Fantasy Landscaping

Hello! How about one where the reader is very touchy but she does it to everyone but him because she doesn’t want to come off as clingy? Like she starts to become touchy with him after too if you don’t mind? ♥️

So I turned this into a right story and may only have fulfilled half of the request. But I really like this one so I hope you do too!

Also based of this picture, in which Ayron Jones is all of us.

The café was busy when you spotted them as you walked past. It wasn’t hard, two men in sunglasses, one of them stretched out like a cat seeking the heat in the rare Irish sunshine. Your stomach gave a lurch when you realised who had just caught your eye. Deeply inconvenient feelings as per usual.

You quickly shook your head when he fully turned his head towards you. Putting a finger to your lips, you told the person you were with you were going over and started a slightly over-exaggerated creep towards the table. With a wink at Andrew, you put your hands over Alex’s eyes, leaning your body against him.

Alex made some snide joke, causing you to ruffle his hair in faux annoyance. He stood to hug you tightly, making you a laugh as he picked you up.

“You coming tonight?” There was a little get together happening, for no other reason than this was one of the few times they’d all be in the same city for a while. Projects and life always seemed to pull everyone away, so time together was rare indeed.

“Aye, you said I could bring some friends, right? Can’t wait for you to meet everyone.”

“Yeah, course. So people are meant to come around 6, it’ll be quiet one.” Alex grinned.

“Which means it’ll begin at 9 and last until tomorrow morning?” You leant in a little conspiratorially and pulled back when you realised how close you were. Alex still had his arms around your waist from the hug and your hands were resting on his shoulder. You stepped back, “cool, we’ll see you at about half 6 probably, we’ll get dinner first.”

Andrew made to get up to hug you, but you quickly patted him on the shoulder. God forbid he’d hug you; you’d never let go. His eyebrows twitched down until a hand wrapped around your shoulder.

Your friend, Michael, had finally gotten bored of waiting; he’d been waiting this art exhibit and he wasn’t going to be late for it on one of his rare weekends off. He draped an arm around your shoulders to whisper in your ear, “is this him?” and nodding towards Alex. Him being Andrew, the one you had dramatically declared your undying love for and spent evenings waxing lyrical about on Michael’s sofa.

“Oh, this is Alex!” You beamed up at the bassist who looked over your friend with a slightly suspicious air before grinning and extending a hand to shake, “and this is Andrew.” You beckoned to where Andrew was still seated, having been put off by your shoulder touch. He shook your Michael’s hand with a tight-lipped smiled.

“Right!” You said overly loud to cover the awkwardness settling over the table, “we’re going to this art installation exhibit, this one’s been waiting weeks to see it. So, see you later, yeah?”

You touched Andrew’s shoulder as you left. It was the only touch you’d allow yourself.

The house was heaving and far from the promised ‘little get together’. Your small group of friends raised eyebrows at you, but you just shrugged. A part of you had expected it but had hoped not. Andrew would hate this. At this point, even so early in the evening, you knew he’d have carved a space for himself in a quieter spot. No doubt he’d be holding court, on accident of course; he always underestimated the charisma he had.

You pushed your way through to the living room, searching for Alex and his friends. If Andrew was holding court than Alex was centre court. Whilst not one entirely for the stage, or even social media, he was quite extroverted with the right people.

Sure enough, him and a couple of mates were around a teetering Jenga tower. Even though you’d just arrived, you watched with bated breath, sucked in by the atmosphere, as another block was extracted. Everyone exhaled when the tower stayed standing.

“Hey!” He waved his arms in the air when you came in, uncurling from his cross-legged position, to wrap you up again, “he’s pouting outside,” he added with a smirk. A blush rushed onto your face. So, your looking had been obvious, “don’t be mean to him tonight okay.”

You cocked your head. Alex shook his head and threw his arms up in the air, punching out a sigh. Then he waved his arm towards the kitchen, “drinks are in there. Bring your mates around later, after the Jenga!”

“Did someone say drinks?” James, one of the friends you’d brought, appeared behind you, as if summoned by the thought of alcohol.

He put his elbows on your shoulder and stretched his hands out. You grabbed them and you hopped through to the kitchen in time with the song winding through the house. Pushed and pulled by a few people, you were glad James had thought to hold on. This house was genuinely big enough to get lost in.

“Drinks!” James cried in genuine delight, when he saw a huge pile of bottles on the large kitchen table. He let you go, and you followed him, patting him on the back in the same song rhythm and chanting the word ‘drinks’ together.

The kitchen was emptier than the rest of the house, so you managed to launch yourself up on a kitchen counter, only just spotting Andrew at the edge of your view, pouting in the corner.

