Archive of Our Own

“Right, you’ve had more than enough time to stew on it,” drawled Eva, idly doodling in her notebook with the enthusiasm of a deflated balloon. Her eyes flickered between the scribbles on the page and the closest thing she had to a best friend that sat across the table from her, sulking and muttering. “Most people would be thrilled about getting a kiss on the cheek from someone they’ve been swooning over for the past year.”

Damon, who had been scowling at everything and nothing, flinched at the notion his classmate and comrade in moodiness had presented. “I have not been swooning over–” the name caught itself in its throat at the last second, refusing to allow Eva the power to laud this over him. Hell no. “I’m not mad.”

“Steam is coming out of your ears whenever you’re left to your own devices,” Eva pointed out with a sigh. “You’re so mad.”

“Am not,” denied Damon.

“Are too,” countered Eva.

“Am not!” Damon doubled down indignantly. The fact his cheeks were flushed over the initial accusation left him dying on a hill that was quite frankly, set ablaze by absolute Hellfire... He’s so exhausting.

“Bweh…” Eva really, really did not want to deal with this nonsense. Even the topic itself was a matter of immense cringe in her eyes. However, the longer Damon spent doing absolutely nothing to handle these newfound emotions of his, the more inconvenient his presence had become. Any lingering affection she held for the friendship was wearing thin.

Okay, not really. She still cared. Just not for this shit.

Seriously though, this was becoming unreasonable. Literally everyone in the class except for the foolish fool Damon was fixating on had noticed something was up. Worse, they all unanimously decided that Eva, being the closest to Damon, should probably do something about that.

Honestly, the things she does, just so Cassidy would play co-op with her on Baldur’s Gate 3. Rather cruel of the Ultimate Pro Gamer to dangle that offer over her head on the basis of sorting out bargain bin or… whatever. Wasn’t this the season of giving?

“... Damon,” Eva decided to try again, this time from a different angle of attack. “It’s not like you to be so bad with words.” A lie, he was horrendous with words on a daily basis if they were outside the realm of debate. Bweh. “It’s honestly unbecoming of the Ultimate Debater,” two words she pronounced with a manner of irony that she knew would get under his skin, “to fail so damn hard at expressing himself properly. So lame.”

Damon’s eyes widened, his jaw dropped for a moment as he processed Eva’s criticisms. “That’s..! No?!” he shook his head, his voice raised. “First of all, I–”

“Shhhhh!!” an irritated voice shushed him from another table. It was Ulysses, ever as particular about library etiquette. Indeed, that’s where they were hanging out at present. “It may be the winter holidays, but that is no excuse to forget your place.”

Wenona, who was studying at the same table as Ulysses, stifled a chuckle behind her hand. Oh, that’s just going to annoy Damon even further.

“Nngh…” Damon slumped further down in his seat, embarrassed. He lowered his voice accordingly, in a way that only Eva could properly hear. “You’ve got it wrong. If I understood what the issue was, then I’d have gone and articulated myself already. But I’m still trying to figure that part out, so…”

If this were anyone else moping this much about their love life, Eva would be bored out of her skull.

“... Maybe you should talk to someone with expertise on the matter,” suggested Eva, and it should be plain as day to Damon that she obviously meant Toshiko Kayura, the Ultimate Matchmaker.

“Hrrghh… Maybe,” Damon responded reluctantly. Oh, so he’s avoiding that approach.

“Alternatively you could speak to someone in a relationship already,” considered Eva, pondering some of the dynamics between their classmates. Desmond might be a decent person for someone like Damon to go to. He seemed to be going steady with Eloise at least.

Damon frowned. “Wolfgang would be more embarrassing to speak to. Grace would make fun of me.”

“I…” Eva blinked. “I was not thinking of them.”

“And whatever the hell is going on with Kai, Jett and Mark is just- I don’t think I want to know,” Damon continued, reaching up to rub at his temples.

“Again,” muttered Eva, “Not those guys either.”

“And there is no chance in hell I would ever find any level of understanding if I were to talk to Ulysses or Weno–”

“Please just talk to Desmond,” Eva cut in with a sigh, shaking her head. “Why the hell did you think of the more chaotic options first..?”

“... Oh. Right.” Damon made a face. He never enjoyed being made to feel like an idiot. Maybe he should stop being an idiot then. “... Maybe…” The reluctant ‘Maybe’ struck again.

“You’re not going to follow up with any of these people, are you?” Eva realised aloud, leaning back in her chair with an audible sigh. “I’m starting to feel sorry for Di–”

“I want to resolve this, okay?” insisted Damon, his expression more frantic now that Eva tried the direct thing in mentioning the subject by name. “I do. It’s just… The closest thing I have to an answer kind of… I’ve never felt like this before, and it’s frustrating. I didn’t want to bother you, or anybody else, about this.” How thoughtful and considerate of him. However. “It feels like this is something I have to confront myself, on my own terms.”

Well… that was just like him, Eva supposed. Damon didn’t like to rely on others too much, and despite the efforts he has made to understand and even empathise with his classmates, he put up a wall whenever they tried to understand him in return. Most of the time, their classmates were content to just leave Damon to it, seeing that he was resistant to their prying.

There was no one more persistent with him than a certain Diana Venicia, and Eva knew that, considering how often she had seen it firsthand. Diana was often like that with her too, but Eva wasn’t nearly as receptive to her extension of friendship the way Damon was, though he would deny it if asked.

