(Human Branch is based off of 99kroi's design of him. We ain't stopping til he's drained of all his talent😍😍😼😼😼)
Bartending isn't the type of job you would have expected to have in your adult life, let alone falling in love with it. Most days there wasn't much to do but chat with regulars and try to rack up your tips. The weekends were the busiest and tended to go by faster than weekdays, naturally you got more tips those days, so it was a win/win.
On a day the same as all the rest a rather dull looking man came in. He had black spikey hair, he wore a camo vest with a light blue t-shirt under it which was untucked, and his pants were brown khakis.
You raised an eyebrow as he seemed younger than most people who would come in on weekdays, his own brows were furrowed as he glared at the ground. You made yourself look away and start polishing a glass as to not seem like you were staring.
The man walked to a seat at the bar a couple feet away from where you were currently standing. He placed both elbows on the wood counter and slouched forward a bit. You approached him with a small smile on your face.
"Hi, can I get you anything? " You asked as you put the glass back in its place.
"Just a shot of something, surprise me." He made eye contact with you for a moment. "Thank you."
"Do you want to start a tab?" You asked as you poured a shot of the closest thing you could grab.
"Uh, yeah let's do that." He seemed distracted to you, as most people who drank alone were.
He handed you his card so that you could hold onto it throughout the evening. You helped the few other people who were at the bar, but no one was alone like he was. Something about him was so interesting.
"Do you mind if I join you for a while?" You asked him after he was there alone for about an hour. "Unless you're waiting on someone else." You brought over a round of shots for the two of you. He looked up at you questioningly for a moment before responding.
"Sure. It's just me tonight." He took the shot from you.
"Great!" You grabbed your shot and held it up for him to cheer with you. He looked at the glass then to you and smirked. The two of you clinked glasses then tapped the bottoms on the counter and swallowed in one gulp. It was a rather mild liquor and being a bartender, you didn't need a chaser, nor did you make a face.
You began to pour another round. "What's your name by the way?" You asked as you handed him his.
"Branch." He replied bluntly. You raised an eyebrow at him but smiled and stuck your hand out anyways.
"Y/n." He looked at you skeptically before shaking his hand. You finally had made good eye contact with him to see that his eyes were a weird shade of blue that made them seem gray almost.
When the sun had set the bar had gotten just a bit busier, so you had to tend to other guests while also conversing with Branch. He seemed to lighten up after a while, whether it be he had taken 6 or 7 shots by then or he was warming up to you. You were only at 3 by the time the bar had slowed back down, and you could turn your attention back to Branch. His face was reddened due to the alcohol by now and he seemed to be getting just a bit emotional.
"I think I can consider you a friend now, Y/n." He looked at you with a small somber smile. You smirked back.
"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?" You had gotten him a cup of water and a small bag of chips that he had been slowly munching on.
"You're the only person that has spent time with me in a long time. And I know it's just because you're bored at work but talking with you has felt genuine." He rested his head on his hand as he looked at you. You laughed quietly as you cleaned glasses, it was getting close to closing time.
"I'd hang out with you off of work too, even if you were sober and grumpy like earlier." You teased him a bit. He scoffed and pouted a little. "You'd have to be pretty lonely to feel that way though."
He silently looked down at the counter with a small frown. You immediately regretted what you had said, but he spoke before you could apologize for overstepping. "You're right." He muttered. You looked at him sadly.
You rested a hand on his forearm reassuringly. "I meant what i said, I would love to hang out with you outside of work." You removed your hand from his arm while he watched you. You reached into your outfit pocket and brought out a pad of paper and a pen you take bigger orders on. You wrote down your number and set it in his hand and folded his fingers over it with a small pat. "You can call me when you want to talk or we can arrange to hang out whenever we can, and I'm not just saying this because I'm drunk, not that I'm even that drunk anyways." You chuckled lightly as you backed away.
Branch stared at you with a shocked expression. He looked at the piece of paper in his hand before stuffing it in his pocket. "That really means a lot to me." He smiled with half lidded eyes as he looked at you.
You averted your gaze anywhere else as your own cheeks grew hot. Branch was a really handsome man; anyone would be flustered by the way he was looking at you right now. Even straight men.
"I wouldn't do it for just anyone so don't take that for granted." You pointed towards his pockets while he chuckled a bit. He stayed in the bar while you finished cleaning and getting everything closed down for the night. Branch stood behind you as you locked the door to the building.
"You're not driving, are you?" You asked him. He nodded his head, he was going back to being grumpier than before, you were glad as that meant he was sobering up.
"No, I walked here. I don't live too far away." He responded. "You aren't either right?" He furrowed his brows as he looked at you questioningly.
"I don't even have a car at the moment, make sure you check your oil by the way because i waited too long." You made an angry face remembering how your car had broken down. (THIS IS A TRUE STORY BTW HAPPENED LITERALLY YESTERDAY IM SO MAD)
"I'm about a half hour walk from here, I should be fine." You turned towards him.
"Thats kind of far for you to walk alone this late at night, can i walk you home?" He tilted his head a bit.
"I don't know... Then you'd have to stay the night because you can't walk back this way for the same reason." You voiced.
"I really don't mind walking back alone, its not a big deal. I would rather do that than not see you here again." He said, he was obviously still tipsy enough to say things without thinking first.
"No sir, the only way you're walking me home is if you stay the night. You're too drunk to walk too far alone anyways." You chuckled assuming he would give up now.
