sweet like honey | bonten x reader

18: fallout

it was your senior year of high school, and you sat at the kitchen island eating breakfast with him. you look around at the familiar space.

for some reason you felt like you shouldn't be there, but you pushed the nagging feeling away since you felt happy to be there.

when you brought your eyes to him, you saw he was already staring at you. your gaze softened at the edges toward the person you hadn't seen in what felt like ages, the one you never thought you'd see again.

his eyebrows furrowed in confusion at your reaction. he knew how to read you like a book... because after all, he was the one who knew you best. so of course he would notice right away when you seemed off.

"what's wrong?"

"huh? nothing." your gaze dropped to your plate in front of you as you picked up your fork and pushed the eggs on your plate around.

"are you having boy troubles?"

"yeah right." you rolled your eyes. "why would i waste my time with that?"

"hey, there are some of us who are good." he flashed a teasing smile at you, showing off his dimpled cheeks and perfectly straight teeth.

you bit your lip to hide the smile that threatened to spread on your face.

"i guess. it just seems like a whole lot of effort for something that won't work out, you know?"

"of course it's not going to work out if you don't let it. maybe what you need is to open your heart, honey."

you couldn't help but chuckle at how ridiculous he sounded.

"you've been listening to too much emo music."

it was his turn to roll his eyes. he opened his mouth to respond back, but you cut him off.

"now that you mention it though... you've been living here a while now, and you haven't even brought a single girl home. what's up with that?" you teased.

his eyes widened in surprise before clearing his throat and busying himself with tidying the kitchen.

"that's none of your business."

he stood up and collected your plate to take over to the sink, his back towards you as he walked away.

"see, you can't even defend yourself!"

"i've had girlfriends... you just haven't met them."

"did they all go to a different school too?"

he turned to look at you over his shoulder, his mouth hung open in shock at your not-so-subtle dig.

"honey!" he whined before becoming serious again. he rinsed your plates and put them in the dishwasher before continuing. "i'm not the one on trial here! i just don't want life to pass you by. i'm sure someday you'll meet someone great. someone who'll make you want to get to know them more. someone who'll make you want it to work out."

his words were so cheesy and over the top that they usually just went in one ear and out the other, but something about how he said it so confidently this time made you pause.

someone who'll make me want it to work out...

you propped your elbows up on the countertop and rested your head in your palms as you looked at him carefully.

"how can you be so sure?" you asked. part of you felt like he was just saying these things to make you feel better about being alone, to give you a little glimmer of hope. you were still grieving the loss of your mother, and he knew that too.