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Jaskier had never meant to fall in love with a witcher. He never intended to fall in love with anyone but he suspected he was cursed. All it ever took was one look and he was head over heels. Every person took a piece of his heart, a little fragment, a part of his soul, and he’d made peace with that. It made for good ballads, heart-breaking torture that was entirely self-inflicted.
The problem was that a lot of people loved Jaskier. They were seduced by his charms, or curious to know the famous bard behind the songs and poems. He was gifted with tokens, flowers, and jewellery everywhere he went. Confessions of love fell off their lips in the middle of the night, pressed red hot into his skin, and then by morning they were gone. A lot of people loved Jaskier, but nobody stayed.
Nobody ever fucking stayed.
So Jaskier clung on.
He latched onto Geralt like a leach, making excuses to stay, making himself useful, praying that Geralt would one day see him in the way he craved to be seen. The constant rejection hurt like a bitch, but the small smiles Geralt would give him made it all worth it. He just knew deep down that, despite Geralt’s words, the witcher cared for him in some way.
They were friends- best friends.
And everyone and their horse always said that witcher couldn’t feel things like love so maybe it wasn’t a personal thing.
Until the day that Jaskier almost died.
The day that Geralt met Yennefer.
The day that Jaskier’s heart broke harder than it ever had before. Whether it was djinn magic or just the witch’s charms, Geralt had fallen in love and his developing relationship with Jaskier had been cursed forever more. Their friendship splintered, Geralt abandoning him as soon as Yennefer walked into the room, shared rooms left empty as soon as violet eyes came beckoning.
His heart left shattered.
But he never parted from Geralt’s side. He couldn’t just leave; not Geralt.
Maybe he was a fool, but he was in love so despite the witcher’s harsh words and at times even crueler actions, Jaskier stayed. He stayed. He would always stay.
For Geralt.
For love.