Runaways

Fallen For Her

"So..." (y/n) started as he and Karolina walked down the street. The team had separated into groups, one group stayed in the hotel room, one got supplies, and the other looked for apartments for rent. Karolina and (y/n) were the second group. "You and Nico?"

Karolina quickly turned to the boy and stopped walking. "No!" Her words were contradicted by her blush. (Y/n) gave her a look that said he wasn't buying it. "We're not dating" she shook her head.

(Y/n) smirked. "Then she's fair game?" He knew this would probably annoy the girl but he needed confirmation.

"I-" Karolina huffed. "I suppose so" she began walking again and (y/n) did the same. "Is it that obvious I like her?"

"I took a lot of psychology classes" (y/n) shrugged. "You're always trying to be close to her, you touch her a good deal, even if it's just her hands or putting your arm around her in a friendly way" Karolina held up her hand and motioned for the boy to stop, she got the idea.

"I could say the same about you" Karolina crossed her arms. "Well not as much the touching part. But the closeness part"

(Y/n) just shrugged in response. "My only parent abused and neglected me my entire life. As a result I crave attention and love" (y/n) let out a shaky breath, he never had liked psychologically analyzing himself. "Not just crave it. I'm desperate for it. It's pretty much all I want in life and I hate that" Karolina could hear the anger in his voice when he said the word hate.

Karolina grabbed the boys hand and squeezed it comfortingly. There was no romance behind it like there was with Nico, this was just meant to be comforting. "In other words you've fallen for Nico too"

"I have" was all (y/n) said in response.

"Okay" Karolina sighed. She let go of the boys hand and it was silent the rest of the walk to the store.

They quickly grabbed the stuff they needed and left once again.

Once back at the hotel Karolina broke off from (y/n) and went to sit in the lobby while he went to the elevator with the bags of stuff.

He didn't want Karolina to dislike him but he had needed to know if she and Nico were dating. He had just needed to. And he hadn't been thinking when he responded to her question, he had just spoken without thinking.

(Y/n) was pulled from his thoughts as the elevator doors opened. He walked out and headed towards the room they were all staying in.

"Hey Scarface" Molly spoke as the boy walked inside. She noticed the boys frown and her smile turned into a frown of her own. "How are you feeling?"

"Emotionally exhausted and morally bankrupt" was all (y/n) replied as he placed the bags on the floor before walking over to the one bed they had and falling onto it beside Nico.

"And why's that?" Nico asked as she watched the boys face fall into the pillow.

"Emotionally exhausted for many reasons. As for morally bankrupt, that's for me to know and you to wonder about forever" (y/n) shrugged as he shoved his face deeper into the pillow.

"That's not worrying at all" Nico shrugged as she lay on her back. She pushed (y/n) onto his side so he was facing her but then realized she had touched him. "Sorry" she spoke once again as she watched the boy struggle to remain calm. "Just didn't want you smothering yourself"

"It's fine" (y/n) lied as he let out a shaky breath once again. "It's fine" he glanced over at Molly and was glad to see she wasn't paying attention. "I'm trying to get used to the touching. I really am" his words came out as little more than whispers.

Nico smiled at the boy reassuringly. "I know. You're not doing anything wrong (y/n). It wasn't as hard at first for me but everyone's different. You'll be ready when you're ready, no sooner" (y/n) nodded as he took her words in. "I'm trying not to touch you as much either. I just forget sometimes"

"I know" (y/n)'s voice was back to its normal tone. "And I'm thankful that you're trying" the boy was quickly startled as he heard the sound of the door unlocking. He jumped out of bed right before Karolina walked in.

Karolina looked around the silent room. "Hope I'm not interrupting" she closed the door behind her.

"You're fine" Nico was quick to reply. She patted the bed in a motion for the girl to have a seat. "What took you longer than (y/n)? I thought you went together"

"We did" Karolina spoke as she glanced at the boy. "I stayed in the lobby for a while to think about some stuff we talked about. Came to the conclusion that none of it matters" It must have sounded odd to Nico but (y/n) just smiled in relief at those words.

Karolina walked up to the boy and whispered in his ear. She then pulled away and the boy nodded in response. Karolina nodded back before going to sit back down beside Nico.

(Y/n) sat down on his sleeping bag on the floor. He thought about what Karolina had whispered to him. She was right. When the time came Nico would choose, they'd of course try to sway her opinion towards themselves until then but in the end everything was up to the Wiccan.

Nobody made up Nico Minoru's mind for her.

Word count: 1000

(Question of the day: how do you deal with a lack of creativity? I have writers block yet again. That being said I have seven and a half more chapters ready for this story so we should be good unless the writers block lasts a long time once again)