Chapter Text

Claude hurriedly crossed the street, slowing when he made it to the safety of the sidewalk. It was close to midnight now and the air was cool, but he could feel that summer was on its way; thank goodness. 

He loved college, it was great, but he was ready for a break from exams and study groups. He continued his way back to his apartment when he spotted a figure hunched by a car. It was clearly a female, with shoulder-length blue hair, but he couldn’t tell who or what she was doing. 

As he got closer, he recognized it as Byleth. She was in a few of his classes. Definitely the silent type, but she did chuckle at some of the jokes he made during class so she had a sense of humor. 

“What are you doing?” He asked as he approached her. She jumped and looked back, relaxing when she realized who it was. “Is that Sylvain’s car?”

“Bastard cheated on me,” was all she said as she went back to uncapping the little part of the tire that was used to fill the tire with air. 

Ah. That really sucked. He hadn’t known they were dating, Sylvain didn’t seem like her type, but what did he know? 

He had been planning on asking Byleth to go get coffee with him one day as a way to spark a friendship but hey, he could work with this too. 

“So you’re giving him a flat tire? Seems a little boring, don’t you think?” Claude asked with a smirk, putting a hand on his hip. “How ‘bout I help you out with the revenge? My way isn’t traceable.” 

“I’m listening,” Byleth paused her actions once more and turned to face him, purple eyes staring up at him intently. 

“Poison. Not the type to kill, but the kind to make him spend the whole day in the bathroom. It can be done multiple times and he’ll never even think you’re the reason he’s suffering,” Claude explained, smirking even wider when he saw the glint in her eyes. Oh, so she was a troublemaker too? Perfect. 

“So, Byleth, what do you say?” He held out his hand.  

“Let’s do it,” She replied, taking his hand and pulling herself off the ground. 

--------

Claude hadn’t expected Byleth to be so interested?

She watched him make it and asked tons of questions, then hung out with him for a little bit after it was done until it had gotten too late and she headed home. Then on Monday, she brought him a coffee and a muffin, thanking him for his help once more. She had distracted Sylvain, giving Claude the perfect opportunity to pour poison into Sylvain’s own cup of coffee. 

Once the deed was done, he knew Byleth would just go on with her life, like Friday night and Monday morning never happened. Surely she wouldn’t continue this oddly started friendship, which did hurt Claude a little. He didn’t know her that well, but he wanted to. Just getting a glimpse of her personality during the few hours they spent together was enough to show him that she would be a perfect addition to his friend group. 

She had been funny, curious, and she really was pretty. Hilda had teased him Monday evening when she came over to ‘work’ on homework together. He knew the second he told her and mentioned her eyes, Hilda would be all over it. 

“Wow! Helping a damsel in distress and you can only talk about how memorizing her eyes are? That’s really romantic, Claude. Don’t worry! I’ll help you out!”

He didn’t want nor need Hilda’s help on this, it wasn’t like he was expecting much more, and he never said her eyes were memorizing, he had just said they were pretty. 

However, when he walked out of class a day later, Byleth was there, waiting for him. 

“Oh, sorry, did I startle you?” She asked when she saw his confused expression. “Hilda told me you had this class so I figured I’d wait.”

“No, no, you’re fine. What’s up?” He asked, leaning against the wall as other students pooled out of the classroom behind him. 

“I was wondering if you wanted to go grab some lunch? I’m very interested in where you learned to make that stuff and you didn’t tell me on Friday night,” she explained, a small smile on her face. 

“As if I could share my secrets,” he meant it playfully, but the look of rejection passed on her face quickly and she looked down for a few moments.

“Oh. Of course, sorry to bother you then,” she mumbled and went to walk past him when Claude realized it sounded like he was rejecting the offer.

“Wait! Wait, I was just kidding, I’d love to get lunch,” he grabbed her shoulder to prevent her from hurrying off. “I can’t tell you exactly how I got into it, but, I can share a few secrets.” 

