Work Text:
‘How long have I been stuck here?’ is the thought that comes to his mind the more he looks at the two people before him – a black-haired boy with glasses, Akira, and a girl he doesn’t wish to describe, much less name. His answer comes in the tick of a clock right next to their table – time reads 7:35, and he’s absolutely positive that they had come here at around 2 P.M.
5 long and tedious hours of watching his friend unknowingly flirt with what he considers the most beautiful girl to ever grace his eyes – consequently, the one girl he has genuine interest in and to rub even more salt on the wound – the one girl who can’t promise him any of the things he needs of her. He knows this. She knows this. And yet, she was the one to extend the invitation to him, saying that one of her friends is interested in him and would love to go out with him.
This thought process forces him to focus on the warmth of a body next to his, turning his attention from the duo in front of him to the lonely girl next to him. She’s pretty, is what he thinks, focusing on her long red hair and the way her makeup seems to light up the same way her eyes do. He focuses on the baby blue sparkling eyeshadow and the glossy pink stain of her lips and the way they move while she’s speaking. He’s half listening to her rant about a book she read, he doesn’t remember the name of it.
He focuses on how her hair bounces when her shoulders move and how there’s a single pair of eyes watching their interaction closely and judgmentally. He looks at her sideways, eyes never really leaving the redhead and he smirks, moves closer to the girl he’s speaking to and pretends he’s listening even more intently than before. Moves his hand to her waist, makes a show of leaning on the table to single her out and pays Akira and the girl on his arm no mind. If he was a better man, he’d tell Akira how utterly in love he was with the girl next to him and how he’s certain she feels the same.
He'd tell the girl next to himself that he can’t give her what she wants – what she needs – because he’s in love with her friend. He barely finds the irony of this situation amusing, he’s regretting his choices when his date – the poor girl – suggest the two of them go to grab more drinks for everyone. He agrees, he doesn’t look at Akira and his girl, just follows the redhead forward.
They return with drinks, Akechi and the redhead take their seats and their lackluster conversation continues. Akechi continues holding eye contact with the girl next to Akira. Her eyes, seem sadder – he thinks her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes. He hopes it’s because it’s not her next to him, not her getting to feel his hands on her and not her getting to hear his low and quiet whispers in her ears.
He hopes but the way she plays her part makes his brain tick and his heart skip a beat. She’s too good at pretending, knows when to say what, knows when to lean into Akira and knows when to tilt her chin up to whisper something in his ear that makes him redder in the face, that makes him laugh. She knows when to kiss his cheek and when to link their hands. She knows when to look in her small mirror. She knows when to fix her eyeshadow and when to reapply her red lipstick. She knows when to do what to entice him. Not Akira, she knows he doesn’t care enough, she does it for him.
She knows after this date, it will be Akechi’s apartment she visits and Akechi’s bed she lays in. She knows it will be Akechi to take care of her for the night. She knows she’ll kiss him and she’ll hold him and she knows she won’t say anything because he doesn’t want to hear empty promises. Akechi knows this too. He knows she’ll use him and throw him away after he’s been chewed up and clawed away. He knows he’ll allow it. He knows he won’t say no or kick her out.
He knows he loves her. She knows she loves him. They both know forever isn’t a word in her vocabulary, they both know she’ll leave come the morning.
They both hurt, over something only one of them can change.