remembering you - part 2
Theseus Scamander x Reader
summary: the truth of your and theseus's shared past comes to light at a very public venue.
fem!reader. theseus scamander x reader.
category: romance.
warnings: brief but GRAPHIC descriptions of gore (war flashback).
part one / part two
“I don’t think I’ve ever done anything that wasn’t expected of me.” The curse of the good son. The thought comes to Theseus unbidden.
Even joining the magical resistance at the beginning of the war felt like some preordained line of reasoning that he only had to follow.
He’d vowed to his parents that he’d always do what’s right for his community. He’d been asked to help, so he did. In all realms of life, he tried to be helpful and do what was asked of him.
He didn’t have to think about it.
But then: You.
Y/N swept into his life and spun his head around, turned his whole belief system upside down. He can only think of one other girl who struck him so profoundly, reached inside his chest and tugged him back into his body and the present moment, but that was years ago, and their encounter had been so brief…
The principles by which Theseus lived his life were simple ones.
Restraint. Generosity. Order.
All dashed to pieces with the touch of your lips. When you'd asked him to kiss you his only thought had been "Mercy." He’d started undressing you by instinct. He’d taken you on his desk, it seems more like an unwieldy fantasy than a memory.
He’s at home now. Dumbstruck at his kitchen table, glass of whiskey untouched.
He has the strangest desire to call his brother.
Newt, of all people! But he was probably galavanting around the world looking for Wrackspurts or trying to teach a Doxy to play fetch. They hadn’t spoken in so long, and Theseus had been negligent when it came to showing interest in his brother’s work besides that. He couldn't call on him now.
Theseus just needs someone to tell him what to do.
He doesn’t know what happened in his office. He just wanted to put his hands on you and then, once he did, he started burning up inside and couldn’t stop.
Y/N, Y/N, Y/N….
Your name was like a drumbeat driving him to insanity. A trance-inducing chant.
“What’s become of me?” he thinks, helplessly, head in his hands. “I’ve gone mad.”
He was supposed to marry well, unfussily and unremarkably. Find a respectable woman from a good wizarding family after building up his reputation as an Auror. He’d never touched a woman the way he'd touched you, so brazenly, so honestly, so entirely overcome with desire.
He’d never thought much of love.
Even before today, he’d been distracted at work. Powerless, really. Writing to you occupied his every thought. Even when you took a little longer to respond, what he felt wasn’t impatience but agony. He hung onto your every word. His default daydream had become storming down to the Department of Magical Games and Sports and standing before you, making you see him, he loved you and he wanted you to deal with it too.
“Tomorrow,” he thinks and it eases some of the tension. He blows out the candle floating above his kitchen table and gives up on the whiskey, snatching the glass and pouring it down the drain.
Tomorrow he’s decided to tell you that he needs you, that he loves you, although he’s not sure what it means yet. Maybe that will help him clear his head, silence that roaring need. Confessing to you will be like letting blood.
Yesterday your beauty had taken him by surprise, discomposed him, yes. But he reminds himself that he knows you. From your letters.
He loved you then too.
And, aside from his feelings, he doubts there are any real secrets now between you.
-----------------
You want to ask Theseus if he dreams about the war too.
You wonder how many people in Britain return there, to that same reeking, muddied place lit-up with gunfire, in their dreams every night. You wonder if you could meet him there.
But no, Theseus wasn't in the trenches. He wouldn't know about how the mud is different there. Evil. Cursed. You'd long given up on trying to describe it to your sister, make her understand.
No wizards, not even those a part of the underground resistance, were in the trenches.
Your powers were wasted down there, how silly and indulgent magic seemed with people dying everywhere, dying badly, with less dignity and honor than stray dogs.
You remember trying to use magic wherever you could anyways. You remember your hands and your medical knowledge being, shockingly, more useful. When a man's limbs are shattered in opposite directions, when a man's face has been shot off, when a man is bleeding out, when a man....
You remember that first night, after Theseus and your family had left you, the numb-shock of seeing a man's brains for the first time. The sensation that came over you was less startling and more like paralysis or ice water. They were grey and had splattered onto your face and the ground before you. The men shoved his body over the top of the trench, throwing him at you to save him, not realizing he had a hole in his head. You stared at the soft, grey chunks on the floor and your mind unfeelingly conjured up images from the kitchen: chicken hearts, boiled ground meats, uncooked egg whites. It was so random you'd almost laughed.
War made the grotesque banal.
And all for what? That pointless tract of wasteland. Bodies at various states of decay, laid out like a rotting carpet.
