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Eda and Raine were hoping that the weeks after coming back from their romantic getaway would be peaceful and relaxing.
They thought wrong.
Having a teenage girl, a twelve year old titan, and a tubular house demon never makes for a peaceful home. Eda doesn’t know why she would even think they would have some peace and quiet. Though, she doesn’t think she would have it any other way.
Though this night in particular, the kids have decided to be extra rowdy.
Eda and Raine have decided to spend their evening on the couch, sipping apple blood while Eda’s legs drape over Raine’s and her head rests in the crook of their neck. She has a perfect view of Raine’s earrings that coordinate with hers and her heart flips and grows warm. She still can’t believe she’s finally back together with them after all this time.
Her momentary bout of peace is interrupted by the loud voice of Eda’s favorite little human.
“Eda! Raine! Can I ask you something?” Luz asks, leaning over the front of the couch so she’s in Eda’s personal space. Eda leans back and raises an eyebrow.
“What is it, Kid?” She asks. Luz leans back and rocks on her heels with a big smile. King, Eda’s son and the resident titan, sits on Luz’s shoulder with a matching grin.
“We were wondering, how did you and Raine start dating?” Raine and Eda glance at each other before looking at Luz and King.
“What prompted this question?” Raine asks with a smile. Luz giggles.
“I’m trying to prove a point, I need to put Hunter and his stupid opinions into the ground.” Raine barks out a laugh.
“That’s quite the declaration, Luz,” Raine says with a chuckle “What about his opinions are stupid?” Luz drapes herself on the couch and King crawls up onto Raine’s shoulder.
“He says that young love isn’t as magical as everyone makes it seem,” she pouts “and that’s stupid!” Eda smiles and lays her head on Raine’s shoulder and Raine starts rubbing her back.
“So why pick us?” Eda asks, “Our love story has been quite…”
“Turbulent?” Raine interjects. Eda nods and chuckles.
“Yes, turbulent. ” Luz pouts in response.
“Who cares if it is! It’s still so romantic, and you never told me how you started dating,” She crosses her arms. Eda and Raine share a knowing look.
“Fine,” Eda says, “have a seat and we’ll tell you.” Luz and King cheer and sit down on the floor curled up with stars in their eyes.
Raine smiles widely and leans forward.
“It started during our time at Hexside.”
Raine plopped down beside their good friend Darius and Eda’s sister Lilith with a loud groan at the lunch table. Raine always ate lunch with Eda, Darius, and Lilith who were their only friends growing up. Not that they minded, they liked their little group of friends. However on this particular day, Eda was called into the principal's office for Titan knows what this time, so it was just Raine, Darius, and Lilith at lunch.
Darius glanced at Raine and raised an eyebrow.
“What’s wrong with you, Whispers?” He asked. Raine looked up at Darius with a pout.
“I don’t know who to ask to grom, and the pressure is on.” Lilith smirked and leaned over to Darius and whispered in his ear. Darius giggled in response and Raine looked between them with a frown. “What are you two laughing at?” They asked.
“Oh nothing, we just have an idea on who you could ask,” Lilith quipped.
“Yeah someone who would love to be your date,” Darius chimed in with a grin. Raine perked up and stared at the two of them.
“Who?” Lilith and Darius giggled between themselves again before the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard behind Raine. Darius looked up and scoffed and Lilith had a deep frown.
“What do you want, Odalia?” Darius asked with a sneer. Raine looked behind them and there she stood with her books in her hand and mint hair in an eerily perfect bun. Odalia smiled, but her eyes were cold.
“Oh I saw you giggling to yourselves so I wanted to see what was so funny.” Darius’ nostrils flared.
“None of your concern.” Odalia pretended to be offended.
“Now Darius I was simply asking, no need to be so aggressive,” She said. She looked down at Raine and her eyes were piercing.
“So Raine I heard you still haven’t asked anyone to grom, do you not have anyone in mind? Or are you just worried you’ll be humiliated?” She let out a laugh that sounded like a crow’s. Lilith’s face turned from a frown to that of annoyance.
