My Heart Belongs To You, Varian x Reader

Chapter 4: Who's Ready For The Expo?

"Y/n!" Varian shouted, barging through the door to my room, panting.
I jumped in my bed, my heart rate accelerating from the scare.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, setting my book down.
"I need your- why are you reading a children's book?" Varian asked, pointing at the book on my bed.
I blushed in embarrassment.
I was reading a short book titled "Eliza, Mae, and their unstoppable gang".
"Rapunzel has been giving me reading lessons for the past couple of weeks now. I learned the hard way that while I can talk normally, I never learned to read. Rapunzel thought taking baby steps and giving me kid books would help. It's embarrassing though." I lowered my head.
"How come? I read that book when I was younger and I loved it." Varian said, sitting by the edge of my bed.
"Varian, I may be too scared to talk to the other town kids, but I'd be an idiot if I didn't think that people judge others. Especially those who can't even read at a 1st grader's level." I moped, putting my bookmark on the page I was on and placing my book to the side.
"Kids judge me too." Varian admitted, scooting closer.
"They do?" I asked, surprised.
Who would ever judge a sweet boy like Varian?
"Yeah, uh... they don't really like hanging out with a person who just makes a mess of everything. Nobody wants to hang out with the trouble maker." Varian said, lowering his head as well.
I frowned at him, he didn't deserve that.
I sat up from my original position and crawled next to him. I plopped myself right at his side and placed my hand on his.
"At least we got each other." I replied, the edges of my mouth forming into a small smile.
"Yeah, we have each other." Varian replied, placing his other hand on mine.
I was already looking at him when he lifted his head to look at me. Our faces were inches apart.
"So...what did you come in here to talk about?" I asked, taking my hand away from his.
"Oh right. Heh." Varian replied, scratching the back of his neck, a light blush playing on his cheeks and nose.
"I signed up for the science expo, I asked Cassandra to be my assistant but she had "lady in waiting" responsibilities. I proposed that if I helped her finish them faster, she would help me with my invention. Could you help me?" Varian asked.
"Help you...with your invention?" I asked, needing clarification.
"No, with the chores. I was hoping to impress Cassandra with my machine, and I'd love the help of a friend." Varian responded, showing his toothy grin.
My eye started to twitch. I'm glad the last dose of Varian's potion I took was only a week ago, I did not want Varian to feel what I was feeling right now.
It felt like pressure was being put on my chest, except the pressure was held constant and becoming more irritable by the minute. My heart felt like it was stinging but by what? Was I angry? No..., annoyed? Maybe, but it wasn't that.
Was I- was I jealous? Of who though?
Why would I be jealous of Varian wanting to impress Cassandra?
No, it wasn't that either. It was when Varian called me a friend that I started to feel this way. But why?
"Ok." Was all I said.
"Ok......, c'mon then." Varian said, probably sensing my change in tone.
It wasn't his fault, I just needed to find a way to somehow get rid of this jealousy.
It's not like I like LIKE Varian or anything, I was just jealous that he might like Cassandra as a better friend than me.
Right?

~Outside~

"Oh, hey Y/n, what are you doing here?" Cassandra asked as Varian and I made our way to her.
She was busy cleaning the silverware on the table, while straightening out the fabric draped over the tables as well.
"I got roped into helping you do your chores so you can help Varian." I grumbled, my mood completely changing after Varian and I's last conversation.
"...interesting." Cassandra replied.
After a few minutes of cleaning silverware, Varian invented a way to clean them even faster. It really impressed Cassandra, which made the pressure in my chest grow more and more irritable.
Varian continued to impress Cassandra throughout the afternoon, making inventions that made every single one of Cassandra's chores easier to do.
At this point, I was just following Varian and Cassandra around the castle.
But I also started noticing Cassandra taking advantage of Varian's generosity. She even left at one point for nearly 30 minutes, leaving Varian and I to do all the work (which Varian eventually made an invention that even made that easier).
Finally the expo came, finally every single one of CASSANDRA'S tasks were done.
"Finally, I'm actually quite excited to see all the inventions at the expo." I sighed, walking alongside Varian towards the town square.
"Really? I'm glad. Cassandra said she was gonna meet us there. Do you think she was impressed by all the inventions I came up with today? I'm surprised half of them work, I think that's a sign that I'm really improving!" Varian bubbled, a slight skip in his step as we walked.
"Oh yes, I'm sure she loved it!" I snapped, the sarcasm in my voice obvious.
Varian's skipping stopped, and his smile faded away. I immediately felt bad.
"Are you ok? You've been off all day, what's wrong?" Varian asked.
"I- uh-," I tried to think, to be honest I still hadn't figured that part out myself.
"I don't know! All day today I've been feeling this invisible pressure on my chest that just won't go away! It's like a weight in my heart and it's just getting more and more irritating, it's making me feel more and more frustrated with everything!" I admitted, waving my hands in the air like a lunatic while pacing in front of Varian.
Varian broke out into a pit of laughter.
"Hey! You're laughing at me!" I stated the obvious, while also feeling hurt.
"Y/n, you're jealous!" Varian also stated the obvious.
"Jealous that you may like Cassandra more than me? Yeah, I guess I am." I crossed my arms.
Varian's pit of laughter stopped.
"Hey," he said, grabbing my hand.
"I'll never like anyone more than you. You're my only friend, so technically, you're my best friend." Varian said, mumbling the last few words.
"Best friend?" I asked as we continued to walk.
"Yeah! It means you're better than my other friends, which I have none." Varian said.
"Best friend... I like the sound of that." I replied, the pressure in my chest growing lighter. But it still didn't fully go away.

