Paramour

Ch. 16 - Just a Hangover

After doing a little bit of freshening up, you tiptoed back into the bedroom to grab your clothes. Just as you had predicted, Gojo was completely crashed. His sweaty body lied atop the sheets with little to no care in the world. 
You sighed to yourself, realizing that your dream had come true. At least a certain aspect of it. Your ultimate goal had been to be with him, romantically. But this was at least the first step. 

However, you found yourself mysteriously conflicted. You chalked it up to still being pissed at Geto's sour attitude. 
And speaking of sour, you felt your stomach start to churn a bit. Regret began flooding your mind as the reflux began bubbling up your throat. 

Instead of spending the night, and considering your now hungover state, you decided to head back to your room. 
You silently dressed and made sure to shut the front door to his place as quietly as possible. 

Just as you entered the hallway, head beginning to pound, you heard an obnoxious retching sound coming from one of the other rooms. Specifically the room you knew to be Geto's.
You paused for a moment and listened to his pain. He seemingly had much more than you did and was clearly much worse off. You felt a bit guilty somehow. He had accomplished his mission after all, angry at him or not. 

Your timing must have been just right because the retching sound had stopped. You bit your bottom lip and contemplated your next actions.
You gave three gentle knocks on his door, half-hoping he'd hear and half-hoping he'd not. 

You waited outside of the door for a few seconds, thinking he hadn't heard after all. But just as you were about to walk away, the door cracked open to reveal his tired-looking face. 
He was extremely pale with the start of purple marks under his bloodshot eyes. His hair was a complete mess, some of it sticking to his sweaty skin. 

His stare was dreadfully intimidating, the additional frown he carried not making anything much better. You, on the other hand, held a bit of a startled expression. The silence was much louder than you would've liked.

"Ge-" you started. But before you could continue, Geto turned and slammed the door shut. You swallowed hard to both keep the tears and the reflux down. 

Giving up, you struggled back to your own room. You tried to keep your mind off of things as you made some tea and drew a bath. Your priority: getting this hangover over with. 

As you relaxed into the warm water, Epsom salt galore, you reflected upon your birthday "celebration." 
If today wasn't a win, then you didn't know what was. Your goal with Gojo from here on out was to simply romantically schmooze with him until the two of you fell in love. It sounded much more simple than it actually was. 
You also thought about the disaster. Geto, who you thought was your closest friend, turned out to be a total jerk. Thinking about his words made your blood boil, but you still felt awful for how hard you had slapped him. You had gone to his room to apologize whether or not he had deserved it, but since the door was slammed in your face - you wondered if it was even worth it. You wondered how things would go from here, especially as you lived next door in the same building.

You slid further into the tub, letting the water up to your lips. You felt your face turn red with embarrassment. It must've been so awful to be slapped like that in public, let alone in front of your closest friends. No wonder he slammed the door...

Just as you closed your eyes, you heard your phone give a small vibration against the tile floor. 
You leaned over, dried your hand on a nearby towel, and unlocked your phone. It was from Geto...

"Congrats," he typed. You flattened your lips and furrowed your brow, feeling major disappointment in yourself. Whether you deserved to feel that way or not was up in the air. 

You put your phone back down and chose to not reply. He probably didn't want to hear from you anyhow. And if he did, it would just be too awkward.

After a long night of peaceful rest, you still woke up with a headache. You quickly learned that hangovers don't just go away quickly. Your entire body still ached and the nausea caused you to have saltines for breakfast, specifically only one saltine. In those moments, you vowed to never drink again. Whether or not that'd hold up would be a test of time.

You ran into Geto at the mailboxes on the first floor of on-campus living. Typically the mission assignments would arrive along with any other mail a sorcerer might get. 
He stood in front of his box, the metal door wide open, and flicked through different envelopes as if he were looking for one in particular. He looked much better than he did the night before, hair up and usual uniform on. He didn't look at all angry but also gave no mind to your new presence.

You silently went to your own box and opened it, grabbing the few pieces of mail that you had. You barely read any of the envelopes as you flicked through them, but instead were busy wondering if you should even say hello.

"Good morning!" Gojo's sing-song-y voice rang out. He stopped at Geto first, tossing his arm around his best friend's shoulder.

"Too loud," Geto shrugged his arm off of him with a smirk. 

"Right, right," Gojo chuckled, "I'm glad I stopped drinking when I did. Otherwise I'd be as miserable as you guys."

"You were supposed to be my babysitter!" You challenged with a grin. "You kept giving me shots!"

"It was your birthday!" Gojo defended. "What? Am I supposed to tell the birthday girl no?"

"When it means I'll get sick, yeah!" You scolded, still holding your grin. 

"Oops," Gojo shrugged with a shit-eating grin while checking his mail. He obnoxiously ripped open the first envelope he had.

You, too, had gotten to the envelope you needed - the one that contained your next assignment. You tore it open and read carefully. 

"Oh?" You mumbled to yourself. The assignment was completely unexpected. Honestly, you felt as if it were some kind of mistake, but you reminded yourself that the higher ups "don't make mistakes," at least according to Yaga they don't. 

"We're together on this next one," Geto sighed, sounding slightly disappointed. "Special grade."

"And I'm out this time!" Gojo piped in, holding up his own letter with a completely different assignment.
Special grades didn't come around too often and when they did, it was preferable to get them taken care of as soon as possible. With two in the area, it meant that Gojo was capable of dealing with his alone as the ultimate "strongest" and Geto would need some assistance. Being a first grade sorcerer not currently on assignment, it was reasonable for you two to be paired up. 

"Why do they keep giving these hard-ass missions to me?" You whined, dropping your hands to your sides in defeat. 

"Nanami's on his own mission. You're the only one here," Geto mumbled. "It's fine. I can probably handle it on my own anyway."

"No," you insisted angrily, "I'm coming."

"I didn't say you weren't," he scoffed, "you can just sit in the car." You pouted, not wanting to continue an unproductive conversation. It was safe to say your relationship was completely in shambles.