Eva didn’t really understand where Damon was coming from when it came to Diana, with her best guesses being a couple of things. One, a pretty girl giving you lots of attention was good. Whatever. Two, Damon had to work a lot harder with her to get her to open up from the looks of things, at least in comparison to the other students. Maybe the challenge appealed to him. Three, his underlying empathy made him recognise something in Diana that resonated with him in particular. And four, Eva supposed that Diana was a good painter. She had talent in other areas aside from hair and make-up.

She struggled to see the full appeal and for the most part, watching the two interact was kind of an eyeroll… It wasn’t until that fateful night (whatever) that it had started to become insufferable (bweh).

A few days earlier…

“Happy holidays!”

Students cheered in unison as one by one, sharp snapping sounds filled the room from pairs pulling Christmas crackers apart. Tantalizing smells of the party banquet tempted even the less enthused members of the school towards the event, which took place in the dining hall at Eden Garden’s Academy dormitory. Joyous songs boomed through the speakers, with some students singing along - the majority hopelessly off-key. Blindingly bright decorations coloured the space, but nothing stood out more than the tree that had been set up. Head to toe, lights and ornaments, with various presents lining the bottom, anticipating their opening.

Everyone in Damon’s class was instructed to partake in a Secret Santa, and given a budget of $30 to buy something for their gift recipient.

It was just Damon’s luck that he wound up being assigned none other than Diana Venicia, the Ultimate Cosmetologist. She was possibly the most difficult assignment one could receive out of anyone in the class, even though if he were to mention that to the others, they would argue the opposite.

Sure, on the one hand, Diana could be really easy to buy for. She was the type of person who would smile and be happy with anything you bought for her. That was part of the problem. Anything could make her happy.

Except that happiness Damon knew would be surface-level. Diana wore a mask unlike any other, burying her true feelings and always giving the responses she thought would please the other person rather than her honest truth. Throughout the year, Damon had been pushing against those sentiments. For some reason, the more she hid away how she really felt, the more compelled Damon was to seek out the real her.

At first, Damon believed that Diana thought of him more than anyone else here, especially as a result of their ongoing interactions… but the opposite was probably true too.

So Damon really couldn’t settle for an average gift for her. Actually, he overthought his options, and spent above the budget. 

A silver chameleon necklace shaped just like the bracelet that adorned Diana’s wrist. It seemed to hold a special meaning to her, particularly in the references she made from time to time, with the way chameleons adapt to their surroundings. Indeed, she often chose the colours that would allow her to blend in, but a part of her evoked a desire to change into the person she truly wanted to become. Damon often thought about the true self he would find at the very end of the journey. He also wondered if he would be around to witness it firsthand, should that actualization occur beyond their time at Eden’s Garden Academy. Maybe that necklace would secure his place by her side.

No, that’s ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous, and yet he already walked away from that small jewellery shop with the gift box tucked into his pocket.

This gift cost just over double the budget. If his classmates realised that Diana’s gift was worth more than the $30 maximum they were supposed to spend, and worse, that it was Damon himself who spent that money, he would never hear the end of it. In a slight panic, within 24 hours before the party began, Damon went out and bought ingredients to make a cake instead. He baked it during the early hours of the morning to avoid being noticed too much by his classmates.

Well, some knew.

“Heh, soon the truth will be out…” Kai had sidled up to Damon, having lowered his voice. He seemed rather pleased with the insider knowledge he possessed, purely because he got up in the middle of the night to grab a snack. “I wonder who’s getting the cake..?”

“It certainly smelled as though it was made with a lot of love~!” gushed Toshiko, the other fiend who had gotten up for a late night snack.

Seriously, two of the worst classmates who will know right away who gifted who. What they might dare to do with such information was anyone’s guess.

“Shut up…” grumbled Damon, “It’s for a Secret Santa. The recipient isn’t supposed to know who their gift is from, ideally.” Still, how the hell does a cake smell like it’s made with love? That doesn’t make any logical sense.

“Your secret is safe with me, Mochi~!” Toshiko replied with a wink.

“And me!” Kai chimed in, patting Damon heartily on the shoulder. “Hey man, let’s open a Christmas cracker together.”

“Oh boy, the crackers opening crackers together,” snarked Grace, amusing herself with her own shitty joke. It was going to be a long night.

And indeed, a party centred on so much joy was a little overwhelming for Damon. His family weren’t as into such loud, over the top celebrations, preferring to be a lot more lowkey about it all. The lack of extravagance was partially due to finances, but also his family’s nature in general. It was still loving and warm in its own way, but this party was practically on steroids in comparison.

Still, there was one more factor that Damon had never encountered in any Christmas celebrations he had done in the past. Some of the students were pranking one another with surprise mistletoe dangling above their heads. A few had been caught out already, some Damon knew to be a couple and others not so much.

Jean and Ingrid were the first two students to be caught by the prank, giving each other quick cheek pecks before having a laugh about it all.

When Wolfgang and Ulysses were caught together, Grace had pushed the poor historian aside to plant kisses all over her boyfriend’s face, almost as if to mark her territory. Wolfgang didn’t seem displeased about the outcome, though he gently suggested she not shove classmates around just to get a smooch.

Desmond gave Eloise a gentle kiss when they were the third to get caught out by the mistletoe above their heads. Eloise proceeded to hide her face against Desmond’s shoulder while he wrapped his strong arms around her, trying to laugh off the embarrassment.

