"You two are back together?!" B/n questioned.
"Yeah."
"He broke up with you once, what makes you think this time will be different?"
"The circumstances are different," I said. "We were both young then and called it quits easy." I mean, I actually fought for us during the rough patches at the beginning of our relationship in high school, but B/n doesn't need to know that. Plus, Gene had his reasons that I could never blame him for. In the end, he had no reason to fight for us if distance and being busy were hurting him, and it was out of even my hands...
B/n sighed. "You have a point, even though it was more on his terms. I know back then I didn't have the best track record for liking Gene, but I know that you've both grown up. I just need to know one thing... Are you happy with him?"
"Happy is an understatement, B/n. Being with him makes me feel whole again. He's the love of my life."
Clothed in a jacket I stole from Gene and a pair of thick pants, I huffed as I went down the stairs to the front door. I glanced again at my phone and shook my head, a slight smile on my face.
Gene: Can u open the door pls pls pls :(
Gene: It's cold :((
He can be so stupid sometimes. I love him. I unlocked the front door and before me, coated in snow, was Gene. Freshly fallen snow piled on the ground, and as pure and beautiful as it is, I slammed the door shut upon Gene's entrance.
He pulled me into a hug while shivering and teeth chattering, a problem surely avoidable if he wore a coat, but no, he was only in a long-sleeved shirt. Despite my jacket, I too, found myself shivering.
The past few days I was complaining about the slush and the relentless temperature drops, and six inches of snow was not any sort of solution. It'll turn all gray and icky soon anyway...
"I'm happy to see you, too, but you're like— transferring your cold to me!" Getting snow on me, too...
He let go of me and ruffled my hair. "The real point of the hug, dork."
I narrowed my eyes at him as I smacked the snow off his head and shoulders.
"Ow! A bit rough, don't you think?"
"Seems to be a preference of yours," I said, petting his head. "You could get sick with how underdressed you are... What would you have done if I didn't answer? Kawaii~chan and Katelyn aren't home." I turned around and led him to the living room.
"I'd go to Dante's?"
"Oh, right..."
I asked him the reason for his unexpected visit, and he explained that Zenix kicked him out cause he was planning a date night with Sasha. As of September 29th, while Gene and I were off to my parents place for my sister's birthday, those two got together. Err— back together, I guess. According to Gene, they were on and off for a few years and it made him sick.
"Anyways, what are you up to?" he asked.
"My last commission of the year," I replied.
"Can I see?"
I nodded, sped off to my room, and came back down with my drawing tablet. I tapped into my unfinished work, which had just the sketch done. Upon closer examination... It's supposed to be Yato from Noragami, BUT THE HEAD LOOKS LIKE GENE. I couldn't even hide it from him, as my tablet was sitting in my lap.
"It looks amazing. My Irene are you talented!" Gene exclaimed. "But uh...did someone commission me wearing a tracksuit with a scarf?"
"Thanks for the enthusiasm, but...I screwed up." I placed my tablet to the side. "I'll get back to it later."
"Guessing it's not supposed to be me?"
I shook my head. "I was thinking back to a conversation with B/n about you... I must've been on autopilot."
"With B/n, huh? What about?"
"Us getting back—"
B/n's words echoed in my head, "He broke up with you once, what makes you think this time will be different?"
My eyes were glued to my lap, my lips began quivering, and all I could hear was B/n. His voice grew chilling with every repeat.
I was frozen; I couldn't move.
An eternity passed until fragments of my thoughts finally broke through. Different circumstances. Young. Distance. Busy.
That doesn't matter. Excuses. Even if someone says they care, they can still leave just like that.
It won't happen again. IT WAS EIGHT YEARS AGO! Stop creating doubt from thin air. B/n is supportive, anyways; he just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Don't twist his words.
"Y/n?"
I was in another world completely, but Gene's voice broke through and brought me back. The static in my head died out as I touched my head to his chest.
He wrapped his arms around me and stroked my hair. "I'm here. It's okay... What's wrong?"
I clutched his shirt, breathing in his scent. "Stupid...intrusive thoughts. Everything has been great between us, but they were trying to tell me it's going to end like before."
He held me tighter. "I'm sorry for ever leaving you. Because of that, you're still worried..."
"I'm not worried," I said. "I've never voluntarily thought about it."
"Even then... Y/n, I've never and will never fall out of love with you. I loved you so much that— even as young as we were... I wanted to be with you, forever."
I pulled away and looked into his eyes.
"I wanted to marry you."
The words rang in my head. All the way back then?
"I know that you hate when others make choices for you, but... I wanted too much. You were in high school still, and before I could make unreasonable demands, I ended things."
Back in September, to what Maria was saying... He left because he loved me too much? I took his hands in mine. "I loved you a lot, too, but...with me getting used to my family and still being immature, I definitely couldn't have married you then. My parents might've been high school sweethearts, but they wouldn't have approved either. What you did...was ultimately for the best. If you proposed and I turned you down...we wouldn't have been the same."
"Marrying you wouldn't have solved the problem of distance, either. It was just a desperate idea that I couldn't even act on, and looking back, I was really stupid. I just wanted to be as close to you as possible." He sighed. "I'm sorry. I know I said the things after college were all I had to tell you. I just didn't think I needed to tell you about...all of that."
I placed a hand on his cheek. "And you didn't, but it means a lot that you did. I don't want you to think that I doubt you, because that couldn't be further from the truth. Sometimes my mind is a prison, but you're my key out."
He pressed his forehead to mine. "When did you get so figurative?"
"I stole it from a 16 year old's poem for a creative writing class."
He smiled. "I thought you said your poetry sucked. That was pretty good."
"That's one line, Gene. We'd have to spend years to go through my crappy work..."
"Good thing we have the rest of our lives together."
"We do, don't we?" I kissed him before shaking my head. "There's no way I'd want to spend the rest of time looking at silly writing about you when I could look at you, instead."
"Hm, I guess poems don't beat your drooling face when you sleep."
"Hey...!" I whined.
"Buckets, I tell you. Maybe even oceans of the stuff."
Jerk! Hmm... "Must be since I'm thinking about you~"
"My Irene, what am I doing in your dreams?"
I shyly smiled. "Existing."
"Is that all?" he questioned.
"Yup, and being an amazing boyfriend, which you're being right now! Uh-oh, I might start drooling." I opened my mouth and leaned towards him, getting him on his back.
He covered my mouth. "Y/n, gross! You're- You're being a bad girlfriend!"
I giggled. "I wasn't actually gonna drool on you!"
"How was I supposed to know?!"
I laid on top of him. "Cause I wouldn't want to be a bad girlfriend."
He closed his eyes and began stroking my hair. "You're incapable of being a bad girlfriend."
"Hmm? But just before you—"
"Shhh...I said nothing."
"I guess I can't argue with that," I retorted. "Geneeee~" I sang.
"Y/n~" he sang back, making my heart melt.
"I love you."
He kissed the top of my head. "I love you too, dork."
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A/n: CRINGING BUT ALSO AWWWW
Thanks for reading kawaii potato cats! I love each and every single one of you very muchly! Catch you all later! Baii~ 💖Shadow🎮