GOLDEN BOY - Homelander x Reader

3: The Invitation

"Homelander?" you say, blinking and rubbing your eyes a few times to make sure you're not still dreaming.

"Starstruck, huh?" he says with a chuckle, "That's cute. Don't worry, Y/N, I'm really here. Did you see the coverage last night, or were you too tired to watch?"

"I saw it," you say.

"I thought we looked nice together. Didn't you?" he says.

"Oh, um," you stammer, a blush creeping up your cheeks, "Yeah, I guess we did."

"You and everyone else, apparently. That coverage is a hit. We made the front page," he says, holding out a copy of today's newspaper for you to look at.

There on the front page is a huge photo of Homelander standing tall and smiling, cradling you in his arms. You were still getting over the shock of being held hostage and falling from a skyscraper; you didn't expect to be thrust into the spotlight like this, too.

"But that's not what I'm here for," Homelander says, setting the newspaper down on your front porch, "Vought's throwing a charity ball at the tower tomorrow. All of our biggest donors will be there, and everyone in the Seven is expected to make an appearance. It's one of the biggest events we throw all year."

You can only imagine the scale of this party and it kind of makes you queasy. The thought of being stuck there for hours with all eyes on you - you don't know how Homelander deals with it, but you guess he's used to being a celebrity.

"Sounds exciting," you say, just to be polite.

"I'm glad you think so," he says, "You're going to accompany me."

You stare at him like a deer in headlights, unsure if you heard what you thought you heard. "W-what?" you stammer, your knees feeling weak as you stumble back.

"I said," Homelander says, grabbing you by the hand so you don't fall backwards, "You're going to accompany me to the ball. As my date."

"I - what?" you say, blinking slowly, "Are you asking me, or are you telling me?"

Homelander frowns, giving your hand a firm squeeze, just hard enough to hurt a little bit. The thought of him being displeased with you frightens you a little. You remember how vicious he was towards the robbers yesterday. Vought was the most powerful corporation in the world and Homelander was the most powerful man in the world: if he wanted you to attend the gala with him, he didn't really have to ask permission, did he?

"It'll be good for ratings. I'll make sure you have a nice time, and you'll get a gift basket on the way out," Homelander said.

You roll your eyes. There he goes about his ratings again, and you already have one tacky gift basket from Vought. If he really wanted to go with you, you would have considered it, but knowing that you're just a tool to get him some better ratings and another front page photo wasn't very appealing. You'd be stuck socializing with rich people all night long and you'd have Vought employees constantly on your back to make sure you were behaving properly.

Still, you'd be stupid to say no to Homelander, right?

"Do you want to go with me, or does Vought want you to go with me?" you say, giving him an opportunity to salvage this situation.

"I saved your life," he says, pursing his lips.

He looked like such a petulant child when he didn't get his way.

"I know, and I'm really, really thankful for that. I am, but big parties like that just aren't my scene, and," you say, your words growing softer as you see his expression turn darker and darker, "I don't really like being told that I'm going to go with you without being given a choice."