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“Jean, sweetie, please stop googling “How do I give Diluc Ragnvindr a gift” and just give it to him.”
“Lisa, no. It’s embarrassing! I don’t even know why I bothered getting Diluc something.”
“You don’t know why? Well, for one, you like him,” Kaeya ignores the glare Jean gives him and continues. “And I don’t know what you saw in my emotionally constipated of a brother, but you had this thing for him since the first year of college, and may I remind you that we’re now in our third year.”
Lisa had asked Kaeya to come over to her and Jean’s shared apartment an hour ago because of what she mentioned as a “Jean emergency” and that he needs to be there as soon as possible. Kaeya, being the ever so kind and sweet and considerate person that he is, ditches his date and drives to the apartment as fast as the law permits him to.
When he arrives, he’s greeted by a very distressed Jean Gunnhildr. Kaeya sighs, wishing both his eyes were covered by eyepatches because he thinks it was much better than seeing the blonde, in her very large hoodie (he gave it to her last Christmas) that had an I’M FINE at the front and an I’M TOTALLY NOT FINE at the back printed on it and the grey sweatpants that came along with the top.
“Look, you’ve been making this gift for months,” he reasons. “Today is his birthday and this is the only chance you will get to give him that.”
“But一”
“Oh my God, Jean, silence,” Lisa cuts her off, her hands on both her shoulders. “Go take a bath. I will find you something to wear, and Kaeya here will drive you to the campus because he said Diluc had a class today, and then you will give that to him.”
Jean doesn’t say anything after that, deciding that they were both right and that once this whole gift-giving thing is done, she can pretend it never happened and avoid Diluc for the rest of their college years.
-
The smile on Diluc’s face immediately dissipates when his block mate who just greeted him a happy birthday disappears from his sight. He holds his jaw in fear that it would get dislocated sooner or later after smiling too much.
It’s not that Diluc doesn’t appreciate the greetings一he really does一but he thinks it would’ve been better if Childe didn’t announce to the whole campus that it was his birthday today.
He looks around as he walks, looking for a stressed blonde who always had her hair up in a ponytail or to put it simply, he was looking for one Jean Gunnhildr.
It wasn’t a crush per se, but more of admiration for being able to keep up with their college’s bullshit as the president of the student council. He knew what it felt like since he was the president during his freshman year and decided to step down the following year. But this was Jean’s second year already as the president and even though he always called the council inefficient, Diluc knew that she was trying her best to make it better.
Okay, maybe he did have a crush on her. Maybe.
“There’s the birthday boy!” Childe singsongs as the redhead sits at their table. As much as Diluc wants to dip his head in ice-cold water whenever he talks, he was still one of his closest friends. “We got you a gift!”
Ally, another one of his friends, takes out the gift-wrapped box from the paper bag and places it in front of him. She and Shar were practically beaming as though they were more excited for Diluc to open his present than the birthday celebrant himself.
The redhead decides to spare himself and the three from the suspense, ripping apart the gift wrapper and sets it aside. He blinks twice at the print on the cardboard box and looks up from the box to glare at his friends.
“We know you want it and you can afford it but you didn’t buy it like the insane person that you are so we bought it for you instead!” Ally explains. It was true一Diluc wanted the latest headphones and even though he could buy them seconds after it was released, he decided not to.
“Thank you, guys.” He says and offers a smile that Ally made sure she caught it on video as well.
Childe shakes his head. “No, man, this is the part where you kiss me and say thank you.”
“Or this could be the part where I shove this box up your一”
“Hey! Why aren’t you answering my calls?” He gets cut off by a pat on the shoulder and a voice that he’s all too familiar with. Kaeya.
“That explains why I had ten missed calls from an unknown number.” Diluc deadpans.
“Unknown number—you don’t have your own brother’s number saved?”
Childe’s forehead creases, “I’m sorry—what the fuck is going on?”
“Kaeya’s my brother.” Diluc simply says. Shar almost chokes from her drink. “Oh, my God. Kaeya as in Kaeya from Marketing who almost locked the dean inside the cafeteria freezer Kaeya?”
“He’s adopted.” Kaeya laughs at his brother’s reply. “What are you doing here? Weren’t you on a date with the Creative Writing major?”
“I was but had to ditch them because something came up.” Diluc rolls his eyes at his reply. Very on brand of him. “Jean’s by the fountain. She wants to talk to you.”
Diluc doesn’t respond but he cranes his neck to look in the direction where the fountain was and spots the face he’s been looking for all day. He stands up, slings his bag on one shoulder, and ignores the cheers and words of encouragement that were coming out of his friends’ mouths as he walks towards the fountain.
His breath hitches when Jean looks up from the paper bag she was holding, tucking the loose strands of hair behind her ear before standing up. Diluc tightens his hold on the strap of his backpack. She’s beautiful. She always is but she’s even more beautiful today. Is that possible?
Diluc stops walking when he’s finally in front of Jean, his feet a few inches away from hers.
“Hi, Jean.”
Jean is at a loss for words. Oh, Gods. He looks so good. He smells so good一no, Jean! Why are you even thinking of that? But he does and this is the first time in months that I’ve stood near him一 her train of thoughts stops when the redhead waves a hand in front of her. Oh, no. She’d been staring for too long.
“Earth to Jean? You okay?” Diluc asks, worry evident in his eyes.
The blonde reassures him quickly with a sheepish smile, “Yes! I’m fine. Definitely. Perfect.”
Moments later, neither of the two spoke. Diluc is waiting for what she wanted to say while Jean thinks she’s fucked up and considering running away to save herself from another awkward moment.
“So,” Diluc clears his throat. “Kaeya said you wanted to talk to me about something.”
“Oh! Yes, here,” she holds out the paper bag. “Happy birthday! I, uh, I got you a tumbler. Nothing special really but I notice you bring a coffee mug all the time and I didn’t think it was comfortable for you so I thought of a tumbler and it’s okay if you don’t, you know, want it but 一 ”
“Jean.”
“Yes?”
“I love it. Thank you,” Diluc offers her a smile and Jean feels her face burn hot. “I guess I got used to bringing a coffee mug all the time so I never really thought of using a tumbler.” His smile grows wider. “So, yeah. I really appreciate this.”
“I’m glad to hear that, then.” Jean’s lips curve into a small smile. She didn’t know what to expect but it definitely wasn’t that. “Well, I think your friends are waiting for you.”
Diluc glances in the direction where his brother and his friends were and he gives them a glare when he catches them staring. The four immediately look away, pretending that they weren’t trying to read Diluc and Jean’s lips. Idiots.
“I still have… student council stuff to attend to so I’ll go now,” she tells him, even though she was actually planning to lock herself in a public bathroom until the day is over. “Enjoy the rest of your day, Diluc.”
“Wait, before you go,” he swallows thickly. “Are you free this Saturday?”
“I think so. Why?”
“There’s this newly opened diner downtown and the reviews are pretty good but I don’t trust other people’s taste buds,” Diluc chuckles, “so I was thinking if you would want to go with me.”
“Like… like a date?”
“Yeah, like a date.”
“I’d like that,” Jean says, biting down her lower lip to prevent herself from smiling too much.
“Perfect.”
They both bid their goodbyes, walking in opposite directions but their smiles are just as bright as the other. Jean thinks it didn’t go as bad as she thought it would and Diluc thinks this might be the best birthday he’s ever had.