#me: I need to do something simple and mindless because my brain is mush after turning a 4k first draft into 5k+ on accident

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Month 5, day 19, whaaaaaat, haha, nooooo, I haven't missed animating, what are you talking about, nooooo, didn't miss it at all, hahahaha

hahaha

ha

um...

have a gif?

[fanfic-scribbles]

Lunch Buddy: Chapter Fifteen

Masterlist

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Overall Story Facts:

Fandom: MCU Captain America/Avengers

Story Summary: Steve Rogers makes a friend. A prickly, generally people-averse friend, but they’ll both take what they can get.

Quick Facts: Friendship (/Eventual Romance) – Steve Rogers & Reader (leading to Steve Rogers/Reader) – Female Reader

Story Warnings: Reader-insert that verges on OFC, written in 1st person past tense

Chapter 15: Avoidance

Chapter Summary: The thing about avoiding your problems is that you always have to face them sooner than you think.

Chapter Word Count: 2611

A/N: Slight warnings for a little bit of angsting, and it’s a little light on Steve content (though he eventually appears from afar). Anywho. I wish I could say something cool like ‘enjoy the pining!’ but I have no idea how long I can actually keep them apart considering I have been mushing two dolls together in my head and going ‘now kiss!’ since I started posting. There will be a little pining though. Like, maybe a car air freshener, at least. Enjoy!

    I avoided Steve for the rest of the long weekend. It was easier than it might have been had he not been called in for something. Though we still had texting, he was busy and I didn’t instigate. Even when we did communicate, my responses were short and didn’t leave much for follow up. He probably assumed I needed time to de-socialize, because that was the kind of guy he was, sweet and caring and all good things. Meanwhile, I knew exactly why I was trying not to talk to him, and it stressed me the hell out.

I didn’t want to think about any of it and found my perfect excuse on Monday morning, when a work project made me skip lunch and go into overtime. I immediately texted Steve telling him I’d be busy for a few days and threw myself into work. Unfortunately the project was too time-sensitive and it was done before I even clocked out Tuesday afternoon.

“Okay, this definitely isn’t about money anymore,” my boss said that evening, just when he was packing up. “Do you have a spouse you’re having a fight with?”

“I’m just…looking for stuff to do. To keep me busy.” I didn’t back down when he stared at me. “Just for this week?”

He sighed heavily and rubbed his face. “Okay. Lunches and up to one hour after if you spend it working on organizing the junk drive. Make real progress on cleaning that out and I’ll approve the overtime.”

That was two hours of mindless-but-incredibly-draining work that would put me at a worse commute time and make me crawl into bed at the end of the day, and hopefully completely wipe me out on the weekend.

Perfect.

“Thank you!” I said and started to bound out to get started on the one job everybody in my department passed around like it was a beach ball on fire.

“Seriously,” he said and I stopped. He stood there with his bag over his shoulder and asked, “Are you okay?”

I almost smiled, but remembered that would be out of character. “I’m fine,” I said and shrugged one shoulder. “Holidays, you know?”

It worked. For the most part. I at least had a plausible excuse to keep Steve off my back, and my boss didn’t press any further, and I made progress on the most mind-numbing task ever embarked upon by an actual human with an actual brain.

The only problem was that it wasn’t numbing enough. As much as I tried to avoid thinking about Steve at all, he was still in my phone, as was Sam, and even Clint and Natasha now too. Pepper wasn’t a very social texter, thankfully, but I kept getting pulled back to Steve in other ways. In the course of three days I: saw a tuft of blonde hair that made me do a double-take, heard his recorded laugh as I passed by someone who didn’t understand the concept of using headphones, and had to listen to a few older ladies gossip about ‘what a man’ he was in unfiltered detail. I even had a dream about some of the things they said because the universe hated me, apparently.

And then there was Steve himself, not texting that much, but always taking the time to send me a little photo every day that was obviously meant to make me laugh. He even sent me the ‘Hang in there’ kitten poster (which made me snort way too loudly in public) along with ‘I dare you to use this for your lockscreen for a month.’

I texted back, ‘What do I get for it?’ before I realized I was breaking my own goddamn rules and smashed my face into my desk.

Steve: Something good ;)

Oh god. Did he know what he was doing? If he did I wished he would have just put me out of my fucking misery already.

Steve: How’s work?

Fuck.

