Chapter Text
Hero didn't know what to do anymore.
It had been a year since her birthday. A year and a half since the picnic, and since she had stopped making videos with Bea. Everyone in the group had changed, Hero most of all. She knew what she deserved now, and what to put up with and what not to put up with.
Claudio had also changed. He wasn't the same insecure, possessive teenage boy as before. He'd grown up; he had to, seeing all the damage he'd done to her. Which was all great, but Hero still didn't want him back. She didn't think she would ever want him back, not even if he became the nicest, sweetest, most considerate guy she knew.
But he did want her back. Ever since Bea and Ben had left to embark on their travels, Claudio was slowly edging his way back into her life again.
"I'm a different person now, I swear," he would keep telling her. "Can we start over?"
Every cell in Hero's body would scream "No" at his words. She learned to keep her composure around him and appease him with "I'll think about it", but she would always scurry off and ignore their conversation. After she started to avoid him, he would begin to text her as well. Not all the time-just occasionally. Just a casual "hi" or "what are you up to this weekend?"
She didn't want to mention it to Bea, because, well, it wasn't like she could do much about the situation. She was hundreds of miles away. Plus, Hero didn't want her to think she couldn't handle it. She didn't want to be babied again. She'd grown past that. She was seventeen. Hero knew she was strong enough to not let Claudio back into her life. But he was relentless, and her defenses were crumbling. She didn't know what to do.
Hero glanced down at her phone and read the message again.
Please, please, just give me another chance. I know I don't deserve it, but I hope you'll let me win your trust back. Meet me at the bar at 8 tonight and we can talk.
She frowned. She'd received the text that morning when she woke up, but it'd been on her mind all day. Not even hanging out with Ursula or Verges helped distract her; she was too worried. Maybe she should give their relationship another try.
"Do you want to?" Ursula asked when Hero had brought it up tentatively.
"Hell no." She shuddered at the thought.
"Then tell him that."
Hero grimaced. "I can just tell if I meet with him and he asks, I'll say yes."
"Hmm," Ursula mused. "You could pretend to date someone else so he'll back off."
"That might actually work," she replied, lost in thought.
"Good luck."
Out of all the guys that Hero knew, who would agree to be her boyfriend for the night?
It had to be someone Claudio knew, she decided.
She couldn't ask Pedro, obviously. It didn't matter that he was bisexual; anyone with eyes could see that he was head over heels for Balthazar.
Dogberry was sweet, if a little awkward. Despite the fact that he was much younger than her, and despite the fact that she knew he would go along with it just to help her out, it wouldn't work. He was too awkward to be a believable boyfriend, much less hers.
And so Hero walked to the bar an hour before she was to meet Claudio, feeling defeated and a little panicked. She really needed more available guy friends for situations like this. She tried to take deep breaths as she entered and found a seat. Hero didn't normally drink, but she figured she needed it to calm her nerves, so she ordered a rum and coke. She took a sip and wiped her mouth, surveying the room for potential fake boyfriends. Her eyes fell on John Donaldson, who was sitting at a small booth in the corner.
A lightbulb went off in Hero's head. Of course. Claudio had never liked John; and it would be adding insult to injury if Hero were to "date" her supposed enemy, the guy who'd orchestrated her downfall in the first place.
Hero just hoped it wouldn't be too awkward. It wasn't like they hadn't spoken since everything went down. They'd had small talk and short conversations, mostly at school and when they would run into each other on the street. This should be interesting, she thought.
She took another moment to decide, then gulped the rest of her drink down to give her liquid courage. She felt the burn in her throat as she swiftly marched over to his booth and plopped herself into the seat opposite his.
Out of all the scenarios John could possibly imagine, this was probably the oddest. He never saw Hero except for in the hallways, and she most certainly never actively sought him out. She just smiled at him, but he was too busy wracking his brain to figure out why Hero Duke was sitting in front of him.
"Um, hi?" John began.
"Hi, John, I need a favor from you," Hero replied bluntly.
John just raised his eyebrows. She sure wasn't beating around the bush. The old Hero Duke would never have gotten straight to the point. He couldn't decide if he was impressed by her or apprehensive of what was to come.
"What favor?" He had a feeling he would regret asking.
"I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend."
"WHAT?" John ignored the people at a nearby table who'd turned their heads at his raised voice. "Your boyfriend?"
"Yes, but just for two weeks."
"Is this a joke?" He asked, leaning back in his seat and studying her. He couldn't tell if she was pulling a prank or acting on a dare. The desperation on her face seemed real enough.
"No! Please, I'm begging you, I need to get Claudio off my back."
