Reader pov

"Do you like caramel?"

"What?"

"Your mouth tastes like caramel."

"Oh shut up." I lean back in to wipe the smug look off of Kipps's face. He's incredibly annoying. He's known for being a heartbreaker. He'll often go on one date and then never talk to them again. He's a jackass and he's pompous and arrogant and thinks he's better than everyone else and I absolutely hate him.

But damn it he is a good kisser.

Currently, we're in the weapons storage room at Fittes. It's noon, nobody ever comes in here at this hour, but we still couldn't risk turning on the lights. It's dark, but not dark enough to the point where I can't see his face. I was simply using the Fittes public library when he pulled me in here.

I pull back. "I should get going-"

He kisses me again. "Just a few more minutes."

"Mmh-" I lean away again. "Seriously, I have to go." He presses another kiss to my lips.

"What's the rush? It's not like either of us has anywhere to be." He pulls me back in.

"Kippy-" I breathe out. "They're going to miss me- George, Lucy, Lockwoo-"

"Ughh what did I say about mentioning him when we do this?" He groans.

"Oh please, no matter how much you pretend it's a major turn off, we both know that you think it's sexy how much we hate each other and Lockwood basically personifies that hatred."

"... You're right." He goes back to kissing me.

"Kipps, really I have to go before they question it."

He sighs. "Fine." He steps away from me, unpinning me from the wall.

I fix my appearance as much as I can. "How do I look?"

"Hot."

"Oh shut up, seriously."

"Fine. You look fine, but you look better when you're beneath me-"

"Oh please we both know that I only let you on top of me because if I didn't all you'd do is whine."

"I could easily dominate you by force-"

"Kipps you are five foot nothing on a good day. We both know who can beat who... Who has beaten who." I smirk.

"Alright well that was before we became friends with benefits-"

"Don't flatter yourself, we aren't friends." I roll my eyes and pick up my bag.

"Right. Well then." He kisses me again. "Until we meet again."

"Until we meet again."

*************

"God your music sucks-" Quill shakes his head and goes back to kissing me.

I lightly push him back using my hand that was already conveniently on his chest. "Excuse you, you can leave then." I smile. "The others are out all night on that case but I suppose I can find other forms of entertainment-"

"No no wait I was joking!" He laughs. "I love this song!"

"Quill this is objectively a terrible song." I shake my head, my smile only widening. "But I still love it."

"Just like I'm objectively a bad person but you still love me~!"

"Oh shut up." I pull him back in to go back to kissing him. "You're not a bad person. You're a dick. But you're not a bad person." I kiss him again. "And I don't love you."

"Sure you don't, sweetheart~" He takes my face in his hands and presses our mouths back together. It's less of a kiss and more giggles and smiles colliding.

*************

"(Y/n)! Where did you go?" I hear Lockwood call from the other side of the door. Quill snorts. I put my finger on his lips.

"Shh!" I glance at the closed door, trying to suppress my own giggles. He puts his hands on my hips.

"Now Darling isn't this risky~?" He whispers. "He's looking for you already. Perhaps he's beginning to catch on that you go missing every time we work together."

"Shut up." I grab both sides of his face and pull him towards me.

*************

I hear a knock and shove Quill away. He glares over at the door. "Who is it and what do you want?"

"It's Bobby! I've made some breakthroughs on that case!" The door starts to open.

"Wait! Uh- just hold on a second!" Kipps and I share a look and I get under his bed. He gets up and grabs a shirt off his floor and puts it on, purposely opening the door before it's all the way on.

"... What the hell were you doing?" I hear Bobby say, his voice slightly unsteady.

"I just got out of the shower. You were about to come in and see much more of me than you would want, dear Bobby." I hear the door shut and Quill sighs as he lays on the bed.

"I doubt that..." Bobby mumbles.

"What was that?" Quill sounds deviously curious.

"Nothing!" Bobby squeaks. "About that case!"

They talk for a good twenty minutes. That doesn't seem long, but it's quite difficult to stay hidden under a bed for that amount of time. Especially when Quill keeps flirting with poor Bobby, who's very obviously interested in him. When they said goodbye, there was a long moment of tense silence before I heard the door close.

"He's gone, Darling."

I slide out with a huff. "Took you long enough."

"What can I say? I was enjoying myself." He shrugs.

"Why were you doing that? Leading him on. He's clearly interested in you, you're an asshole for leading him to believe you feel the same." I sit on the bed.

"Who said I don't feel the same?"

"What?"

"I very much like Bobby. He's a wonderful boy."

"... Oh." I look down. "I suppose I just assumed-"

"You and I just make out, right? No strings attached or anything. Hell, we aren't even friends." He chuckles. "Right?"

"Right. Yeah." I nod. That is what this was supposed to be. I shouldn't be affected by this at all. Someone better tell that to the uneasy feeling in my chest and the burning in the back of my throat.

"Speaking of which~" He sat beside me and snaked and arm around my waist. "Isn't that why you're here?" He smiled and kissed me.

I kissed back, but I really wasn't feeling it.

*************

"Jesus-" I gasp as I get pulled away.

"Shh! It's me." A hand clamps over my mouth. My eyes focus on a certain freckled jackass. He smiles. "Hi."

I tap his wrist, letting him know to pull his hand away. "God Quill you can't just do that!" I whisper shout. "You're insane!"

"I've done it plenty before!" He furrows his eyebrows, the smile falling from his face. "What is your problem as of late? You've been avoiding me. The last time we met up, you felt... like you were uncomfortable the whole time. What's wrong?"

He puts his hands on my hips. I grab his wrists and shove them away. "Nothing is wrong."

"... Oh my god. You've got a boyfriend, haven't you?" He almost raises his voice.

