more than friends ? | s. eric

pairing: neighbour!eric x fem!reader
wc: 2.8k words
synopsis: you’re kinda feeling down in your bedroom, but your mom comes in to tell you something that will make you feel a bit better.
genre: fluff, angst, a bit cliché, comfort, self-indulgent
tw: the reader is not doing her best mentally, she’s lonely and insecure.

╰☆☆☆☆╮

Headphones glued to your ears, you didn’t hear your mother frantically knock on your bedroom door and call your name.

“Y/N, I know you hate us coming in without knocking, but you couldn’t hear me,” she said as you jumped when you saw the door swinging open, removing your set from your ears after pausing the episode you were watching. Your mother’s eyebrows slightly furrowed as she noticed the frown on your face but didn’t raise it, leaning her hand on your desk.

“I just saw Ericleaving his house as I was taking out the trash, he asked me to tell you that he’s going to the beach to chill with some friends, and you are more than welcome to tag along,” she explained, and you nodded, not showing a lot of enthusiasm, much to her dismay.

A few months ago, your former neighbours had to move out because of the father’s job abroad, welcoming another family into their home instead. They were quiet and nice, the son frequented the same college as yours and was legitimately a bundle of energy which was quite your opposite.

“I don’t feel like hanging out with anyone right now,” you emotionlessly said after sighing deeply.

“I know that you’re disappointed since you discovered that your friends betrayed you, but that doesn’t mean everybody will be fake and abandon you!” your mother exclaimed, and you just shrugged.

“You never know, not everyone has a kind heart. And it seems like I’m stupidly naive enough to be friends with toxic people without intending it,” your mother sighed at your stubbornness, but she didn’t insist. She knew that you were already suffering enough to be alone, feeling loved by no one. She kissed your temple and gently rubbed your back, telling you that she allowed you to join Ericand his friends if you wanted to, before leaving your room.

Groaning in frustration as the episode you were watching was the last, you closed your computer screen and stared at the logo, feeling jealous that all young adults around your age were having fun in groups while you were alone in your bedroom, your brother not even talking to you on the rare occasions he was home.

Walking to your closet, you lazily got out a swimsuit, quickly putting it on before covering yourself with a pair of sweatpants and a large t-shirt. You didn’t plan on going in the water, but maybe hanging out with people your age would get you out of your comfort zone and turn acquaintances into new friends. Or simply meet new people, because you were getting tired of the long process it was to become close with someone, only to end up disappointed by them in the end.

“Mom, I’m going!” you yelled from the entrance, and she hummed in response.
“Have fun and be safe! Text me when you get there,” you promised her to be careful and walked out the door, following the pavement till you arrived at the beach.

You removed your light shoes from your feet and sunk them in the lukewarm sand, feeling at ease as the sound of the waves crashing on the ground reached your ears over the wind. Many groups of friends or couples were there, eating and laughing together. It made you feel even more like a loner, but you quickly chased this thought away by shaking your head, not wanting it to change your mind and force you to go home.

“Y/N! Over here!” you heard a bright, familiar voice in the distance, turning around as you involuntarily walked past your neighbour and his group of friends. A few of them raised their arms in the air to draw your attention, Ericvisibly happy that you eventually decided to join them. He jogged towards you and wrapped his arm around your shoulders, his display of affection startling you.

“I’m so happy you’re here, it’s been so long since I last saw you! Come on, the water is still warm!” he said as he drew on your arm, but you answered negatively to his offer.
“I don’t really want to get in the water Eric, I’m tired,” you explained, and Eric’s eyes widened, disheartened at your answer.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Because Y/N saying no to going in the water, you must not feel good at all,” his face twisted into worry, but you offered him a tired smile.
“I just have a lot going on right now, and it drains me out a lot,” you repeated, and you were happy that Ericdidn’t pressure you into telling him what was wrong.
“Okay… you can talk to me if you need it, I’ll gladly listen,” you thanked him and watched him hurry in the water with his friends.

“Hi,” you said with a slight smile as you sat on the sand next to Sangyeon, the only one you knew best aside from Eric, and he shifted on the picnic tablecloth to make some room for you.
“Hi Y/N, thank you for coming. Ericwas becoming very whiny since you weren’t showing up,” you almost lost your balance as you looked at him in bewilderment, your heart panging in surprise at his words, and Sangyeon confirmed them by a nod.

“Since that time you helped him take pictures for his Instagram, he won’t shut up about you and your skills,” he giggled, and you were surprised, to say the least, not really expecting your neighbour to enjoy your company that much.

