#meant to start an hour ago but it took forever to type this out hahaha | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

arigatouiris · 4 years

Text

always you // tsukishima x reader

Author’s Note: I am kinda proud of this one because I relate to the reader and Tsukki here so I just projected half of my personalities into either of them hahaha. Again, before I take requests, which I do, I want to finish clearing the works on my draft first. Currently I have two more one shots before my draft is completely clear and so far I have 3 requests in total. Also, I can totally see Tsukki as the pining type and hopeless romantic, yanno? I hope ya’ll like this~

Word count: 6329 words

Pairing: Tsukishima Kei x Reader (Aged up) (College AU)

Warnings: angst, mentions of alcohol, intoxication, intense pining, slight sexual references, eventual fluff, tired reader

If someone would have told Tsukishima Kei that he would miss every single detail about Karasuno when he’d graduate, he’d have laughed at their face. He wasn’t sentimental, anyone who knew Tsukishima knew that he was one of the most practical people they’d ever meet, but here he was, standing beside a particular desk in his 3-4 classroom, staring at an inscription on it that reminded him of you.

The classroom is empty, and the silence echoes in his head constantly. It takes him only a second to think of how loud it would be if it were filled with people—it feels like just yesterday when this very classroom was bustling with joy and laughter, and here you’d sit, reading a book or trying to take a quick nap or doodling.

Looking anywhere but at him.

He let out a breath before feeling his eyes burn, his fingers ghosting over the inscription on the desk. He thinks of your smile directed at him, your hair blowing in the wind, your laughter at something Yamaguchi said, and the way your eyes would glisten when you called out his name.

Tsukki.

His heart was constricting with a familiar sort of pain, the very pain he felt when he broke up with you six months ago; he remembered how your eyes didn’t widen, how tired you looked, how you pressed your lips together, and just walked away. You must have expected it, the way things had been going in the last year. You had your own club activities, and Kei had his dedication to the volleyball club—yet, despite how understanding the both of you had been earlier, third year did not work out.

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi’s voice broke him out of his stupor, before he pulled his hand away from the inscription. “Do you... Do you want to speak to her?”

He did.

Oh, he missed you with every fibre of his being. He wanted to talk to you, he wanted to bury his fingers in your hair, touch your skin, kiss you till you became breathless and he wanted to see the blush settle on your face because of him. He wanted to apologize and scream at how stupid he was for letting you go, and all of this he had realized in six months of not being around you. People often said that first loves don’t last forever, but Kei wanted nothing more than to make things work with you.

No one understood him like you did; you took his snapping with a bulletproof shield and you were headstrong when he was letting himself feel weak. You didn’t punish him for being himself, instead, you embraced him for everything that came with him being who he was—even the bad parts.

“No.”

But, he knew it was too late. He knew you were probably not even in school. Your medical entrance was not far away, and he knew how hard you were working for it. That’s what he loved most about you. On days when he thought he wasn’t paying much attention to you, he’d be one of the last things on your mind because you had a life of your own. He’d wonder if he was being a bad boyfriend by neglecting you for days, not texting you or calling you, but then he’d hear from Yamaguchi that your club activities kept you so busy that it was hard for you to initiate any contact as well.

And when you two did meet after a week of not talking, you’d embrace him with that calming, quite addictive smile and a soft hug before he pushed you away and made fun of you. He’d secretly do it just to see you pout, which he thought was adorable.

And his heart would break when you’d apologize to him instead. Tsukki, I’m sorry I was so busy, his eyes would widen, The club needed me to finish the reports for the anthology we were preparing—

He’d shut you up each time with a firm kiss. The loud beating of his heart meant that he liked you more than he let you know and he only wondered if that would ever bite him in the ass later.

And it did.

It had been seven months since he had last seen you.

Tsukishima knew you were in Tohoku Medical University, and the last time he had seen you was near his own university, meeting with a bunch of girls. He didn’t approach you, quickly hid himself away at an angle that allowed him to look at you, while you couldn’t see him. You didn’t cut your hair, despite how he believed girls after a relationship would make some change; however, you looked exactly like he remembered, no changes.

Did that mean something? He couldn’t deny how he was feeling upon seeing you there, smiling and talking to people he didn’t know, and he ached for you. To see you was to be seduced by you, and he loved how feisty you were with him.

You weren’t shy, you didn’t have a flat personality like most girls he had met. You were a dangerous combination of everything that could ruin him, personified in a form that always took his breath away. Only he could see you flustered, only his touches could make you sigh and gasp and breathless, and he’d have it no other way.

He yearned for a glimpse of you throughout the day, and only at nights he could see you, be with you. But, somehow, you would be gone when he woke up.

It was a week after that did Tsukishima even tell Yamaguchi that he had seen you, to which the blond got news that he perhaps, could have lived without.

“She’s dating someone.”

Tsukishima’s eyes widen at his friend’s words, who only looked a tad bit uncomfortable at how the blond was staring at him.

“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have brought it up—”

“Who is it?”

Yamaguchi gulped, unsure if he even had to say anymore. He knew how his friend felt about you, and throwing at him this sudden bit of information could damage him more than he already was. Clearly, Tsukishima Kei had not stopped yearning for you, despite the breakup, despite the gap, despite the almost one year of not being with you.

“It’s someone from her college... Her senpai, I think?”

But, there was no way Yamaguchi could ever lie to Kei. Tsukishima was grateful for the news, but the way it made him feel was not worth knowing the information. He felt a rock settle in between his lungs and every time he breathed he thought of you, and it hurt all the more than it did before. No matter how many deep breaths he took, Tsukishima could not let go of that rock.

“It’s been long anyway,” He couldn’t even hear his own words, “Good for her.”

Yamaguchi was the one who could see the emotions plastered on his friend’s face, and his heart dropped at the mere sight. Of all the years he had known Tsukishima, he had never seen him so exposed, so vulnerable, and without you, he was just a mess. A walking body of high-functioning anxiety, Tsukishima Kei would rather let his demons devour him than reveal that a girl was making him feel so helpless.

But, that girl was you—strength and beauty personified; there was no wonder that Kei fell so hard for you.

Yamaguchi still remembered that day clearly. The first time you two met, in final year of Junior High. Your relationship with Kei was as special as the one he shared with the blond, and even though you didn’t know him as long, it was just as strong, just as precious, and just as important.

In final year of Junior High, your grades suddenly skyrocketed and you were placed in his class—the teacher often comparing your grades with his own, two of the smartest people in class. Though, your smarts did not just come from you paying attention in class, it came from late-night work and intense studying on weekends.

He had learned later on that you could not afford a cram school, so you would often cram by yourself, into ungodly hours on weekdays, and you’d come to class looking like a zombie and he’d snicker only to have you either ignore him or snap back.

Nevertheless, Kei grew to care for you and Yamaguchi noticed. He’d notice how Kei’s advances at making fun of you died down quite a bit afterward, and if he saw you struggling with something, he’d voluntarily walk over to you and offer to help you—surprising Yamaguchi, and himself in many ways, but what blew his mind was how you’d take his help despite the number of times you’d snapped at him, and you’d thank him, genuinely, making his heart feel full.

You’d started calling him Tsukki by the end of that year, and you’d gotten into Karasuno as well. It was as if the three of you were destined now, and slowly, he realized he developed feelings for you.

And even then, it was you who asked him out. Your face was red, your hands were behind your back, hoping that he’d not see that you were practically shaking, and you were a bit scared that he’d make fun of you. The year had just started, and his practice was going to keep him busy, but you liked him. You liked everything about Tsukishima Kei starting from the teasing, the relentless sarcasm, and the unbridled dedication, which was only masked by his nonchalant demeanor.

But, it surprised you when no teasing ensued. You could never forget the way he looked right then—red faced, hand covering half his jaw, looking away from you like his life was on the line.

“Y-Yeah, I know. You free this weekend?”

Kei thought of you every single day after Yamaguchi told him you were dating someone else. He’d think of you with someone, laughing at their jokes, holding their hand, letting them smell your hair or watch you smile, get the chance to see your eyes glisten toward them.

His thoughts now weren’t even that innocent; on odd days, in the loneliness his apartment brought him, Tsukishima thought of you kissing the boy you were dating, having his hands roam all over you, having some man ravage you instead of him. All Tsukishima could do was wonder what it would be like to take your first, what it would feel like to have his hands roam all over you—his thoughts, while not innocent, reflected how utterly alone he felt.

And when Tsukishima woke up every single morning, his mind would go crawling back to you with guilt over how dirty his thoughts were the previous night.

That evening, after practice, Tsukishima noticed Yamaguchi approach him, waving his hands, flailing them from side to side. Tsukishima rolled his eyes at his friend, who merely smiled at the blond before they walked out of the gym together.

“What’s with you today?”

Yamaguchi said, “She broke up with him.”

Tsukishima could not miss the way his heart skipped a beat at what Yamaguchi said. ‘She’ was automatically ‘you’, and that one vague sentence made so much sense to him that it had him thinking of how much you had him wrapped around your finger, without even knowing it. He turned to his friend, who merely nodded, and continued.

“Apparently, he was too clingy. They’re in med school, and she’s not free at all. Now more so than it was in high school, and her senpai kept nagging at her for not spending enough time with her and she called it off a few days ago.”

Tsukishima did not hide the smirk that sat on his lips.

“She was always the individualistic type.” He commented, his voice low.

“Yeah,” Tadashi nodded, “She needs her space, that (y/n).”

Tsukishima was in a way glad that you considered Yamaguchi so close. Some part of his mind wondered if the reason you told Yamaguchi such intricate details of your life was because you wanted him to know about you. Maybe, you knew Tadashi would ultimately tell Kei about everything, and maybe that was what you wanted.

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi voiced, “I can’t do this anymore...”