Kai was practically tackled to the floor by Jett the moment Cassidy surprised the pair with the mistletoe prank. Jett’s helmet was definitely in the way, whatever the hell that was.

And despite the best efforts of certain pranksters, Eva had been dodging attempts to catch her out all night. Damon had never seen Eva display such athleticism before, such quick reflexes. It… didn’t seem to stop Cassidy’s attempts to get caught with her though.

… Well, whatever.

Damon couldn’t help but remain cautious anytime he wanted to move across the dining room for any given reason at all. There was no way he was going to let himself be caught out, no way in hell.

Jean seemed to get caught by the prank more than anybody else though. His large stature made him an easy target for getting caught under some mistletoe, so anytime the captain was on the move, Damon made sure he wasn’t standing in the man’s path.

When it was time for the gift exchange, there was a slight reprieve in all of the shouting, singing and music blasting in everyone’s ears. His eardrums may live on to see another day after all. Everyone sat in a circle, and Jean organised a lucky draw to determine the order everyone would open their presents. Diana was last, which would give her more time to notice what everyone else had received, and if she wanted to, possibly make some deductions about who bought a present for who along the way.

Damon knew Diana wasn’t much of a detective when facts and logic needed to be applied, but she was a people observer just as much as he was. How else did she get so good at knowing how to make the others happy? Her emotional deductions were… a challenge for Damon to contend with at times, with how accurate they could be.

Still, Damon found himself up first, being handed a gift with his name scribbled on the label. He studied the handwriting for a moment, and glanced around his peers for any telltale signs of who his gift giver might be.

Sure, he wanted his own identity to be anonymous as a gift giver, but there was no way Damon wasn’t going to try and figure out who his Secret Santa was.

“Let’s see… this handwriting is… awful. It’s trying to pass off as fancy, but it’s barely legible,” observed Damon aloud.

“Oi, are you trying to figure it out? It’s supposed to be a secret, man!” protested Jett with a laugh.

Still, the gift giver in question did avert his gaze a little over the observation. So Wolfgang had gotten him. That meant the gift was probably going to be at least somewhat thoughtful, and not some joke present.

Taking care with the wrapping paper, despite Cassidy and Jett insisting that Damon ‘tear into it’, he revealed the gift inside. It was a planner for the new year, with a simple yet sleek dark green cover. “... This is going to be really useful,” admitted Damon, managing a small smile. Despite how often they were at odds with one another over their conflicting opinions on various topics, Wolfgang had done well with his choice here. “Thanks Santa.”

“You’re welcome,” Wolfgang accidentally blurted out, pleased that the present had been received well. Then he remembered the point of Secret Santa was to stay anonymous. “I thought I would simply say as much on Santa’s behalf. It was not me.”

“Riiight…” Damon raised a brow. Whatever, he’ll just go along with it. Grace started snickering at Wolfgang’s minor faux pas.

One by one, each of the students went up to pick up their assigned gift, with everyone watching eagerly to see what each person received. Damon predicted this, but there were more than a few joke gifts in the mix. Jett opened his gift box only to have a jack-in–the-box style mechanism smack a pie into his face - or rather, helmet. At least he doubled over laughing, so amused he almost didn’t notice the car sticker gift underneath. Still, that had to have come from Cassidy. Nobody else would have done that to Jett, surely.

When it came to her turn, Eva seemed pleasantly surprised by her gift. It was a painting of a crow in flight, but it was made up with colourful mathematical symbols to create the intended shape.

“... I bet the paints used cost more than thirty dollars,” Eva pointed out, but she wasn’t displeased by that. “... It’s nice. I’ll hang it up in my dormitory, I suppose.”

Diana managed to stifle a giggle behind her festively manicured hand. Little did she know, Damon was quick to look in her direction once the gift was unveiled. Not many of their classmates were artistic in the way that she was. Presuming that the gift giver made this picture themselves, and it certainly appeared to have been hand-painted, then there was only one clear suspect.

A handmade gift felt very… Diana-like, somehow. Damon could imagine the hours she had spent just designing the artwork, before proceeding to actually work on it. While the result was a lot more bright and colourful than a real crow, it was clear that Diana had put a lot of thought into the gift. Damon had a feeling that no matter how Diana had been assigned, she would have gone above and beyond for them.

If Diana had received him, what present would she have come up with? A part of Damon felt disappointed that it wasn’t him.

Still, when it was finally Diana’s turn, she appeared overjoyed with her christmas cake, fixating on one detail in particular. A detail that Kai and Toshiko had missed out on seeing before was one final secret that would have identified the treat a lot sooner, had they stuck around longer in the night.

“Oh my goodness, the little chameleon figure on top of the cake is especially cute~!” gushed Diana, “I love how this has been decorated, with the star sprinkles, and the berries on top, and– is it okay for me to eat all of this? I bet this is going to be so, so yummy, thank you Santa!”

Damon felt his face flush, glad to see that his gift had gone over well. While it wasn’t the initial present he had prepared for her, Diana still seemed genuinely pleased. He had a feeling that something handmade would resonate with her more than anything store bought. If she was going to spend hours toiling over a gift like Damon had predicted she would, then… then she deserved that kind of effort in return.

He ignored Kai and Toshiko’s knowing glances. Even Eva had turned her head in his direction with a raised eyebrow. Whether she put two and two together or not, Damon didn’t want to hear it.

