#toxic x reader

A few days passed.

And somehow, without either of us saying anything about it, a routine formed.

It wasn’t romantic. It wasn’t even something we talked about. There were no “good morning” texts, no plans days in advance, no conversations about what this was supposed to mean.

But five more times that week I ended up at Alex’s place.

It always happened the same way. A short message. Usually from him. Sometimes from me when I was pretending I was bored enough to justify it.

Come over.

You busy.

Door’s open.

Just that quiet pull toward the same place and every time it ended the same way too.

Alex had this way of holding control over a moment without saying much. His hands were always firm, sometimes too firm, and by the time I left his apartment there were always marks somewhere on my skin. Faint bruises along my ribs, fingerprints on my hips, once a darker mark on my shoulder that lasted two days.

None of it felt accidental. He noticed everything. Which meant he definitely noticed the bruises. But neither of us talked about them.

It existed in that strange space between us where things happened but were never labeled.

And the weirdest part?

I kept going back.

⸻

By Thursday night Lucy decided we all needed a break from campus.

Which meant drinks.

The bar was small and dimly lit, the kind of place students packed into because the music was good and nobody cared if you stayed for hours with the same drink.

We were sitting at a corner booth—Lucy, Bree, Pippa, and me—half laughing over something stupid Lucy had just said.

“That bartender is my ex,” Lucy announced casually, pointing her glass toward the bar.

We all turned.

He was behind the counter pouring drinks, tall, blond, the type who probably knew exactly how charming he looked when he smiled at customers.

Pippa blinked.

“That’s your ex?”

Lucy nodded.

Bree leaned forward slightly. “Wait, you dated him?”

Lucy shrugged. “For like… two-ish weeks.”

“That’s barely dating,” I said.

Lucy gave me a look. “It counts if he ghosted me.”

Pippa burst out laughing.

“You got ghosted by him?”

“Shut up.”

We all laughed, and Lucy rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop smiling either.

“Anyway,” she continued, waving it off, “I think I traumatized him..”

“Of course you did,” Bree said laughing.

We stayed there talking for a while, jumping between random topics the way people do after a couple drinks. Classes, gossip, Pippa complaining about one of her professors.

At some point Lucy checked her phone.

“Stephen’s asking where we are.”

Pippa groaned immediately. “Why does he always show up?”

Lucy typed something quickly. “Because I told him where we are.”

“Lucy.”

“What?”

“Now he’s going to bring Wrigley and Evan with him.”

She smiled innocently. “Relax.”

Ten minutes later the door of the bar opened.

And there they were.

Stephen walked in first, scanning the room like he owned the place. Behind him was Wrigley, already grinning at something on his phone, and Evan just a step behind them.

Lucy waved them over.

The booth suddenly got crowded as they joined us, chairs scraping and people shifting around to make space.

Evan sat across from me.

“Hey,” he said with that familiar soft smile.

“Hey.”

Wrigley dropped into the chair beside Bree, immediately leaning closer to say something to her that made her laugh quietly. I noticed the way their shoulders brushed.

Interesting.

Stephen slid into the booth beside Lucy, resting his arm behind her like he always did.

“You guys started without us,” he said.

“You took too long,” Lucy replied.

Drinks appeared, conversation picked up again, the group growing louder and more chaotic the longer we sat there.

For a while it actually felt normal. Until the door opened again.

And Alex walked in.

I noticed immediately. I always did.

He paused near the entrance for a second, scanning the room the same way Stephen had earlier.

Then his eyes landed on our table.

Bree suddenly sat up straight. “Oh,” she said. “Alex.”

Everyone looked at her.

“I totally forgot,” she added quickly. “I texted him earlier.”

Lucy blinked. “You invited him?”

“I didn’t think he’d actually come,” Bree said.

Too late. Alex was already walking toward us. The energy at the table shifted before he even reached it.

Wrigley leaned back slightly in his chair. Stephen’s expression went neutral. Evan glanced between Alex and me for half a second before looking away again.

Alex stopped at the edge of the table.

“Busy night,” he said.

