Love Blooms

Chapter 12

tighnari's pov - last night

as you walked away, the gravity of the situation sunk in. that was his first kiss.

and it was with you.

shit, did i scare them? fuck... why did i react like that? i could have just said "did i scare you" or "did i go too far".

he mentally bashed himself, how could he kiss someone that he didn't harbor any feelings for?

or does he?

right now he felt confused. the one that he supposedly loved was taken now. there was no way he fell for you, it's probably because you took his first kiss, right? or maybe he just develops feelings too quickly.

i am a walking red flag i swear to the archons...

he snapped himself out of it, wanting to make sure you were okay, and he saw you crying while walking to your room. his ears drooped while his heart fell to his stomach.

he hurt you. that must have been their first kiss too... damn it.

before he could do anything, he watched you wipe your tears and take a deep breath, entering the guest room and supposedly go to sleep.

although he felt super guilty, he felt like he owed it to you to sort out all the feelings that spiralled in his head. after all, you had been the reason why he was determined to get over that person. he walked to his room, almost in a trance like state while he began conversing with his subconscious.

what is there to get over?

he shook his head at his inner conscious and muttered to himself, "a shit ton. years worth of feelings."

but is that really how you feel, tighnari? or are you saying that because that person is all you know, and now that you have Y/N in your life, you came to realize that you can get over that person?

"shut up..."

now you realize that you like them because they were THERE for you. they spent late nights with you, holding you while you cried, helping you grapple your feelings.

tighnari gripped his hair, the realization hitting him hard.

you get it now, don't you? stop being stupid and deluding yourself. you lost feelings for them a long time ago, but you couldn't imagine a life without harboring feelings for them, so you continued to think you did.

you like the idea of them. but now that you're faced with someone you do like, you need to overcome that delusion. "what is there to get over"? now that you realize it, the answer is a lot more simple, right?

he sighed, knowing his subconscious was completely right, "fuck, i messed up."

Y/N must like me too, tighnari thought. that's why they returned the kiss.

too? haah... let's not jump to conclusions right now. as far as i'm concerned, i'm over that person. as for how i feel about Y/N... we'll just say that i'm attracted to them.

he decided to sleep and talk to you about it tomorrow, but then he saw aether and you walking away. his arm was wrapped around your waist, and he swore he could see the traveler look behind and glare.

tighnari knew he had no right to protest, but he began feeling jealous. he knew he had no right to feel that way, he had just broke your heart with the slip of the tongue. it only made sense for you to run to the traveler for comfort since you both were close.

that's okay, i'll catch them on the way home.

he decided to continue his forest ranger duties while contemplating on what to say, but no matter how he sliced it, he couldn't find a way to sound like less of an asshole.

"master tighnari? master tighnari?? master tighnari???"

the forest watcher snapped his head up from his desk when he heard collei calling his name. he rubbed his eyes and collected himself mentally after looking at the clock: 8:23 PM. i must have passed out for a few hours.

"yes collei? come in."

she hesitantly walked inside, holding a stack of papers which he recognized to be her homework. "i finished all my work! can i leave it in here?"

"of course of course," he assured her, standing up and taking the pile from her, placing it neatly on his desk. "i'll grade these by tomorrow. you can have a few days off."

"hooray! that's awesome!"

tighnari lifted a brow at her more-than-usual positive behavior. "something exciting must be happening soon for you to be so excited. or is homework truly that bad?"

"no no," she assured him, even though she really disliked working on homework at times. "it's just that Y/N told me that i can help work on their new novel the day after tomorrow."

"oh is that so? that must be exciting," tighnari said with a soft smile. how kind of them.

"mhm! i'm so happy that they want my input! i look forward to it."

"i'll extend your relaxation period by a few more days then. have fun."

"r-really?! thank you master tighnari!! i'll see you tomorrow," she chirped. "goodnight!"

"sleep tight collei," tighnari grinned as she left his office. he sighed, i need a break too, but i should start working on these papers as soon as possible.

before he could grab a paper, he heard laughter in the distance. it's them.

he walked outside, seeing you and aether standing outside your guest room. then, aether pulled you into a tight hug which ended after he spoke a few unintelligible words. then, he walked off in tighnari's direction.

the traveler patted him on the shoulder and gave him a serious look, "good luck."

tighnari didn't answer him, simply running over to you instead.

regular POV

"Y/N? can we talk?"

you turned to him, trying to keep your gaze as normal as possible. i'm not going to show him how much of an effect he has on me.

"sure, what about?"

tighnari looked around, "let's go to my office. i need to have a serious conversation with you."

"i just asked what you wanted to about," you said. "i'm not going to go with you unless you tell me first."

"you know what this is about," tighnari said. "please can we just sort this out?"

you took a deep breath. "look, i have a really important day tomorrow, and i need rest. we can discuss this later."

before you could open the door, tighnari grabbed your hand out of instinct. you turned to him, being met with a pleading and guilt-stricken look on his face. he looked down at his boots, "Y/N... can you humor me? just one more time. please?"