His eyes widened at his friend’s sudden revelation.

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe, (y/n)-chan tells me these things hoping I’d not tell you. Maybe, she wants me to tell you, either way, this is exhausting. You still love her, and she... she’s still trying to wrap her head around whatever it is she’s feeling and I feel like I’m caught in the middle here.”

Tsukishima knew that he could feel this way, but there was no way he could allow himself to lose the one thing that linked him to you. That one thing being Yamaguchi.

“Yama—”

“Tsukki, please.��

Kei turned away before pressing his lips into a thin line. He understands, but he doesn’t like it. Yamaguchi knows that his friend doesn’t appreciate it, but the fact that Tsukishima Kei would never wish for someone’s unhappiness over his selfish desires was what kept their friendship going.

Just as he was about to fall asleep that night, his phone rings. He’d not miss the number anywhere, his eyes were saucers as they were staring at your name on his phone screen, calling him at 1 a.m., almost as if you were used to calling him all these months.

His fingers ghost around the phone screen before deciding to pick the call, his heart rummaging in his chest the entire time.

“(y/n)?”

“Tsukki?”

In that one utterance, Tsukishima knew something was wrong. You weren’t yourself, there was something different, something that showcased that you were not entirely sane at that second. His stomach plummeted to the bottom when he realized what was actually going on.

“Are you... are you drunk?”

You let out a bitter laugh before scoffing, “No, you’re drunk. Loser.”

He was suddenly very, very annoyed. He instantly got up, grabbing his jacket, checking the time once again before getting shocked once again at how careless you were being.

“Where the hell are you? I’m coming to get you—”

“I’m being followed, Tsukki.”

He could puke right now. In all his 20 years of life, he has never felt this scared. He felt the back of his eyelids burn, begging him to let himself cry, but if he had a breakdown it would only delay in getting to you. He needed to get you safe, he needed to ensure that you were within four walls, untouched, unscathed.

“Where are you?”

“Inside a 7 Eleven... I think this is the one near Sendai?”

He knows where you are, but that doesn’t give him any sort of relief.

“Stay there. Do you understand me? Stay right there, and don’t fucking hang up.”

He doesn’t even bother to take his wallet, Tsukishima bolts out of his apartment, locking it, running towards the particular store you were in. He spots you from outside, you were not dressed provocatively, a fact that he was grateful for, and rushed inside to grab you by your wrist. You instantly pulled away, before looking up and realizing it was Tsukishima.

Your eyes widened at his sudden arrival before he noticed how flushed your face was. You were so beautiful, it was breathtaking, but right now, all he could feel was unbridled anger.

“No one’s following you, (y/n). What the fuck is wrong with you? Why did you—”

“I was being paranoid? Man, I really need to sit down—”

“Who left you here?” Tsukishima asked, anger bubbling in his chest.

He pulled you out of the store before leading you to his apartment. Walking with you there would take you ten minutes easily, but this part he didn’t care. He was glad that you were safe, but he was still angry at how careless your actions were.

“My ex left me there. He wanted to talk about something, I think? But I just didn’t want to listen to him,” Kei looked at you from the side, his hand wrapped around your wrist, “I kept chugging one drink after another because I was just...”

He saw the eye bags under your eyes and he saw how dry your lips were. You were clearly dehydrated, and you looked devastatingly tired. Med school wasn’t a walk in the park, but seeing you like this, almost defeated, somehow reminded him of himself.

“...I was just so tired.”

Kei’s eyes did not leave your form. He was hyperaware that the two of you hadn’t reached home yet, and whatever conversation he was going to have with you, he understood that right now wasn’t the best time. You were intoxicated, and by the looks of it, you were probably not going to remember anything of what was happening at the moment.

A few more minutes later, Tsukishima had dragged you into his apartment, and latched the door behind him. He was grateful that he didn’t need to share his space with anyone, which meant he could avoid idiotic questions like ‘who’s the girl?’ or ‘it’s so late in the night, though?’, because right then, all Tsukishima wanted was answers from you, whether you were in a drunken stupor or not. Handing you a large glass of water and glaring at you until you drank it, Kei forced you to sit on the edge of his bed and watched you keenly.

“Apparently senpai wanted to get back together,” You said, surprisingly sounding a lot less drunk.

But, judging from your eyes and the way you were unable to focus on his unmoving form, which was right in front of you, he was certain that the alcohol was still in your system. Kei’s heart went out to how sad you actually looked, your light pink sweater was still neat, your jeans unstained, your hair tied in a messy bun—you weren’t dressed for drinks. It was perhaps either spontaneous or you were pushed to a point where you were so pissed off that drinking seemed the only way out.

“Did he... Did he do anything?”

Tsukishima felt stupid for even attempting to ask you this, but he calmed down when he saw you smile to yourself.

“No, I had pepper spray in my pocket.”

“Had?”

“I think I lost it now.”

Kei wanted to slap himself. You weren’t always like this. You weren’t someone who would resort to something so dangerous and reckless. He couldn’t help but think if this was in some way your method of coping, your method of healing from the breakup—was this your breakup formula, the inevitable course of action that you were supposed to take after he broke your heart?

“I ended up calling my other ex.” You laughed, somewhat bitterly, causing Tsukishima’s stomach to drop.

You were drunk, but you clearly knew who he was and where you were. You may have been a lightweight but somehow, he was impressed with how you were holding your liquor, Kei leaned down in front of you and just watched you, his eyes were surprisingly soft, his fingers dying to touch you—unafraid because he knew you would not remember these moments with him.

“I don’t want to tell you anything I’ll regret in the morning,” You whispered, causing his eyes to widen.

“What does that mean?” He asked, desperately, inching closer to you, but being sure to not make you uncomfortable.

You shook your head before blinking away tears that threatened to come your way. Tsukishima gaped, breathless, at how even intoxicated, you were the single most breathtaking person he had ever laid his eyes on.

“Please sleep.” He said, standing up, and leaving you in his room. He wasn’t going to fit on the couch, but there was no other option.

Even if his bed could fit the both of you, Kei would rather you sleep well and comfortably, than he would. Besides, he was sure that if he slept beside you (or even on the couch), he wouldn’t get to stay asleep for long either way.

When you wake up, you took a few seconds to bolt upwards, check your surroundings and then yourself. Your wallet, keys to your apartment, and your hair tie were on a table beside the bed, where a couple of aspirin and a water bottle was placed too. Getting up too fast was not good for you, your head spun around so sharply that you were inches away from puking.

“Where...?”

A moment later, you got up from the bed—after having taken the medicine and water, left there by god knows who, you inched your way to the living room of this strange person, wanting to thank them for sheltering you for the night. You felt shame hit your veins, you can’t believe you had done something like this—especially alone; and you could only wonder if a creep had sheltered you.

But, the person you saw on the couch was Tsukishima Kei, your ex-boyfriend from high school, struggling to stay asleep on the couch. Your heart broke at the sight of the tall boy, barely fitting into the couch, knowing full well that another step and he’ll wake up.

On odd days, you wondered why he broke up with you. On odd days, you missed him so much that you could cry. On days like today, your heart was barely fill and you were certain that a certain blond was the reason you craved doing reckless things—reckless because some part of you wished with all it had that he would come save you. He stirred awake, almost alerted by how you were just standing there, without making a sound.

When his eyes met yours, he scoffed rudely—as expected—before sitting up, and leaning his head against the headrest.

“Tsukishima—”

“I knew med students were crazy, but wow,” Your eyes widened at his words, “What the fuck, (l/n)?”

You had descended down to your last name with him, and the acknowledgement of it shattered your heart. You felt tears prick your eyes instantly, but you were not going to show any sort of weakness in front of him, not after last night—not after whatever could have happened.

“What happened last night?” You couldn’t bare the sound of your voice, at how groggy and hungover you sounded.

Tsukishima made it evident that he didn’t like it too, but chose to keep his words to himself.

“Nothing dirty happened, just you, throwing yourself into a depressing pit of alcohol drinking and embarrassing yourself.”

You frowned. There was no need for him to be plain mean about it. Sure, he had helped you, but that was it, right?

“Thanks for last night.” You wanted to ignore his words, you wanted to let it go and not fuel him into saying anything more.

“I won’t be surprised if this happens again, you know? Judging from how you’ve turned out—”

“Tsukishima!” You snapped, causing him to wince at his own words.

He didn’t dare look at you. He knew he had crossed the line, he knew he had said something to deliberately hurt you, and that had hurt you, but facing you would break him. What a coward, his mind scolded him, before he heard shuffling coming from where you stood.

“You see, I’m not surprised,” You said, pressing your lips together. “You were always this bitter.”

Tsukishima could hear your voice break. Way to go, he thought, you made her cry again. He gulped before attempting to turn to you, but he noticed that your back was facing him now—making him feel somewhat relieved, but scared at the same time.

I am so glad you’re okay, was what he wanted to say.

“No shit,” was what came out.

He noticed how your shoulders trembled now, as you reached down to grab your shoes. Tsukishima wanted to stand up and stop you, hold you in his embrace and beg for you to stay because if it were him, he’d not even dare give himself another chance—but you, you were forgiving and kind and gentle, all things that drove him up the wall yet made him fall so devastatingly in love with you.

Please don’t go, he wanted to say.

“Get out, (l/n),” was what came out.

You shook your head, “I can’t believe I’m like this because of you.”

Tsukishima felt the wind get knocked out of him, but before he could stop you, before he could find answers or any sort of confirmation at what you said, before he could even think of what was going on, unfortunately for him, he was frozen to where he stood and was forced to watch you leave.

He felt his fingers shake, and he looked down at his hands, which got blurrier and blurrier at each second, as he fought the urge to slap himself. Of course, he thought internally, if he was a mess of a human being, finding unhealthy coping mechanisms by trying to learn about what you were doing, stalking your social media, staring at pictures of you from Yamaguchi’s profile, reading his old chats with you, and everything that would perhaps never let him move on from you; then so were you.

