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ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɴɪɴᴇᴛᴇᴇɴ: sʜᴀʀᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴅʀɪɴᴋ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ

❝ ʜᴇ's ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʙᴇᴅʀᴏᴏᴍ ᴇʏᴇs. ❞

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        "IS THIS OUTING AUTHORISED?" YOU ASKED, nervously glancing back at the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, which was no more than a speck in the distance at this point.

"No, of course not," Brendon scoffed, taking a right turn, "You think The Director would ever approve this?"

"No, never. That's why I'm asking," you said, "Doesn't S.H.I.E.L.D have cameras in the garage and GPS trackers on their vehicles? Aren't we gonna get caught?"

"I called in a favour with one of the tech guys," he explained, not once taking his eyes off of the road to glance at you, "We'll be untraceable for the next few hours."

You nodded, but then another concern struck you. "What if The Director wants to speak with us-"

"The Director is insanely occupied at the moment," Brendon cut you off, "He won't be wanting to speak with any of us anytime soon. Trust me, (Y/N). There's no way I would've ever attempted this if I wasn't sure it would work," he grumbled.

The car ride lasted for approximately an hour, and despite your best efforts, you couldn't get so much as a peep out of Brendon in regards to where you were headed. Considering the past seven months, you assumed that he was taking you somewhere secluded and unmapped, so you were as enormously surprised as ever when you pulled up to a lavish looking night club.

At first, you thought that this was just a quick stop, but once Brendon got out, opened the door for you and waited for you to get out with an expectant look on his face, your eyes practically bulged out of your head.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"I'm always serious," was his typically-Brendon response, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other before furrowing his brows, "It's your birthday. And considering the lovely past seven months you've had, I thought you deserved a break. Albeit a short one."

You were speechless. This entire situation was so surreal and unlike your stone cold bodyguard, and you weren't sure what to feel at that moment.

Your lack of verbal communication was daunting, and Brendon's confident demeanour faltered a tiny bit.

"You don't like it."

"What?" you sputtered, "No, no, I-I love it," you reassured him, raising your eyebrows and opening and closing your mouth, trying to think of something to say.

"Don't bother," Brendon said, cocking his head towards the entrance, "Let's get inside."

The two of you started briskly walking down the outstretched dark purple carpet to the front door; Brendon trailed extremely close behind you and kept a firm hand clamped on your lower back at all times; the sensation of his hand on your body, even though it was through two layers of fabric, made your skin burn up.

The bouncer held up a hand to cease the two of you from entering. Brendon leaned in to whisper something you couldn't make out into the burly man's ear, and with a glance at you and a short nod, he stepped back and allowed you to enter.

The inside of the bar took your breath away. It was a vast space, decked out with the shiniest, most expensive linoleum floor and wonderfully crafted walls, which led up to a giant crystal chandelier, which you noticed was not only a source of perfect mood lighting, but also another floor in itself.

With an intricate look around, you noticed that the floor you were currently on was the ground floor, where the DJ and dance floor were situated, the upper level 'chandelier' was a cocktail room serving speciality and artisanal wines, and the lower level was an intimate private lounge.

"So, did I do a good job in choosing a location to spend your birthday?" Brendon questioned, leaning in so that you could hear him over the pumping music.

"'Good' is an understatement," you breathed, shaking your head, "This is incredible, Brendon. Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me yet," he responded, giving a quick glance over your shoulder, "There's still one more surprise. Quite possibly better than this," he cocked his head to indicate that he was talking about the bar.

You furrowed your brows and scoffed in amusement. "I don't think you could top this."

He nodded to behind you. "Don't be so sure."

A bit hesitantly, you turned around, and upon seeing what was behind you, you had to stifle a scream.

"What's up, buttercup?" (Y/B/F) beamed, taking another step towards you, "Long time no see. It's almost like you've been in hiding or something," she joked, laughing once you flung yourself onto her, "I missed you too!"

"Oh, my god," you squeaked, squeezing the life out of your friend, ecstatic that you were getting to see her after so long, "I can't believe this! You're really here!"

"I'm really here!" she said, and the two of you yelped in glee again.

"But... how?" you questioned, still in disbelief.

"You can thank your bodyguard over there," she cocked her head at Brendon, who was standing a little distance away, yet still very close to you, as usual, "He put all of this together."

Turning around, you smiled at your bodyguard, who was still wearing his signature emotionless expression. Under any other circumstance, you would've never done what you did next, but you were exceptionally happy, and any second-guessing went out the window.

You walked up to Brendon, and when you were close enough, you flung your arms around him, similar to how you had done with (Y/B/F) moments earlier. Brendon was utterly shocked and slightly awkward; he didn't know how to respond. When, after a few seconds, you still hadn't unhooked yourself, he very slowly and apprehensively placed both hands on your back; at this acceptance, you instinctively tightened your grip.

"Thank you, Brendon," you whispered into his ear, starting to feel a little teary-eared; you were overwhelmed, "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Yeah," he said after a few seconds, clearing his throat, "Yeah, don't mention it."

