"Friends or Lovers: A Reader X Onceler Fanfic"

Can I Join You For A Sec?...

Since you were sweaty from nervousness, you decided to properly get clean. You decided to take a shower and then get dressed. The water flushed over you as you put your hair under the showerhead, getting your hair wet which felt refreshing. You stepped out and grabbed your towel, drying yourself off. In the distance, you thought you heard what sounded like muffled singing but didn't think much of it. You put on a red/white stripe pattern top and slim blue bottoms. You returned to your kitchen to get a snack of cheese and crackers. You then made a cup of iced tea and sat at the coffee table. You enjoyed cheese and crackers. You didn't know why. It's like the combination of two salty things was just such an amazing taste to you. Topped with something sweet like tea—the perfect snack for you. Because of that, you thought of yourself as an 'old soul'. Someone your age who deviated from the age norm. It didn't bother you. If anything, it made you stand out. Which had both its pros and cons. A main con was bullying. You kind of knew bullying was inevitable, but it still affected you, negatively. It didn't help that you were already sensitive, so the bullying just added more salt to the wound. Your parents would tell you to be strong and ignore them. But no matter what, they still found a way to get under your skin. When all else failed, you did have a way of coping with it. Your plush doll of a bunny you named Bonnie. Bonnie had been a gift your grandmother gave to you when you were about two years old and had kept since. You used to go to sleep with Bonnie by your side every night, even after you entered your teen years. Your parents thought that at that point you should probably give him away, but you held him so dear to you. You nearly cried whenever you thought you lost him only to find him under your bed. Bonnie was as blue as the sky and had beady black eyes that brought you confront. You enjoyed rubbing the insides of his ears that were as pink as his nose. Your parents were going to throw him away behind your back, but your grandmother had stopped them from doing that. Since then, you hadn't trusted them to watch him, so you decided to bring him with you. You remembered where you put him. After you finished your snack, you made your way to your bedroom. You looked into your closet. You pulled out a box and opened it. There on the top was Bonnie, his beady eyes and sewed on smile greeting you. You smiled as you picked him up. You held him closely, feeling your emotions start to come to the surface. You closed the boxed and made your way to your bed. You sat at the edge of it as you looked down to Bonnie. You remembered all the memories you had made with him. Like how you use to pretend and make-believe different scenarios, things kids do. As you got older, you stopped doing that and used him as a source of confront and support when you felt like you were alone in the world. And here he was, doing that again.
"Don't worry, Bonnie", you said softly.
"We're gonna make it through this new part of my life together."
You bent down your head onto him as tears began to form in your eyes. Suddenly, a loud horn came by. It sounded like a car. You lifted your upper body up. You turned to your window and looked out the blinds. It appeared the Onceler had company as there was a large vehicle that was parked out beside his place of residence. Five people came from it. One small one, a medium one, a large one, and two lengthy looking ones. You figured the two lengthy ones were his brothers and the small and medium ones were his parents. You weren't sure about the large one. Maybe a grandmother. You thought since you knew the Onceler, somewhat, you should go and greet them, but your anxiety got the best of you. You were so anxious whenever you meet new people, especially if there was a group of them. You couldn't cope well enough. As you were in thought, you saw the two brothers throw an object in the air like a football. That was enough to make you make your decision. Meeting people was enough but meeting new people who were active like that wasn't your thing. So, you decided not to go out your way and greet them and instead, stay right where you were.
"Come on now, y/n, don't act shy now!" Your mother's voice ringed in your ear.
"Do they act this way at home?" Another voice said.
"Speak up, y/n!"
"Do you ever talk?"
"Oh my gosh guys, they do talk!"
"There's y/n. They never talk."
"I never thought they'd talk."
"Wait, y/n talks?!"
The voices--taunts overtook your mind as they multiplied in intensity. You felt hopeless again, like you did all those years ago. You felt warm tears start to form in your eyes. You looked down to Bonnie. He always reassured you. You grabbed him tightly and held him as you rocked back and forth on the bed, sobbing quietly. You heard the voices disappear all at once. You lifted your face, wet from sobbing and met Bonnie's eyes. You smiled weakly as you stuffed your face back into him.
You figured it was time for you to get some fresh air and decided to go out. You grabbed a blanket from your closet. You slipped on some footwear and went out back.
