Henry Creel - Short Stories

Henry x Reader // A White Christmas

- Story requested by Bridgee2000 💓

You are sitting in a pub reading a book that has become your new obsession.
You were used to read outdoor in the park, but winter is coming and you can just appreciate the view of the park from the window.
The first snow started to fall and it just feels like magic.

"Here's your chocolate, Y/N".
You turn and watch your order being placed in front of you.
You lower your book for a moment to smile with gratitude at the waiter and thank him.
As he leaves, you notice the young man who just entered the pub and is looking at you.
You shoot him a shy smile as a greeting and turn back to your book and your piping hot chocolate.
But glancing at the window by your side you see the reflection of Henry as he clumsily removes his wool hat and brush his fingers on his messy blond hair.
That's enough to make you want to drown in your book again and share the struggle with Heathcliff.
As you read some lines, your fingers play with the teaspoon, letting the vapor from the chocolate warm the dizzy tips.
You hear Henry's voice ordering something by the counter, in his usual unconfident way.

Henry Creel arrived in town just few weeks ago and gossip says that he has a troubled past and that he's regularly visiting therapists.
He also tried to work as a waiter in this same pub for a week, but the impatience and rudeness of some clients made him desist.
At least the bad experience didn't keep him away from the place and you often see him taking a coffee here on his own.
The owner of the pub welcomed him under her motherly wings and is always very kind and patient to him.
You haven't noticed anyone else who could have befriended him yet.
Maybe the therapist?
You feel unsure to be called his only friend. The way gossip runs fast in that town makes you very careful in being seen too close with him.
His new life makes him very insecure, like he fears to make a mistake that would drag him back to his troubled past. And that doesn't help him to win new friends.
Sometimes you caught him staring at the gangs of friends walking on the road or entering the pub, like he was studying them and trying to learn how to behave in society.
But often you felt his stare on you. Or had that weird feeling haunting you.
You are kind by nature, but you suspect that a smile from you when he was the waiter and was serving you caused some misunderstanding.
Was your smile too big? Too girlish?
You just wanted to be encouraging and comfort him seeing how he struggled to fit in the world.
And he seemed growing addicted to your attention.
Sometimes he tried to start a conversation with you, asking what you liked and trying to pay for you. And that felt like overstepping and you had to refuse, knowing that he needed the money.
His attentions flattered you.
He is just gorgeous, with those dirty blond locks crowning his pale face and those deep blue eyes that can make all the girls in town fall at his feet.
If only the doubts about his troubled past don't make them think twice about approaching him or waiting to know more about him.

Damn, why are you thinking about him and trying to see similarities with Heathcliff?
You groan softly and focus harder in your reading.
"Be with me always. Take any form. Drive me mad!".
Heathcliff is just another lost soul that you wish to comfort. You can't understand how Catherine can be so heartless to him.
Their story is so tragic that it breaks your heart.
You want someone who can love desperately like Heathcliff.
You wish to read it in the privacy of your apartment, lying on your bed, but your noisy roomate doesn't make reading be enjoyable in there. So you have to read in public.
"He dashed his head against the knotted trunk...".

"Hey, Y/N".
You startle, the book almost slipping from your fingers to hit your cup.
"Sorry" Henry mumbles, standing by your side.
You forget the savage beast in your book for a moment and turn to comfort him with a smile.
"It's alright. Hello, Henry, how are you doing?".
He shrugs "Just fine, thanks. Is your chocolate getting cold?".
You look at your cup and you take a sip from it.
"It's warm as I like it" you say and take more sips in the fear that he might get the idea of replacing it with a hotter one. His being sometimes impulsive taught you not to leave anything untouched on the table for too long or he would think that the order isn't good and act to replace it.
"Why don't you sit?" you nod at the empty chair at the other side of the table.
Having him standing by your side, towering you like he's your personal waiter makes you uncomfortable.
"Thanks. You're very kind" he moves to sit and you smell the bitter coffee he has just drunk.
You finish to drink your chocolate and when you place the cup down Henry pushes the tissue towards you.
You take it to hide as you lick the corners of your mouth, then use it.