It was weird, so very weird. She sat there, eating her food, listening to him ramble. Never once did a look of irritation or boredom cross her face. She asked questioned, she made jokes, and when the bill came she slapped her hand on it before Claude could. 

“Now, By,” he said, using the nickname he deemed was perfect for her, “a gentleman always pays.”

“My treat. I invited you out,” she pulled out her wallet and then shot him a smirk. “You can get it next time though.”

And that was that. 

They went out to lunch again that week, this time Claude paid, and they continued the cycle. They went to lunch together twice a week, they hung out after class, they formed a study group together, they became friends, close friends. Claude didn’t even realize it was happening until he was waiting for her to finish a class with an extra doughnut from the cafe in his hand for her. 

“Guess that isn’t for me,” Hilda pouted when she approached him, looking at the donut. “Byleth is getting so spoiled!”

“She bought me a coffee yesterday,” Claude said as his excuse, not telling her how he had to fight off Raphael for this donut. 

“You two really hit it off, eh? It’s really cute, honestly,” Hilda continued, putting her hands behind her back, a smile on her face. “I saw you two chatting it up yesterday after class. It’s really nice to see you so happy.” 

“I’m not that happy,” he mumbled, checking to see if the class was ending through the glass window in the door, but all the students were still sitting down so he was good. He didn’t want Byleth hearing all of this. 

“Okay, sure,” Hilda gave him a slow wink, which she always did when she was teasing him. “And I guess you weren’t flirting with her that hard too, right?” 

“The real question is: was she flirting back just as hard?” He asked and Hilda pumped her fists in the air, a huge smile on her face. “Calm down!” 

So it was possible that Claude had a small, tiny, barely there, crush on Byleth. 

“I knew it! You can’t hide romance from me. Honestly, I was a bit surprised to see how close you two have gotten in only three months. She must be really special to get your attention?” Hilda kept the smile on her face. 

“Well...sort of. It’s hard to explain,” Claude wasn’t one to open up to people so quickly. Of course, he kept a friendly disposition, but he wasn’t an open book. With Byleth, however, he had to stop himself from telling her too much. He told her about his parents after the fourth lunch together. It wasn’t a lot, just a bit before he stopped himself and steered the conversation to her, letting her talk about her father. Afterwards, he couldn’t believe he had even opened up like that to her. 

“It’s her eyes, they just invite you to tell all of your secrets,” Claude muttered as the classroom door opened and students came out. Sylvain eyed him as he left the room, a confused expression on his face as Byleth hurried out after him, almost knocking him over to get to Claude. “Hey-”

“You tease!” She exclaimed and grabbed the donut with a smile. “I knew you saved it from Rapheal, I saw through your lying texts.” 

“Okay okay, you got me. I didn’t realize you were that hungry,” Claude chuckled as she bit into the donut. 

“Oh, hello Hilda, I didn’t see you there,” Byleth greeted the pink-haired female once she swallowed. Hilda kept the smile on her face, seeing the faint hint of blush across Byleth’s face. She never saw the other girl so open and show much expression before, but Claude was able to pull it out of her. 

“You’re fine! I would do the same for a donut. If you’re still hungry after, would you want to get lunch with me? Claude has been keeping you all to himself,” Hilda put on a fake pout to win her over.

“I-I have not been keeping her all to myself,” Claude muttered, side-eyeing Hilda, who kept up her fake pout. “By, you don’t have to give in to her if you don’t want to.”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Maybe you can tell me embarrassing stories about Claude,” Byleth finished her donut as Hilda looped her arm through Byleth’s. 

“OH! I have so MANY stories, c’mon!” Hilda pulled Byleth away, turning to wink and stick her tongue out at Claude. “And no boys invited!”  

“Hey now, that’s a bit unfair!” Claude called after them, suddenly filled with dread about what Hilda could tell Byleth. He and Hilda had been together since the beginning of freshmen year in highschool, she knew too much. 

