you laid your head in your hands, fingers rubbing circles into your temple. you could feel the vein protruding from your head, the blood pumping, seemingly working to make your headache worse. you closed your eyes, trying to find at least a little bit of solace and give them a break.
your contact had ripped this morning and you hadn't realized that that was your last pair, meaning you couldn't wear any until you were able to buy new ones. which meant you had to wear your glasses.
actually, no. you wouldn't be caught dead in your glasses unless you were alone. the large frames accentuated your face and pinpointed almost all of your insecurities, also known as your whole face.
so instead of sucking it up and wearing the wire frames, you sat in the front row of the class today and squinted at the blackboard, trying to decipher the fuzziness of byleth's handwriting.
you couldn't see many things- the writing, who you were talking to sometimes, books, all the works. but you also didn't notice a certain boy looking your way, observing your actions.
it seemed creepy, really, but felix noticed that you were acting off. he simply couldn't figure out why, though. he'd see you staring at papers for longer than normal and often times you wore a very blank expression, your eyes looking nowhere in particular.
he wouldn't say he was worried, but he had noticed. even now as he watched you massage the bridge of your nose or the base of your head, he knew something was wrong.
he wanted to not care, but he couldn't help it. he's nosy.
felix stood up and picked up his dinner, leaving sylvain in the middle of a tale he was telling about his new damsel in absolutely no distress. he walked over to you and sat down, making you look up and furrow your brows.
"felix-"
"what is your problem?"
"w-what?"
"you look lost! your eyes aren't even focusing on anything right now. do you have a concussion? what the hell is wrong with you today?" he asked. he hadn't meant to sound so rude, but he knew you'd avoid telling him. which you did.
"oh i've just got a headache today-"
"why? what caused it?" he wouldn't let up.
"nothing in particular i guess." you said.
"bullshit, y/n. everyone's noticed you being all weird today. what's up with your eyes? can you not fucking see or something?"
"no," you sighed, "im just out of contacts, so i can't see well today."
"well don't you have glasses? just wear those."
your heart dropped slightly. you knew how this would go. you'd tell him you couldn't, that you felt insecure, he'd tell you that was stupid and your insecurities shouldn't affect your life, then you'd get upset. felix wasn't the most perceptive when it came to other people's feelings.
"they make me look dumb." you sigh, "i just can't bring myself to wear them."
"that's stupid."
told you.
"yeah well-"
"you never look dumb, not even with glasses i'm sure."
what.
you couldn't find a good response, so you shook your head, picking up your belongings. "i gotta go to my room, ill see you later, felix."
felix only sighed and watched you go. he couldn't understand why you'd suffer just because you were anxious about your looks. he couldn't understand why you didn't see yourself the way he saw you.
he stood up, putting his dinner away and making his way to the dorms to find you again.
– –
"come in."
your small voice barely reached past your door for felix to hear. he opened the knob to see you closing a small box- what looked like your glasses case.
"hello again, felix." once again, your eyes weren't focused on him.
"show me them."
"what?"
"your glasses. put them on and let me see them."
your heart sped up, "felix, i can't-"
"you can." he sat on the edge of your bed, across from you. "you'll never feel better if you don't let anyone see you."
you look at the floor for a minute, the blue lions rug just a blur of blue and gold against the wood. finally, you took a breath and opened the box again, picking up the glasses and placing them gently on your face.
you looked up at felix and for once, you'd rather keep your glasses off.
his expression was unreadable as he looked at you. his eyebrows were furrowed lightly and his lips were pulled into a small frown. you didn't like that.
you reached to take them off, but suddenly his hand shot out and grabbed your wrist.
"they're ugly, i know. im ugly, just stop-"
"you're not ugly. put them back on."
you stopped and put your glasses on again. felix's hand traveled from your wrist to your cheek, cupping it as he looked at you. you were still insecure under his gaze, but every second made you more comfortable.
"you're beautiful, y/n. with or without glasses, you're beautiful."