Warnings: Attempted sexual assault which is very vaguely written but I'm gonna mark it between some * so you'll know when it starts and ends if you want to skip it.
A young woman traveled down an old dirt road. To most it would seem like a lonely trip but to Lara, she loved it. She loved the solitude, she loved the fresh breeze of nature and she absolutely loved how bright and starry the sky was at night. She lived in a cozy cottage away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
She was a novelist writing by trade but she also dabbled in children's stories. Her best selling was a book series about Monsters that was used throughout daycares and preschools which taught children lessons such as not to judge by appearances and the value of differences.
Every other day she would make her way to the nearest town, which was a good half hours walk away (but it was okay, she loved to walk) to go about her business. She occasionally helped at a children's centre with volunteer work and of course shop for food and necessities.
Today she worked a little later then usual at the centre, there was an emergency with one of the parents and one worker needed to stay behind to take care of a child until the parent could arrive and she volunteered to stay, she didn't realise how late it had actually been until she stepped outside and began her walk home, darkness swept across the sky and it made her uneasy. She was grateful it wasn't entirely dark as the stars lit up her dirt path home but she still tried to walk briskly and get home as soon as possible. She usually was safe as no one often goes around the woods past the town but it also meant she was isolated in case something did happen.
* TRIGGER WARNING *
Suddenly she felt the wind knock out of her as she was pushed up against a tree. She tried to let out a scream before a hand clamped over mouth and she came face to face with a strange man.
"What are you doin' out here alone beautiful?"
Her nose was assaulted with the smell of alcohol and fear spread out through her, this man must of followed her from town, she did walk past an old bar on her way home.
"I can show you a good time."
She panicked as she felt the mans hand roam across her stomach. She struggled to get free and managed to bite his hand and let out a piercing scream, hoping, preying that someone ANYONE would hear her. She felt her world spin when he struck her across the face and fell to the ground.
* OVER *
She quickly tried to scurry away when she felt his hand grab her leg but suddenly felt him pulled away from her. She turned around and saw a large figure had grabbed him and threw him to the ground.
"What the fuck?" The man questioned, disoriented and hazy as he looked at the figure.
Hulk stepped into full view towering over the man, his face seemed to drain of all colour and he ran, tripping slightly before hightailing it away from them.
Lara felt her heart beating so fast and hard she honestly thought it would explode out of her chest, she shuffled quickly to sit up as the large behemoth stepped slowly towards her. She looked away in fear, eyes squeezing shut as she saw him reach towards her and waited for a blow, possibly her death.
Her eyes snapped open when she felt a large hand pat her head. It sank down with the force of his weight causing her to hunch. He repeated the motion a few more times before she realised he was... Patting her? She looked up at him and saw the Hulk was staring at her, almost like he was waiting for her to make a move first.
So that's what she did, standing carefully, wobbling a bit from her trembling knees she finally got a good look at him.
"You're... The Hulk... Right?"
She had done her fair share of editorials when she suffered particular bad bouts of writers block or when she needed the extra money and she had done a few pieces on the green goliath. Mostly they were just sightings, a few conspiracy theories and some on how the Hulk was a menace and how some General Ross dedicated his life to tracking him down to save the world and rid the people of the evil being.
The hulk nodded, still staring at her carefully, she had a feeling he was watching her just as cautiously as she was watching him.
This so called evil creature had just saved her life, she couldn't believe the articles she had edited after meeting him now. The Hulk suddenly turned away and began to walk off, crouching like he was ready to leap.
"Wait!" Lara cried out, quickly shortening the distance between them. Hulk stopped and looked at her, almost warily? Or maybe she was just projecting her own emotions onto the beast. She gathered her courage and took a deep breath.
"I... Um, I'm a little... Shaken up... Would you... Mind walking me home?"
Yep, she was crazy. Lara had officially gone insane. She peeked up at him, afraid of his response, it was a silly question she didn't know why she even asked and-
"Okay."
Her trail of thought was broken when she heard his deep gruff voice respond. She blinked up at him, honestly shocked before she quickly got her head together, the Hulk had began walking, obviously deciding not to wait for her to simply stare.
She caught up to him and realised she had to take excessively long strides to keep up with his pace. They walked in silence for awhile, her walking in front, leading the way. Her mind was buzzing with a thousand thoughts a minute. She was currently walking beside a creature who could quite literally step on her and squash her. She felt safe though, for whatever reason, she felt safe.
They had eventually reached her cottage, she had seen the small garden lights and felt a wave of relief crash over her. She was HOME. She never wanted to leave again. She almost ran to her door in her excitement but she refrained, choosing instead to turn back to the Hulk.
"I..." She was at a loss for words. "Thank you for saving me."
The Hulk nodded at her, turning to leave once more.
"Feel free to come by for a visit if you'd like!" She called out as she waved him off, she didn't know why but she assumed polite conversation was appropriate for the man (?) who just saved her life. He walked through the thicket of trees disappearing into the forest entirely and Lara walked towards her gate, thinking that would be the last time she ever saw him.
