Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Four passed by everyone’s desks.

“Today, you will work with a partner!!”  They screeched out. “To decide, put your partner of choice on a piece of paper and give it to me!”

Liy scoffed. Everyone basically had a desired partner, EXCEPT her. As the notes were passed, she wrote down, “I don’t care.”

Stapy’s eyes lit up when he heard partners. It would be weird to say, but he would really like to work with Liy. But that would probably be bad if she heard Stapy chose her. He wrote down “Liy, but don’t let her know.”

Four soon gathered all the notes together, and started to list off pairs.

“David and Roboty, Dora and Eightball…”

Although there were only 5 pairs of people, Liy immediately got bored and started to outline her Death PACT carving. She finally heard her name, she was with…. Stapy?????

“WHAT?” She bursted out, slamming the desk and standing up from shock.

“What do you mean ‘what?’” Four questioned.

Stapy crossed his fingers and tried to not look as suspicious as possible, hopefully Four wouldn’t let her know why they were a pair.

“How did Stapy and I pair?” Her voice was still loud.

“You two were the last to be picked.” Four said unconcerned.

Stapy let out a quiet sigh of relief; he wasn’t caught!

Everyone still had to figure out what the work was. Four raises his hand and proudly lifted up his new worksheet. Not only were there quadratic equations, but there was up to 4444 questions. Everyone started to silently gasp when they heard.

“Don’t worry, you will have 4444 hours to complete this. A.K.A: 185 days and 4 hours!”

Liy’s couldn’t help but be shocked. One hundred eighty-five days?? Oh this was going to be horrible!

She slumped down on her desk and groaned. She only rose her head back up when Stapy went over to her and tapped her shoulder.

“Four said to sit next to your partner for the next a-hundred-and-so days.” Stapy said while sitting down.

“Got it, thanks.”

“The worksheets are here too.”

“Okay.”

Why is she so… distant??

Truth was: she was really nervous. While she seemed calm, her movements were slightly erratic. She hasn’t talked to him in so long. He laughed at her while she got eliminated. It was cruel. She didn’t think he would even like being near her. But here he was, trying to speak to her like nothing happened. She couldn’t tell if this were to be good or bad. As mean as he was to her at the start of the game, maybe there could still be at least an inch of kindness in him.

Many of the groups managed to get past couple of pages after two days. For the earlier days of the duo project, Liy was stiff and quiet, but she warmed up to her after a couple of days. She began to talk more, and they got more distracted from the work as the days passed.

She began to have fun in the exit and it was because of Stapy . How embarrassing.

A couple weeks into the giant stack of work, Four somehow got really nice. He let them into an area filled with rooms with each duo’s name (excluding a team or two,) mashed together and written on the wall.

“Stapliy?” She muttered out confused.

“Hah, it sounds pretty funny! Doesn’t it?” He ended by punctuating it by a chuckle. Stapy replied tiredly from moving by crutches all day.

“Yup, it does sound funny! But it mostly sounds like your name.”

“No, it doesn’t!” They both started to bicker with each other, but not out of hatred, more like friendly bickering.

As they opened the door, they were met with…

a bed room??

Did everyone else get this too? The room looked like a dorm room. Two plain beds were placed with a drawer in between them and space between a wall.

This would be A LOT better than sleeping on cold desks. There would be more privacy around here - if Stapy didn’t exist. But she didn’t really mind sharing one with him, he had to be the closest one to her here.

‘Whatever, it was break time,’ Four finally let them sleep. ‘I can deal with this all in the morning,’ was her final thought before she drifted off into a dream.

An hour later, Stapy quietly opened the door. He knew she was probably sleeping, so he had to be as silent as possible!

But he was in crutches.

No matter! To keep Liy asleep, he would just have to move slowly. Liy stirred in her sleep. Uh oh. Now he has to move quieter and slower to minimize sound. Two minutes later, he finally did it! She moved a lot and mumbled something but she’s still sleeping! Take that stapler instincts!

“Liy? Liyyy? Liy??” A deep breath was taken. “LIY!” Liy shot awake and turned towards the sound.

