Taxi please (Childe x Zhongli)

Part Three

Zhongli's POV
I felt bad for having Childe paying for me, nonetheless, having heard his "proposal" to hang out again made me more than flustered and at the same time, excited.
"Well I should get going now, if there's not lunch at home I might even get yelled at by my boyfriend haha...", Childe said laughing silently, but I'm pretty sure he was faking his good mood once again; maybe that had to do with the reason he was upset before? I once again wondered what might have had gone wrong but wanting to respect his privacy and personal limits, I chose not to say a word. I truly hoped I had at least cheered him up a little during the time talking to him.
I wanted to do something for him, after all he was the one to pay for the meal, not to mention that I really didn't want the time being together with him to end, "If I'm not wrong you live nearby considering where I left you yesterday, want me to walk you home?", I decided to say seconds after Childe got up from his seat.
"You're sure this won't waste any of your time?", Childe asked concerned.
"Don't worry I walked to get here. I might be living a bit farther away but to get home I'll have to pass from your house anyways. It would be my pleasure to walk you home! Unless, of course, you don't want me to...", I said reminding myself that the last thing I wanted to do is to make him feel uncomfortable.
"I'd certainly want you to walk me home then! After all, having someone to keep me company is always fun! Sometimes even when people actually are there I might feel lonely, hiding my feelings, but with you it's different", maybe that was connected to his behavior before as well, seeing him this sad was breaking my heart. From previous conversations I already knew about his family living far away from Liyue but even the people that are supposed to accompany him here, feel like strangers to him? If I was that close to him, I would always try to make him smile and treat him the way he deserves, THAT'S for sure...

Childe's POV
Suddenly everything was silent, you could even hear the wind blowing slowly.  Breaking the uncomfortable silence Zhongli grabbed me by my hand, in his attempt to start walking me home. He was like a step ahead of me, I was anxious I may have made him feel weird with what I said before, after all I didn't know him for long, however, not wanting to exaggerate, talking to him was like talking to someone I've created a bond with and have known for numerous years.
Zhongli turned his head back, "I'm glad", he said, and then smiled while closing his eyes, before looking back ahead. I could feel my cheeks slightly blushing. His smile was so warm and made me feel safe, let along with his great personality, a calm balanced person, full of life experiences and surely intelligent.
Unfortunately, Zhongli noticed my expression and took it the wrong way, "I'm really sorry did I make you feel uncomfortable by holding your hand? I'm knowledgeable of you having a boyfriend, I assure you I did not mean it that way! Once again I'm sorr-"
"Zhongli no need to worry, it's fine, I know you would never do something to make me feel bad, I was just not expecting that that's all.", I said interrupting him.
"Oh, alright then."

**Later on**

Zhongli's POV:
After a short conversation about hobbies and books, the time had sadly come to leave Childe's side once again.
"Hey, may I have your phone for a bit?", he said the moment we stopped in front of his house's front door.
"S-sure...", I replied silently while unlocking it for him, wondering what he wanted to do with it.
"...aaanddd...alright! Done! Thank you for walking me home Zhongli, it really meant a lot.", he said in a cheerful voice while opening his door.
"Wait will we...meet again?", I said.
"I'd love too!", he smiled, "depends on you!".
Standing there with my phone at my hands, wondering what he meant by that and upset we might not come across each other again, I look at the screen:

(Unknown art credits)

Author's note:
HOLYYY!!!  A SIMPLE GENSHIN FANFIC I MADE GOT MORE  THAN 5 VIEWS?! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! I'm really sorry about not posting for such a long time I was bored and then school started. Speaking of school I have to go study for a test rn...I'll TRY (not promising it will be soon) to update as soon as possible! SEE YA IN THE NEXT CHAPTER THAT WILL HOPEFULLY BE LONGER, MUAH -3-

PS: I don't know the fanart's creator but I just want to make clear that the art is not mine, all credits to them of course!