"Claudio? What are you...?" And then suddenly, it clicked. He sighed.
"He wants you back, doesn't he?"
"Yes."
"And you...don't."
"No."
"Why don't you just tell him that?"
Hero huffed impatiently at him. "Don't you think I've thought of that? If I talk to him, I'll just feel sorry for him and say yes. Which cannot happen. I would hate myself if I took him back."
He leaned forward and frowned. "I don't see what this has to do with me."
"He'll hate it. And he'll back off. Hopefully."
John just smirked at her. "I think I've learned my lesson messing with Claudio. Good luck, though." He started to slide out of the booth to leave. Hero panicked.
"I'll pay you!"
He stopped and faced her. "Let me get this straight. You'll pay me to pretend to date you, so you can get your ex-boyfriend to stop pestering you?"
"Yes."
"Well, if I must," he sighed.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Hero gave him a grateful look. "Now, he's going to be here soon and we need to look like a couple, so can we please figure out how we're going to do this?"
This was undoubtedly one of the odder nights John had had in a while, but he couldn't complain. It was a break from his boring routine, and plus, he got to mess with Claudio again. Even though he knew he shouldn't. But hey, Hero was paying him, so how could he say no? He started to mentally map out their plan.
"We'll need rules. And boundaries. And we'll need to know stuff about each other if you want him to think we're together," John said, gazing thoughtfully past Hero.
"Rules, yes. Okay. Umm...maybe we could play up the PDA a bit while he's around?"
"Okay," he said slowly, not thinking about the fact that he would be doing normal couple stuff with Hero, like holding hands and maybe even kissing. It was too weird to fathom. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well, holding hands obviously," Hero began. "And cuddling, and, er, pet names, I guess, and, uh, kissing, when we have to." Her cheeks turned red at this. She couldn't afford to feel embarrassed or awkward around John. She had to get this right otherwise she would get sucked back into Claudio's life.
"We should probably practice that, so it won't be a total disaster," John smirked at Hero, whose eyebrows raised at his suggestion. He couldn't help but be amused at the panicked look on her face and her wide eyes.
"What, kissing? Now?" Hero tried to keep her voice from rising and her cheeks from heating up, but she was unsuccessful. Kissing John Donaldson had never been on the agenda.
"Don't you want it to look believable?" John ignored the twinge in his chest caused by seeing her so flustered.
"Yeah I do...okay get over here," Hero replied, trying not to feel nervous. She hadn't kissed anyone since Claudio, and she was half afraid she'd forgotten how to do it at all. "But just a peck."
"Yes, pookie," John said as he slid into the booth next to her, a mischievous look in his eyes.
"Don't call me that," Hero warned him. Suddenly he was right there, and she was so nervous she couldn't think.
"Yes, darling," he murmured, looking right at her. "Is that better?"
"Just shut up and kiss me, Donaldson." Hero took a breath to steady her nerves.
"Fine," was all he said, and with that he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers.
It was a tentative kiss, almost like he was asking her a question. It'd been so long since Hero had physical contact like this that she'd almost forgotten how to answer. And as far as kisses went, this wasn't terrible. It wasn't fireworks or anything like that, but it was decent. She was almost afraid to admit that she liked it.
John pulled away after a few seconds. "How was that?"
She shrugged. "It was alright. A bit awkward, though." He was so close to her that she could spot all the freckles dotting his face. She'd always liked freckles.
"Awkward how?"
"You have to be touching me. It just looks stiff otherwise."
John couldn't say he minded this very much. He still felt a bit awkward about it, though. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it's no big deal," Hero lied. "Just touch my face, or my shoulder or something. I don't know."
He sighed. "Okay, if you say so, darling."
Hero just rolled her eyes and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him toward her to kiss him again.
This time, it was more certain. John kissed her like he was sure of what he was doing, like he wanted to kiss her. She placed her hand on his chest and gained confidence when she could feel the pounding of his heart. In turn, John cupped her face with one hand, his thumb lightly stroking her cheek. Hero hummed happily, which made him chuckle.
"Shut up, Donaldson," she managed to murmur against his mouth. He just smiled and kissed her again. Feeling woozy, she pulled away and looked anywhere but into his eyes.
"Better," was all she said after a moment. John just smirked at her until she realized her hand was still on his chest. Hero scoffed at him and scooted away, determined to put as much distance between them as she could. She definitely did not want to kiss him again. She blamed her hormones.
"Whatever you say, Duke." Hero just made a face at him. "Okay, we got that covered. What next?"