Me: Busy. Me: How’s work? Steve: Almost done Steve: I hope your job lets up this weekend Steve: Sam is coming back with me and we’re hoping you can come out with us

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Me: We’ll see

Work did let up. Unfortunately. I made good progress on organizing the long-forgotten junk drive and my boss repaid me and betrayed me in the same breath.

“I’ll approve the overtime,” he said. “But that’s it for now. You look exhausted and I need you to take the weekend to rest up, okay?”

It was the one and only time I had ever wished to have a bastard boss again. But I was tired, and I didn’t have any excuses. “Okay,” I said and left his office feeling miserable. I got home pretty quick for a Friday night, which just left me more time to think about things I really didn’t want to think about. And there was only one cure for that.

The club was busier than I was used to, busier than it had any right to be with the night just really beginning, but as soon as I got in I made a beeline for the bar and snaked in the first opening I could find. It was loud, and too crowded, and I really wasn’t up for this, but I didn’t know what else to do. So I started drinking.

That was a bad idea. Aside from the ‘using alcohol to try and drown your emotions’ being a baseline fucking awful idea, it also didn’t fucking work.

Couples. They were everywhere. Leaning next to each others’ ears, making out along the wall, dancing together like it was foreplay; they were so all over the place that even the fake ID crowd seemed less obnoxious by comparison.

Except for when a gaggle of party girls yelled right next to me for no real reason and reminded me they really weren't. The music thumped and I winced and turned away from watching the floor to sip my drink at the bar like the true lonely miser I was.

And wasn’t that just the thing.

Loneliness, as a thing in my life, had stopped bothering me after a while– or maybe I had just stopped noticing it– either way, it wasn’t generally a thing I dwelled on. I took for granted that I wasn’t the type anyone would settle in with; I was too…whatever. So for the longest time I had just assumed I’d be on my own and I was okay with it. I knew I could handle it, and figured I and everyone else was better off for it. People came and went, and no one ever stuck around before– not that I ever gave them a real reason to. And if I couldn’t make friendships work, I had no business getting into a relationship. It truly didn’t bother me. Most of the time.

So it figured I would fall for the first person I’d had qualify as ‘friend’ in a while. That thought was slightly concerning, but as long as I didn’t make these feelings Steve’s problem, I could sleep easy at night. For the most part. The question was how to deal with it. Did I continue as normal and bottle this up for the rest of time, hoping it would fade out? Did I continue as normal but let him know, and let him decide if he wanted to stick around?

Or did I just…let go. Did I stop putting in the time to keep this friendship going. Did I stop responding, start avoiding him, and just fade out of his life even easier than I had faded in. That seemed like a real option. I was so naturally good at it, had done it so much by accident, he wouldn’t even miss me. After a while I doubt he would remember I existed.

My mouth tasted sour and bitter and I tossed back my drink. It didn’t help.

~

An hour later I was home, sitting at my kitchen counter and hanging my face over a cup of tea that got colder by the minute. My head still pulsed in time with the beat that had driven me out of the club, but it had become less and less over time.

My phone buzzed. “Shh,” I said softly, but it ignored me and I looked over only to hurt my neck when I did a double-take. Steve had sent three texts. Shit. I sat up and opened my phone directly to my messages. If Steve had gotten injured again I was really going to hurt him.

Fortunately the first message was a simple ‘Hey’ sent soon after I had set out on my ill-advised adventure. The next was ‘Are you busy?’ and then simply my name.

I hesitated. I had the terrible thought that here was where I could start ghosting on out of his life. Fade away like the nonentity I was.

I swallowed and sent back, ‘Sry. Went out’

Steve: Oh Steve: Good :) Steve: How are you? Me: Okay Me: You? Steve: I’m okay

The conversation stalled and I realized why I had even considered ghosting– it was easy to not respond when you didn’t know what to say.

Me: Good Steve: Can I ask you Steve: Are you really okay?

His texts came too fast after mine to be responding to the silence. Fuck.

Me: Yes Me: Why?

I shouldn’t have asked, but I had a bad feeling about this. I tapped my fingers on the table while I waited for a response.

Steve: You haven’t been talking to me much lately Steve: I’m just Steve: worried Steve: Was it Thanksgiving? Steve: Was I inappropriate?

