Midnight Delusions ♡

002 - Winter Comforts ♡ AOD

Issac "Zack" Foster x GN!Reader
Romantic Relationship
Angsty-Fluff

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POV: Yours. (Y/N)
   I start preparing some churro bites, placing a small bag of cinnamon sugar out and the rest of the ingredients needed on the counter. I look at a playlist to play while I'm making these churros. Once I find a playlist, I click on it and put it in shuffle letting the holiday music play. There is about a week until Christmas, so I needed to start decorating before then! I walked towards a storage closet for some lights and other decorations for him and I to put up together. As I was putting them on a table nearby, then heading towards the kitchen to finish I heard the front door open indicating that my boyfriend just got home from "work".

   "Hey! How was your day?" I immediately ask as soon as he gets inside.

   He looks around and notices the decorations on the table, the holiday music playing in the background and the smell of cinnamon in the air. As I observed him more, the way his hood seemed slightly off his head as if he was getting ready to take it down and the way his scythe was leaned onto the floor from its point. He seemed as if he was ready to seethe and terrified at the same moment.

   "What's the matter, did something happen?" I frowned as I noticed he seemed to get even worse from the question, slowly backing up and walking back out the house.

   I was confused, I didn't know what to do. However, I gave him his desired space as I worriedly went back to the kitchen to finish making the churros I was making before. I was concerned and clueless as to why he looked like he was nearly about to break down before he left.

  I shortly finished preparing the churros and getting ready to put them in the oven to bake the bites, a new song playing on the speakers around the house. I set the oven for the decided time and walked over to the decorations, which sat atop the table I placed on before in many bright hues. I grabbed some gold tinsel and started weaving it around the house and halls, doing the same with the other decorations.

   'This would be so much better if he was here...' I think to myself, as I place a small mistletoe above the arch to the kitchen.

            Time Skip: 30 Minutes Later.
   I pull the finished churros out of the oven as I hear the entrance open once again. I slowly walked over after setting the tray of bites down, seeing how he was doing after his extra outing only to see that he looked even worse than when he came back the first time. His bandages around his face seemed to be slightly falling off and there was blood on almost every part of his outfit. I give him a small smile to test how he's doing now, only to give me a shallow growl, making me frown.

   "What the matter, Zack? Do you seem so upset?" I ask softly, genuinely just trying to understand what's wrong.

   "What is the matter with you? Why are you damn adamant about this holiday celebration shit!?" He said, pointing his scythe towards a hanging tinsel with a scowl.

   "What's wrong with it? I thought you would enjoy it, but you never were against it as far as i knew. So I thought it was okay." I explained, calmly.

   He shook his head, "No, no. I dont fucking like this holiday shit. It's stupid and it's not as fun as people try to make it seem." He let out an agitated sigh and placed his scythe to the side.

   "Why do you say that? It is plenty of fun, you get to spend time with your loved ones and celebrate being together." I inquired calmly, getting more confused.

   "No, it is not. That is just a damn myth. Nothing good happens, it's just all a damn lie!" He claimed, his body shaking slightly as if he was left outside in the snow for a few hours. His eyes gave a slight glint of vulnerability and anger, but not towards me.

   I nodded, slowly starting to understand. "Okay, I understand now. It's okay. Well then, do you wanna help me take everything down?" I asked with a kind smile, referring to the decorations around us.

   He looked at me bewildered for a moment before slowly nodding in silence and carefully placing his scythe to the side near the door. He then started to take everything down as I headed back into the kitchen to change the playlist that was still playing. I watched Zack as he struggled a bit on some tinsel in the hall, making me chuckle quietly before joining him on helping take everything else down.

   Soon enough, we had a small pile of green, red, white, and blue in the middle of the living room. I walked over to the closet to get the small container it was in before and placed it out for us to place it back inside to be forgotten. Once done, I smiled and placed it back in the storage closet, walking back to Zack with some more bandages and an extra pair of clothes, as the ones he was currently wearing was covered in some blood.

   "You should get changed so I can fix and replace your bandages, love. Just make sure not to make a mess in the house." I chuckled and he nodded along, seemingly still uneasy by my behavior from his confession earlier.

   He grabbed the spare clothing and walked away to change while I did the rest of the cleaning around the house and finished up the churros. When he came back out, I smiled at him and offered him a churro bite in which he took.

   "So... Please explain why exactly you don't like Christmas time? 'Cause I have noticed that you have been more irritable and anxious lately during this time." I asked softly, trying to see where exactly this was coming from as I gently removed his other bandages from his face and arms. He seemed pretty hesitant to tell me but shortly sighed and nodded, trying to get as comfortable as he could.

   As he carefully explained why it triggered him and what happened to make him dislike it so much I gently replaced his bandages along his arms and face, and placed soft kisses here and there to help comfort and relax him. Everything he told me, I quietly listened and it made my heart swell at how badly it had gotten to him to this point. By the time he was halfway done— I assumed— I had finished my patching job and just listened like a kindergartner on the rainbow carpet one would use when the teacher was reading.

   By the time he was completely finished, we were cuddling and I was making sure he knew I cared for him dearly and that I was here if he needed me. He just had to let me know when something bothered him so I understood. We were getting tired after a while of just talking nonsense to each other about our days, which ended up with us falling asleep on the couch after a short kiss.

   "I'm sorry for ruining the rest of your day, sweetheart..." I heard him mumble right before I slipped away into the darkness.

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A/N::
First of all,
I want to deeply apologize if I didn't get Zack's character correct. This was rushed and based solely off of memory; I had finished AOD a little over 6 months ago so it isn't so accurate to the anime nor to his character. So I do deeply want to apologize if it is not, I tried to do so the best I can from my memory. :(