Diana beamed in his direction, but she was grinning from ear to ear all around. Surely that expression wasn’t just for him, right..? Well, whether she too had worked it out, as long as she didn’t expose him in front of everyone else…

“It’s a cake intended for you specifically,” Toshiko pointed it out. “A cake made with lots and lots of love, I am certain!” Okay, does she really have to go that far? “It would be rude if anyone other than you got to savour it, don’t you think?”

… Well, it was true that Damon only baked that cake for Diana, nobody else.

“Awww, I wanted to try it too!” Cassidy sulked playfully, pretending like the thought of not having any bothered her.

Diana giggled. “Well, I wouldn’t mind if my Santa had a bite as a reward for his - oh, their efforts.”

… As appealing as that sounded, and Damon did like the idea of being rewarded for his efforts, that would mean coming forward as her Secret Santa. He wasn’t quite ready to expose himself for that.

However, an hour later, he didn’t need to come forward. By then, the party had resumed in full swing now that gift exchanges were done, and all that was left was to keep going into the night. Damon was considering taking his leave at long last, and he could see a couple of the students who weren’t as big on parties pulling back too. Before he could take off and hide away in his dormitory, Diana had tapped him on the shoulder.

“Damon, happy holidays!” she greeted him, her tone warmer than any fireplace lit up tonight. “I wanted to greet you sooner, but I was held up with party preparations and others pulling me aside to talk. Hope you don’t mind!”

Damon minded. A little. Diana was certainly popular with the class, and she kept saying yes to every favour that had been asked of her when it came to party preparation. She was pulled into decorating, into food preparation, into styling classmates for the party, and so much more. And once the party was actually happening, she was helping serve food, and several of their classmates wanted to chat with her too.

“... It’s fine,” replied Damon, averting his eyes slightly. “... It… wasn’t like I was waiting around for you or anything.”

“Not even for a little piece of cake?” Diana asked, a knowing sparkle lighting up her already bright eyes.

“... I thought you were saving that piece for your Santa,” dismissed Damon, even though it was obvious that she had figured him out. By the time it was Diana’s turn to open her gift, most of the class had tuned out, having opened their own gifts and witnessed the reactions of those they had gifted themselves.

“And here I am, trying to do exactly that!” Diana grinned, clocking him on the spot. “... How about we sneak into the pantry to enjoy some cake together? Everyone else is out here, so your secret should be safe!”

“...” Sneaking away together seemed a little… even though it wasn’t exactly far to go… “... Fine. I wanted to know how it turned out anyway. I didn’t get a chance to taste any before.”

“Great! In that case, let’s go!” Eagerly, Diana reached for Damon’s hand and pulled him across the room to head towards the kitchen, where the entrance to the pantry was located next to.

As far as Damon was concerned, everyone else appeared to be more focused on other things. At least… that’s what he thought.

The pantry door had been opened, and Diana stepped through the gap first, Damon following.

A loud, screeching “Halt!” was declared at the top of Cassidy’s lungs.

No.

One by one, heads turned.

Damon and Diana glanced upwards.

There it was, a hanging cut of mistletoe, dangling above their heads.

“Uh,” Damon breathed out, processing this new reality.

“Um…” Diana doing the same.

Neither made a move, not yet. With so many eyes on them, they felt trapped in this situation.

The mistletoe wasn’t going anywhere. It was prompting them to follow through with the tradition, and…

“Damn it,” whispered Damon, feeling himself start to panic. “Not like this…”

He didn’t even allow himself to register properly what he said, and the fact that Diana’s eyes went wide with realisation. Damon slipped up on his words, and what they implied was a sentiment he wasn’t yet ready to confront. It was the kind of response that would be bound to haunt him in the aftermath of the party, a lingering regret that will refuse to leave him. Damn it. Damn it all.

Diana’s face was burning, trying to figure out what to do. Panic was settling in for her as well, and abruptly, she pulled him in closer by his tie, likely to try and bring closure to this increasingly awkward situation. As a result, their lips were so close to one another’s, and Damon forgot his predicament momentarily, lost in her flustered gaze. Her glossy lips were enticing, inviting, and he knew the feeling would taste so sweet.

Ah. So that’s what it was. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss Diana Venicia.

But the cheering and amusement of their onlooking classmates brought him back to earth, and this lingering had become excruciating. Indeed, not like this. He didn’t want to kiss her under these circumstances.

A second later, Diana had pivoted to press a kiss to Damon’s cheek instead. The crowd were satisfied, another set of victims of the mistletoe prank had followed through with expectations. They quickly moved on, but Damon and Diana had not.

Damon’s eyes were wide as he reached a hand towards his cheek, heated up more than ever before, but Diana quickly grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“W-Wait,” she stammered, shifting to grab a napkin from the nearest table before returning to dab it against Damon’s cheek. “Some of my lip gloss got on you…”

“Oh,” was all Damon could say, dumbfounded on what just happened. “... Thanks.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realise there was more mistletoe up there,” apologised Diana, finishing wiping away the lip gloss. “Um… Let’s save the cake for tomorrow, perhaps.”

“N-No, it’s okay. You have it.” Suddenly the thought of being alone with Diana again so soon after all of that happened became excruciating. What did he say before?

‘Not like this’, was it? What the hell?! Did he really say that out loud?! Did Diana hear him?! If so, what did she think about it? There were so many questions on the tip of Damon’s tongue, all too embarrassing to let out.

“Are… Are you sure?” Diana sounded a little disappointed, which made Damon cringe even more.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure. Uh. I’ll be excusing myself now,” Damon swivelled around, desperate to leave already. The longer he stuck around, the more likely he was going to say even more stupid things, and quite frankly, he felt like he was going to spontaneously combust the way things were right now.