Bree smiled. “Sit.”

He grabbed an empty chair and pulled it over, sliding into the spot at the end of the booth.

Our eyes met for a brief moment. No smile.

Just that familiar, quiet recognition. Lucy looked between us, clearly sensing something interesting.

“So,” she said slowly. “Alex.”

“Lucy.”

She grinned. “Long time.”

“Not really.”

Wrigley snorted into his drink. The conversation picked up again after that, but it felt… different.

Like there was a current running under the table that only a few of us were aware of.

Alex didn’t say much. He mostly listened, occasionally adding a short comment that made people laugh before leaning back again.

But every once in a while I felt his eyes on me. Just quick glances.

At one point Evan asked me something about a class we shared, leaning slightly closer so he could hear me over the music.

I answered normally. But when I looked up again, Alex was watching. His expression hadn’t changed.

Lucy suddenly stood up. “Shots,” she announced.

Everyone groaned but followed her toward the bar anyway. The group scattered for a moment, chairs scraping as people moved.

By the time the drinks were ordered, I realized I’d been left at the table.

Not alone. Alex was still there. Leaning back in his chair, watching me.

“You’ve been busy,” he said quietly.

My stomach tightened slightly. “What does that mean?”

He tilted his head a little. “You haven’t texted today.”

I crossed my arms. “You didn’t text either.”

“That’s true.”

Silence stretched for a moment. The music was louder here. Then his eyes dropped briefly to my arm where my sleeve had shifted slightly. Just enough to reveal the faint edge of a bruise near my wrist.

His gaze lingered there and he looked back at me. Something darker flickered across his expression. “Careful,” he murmured.

“About what?”

His voice stayed low. “People might start asking questions.”

My pulse jumped. “About what?”

But before he could answer, the others came back with the drinks.

Lucy slammed the tray onto the table dramatically. “Okay, everyone,” she said. “Bad decisions time.”

The glasses were passed around, Laughter filled the table again.

You had a rough beginning.

Raised in and out of foster homes, only to be kicked out like a home when you became 18, the only thing you could do was earn money the bad way- you were doomed from the beginning.

It all began with small robberies, as your body had the capacity to take no damage whatsoever, helping you escape so many of those gone wrong.

Then you met him- you liked to call him Toxie, a little nickname only you called him. It didn’t take long for you to begin dating.

He worked for the Red Ring, you’d go out in the dead of the night to do your own works, robbing gas-stations and dealing drugs, then go back to your apartment and find him already there, you’d lick the blood off his hands (sometimes his, sometimes from others) and you’d end up tangled on your sheets all night.

But you always woke up to an empty side next to you.

You began changing slowly, trying to see past the thrill of harming others- you wanted another life. You’d beg him to go out on more formal dates, you’d dress up all pretty just to be stood up.

Eventually he didn’t even go to your place, and stopped answering your messages.

You don’t even remember if you formally broke up, not like you cared, you moved on quickly. But the rent doesn’t pay itself, and because of your criminal record you never managed to get any job, so you kept on with the late-night crimes.

Of course, nothing lasts forever, and you got busted.

Handcuffed, put into orange and photographed with a black eye.

But not everything was lost. You got an opportunity- Phoenix Project was the name.

“Let us give you a new chance.”

So, of course you accepted- it wouldn’t be easy and you knew it, having to follow a schedule, making ends meet with a low salary, and having to change all your ways to a “hero’s one”.

⋆ ༺ 𓆩☣︎𓆪 ༻ ⋆

Your first paycheck was used to get back your old apartment. Since it was in a shitty side of town it wasn’t too expensive, and with some convincing you managed to pay in installments in a few months.

You began meeting your co-workers, all beat down ex-villains like you, but they were… A little bit too much for you, but even then you had a good relationship with them, as you avoided causing any sort of drama, mostly keeping to yourself.

Of course, it wasn’t easy, as you thought.