“Whuh…. Yes, Stapy?”

“Could you help me into my wheel-chair? I don’t feel like using my crutches today.”

“Sure, but how could I help?”

“Just stabilize and hold on to me.”

“Okay.”

She grabbed him as he slowly started to move towards the edge of the bed.

“Is… this okay?” She asked.

“Just let me help you adjust a bit.” He redirected her hand to a better place.

“Thanks..”

“Hah! No, thank you for helping me, Liy!”

After getting Stapy in his wheelchair, they had to go back to class. More quadratic equations, woohoo. At least Four would be off their butts for the next few months. But four-thousand, four-hundred, forty-four questions were still horrifying. At least it wasn’t four days to complete this.

Liy soon found herself in her bed once again. But because Stapy was in his wheel chair, she had to pick him up (bridal style/hj). But while doing that, Stapy noticed a suspicious note placed on her side of the cabinet: a folded up piece of paper.

“Hey, Liy,” He began.

“Yes?” She responded.

“Was that paper always there?” He continued, “It’s folded up with bold letters for you.”

Huh.. “What would someone want to say to me that they couldn’t do this in person?”

She asked herself while putting him down on his bed.

She rushed over to the note and carefully opened it as if something were to jump at her from inside it. In the note, it was filled with horrible and unfamiliar handwriting and…

A CONFESSION?????

There was no sign of who wrote it: no signature, no writing that could point out who. There wasn’t a clue to be found. It was signed by

‘haha u thought i wouldve signed this’.

A disappointed sigh was taken.

“What.” Was the first thing Liy said after reading the confession.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Stapy, I found a love note.”

“Soooo?”

“The writing was horrible , they had improper grammar, and their signature was ‘haha, you thought I would’ve signed this??’”

“That… does sound bad.”

“I mean, it is sweet that someone likes me, but like.. this is horrible.”

Stapy stayed quiet.

“It’s pretty late now. Good night, Stapy.”

“…Good night, Liy.”

Another day in eternal algebra class, what else is new. As Liy got up from her bed she turned and… how is there another note. She.. couldn’t have been that deep in sleep, could she?” It was folded up and made the exact same way as the last. Once again, there was a confession.

The writing was sweet, it was describing how they admired her and other stuff. The hand-writing though, that was still terrible.  After she finished reading the note, she realized the signature changed. It came from,

‘u fell fo it again’.

Disappointment quickly overcame how appreciative she was. This may only be math class, but many people in here need to work on their English and hand writing.

Stapy soon awoke to the sound of paper being folded up again. Another note… Uh, that’s so weird.

“Hey Liy, I need help getting into my wheelchair again.”

“Yeah, I’ll help you.” The first time she did this took a long time since she was unfamiliar with helping him, but now she’s gotten better!

“Did you get another note?” Stapy started, “I heard rustling when I woke up.”

“Oh right!” Liy replied enthusiastically. “This note was a bit better than the last, but the writing and signature were still horrendous; but it was funny to read.”

“I bet it was!”

“How much work do we still have?”

“I think we’re halfway, somehow.”

“Well then, let’s hurry up so we get some free time!” Liy started to tug at Stapy’s arm as they kept chatting to eachother.

As she was in class, she couldn’t stop thinking about how the mysterious notes appeared. The exit was not a good place for secrets, someone should’ve been caught if they were breaking into her room. Especially by Pencil and Match, they somehow get information on people very easily. How could this person be so good at sneaking around?

Those thoughts followed her all day. How could she even find out who gave the notes? Ask someone to keep watch out for them? Stapy, maybe. Bracelety and Firey jr.? No. Pencil and Match? No, she wouldn’t want to embarrass whoever sent these.

What if she stayed up until they dropped a note to find out? Well, that never worked. They would somehow figure out if she were to catch them or not. Maybe they were just really lucky?  As soon as she finds out who, they’re in for a questioning!

A few months after the project was given, almost everyone had complete theirs! Now with a extremely long free time, Stapy and Liy were together for most of the time even though they technically didn’t have to. The love notes were still coming and Liy still couldn’t out who wrote them (for some reason).