Shit, shit, shit. I hit my forehead on the table which, fucking ow, but I deserved it. I had never intended for him to feel bad for something that wasn’t his fault, nor was it ever supposed to be his problem. It wasn’t right for him to be upset because of my bullshit. So I decided to be honest.

Me: No Me: It’s not you Me: It’s very definitely me Me: I’m mis Me: miserable Me: And awful Steve: You’re not Me: Am too Me: It’s not you tho Me: I’m having a hard time Me: That’s all

Honest to a point, at least.

Steve: I’m sorry Steve: Can I help? Me: No Me: Gotta Me: Push through Steve: Okay Steve: I’m your friend though Steve: You can always come to me Steve: And hey Steve: Sam and I are going out tomorrow for dinner Steve: I’ll text you the details just in case you’re up to it Steve: But I won’t expect anything Steve: Is that okay?

Why did he have to be so fucking thoughtful all the time. Why did he have to be someone so out of my league in every single way.

Me: Fine Me: Can’t promise Steve: That’s okay <3

I was going to straight up murder whoever taught him fucking heart symbols. Preferably by taking their heart.

Steve: Have you eaten yet? Me: Don’t wanna Steve: How about dessert?

‘Only if you’re here to share it,’ I thought. The worst part was that it wasn’t even sexual– I just wanted him here. With me. All of the time. Okay, maybe not all of the time, but most of the time. And that was new. That was different. That scared the hell out of me.

Then there was a knock at my door and I froze up. Nobody had buzzed for me and while my building wasn’t exactly Fort Knox, I also didn’t expect company I didn’t explicitly invite over. I gave it a few seconds but kept my connection to Steve in hand (just in case) and went to the peephole.

Me: Someone knocked. If I don’t respond maybe send help Steve: It’s safe :)

I squinted at the message and then peered out again. I didn’t see him at all and it wasn’t like him to hide. I cautiously opened the door and looked around but there was no one– but there was something.

A bakery box sat in front of my door, with a note scrawled on receipt paper that had my name followed with very flowery bubble letters telling me to “Feel Better!” from a hand-scrawled smiling sunflower.

I stared at it, picked up the box, brought it in, set it on the counter, and stared at it some more.

Steve: Okay now you’ve put that thought into my head I’m a little worried Steve: Are you okay? Me: brb Me: crying into cake Steve: Don’t cry Steve: Or cry if you need to I guess Steve: But eat something too Steve: I’ll say good night here Steve: And text you again with dinner info Steve: Again, only if you want to. Sam and I will NOT be slighted Steve: I promise Me: Good night Steve Steve: Good night <3

“Just fucking end me,” I muttered and stared at the screen while I dug into the cake with a fork. (It was small; I felt no shame.) It was also so unbelievably good that I actually stopped and checked out the box.

Me: Wait, how did you get a cake this late??? Steve: Asking the real questions

I laughed. That surprised me, but I couldn’t help it.

Me: It’s really good Me: Thank you Steve: Anytime

I forced myself to think about this whole…situation…while I ate. Phasing out of his life was, apparently, not much of an option if he was just randomly thinking of me like this. And I knew now very firmly that even accidentally hurting him was not an option. Love was an easy word for complicated emotion, but it was the best way I knew how to classify how deeply I cared for him. And I cared, to the point where if anybody was going to get hurt, I’d rather it be me.

The more I thought about it though, the more I had real hope that maybe nobody would get hurt at all. Steve was a really good guy. So even if he accidentally found out (I knocked on wood at the thought) it wouldn’t be the end of everything. He wouldn’t let it be the end of everything; he would be flattered, reject me politely, and we could move on. I hoped.

And for once, the best-case scenario didn’t seem the least likely. I trusted Steve that much. That was something I didn’t want to look into too much, but to be fair, he also trusted…me. He would know I wasn’t infatuated with some aspect of him and we might even work past this together. If not, he would give me the chance to work past it on my own, and I wasn’t about to let him down.

The box topped off my trash so I pulled the bag together and got ready to make the trek to take it out. Coming out the door I almost ran right into my neighbor, Robert, who was apparently doing the same thing.

“Hey,” he said. I was polite like a real human being and asked after his wife and kids. We made some more small talk on the way, and he even waited to hold the chute open for me. When I lifted the bag, his eyes zeroed in on the box stuffed half in the top. “Oh, that place is nice. You celebrating something?”

