Once again, thank you to editor/co-writer Finality2020 Saorise is pronounced sur-sha

Chapter Text

Isabella leaned her head back and burst out into a howl of laughter at Bobby's admission and how nervous he currently looked as the lift ascended higher off the ground. She'd never had this happen before, this almost instant comfort level with a near stranger.

The only things she knew about him were that he's Scottish, scared of heights, clumsy as hell, a goofball, and insanely gorgeous.

She breathed in deep as she calmed her laughter down, realising he smelt of fresh bread, another fact to add to the list of random shit.

Once her laughter was under control she soaked in the sight of him, musing that he almost looked like a painting, with the freckles scattered haphazardly across his face and his dreads poking out from under his grey beanie. He wasn't just handsome, he was adorable.

She realized she was staring and he had a look of confusion on his face at her laughter so she tried to look slightly serious as he started speaking.

"Look, Isabella," he began after a gulp, his voice shaking a little, "we only met a few minutes ago, and so far I've come across as a right idiot, so before this death trap fails us both miserably, at least let me introduce myself properly," the words were so quiet that it took Izzy a second to fully process what he'd said.

He looked down at his hand and with a determined look, pried it off of the safety bar, stripping his glove off with his teeth and wiping his palm on his trousers. He tensely held out a slightly trembling hand for her to shake.

Smiling at him, she took his hand in hers, gripping it firmly and feeling the trembling subside, "Well since we're apparently being formal, I'm Isabella, but I prefer Izzy. You seem to already know that and since Chelsea called you over earlier... I'm assuming that she and Lozza have something to do with that?"

The lift jolted slightly and his grip on her hand tightened, on the brink of pain, but somehow comforting.

After taking a deep breath in, he began to speak again, "Yeah, your friends are pretty full-on, aren't they?" His voice broke on the last word, his blush deepening.

Izzy felt the urge to laugh again at the stupidity of the situation until she noticed that the hand in hers was starting to shake again, and his other hand was in an iron tight, white-knuckled grip on the railing. He looked away from her and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. She felt a weird loss at not seeing his amber eyes searching her face.

"Wow, must be some phobia you have."

"Mmm, sure," He whispered, his chin tucked into his coat collar, muffling his voice. He cleared his throat and then almost whisper-screamed "How close are we to the top?"

Izzy glanced and noticed that they were only about a quarter of the way up the mountain, "Uhhh... not too much longer..." she lied, biting her lip.

Bobby forced his eyes open and his breath hitched at how high up they were, "Shit shit shit," he mumbled.

"Bobs, calm down," the nickname just slipped out without her even noticing. She felt a momentary twinge of anxiety and rushed on, "Take a few deep breaths, okay? Inhale and wait for me to squeeze your hand before exhaling, do it slow and steady, okay?"

She waited until he pulled a breath in, then squeezed his hand a moment later. They repeated this timed inhale/exhale for a few more beats before she told him to open his eyes slowly and take in the view.

She kept ahold of his hand and as his eyes slowly opened she smiled to see them search her face for a moment first before he turned his head, eyes wide, blinking stupidly.

She followed his gaze over to the mountains. They were massive. It’s really a reality check of how powerless a human is, how insignificant. The fact that an argument with a friend or a fight with a family member can feel like the end of the world, yet in the grand scheme of things, it’s a little blip in the road. It’s not even that, it’s as unimportant as a piece of dust.

This was how Iz unwinded and untensed. Why, back in school, would she stress about detention or a missed deadline when it wasn’t going to affect anything in the long run? Instead, she’d go skating along the beach, or surfing on the Cornwall coast. And on holiday in the mountains, she’d ski.

The pure dread and anxiety caused by being so scared to fuck up ruined her childhood, and it had started to ruin her adulthood up until a few months ago.

Being up in the mountains was like being humbled.

Bobby smiled and said in a soft voice, "The view's amazing," he looked back at her again, "and not just this one," he winked at her, bringing back the light atmosphere.

This boy is bi-polar I swear.

She laughed, listening to the echo of it in the cold clear air. She noticed Lottie turn from two seats ahead on the lift at the sound of their laughter and give her a thumbs-up before leaning into Gary's shoulder and whispering something.