You wonder what Theseus did to get called a war hero, you didn't think there were any heroes in the Great War. To you it was a tragedy of gross political malpractice.
They made a grave of your home in France. You couldn't have returned there, not ever.
You only ever went back there in dreams, where you couldn't seem to remember that the war was over.
It made you feel guilty in a distant, half-realized way, how you never wanted to talk about it or think about it in your waking life. When your siblings wrote down your name in a tribute to the combat nurses at last year's Armistice Day, you'd been blind with rage. Inconsolable with a nameless, blooming betrayal. "Nameless" because you couldn't say what they had betrayed.
Which is why this year's Armistice Day, today, you'd resolved to avoid all grief celebrations and talk of glory and war and to think only of the future. Of happy things. Of Theseus.
Theseus.
Yesterday you'd slept with him.
You'd actually taken him into your arms and body and then just let him take and take and take. You'd only asked for a kiss, but you'd found yourself unable to say anything but yes and please to him.
This fact made you blush the whole way home. Made you unfold his "goodnight" message from days before and read it again and again just to see the ink of his writing on paper, just to prove that what existed between the two of you was real.
At work yesterday he'd kept writing to you, just like he promised. Afterward, at the end of the day, he came to your desk and walked you to the Atrium, kept his hands in his pockets and looked at you fondly when you spoke, with an attention like sweetness. He was a gentleman--what happened in his office aside--indisputably so. You'd felt good and safe by his side. Like you belonged there.
Until you got home.
It was your mistake to open up to your sister. It didn't help that she kept saying that she couldn't believe you, that she'd kill him, that "it's all so unromantic."
You spared her the details, but you wanted to just blurt out and admit that it was the both of you begging for the other at intervals.
He'd gotten down on his knees, for crying out loud! He didn't coerce you into anything. All he coerced were inappropriate noises from your mouth, but, no, you couldn't tell your sister that...
Your argument continues in the morning, picks up where it left off right after breakfast.
"I just feel like you gave up more than you bargained for, Y/N. Because you like him so much you're more at risk of-"
"I didn't 'give up' anything! God, I can't believe you."
"I didn't mean it like that."
"No, it's fine, really!" You're grabbing your keys and shoving them into your purse with force, pointedly not fine. "For the record, he was the one who said he liked me. And I was the one who asked him to kiss me, again! I'm not a child. The only thing I'm at risk of is finally getting what I want."
Your sister cries easily, famously. You can see it mounting now in the tremble of her lip. It almost topples over into a sob when she whines, "I love you Y/N! I don't want you to get hurt."
"He likes me! He's my friend. We've been talking for weeks."
"What if he..." your sister hesitates and for some reason it humiliates you, her censoring herself for the sake of your feelings.
Your shoulders go rigid.
"What?" you snap. "What if he what?"
She shakes her head but when you don't relent she speaks grudgingly.
"What if he does this a lot? Casual sex. Spontaneously sleeping with women. Maybe even coworkers. I just want to be sure you're on the same page, Y/N. He means so much to you, I know that, and he always has. But he doesn't even remember you...."
Sick. You feel a swaying illness in your chest and gut. For a moment you taste bile.
Her words hurt so bad that you don't even feel pain, the fight in you just dies instantaneously.
He doesn't even remember you...
"Okay," you say, staring blankly at her. "Okay..."
"Y/N-" your sister stands from her chair suddenly, but you jerk away from her.
"It's fine. Theseus can do what he pleases. Thank you for your concern, but I don't want to talk about it anymore."
You leave for work.
------
The chaos at the Ministry mirrors the chaos in your head, which isn't any real consolation.
Whizzing baubles and streaming banners are still being put up in the Atrium, the center of which lies a hulking, rectangular platform, scattered hauntingly with red poppies. It sort of reminds you of gallows, though you doubt anyone else would appreciate the humor in your observation.
The Ministry always did some sort of luncheon or memorial for Armistice Day.
Speeches, honors, sometimes a little parade, sometimes, conversely, observing four minutes of silence. The thought of being asked to go on stage horrified you more than the Western Front had.
As you walk to your desk, you think about Theseus again. You think about the war. Both inevitable, given the circumstances.
You think about the service he rendered your father and your siblings that night. You think about the chivalry he demonstrated in letting you hold onto your girlhood for a bit longer, his hand framing your face as he left it untouched and denied you a kiss.
You think about him letting you stay for the Battle of Verdun, and how it never made sense to you and it still doesn't now...
You have to know.
