Chapter Text
With Valentine's Day right around the corner there is always a simultaneous influx of that sickly sweet media that could almost make your teeth rot as soon as look at it. Pink and red hearts everywhere. Couples around every corner, no matter where you turned. At first it left you feeling a little bitter, but over time you have just come to accept it. It was something you had come to expect of the season, and not necessarily something you really minded anymore because it ultimately had very little impact on you. Until... all of a sudden, it did.
It has to be the most cliché thing that has ever happened to you in your entire life. It's ridiculous. It is completely unbelievable and you just know that you're going to have one hell of a time convincing your friends of the events that has just transpired. Yet here you were, in the middle of it all, staring this blue-eyed man right in the face while he grinned back at you unflinchingly. Did he have no shame? Was he aware that what he was doing had to be just about the corniest move on the planet? There's no way he could know. The accent did make him sound distinctly foreign, so maybe it was for real and he had no idea how embarrassed you were on his behalf right now.
Seriously. What kind of man walks up to a girl and asks her to pretend to date him? In broad daylight, the middle of the work week, just a few days before the most romantic holiday of the year, in a coffee shop for fuck's sake! This was definitely some kind of dream, you had been working way too hard lately. Maybe all of that overtime was finally getting to you and manifesting itself in elaborate sensory and tactile hallucinations. Actually, scratch that. That was definitely not a great conclusion to be drawing about yourself either.
He had a mop of fine blonde hair that made him look a little bit wild, but he seemed sane enough on the surface. In control of all of his faculties, anyways. The man had an aloof smile on his lips, which was probably what was throwing you off the most. It did not really feel like he was hitting on you, but then why else would he have approached you like that? This was insanity, what on Earth were you supposed to think?
You realize that you still have not said anything yet when he clears his throat.
“Well?” he asks expectantly, having the audacity to sound a little impatient. He gives you a once over and seems to relax somewhat, as though he might have realized how startled you are. You note that there did seem to be a certain amount of tension about him, but you didn't notice it until it was gone. The strange man also manages to muster up the decency to look a little bit sheepish over your stunned silence. You had been staring right through him for at least a solid minute now, your mouth slightly askew, saying nothing at all as you fought to find you voice.
Even when you had sort of processed what he has just said to you, throwing himself in the seat across from you with that disarming grin (it echoes against the confines of your skull– Forgive me. My sister will not stop hassling me to find a companion for this holiday, would you please pretend to date me for one night, beautiful printcessa?)... you feel extremely cautious. You still don't hurry to answer him, despite his burning gaze. Almost automatically you look around the room, subconsciously searching for the hidden cameras. Had you somehow stumbled your way onto to some kind of weird prank show? Was one of your friends paying this guy to fuck with you? All you see is a regular, average coffee shop. You can hear the coffee grinder somewhere behind the counter, the bell above the door rings as another customer walks in, you can hear the quiet low-toned voices of the women two tables down who are completely immersed in their conversation. Nothing seems out of place. Almost chuckling to yourself you glance down into your half-drunken mug of coffee and wonder if your barista put anything different into it today.
Sensing that nothing seems to be amiss, you turn your attention back to the blond man in front of you and blink owlishly. The man is still studying you rather closely and the attention makes you nervous, but he says nothing more. He puts up a good front at patience for such a weird guy, you'll give him that much.
“I'm sorry,” you finally say quietly, lowering your tone and leaning in closer so that he will have to do the same in order to hear you. “It sounded like you just asked me to pretend to date you. To make your sister... happy? Am I hearing you correctly? No, no. Don't be crazy, no one would do that. Walk up to a complete stranger and ask them to be their pretend girlfriend for 'just one night'? Before even asking their name! That kind of thing doesn't happen in real life right? No, this is New York, not a YA novel.” You're talking to yourself more than you are to him by the end of your statement, maybe you look a little more crazy than he did now, but your mouth quickly dries out so you force yourself to cease your babbling for another moment and take a swig of your coffee.
The man looks very amused by your comments. The corner of his lips twitch; he seems to be trying very hard not to laugh at you. He leans back in his chair, bracing his foot across the underside of the table near where yours rests. You shrink away from him automatically when his foot accidentally taps against yours, making yourself smaller in your seat. His eyes seem to read you like a book when he notices you shrinking away. The blond looks vaguely concerned by the way you're looking at him. so you suppose he is trying to take a new approach when he starts to explain himself in a little more detail. You try to compose your facial muscles into something a little less stricken.
“Look, I'm sorry, I did not mean to frighten you, pretty myshka. My sister has been on me to meet people again ever since I... got back.” He leans over onto the table again, resting his elbows and holding his arms wide. You furrow your eyebrows at him over the sudden defensively vague tone, but he doesn't pause long enough to let you ask the questions that burn on the tip of your curious tongue. “You are a very pretty woman, and I see you here every week so I thought... and all you would have to do is come back with me, spend a little time in my room, and then you can go home. You'll never have to see me again after that, if you do not wish to. ”
His room!? “ Alright, I don't know who the hell you think you are–” you snap, bristling as the implications with warming cheeks.
“No, no! That's not what I was proposing at all, myshka. Just come and watch some movie with me or something, so my sister will not hassle me so for a little while. I didn't mean anything else. I swear to you.” He draws a small 'x' over his heart with a serious look on his face. Since he actually seemed genuinely concerned that he had offended you, you decided to relax again.
After staring at him for another long few seconds, noting the pleading look in his eyes and how tense his shoulders are again, as if he was braced to run in an instant's notice, you decided he seemed legitimate. You extended your hand across the table and finally introduced yourself.
“If we're going to do this we should probably at least know each other's names, or we're not gonna be very convincing,” you pointed out. The man repeated you name, smiling, looking so pleased with himself it makes you want to laugh. His lips move slowly as though he were tasting every syllable on his tongue, the accent warping its assonance delicately. You catch yourself wondering if those lips would feel quite as soft as they look– Whoa.
No. Back up. Dangerous thought, do not go there.
This was all pretend, you happened to be a convenient female around his age. It would be foolish to start thinking this was about anything more. But gods, it was so easy to get carried away when this handsome stranger is looking at you like that... Who was the ridiculous one now?
“It is a pleasure to meet you, sweetheart,” he said smoothly, easily transitioning into a soft, affectionate tone that raises goosebumps along your spine. You can't help but laugh quietly to yourself at the complete absurdity of this whole situation, trying to cover the way your heart beats painfully against your ribs for a moment. “I am Pietro. I look forward to dating you for the next few hours. Perhaps longer, if you decide you have had a good time.”
He winks. You melt.
Oh gods. This was definitely the strangest thing that had happened to you all week. Perhaps all month. Since when did strange men walk up to women they didn't know and ask them to play pretend above the age of like seven? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
But when Pietro keeps holding on to your hand and beaming at you as though he is actually thoroughly pleased that you have accepted... you start to feel that nagging voice of reason at the back of your mind grow a little softer until you can barely hear it anymore at all.
When was the last time you did something a little bit crazy? Maybe this would make for a fun day after all, watching movies with a handsome stranger for a few hours and then being on your merry way did not sound all that bad.
What could go wrong?