The Hearts Mirror (Twisted Wonderland One-Shots + Requests)

Dancing Under The Stars (Deuce x Reader)

Slight spoilers for the Dance and Wishes event!

Sorry Deuce is my best boi okay I had to write something don't @ me—
—

"How much further...?" You asked, hissing as you stub your toe for the who-knows-how-many-eth time.

Deuce winced in apology and squeezed your hands reassuringly. "J-Just a little bit further, I promise..."

It was the day - or rather, night - after Deuce and the others had finished collecting the school's wishes. You'd just finished getting ready for bed when Deuce had shown up at Ramshackle's doorstep, out of breath and blindfold in hand as he asked you to come with him.

You weren't sure how long you'd been walking for. You at least somewhat knew you were on the outskirts of Night Raven College as you hadn't gone through any of the magic mirrors nor had you felt much concrete under your foot. Though you weren't sure how useful that information was.

Not that you minded - being able to hold your crush's hand as he guided you to an unknown destination was so corny and romantic that any problems you had flew right up into the cloudless sky. The occasional squeeze Deuce pressed into your hands made it feel like a spark of electricity was travelling from the tips of his fingers into your body and right into your brain, jolting away any drowsiness as your cheeks flushed. It was nice to know he wouldn't let you fall.

That didn't stop you from tripping though. Just as the thought made you smile, your foot caught on tree root. You yelped as you went forward.

Deuce was quick on his feet. He turned at the right time for you to fall against his chest and wrapped his arms around you. He used his feet to steady the both of you and tightened his grip. You felt your face heat up when your ears recognised his heartbeat.

"Are you okay?" Deuce asked.

You turned your face to 'look' at him. "Yeah. Thanks..."

You didn't need to see his face to imagine the soft smile on his face. "Good. I'm glad... w-wait."

That heartbeat suddenly accelerated to a 1,000 beats a second. Deuce stuttered as he pushed you away from him, then got even more flustered as he apologised for the sudden force. You held back a laugh as you fumbled to find his hand, squeezing it lightly when you do. Deuce audibly gulps and stammers that he'll be more careful where he leads you.

You give his hand a second squeeze as you say thanks, causing Deuce to make a noise in conformation due to his new inability to speak. As the two of you start on your way again, Deuce badly interlocking his fingers with yours. Both of your faces looked redder than Riddle's hair.

"...Are we there yet?" You joke, trying to distract yourself from your own thumping heart.

Deuce nervously chuckled. "Almost..."

You let out a hum. The light breeze felt nice against your cheeks, you thought, though you'd preferred to still be against Deuce's chest. The unconscious thought made you almost choke on the admittance.

"W-We're here." Deuce confirmed, stopping.

He moved his hand to grab your shoulder instead, keeping a loose but firm grip as he circled behind you. Deuce's hands slowly lifted off, brushing against your neck as he reached up to untie the blindfold.

You squinted as the blindfold fell from your eyes. The blue light wasn't extremely bright, but you still weren't expecting it when it flooded your now unprotected eyes. Squinting, you were able to make out a large tree covered in loops of blue fairy lights and different kinds of gold star-shaped decorations. The smaller trees surrounding it were also similarly decorated, but the odd beauty of the large one didn't let you move your eyes away.

"Do you like it?" Deuce asked, standing by your side.

You nodded. You opened your mouth to say anything but were too stunned to speak.

"I felt bad when you gave up your wish to Grim," Deuce explained. "So... I wanted to do something to make up for that. I know it's not really much, but... here's your very own wishing tree— woah!?"

With your body working on autopilot, you didn't even realise you were hugging Deuce until he started spluttering. Your face grew hot but before you could pull away and make up an excuse, Deuce placed his arms around your waist.

"I-I'm glad you like it..." Deuce mumbled.

Turning your face, you could now see all the red that had accumulated over the short hour you two had been together. You just hoped your own blush wasn't as obvious.

The two of you never really pulled away. The only change was Deuce pulling his arms back slightly to place them on your waist; you slid your arms from around Deuce's neck and rested them against his chest. This time you could feel his heartbeat under one of your palms - still going strong, it seemed.

You smiled, eyes feeling watery. "Thank you, Deuce."

"I-It's fine." Deuce replied. "I just wanted to let you have some kind of wish, even if you couldn't have done it properly..."

You shake your head. "It's perfect."

Deuce smiles, feeling his heart flutter from your expression. His grip gets a little tighter before he pulls away, though holds on to your hands.

"I didn't want to get in my robes in case I spoiled the surprise, but..." Deuce reluctantly pulls away from your hands after another light squeeze, backing up to the tree. "Can I dance for you?"

Brushing away your tears, you nod. Deuce's face breaks out in the most caring and yet excited smile you'd ever seen as he quickly gets into position. You sit down on the grass and stare at him, already transfixed. Under the blue stars, the two of you stay the whole night, smiles brighter than all of the stars in the world combined.