"I'll tell him," you think. "I'll tell him today."
------
There's a memo waiting for you at your desk. It makes your heart patter in gross relief.
"He likes me. He likes me," you remind yourself.
Your sister's words this morning must've really gotten to you.
"Urgent matter for the Interdepartmental Liaison of the Department of Mysteries!!!"
You roll your eyes. You're smiling stupidly at the paper as you write your response.
"Theseus, you can't keep writing 'URGENT' at the beginning of all of your memos. It's cryptic and dishonest and it loses its intended effect."
"Okay, fine. I was just going to ask if it would be terribly uncouth if I asked you to meet me in my office before the memorial so I could kiss you a bit?"
The thought of him putting his hands on you affects you more than you'd ever admit. You look around the office, blushing, as if anyone could read the paper from so far away. This man was driving you insane.
"Well, that's one way to honor the troops. You are a veteran so I suppose there's no turning you down."
You want to see him, you do. But you have a mission today from your Department. It couldn't wait and he couldn't know.
You're hoping to use the Armistice Day events to talk to Mr. Bragg, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, or maybe sneak into his office. Too much time has elapsed already, you need to find out whether or not he is really betraying the Ministry for Grindelwald.
Theseus's reply is surprisingly earnest.
"Huh, I always thought today was more about honoring the fallen than honoring the veterans."
"True. Maybe no kissing until it's over?"
"Deal. I'll see if I can write you into my schedule."
"Not funny."
"If you want to see me so bad you could always commit a crime and I'll come arrest you?"
"Hey, you're the one who asked to see me!! And threatening me with a good time is beneath you."
You see a lone blot of ink fade-in from where his quill is pressed down onto the paper on his end. He's trying to decide what to write.
When the words come at last they are so simple and candid and enticing. Theseus has never been afraid of honesty or affection.
"I like you so much."
You laugh aloud. If he was here you'd kiss him breathless.
"Yes, you said that already."
"Forget the kiss, I'd kill even to hear your laugh in person. To see your face."
"I like you so much too."
-----
You're the last person from your level to make your way down to the Atrium for the Armistice ceremony. The noise from below sounds more like a motorcade than a memorial. Honking trumpets, trilling drumroll, applause. Funnily enough, you think your coworker Ana is the one speaking now, snatched the microphone from the Minister of Magic himself.
In fact, by the looks of it, you might've missed some of the ceremony already.
The Atrium is packed with people. Ministry workers brought their spouses, some their entire families. Well-dressed witches and wizards not affiliated with the Ministry have also come in droves.
You scoot along the edge of the room, moving sideways towards the stage, craning your neck to find Mr. Bragg.
The periodic sound of applause crashes down like heavy rainfall, the way it drowns everything out. It's a bit stuffy from all the body heat, and your clothes cling to your body uncomfortably.
As you approach the stage, you stop pushing forward and look up in shock to see Theseus's face. He doesn't see you, and you're glad for the chance to just look at him outright. God knows you could look at him forever.
He's waltzing down the steps of the platform smiling broadly. His gait is relaxed, he's comfortable in his skin despite the attention of being on stage, which is something you envy. There's a ribbon on his lapel and a red flower stuck in his suit pocket, a few men and women are trailing behind him.
They must have just honored the wizards who fought.
Next would presumably be some ceremony for the Ministry workers to honor their dead. Last year they'd done a magical memorial with floating lanterns. This year you'd been told it would involve stones, or maybe it was flowers? You didn't want to stick around.
It was painful enough carrying your losses inside of you, seeing loss and grief paraded and exploded all around you didn't feel therapeutic or healing for you the way it seemed to feel for the rest of the nation.
"Y/N!"
You turn without grace, neck jerking painfully. The sight of Mr. Bragg's face startles you, makes you feel found out. It's difficult for you to rein in your surprise. You have to shout over the sound of Ana talking onstage.
"M-Mr. Bragg!"
The older man smiles. He's with his department friends and his cheeks are rosy. Drunk, maybe. They're holding the flask between them like schoolboys, drawing more attention to it really.
It seems disrespectful to you. Most Ministry workers waited until after the memorial ceremony to start celebrating the end of the war and drinking to "peace."
But Mr. Bragg and his colleagues look positively jubilant.
"My girl! I was just telling these gentlemen how we have a real Unspeakable in our midsts now! Tell them how good the Department of Magical Games and Sports has been treating you, why don't you? Better than the Department of Mysteries, eh?"
The men he's with laugh and jostle him, they're about to turn back to the stage.
