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Shayne Topp is not in love, especially not with his coworker/best friend. Sure, he noticed when she was nervous, by the way they twisted her rings or the way she would constantly run their hands through her hair. Sure, he felt what was like a burst of warmth in his chest whenever he heard her laugh (or even giggle) at one of his stupid jokes. Sure, he knew when they were REALLY smiling by the glint in her eye and the dimple in their cheek, but those were normal attributes to notice about a friend. Sure, he wouldn't describe Damien in that way, but Courtney was different; she was the exception, they were always the exception.
Shayne kept repeating that mantra in his head as he drove over to Courtney's apartment, looking forward to one of their increasingly frequent hangouts as of late. He was nervous, and he didn't know why; this was Courtney, for fucksake, she was the person who had broken down his walls, who understood him and accepted him for who he was without any doubt; he was not going to ruin that because of this consuming feeling of deep, unwarranted longing in his chest.
30 minutes later, Shayne was standing outside Courtney's door, adjusting his backwards hat one last time, before finally giving four rapt knocks on her door. Courtney flung open the door, a beautiful, bright smile gracing their face, and didn’t hesitate to dive towards him in pursuit of a hug. Shayne laughed, stumbling back a few steps with the force wrapping his arms around her waist tightly, sneakily breathing in the citrusy, freshly washed scent of their hair.
After a few minutes, Courtney pulled away, her arms still wrapped loosely around his neck. "Hey," they softly whispered, her head tilting to the side, causing blond strands of messy hair to fall before their eyes. Shayne knew this was his moment to respond, but he couldn't. He was too starstruck by the captivating beauty in front of him, by how good she felt in his arms, and by the way she was looking at him, with those knowing green eyes. They giggled, her eyes crinkling with joy, and said, "We should probably head inside before you short-circuit in front of all my neighbours. I ordered some Pad Thai. Let’s watch a movie whilst we wait.” Before Shayne could stutter out an answer, Courtney was already dragging him into their comforting abode, his wrist burning from her touch.
Shayne sunk into the couch, turning on the TV screen and scrolling through the options as he heard the clattering of dishes and the soft noise of music in the kitchen. Shayne thought he could act normal, but he had already made a fool of himself. He knew that he needed to get himself back under control, and the best way to do it was to keep his distance as much as possible. Courtney (who had gone to change) walked out of her room wearing an oversized hoodie and black shorts. Shayne immediately glanced over, slowly trailing his heated gaze down the length of her body. "Is that my hoodie?" he rasped out, his voice deeper than usual. "Is that a problem?" She teased, a mischievous smirk gracing her face. "No, no, let's just get to it… I've found a film… we can just dive in," he choked out, shifting up the couch. "Have a seat, milady.” Shayne inwardly cringed, groaning softly to himself at the words he had just uttered. Courtney, however, wasn't disturbed and plopped confidently onto the couch next to him. Shayne shuffled away from her and grabbed for the remote, flicking on a movie they had planned on watching for ages, trying his best to ignore all his thoughts and relax.
A few hours later, Shayne noticed that Courtney hadn't spoken for quite a while after their last comment, that Starlord is the epitome of a dream man. He felt the weight of her head on his shoulder and could feel the soft puffs of warm breaths falling from their parted lips. He knew he had to transfer her to her room, so he slipped his arms under their legs and lifted her up in a bridal carry. Courtney's head lolled to the side, resting comfortably against his chest as they made a small noise of contentment, making him smile softly down at her. He easily manoeuvred them over to her room, setting her softly on the bed and pulling the blankets right up to their chin. When he was about to turn away and leave, he felt Courtney grip at his arm, eyes fluttering open. "Please don't leave Shayne, just stay, just for tonight," she sleepily whispered. Shayne paused, rethinking his different options. On one hand, his mind was telling him that staying would be irresponsible, stupid, and would destroy him in the long run; however, on the other hand, his heart was telling him to take this leap and be selfish, even if it was only for one night. He wanted this. He needed this. Shayne threw away all his inhibitions, slipping underneath their covers. Courtney didn't waste any time; she snuggled up to him, tucking their head underneath his chin and throwing her leg over his waist, falling easily back asleep. Shayne felt warm all over, his heart felt like it was bursting with joy; there was no other word to describe this feeling but perfect. He didn't want to fall asleep and let this moment end; he didn't want to wake up tomorrow and pretend that he didn't want her so badly that it sometimes physically hurt; there were a lot of things he didn't want, but he knew what he did want: Courtney. With that thought, Shayne pulled her closer by the waist, breathing in their comforting scent, letting it lull him into sleep.
