HIDDEN PAIN 𐦍 GarrothXReader

54| Afearonia

MONDAY

In the morning I come to the unfortunate realization that, despite having quite a large friend group, I have only a single class with one of them. Garroth and I share Constellations Study, which I should be happy about since he's my boyfriend, but I know I'll be distracted the whole time.

Getting up in the morning is a difficult task. The beds are quite comfortable, and with the combined smell of home, I don't know if I'll ever leave this mattress. Especially when I open my eyes and am overcome by the world spinning around me.

Right, I forgot to eat lunch and dinner...

When was the last time I drank water?

"Don't tell Aaron," Is the first thing I say when Katelyn makes me cop to it. She glares at me, shaking her head as she shakes out some Tylenol from the bottle.

"We'll see,"

"He'll kill me, Katelyn. You don't get it." She raises her brow and waves me off after handing a bottle of water over. Aph hums from where she's fixing her hair in the mirror. Lucinda looks over at me unimpressed. "Hey, can't fault habit."

"Bad habits," Lucinda comments. I glare at her. "You shouldn't take medication on an empty stomach. C'mon, let's head down to breakfast and see what they offer. The boys should be down there already as well."

I quickly throw on some clothes and fix my hair as much as I can, then follow out behind everyone. Katelyn locks the room for extra measure since Talia and her friends are right across the hall, Irene only knows what they'd do to our unlocked room. She slips me the key after, and I promise to hold on to it.

The dining hall is quite large.

We didn't come in here yesterday since we arrived a little later than planned due to a car pile-up on the highway. What should've taken three hours took five, so much of what we should've been shown we were cheated out of.

It looks like a cathedral inside. It kind of reminds me of the dining hall in the Harry Potter movies, grand and packed to the brim.

I swallow nervously.

When I say packed, I mean packed. There are so many people in here it's starting to feel a bit claustrophobic. If something were to happen, I'd be stuck in the crowd with no room for escape. I'd likely fall, get trampled, and die. I blink. Suddenly, I don't like this room anymore.

"Call Garroth and ask where they're at," Aphmau says from beside me. I nod and pull out my phone. It rings a couple of times before his voice comes through. Ah, morning voice. He must still be half asleep like her. When your partner also isn't a morning person.

When we find them, Aaron immediately hands me a plate of food with a sigh. I chuckle, nodding in defeat. Damn it, Katelyn. He goes with Aphmau and the rest of the girls to grab stuff from the buffet, while Garroth, Laurance, Dante, Travis, and I stay behind at the table.

I go warm when Garroth presses a kiss to my forehead, turning my attention to him. I can't hide the smile but look at him in question. He presses another kiss, this time to my lips, which makes me make a noise of confusion.

He hums in response, then lays his head on my shoulder and closes his eyes. The stubble on his chin makes me shudder, but I ignore it because I'm far too embarrassed to do anything but eat. I knew he was affectionate when sleepy, but that was... something else.

I hope Aaron didn't see that.

"Guys," Laurance gestures to his food. "Over my bagel?"

"Suck it up," Garroth mutters. I laugh, picking up my fork and shoveling some eggs into my mouth. Laurance gags, fake collapsing onto the table in a fit of disgust. I roll my eyes. "How's the food?" He asks.