You're still reeling, sputtering from surprise, but you have to spit it out now, take your chance.
"Mr. Bragg! Wait!"
His colleagues' eyes go wide in delight, one of them looks as if he's about to bark an inappropriate comment. Mr. Bragg looks taken aback at your newfound attention.
It was nearly 1930 and some of the men in the Ministry still had such backward ideas about women, even coworkers, it took everything in you not to roll your eyes.
"Yes, darling?" Mr. Bragg's answering smile is eager and smug. Self-satisfied.
Gag.
"Um, I was hoping to talk to you in your office after the ceremony? About my position as liaison." He looks suddenly bored, turned off, so you give him your most flattering smile and add, coyly, "Alone. If you're not too busy, that is?"
That seems to gratify him. He adjusts his jacket impressively in front of his colleagues. One of them wriggles his brow indiscreetly and nudges him.
"Of course, Miss Y/L/N! It's about time you and I had a good talk, one on one."
Again, gag.
You smile, and it's a strain to, before bowing your head in thanks and moving on.
Well, at least that was settled. You could drill him with questions after the ceremony and, during the ceremony, you could poke around in his office for evidence of betrayal. It was perfect.
Too perfect.
It was your mistake for lingering near the stage. For coming at all, really.
It sends a jolt of liquid panic down your spine when you hear your name, magically amplified for the whole crowd to hear. It booms throughout the entire Atrium. It's bizarre to the point of feeling dreamlike.
"Oh, and is that Y/N? Miss Y/L/N! Please join us on stage! Everyone, how can we forget to honor our wartime nurses?"
This isn't real. If the crowd hadn't parted to stare at you after all of Ana's pointing, you would've continued walking away.
A man jumps off-stage to escort you to the staircase.
You're past the point of being able to speak or object.
Once onstage you stare out at the crowd unseeingly. The tops of so many heads. You'd rather be at the summit of some great height, looking out at some cloudscape. Your fear of heights seemed healthy, whereas your stage fright was a simultaneously useless and formidable thing.
You regret befriending Ana. You regret telling her about the war, telling her anything about yourself at all.
You are sweating.
And, impossibly, Ana is still talking.
"-and at only sixteen years old! As a volunteer wartime nurse, Y/N Y/L/N stayed for the entire ten months of brutal fighting at the Battle of Verdun in Northern France. 300,000 dead and 400,000 wounded. She saved countless lives, muggle and wizardkind alike, indiscriminately. These combat nurses were the foundation of-"
Her last commendation draws some uncomfortable shifting and impressed gasps from the crowd. It's a mixed reaction, as views of blood purity were equally mixed.
Ana, in an asinine but expected turn of events, is still talking.
But you're no longer listening. You can't.
There are so many people in the crowd, but your gaze locks on Theseus almost immediately. You see his expression change in realization, his eyes widen and his jaw flexes, almost undetectably.
When he tears his gaze from Ana to you, you turn away.
He knows. Even if he doesn't remember, he knows.
You only know Ana's finished talking because of the crashing noise of applause, like the shore breaking on a cliffside. Your ears burn. You keep your head low as you exit the stage.
This isn't how you wanted it to happen.
You're torn between wanting to explain yourself and wanting to escape. Heart hammering, cutting through the crowd, you choose the latter.
You make for a secluded alcove of the Atrium, far from the crowd at its center, and sit on a marble bench.
You never lied to Theseus. If anything he was the one who lied. He said he'd remember you. He'd promised.
"It's okay," you repeatedly run your hands over the material of your skirt, over your thighs. It's meant to be reassuring, grounding. You don't feel like it's working. "It's okay, Y/N."
You'd like to say it was the stage fright at work, but no. It was the way he looked at you that was so upsetting. He looked at you like the earth was shattering.
"Y/N!"
Your head lurches upwards from where it's bent over.
It's shocking to you, the sight of him. As shocking as it was to see him in his soldier's uniform, standing in your doorframe on that night all those years ago.
"Y/N," Theseus walks over with heavy footsteps. He looks winded and undone, like he'd run to find you. His voice is weak. "It's.... How can it be you?"
There's a desolate longing to your returning stare. Your chest hurts. You're shaking your head, trying to dispel some of that tightness in your heart.
"You said you didn't need a name to remember me...."
"Did you remember me?"
"Of course," you're speaking so fiercely, he doesn't deserve it but you can't help it. "Right away."
Why is it more embarrassing to be the one who remembers? It's even more embarrassing than being forgotten.
