Archive of Our Own

Fifteen minutes wasn’t a long time.

Reality dictated that fifteen minutes was practically nothing. But fifteen minutes in a public park while carrying an unexploded bomb in your chest felt like a lifetime for Agott Arklaum.

The park was made to be a place where you can relax. To admire the trees, to breathe the life that runs through, to walk around with all the time in the world.

However, Agott's eyes (and mental state) were entirely narrowed to her phone.

That was sent fifteen minutes ago. Four minutes after the promised arrival time.

Agott stared at the timestamps, her pulse hammering in her ears. Had Coco forgotten? Was this a joke? Worse—had Coco gotten into an accident on her way over? Was she lying in an alleyway somewhere after taking a sharp turn on her bike?

Every worst-case scenario spiraled through Agott’s head until she was practically hyperventilating, clutching her phone like a lifeline.

Meanwhile, eight minutes ago, Coco was dodging past bewildered pedestrians three blocks away, breathless and flustered. She and Tartah had been held hostage by Olruggio, who refused to release them until every single glassware piece was scrubbed, dried, and inventory-checked.

Tartah was practically flying over the pavement, but Coco was a woman possessed.

“If I die, tell Mr. Olly that his lab report format is outdated!” Coco wheezed, leapfrogging clean over a sleeping stray cat outside the bakery.

“Save your breath, you lunatic!” Tartah yelled back, skittering around a bewildered tourist carrying three towering cups of iced coffee. “You're going to pull a hamstring! Why are you running like the navy's after you?!”

“Because Agott has been waiting for seven minutes!” Coco shrieked, pulling a tight drift around a mailbox. She barely avoided taking out an elderly woman’s prize-winning poodle. “She’s going to analyze my tardiness with a scatterplot! She’s going to ban me from her study group! She’s going to tell me my time management reflects a lack of personal integrity!”

“She literally brought you home-baked muffins yesterday!” Tartah shouted, slowing to a jog as they reached his bus stop. “She's not going to execute you!”

“You don't know her! She’s efficient! She’s punctual! She’s—” Coco took a sharp turn onto the park trail, her sneakers kicking up a cloud of dust, “—probably calling the police right now!”

“Good luck!” Tartah called out, collapsing onto the bus bench and wheezing. “Don't trip over your own laces!”

Coco didn't hear him. She was already vaulted over a low wooden barrier, her canvas bag slapping against her ribs like a drumbeat, charging straight toward the fountain zone like a soldier going into battle.

Agott was right on the verge of calling emergency services when she heard the crunch of sneakers on gravel.

She whipped around. Coco skidded to a halt a few feet away, bent over with her hands on her knees, desperately gasping for air. Her light hair was completely disheveled, a stray strand plastered to her forehead with sweat, and her cheeks were flushed a brilliant pink.

“I'm—here! I'm so sorry, Agott!” Coco managed to get out, resting a hand over her chest as she tried to catch her breath. “Tartah and I... Mr. Olly... scrubbed all the flasks…”

Agott’s heart did a violent flip. The relief hit her like a wave, followed instantly by the overwhelming urge to preserve her dignity at all costs. She forced her posture to lock up, her back straightening into a rigid line.

“You're late,” Agott said, her voice strained as she forced it to sound formal and unbothered. “Fifteen minutes and twelve seconds past your estimated arrival time, to be exact. I was beginning to think you lacked basic punctuality.”

“I know, I know! I ran the whole way from the east gate!" Coco wiped her brow, looking up with wide, guilty eyes.

Agott opened her mouth to deliver a stern, pre-rehearsed lecture about setting proper boundaries and respecting each other's schedules.

“I asked you to meet me here because I needed to address a matter regarding our relationship. Or, rather, the trajectory of our—”

She really did try. But as Coco straightened up, bathed in the soft orange glow of the setting sun, Agott's brain had stopped working.

The sunlight caught the golden flecks in Coco’s eyes. Her cheeks were still rosy from the run, and she was smiling that utterly helpless, radiant smile that always made Agott feel like she was suffocating.

“She's so pretty,” Agott thought, entirely derailed. “Why is she always looking like that? It's absurd. It's distracting. How am I supposed to—”

“...so if you need us to reschedule our study session, I completely understand,” Agott found herself saying out loud, though she had no memory of starting the sentence.

Coco blinked, tilting her head like a confused puppy. An absurdly, irritably cute puppy is what Agott's mind registers. “Reschedule? But... we weren't meeting up to study today, Agott. You said you had something specific to tell me?”

