𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍- ★彡[ᴀɴʏᴀ x ᴅᴀᴍɪᴀɴ]★彡

𝙉𝙚𝙪𝙣

"This is miserable," Damian grumbled beside her.

They were forced into an awkward position in which their bodies were awkwardly crammed together, their uniforms growing progressively dustier in the dirty space.

"Well I'm sure you would be even more miserable if you didn't get an A," Anya muttered.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

Who knows how long the two of them had been in there? Had it been minutes or hours? It was impossible to tell. All Anya knew was that it wasn't pitch black outside, which meant it hadn't been too long. Damian had been complaining the whole entire time that they had been down there, eventually just saying 'this is miserable' like a broken record. Right now he was on his twenty-eighth time. Thankfully there were not many insects in the hole, at most a few ants that crawled onto their shoes.

"This is miserable," he grumbled once more a few minutes later.

Twenty-nine.

Anya sighed. "You're not making it any less miserable by reinstating the fact. Why don't we look upon this occasion fondly? Remember when we were kids and we got lost so we stayed in a cave and held-"

"Nonnoonno!" he tensed beside her and immediately buried his head in his knees. "I don't want to remember that..."

Twenty-five 'this is miserable's later, Anya decided to peek her head out of the hole. The sky was a soft orange, revealing that it had gone way past school hours.

"Uhh, Damian? It's sunset," she turned to him and saw his aggravated face immediately shift into horror.

"You're kidding."

He scuffled out of the hole and stood up with a disdained expression, brushing off his uniform.
"We're going to have to get out of here before nighttime," he observed, "but it doesn't look like that leaves us much time at all."

"We'd better get moving then," Anya nodded thoughtfully, "let's see... which way did we come from again?"

Damian glanced around. "It's all because you dragged us in here in such a hurry. Now we're lost. Great. Just great."

Anya felt a little downcast. This had been her fault, but she wished that he had been a little nice about it. Instead, he continued to ruthlessly cut her down with words sharp as knives. "I'm sorry."

"Fine, fine," he finally stopped his complaining, "let's look at the sky. I think I can remember which way the sun was when we left, so with that logic let's go right."

A sudden wave of nausea poured over Anya, causing her to lurch over slightly and hold her stomach in pain. Damian's gaze immediately shifted to concern and he quickly grabbed her shoulders.

"H-hey, are you okay?" his formerly scrutinizing eyes had turned so gentle that she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. "Did I say too much? I-"

"It's fine," Anya shakily pushed him off and fought to stand upright, "it's not all that bad. I'll manage."

Nodding slowly, Damian was obviously not convinced. It didn't even take probing into his mind to tell that he didn't buy any of what she was saying.

"Here," he extended his hand, "take my hand."

Anya let out a small giggle. "Haha, what's with you? Acting like a boyfriend all of the sudden."
He averted his gaze. "I just don't want you to get injured. I should at least do this, right?"

Gently taking his hand, Anya followed him into the woods. Her head felt fuzzy and the world was spinning, but she felt grounded by the warmth of his palm. They had held hands before but this time felt different as if Damian were handling her with more care than before.

An unexpected root caught Anya off guard in her delirium and she fell to the ground, making sure to let go of Damian's hand so she wouldn't drag him down with her.

"O-oi! Are you alright?" he crouched down beside Anya, who was sitting on the ground trying to bear through her nausea.

Is this because Mama made breakfast today...?

"I'm fine, sorry."

"Hah. You're obviously not feeling well. You're not a very good liar, are you?" Damian snorted.

Suddenly, Anya felt her weight being lifted off the ground as Damian hoisted her into his arms.

"WHOA! Wait, hold on! You really don't have to do this, it's-"

"It's fine, I don't really mind," he shrugged and began to walk.

"Aren't I heavy? And also, this is super embarrassing!" Anya tried to worm her way out of his grasp, but he kept a firm hold on her. "I'm not a child so I don't need to be carried around, okay?"

"Well, that's true," Damian glanced down at her for a second and gave a triumphant smirk. "But don't you remember? We're 'dating,' so this kind of thing isn't too outlandish."

Anya scanned his thoughts for any sign of mockery, but it turned out his words were nothing but sincere. "Alright, I guess just for a little bit."

Little did she know that a few minutes after she said those words, she drifted into sleep. Damian felt relieved that she was getting some rest, but was also extremely anxious because he had absolutely no idea where he was going.

He kept walking and walking, but the forest seemed to never come to an end. He was starting to grow thirsty and hungry, and no doubt that when the girl in his arms woke up she would feel the same. Hours passed and the moon rose high in the sky.

Shit. I need to get some rest or I'm not going to be able to function tomorrow morning. Letting out a sigh, Damian found a decent enough spot to settle them both down at and placed her gently on the forest floor. It's chilly.

Damian hesitated for a moment, but then took off his jacket and wrapped it around their shoulders, leaning his head back against the bark of a tree and letting his thoughts fade away along with his consciousness.

Some people say near-death experiences bring people together! Let's hope that it's the same for these two, kekeke. Book updates might be kind of slow, not too sure yet I just have a really busy schedule in terms of writing at the moment. :') -Wasabi