“No,” I said and shoved it in. “I…wasn’t feeling so great. So a friend sent it to me.”

“That must be a pretty good friend,” he said.

“Yeah,” I said, thinking about Steve and finally feeling hopeful. “A really good friend.”

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[haikyuu-scenarios-drabbles]

@kuroosarium asked:  Hey J! 😊 How are you doing? I hope you can relax now that your semester is over! I'm happy to see that your requests are open 😍 Could I request a scenario with Kuroo & Bokuto (separately) where they comfort/distract their girlfriend with a date (maybe getting hot chocolate at the Christmas market or just binge watching shows at home), because she's suffering from a mild burnout, because of how stressful university (college au) is? Is that okay? Thank you in advance & have a wonderful day!

haha! i am alive! and i loved writing this so much. Even though it took me a whole semester to complete it. I hope you don’t mind that I tweaked it from being Christmas-y themed (since it’s...ya know...June...oops). 

Also, I noticed you are on an indefinite hiatus from the blog you requested this from so I’m going to tag @kuroomantic and @mellearning so hopefully you will see this. (I also tagged you in the actual ask I answered...probably a bit overkill but oh well)

Hope this finds you well and makes you smile. 

- J

(also apparently line breaks no longer exist...yay. so now you get this singular tilde 😩)

~

Kuroo:

It was that time of year again. When the last couple weeks of the semester feel like they’re dragging on for years. It’s been over a month since any of your weekends weren’t spent studying. For exams that professors cruelly gave out during hell week, only to go straight into studying for finals. It’s absolutely brutal to endure, even Kuroo dialing back on the witty remarks that keep the two of you sane during stressful bouts of the semester in favor of silent study sessions.

You and Kuroo were regulars at the library, but in the weeks leading up to the end of the semester you feel like you practically live there. Camping out in a secluded corner for hours, being those people that others gawk at wondering just how the hell anyone can bear it for so long. Afterwards going back to your respective apartments each night and passing out, many nights being too exhausted to part ways and ending up falling asleep in each other’s arms.

Kuroo was lucky, having most of his exams scheduled at the beginning of exam week while you were stuck with exams scheduled at the end of the week. It tore at his heart to watch you continue to stress and study while he’s home free until next semester. He doesn’t try to get you to take a break though, knowing there’s a high possibility it will end up with his head getting bit off, so he lets you keep studying. He can wait to have his girlfriend back until the end of the week.

Though midway through the week, he stops by your apartment, just to check up since he hasn’t heard from you in a while; discovering you passed out on your couch, textbook fallen open on the floor. He rolled his eyes, placing the textbook on the coffee table, gathering you up in his arms—earning him a small grunt and one bleary eye peeking up at him.

Upon seeing it’s only him, your eye closes, and you snuggle a bit further into his arms, falling back asleep almost immediately. He chuckles a bit to himself, resorting to planning something for you once you finish. God knows the both of you need a bit of relaxation after the hellscape of the weeks ending the semester.

On the day of your last exam, he hears you before he sees you. The door to his apartment flinging open, the sound of you plopping your backpack in the entryway before your face appears in the doorway to the living room. He smiles at you, patting the spot beside him, which you all but melt into. Then you snuggle your body against his, tucking yourself beneath his arm and burying your face into his chest; a pleased sigh escaping you.

He rubs the bare skin of your arm comfortingly. “Finished?” Not even a response from you, just a slight nod that he only notices because your head is pressed to his chest. He fights the urge to chuckle at you, weighing the cost of a possible pinch to his side in reply.

“I don’t want to look at another textbook for a least two months,” you mutter, words muted against him.

Now he allows himself to laugh. “So, if I want you to do something all I have to do is threaten you with a textbook?”

He feels you grin next to him. “I’ll run for the hills—don’t test me.”

“Should I hide some around the house for some good jump scares?”

You shove him with your shoulder now. “Then you might get one chucked at your head.”

He laughs, putting his arms around you to pull you even closer. You oblige by lifting your legs and placing them over his own, so you’re practically sitting in his lap now, arms wrapped around his neck and playing absentmindedly with the dark tangles of his hair.

“Then it’s a good thing I have some textbook-free plans for tonight then.”

That earns him a groan and you lift your head to look at him with weary eyes. “Please tell me it involves no effort on my part. My brain is mush at the moment.”