“Right. Yes. The... the specific thing,” Agott stammered, her “cool” facade cracking at the edges. She cleared her throat, shifting her weight awkwardly. “What I meant to say was, the reason I asked you to meet me near the fountain is because I wanted to bring up our…”

She trailed off again. Coco had taken a step closer, looking at her with undivided attention. Agott’s mind went completely blank. All she could focus on was the gentle breeze moving Coco's hair and the tiny freckles across the bridge of her nose.

“—the trajectory of…” Agott blinked, her train of thought derailing entirely. “Of the... thing– fuck.”

“The thing?” Coco echoed.

“The... nature of how we interact, the trajectory of our relationship...” Agott stammered, feeling heat flood her neck and creep up toward her ears. Her vocal cords felt dry, like sand. “Because recently, the efficiency of my focus has been... compromised. By factors related to... your…” She stared at Coco's lips and lost her train of thought entirely. “...face.”

Coco’s expression shifted from breathless relief to deep, mounting concern. Agott never stumbled over her words. Agott was a sharp tongued straight-A student who corrected teachers on syllabus details. Seeing her trip over basic grammar while looking pale and visibly distressed could only mean one thing.

“Agott?” Coco asked softly, her smile fading into genuine concern. She took another half-step forward. “Are you okay? You look really pale. Is... is something wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,” Agott said quickly, her voice a little too high. “Everything is… completely under control...”

“Are you sure?” Coco asked. “Are you trying to tell me something bad…?”

“What? No—”

“Did something happen? Are you moving away? Are you dropping out of the program?” Coco’s eyes flooded with genuine distress. Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed Agott’s hands. “Agott, please, you're scaring me– Are you okay?”

The moment Coco's fingers held her hands, Agott felt as if a jolt of electricity travelled down her spine. She noticed it. She always noticed. She noticed the way Coco's fingers were warm, slightly calloused from hours of gripping paintbrushes, wrapping firmly around Agott’s usually cold and precise hands. Hands that were meant for the pen, not whatever this was.

Agott froze. Her gaze locked onto their joined hands, then snapped up to meet Coco’s wide, terrified eyes. The noise of the city, the fountain, the rustling leaves—everything fell completely silent. The weight of Coco’s concern, combined with the warmth of her touch, shattered whatever composure Agott had left.

“I–” Agott started.

“Agott?”

“Coco–”

If only Agott could keep her shit together then maybe she wouldn't be a stuttering mess.

“Agott, what's wrong?!” Coco's eyes widened once again, and she gripped Agott's hands with a surprising grip. She looked around frantically, her mind practically screaming at her to send help, but she looked over at Agott again, who was still stuttering and mumbling.

“Agott, are you having a stroke?!”

“No– why the fuck would I–”

“Agott–”

“Coco,”

“Wait I'll find someone–”

“Coco!”

“I'll call–”

“I'm in love with you!” Agott yelled, louder than necessary.

Coco froze instantly, her hand still gripping on Agott's hands, her mouth slightly open, her eyes stretched wide in shock. Coco went dead still. Her eyes widened even further, her lips parting slightly, her grip on Agott’s hands freezing mid-air. She didn't speak. She didn't move.

Five seconds passed. Then ten. Still, Coco didn't move a muscle. She looked like a statue caught mid-breath.

Agott felt the blood drain entirely from her face, replaced a second later by a scorching, agonizing heat that rushed from her neck to the tips of her ears.

“I broke her,” Agott thought, her stomach plunging into a bottomless pit. “I completely ruined everything. She thinks I'm insane. She's horrified.”

“I–I am so sorry,” Agott squeaked out, her voice cracking as she took a panicked step backward, though she didn't break contact with Coco's hands. “Forget I said anything. That was completely unprofessional and inappropriate. I misread the situation entirely. Please just pret–”

Before Agott could finish stepping away, Coco snapped out of her trance. Coco’s hands moved with swift ease, and she immediately grabbed the lapels of Agott's jacket, pulled her forward with sudden, desperate strength, and pressed her lips against Agott's.

Agott gasped against the kiss, her eyes flying wide before fluttering shut. It was clumsy, breathless, and tasted faintly of the mint gum Coco was probably chewing on her run over, but it was warm and real.

Coco's hands moved up to cup Agott's burning cheeks, holding her there for a long, quiet second while the world spun around them.

