Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

At first there was a small speckle that fell onto the cold concret sidewalk. Then water began to pour as if the sky uncontrollable wept. Huffs of warm breaths left your mouth as your lungs heaved out a long sigh. Droplets of rain trickle down your closed eyelids. It felt somewhat comforting standing in the middle of the road getting soaked after the long exhausting day. Glancing up ever so slightly you caught sight of the sky full of gray clouds shadowing over the vast neighborhood.

You smiled at the sight running down the streets splashing puddles of water everywhere continuing to soak your already damp clothes. You ran and ran without care closing your eyes enjoying this pleasant feeling. Was this what they called freedom?

Suddenly, you bumped into something rigid that impeded your path. What the hell would be in the middle of the road at this time of day? You didn't recall hearing any cars either.

You looked up to see a familiar face, Law. He was a neighbor of yours that you have seen only a couple of times since he recently moved in a couple of days ago.

Law scowled, you quickly apologized and scrambled away not wanting to bother the man since he was not quite the sociable type and had a rather frighting demeanor. You were actually scared of him, to be honest. Curious about what he was doing here you hid behind a parked car and wondered why he was standing in the middle of the road in the pouring rain. Maybe it was kind of hypocritical to think of that, but you pondered anyway. Getting curious you snuck a peek at where he was standing but he was long gone.

The weekend went by quickly and it was almost the start of a new semester again. Why do you have to go back to that dreaded place again?

As soon as the first school day started you woke up early and dashed to school. It was a usual routine since you did not want to draw any attention to yourself.

You might as well get to school early and pretend to study to look like you were busy. It's not like you had anyone to go to school with anyway.

As soon as you arrived you sat down at your desk and took out some heavy textbooks. Laying there you read silently through the long text to keep yourself preocuipied for the time being. The faint chirping of the birds outside eased you into a sleepy trance.

The sudden sound of the opening door jolted you up. You knew that no one would come this early so who was it that opened the door, a ghost perhaps? You shivered with fear until a certain someone came into the room.
It was none other than Law.

You quickly looked at my textbook pretending to be focused on studying.

Law's soft footsteps sounded closer each passing second. The hairs on the back of your neck rose as he loomed right over the book. There was a warm gust of breath and it smelled of coffee. What did he want from you? You almost choked on the spit in your mouth as you gulped a little too quickly.

Embarrassed, you decided to put up a glare to mask your terror. What in the world were you doing?

"What do you want?" Your words came out a little too harshly.

Uh Oh you thought. Law's eyebrows scrunched together, and he frowned darkly. Was this the end of your life. Was this the very moment you were going to get murdered by your kind of good-looking neighbor who also coincidentally went to your school?

Suddenly he let out a deep chuckle and you felt yourself flinch, confused.

"What?" you said again turning red as a tomato.

When you spoke again Law simply stood there and his expression was solemn once more. He then turned away and walked to the back of the class and pulled out his phone.

You sat there sheepishly. What had just happened. Was this man bipolar or what.

Students came storming into the room and you glanced up at the clock to realize that it was already time for class.

Every few minutes you looked back to peek at the new student. You noticed that the man either was asleep half of the time or looking out the window staring out into space.

Whenever the teacher called on him, he effortlessly stated the right answer every time which came to you as a surprise. He had never once paid attention to the lecture but was overly intelligent.
You felt a tap on my shoulder and looked next to me to see a tablemate staring.

"It’s about time you stopped ogling the new student and answer the teacher."

You looked around confused to see many pairs of eyes set my way and felt the need to crawl into a hole and disappear. The teacher questioned you about a problem on the board and you got it wrong anyway.
The whole class snickered silently, and you felt the strong urge to jump out the window. What was up with today?

By break, everyone had gone out with friends to purchase snacks. You sat there alone while several other classmates were chattering in the classroom. Law had also gone out as soon as the break began.

"The new student looks kinda hot don't you think?"

"I think so too, he's so smart too but, he's scary,"

"Whoever is friends with that guy is so lucky,"

"Right? I think I'll talk to him when he comes back let’s see how it goes."

You snuck a glance at the gossiping girls. So, you were not the only one who found him attractive. He had nice hair and his facial features would draw anyone in. On top of that, he smelled good too.

As if he were summoned, Law walked through the classroom door and the group became silent. The man strolled down the aisle and one of the girls stopped him from reaching his seat.

She was one of those pretty girls that everyone admired. Her hair was long and smooth, and her eyes were beautiful.

"Hey Law, how are you?”

You physically cringed when the girl twirled her hair around her fingers and puckered her lips to make them seem fuller. The girl dramatically blinked her long lashes several times in an attempt to catch the man’s attention.

Law stared at the girl for only a second and continued his way back to his chair.

The girl pouted and trailed the leaving man.

“Heyyyy can I at least have your number?”

At this point, Law looked overly irritated and glared at the bothersome girl. To your surprise, Law spoke up.

“Fine, hand me your phone.”

All the other girls in the class began to clamor all at one and you yourself looked just as shocked as the others.

The girl squealed happily and gave him her phone.

“My name is Victoria, by the way, my close friends call me Vic. You can call me that whenever you like too!”

“Nick? Huh okay,” Law mumbled.

“It’s Vic,” the girl corrected.

“Dick?”

The girl flushed red, and everyone snickered loudly. The girl took her phone back and returned to her gossiping friends and they all congratulated her on her brave attempt.

Law on the other hand started blankly out the window as if nothing happened during the past few minutes.

The rest of the day flew by quickly and it was soon time to go home. You hurriedly packed your belongings to go back to your house since your parents were strict about going back to study immediately.

They had always never allowed you to hang out with friends after school and commanded that you were to return home immediately to study.

By the time you got back to your room you fell back onto your bed thinking of the past few days, you tried to ignore this one thing that was on your mind by listening to music and playing video games. But that one thought would never disappear.

You looked through the windows to see the home neighboring yours. The curtains were wide open and inside you saw a figure sitting at a desk which was facing the window. You squinted and noticed that the person sitting at the desk was the very one who was stuck in your head all day.

Law sat at his desk intently studying and he had a hand to his head and a pencil to his mouth. He seemed so concentrated. Was this the reason why he was so smart? Seeing Law being so concentrated, you picked up your textbook as well and began to start studying.