Falice One Shots by falicewins

When I Look At You

FP fiddled with his tie, trying to readjust it so it wouldn't irritate his skin. It wasn't that often that he'd wear a suit, definitely not a fancy one like this. He wore a uniform from work, but that wasn't as long as uncomfortable as what he was wearing now. Not that it was necessarily the fabric or the tie that was bothering him, it was more so the fact that all this wasn't just.... him.

But then he looked sideward and realized for who he was doing this. Alice Smith. The woman of his dreams, the one he had the privilege to wake up to every morning. A few years ago that seemed very unlikely, but they had beat the odds. Though, it was hard not to feel intimidated by the people they were around.

He had scanned every single person in the room, and to be fair, he could take them all in a fist fight. But that wasn't what he was afraid of. It was the fact that they were all so intelligent. She laughed when they made a joke about something he would never understand. Her eyes beamed so brightly when one of them complimented her on her work. It was loud and clear that he didn't belong her, but he was there to support his girl.

So, there he stood, in the middle of a journalism conference in a suit that he hated, surrounded by people that got on his nerves. But she was standing next to him, which for now was enough. Though, it was hard to concentrate on what they were talking about as it wasn't his area of expertise.

"FP? Honey, are you listening?" Alice snapped him out of his thoughts and now he was back on earth he realized they had been talking to him. His cheeks flushed as shame took over him. He didn't want to show that he hadn't been focussing, so he looked straight into the eyes of the man Alice had been talking to.

"It's okay, Alice. I'm Marcus, but everybody calls me Marc. Nice to meet you, FP." He held his hand out for FP to shake, which he accepted. His gaze on him didn't break for a second.

"I'm Forsythe Pendelton Jones, but everybody calls me FP." All he could give him was a small smile that made the situation even more uncomfortable for the two men. Marc had no clue why the man in front of him was acting so weird, so he focussed back on Alice.

"I was just telling Alice how impressed I was by her exposé. It's been a long time since I've seen something like that, I bet they will turn it into a book." Marc smiled at her and as FP looked at her, he saw how happy she was with that compliment.

This was exactly the type of men that got her. He was a journalist, he understood her work, he was attractive, not shy but also not full of himself. It was as if her perfect match had walked into here, and he had to watch all that.

"In a way, it has been a very personal story, unlike anything else I've ever written before. It means the world to me that my work gets recognized." She smiled kindly, and he placed his hand on her arm as he returned her smile. FP saw the small gesture, the touch that made him fire up inside. But he couldn't make a scene here, so he took a breath and looked away.

"I'm going to get something to drink. I'll be right back." It wasn't more than an absentminded whisper, leaving Alice and Marc confused as they saw him walking away. FP couldn't even see that, as he was stuck in his own thoughts, oblivious for his surroundings.

He hated this part of himself. He didn't want to be jealous. That wasn't like him, was it? Why did he feel that way about something so simple and so small? His story with Alice was unlike anything else and he counted himself lucky every single day that she was his. Maybe it was the fear that one day that would all be over. That he'd lose it all again.

It could have been five minutes wherein he was gone, or it could have been hours, he truly had no idea. Whenever his thoughts started to spiral, he lost total track of time. But there was a hand on his shoulder, that made him realize again where he was.