Sky of Glass - Tokyo Ghoul [Reader x Hide]

Chapter One: Absent Again

~from Reader's POV 2nd person~
You were waiting for Kaneki at Anteiku, his favorite coffee shop. Hidden in a bag by your feet was a new book by his favorite author, Sen Takatsuki. You casually checked your watch as you took a sip of coffee, and you had to agree with Kaneki in that Anteiku made it the best.
Just then, the bell over the door rang to signal someone's entrance, but instead of Kaneki, Hide smiled at you and walked over.
"Hey, (y/n). How's it going?" he asked, sliding into the seat opposite you. He placed his elbows on the table and propped his head up on his hands.
"Hey, Hide," you said, smiling and closing the book you had been reading. "What's up?"
"Nothing much," he replied, grinning and nodding towards the book. "Just like your brother, always reading something."
You laughed and shrugged. "You should try it sometime."
"Me? Reading? Nah," he said. "It just doesn't suit the image." He laughed and leaned in a little closer. "Can you imagine it? Me with glasses, reading some old text about the history of Japan?"
You laughed along with him as you imagined a bespectacled Hide struggling to read a boring old piece of writing. "You're right. You should just stick to part time jobs, college, and whatever else you do."
The waitress came over to take Hide's order, but he waved her away with a smile. "None for me, thanks. I'm not staying long." She nodded, returned his grin with a half smile, and walked away without saying anything. You got the feeling that "not saying anything" was just her thing.
"So what are you here for, Hide?" you asked after she left, and he turned back to you, I his smile still framing his face.
"Ah, that's right," he said, palming his forehead like he just remembered. His smile shifted to a more apologetic form, and you already looked down with a disappointed-but-I'm-trying-to-hide-it small smile of your own.
"He's not coming, is he?" you asked, looking up to meet Hide's sad eyes. "I get it. I mean, he's taking some hard classes, and he's been busy lately with preparing for that test. It's fine," you said, smiling genuinely at Hide as you stood up, trying to figure out a way to grab the book you got for Kaneki without seeming pitiful. After debating kicking it under the seat so Hide wouldn't see it, your frugal side gave in and you picked it up, still in its bag, and held it in your hands, not really knowing what to do. "Would you tell Kaneki I said hi when you next see him? He'll probably be back late tonight," you said, pushing in your chair as you thought, if he shows up, "and I'll probably be too tired to stay up and wait for him."
Even though you were trying your best not to attract his sympathy and pity, you could see his eyes look at you like he always did when Kaneki missed his previously made appointments, which was happening more and more lately. Before Hide offered to buy you dinner somewhere or hang out with you, you held up the book in a I've-got-to-be-going gesture and waved, already moving towards the door. "See you later, Hide, and thanks for showing up." Unlike my brother.
Hide looked like he didn't know whether to smile out of instinct or frown because he knew what you were trying to do, so he settled on a half-smile-sigh combination and waved back tiredly as you pulled open the door and walked out into the cold winter air.
As you set off towards your home, you pulled your thin jacket closer to your body, trying to shield the lower half of your face from the bitter wind. The only good thing about the cold was that it let you focus on each step rather than Kaneki's absence.

~time skip~

Kaneki, you thought as you stopped just outside your door. Are you avoiding me? Why? Why would you do this if you know it hurts me?
Or even worse, do you just not realize that you're hurting me? Are you forgetting me completely?
With a small frown, you turned the key in the lock and quickly moved inside, closing and locking the door behind you before stamping your feet a few times on the worn-down welcome mat both to shake off snow and to regain a bit of feeling in your lower limbs. With a sigh, you deposited the newly-purchased book on the kitchen table, one of the few remaining pieces of furniture. Most had been sold to pay for their only remaining family member's funeral not too long ago, and with college tuition also bearing down on both of them, couches and rugs seemed a lot less important. All they had left was the kitchen table, three chairs (one of which was permanently reserved for Hide, who stopped by often), two beds, and two dressers. Everything else had been pawned off to help sate the ever-growing debt.

~from Reader's POV 1st person~

While Kaneki took classes at the nearby college, I had two part-time jobs that I worked shifts at. He'd offered to help out and get a job of his own, but I'd refused. It just made sense that he would have a somewhat normal life after everything that had happened. Besides, I wasn't smart enough for the classes he was taking, and the only reason we hadn't been vacated was because he'd earned a bit of a scholarship. So even though he insisted that I should take classes as well because it wasn't fair otherwise, I just told him that I wasn't good at studying and all that. College would be wasted on me, but he should at least have that opportunity.
So it's my own fault that I'm lonely right now. I insisted that he take classes, and yet when he does, I just want him to come home. I'm so selfish, I scolded myself, pausing with my fingers on the light switch for a moment. I wanted to leave them on for Kaneki, but with the way things have been lately, it would be a waste of the electricity (and therefore a higher bill), and there was no guarantee that Kaneki would return tonight. He could be staying at a friend's house, studying and whatever they do.
So I turned off the lights and laid down under my covers to sleep, disappointed in Kaneki but moreso myself.