Dispatcher after dispatcher quit their job after taking your team, as you weren’t exactly easy to work with, Flambae would start fires, Sonar wouldn’t shut up, Invisigal would fight everyone, and so on- even you sometimes added to the chaos, accidentally slipping something in your pocket from the store you were sent to protect from a robbery, even if Blonde Blazer would then give you an hour long speech about not stealing.

It was fun. You liked it.

When Robert arrived, and he announced someone was being cut from the team, well, fired, you actually tried to compose yourself, fuck, you even cut short your own breaks between being dispatched in order to show you were serious about this job.

⋆ ༺ 𓆩☣︎𓆪 ༻ ⋆

“So, they’re at the bottom of the board along with Sonar”

Said Blonde Blazer to Robert. You had been doing well, but had a royal fuck up on your last dispatch, and since the board updated every hour it brought you down to the bottom.

“These two are now tied for last place”

Blonde Blazer added, putting two folders in front of Robert. He had only seen the summaries on his PC before, but now he had full access to both files, so he began reading them as Blonde Blazer expected his answer.

Then something caught his eye. Your affiliation to the Red Ring.

“They were on the lowest of the ranks there. That’s where they got most of their charges on assaults and drug smuggling. Apparently they dated another guy there, Toxic or something, they told me he got them into it”

She explained to him, understanding why it could be of interest to him. Because the Red Ring was led by Shroud, his father’s killer. He remembered Toxic as well, a high-ranking member from that shit circle, and the one that helped to put him in a months long coma and fucked his Mecha Man robot.

“Who do we cut? And do not play favorites”

Said Blonde Blazer with a soft smile, sensing Robert’s now troubled mind.

Robert grabbed your file and looked up-front at Blonde Blazer.

“I just don’t know how much we can trust them. And after their fuck-up the other day, it seems like…”

Robert said, and she continued.

“They might have other interests? Yeah, it’s too bad”

Blonde Blazer said with a sympathetic smile, grabbing the folder from his hands. Robert sighed and got up, knowing he at least needed to have the decency to tell you face to face about it.

After calling you to a meeting room, it was just you and him, the mood awkward as you shrunk into your seat, avoiding looking at the man in front of you.

“Well, I'm letting you go. You’re at the bottom of the leaderboards- stealing things when you thought no one saw added penalty after penalty as well.”

He said, and you didn’t know if you should beg or what- i mean, why you? Yeah you did fuck-up from time to time, and the other day’s incident did make people suspicious of you, but fuck, it isn’t your fault the douchebag of your ex decided to leave a little “gift” at the place you were dispatched to.

“What about Invisigal?”

You asked, looking at him with your brows furrowed, crossing your arms in front of your chest, upset.

“Well, she snuck past you with her last dispatch”

Robert said, and you felt that familiar sting behind your eyes, your eyes getting glassy. All you worked for, your last chance for a better life, to become a hero for once and for all- now lost… You quickly got up, the chair hitting the wall from the force, and you left the room, without saying anything else, tears going down your cheeks.

You really had believed him, his little pep talks of having another chance of life, of seeing potential. All bullshit.

You only knew one thing. In this world is eat or be eaten.

⋆ ༺ 𓆩☣︎𓆪 ༻ ⋆

You knew this was a fuck-up, that you shouldn’t be doing it.

The moment Toxic entered your doorstep you were all over him, hand tracing his tattoos as you took off his ugly ass yellow shirt, and then his white low-collared shirt underneath it, leaving his worked out torso naked for you to once again explore after so long.

He wasn’t letting you take control, because as soon as you took off his clothes he ripped your shirt open, then grabbed your bra and did the same, using his increased strength to break through the fabric with little effort.

Enjoying your surprised gasp he grabbed your hair and went to the bathroom, dragging you by your hair behind him, your face going red as you barely felt any pain from it, but did enjoy the sensation of how it felt.

You didn’t think too much, already understanding why he brought you here, it was either to

A) Fuck you in front of the mirror

B) Your bathtub was made of a special material that handled acid, and well, guess the rest.

