NOTES ;
okay but y'all,,
the tension that I'm building
with the reader and onceler
in this chapter- -
i rlly really hope
you all like it 🥺 .
• • •
Onceler stared up at the ceiling from his bed. His hands rest over the pit of his stomach, a somber appearance tracing around his body. He hasn't spoken much at all for the past couple of days. Mostly just important things he needed to tell you, or asking if you wanted anything to eat.
You try not to watch him too much from your seated position at the window, but it was kind of hard to take your eyes off of him when he was looking so glum.
Your elbow was rested against the window frame, cheek in hand, and you'd been gently spinning side to side on the stool that was properly placed in front of his factory blueprints. They hadn't been finished yet, but it was close. You assumed he'd given up on it, given the circumstances he was under. It looked the same since the last time you'd viewed over it, which was a week ago.
"I think we should get out of the house for a bit." You finally mustered up the courage to talk to him. You'd been biting your tongue, holding on to each thought you wanted to say, but in case you broke his trance, you decided to keep it quiet.
Blue eyes flick over to you, and he sighs softly. "I don't really feel like it today. Sorry, Y/N."
He then rolls over to his side, back facing you.
You blink a couple of times at his body, and then stand up. "Okay, that's it." You were determined to get his ass up and out of that bed. He's been sad for too long now, and this was starting to make you depressed.
You find yourself at the side of his bed, which he tries to ignore, but you had other plans of making him notice.
"Get uuuup," you grab his wrist and pull so that his weight would shift and he'd be laying on his back. "What are you doing?" He asks, rolling to his backside.
It worked, after a few minutes of struggling. You smile down at him, who only looked up at you confused in turn. "Helping you get up."
"I don't need help to get up, I wan—"
"Too bad!" You grab his other wrist, and pull him to sit upward. It took WAY more effort to do that, than to roll him over to his back. He was watching you struggle, and clearly, was becoming amused by it, more or less.
He dead weighted, allowing himself to lay back as you battled with him to pull his body forward. "Come on! You're making this hard," you pout, soon letting go and watching as he allows himself to fall back. He smiles weakly up at you with a chortle. "And you're making me more tired."
You grab his hands again, and pull him forward as another trial to see how far up you could get him. He smirks and leans his body back quickly, which only made the momentum of you, who was still holding onto his arms, to go forward. Your body got pulled onto the bed because you never ended up letting go of him.
He laughs, and you stare down at him below, who you were now practically on top of.
"Hi," you mumble, scrambling to get off of him.
His face flushed a very light tone of pink, and he sat up quickly, nervousness in his smile.
"Uhah- - I sorta thought you'd just fall over," he watches as you sit beside him now, feet hanging over the side of the bed.
"Uhuh, sure." You turn over your shoulder at him and smirk, earning a darker flush across his face.
"What?! No, seriously, I-I —"
"I'm kiiidding, relax." You nudge him with a lighter smile. Not that you really minded, anyway. He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward hand as the two of you catch each other's gaze for a moment.
"Oh, right." He mumbled. "Duh," his laugh escapes again, sheepish.
"Soo . ." You trail off, looking down to his hand. "You gonna get up now?"
"If I have to." He gives you a crooked frown, to which you only gave him a straight smile of much un-amusement in turn.
"You have to." You make a grab for his hand, and lock your fingers with his. He looks at you curiously before you give in to a little smirk once you feel his fingers accepting yours. "I'm sorry your Thneed didn't work out."
He looks away, letting out a nervous laugh. "It's fine. It was probably just too ahead of it's time."
"You'll have more chances . . this was only one town. Try to think of it that way." You offer him a soft smile. He accepts that too, and gives your hand a little squeeze.
There's a brief moment of silence between you two as you find yourself actually feeling slightly uneasy with his hand in yours. It began to click in your head that, you two were sitting together, holding hands, and there was nothing to interrupt it. You could even kiss him if you wanted to- - and damn did you want to.
Your eyes traveled to his lips, then down to his neck, and after that, you noticed he saw this too. Your vision darts back to his eyes and you flash him an awkward smile. Thank goodness he can't read your thoughts.
