liv_croissant
He took a breath, his hands fiddling nervously in front of him now. "So. I'm telling you now. Not because I expect anything. Not because I need you to say it back. But because it's true. And you deserve to know it while you're awake and smiling at me like that."
She was still staring at him, wide-eyed, lips slightly parted.
And then, finally, she said quietly, "You love me?"
"I do."
A beat of silence stretched between them like a held breath.
And then she smiled - a slow, radiant, heart-melting thing.
"You absolute idiot," she whispered.
Fred blinked. "I-"
Arabella Black and Fred Weasley have always been inseparable; partners in crime, chaos, and everything in between. But somewhere between stolen glances, late-night laughs, and the fear of losing each other, friendship stopped being enough. Neither of them said it first. Now they're just hoping the other will say it back.
Trope:
best friends-to-lovers & he fell first, she fell harder & slow burn