The Deal [Once-ler x Reader]

Chapter 7

After a long day, Y/N found themselves at around 11PM in their room, sitting on their bed while playing their new ukulele. They couldn't shake everything the Once-ler had told and done for them that day. Maybe he does like them more than they thought and maybe the feeling is mutual.

They sighed and were just about to put their ukulele away when they heard a soft knock on their door. Wondering who would come over at such a late hour, they responded, "Come in."

The Once-ler cracked the door open and peeked inside before actually coming in. "Oh, good, you're not asleep. Listen."

Immediately a bunch of thoughts were rushing through their head and they began asking themselves why he would just come into their room at such a late hour. But then he continued talking.

"I had a really great time today and I'm sorry I had to end it so quickly, I really did have lots of fun. So, I thought that maybe, even though it's late, I know, we could still hang out for a bit? In here? Just us?"

Y/N couldn't help but think of how adorable he was as he got slowly more and more embarrassed, blushing, turning his head away and putting his hand at the back of his neck, but he was just waiting for an answer. Upon realizing how they were staring at him for a solid minute, they cleared their throat and tried to hide their small blush with the headstock of the ukulele as best as they could. "Yeah, of course. I'd love that..."

He smiled and walked up closer to Y/N. "So, I see that you're busy playing your brand new ukulele?" He chuckled as he sat down on their bed.

"I-uh... Well, I guess... so...?" They stammered after realizing that he probably wanted to hear them play, even though they felt like they couldn't play a single chord correctly.

"So? Can you play something for me?" He smiled at them with such hope, they couldn't just say no.

"I could, but... y'know I'm not really used to singing around anyone and just playing the music sounds kind of boring, don't you think?" They tried to think of any reason why they couldn't play.

"Oh, that's fine! If you tell me what song it is, I could probably sing along." He beamed with such excitement.

They sighed and tried to think of a song they both might know. "... Fly me to the moon?"

He excitedly nodded. "I love that song! Okay, hit it."

They smiled slightly and struck a few chords just to see if they could play them without messing up. And then they started playing, giving him the signal to start singing.

There the two of them were and even though Y/N messed up every now and then, he kept singing. They already loved his voice when he was just talking but hearing him sing just made Y/N's feelings more intense. Halfway through the song, he scooted up to Y/N to sit next to them, just to rest his head on their shoulder, which made them even more nervous causing them to mess up more.

But then they finished the song. Silence flooded the room. The Once-ler looked back up at Y/N, but they didn't look back. They were too embarrassed, too flustered. They worried that he'd point out every single mistake that they've made while playing. But instead he started giggling and holding onto their shoulder. "Good job, Y/N! You're so good!"

They flushed and gently put the ukulele on the floor and pushing it underneath their bed. "Are you sure? I mean, I did mess up a lot."

"I didn't even notice a single slip up, don't worry. Say, is this okay for you? Us being so close all of a sudden? I did notice you being a bit jumpy today and I figured you might not like being touched." He slowly loosened his grip.

"No! I-i mean, no, don't worry about it. This... this is great actually... I like it." They cleared their throat and found themself slowly wrapping an arm around him. He seemed to be alright with that and put his head back on their shoulder and slowly shut his eyes.

After several seconds of comfortable silence, just holding eachother, Y/N spoke up.
"You know... when we started this whole thing, I wasn't sure how to feel about it. I mostly did it to get you to stop cutting down the trees, but now... I have no idea what you did to me, Once-ler. You actually got me to... like you. A whole lot. Not a lot of people managed to do that. This stuff is really hard for me to say... But I do think that this could work out flawlessly."

He looked up and watched as they got more and more embarrassed, which he thought was adorable. He loved it whenever Y/N got really flustered. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. I actually feel the same. You're a great person and fun to be around. I'm glad it was you who just happened to be stumbling into my office out of nowhere."

Y/N giggled and held him slightly closer to themselves. "Hush it, you."

"I'm just messing with you, you know that." He smiled and reached up to play with their hair. They simply smiled and leaned into his hand, shutting their eyes.

"Don't you think that we're moving a bit fast? We've only known each other for a few days and-... you know, a normal relationship doesn't just happen within a few days. I'm just scared that if something were to happen, I wouldn't be able to handle it well. You're a great person and I don't want to lose you. What if we realize a month in that it doesn't work between us? What if we can't even stay friends, what if-"
"Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy. That's not gonna happen. You know I wouldn't wanna be with anyone else right now, Y/N. Don't just jump to conclusions like that. You mean so much to me." The Once-ler pressed his forehead against Y/N's and slid the hand that was playing with their hair down to their cheek.

Their eyes tore up slightly and they took his hand off their cheek, squeezing it tightly.

Both of their eyes were shut until Y/N decided to shoot their shot and press their lips against his. The Once-ler's eyes shot open. He didn't think they were the kind of person to just go for it like that.

Though, just as soon as they realized what they were doing, Y/N pulled away from him, horrified of their stupid, reckless behavior. They scooted away from him as far as they could, almost falling off their bed. "I- I... I am-... so sorry. What was I thinking?! Oh, my... G-god, I can't-" Their mumbling got cut off by the Once-ler, putting his hands on their cheeks and pulling them into another kiss.

They quickly calmed down and kissed back, wrapping their arms around him. Neither of them knew for how long they stayed in that position, but they eventually pulled away from one another to catch their breath while Y/N was blushing profusely.

"Excuse me." The Once-ler started giggling and hid his face in the crook of their neck. They didn't seem to mind, though, they simply started running their hair through his hair.

"You're a bad kisser."

"Huh?!" He shot his head back up, looking kind of offended.

They started giggling themself which soon turned into a hearty laugh with a few adorable snorts sprinkled in between. "I'm just saying, there's quite a bit of room for improvement there!"

Rolling his eyes, he smiled and put his head down, resting it on them again. "Believe it or not, I haven't kissed a whole lot of people in my lifetime. But that just means that you get to teach me."

"I'd love nothing more than that." They shut their eyes and ran their hand through his hair as both of them slowly drifted off to sleep.