Or fuck, maybe both- the thought going straight to your core as he pressed you against the bathroom’s counter, your hands slipping next to the sink as you tried to stand still, his hand leaving your hair and going to your waist, roughly pressing his fingers into your skin as his other hand pushed your pants and underwear down, his palm quickly going to slap the tender flesh of your ass.

You flinched at the hard slap, the burn spreading around it making you moan under your breath, seeing him behind you on the reflection, biting his lip as he pressed his clothed erection to your ass, rubbing on it as his eyes moved to see you on the reflection.

“Super-hero shit didn’t work huh? Now you come back to me like a remorseful dog”

He said as he moved his torso forward, his dog-tags were cold against your back. 

His hand on your hair moved your head to the side, baring your neck for him as he began suctioning deep hickeys into it, using his teeth into it to add to the pain, making a trail of them down to your back.

His hands moved to spread your legs, your cunt making a lewd wet noise as he did so, folds spreading by themselves at the odd position. With no preparation his fingers went knuckle deep into your warm hole, but just from the prior pain you were already wet, not soaking, but enough for it to not feel like sand-paper inside you.

His fingers began moving, normal at first, savouring the way your insides sucked his fingers in, and once you were getting slicker he spat onto your entrance, using his saliva to add to the lubrication as his fingers began going in and out quickly, creating lewd wet noises that filled the bathroom along with your sounds and moans, your thighs quivering as your slick ran down the hood of your clitoris.

“Ahh, Toxie, ngh!”

You moaned, enjoying how rough he was, fuck, deep inside, you had missed this.

You let out a cry as he abruptly stopped, putting his fingers inside his mouth, groaning in pleasure as he tasted your slick on them. 

After that, he moved his head towards the bathtub, getting the hint you nodded before getting inside, feeling a little awkward as he took his pants off, your cheeks blushing as you avoided looking too much as he got naked.

It was hard to look elsewhere as he stood next to the bathtub, hands on his hips as his erection stood a little bit above your head, your eyes looking up at him then at his hard-on.

“Should i…”

You began, but was interrupted as his hand went to your hair and pushed your head towards it, the tip pressing against your lips, smearing pre-cum along them and your cheeks as he rubbed himself on your face.

You opened your mouth as you took him in, the salty flavor of the pre seminal liquid coming out of his slit filling your senses as he quickly began face-fucking you, him letting out small groans and growls as he enjoyed your mouth, your own hand going between your legs to pleasure yourself as you gave him head.

He wasn’t exactly huge, a little bit less than the average, but what he lacked in length he had it in girth, spreading your mouth around it just perfectly without making you choke on it, keeping a semi fast pace that had drool mixed with pre-cum running down your chin.

After a few minutes of oral he let go of your hair, and quickly crawled over you on the bathtub, sliding between your spread legs, putting them over his shoulders, folding you like a piece of paper, his erection now pressing against your cunt, his warm pre-cum mixing with your slick.

Your hand went between your bodies and spread your folds for him as he thrusted forward, thanks to your help getting inside in one go, making you both let out a lewd noise.

His pace was just as all that time ago, quick like if it was his last fuck- he wasted no time, balls bouncing against your ass as he went in and out, both of you panting, your eyes tightly closed as his hand went towards your neck, pressing down as he growled.

“Ngh- you bitch- ahh”

He moaned, and you felt his body become unbearably hot, opening your eyes you saw that green glow as his body transformed, his being turning to green and black shades, a sharp and sour smell filling your senses as that weird steam-like thing surrounded his body, his now glowing green eyes staring at you as he smiled, going even quicker as his hand tightened even more around your neck.

A normal human being would have been pulp by now, but your super-power thankfully was invulnerability- and not even the acid of your ex as he fucked you could harm you. So, cheers to you both.

Drops of acid ran down his body as his breath quickened, his balls drawing up tight to his body as his release approached.

You opened your mouth as you couldn’t breath, your tongue lolling out at the same time from the overstimulation of his rough fucking and breathing being impossible, some of the acid drops falling on your tongue, letting you feel the extremely rare taste of it, your eyes rolling back as your mind became foggy, suddenly your orgasm crashing on you, the asphyxiation only making the sensation of cumming harder, at the same time the feeling of your cunt squeezing down on his cock making Toxic cum, his hand letting go of your throat as he pressed his head against your shoulder, turning back to his human self as he shot ropes inside of you.