"That's why I stopped writing to you that day," you add pathetically. "After I saw your face at the Ministry, I'd put the pieces together. All it took was once glance."
Theseus sits down beside you on the bench, still looking adrift. At a loss of what to do with this information.
"You must be disappointed," he says at last. "And you must think me a fool."
"Well... I don't think you're a fool," you hope that doesn't reveal your disappointment, but his pained wince suggests the opposite.
"I should have known," he says with newfound vigor. "You really haven't changed, have you? Even after your coming-of-age, you're still as stubborn as ever."
That makes you laugh, dreary as the sound is.
"I didn't come of age I just sort of... came through."
He laughs at that. "You know, I've seen far more of your siblings."
"Really?"
"They didn't tell you?"
"No, not really..." None of you liked to talk about your father's death or the period surrounding it. Too painful.
"Well, I spent a good week with them. With your father too, obviously. I had to make sure he was receiving proper care."
"Did you speak to them?"
"Your sister didn't understand much of what I was saying, the same for your father. But I spoke with your brother often, his English wasn't half bad."
You groan. "What did you talk about?"
Theseus seems pleased. Eager to demonstrate to you how much he remembers.
"Of course I asked him if you really were a combat nurse, had to make sure I didn't just send a teenager to her death," Theseus explains. "So he told me about the first time you came to help out in the trenches. Some story about the men catcalling you, telling you ways to make yourself prettier, and you shouting 'It's not my job to be beautiful!' at them and tightening the tourniquet of the man you were working on. Your brother told me he yelped so loud that none of the other men dared to bother you again."
You laugh breathlessly. It's so strange to hear the memory come out of Theseus's mouth. Everything about this feels impossible. Ridiculous.
"Did my brother share any other anecdotes about me?" You turn to Theseus with a wry look on your face.
This is oddly pleasant. Doesn't feel so awful anymore, unearthing the past together.
"I wish," Theseus's smile is toothy and endearing. Sly look in his eyes. "Naturally I asked almost exclusively about you. When he talked about you he called you by some pet name? I tried to use it to find you after the war before I realized it was only a nickname."
That makes your heart stir.
It was stupid. Impossible.
An unhappy coincidence. Those were all that seemed to keep you apart.
Theseus had tried to find you.
But [your brother's name] was so young at the time, he'd only ever thought of you as [your nickname] and never "Y/N." It wasn't his fault.
"I was so curious about you," Theseus continues. "Although I was proud of myself for not kissing you... You were too young. And I was relieved it was me who left last and not one of the other poor sods who came along, who knows what they would've done if a girl like you asked for a kiss."
"I wouldn't have asked them!" you protest, and his smile as he shirks off your playful hit splits your heart, you love him so.
Theseus raises an eyebrow, still smiling. "No? I thought you just wanted your first kiss before the battle. Didn't matter from who."
You shake your head.
"No.... I didn't even think to want to be kissed until I saw you. And until I realized my life was going to change forever. I'm an opportunist, I guess..."
The last part is meant to be a joke but he's not reacting accordingly anymore, he's hanging onto your every word.
And he's definitely looking at you too seriously for you to admit that you found him severely attractive. And kind. Observant and receptive, like he saw through you. Mostly handsome.
"I just," you cringe at yourself. Cower away from his searching eye-contact.
"What?" he prods. His smile is teasing this time, like he's hoping to charm the truth out of you.
"I just wish..." you wince at the words as you say them. "That you would've remembered me. It sounds silly, but I used to think about that night a lot as a girl. I handed over my siblings and my father to you, and I would've given you my first kiss, and more than that maybe... I still don't understand why you let me stay and fight in Verdun. I suppose it makes me feel even more silly, knowing it didn't mean as much to you."
The more you speak the more you watch his expression dampen. Theseus purses his lips unhappily.
"I'm new at this, Y/N."
"New at what?" You don't know what he means.
"And I'm already messing it up, aren't I?"
"Theseus," you say. "I haven't any idea what you're talking about."
"I just," he dips his head back in frustration. "I have thought of you and that night, often. I just never imagined you as a grown woman, Y/N. During the war, you'd become something like a guardian angel in my mind. Forever sixteen. But when I met you two days ago, I knew..."
It's so difficult for him to find the words it seems. He keeps grimacing and shaking his head to himself.
"I knew when my body reacted that way to seeing you. Every part of me rejoiced when I saw you sitting at your desk. It wasn't like meeting you for the first time, it was uncanny. Like... immediate recognition. It felt like I was remembering you, Y/N."