~At The Expo~

The expo started and crazy events took place. While Varian's invention obviously worked, one of the judges made the machine make a tornado that was sucking up everything and making a wind so strong, it was knocking people to the floor.
Varian and I also learned that Cassandra abandoned us for guard duty, it was sad seeing Varian explain his invention alone.
The wind was blowing fast and Varian needed to get back on stage to turn the machine off. I noticed Cassandra trying to help some other folks and I grabbed the dirt underneath me to reach her.
"Help him!" I shouted, my voice nearly lost in the wind.
"I can't! I have to help these people!" Cassandra replied, getting them out of the wind's range.
"You abandoned Varian and I just so you could play soldier for an hour! You used Varian to do your chores for you and the worst part is, you don't care! Be the assistant you promised you would be and help him now!" I pleaded.
Cassandra looked down, deep in thought. A frown formed on her lips, she looked guilty.
"Ok." She responded. I took her place in helping people as Cassandra helped Varian.
The machine turned off and Varian was able to finish his presentation.
He named his element herzrium. Herz is German for heart.

~After the Expo~

"I'm glad Cassandra turned around and finally decided to be your assistant, but I don't understand, earlier you said you were gonna name your element cassandrium. Why the sudden change?" I asked Varian.
We were sitting in a garden on a bench while eating cupcakes as a way to celebrate Varian's accomplishment.
"Cassandra told me what you said to her during the whole tornado catastrophe. It made me realize that I should name the element after somebody who cares about me just as much as I care about them. I thought about you first." Varian said, nudging me with his shoulder.
"Awwww, how cute. You've formed an emotional attachment to a stone." I laughed.
"You're still human, even if you're made from stone. But unlike other humans, you have a heart of gold." Varian complimented.
"Technically still stone-"  I mumbled while biting into my cupcake.
"Heard that." Varian warned, finishing  his cupcake. I stifled a pit of laughter that eventually broke free.
The pressure in my chest completely lifted. I felt so much better.

Varian dropped me off at the castle, hugging me goodbye before leaving.
I went upstairs and changed into my nightgown.
It was barely after sundown but today had me really beat. I climbed into bed, my eyes already half closed, and laid down on my side.
"Hi." I heard Rapunzel say.
"AH!" I yelled, my eyes shooting open as I threw a pillow at her.
"Wow!" Rapunzel gasped, ducking as the pillow shot across the room.
"Don't scare me like that!" I scolded, sitting up.
"Where were you all day?" Rapunzel asked, turning the lamp on.
"Oh you know, did Cassandra's chores with Varian, hung out with Varian, went to the science expo with Varian. All in a days work." I joked.
"That's like everyday now." Rapunzel grinned.
"Well of course! Varian is my only friend, I love spending time with him." I defended.
"Yeah sure, friend, okay." Rapunzel challenged, her eye brows moving up and down.
"Stop doing that!" I blushed.
"He's just a friend!" I explained.
"That sounds familiar." Rapunzel mumbled under her breath.
"I'm serious! At least... I think I am." I stopped defending myself and actually thought for a second.
"Wanna elaborate on that?" Rapunzel raised a brow, interested.
"It's just that- Varian called me his friend today too. But when he mentioned he wanted to impress Cassandra, a huge pressure was put on my chest, and my heart felt like it was stinging. Should that mean anything?" I asked, tapping my heart.
"Oh yes it does, it means you got a crush!" Rapunzel announced, tapping her nose.
"Me? A crush? Already? But I've only been alive for a few weeks!" I exclaim!
"Love knows no time! You of all people should know that. You're literally the heartstone." Rapunzel joked.
"Ughhhhhhh." I groaned, grabbing a pillow and shoving my face into it.
Rapunzel laughed as she patted my back.
"Don't worry lil' sis, I've gotcha." Rapunzel comforted.
"I always got you."

Thank you for reading!
Please let me know if I made any mistakes!
Have a blessed day/morning/night!<3