Afton Random Books

Mentor AU: Take a hint!

[Ennard/Noah x Michael A. [TW: hint of stalking, make out]]

-N/EC-

"So, what do you want to order, Michael?"

Michael exhaled heavily, his body slumping slightly on the restaurant chair for a moment. The thick smell of pizza wafted into his nose, the distinctive aroma filling the entire room, but it didn't manage to whet his appetite at all. He wanted to get out of here, he wasn't in the mood to talk to this man, all he wanted was to leave his father's restaurant and go home, laze around on his bed reading comics ... was that too much to ask? His blue eyes rolled from the menu to the golden blonde in front of him, smiling warmly at him, and all he got was a rumbling feeling in his stomach begging him to leave.

"I haven't been able to see you lately because of final exams." Shit, he just remembered that he had final exams next week, Michael often listened without responding. "But at least the exams are over! What about yours? Next week, right?" How did this guy know? Michael didn't really care, he remained silent. The man in front of him leaned closer, a smile growing on his face and Michael could feel his gaze piercing right through him. "You know, there's a new cafe opening up around your campus so I was thinking we could go there together after you finish your exams!"

Another sigh escaped his lips, he finally glanced up, his eyes meeting the bright blue ones in front of him. "Jeremy, please."

His high school friend tilted his head. "What?"

Was he serious this time? Acting like it was nothing, it was making Michael feel irritated. He had given hints and even subtle rejections so many times that he wasn't interested in dating him, why did Jeremy keep insisting to the point where he would always wait for him to come home in front of the campus? Michael had told him so many times, why didn't Jeremy understand that he didn't like him one bit?

"I can't go out with you, okay?" he told him slowly, as if Jeremy wouldn't understand what he was saying. Jeremy's expression turned confused, and he pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. "Jeremy, I'm not going to date you."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't like you!" Michael didn't care he raise his voice slightly to answer the question that he thought was incredibly ignorant, there was a suffocating annoyance that arose inside him and it did not develop in a positive way.

Jeremy's forehead furrowed deeply. "Why don't you like me?" There was a tone of incomprehension in his voice, Michael restrained himself from flipping the table because of the irritation that was soaring like a rocket launching at high speed. "I've done so much for you, Michael; I treat you well and we talk a lot again like usual, like when we were in school," Jeremy snapped quickly, throwing him a look that showed that his feelings were hurt.

However, did Michael care? Of course not.

"I—I just can't! I can't bring myself to like you back, everything you do makes me uncomfortable!" Michael said with despair starting to be heard clearly at the end of the sentence, his chest beating fast anxiously, hoping that Jeremy would at least understand. "I've given you so many hints that I don't have the same feelings for you, you ignored them all!"

What he got from Jeremy wasn't what he expected in his mind, Jeremy smiled a thin smile and chuckled. "Oh, Michael, it all takes time."

That one sentence alone was enough to make his frustration explode.

"You're so—argh!" Michael stomped his feet and stood up, his eyebrows swooping down as his annoyed gaze fell on the confused Jeremy. Rather than just standing there, he might as well go and calm himself down first. "I'm going to the bathroom." That was the excuse he gave before he dashed towards the restaurant's bathroom.