He smiles softly at you, a rare expression saved solely for you. “Of course.” Then puts a hand to his chest feigning offense. “Who do you think I am?” You lift a brow at him questioningly, just what exactly does he have planned? It’s Kuroo, so it could be anything. And while you’re normally all in for his crazy schemes or fun outings, you’re wiped and don’t think you can get up from this couch even if you want to. But he knows you pretty well and you’re sure he knows you’re in no mood to actually do anything at the moment. He inclines his head to the TV. “How does a marathon of your favorite movies sound?”

A smile lifts to your lips before you bury your face once again in his chest, tightening your grip to squeeze him with a hug. “Sounds perfect,” you say, planting a kiss to his cheek. He beams and begins the process of extracting himself from the tangle of your limbs to put the first movie in the stack he procured earlier into the DVD player.

You sink back into the couch, tugging a blanket free to burrow into. Covering your face with the blanket you sigh, “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

He pops the movie in, then returns to you, pulling the blanket away to reveal your blushing face. He smirks. “You could start by sharing this blanket with me.” Your laughter fills the room and it sent his heart thundering against his ribcage; as long as he could keep you laughing, he would consider this night a success.

You make room for him, head resting on his shoulder as he stretches arm behind you on the back of the couch. He presses a kiss to the top of your head, then rests his cheek on it; subconsciously rubbing mindless circles with his fingers splayed across your opposite shoulder. You sigh deeply, your own fingers grasping lightly at his shirt; body relaxing almost melding with his.

“This is exactly what I needed,” you breathe. There is no better place to feel safe and warm than his embrace and it is definitely exactly where you want to be after a long and draining day. You don’t even mean the thoughtful plans he concocted—although you aren’t complaining—but what you really mean is that all you need is him. This comfort and rejuvenation you only find in his arms. He seems to understand, giving you a light squeeze in response.

“Me too,” he murmurs. It was true—in the flurry of stress and studying that consumed your lives the only interaction between the two of you revolved around school. Or consisted of both of you passing out from exhaustion, giving up the luxury of lazy kisses and quiet bids of goodnight, for the desperately needed solace of sleep.  

But this was perfect, and he’d go through weeks and weeks of the hell that was school for nights like this.

~

Bokuto:

When you get back to your shared apartment with Bokuto after your last final of the semester, you unsurprisingly find him waiting for you—a wide grin splitting his face in two. He’s been particularly antsy lately, making you grow suspicious that he has something up his sleeve, and you’ve been suspecting this week to finally reveal whatever he’s been hiding from you for a few weeks now.

But maybe you’re wrong, maybe he’s just excited that the break from school is here and that the two of you will be able to spend more time together now.

That thought is tossed to the wind when he gathers you up his arms before you even get the chance to slip your shoes off and squeezes you hard enough that your breath whooshes out of you. When he sets you down, you peer up at him with narrowed eyes. “Bo~,” you coo, attempting to hit that sing-song voice that tends to break him easier. “What’s up? You look like you’re about to explode.”

Instead of stiffening like he’s been caught red handed, he just throws his head back, hands on his hips and laughs towards the ceiling. “You’ll see!” His head snaps back to look at you as he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. You can’t help but smirk at his display.

“What do you have up your sleeve, Bo? Come on, tell me.” You poke his side and sidle up beside him, strategically placing a hand around his bicep.

You hear him suck in a breath, your fist inclination that your tactics might have begun to work. Startling you, he shoves you away and says louder and more insistently, “You’ll see!” You lift a brow in question but retreat on your advances. He seems persistent on keeping whatever he’s got planned a secret. Fine—you’re willing to play along. He’s been able to keep it to himself for this long, which you admit you’re amazed by, and allow him to continue to do so—only so he’ll feel that much more triumphant when he’s finally able to let it out the secret.

Once he sees you disappear down the hallway, Bokuto takes a deep breath—you almost had him. Almost. He knows this last semester really wore you out, especially the last few weeks. Most weekdays you came home practically already asleep, and even when you’d have precious moments together, something as simple and mundane as just relaxing watching TV; you’d be asleep within a few moments.

He didn’t mind. You needed it—plus he would never complain about having you curl up beside him, head resting on his broad chest while yours lifted softly with each breath. In fact, it pained him to wake you up and force you to crawl into bed. Somedays he just lifted you in his arms and carried you there. The majority of the time being the latter.

