Anything But Toxic (Atticus x Reader)

Hopeful Valentines

  As soon as you were feeling better, you were up and about again. You had profusely apologized to Atticus for falling asleep on him, and every time, he would insist that it was fine. After that things were as normal. You went to class, and hung out with your friends. You did hang out with Atticus more often than you hung out with the other Star bosses and Nemona and Arven, but neither of you seemed to notice. Things went on uneventfully until February rolled in. Suddenly, everyone was enthusiastic for Valentine's Day, and the school dance that happened on the 14th in honor of it. You were not as enthused. For the dance, it was common, if not expected, to bring a date, or at least a friend or buddy. The idea of trying to ask someone out to the dance made you want to hide in a little corner in a little ball. The idea of trying to ask out the person you wanted to ask out the most was even more terrifying. There's no way he'd like me, you thought as you sat under a tree on the roof of the school.

  "Why would Atticus like me back? I guess we could go as friends," you mumbled to yourself, feeling downtrodden.

  "Y/n? What are't thou doing here?" You jump as you hear Atticus behind you. One of the downsides of him being a ninja is that you often don't hear his approach.

  "N-nothing!" You yelp, praying to every legendary pokemon that he didn't hear you talking to yourself. He looks at you with a playfully suspicious look, but doesn't pry further.

  "Would thee mind if I were to join thee?" he asked, and you shook your head. He sat down in the grass beside you, leaning against the trunk of the tree. You glance over, noticing how relaxed he seemed. It made you happy, knowing that he was relaxed around you, despite the awful and annoying Operation Starfall against him and the rest of Team Star. It had hurt to feel like you were destroying the one thing they had left as you learned the truth behind their absence from school. And the names Atticus had called you as you fought him had hurt. (He apologized afterwards.) It felt nice to know that he had forgiven you and trusts you. You lean against the tree and sigh. He looks over and sees your troubled expression, and appears to grow worried.

  "Are't thou alright? Have I interrupted something?" he asks, concerned, and sounding a little nervous. You look at him, and unable to keep it to yourself any longer, you decide to ask him to go to the dance with you. Well, you try. You get too nervous before you can even open your mouth, so you ask him a different question instead.

  "Have you thought about asking anyone to the dance?" you ask, curious, and only half hoping he'd respond.

  "I... I have," he admitted nervously. You didn't even think before blurting out, "Who?" and immediately turning pink with embarrassment. He looked embarrassed as well, and you regretted asking.

  "I, well, they..." he trailed off, turning his head away, bringing his knees up to his chest, and burying his face in his arms, which he rested on top of his knees. His hood was up, so what little of his face you could see was now invisible. It probably wasn't me, he probably wanted to tell me about someone else, but got embarrassed, you thought to yourself, feeling an ache in your chest. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Atticus finally spoke, though you had to pull yourself out of your thoughts to hear him. 

  "I... I don't know if they would like to go with me," he said quietly. "Though if they did I would be very happy."

  "I have the same problem, though I don't have the courage to even ask them, let alone face rejection," you said dejectedly. He watched your expression for a moment before bumping his shoulder against yours.

  "Should we both be rejected, shall we go together, as the unwanted ones?" he joked, and you laugh a bit, internally perishing.

  "Heck yeah, that would be fun," you say, hyped that somehow without you even trying, Atticus had invited you to the dance. You knew he was probably joking, but you still had hope. He looked surprised, but delighted that you took him up on his offer, even if it was supposed to be a passing remark.

  "Is that a promise?" he teases, and you nod, grinning at him. You didn't want Atticus to get rejected, but at the same time you really wanted to go with him. Though really, who would reject this angel of a boy? Oddly, neither of you seemed to notice how joyous the other was about this scenario.

  <Atticus's POV (third person)> Why, why must they do this to me, Atticus thinks to himself as Y/n enthusiastically nods in response to his inquiry. His heart ached as they smiled and stretched. He loved them so much, too much to bear. If they love someone else, so be it, he thought sadly. He loved how sweet and adorable they are, and, admittedly, was a little jealous of whoever they were planning on asking out to the dance. He didn't have the courage to ask them directly, though he was glad that he didn't now that he knew they had someone in mind. He had approached with the plan of confessing to them and asking them out to the dance with him, but thankfully backed out, as he barely had enough courage to confess, there was no way he was brave enough to face rejection. As he and Y/n sat there in happy silence, all he could think about was who they might like.

  <Y/n's POV (second person)> You and Atticus sit in the peace of the tree, you watching him as he appeared deep in thought. The sunlight shining through the barren branches caught in his hair, staining it a lovely silvery gold. His long eyelashes caught some of the golden light and shimmered in its touch as well. His deep blue eyes were unfocused, staring off, and he wore a slightly serious expression, and if you looked closely, you thought you could see a hint of sadness in his eyes. Him being sad made you sad, and you wanted desperately to fix whatever was plaguing him. After a few moments, he noticed you staring at him, and glanced over, catching your eyes. You were embarrassed by being caught admiring him, but couldn't look away, feeling like you were sinking into the warm ocean of his eyes, and you wanted no one to pull you out, you wanted to sink forever. He smiled softly at you as you stared at eachother, and you smiled back, feeling content in this moment, forgetting all about Atticus's mystery crush. You wished you could commit this moment to memory, the sight, the emotions, all of the feelings in a permanent video of brainpower that you would cherish forever. After what felt like forever but not nearly long enough, you sighed happily and laid down on the grass, still smiling as you gazed up at this wonderful boy. Atticus laid down next to you, staring up at the branches of the tree, some still lightly frosted on the bottom in the shade where the sunlight doesn't touch. The early February breeze made you shiver through your jacket, and you tried to hide it to keep Atticus from trying to give you his jacket, but unfortunately he noticed. Thankfully, instead of risking his own health, he suggested that the two of you go back inside, and you agreed. As you walked and chatted, you watched his expressions, saw his happiness, saw the light in his eyes, and wished as hard as you could that you would be able to go to the dance with this lovely, lovely soul. You felt bad afterwards, because that would mean that his crush would have to reject him, or some other similar scenario, but you couldn't help yourself. How could you, when his eyes were so warm when he looked at you that the February cold felt like summer?