He was the one who broke up with you, after all. If anything, you’d be the one in a much, much more difficult path.

Tsukishima did not go to class that day, and he missed practice. His captain called him multiple times, to which he merely replied saying he had the stomach bug—his captain was a lot like Kageyama, but for some reason, even he understood the importance of an optimum immune system and told Tsukishima he had to take the day off, no issues from that. Yamaguchi inquired about his sudden absence, but he merely said ‘I’m tired’ to him and left it at that.

But, oh boy, he was trying to call you, alright.

Tsukishima perhaps would have called you fifteen times in the last hour, with each of those calls ignored. After the barrage of calls, he left a barrage of messages, each asking you to pick up or call him back, suddenly forgetting the need to act as if he was high and mighty—no, if you were hurting as well, and he was hurting beyond belief, he had to fix it. A dialogue was the only thing that could put things back to normal, and hell be with Tsukishima keeping face. If this meant that he had to bow down and scream an apology, then so be it.

Hey. Pick up.

Hey. Call me.

Please, call me back.

Are you busy? Call me.

I know you’re ignoring me, call me back.

(y/n). Please. Call me.

What if this was an emergency? Call me, (y/n).

Tsukishima looked at his own messages and thought about what was wrong with him. After almost a year and a half of radio silence, here he was, literally begging for you to call him back after he had done something so fucking idiotic. He had a lot more to apologize for, he knew it, but he could only do so if you gave him that chance.

It was around 7 p.m., when you called back.

“(y/n)—”

“I had lab time, Tsukishima. What do you want?”

You were busy. You were perhaps so busy you couldn’t check your phone. Of course, you were studying to become a doctor. You weren’t ignoring him. Somehow, this fact resonated well with his heart. Even your ‘what do you want’ sounded more tired than angry, and he could hear the lag in your voice to confirm the same.

“I need to talk to you—”

“Well, you made it clear that you didn’t want anything to do with me earlier today.”

“Please,” He felt so out of character, but right then he didn’t care, “Let me see you.”

“I...” He heard you sigh deeply, “I can’t today, really. I missed lab work yesterday because... because of that stupid bar night, and now I have to make up for the lost time. I’ll probably be here studying all night.”

“Okay then.”

You were confused when he cut the call, but you assumed he was just tired of trying. You weren’t making an excuse; you stared at your phone, where just a moment ago your ex-boyfriend’s name was flashed up. You lick your lips and realize it’s been four hours since you had a sip of water. You clearly weren’t taking good care of yourself, and if Tsukishima was still with you, he’d reprimand you to no end.

Oh, you missed him.

You missed how he’d scold you for these reckless things you’d do. He knew about your habit of never drinking water, just surviving on licking your lips and sipping water after meals here and there. He hated that bit about you and he made it his personal responsibility to ensure you drank at least a bottle of water whenever he was around.

You missed the way he cared for you, so subtle yet loud—it resonated like his personality and you’d sometimes find yourself caring about your well-being because he cared; and even though the motivation here was incorrect, it brought the desired result regardless.

You missed him so much, it was like suddenly having lost a part of your body. It was as though you had lost an arm or leg but still instinctively reach out to feel your missing limb or try to walk again, placing your entire weight on something that was no longer there.

Swallowing the intense feelings you were experiencing, you buried yourself into the work you had ignored the previous evening and started to work. Medical school was exhausting even without the emotional baggage you managed to carry with you every single day.

What you expected would take you a couple of hours merely extended and you were in the lab till 2 a.m. Your eyelids were heavier than they had ever been before and you felt like your legs were jelly. You didn’t care about the way you looked right then, but you were certain that you looked half-dead. You couldn’t remember the last time you had eaten, and you noticed that the water bottle you had got for yourself earlier that day was still untouched.

Sighing, you grab your things and prepared to trek all the way home. A simple walk would feel like a trek, your feet felt like they were bleeding from the soles. However, the second you stepped out through the hospital exit (the college exit was closed), your footsteps came to a halt.

Tsukishima sat there, by the bench near the parking and your heart skipped a beat. What is he...?

He noticed movement from the side of his view and spotted you there. He instantly stood up, before realizing that you were busy (once again), of how you poured your all into everything that you cared about. This only made him wonder how much you had poured yourself into him.

“What are you doing here?”

You sounded so tired, it was so strange. He had never heard you sound almost defeated—he took one good look at you then; chapped lips, dark circles, disheveled hair; he knew you were dehydrated, hungry, exhausted and you had not once thought of these things.

“I’m hungry.”

You blink and sigh, “Tsukishima, I’ve had a long—”

“Please, come with me.”

You’ve never heard him say please so many times in one day. Your heart is weak for him still, and you follow him to the nearest 7 Eleven. You were wearing your white coat, a purple full sleeved top and the same jeans you were last night. You looked to find him wearing exactly what he was wearing that morning when you saw him, the black full sleeve tee, brown jacket and blue jeans. No matter what he wore, he always managed to look so devastatingly beautiful.

“Eat something.”

You didn’t have the energy to argue with him, you bought a sandwich for yourself and he got some ramen (for some reason, he chose your favorite flavor), and the two of you went out to sit by a park bench, isolated from the world. Your apartment was merely a five-minute walk from where you were, but that didn’t matter right then.

“You obviously still like me.” He said, somehow his voice not condescending or witty.

“Obviously.” You admit, because you were too tired to argue.

You heard him chuckle, but you were busy eating your sandwich, the bottle of water beside you suddenly looked like the most tempting thing in the world. What you missed was how Tsukishima’s hands were trembling as he linked them together in front of him, leaning forward on where he sat.

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” You say, realizing the sandwich did nothing to quench your hunger.

“I know.” He sounded so defeated, before turning to you and handing you the cup ramen.

I knew he was going to do this, you thought, tears pricking your eyes. He bought your favorite flavor because he knew.

Tsukki, you took the cup ramen without hesitation, you can’t do this to me.

“Why,” You stared at the cup ramen, “Why can’t you just tell me what’s on your mind?”

You heard no response from him. You took exactly two sips from the water bottle and dug into the cup ramen. But you stopped eating midway, shaking your head.

“Kei,” You jumped to third year high school again, “Please, I can’t... I will leave if you don’t stop me.”

There was no attempt made. You turned to see him staring at the ground, emotionlessly. You couldn’t decipher what you were feeling, but you certainly couldn’t try to decipher what he was feeling either. His silence left you breathless, all of a sudden you want to cry and scream, you wonder what you did wrong, you wonder what happened—why was he the way he was? Did you make him mistrust you in anyway?

A sob exited your mouth, but your trembling lips capture the rest.

However, Tsukishima Kei’s trembling hands raised to his face and he cried; your eyes widening at his sudden reveal. You quickly place the cup ramen to your side and turn to face him, your sweet boy, the boy you had so willingly given your heart to, crying his heart out, sobs ugly, tears streaking down his gorgeous face. The sight kills you.

“It’s so fucking hard to see you happy,”

You’re confused, but you knew he didn’t mean the words to their exact meaning. There had to be something else. He didn’t want you to be happy? What the fuck?

“And I’m not there...”

Ah.

“You... You don’t need me and that kills me...”

You were quick to kneel down in front of him, your fingers trembling, your knee trembling, your legs quivering, but your heart was strong enough. All you needed right now was your heart.

“I don’t need you,” Your voice was a whisper only he could hear.

Kei rolled his eyes, and you noticed how wet they were from the crying. Your right hand wiped some of the tears from his face before you took a breath.

“But I want you. Always, always you.”

It was Kei’s turn to meet your gaze. You were staring at him, a soft smile on your features.

Why was it that it was always you who would assure him when things were wrong? Why was it that you were always saving him? Either from a misunderstanding, a fight or most often, from himself?

He felt so weak when he was around you. He didn’t know if it was a curse or a blessing.

“No one compares to you. And as bad as that sounds, I couldn’t stop thinking of you, no matter who I’m with. No one compares to your brash, asshole self.”

You let out a giggle and notice how wide his eyes were. You want to kiss him, but you hold back.

“I love you so much, but it’s hard, Kei... It’s hard if you don’t give me bit of an edge, you know?”

Your hand which was on his face, Kei suddenly took it and kissed the back of it, surprising you.

“I love you,” He kisses it again, “I am so in love with you.”

You could only smile. You leaned forward, before pressing your lips to his; Tsukishima could feel how chapped your lips were, but that didn’t stop him from kissing you back fervently. His hand rushed to the side of your face, before pressing you to him, not hard enough that you fall down—he was painfully aware of how tired you were. He pulled away before pecking your lips a few times, kissing below your lower lip and staring at you, lovingly.

“All of this pain could have been avoided if you just accepted what you were feeling, you know that right?”

You were right.

You were always right when it came to him, no one knew him as well as you did. You knew every inch of his soul because it belonged to you, and there was no taking back. And while he was aware that he had to work on some aspects of himself, Kei suddenly felt confident. Looking at you, kneeling in front of him like that, despite how tired you were, despite how shitty of a day it had been, he was sure that with you, he could do anything.

Suddenly, his mind travelled back to your desk in class 3-4, with the inscription that he could not stop touching back on the day of your graduation.

kei + y/n

A simple jumble of words. Enough to break his heart, or make it. He wondered if he’ll ever tell you he created a small forever for the both of you in that classroom.

Well, he thought, forcing you to drink water, Maybe someday.

