stay with me • albedo

15

[UNEDITED]

You peer over at Sucrose.

The girl is hunched over, head on the table. Tilting your head, you poke at her arm curiously, earning an annoyed groan from her. She's not your usual lively Sucrose and it's worrying you.

"Is something wrong?" You sit beside her, but she only turns the other way, avoiding eye contact with you. You frown, slightly confused from her attitude. Just yesterday she was annoying you like how she usually does, munching away in her favourite avocado toast. However, it seems like her mood did a 360; which you just assume its either because of her period or because she's just exhausted from studying.

Placing a tissue beside her arm, you grab your bag before patting on her back softly. "I'm going now, alright? Call me if you need anything." You pipe out, however, you don't earn any reply from her. Your eyes soften at her weak form, before walking out of your house.

"Where's Kaeya?" You ask the moment you see Albedo exiting the gates of the dorm, standing up straight. "I don't know what happened to him. He's more quiet than usual." Albedo murmurs, and you glance at him curiously. "Sucrose has been acting different too! She won't even speak to me and tell me what's wrong. It's frustrating." You heave out, earning a similar action from Albedo.

"Whatever. Come over to my dorm after school, we'll do our individual projects together." Albedo clears his throat walking infront of you nonchalantly, changing the topic as fast as he can. You scratch the back of your head, catching up to him. "It's an individual project though.. Plus, I'll have to take care of Sucrose. I need to make sure she doesn't pass out or something." You chime. The blonde stops in his tracks to look at you.

"What does Sucrose have to do with this?" He blurts out.

Confused, you press your lips together tightly, furrowing your eyebrows. "What do you mean by, 'What does Sucrose have to do with this?'? Number one, Sucrose is your crush. I don't know what you're thinking, but if you're trying to act like a tsundere, stop it. Number two, because I am a good friend, I want to make sure she's okay. Are you not awake yet? Do you need me to slap you?"

Albedo blinks, silence filling the air for a minute. "Right. I like her. Ignore what I said, I just woke up. Are you still going to come over though?" He clears his throat once more, crossing his arms. ".....Fine. But only if you'll cook me some spicy ramen." You look away in embarrassment, earning a 'bet' from him. Smiling, you two make your way to literal hell.

After lectures and tutorials were finished, it was already 1pm. Considering how it's winter season, even the afternoon sun couldn't warm you up. Shivering as you walk through the school gates, you could feel your bones creaking slightly each time you take a step forward.

You bury your face into your scarf and curse into it. Korea's winter is seriously no joke. At this point, you might as well just let yourself freeze to your death -- what's the point of a winter jacket if you're still going to end up feeling cold? You shut your eyes in pain, rooted to the ground.

"You look like an idiot." Albedo slaps the back of your head with a heat pack, earning a flinch from you. In all honesty, you don't have any energy to get back at him today, so you simply don't say anything, following behind him quietly. He turns to look at you, before huffing a small breath out. "C'mere." He grabs your hand, pulling you towards him before placing your intertwined hand into the pocket of his jacket.

Eyes widening, you stare at him, speechless from the sudden action. "I thought you were going to be a gentleman and lend me your jacket." You stuff your head into your scarf, hiding the lower part of your face from the cold. "I'm not going to freeze to death for someone like you." Albedo pipes out, and you roll your eyes at him. The blonde tightens his grip on your hand before pulling you towards the men's dorm.