Eurovision 2023 - Käärijä x reader

Dancing in London

I wanted to finish this earlier and make it longer, but my situationship surprised me with a surprise date and some hella good wine. We told ourselves that we wouldn't drink the whole wine bottle, but strangely enough we ended up drinking it, lol. But I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for too long, so here you go<3<3

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Jere was still in this strange unreal state when he left the stage. As he slowly was putting Käärijä away somewhere in his mind, it slowly dawned on Jere what just had happened. If he just stopped himself for a second to realize that it wasn't such a big deal, he would probably calm down. But Jere didn't stop his thoughts. And before he knew it, he sat in the sofa backstage with his head in his hands, wondering how bad he might just have fucked up. Käärijä may not be too worried about what people thought of him, but Jere did put a little more thought into it. Normally Jere would be able to put those thoughts and his overthinking tendencies away, but at that moment he just couldn't.

"There you are", it sounded from the door, leading directly to the area backstage. Jere didn't have to look up to know it was (Y/N). He also knew that she still stood there, as the music from the next act started. "You did great out there", she said as she walked to his spot on the sofa. (Y/N) sat down next to him. She must have noticed that something was wrong, as Jere felt her hand being laid softly on his naked back. "Are you okay?"

"Yes", Jere said, finally looking at the beautiful woman beside him. The concern on her face almost made him crack wide open, spilling everything on his mind, but he held back. "Yes, I'm just tired".

"Understable", (Y/N) said with a small smile. "You were jumping around out there like a mad man".

Jere chuckled slightly and nodded in agreement. But that didn't fool (Y/N). Once again she would surprise Jere. She lightly stroked his back and put her other hand on his green bicep.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes yes", Jere said, giving her yet another strained smile. "I'm okay. I'm fine actually".

(Y/N) was still not convinced. She sat there and studied him with her eyes. Jere didn't find any discomfort in it. He actually found it quite nice. She didn't push him to talk, and there was no judgment in her eyes. Then she said something that Jere had not expected her to say.

"You don't have to tell me what's wrong, but is there something that's bothering you?"

"Uhm..." Jere didn't not know exactly what to say. He was surprised over her approach. Again, he didn't feel any discomfort by it, but a sense of calmness. (Y/N) was not there to judge him or push him to admit anything. She just wanted to make sure that he was okay. "I won't say bother me", Jere finally tried to explain. "But there is something on my mind and, uhm..." Jere was thinking after the words in English. (Y/N) knew why he paused, and calmly waited as he found the words, stroking his arm and back with her thumbs in a calming motion. "It just takes space in my head".

"You think a lot about it and it makes you anxious?"

Once again amazed by how (Y/N) so easily could put his emotions into words, he nodded. "Yes, exactly".

She gave him a soft smile and put her arm around him to bring him into a hug. A nice comforting hug. Not one of those hugs where the purpose was to make you happy, but one of those hugs that was meant to express an understanding of emotions. Jere thought back to what (Y/N) had told him while Brunette was performing in Amsterdam. One thing was to express an emotional need for emotional understanding, but to then also be able to show the same kind of emotional understanding towards him. This woman just kept amazing Jere. He knew that her emotional depth was deep, but it continued to surprise him how deep it actually was. There were so many emotions in that woman, and yet she was able to recognize the same emotions in other people. It was no surprise to Jere that he felt these things towards the woman sitting beside him. But just as Jere thought it was impossible for her to do more to prove her emotional understanding of him, she asked him a totally different question.

"Do you wanna go out and dance with me?" She nodded towards the door that led to the stage. "Hopefully that will make you think of something else".

Jere didn't have to spend much time thinking about it. His fears that his action on stage had been too much, and that he somehow had pushed (Y/N) away from him or might had been too much, was gone by that point. (Y/N)'s friendly smile and her understanding words made all worries melt away. If his actions had been wrong, she would be holding him close like this, would she? No she wouldn't.

"I would very much like to dance", Jere finally said. (Y/N)'s smile only got bigger and brighter. Jere didn't remember how it happened, but suddenly (Y/N) was leading her back out to the others, all while holding his hand in hers. Jere really liked the feeling of (Y/N)'s hand in his. Her hand was nice, soft and warm, just like her personality. Jere never realized how much a person's hand had in common with their personality. Is that how some people were able to read in other people's hands?

They made it out between the stage and the crowd, just as Gustaph was getting ready to perform. They were welcomed by their friends with open arms and big smiles, right when Gustaph brought the microphone to his mouth. (Y/N), Jere and the rest of their friends sang along with Gustaph and the crowd as the song started.

"And when the world got me going crazy, I'll carry on. And it's all because of you. Because of you".

As Gustaph sang and the music started, (Y/N) started to swing Jere's hand back and forth in a small dance. They kept dancing for a short time, stepping to the music, still holding hands. As the chorus started Jere took the opportunity to use their linking hands as an excuse to spin her around. (Y/N) laughed out loud and began to sing along once again as she and Jere danced together, this time with her arms loosely around his shoulders. For once the Finnish singer wasn't too nervous about the people around them. He knew very well that there were people with their phones out behind him, and most likely filming part of their interaction, but Jere decided not to put too much thought into that. Not when (Y/N) was so happily dancing around in front of him. She didn't do anything risky nor did anything he would read as suggestive. She was just happy and silly in a state of full trust. Even when he realized that his hands were on her hips, he didn't care who was looking. At that point Jere could only imagine Lukes face, or how Jimoh probably was jumping around Andrii, screaming and pointing at the two dancing.

As the last act finished and the last pre party was over, the contestants sat out back, slowly getting ready to go back to the hotel. Jere and (Y/N) found themselves sitting close on the sofa, still with their arms loosely around each other, talking and laughing. There was no rime or reason for their conversation. They were talking about everything they had on their minds. All from Bulbasaur in Jere's hotel room and (Y/N)'s cats at home, to their favorite music, favorite food and their family life.

For any outsider looking at the two of them sitting on the sofa, it might have looked like a pair of close friends. For others it looked very intimate. But there was no doubt for anyone around them, Jere and (Y/N) had a strong connection. A connection just as strong as Jere and Bojan's if not stronger.

Every once in a while someone would come over to them to hug them goodbye, saying how excited they were to see them in Liverpool. Jere and (Y/N) would hug them back, before returning to each other and their conversation. Had their teams not told them to get ready, they would probably have been talking all night.

Jere was more than excited to see what would happen in Liverpool.

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I can still feel the wine, phew.