you sat on your bed in your dark bedroom. only the light coming from your big window was illuminating your room.
you were still reflecting.
reflecting on your feelings.
you let your back fall on your mattress and layed down as you sighed.
'i don't like him. i don't like him. i don't like him. he was just being nice, and i was surprised that he was being so nice. that's all.'
...
'but then,'
'why do i feel like this?'
'ring-ring-ring'
your alarm woke you up, making you jump. you got out of your bed and just did your usual routine and left to open your café.
as you were opening your café with your keys, you decided to check the time on your phone.
"it's saturday?!" you shouted.
you took your key out of the door and put it in your pocket. while sighing deeply, you slowly banged your head on your coffee shop's front door in despair and disappointment.
'at least i get to stay home and relax...'
'but i wanna do something outside'
"Y/N?" a familiar deep voice called your name. "what are you doing?"
you slowly turned your head around to look at who was talking to you.
you felt your heart skip a beat at the sight of the tall long haired man infront of you.
you took a deep breath to compose yourself and spoke up.
"like an idiot, i came here to open up shop because i didn't realize we were saturday." you banged your head on the door again.
"and you, what are you doing here Dawn?"
"i think you dropped your bracelet yesterday." he handed you the bracelet.
"oh? this isn't mine. was it in your ca-" you interrupted yourself by gasping loudly. "did you have another woman in your car as soon as i left?! how mischievious! i never took you for that kind of guy..." you yelled, your lower and upper lips still having a gap in between them.
his cheeks reddened in the span of 0.5 seconds. "no! you've got it all wrong, i found this on the stairs when i was going back to my car."
you burst out laughing. "i know Dawn, i'm just teasing you."
his face was now completely lit up. "well it's not funny."
"anyway, what made you think this was mine?" you asked.
"it matches the outfit you were wearing so i assumed it was yours." he looked at the bracelet in his hands.
'he payed attention to my outfit...?'
"i should probably find the owner of the bracelet." you closed your eyes and sighed. you gently took the bracelet from his hands, wich he didn't oppose to. "alright, thanks a lot Dawn. i'll take this back to it's owner now, have a good weekend!"
Dawn held your hand. "i'm coming with you."
you stared at him blankly.
"if you don't mind of course." he still held your hand, but loosely.
"alright, follow me."
he followed you. his hand still wrapping yours. you had no idea as to wether he was doing it on purpose or if he just didn't realize. knowing him, it was probably the latter.
so, just for fun of course, and not because you possibly have feelings for him, you decided to not point it out to see how long he'd keep it up.
he was on his phone wich seemed like a good distraction. with that in mind, you held his hand aswell and now, the two of you were walking hand-in-hand.
he flinched at the sudden touch and blushed. you pretended like you weren't aware of that and continued walking. and, to your surprise,
he didn't say anything and kept walking.
in fact, you weren't sure if it was just your imagination but, you felt his hand wrap yours a little bit tighter.
feeling your breathing intensifying and your heart beating faster, you wiggle your hand out of his.
'i can't let myself have a crush on someone so out of my league.'
he lets go of your hand quickly. "i'm... sorry. that made you uncomfortable didn't it...?" he looked away embarassed and ashamed.
"not at all! if i was uncomfortable i wouldn't have grabbed your hand anyways..." you blurted out.
he quickly turned around to look at you. his face was tinted pink again and his eyes were wide open.
"i-i mean! my hands get sweaty really easily... i didn't want to..." you looked away.
he huffed while ever-so-slightly smiling and closed his eyes. "alright then,"
"let's hurry up before the bracelet owner leaves or something." you grabbed his sleeve and started running.
"wait." he stopped abruptly making you almost fall.
"what is it?"
"do you..."
"hm?"
"nevermind. let's go."
'is he serious?!'
you stood infront of him, your arms folded against your chest. "hold on, i'm gonna need you to talk."
"it's nothing, forget it." he blushed.
"no." you closed your eyes and shook your head.
"spill." you approached his face.
"it." your face was now a few inches away from his, he slightly backed away.
you stopped to look at him in the eyes. his eyes became half-lidded while he stared at you back. you looked at his lips quickly and went back to his eyes.
"it's... just that..." he blushed while looking at your lips aswell.
you snapped out of crushing- uhm, looking at him. "what is it?"
"you remind me a lot of someone i used to know."
you got your face away from him and cocked an eyebrow in confusion while walking. he did the same.
"what do you mean?" you asked.
"your eyes are similar, and the both of you are stubborn." he sighed.
"oh, what happened to her? are you guys still in touch?" you looked at him, waiting for an answer.
a nostalgic expression and bittersweet smile took over his face. he also seemed sad or... hurt.
