Work Text:
It was a quiet night. Hazel had decided to spend her time in her dorm. After a chaotic day of running around, Hazel was grateful for this moment to herself. Laying down on her bed, she had her sketchbook in front of her and was drawing away, humming to herself.
Her ears perked up when there was a knock on her door. Surprised, she got up to look, shuffling towards the door. When she got to the door, she opened it.
Kendrick was standing there, looking nervous. He had his hands behind his back and his ears were drooping. He glanced up at her when the door opened. “Hazel, hi! Look, I’m sorry for being here so late, but I really wanted to show you something.”
Hazel was immediately intrigued. “Oh, that’s okay. I wasn’t planning on sleeping anytime soon. What did you need?” She stepped aside to allow him to come inside, but he shook his head.
“Well, I wanted to invite you to come to one of my shows…” he trailed off, and held something out to her. Hazel took it, seeing it was a flyer advertising a show being done by Kendrick.
Hazel looked back up at him after inspecting the flyer for a few seconds. “I didn’t know you did shows. This looks fun, sure, I’ll go.”
Kendrick almost looked surprised. “Really? You would?”
“Yeah, I’ll come! I’ll love to support you.” She said with a shrug. Kendrick smiled at her with a look of relief on his face.
“Thank you so much Hazel, I really appreciate it… my other friends don’t usually come to my shows, but I figured…” he trailed off, looking away and nervously tapping his fingers together. “You’d want to go?”
Hazel felt a flash of irritation at the mention of his friends, but she didn’t say anything. “I would love to.” She said reassuringly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Thank you… time and date are on the flyer. I’m looking forward to seeing you there.” He sighed, his arms falling to her sides. “I’ll get out of your hair now. Thanks again.”
Hazel waved to him as she watched him walk down the hallway and then shut the door. Nose twitching, she glanced down at the flyer in her hand again as a smile crossed her face. She had known Kendrick played the guitar, but until this point she hadn’t known he was doing shows. She was looking forward to going to it and seeing him play.
Walking to her desk, she grabbed a thumbtack and pinned it to her bulletin board, front and center. Then she made her way back to her bed and laid down with her snout buried in her arms. She glanced at her sketchbook as an idea crossed her mind. She grabbed it and began to draw, with much more passion than before.
After a while she had a full sketch page, and put her pencil down and looked at what she had drawn. Kendrick, as she had been more and more recently. She couldn’t help herself, he was just so cute to her.
Sighing thoughtfully, she rested her head on her hand and looked back up at the flyer, squinting her eyes and studying it carefully. The show was just a few days away, and at a bar. She usually didn’t go to bars… but for Kendrick, she would.
I really can’t wait to see him perform.. I bet he’ll be great. Should I bring my sketchbook along? Or would he think it’s weird I’ve been drawing him?
Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts,
she tried desperately not to think about Kendrick and how hard she was crushing on him. She felt so happy he had invited her to come… she grabbed her sketchbook and held it to her chest, squealing with joy and kicking her feet.
-
Hazel felt a bit out of place at this bar. She sat quietly at a table by herself, close to where the stage was. She hoped Kendrick could see her and know she was there to support him. But if he had noticed her, he hadn’t made any show of it.
He had finished up a while ago, and had disappeared backstage. She felt awkward, tapping her pointer finger against the table. An empty plate and a half drank drink sat beside her alongside her sketchbook. She had drawn Kendrick a few times while she was watching and planned on giving it to him when he came back out.
She had tuned the chatter of the bar out a long time ago. Her ears were pointed upwards, pricked, as she waited for Kendrick’s return.
A door opened by the stage, and Kendrick came out. He looked tired, eyes half closed as he shut the door behind him. He seemed to linger where he was, standing there with arms crossed. He scanned the crowd of people, and Hazel realized he was looking for her. She stood up and grabbed her sketchbook and made her way over to him.
Kendrick’s eyes lit up when he saw her. He opened his arms as she walked over, and hugged her. “Hazel! You came, I hoped you would.” Then more shyly he added, “…did you enjoy the show?”
Hazel gave an excited little bounce. “Yes! It was great. I really liked it, thank you for inviting me.”
Kendrick smiled sheepishly. “Of course. I’m really happy you came.”
Hazel suddenly remembered the sketchbook she was holding. “Oh, I have something for you.” Before Kendrick could respond, she thrust it into his hands and pointed at the drawings she had done. At first he looked confused, and then his eyes widened.
“You… drew me?” He said, sounding as if he couldn’t believe it. “Hazel, this is amazing!” He looked up at her with shining eyes, and a big smile on his face.
Hazel nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, I decided to bring my sketchbook along.. I like to doodle. I usually don’t show people my doodles, but…” she trailed off, rubbing the back of her head. “I really wanted you to see it this time around.” Hazel quickly realized what she had said, and immediately felt embarrassed.
But Kendrick looked interested. “This time around?” He asked, his gaze flicking between her and the sketchbook in his hands. “Do you doodle me a lot..? I mean, I remember when you gave me that drawing you did of me, but I kind of assumed it was a one time thing.”
Hazel nervously scratched her cheek. “Haha, yeah, I do doodle you a lot.. you’re just, really fun to draw.”
“Wow, I didn’t realize you liked me that much.” Kendrick’s tone was teasing, but Hazel knew how accurate that statement was.
With shaky arms, she raised her hand and pointed at her sketchbook again. “Uh, if you look through that, you’ll see more.”
“Woah. That’s so cool.” Kendrick said. Then he stood up straighter and folded his arms. “Hey, Hazel. Would you mind helping me get everything packed up? After that… maybe we could go back to your dorm and look through your sketchbook.”
Hazel glanced at the stage and then back at Kendrick. “Okay. Sure, I’ll help.”
“Great.” Kendrick said. He gave Hazel the sketchbook back and began walking towards the stage. As he passed her, he patted her head. Hazel turned and watched as he went. A small smile crept onto her face. That went so much better than she had hoped. Tonight had turned out great. She shoving her sketchbook into her bag, she ran to catch up with Kendrick. He grinned at her as she appeared beside him.