As it Was | Hange x Reader

Chapter 34: The Awards Ceremony

(Y/N) sat against the hotel wall, straining to get her charger to stretch a little bit more so that she could sit comfortably. The outlet was tucked behind the vending machine, and her phone was nearly dead. She had resorted to waiting in the hallway rather than going into the room to give Yelena and Pieck their privacy. She frowned at the screen, scrolling through her social media. Needless to say, she was very bored. The awards ceremony was tomorrow, and she was thrumming with a sort of energy that needed an outlet. It was nearly killing her to be sitting that still.

"What are you doing?"

(Y/N)'s head shot up and her eyes widened when she realized that Hange was standing in front of her. They were wearing what seemed to be their pajamas, looking at her with inquisitive eyes. Staring at Hange reminded (Y/N) of their previous revelation, how she had been avoiding them, her conversation with Sasha...and her heart thrummed in her chest.

People usually described love as rapid heartbeats and nausea, as red cheeks and stuttered sentences. But it was different for (Y/N)—for her, it was as if she had been blanketed by a wave of calm and peace. Of course there were traces of anxiety but...she had never felt this level of peace with anyone else.

"My roommates are," (Y/N) cleared her throat. "Up to stuff."

Hange raised their brows, amused. "Oh. And you're going to stay up here the entire time?"

(Y/N) nodded. "Yep! I don't need restful sleep anyway since I've finished all of the working hard parts."

Hange chuckled and stretched out a hand. "C'mon. You can stay in my room—it's got two beds so don't worry about imposing or anything."

(Y/N) blinked. Stay with Hange? In their room? That was a recipe for a disaster. But the way they were staring down at her expectantly, with their outstretched hand, tugged at her heart. She couldn't refuse them. Not again. And so she slid her hand into Hange's, feeling the roughness of their palm, and let herself get pulled up.

"We can watch this documentary that I found online," Hange continued speaking, completely nonchalant, as if they were used to sharing their hotel rooms with girls. But then again...was (Y/N) just any girl.

I loved you.

(Y/N) swallowed. This was going to be a long night.

-

Hange's hotel room was neater than (Y/N) had assumed it would be. She remembered that their room at home used to be a chaotic mess, with books staggered everywhere and science-y posters pasted to the walls. Their experiments used to line their windowsill. It had appeared like an explosion of Hange's mind—both brilliant and chaotic.

"See," Hange pointed as they entered the room. "Another bed. Get yourself comfortable, it's already so late at night. We got a big day tomorrow, hm?"

(Y/N) hesitated for a minute before she crawled into the bed. It was clean, it's sheets still tucked into the bed. The other bed's sheets were rumpled and she assumed that Hange had been using that one. She wondered why they had left their room so late at night anyway. She watched silently as they grabbed for the remote and plopped onto the bed, casually scrolling through the documentary titles. She was slightly flabbergasted at how smoothly they had invited her over and how comfortable they seemed.

"Why were you up so late?" (Y/N)'s eyes flickered to the clock on the bedside table. 11:00pm.

Hange shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Are you excited about tomorrow's results?"

(Y/N) nodded once and then shook her head. "I'm nervous and excited and anxious. I haven't felt this hopeful in a long time, actually. I..." (Y/N) paused. Even though she and Hange had put their past behind them, should she really be telling them her desire to win? How much she needed the scholarship?