Leading up to this day, Bokuto has had to resort to gushing to Kuroo and Akaashi at volleyball practice about the whole thing. Enough that they’re past smiling and being excited for him and have been pushed to the brink of entertaining the idea slitting his throat.

And now that they day is here, when he finally gets to put his plan into action, Bokuto is practically bursting at the seams to tell you. Especially since you’re already suspicious of something and attempted to weasel it out of him, knowing exactly how to break him. Setting a small hand on his arm, making it ever more obvious just how much bigger he is than you, using that soft sing-song voice that nearly did him in. Only his dramatic display of laughing and shrugging you off letting him escape from the snare you so easily set for him.

No—he is going to see this through to the end. Only for the joy of seeing your face when he reveals his plans for you. He beams at the thought.

After dinner, he attempts to nonchalantly ask you to go for a walk. It’s not uncommon for the two of you to take a leisurely stroll as the sun sets, but the way he’s shifting in his seat—doing his very best to be normal, makes you eye him suspiciously. He just maintains his uncontrollable grin, despite his best efforts to squash it as not to make you more suspicious than he can tell you already are.

You comply, taking his hand once you’re outside, and you can tell that if you were in an enclosed space, he’d be bouncing off the walls by now. You let him lead you, noticing he’s walking faster and (you don’t know how it’s even possible) but his smile, already at an incredible wattage, is widening with each step.

Up ahead, you squint and can barely make out a faint glow emerging from between some of the buildings. Unable to stop yourself, you crane your head to get a better look. Bokuto notices you trying to sneak a peek and purposefully steps in your line of sight, filling it with his beaming smile.

“No peeking.”

You just narrow your eyes but resolve to keeping your curiosity to yourself. Bokuto seems satisfies and continues on. After a few more blocks, you turn onto a street and your eyes widen at the sight before you.

In the park near your apartment that the two of you frequent, there are various tents set up and citizens milling about, all bathed in a warm glow from the lanterns littering the grass, hanging from above in the trees, and those resting in people’s hands. You gape at it all, while beside you, Bokuto is radiating pure joy.

“I saw a flyer for it on campus!!” He turns to you, grasping both of your hands in his—dwarfing them, that smile you love so much adorning his face. “Do you like it??”

Your lips tremble and without your permission, tears well up in your eyes. These past few weeks have been so unbelievably stressful, and for him to notice—for him to plan this, it was enough to bring joyous loving tears to your eyes.

Immediately, Bokuto frets. “What—what is it? Is it not okay? We can go, I just…”

You grip his hands to silence him. “No. I love it. Thank you, Bo.”

His smile returns and he gently places his hands on your cheeks to wipe away the tears now spilling over onto them.

Behind him, a familiar voice calls, “Oi! Bokuto!”

You peer around him to find your friends, Kuroo and Akaashi, both holding two lanterns each.

Bokuto beams yet again. “I invited them too!

You grin and wipe at your eyes once more, gingerly taking one of the lanterns from Akaashi’s hands. As you do so, he tells you, “Congrats on finishing the semester.”

You laugh softly. “Thanks. We all did it!” You survey the three of them, a peacefulness you didn’t know you were missing settling over your heart. It almost made you start crying again.

“Bo cut it a bit close,” Kuroo jests.

“Hey! What the heck!” Bokuto says, snatching his lantern aggressively from Kuroo.

You smirk. “All the more reason to celebrate.” He sticks his tongue out at you, but you just take his hand and follow the stream of people gathering at the center of the park; all of them carrying lanterns of their own.

You stand at the center, surrounded by your friends and the ethereal light of the lanterns, Bokuto’s warm hand in yours. Both of you look at the other before simultaneously lifting your lanterns into the sky and letting them join the plethora of ones already drifting into the night. With it, you feel all the stress and worry that accompanied these past weeks floating away with it, freeing you and letting you look forward to the days ahead. Days you would spend with Bokuto.

Turning to him, you find him gaping at you, marveling at how impossibly beautiful you look in the warm glow of the lanterns, a soft smile gracing your lips. He feels even more overjoyed that he surprised you with this. Even more so when you throw your arms around his neck and plant a kiss to his lips.

“Thank you,” you murmur against him.

That unbreakable smile splits his face in two, and instead of replying, he just squishes you against him and lets his lips find yours once more.