"she..."
you said nothing, as you didn't want to pressure him.
"we used to be very close. one night, she just left without a word and i never saw her again."
"i'm... sorry to hear that." you rested your hand on his shoulder.
he turned his head around to look at you. "i'm not really sad, it's just..."
he took in a deep breath. "i miss her. i'd do anything just to see her again. i want to know how she's doing, what she's doing, if she accomplished her dream, and..."
"why she left me that day." he finished.
"you were in love with her weren't you?" you asked bluntly.
he blushed furiously and looked away without an answer.
you stopped walking and turned his body around to face you, resting your other hand on his other shoulder gently. "if you ever need to talk to someone," you paused to smile at him. "come over to my place."
his eyes widened for a moment and then narrowed again. he placed his hand on one of your hands holding his shoulder, and gently took it off his shoulder. "thank you."
"ok, now let's actually go." you started walking again as he did the same.
finally arriving at your appartment building, you went inside.
"alright Dawn, do you remember on what floor you found the bracelet?"
he nodded and started walking ahead of you.
"here." he finally finished climbing up the stairs.
"alright stay here i'll knock on each door and ask."
"i'm coming with you, people can be dangerous." he followed you.
'either he's really cautious, either he doesn't like being left alone'
you knocked on the first door. an old man opened the door. "eh... how can i help you two?" he fixed his glasses.
"we've heard you lost a bracelet." you replied.
you couldn't just ask people if they lost a bracelet, people lie to get what they want.
"what? no. i'm afraid you have the wrong person." he closed the door.
and so, the two of you knocked door to door. however, you couldn't find the bracelet's owner.
"this is leading nowhere, let's just go." you sighed while scratching your head.
you started climbing the stairs up to your appartment when you noticed Dawn wasn't following you. "Dawn? are you coming or...?"
"we're going to your place...?" he awkwardly asked.
"yeah? where else do you want to go?"
"it's not that."
"alright well, come. i'll make you breakfast if you haven't eaten."
he was finally following after you. "i don't really like eating in the morn-"
"don't be spoiled, i'm making you food and that's it." you opened the door to your appartment.
you were about to remove the coat you were wearing off your shoulders, but you were struggling to do so.
"here, let me help you." your red-haired friend gently took off your coat for you and placed it on your rack. he took of his shoes with ease.
you could still feel his lingering touch on your shoulders and arm. your face was lit up.
you took off your shoes as well while hiding your face. "alright stay in the living room or something. i'll be back i just have to... do something" you left to your bathroom.
you washed your face and looked at your reflection in the mirror fixed on the wall infront of you.
'what is wrong with me?'
'i've never had a crush on anyone that fast. and he's really not that special. we interacted a total of 20 times or something.'
'but,'
'he is really nice, and he's handsome too. the way he gets flustered so easily is cute too and...'
you felt a smile on your lips.
'oh my god. what am i doing?! i think it's too late...'
𝖣𝗂𝗅𝗎𝖼'𝗌 𝖯𝖮𝖵
Diluc sat down on Y/N's couch.
'why am i so weird around her? i've been really touchy, almost blurted out stupid stuff, stuttered multiple times.'
'i even talked about her. i never talk about her. i never talked about her to anyone. that was the first time i said my thoughts out loud.'
he silently chuckled to himself. 'isn't it funny how similar they are sometimes? they even have the same name.'
'and now, it's all gone. maybe i should... look for someone new?'
as those thoughts spiraled in his mind, the first person he could think of, was the very person that had him acting weird. Y/N.
'Y/N? no...'
'why not though?'
'she's pretty and she's smart too. her smile is...'
he abruptly stopped his thoughts. his cheeks were a deep shade of red. 'she has quite the effect on me...'
you finally left your bathroom. "ok, what do you want to eat?"
"as i said, i don't eat in the mo-"
"you know what, i'll go get into my pajamas, and i'll give you the time to reflect on what you want to eat. okay?" you firmly spoke. almost as if it was an order.
with that being said, you went into your room and changed into comfortable pajamas.
by the time you went back to your living room and kitchen, Dawn wasn't on the couch anymore.
"he didn't want to eat my cooking that bad?! i'll be sure to hit him next time i see him..." you spoke.
"not at all, i just wanted to cook for you instead. don't worry, i've had people lining up to taste my cooking." he bragged while smiling.
you quickly turned around to see Dawn wearing an apron and already getting started on cooking. "D-Dawn! ahaha... you know i didn't mean it when i said i'd hit you right...?"
