Oneshot collection

On the roof

"I thought I'd find you here,"

His words pulled me out from the realm of words and I looked up to see Valkyrie standing by the door leading to the roof, his hand on the knob as he looked down where I sat.

I just shrugged, not having anything to say and I turned back to read the printed words of my book. I heard the familiar sound of the door clicking close and I saw the shadow of my friend coming closer before kneeling down to sit next to me. I turned my focus back to the book. We didn't say anything at the moment but after a while he must've gotten bored for he turned to my direction, trying to get a peek into what I was reading.

He gave up. "What are you reading?"

I decided to let my actions speak for me, bookmarking the page with my thumb, closing it partly to allow Valkyrie see the title. He gave an amused smirk.

He looked back at me, still smirking. "Again?"

I shrugged once more, opening the book once more to read the familiar words. "Nothing else to read," I spoke finally, "Plus it helps me get a read on what people are like."

"People in real life are different from the characters in a book Raine."

"But there are stereotypes," I countered, "And when there are stereotypes, that means there are those who act in some similar manner. Reading helps me to act faster when there are people like that. It may help for future reference."

He snorted at my reasoning but said nothing.

Deciding to stop at the end of a chapter I looked to Valkyrie who was looking ahead. My eyes halted at the slightly dark circles and the tiredness in his eyes.

My brow furrowed in concern. "You've been having nightmares again, haven't you?"

He said nothing, not knowing how to respond and knowing I would catch him if he lied. One of the pros/cons of being childhood friends.

I sighed, placing an actual bookmark between the pages before putting the book down. I gestured to my lap, "Lie down."

He looked at me, cocking an eyebrow. "We're on break at the moment, so you should get some rest while you can," I explained.

"Don't you need rest as well?"

"I'm not the one nodding off during classes. You're lucky you weren't caught sleeping." Mainly because I made him look like he was reading whenever the teacher looked our way.

"Touche,"

But nonetheless, he accepted my offer and laid down, resting his head on my lap. He closed his eyes tiredly, and to ease him to sleep, I started stroking his hair in a soothing manner.

His lips twitched into an amused smile, his eyes fluttering open to look at me. "Is this from one of your 'readings'?" He teased.

"I don't need a book to be around you," I told him simply.

Valkyrie said nothing, but his eyes softened at my words and he closed his eyes once more, turning his head to the side and shifting a bit to get comfortable, resting even heavier on my lap. I looked down at his suddenly very peaceful face, stroking his hair and pushing back some that covered his face.

My own eyes softened, my hands continuing their little ministrations of threading its fingers through his tresses, marveling at its softness. His features soon softened beneath my touch and it didn't take long before his breaths became even. I leaned my head back, letting it rest against the wall that shaded us from the sun and I looked up towards the endless blue sky, hearing the soft cawing of birds flying overhead and even softer voices of students way below us.

I looked back at the boy sleeping on my lap, feeling a sudden urge overtake me and I succumbed to it as I leaned down to press a kiss against his hair. He remained still and peaceful as ever. I pulled back a bit, still leaning over him with my hair curtaining my face as I let out a whisper to the wind.

"And I don't need a book to learn to fall for you..."