Grown to hate

Chapter 19: A night out

Yuno and Mimosa were sitting on hillside with a pair of binoculars. Mimosa had the pair glued to her face, and Yuno was taking a sip of his iced coffee.
Yuno put his drink aside and glanced at the girl. "Any updates?" He asked.
Mimosa removed the binoculars and shook her head. "They're still napping." She replied.
The boy sighed and scooted closer to the girl. "Mimosa, I think it's time we stop snooping in their business. Let's go back to the capital. Maybe grab some food, and even just have some stupid fun." Yuno put his fingers on the binoculars and looked at the girl.
     Mimosa bit her lip and looked down. "Fine," she sighed and relaxed her shoulders. "I'm sorry for wasting your time." She said.
     Yuno took the binoculars and smiled. "Oh, don't worry about it. Honestly, spying on them was kinda fun if i'm being honest." He said.
     Yuno looked through the binoculars and saw Noelle stretching her arms while yawning. His face turned pale, but he quickly looked away to hide himself from the girl next to him.
     Mimosa raised both of her brows and leaned closer to Yuno. "What's wrong?" She asked.
     "Nothing," the boy pretended to drop the binoculars down the hill and acted surprised. "Oh shit! I dropped the binoculars!" He shouted.
     Mimosa furrowed her brows, but soon she calmed down. "Oh well, we don't have any use for them anymore. Let's get going." She said.
     Yuno sighed and pulled out his grimoire. "Well if you say so."
Noelle was rubbing her eyes and she glanced at Asta. The boy next to her let out quiet snores which tempted her to poke his nose. The sleeping boy grumbled in his sleep and turned to his side, and Noelle noticed something poking in his pocket. The girl's eyes were fixated on the protruding object in the boy's pocket, but she knew better. Thing is, her curiosity was getting the best of her. Her hands slid towards his leg and soon they made their way into his pocket. She felt a small wooden box and her heart sunk. The girl gently pulled it out and saw a cheap case, it was obvious to her what it housed.
     "That idiot." She whispered. A tear escaped her eye and she heard the boy grumbling.
     The girl whipped her head towards the boy and noticed how he was about to wake up and she quickly laid down pretending to be asleep. She hid the case inside her sleeve and closed her eyes shut.
     Asta slowly opened his eyes and saw Noelle still lying beside him. He felt confidence surge within him and he scooted closer to the girl and embraced her from behind. His face had turned beet red as did Noelle's.
     "What am I doing. She's asleep. I can't do this. I'm disgusting, I'm disgusting, I'm disgusting." Asta turned away and started to belittle himself.
     Noelle struggled to not blow her cover and she managed to bring the case in her sleeve deeper within her clothes. She took a quiet deep breath and turned to lay her arm around Asta. She snuggled her face into his shoulder, and the boy had gone silent.
     Asta gasped and stared at the girl so close to him. He turned and looked at her ears. His hands slowly reached towards his pockets and he noticed that they were empty.
     "What."
     Noelle opened her eyes and Asta jumped which caused the girl to jump as well.
     "What did you say what for?" Noelle asked.
     Asta frantically looked through every one of his pockets and didn't answer the girl. Noelle stayed on the ground with a frown pushing the case within her dress.
     The girl grit her teeth. "What are you looking for?" She asked.
     Asta raised a brow and stopped searching. "Why are you angry?" He asked.
     Noelle managed to pull the case out of her dress and she showed it to the boy. "I told you to save your money."
     Asta's eyes widened. "Y-You found it." He said.
     "I did." A tear leaked from her eye and she gently placed the case down.
     Asta sighed and sat down in front of the girl. "I know you told me not to, but I know you're still hurting. With these you'll at least have something to replace your old earrings." He said.
Noelle sniffled and wiped her tears. "How much money do you have left?" She asked.
Asta looked away and didn't answer. Noelle crawled closer and reached towards his pouch and snatched it from him. She squeezed the bag and felt a tiny coin inside and dumped the only content in the grass. She picked it up and showed to the boy.
"Is this all you're going to send to your family in Hage?" She asked. "Go return these stupid earrings! I don't want them."
Asta bit his lip and sighed. "No, I won't return them," positioned himself to sit next to the girl. "Noelle, right now you matter more to me than the family I have in Hage. I can send them money the next payday. Your happiness comes first." He said.
"I'll only be happy when one family is functional." Noelle said.
Asta sighed and rubbed his temples. "Noelle, you have to let your family go just this once. How can you be happy with ditching your family if you won't let them go? You're bringing my family into this for no reason." He said.
Noelle shook her head. "No reason? You're not getting the point. You're just spewing shit out of your mouth now. What's the real reason why you want me to accept these earrings. Why are do you choose my happiness over your family? It doesn't make any sense." The girl brought her knees to her face and hugged them.
"To me it makes perfect sense. Because, you're very important to me. In fact, you're the most important person in my life right now. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Noelle's lips quivered and she took a deep breath. "Do you mean that?" She asked.
Asta stumbled on his words, so he nodded. "I-I do. You have helped me in ways no one else has, and I want to help you. So please, just help me out here and comply a little bit. Call me an asshole, but my family in Hage can wait for the money. Yuno will most likely send them money anyway." Asta kept his eyes on the girl but his hands were planted on the ground.
Noelle brought her face closer to Asta's but she backed away. Her eyes went towards the case and her hands traveled towards it. She grabbed the case and slowly opened it. The girl saw a two gold colored earrings with a pink gem resting in the case. It was easy to tell they were cheap, but the thought behind it meant everything for the girl.
"I love it. Thank you." Noelle said.
Asta let out a long sigh and he laid down. "Thank God. That shop had a strict no return policy. I still meant everything I said though," the boy jumped up and went in front of the girl. "Wait hold on, try them on." He said.
Noelle looked at the boy with a raised brow. "No wonder you were so stubborn," She grumbled. The girl picked up one earring and wore it on one ear. She then wore the other and showed it to the boy in front of her. "How does it look?" She asked.
Asta lifted the girl's chin and wiped her remaining tears. "Now you look perfect, and the earrings make you look even better." He said with a smile.
Noelle blushed and she gave the boy a radiant smile. "Thank you." She hugged the boy and soon felt his arms wrap around her back.
"You can expect this kind of treatment from me pretty frequently, if you don't mind." Asta whispered.
Noelle brought her mouth close to the boy's ear. "On our day's off, sure. But, no more overspending." She whispered.
"Right. I'll keep a budget." He whispered back.
The two kept within their tight embrace and felt the cool breeze pass. They felt their beating hearts push against each other, but they didn't push away because the two had strengthened their bond.