introspection

The sun's Rays hit your eyelids making you groan. A weight on your stomach made you flinch, looking down noticed the way Malleus had curled up on to you throughout the night.

In your attempts to make him pull his first all nighter he had gotten to tuckered out to stay awake past 3AM. You couldn't blame him though, you overwhelmed him with most of the activities you had planned. It was when you decided to play a movie on the projector where he decided to call it a night, falling asleep on one of the blankets.

You couldn't resist the urge to pull out your phone a take a picture of his calm sleeping figure. "I see that anywhere and I'll smash your phone." Malleus groaned as he shifted. Finally realizing he was laying on you he sat up, the faintest tint of pink dusted his cheeks. "I'll delete it!" You exclaimed as you passed him your phone. "Its fine, just... don't post it or something." Malleus groaned as he stood up to stretch his limbs.

"Have you slept up here before?" Nodding your head you put your phone in your pocket and stood up next to Malleus. "I tend to sleep here most weekends. I'm almost always up here actually, before class and during my free time." You shrugged as you took in the early morning breeze. "Its very peaceful, and no one can bother me." Malleus seemed to agree with the sentiment as he nodded.

"Do you have any plans? For today I mean." You paused and shook your head. "Nah, weekends I'm always up here or in town." You shrugged as Malleus stood up. "Let me take you out... as a thank you for last night. I really enjoyed all the activities." You gave him a sideways smile. "Hey, you don't really have to do that. I just thought you'd might want a break from all the studying."

"No, I insist. You've opened up to me quite a lot. It's time for me to do the same." Malleus paused as he dusted himself off. "I don't go off campus very often but I've managed to find a nice coffee shop in town, are you alright with that?" You gave him a closed eyed smile as you nodded your head. "I mean, your paying so wherever you want is fine by me. Let me stop by my dorm first, I want to clen up a bit."

"Alright, I'll wait for you in the common room." You nodded as the both of you climbed down the ladder.

Rushing to your dorm you shoved your toothbrush in your mouth and grabbed your drawstring bag. Making a mental note of everything you might need and tossing it on your bed.

As you were finishing getting ready you heard a knock on your door. "Y/N! Where have you been man?" Ace kept knocking until you opened the door for him. "Not cool, I waited for you all night and you never showed up." Ace shook his head and you rolled your eyes.

You and Ace had a habit of speaking out together, normally to skate or spray paint abandoned buildings. "As if you don't bail out sometimes too. Sorry bout that tho, but I kinda need to go, I'll see you tonight... probably." You shrugged as you grabbed your bag and penny board. "Where are you even going?" You paused as a knock was heard.

"Pardon, am I interrupting something?"

Malleus was standing at the door. You were panicking internally when Ace sent you a look. "I need some help with potions class so Malleus offered to tutor me. I'll talk to you later Ace, don't go through my shit while I'm gone." You waved Ace off as you dragged Malleus down the stairs.

It wasn't until the both of you made it out the dorms did you let his hand go with a heavy exhale.

"You lied to him."

Raising a brow you turned to look at Malleus. "Yeah... I do that a lot." You shrugged as you walked by his side. "Why did you lie?" Taking a deep breath you let out a shaky exhale before answering. "I've found that sometimes it's better if you lie to people."

There was a moment of silence between the two of you as you walked.

"Sorry if my question upset you, I just don't like lying to people."

"Its alright, I get it." You shrugged.

"I used to get bullied a lot." Malleus sudden comment made you jump. "I was considered gifted and talented at a young age and that set me apart from the rest." The both of you were walking at the same pace now, his voice becoming softer as he spoke.

"Friends who I thought were friends started lying and then I just pushed everyone away. I suppose it's also my fault I'm the way I am right now." Malleus sighed,  his eyes trained on the floor.

"It wasn't your fault, people are shit, I'm shit. It's all just part of the human condition. You have a reason, unknown to others, to push people away. Is it a good way to cope? No, but it's what's worked for you or what you think is best. Plus it feels kinda nice to be the only one to get deep conversations like this with you." Malleus looked your way and caught your goofy grin.

You looked into his eyes for a moment, his expression was one of amazement. No one's managed to touch his heart with words like yours before. "Can I ask you something?" Malleus paused as he watched your expression change. Your eyes looked at the ground, small darker splotches started appearing on the ground.

"Can it wait..?" You mumbled as you took his hand and started to run towards the woods.

"Y/N?!"

Malleus called out to you as you continued running past the tree line. Once you got to a clearing the rain had picked up quite a bit. "Lay down with me." You huffed as you sprawled onto the floor, extending your limbs into a starfish position. "Try not to live in the past Malleus! Open yourself up to new experiences, new opportunities, new everything! It's cringey but we do only live once, so let's enjoy it to the fullest!"

Malleus shook his head as he joined you on the grass. His black shirt stuck to his body as the rain drenched him. "We'll get sick." Malleus sighed as he closed his eyes. "Probably, but who cares? As long as we enjoy the moment." You shrugged as your breathing relaxed.

"I guess... you are right."

I laid on the concrete once while it rained... I indeed did get sick two days afterward.