Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You were woken up from your nap by a loud thump from downstairs followed by the sound of laughter. You sat up and shielded your eyes from the sun shining in through the window. It had stopped raining. Setting your feet on the cold floor, you heard the laughter again and recognized it as Finn’s. I wonder where Fern is... you thought as you stretched and headed for the ladder.

Earlier today you had been hanging out with Finn and Fern on top of the treehouse until it started raining. It was the cold, gloomy kind of rain that made you sleepy so Fern had let you rest in his bed (a leafy hammock opposite Finn’s bed) while the boys played BMO in the living room. Now that the rain had stopped, you kinda wanted to go back outside and be in the fresh air.

Stepping down from the ladder, you turned around to see that Finn had Fern pinned to the floor in front of the couch. Fern’s grass sword was drawn but he couldn’t use it as Finn was holding his arms down. “Hey y/n!” Finn said, looking up from his defeated other. Fern tilted his head back to look at you too, a pink tinge of embarrassment on his green face. He hated that you were seeing him lose. “Just getting some sparring practice in,” Finn said, still keeping a strong grip on Fern . “You guys seriously need to stop wrestling inside. You’re going to break something,” you looked down at them. “We’re not wrestling,” Fern said bitterly, “it started out as swordfighting.” He looked up at Finn with a hateful look in his eye. Finn quickly got off of him.

Fern stood up and brushed himself off, returning to his gentle self. “So uh what are you up to now, y/n?” he asked without looking you in the eyes. “I was thinking about heading outside and maybe going for a hunt or something,” you answered. Neither of you acknowledged his defeat. “I’m probably gonna head out soon if you... want to come with me,” you inquired. The grass boy looked up at you and opened his mouth to speak-

“Fern and I were gonna finish playing Guardians of Sunshine on BMO and that’s probably gonna take a couple hours at least if not the whole rest of the day,” Finn butted in, putting his arm around Fern’s shoulders.

“I uh, I actually don’t want to do that anymore, Finn.” Fern said quietly. “Oh,” Finn looked dejected. “Well I guess I can do it by myself. Or maybe I’ll see if Jake wants to come over...” he trailed off as he walked away towards the kitchen.

Fern turned back to you. “The offer still stands,” you said, smiling warmly at him. Fern didn’t understand why you had taken such an interest in him, but he thought it best not to pry lest he jinx it. “Yeah, sure, I’d love to go hunting with you,” he answered, regretting his use of the word ‘love’. “Cool, I’ll go get my stuff,” you smiled and headed back upstairs to find your bow.

Chapter Text

You jogged out the front door to where Fern was waiting for you by the pond. He looked at the full backpack in your hand. “Packed enough?” he teased. “Yep, I’ve got everything in here I could possibly need,” you said as you tossed the bag over your shoulder. “You can carry this though.” You handed him a dark blue umbrella. The grass boy looked at you confused. “The trees will still be dripping,” you explained. He tucked the umbrella under his arm, “Whatever.”

The sun was peeking orange between the trees by the time you got to the forest. A damp fog hung in the air. “So...” Fern began, “what are we hunting for?” He twisted the umbrella in his hands. “A squirrel or a bunny or whatever we come across,” you answered.

“Do you eat them?”

“It’s a waste if I don’t.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

...

“What about the fur then?” he asked, trying to make conversation.

“I make hats and stuff out of ‘em.”

“Cool.”

...

“What about-”

“Shhhh,” you cut him off. A rabbit hopped onto the path about 100ft in front of you. You slowly pulled an arrow from your quiver and strung your bow. Fern watched intently as you carefully pulled back and lined up the shot. THWISH! The arrow flew swiftly through the air and landed just shy of the bunny, which startled and hopped away.

“Shit!” You hit the air with your fist. Fern stepped toward you, “Glob, that was impressive!” His eyes were wide and shining. “I’ve never seen you shoot before.”

“I usually don’t miss,” you shifted the bow in your hands, looking to the bushes where the rabbit disappeared. Now you were the one who lost. “That was still a great shot,” Fern kicked at the dirt, “I wish I could do that.”

“Maybe I can teach you sometime,” you looked up at him.

“I’d like that,” he smiled.

The two of you continued on in comfortable silence as you made your way deeper into the woods. You would hold branches back for Fern or he would hold your hand to help you cross a fallen tree. He knew you didn’t need help but it was a nice gesture, and he liked the feel of your soft hand and being near you.

When you got to a clearing near a small stream, you stopped. “We haven’t seen anything for a while. Maybe we should call it a day and head back,” you said, looking at the scattered rays of sunlight that came from lower and lower in the sky. “Sure,” Fern walked to the water and looked into the shallow waves, “My feet are starting to hurt from all this walking.”

“We can take a break and rest for a little bit.” You sat down next to the water. Fern sat down next to you. It was silent again for a while until you felt Fern lean over and rest his head on your shoulder. He sighed deep and long. You sighed too, closing your eyes and taking in the cool air, the warmth of the last rays of sun, the sound of the stream rushing past you. You felt the wet grass beneath you and his hand so close to yours. You slowly inched your fingers closer to his but just as they were about to touch Fern lifted his head off your shoulder.

“Y/n,” he looked deep into your eyes. He almost never looked into your eyes and certainly not like this; with this intensity, this fire. “Y/n, I- I really like you,” his eyes darted away, flickering between you and the stream. “I mean like being friends with you,” he backpedaled. “Like, I mean- we’re really good friends, and I like that,” he was starting to get flustered. Tiny blush red flowers started blooming on Fern’s face. “I mean- cause like, I like you, l-like I like a friend, which you are, a friend-”

You smiled at him as he kept jumbling his words. “And I- I mean, I-” You leaned in and kissed him. Fern was surprised at first, your lips on his half open mouth, but then he closed his eyes and kissed you back. You pulled away and smiled at eachother. Fern stared at you, speechless. “I like you as a friend too,” you said with a devilish look in your eye. He blushed again and looked down.

“Should we head back?” you asked, standing and holding your hand out to him. He took your hand and stood up. “Sure.” :)