fruitful mistakes ( chaeya x reader )

Chapter 2

"Why am I so fucking stupid?!" You groaned, lying face flat on your bed.

Tears threatened to spill from your eyes as you rolled over to the side, clutching one of your pillows to your chest. It had been an hour since your encounter in the library and the pain in Kaeya's eye was tattooed onto your brain. You couldn't shake the image out no matter how hard you tried.

You thought Kaeya was indestructible. Despite all the things you've seen him go through, he was always so confident and in control of himself, it seemed like nothing could touch him. You had no idea how much this would affect him. But could you really blame him?

If Kaeya or Childe or even the both of them treated you the way you were treating them now, you'd be heartbroken. They were such an important part of your life, being without them would just make things feel empty. You already felt empty. Maybe you should tell them the truth.

But no, that would just hurt Kaeya more, wouldn't it? You sat up and groaned, burying your head in your knees. Your mind drifted back to the man's pained gaze. You remembered the way your heart clenched at the sight and how desperately you wanted to do something to see him smile again.

You had held back the urge to place a hand on his cheek and pull him into a hug. You wanted to tell him that he didn't do anything and that how important he was to you. You wanted to make things right. But you knew there was nothing you could say to do that.

It was a lose-lose. You lie, both he and Childe would be able to tell and you lose the most important relationships in your life. You tell the truth and you risk losing the most important relationships in your life.

Lifting your head, you looked over to your nightstand where you had a picture of the three of you together. You lifted it and blew some of the dust off. A sad smile grew on your face as you gazed upon the image, looking at how happy you were.

If you recalled correctly, you took this picture about 2 years ago on the day that Childe and Kaeya told you about their relationship. It was during a week-long trip to Liyue that Childe had planned out for the three of you so you could attend one of their yearly art festivals. If you had to pick a favorite memory you had with your two friends, it was certainly this trip.

"Now, have any of you lovely comrades of mine ever had your picture taken?" Childe asked, standing up from the bench you all decided to sit at. At this point, you had been walking around the festival for hours, trying to do all the activities you never got the chance to earlier in the week. You were beginning to feel tired but luckily you still had energy left.

"Pictures? We've been here all week and you never told us they had kameras here!" You gasped. You always expressed your interest in kameras but you never had the chance to actually use one let alone see one in person. You had only ever seen blueprints from books in Lisa's library.

Childe chuckled at your excitement, shaking his head. "Well, it's one of the few surprises I wanted to save for last." He winked at Kaeya, earning a frown of confusion from you.

Kaeya playfully rolled his eyes, being the next to stand up from his seat. "So where are these kameras? I believe if we wait any longer (Y/N) just might explode." He lightly laughed, observing your display of excitement from your seat.

"Yes, right this way." Childe turned around as Kaeya grabbed onto your hand and pulled to lift you from the bench. You let out a yelp, followed by a laugh at the strength of your friend's pull, almost tripping onto the ground below. Childe turned around and laughed. "Why don't we race there?"

"But we don't know where you're going. That's quite the unfair advantage, don't you think?" Kaeya pointed out.

"And wouldn't 3 grown adults look a bit suspicious running across the street?" You added.