#awkard

"finally. Who?"

"Evan"

"how long?"

"2 months, give or take"

"liar." He accuses. "You barely even talk to eachother."

"we do" you defend "just not around everyone else."

"I'll believe it when I see it"

***

Later on, Barty walks into his dorm and Evan is sat there on his bed organising his bone collection.

"oi, Rosie" he says "never guess what treasure told me earlier."

"yeah?" Evan questions.

"tried to claim the two of you were going out. Told her I'd believe it when I see it."

"we are."

"not you too"

"but we are."

"how long for?"

"2 months."

"that's what she said. You two must really have your story together." He says before storming out leaving Evan by himself again.

***

Later that evening you and Evan are on his bed, your head on his chest.

"I don't know why he doesn't believe us" you say "we both told him"

"maybe he's in denial? Like he's just really happy for us?"

"maybe, I don't think so though. He pro-"

You're cut off by the door opening. Regulus and barty come inside whilst you're laying with Evan.

Barty stares at you both in absolute shock as if you both hadn't told him already that you were together.

The silence is extremely awkward for the 5 minutes that Barty stands and stares at the two of you.

"told you so" regulus mumbles before going to put some things into his drawers.

"I thought you two were lying!"

"why would we lie?" You ask

"why would you be together? In what universe? Honestly the two of you are like more antisocial than regulus."

"yeah Barty, that means they're alike. Why wouldn't they be together?" Regulus starts. "Just as you said, they're more anti social than me. That means they most definitely would not be loud about their relationship."

You and Evan had now moved away from eachother. Not because you were embarrassed of eachother but because you were uncomfortable with being affectionate Infront of people.

"now that you say it reg, it does make sense." He gestures to you and Evan. "Look they've even moved away from eachother. God's this is another level of anti social. No wonder I didn't believe the two of you."

And with that, Barty leaves the room. This leaves you, Evan and regulus.

"I tried to tell him." Regulus states exasperatedly.

"so did we." Evan replies, pulling you back towards him.

"you know how dramatic he can be, don't take it personally. You don't have to be all gross together Infront of everyone to love eachother. Especially not because of Barty."

"thanks reg." You say, grateful that he understood the two of you well enough to know that you'd both hate to try and be loving Infront of people, even if it was just your friends.

The two of you were just rather awkward unfortunately. It didn't mean that you loved eachother any less, just that you loved differently to how others did. Whilst Barty enjoyed snogging his latest girlfriend whenever and wherever he could, the two of you enjoyed each others company in quiet, private spaces. Maybe that's what you loved most about the other. That they understood you enough to be able to love you quietly in a way you were comfortable with.

-------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed

no, not in the mythology section where you lazily dragged a finger through the spine of the novels. she was just there. across the store. somewhere near fiction. slouching a little, hands in her pockets as she stood besides another girl; louder…more animated.

you just kept staring, she wasn’t looking at you. not yet, but your heart was already captivated.

then she looked up. straight at you. eye contact. quick. just a second or two.

you looked away first, lips pressed together into a straight line. pretended to fix the hem of your sweater like it was the most important thing to you at that moment.

she didn’t look again for a while.

but you did. twice. maybe three times. (okay, like five times but who was counting?)

you needed to do something.

you casually made your way to the LGBTQ+ section. just to send a message. you know, in case she was…perceptive…insightful.

you stood still, flipping through Carmilla and (right on topic) Song of Achillies, trying not to look obvious. trying to seem interesting, mysterious, slightly queer but not desperate.

she never looked over. or if she did, you missed it.

she made her way to the music section, alone. perfect, you could just go up to her and maybe talk about the GnR record she held.

“you already have the CD version.” her friend slide next to her and you spun around walking the opposite direction. fucking hell

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

you spent the next ten minutes actually looking for that dumb mythology book, all while side eyeing her from three aisles over. at one point, she laughed at something her friend said and you swore your stomach did a backflip.

whatever. you weren’t going to be weird about this. just as you were about to give up and walk out, you noticed the book in her hand. you had read it a couple years ago and loved it.

she was holding it like she wasn’t sure if she was gonna commit. so maybe it was stupid. maybe it was bold—but you went.

you took a deep breath, walked right up to her…well pretended to skim the shelf next to hers, and then:

“hey.” you said, casual.

she looked up. and for the first time, she really looked at you.

she blinked, slowly.

“sorry hehe,” you said quickly, motioning to the horror novel in her hands. “that one is really good. if you like unreliable narrators and mind games.”

the girl blinked, then looked down at the cover.

“oh. i haven’t read it yet.” her voice was low and smooth, your stomach was doing somersaults now.

“i have,” you smiled. “it gets weird. in a good way of course.”

that made her smile too. small, crooked. “weird is fun.”

you nodded, “it is! just don’t read it at night. unless you are into being paranoid about shadows.”

she laughed, then tilted her head, “noted.” her eyes just roaming your presence, the smile never leaving her mouth; it grew a bit actually.

“any other recommendations?”

you were going to answer when her friend came back and tugged on her sleeve. “dude. we have to go.” she said, obviously impatient. “you said five minutes like twenty minutes ago.”

the girl gave her an apologetic glance, then turned back to you.

“i guess im being dragged away,” she sighed, voice light but her eyes were disappointed.

all you could do was smile, “it’s okay. enjoy the book. or at least the paranoia that comes with it.”

she grinned, then: “thanks. really. for the rec.”

“anytime.” you waved.

and then she was gone. but you can swear she turned her head and smiled at you one last time, the book still in her hands

you stood there, staring at the empty spot she left behind.

no name. no number.

for fucks sakes you didn’t even get that damn mythology book you went in there for.

still, you left the bookstore thinking-wishing-begging:

“please universe. bring her back to me please.”