Hero sighed and ran a hand through her hair. John tried not to let his eyes linger on her mouth for longer than necessary. Focus, he reminded himself. He blamed his hormones.
"Well, we need our story worked out. When we started liking each other, and when we started going out, stuff like that."
He nodded. "Of course," was all he could think to say. Hero just looked at him expectantly.
"Are you going to help me think of this stuff, or are you going to make me do it on my own?"
It was around this point that John decided to stop thinking he knew what was going to come out of Hero Duke's mouth. She continued to take him by surprise, especially when she was assertive.
"Okay. I asked you out two weeks ago, after we'd been hanging out for a month. We're keeping our relationship a secret obviously, until now. We might as well make it Facebook official as well at this point."
Hero looked up at him appreciatively. "Nice job. And our first date was a picnic!" She brightened at the thought, which made John smile. "Yes, a picnic in the park, and we had strawberries and sandwiches, and we told each other bad jokes and laughed until we got hiccups." She gazed into the distance, picturing it.
"Yeah, sounds great."
She met his gaze again and pointed a finger at him. "And you didn't kiss me until the third date."
"Of course not," he said, shaking his head. "We didn't kiss on the first date, like any normal teenagers would."
She huffed and pushed him away playfully. "Oh, shut up."
John just laughed and leaned in again.
Hero glanced to the door, her palms beginning to sweat. "Okay, he'll probably be here soon, so we should try to act like an actual couple."
"I can do that."
"Can you?"
John answered by sliding an arm around Hero's shoulders and pulling her closer. He grabbed his beer bottle from the opposite side of the table and slid it in front of him.
"Do we have to do the sickly sweet thing where we stare into each other's eyes and call each other pooky?" John asked sarcastically before looking down at Hero. She just snickered and returned his gaze, smiling sweetly.
"I'm afraid so, pooky."
"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" John had never realized exactly how blue her eyes were until he was staring right into them.
Hero felt a twinge of annoyance, but kept up her fake smile. "Of course not, babe, you're getting paid remember? And I'm such a delight, how could you not like my company?" She patted him on the chest.
"Oh, you're just adorable, aren't you?" John bit out. She just scrunched up her face at him and laughed.
"Hero?" A familiar voice interrupted them.
Here we go, Hero thought. She and John looked up, pretending to be surprised.
"Claudio, hi."
He looked perplexed, and a bit pained, to say the very least. "What's going on?"
Hero glanced at John. "Um, well, John and I are dating."
Claudio ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat. "Is this a joke?"
"What? No."
"Because I thought you came here to talk about us."
Hero gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I didn't know how else to tell you."
"How long has this been going on then?"
Hero swore John could tell that she was about to panic, because he chose that moment to squeeze her shoulder. It was strangely comforting, to say the least. She instantly calmed down and resumed her conversation with Claudio.
"Er, two weeks or so."
He studied the two of them. "I don't believe you."
Hero let out a laugh. "Do you think I'm lying?"
"I don't know, but why John Donaldson?"
She looked at John and smiled. "I like him. A lot." John's heart skipped a beat at her words.
"And I adore her as well," he added. She beamed at him.
"Prove it," Claudio demanded.
Hero shrugged. "Fine." She leaned over and kissed John soundly. He kissed her back eagerly, but Hero pulled away all too soon.
"Now do you believe me?" She stared straight at Claudio, challenge in her voice. "I'm with John, okay?"
He kept his eyes on the ground. "Yeah, okay. See you at school." And with that, he turned around and walked away. Hero let out a sigh of relief as she watched him leave the bar.
"We did it!" She cheered, smiling at John. "I can't believe we did it."
John couldn't help but smile back at her. He removed his arm from her shoulder. "Well I think that calls for a drink. What do you want?"
"I don't care, whatever you're having." Now that the confrontation with Claudio was over, her entire body felt weak. She didn't think she could stand right now.
Hero thought that Claudio had taken the whole thing better than she'd expected. It wasn't like she'd expected him to get angry or throw a fit, but what could she say? Old habits died hard. Which was why she was determined not to go back to him. It was an old part of her life she would rather not revisit. It didn't seem that Claudio shared this viewpoint, however, when Hero checked her phone to find a message from him.
He'll just fuck it up again. When he does, I'll be here.
Hero let out a frustrated groan.
"What is it?" John asked as he slid back into the booth and handed her a beer. Hero promptly took a long swig and showed him the message on her screen. His eyebrows lifted.
"We're definitely gonna have to keep this up."
John shrugged. "I don't mind. Fake dating you will probably be the most exciting thing I'll do in my life."
She laughed weakly, but couldn't muster the energy to tease him.