#tsukishima kei #tsukishima x reader #tsukishima kei x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #kei #tsukishima #tsukki #tsukki x reader #reader insert #yamaguchi #sandai frogs #kei tsukishima x reader #karasuno #haikyuu tsukishima #tsukishima imagine #tsukishima angst #tsukishima fluff #angst to fluff

972 notes · View notes

lyssala · 5 years

Text

Day 7 - Flower Shop

Paring: Terra/Aqua & Zack/Aerith, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: Modern Setting; Recently post college age

Rating: K+

Words: 10654

Notes: I actually really love this one. I had a lot of fun playing with flower meanings and also just had so much fun with their dynamic in this fic! Flower Shop is one of those cliché tropes so I had to give it to the babes hahaha Also I wrote this fic a bit ago and only recently played Crisis Core, so I’m currently thanking my past self for giving my current self some sweet Zack and Aerith fluff when I need it more LMAO

As always @mimiplaysgames is the best, who pinpointed a weakness in the storyline effectively and helped me make the whole thing stronger and who always, always encourages me. Seriously, you guys wouldn’t have read this far without her cause I wouldn’t have written this far without her. I hope you all know how much I appreciate her and how honored I am to work with her, because you’re gonna know for the next twenty or so chapters too <3 <3

AO3

My Heart Was Wrapped up in Clovers

Inspired By: Call Me Irresponsible (Michael Bublé), At Last (Etta James), Save the Dance for Me (Michael Bublé)

If there was one nice thing about working in a florist’s shop, it was that everything smelt beautiful. Those sweet and fresh aromas of flowers in their peak never got old to Aqua. The small store was always bright and colorful between the flowers out on display for people to create their own arraignments, the premade bouquets wrapped up waiting to be given to a loved one, the baskets with greenery poking up hanging over from hooks in the ceiling, the coolers surrounded by even more greenery which sat off to the side waiting for their owners to pick up custom orders; everything bright and beautiful. Sometimes it was even a little hard to navigate between the wooden tables and crates all around the room, overflowing with any type of floral display you could want. But if the Gainsborough’s knew anything, it was flowers.

Aqua hummed as she leaned over the main counter, fingers fiddling with wrapping some twine around a wire. Despite being the beginning of spring season, which also meant the beginning of prom and wedding seasons, it was a fairly slow morning. She reached down to grab one of the single flowers she spread out in front of her, snipping the stem low enough so it would sit on the wire crown well enough. Usually the shop only made flower crowns as custom orders, as there was no way to keep the flowers from wilting but she had happened to walk by the discarded flower bin this morning to see some beautiful blues and whites to be thrown away. What could she say? She was inspired.

Also it was ten in the morning and she only had two customers for the past three hours.

She wrapped the stem with some floral tape before covering it with more twine to match the sections of the crown she finished; which wasn’t much, but it was tedious process. She figured she could wear it till it wilted and promote their services to any customers. It also made time go by while Aerith was busy filling an order in the backroom.

While it was still a job, and it was customer service which was frustrating at times (she was also sure she had permanent scars from thorns, missed scissor cuts, and wrapping paper), it was still a place she enjoyed working. She loved taking care of their flowers, being able to create, and making so many people’s every day or special occasions beautiful, both the exciting ones and the sad ones. It was rewarding in its own way.

She snipped another stem, adding it next to the blue one she already used to make the color more vibrant. Aqua admittedly wasn’t a master at arraignments like Aerith and her mother, were but they often told Aqua she had a good eye so she’d take it. She was learning a trade most people didn’t even know they needed until the time demanded it.

The bell rang, making her look up from tying the twine. Sometimes it was just people coming in to look around, sometimes people who knew exactly what they wanted and sometimes, a lot of times, it was confused looking men and women who had no idea what sort of flowers they needed for their occasion.

“Good morning, Cloud,” she said with a smile, placing the crown down on the counter.

The blond wasn’t exactly a regular to buy flowers, but he was Aerith’s fiancé’s best friend so Aqua knew him fairly well now in the least. Judging by the looking in his eyes, he was falling in the last category of customers today.

“How can I help you?”

He hesitated, blue eyes darting around the room as he approached the counter. “I need flowers,” he said blandly, like there was any other reason he’d come to a florist but that was Cloud.

“Well, lucky for you we have them,” she chuckled but his expression didn’t change. Okay, apparently not in a joking mood today. “What’s the occasion?”

Cloud reached a hand up to the back of his neck, looking either embarrassed or nervous, Aqua couldn’t quite tell. “Do you have flowers for telling your pregnant wife sorry for making her cry when you accidentally bought strawberry ice cream when she asked for chocolate chip cookie dough?”

Aqua tried to cover her mouth to hide the snort of laughter but considering Cloud didn’t look all that reassured she figured she didn’t do a good job. “I know I work here, but you realize you can just buy Tifa the right ice cream right?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, dropping his hands to his sides almost in defeat. “I’m going to but she cried almost all night and I felt…really bad.”

“I got it,” she said, moving away from the counter. Tifa and Aerith were close friends so Aqua knew the black haired woman well enough to know she was always smiling, always calm. “We just got these in,” Aqua said, reaching to one of the vases full of bright, yellow flowers.

“Sunflower,” Cloud said in acknowledgement.

Aqua nodded, holding the stem so she could brush by the soft pedals. “One of its meanings is adoration, which is clearly how you feel if you’re picking her a flower over ice cream, but it’s also almost impossible not to think of the sun and warm summer days. I bet it’ll make her smile.”

He thought for a moment but nodded. “Okay, yeah, I like it.”

“Good,” she said with a smile. He was a friend sure, but she always liked when customers actually liked her suggestions. “Just the one or would you like me to make a bouquet for her?”

“A bouquet if you don’t mind,” he said.

“Not at all.” She turned to gather a few more of the flowers; they were already fairly large so she didn’t need too many. Aqua moved back to the counter to go through the steps of trimming, tying, wrapping in matching colors before shifting to ring Cloud up.

After a few beeps she passed him the flowers which he delicately took like it was precious cargo (he was going to be a good dad). “Thanks, Aqua,” he said, his own unique smile on his face as he started to leave.

“My pleasure. Let me know how she likes it!”

He turned to wave before heading to the door.

“Get the right ice cream this time too!”

If Cloud heard her, he ignored her.

Aqua chuckled to herself as she picked her flower crown back up. Maybe she should go check on Aerith; she was probably fine, just absorbed in her creative process. She was creating samples to show a bride and Aqua very well knew depending on the bride it could go very well or very bad. Aerith was probably making some backups just in case.

Aqua barely got another flower taped onto the wire before the bell dinged again. Well, at least if it got busy, time would go by a little faster. She looked up, ready to greet her next costumer but instead she saw the familiar shade of a white apron, some casualties of the kitchen smeared across it. Usual black pants and white shirt were under it, hands fiddling near the apron pocket, blue eyes glancing around the room and messy hair that was free of a hair net which also wasn’t unusual as she knew he hated it.

“Terra Hale,” she said with a smile, ignoring the sudden flip in her stomach at seeing him walk into the store. It wasn’t terribly uncommon as he only worked next door but at the same time she hadn’t been expecting to see him this early. She didn’t put her crown down as she started wrapping more of the twine. “Are you sneaking off from work?”

Terra raised a hand to his chest, pointing his finger at himself. “Me? I don’t know how you could ever think that.”

“Because it’s about to be lunch rush at the restaurant and you should be there prepping but you’re standing in my flower shop instead.”

He shrugged, stopping at the counter as he placed his hands up on the surface. “I am here on business.”

“What kind of business would that be?”

He tapped his fingers on the counter. “You haven’t put in a lunch order yet. If you wait too long it’ll take forever for us to get to it.”

Aqua hummed as she grabbed another flower, cutting the stem before looking back up at him. “Maybe I was eating lunch somewhere else today.”

“Were you?”

It was hard to tell when he smiled at first. Aqua never even really noticed the first few times he delivered when she started working here, as he always seemed stone faced, intimidating in a way; though that could’ve been due to his height and stature too. The more she saw him though, the more she saw the way his smile would pull at the sides of his lips when he said hello or goodbye, when he’d let her know which order was which, and eventually when he’d delay going back to work to talk to her like now.

“Maybe,” she said, looking back down so she could tape the flower in place. “I hear that McDonalds down the street is superb.”

“Are you seriously comparing freshly prepared and cooked meals to…” Terra paused for a second, arching his eyebrow. “McDonalds?”

She probably could’ve teased him a little longer, but the laughter that bubbled up uncontrollably gave her away. “Okay, fair, you guys do have the best food in town.”

He propped his elbow up on the counter, leaning over to put his chin in his hand. It was a fairly wide countertop so it could be used as a work area; he wasn’t even really in her space but she still started to find it a little hard to breathe. Even more so when a bigger smile pulled at his lips, which she found was her favorite to see. It was harder to come by with him, but when he did it lit up his whole face, especially his eyes and the dimples on his cheeks were easier to see.

She glanced down at the crown in her hands, seeing she completely wound the twine wrong. Luckily no one else was in the store because he was sort of a distraction every time he stopped by. Aqua went to quickly undo what she had done, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

“I can’t promise our French fries aren’t quite as addicting,” he said, though he rolled his eyes slightly. “But I’ll make you whatever you want.”

“I don’t have a menu handy,” she said, trying to focus on the crown again, mainly so she could keep some sense of herself and not turn into a giggling teenage girl when she was much older than that. “Tell me what’s good today.”

“Doesn’t really matter,” he shrugged. “I can make you something that’s not on the menu too.”

“Really? Can you do that?” Aqua trimmed the next flower stem as she spoke but she was genuinely curious. Working in a restaurant wasn’t something she ever did, and she never really thought about if cooks could make things off the menu.

“Sure,” he said, smile still on his lips which was highly distracting. “As long as we have the ingredients and I know how to make it, doesn’t matter too much if it’s on the menu or not.”

“Would you get in trouble?”

