Reflecting (Onceler x Reader)

Disheveled, to say the least.

Hello again, it is once again right after i posted the last chapter, hopefully it'll be less distance in between writing this to actually posting it than there was last time.
A friend of mine gave me a wonderful idea that i hope will hurt you all significantly, good luck!

I only got up after I heard Anna say her goodbyes and close the door lightly, the same way she always did.

After that, I heard the Onceler sigh dissapointedly and walk over to the bathroom door.

"Alright, Anna told me everything went well last night, which means whatever happened must've been after you left her place," He walked a bit forward, just far enough for me to be able to see him.

Placing his hand on his hip, he sighed again.

"Look, we both saw you earlier and you couldn't possibly escape without us seeing you, so quit being a coward and come out."

I pushed the door closed from behind him, exposing my hiding place.

He turned to me, brows furrowed in a 'I'm not mad, just disappointed' kind of way, a look I got a lot from my adopted father.

I looked down, not enjoying the implication of the onceler being in any way a parental figure to myself or anyone, for that matter.

"sorry" I murmured so quietly that the author had to make the whole word lowercase.

"Look, just tell me what happened, okay?" Onceler looked into my eyes, this time with more sympathy than dissapointment.

"I won't be mad, I promise," He attempted to reassure me.

"It's not that.. It's just- It's embarrassing, okay?"

I could swear I almost heard a chuckle from him.

"How so?" He questioned, now acting more like a smug bitch rather than a caring parent.

"You know how I went out with Anna yesterday?" I began.

"Well, it seems she thought that was a date"

He didn't say anything, but his face told me everything i needed to know.

"And I might have made the mistake of.." I paused for suspense, "..Kissing her."

"Oh boy.." he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Wait, is that it?" He looked relieved for a second.

"Well, it would be; If I knew for sure that I liked her back," I grinned awkwardly at him.

"Oh Boy"

He sounded like a middle school teacher hearing about class drama.

"I get that it's not that big of a deal" I rolled my eyes at him, leaning on the tub.

"I just... I don't wanna hurt her, you know?"

"Yeah, I get what you mean."

The silence was comforting, especially after all the noise that had run through my head the previous night.

Finally I got up, albeit wobbling, and spoke:

"I think I'm gonna, you know, clean up a little now?" I said, broadly gesturing to my disheveled self.

"Yeah, that... That'd be good," He stared at the ground unblinking as if he was in deep thought.

For a second it looked as if he still had something to say, but he instead left, closing the door behind him.

After that, I showered, washed my face and got dressed before finally exiting the bathroom.

The rest of the day was very quiet, both me and the Onceler quietly thinking.

I cooked up some ravioli for us around sunset and we both sat down by the table to eat.

The whole meal felt like a far-away swordfight.
All you could hear was faint metal clanking and mouth sounds.

I was about to put my plate away when Onceler finally broke the silence.

"Wait. You told me how the date ended, but what happened that made you come home looking so... homeless?" He questioned, still vaguely picking at his food,

"Well I may have had a panic attack or two..." I chuckled awkwardly, my hand scratching the back of my neck.

"Don't you mean 'or 20'?," He stuck a piece of pasta into his mouth in a way that almost seemed accusatory.

"Okay yeah, 'or 20'," I mumbled, "And as you know, the forest isn't particularly kind to those having panic attacks."

"Oh boy do I know" His eyes widened at his plate as if the food was meant to agree with him.

I clunked my plate into the sink, quickly rinsing it off before turning  to The Onceler again.

"Why do you ask, anyway?" I crossed my arms while leaning onto the sink.

"Well, I've been trying to figure it out all day long, and I thought, 'why not just ask the source?'"

"Yeah, that's fair"

We both went quiet again, The onceler's chewing being the loudest noise in the room.

(be glad you don't live with this guy, he chews really loud)

Once again, the loud chewing bozo was the first to break our not-so-silent
silence.

"This stuff is delicious, by the way," He pointed accusingly at the pasta, "Where did you learn to make this?"

My hand grabbed at the back of my neck again, unsure if I should tell knit-boy about my recurring past life memories.

"Eh, it's a long story," I spoke slowly, hoping he'd understand I didn't want to talk about it.

"I've got time," He replied between mouthfulls

Apparently not.

"I- Well- I don't want to talk about it..."
I fiddled with my fingers while talking

But of course, The Onceler is not the kind of person who lets go of things that easily.

"Come on now, it can't be that bad," He looked at me in a way that told me he'd definitely used this tactic before.

"Oh, but it can. And I'm not exactly comfortable talking about it," I insisted.

"I thought we were friends?" He said in a way that would have made me feel sorry for him if i didn't know what he was trying to do.

"I'm leaving."

I couldn't stand to talk to him anymore.

He might be my friend, and he might be a nicer guy than others but that doesn't make him any less of a guy.

An annoying, manipulative, guy.

In any way, I don't have time for him.

I locked the bathroom door and went to sleep.

Hey guys! It is officially fucking October. For context i began writing this on July 2nd. Sorry this was all i could spit out, I've had a lot on my plate lately, what with school starting up and the fact that i havent really been interested in writing in a while, but anyway, here's this!