“Well I’m glad I managed to make him happy,” you mumbled as you watched him and his friends acting like fools in the water, the sight tugging a smile on your face. You were tempted to join them, but for some reason, tonight felt different. You were too much in your thoughts to even consider having fun, going there was just an attempt on clearing your mind from everything.

“Y/N! Come have fun with us, please!”Ericwhined from the water, slapping its surface in a groan as you negatively shook your head with a small, amused smile. He looked like a child throwing a tantrum, making Sangyeon next to you laugh. Kevin, Juyeon and Changmin joined the youngest in his sulk, encouraging you to change your mind.

“Ugh, fine,” you said as you stood up, the guys cheering when they saw you take off your shirt. You shook your head again, Sangyeon removing his as well. The sight of his bare, broad torso had your eyes widening and quickly turning your back to the beach, trying not to let any emotion show on your face.

You giggled as some of the guys whined and groaned in frustration when they saw their friend shirtless, comparing the size of their abs and biceps with him, while Ericwas too busy silly dancing in the water as you arrived near him, his goofy attitude making you smile. He tried sprinkling some water on you with his fingers, but a quick, stern look was enough for you to make him stop.

“Keep doing that and I’m going home,” you warned, and Ericshook his head, immediately apologising.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. But come on, don’t just wet your feet!” He whined, and you rested your hands on your hips, letting the small waves crash on your calves.
“The water is a little bit cold if you didn’t notice, I’m just taking my time to come in,” you explained, and Eric got closer, wrapping his arm around your shoulders to pull you quicker in the water.
“Wait, wait-” you said, but next thing you know, you were sunk in the ocean to the neck, feeling the freshwater surrounding your body. You hissed but smiled as your neighbour stood in front of you, offering you a piggyback ride.

“Hold on, Eric! Do you think Y/N would want to play at ourgame?”Changmin asked, and your neighbour immediately nodded, showing you how Younghoon let Chanhee sit on his shoulders, Sunwoo doing the same with Kevin, the two guys on top trying to push each other and lose balance to fall into the water.

“I think yeah! Okay Y/N, get on my shoulders!”Ericexcitingly said, but you stopped him right before he sank in the water, his surprised face making you giggle.
“Not to upset you or anything, but I don’t want to break your back,” you explained.
“Come on Eric, she needs a strongman,”Sangyeon approached the two of you, a teasing look painted on his face as he emphasised the adjective, slightly nudging Ericaway. Your neighbour grunted, and you rolled your eyes at their little game filled with testosterone. Ericswam towards Juyeon and jumped on his shoulders like he was as light as a newborn, the older feeling the aftermath of Eric’s weight on his body with a groan.

Sangyeon sunk in the water, and you wrapped your legs around his shoulders, the young man standing back up like he was carrying a feather. His strength surprised you, and you struggled to find your balance as he walked closer to Juyeon and Eric, who seemed determined to get you off his friend’s shoulders. Sangyeon’s hands gripped on your knees as you started to fight with Eric, giggling in anticipation as you could find yourself in the water in a matter of seconds.

However, this fight broke between Sangyeon and Juyeon as well, the latter trying to tickle his friend, giving you and Eric unstable foundations to fight. You still managed to push Eric in the water, earning cheers from Sangyeon and the rest of the group.

“Nice job, Y/N!” Sangyeon exclaimed as he squeezed your ankle, shyly thanking him right before the rest of the group started a water fight around you two. You shrieked as Sangyeon sunk underwater to get you off his shoulders, and both swim away from the fight. They all laughed as you thought you could reach the ground, but you disappeared underwater, lacking a few centimetres to be able to stand on your feet. You coughed out water as you involuntarily swallowed some, making you shiver at the saltiness of it as the boys giggled.

“Younghoon can barely touch the ground where you are, come back to us!” Sangyeon said, and you obeyed, the water fight now finished, leaving them exhausted and laughing at Eric, who tried to justify his defeat against you.
“You can get your revenge next time we come here,” you said as you exited the water, feeling tiredness and hunger taking over your body.

You let out a groan of despair when you noticed that you had forgotten a towel to dry yourself, shivers starting to seize your body violently. The air was cool since it was already the evening, and you didn’t know what to do.

“Fuck,”you cursed under your breath, and Ericappeared next to you, a questioning look on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“I forgot my beach towel at home,” you said as you started collecting your clothes and your small bag, sliding your wet feet in your shoes, ready to rush back home in the hope to get some warmth. Ericemitted a small noise of surprise and fumbled through his bag quickly as if he could find anything in his bag before you left.