“Oh. Um, G-Good night, Damon..!” Diana called after him, deciding it was wise not to get in his way any further.

While Eva followed him out the door to head back towards the dorms, Damon was relieved that she wasn’t going to interrupt his thoughts or further highlight what happened any further. Even if she teased him tomorrow, the fact she kept quiet right now was a kindness he needed in the moment. She gave only a small wave once they reached their dormitory rooms, and the moment Damon was alone in his room, he threw himself onto his bed with a sigh.

Diana’s cheek kiss was so soft and gentle, but it was hurried, and… she was holding back. He saw it in her eyes, a distinct yearning. Damon supposed it was a miracle that he had been able to see a similar expression on the faces of his classmates when they looked at one another, because had he no references to pull from, he wouldn’t have realised.

He wanted to kiss her. She… may have wanted to kiss him too.

However, due to the circumstances they had found themselves in, this first kiss scenario had come about in a way that wasn’t right for them.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

What now?! He hadn’t even thought that far ahead when it came to his dynamic with Diana before, like… did he want a relationship with her? What kind of relationship? Would a relationship get in the way of his career? Her career? Would an actual kiss necessitate a relationship in the first place? And what the hell should he do with that damned necklace he bought for her?!

Furious, Damon sat up and got out two blank notebooks to begin scribbling notes in. If he was going to have this debate in his head instead of going to sleep right away, he was going to argue both sides properly. One notebook arguing for, one notebook arguing against.

And all the while, Damon decided that he absolutely despised the mistletoe tradition.

A few days later.

Damon may have snapped at anybody who dared ask about it, but indeed, he was avoiding Diana. In fact, he evaded all references and discussions in relation to Christmas and the party. A couple of classmates suggested that he needn’t fixate so much on being caught out by the prank, that most of them didn’t really think about it all that much, but Damon was convinced those were just excuses.

In his stubborn, hyperfixated mind, he had convinced himself that not only was everyone discussing that moment behind his back, that they were mocking both himself and Diana too. Maybe that wasn’t the slightest bit true at all, but it didn’t matter. He felt a particular way about the entire thing, and nobody was going to sway him otherwise.

… The fact that nobody was really teasing him directly to his face was evidence enough actually. Even though Damon had caught Wolfgang trying to hold Grace back a few times, and Mark stopped Jett or Cassidy from getting started either… Nope. So much had to have been happening behind his back. Definitely.

“Uh… Hey man,” Kai had called out to him at one point, while Damon was on his way to meet Eva at the library. “... Are you still pissed off about the mistletoe thing?”

Damon narrowed his eyes at the influencer. Gee, what was the answer to that question, huh? “... Yes, but also… no.” Admitting he was annoyed had other implications, and if Kai clued onto those, then…

“... Like, are you after an apology?” Kai frowned a little, trying his best to figure out where Damon was coming from.

“... No,” sighed Damon. “I’m not pissed off.”

“He said, in a totally pissed way,” remarked Kai. Okay, he may be right about that, but that doesn’t mean he should say it. Damon glowered at him. “... Are you mad at Diana?”

“Why would I be mad at Diana?” asked Damon - and he wondered that genuinely. As far as he was concerned, Diana hadn’t actually done anything wrong. She was caught out just as much as he was by the whole mistletoe thing.

“You keep glaring about anything related to her,” Kai pointed out, reaching his hand to rub at the back of his neck. “Like, you’re not exactly sunshine and rainbows to begin with, but this is like… next level moody.”

“... I’m not mad at her,” insisted Damon, irritated at the mere suggestion of that. Wait, hold on, that presents another issue. “Does she think I’m mad at her?”

Kai blinked. “No idea. Didn’t ask.”

“... Why not?” Geez, Kai wasn’t being any help here.

“Why don’t you go and ask her yourself?” suggested Kai - and normally, that would be a reasonable suggestion… but Damon wasn’t feeling especially reasonable right now.

“... No, it’s fine,” Damon replied, shaking his head.

“Dude.” A tone of disbelief.

“If she’s mad at me, she can talk to me about it herself.”

“... So should I get her to like, talk to you then?”

“... No.”

“... Damon, you’re annoying as hell to have miscommunication issues with,” Kai whined a little, shrugging his shoulders. “You should talk to her.”

“I’m going to meet with Eva now,” grumbled Damon, continuing on his path towards the library.

“At least consider it!” begged Kai, calling after him. “You don’t wanna end this year on a bad note, right? Don’t go killing the vibe at the New Year’s party, please..!”

…

Now Damon was full of extremely embarrassing thoughts about the tradition of a New Year’s Kiss alternative. Damn it.

It was starting to become even more apparent after the talk with Eva that maybe, just maybe, his classmates were actually more concerned than mocking him now. Like the initial sense of poking fun at his latest era of annoyance and humiliation had finally died off at last, leaving the ashes of pity in its wake.

And that just irritated Damon even further, actually.

“Mochi, may I please be blunt with you?” Toshiko had a request while the pair were on washing up duty after dinner and dessert. Damon was in charge of washing the dishes while she had the duty of drying them afterwards. “I am on the verge of losing my mind over how stubborn you are behaving.”

“... I didn’t say you could be blunt with me yet,” answered Damon, rolling his eyes. “Permission denied.”

