Creve Coeur | Ahri x Male Reader

Chapter 10: Complacency

(Name) POV

"Uh, hey Dad."

My father stared back at me from the other side of the screen. "Sorry I haven't been in contact lately. Duty calls, ya know?" He gave a grin that I couldn't help but replicate.

"It's cool, I know you're busy with work and all." I responded, awkwardly rubbing my arm.

I hadn't gotten much sleep last night because of...reasons. When I actually did fall asleep, it was only for an hour, and I fully intended to go back to sleep and waste my weekend in bed.

Fortunately and unfortunately for me, my father decided to video call me for the first time in a few weeks. I couldn't exactly blame him for this, as his job kept him incredibly busy, but he tried his absolute best, so appreciated the little moments.

"How's Jade treating you? You haven't gone crazy yet, have you?"

Chuckling softly, I shook my head. Resting my chin on my palm, my eyes drooped a bit as I forced out a reply. "Not yet, but I can only take so much."

"Well when you get a little older, messing with the younger generation is a great past time. You'll understand when you're a wrinkly old man like me."

I snorted a bit. "You're speaking as if you're over 60, you're only 39, Dad."

He laughed and rubbed his head. "I feel decades older most times though." He dropped his hand before giving a curious look. "Now, I can tell you've got something on your mind, wanna talk about it?"

Blinking a few times, I took a second to respond. "What? How can you tell that?"

"You're my son, idiot. Every bad habit that I had, you're bound to have. One of them was bottling up how I felt and letting negativity rule over my life. I didn't have someone there for me, but I want to be here for you." He explained, shocking me thoroughly.

"Dad..."

"Ah ah ah! None of that sappy stuff!" He quickly told me with a smile. "Now, do you wanna talk or not?"

Thinking it over, I nodded softly. "Well...my first day here, I met this girl in one of my classes. She's cool, fun to hang around, and can take a joke. She's an open book...but it's like she's also locked herself off from the world. Aunt Jade saw us, and I told the girl she might assume we were on a date." I explained and took a few seconds to gather my thoughts, extremely thankful for my father's patience. "But as soon as I said that, she got kind of cold and then said that I was too late...I don't know if I offended her or anything, but it seems like she doesn't want to be in a relationship."

"And do you?"

I was caught off guard by his question and sighed, ruffling my hair. "I...I don't know."

"Hmm...there's something else on your mind."

I became a little embarrassed both at how easily I was read and because of what I was thinking of.

"Uh, yeah...a few days ago, we snuck out pretty late to hang out at the beach. We talked, danced, had fun, stuff like that, but..."

"But?"

Gulping softly, I continued. "She..she fell...I fell and...we kissed. More than once." I forced out.

My Dad closed his eyes and hummed. "So you think she doesn't want a relationship, but you're confused because of the experience you two had. You don't want to pressure her into anything because of her decision and also because you're not even sure if you want a relationship, did I get that right?"

I was a little surprised. Last time I checked, my Dad owned a clothing brand, he wasn't a psychologist. "Uh, yeah. How did you-"

"Do you like this girl? Like actually like her?"

I didn't know how to respond.

"That's on me, let me rephrase that." He cleared his throat. "How do you feel about her, son?"

Sighting softly, I slumped forwards a bit. "I don't even know. I know that I like being around her and what not, but I don't think I like like her...not yet at least. I don't think I could do a relationship right now anyway...school and stuff."

My dad scoffed and shook his head. "Don't let something as trivial as school keep you from finding a girlfriend- or boyfriend, I don't judge and I'll love you no matter what-"

"Dad."

"Right, sorry. All I'm saying is, if you at one point decide that you like this mystery girl, just go for it. You miss 100% of the chances you don't take. If she doesn't want to be friends anymore after you tell her, she wasn't that good of a friend in the first place, but if she does, then nothing gained nothing lost."

"And if I get into the relationship?"

"I can't tell you what to do if you get into a relationship (Name). Everything you do and say after that point is completely up to you, whether it be good or bad, but I know you wouldn't do anything bad on purpose. If the girl likes you back, I doubt she'll mind you being yourself. You're my son, you're bound to be cool."

Cracking a smile, I nodded, thankful for his advice. "That was...insightful, to say the least. Thanks a lot Dad."

He grinned at me. "No problem kid, and if all else fails, just make sure you use the good old (L/N) charm, it works every single time."

"Dad!" I snorted.

"I'm serious!" He responded. "One time I met this really cute secretary and when I took her home-"

"Hanging up now, love you Dad!" I quickly hung up before he could go into detail on his nightly adventures.

I leaned back into my chair and let out a deep breath while closing my eyes.

It felt as if a huge weight was just lifted off of my shoulders.

Cracking an eye open, I glanced over to my phone that was on my desk. The screen was dark and gave no indication of turning on anytime soon, but something drew me to it.

I picked it up and went to my messages, clicking on Ahri's contact.

I stared at our latest message from a few days ago and mulled over my options.

I typed out, 'We need to talk' but didn't send it yet.

'As tempting as a relationship sounds right now,' my fingers closed in on the send button in what seemed like slow motion.

'I don't think I could handle it right now,' I sent the message and placed my phone down. I turned on some music and flipped my lights off as I dropped onto my bed and stared into the darkness of my room.

A small smile then graced my features as I closed my eyes.

'And I think I'm okay with that.'