Richard Madden Fanfiction

Chapter Four

I'm back in London and have a few work free days which is the best and I've been spending some time with Millie and exploring London. I'm out for lunch with Millie when my phone rings "Freya speaking" I say "Hi was kinda hoping I'd get your voicemail because I hadn't really thought about what I was gonna say and you have a little bit of time with voicemail. It's Richard Madden by the way" he says "Hi how'd you get my number" I say "My agent called yours" he says "Might have to fire her if she keeps giving my number to people I barely know" I say "Which is why I'm calling I thought we could spend some time together getting to know each other" he says "Okay but let's skip the typical and instead share our interests we do something I'm interested in and then we do something your interested in within reason of course" I say "Of course" he says "7:30 tomorrow morning I'll text you where" I say "Okay" he says "Bye" I say "Bye" he says and I hang up "You have a date tomorrow don't you" she says "I guess I do I said we'd be friends but I really like him" I say "You deserve happiness you know" she says "Yeah but I suck at relationships" I say "Maybe it was the guys who sucked and not you" she says "Maybe" I say.

It's the next morning and I'm ready for my date and I'm setting up when he arrives "This is your house" he says "Yep" I say "So what are we doing that requires gymwear" he says "Ever since I was like five or six I've been doing yoga strange I know but I was in gymnastics growing up and it was something my mom and I did together and I've kept it up helps calm me sometimes. I'd go down to the beach by my house every morning at sunrise" I say "I've never done yoga before" he says "I'll go easy on you then" I say and we take our places "We'll start with a sun salutation you wanna bring your arms up from your sides and join them together above your head. Good now we're gonna bring them down in a prayer pose in front of our chests and we're gonna bring our right leg up to rest on the side of our left keeping our balance" I say and look over and he's struggling "Maybe we'll try that later we're gonna go into the plank pose now and bring our back legs forward into downward dog and push up into cobra pose. I'm impressed" I say "Your just saying that" he says "Maybe a little but the fact that you agreed to it earned you some bonus points no guy I've ever dated before has agreed to do yoga with me before" I say "Glad to be the first" he says "Ready to take it up a notch" I say "Sure why not" he says "Move back into plank pose and your gonna raise your left leg and keep it straight and if you feel balanced enough stretch out your left arm in front of you and then your gonna bring your leg down and move out to the side so your facing me" I say and he flashes me a smile "Good we'll do two more and call it a day. We're gonna move to a standing position facing each other and bend your left knee forward back straight face forward arms both stretched out in warrior pose. For our final pose we're gonna face forward and bring our right leg behind us and bend at the knee with toes pointed and stretch your arm out in front of you" I say and I watch him struggle for a moment before getting it "Your balance has improved. Lower the leg back down and bow. Namaste" I say "Namaste" he says and bows "I'll get us some water" I say and go to the kitchen. I come back with two glasses "Did you dad take all these?" he asks "Yeah our photo albums are like a portfolio but these are my favourites" I say "Your mum?" he asks pointing at a photo of me and her when I was six "Yeah one of the last photos we had before she got sick" I say "You look like her" he says "I get that alot. I'm actually doing a shoot with Vogue next week to recreate her first cover with them for a anniversary shoot for her first cover. My dad is gonna shoot it" I say "Here" he says "Yeah it was with British Vogue. So what did you have planned" I say "I love where I grew up but a trip to Scotland seemed a little too much for a first date so I thought we could go on a drive find a pub somewhere have lunch and just relax you can't beat a pub lunch" he says "Sounds very British one question though can we have breakfast before we leave cause I'm starving and willing to cook. If you want to change you can use the spare room" I say "Thanks" he says "Upstairs second door on your right" I say.

I finish off my usual yoga routine before I start on breakfast and I put some music on whilst I cook and I make coffee and tea. I'm dancing and singing along that I don't notice Richard come back down until I turn around to grab a plate from the table "Scale of one to ten how embarrassed should I feel right now" I say and notice him staring at my side where my marks are "What happened?" he asks "I'll tell you over breakfast" I say. I plate up everything and pour coffee and tea "I was eight when my mom died and for my dad's sake I tried to stay strong but I lost a part of myself that I've never really gotten back. I hid it so well for so long but as my career grew I felt suffocated and I needed to escape it all so I started cutting I could keep them hidden on my stomach I never let anyone see me undressed I started when I was fifteen and had stopped by the time I was seventeen when my dad found out but the scars are still there to remind of the darkest time of my life. I took a break from acting after I had a minor mental breakdown another reason I left LA but I'm feeling better and happier there's just days where I'm not so okay. It's why I was reluctant to do this in the beginning it's not easy to share with someone and it can be alot for someone to handle" I say "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me and we all have demons and I get how overwhelming the industry can be. I almost quit a few times" he says "I wasn't sure I'd even come back after my break but the script for the last kingdom came and I wanted the role so bad and I found my love for acting again with the show" I say "Same with Bodyguard" he says.

We finish breakfast and I shower and get dressed and we head off for our drivers ending up in a really nice bar or as Richard calls it a pub for lunch "Saying pub just sounds strange to me then again we don't have bars like this in LA" I say "It's a very English thing. Did you spend much time in Romania or Italy growing up" he says "I was born in Brașov where my mom was raised and we stayed there for about two years before spending a year in Florence two years in New York then six months in Paris then LA became home. My dad and I take a trip to Brașov every summer and I'm in Milan most years for fashion week" I say "So you were a bit of a nomad then" he says "Yeah we travelled because of my dad and then my mom it was fun but I wasn't in school my English was horrible kinda still is sometimes" I say "It sounds pretty okay to me" he says "Year's of voice coaching" I say and we keep chatting as we eat before we decide to head back "I had fun today it felt good to escape the city for awhile" I say "I love the countryside I'm planning a trip away with some friends soon before Christmas a few weeks from now" he says "Are you asking me to go with you" I say "Yes?" he says "I'd love to" I say "Great I'll call you for another date soon" he says "Sounds good" I say and go inside.