Walker (Cordell Walker x Female!Reader)

Lessons From The Gift Shop

(Name's) P.O.V
"Wow, you're really living the Stardew Valley dream, huh?" Brianna asked, sitting at the island counter in my kitchen as I made us some coffee. I giggled, turning on the coffee pot. "Yeah, just minus the whole doing everything for everyone and the Junimos being the only ones to show their appreciation." I said, turning back around to look at her.

"Yeah, too bad." Brianna said, shifting her gaze to a glass jar I had on the counter, that has pieces of a broken coffee mug inside it. "They could probably fix this for you." She joked, picking up the jar to look at the broken pieces inside.

"By the way, is there a reason you have a broken mug in a jar?" She asked, holding up the jar. "Oh yeah, Cordell accidentally dropped it and I've been meaning to fix it." I said, reaching across the counter to take it from her and set it aside on the other counter.

"No offense but why not just throw it away? Trust me, glueing these things back together is not fun." Brianna said, holding up her hand that has some faded scars on her palm.

"Yeah, but it's sentimental to me. It feels wrong to just toss it." I said, shrugging as I lean against the counter behind me. "I get that." Brianna replied. "So how are you liking Austin?" I asked.

"It's great! It's homey and a lot less going on than in Dallas." Brianna said and I chucked. "Just wait, the Walkers will fix that if you give them time." I joked and Brianna chuckled. "Lucky for me, I'm only sticking around for a week."

"Yeah, gotta try to make every second count. Too bad I'm busy later today." I said, crossing my arms. "It's okay, you're free tomorrow right? You'll have the whole day to drag me around Austin." Brianna said and I chuckled.

"Just don't start complaining 20 minutes later about your knee hurting." I said and Brianna crumbled up a napkin to throw it at me. "Hey, respect your elders." She said as I laugh, trying to block the napkin-ball with my arms.

3rd Person P.O.V
At the Side Step, Cordell is having lunch with Liam and Trey. "I'm telling you guys, you have to check out this podcast. It's on the, uh, Japanese art of kintsugi. Embracing the broken and rolling that history into the future. It's, uh, it's quite moving." Liam said.

"Yeah, well, hey... Speaking of, uh, perfectly imperfect..." Cordell stammered. "Yeah? What's up?" Trey asked. "Well, y'all know that (Name) and I have been giving this thing a go for a while, a-and it's been really nice. It's great, even." Cordell begins, letting out an exhale.

"Is there a but?" Liam asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. "No. N-Not really. No but. And. Let's go with and. Okay?" Cordell stammered, tripping over his words as Liam and Trey exchange a look.

"And, you know, the last time I-I really did this was with Emily, you know, and we were both so young. I-It was all just going to the mall, going to the movies, sneaking around. You know? And back then, the first time I said..." Cordell explains, pausing when he feels himself getting nervous just from saying it here. "I love you. I-I was really, in my head, saying, Let's do this forever."

"Wait, wait a minute. You haven't told (Name) that you love her?" Trey asked, squinting his eyes at him in suspicion. "Okay, well, it's not that simple." Cordell stated.

"Y-Yeah, it is." Liam said, then turn to Trey. "Uh, Trey, I love you, man." He said. "I love you, too, man." Trey replied and looks across the table at Cordell. "Yeah. Easy. Do it like that. See?"

"All right. A... Got it. What I'm saying is that (Name) and I haven't been here with each other before. And in case you forgot, my last serious relationship ended in tragedy and (Name) hasn't been in an actually relationship since she was a teenager, which also didn't exactly end well. So it's just kind of hard to pinpoint the next right step."