Sting Eucliffe x Reader Book 1

Chapter 9 - Ups & Downs... But Mostly Ups

A/N - Still going through that good old choppy editing process where I can't finish an entire chapter in a day, so half of it reads fine and then the second half reads like a fourteen-year-old writing an abusive relationship (which it totally was in hindsight). Lol, have fun in the cringe, kiddies.

Ups & Downs... but Mostly Ups.

A week had passed since you'd gotten sick.

And then another week passed with abnormal absences from your thrown-together friend group—the majority were consistent, but Sting and Rogue had poofed out of existence.

"Don't take it to heart," Minerva explained the day it became noticeable. 

Rogue, you understood. Your family explained that his father was sickly and aside from the marriage, he must've been balancing the possible loss of his father on his shoulders this whole time. You wished you handled the cafe visit better. He must've needed someone to talk through that with.

What you didn't understand were the circumstances behind Sting's disappearance. It worried you after the talk you had in your apartment—did he mean he'd keep a lot of space from you? As in, a new school length of space?

"Hey, has Sting answered any of your texts?" Yukino asked Minerva on Friday.

"Why are you still worrying about Sting, I thought you guys broke up?"

That's when you choked on air, swallowing down guilt and a few gulps of water to keep from making a scene. Was that why he was absent? To avoid her?

"Doesn't mean I can't worry. He's never been so... truant."

Study study study!

You shoved your face in your notes, refusing to feel gleeful after acing your test earlier in the week. And you refused to celebrate someone's breakup. In no way were you that bitch.

Rufus had ventured to your desk to compare notes, taking notice of Minerva's and Yukino's conversation almost immediately. "Curious isn't it?" He asked you.

You blinked, willfully ignoring his point. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's too bad they broke up so suddenly, don't you think?" Rufus smirked, fanning the fire.

"Yeah," you lied through your teeth. "That's too bad."

' .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. '

*knock* *knock*

You stopped studying to answer your front door, revealing to you one of your missing persons of the week.

"Rogue! Are you okay? Where have you been?"

He stood over you with a grin plastered across his face, eager in the way he bounced in place. "Mind if I come in?"

You blinked, looking back at the place to make sure it wasn't a wreck for company. "Sure, yeah, come on in."

Rogue removed his shoes and followed you into the living room, telling you his news before he could even sit down. "I don't know how much you know of this, but my father's been sick for a... while."

You hesitated, but admitted, "My family mentioned him being sickly."

Rogue had an energy to him you hadn't seen, giving you optimism you sorely missed. "Well, I have some good news for both of us. He's been doing so much better, (Y/N). You should see him—he's almost a new man."