“So, Byleth! I’m sure the guys are allllll over you! Tell me about your love life~!” 

Claude gave Byleth a weak smile and mouthed ‘good luck’ when she turned back to look at him.

Chapter Text

"You need to invite her to a party," Hilda popped up behind Claude while he was in line for coffee, startling him. 

“Hilda!” Claude exclaimed and glared at her while the person behind him in line, Dimitri from his political science class, chuckled. “What kind of party?”

“The next party you have at your place with all of us, the next movie night!” Hilda said like it was obvious. “If you want to ask her out, she should at least know the whole squad. I think everyone will like her. She was funny and complimented me a lot.”

“So she’s won you over that easily?” Claude asked as he stepped up to the register. He ordered his drink and felt Hilda’s eyes boring into the back of his head so he sighed and ordered her favorite drink and a cake pop for her. 

“Awah, Claude, you’re so generous!” She smiled when he shot her a look and paid. They moved to the waiting area as the bell to the store chimed and another customer came in. “But as I was saying. I think you should invite her. She’s our friend and I know Lysithea and Marianne would like her a lot. Plus, Leonie already knows her, apparently her dad was Leonie’s soccer coach or something along those lines.” 

Hilda was making a point. It wouldn’t be bad for Byleth to meet his friends and the only one who could tell that he had feelings for Byleth was Hilda, so no one would embarrass him. Plus, he was curious to see how Byleth would act around them. She might go quiet and be shy, which would be pretty cute. 

Hilda raised her eyebrows as Claude zoned out. She heard his name called and went to retrieve their drinks and her cake pop while Claude was up in the clouds. 

“Hellllloooo? Come down from planet Byleth and take your drink,” Hilda bumped his shoulder, getting his attention again. He took the coffee with a small smile on his lips and she bit into her cake pop, following him out of the store. “Jeez, you’re really into her!”

“But you understand, right? You had lunch with her,” Claude replied and Hilda nodded her head. 

“Yeah she has that...vibe. You just can’t help but feel comfortable around her, and her eyes! You were right. She had to listen to me complain about my brother,” Hilda said, finishing off her cake pop. “It’s like I couldn’t help but trust her."

“Told you,” Claude said and sipped his coffee, looking around the campus. 

“You know, I think Sylvain is a little jealous. He was telling me he didn’t realize that you two were so close,” Hilda lowered her voice a little despite no one being around them. 

“Hm, really? Maybe he’s realizing he shouldn’t have cheated on her?” Claude asked with raised brows. He made a mental note to stir up another concoction tonight and slip it into Sylvain’s drink in class. 

“Who knows with him? But I could detect some jealousy~” she giggled, loving the drama. “ He wants to reconcile with her and try to get back together with her....So am I distracting him in class on Friday so you can poison him? No way are we letting him get in the way.”

“This is why we’re best friends.” 

--- 

Claude grabbed a few bags of chips out of his cabinet and tossed them onto the counter, knowing Rapheal would finish them in 5 minutes so there was no point in pouring them into a bowl. 

He had taken Hilda’s suggestion and decided to throw a movie night at his place and invite Byleth so she could meet all of his friends. She seemed interested, though a little nervous when he told her that his other friends were coming. After promising not to leave her in a room full of strangers, she agreed to come. 

Someone knocked on his door and he glanced at the clock. It was an hour before everyone was supposed to show up, and even Marianne wouldn’t show up an hour early. Maybe the pizza place rushed his order?

“Oh, hey,” Claude said when he opened the door and saw Byleth. She had two two liters of sodas in her arms and a bag filled with plastic cups hanging off her arms. “Eager, are we?”

