ONESHOTS ⊳ gavin reed x reader

[Roots]

Requested by the lovely mcvibe007

In which Gavin Reed is hopelessly in love with you, and realizes that unrequited affection comes with a price.

Gavin had considered it a myth, honestly. Of course he knew about Hanahaki, the disease of unrequited love, but he honestly hadn't thought much of it. He didn't exactly love anyone. He promised himself he wouldn't, and considered it a guarantee of safety. After all, who needed something as childish as that?

Love was for little kids, a sweet lie told to the youth to help them carry on until it was too late to give up, a promise of happiness that could never be achieved. Good thing was, Gavin wasn't stupid enough to believe in it.

Or at least not until he met her.

(Y/n).

She was a strange person, a blend of paradoxes, myths, hope, sarcasm and dreams. (Y/n) was something Gavin hadn't ever encountered before, and he was both afraid and thoroughly fascinated.

At times, she was like an old porcelain vase, fragile and wonderful to look at, other days, she was a match just waiting to be set on fire, deadly if someone pushed the wrong button. But it was (y/n). His childish, mature, sweet, blunt, daring, charming (y/n). Or at least that was what Gavin wanted her to be.

He didn't even notice when exactly he started falling in love with her, it was almost as if the whole experience was a water slide, accelerating and intensifying the further he got, or in the detective's case, the more he fell in love with her. 'Falling' was the only fitting way to describe it, honestly.

Here's the thing about falling, though.

What if there's no-one there to catch you?

That was exactly Gavin's case.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"Good morning." He greeted clumsily, holding one cheap paper cup in each hand, the temperature almost burning through his palms. But Gavin didn't care. Because said coffee was for (y/n).

"Gavin, hi. You brought me coffee?" She gave him one of those lovely, lopsided smiles, taking one of the cups from his hands. That expression would be enough to get him on cloud nine for at least a solid minute.

"Yeah."

"Thank you." (Y/n) brought the cup up to her nose, taking a whiff of the beverage. "It smells wonderful."

"You're...um, you're welcome."

"See ya around, Gav." She spun on her heels to leave, taking a sip of the coffee as she did. Gavin could only stare at her dumbly, watching the small jump in her step as she strode away. And he was positive he had never seen someone that beautiful.

Gavin stayed in the break room for a little while longer, smiling to himself before shaking his head and finally deciding to get to work. As soon as he stood up, a visceral, bone-rattling cough went through his body, pounding against his sternum with every breath he choked out.

"Reed, what the fuck?" It even got Hank, the person Gavin usually fought with, to frown at him in worry and approach him.

His mouth tasted like acid and something...else, like salad, something bitter and sour at the same time. Gavin looked at the hand he had coughed into, and-

Oh no. No.

A single dandelion, its petals mixed with saliva was in the middle of his palm.