Chapter Text
“I need to tell you something,”Juno breaths shakily, air coming out into a cloud. Heart thumping, she blinks her tears desperately back. Don’t--what if they hate us-what if they’re disgusted-horrified-they’d never like us back--what if they told others--- An image of their disgusted and horrified face fills their head for a moment before it slips away. That wouldn’t happen--they’re not like that--or are they? One slips down a lonely trail curving over her cheeks and down the slope of her jaw and disappears down her neck into her shirt, moonlight caressing the side of her face. Thoughts rumble and crumble in her mind, how do I say this? What a disastrous night. What will they think? Just say it. This night couldn’t get any worse--She stares off out into the distance, where hills of all heights and shapes roll and slope until they meet a distant blue sea.
“What is it?” Mino sighs, leaning back into the air, their baggy shirt billowing as a cold breeze passes by. Shivering they pull back steady onto the rickety old fence they’re sat on. Leaning down, they grab their slightly dirty jumper and pulls it over their head, as Juno’s eyes linger and a soft heat crawls up from their chest into their face as they eye the mess of hair now around their head, and the silly but cute expressions on their face as they nestle into their jumper. "Well?” They huddle closer to her, arms practically touching, oh my god-isthishappeningrightnow-
“I..I’m…”She loses train of thought, her mind a stormy seascape, of hopes and dreams and dread and despair crashing together in an endless fight. Tracing her face with a finger, looping around her lips and up and around her nose, following the curves, the once calming action fails and leaves her, her hand falling. The sudden nudge against her side brings her back to reality, she turns slightly and sees the slightly concerned, or maybe they’re annoyed-what if I imagined it all--why am I like this-justsayit--comeon you can do this , face of her almost-friend. She slips. “Are we friends?”
“Well, I thought so?” A slightly hurt look paints their face in blues and purples as their lips turn down and and ohfuck, why can’t I-oh I’ve just ruined this-reallybad-please don’tcry--just tell them---tellthemtellthemtellthEMTELLTHE--
“No, no, like I thought we were friends too, but I just wondered if you thought the same.”
A slight smile.
“What I actually was going to say is--” She turns to look at them properly, with the moonlight on their face their eyes almost look like molten silver, and it takes her breath away. Her eyes caress their face, lingering slightly on their soft thin, painted black, lips, before shooting back up to look them in the eyes. “I like you.”
“I like you, too.” They smile gently, a hint of off-white crooked teeth.
“No, I mean like I like like you.” Their face remains unchanged, and almost mad with the need to properly explain, to clarify, because surely they wouldn’t have the same reaction if they knew. “I mean as more than friends, like I want to be your girlfriend, or your partner, if you wanted me the same way, like like if you were comfortable and wanted to be more than friends, too, like---”
A confused quirk of the brow, and then they shake their head laughter spilling out, leaving them wheezing and her confused and her heart squeezing painfully, tears beginning to follow that now dried lone trail. I guess I should’ve expected this, but it still hurts, why did I even botherwhatwasIthinking . She turns and curls away from them for a moment to wipe her tears before straightening and shuffling away from the still-laughing and oblivious Mino.
They finally clear their face and notice the silence and the space between their two bodies. “What are you doing all the way over there?” Realisation sets in. “Wait, no, no, no you misunderstand.”
“I don't think I do, I think I perfectly understand.” She snaps, straightening and jumping down from the fence, grabbing her bag she begins to walk off. “I would’ve preferred though that you hadn’t laughed at me, but I guess there’s nothing to do about that now.”
They jump down as well, and hurry over to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. “No, really you don’t understand, I wasn’t laughing at you, I was laughing at me, for not realising.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better, now please let go of my arm.”
“Okay, but only if you just listen to me, please, it really isn’t-- it’s just not how it appears.”
“Then tell me.” She stops pulling at her arm and plops suddenly onto the long grass beneath, tugging them down with her in the process. At this level, she can see all of the daisies, dandelions, buttercups and cornflowers much clearer, and so she discovers these details, the way the moonlight illuminates their petals, the curves and lines that differ from each other, this little bug shining blue and green and purple as it climbs one of the daisies’ petals, as Mino begins to speak, and in the process lose the cool demeanour they’d been wearing for the first time.
“I swear, I just…” They fumble for a moment noticing the intense stare on the flowers, before continuing on. “I just thought actually, all this time, that we had been flirting, and that you had realised that I’d been flirting too, back, because I thought you’d been too, and I actually thought that all those little meetups were dates, or something close to it, like I thought it was obvious that I liked you too.”
She whips her head around, startled, connecting eyes with Mino.
“Like like you, more than friends, yknow.” They chuckle slightly, quirking a brow.
OhMYGOd---OhmygodohmygodsaysomethingohmygodyesyesyesyesyesjustSAYSOMETHING-- ”Ah.” Not that Ughfuck--
“Is that all you have to say?” They laugh again, more freely this time. Seeing the startled look on Juno’s face, they continue on. “But, yes if you want to be my girlfriend, or I be your partner, I would love that, honestly you’re---” They’re cut off as she slams into them, knocking them onto their back as she straddles their waist. Placing her roughed up hands against their smooth skin, caressing their neck up into their thick curly hair and pulling their head back, she reaches down and brushes her lips against theirs.
“Is this okay?” She breathes against their lips, eyelashes fluttering rapidly as their pear perfume fills her senses and a heat nestles, curling around her chest and lower.
“Of course,” They whisper, leaning up to capture her lips fully. Despite the softness of their lips, there is nothing calm about their kiss, as they bite and push and pull each other, a tender but passionate fight. Gasping as they pull away, she places soft kisses against her neck trailing down, pulling their head back again, giving more space, for her to suck and lick at the dark skin beneath her. She trails back up to their ear, where they briefly suck on their earlobe leaving Mino to gasp and shudder beneath her.
“Yes.” Mino blinks up at her in confusion as she pulls away to lock gaze with them. “Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.” A grin settles on both of their lips as the combined joy rushes over them, the previous pain falling away and a warm golden glow almost seems to settle over them as they continue to stare into each other eyes, grey almost seeming a black storm cloud meeting a night-sky blue, both their pupils dilated leaving only a sliver of iris to be seen.