Fated (A Chris Evans Series)

Bad Influence

Chris paced the pavement outside Denise's apartment building, fingers playing with the hairs in his beard. He was nervously waiting to catch her before she headed to UCLA for her Tuesday morning class; one she'd told him numerous times was her least favorite and least important with her least favorite lecturer. Her exaggeration of her distaste and the unimportance of her Tuesday morning class brought forth his want to break his Tuesday routine of only seeing her after 1PM. He was filled with hope he could be a bad influence and steal her away for the whole day.

Since meeting at the airport a few weeks ago, Chris and Denise have been inseparable. It was surreal, but Denise could now safely say she was friends with Chris Evans- the same Chris Evans she had been a fan of for a few years now, who also happened to be her proclaimed celebrity crush. It was because of those little facts that made Chris' admiration of Denise's work so much more surprising. Even now, Denise was having trouble processing what Chris had told her in the airport: that he'd read all her stories and was an avid fan of her series. She'd pinched herself multiple times to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but each time she'd realize that she was very much awake and friends with her celebrity crush. Her celebrity crush who had planned a memorable day for her.

Chris' plans started with breakfast because he knew she more often than not skipped it, then he was taking her to Marvel Studios in Burbank to meet some of the people in the industry she was working towards joining. His grand finale had him pulling some crazy strings. He was in awe he had consent to take her inside the Dolby Theatre unsupervised and have dinner on the actual stage where the Oscars were held each year. He had no doubt her unparalleled talent would take her there one day, so he thought he'd familiarize her with the environment first. He didn't realize that in doing all of it, he was taking her out on a date; the one thing he promised he wouldn't do until he answered the question he'd been losing sleep over: "am I in-love with her, or the idea of her?"

But what Chris didn't see was that if he were in-love with just the idea of her, the image he'd conjured from the words she'd written, he would've just taken her out already. He wasn't being her friend to start with because he was confused. He wasn't ready to admit it, but he had a precise verdict of how he felt about her. The reason he wanted to be her friend first was so she knew he wasn't merging her in with her writing, that he respected and cared about her. It was undeniable her second person protagonist was wonderful and he wished he had that life, but he was well-aware that wasn't real and Denise was. She was real and as wonderful and right in front of him; he wasn't going to do anything to risk losing her. If he had to take it incredibly slow to achieve the life they both discernibly craved, so be it.

"As I live and breathe," Chris heard Denise's voice and a smile immediately formed on his lips. "Chris Evans." He looked up and saw her exit, smiling as she draped her backpack over her shoulder and walked down the steps to meet him. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Well..." He began, taking her backpack from her to help with the load; a gesture she always appreciated, along with how he'd always open doors for her. She was old fashion, chivalry was her weakness hence why she took the arm he was holding out for her while she listened as he put forth his suggestion. "I was wondering if you'd let me be a bad influence and steal you away for the day." With that offer in her mind, they started in the direction of her university.

"Mm..." She wiggled her mouth from left to right as she pondered; a mannerism he found adorable. Denise was aware her attendance was- as her generation would say- on point, so she could afford to skip one day without any negative repercussions, but that didn't mean she was going to give in that easily. "Depends," she quipped with a smirk and he bit back his smile to hide his growing excitement. "What's the offer?"

"I don't want to spoil the surprise," he winked and she rolled her eyes. "But I can assure you that it's better than anything Professor Killian can offer you." She laughed at that and he nudged her playfully, "c'mon. You're the perfect student, you can afford to miss one day. The most you'll get is a light slap on the wrist, the 'I'm not angry, just disappointed' speech."