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Rev walked into the library behind Sera, keeping his head down so no one would see him blushing. The bouquet Lovecraft had given him felt like a weight in his hands, yet his grip on it was light as he surveyed the library.
“There’s way too many people in here.” Rev grumbled, holding the flowers close in hopes that no one would take notice of them at all. “Where could Bella even be…”
Sera glanced back at him before pointing to an alcove a little to the side of them. “Over there.” Following where she was pointing, Rev felt his nearly nonexistent heartbeat speed up at the sight of Bella sitting alone at a table with a few books around her.
“Shoot- hide!” Rev hid with his back to a bookshelf, looking at Sera in a panic. The angel merely took one step back so that she wouldn’t be in Bella’s sight if she were to turn around. “Why? She’s alone, so shouldn’t you go up to her?” She raised an eyebrow at Rev, not understanding why they were hiding when he was the one that wanted to come.
Rev hid his face with his arm, blushing even more. Curse Lovecraft for putting this stupid plan into his head. Curse his own mind for latching onto it so quickly. Not only had it resulted in Lovecraft making incorrect assumptions about him, but now Rev was in a situation he wasn’t so sure how he’d navigate.
“T-there’s still too many people in here,” Rev hissed lowly, looking around at the oddly crowded library, “Someone could see…this.” He gestured between himself and the flowers in his hands.
For a moment, Sera just stared at him, confusion evident. Then, “Okay?…and?”
“Wha- and they’ll…I don’t know! They’ll all probably think something weird is happening between me and Bella! Or-or, they’ll spread rumors about us!” Rev ran his free hand through his hair, gripping at it so hard that it hurt. “Bella has enough on her plate without everyone gossiping about her because of me…”
Looking over towards Bella again, Sera’s face didn’t change. However, she did give a resolute nod after a moment and began to walk towards the witch. In an instant, Rev began to panic once more. “Woah, woah, what are you doing?!”
Sera barely looked back at him, her face as blank as usual, but her four eyes held a sort of eagerness he’d never seen from her before. “Trust me.” Though Rev didn’t really want to, he reluctantly followed after Sera, trying to calm himself down enough so that his blushing wasn’t as obvious.
As soon as they had gotten close, Sera quietly got Bella’s attention. “Bella.”
Despite Sera being rather quiet, Bella still startled as if someone had grabbed and shook her. Turning, she relaxed to see it was just Sera and Rev. “Uh, hi-“
Sera lightly pushed Rev forward, “Rev wants to give you something.”
“Sera, what the hell-“ Rev swatted Sera away, his blush coming back with a vengeance and suddenly being put on the spot. He’d thought that Sera might have an actual plan, maybe get Bella to follow them someplace more private. Anything but this.
Putting her hands up, Sera backed away so Rev didn’t hit her, a small smile playing on her lips. Glaring at her, Rev turned to apologize to Bella, only to freeze as he saw her eyes focused solely on his hands. “Why do you have a bouquet?”
Rev swallowed thickly. If he were anyone else, his legs might have wobbled and he may have even frozen completely. As it was, it took nearly everything he had to not do exactly that.
Taking a deep breath, Rev extended the flowers towards Bella. “I, uh, These…these are for…you…”
Bella continued to stare. She looked slowly between Rev’s blue flushed face and the bouquet in his hands. Once. Twice. Then a third time, just to be sure what she was seeing was real.
“…what?” Bella felt her face heat up as she realized what was happening. Rev was giving her flowers. On Valentine’s Day. The Rev Vennet was giving her a bouquet of flowers. On Valentine’s Day.
She might scream.
“Professor Lovecraft gave Rev a bouquet and suggested he give them to you.” Sera explained helpfully, taking another step back just in case Rev decided to try swinging at her again. He didn’t, his shoulders instead hunching up as he kept his gaze on the ground. “Sera, I am begging you. Please shut up.”
Bella could barely hear Rev, yet Sera seemed to hear him just fine as she didn’t say another word after that. Looking back down at the flowers, Bella couldn’t help but note that they were well cared for. Made sense if Lovecraft really was the one to provide them.
And yet, it was Rev who made the choice to give them to her of all people. “You…really brought me flowers?” Bella said shyly, unable to help herself.
Though she wanted nothing more than to ignore all of the drama that came every Valentine’s Day, it was hard to just ignore something like this. Especially when Rev could only nod shyly in response, refusing to meet her eyes.
Smiling softly, Bella took the bouquet from him, their hands brushing lightly as she did so. “Thank you, Rev. Just…maybe don’t tell anyone that you gave me so many? I don’t really want to deal with the whole competition going on.”
Rev met her eyes just long enough for him to stare, then he nodded jerkily, taking a step back. “Right, I won’t. Uh…h-happy Valentine’s Day, Bella.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Rev.” Bella giggled, hiding her smile behind her free hand, the other clutching the flowers. There was a moment of silence before a hissing noise made both of them flinch.
Slowly, Rev turned to see the librarian, Arachne, staring at him with unbridled hatred in her giant spider eyes.
“Oh, right…lifetime ban from the library.” Rev recalled faintly, backing away a few more steps. Then, he turned and began to run, shouting as the giant spider followed after him.
“SERA, HELP!”
Bella could only shake her head as she watched Sera rush in to fly off with Rev, the librarian chasing them all the way out of the library. Only when it was quiet again did Bella sit back down, staring at the flowers a moment longer than she really should have.
Smiling to herself, she set them aside and pulled her notebook closer. “Note, put the roses into a vase…”
~~
Rev let himself be dropped onto the ground by Sera, stumbling slightly before he threw a glance behind them. “That spider isn’t still chasing us, is she?” He worried, looking around wildly. Sera shook her head, making him relax.
Well, for all of three seconds. Then- “What the hell was that, Sera?!”
Tilting her head like a confused dog, Sera spoke bluntly. “Me saving you?”
Rev sputtered before growing angrier. “NO!…but, thanks for that. I meant the thing with Bella! Why would you do that?!” He groaned, starting to pace with his hands gripping at his hair again. “She probably thinks I’m a loser now!”
“She doesn’t.” Sera assured him, continuing to watch him pace. He pointed at her, glaring. “How do you know?!”
Sera shrugged. “Because. It’s Bella.”
Rev groaned again, hiding his face in his hands. He didn’t get much more time to worry, as he spotted Mary and Roman coming towards them. Taking a deep breath, Rev shot Sera a look. “Tell no one what happened. Got it, angel?”
Sera nodded, though Rev couldn’t help but note that she looked a little smug when Mary caught up to them first.