“Huh?” She questioned when he stepped aside and let her in. She looked around, realizing no one else was here. “Wait, we were meeting at 6, right?” She set her things on the counter next to the chips and pulled out her phone as Claude shut the door and strolled back into the kitchen, turning the oven on so they could keep the pizzas warm whenever they arrived. “Oh cool, I just can’t read,” Byleth muttered when she saw that Claude had said 7, not 6. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry, you can help me shuffle my furniture around. Besides, I won’t complain about getting to spend more time with you,” Claude said with a wink and Byleth quickly looked away with an embarrassed expression.

“So what are we moving?” She asked, pulling the cups out of the plastic bag and setting them up on the counter, busying herself. “How many people are going to be here?”

“We gotta move the coffee table forward a bit and throw some pillows on the floor because my couch is big but not big enough. Well, there’s Hilda, Marianne, Lysithea Ingatz, Lorenzo, Raphael, and Leonie. Plus you and me, so that’s nine people crammed into my little one-bedroom apartment.” Claude said, moving out of the kitchen and into the living room. Byleth followed, helping him rearrange furniture to accommodate for everyone. 

Claude went into his room to grab some pillows from his closet as someone knocked on the door. 

“Mind gettin’ that, By?” He called out and she headed to the door, opening it to see a surprised blue-haired girl who had four DVD cases in her hands.

“O-Oh I’m terribly sorry, I must have the wrong apartment ...again,” she mumbled when she saw Byleth. 

“Marianne?” Byleth guessed, hoping she was right. Claude had told her a lot about his friends, she felt like she knew them already. 

“Yes? How do you…?” 

“I’m Byleth, Claude’s friend. Sorry, he’s getting more pillows, please come in,” she moved out of Marianne’s way with a small smile. “I should’ve introduced myself sooner, I’m sorry.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry. He told us you would be coming but usually I am the first one to arrive,” Marianne said as she came inside. “I always get to places too early.” 

“Hey there Marianne!” Claude said behind a mountain of pillows he was caring. Byleth hurried over and helped him, preventing him from tripping over the coffee table. “Thanks By,” he smiled at her while she rolled her eyes and spread out the pillows on the floor. 

“You should be more careful, Claude,” Marianne said and then jumped when the apartment door opened and Hilda walked in with two plastic bags filled with pints of ice cream hanging off her arms. 

“Sorry for startling you Marianne,” Hilda chuckled and shut the door with her foot. “I should’ve knocked, but, you probably would’ve jumped at that too.” She went to the kitchen, putting up the ice cream. “Hey, Byleth! Oh, and hey Claude.”

“It’s my apartment and you sound the least happy to see me,” Claude dropped the rest of the pillows on top of Byleth playfully. “Hehe, sorry.”

“No you aren’t,” Byleth grabbed and pillow and slammed it into Claude’s side as a means for revenge for messing up her hair. “Take that!” 

“If it’s a pillow fight you want, I’m game!” Claude exclaimed, grabbing a pillow and holding it above his head, ready to slam dunk it on Byleth. 

“What’s going on in here?” Leonie asked, opening the door, not bothering to knock. Lysithea followed her in, eyes wide at the scene before her. “Oh, is that Byleth?”

“Hello Leonie, how have you been?” Byleth stood and grabbed the pillow from Claude, playfully bumping his hip and tossing the pillow onto the floor. “Hey, I’m Byleth,” she directed this towards Lysithea, holding out her hand for a handshake. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Lysithea. Claude has told us a great deal about you, you seem to be his favorite topic at the moment,” the younger female said, shaking her hand. 

Claude groaned and shot Lysithea a look over Byleth’s shoulder. Of course, he should’ve known. Lysithea was far too smart not to notice his crush. 

“His favorite topic?” Byleth questioned, looking surprised. “I’m flattered that I’m even an interesting enough topic for him.” 

“Oh, By, c’mon you know how interesting you are,” Claude started, approaching her. “Who else would help me with my crazy schemes?”

“Or talk you out of them?” Byleth asked with one raised brow as Claude put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. 

“We do make quite the team, do we not?” 

