longer without you”
“Of course,” Joe nodded, “Happy to do it.”
Suddenly it seemed like the air had shifted and there was a growing tension between us. Neither of us knew what to say, which was something that had never been a problem between the two of us.
“I guess I should go….” Joe said awkwardly
“Yeah…” I replied just as awkwardly as I walked over to hug him goodbye.
“Thanks again for tonight Bash,” he said as we hugged.
“Any time,” I said
By this point we had been hugging for far longer than the usually acceptable goodbye hug between friends. I went to pull away as to not make it more awkward, but found that Joe wasn’t taking his arms away, and instead pulled me back closer to him.
Finally after nearly thirty seconds he let go and stared into my eyes, flashing me a shy smile. Before I knew what was happening he reached up to grab the back of my neck and brought his lips to mine.
For a moment I couldn’t process anything, and could only register that a soft pair of lips were on mine. It wasn’t until he pulled away that I realized I was too stunned to have reciprocated the kiss, when I saw his face red and embarrassed.
“I-I’m sorry,” he began to panic, “I’m so sorry,”
But I grabbed his face with my hands and brought him in for another kiss, this time not letting him control it. His hands wrapped around my waist while mine stayed holding his face, his hair, his neck.
When we pulled apart we kept our foreheads connected, lightly panting with huge grins on our face.
“I-I never thought I’d have the courage to do that,” Joe admitted, slowly becoming more shy again.
“I never thought you would either,” I admitted, “But I’ve been hoping you would.”
“Really?” He asked as he looked up to me expectantly, looking so adorable that it physically hurt my heart.
“Yes really,” I smiled, “I’ve had a crush on you since the first day I met you,”
“I’ve had a crush on you since then too,” Joe sheepishly told me, “But I thought that you were dating Connor”.
“Connor?!” I asked, shocked. “Oh my God no he’s like my brother!”
“Well I didn’t know!” He defended before bursting into giggles, “Why are we like this?”
“I don’t know,” I laughed back. “But I like it”.
“I like it too”.
—-End Flashback——
“Oh my God Joe are you crying?” Bash asked me as I wiped a tear from my eyes.
“Shut up! Just a little bit. How can you not? I just think about how scared I was to kiss you and I just wish that little Joe could see us now. I mean it’s been almost a year and a half and we’re as strong as ever.”
“I love when you’re sappy,” Bash said as he kissed my forehead, “It makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only cheesy romantic”.
“What can I say, you bring it out of me,” I smiled.
“I love you so much Joe”
“I love you more” I insisted, fully meaning it. I loved Bash more than anyone else in the world. It was a feeling that I knew I would never feel for anyone else, it was reserved for him.
That night we fell asleep, me holding onto Bash, our hands intertwined, and I remembered that we would be heading back home to London. While the thought makes me a little sad, I also know that life goes on, and life is a whole lot better when Bash is by my side.