When Coco finally pulled back, her face was bright red, her breathing just as ragged as it had been when she first arrived.

“You... you dork,” Coco whispered, a huge, dazzling smile breaking across her face. “You didn't ruin anything. I've been waiting for you to say that forever.”

Agott stared at her, completely speechless for once in her life, her fingers coming up to lightly touch her own lips.

A few yards away, hidden behind a ridiculously large hedge near the park pavilion, two pairs of eyes were glued to the scene.

“I can't breathe–” Tetia hissed, practically suffocating herself with her own hoodie sleeve to muffle her squeals. She was violently shaking Richeh’s shoulder. “Richeh, look! She actually kissed her back! I told you the fake delay tactic would force a confession!”

“You didn't invent Mr. Olly keeping them late, Tetia, that was just luck,” Richeh muttered, though she was squinting through her phone camera, snapping rapid-fire photos with the shutter sound turned off.

“And Agott’s neck is entirely red,” she noted, her tone analytical despite the grin pulling at her lips. “She is going to pass out in approximately three seconds.”

“Hey! Don't ruin it for them!”

“Still... excellent execution. Pay up. I told you Agott would panic first.”

“Worth every penny,” Tetia giggled, snuggling deeper into the bush as they watched the two.

The park felt entirely different now.

Agott sat rigidly upright, her eyes glued to the gravel path, her face burning with a blush so intense it felt like a fever. Her breath was coming in short, uneven hitches.

Coco, on the other hand, was beaming. She swung their joined hands back and forth, her earlier exhaustion completely forgotten, replaced by a restless, bubbly energy.

“So,” Coco said softly, her voice trailing off into a light giggle. “The... 'trajectory of our relationship'?”

Agott winced, burying her lower face into the collar of her jacket. “Do not repeat my words back to me. Ever.”

“I thought it was very formal,” Coco teased, leaning her shoulder lightly against Agott’s. “Very professional. Very, very you.”

“It was a complete disaster,” Agott muttered, though she didn't pull her hand away. In fact, her fingers tightened around Coco's just a fraction more. “I had a structure planned.”

“I like the disaster version better,” Coco admitted, her smile softening into something sweet and remarkably quiet. She looked at Agott, her hazel eyes bright. “I was so worried you were going to tell me you hated working on our studio projects together. Or that you couldn't stand me.”

Agott snapped her head up, scowling slightly. “That is impossible. Why would I spend three hours every Tuesday helping you clean your acrylic brushes if I couldn't stand you?”

Agott scoffed, looking away from Coco. “Besides, how could I “not stand you” when you're always on my mind…” Agott muttered mindlessly, only realizing when Coco laughed, a bright, clear sound that made Agott’s chest tighten all over again.

“Does this mean I was plaguing your mind?” Coco asked.

Agott paused, her eyes drifting back to Coco. “...Maybe,” Agott admits. “You aren't easy to forget, y'know…”

“Then that means we're stuck in each other's minds?”

Before Agott could say anything else, a distinct, rustle sounded from the foliage behind them, followed immediately by a sharp “Ouch!” and a hushed “Quiet!”

Agott’s eyes narrowed. She turned her head toward the dense thicket of bushes near the main trail. “What was that?”

Coco blinked, peering into the shadows. “A squirrel?”

“Squirrels don't wear neon yellow Converse,” Agott said flatly, spotting a very recognizable shoe sticking out from beneath a fern.

The bush froze. Slowly, Tetia poked her head out from behind the leaves, a sheepish grin plastered across her face. Beside her, Richeh calmly brushed dirt off her knees, holding a camera like a seasoned photojournalist caught on assignment.

“Hey guys!” Tetia waved weakly. “Crazy running into you here. In... these bushes.”

Agott’s face flushed red all over again, moving from embarrassed to deeply furious in a split second. “How long have you two been sitting there?!”

“Long enough to get a great angle,” Richeh said deadpan, tapping the camera body.

“This is– this– this is an outrage!” Agott yelled, standing up so fast the bench rattled. “Delete that immediately or I will sabotage your midterms!”

Coco burst into full, uncontrolled laughter, pulling Agott back down by her hand. “Leave them, Agott! Let's just go get ice cream.”

Agott looked at Coco, then back at their audience, letting out a long, dramatic sigh of defeat. “Fine. But you're paying.*

“Deal,” Coco beamed, lacing her fingers with Agott's as they finally stood up together.