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That damned smile of his. Winter folded his wings back and tipped his snout up, one hundred percent NOT feeling any feelings in any way, shape, or form. Nope. His heart was totally not threatening to beat out of his rib cage. He swallowed, firmly keeping his eyes glued to a spot on the wall over Qibli’s shoulder.
“Hello? Earth to Winter?” Qibli waved a talon in front of Winter’s eyes, suddenly a lot closer than Winter wanted him to be. Like, snouts just inches apart close. Winter took a step back and cleared his throat, totally NOT blushing.
“Ever heard of a little thing called personal space?!” Winter snapped. “I suggest you read up on that before going around and practically touching snouts with people like it’s normal!”
Qibli flashed another one of his signature grins and and laughed, light and sweet. “Man, you really need to chill out.” He winked and Winter’s throat constricted for a moment. “What are you so jumpy for, huh?”
“Me, jumpy? I’m the furthest thing from jumpy. In fact, you’re the one that’s jumpy,” Winter stammered, heart going a million miles an hour and clouding his senses. Oh boy, was he going to feel like an idiot later.
Qibli chuckled again. “Are you feeling okay, Winter? Normally your comebacks are sharper and cleverer than that.”
“Was that another pun?” Winter grumbled, arching one brow.
“Was it? I’m not sure. What’s your deal, Winter? Is something wrong?” Qibli asked, tilting his head.
“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know,” Winter scoffed.
“Uh, actually, I would like to know,” Qibli retorted. “You’re acting weird. I mean, weirder than normal. Obviously something’s up. Did I do something? Are you mad at me? No, you can’t be, because if you were mad at me, you probably wouldn’t have even come back to our cave. Either that or you would have frozen me the second I came into your line of sight.” He flicked his ears, genuine curiosity gleaming in his obsidian-black eyes.
“I probably wouldn’t have frozen you. That would have killed you. Though, I’m not totally opposed to that idea…” Winter mused.
“So you are mad at me, then?”
“I never said that,” Winter scoffed, turning his head and crossing his arms.
“Then what’s going on? If you’re not mad at me, then what? Why do you suddenly hate me?” Qibli’s brow was furrowed with confusion, and his eyes shone with worry.
Then what? Well, for starters, maybe it’s because every time you stand near me, my heart starts racing and I get really warm and you MUST notice because you smile at me and my brain turns to mush and my limbs refuse to move and you just make everything awful, you know? I hate what you do to me. And you only ever make it harder to be around you. I shouldn’t like you. In fact, we should be mortal enemies. You were a SandWing outlaw, and me a member of the IceWing royal family. Our paths should never have crossed. Things would have been so much simpler for me if things had gone like they were supposed to. Instead, you came into my life because of this school and messed everything up. It’s because of you that I was banished from my kingdom. It’s because of you that I’m dead to everyone back home I know and love. Winter was silent. Qibli blinked slowly, looking as calm as ever.
I hate that I can’t admit when I’m wrong because I feel the need to be so much better than you… I hate that I feel like I need to prove something to you. I hate that I can’t show you my true self. I hate that I put you on a pedestal. I hate that I want you to like me, too.
I don’t hate you.
I hate that I love you.
“I hate that I’m in love with you,” Winter whispered, feeling as though all the oxygen had just been sucked out of his lungs.
He realized a moment too late that he’d said that out loud. He was really going to feel like an idiot later.
Qibli’s eyes widened. His mouth opened as if he were going to say something, but nothing came out.
Suddenly everything crashed on Winter at once and he almost screamed. He bowed his head and ran out of their cave, speeding down the halls of Jade Mountain Academy in hopes of crashing into a wall with enough force to knock himself out and forget the entire ordeal.
“Winter!” Qibli yelled from behind. “Winter! Come back!”
Winter ran faster, all the way to one of the underground lakes. Much to his pleasure, nobody else was there. He dove into the dark pool, the shock from the cold almost forcing him to suck in a noseful of water. Underwater, he roared out his frustrations in streams of bubbles that floated calmly up to the surface. Once he’d exhausted both his oxygen supply and his anger, he floated up to the surface and crawled onto the shore, flopping on his back and spreading out his shimmering white wings on the rocks. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. In, out, in, out. Calm.
“Winter?” Well, that calm was nice while it lasted.
Winter’s eyes flew open and he jumped to his feet, ready to dive back into the lake, but then there was weight on his tail. He swung his head around and saw that Qibli had seated himself right on Winter’s tail, frowning. “Get off!”
“Not until you tell me what happened back there!”
Winter took a step forward, but Qibli only moved with him. “You weren’t supposed to hear that!”
“Did you mean it or not?!”
Winter yanked his tail hard, but the SandWing didn’t budge. “Leave me alone!”
“Winter, stop!” Qibli shouted, his voice echoing around the cavern and making Winter’s heart skip a beat. He stopped. Qibli locked eyes with him, and suddenly Winter couldn’t look away. “Did you mean what you said? Are you really in love with me?”
“No! I mean, maybe. Kind of. Yes. Whatever, it doesn’t matter! We could never be together anyway, it was stupid of me to even consider the idea of liking you in that way! You like Moon, and she likes you too. You guys will have a wonderful future together. Now get off my tail and go away.” He gave a final, half-hearted tug on his tail and sat down. Qibli got up. Neither of them moved.
“It’s about time I confess something, too,” Qibli said softly, almost too quiet to hear.
Winter’s expression hardened.
“I don’t like Moon that way. Sure, I had a crush on her for a while, but we’re friends and that’s all we’re ever going to be. I didn’t want to mess up our group’s chemistry, y’know?”
“Oh, and if we’re together, the chemistry is going to be perfectly fine?” Winter bit out.
“I never said that.”
“You made it sound like it was implied.”
“I didn’t mean to.” Qibli sounded so quiet and genuinely upset that it tugged a bit at Winter’s heartstrings. Don’t go giving me another reason to like you.
Winter hunched his shoulders. “Just get on with it.”
“Moon and I wouldn’t have had a good future. We would have had a falling out at one point, and our group’s chemistry would have gotten messed up.” Qibli paused. “Neither Moon nor myself like the other in that way. A relationship can only work if there’s mutual feelings.”
“I know that.” Winter closed his eyes. He didn’t even know what to think.
“Which is why we’d be perfect.”
It took Winter way too long to connect the dots. Then, it clicked. His eyes widened and he sat up, turning around to face the SandWing.
Qibli smiled, his freckled cheeks tinted a soft shade of pink. “I’m in love with you, too.”