“Hmph! I shall bypass the concept of what is and isn’t permissible then!” decided Toshiko, acting stubborn in her own right. “If you are not truly angry with Diana, then you need to cease behaving in such a manner that makes the rest of us believe the opposite! Avoiding the issue further is disrupting the harmony between classmates.”

Damon wondered if Eva decided to also bypass his ‘Maybe’ from earlier and requested that Toshiko talk to him next anyway.

“... I don’t really care what the others think,” sighed Damon. “It’s none of their business whether I am angry about something or someone or not. Besides, there’s no classes happening at the moment, so class harmony isn’t important right now.”

“What about what Diana thinks?” asked Toshiko, and such a question did make him pause. She held a different position in this situation to everyone else, so Damon knew he couldn’t be entirely dismissive of her. Thinking about her though, it was so… “... She has been worrying, I think. Even if she says she’s fine, I do not think that’s entirely true… but she will not discuss it with me, or Eloise, or anyone else for that matter.”

Of course Diana wouldn’t talk about it. She’s a people pleaser at heart, and discussing this topic wouldn’t exactly be pleasing to any people. She had to have been internalising everything on her own, not wanting to bother anybody. Damon was aware of this, and yet… damn it, there was still so much to consider here.

“... Damon,” Toshiko tried to prompt him further into responding.

“I’m not mad at her. Hasn’t anyone already told her that? I mean, I mentioned to Kai, and those two talk a lot, and–”

“I think she would prefer to hear from you directly.” Damn it, this was why he didn’t want to talk to Toshiko. As the Ultimate Matchmaker, she was far too sharp when it came to understanding relationships. Even though her advice was incredibly obvious, Damon didn’t want to face up to it.

“... I don’t have anything to say,” lied Damon, and the incredulous look Toshiko gave him made him want to sulk in a corner. “... There’s just… a lot of things to consider. I’m not ready to tackle it all.”

“Then perhaps you should take things one step at a time?” suggested Toshiko, sighing lightly. “Rather than try to cover every conversation topic at once, address just one topic first, and let the rest come naturally.”

“... I guess,” sighed Damon.

Actually, it was a completely valid idea. A lot of Damon’s thought process was that he had to create and solidify an entire argument with all points considered in full, but… normal conversations just aren’t like that. They’re a back and forth, and normally only focusing on one idea, gradually shifting as the idea evolved through open dialogue. He can’t just approach Diana in such a onesided way. Damon knew he was great at dominating discussions, but this wasn’t the kind of situation for that.

He needed to know Diana’s side too, her honest truth. This wasn’t just his situation to deal with on his own.

“Also, just so we are clear, even if you claim not to care what the others think…” Toshiko continued to speak, staring at him through narrowed, judging eyes. “They all think you are mad that Diana kissed you at the party.”

“Huh?” Damon dropped the plate he was holding into the sink suddenly. Luckily it didn’t have far to fall, so it landed with an unceremonious splash of bubbling dishwater rather than breaking in half. “That’s not - hold on, seriously? That’s… But they’ve got it wrong!”

“So you are not mad that Diana kissed you on the cheek at the Christmas party?” Toshiko clarified, hiding her smirk behind the towel she was using to dry dishes. Damn her. “Was it the fact that the two of you were interrupted by the mistletoe when you tried to sneak off to eat the cake you baked for her?”

“No,” Damon shook his head. Then he paused. “... A little bit, but… I don’t think I’d be this annoyed for this long if it was about the cake.”

“Was it the fact that all of us were witnesses in the process?” Her next question was reasonable.

“... I guess that’s part of it,” admitted Damon with a sigh. “I know we weren’t the only ones who were caught under the mistletoe, and that there was a mixture of couples and friends who were caught, but…”

“There is still another aspect that is bothering you,” noted Toshiko, “... And do you know what that is?”

Yes.

Of course Damon knew what it was.

He knew what the issue was the moment everything happened. He knew what the issue was as he left the party. He knew what the issue was as he tried to construct all of these other problems around it, just to avoid confronting it directly. He knew what the issue was as classmates began to gradually check in on him, each wishing for him to find a resolution.

There’s only one person who can help him solve the issue. If he doesn’t talk to that person, then he’s going to be left a sulky mess forever.

“... I should talk to Diana,” Damon decided, determined to steel his resolve. Once he’s done with these dishes, he should go and find her.

“Ye–” Toshiko opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off.

“FINALLY!!” Cassidy cut in with an exasperated tone. “That’s what we’ve all been saying, for real..!!”

“C-Cassidy?!” Damon dropped everything in his hands into the sink, splashing himself again. His face was burning red, realising she was behind them all along. “When did you get here?!”

It wasn’t just Cassidy, it was Eva too. “Boo,” she added flatly, doing a vague scary ghost pose of sorts.

“Doesn’t matter!” answered Cassidy, not bothering to recount her act of stealth. “I mean, I was here to grab some choccie soda originally… but! Now I am here! To cheer you on!”

Eva shrugged. “I’m considering drink options other than choccie soda.” Hearing her refer to the drink the same way as Cassidy sounded so wrong. “In any case… Diana went outside to get some fresh air. It’s snowing, so she and the others wanted to experience more of that, I guess.”

Toshiko’s eyes lit up. “Oh, Mochi! You should bring her some hot cocoa when you go to find her!”

“Great idea! Move aside and hop to it now!” Cassidy instructed, “It’s totally a better atmosphere to talk to her out in the snow! Hurry, before she returns!”