“Were you two the reason why Sylvain got sick earlier today and had to run out on our practice?” Leonie asked and Claude kept a smile on his face while Byleth looked up at him, now confused. 

Like he needed Byleth knowing he poisoned Sylvain because he was jealous. 

“It was probably that burrito he ate at lunch. He finished it in less than a minute; gross,” there was Hilda, saving his ass once more. Byleth seemed to believe it and shook her head as the door opened again, this time it was Raphael and Ignatz, and the pizza guy. 

“I’ll have to take my leave from your side,” Claude said dramatically to Byleth and went over to the door to pay for the pizzas and prevent Raphael from stealing a slice before everyone had arrived. 

“So, were you really going to give Sylvain a flat tire?” Lysithea asked, sitting down at one of the barstools at the counter. She turned and faced Byleth, her eyes boring into Byleth’s. “Wouldn’t he have assumed it was you? Were you also going to key his car? He would have definitely known it was you then and you could have gotten in trouble with the police.”

“Lysithea, it’s rude to speak like that to someone you just met,” Hilda chided her. “Right Marianne?”

“Oh, yes, I suppose so,” Marianne said and poured herself a drink, wanting out of the conversation. 

“It’s okay,” Byleth shrugged. Claude had warned her about Lysithea. “The tire was already going flat, Sylvain had been too lazy to go get it filled so I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to get back at him without getting caught, though I did plan to do it to another tire too, which he could’ve tried to accuse me of doing. Luckily, Claude came along and here we are.” 

“I would’ve keyed his car for sure,” Leonie sighed, helping Claude pack the pizza into the oven to keep it warm. 

“When is Lorenz getting here?” A large man who Byleth guessed was Raphael asked. 

“You know him, fashionably late as always. Eat some chips, Raph, I promise you’ll survive,” Claude replied, tossing a bag of BBQ chips towards the blond. “Anyway, Raph, Ignatz, this is Byleth, my partner in crime.” 

“Nice to meet you!” Ignatz smiled and shook her hand while Raphael gave her a head nod. “Oh, what trouble have you two been into?”

“Studying for our chemistry exam and trying to find the best place to get lunch around here. Not exactly trouble making but if calling me his partner in crime makes him feel better, I’ll go along with it,” Byleth said with a chuckle. “Sometimes if we’re feeling super crazy, we’ll take two lollipops each out of the ‘please take one’ basket at Macha’s Cafe down the road.” 

“Wilds ones,” Leonie said sarcastically, getting her drink and sitting down in an armchair, claiming it for the evening. “So what movie are we watching?” 

“We’ve got High School Musical 2, Barbie Rapunzel, The Incredibles 2, or The Little Mermaid,” Hilda said when she stood by Marianne, reading the titles of the DVDs the girl had set on the counter. 

“We went kiddy with this movie night,” Lysithea muttered and Marianne frowned.

“I’m sorry, I just thought--”

“I love all of those movies,” Byleth said, smiling at Marianne. “What an excellent selection. I guess it depends on if we’re in the mood to sing. If so, definitely the Little Mermaid or High School Musical 2.” 

“Thank you,” Marianne gave her a very small smile, seeming proud of her selection. “I think any would be a good choice.” 

“Little Mermaid Little Mermaid!” Hilda chanted and Raphael joined in with her cause. 

“I would say let’s wait to pick until Lorenz got here, but he won’t like any of them. I guess Little Mermaid wins,” Claude announced to the group as a purple haired male enter the apartment. “There’s the tardy man himself. Alright, Raphael, now you can eat,” Claude pulled out a pizza from the over and handed it to Raphael, who got himself a drink and sat on the living room floor. 

“You didn’t wait for me to decide on the movie?” Lorenz asked, looking offended as Claude pulled out all the pizzas set them on the counter. 

“Well, we did wait for you until we started eating. If you arrived on time, you would’ve gotten to vote, but you didn’t,” Leonie said, getting up to get her some food. 