"God, what a night."
He hummed in agreement. "So, just so we're on the same page, how long exactly?"
"Two weeks. Just until he goes on vacation. I figure he'll stop bothering me then."
"Sounds foolproof."
Hero gave him a look. "It will be as long as we act like we're crazy about each other. Which is why we need to learn things about each other."
"Right."
She took another swig. "We should also set rules and boundaries for the physical stuff."
"Like?"
"Like...no lip biting, no tongue unless otherwise specified, hands above the waist at all times, and no grinding."
John smirked at her. "You seem to have thought this out already."
"Shut up, Donaldson."
"Make me."
They looked at each other, and suddenly the air was heavy between them. Hero resisted the urge to kiss him again.
"You're so annoying," she said lamely, and returned to her bottle.
They sat there in silence for the next several minutes until Hero remembered what John had said earlier. She turned abruptly to him.
"We're becoming Facebook official. And I need a picture of the two of us for my new default."
He nodded. "Oh right, okay."
She opened up the camera on her phone. "Make it look like we're happy."
"I was actually going to show Facebook how miserable I am with you."
"Oh my god, you're so annoying."
"Are we going to be that couple who's always bickering?" John asked, amused.
"No, of course not!" Hero frowned at him. "Now shut up and smile."
She snapped the picture, and took another just to be sure.
"Great," Hero said, satisfied. She downed the rest of her beer. "I'm exhausted, I'm going home."
"Alright, then," he replied nonchalantly, and stood up to let her out. "Oh, before I forget, I should give you my phone number. So you can text your beloved boyfriend."
She rolled her eyes but handed her phone to him. He quickly entered himself in her contacts and gave it back.
"See you tomorrow," Hero said as John plopped back into his seat.
"Wait, what's the plan for tomorrow?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, at school. How should we act?"
Hero furrowed her brow at John. "Like a couple, obviously. We hold hands and act lovey and stuff like that. And we can hang out with Ursula, I'll talk to her about us. She'll be cool with it."
"Great, then." She turned to leave. "And Hero?"
"Yeah?"
John caught her arm and pulled her down toward him, capturing her mouth with his again. Hero let out a surprised squeak, but didn't pull away. She quickly relaxed against him and cupped his cheeks with her hands. His face grew hot at her touch. After a moment, he reluctantly drew back.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" He murmured against her lips. She just shook her head. "See you tomorrow, then." He kissed her again briefly for the last time, except, he couldn't quite stop. Thankfully Hero broke the kiss and smiled.
"Thanks for the beer." And with that, she left.
John was beginning to wonder what he had got himself into.
Hero walked home and ignored the tingle in her lips. She refused to add feelings into the mix. It just wouldn't work. This was all strictly business. She could do this. It was just for 2 weeks. It wasn't like she was going to fall in love or anything.
How wrong she would be.
The next morning she woke up and remembered last night's events. Her face grew hot again, and even though no one could see her, she drew the covers up over her head.
"What am I doing?" She groaned loudly. She sat up abruptly and glanced at the window. It was sunny that day.
Hero dressed quickly, choosing a sleeveless blouse and a skirt. While getting ready for school, she debated on what she should tell Leo about the whole situation, or if she should even say anything at all to him. Their relationship wasn't as strained anymore, but they weren't exactly best buds now. Hero didn't tell him everything that went on in her life, and he was barely home.
Ursula knew, of course. It was her idea in the first place. Thank god for her.
Hero glanced at her phone to find a message from John that said he would meet her in the front of the school. She sighed and hoped to God that she could make their relationship look convincing.
She saw Ursula first when she arrived, and greeted her with a mixture of relief and fondness.
"How do you feel today?" Ursula asked. They both knew she wasn't asking to be polite.
"Er, alright I guess. I just need him on board," Hero replied distractedly, searching among the throngs of people for John. It wasn't like he was hard to miss; he could've passed for a small giant, he was so tall.
"I'm sure he will be," Ursula reassured her. "Also, love the new Facebook picture. You both look adorable together." She winked at Hero, who blushed.
"I haven't logged on since I posted that, do people believe it?"
"I think they will once they see you together."
"That's what I'm nervous about." Hero bit her lip worriedly. All of a sudden she spotted him out of the corner of her eye. Showtime.
She put on a smile as John walked toward her. "Hi, babe."
"Hello, my darling girlfriend." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and touched a hand to her back. "You look lovely today."
He was overdoing it a bit, but Hero didn't mind all that much because people were starting to look at them. So she kept on her smile and replied with "Oh, you're too sweet."
