"Hey, Teach...can I tell you something?"
"Yes, Claude," Byleth responded, turning to him. They had cleaning up the bar, and had just now finished. Shamir had left after her shift had ended and Jeralt was in the back room as usual. "What's up?"
"Well..." Claude hesitated before sitting down at a stool. Byleth followed him, sitting down right next to him. "...Those two idiots coming here...they had a point. The companies have been corrupt for a long time...If I came back, I could change a lot of that."
"But...then you lose all of this freedom..."
"Well, yeah. That, for one," Claude sighed, a troubled look in his usual happy emerald eyes. Byleth spotted a little hint of a smile on his face, even while his eyes spoke volumes about how he was actually feeling. "Then I'd have to go back to my father, who will prim me up to be the next CEO with his dirty words...Then I'd have to shape up...Then I'd have to leave my dream behind."
There was a moment of silence, and Claude grimaced at Byleth.
"Teach...I don't know what I'm supposed to do," Claude confessed, putting his head in his hands. "My father would never allow me to pursue my own dream if I followed in his footsteps, not to mention I'd hate to have to actually be around him..."
"If what's waiting for you back at the company isn't good for you, then why even ponder going back?" Byleth asked softly. She wasn't sure what his dream even was...but if he wanted it that badly, then she didn't think he should abandon his dreams for some stuffy company. "They just want you as the next heir, they don't care for you."
"Well, unfortunately, he's my father. He does care for me...he doesn't realize that what he wants isn't what's best for me," Claude sighed. "Besides, it's not just that. Part of me knows that I should go back. With that position, I could change the way people feel about people from other regions, I could help Dimitri and Edelgard out...I could help other people."
"But what about you?" Byleth questioned quietly, reaching over to gently take his hand off of his head, and place his hand in hers. His emerald eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't pull away. She squeezed his warm hand reassuringly in hers. "Who is going to help you there?"
"...I'd be on my own," Claude admitted, a small grimace forever engrained on his face. Byleth wondered if he was incapable of looking unhappy. Either way, she frowned at this. She didn't want him to leave, and she certainly didn't want him to be alone. So what could another alternative be? Byleth's eyes wandered from his face to their conjoined hands...and then the solution dawned on her.
"...No, you wouldn't," Byleth shook her head, and Claude tilted his head in quizzical confusion. Byleth bit her lip before glancing back up to his beautiful emerald eyes. A warm shiver ran through her entire body, from her neck to her toes as she squeezed his hand once more. "I'd be with you."
"You'd be..with me?" Claude's gaze was piercing toward her, but not in a bad way. It made tingles flow through her erratically beating heart. "But Teach, you'd have to meet my father. You'd have to deal with me being busy all the time, and-"
"I don't care," Byleth interrupted, a determined look in her once blank eyes. This seemed to stun him into silence, as he just stared at her in shock. Byleth cleared her throat. "If you decide to go back...I would just want to be there for you. You've done so much for me...I want to return the favor."
"I...thank you. But talking about this has just made me realize how lucky I am that I'm not there," Claude gave her a small smile. "I never would have found you if I had stayed there. So I'm not going back...I'm going to follow my own dreams. Thank you, Teach."
Byleth nodded, feeling her heart beating crazily. She could see him beginning to lean in, and Byleth subconsciously closed her eyes as if she knew what was happening. She didn't know what was going on, but she could feel his close proximity, and it excited her as she felt one of his hands brush against her cheek-
"Hey, kid?"
Byleth's eyes snapped open and Claude hurriedly backed away as they heard Jeralt come in. He looked at the two suspiciously, but he hadn't seen anything, and he had no grounds to wonder just what was going on. Even so, Byleth knew her cheeks were flushed red. Jeralt would probably be questioning her later...
"Yeah? What's up?" Byleth asked, trying to seem nonchalant, despite feeling the burning sensation upon her cheeks. Claude grinned sheepishly, and Byleth was glad to see a real smile on his face. Those little grimaces weren't cutting it.
"I just finished up," Jeralt informed her, a bag slung over his shoulder. "If you're ready, we can leave."
"Yeah, I mean, I think we got everything around here," Byleth did a little sweep of the bar with her eyes, but she was satisfied with what she saw. "Time to go, then."
"I'll be heading out as well, then," Claude nodded, grabbing his belongings. He threw a light jacket on before following the other two out of the bar. Be shot a glance towards Byleth as Jeralt locked up the door. "Hey...Thanks again, Teach."
Byleth smiled.
"No problem, Claude."
YOU ARE READING
Race Against Time
Fanfiction"BYLETH, YOU'RE DYING." Those were the words Byleth Eisner had heard her entire life...but it had never rang true. She had always known that the doctors were wrong, that she was going to keep living, but the fear of death was constant. Born with a h...
