Deception - Gladion x Reader. [UNDER CO.]

Cast Out

Reader's POV

It was unclear to me how much time I'd spent in the bathroom trying to compose myself, but honestly, I found it hard to care much; I'd never felt as stressed or panicked as I did at that moment, and so I needed to give my heart rate a chance to return to normal. When I did eventually emerge back into the restaurant, I managed to get back into my seat with little to no issue. The thought of what topics of conversation could've been floating around the table was a little nerve-wracking, on top of what my friends might say about Gladion saving me and the two of us having such a silly argument. I was completely clueless as to how to react or respond to any possible comments, though thankfully, Lillie and Hau stayed quiet about it. Even so, the looks on their faces said everything they didn't.

Over the next half hour to an hour, the four of us stayed together in the booth even after finishing our lunch, occasionally ordering some extra drinks in between our almost non-stop conversation. The restaurant staff didn't seem to mind us hanging around as their focus was mainly on the other customers, and since we were still ordering and didn't cause much trouble, we were free to just enjoy our afternoon. I was glad we were able to avoid any more drama like that which had made me take shelter in the bathroom.

When the sun began to set we decided to leave, and as we stood up, Gladion shuffled slightly closer to me and said, "I'd better walk y/n home to make sure she doesn't get into any more trouble... like the last time."

Understandably, the mention of a last time confused the others and raised some suspicion, so I wasn't surprised that Lillie questioned us almost immediately. "What do you mean last time? Y/n got into trouble? What happened?" The worry in her voice was clear and although hearing it upset me, it did reinforce the belief that we were becoming good friends.

"It wasn't that bad, I just—"

Gladion suddenly cut me off by placing his hand on my shoulder. "It's not as bad as it sounds, she just had a little run-in with some guy who was too big for his boots. Nothing she couldn't handle."

"Then how do you know about it, and why do you need to walk her home?"

"I conveniently happened to be walking by and saw what happened and once it was all sorted, I walked her home just to make sure nothing else happened."

Lillie and Hau exchanged sceptical looks, which was understandable given the fact that once one of us said something the other always seemed to start an argument (one of us more than the other). Regardless, Gladion stood by his word with confidence. It seemed I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter and even if I did, I don't know if I would've said anything; I didn't have the energy to fight with him anymore.

Before heading home, Lillie had to make a quick stop at a store and since Hau lived in the same direction, he decided to tag along with her. That left Gladion and me alone together, and once we'd said our goodbyes to the others we set off towards my house in relative silence.

From the moment we left the main roads I had a question burning in my head, and although I knew his answer would be sarcastic and snide, I couldn't fight the urge to ask it. "Why are you really walking me home?"

"Are you deaf or were you just not paying attention? I just told Lillie and Hau, I want to make sure you don't get into trouble again. You do remember that creepy guy that came up to you on the beach, right?"

I was caught off guard by his harsh tone, and yet I could tell he'd somewhat held back. "Of course I do, I just don't understand why that's your problem." The innocence and genuine curiosity in my voice would've been obvious to even the most untrained ear, which wasn't surprising given the fact that not even our own friends could understand why we would want to spend more time with each other than was necessary.