“No,” Terra snorted. “No one would care. Besides the boss is off catering a party today. Even if he would care, which he wouldn’t, he likes you.”

The menu was just fine really; they honestly did have great food. The restaurant was in Cid’s family for a long time, they had the recipes down to perfection. At the same time though, the thought of having something special made for her made her chest feel light and also made her stomach growl a little.

“In that case then…” She paused, trying to think of something she never had there before. “Grilled cheese.”

“I give you a run of the kitchen, and you ask for grilled cheese?”

“Like fancy grilled cheese, not just cheese on it.”

He laughed, using his hand to gesture for her to go on. “Like…”

“I don’t know,” she said, a smile pulling at her lips. “You’re the chef, you decide.”

He arched his eyebrows but it seemed more in amusement than anything. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, carefully ripping the floral tape so she didn’t mess it up again while he was watching her. “You know what I like, I trust you.”

“Alright, I’ll bring it over when it’s done. Tell Aerith I’ll bring her usual too.”

“Will do,” she said, adding the twine over the tape. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it, she’s been working in the back room since opening.”

Terra glanced down at the flowers she was working with, like he hadn’t noticed it before. “That’ll be pretty.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said with a shrug. “Found them lying around in the discard pile, and I thought I’d give them a new life.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment but reached down to pick up one of the lighter blue flowers. “Try this one next?”

It was obvious he was a little unsure if that was the right thing to say but it was sweet, and pretty cute. “I think so too,” she said, reaching out to take the flower from him. “You’ve got a good eye, too. You wanna work here part time?”

Terra snorted as he pushed himself off the counter. “I’ll leave that to you. See you in a little bit.”

“Bye,” she said, waving slightly as he turned to wave back before heading out the door, the bell dinging and leaving her in silence once more. Aqua sighed as she reached up to touch the petals of the flower he handed her. It was pretty; it would make a nice next addition.

“Can you two please just get a room?”

Aqua fumbled the flower in surprise, reaching to grab it before it hit the counter. She quickly turned to see Aerith spraying some water on some of the hanging plants by the back door.

“Aerith,” Aqua breathed. “When did you finish the bouquets?” Which sounded better than “how long have you been standing there?”.

Aerith turned her head, a usual knowing smile on her lips. “A few minutes ago, not that either of you noticed.”

“He just came by to ask what we wanted for lunch,” Aqua said, trimming the stem down of the flower she still had in her hand.

“Yes, because that’s exactly what it looked like.”

Aqua decided that didn’t need a response as she wrapped the flower in floral tape, the only other sounds in the store being the light music, the chimes blowing in the wind outside, and Aerith’s water bottle as she moved to the next plant. Aqua grabbed the twine, wrapping over the tape; she was almost halfway done now at least.

“How did the bouquets go?” she asked, a relevant way to change the topic.

“Oh, very well, at least I think so. We’ll see what kind of bride she is when she comes in later today.”

“You’re perfect with wedding arraignments, I’m sure it’ll be just fine.”

Aerith hummed as she turned her head back to Aqua. “Tell that to the one girl who threw the flowers back at my head.”

“That did not happen,” Aqua laughed, grabbing another white flower to add to her other one.

“Oh, believe me, it did.” Aerith delicately moved a few leaves on one of the nearby plants. “People can get crazy about their wedding day.”

“Not you though, I’m sure.”

“I don’t need to be,” she chuckled. “I’ve got all my flowers because I can do it here, catering deal next door, my grandma is doing alterations on my dress, most laid back fiancé there ever has been. Easy, peasy.”

“You promise you won’t throw flowers at me then?”

“I trust you to help me with my flowers just fine, so no, I won’t,” Aerith said with a laugh.

Aqua smiled as she grabbed another flower to trim. “That was actually so sweet.”

“What about you? Ever want to get married?” Aerith was near the front of the store now, but it was such a small space it wasn’t hard to hear or see her.

“Someday probably.” Aqua carefully wrapped more floral tape. “If I ever meet the right person.”

“Huh, funny.”

“What is it?” She didn’t bother to look up as she worked on more twine. How much time had gone by?

“I happen to know a nice guy. Cute, kind, pretty eyes, good with his hands, even better with food, works next door.”

Aqua glanced up to see Aerith grinning as she sprayed the plants up front.

“What? Did you really think I was going to let it go easily?”

“I should’ve known better honestly.”

“That you should’ve.” Aerith seemed like she was about to say something else but the bell rang over the door. She turned to greet the customers and Aqua breathed a small sigh of relief as she focused herself back on the crown; if Aerith needed help she’d say, but she usually didn’t.

It wasn’t like Aqua didn’t know. She didn’t need to be teased like she was in middle school to know when she had feelings for someone. She was even fairly sure her feelings were reciprocated but at the same time that’s what scared her. It was a fairly…long time since she was in a relationship with anyone; she usually kept herself too busy for anything like it even if she missed the companionship sometimes. So here was this kind, attractive guy who gave her special treatment at the restaurant and gave her rides home sometimes, and was really cute, did she mention that already? And she didn’t know what to do.

She’d be lying if she said she never thought about it before; especially after long days, finally being able to sit down in his car, listening to the low hum of his voice against the radio, wondering how it would feel if she just asked him to stay for a little bit. At the same time she also couldn’t shake the fact of what would happen if something went wrong. They didn’t work at the same place but because of a partnership Aerith’s mom had with Cid, people who catered and bought flowers from both places got a deal. They often ended up at events together setting up. Aqua would never want to have awkward feelings with him or anyone else on either staff. Well, that was if something went wrong. It could otherwise be perfect, wonderful, everything she wanted.

But she had rushed in before.

Aqua could be a romantic, she knew it; she tried to be a rational person at all times but there was something about the romance of things she just fell for. She enjoyed working with flowers because of the language they spoke, what they could tell people without words. She liked Terra because he was so sweet. He gave her special treatment at the restaurant, and his dimples showed when he smiled. Yet she also liked her ex because he knew how to lace words together in the most charming way, until that went all wrong. She also liked her ex before that because he surprised her with gifts and dinners and treats, until that went all wrong. She even liked her high school boyfriend because he was the only one who gave her chocolate on Valentine’s Day, and that went really wrong. The charm, the romance, she fell for it and so far it hadn’t worked out so great. Still, it also didn’t feel right to punish her feelings and potentially Terra’s feelings for things a bunch of guys who probably weren’t right for her anyways did ages ago.

So the circle started over again. Overthinking things was sort of her specialty.

She sighed as she tried to keep her focus on the flowers in her hands instead. It was easy here at least, surrounded by such beauty all the time. It was hard not to feel at peace here, even if customers weren’t always kind about suggestions, or apparently throw flowers at your head. Most of the time, like earlier with Cloud, she got the chance to brighten someone’s day and that made her feel a lot better about just about everything.

Aqua wasn’t quite sure how much time went by until she finished the crown since after she rang up Aerith’s customers. The bride came in with her maid of honor to see the flowers and Aerith took them in the back. It couldn’t have been too long, but Aqua still felt some pride as she dropped the completed piece on her head. She peeked in the nearby mirror they kept up and was glad to see it seemed to look pretty good too. There, she wasted nothing and could promote their products at the same time.

The bell rang.

She moved to greet the customer but the beautiful aroma of fresh food hit her first. Her stomach growled even just from the smell. “Oh, am I happy to see you again.”

“You know,” Terra snorted as he made his way up to the counter, white plastic bag in his hand. “I get that a lot.”

“Can’t imagine why.”

He placed the bag on the counter, which still had remnants of Aqua’s project on. “Top one is yours, bottom is Aerith’s, who has been busy since I haven’t seen her at all today.”

“Wedding clients,” Aqua said, reaching below for her purse.

Terra let out a low whistle. “It is that season isn’t it.”

“Yeah, ready for all those fancy event set ups?”

“Oh, yeah, love getting yelled at by the mother of the bride for placing the pasta too close to the macaroni and cheese.”

“Just wait till you have the maid of honor throw a fit that her flowers are saggy compared to the other bridesmaids. How much do I owe you?” Aqua asked, flipping open her wallet.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, gently tapping the top of the container. “On the house.”

“Terra,” she said. “Cid will probably kill you if you keep giving us free lunch.”

“I’ll just volunteer for the next wedding,” he shrugged, slowly walked backwards to the door. “But he will probably kill me if I’m not back soon, busy day.”

“Well, thank you,” she said, unable to bite back a smile.

“Hey,” he gestured to the top of his head. “Your crown came out nice, it’s really pretty.”

Aqua reached a hand up to her head, feeling the soft flowers. “I’ll make you one next, how’s that?”

“Sounds like a deal.” He waved as he pushed the door open with his back, disappearing beyond the store front.

She sighed again, but this time from contentment. She knew she would be lying if she didn’t say seeing him might be the highlight of her day. She was also really hungry. Aqua peeked in the box that had her custom meal in, and couldn’t hide her grin.

She didn’t even need to take a bite to know it was perfect.

Aqua didn’t admittedly see herself working for a florist when she graduated college, but jobs weren’t easy to come by in the least and between working in the shop, as well as working on location for parties and weddings, it paid enough for her to keep up with the bills. She’d take what she could get.

She ended up loving it more than she thought she would too. The atmosphere, the type of work, and of course the company too. Aerith and her mother was lovely people, neither of whom were pushovers in the least, as well as the part time employees who worked here too. They were mostly high school kids getting their first jobs, but they were a sweet group.

It was a slow day and it was getting slower by the second, the more times Aqua looked up at the clock overhead. Kairi was fixing a display in the storefront but otherwise it was quiet. Mrs. Gainsborough was running late coming back from on location consultation, and since Aqua had no plans unlike Aerith did tonight, Aqua offered to stay. Kairi was in the process of being trained to be a closer so Mrs. Gainsborough didn’t have to work every night. Kairi probably could’ve handled being alone for a little bit but Aqua didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable or to have something come up.

