Roses (Nathanael X Reader)

Her Hand

The next morning, [y/n] got up to see messages from Adrian. She opened them to see:

"Hey cuzzy"
"You busy tonight?"

The time signature of the next one was fifteen minutes later.

"Will you text Kym? He wants to hang out with you sometime"
"Are you dead?"
"Dude you've never gone longer than ten minutes without your phone wth are you doing?"
"I'm so close to asking father to call your mother but I won't unless you don't come to school tomorrow."

She groaned and texted him, "Sorry, I went on a walk then started drawing and playing music. Plus jet lag is killing me so sorry if I'm a bit tired today and not in a great mood lol," she texted, knowing that after last night, she wouldn't feel good all day.

At school, she went straight to class to avoid talking to anybody. That worked until Kym came in. He went back to her, looking shy. She forced herself to smile even thought she felt awful. "Hey, I heard you were trying to get ahold of me last night. I just wasn't looking at my phone for once in my life," she joked.

He smiled shyly and said shakily, "Relatable. Ummm... I was just wondering if... if you're free tonight."

She pretended to think for a moment. "Jet leg is still killing me... Does tomorrow work that way I can okay it with my mom? She's a bit of a control freak sometimes."

"Okay," he responded brightly immediately. [Y/n] moved a bit of hair away from her eyes, and he said, "What happened to your hand?"

"Nothing... I was just playing with my cat, and he scratched. I just couldn't get a band aid to stick so I wrapped it. It's nothing, really." He raised his eyebrow, and behind him, Nathanael stood, his hair covering his eyes. [Y/n] felt the idea he was hiding behind it.

"So you're okay?" She nodded, and he smiled. "If anyone lays a finger on you, tell me, and it'll never happen again!" He put his hand over hers and smiled with determination in his eyes. "I'll talk to you later, I guess?" he asked.

"Yep," she said shortly with a false small smile. He left, and Nathanael proceeded to sit beside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked looking down.

"Yeah, it's nothing. Just a cat scratch," she said dismissively. He sighed as he took out his things slowly, almost as if creating a distraction. "Are you okay? You seem sad."

"I'm fine," he muttered, barely audible as he was speaking more to the desk than her.

"Then look at me," she persuaded. Slowly, he raised his head. "Have you been crying?" she asked quietly as she moved part of his hair to reveal the orbs of ocean beneath. He still had dark circles and bags, and his under eyes were now nearly as red as his blush. "Oh, honey," she whispered as she put her arms around him. He laid his head on her shoulder, shaking with silent sobs. "Shhh," she calmed.

By time class started, he looked slightly better. Under the table, she held his hand throughout the lecture. During the next class, she drew a small rose on his wrist while he tried not to laugh while her precise marker tickled him.

During lunch, she laid on his shoulder as he drew a picture of a whole bouquet of roses. Once he finished, he took the paper out of the sketchbook and handed it to her. She looked over at him, and he smiled with a light blush. "You're my rose," she told him, saying rose in English. His blush brightened as she squeezed his hand. He looked down at her wrapped hand with a grimace growing.

"Let me see your hand." He held his hand out, and she put her hand up to it. He held her hand in his while he used the other to take off the bandage. He smiled at the brilliant rose drawing but couldn't help the tears that threatened to fall as he looked at the little scars starting to form. "What really happened?"

"The Evillustrator gave me both," she whispered.

"How?"

"He drew a rose, and it turned to glitter then showed up on my hand. We started dancing, and Chat Noir came. He freaked, I guess. He dug into my hand, and I couldn't do anything. I just froze up even when he pulled me to him and wouldn't let go. I felt trapped, like I did after Kym blocked my path yesterday. I hate feeling restrained like that... and I just lost control of my own breathing," she spilled. Tears watered her eyes, but she brushed them away like they were pesky flies.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized. He held her close, rocking her gently into a peaceful state.

"Don't tell anyone. Especially Kym. He'll hurt the Evillustrator."

"You're not mad at him?"

"He seemed scared of himself after he took me home. I'm not going somewhere with him again, I swear. I just... I... It's dumb," she said resolutely with a shake of the head.

"You're such a beautiful soul." She blushed and buried her head in his neck.

"Stop it," she said in a muffled voice from his shoulder. He smiled as he rubbed circles into her back. Her breath felt warm against his neck. She finally pulled away, her cheeks blazing. As he looked into her eyes, he watched his future bloom in her iris pattern. "You're an idiot," she teased and ruffled his hair.