"i'm cooking lunch by the way. are you allergic to anything?" he asked while rolling up his sleeves.
you gave him your answer and he started cooking.
you sat on your couch and grabbed the TV remote but stopped yourself. "i'm going to watch you cook if you don't mind." you looked over your shoulder waiting for an answer.
he opened the door to your refrigerator and reached for a few things. "i don't mind."
as soon as those words left his mouth, you got up from your couch and sat on your counter stool. your elbow resting on the counter and your head on your hand. "i didn't know you could cook. how are you rich people so perfect?"
"can't you cook too though?" he asked while chopping some ingredients.
"eh, not that much." you continued. "that's weird." you commented.
"hm?" he cocked an eyebrow while collecting ingredients.
"the fact that you've been grabbing the stuff you need without problem. it's like you live here." you explained.
"oh, about that. there's actually something i need to get that i couldn't find."
"what is it?"
"i need some oil and garlic." he scratched his forehead. he lifted his bangs and pushed them back, revealing his forehead and giving him a different hairstyle.
"wait! you should do that hairstyle more often you look good in it."
"uh, thank you...?" his face was slightly red.
"here's the oil..." you opened up a cabinet but couldn't reach for it.
"let me help yo-"
"no, it's alright i got it." you climbed on your counter and got it from the shelf. you handed it it over to him.
he just stared at you, puzzled.
"now for the garlic." you got down from the counter. you rummaged through your pantry but couldn't find it. "i don't think i have any. sorry."
"it's alright, it wasn't an important ingredient anyways."
and with that, you went back to your seat and continued watching him cook.
"food's ready." Dawn took his apron off.
"about time, i'm starving." you got two plates for each of you and placed them on the counter.
"i made salad, pasta and some brochetta." he let his hair down to tie it up again, fixing it.
"ooh, okay." you dug into the food he made you. he hadn't started eating yet and was just awaiting your feedback.
"so, how is it?" he asked.
"i've gone to multiple fancy four star restaurants before but, good lord i've never eaten anything this good."
he chuckled. "i'm glad i didn't disappoint."
"if you cook this well and still decided to work in the wine industry, you must really love wine." you added.
"i hate alcohol actually." he started eating aswell.
"right, i forgot. Zhongli told me you didn't like alcohol."
"he told you that? why would he do that?"
"i brought you up in a conversation and he told me a few things about you." you continued eating the delicious food infront of you.
"you brought me up in a conversation?" he asked.
'i shouldn't have said that.'
"yeah! why wouldn't i talk about you? you were all i could think about those few days."
you blushed immediately after those words left your mouth and he did too.
"i'm sorry! what i mean is that i couldn't stop thinking about the fact that you ran into my shop so..."
he said nothing and just stared at you. you stared into his crimson eyes.
"stop staring at me and eat. the food's going to get cold."
the two of you had finished your food.
"that was so good Dawn. would you mind coming here again and cooking for me? i'll pay you." you jokingly asked while washing the plates that you two ate out of.
"i don't see why not." he responded seriously.
"wait really? i don't have that much money to spare though." you joked again.
" 'don't have that much money to spare'? just how much do you think my cooking's worth?" he smiled.
"probably... 80$ per dish." you finished cleaning your plate.
"my food was that good? maybe i should consider opening a restaurant aswell." he chuckled softly.
"secretaries can own restaurants?" you asked.
"i meant that i would suggest my supervisor about it." he blushed in embarassment.
you laughed at his cheeks being rosy.
he got up from the stool he was sitting on and headed for your entrance.
'i wish he'd stay longer.'
he took his coat off your coat rack and wrapped it around his arms and shoulders.
"it was nice having you over. don't hesitate to come back again, you're always welcome." you approached him and helped him put his scarf on.
you tied it loosely around his neck as you didn't want to choke him. you took your gaze off of his scarf and stared into his deep crimson eyes. he was lucky the scarf was hiding his flushed face.
you cleared your throat. "right- uhm, as i said," you backed away from his face."it was nice having a friend over. come back again." you smiled at him.
"yes- uh, i-i'll make sure to make you even better food next time." he fumbled over his words.
"you can do even better?! wow." you smirked as you cocked an eyebrow.
he just stared at you awkwardly.
"you want to stay or..?" you broke the silence while laughing softly.
"oh, right, sorry. i'll leave now. goodnight." he turned his back around and reached for the door knob.
"it's 1 in the afternoon Dawn."
he froze. "i-i meant good evening." he stormed off.
'i didn't even tell him goodbye.'
you opened your door and shouted at him. "bye Dawn! have a nice day!"
he turned around to look at you and smiled for a moment.
𝖣𝗂𝗅𝗎𝖼'𝗌 𝖯𝖮𝖵
'why do i get so nervous around her? this is ridiculous.'
-🍷-