It wasn’t really a big deal, all she would do was go home to wear pajamas and binge TV shows till she fell asleep.

She tried not to yawn as she looked up at the clock again; it was just after five in the afternoon which was an hour after she usually left work. Slow days dragged enough as it was, let alone slow long days. Business was picking up but it was coming in spurts, at least until everyone realized spring was right around the corner and people started freaking out that they needed to get on their planning.

“How does this look?” Kairi asked taking a step back from her display.

“Very pretty,” Aqua said. “I love the colors you picked.”

“I thought it said ‘Don’t worry, spring is almost here. It’ll stop being so dreary and cold soon’.”

“I think you get your point across very well,” Aqua smiled. “I do hope you’re right. Someone should tell the weather that a little sunshine never hurt anyone.”

Kairi reached for the front pocket of her apron. “Is it okay if I take a picture of it?”

“Be my guest, it would be a shame not to show off your hard work.”

The redhead grinned as she pulled out her phone, backing up till she could get the whole display in.

The bell dinged and on reflex Aqua stopped slouching over the counter. She hoped it was the familiar face of Aerith’s mom but it was woman Aqua didn’t know, a customer. Kairi was already on it, slipping her phone away and moving to greet the woman happily.

Even though Aqua offered to stay she still felt the sting of disappointment that seemed to be following her every time the door opened today. All day, every ding of the bell made her happy only to be replaced with a sinking feeling when it wasn’t brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a white apron and always smelling like some sort of food. It was more than likely Terra’s day off; he was human, he needed them too. Or he was working a party and just wasn’t onsite at the restaurant. It’s not like she didn’t understand, she loved her days off, she bet he did too but it did make work drag so much longer when she didn’t see him.

Aqua contemplated asking Cid, who came in to give them lunch whenever Terra didn’t, but she figured Cid either would ask her why she cared or tell Terra the girl from the florist shop was being nosey; both those options seemed a little too embarrassing for her to go through with it. She wanted to validate herself and say there was nothing to be embarrassed about, her and Terra were friends, they saw each other almost every day for months now; okay so maybe the extent of hanging out when not at work was just the few minutes in his car but work friends in the least. Aqua knew there was nothing to justify though. Seeing him made the day so much better, it was simple as that.

The bell rang again but this time it was the customer leaving.

“Couldn’t help them?” Aqua asked as Kairi walked up to the counter.

“Actually, she said she really liked our set up and she wanted to come back when she had more time. She’s planning a birthday party for her mom. So I went over the basics with her.”

“Well done,” Aqua nodded. “I’m sure we’ll be getting busy again real soon.”

“Man, I hope so. It just drags when it’s slow,” Kairi sighed, sitting herself up on one of the stools set by the counter. Mrs. Gainsborough never minded if they sat down and talked as long as work was done and customers were treated first.

“Ain’t that the truth.”

Kairi sighed. “Any events we’re planning for?”

“Weddings and more weddings coming up soon, but in the upcoming weekends I think there’s an anniversary party we’ll be setting up for. Tifa’s baby shower even though she doesn’t know it. Prom will be here before you know it too.” Aqua paused looking over to the younger girl. “Do you have your dress yet?”

“Aqua,” Kairi whined slightly, face turning a little red.

“Why so embarrassed? It’s fun. You should see all the girls who come in here all excited to get a flower for their date.”

Kairi fiddled with her fingers in her lap. “No one’s asked me yet.”

“It’s barely March, you have plenty of time. Maybe that boy you like will, what’s his name again?”

“Aqua,” Kairi whined again but this time much more dramatically, holding her hands up to her face.

“Okay,” Aqua chuckled. “Your secret is safe with me.”

A flash of white near the door made Aqua nearly fall over in her effort to get a better look but it must’ve been just someone walking by. She tried not to make her sigh audible but it didn’t work since Kairi looked significantly less embarrassed.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Ah, nothing,” Aqua shook her head.

Kairi looked like she was going to say something but the bell over the door rang. Aqua looked over to greet the customer but to her surprise it was actually a familiar face.

“Hi, Lea,” Kairi said with a smile, though it quickly turned to a frown. “What’s wrong with you?”

The tall teenager wasn’t exactly a frequent costumer of flowers but he was a frequent friend of Roxas and Namine, two of the part time kids who worked in the afternoons, as well as Kairi; ironically enough, Roxas’ twin brother worked next door at the restaurant. Aqua was pretty sure they all went to school together. Lea wasn’t usually all smiles but he was pretty laid back and relaxed of a person so it was a little unusual to see such a scowl on his face.

He placed his hands on the counter, looking so strangely serious. “I need flowers to say fuck you in the most passive aggressive way possible.”

She blinked at him; that wasn’t exactly what she was expecting.

“Can you…can you do that with flowers?” Kairi asked, clearly as caught off guard but probably not terribly surprised either.

“Well, yes, you can,” Aqua said. “I can’t say it’s a common reason but it can be done. I’m not sure who did you wrong enough to get a passive aggressive flower message but follow me, we’ll find something.”

Kairi had her hand over her mouth as she was trying not to laugh, something Lea noticed as he reached up to gently push at her head.

Aqua had to run through meanings in her head as she looked over what they had, the somewhat strange request would take her mind away from today and make time go by faster for once. At least it was different than the same old red roses.

The bell barely dinged to let Aqua know she should turn from watering the plants and she already knew who it was.

“Hello, beautiful flower maidens, have you seen what a lovely day it is outside today?”

Aqua snorted as she looked over to Zack, his arms extended slightly like he was offering the world’s best news. “No, some of us have been stuck inside a building all day unlike you.”

Zack moved his hand up to his heart, cringing over dramatically. “Oh, Aqua, you wound me. Hey, I’ll let you have the rest of the day off. No worries, you deserve it.”

“You can’t do that,” Aerith said from the front counter where she was writing down orders, but now she just had her chin in her hand as she tapped the pen against the order book, a big grin on her lips. “You don’t even work here.”

He started to walk towards her. “Yeah, but the owner’s daughter is my wife so I think I can have some say.”

She hummed, dropping the pen so she could step away from the counter to where he was standing. “I think you have a little bit longer before you’re allowed to call me that, you know, until we actually get married.”

Zack waited till she was close enough before wrapping his arms around her, pulling her right off the ground which earned a cry of laughter from Aerith. “Or we could still go with my idea and just go to the courthouse so we don’t have to wait any longer.”

Aqua moved to the next section of plants. Aerith and Zack were always at an adorable level of cute; they gave those sweet feelings that come with seeing two people made for each other. It made Aqua glad to see that her friend was so very happy, but it always came with a small pain in her chest after. She supposed it was partly her fault, if she ever wanted to find a relationship like theirs she actually had to, you know, accept being in a relationship or take the first steps to start one herself.

Neither was exactly easy to do; even if she had thought about it…a lot over the past few months.

“I’d agree with you,” Aerith said. “If I hadn’t been in the flower business my whole life, and have been planning my wedding since I was six years old.”

“Touché,” Zack snorted. “Doesn’t matter, I’ll marry you any day, anywhere. Aqua’s my witness to it.”

She rolled her eyes but turned her head. He was putting Aerith back on the ground, placing a quick kiss to her lips. They really were sweet. Aqua went back the flowers in front of her as Aerith moved to her order sheet, Zack taking a seat on the stool in front of her. He was probably waiting for shift swap which was in…Aqua glanced up at the clock. Oh thank God, only ten minutes left.

She reached over to brush aside some leaves to get closer to the roots. She could hear Zack talking to Aerith but about what, Aqua couldn’t tell.

She supposed maybe risks were worth taking if there was happiness like theirs at the end of it, that wondering and day dreaming really did nothing if she couldn’t put action behind it. It was just like every time she told herself today would be the day she’d say something. But she froze and let a whole day go by without doing anything. Aqua knew what made her nervous because what if Terra said no…or almost just as scary, what if he said yes? She’d be right on the track she knew so well, but that track always ended poorly and that…that she absolutely didn’t want with him. She knew it didn’t have to end the same way, that Terra wasn’t anyone who had broken her heart before, but she found that first leap to be much harder than she ever expected it to be until she was face to face with someone like him.

The alternative, of course, was working in this shop and seeing him almost every day as they did with her trying to hide how much more she wanted it to be; relatively hiding because anyone who did know never seemed to be all too surprised. Granted, she must’ve done an okay job because he didn’t take any steps farther either. Maybe he was afraid of the same things she was or maybe he really wasn’t interested.

Aqua sighed as she crouched down to get some of the plants on the floor. Wouldn’t it be nice to just turn off her brain for even a little bit of time? All she really knew was she was pretty sure she’d be devastated if he ever stopped coming to see her, or if he came in with another girl to buy flowers for. Aqua knew that was telling in itself and she should just do anything instead of wondering for all of eternity what could’ve been; that she let her fear of the past hold her back from the future. Could she live with that?

The bell rang near her but she was a little tangled in the plants to greet them.

“Hey, man!” Zack exclaimed.

Aqua knew what she should do, yeah, but while it was easy to know, it was harder to actually do something about it.

“Welcome to the Gainsborough Flower Emporium,” he continued grandly, even though that wasn’t even remotely the name of the shop. “Bet we can help you find any sort of flower for any object of your affection. May I suggest blue roses?”

“I’m fine, Zack,” Terra said and Aqua promptly felt the watering can slip from her hands.

It clanged to the ground, making more noise than actually spilling water. She quickly reached to grab it and try and get the heat to leave her face before she stood up. It didn’t seem to work very well.

“Are you okay?” Terra asked, leaning around one of the plant displays to see her better. He didn’t look like he was about to laugh or anything, but Aerith was absolutely doing a bad job hiding hers.

