A Court of Thorns and Roses Oneshots

The Weight of the World (Rhysand)

Written for Fictober 2021 on Tumblr and requested by hellotvshowtrash

Prompt: "I need you."

Summary: Y/N is a member of the Inner Circle, and has been almost as long as Cassian and Az. She and Rhys have been friends for a long, long time, and Y/N's always hoped they might be more. Still, she does her best to be there for him in whatever capacity she can, even when Rhys refuses to let other people suffer when he can instead carry the weight alone. Y/N's had enough of it, and is hoping she might finally be able to get him to break down and open up to share some of the burden with her too, but she might get more than she bargained for.

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"How about it, Y/N? You coming with us?"

Mor grinned at me as Cassian and Azriel stood on either side of her, all three of them looking at me. After dinner at Rita's the four of us almost always went out dancing, no matter what Amren and Rhys decided to do. It was tradition. Tonight, however, that tradition would have to break.

"Sorry, Mor. I'm just not up for it tonight."

Her face fell immediately, and she quickly closed the distance between us as she put a hand to my forehead.

"Are you feeling okay? Do we need to call Madja?"

"No, Mor, I'm fine," I insisted, brushing her off as I took a step back. "Tonight's just one of the rare nights I don't want to go dancing. I promise I'll make it up to you next time."

Mor stared at me for a few beats, then sighed when she realized I wasn't going to change my mind.

"Fine. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." She turned on her heel and started heading down the street, Cassian and Az giving Rhys and I a wave before heading after her. Amren had already left, which meant it was just Rhys and I now, alone.

Exactly what I'd been hoping for.

I'd known Rhys for a long time, and over the years he'd tried to master the art of hiding everything he was dealing with from the people he cared about. But every time he got better at that, I got better at noticing it. And no matter how determined he was to keep his friends from sharing any of the weight he carried, I was just as determined to not let him carry it alone.

In the back of my mind, I'd always thought it must be a mate thing, the way I could read him. But we'd spent centuries together, and the bond never snapped into place. I was staring to get as hopeless as Azriel with Mor, but I tried to block that thought out of my mind as I turned to Rhys.

"So... you didn't want to go tear up the town with those three either?" I asked. Rhys gave me a small smile, then put his hands in his pockets as he started walking along the river, back towards the townhouse. I fell into step beside him.

"No, not tonight. It's supposed to rain, and I don't feel like walking through the streets of Velaris at two in the morning looking like a drowned rat."

I huffed a laugh, but I couldn't help being a little disappointed. He was deflecting, again, instead of talking out any of his real problems.

"Alright then. What's your plan? Just gonna go home and brood?"

Now it was Rhys' turn for a huffy laugh.

"I guess so. I have a lot of things I need to take care of, and I'm quickly running out of time to take care of them."

"Is there anything I can help with?"

Rhys sighed and paused, stopping at the railing looking out over the Sidra. He just stared out at the river for a few beats, apparently lost in thought, and I stopped and stood beside him. I watched his face, trying to read the emotions and stress he worked so hard to keep concealed there.