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twenty six

"I like you."

Tsukishima backed up, his eyes widening. "What?"

Y/n immediately took notice of his reaction. Was he disappointed? Whatever he felt, she knew she just needed to continue and rip the bandaid off. "I said I like you."She averted her gaze, not wanting to see his reaction. "...Before I knew it, I was thinking about you all the time. Everyday that we spend at your house together is so much fun. I love being around your family, and around you."

She paused, not knowing if she wanted to continue but there was so much swelling in her chest that she couldn't hold it in. "I get sad when you stay home from school, when you're not there at lunch with Yamaguchi and I. I always want to be in your arms, just like that day you comforted me. I love the way you pretend to be stubborn when you're actually compassionate. Like when you gave me your lunch, or when you let me sleep on your shoulder, or your bed. The surprisingly cute fact that you like owning dinosaur toys or are obsessed with strawberry shortcake, I love that about you. I-"

"Y/n."

Y/n flinched and stopped talking as soon as she heard Tsukishima's voice. She didn't want to look him in the eye, because she had only just realized how much she'd spewed out. She was feeling so embarrassed, and it felt like her heart would explode in her chest at anytime.

However, keeping her head down proved to be futile as soon as she felt Tsukishima reach a hand on her cheek, and as soon as she looked up, she noticed how close he was.

Their faces were mere inches apart, and y/n could feel the warm air coming out of his nose tickling her lips. She got a good look at his burning, red face, and felt the way his hand that caressed her cheek slid down a little further, so that his long, slender fingers were buried in her hair. "Y/n." He whispered because of their proximity, his voice coming out slightly raspy. "...Anymore. Say anymore, and I won't be able to hold back."

Y/n's cheeks flared. She brought both of her hands to hold each side of his jaw. She paused for a moment to gaze at his face before fluttering her eyes closed and pressing her lips against his.

Immediately, she heard the water bottle that she placed in between them fall to the ground. Tsukishima returned the kiss and his lips were warm against her own. She tilted her head to one side to deepen the kiss. Tsukishima had followed, tilting his head slightly to the other side, allowing their lips to further connect. He used his free hand to snake an arm around her waist and pull her closer, and y/n turned her body more to allow him to do so.

They kissed and kissed and kissed, lips clacking against each other again and again, and she moved her arms to wrap it around his neck, pulling him closer. She could feel the other's hand on her cheek slowly slide to the back of her neck so that he was also holding her closely. They kissed each other slowly but deeply, and she wanted even more... but she was forgetting to breathe. They had slowly moved off each other, their lips detaching with a weak pop sound. Y/n opened her eyes, and was met with Tsukishima's half-lidded ones. He was out of breath as well and his cheeks, ears, lips-- they were all red. He looked so delicious right then, she almost abandoned all of her dignity. The hand on the back of her neck moved back to her burning hot cheek, which Tsukishima swiped back and forth a few times with his thumb.

She was suddenly feeling exhausted, and leaned forward to rest her forehead on his shoulder. His hand moved again to the back of her head, and he stroked it gently. They say like that, in silence for a couple moments. Y/n watched his chest breathe in and out.

"I was scared." He said quietly.

"...Why?"

"You came all the way here to say something and go... I thought you wanted nothing to do with me anymore or something.

"Why would you think that?"

"When my brother made that joke, calling you my girlfriend, you looked uncomfortable. On top of that, you stopped coming over and stuff."

"I  looked uncomfortable? I thought you were the one who was uncomfortable. You even told me... it didn't mean anything."

His hand paused. "I only said that because you had such a distraught look on your face."

"...I did?"

"Well, yeah. That's what it looked like to me."

Y/n tried to recall that day. When they were sitting together at the table and when Akiteru had cracked the joke. All she remembers is trying to bite back a smile because she was so happy at the comment. Maybe... her expression gave off the wrong impression? "All I remember is trying my hardest not to smile and jump out of my seat when he said that. I guess you got the wrong idea."

"So... that's why you suddenly stopped coming over? Were you upset by what I said?"

Y/n nodded with her forehead still on his shoulder. "I guess it's no one's fault though. We both misunderstood." She felt his hand come under and grab her chin, forcing her off of his shoulder. When they locked eyes, her heart was beating fast once again.

"Sorry."

She shook her head. "It's nobody's fault." She offered a smile.

He sighed. "Don't look at me like that or I'll kiss you again."

Y/n was growing dizzy. "You make it sound like a bad thing." She eyed the red tint on his ears. As she felt Tsukishima shift closer, she tilted her head, expectantly. But just as he was about to close the distance, a loud honk from right outside the station sounded, causing the two to flinch hard and bump each other's foreheads.

"Fuck." Y/n gripped her forehead, trying to soothe the pain as she opened her eyes.

"My brother's here." Tsukishima was looking towards the car outside, also gripping his forehead. "We should go."

Y/n watched the four eyes stand up and dust off his clothes, then waited for her until they walked to the car together. The bright headlights of the car shined on their faces, and it felt humiliating for some reason. Akiteru definitely hadn't seen what they were doing before this... but with the spotlight on them, it felt like some kind of walk of shame.

Tsukishima got in the backseat of the car next to y/n and Akiteru smiled brightly as soon as he saw her. "Y/n! You're here!"

"Ahaha... yeah!" Y/n nervously laughed. "Thank you for driving me, by the way."

"No worries. You guys weren't waiting too long, were you?"

Y/n thought about their time spent at the station, Tsukishima's lips on hers and the image made her face redden. She peeped a look at the one beside her, his cheeks also red. "Not at all." She replied, not moving her gaze away from Tsukishima, who turned to look out the window.

"That's good." Akiteru shifted the car's gear in reverse before he drove onto the main road again. "Are you staying over?"

"Yeah." Tsukishima replied before y/n could even open her mouth.

She smiled at him, even though he couldn't see since he was too busy looking out the window. She looked down at the hand he had placed down on the car seat. Missing his touch already, she'd wanted to reach for it. Y/n knew she was being greedy, but she couldn't help it, especially when it came to Tsukishima. She slowly slid her hand over next to his and moved a pinky on top of his pinky.

"Oh well that's great!" Akiteru said. "Yamaguchi usually comes with us every year and this is the first time he can't, so it's nice that you coming here worked out."

Tsukishima's hand slid closer towards her, and he laced their fingers together.

"You guys should get some sleep if you want, we've still got a little while before we get there."

The two in the backseat held their palms against each other in silence, both looking out of their respective windows. Y/n's stared at the trees moving outside, trying to ignore her overheating face. She knew falling asleep while holding hands with Tsukishima would be an impossible task, for her loud heartbeat simply kept her wide awake.