Deep Breaths (Garcello x Reader) [Slow Updates]

Part 27 - Breathe Deep

"Woah, you're all smiles, (Y/N). Something good happen?"

You blink, turning to Calvin. You hadn't even noticed the smile on your face until he pointed it out.

"Ah..." You grin again, a little awkwardly. Heat floods your veins. "Yeah, I guess."

"Oh?" Much to your misfortune, Calvin leans toward you, interest piqued. You press your lips together firmly, turning away to resume restocking shelves. Calvin laughs past your shoulder, "C'mon, tell me! I'm curious!"

"What, like you don't already know?" you can't help but mumble under your breath, plucking a green sucker from a box and spinning the stick around between your fingers. Your heart flutters a little and you drop the sucker back in before you get too carried away. 

"I don't, though!" Calvin insists. All of a sudden, he's leaning on your back, lamenting dramatically. You let out a startled noise at the unexpected sensation of Cal's weight on your shoulders, staggering. "Pleeeaaase, (Y/N)! I can't miss out on the tea!"

"You-- hk-- Ash is having a horrible influence on you..." You stumble for a moment before pushing Calvin off your back. He lets himself be nudged away, laughing a little. 

"Okay, but genuinely," he says, rubbing the freckles sprinkled over his cheekbones, "What's the good news? I don't like being left in the dark, you know."

You nod as you place some items on a shelf. Despite knowing you could essentially entrust your life to Calvin, telling him is still some sort of nerve-wracking ordeal. As if somehow ending up Garcello's significant other wasn't terrifying enough.

"Okay," you finally sigh, raking a hand through your hair. "Okay, fine. It's, um... I'm happy because... I told Garcello I liked him, and-- and he said he did too, so... we're dating now."

Before you have the chance to internally facepalm at your clunky wording, Calvin drops the box he's holding. It lands flat on the floor with the loudest impact you've ever heard from a cardboard box, which, obviously, elicits from you a visible flinch. Cal, though, seems largely unbothered, gawking at you with comically wide eyes.

"He-- you-- really?!" Calvin's face practically turns brighter than the sun. He whoops, "Heck yeah!!! Finally!! Gosh, I knew you guys would get together soon! Ash owes me ten bucks."

You blink, stammer, struggling to catch up to Cal's thousand-paces-per-second attitude. "You-- uh-- I mean, thanks?" You blink again, finally processing. "Hey, wait, you guys bet on me?!"

"Um..." He pauses, suddenly sheepish. "...Oops? Look, to be fair, the romantic tension was really obvious! And we thought, y'know, if we couldn't do anything about it, we might as well make a game out of it...?"

"Dude," you can't help but deadpan. 

"Hey! At least I showed some enthusiasm about a quick confession, right? Ashlyn insisted I was being too optimistic and put her bet on at least another month."

"I-- well..." You retract a little, face warming. "...Not gonna lie, my confession wasn't... intentional? I was rambling to Garcello while he was asleep-- or at least I thought he was, because he wasn't-- and he heard what I said, so..."

Your face flushes a little more under Calvin's scrutiny. He blinks at you, seemingly a tad baffled, before inhaling. And exhaling. And inhaling again.

"...Oh my gosh, you guys are dorks," he says, pinching the bridge of his nose in faux exasperation. You click your tongue, returning to stocking shelves.

"Yeah, that's fair."

~~~

You sigh, rubbing your forehead as you close the staff door behind you. Long day, but you got through it, as usual. The unruly customers didn't help, though. Unusually enough, you're not finding yourself dreading tomorrow, despite how often that tends to happen. Instead, you're thinking of him.