Once everyone had gotten their drinks and food, they moved to the living room to sit. 

“Byleth! Sit next to me!” Hilda waved her over to the couch, patting the open spot next to her. Claude quickly took the spot next to Byleth, cutting Lorenz off.

“I was going to sit there! I have not gotten a chance to have a proper conversation with the new addition,” Lorenz complained as Lysithea took the spot next to Claude, leaving no room on the sectional. “I refuse to sit on the ground.”

“But we made it all comfortable with pillows and blankets,” Byleth said and Lorenz pouted a few more seconds before he sat down. 

“Impressive,” Claude whispered to Byleth while Ignatz put the dvd in and turned down the lights. She just gave him a grin then turned back to the tv. 

---

“By, you don’t have to help me clean up,” Claude said after everyone else had gone home, except for the girl. Truthfully, Hilda usually stayed to clean up and then spent the night, but she had been the first one out the door, claiming she was exhausted, which was apparently a clue for his other friends not to stay and offer to help. 

That Hilda...she really was a good wingman.

“And risk the chance that you'll never clean this stuff up? I’ve seen your room, Claude, it’s a wonder how your whole apartment isn’t messy,” she crushed up another pizza box and put into a trash bag, continuing her cleaning efforts. “Besides, it’s polite.” 

Claude really appreciated that she stayed to help, but it was already pretty late and he didn’t want her walking home in the dark. “Okay, fine, but promise me you’ll stay the night then? It’s really late out and I don’t feel comfortable with you walking home alone. Of course, you can take my bed, or the couch,” if she said no, he would walk her home. He didn’t want to force her to make Hilda’s scheme successful. 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude and I don’t mind walking home,” Byleth said, though Claude could tell she was not eager to walk home. 

“Nah, stay! Look, Marianne left her DVDs and we still have tons of ice cream leftover. We can have an after movie night party,” Claude said, pleased that Hilda convinced Marianne to leave the DVDs. He and Hilda really could scheme well together. 

“Sounds good to me,” Byleth smiled at him and blushed when Claude smiled back and watched her as she finished cleaning up the pizza boxes. “Why are you staring at me?” 

“Just thinking about how great you got along with everyone. I think it’s official, you’re part of the golden deer!” At that announcement, Byleth stared at him then broke out into a fit of laughter. “H-Hey, By, why are you laughing?”

“G-Golden Deer? Like Bambi?” She said through laughter, wiping a tear out of her eye. “Excuse me, but you looked so proud to call yourselves the golden deer. Is it meme related? Something you kids came up with?” 

“By you’re only two years older than me, you aren’t an old lady...and yes it is meme related. We had to call our group something!” Claude defended the name as she calmed down, nodding her head. 

“Well I would be honored to join the Golden Deer,” she said, cheeks red from laughing. “Now, help me finish cleaning so we can eat some more ice cream.”

--

Claude was woken by the sound of eggs sizzling in a pan. He groggily opened his eyes and peered into the kitchen from the couch and saw Byleth moving around. She had the TV  on and the volume was a soft murmur, the door leading to his small deck had been open, letting in a nice breeze. 

It was nice. Really nice. 

He moved into a comfortable position and just watched her move around in the kitchen, smiling to himself as she cooked breakfast. She began humming to herself and after about five minutes, Claude decided it was time he let her know he was awake.

“Well good morning sunshine,” Claude greeted and she jumped, eggs flying out of the pan she was holding. She managed to twist and catch the eggs in the pan again, preventing a mess. “Damn, that was an impressive feat first thing in the morning.” 

“Don’t scare me like that! You jerk, I could’ve ruined the eggs,” she went back to cooking as he got up, stretching and cracking his back. 

“Sorry, I appreciate you making breakfast though. You didn’t have to do that. I should be the one making you breakfast in the first place,” Claude said and leaned against the counter. It was pretty nice to be taken care of like this, even if it was just scrambled eggs and toast. 