"Ursula," John nodded at her.
"Hi John." She glanced at Hero. "I'm glad you guys are together now."
Now Hero was positive that others around them had heard that. She could hear their mutters and see the surprised expressions on their faces. She grinned up at John and waggled her eyebrows. Success.
"Thanks," he replied with a smirk. "I'm glad too." He took Hero's hand in his, entwining their fingers together. She hadn't held anyone's hand in a while. It was unfamiliar, but nice.
Hero turned toward Ursula. "Shall we go inside?"
"Sure."
It was all uphill from there. John held on tight to her hand almost all day. Hero mentally thanked him for helping her feel so calm and grounded. The staring become more subtle, but thankfully no one approached them about it. John was used to the stares, but it unsettled him to watch it happen to Hero. He wished everyone would stop tip-toeing around her, and almost slapped himself when he realized that was probably all she'd wanted since her birthday party. If he could, he would climb onto the rooftop and shout that he was dating Hero Duke. Well, pretend dating.
Hero had definitely had weirder days. Her whole school day routine had been shaken up, and now that John was in the mix, she didn't quite know what to expect. She didn't worry about Ursula and him getting along, because they were both pretty laid-back. She was just nervous of any awkward silences. Or that she or John would say something wrong, and someone would walk by and realize that they were just faking it. And every time she shot John a worried look, he would just rub his thumb along her hand. It gave her a small case of butterflies, but it also comforted her.
John took charge of the conversation as soon as they settled down at a small lunch table in the quad, away from the main tables.
"So when I got home last night, I took the liberty of looking up all the puns I could find," he began. His arm automatically slid around Hero's waist. In turn, she instinctively shifted closer.
"Oh god, here it comes," Hero snorted. Ursula just looked on with amusement.
"Because I had nothing much to do," he deadpanned, looking straight at Hero. She burst out laughing, letting her head fall on his shoulder.
"Oh my god, you're terrible," she gasped.
"Very clever," Ursula quipped back sarcastically.
"Thank you, thank you. But that's not all." John grinned at her.
"Oh, darling, please," Hero groaned.
"Are you ready, my love?"
Hero rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't wipe the smile off her face. "Okay, hit me."
"Why couldn't the bike stand on its own?"
She eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"
"Because it was too tired."
Hero just facepalmed. "That's so bad."
"I know."
She straightened up and glanced at Ursula. "Okay, I've got one. What's the difference between a fish and a piano?"
"What?"
"You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish!"
It was then that Hero learned that when John Donaldson laughed, he laughed with his entire body. It was so contagious, she couldn't help but giggle along with him. Ursula, too, chuckled at Hero's joke.
"That was good, Duke."
"Well I don't mean to brag, but..." She shot back playfully.
"You know, I have to say, jokes about German sausage are just the wurst," John said, watching Hero for her reaction. "Don't you agree, Hero?"
It took her a minute, but all of a sudden she burst out into giggles. "That was terrible!"
Hero just looked so pretty right then, her face lit up and her eyes shining, laughing at his awful joke. John felt a sudden surge of fondness and abruptly leaned forward to kiss her mid-laugh. She squeaked in surprise but kissed him back firmly, her hand resting on his shoulder. She was only half surprised to find that kissing him was becoming familiar. Like it was second nature. Looking back, it should've scared her, but all Hero knew in that moment was the feel of his arm around her, and the way he smelled like home.
They broke apart and Hero giggled again. "You're the wurst," she murmured to her boyfriend. Pretend boyfriend.
"You're hilarious."
"Incoming," Ursula interrupted suddenly. Hero spotted her ex out of the corner of her eye. Here we go, she said to John with her eyes. She pressed herself against him and kissed him again.
John barely registered that Claudio was walking by. He couldn't think past the feel of Hero against him. Every cell in his body protested when she pulled away and unevenly said, "We're clear."
Ursula smiled at the two of them and commented on how adorable they were. They both looked away from each other, suddenly feeling shy. Then Ursula made up some excuse of having to go help Verges with something, and left soon afterward. She urged Hero to text her if she needed anything. Hero just nodded dumbly.
"Er, sorry about this," Hero apologized. "I didn't think there would be this much kissing involved."
John shrugged his shoulders and quietly replied,"I don't mind."
He winked at her and suddenly Hero couldn't breathe. It was almost like he could sense it, because his smirk grew.
She huffed at him and scooted away. John just chuckled under his breath and released his arm from her waist, his hand landing on his leg, right next to Hero's. Against her better judgment, she slipped her hand into his. She didn't have to look at him to know he was smiling too.
to be continued