¤Jᴜsᴛ A Oɴᴇ-Sʜᴏᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ ¤

//💜Slowly But Surely💜//

TW!: D3pression, angsty, mentions of meal skipping

A/N: I'm not gonna make this one automatically romantic, so you guys can decide if this is platonic or whatever :)

Sorry if it seems like there's romantic undertones for those hoping for a more neutral (platonic-wise)
one-shot lol

Donnie x D3pressed!Reader
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3rd Person P.o.v~

As you sat there against the back-board of your bed, you felt that feeling in the back of your throat. You stared off into space, holding your phone with both hands.

The room was dark, the only light coming from your screen. The floor was a mess, clothes and used tissues scattered around. Before you knew it, tears were rolling down your cheeks.

You had your headphones in, except you weren't even listening to anything. You didn't even have the strength to immediately blink away the tears blurring your vision. Your hands were shaky and your headache was only getting worse, slowly becoming a migraine.

This cry was different, this time you weren't necessarily thinking. No thoughts were swirling around your head as usual. You felt empty, numb, tired. The emptiness filled the room, as well as your stomach, having skipped two meals that day.

Tap tap tap

You heard tapping on your window, making you jump. You sniffed, wanting to go and get it but lacking the strength. Normally you would duck under the covers and pretend you were sleeping. But today made everything feel pointless, useless. Though deep down, beneath that emptiness, you didn't want anyone seeing you like this. Especially Donnie.

Tap tap tap

You felt that feeling in your throat again, feeling bad about distancing yourself from everyone like this. You've left his messages on 'delivered', you haven't visited him lately, and in your mind, you've probably upset him because of it.

You heard your window slide open and saw Donnie push away the curtains. You move your gaze towards the window and make eye contact with him, his eyes slightly widen.

"Y/n?..." He let himself in, getting a better look of the tired look on your face, and the tears in your eyes. He looked at you as he stood there for a few moments. He walked over and sat down on the edge of your bed, not taking his eyes off you. He had a look of subtle worry.

"Y/n..., are you okay?" He asks you, his eyebrows slowly furrowing. You took out your headphones and looked down at your phone, before slowly shaking your head. His gaze softened. He shifted positions, now sitting criss-cross in front of you, facing you.

"Do.. you want to talk about it?" He asked, fidgeting a little. He was trying his best, not being very used to comforting people like this. You noticed the fidgeting, making you forget about the current situation for a moment, before that quickly faded.

You sighed and your head dropped, now holding your face in your hands. Trying your best to hold in your sobs.

"Do you want...a ...hug? Or do you need some space?" He asked softly, and a little awkwardly. The uncommon gentleness in his voice was making it harder for you to hold it in. You looked up a little. Your eyebrows raised ever so slightly, silently saying yes to the hug.

He shifted closer to you and with a tap of his tech pad, he brought his tech arms out, wrapping them around you. You put your phone down and buried your face in the crook of his neck. The phone now laying screen up, now giving the rest of the room a bit more light.

You started letting out quiet sobs. Although you couldn't bring yourself to return the hug, you didn't need to. He could feel the shakiness in your hands.

"I'm... sorry." You said between soft sobs, the words sounding a bit muffled. He could hear you perfectly, though. The hurt in your voice was unknown to Donnie, he's never seen you like this before.

"For what? You haven't done anything wrong, to my knowledge." He said, rubbing comforting circles on your back with one of his tech arms, which he only knew do to because he's seen people do it on the internet. Again, he wasn't used to actually comforting people like this.

"Everything..." You replied. He slowly retracted his tech arms to look at you, for you to only look down at his plaston. He brought one of his robotic arms to your chin, gently making you look at him. Your eyes met with his.

"Why... why are you here?" You asked him, your eyebrows furrowing in both a sad and curious manner.

"Because you haven't talked to me in a while, I was starting to get concerned-"

"No, why are you here, with me? You could be anywhere, doing anything, with anyone. But you're choosing to be here, and I just can't think of a reason why. I can't think of a reason why anyone would be here with me, let alone you." You said, holding his gaze. His eyes slightly widen, he never would've thought you felt this way. Before he could even respond, you continued.

"I'm not a good friend, or partner. I'm not a good person in general... I... really am a burden, aren't I? Being friends/partners with me must feel... lonely." You slouched, looking back down at his plaston.

"Y/n L/n, you are not, nor have you ever been a burden. Being here with you, being friends/partners with you is one of the best decisions I've ever made. You have never once made me feel lonely, quite the contrary, in actuality. You're the best company a genius could have. I mean it. And I don't really understand how you could tell yourself otherwise."

He cupped your face with both of his tech arms, but you haven't yet brought your eyes up to his. You let out a shaky breath as more tears welled up in the corners of your eyes. He continued.

"Y/n, you are amazing in every way. I like having you around, I always have. Not just me, though, everybody enjoys your company, they like having you as a friend. Not as much as me though." A smile tugged at the very ends of your mouth. Making Donnie smile a little himself.

A part of him is starting to understand Mikey whenever he smiles, or laughs just because someone else is. Those displays of empathy that he's rarely showed himself.

He hesitantly brought up his actual arms, slowly pulling you into a warm embrace. Except this time you returned it, bringing your arms under his and above his shell. And there you two stayed for about a minute, as rain started to pour outside. He slowly let go of you.

"Would you... like me to stay? Or do you need some time alone?" He asked, looking right in your eyes. Time alone was the last thing you needed right now, considering you've spent a week completely socially isolated.

"Stay, please." You said, just beyond a whisper. You reached for your LED light remote, on your nightstand, turning them on and making them your favorite color. You turned down their brightness, so the room was dimly lit with a pretty f/c shade. You got your laptop and crawled towards the backboard of your bed. You waved Donnie over.

Donnie nodded and moved over, now sitting a few inches away from you. Just close enough to be able to watch whatever you were about to put on your computer. As he sat there, he couldn't help but stare, a question sitting in his eyes.

"Are you... okay with me... holding you? Or do you need your space?" He asked hesitantly.

You wiped away a single tear that had rolled down your cheek, sniffling, and scooted closer to him, resting your head on his shoulder. You opened your laptop to turn on a documentary for the two of you to watch. He froze for a few moments, his shoulders tensing up at first.

Before eventually he relaxed a bit and put a tech arm around you, but not before giving you a couple quick, comforting head pats. As a comfortable silence filled the room. The silence accompanied by the sound of rain and the documentary you put on.

For the first time in a while, you felt like you were enjoying the moment, enjoying yourself. Slowly, you started feeling better, and all because of him.

Slowly but surely.
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1373 words