twisted wonderland one-shots (requests CLOSED! for now)

riddle x male!reader

synopsis: reader and riddle are buddies and one day, riddle is asked to talk with the reader in the gardens. after a while, the reader confesses that he has feelings for riddle and riddle reveals that he doesn't return them :( it's just short and sweet angst

You're going to tell him today. You have to. You're going to march yourself into the gardens, meet up with Riddle, and tell him exactly how you feel.

You've been holding it in for a very  long time. You've known Riddle since your first year at NRC, and the two of you are still close now, even though you're aiming for something closer than being just friends.

You almost feel like you're lying to him, which makes you feel awful. Riddle has always been upfront with you, so now it's time to be honest with him, too. It's unfair for him to not know about your feelings, no matter how scared you are to admit them.

You're really hoping that the two of you can form a romantic relationship after this. Riddle wouldn't be opposed to that, right? And anyways, it's not like the two of you weren't stupidly close anyways before this.

The two of you would spend hours studying together, bouncing ideas off of one another and taking breaks whenever you were too brain-dead to read another word. Then you'd talk about life in general, and you'd get to watch Riddle unwind as he recounted the small bits and pieces of his childhood that weren't marred by the memory of his mother.

He's invited you countless times to spend time with him in his dorm, away from the eyes of others. That's where you started falling for him—when he let his walls down and you got to see the true, softer side of him. It had become a regular occurrence to fall asleep next to him and wake up tangled together. He said it didn't bother him, and over time the two of you'd become more accustomed to regular touch—it was obvious that Riddle wasn't used to it, but with you he was more comfortable with letting his hand linger on your arm or shoulder.

Riddle's overblot hit the both of you hard. You had helped him throughout his recovery, even though he'd shouted at you multiple times whenever things got rough. You knew that he didn't mean it, which was why you'd stayed firmly planted next to him until he'd calmed down enough to talk things out.

You'd been there for him every step of the way, and you're sure that things will go smoothly here. Riddle may get a bit flustered, but it's not like he's going to blow up on you for confessing—he's getting better at maintaining a reasonable response to stimuli.

You'd shot Riddle a text, telling him to meet you outside of Heartslabyul. Riddle didn't respond, but you know that he's already on the way; soon enough, you hear someone approach and you look up from your phone, smiling as the red-haired boy comes into view.

"Hey, Riddle, what's up?" you ask, trying to stay confident even though what you're about to do is setting your anxiousness alight.

"I'm doing alright. May I ask why you wanted me here?" he asks, and you smile because even now he's being polite. It was something you'd always admired; even though his temper could get out of hand at times, he'd always give everyone the same cordial greeting.

"Sure. C'mon, let's go for a walk or something," you say, waiting for Riddle to meet your stride as you head into the gardens.

"You didn't get yourself into any trouble, did you?" asks Riddle, giving you the side-eye and you grin; he seems to be serious, but you know that he's only joking.

"Nope, there's nothing here for you to yell at me about. Sorry, better luck next time," you say, watching Riddle smile slightly.

"Then what could you have called me up here for?" asks Riddle, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not sure whether your silence on the topic is something I should be concerned about. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," you say, trying to keep a straight face.

"Then..?" Riddle says, stopping to turn towards you.

Alright, it's now or never. "I wanted to ask you out," you state bluntly.

Riddle's face doesn't move. He's staring at you calmly, nearly impassive, so you take that as your cue to continue.

"I've known you for a while now, and I wanted to make it clear that I want to be more than friends. I felt that this was something you needed to know because I didn't want to lead you around or anything, and—"

"Wait," says Riddle, and it's so soft you nearly miss it.

"Huh? But I wasn't finished—"

"I don't feel the same," says Riddle, rushed and guiltily as he watches your face slowly fall.

"Oh."

"I don't—I apologize if I'd given you any misconceptions on my feelings for you. Unfortunately, they're strictly platonic, and I have a feeling that they're going to stay that way," he says, reverting to his stiff and formal manner of speech despite the speed that his brain is spinning at.

You're trying very, very hard not to break down right now. Riddle is looking at you like he doesn't know you, nearly distrustful, which hurts even more.

"You're a good person and a good friend, but that's what I want to stay at—just friends,"  says Riddle, feeling bad for having to tell you this.

"I see," you say, doing your best not to let your voice waver.

"I think...I also think that we should take a break. We both need time," says Riddle, and you wordlessly agree.

He leaves without saying anything else, leaving you in the middle of the garden, wondering why it had all gone down like this.

It wasn't—you hadn't done anything wrong,  but now you feel like you should've just kept your mouth shut. There's no getting back the relationship you once had with Riddle; any chances of things going back to normal are gone now that he knows how you feel.

You wish you'd never said anything at all.