“They do have a date actually, it’s with their girlfriend…not that you would know anything about that,” Lilith said in a snarky tone. Raine and Odalia both had matching expressions of surprise. Odalia must have seen Raine’s look of surprise because she started smirking.
“Oh yeah? And who is this girlfriend?” She asked. Raine started stuttering. They don't have a girlfriend or a date to grom. They did have a crush on someone though, but there’s no way she liked them back. Darius seemed to pick up on what Lilith was doing, because he nodded along with Lilith.
“You didn’t know Raine and Eda started dating? My word, and I thought you knew all of the gossip in this school,” Darius said while holding his chest. Lilith chuckled and leaned her head on Darius’ shoulder. Odalia huffed and stomped her foot against the ground.
“Don’t patronize me! I just don’t care about the social life of dorks.” She turned on her heel. “I’m leaving, and I can’t wait to see how the two idiot lovebirds embarrass themselves at grom,” She stomped off and Lilith and Darius burst into laughter. Raine looked between the two of them with wide eyes.
“Why did you say that to her? Now she’s gonna tell the whole school that Eda and I are dating!” They whined and hid their head in their arms. Lilith laughed while ruffling their hair.
“Oh come on Raine, everyone knows you have the hots for my sister.” Raine looked up at her with bright red cheeks.
“Everyone?” They squeaked. Lilith and Darius nodded with cheshire grins. They felt their heart start to beat fast and their stomach do somersaults.
“But it’s not like we’re dating, people are gonna find out,” Raine curled up in their chair and stared at Lilith and Darius with a deep frown.
“Then make sure people don’t find out,” Darius drolled.
“Yeah and I’m sure Eda would love to pretend to date you,” Lilith said in a sing-song voice. Raine’s cheeks turned a deep shade of red and their heart began to flutter at the implication.
“No she wouldn’t,” Raine mumbled, “I’m not all that great,”
“What are you talking about, Rainestorm? You’re wonderful!” Eda’s voice appeared behind them, which made them jump out of their skin. Darius and Lilith laughed while Eda sat beside Raine. Raine wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die.
Darius looked in Raine’s direction and Raine started shaking their head violently.
“Well, Eda…” Darius began but he was interrupted by Raine.
“Eda do you wanna go to grom with me?!” Raine said quickly before they slapped their hand over their mouth. They looked in Eda’s direction and she’s wearing a blank stare.
Oh, Titan I’ve done it this time. She’s gonna think I’m weird and never speak to me again. Why did I say that?
Eda’s blank stare morphed into a smile before she started laughing. Raine usually loved the sound of Eda’s laugh but now it’s made them even more anxious.
“Eda?” Raine squeaked out, playing with their fingers. The pit in their stomach was more like a treacherous chasm and they might as well have fallen in right then and there. Eda wiped at her eyes and she looked at them with a big smile.
“Of course I’ll go to grom with you, I thought we were already going together anyways.” Raine froze and tilted their head.
“Wait really?” They saw Darius and Lilith glance at each other and roll their eyes in response to Raine’s question. Eda let out another giggle and Raine swore they felt their heart swell a bit.
“Of course, you’re my best friend,” She said. They deflated slightly.
Right, they’re only friends. Lilith cleared her throat and looked at Eda sheepishly.
“Actually Edalyn…we might have told Odalia you two were uh…dating,” Eda looked at Lilith, then back at Raine, then back at Lilith before she chuckled. She leaned over and draped her arm over Raine and laid her head on theirs.
“I guess that means we’ll have to play it up then huh, Rainestorm,” Raine laughed nervously.
“Yeah, I guess we will…” They couldn’t help the twinge of sadness that entered their heart at the thought Eda only sees this as a little game to keep up for grom. Lilith gave Raine an apologetic look and they smiled sadly in response.
“It’s okay,” They mouthed to her. Eda still had her arm around them so they leaned into her and started to pick at their food.
This was going to be the most nerve wracking time of their high school career.
As the week passed and Eda and Raine began to coordinate for grom and prepare, Raine came to terms with the idea that Eda didn’t feel the same way about them. They still wanted to be her friend and they had to make themselves feel that was enough.