Golden sunlight streamed through the blind, punctuating Shayne's haze of sleep. He blinked, blue eyes squinting at the light, yawning heavily. After a few seconds, he finally got his bearings, and Courtney's sleeping face came into focus. Shayne's panic hadn’t set in yet, so he allowed this time to study her without any interruption. Pink lips parted, eyelashes casting shadows on her face; they were painfully beautiful and looked so perfectly peaceful in his arms. She shifted, causing a strand of golden hair to fall across their face, but this time Shayne didn't fight the urge to tuck it neatly behind her ear. The movement caused Courtney to wake up, blurry green eyes flickering open. Shayne waited for her to realise where she was, waiting for the anger and confusion that was sure to come. However, Courtney didn't react at all. Their head tilted to the side, examining his face just as he was hers, eyes holding what he could only describe as affection. Shayne didn't want to break the silence, but he knew that he had to. He couldn't hold back anymore. He had to make his realisation of his feelings clear.
He could see Courtney revving up to speak, but before she could he cut her off. “Courtney, I have something to say, but you can't interrupt me until I'm done.” Shayne closed his eyes, grasping for any confidence that he could find to finally speak his mind. " Courtney, I like you… a lot. I don't think I can deal with this ‘ will they, won't they’ friendship anymore. I want more with you. I want to build a life with you, and I've tried ignoring it because we are friends, and I don't want to lose that. But last night, I realised something. I will risk it all just for the chance that you want more, just like I do. I'm not the type to throw around this term lightly, but I've never felt for anyone else like I do you. I love you, Courtney Miller, and please tell me I'm not reading the signals wrong and you feel the same."
Shayne could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and all his senses were on high alert as he waited for her response. Courtney reached out, tentatively cupping his jaw, eyes wide with happiness. "Shayne… I love you too," they smiled, making the corners of her eyes crinkle just the way he adored. He couldn't help it; his fingers cascaded through her hair before tugging their head slightly towards his. Courtney didn't fight it, leaning towards him. Shayne lightly pressed his lips to hers, testing the waters. When they responded eagerly, he deepened it, softly swiping his tongue over her bottom lip to urge them to open up. She opened up with a gasp, his hands tugging slightly more roughly on their hair as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, groaning as their taste overwhelmed him. “Fuck,"he said as his hands trailed to her waist, slipping underneath their shirt, to feel warm,smooth, soft skin. He tangled his tongue with hers more heatedly, biting on their bottom lip just to hear the addicting sound of her moan. When their hands slipped under his shirt, nails scratching trails down his back, he groaned, straying away from her lips, biting and sucking small marks along the sharp edge of their jaw and the lithe lines of her neck,pulling their shirt to the side so he could lave attention to her moles on their collarbone. He knew he was moving too quickly, but being able to trace her skin with his tongue and taste them for the first time was so fucking addicting. He roughly sucked a mark onto their collarbone, causing her to moan his name and arch into him, but before he could go any further, Courtney tugged on his hair, moving him up to be face to face with her again. He licked his lips, panting heavily, causing her swollen lips to quirk up into a smile. "Let's slow down a bit,” they said. After her words, Shayne sobered up, tucking his face into their neck, embarrassedly. "Fuck, that wasn't the plan. I was meant to wine and dine you first," she laughed, playing with his hair appreciatively. He had never felt this much joy and comfort in his life, ever before, and he knew it could only be for one reason. Shayne Topp is in love.