She turned back to find Bobby still staring at her, "Not sure how you did that, lass. That's the first time anyone's talked me out of panic. Normally, I'm the one that's the hero when someone's all upset and crying or freaking out," He paused for a moment, thinking of what to say, "Thank you."

He blinked at her and then turned back to the view, taking in a deep breath, "It really is amazing, isn't it. Maybe I'm not as scared of heights as I thought I was," he said with a smile on his face, "Or maybe you're Jesus and can cure people? Who knows, right?"

Izzy giggled again before she felt a moment of embarrassment. She didn't want to tell him the reason why she was so good with panicking people. Didn't want to share that her little sister suffered from extreme anxiety. She felt like she could with this guy but now wasn't the time, so she just smiled and said, "It was no problem. I couldn't let you die on me."

They chatted the rest of the way up, Izzy doing her best to distract him from the fact that they were getting higher and higher, which even made her uneasy no matter how many times she'd done this.

She asked him loads of questions and learnt that he had 1 sister and 1 brother: Naomi who's 21 and Camden is 17. His parents are called Tammy and Devon and they have a dog called Nessie.

"I've lived in Glasgow all my life but most of my relatives live in Jamacia... anyway, enough about me, what about your family?"

She took a breath in before talking about her family, "Ehh, I only have my mum and my younger sister Saorise who's 16. Both my parents are Irish but settled in Cornwall. My dad... he uh, passed away when I was 14. So we moved to London for my mum to get a better job," Izzy paused, she was unsure whether or not to go into details about her dad. It was a heavy subject.

As if sensing that she was unsure, he squeezed her hand and a knowing smile spread across his face, “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain. Carry on, I'm very fucking interested to know how you ended up meeting Chelsea and Lottie, they seem like very... interesting people," He winked.

Izzy snickered, “You’ve known them all of two minutes and already know what a crazy group we are,” she sighed, “It’s a really long story, but to cut it short, Chelsea and two others you probably saw in the lounge - Hope and Priya - basically took me under their wing when I joined their school. Everyone else joined the group along the way pretty randomly so now we all make sure to go on one girly holiday together every year. It’s hard to find time where we all aren’t at work, but it’s worth it. Why are you guys here?"

"It's Lucas' stag-do. He's getting married to a lass called Blake back in Manchester," He frowned a bit but it instantly softened when he carried on, "He's one of my best mates, a real good egg. I'm making his cake for the wedding actually, wouldn't be the first time I've helped a friend out with their wedding cake. Maybe I could jump out of it..." Bobby trailed off at the end.

"You bake?" Izzy's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, I work at a hospital doing catering. I love it but the dream is to eventually open a business."

"Hmmm, I'm impressed. I honestly thought you would've been a model or something-"

Bobby's head flipped around to face her and his eyes were wide in disbelief, "Me? A model? Yeah, maybe Gary or something, but not this," He said, gesturing to himself.

She couldn't believe it. To her, not only was he breathtakingly gorgeous but his personality really made the difference. His laughter was contagious and when he threw her winks it made her legs weak at the knees. The fact that he wasn't even aware of the effect he had on women around him was even sexier somehow.

"Psh, Bobby, don't sell yourself short. Yeah, Gary's good-looking, but it's in the "one of the guy's" way of good-looking."

"Girls must really love that look though, because that bloke pulls a bird every time we're out, everywhere and anywhere. It's beyond annoying to be having a pint with him and suddenly he's off down the bar, chatting up some fit woman, or calling a taxi back to his flat."

"Oh my God, I know that feeling! Priya is the biggest flirt around. She's so good-hearted and so goofy, but men are constantly flocking to her."

Right then, the lift jerked. Izzy spun her head around to look Bobby full on. She noticed that his hands were back, gripping onto the railing, his eyes were shut, and he was silently mouthing something to himself. She didn't want him to spend the rest of the trip freaking out, so she reached out and stroked the knuckles of the hand closest to her with the lightest touch possible.

When she saw the hand relax a little, she slid her fingers under his and gently lifted his hand off the bar, squeezing it, "If you think it'll help you, you can keep your eyes shut for a moment. But I think we should play a game."