Eda loved playing up the facade that she and Raine were dating, though Raine thought it was a bit too much . They walked into school every morning holding hands and Eda let them wear her jacket which Raine loved more than they would like to admit. They would sit in class and kept the jacket close to their face so they could smell her. Her scent always relaxed them, made their heart feel at ease and their mind at home.
However, the day before grom Eda decided to up the ante a bit with her fake flirting. Raine was walking with Eda hand in hand to drop her off at her homeroom like they always did. When they went to say their goodbyes, Odalia passed them in the hallway and Raine turned to look at her and watch nervously. Raine could feel Eda lean in and she pressed a light kiss to their cheek.
Raine’s entire mind went blank and they whipped their head around to look at Eda with beet red cheeks. Their heart started going a mile a minute but Eda just smiled. They swore they could see a bit of pink on her cheeks as well.
“See you later, Raine,” She said before going into her class.
“Uh huh,” Was all Raine could say to her before she was gone. Oh they didn’t know how much more of this they could take before they melted into a puddle onto the floor.
The next day, Raine woke up way later than they had intended to. They couldn’t sleep the night before, tossing and turning. Their anxiety pooled in their stomach and they couldn’t stave it off.
They spent the rest of the day getting ready while simultaneously panicking about their date with Eda. They had gone to grom together before, but now they had a huge crush on her and they had to keep up the appearance that they were dating one another.
When the time of grom was upon them, Raine waited at the front of Hexside, nervously playing with the hem of their dress. They scanned the groups of kids walking in nervously. They knew Eda would never ditch them, but their anxiety told them otherwise. They continued to rock back and forth on their feet until Eda’s voice pulled them out of their anxious stupor.
“Raine! Over here!” They looked in the direction of her voice and there she was running at them wearing a smart looking suit with a bowtie that matched Raine’s dress. Raine felt all of their anxiety melt away as they met her halfway and laced their fingers together.
“You look wonderful, Eda,” Raine said with a bright smile and rosy cheeks. Eda let out a small giggle and squeezed their hand.
“So do you, I really like the way you look in a dress,” She winked at them and Raine’s face turned beet red and their heart fluttered.
“Thanks.”
When they arrived they found Lilith and Darius, in their matching outfits, standing in the corner. Eda and Raine ran over and they still had their hands linked. Darius smiled seeing the two of them.
“Well look at you two, you’re quite the cute couple,” Raine blushed and Eda grinned.
“I think we look rather nice together,” She said. Lilith glanced over at Raine who had turned three shades redder than they were. Music began to play and Lilith grabbed Darius’ arm.
“Let’s all dance!” She said pulling Darius along. Eda laughed and she started bringing Raine as well.
“Eda, you know I don’t like crowds!” They said Eda brought them to the dancefloor and she draped her arms over their shoulders.
“It’s okay Raine, I got you.” She smiled brightly and with how close she was to them they gulped. They smiled and wrapped their arms around her waist.
“You do…don’t you?” They said, looking into her eyes. Eda giggled and she rested her forehead on theirs.
“You know, I was kind of hoping you’d ask me to be your girlfriend for real,” The second the words came out of Eda’s mouth Raine let out a gasp.
“Really?” They squeaked out. Their breath caught in their throat. She nodded and looked into their eyes.
“It’s why I agreed to pretend to be your girlfriend, I hoped you’d ask for it to be real.” They sucked in a breath and the hold on her waist tightened slightly. They leaned in, heart beating and barely breathing and they pecked her lips.
“I was under the impression you didn’t see me like that so I didn’t ask, I’m sorry Eda,” They mumbled, wanting so badly to kiss her again. She giggled and kissed them properly. Raine’s entire mind went blank and their heart began to sing. Titan, it finally happened.
“Well I’m glad we cleared that up,” She said with a beautiful smile. Raine laughed and laid their head on her shoulder.
“Me too.”
Luz lets out a whine.
“That’s it?” She complains, “That’s not magical at all!” She leans back and lays out flat. Raine and Eda both laugh.
“Sorry you were expecting something glamorous, Kiddo,” Eda says. Luz sits up and laughs.
“Well it’s not what I expected but it definitely suits you both,” She says. Raine chuckles and kisses Eda’s hand and Eda blushes.
“You’re right, it does suit us.”