Failing For You - Gojo x Reader

Chapter 13

"Have you ever been in love, Elaine?"

Elaine turns to me, pausing her task of washing and cutting up strawberries. 

"I don't think so," she says contemplatively. "I've never dated anyone."

I nod, somewhat expecting her answer. "Got it."

"Why?" She asks, leaning her hip against the counter. She crosses her arms casually, but because she's still holding the knife, it looks pretty menacing. 

"I said something in class today that's been making me feel weird," I shrug, grabbing a shaker to mix up an order of milk tea. 

"What did you say?" She asks.

"I basically implied that romantic love is sort of a myth," I reply. "I thought someone would agree with me but no one did."

She snorts a laugh, covering her mouth with her free hand.

"What?" I frown at her.

"You said that in class?" She says, still covering her mouth.

"Yeah?" I say, not really understanding what the big deal is. 

"Y/n...girl..." She's full-on laughing now. "In what context was that necessary?"

"I was answering a question about a couple in a book we're reading," I say. "And everyone seemed to think they're in love when they're not."

"So then you announced to the class that you don't think love, in general, is real?" She asks, raising a dark brow. 

"Well...I mean..." I was starting to see what she was saying. 

Why had I said that? It hadn't felt weird in the moment...

"What did your professor say when you declared that?" Elaine asks, clearly very entertained by my humiliation.

"It was the fucking TA, not the professor," I grumbled. "He's so...he's so aggravating. It almost felt like he was baiting me."

"Why on earth would the TA be baiting you?" She laughs. "He sounds mean."

The doorbell jingles and voices drift into the shop.

"He's so mean," I agree, nodding. "Constantly on his high horse, always making fun of me, even the way he stands there at the front of the room makes me crazy--"

"Ouch, wouldn't want to be whoever you're talking about."

I choke on my words as I turn, wide-eyed, towards the voice on the other side of the counter.

Fucking Gojo.

And who is that next to him?

Fucking Geto.

I gulp, frozen in place. Surely Gojo doesn't know I was talking about him--

"Was that me you were talking about?" He saunters up to the counter, bracing his forearms on it and leaning forward slightly, causing me to take a step back. I smell his cologne, fresh and a little citrusy. I sneak a quick glance at Getou, who gives me a little wave. He definitely doesn't seem weirded out to see me again in a more sober and less dysfunctional setting. 

For that I am grateful. 

"Nooooo, of course not," I laugh, turning to give Elaine a teeth-bared smile and trying to subliminally imply that this is, in fact, the guy I was talking about. 

Gojo looks like he can see through every one of my lies. He takes his dark sunglasses off and smirks at me, raking a hand through his white hair. "Right."