He drew in a breath and exhaled shakily before speaking in a soft voice, "A game might be a good distraction, aye."

Izzy grinned a little, hearing his accent deepen, it melted her insides just a little more than it already had, "Okay. How about Two Truths and a Lie? It's definitely a game that requires thought so should distract you a bit."

"Oh, I'm good at this one. Let's do this. You're up first though."

"What? Me? Why do I have to go first?"

"Take pity on a poor scared lad and just go first, woman!"

She laughed and it echoed around them. She watched his eyes open and the corners of his mouth quirk up in his cute little grin and mentally gave herself a fist pump at already beginning to distract him.

"Oh fine. Okay. Hmm. I once dyed my hair to match Lottie's-"

"What colour?" he cut her off.

"we rocked a turquoise colour for a good month together. Anyway, if I'm allowed to continue... I'm afraid of birthday candles, so never have a cake, and men always serenade me at the end of dates, I require it," Bobby opened his eyes fully and looked at her with such a comical look of surprise that she laughed again, "What? I deserve to be treated like a queen."

"I don't doubt that for a second, but those are about the most out-there things I've heard a person say yet in this game. But, I'm calling it, you're not always serenaded. Which means when I make you a birthday cake, I will be sure to not put any candles on it."

She laughed again, lower, "You're right. I wish men serenaded me at the end of every date, but alas, most men aren't willing to do that," she pulled a mock pout and cracked up laughing again at the expression on his face, "thanks for offering a candleless cake. My mam got around it mostly by making me gigantic cookie cakes that didn't look like cakes... anyway, your turn!"

"Ach, fine. Let's see... well, I once blacked out after drinking a random drink I found at the side of the bar in Ibiza - let's just say I was skint and know what it feels like to be spiked -, I own a motorbike, and I rode a mechanical bull for three minutes and 46 seconds straight once," She noticed his chest puff up a little on that last one and automatically took it out of possible lies.

"Hmm, while I could weirdly see you blacking out after being drugged, I can't see you on a bike. If I'm being a bitch and judging just from appearances, I'd peg your friend Lucas as that one."

"Damn, lass, you're spot on. You are good at this."

"It's all about the powers of observation," she tapped her nose, "Marisol taught me. Ready to go again?"

"Sure. This is fun!"

"Okay... my first kitten was named, my absolute favourite food in the world is toast with marmite, annnd Chelsea has decorated my flat with pictures of pugs, mugs with sayings and really plush rugs."

Bobby sputtered a moment before saying in a tone of disbelief, "Pugs, mugs, rugs? Bloody hell," he fell silent for a moment, looking up into the sky. Izzy took the moment to drink in the sight of the freckles smattered across his nose, "Oh, I'll peg you as not having your favourite food be toast with marmite. You were way too excited about my baking capabilities."

"Correct again! You're also excellent at this."

"It's all about the powers of observation as you said, Izzy. Ready for mine?"

"Hit me."

"I once wore a dress at a girl's birthday party when I was eight. I find pull-ups with people a fun activity. My favourite books are the Sherlock Holmes mysteries."

Izzy leaned back a moment, thinking hard. She could see him being fine with her knowing he once wore a dress. She immediately discounted that one and focused harder. She narrowed her eyes at the size of his shoulders.

"It's the pull-ups. You have muscle, but it's not gym muscle, it's lifestyle bulk. Not like Gary up there, who is like a walking advertisement for a gym. A baker has to taste his own creations otherwise what's the point."

"Yes! You are really getting to know me. We may be ready for a Mr. and Mrs. quiz by tomorrow."

Izzy smiled largely at him, God, he's such a dork.

"I don't know about a Mr. and Mrs. quiz, but we definitely should have some whiskey after skiing is done."

"Oh we definitely are," he said, grinning back at her.

"Guess what?"

"What's that then, lass?"

"We're descending. You made it Bobby!" She leaned over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, giving a brief squeeze before letting go.

"Ach, thank the Lord."

"I'm very glad I was with you for this experience. It's been interesting, to say the least," She smiled at him and winked.

"Well, you're much better company than Gary would've been."