Your legs were sore from being folded for so long, you hadn't even remembered to ask him to put on a condom or at least cum outside, your neck was red from his rough choke play, but a part of you felt… Completed, not in a good way, fuck, more like “So this is what my life will be”. But hey, at least you weren’t alone.

thinking about toxic!sukuna and his inability to keep you off his mind. the way you cuss him out because he didn't put up dishes like you asked. or the way you stare him down when he doesn't take his shoes off before entering the house.

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who denies that you actually want to break up with him. who said you couldnt break up with him.

why would you break up with him when he didn't do anything?

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who is just so unaware of the toxic things he did. restricting what you wear and who you go out with. lashing out at you when he asked a simple question. brushing you off when he came back late and smelled like alcohol.

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who told you a top looks horrible on you. that it wasn't your color, and it was too tight, making you look fat. all because he wanted you to change.

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who heard your sniffles from the other room but wanted to hear more of them. just because he's mean

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who is in denial and in complete confusion when you put a restraining order on him

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who claims he never put any hands on you.

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who quite literally has internal conflicts on what to do. leave you alone, let you have your space youve been complaining about or come pounding on your door and fuck you to sleep.

thinking about toxic!sukuna who wouldn't respect any boundaries you've made and would invade your personal space.

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who would contact you even when you blocked him on everything. instagram, SMS, twitter, tiktok, snapchat, facebook, google chat, EMAIL, yet the man still finds a way to messsge you.

' you still mad ? '

thinking about toxic!sukuna who doesn't care about your feelings at all. about how he only wants you for your mind- or for your body.

thinking about toxic!sukuna would try and corner you on your way back from a third shift at your work.

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who literally dreams about chasing you and making you love him again.

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who tries to explain that he's right wrong and that he only wants you.

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who wants to be in every part of your mind. he wants to corrupt you, break you in, and make you maleable. just for him and his dirty pleasures.

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who succeeds in his dreams of chasing you.

why would you ever want to run from him?

thinking about toxic!sukuna, who chased you down the alleyway with you screaming at him to leave you alone.

☆

"get the hell away from me, you damn psychopath! youre fucking crazy! you stalk me, message me, call me- i dont want anything to do with you, Ryomen!" the sounds of your shrill voice bounce off the dry walls on either side of you.

he followed you from your work to the little 'short-cut' home, and now he got you cornered in a deadend. you had black wedges and a skirt on- courtesy of your uniform regulations.

of course, he knew where you worked, why wouldnt he?

"come back baby, you know better." he snickered. his taller form was hiding by the darkness of the alleyway as it was well past 11PM.

you shuffled through your purse in search of something to defend yourself. pepper spray, a pocket knife, maybe keys. but came up empty.

why would you need to defend yourself anyway?

it sounded like his footsteps got closer as your movements were more frantic in trying to find something to fight Ryomen off with. you hand came in contact with your phone, and you raised it above your head before looking up and straight into the eyes of the devil himself.

"what are you looking for-" he asked in your face, his breath washed over you. as your nerves spiked, you threw your hand down so your phone came in contact with his forhead. "argh- you stupid cunt!" he grunted out as his face contorted in straight fury and disbelief.

did you... just strike him?

you stomped on his foot with your heel, and you earned another pained groan. you immediately went around him to run off, run into someone to help you, run into the light- something. you ran, your wedges rendering your full ability to move, but you had to make due.

your phone layed cracked at the back of the alleyway but atleast you had your purse? the entrance of the alleyway came closer than before, and you made it about 2 full steps into the light of the streetlight before a rough hand pulled you back by the hair.

"no- no, oh my damn, let go, Ryomen!" you screamed in frustration. his other hand came in, covered your mouth before taking your struggling body and pushing you against the wall.

why would he let you go when he just got you back?

he held you there, his face red and burning by the way you swung at him without hesitation. his eyes didnt lie, and they were filled with hatred but longing.