"Fine then. I have everything i need with me. I can sleep on the floor or if you have a couch that would be better. So which direction." He stepped and looked past you down the road.
"Um, this way." You pointed in the direction of your house; it was actually an apartment though. "Are you sure you're fine with this?" You said as you took the first couple of steps in the direction of your home.
"Yeah totally, I bet your place is nicer than mine anyways. I sleep on a mattress on the floor." He dropped casually. You looked at him from the side of your vision as he walked next to you.
"You seem like you've been through a lot to be where you are now." You said to him. He walked in silence for a moment before responding.
"I would say so, yeah." He closed his eyes while nodding slowly.
"Seeing as we have a bit of a walk, do you want to talk about it?" You looked at him for a moment before moving your eyes back to the front.
Branch seemed to be thinking about it for a moment. Something about you was so welcoming to him, he felt like if he were to open up, it would be to you over anyone. The two of you walked in comfortable silence for a couple minutes before he spoke up.
"I used to live with my grandma after my parents passed and my brothers all went out on their own." He started. "They told me to take care of my grandma, but I couldn't even do that. I ended up being the reason she died when I was still in my early teens."
"I ended up just living out on the street to avoid being put into foster care, I think that would've ended up being worse than being homeless." You were shocked at how much he was sharing having just met you. When he first walked in, he seemed to be the least trusting person to ever cross your path, apparently all he needed was a little bit of kindness and a tad of alcohol.
The rest of the walk was filled with Branch telling you about his life, you were shocked at how much he'd gone through. To you it seemed his grumpy attitude was completely understandable, if you had gone through that you weren't sure you'd ever talk to anyone ever again.
As the two of you approached your apartment you began to get a little nervous. You were bringing a handsome man home from the bar, even if you worked there the idea of the whole thing made you flustered. You had hoped the blush on your face seemed like it was from you being drunk, even though you were nearly completely sober at the moment.
"Welcome to my abode." You opened the door for him and gestured him inside. Branch stood in the doorway nervously messing with is hands. "There's no need to be nervous, Branch. I feel like you're an old friend now." You pat him on the back as you took your shoes off. He took a deep breath and relaxed as the air left his lungs.
"Yeah, sorry. I've just never went home with someone after drinking with them at a bar." He voiced your earlier thoughts as your face began to burn again.
You laughed nervously. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." You agreed with him as you walked towards your room. "Make yourself at home, I'll be back in a second." You went to your bedroom to get sheets and a pillow to make him a comfortable spot on the couch to sleep on. When you returned, he was already seated with posture that could kill. You laughed a bit as you entered the room.
"I swear I'm not going to hurt you; you can relax." You teased as he let his shoulders fall again. You threw the blankets and pillows on one end of the couch as you set next to him, and once again he had to remind himself to relax when you sat next to him.
A feeling you both shared was this tension that wouldn't go away. Both of you sat in awkward silence before both of you spoke at the same time.
"Thank you for letting me stay-"
"I'm glad you walked me home-"
Both of your faces turned a bright red as you made eye contact after the embarrassing moment. Then you both broke out in laughter. This was the first time since meeting him that you had actually heard him laugh. You finally felt like you could actually relax thinking about how much he already trusted you.
"I'm glad you can laugh like that around me." You smiled and held his gaze when the laughter died down. His eyes had a shine to them that wasn't there when he first walked into the bar earlier that day, technically day before as it was so early in the morning. Both of you were completely sober at this point.
"I'm glad too." He said softly. He thought for a moment before continuing on. "I know this might sound weird, but I think you're really cool, and I just had this feeling all night tonight that I can't really describe. I thought at first that it might've been because I was drinking but it hasn't gone away since I sobered up."
You stared at him kind of shocked. He stood up from the couch and put a hand over his mouth. "I shouldn't have said that I'll just leave I'm sorry." He took a step towards the door, but you grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. He looked at you questioningly as he sat back at the couch.
"It's definitely weird," You laughed as he glared at you. "But I've had the same feeling, I felt like something was drawing me in as soon as you walked in the door." He had sat down closer to you than he was before. When you looked up to meet his eyes, they seemed different. Maybe it was just because you were at work and you were tired, but you could've sworn his eyes were a grayish color. Now they were a more vibrant blue as he stared at you with wide eyes. After realizing you were staring you looked away and scratched at your cheek.
"Sorry, I was just looking at your eyes. They're very pretty." He scoffed. You looked at him questioningly with burning cheeks.
"Thats my line." He put a hand on your chin to lift your face up and hold eye contact. He looked down at your lips for a moment.
"Can I kiss you?"
You felt your heart jump in your throat and pump in your ears. You nodded wordlessly. He lifted your chin up higher as he leaned down slowly. It felt like it took years for your lips to finally meet, but when they did it felt like electricity shot through your body. Branch moved his free hand to the top of one of your legs and you wrapped your arms around his neck.
The kiss lasted a while, but to you it didn't feel long enough. When you pulled away both of you were breathless and equally shocked at what happened.
Branch was the first to speak. "I really did not expect my day going this direction." You smiled and buried your face in his chest to hide from the embarrassment.
"I'm really glad it did." You muttered into his shirt. He smelled earthy and sweet.
"Oh yeah?" He pushed you back to look at your face. Your face felt like it was on fire. "So, you wouldn't mind if I kissed you again?" He cupped your cheek. Once again you only shook your head. You felt like you were falling in love with this man so fast.
He pulled you in for another kiss that would make you fall even deeper.