With a light eyeroll, Eva moved to take Damon’s place at the sink, lightly pushing him away. “Guess I’ll finish these dishes for you then. You owe me.”

Damon blinked, genuinely baffled at the way his classmates were stepping in to help out in their own ways. Still, he made a start on that hot cocoa like Toshiko suggested, finding a cup with a lid to use for the occasion.

As some of their classmates were beginning to return to the dining room, having been outside in the snow earlier, Cassidy didn’t stop there with her orders.

“Listen up, Operation Make Up Debate is onnnnn!” declared Cassidy, “Is Diana still outside in the snow?” Where the hell did she get that name from?

“Yes, I believe so,” replied Wolfgang, reaching up to take off the scarf he had worn for going outside. “Why do you ask?”

“Good! Give Bargain Bin your scarf!” demanded Cassidy. “Jean, loan him your hat! Kai, your jacket! Jett, your gloves! Mark, your earmuffs! Move it, move it, we’re getting this fool oooouuutta here..!”

“Isn’t this going overboard?!” Damon cried out in embarrassed disbelief. Seriously, why was everyone going along with it too?! Now he was bundled up in winter accessories belonging to his classmates against his will and being ushered out, cup of hot cocoa in hand.

Was everyone really that keen to see this issue resolved?

They’re all so annoying…

But damn it, their earnest assistance filled him with an unusual feeling of warmth.

“Good luck,” Eva added as he made his way for the door out of the dining hall. “Everyone just wants you to be happy, Damon, even if they’re all acting like nosey idiots about it.”

“Hey..!” As the others began to protest, Damon took the opportunity and exited.

On the way out, Damon noticed some of his other classmates walking in from outside. While Damon’s clearly mismatched attire raised eyebrows, he noticed another sentiment silently expressed too. Ulysses and Wenona nodding towards the door outside. Desmond patted him on the shoulder, Eloise smiling softly. Ingrid held the door open for Damon as she entered the school building with Grace in tow, and only her thoughts were vocalised.

“Well, thank fuck we’re not leaving Sephora out there on her own,” Grace smirked a little. “Remember to give Wolfgang his scarf back when you return with her, got it?”

It didn’t take long for Damon to spot Diana, as she stood out the front of the academy, illuminated by the glow of the moon above her. She appeared to be lost in her own world, holding her hands out to catch the falling snowflakes as her gaze took in the starry night sky. Seeing her stand in such solitude… It bothered him. He was used to standing alone, but when it was Diana doing it, the overwhelming loneliness she exuded made him uncomfortable.

Even so, a part of Damon knew that whatever she was feeling in this moment was probably her true feelings. Everyone else left her all alone here. And he almost did the same. Again.

So many times, he left her on her own, and he didn’t have to reckon with the way it made her feel. It didn’t matter that she had a way of consuming his thoughts - not communicating with her honestly was the same as acting like he felt nothing at all. Even that night, he was so quick to run away.

“Diana!” he called out to her suddenly, snapping her out of this trance she was in.

“Damon?!” she was startled, eyes wide. “... G-Good evening–”

“You don’t have to force yourself if you aren’t feeling okay right now,” Damon cut her off quickly, sensing that she was about to put on the mask again. She was going to pretend like nothing was wrong, but that simply isn’t true.

“Ah…” Diana hesitated, weighing up whether to proceed with masking anyway, or… not do that. “... Why are you here?”

“To talk to you,” Damon replied firmly, stepping closer towards her. He held out the cup of hot cocoa that the others insisted he bring out to her. “Here, this is for you. The others insisted I bring some cocoa to you. They… really care about you.”

For a moment, there was a pleased sparkle in Diana’s eyes as she accepted the hot cocoa. “Thank you. I think the others really care about you too…” She looked over Damon, up and down. “They let you borrow their stuff to go outside.”

“Oh,” Damon reached up to scratch his cheek lightly. “... You noticed.”

“Well, I did see several of our friends out here minutes ago,” reminded Diana, giggling softly. Her amusement faded however, as she refocused her gaze back towards the snowflakes falling from above. “... They’ve been worried about us.”

“I know. It’s kind of annoying,” remarked Damon, shoving his hands in the pockets of the jacket Kai had loaned him.

“Yes,” agreed Diana, much to Damon’s surprise. “They wanted me to talk to them about it, to talk to you about it, but… Sorry, I was avoiding you for a while.”

“... I should apologise for the same reason,” admitted Damon with a sigh. “I was avoiding you too.” So much so that it hadn’t actually occurred to him that Diana had been doing the exact same thing. No wonder the others were noticing them so much these past few days. “... I’m not mad at you though. The others thought I was, but–”

“I know you’re not mad at me, Damon,” Diana cut him off, though her voice was gentle. “... I wasn’t mad at you either. I was mad at myself, I think.”

Now that was even more unexpected. Damon raised an eyebrow at her. Were they really on the same page about all of this the entire time? If that was the case, then Damon could hardly wait anymore. It frustrated him, dancing around the truth so much, he–

“I was mad at myself too,” Damon confessed a little abruptly. “I-I mean, the situation we were in with the mistletoe, there wasn’t a lot we could do with all of those eyes on us. It was awkward, we were put on the spot, and the longer we waited to do anything, the more humiliating it all became. And then by acting like this afterwards, I was increasingly frustrated with myself. Even though there was no way that the situation could have been handled any differently, and every realistic outcome at the time would have gotten on my nerves regardless… knowing that just made me even more disappointed in myself.”

