you've recently noticed that xiao has been acting weird. not around the rest of your friends, but around you. you've had your suspicions- you've read a good amount of romance books and watched movies, it'd be dumb of you to not notice that xiao very obviously likes you.
you noticed how he'd get flustered around you to the point of stuttering (which is not a very xiao thing) and the way he hides his ears with his hair, or when he'd stop breathing around you or have his whole body completely stiffened when he's close to you- but what if you were wrong? what if this was just you trying to convince yourself that someone else would like you after (ex/n)?
you're not going to bring this up to xiao, to avoid embarrassing both yourself and him.
eventually, you made your way to the empty park and spotted xiao sitting on one of the swings on the rusty swing set near the playground. you were thankful that there were no kids around, especially that little girl who always brings fireworks with her.
xiao was swinging a bit, his feet barely touching the grassy ground, and you honestly thought it was adorable. something about xiao's height made him cuter than he already is.
right, you should move because, to anyone that isn't you, it looked like you're stalking xiao with the way you're staring at him, standing behind a tree.
you made your way to him, as silent as possible, and when you were standing behind his unaware figure, you leaned forward and gently wrapped your arms around his neck. "surprise, shawty." you whispered as you felt him jump a bit, but then he relaxed and leaned into you as you stood behind him.
"don't do that again." he grunted, crossing his arms and thanking the gods that you weren't seeing his face. it didn't help that you placed your chin on top of his head, it was almost like you were doing this on purpose. did you know that he's completely smitten with you? were you just teasing him?
xiao felt like he was about to melt any second. it didn't help that he felt so small with your chin on his head. he felt smaller than he already is.
you chuckled in response, and the way your voice sounded like it was vibrating (or was it just xiao?) made him shiver.
exhaling a shaky breath, xiao uncrossed his arms and brought his clammy hands to rest on your forearms, slender, pale fingers dragging all the way to your wrists and holding them gently. you smiled, appreciating the gesture.
"you wanted to talk. in person." you spoke after a few seconds of comfortable silence, listening to the occasional chirping of birds and cars driving nearby. you were glad there were no children around you to disturb the moment you're having with xiao.
xiao cleared his throat and removed his hands from your wrists, as you unwrapped your hands from around his neck. you moved to the other swing and sat down, and unlike xiao, your feet actually touched the ground.
"yes." he responded, his hands gripping the chains on either side of him. you looked at him, kicking your feet against the ground to swing a bit. the teal-haired boy looked at you for a second then he looked away, attempting to swing as well- although it wasn't very easy considering that he can't really reach the group. "i..."
"you...?"
with furrowed eyebrows, xiao gripped the chains tighter. "i... uh, i ate your almond tofu yesterday, that's why it wasn't in your locker when you searched for it." the smile on your face disappeared and you deadpanned.
there's no way that was what he wanted to say. sure, you may be stupid to some extent, but you're pretty sure that wasn't what he wanted to say.
"are you serious?" you questioned, ceasing your swinging. "you dragged me out of my house to tell me about something i forgot about?" a frown formed on your face as xiao just rolled his golden eyes, not looking at you.
"ugh, i just wanted to hang out with you." he spoke through gritted teeth, almost as if he didn't want to admit that, and knowing him, he probably didn't. you only stared at him with your eyebrows knit together, watching as he stood up and extended his hand for you to hold.
you didn't say anything as you placed your hand in his, standing up as well. he started dragging you away from the swing set. "you know, you could've just told me you wanted to hang out. you've been acting strange lately. are you okay?"
"i'm fine." he muttered as you two stood under a tree, leaves falling on your heads and feeling the gentle breeze through your hair. it felt cliché, almost like one of xingqiu's books. yet, you didn't mind it- you enjoyed the calming atmosphere and the fact that xiao was with you and being all flustered made it even better for you.
you felt sick when you looked at xiao, who seemed to be avoiding eye contact yet he seemed as expressionless as ever. it was like your stomach was doing backflips.
"are you sure you're okay? you aren't even looking at-"
"(y/n), you're completely over (ex/n), right?" he interrupted you, now looking you in the eye.
(ex/n), right. he hasn't crossed your mind for a while. you were glad about that, you were mostly thinking about how stupid you were to believe that you could give him another chance.
"...yes, i am. i was stupid to believe i could like him again." you awkwardly smiled and looked away, your hand moving to awkwardly touch your nape.
"good."
you looked at him, raising your eyebrows. "yes, good, i guess? i mean, thanks to you and the others. mostly you, um- ahah, yeah." once again, you awkwardly chuckled and then your eyes met xiao's who looked just as awkward as you.
xiao closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breathe, then he exhaled and opened his amber eyes. "i love you."
"yeah, me too."
xiao huffed and rolled his eyes, "i mean it like those cheesy stories xingqiu writes. not... platonically. god, i hate this." he whispered the last part, his hand placed on the lower part of his face to hide it. you knew what he meant, it was honestly so obvious to you.
"i know, xiao, it was painfully obvious!" you laughed, taking a step closer and bringing your arms to wrap them around his torso. "i've had my suspicions. but, uh- i feel the same way." you grinned, patting his hair.
xiao didn't respond, instead, he hid his face in the crook of your neck. so, you knew all along? and he thought he was doing a perfect job of hiding it- he couldn't believe that you like him in the same way. what if you were lying to him? what if you still weren't over your ex?
"i'm not lying, by the way." you spoke, almost as if you read his mind. "you're cute, you midget. who wouldn't love you back? there are people dying to get a 'hello' from you, you know." you spoke, feeling his soft hair tickling your nose. xiao smelled of both vanilla and almond, but you weren't new to this scent, yet it felt like this was your first time smelling him- you honestly felt like you were being creepy, so you stopped.
"good, let them die." xiao responded, his face still buried in the crook of your neck.
with the same grin not leaving your face, you pulled away and placed your hands on his shoulders, then you moved them to cup his warm face. xiao, still looking as nervous as ever, placed his hands over yours as you leaned in closer.
you knew he was new to this kind of thing, so you didn't want to rush things for him.
you pressed your lips on the corner of his mouth, giving him a soft, quick kiss then you pulled back, your hands still holding his face. "i'll take this slow since you're a loser who's never been in a relationship." you giggled.
he tried to hide the little smile on his face as he exhaled, then he removed his hands from your hands and cupped your face instead. it was your turn to get flustered when he leaned in and pressed his lips against yours.
your eyes widened for a second, then they closed as you felt your heart flutter and your mouth twitch into a small smile against xiao's soft lips.
so he was being serious about kissing you, you thought.
xiao has always thought that relationships and love were 'cringe', but ever since he fell for you, you changed his perspective of love. if he's going to feel warm around you, feel his heart fluttering and butterflies in his stomach, then he wouldn't mind getting used to you and your love.
he was glad you were going to be his first everything.
sure, his friends made him feel loved, but the type of love he felt around you was different.
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1518 words of xiao fluff yall better thank me rn before i use my god complex to manipulate my own fanfic into turning into an angst one 😈😜 /j
anyway, thank you all for the views and votes and the love this fanfic is getting! i'm very glad people think my writing is good 💖 i'm still going to write a chapter for the lantern rite (soon i hope), and if anyone has certain scenarios for me to write, i'll try to write them!!
i've also decided to change this into a x gender neutral reader because pronouns are rarely mentioned :)
i'll also publish a hu tao x gn reader soon! (i think) and i also planned an albedo x reader but idk when im going to start on it
again, thank you all for the love!
i'll now start editing this story for any mistakes and stuff like that