"Y'know . . I never understood why you're so nice to me." He sits up now, and looks down to your holding hands. "You always have been."
You shrug, turning away. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Nobody else ever thought I'd be good at anything. It's just hard to believe you do."
That hurt. His family really gave him some emotional damage that you couldn't quite understand. You had problems of your own, but his family was another level.
"Why would you say that?" With brows furrowed, you frown a bit at him. "I've always been supportive, and always will be." You nudge him hard in the side, to which at that, he lets out an 'oof'.
"So don't forget it." You warn.
His laugh is nervous again, and he reaches the hand that was once intertwined with yours, over to rub the sore spot on his rib. "Okay, okay." You two meet each other's gazes again, and you smile. "Thank you."
"Now can you please get out of bed?" You tilt your head curiously at him. Onceler's smile makes your heart beat just a bit faster than it already was with the tension growing between you.
He pushes himself over, and hangs his legs over the side of the bed, next to you. Your hands were no longer connected, and you missed it being that way already. "Alright, fine. You've convinced me."
You smile, and stand to your feet, traveling to the counter area. Onceler sighs lightly, and watches as you gather some cooking supplies over in the kitchen area.
"Let's make some pancakes. I'm cravin' some." Your hands reach up to grab a pan from one of the shelves, and then bring it down to the counter top. "Yours, I mean." You smile over your shoulder and catch his expression.
"I guess I can't say no to that." He shrugs.
You look through a few cabinets to find the perfect bribe. He watched curiously as you kneel down and dig through the cabinets. It should be right in front of your face, as Onceler stocks up on plenty of them.
Your eyes land on the bag, and a grin spreads cheekily across your face, as you quickly reach in and snatch it.
You turn to him, and show off the bag of marshmallows. His eyes light up a bit, just as planned.
"Catch." Without a second thought, you toss the bag in his direction, and he catches it with a smile.
"I guess you really do know me." He smiles down at the bag of soft treats.
"I should've tried that days ago." You smirk.
Then, you heard something rattling. It was quiet at first, and you almost ignored it, but then it got a little bit more audible. You turn over to Once, brows scrunched together as you silently look at him for his opinion on the sound.
More and more of the utensils and shelves started to rattle, louder, and shaking against the walls of the cabin. Obviously, something was going on.
"What the hell is that?" You ask him.
"I don't know," He quickly stands to his feet, and urges you outside of the house with him.
Up on the hill, you look over to see a crowd of people. Both of your eyes widen, and instantly, you feel the familiar hand of Onceler wrapping around your waist, and bringing you close into his side. "Ohh, that's allot of people—"
"Oh my god," you stare, frantic, brows still scrunched. "They're gonna run us over!"
"They really hated that thing," he mumbles, watching as the crowd got closer and closer.
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Y/N."
Except, they weren't angry . . they were singing.
• • •
You pace the floor with hands tangled up together, an anxiousness in your breath. You weren't ready to face them yet. Not yet.
But he was counting on you. He needed you.
You stop your frantic circles and let out a heavy sigh, putting a hand to your forehead to brush back any lose strands of hair making its way to your face.
It's all gonna be fine! Why were you so worried?
A loud horn disrupts your battling thoughts, along with the house door bursting open to reveal Onceler, who's excitement wasn't contained. "Y/N! Come on! They're here!"
You turn to look at the lanky boy, forcing a smile to your face. How in the actual fuck were you going to put on a sweet act for his family?
They hated you.
You hated them.
It was all gonna be downhill from there! They don't want to see you. In fact— they'll be surprised to see you here. Nobody knew you were with Onceler, out in the middle of the Truffula Forrest. Maybe a very small few, but you kept it to yourself, mostly.
"Coming," you singsong, quickly meeting him at the doorway. He guides you outside, and along with his family, another was waiting for your arrival. The Lorax, who looked up at the massive RV, eyes wide.
Yeah, you'd been feeling just about the same way.