Diana nodded slowly. “... I… was always going to settle for a kiss on the cheek, if I found myself under the mistletoe with somebody else. That… was always the intention.”

However, there was one contradiction that Damon couldn’t ignore - the reason he could draw his own conclusions about what she wanted, how she felt in the immediate aftermath of the mistletoe incident.

“But you pulled me in closer at the time, like you were going to…”

“I know.” Her face was flushed so deeply, she nearly matched her own hair. “When you said ‘not like this’, I um… I got ahead of myself when I thought about what that might have meant… but then the rest of the meaning caught up to me, a-and so I went back to the original plan.”

“... And I’m not faulting you for that. It was uh…” Damon cleared his throat, following her gaze towards the night sky. “... The most diplomatic option, all things considered.”

“I never wanted to force my feelings onto you though..!” Diana cried out, taking a step closer to him. “I was drawing my own conclusions about what you may have wanted, b-but you already made it clear that you didn’t want it like that. I was so ashamed of myself, I…”

“Diana…” Damon drew in a deep breath, in and out. His heart was pounding in his chest, as he summoned the courage to pull through, to put his feelings out into the open. “... It was already too late when I said those three words, you know. By then, a-any feelings you may have had wouldn’t have been forced onto me. Because I… I…”

“Damon..?” Slowly, Diana trudged through the snow, stopping before Damon himself. She gazed up at him with those yearning eyes, just like that other time, but this time, there was hope in those eyes as well.

“I was mad because I should have kissed you, even before that opportunity with the mistletoe came along. I don’t know when, or how, or even what I hoped to achieve from doing something like that, but..!” Damon went quiet as Diana reached with a free hand to cup his cheek gently. Slowly, he reached to clasp his hand over hers. With her small gesture, he found the will to keep going. “... It’s embarrassing, but being put in a situation like that made me realise what I should have been doing all this time. I get in my own head a lot, and I get stubborn and dig my heels in, but… if I keep going like that, I’ll never get anywhere. The idea of becoming someone who doesn’t pursue the truth, who doesn’t go after what they really want… It sickens me. That’s not who I am. And uh, I realise this is a lot for me to be saying when it just comes down to me wishing I acted on these feelings sooner, but…”

Diana shook her head, smiling. “That’s okay. I like it when you go off on a tangent. And it’s honestly pretty amazing how many ways you can say how much you care about me without actually admitting it directly.”

“That’s..!” Damon’s eyes went wide. This wasn’t the first time she had brought up the concept to him, that he cared about her. There were many times over the year where he fussed about her wellbeing, but he kept denying that was the case. Chances are this wouldn’t be the last time either. He huffed a little, averting his eyes. “I mean, in this instance, I am actually trying to convey it here, so just… f-forget about the previous times.” Damn it, he had to have been blushing so hard as well.

“I won’t,” refused Diana, rubbing her gloved thumb against his cheek affectionately. “Because you’ve always shown care for me in a way that nobody else does. It’s not the most direct, but I felt its sincerity every single time. It’s one of the many reasons why I like you so much.”

“You…” Damon’s jaw dropped slightly. He shouldn’t be acting so surprised. Honestly, it should have been obvious to him, considering it was a conclusion he had already drawn about her feelings numerous times, in numerous ways. Hearing it properly for the first time though, it elevated his emotions on another level. The moon above them right now? He was over it many times over. “You like me?”

“... I do,” confirmed Diana, “And… I want to kiss you too.”

“Yeah..?”

“Yeah.”

“... When..?”

“Now, if you’re okay with it.”

Damon’s heart skipped a beat. After a moment, he nodded.

There was a pause in the conversation, as Damon’s emerald green eyes locked themselves in a gaze with Diana’s rosy pinks. They both knew what they wanted from this, from each other. As they slowly leaned in, all the remaining self-doubts and inner frustrations finally began to fade away.

What took their place was a symbol of their connection, having started as strangers who became classmates, from classmates to an awkward friendship of sorts, and finally, to a couple who thought about one another in ways that nobody else did. Neither were perfect, they each had their flaws, but in this kiss, they made a silent promise to grow as people together, and as individuals.

Diana’s lips were just as soft and sweet as Damon had imagined, and a true smile reached her eyes once they pulled back. She was so beautiful like this, indulging in this genuine joy before him. He couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle as she leaned up to steal another kiss, shifting to press more kisses around his face.

“Okay, you’re getting greedy,” Damon pointed out, his head spinning in the best way as Diana unleashed her affections upon him. It certainly didn’t stop him from wrapping his arms around her shoulders, taking care not to knock the cup of cocoa in one of her hands.

“Mm, I just wanted to warm you up,” Diana giggled, planting a kiss on the tip of his nose. “It’s not fair that everyone else helped you warm up first…”

“Believe me, I didn’t ask for them to loan their stuff. I would have been fine with taking a detour to my dormitory to grab what I needed…” Damon responded, rolling his eyes lightly.

“Well, how about we head back so you can return them?” suggested Diana, “Afterwards, you can head back to my dormitory for that final piece of cake.”

Hold on, did Diana..? “You saved some for me..?” While he knew that the cake would keep for a few days, Damon had just presumed she would have given up on sharing when he ditched her at the party.

“Of course I did, silly!” beamed Diana, “What you baked for me tasted amazing, and I didn’t want you to miss out on trying some for your–”

He kissed her again. She really was always thinking of him. At this rate, he was never going to be able to get her out of his head either.

At least… not like this.