“Ah, yeah,” Aqua said, standing up this time with the water can firmly in her hands. “The handle was just slippery.”

“You should be careful, Aqua,” Zack said, though she couldn’t see him very well. “I’d have to ask Terra to help you get to the hospital otherwise. Ow! Hey, what was that for?” It was clear that was directed at Aerith which Aqua at least appreciated the assist, even if it didn’t make the heat in her face go away at all.

“What’re you doing here?” Aqua asked, ignoring Zack’s comment completely. “Shouldn’t you be off work now?”

“Yeah, thankfully,” Terra said, turning to face her better, small smile on his lips. “I know it’s a nice day but I just figured I’d see if you wanted a ride home.”

Aerith was whispering something slightly commanding to Zack, who responded with a hushed “I didn’t say anything” but Aqua tried, really hard, not to pay attention to them.

“Oh, yeah, that would be really nice, thank you,” she said with a smile. “Well, if you don’t mind waiting…” She looked over to the clock. “Like five minutes?”

“You can go, Aqua,” Aerith said. “It’s fine.”

“So you can let her leave but I can’t?” Zack asked.

Aerith rolled her eyes but she was smiling. “Go on, don’t need to make him wait for five minutes.”

“Okay,” Aqua said. “Only if you’re sure.”

“Positive.”

Aqua went up to the counter, placing the can down so she could grab her purse from the shelves underneath. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“See you tomorrow,” Aerith hummed, leaning back over to her order form.

“See ya,” Zack waved. “Take care of our little princess, okay? Home by…you know however long it takes to drive her home.”

“Bye, Zack,” Terra rolled his eyes, but pushed the door open wider for Aqua.

Stepping outside and breathing the fresh air of early spring was admittedly much better. “I’m sorry about them,” Aqua said, walking next to Terra to the parking lot behind the building where he usually parked his car.

“Don’t be,” he said, glancing over. “I went to school with Zack, I’m very much used to it.”

“Was he always that energetic?”

“Yes, always.” Terra pulled his keys out as they got closer to his car.

She waited on the passenger side until he opened his side of the door and she heard the click that all the doors were unlocked. She dropped her bag on the floor and slid into the car. It was all familiar to her now. In the winter, he didn’t want her to wait for the bus in the cold when they usually got off at the same time. Aqua tried not to focus on the fact the weather was very nice out, she didn’t even need a jacket today, but he was still offering; it made her chest feel light.

“So,” she sighed as she watched him start to back out of the parking spot. “How was work today?”

“Same old, same old really,” he said. “Now that people can eat outside again it gets a little busier.”

“I can understand.” She leaned her head back against the head rest as he pulled out into the street, taking the familiar way home. “I love the spring, when it starts to get warm and all the flowers come up.”

“Understandable, since you’re chronically cold.”

“Hey, just because I’m not a walking furnace at all seasons of the year doesn’t mean I’m the weird one here.”

“I didn’t even know the heat in my car could go as high as it does until I met you.”

“You’re being so dramatic,” she laughed, turning her head to him.

He was still watching the road, moving his hand to shift the car up, but she saw the smile on his lips, dimples on his cheeks. She could imagine this. She could imagine seeing him every day and not just for the few bits she saw him for food. Aqua bet even though he cooked for a living he still liked to cook dinner, that he snored, that he liked to watch movies with popcorn, that he wouldn’t mind that she stole all blankets. She wanted so much more, she wanted a chance at so much more with him. Even if she didn’t have a chance, even if it didn’t work out she had to at least try.

“How was work for you?” he asked, turning the car off the main street.

“Getting busier every day,” she said, trying to keep her voice even. “We have some winter and fall weddings, of course Valentine’s Day, and it picks up when the spring and summer brides start to plan, and then we have everyone who waits last minute to do anything.”

Terra clicked his tongue. “Of course.”

“But it’s okay, I like doing it. Aerith is the best at wedding flowers but I’m getting better, it’s fun.”

“I bet you’re much better at it then you give yourself credit for.”

“Yeah?” she asked though her breath caught in her throat. “What makes you say that?”

“Because I’ve seen you create displays and arraignments for people.” He glanced over to her. “They’re beautiful too.”

“Would you let me do the flowers at your hypothetical wedding?”

“Without a hypothetical doubt.”

She didn’t bother trying to hide her smile. “I still owe you a flower crown too.”

“You absolutely do, I didn’t forget. I was going to try to bring it up passive aggressively in a week or so. Thanks for saving me the trouble.”

She laughed louder than she probably should have but when he laughed too it didn’t really seem to matter. Neither did when he finally came to stop in front of her townhouse. She felt nerves twist down on her stomach, but she had to. She had to say something. This was the time.

“Do you work tomorrow?” he asked, watching her as she gathered her bag off the floor of his car.

“I do. You?”

“People have to eat,” he shrugged with a smile. “I’ll be there.”

“People do have to eat, but they’re lucky they get to eat your food.”

Terra paused as he watched her, but it quickly turned into a smile. “Ah, well, I appreciate that.”

She reached for the handle, trying to not let him see that her fingers were shaking as she pushed the door open. Just say it, say something, anything. Aqua poked her head back in the car, meeting his eyes. He still had the small smile on his lips, hair messy from the hairnet he had to wear, car smelling like the grill he worked over all day and it was the most inviting image Aqua saw all day.

“See you tomorrow then,” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“See you tomorrow, Aqua.”

She shut the door but could only stand on the sidewalk as she watched his car drive away. She didn’t know whether to be furious with herself or cry that she once again wouldn’t let the words come out. She had been given so many chances since she met him, so many perfect moments but here she was still standing in front of her home alone.

She wouldn’t be given chances forever; that she knew for a fact.

Aqua stopped registering the sound of the bell about halfway through the day. Spring was in full swing, and between upcoming holidays and wedding season taking off it seemed like nonstop work. If she wasn’t helping customers with flowers or signing up for consultation appointments, she was helping Aerith get orders ready.

She barely had time to even eat her lunch, let alone be disappointed it was Cid and not Terra. So when she looked up from wrapping someone’s bouquet and he was walking through the door she was more than surprised. It was way past lunch and he wasn’t in his work uniform.

“Hey, Terra,” she said with a smile. She was busy but of course her stomach still had time to get fluttery at the sight of his smile. “Give me one second.”

“Take your time,” he said with a nod.

Aqua got the customer rang out and on their way as quickly as she could, for no ulterior motive of course. There was another costumer in the store but Kairi came in early to help out so that was handled and Aerith was in the back with a bride so everything should be okay. “What’s up?” she breathed looking over to where he was lingering around a few vases. “You had today off, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, clapping his hands together and fiddling his fingers some. He looked a little nervous, like he had never been in here before which was weird.

“Everything okay? I wouldn’t come back here if I wasn’t working,” she said, leaning slightly over the counter and praying no one came in so she had a moment with him.

“I’m actually here as a customer, for once.” He reached his hand up behind his head, giving almost a nervous smile.

“I take it you’ve never bought anyone flowers before?” Aqua tried not to feel the way her mouth went dry, her stomach turning slightly with nerves. Not every flower was romantic; it didn’t have to be that. She shouldn’t assume.

“Not at all.”

“Okay.” She gestured for him to follow her. “I got you, no problem. Do you want a premade bouquet or one you put together?”

“Ah.” He followed after her, though it wasn’t that big of a store and she could feel the warmth of his body behind her. “Maybe one put together like now.”

“Don’t be so nervous,” she chuckled, turning to look at him; which was funny considering she still felt like she was going to throw up. “It’s just flowers. Who are they for?”

Terra blinked at her. “Oh, um, a girl.”

“Yeah, I assumed, dummy.” Deep breaths, it’s okay. A girl could mean anyone. “I mean like mother, friend, sister, aunt, or, ah, romantic?”

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “That, romantic.”

Aqua reached out to the nearest vase there was, carefully straightening it to mask the way she felt her face fall with disappointment that sunk her stomach down to her core. She knew she had no right to feel upset when this was entirely her fault. He was an amazing person, there’s no way she was the only person to know that. She used up all her chances.

She looked back up with the best customer service smile she had. “Oh! I didn’t know you had a girlfriend, Terra.”

“I, um, well, I don’t,” he shrugged, both his hands were in his pockets, glancing away from her. “It’s more like…I like her, and I’m trying to say that in…the least awkward way possible which is a lot less than I feel right now.”

She laughed lightly, more for his sake than hers. “Then stop feeling awkward. There’s, you know, nothing awkward about it. So…” She looked away from him which was probably for the best to the flowers in front of them. “For affection, new, um, new love.”

Aqua reached out to the petals, remembering why she worked here, to make others happy. Even if it wasn’t… wasn’t her, she needed to make whoever it was feel all the emotions Terra was trying to express. “Red roses are the standard and they’d get the point across I’m sure but traditionally more for a deeper love than just trying to tell someone you like them.”

“Right,” was his only input.

“Okay,” she breathed. “Roses are still viewed as a romantic. So there’s the orange ones that can be seen as desire or passion. Yellow is kind of all over the place from friendship to extreme betrayal so I don’t recommend that one.”

“What about blue?” he asked reaching his hand out to touch one of them.

“Blue? Um, those in the romantic sense are sort of mystery or attaining the impossible. Also can be love at first sight. Same with the lavender ones as well.”

“Yeah, those two. Blue and purple.”

Aqua nodded. “Those two colors go very well together too. How many would you like?”

“Ah, however many you think is good?”

She glanced over at him still looking so embarrassed about this whole thing, it was hard not to feel a smile pull at her lips even if it hurt. He was such a sweet soul. “Okay, I got it handled.”

