OVERLOOKED ㅤkotlc

056

i almost forgot to post today but TYSM FOR 9K READS ???? like whoa thats literally crazy ILYASM (unweirdly) <333 !!

I search her eyes and all I find is a dare, nervous as it is, to reply.

So... she knows I like her, I think, and despite myself, I smile. I ask a question in the tilt of my head and though she says nothing, the nervously elated look in eyes give me her answer.

I let out a breathless laugh. It's mutual. Relief steals my breath, makes my heart beat even faster. It's mutual. Now what? The hard part's over; can I fall without fear now?

A voice interjects. You know she'll fall out of love, right? One day, she won't love you anymore, it says, and laughs at me and my hope and how head over heels I am for her.

I shake my head, and for once, I silence the voice, for the first time. It's mutual.

I think, searching for words to say. I come up with, "It's too early for a relationship, isn't it?", because all my happiness has already spilled out of my expression and has probably drowned her.

In a good way, though, I amend.

Rosaleen pauses to think, if only to pretend she hadn't thought of this already. "Maybe," she admits. "I want to... (kiss you) well... I don't know. But you... like me, don't you?" It's hardly a question.

I find it funny how fast we're moving from one question to the next, words bursting out of both our mouths like soda out of its shaken can.

I've gone through a lot, and it's made me mature and weary, but right now I feel like my actual age; inexperienced and careless and happy.

My cheeks burn. "How long did you know?"

She smiles, and it's a little shy; uncertain; this is new for her, too. "Remember the day before the Ixora mission? You were all blush-y and stuff, and then you brushed against me. That's how I knew," she says. "But I wasn't ready for this then."

Of course. She's an Empath.

She's known this whole time, and I kinda wish she gave me this kind of relief earlier, but she probably forgot to when she was suffocating alone.

"And you're ready now?" I ask.

Rosaleen thinks for a moment. "Not always. But it felt right to acknowledge. Besides... feelings are hard to bottle up."

Silence swells for a moment, and we watch our reflections hold hands; whisper things that make each other laugh; wipe each other's tears away.

She finally asks, "What's the pond mean? Is it our desires or something?"

My cheeks warm. "It's what our subconscious mind thinks," I say, and I can't stop myself from smiling. She likes me.

"Oh." She doesn't blush easily, but she blushes now. How's she so confident and uncertain at the same time? "That was some confession of ours, then."

I grin. "Even our confessions are quirky," I say, glancing at the Magic Puddle™.

She "pfft"s at that. "Look at us go," Rosaleen says with a laugh.

"Us existing? Wow, we are just so cool."

"True, true." A pause. "We should make a deal."

"A deal?" I raise my eyebrows and try not to look as intrigued as I am. "What kind of deal?"

"One that deals in kisses."

"Kisses?" My heart beats faster at that.

Rosaleen nods. "For now, I think I'm comfortable with just knowing that we like each other," she says, then laughs at herself. It's like we can't stop laughing, these happy and nervous and awkward laughs. "God, what are we? A corny ship in a fanfiction?"

I laugh, too. "Well," I say, pretending to dust my hands off, "Corny Ship in a Fanfiction it is (if it means you like me back, then I'll take it; it's mutual)."

"Lovely," she says, and holds back a grin. She seems composed, but her eyes are light and happy and free. It's been a while since I've seen her like this, and knowing that I brought that out?

Wow.

"But on another note," Rosaleen says, drawing me out of my thoughts, "if we're ready to kiss by the time this mission ends... we could."

I raise an eyebrow at that. "It'd be symbolic," I laugh. "Dramatic too."

Rosaleen snorts at the thought. "What, like, the kiss seals this adventure and starts the next?"

"Exactly like that," I say. I'm unsurprised by her analogy; I've seen her bedroom, after all. It was like a poetry shrine.

She smiles. "I'll kiss you at the other side of this war, then," she says, echoing our words from so long ago.

The way she says it is so casual and also not, because she knows me, so she'd know that'd make me smile like an idiot, but she's still checking my eyes and smiling when I do.

A pause. "Or before then," she says. "It depends on our self control."

I laugh at that, feeling helpless, because I know I'd sacrifice a lot for her.

And in case I forgot to mention it, it's also not one-sided this time, and that's always a plus.

˚ ༘ 🌷 ── author's note!

it only took these smart idiots 56 chapters <3 !

also tysm to Keephie4Everrrrrr for all the sweet comments, they mean sm to me!! i'm glad ur enjoying the story :DD <3

oh and again lmk if this feels sudden btw AJSJD see yall on thursday! !!