THE BODYGUARD | PRICE X FEM!READER

Part 1

"Christ Kate, give me a fuckin' minute, yeah?"

He looked around, an unamused mother with her child in a pram behind him, staring through his soul with a look steely enough to pierce his skin. He mouthed the word sorry, pointing at his phone before turning back round to watch the platform roll into view outside the train doors. 

"There's nothin' I can do about delays, I'll be there as soon as I can."

The phone clicked as he locked it, not exactly in the mood to prolong the conversation. Fingers hovering over the button to open the doors, anxiously waiting for it to illuminate so he could get free of this stuffy coach he'd been confined in for hours already. A warning sound beeped, they slid open with ease allowing a rush of air in. Hiking his ruksack up again, he stepped down onto the platform, immediately trying to get his bearings. The pick up, where's the pick up? Eyes scanned every sign in sight, hands fumlbing in pockets to try and locate his train ticket. The queue was already at least 30 deep for each gate, consequences of being near the back of a 12 carraige train. Felt good to stretch the legs finally, he hated cramping his 6ft body in those stupid tiny seats. Who even designed then like that? 

Pick up, pick up... pick up. Other side of the station. For fucks sake. The place was crawling, so he weaved his way through the crowd, bumping into many unsuspecting commuters sending eyes rolling paired with a couple profanities uttered his direction. His haste had reasoning; Kate wasn't known to be patient, not at work, not at home and especially not when it came to her friendships. If he wasn't there within the next two minutes, she would be on the phone to him again, the interrogation as to his exact location resuming. Not that he had ground to stand on and complain, this was a favour he owed her. And boy, did he owe her, personal lives entangled deeply. He'd even slept with her once when they'd both been absolutely shit faced, it made him smirk at the memory. The act left him pining for months, she never returned the feelings, a drunken mistake. When she finally told him she was, in fact, very much gay, the whole situation quickly blew over. 

A small vibration in his pocket. That would be her, again. He passed under the sign and outside, a myriad of headlights in the dull summers evening greeting him. Brows upturned in the middle, a hand raising to sheild his eyes a little, trying to look for her car. It didn't take long, she found him first, loud honking of the horn quickly drew his, and everyone else around him's, attention. 

She rolled up along the pavements edge in a pick-up spot, window down. 

"Price!"

"For god's sake..." he muttered under his breath, trudging towards her. She jumped out, rounding the car to him. 

"Chuck your bag in here," she opened the rear door, holding a hand out in wait. He slid it off his shoulder, suddenly feeling much lighter. It was fleeting as she wrapped her arms around him, leaving him frozen for a second before he embraced her back. 

"How have you been?" Three enthusiastic pats thumped his back. 

"Better."

"Right, get in," she said, "We haven't got all day!" 

He wasn't even confident she actually heard his reply. Typical Kate, one track mind for the mission at hand. The drivers side door was slammed shut with an unnatural amount of vigor, he massaged the bridge of his nose, eyes closed, for a split second before clambering in to join her. She was pulling away before he even got his seatbelt on. 

"It's not for long, only a couple of weeks. You think you can handle it?" She seemed nervous, white knuckling the steering wheel as she drove, refusing to look in his direction, eyes very much focused on the road ahead.