Sunlight on your face (Shuri x reader)

Chapter 1: Intrigued

I was standing in the middle of my room, the contents of my closet spilled around me, when I heard my phone ringing. I knew it was somewhere underneath the chaos I had created.

"Yes?" I answered finally having found my phone. 

"Are you ready? I'm almost at your dorm." I heard Ava, my best friend say on the other end of the line. "Oh, come on y/N you had the whole day to get ready! Are you kidding me?" she complained.

"I'm sorry, I just don't know what to wear, all my clothes suck!" I cried. 

"You're lucky, because I knew this would happen, so I told you to meet up early. I'll be there in five, try to not make the mess worse." Ava laughed before hanging up. 

****

After what seemed like hours, we finally arrived at the venue. It was Riri Williams birthday party, and it took place in one of the most popular nightclubs of New York. As soon as we got inside, I was hit by loud music and flickering lights. There was a huge dance floor in the middle of the club, filled with people moving to the music. We made our way through the crowd to a small staircase that led to the second floor, on which Ava had spotted Riri with some of her friends.

When we finally reached the second floor, Riri saw us and waved us over. "You made it!"

We greeted her and the people standing around her. I recognized most of them, but there was one face that wasn't familiar and immediately caught my eye. A girl, a bit taller than me, sharp jawline, gentle eyes, and the softest looking lips I had ever seen. Something about her intrigued me from the very first moment I saw her.

I didn't even notice that I was staring at her till Ava squeezed my arm and chuckled. "Her name is Shuri, you know, the queen of Wakanda, she was all over the news a few months ago. Quite the tragic story. Anyway," she smiled, gently pushing me towards Shuri, "I think you should go introduce yourself." She winked at me and turned around to talk to Riri, leaving me with no other option than talking to Shuri. 

"Hey, I'm y/N a friend of Riris." I introduced myself, not really knowing how to start the conversation "Hi, y/N, I'm Shuri, I'm a friend of Riris too," she said with a smirk, "How do you know Riri?" I felt myself loosening up not having to force an awkward conversation. We talked about Riri for a bit, and I told her about my most recent art projects, which seemed to really impress her. 

The conversation was going well, till Ava came and excused me while pulling me away into the crowd. I tried to protest, but Ava ignored me leading me to the bar, where she ordered us two drinks. "That was not cool," I muttered, "I wanted to talk to her."

"I'm sorry, but I was getting bored, I need to get some alcohol in my system and then go dance." She finished her drink and ordered us a shot each. "Besides," she added, "You'll have plenty of time to talk to her, the evening just started." 

The dance floor was packed with people dancing and couples making out. I felt the music in every part of my body and let myself go, moving to the sound. After a while I started to get really warm, and Ava was dancing with some guy, so I got off the dance floor and sat down on the nearest couch. 

"Enjoying yourself?" I looked up and met Shuri's dark eyes staring down at me. 

"Yeah, I'm just not really keen on watching my friend making out with some guy" I chuckled. Shuri smiled taking a sip of her drink. "You know I'm actually glad I found you here," She sat down next to me, "I was hoping to continue our conversation after we got interrupted earlier"

"I'm so sorry, I really wanted to keep talking," I said with an apologetic smile, "but when Ava wants something she always gets it." The music was so loud I could barely hear my own voice. Shuri seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she got up and took my hand leading me to the balcony exit. 

There were only a few people sitting outside with cigarettes in their hands enjoying the night sky. We sat down on a small couch in the corner of the balcony. 

"So, I already told you what I do, now it's your turn," I said. Shuri chuckled turning her head to look at me. I noticed a sparkle in her eyes when she talked about her research and how Wakanda had the most beautiful sunsets in the whole world. 

"Trust me, you have to see it at least once in your life, I can't even put in words how magical they are." She exclaimed with a soft smile on her lips, "You should come over there and paint it, so I can hang it over my bed."

I laughed, "I don't know if I could do it justice, but I can definitely try,"

"Oh stop, don't act humble, I'm sure you could." Shuri laughed subtly placing her hand on my knee. She kept her eyes on my face, her eyebrows slightly raised.

Then there it was, that moment right before a kiss, when you're just staring at each other not knowing if you should risk it or not. Her gaze slowly trailed over my face down to my lips, her hand still resting on my knee and everything I wanted was to feel her soft lips on mine. 

"Y/N, Shuri there you are!" Shuri pulled back with a startled look on her face as I recognized Riri, Ava and a dark-haired guy coming towards us. The moment was ruined.

"We've been looking all over the place for you two," they sat down on the couch facing us. The guy introduced himself as David, he met Riri and Shuri a few days ago in a club and Riri decided to invite him spontaneously. Something about him bothered me, but I couldn't quite figure out what.

"So, I see you two are getting along really well, just as expected," Riri stated, winking at us. 

"I can see you got a certain type," David added with an arrogant smile on his lips.

"Shut up David!" Shuri hissed with an angry look on her face. "I swear it's not like that, I mean of course you're my type, but that sounds as if picking up girls at the club is a daily thing for me, which it definitely isn't," Shuri tried to explain, "I'm only making it worse am I?"

"It's fine," I chuckled, "I get what you're trying to say." 

Shuri nodded and smiled at me with an unsure look on her face. I smiled back reassuring her that I wasn't offended, till she finally relaxed next to me. We spent the rest of the night sitting outside chatting and laughing.

When it was time to go home, I hugged Riri tightly and thanked her for inviting me.

I wasn't sure how to say goodbye to Shuri, so I just hugged her too. 

"Just so you know, I meant it when I said you should visit Wakanda someday." She whispered into my ear, sending goosebumps down my spine. I didn't even have time to say something before she got pulled away and disappeared in the crowd. 

How was I supposed to contact her, I didn't even have her phone number and asking Riri seemed a bit too bold for me. Normally I would've assumed that she didn't give me her number because she wasn't interested, but something about the way she said those last words, told me that this evening was just the beginning.