He must’ve gotten the hint because he made his way over to the counter as Aqua picked the amount of flowers she thought would look good. She could feel Kairi’s eyes looking over but Aqua ignored it. She took the flowers up to the counter and went about cutting and tying the flowers like she would anyone else.

“A card?” she asked, though she almost didn’t want to ask, afraid to see the name he’d say.

“Hmm?” He looked like he wasn’t even been paying attention.

“Um, do you want a card to go with it? A message, a name?”

“Oh, no, its fine.”

That was a relief at least. She wrapped up the flowers in some paper tying it once more so it would all stay together. It did look really lovely. “Here you go,” she said, handing him the bouquet even though he still had his wallet in his hand.

“Ah, how much?”

Aqua shook her head. “It’s on the house.”

“Aqua, you don’t have to do that.”

“You know how much you’ve saved me in food?” She hoped she held it together enough for him not to see the stinging in her eyes and only saw the smile. “Take it, please.”

He hesitated, but he put his wallet back in his pocket. “Well, thank you, I appreciate it.” He took the flowers but not before looking over to her again. “See you this weekend? At the wedding?”

Aqua nodded, blinking slightly. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Okay,” he said, looking down at the flowers before giving a smile. “Thanks again.”

“Course.”

Terra turned to leave and all she wanted to do was let him walk out that door and forget what it felt like when he smiled at her.

“Terra?”

“Yeah?” He turned around at the door looking back to her.

“I hope she likes them.”

He smiled again before giving her a wave. “I think she will.”

She watched him till he was gone. The sun was still shining and the flowers still smelt lovely, but it was a little less bright to her knowing what a mistake she made. He was wonderful; he deserved any sort of happiness. Aqua just hoped it would’ve been with her. Even if she knew it was her fault for never saying anything, it didn’t ease any of the hurt she felt.

It was her job to make others happy, she just couldn’t understand why she couldn’t let herself be happy too. Why couldn’t she risk something, anything for once? Aqua wished she had the answer.

The day went on. People came, they bought flowers, they talked about their loved ones, their happy days, the sadness of losing someone they loved, the excitement of finding someone new in your life and she met it all with a smile like she always did. Aerith knew, even if she chose not to ask. Kairi even probably knew. Aqua never said what happened; she didn’t want to think about it at work.

She said her afternoon goodbyes and waved from the door before stepping out into the warm air. She looked up and down the side walk in some stupid hope that maybe Terra happened to come back to pick her up but why would he? He was probably on a date tonight.

Aqua breathed in and headed to the bus stop. It was a very short ride to her home but it felt like an eternity. She wanted to get home, get in her pajamas, and just stay there for the rest of the day… maybe the week. She knew it would get better eventually, but for now the loss of something she never had still made her chest sting, making every breath hard.

She stepped off the bus to her small town house, thankful her neighbor wasn’t outside since she was pretty sure she didn’t want to talk to anyone anymore. Home, PJ’s, couch, and probably something really sweet. That was all she wanted.

Until something caught her eye on her porch.

It was a nice distraction since she wasn’t expecting any packages. Aqua walked up the few steps, but the paper was already familiar. She nearly stopped in her tracks but she kept going, reaching for the flowers propped in between the screen door and her house door. The blues and purples she knew well, ones she had weaved together just a couple hours prior, to make someone smile.

Her breath choked in her throat. It had to be a mistake, right? Maybe she did something wrong with them and he didn’t want to embarrass her at the store? Against her better judgement she reached a hand up to run over the velvety petals, though the sharp corner of paper felt distinctly out of place. Aqua carefully pulled out a ripped piece of paper of some sort, her guess was probably whatever Terra had in his car which was endearing in itself.

She almost didn’t want to look, afraid if it was a mistake someone else’s name would be on it. She should just give it back to him when she saw him tomorrow but it admittedly didn’t stop her own eyes from looking over his messy handwriting. She recognized all the curves, the sloppy quick way he wrote from years of making fast orders and notations, but she especially recognized how her name looked when he wrote it. She saw it countless times on boxes, orders, notes; her name was addressed here.

Aqua was afraid if she didn’t hold onto the flowers as tightly as she was, she’d drop them.

I didn’t know how else to tell you

-Terra

She was fairly certain she read it over a dozen times before she sank to the ground right there on her porch. The note was tight in her hand as she leaned her face to the flowers, the scent just as lovely as it ever was, almost lovelier now. Aqua was also aware she might actually look crazy if she started to cry over flowers on her front porch but she didn’t even know how to process the feelings that were swirling around her, going from utter despair to warm fluttering hope in a matter of seconds.

She didn’t know a lot of things, or even how to handle herself in a situation like this. What she did know was she’d never miss her chance again, not this time.

Aqua could still see the flowers sitting on her counter, the purples and blues creating such a pretty image in her small living room even as she was setting up someone else’s flowers. The ceremony was already under way which meant the reception area had to be perfect real quick. Thankfully Aerith and her mother were also here and they were all just about done.

Aqua reached over to adjust some of the petals on the center piece she was working on but couldn’t help but glance at the kitchen every time the door swung open. She recognized all of the workers, including Cid himself, but not Terra; granted not that the middle of someone’s reception was probably the best place to talk to him. She spent most the night lying awake in bed, trying to think of what she should say, how she should say it.

She still didn’t really have a good plan but it had to be something. She should’ve done this long before now.

She looked over to where the food was being prepared to be served, that looked like just about everyone really. Even if there were a few people lingering it would still be okay. Aqua took one last look down at the flowers and hurried over to the kitchen door. She pushed it open, though the smell of food was already enough to make her stomach growl; breakfast probably would’ve been a good thing to have.

It was surprisingly empty for the most part, though there was still plenty of food cooking, in the process of being prepared. The door swung closed behind her. She looked up just as Terra did from his place behind one of the tables.

“Oh, hey,” he said, small smile on his lips, though she didn’t miss how he nearly dropped the container of dressing he was filling. He quickly put the bottles down, reaching up to tug off the hairnet, making Aqua laugh; he really hated those things. “Sorry I hadn’t gotten to say hi.”

“It’s okay,” she said, walking over to the table full of salad mixes. “I know it’s always busy.”

“Ah, yeah, weddings are busy.” He tugged his plastic gloves off his hands, tossing them on the table. “What’s up? How’s the set up going?”

She wanted to tell him it was good, almost done. She’d be able to leave soon which was usually when he offered to have her stay so he could sneak her a plate of food. She wanted it because times like that she really enjoyed with him, but she wanted to say so much more this time. How could she though? She didn’t even know the words to express how happy she was to spend time with him, how he made her feel every time he smiled at her, how much seeing those flowers on her porch made her feel. Maybe he had felt the same way too.

Aqua reached her hands up to his face pulling him down till she could press her lips to his. She knew she caught him off guard by the sharp intake of his breath, but he didn’t give her time to back down before his hands were on her waist. She looked up at him, his eyes fluttering open.

“I didn’t know how to tell you either.”

He hummed slightly, smile pulling at his lips. “I told you that you put together beautiful flowers.”

She dropped her hands to his chest, hitting him lightly though it was a little hard to breathe with him so close to her, his warm touch still on her. “Why didn’t you tell me in the store? I thought there was someone else.” Easy for her to say, yeah, when she couldn’t do it either.

“Okay, first of all,” he snorted, but his smile was so beautiful Aqua hoped they didn’t need him for the rest of the day because she was pretty done with working at this point. “I had hoped you weren’t there because that would’ve been a lot of easier. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t want to embarrass you in public or back down, you know, again.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “They were really beautiful.”

“Oh, I’m glad you think so considering you’re the one who made the bouquet.”

She tried not to laugh, she really did, they were having a serious conversation. She can finally, finally able to get things off her chest but she dissolved into a fit of laughter anyways.

“Second of all,” he continued, reaching a hand up to her face to get her to look at him again. “There hasn’t been anyone else since I walked into the store and saw you smile back at me.”

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to tell you,” she breathed, suddenly very unaware of anything else.

“I’m sorry I did too.” His breath was warm on her lips, hand sliding to brush past her hair.

She curled her fingers into the straps of his apron. “Doesn’t matter now.”

“Not at all.”

Aqua barely felt his lips against hers again before the kitchen door swung open.

“Terra, hey, Cid-”

Not really any time to pretend they were doing anything less than they were, so Aqua merely looked up to see one of the younger boys, Sora, looking surprised before reaching a hand up to his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said, cringing under his hand. “Cid says he needs those salads now, Terra, or he’s going to kick your ass himself.”

“Ah, yep, sounds about right.” Terra let her go, to move and grab the two bowls of salads as Sora quickly scurried off back to the reception floor. “Hey, okay, don’t go.” Terra said to her as he walked backwards to the doors, one bowl in each hand. “I’ll get you something to eat when I get back.”

“Okay,” she nodded, reaching her fingers up to her lips for no reason really.

“Okay,” he said, leaning back against the door with a smile.

“Terra,” Sora hissed from the other side of the door.

“Coming, coming.” Terra pushed open the door and he was gone.

Aqua took a moment to breathe before following after him. She poked her head out but no one was paying attention. It looked like all the flowers were finished but she knew she should ask just in case. She really was trying to go find Aerith or Mrs. Gainsborough but she couldn’t help but see Cid gesturing at Terra’s hair angrily as he clearly forgot to put the hairnet back on. He had to jog back to the kitchen to get another one.

She tried not to laugh as she reached forward to adjust one of the center pieces, the flowers smelling even better. The day seemed brighter already as she looked forward to hanging out with Terra in the kitchen, whatever they chose to do next, wherever they would go from here.

Honestly, she wasn’t sure what she had ever been afraid of in the first place.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts #terra #aqua #kh fanfic #my fics:kh #modernaukh #tobewithyou #I posted this a while ago but never here hahaha

26 notes · View notes