-------------------------------------------------------
Outside was warm with a cool breeze. You laid the blanket down behind your house as you kicked off your footwear. You positioned yourself on the blanket, laying back down face up. You looked up to the moving clouds and birds that flew about. It calmed you down after your meltdown. You weren't always like that. In fact, you use to be quite the opposite. You used to always speak your mind and be open. Wheater it be in school or at home, you enjoyed talking to others. As you grew it seemed to become more hobby driven. Others started to see you as someone not...normal. You started to get looks and hear people talk behind your back. It's not like you talked about vulgar things, you just talked about your hobbies and whereabouts. This started to make you feel self-conscious about yourself. You began to start keeping to yourself. Then you became basically a mute by the end of your elementary years. You didn't talk much in school after that, even once you reached your high school years. It took you to be in your late sophomore year to start warming back up to taking but only in small bursts and with people you knew closely such as friends. All that time in self-isolation had made you develop social anxiety and awkwardness. You had the worst time meeting new people and keeping up a conversation with them. You often could tell they were weirded out by you and your awkwardness. You tried not to make it obvious but by doing so, you only made things worst. Your parents could tell something was up but didn't exactly know what to call it. They'd usually get on you for being shy or quiet at events and parties they'd take you too which you hated.
"Y/n?"
They also weren't a fan of you keeping to yourself at those said events, mainly because you weren't interacting with people there or sitting away from everyone. You often went off to do your own thing and get some relaxation not too far away. You felt they didn't really understand your situation or what was going on with you.
"Y/N?"
True be told, you didn't know either for the longest time. That is until it came time for you to leave your parents' house. You had tried talking to them, but they'd always shut your claims down or not believe what you were describing to be that severe. You were their only child, and therefore, had to be perfect.
"Y/N?"
You snapped out of thought, flipping your legs off of each other. You tilted your head back to see the Onceler, standing a few feet away looking down to you. His hands were behind himself, like he had something in them.
"Hey, sorry if I'm interrupting you. I seem to be doing that a lot today", he laughed.
You turned over and sat up.
"Oh, no it's not a problem at all", you spluttered to say. "I was just...getting in some fresh air."
"Ah, I see", replied the Onceler. "I have a surprise for you. It's marshmallows!"
He flipped out a bag of marshmallows and presented it to you. You smiled.
"Oh, thank you so much! You didn't have to."
"Well I figured I should share. You know what they say, 'sharing is caring.'"
You laughed.
"Yeah."
"With you being outside, I'm pretty sure you heard my family coming in. You know, horn blasting?"
You smiled.
"Yeah. They seem like....friendly folks."
The Onceler laughed.
"Friendly is an understatement. Folks is an overstatement", he joked. You laughed.
"My folks are the same. Sometimes they are a bit too much for me too."
"Yeah. They actually asked about you. Well, my mom did."
You were a bit shocked.
"Really? How come?"
"Well, she saw someone else was in the area and asked about them. I said they are nice, friendly, funny....kind..", the Onceler had trailed off as a faint blush appeared on his cheeks. He had looked to the distance as he rubbed the back of his head. It was the most adorable thing you had ever seen.
"Don't worry, my mom is very similar. She always used to ask me thousands of questions about how my day at school had gone."
The Onceler looked over to you, still blushing.
"Huh. I'm starting to think we have a lot more in common than we think."
You looked down to the ground, trying not to blush yourself.
"Me...me too."
The Onceler stepped a bit closer to you.
"Say y/n, do you mind if I spend my breaktime...with.......you? You know, join you?"
You felt your body warm up instantly. You were pretty sure your cheeks were as red as a rose. You spoke up.
"Y...yeah su...sure."
The Onceler made his way over and sat down on the blanket next to you, placing the marshmallows beside you. You scooted over to give him more room.
"It's so comfy!", he said looking over to you.
"Thanks. This use to be my favorite blanket, but I kind of outgrew it."
You were still warm and blushing. You couldn't help it. You tried to keep your mind of off it, but here he was, right next to you. How could you take your mind of off it?
"Something I haven't outgrew is cloud watching", you said.
"Cloud watching? I love doing that! Haven't done it in a while though."
"Well, I was just doing that, so why don't we do it together?"
The Onceler smiled.