"youre mine, im not letting you go." he growled into your face after his let his stinging grip away from your hair. his hand ran down his face and he sighed loudly, "you are just as predictable as any other woman." he looked bored.

"you hit me, step on my foot, and then try to run?" he asked. your eyes stung when he pressed your head harder into the concrete wall.

"sounds like you need to lean your place again, yeah?" he concluded.

his hand moved from covering your mouth to grabbing your chin roughly and forcing you to look at him. "been out of check for a while. ignoring me, blocking me, avoiding me, wanting to take a break from me? i think you have lost your mind, baby" he said as his fingers forced their way more into your skin.

"leave me alone-!" you tried to say before he pushed you roughly on the ground, you hit your tail bone, and he came in between your distraught legs and leaning over you. his rough hands came in contact with your body, tugging and pulling on your clothes. he ripped your blouse, and the bottons popped everywhere. he flipped uo your skirt so the waist band was up your tummy.

why would he leave you alone when you just look edible.

"ryomen- i asked you for a break for a reason!" you screamed at him as you tried to cover your body. you tried to grasp the last bits of your dignity, but as soon as he cupped your cunt through your underwear, it was left for good.

why would you ever want a break from him..?

the chase from the back of the alleyway and the adrenaline from him holding you against the wall made you wet. it turned you on that he was willing to chase and catch you.

he smirked as he slid your underwear to the left and slid a thick finger in between your soaked fold before finding your clit and pressing harshly into the little nub.

"uhh-" you groaned at the feeling, he went hard and rough, not caring if it didnt hurt or not. you squirmed as your hips jerked and tried to scoot away from the stimulation.

he put his other hand on your hip, pulling you close as his fingers dipped lower and probbed at your entrance. "youre about to be in for a ride, you little bitch." he growled and forced his two dry fingers into your cunt, immediately finding your g-spot and abusing it.

your back arched as your thighs came up to your chest and closed around his arm, "Ryomen- please! I cant do this.." you whined out as your hips grinded against his fingers.

he smirked over you as you whined and arched your back, "cmon' cunt- cum for me" he demanded. he pressed a thumb into your clit, rubbing it as he fucking your cunt wet.

as you were recovering from one of your intense orgasams, he looked over you. his eyes drifted from your blissed out face to your shivering torso to your trembling thighs and hips. he licked your liquids from his fingers and slotted himself between your thighs.

why would you ever leave him when he is just perfect for you?

"time for the main event, yeah baby?" he snickered and started unbuckling his pants, unzipping them and pulling his underwear under his ballsack. he grabbed your calf and held it up by his head as he leaned in and stuffed his face into your sweaty neck.

his large mushroom tip nudged your entrance, and you tensed up as he started to push in. he was reforming your insides just to match around him, "cmon, whore... take it all.." ryomen groaned into your neck. he resisted the urge to bite into you as he listened to your sobs.

he raised back on his haunches when he bottomed out and quickly set a rough pace. your pleas and little whines only egging him further the more your worked up.

he let go of your leg to rest on his shoulder and started to grope your tits, kneeding them in one hand while tweaking one in another.

"youre being rough, ryomen! ugh- be gentle.." you whimpered. he shook his hand as he smirked and started to actually plunge into you. thrusting his hips and pulling you back by your tits as leverage.

plap! plap! plap! was the wet sounds of his balls hitting your ass.

he only sped up as he got lost in the pleasure, chasing his and fucking you complete stupid. your neck stretched as you felt another orgasm take over you and your mind felt blank. only thinking about ryomen, ryomen, dick, dick, ryomen.

he saw your face and shook his head and took one hand from your tits to the front of your head and forced your head to look at where hes fucking you open at. your back in an awkward yet painful position as you started to groan.

"you can't escape me, your morsel. you belong to me! i will kill you before you ever get any other thoughts of trying to leave me again. I control you. You are mine."

left unfinished cs ive gotten lazy and unmotivated. let me know what you think !!

toxic!sukuna part 1

toxic!sukuna part 2

revenge on toxic!sukuna

⸻

Class felt longer than usual.

