Chapter Text
“Well,” said the old barista. “What do you want to do?”
It was a simple question, but Eridan was stumped. What he wanted to do? Well, he wanted to fix it. But it wasn’t that simple obviously. How ridiculous could this guy get? How did he even manage to get him to say this much in the first place?
He had no answer for the man.
He obviously saw the confusion on Eridan’s face.
“It does not have to be complicated. You can want something simple, too.”
“I want.. to fix it, I guess. I want to be with her. I don’t want Sol to be around her like that… even if it’s a little selfish.”
“Well that’s a good start. Now you just have to figure out how you can get the things you want, right?”
“I guess…”
Eridan stared at his phone again, which was still sitting on the bar counter. He picked it up, then went through his contacts till he saw Fef’s name. What if he called her now? What would happen?
“What would I say to her? What would we even do?”
“You said she likes water right? Take her to the beach,” said the barista.
The beach.. was that really a good idea? He hadn’t told the barista, but they originally fought because Fef could tell that he didn’t really like to swim. But what was he supposed to tell her? ‘I come here to watch you smile at me’? That was about as lame as it got. But, did he really want to lose her over something like this?
No. He didn’t.
He hit the dial button on his phone.
--
To say that he regretted calling her would be a lie. It was actually a huge relief. Especially since she agreed to come out to the beach after all.
Fef was reluctant of course, she even asked him if he really wanted to invite her out to the beach, which he did.
And so, at 7 pm the next evening, he was standing on the edge of the beach, staring out at the waves as the sun set, casting long shadows along the sand. He wasn’t entirely sure how he wanted to tell her. He also wanted to figure out what was happening with her and Sol. And he planned to apologize. For a lot of things.
He wanted to set things right between them.
He heard her walking up to him before he saw her. She didn’t say anything, she just stood there. Eridan turned to face her. She stood with her arms crossed, wind blowing through her hair. He swallowed down a lump in his throat. It was cool but he felt warm, like he was going to start sweating.
“So, you called me out here to talk right?” she finally said, breaking the silence between them.
“I w-wanted to apologize,” Eridan said. “I do stupid things sometimes. Well, pretty often, actually. Walkin’ away from you an’ Sol was one of these stupid things. I didn’t mean to get so angry with you. I just didn’t understand the situation… I still don’t.”
“I know what you think it is,” Feferi said. “You’re.. wrong about it.”
“Then please explain it to me!” Eridan said, taking a step forward. He felt so far away from Fef.
“I was… just being silly. I spilled juice on him. It was sticky so I put his shirt in the wash, and then...”
Eridan stared at her. Then he started to laugh. That was when he showed up at the door.
“What? Why are you laughing?” Feferi seemed angry but Eridan knew she was just embarrassed.
“It’s just a huge relief,” he said after taking a breath. “I thought you two were together.”
“E-eh? Why would that be a problem anyways?” Feferi said.
“Ah, well. I guess it wouldn’t,” Eridan said slowly. Neither of them said anything for a moment. “Do you wanna go in the water?”
“What? Eridan, I thought we went over this, I know you dislike swimming. Stop forcing yourself to try to like something just because your friends are doing it. It isn’t cool. It doesn’t make me happy knowing that you are unhappy, and you hardly even go in the water anyways, nevermind actually trying to race!”
Feferi sighed.
“Besides, it’s getting pretty dark to swim don’t you think? Swimming in the ocean when it gets dark can be really dangerous. Basically that is just a really awful idea, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry, I know, it was rash of me to just ask you like that again. Allow me to elaborate. The truth is that… w-well…” Eridan felt his face get hot. There was no way he could just tell her like that, right?
Feferi crossed her arms. “Well?” If he didn’t tell her now, he wasn’t sure when he would have a chance again.
“Feferi.” Eridan took a deep breath. “The truth is that.. I actually kept swimmin’ because I got to see you all the time. And you always shine your brightest when you are in the water. Your face lights up and you look stunning. I really love seeing you like that Fef, and so even though swimmin’ wasn’t something I was interested in, I came all the time just so I could talk to you a little more. Seeing you happy in the water, smiling at me whenever I showed up, it was somethin’ that made me happy.”
There. He said it.
Feferi stood there, speechless.
“E-Eridan ..I..” her mouth opened and closed multiple times as she tried to find the words to say.
Eridan stepped forward and gently took her hand, leading her to the water. It gently lapped at their feet as they stood at the shore. Eridan dropped his hand to his side.
“Um, you know. Let’s just forget about everythin’ for right now.” Eridan said after a moment.
Feferi made a confused expression.
“Let’s just forget about everythin’ and have a little fun, okay?” Eridan stepped into the water, one foot, another foot, then he ran in, not caring about the huge splash he made as he did so. He turned back to Feferi, who he’d gotten wet from his running. “Whoops, did I get you there?” he asked in a sarcastic tone.
She stood there shocked for a moment, then began to laugh, all the tension flowing out of her face.
“Eridan, you jerk! You got me all wet!” then she ran in after him and pushed him over into the water. He sat in the shallow water for a moment.
“I think you just made yourself more wet than I did though,” he smiled up at her.
“Worth it, since now you’re soaked,” Feferi smiled back. Eridan stood up and splashed her again, purposely getting her face.
“Oh!” Feferi made a disgusted look, then smirked with all her teeth. “Now you’re asking for it!”
They splashed each back and forth until they were both dripping with water. Feferi was laughing now. Eridan’s heart was lifted.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said without thinking.
“Huh?” Feferi said. Eridan stood in front of her for a moment, then he leaned forward, and kissed her on the side of her cheek.
“I don’t expect you to tell me how you feel or anythin’ like that right now. You can even just tell me you don’t want to do anythin’ with me, and that’s okay. I’m happy right now just seeing you laugh like this Fef.”
He took a step back, looking away in embarrassment.
“I’ll wait for you to come to a decision.”