"Sure!"
You both laid down, facing the same way up but positioned the opposite way down. Your heads were next to each other. You rested your hands on your stomach as the Onceler placed his behind his head. The clouds passed by as did birds. You didn't know what to do next, so you decided to say something stupid.
"Have you ever realized how clouds are like marshmallows that float in the sky?"
Nice move.
"Yeah, I have. I always wondered if they ever tasted as good as they looked. Says me, a fellow marshmallow lover!"
This response both surprised you and made you feel comfortable being yourself. You noticed that's how you've always been the few times you interacted with him. You didn't have to pretend or put on a face. You were just you, organic--natural. You smiled and chuckled.
"Yeah, me too."
You two had returned to looking to the sky. The Onceler fixed himself.
"Um y/n, can I ask you something?"
You glanced over to him.
"Sure. What is it?"
"I was wondering how much longer you were gonna be here on your vacation?"
Your heart nearly stopped. You forgot that's what you had told him that's why you were there. It completely slipped your mind.
"I only ask because...well....I've been enjoying your......company."
You felt your heart tense up. You turned away. What were you going to say? Hey about that, I lied to you! Well, yeah, that is what you did.
"Actually Onceler", you started. "I'm actually out here for the same reason as you--trying to find my calling in life."
He looked over to you.
"I'm...I'm sorry for not being truthful. I guess I was just...nervous about opening up to new people."
He reached out to you, by placing his hand on yours.
"I'm...sorry too. I wasn't truthful that much either. Like how I ignored to tell you the fact that there is this orange being who calls himself the 'Lorax' that's been taunting me about being weary of the truffula trees."
You looked over to him.
"Yeah, I know. Sounds crazy."
You shook your head.
"No not at all. I used to hear tales like those back at my hometown. Although it did come from the older folks there."
You both laughed.
"Yeah. It always seems to be like that. Why?"
You chuckled.
"Don't know."
You strangely felt at ease. You needed to get the truth off your chest, and apparently, so did the Onceler. You sat up stretching as the Onceler sat up next to you.
"So, you're not leaving anytime soon?", he asked.
He sounded so cute. You shook your head.
"Nope. I might be here to stay."
The Onceler had the cutest and brightest smile on his face.
"That's...that's great!", he said.
His pure happiness was too much. He was like a happy puppy. He then pulled you into a hug. You didn't see that coming. You wrapped your arms around him as you felt his soft skin and hair rub against your face. You were blushing like crazy. You looked over and saw the Onceler was blushing too, it seemed more than you were. You figured he had never been this happy before.
"Oncie? Oncie?!", a voice called out.
You both drew back. The Onceler laughed, almost uncomfortably.
"It's my mom", he said.
"Oncie!", the voice came again.
"I should go to see what she wants."
You were smiling, trying to hide it from him. He looked over to you. "What's got you laughing?", he asked.
"Nothing, it's just, Oncie? That's a cute nickname."
The Onceler smiled.
"You think so? My mom has been calling me that for years."
"I can relate. My family has given me about twenty million nicknames."
"Well, I guess I got out lucky", he teased.
"Sure, you have."
The Onceler went to stand when he turned back to you.
"Oh y/n, with my whole invention plan...I meant to tell you it was a success! Just like you said it'd be!"
You were so happy for him.
"Onceler, that's....that's fantastic! I'm so happy for you!"
"I know right. That's why my family is here. They're here to help me out with it. The only thing is....I just hope I'm doing the right thing...", his enthusiasm seemed to despair.
"I guess I've been second guessing myself."
You placed your hand on his arm.
"I'm sure you'll do the right thing. Especially if it comes from your heart and not your mind. Unlike the mind, the heart can't fall victim to corruption. You know what's right and what's wrong."
The Onceler looked over to you and smiled.
"Thanks y/n. You always seem to know just what to say."
He placed his hands over yours. He had started to lean his face towards yours. You started blushing so fucking hard.
"ONCIE!", the voice boomed.
You both looked up.
"Gotta go!", the Onceler said.
He stood up quickly then turned towards you.
"Trust me, you do not want to see my mom upset. I'll see you later, ok?"
He disappeared before you could respond. You placed your hand on top of your heart. You looked about the ground then back up.
"..........He likes me", you said lowly.