Not because the lecture was difficult, but because my brain refused to focus on anything the professor was saying. My notebook stayed mostly empty while my thoughts kept drifting back to the morning, to the mirror, to the quiet way Alex asked if he hurt me.

By the time class ended my head felt full.

Instead of going back to my dorm, I decided to use one of the empty study rooms in the residence hall. They were small single rooms students could reserve, but most afternoons they were half empty anyway.

I found one at the end of the hallway, unlocked the door, and dropped my bag on the desk.

The room was simple. One desk, one chair, a small couch against the wall, and a window looking out toward the campus lawn. Quiet. Exactly what I needed.

I pulled my laptop out and opened my notes, trying to force myself back into a normal routine. For about twenty minutes I actually managed to focus, typing and highlighting paragraphs like a functional human being.

Then there was a knock on the door.

I didn’t even look up. “Come in,” I said automatically.

The door opened. A second later I heard it close again. Something about the silence that followed made me glance up.

I blinked.

Alex was standing there.

“What are you doing here?”

He looked around the small room once, then back at me.

“You said come in.”

“You knocked.”

“Yeah.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

He walked a few steps inside, hands still in his pockets, like he had every right to be there.

“I was bored,” he said.

I stared at him. “You were bored so you came to my study room?”

“Looks like it.”

“That’s weird.”

He shrugged slightly and leaned against the wall near the door.

“You were the first interesting option.”

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “You know people usually text before showing up somewhere.”

“I didn’t know you were here.”

“Hm, so how did you find me?”

“Lucky guess.”

I gave him a skeptical look. “You guessed the exact building and room?”

His mouth tilted slightly. “I saw you walk in.”

That made more sense.

“You followed me.”

“I walked behind you.”

“That’s the same thing.”

“Not really.”

I shook my head and closed my laptop. “Okay, so you found me. Now what?”

He glanced at the desk, the books, the half-written notes on my screen.

“You were studying.”

“Yeah.”

“That looks painful.”

“It’s called college.”

He pushed himself off the wall and walked further into the room, stopping near the desk.

“You’re not actually studying,” he said.

“I was.”

“You were staring at the same paragraph for five minutes.”

I frowned. He sat down on the couch against the wall like he planned on staying.

I turned in my chair to face him. “You’re really just going to sit there?”

“Probably.”

“And do what exactly?”

He looked around the room again.

“Nothing.”

“That’s helpful.”

“You told me to come in.”

I sighed. “I didn’t know it was you.”

“Would you have said no?”

I hesitated for a second. That was enough for him to notice.

“Exactly,” he said.

I grabbed my pen and tapped it lightly against the desk.

“You’re distracting.”

“From what?”

“Studying.”

“You weren’t studying.”

“Now I definitely can’t.”

He leaned back against the couch, stretching his arms along the backrest. “Take a break.”

“I’ve already taken too many breaks.”

“You’ve been here half an hour.”

“That’s a lot for me.”

That made him laugh quietly.

For a moment the room went quiet again.

Sunlight came through the window behind me, warming the desk and making the dust particles in the air visible. It was strangely peaceful compared to the chaos of the parties we kept running into each other at.

Alex’s eyes drifted toward my neck again.

The sweater.

I noticed.

“You’re staring,” I said.

“Just thinking.”

“That’s never reassuring when you say it.”

He didn’t respond immediately. Instead he leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees.

“Are you avoiding me?” he asked.

“No.”

“You left early.”

“I told you why.”

“That wasn’t a real reason.”

I shrugged lightly. “I had things to do.”

He watched my face for a second longer before leaning back again.

“Okay.”

I studied him for a moment. “You came all the way here just to sit in silence?”

“I told you,” he said calmly. “I was bored.”

“And I’m entertainment?”

“Right now, yeah.”

I rolled my eyes, but a small smile slipped through anyway. “You’re unbelievable.”

“And yet,” he said, glancing at my laptop, “you still closed your notes.”

I looked down at the screen.