Evidentially she was wrong.
For whatever reason the Hulk had indeed come back. She was lounging around, on her couch when she felt the ground suddenly shake.
E-earthquake?!
Was her first thought but it had stopped nearly immediately, she stood and made her way to her window, her eyes widened when she peaked through the blind and saw Hulk, much to her surprise, standing outside her house.
She pulled on a jacket and went outside, the cool fresh air hit her and she smiled. She loved the nights crisp air.
"Hulk? You came back?" She wasn't expecting an answer so she half didn't know why she asked the question. She supposed she DID invite him back but who would have thought he'd take her up on that offer. He was staring at her again, silently. She bit her lip unsure of how to proceed. She couldn't exactly invite him inside for tea and cookies, he'd never fit through her door!
Instead she once more worked up the guts and made her way towards him. He watched as she sat herself down and looked up at him.
"Would you like to sit with me and look at the stars?"
The question hung in the air before Hulk had plonked to the ground beside her. Every so often she would try to peak at him, study his face as he gazed at the sky with that ever present scowl on his face.
And that was how it started.
This continued near daily, she'd feel the familiar quake of the ground, grab her coat and head outside. They started sitting at a comfortable distance apart but slowly but surely they had ended up sitting closer and closer until eventually she found herself situated in the Hulk's lap, he would stroke her hair and pat her head and again she didn't know how she should feel about this but it was pleasant. She found it to be her favourite time.
She opened up to the Hulk more and more and began talking to him. At first it was unsure sentences and awkward conversations but surely enough she ended up talking to him avidly each night, Hulk in turn responded with short answers and simple sentences but she had come to expect it of him. One night she found the courage to ask him what he was doing here in the deep woods.
"Hiding." Was his simple statement and she wondered what could something like the Hulk possibly need to hide from.
She ended up doing more research about him and found out how General Ross had chased him across America and it made her heart ache. She also discovered that the Hulk never really attacked anyone first. It was ALWAYS in self defence or in response to the militaries assault. She grew to want to protect the Hulk and keep him safe. She wanted him to feel... Loved...
She swallowed awkwardly when she realised she was blushing at the thought.
No no no no
She couldn't! She DIDN'T! It was simply impossible. She wouldn't believe she had a CRUSH on the 8 foot tall green man. Nope. Definitely not.
...
...
...
...
Oh my god I have a crush on the Hulk...
The realisation hit her like a ton of bricks and she was tempted to pretend she wasn't home when his next visit came. She found herself nervous instead of excited and paced around her living room until she felt the ground quake signalling the Hulk had arrived. Slowly she pulled her jacket on and took a deep breath, she quickly checked her self out in the mirror, nodding at her reflection before reaching for the door handle.
Hulk was already seated, cross legged and looking at the sky. She made her way to him and he held out his hand, allowing her to take it as she hoisted herself onto his lap, making herself comfortable as she gazed up at the beautiful expanse of stars. She was mostly silent this night, thinking and just enjoying his company.
When it was time to leave and she felt the Hulk start to stand, instead of simply hopping off his lap as per usual she gathered her courage and pressed a kiss to his cheek. She quickly slid down and made her way to her door afraid of the consequences.
"Goodnight Hulk!" She smiled as she nodded to him, shutting the door quickly.
Hulk stood in silence for a moment, pressing his hand to his cheek.
"Goodnight Lara."
The next day Lara awoke bright and early and readied herself for the day, she got dressed and had breakfast and picked up her weaved basket, ready to go into town to shop after her day of work. She halted after she opened her front door and stared at the sight before herself baffled.
"Huh..."
In front of her was a... large chunk of ground? It looked like a construction truck had scooped up a pile of dirt and dumped it in front of her gate. It was definitely torn up ground and uprooted as she could see it's dirt covered roots. Upon closer inspection she noticed the chunk of ground was covered in wild flowers.
She put two and two together as her brain clicked. Did the Hulk give her flowers? Was this what was happening? She had no other explanation. She stepped towards the large mess and found herself smiling shyly. She plucked the flowers that weren't crushed from the ground and placed them inside. She decided she would press them when she returned home.
After a long day at the children's centre she trudged back home, her shoulders were aching from all the lifting she had done, if anyone ever tells you childcare is an easy job do NOT listen to them. She couldn't wait to get home. Take a nice hot bath and then go to sleep.
She gasped when she saw a shirtless man sitting against her gate, her first thought was to be terrified or run but she took a few steps closer and when he noticed her he awkwardly scrambled to his feet. She stared at him in a hopefully subtle manner.
Ooooh, he's cute!
No! Now was not the time for thoughts like that! She tried to give a hard look to make herself seem brave as she stared at him expectedly. He smiled at her nervously and took careful steps towards her. She looked at his hand as he raised it for her to shake.
"Hi... I'm Bruce Banner. The, uh, the Hulk."