"Shh! Someone will hear you!" I look at the closed door.

How the hell did we end up in another closet?

"Well who is it? Who's the lucky bloke?" He raises an eyebrow. "Jesus Christ don't tell me it's Tony!"

"Oh my god Kipps shut up! Someone is going to hear you!" I insist. "And I don't have a boyfriend! Much less Lockwood! He's too busy making googly eyes at Lucy to even notice I'm gone most of the time."

"The other one then, that little guy with the glasses." He waves his hand around. "What's his name? Jim? Jordan?"

"Do you mean George? God no!" I scrunch my nose. "He's like my brother."

"Well then who-"

"Kipps for the last time I don't have a boyfriend."

"Then what changed?"

"Kipps, we can't be doing this when you have a genuine interest with someone else who shares the feeling!"

"What?" He widens his eyes. "Is this about Bobby?"

"Of course it is!"

"(Y/n) you're not serious! I had a small crush on him but-"

"But nothing Kipps. You can't do this to him." I shake my head and step away from him. "It isn't fair for him." I turn away and leave before he gets a chance to say anything.

*************

"What's got your balloon in a spin?" Lucy asks as she butters her toast.

I pick my head up off the table. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please, you look like your dog died." She sits down across from me. "What is it?"

"... Hangover?"

"I'm not buying that for a second, now come on. Out with it." She gestures for me to speak.

I open my mouth, but before I can say anything, there's a knock at the door. Anthony rushes down the stairs, tightening his tie as he goes. "I'll get it! It's probably a client, don't want their first impression to be one of you lot in pajamas." He flashes his signature smile at us.

I roll my eyes. "I don't know what you see in him, Luce-"

"I- what?" She stammers. "I don't-"

Before she can finish, there's the sound of a rapier being pulled out of the holder by the door. "What are you doing here?" I jolt out of my chair and rush to see what's happening.

"Please, I'm unarmed. Look at me." The voice makes me shaky. Quill?

Lockwood glances down at what Kipps is holding. He sneers. "How delightful, but I'm afraid to say I don't very much like flowers."

Quill scoffs. "It's a good thing they aren't for you then, but I'll be sure to keep that in mind come Valentine's Day." He looks at me. "(N/n) I messed up, but please give me a chance to explain myself."

Everyone snaps their head towards me. "(N/n)?" George questions. "What's going on?"

"I- Quill what are you doing?" I looked around.

"Please, I- look I don't want what we have to end. Whatever it is, I quite enjoy it. Please, allow me to tell you everything. To explain. Won't you?" He looks as if he's about to cry. I look at the flowers in his hand. They're my favorite.

I sigh. "Let me get dressed and we'll grab breakfast, yeah?"

He nods. "Yes! We can go to that place you like! What's it called again? Oh! Goosefoot Café, right?"

"How's he know your favorite breakfast place?" Lucy gives me a smug look.

I ignore her and just nod and run upstairs, quickly changing my clothes and coming back. "Okay, I'm ready." I grab a jacket, turning to my three housemates. "I won't be long, promise."

"You'd best explain yourse-"

I shut the door before Lockwood can finish. "Run!" I tell Kipps.

We both take off into a sprint until we're around the corner at the end of the block. He's laughing, I have a small smile on my lips. Joy. That's the emotion I feel. Pure joy. It's been a while.

We continue walking in silence until we get to the small restaurant. It's colorful. Lots of pastels. It's a very inviting, cozy atmosphere.

We get drinks and sit on the couch next to one another in the lounge area in the back corner. "So? What's going on?" I ask.

"Well... First of all-" He holds out the flowers. "These are for you."

I hesitantly take them. "Why...?"

He sighs. "I don't like Bobby. I never really did. I had a crush on him about a year ago, but nothing intense. Not the way it is with you."

"What? Then why'd you say all those things just the other week?"

"Because I was upset!" He laughs dryly. "I was hurt and upset and angry and I wanted to make you jealous and I wanted a relationship!"

I nearly flinch in shock. "You did?"

"Yes!" He shouts, exasperated. "Yes! I did! I do! I wanted to do more than just kiss you! I wanted to go to dinner with you and watch movies with you and cuddle on my bed with you and let you think I'm upset that you convinced me to let you paint my nails when in reality I'd love it!"

"... That last one was oddly specific-"

"I want to be your boyfriend, (Y/n). Officially. I don't want to just be your, not-friend with benefits. And then you said that that's all we'd ever be and I got upset. I knew Bobby was interested in me, so I thought maybe I just wanted a relationship and I started flirting back with him. I soon realized I was wrong and I stopped it. I don't want a relationship with just anyone, I want one with you. Only you. And maybe I was trying to make you jealous but clearly it's backfired and I just want to go back to making out with you before everything got complicated!"

I take a minute to digest all of that. "Quill I-... You really feel that way about me?"

"Yes!" He's crying. I hadn't noticed that before. "I really really like you! And it's not like anyone else I've gone out with! It's not like a one date thing. I want to be with you for a long time."

"Quill..." I shake my head. "You jackass! You should have just said so! We could have been forcibly nail painting for months now!"

"What?"

"I like you too, Quill." I sigh. "I just didn't want to admit it..."

"God I could twirl you around right now..." He smiles wide. "Thank god! I was so worried-"

"No need to be worried, Kippy. I was too." I smile and take his hand. "You idiot!"

"Me?" He laughs, leaning closer. "You were the one who said we weren't even friends!"

"Oh shut it!" I roll my eyes.

He kisses me. We're both giggling messes, but it's still a great kiss. He's still great at kissing. "Remember how you promised your friends you wouldn't be long? How long is long? because I expect to keep you until I have to go to work tonight~"

I see he's still a pompous jackass too.