𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑. paul lahote ✓

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

┏━━━━⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆☾ ﾟ｡⋆━━━━┓

AN OLIVE BRANCH

AUGUSTINE DECIDED TO SWALLOW HER PRIDE.

It was a couple more weeks until senior graduation and Augustine was practically thrumming with excitement. Although it wasn't her own, the last graduation she had attended was her older brother's, but that felt like a lifetime ago.

And, similarly to how a few of her siblings were graduating (for what felt like the millionth time to them, she's sure), she also knew one other person who was also graduating this year: Paul Lahote.

She'd been reflecting on the Dilaurentis boy's advice for weeks, always in a constant battle of whether to take it or whether to discard it. Even during Paul and her's study sessions, which were happening way more frequently, she'd catch herself staring at him as she thought of what Will said.

Augustine knew their study sessions would come to an end soon, and there was a part of her that wished Paul got held back or something just so they could keep doing their work together. They worked in mostly silence, but it was comfortable and familiar; two of the things she'd grown up without.

It was a rainy day when the Lahote boy walked into the diner, backpack in hand before sliding into the seat across from her. She wordlessly slid over her plate of french fries, daring to give him a small smile, before turning back to her assignment.

Yeah, they'd established a routine.

Only, Augustine was rarely the first one to spark conversation —Paul was usually the one asking her about her day, asking if she needed anymore biology help after the frog dissection was completed— but on that day, her voice was the one to ring out first.

"I don't know when your birthday is," she stated, pencil in her hand going slack as she addressed the boy in front of her.

Paul visibly startled at that. "What?"

"You know when my birthday is," she explained, pointedly avoiding the mention of just why he knew. "It's only fair I know yours."

He mulled it over with a nod. "January 10th."

Augustine's face shuttered, her body instinctually leaning forward. "But that's—

"Your birthday? Yeah, I know."

The ravenette watched on as he resumed his math homework, mouth downturned in disbelief. They say that they'd met was the first time it had all went to shit. "Guess we both had a shitty birthday last year, huh?"

The boy's eyes snapped back to hers at that, a ghost of a smile on his face. "I was a dick back then, but I apologized, didn't I?"

"Back then? You're still a dick." She laughed at the unamused look he shot her way.

"Ha-ha, so funny, I'm aware," he responded, nudging her foot with his underneath the table. "I still get, y'know. But I've been a lot calmer lately... Sam's noticed too, so has my dad."

Augustine hummed, as this was something she noticed firsthand. The Paul sitting before her was different from the one she'd first met; that Paul was quick to anger, the vampire often using that to her advantage, but this Paul was collected. He could be a hothead when he wanted to be (you couldn't shake that trait from him even if you tried), but very rarely did he raise his voice around her— even when she tried to rile him up. "What helps?" she questioned, wanting to know more about his evident anger management strategies.