It’s with surprise that you watched him withdraw a huge towel from his backpack, still wondering how he could fit it in his small sports bag.

“Here, take it,” he whispered before shoving it in your hands, watching him run back in the water. You didn’t have time to thank him that his whole body was back underwater, playing again with his friends as if nothing had happened.

You were too cold to refuse anything, so you wrapped the towel around your body after dropping your stuff back in the sand, sitting on the floor next to the calm figure of Sangyeon. He looked so peaceful and serene that you couldn’t help but envy happy, carefree people.

Bringing your knees to your chest, you were enveloped in Eric’s towel, watching the rest of the group enjoying themselves in the water as you smelt the comforting scent of his laundry. They were coming out of the sea one after the other, running to their towel as they were shivering. Once you felt dry enough to put your clothes back on, you stood up and rushed to the seaside with your friend’s towel as he sprung out of the water and huddled himself in the cotton fabric.

“I wish I had taken my own so you wouldn’t have to dry yourself with something so humid, I’m really sorry,” you apologised, but Ericjust laughed, happy that you were taking care of him by vigorously rubbing his back.

“It’s okay Y/N, it’s nothing,” as guilt was starting to eat you, you offered him a saddened smile, which contrasted with the bright one that was decorating his lips, your hand on his back gently pushing him to go back to his friends in the sand.

“We’re gonna get pizzas,” Kevin said as you both arrived next to the group, “we would all love if you joined us,” he said while his eyes shifted to you, him smiling as you blinked a few times.

“Hum, sure!” you said, showing him the brightest smile you could as your mind was still surrounded by dark thoughts. Your heart felt warm in your chest, happiness sparkled in your brain, but for some reason, you weren’t able to show it, and you mentally cursed yourself for that.

When you were all sitting down in booths with pizza shoved in your mouths, you felt like your sorrow had reduced by half. You were seated between the wall and Eric, Juyeon and Sangyeon facing you two. The atmosphere was light as your stomach was starting to hurt at how much you were laughing. It felt almost right as if you were part of this group since the beginning.

You noticed that Ericwas sometimes glancing at you just to see if you were okay, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw you with a bright smile on your face, his lips mimicking yours. Yes, bags under your eyes made you look exhausted, yet your neighbour still found you beautiful. Sangyeon and Juyeon exchanged knowing looks as Ericcouldn’t tear his eyes off you when you were telling a story, his frank laugh echoing in the booth each time you told something funny.

Your happy mood slowly faded as the time to leave was getting closer, each going in separate ways, except for you and your neighbour. You still managed to have a slight smile on your lips as you were talking about everything and nothing, arriving too soon at the gate of your house.

“Thank you for offering me to join you, it’s really nice of you,” your voice trailed as you wrapped your fingers around one of the spikey metal bars of your gate, Eric’s smile almost illuminating the neighbourhood sunk in plain darkness. You felt like crying but thickly swallowed the lump in your throat, compensating your emotions with a smile. He pretended not to see your eyes slightly glistening more under the street light, but his heart cracked as you were battling with the demons inside your head in front of him, feeling as helpless as ever.

“We all love to have you around. I noticed that you tend to eat alone during lunch breaks at college, so if you see us, please free to join us, even if it’s just to hang out, okay? We’ll always be here, and you’ll never bother us,” you nodded and thanked him, eyes soon diverting to your house.

Eric’s hand lifted to rub your shoulder, and you stared back at him, his lips drawn in a gentle smile.

You took in a deep breath and smiled too, your heart fastening as you couldn’t keep eye contact. He smiled at your shy attitude and leaned forwards, pressing a gentle kiss on your cheekbone. You blinked a few times as you got startled by his actions, the tip of his ears going red as he took a step back, his hand scratching the back of his head.

“Goodnight Y/N, I’ll see you soon,” he started walking backwards, and your heart fluttered weirdly inside your ribcage, feeling a new emotion.

As if he was slipping away from your fingers, you rushed back to him and wrapped your arms tightly around his neck, nuzzling your face against him. He remained shook but eventually wrapped his arms around your figure as you were about to pull away, humming the mix of your shampoo and the sea that fragranced your hair.

You felt both shy when you pulled away from the embrace, regret invading your heart as you wished it had lasted longer. You wordlessly waved at him before trotting back to your gate, slamming it shut as you rushed inside your house. Ericfondly smiled, feeling lucky that he was part of the reason for your growing happiness.

He couldn’t wait to see your gauge of joy at its maximum capacity, thanks to him.