“Andrew!” You beamed widely and his face immediately replied in a soft smile, almost as if he couldn’t help himself. You reached a hand out towards him, so excited to see him that you forgot your mission to not touch him. He pushed off from the counter to grab your hand and stopped short, eyes narrowing.

James appeared in front of you and pushed a drink into your hand. He kissed your cheek, as was his wont, and said too low for Andrew to catch it, that he was off to find his future boyfriend. You squeezed his arm, wishing him luck on his quest, but by the time he’d gone, so had Andrew.

Wildly, your head turned until you saw his back retreating into the garden and you couldn’t help but follow. By the time you’d shuffled around people coming back in, he’d reached the bottom of the garden and sat on one of the garden chairs.

When you got to him, he was stretched out, drink balancing in his hand on the arm of the chair and eyes tracking the stars. His house was so remote you could almost see the Milky Way.

“You alright? Too many people already?” You smiled at him as you dropped to a cross-legged position in front of him. He turned his head to you and stared. The smile dropped from your face the longer he stared, expression unreadable, “Andrew? You okay?”

He opened his mouth but snapped it shut quickly. His right thumb started rubbing his left palm, one of his nervous ticks.

“Come on, Andrew,” you said softly. At this point you would’ve curled a comforting hand around his but you couldn’t this time. You’d twine your fingers together and hold too tight if you did it now, “we’re friends right?” Right?

“Are we?” His voice came out sharp and he winced. You jerked your head back in shock.

“Aren’t we?” Christ, you hadn’t been touching him to keep his friendship but if you didn’t have it anyway what had been the point?

He leant forward all of a sudden, elbows on knees, staring at you so intently in the eyes you felt uncomfortable. You wouldn’t look away though, he was looking for something and you hoped he found it, “what is wrong with me?”

It wasn’t rhetorical. The silence that stretched begged an answer, so you said, “I don’t know, is there something wrong with you?” What was he searching for?

Andrew breathed out through his nose. A blush was crawling up his face, visible in the dim glow of the fairy lights strung up in the trees. He set his shoulders and poured out, “why won’t you touch me? Why do you hold Alex? That art guy today and in the kitchen just now, your mate Caitlin the other day. You touch everybody but me so what’s wrong with me? You used to hug me all the time but now? What have I done?”

Your face burnt red hot. Not for a second had you thought of how your touch avoidance would affect him, just how touching him would affect you. Your stomach sunk as you realised you had to come clean. How annoying your feelings were that you were about to blow your friendship to pieces just so he would feel better.

Your sentences came out slowly as your heart screamed at you to shut up, to keep him longer, “No one else is as dangerous to touch as you.” You bit your lip and cast your eyes down to the grass. You tightened your fingers in it as you continued, “their touch doesn’t mean as much to me. Yours never did either until… it did.” Christ this was badly explained, “and if I touch you, like I hug them, then I won’t let go and it would mean something different. So, you know… awkward.” You finished lamely.

Silence wrapped you both. From the house a roar of lads, a Jenga tower finally fallen. Music muffled from an open kitchen door. Wind blowing the leaves of the trees ever so gently. Every sound but his voice, the sound you most wanted to hear.

“So,” he finally spoke a millennia later, “you don’t hug me because you would like it too much?” You didn’t answer, “stand up.” He ordered in an exasperated tone, “stand up.” He repeated when you just looked at him.

Slowly, you stood, wondering what on earth he was going to do. The moment you were standing, he grabbed your hand, pulled you onto his lap and wrapped his arms around you. Your head was tucked into his neck, arm squished a little uncomfortably against the back of the chair.

“Idiot,” he whispered into your hair, but it sounded fond. He arranged your arm and you allowed him to manoeuvre you until he was happy, your heart beating a mile a minute. You swallowed, “did you ever think that that was why I liked you hugging me? No? Well stop feeling weird about it and go back to it,” he seemed to hesitate before adding, “but, if it’s okay with you, just me from now on?”

“Deal.” You stuck out your pinky finger and he wrapped his around it, in the universal symbol of an unbreakable vow.

“Christ, finally.” Alex’s voice interrupted, “alright, sorry to cut your love-in short but there’s a quiz going on and I’m going to need the Nerd with me for this round.”

When Andrew stood with a laugh, the first one you’d seen for a while, he took your hand. You loosened it quickly and before he could open his mouth, you wrapped your arms around his entire waist. There had been actual months of not touching him and you were starved.

He chuckled again, tightened his arms around your shoulders and pressed his lips to your forehead. He kept you pressed against him as you walked into the house. He wound you around him when you both sat for the quiz and he wound around you later that night, pressed tight until dawn.