Onceler separated you and your thoughts when he leaned to the side, down towards your ear with a cheeky grin on his face. "I can't believe it- - they're actually here,"
There's a pressure forming in your temple now as you force up a tight smile. "Me either."
Once the RV was parked, set up, and obnoxiously took up more space than needed, you hold your hands together in front of you.
His mother walks out, eyes bright as she looks to her one of her three sons. "Oncie?"
Onceler stands tall, a confidence growing as he looks at her. "Mom!"
Her arms are open, and she walks towards him. "There he is! My suddenly successful son!" She pulls him into a hug, kissing him a few times on the cheek. "I just knew you'd make it, Oncie. I've been tellin' everyone back home."
He takes a small step back, and laughs a little sheepishly. "Oh, well, I always thought you didn't think I'd amount to anything," his smile lingers, but it was painfully plain how bad it hurt. You watch from the sidelines, an uncomfortable stance, as you note his mother waving him off with a little scoff.
"Oh, please. What would make you think of something like that!" She asks, though it didn't sound like a question, furrowing a brow through her smile. He shrugs, a tight lipped smile forming again. It was like walking on eggshells around Isabella, you've noticed.
"- -Because I've told you that before?" She asks curiously.
"Well, yeah, that would be one reason . ." Onceler trails off awkwardly. His mother hit him lightly in the arm, tsking. "Hush your mouth, Oncie. I was only trying to motivate you, you should know that!" She beams brightly. "All I do, is out of love."
Onceler had a look of relief in his eyes, a chortle escaping his chest. "I'm really glad you clarified that— because, it actually hurt me for a really long time."
Isabella turned to look at you, catching your attention. You look at her, a forced smile on your face.
"Oh! Well, I didn't know we'd be sharin' your success." She looks to Onceler, then back to you. Onceler's gaze follows where his mother was looking, and of course, it landed on you. He looked a little confused.
Don't be a bitch. Just stay calm.
"It's nice to see you, Y/N. Been a while . ." She looks you up and down once before giving that little smile she knows how to wear so well.
"Yeah— yeah, it's nice to see you guys too." You reply.
Brett and Chet run out of the RV, messing with each other, and jogging out into the fields. Onceler's aunt and uncle appear soon after, and so does the Lorax.
Oh great. A full house.
"Nope, nope, nope!" Lorax glares, breaking the tension between Isabella and you. "You've gotta go- goodbye. I can see where this is headed, and I don't like it!"
Onceler rolls his eyes, kneeling down to meet his height. "Hey, hey. Mustache, be nice. This is my family!"
"So?" The Lorax raised a brow. Very un-amused. You were right there with him on that.
"Soo, that means I need them here to help me. You know, for my company! It's gonna grow bigger, and I need more than just Y/N here." He explains briefly, waving a hand towards you. "I can't expect her to do all the work."
You frown at him, and so does the Lorax.
"Bigger?" Lorax asks, tilting his head. "What do you mean by bigger?"
"Uh, hellooo? This isn't just some little side sale anymore! It's actually happening!" Onceler smiles big. "My Thneed sold, and the people want tons more of them! I need all the help I can get."
The Lorax sighs, shaking his head. "Which way does a tree fall?" Looking up to the Onceler, he asks curiously. You eye them over and take a step closer to your lanky friend.
Onceler shrugs, face scrunched up with confusion. "Uh, down?"
The Lorax frowns. "A tree'll fall the way it leans. Just be careful which way you chose to lean." And with that, he takes off, walking his way over the hill and through the many truffulas.
You look to Onceler with a soft expression lingering, but soon was interrupted before he or you could say anything.
Brett and Chet run over, bumping into the two of you, laughing and hollering with each other. It seemed like Onceler was always outside of their inside jokes- - either that, or Once just never cared enough to be apart of them.
"You two gonna help us set up the RV? Or just gonna stand there?" Brett asks, a wild grin on his face. You hit him back playfully, and look to Onceler. "We're comin'!"
You and the two boys race each other up to the RV, Onceler still slightly taken aback and watching from a distance. "Yeah! I'll be right in."