acotar one shots + imagines

unrequited or returned affections?

This is a Cassian x reader request kind of about childhood friends? Idk how to describe it but you're Rhysand's adopted sister and Cassian falls for you.

Also can I just say y'all are literally the best? You all have been giving so much love to my writing recently and the comments are always so sweet, thank you for always spreading positivity. :)

You were orphaned as a baby, your father killed in the rite and your mother when she refused to get her wings clipped. The highlord's wife somehow convinced him to take you in and you lived with her and her son Rhysand whom you quickly formed a familial bond with.

He always protected you when he was visiting the camps, getting retribution against the people who hurt you when he wasn't there.

And then he came, Cassian. He fell for you the second that he saw you working with your mother, but he quickly realized that it would probably never be because of who your adoptive father was.

But then you approached him after one of his many brawls to win favor. He heard your mother cautioning you first. "Be careful, those pits are unpredictable, come right back to me when you're done Y/n."

"Yes ma'am."

He went still as he realized that you were running into the fighting pit to get to him. "Here you go, you look like you need it." You smiled brightly.

He hesitated, but took the rag from you. "Thank you."

"My name's Y/n by the way, you're Cassian right?"

He nodded.

"Let's be friends okay?"

He seemed stunned by your kindness. "Sure."

From then on you became the most important person in his life, the first person to ever show kindness to a bastard son like him. He protected you when Rhys couldn't, even getting into fights with the other males for you.

But it absolutely broke your heart to see him walking to his dilapidated tent at the end of every day when you had a warm bed and more food than you could eat. Every time you tried to convince him to come home with you though, the camp officials would punish you, saying that you couldn't give him a home, that he wasn't worth the trouble.

But you wouldn't stop fighting until he finally broke down and told you to stop. "I'll be fine out here Y/n, just go home."

You burst into tears and that broke something inside him. "It's not fair that you're out here while I have a roof above me." You sobbed.

"I don't want you getting hurt for my sake."

"But you're my best friend." You whimpered softly.

He drew you into his arms. "I'll get where you are someday, don't worry. Just get home before your mother thinks you've gone missing."

He watched you leave, falling harder with every step you took, not knowing that someday would come sooner than either of you ever dreamed.

Thanks to Rhys.

*****

You were taken aback when you heard that Cassian and Rhys had gotten into a brawl just so Cassian could take the clothes off his back. You knew why he felt the need to do it, understood that fighting was the only way he could get clothing, but it still made you angry and sad to think he was going after Rhys.

Little did you know that their little scuffle would lead to Cassian coming to stay with you permanently.

"Why do you look so annoyed this morning my dear?" You mother laughed lightly.