You're My Safe Place

"No shot"

Timothée and Brooklynn had agreed to meet at a cafe that was a 5 minutes walk away from both of their apartments.

Brooklynn now stood in her room, 10 minutes before she ought to be on her way, in a bra and underwear.

Clothes had been pulled out of every drawer and now littered the floor but nothing seemed like the right fit.

Before she could rip her hair out she hastily pulled together some black yoga pants and paired them with a baby tee and her puffer jacket seeing as it was getting pretty chilly in the city at this time of year.

She laced up her converse and raced out the door.

***

He managed to complete the 5 minute walk in a swift 3 minutes and now sat in a booth near the back of the restaurant staring into space.

The thought of seeing her was nerve wracking but also exciting. Timothée found himself entranced by the irony of their situation seeing as what caused them to get along the first night was due to the simplicity of their situation. Two kids alone on a bench looking at the city.

Now they were soon to be two celebrities in a cafe in broad daylight no longer protected by the heavy shield of alcohol.

The chime of a bell signaling a new customer snaps Timothée out of his daze.

He looks up to see the girl that has been spending an awful amount of time taking up his thoughts. She almost didn't seem real.

He watched as she scanned the room until she locked onto his gaze and immediately smiled her beautiful, beautiful smile that he remembered so clearly.

"Hey!" She sang making her way towards a now standing Timothée.

"What's up?" The boy said with a laugh pulling her in for a hug.

In that moment they both realized that was the first time they'd ever really touched.

He noticed how pretty she smelt, almost like vanilla or the smell of Christmas and the winter time.

She noticed how he hugged her like she was the most fragile thing in the world.

They both were hesitant to let go but simultaneously released.

"It's good to see you" Brooklynn said with a sweet smile looking up at Timothée.

"You too" The boy responded with a smile he hasn't been able to get rid of since she walked in.

They shuffled into the booth and began to catch up a bit, which was a pretty strange occurrence for two people that have only shared one encounter.

"How long have you been modeling?" Timothée asked now holding onto a water the waiter had brought them.

"A few years, a few friends from college got me into it and it pays the bills so" she shrugged taking a sip from her straw.

"I didn't peg you for the model type" He said with a laugh.

"Hey!" She yelped kicking him lightly from underneath the table. "What does that mean?"

"I don't think it's a bad thing, I just have met a lot of models in LA and New York and none of them were as..." He struggled to find the right words that wouldn't lead the girl to believe he had developed some type of unhealthy obsession with her, "down to earth, as you are I guess."

"Well thanks then" She smirked up at him, "I didn't peg you for an actor either, but I guess you shouldn't judge a book by its cover" Timothée laughed, amused at her ability to banter back at him.

"Touché"

She bit back a smile that was embarrassingly wide.

"Chalamet..." She silently spoke aloud.

"Yes?" The boy asked furrowing his eyebrows at her.

"Oh no-" she nervously laughed, "I just- That's french right" She stammered.

"Oui" Timothée responded sarcastically mocking the stereotypical Parisian hand gesture and eyebrow lift.

"Cute" Brooklynn bantered dryly continuing her losing battle with the smile that desperately wished to surface.

"Parlez-vous français?" He challenged.

"Oui...mais ce n'est pas trés bon" She responded smoothly.

He was impressed, his raised eyebrows indicated as such.

"Wow! Tu es pleine de surprises"

"What can I say" She shrugged, "No one's on my level"

"I can tell" Timothée pushed on leaning his elbows on the table.

"I could always teach you how to get there... you know if I have room in my schedule or whatever" Brooklynn continued into her sarcastic rant which was proving to be very amusing to Timothée.

"I know, I've got so much to learn." Timothée said, this time his voice a bit lower and deeper snapping Brooklynn out of her jokes. She had tried not to focus too much on him, and his eyes, and that gorgeous hair until that moment. She knew the second she really looked at the boy, there was no shot she was stringing a full sentence together.

The pause felt like ages as the two truly met each other's eyes for the first time that day.

The silence was just beginning to feel indestructible then Timothée broke it.

"You know," he said, his voice still low causing Brooklynn's heart beat to quicken, "Your eyes look so much more brown in the daytime".

Such a simple comment.

It could barely even be considered a compliment, more of an observation than anything. Yet it had Brooklynn frozen in her place.

"I-" She began, still locked in an unspoken staring contest with the boy across from her.

"Are you guys ready to order?" The young waiter said with a polite smile. Brooklynn had never been more grateful to be interrupted.

"Yes, I believe we are... right Brooke?" He asks with a bit of smirk tugging on his lip.

"Um yea, I guess we are" She choked out, the nickname catching her a bit of guard.

"Great! What can I get you started with?" He asked turning to Timothée.

"Ladies first" He responded gesturing towards Brooklynn in that same low, raspy tone from moments before.

It was then that Brooklynn knew she was in deep shit.

***

a/n

their first outing!! I know it was a slowish chapter but i really want to build a good dynamic between the two so nothing seems forced along the line!!!