But the newest one finally had some information! Lately, they had something very brief in them, something stupid. But this one said to meet in the back of class after everyone went to their rooms. So curiosity got to her! Let’s meet them!!

The back of class…. She held the note close to her chest as she approached. There was…

No one there?? Maybe they would be a bit late. So she waited, and the familiar sound of crutches squeaking slowly amplified. The only one who uses crutches is Stapy.

Stapy?????

He was the one who liked her?? How obvious. Why couldn’t she have found out sooner?

“Uhm.. Hey Liy, I see you have gotten my confession.” He sounded very nervous.

“Mhm.” She held the note even tighter and looked away.

It was so obviously Stapy. How could anyone else get into their room unnoticed? The way he always stayed silent whenever she criticized the note. But how did she not recognize the handwriting?

This was weird, not in a bad way but in a confused way. The way she answered would change her daily routine. Err, this was hard.

“You like me, Stapy?” She asked him for reassurance.

“Yeah, I do.” That cleared Liy’s thoughts for a little bit.

“Uh.” Liy has been in so many situations, and somehow this is the one that stumped her?

“It’s okay if you don’t like me back” Stapy said, too casually, like if this were normal. He started to turn towards the door.

“Wait!” Liy had finally came up with a decision. “I like you too.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Liy replied, she was confident about this decision. It’s like she always had these feelings but never knew until he made the first move. But she was a lot happier than she was before the project began. ‘Thanks to Four, I guess?’

(Hip hip hoorah for Stapy!! Three cheers!!!!!! Hurrahhhhghhhh )

The door outside moved. Stapy and Liy glanced at each other. Someone heard, and everyone apart of the exit was going to know by tomorrow.

Chapter Text

“ Ughhhhh” Liy slowly rose up in her bed; Her hand was holding up her head.

Once again, Liy is greeted with artificial lighting. This time, her heading was pounding. Oh, and she’s dating the person next to her.

She turned to the side to see Stapy, and he wasn’t there?? It seemed like he already left and took his wheelchair??

Oh.

He probably only wanted her to hold him. Her face became pink.

Okayyyy! Time to get to class!

She got up and headed to class, hoping there wouldn’t be a giant poster with her and Stapy together with giant bolded words saying “Liy and Stapy sitting in a tree!! K I S S I N G!”

…

Why is there a giant poster with her and Stapy together with giant bolded words saying “Liy and Stapy sitting in a tree!! K I S S I N G!”??

She looked over. Seems like Stapy is already getting questioned about it. She’s next. She should’ve thought about how to answer the confrontations after she heard the door move.

She gets pulled away out of the classroom by the wrist. It’s Bracelety.

“Uh, Liy! Is this poster truee?”

“Uh.” What if Stapy wanted to keep this relationship secret! What would happen if she already broke his trust a day after they started dating!

“Give me a second, Bracelety! I gotta talk to Stapy.” Liy ran away and started to look for him.

“Okayyyy.” Bracelety looked defeated, but she already knew the answer. “THEY WERE TOGETHERRRR!!” She squealed after Liy was out of sight. Firey Jr. owes her some money!

“Stapy! Come here real quick!” He heard her voice. It was nice to hear. Almost soothing in a way.

“Coming, Liy!” He shouted back. “Sorry guys, but I have to talk to my roommate. It’ll be quick!”

“Stapy!” She put her hands on his shoulders and started to shake him. “Bracelety asked if we were dating! HOW DO I RESPOND?!”

“Whoa there, Liy! Uh, this might be weird to say, but I was kinda saying we weren’t? Didn’t want to break any borders.” He shrugged.

She stopping shaking him and started to feel some sort of dread when she heard that. She didn’t like that fact he was denying it even though he was the one who sent the notes.

“Liy? Something wrong? I can go tell them that we are dating if you want.” His voice calmed her down.

So either she goes through with it and everyone knows that they were dating or she doesn’t go with it and there’s rumors spread.

There would be rumors either way. The obvious choice for her was to say:

“Tell them we’re dating. They probably already suspect it anyways.” She smiled.