When you pulled away, you smiled at him and he actually gave a half-smile in return, making your smile grow even wider. You stayed looking at one another until (Y/B/F) clapped her hands.

"Let's party!"

~

"Two Cosmos, please," you requested from the cute young bartender.

"Coming right up," he smirked, shooting you a wink, at which you smiled coyly.

You didn't notice it, but as the bartender walked away, Brendon – who was sitting on a stool right next to you – gave him a death glare so intense, the poor guy tripped over his own feet and stumbled a bit.

"Nice to know that being cut off from civilisation from months on end hasn't killed your game," (Y/B/F) teased, nudging you in the ribs, "You're still catching 'em hook, line and sinker."

"Yeah, well," you sighed, "not like there's anything that can come from it. It's back to normal for me from tomorrow."

"Yes, but that's tomorrow," (Y/B/F) chimed, "We've got tonight. So make it count. Besides, it's not like you can go home with him – it's just a little harmless flirting."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," you nodded, straightening up, "It's perfectly harmless."

The cute bartender returned, nervously setting the two drinks down with shaky hands. "H-here ya go," he said softly, avoiding eye contact.

"Thanks," you beamed, flashing him your most dazzling smile, "I'm (Y/N)," you leaned forward a little bit, "What's your name?"

His gaze flickered from you to your bodyguard, who was staring at him intensely as he took a sip from his beer. He readjusted his collar – which seemed a bit too tight, all of a sudden – and swallowed.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but I really have to get back to work. Excuse me," he muttered, avoiding your gaze as he hurried off down the bar, leaving you stunned.

"That was weird," you muttered, picking up your cocktail and sipping it.

"Ah, nevermind him," (Y/B/F) waved a dismissive hand, picking up her drink in the other hand, "There's plenty more talent on the dance floor. Let's go!"

You smiled at your friend and started to follow her out onto the floor, but Brendon, who pulled you back by your arm, stopped you. You raised your eyebrows at him and he leaned in a bit, so that you could hear him.

"Not too far from me, okay?"

You gave him a small nod and he let go of you, leaving you to join (Y/B/F). As you approached her, you rolled your eyes at the teasing look she had on her face.

"What?" you sighed.

"Seems like you and Mr Bodyguard have gotten pretty close," she chimed, smirking at you.

You scoffed. "He was just telling me not to wander too far."

"How sweet."

"He's not being sweet, he's doing his job," you countered.

"Oh? So organising tonight was part of his duties, then?"

You couldn't respond to that, so you sighed again as you ran your tongue over your teeth.

"That's what I thought," she pursed her lips and shot you a smug look, "He really cares about you, you know." Her statement caused you to burst out laughing; she frowned, her face turning serious. "I mean it," she insisted, and you nodded patronisingly, still giggling, "Do you really think he would've done all of this if he didn't? Like I said, it's not part of his duty, so that means he did it because he wanted you to have a good birthday. Because he cares about you. And the way he gets all protective over you? My God, it's insane," she shook her head, eyes going wide as she blew out a breath.

You gave her a befuddled look, not really sure how she would know how intense his protectiveness could get. She picked up on this and explained what she was talking about.

"When he reached out to me about tonight, the first thing he did was threaten me."

"Sounds about right," you sighed.

"Yeah, he literally said he would kill me if he found out I was working for Hydro-"

"Hydra," you corrected, and she nodded.

"Yeah, that. And he said that he never trusts anyone with anything, but he was breaking that rule for your birthday. Then, he warned me that if I broke his trust by telling anyone about the plan or about where we would be tonight, he would kill me. At this point, I was starting to think he was just looking for an excuse to murder me, and I was a bit unsettled, but I went along with it – it was for my best friend, after all. Anyway, during the phone call, we set up a meeting at this diner in the next town for a few days later. It was very unnerving; I felt like I was being interrogated. Although, I'm sure the cops would've been much friendlier than him," she shuddered at the memory, "He kept on asking me questions. About everything. How long I've known you, why we became friends, if I would be willing to take a bullet for you if the need arises... he even made me scan my fingerprint in this pocket device-thingy to make sure that it was actually me. After the interrogation, he gave me an envelope with the details for tonight inside, got up and left. But not before he threatened to kill me. Again. So, yeah, he's totally in love with you."

"Woah, woah, woah," you frowned, holding up both hands, "When did we go from 'he cares about you' to 'he's in love with you'?"

"Since he's looking at you with bedroom eyes," she quipped, nodding behind you.

"What?" you spun around and sure enough, Brendon was staring at you. Him watching you was a normal thing, but there was something different about his gaze this time around, and it gave you goosebumps. You swallowed – even though your mouth was dry – and held his gaze for a minute; you knew that he would refuse to be the one to break eye-contact first, so you sped up the process and turned back to (Y/B/F), who tossed you a look as if to say 'I told you so'.

"Whatever," you said, downing the remainder of your drink in one gulp, "Let's dance."

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Thank you for reading x