The Boy Who Cried Fox

Jealousy

"Childe?" Zhongli was being pulled onto Childe's lap, facing him. A hand wiped away the cheek Baizhu kissed and then cupped both of his cheeks.

"I don't want you to talk to him. He's too comfortable around you. You got it?" Childe lightly kissed the brunette on the cheek. Embarrassed, Zhongli buried his head into the crook of Childe's shoulder, embarrassed. Satisfied that he had claimed what was his, Childe noticed the door open. Al'Haitham returned and sat in Zhongli's empty spot. Diluc was sitting on the floor and passed the popcorn to Ayato, who was on the couch. Thoma was trying to control Kaeya as he was trying to send what happened to Lisa. Zhongli was too flustered to say anything.

"Wait, Al'Haitham, how did you know I knew Zhongli?" Childe remembered that at the store Al'Haitham just asked if he knew Zhongli or not.

"The things you bought. Zhongli buys those things all the time." Al'Haitham stroked the back of a still very red brunette and went back to the movie.

When the movie ended, Al'Haitham left and Childe carried Zhongli to his room. He checked his messages and realized that Signora had texted him.

Moth bitch

S: We need to meet up again for a study group or something like that.

T: Aight.

Sighing in sweet relief, Childe got ready to sleep. Snuggling up next to an already asleep Zhongli, Childe made a mental note of waking up around the same time as Zhongli and what his classes were. The 2 of them fell asleep quite fast but Zhongli's wasn't a peaceful one. The same moment of his mothers dying kept reappearing but with a little twist, unlike most of the time. It kept glitching, black liquid leaking out of everyone's eyes, more blood than usual, it looked like something out of a weirdcore game. When he bolted upright, sweat and tears greeted him. And something hugging him tightly. Childe was worriedly looking at Zhongli panic and tried to calm him down. Running his fingers through his hair and whispering words of comfort seemed to help. But Kaeya had snuck into their room a while before the episode and was grinning at the material he obtained for the 'ChiLi' gc. There was a photo of Childe pressing his lips against Zhongli's forehead, hand wrapped around the smaller man's waist, free hand cupping his head. Their legs were entangled in each other. Zhongli had both of his arms wrapped around Childe's neck. With a triumphant smile, Kaeya went back to sleep as it was 5 in the morning.

"Are you alright? You okay? Princess, answer me?" Childe sat up and began examining Zhongli for any signs of discomfort. But instead of words, Zhongli melted into his hold. They stayed like that before both of them decided that they should get ready for school. Zhongli soon found out he could not only stand, but walk. Once both of them were ready, they left for the tree. Childe had to be careful as Zhongli was still in the healing process. They managed to make it to the tree with no major issues. They sat at the base of the tree waiting for school to roll in. Thankfully, they both had free period. As they chilled by the tree, Childe decided what to do for their first date. If he was going to complete the bet before feelings evolved, Childe wanted to speed things up as much as possible.

"Childe?" Zhongli gently shook the ginger out of his thoughts.

"Yes babe?" Childe replied to Zhongli instantly.

"There's people here." Zhongli indicated to the Inazumans in front of them.

"Sorry! We didn't know!" Yoimiya started bowing frantically as she saw the 2 there.

"You don't mind us interrupting your date Morax?" Ei sat down somewhere near Zhongli. It took a while for them both to fully register what she said and when they did, both of them immediately started protesting.

"This isn't a date!" Zhongli waved both of his hands wildly in front of him in an attempt to distract the eye.

"I was just taking care of him! It's what friends do!" Childe went in at the same time, trying to stop all of their suspicions. Too late. Miko was there and she was already texting the 'ChiLi' group chat. Zhongli was too embarrassed at this point and just left the scene. While walking down the hallway to his locker, a light tug on the base of his shirt caught his attention. The person doing it was a girl, with a bunch of other women behind her.

"Ask him already!" One of the girls behind pushed the girl in front, causing her to collide into Zhongli.

"A-Ah! Sorry Zhongli senpai!" She bowed before handing him something. "I-I hope you like this gift..."

"Thank you very much. And your name is?" Zhongli took the gift from her and did what every normal human would do when you meet someone new.

"I-I'm Jiafei! I n-need to go now! Bye bye Zhongli senpai!" Jiafei left with her girl group, giggling as they left. Zhongli walked away as if nothing had happened but two people were watching. And just like that, the two of them had found another rival.

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