She felt weirdly uneasy, unlike most decisions she made.

They entered back into the classroom. Everyone else in the room immediately went silent. Then came the questions.

“ARE YOU TWO, LIKE, TOGETHER?”

“Is that poster real?”

“DADADADADADADADADADADADA”

“AM I GONNA BE AN AUNT??????”

“AW, SERIOUSLY”

“-•- ••- ••••/-•--- ••- ••••/ ••• ••- ••••”

“Ew.”

“…”

All voices started to talk over each other. Half of the group was straight up screaming into their ears.

Liy spoke first.

“Who made that poster?” She asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Again, the whole class went silent and bursted into a screaming match.

“I heard it from Pence-Pence!”

“Bracelety told me.”

“DADADADADADADADADA.”

“Firey Jr.!”

“AW, SERIOUSLY! AW, SERIOUSLY!!”

“••-• •• • •-• -•— / •—- •-•”

“Bracelety.”

“I heard it from Dora.”

There were inconsistencies in these answers. Most people heard it from Bracelety or Firey Jr., but they said they heard it from each other?? Liars!

Who would be more likely to make a poster though? Bracelety would, one-hundred percent. But Firey Jr. would pull something like this. Maybe they did it together? They were the youngest of the class and were partnered up together for the four thousand four-hundred forty-four questions.

It made the most sense.

She leaned down to Stapy’s ear and whispered, “I think it’s Bracelety and Firey Jr.”

“That makes sense! Good thinking, Liy!”

“Thanks!” She almost giggled. She stood up straight and asked Firey Jr and Bracelety to follow them outside the EXIT.

“Jr.? Bracelety? Did you make the posters?” Stapy asked as soon the door shut.

While one looked uninterested, the other was bouncing around.

“Fine, yes. We did it, it was mostly Bracelety, though.” Firey Jr said, obviously bored.

“Bracelety?” Liy asked.

“Yup! That was true! But he started it.”

“Okayyy??” Liy looked like she was holding  a laugh in.

Well that solves it! It didn’t take that much time to find out who put up the poster!

But of course! Nothing mundane could happen! Something else had to pop up.

Firey Jr. and Bracelety walked inside, and jumped at something, but they quickly got over it though. As soon as Stapy turned to leave, two people came out.

Pencil and Match?

“Hey!” Match started speaking first. “So, like, we’ve totally seen how you guys have been, like, together lately!”

Pencil nodded and continued “Yeah, Matchie’s right! Something’s up.”

…

“Well, uh.. Me and Liy are dating now?” Stapy slowly got quieter while saying that. It didn’t help though. Pencil and Match heard anyways. It was like a chain reaction and they basically exploded in conversation.

“So! Like, how long has this gone on for?”

“I knew it.”

“Are we gonna tell everyone, Pence-Pence?”

“Duh!”

At least that got the pressure of telling everyone gone? All four of them walked back into class. As soon as Liy and Stapy sat down, Pencil and Match had gotten the attention of everyone.

Holding a paper cone, Pencil yelled out, “IT’S TRUE!! THEY ARE DATING!!”

Everyone looked at Stapy and Liy.

“Wha? It’s true? ” Liy decided to make their relationship public to avoid rumors, but seems there have already been some.  Everyone knows about their relationship now. Awkward…

When Liy got on her bed, she thought about how these beds were pretty small. What if she just….

“Hey, Stapy! Wanna combine our beds to make one big one?”

It’s barely been a day since he confessed. She’s already asking to share a bed?? Who was he to say no, though? A bigger bed would be nice.

“Okay!”

They had to move the drawer in between their beds away, it was loud due to the creaking and pushing of the beds, but they did it! One big bed!

They might’ve angered their neighbors though. Whatever!!

They both got onto the bed. It was awkward. They haven’t even held hands before sharing a bed. Time to change that! Liy grabbed his hand without thinking and held it. Stapy nervously held hers back.

It was refreshing to have a completely new day in the EXIT. Stressful too, but that feeling disappeared as soon as she reached for his hand. It was worth it!