“I’m the guest, but if you really feel so bad, you can cook breakfast next time,” Byleth said and the both of them were quiet for a moment. 

“Oh, so are you inviting yourself to spend the night with me again?”

“N-Not like that! I meant if I hosted a movie night and you wanted to spend the night or whatever! I’m not trying to invite myself over again for another sleepover, that would be incredibly rude,” Byleth rambled, looking to be getting flustered. 

Byleth normally was pretty in control of her emotions around others, but with Claude she was far more open with them. 

It was insanely cute. 

“By, you can spend the night whenever. It’s cool to wake up with someone around anyway,” Claude shrugged, opening up his fridge to get the orange juice out. “Plus, I had a lot of fun last night, so I’m always down for a movie night ice cream binge with you.” 

“I had a lot of fun too and thank you for letting me sleep in your bed,” she portioned out the eggs and took the toast from the toaster, setting them on the two plates. “Just remember I never claimed to be a good cook,” she said when she handed him his plate and they moved to the living room to watch the morning news together. 

"If I can eat Lysithea's cooking and live, I'm sure this will be fine."

“Hm, for someone who was so exhausted last night, Hilda stayed up late,” Byleth said, scrolling through her snapchat. “What’s this one about?” She asked, showing him a selfie of Hilda with the text ‘I’m a fab wingman’

“Haha, I have no idea, you know how Hilda is,” he said and turned to the tv again, but Byleth continued to stare at him. “By, no matter how hard you look, you won’t figure out what I’m scheming.” 

“I think I have,” Byleth said with a small smile on her face. 

“Oh really?” Claude asked, slightly nervous. There’s no way she knew, he did a great job at hiding his feelings. 

“Well, it’s only an assumption but...Sylvain tried to get back together with me, then he got sick later in the day? I found that odd, especially since we had lunch together and he didn’t eat a burrito. We had pasta,” Byleth said and Claude froze. “Also, Hilda was telling me about movie nights and she always stayed to clean up but this time she didn’t because she said she was exhausted but….she was up late so she must’ve not been that tired.” 

“Hilda’s lazy though, she probably made up that excuse,” Claude did have a good excuse for that part of the scheme. He couldn’t explain the Sylvain part and he wasn’t even going to try. 

“That’s what I thought too, but she texted you this morning, you left your phone on the counter by the way, asking if her plan had worked,” Byleth smiled when Claude made it a point not to look at her. “So I’m assuming the scheme is about me? And maybe me being your favorite topic?” 

“W-well…” Claude trailed off, not having an excuse. “Fine fine, By, you got me. Sorry about the scheming and not being honest with you about it...I should’ve known you would’ve figured it out sooner rather than later.”

“You didn’t have to scheme to get me to stay the night or make Slyvain sick again, Claude. I like you, scheme or no scheme,” Byleth said and Claude froze for a second before it hit him.

“You do!?” He asked, turning to face her. She looked calm but he could see that she was beginning to get flustered now that all of his attention was on her. “Damn, I really won you over with that donut, didn’t I? I didn’t even need to go through all the extra work, though it was worth it of course if I got you in the end.” 

“Oh yes, the second I saw you with that donut, I knew you were the charming prince I had been waiting for my whole life,” she teased, taking his hand. “But all joking aside, I do like you, a lot. I think you’re very easy to talk to, funny, and of course, charming. So if you’d want to get lunch together today, you know, as a date, that would be great.”

“How forward,” Claude said with a smirk and squeezed her hand. “Yes, Byleth, I would love to go on a lunch date with you, and if you’re feeling up to it, I’d love to take you on a dinner date too, and maybe a dessert date since you made me such an excellent breakfast.”

“An all day date? How bold, I love it,” Byleth said with a wide smile on her face, cheeks pink. 

“Guess I need to tell Hilda that she truly is a master wingman.”