You place a hand over his sympathetically. It's warm under yours. It still makes your head spin, touching him at all.
"You made such an impression on me, Y/N," he reassures.
"I was just a girl," you say, dismissively. "I was naive."
"You were courageous, more than me or any of my men. Braver than all the British Ministry. It shook me, meeting you. Reminded me why I decided to fight, I'd become so jaded."
You have nothing to say to that. He fills in the silence.
"So you didn't want to become a nurse after all then? After the war, I mean."
"I never wanted to be a nurse, I just..." Death all around you. You just wanted to stop feeling helpless. "I wanted to help."
"I never wanted to be a soldier," Theseus offers congenially. "I just wanted to do what's right. That night you reminded me why I was there in the first place. You reminded me to be brave. I was ashamed of how little I thought of the muggles. And there you were, going off on your own, risking your life for them. Before you, I just wanted to minimize losses. But you made me want to save people."
Your lip wavers. You're staring into his eyes, into that pure blue, that dark sea. It's entirely inappropriate, but you'd like very much to kiss him now. You won't ask this time. You'd like to press yourself against his suit, no words can articulate what you feel for him, but maybe you could show him.
But then he speaks again.
"Y/N," there's a guarded, defensive edge to his tone that makes you hesitant. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer this at all, but I have to ask. Was that your first kiss yesterday? In my office."
You can't help but bristle. You're embarrassed. The look on your face reveals everything, so there's no use in hiding it. Damn him.
"Yes," you admit, hotly. "Was it obvious or something?!"
He groans, looks pale. His reaction horrifies you further.
"I shouldn't have done that," he's saying, he looks like he's going to be sick. "Falling all over you like a dog---I should've made it gentle. Sweet. Demonstrated an iota of self-control-"
"It's fine," you raise a hand, made shy by his self-deprecation. "We didn't do anything wrong."
That does give him pause. Theseus stops mid-sentence, mouth hanging open. He has to recompose himself.
"You're right," he relents with a gentle shake of his head. "We didn't. I just mean... I would've made it good for you, Y/N."
"It was good," you insist. You're not sure if he's talking about kissing anymore.
"Let me try again, I'll get it right this time."
Your heart races.
You wonder when you'll get used to this, the knowledge that he wants to touch you, that he's going to give you what you want. Wonder when your body will stop reacting like a prey animal's every time you're near him, so strong is his effect on you. You want to run. No, you want to bare your neck, submit. Let love kill you.
Your sister's words from this morning are the only thing stopping you.
You have to close your eyelids before speaking.
"Theseus, do you...."
"Yes?" his smile is almost too dazzling for you to formulate a response.
"With other women... Do you do that sort of thing often? Not that it matters..."
For a stunned moment he doesn't react.
Then he is laughing at you. It startles you and hurts your feelings.
"Y/N, I don't--Oh, Y/N!" He hurriedly moves to reassure you when he notices the look on your face, reaching out and grabbing your arm. "Oh, no! I wasn't laughing at you, I swear."
"Theseus," you groan, hiding your face, humiliated.
"No, no," he says again, trying to gently pull your hands away so he can look you in the eyes. His hands are firm and persistent. He's still half-laughing as he speaks. "It's just that I've never done something like that before. Y/N, I don't know how to say it better, but I am dreadfully in love with you."
You look up sharply, instantaneously, to read his expression. It is serene and sincere.
No sign of a prank, no sign of a psychotic break.
Oh god. Your stomach plummets. He loves you.
He loves you.
"Theseus, I-"
"Y/N!"
Once again, Mr. Bragg has taken it upon himself to surprise you. You jerk away from Theseus on the bench.
Theseus closes his eyes and doesn't turn to greet him, his wrath is only barely veiled.
"Mr. Bragg!" You stand abruptly. "What-What are you..."
"The ceremony is over!" He seems annoyed that you don't remember, his pride bruised. "If I'm not mistaken you and I have a date in my office?"
Theseus makes a comically disgusted face, looking between you and Mr. Bragg in rude astonishment. If you weren't afraid of offending you might've been amused.
"He means an appointment, Theseus," you hiss in clarification. That seems to sedate Theseus if only slightly.
"And yes of course," you say to Mr. Bragg with a placating smile. "I'm all yours."
---
next part here
-----
author's note: part 3 (LAST PART) incoming! i had to break this part into two because it was getting too long :(
hope you enjoyed! more drama and smut in part 3
(spoiler: mr. bragg sucks + drunk!Reader and caring!Theseus)
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