ikea love story | denny x reader

CHAPTER 5 : a concerned friend and a familiar face

"Denny... what're you still doing up?" you turn over to where his voice is coming from, meeting up with his face which is resting on the end of the bed. "sorry, I..." he runs a hand through his hair. "I couldn't help... being concerned about you..." he says, looking away as if it were difficult to admit. "Denny..." you feel a little spark of hope light up within you. "I... I got you this, for your headache..." Denny pulls out two Tylenol pills and a small glass of water. "ah... thank you!! you shouldn't have, really..." you say, feeling a little bit bad. you sit up on the bed and reach out for the pills and water, swallowing the pills whilst glugging down the water. "you OK now?" Denny asks, as he sits up on the bed next to you as well. "well, I think it takes a little while for Tylenol to take effect, does it not?" you reply. "ah, right! sorry, I don't know how I could've forgotten..." Denny knocks himself lightly in the head with his fist. huh... it feels like he's acting a little weird. you think to yourself. "Is, uh... everything alright with you?" you ask him. "Y-yes... I..." he replies, stuttering. you give him a gentle pat on the head. "it's okay to tell people about your problems, you know..." you say, as you look down into the small glass of water he handed you. "I just... umm.." for once, it seems as if Denny is at a loss for words. just as you were about to feel your concern grow, he leans into your ear and says something that stops all your thoughts in their tracks. "Did LinLin... do something bad to you?" you feel your heart drop. how did he know...? didn't LinLin pull away before that was even visible to him? unless, he... concern then invades your thoughts, until you realize that Denny is still awaiting an answer. "I... I was listening in on the both of you, within that flower display..." Denny admits, looking away. "If LinLin did something to hurt you, I... can't really forgive that." "huh...? what's this about..?" you ask, as you feel your face grow cold. "I-I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to worry you, truly, I didn't... but it also wasn't just something I could let slip by..." Denny wraps an arm around you. "Just... if anything else bad happens, don't worry about telling me, okay?" he's completely looking away from you. you couldn't help but notice a little tinge of blush on his ears. "thank you..." you reply, feeling a little blush on your face yourself. "well, um... goodnight!!" Denny says, quickly getting himself out of there. jeez, what was that all about? you say with a little bit of a sweat, trying to drift on back to sleep once more.

-*-

your nose wakes you to the smell of toasted vegetables and meat. "ah... what's that smell?" you instinctively rise from bed, allowing your nose to guide your legs. "oh, (y/n)! you like the smell of the kebabs i've been preparing?" Denny says with a smile, as he turns them over in the oven that had suddenly appeared in the base. "w...waugh!? where'd you guys get an oven from??" you suddenly regain your senses, as if you weren't even groggy from sleep in the first place. "me and Denny brought it in from the appliances isle~" Linlin says, as she twirls into view. "amazing..." you couldn't help but notice yourself drooling a little while eyeing Denny's kebabs. "hey, wait now! they're not finished just yet..." Denny says, as he notices that you just cant seem to wait to try them. "after we've had our... 'breakfast'... we'll have to go out foraging for more food~!" Linlin says, opening the now-empty freezer. "oh, no..." you sigh, feeling partially guilty. they'd been doing just fine with food until you came along, so they've just been stocking on food for 2 instead of 3. "I'll gladly help if you guys need to go out finding more food!!" you declare with determination. "wow, so cool~" Denny sings. Linlin seems visibly angered. "y-yeah... we'll do our best, won't we?" her gaze seems to be piercing your very heart. in fact, you can even start to feel it ache a little. you had somehow almost forgotten what happened yesterday. "r... right! we will!" it's almost a little too obvious you squeezed in the words. Denny has a brief look of concern on his face, before a little dinging sound comes from the oven. "ah, they're ready...!" Denny says, as he slips on a brown oven mitten with a puppy pattern and pulls out the kebab tray. "let's eat !!"