#Breakup Shoes | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

softquietsteadylove · 1 month ago

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Love that broken up au. Maybe we can get some more? 🥹

love your works.🫶🏻

"Wow, it really looks the same."

It felt the same, watching Gil walk into Seri's old flat. It was hers now, but it felt just like when they used to all spend time together. Of course, it wasn't just her breakup with Gil which had put a damper on that. Sersi and Ikaris' split had been far more damaging.

Perhaps that was part of why Thena had always wanted to keep her split with Gil as civil as possible. Despite it being the single most devastating event of her life.

"I like what you've done with it, though," he smiled, pointing at some of the small additions she'd made, things on the wall or little historical things on the shelves.

She smiled, hanging up her coat, "thanks. You know how to make yourself at home."

"Sure," he tossed over his shoulder, slipping his hands in his jeans pockets as he drifted aimlessly into the living room.

Thena bent to get her heels off. She smiled; Gil had taken off his boots and carefully lined them up with the rest of her shoes on the doormat. It was nothing short of heartwarming, and that was not what she needed to be feeling at the moment.

They were two friends--just two people, reconnecting. It didn't have to be more than that. She had kissed him, and then he had gone and really kissed her back. But she shouldn't have. They weren't here to get back together.

But she had missed him. Seeing him in front of her again made her feel it in her bones how much she had missed everything about him. It was like seeing the glow of home after being away in the dark and cold.

Gil turned back to her, hovering in the middle of the room, wondering what she would do.

She tried not to seem like she was fidgeting as she moved sideways into the kitchen. "Have a seat. Do you want tea--or coffee?"

"You have coffee?" he asked immediately.

She rifled needlessly in her tea jar, facing away from him. "I may not drink it, but everyone else does."

It was a good enough excuse. And it kept her from having to admit that it was because she associated the smell of it with him, and every once in a while she would unseal the airtight container just for a smell of it. Because that would not be the behaviour of someone who was completely over her ex-boyfriend.

She put the kettle on, scooping some coffee for Gil and tea for herself. "You still drink it black?"

"Yep," he grinned back at her. He sat himself on the far end of her couch, leaning against the armrest. "Brings back memories, huh?"

Perhaps too many. But if he could reminisce about happier times then so could she (she decided). She left the kettle to boil and moved into the living room with him. "It certainly does."

"I remember when Sersi first got this place," Gil chuckled, crossing his arms and angling himself towards her at the other end. "All of us helping her move in."

"It was quite a day," Thena smiled at the memory. She could recall flashes of them all together, making light work of things, helping before things became complicated and their careers had completely consumed some of their lives. "I knew Ikaris was disappointed that she asked us to help as well."

"Guy was so obvious," Gil shook his head, rolling his eyes. He snorted, "gave me and Druig attitude all day because of it."

"That does rather sound like him," Thena lamented about her cantankerous brother. Not that she could claim to be any less unpleasant.

"I'm glad she stayed in this place," Gil added somewhat more sullenly, "after they split."

Their breakup had been...messy. There was an animosity there that hadn't escaped any of their friend group, no matter how much Sersi had attempted to keep their private affairs private. "I am too. I told him he was lucky I didn't kill him myself, but Sersi always insisted it wasn't his fault."

Gil scoffed, as did she. He turned himself more towards her, even scooched closer to her on the couch. "Did he ever tell you...?"

"No," she shook her head. It was no lie, if he had, she would have told Gil at least. "He still maintains they simply drifted apart until there was no repairing it. Unfortunately, I am well aware that he can keep things to himself to such a degree that he even he forgets then."

She was like that too.

But Gil didn't point any fingers. He shrugged one of his massive shoulders, "We've all got our own stuff to sort out. Maybe it was best for them that they did it apart from each other."

That was what they had ultimately decided for themselves, too--that there was too much else consuming them to give their relationship the care and time it deserved. She scooched closer to him as well. "I agree."

"But hey, I like Dane," Gil brightened again, hoping to draw up the mood. "Seems like a nice guy, maybe kind of quiet."

She smiled. She did like Dane, and he seemed like a good match for Sersi--so good she was ready to move in with someone for the first time since Ikaris. "Everyone is quiet standing next to you."

Gil laughed from his belly. On her bad days, she would wonder why it was always so loud. Now, she yearned to hear more of it. "Guilty, but I don't think that's it. He's more...thoughtful, like he really thinks about what he says before he says it."

She laughed faintly, unable to resist Gil's natural, easy charisma. "I have found that as well. Dane is considerate in a way I don't think my brother is capable."

She sometimes wondered if she was capable of it.

"You seen her lately--Sersi?" Gil asked, moving closer again. She did the same, merely to hear him better. "I haven't gotten to catch up with her since - probably - a few months ago?"

"I saw her a week ago, maybe two," Thena confirmed. They were approaching the line between the two long cushions which composed her modestly sized sofa. She didn't know what would happen when they met in the middle. "She's doing well. Her classroom is already decorated for the coming holidays."

"It's almost two months away!" Gil squawked, but then laughed again, offering her ears a deserved enrichment. "I should have known, she loves that stuff."

She did. Sersi was much like Gil in how warm they were and the gentle nature their hearts shared. Thena had often wondered how a sweet soul like Sersi had ended up with her adamant and immovable twin brother. When she got together with Gil, she had to wonder the same thing, but no longer wanted the answer.

"Even the children have told her it's too early," she added, recalling the devastation on Sersi's face even just recounting the story. "She's handled the transition from younger children to pre-teens well, though."

"Dane teaches sixth, right?" Gil asked, to which she nodded. "She won't admit it, but I still think she agreed to teach a higher grade because her new class would be across the hall from Dane's."

That was exactly the reason. She had drunkenly confessed it to her and Makkari late one girls' night. But Thena kept her lips sealed, in the metaphorical sense, "I suppose we'll never know."

"I'll get it out of her one day," he shrugged. He had always been somewhat of an older brother type within their friend group. It had always been something she admired about him. Even as an only child, he had a strong sense of protectiveness. It had always been attractive to her. "Thena?"

"Hm?"

"Water's boiling," he pointed.

As soon as he did, she realised the water was, in fact, screaming throughout the apartment. She rushed to take it off the burner, alarmed that she hadn't been aware of it in the slightest.

She poured it over their drinks, trying to calm her flustered heart. There was no reason for her to be so unnerved--they were just two old...companions. They were catching up, convalescing in a friendly way. There was nothing on the line, here.

But then why did she feel she had so much more to lose?

After making sure her hands weren't shaking, she picked up the mugs and padded back to the coffee table. She set hers down first. She smiled again; Gil had pulled out coasters for both of them. When he had developed these habits was beyond her. "And for you."

"Thanks." His hands rose to accept the mug from her. He didn't have to, and she almost told him not to let his hands get burned. But he had always shown off how much endurance his hands really had. He let his palm take the bottom of the mug while his fingers brushed against hers to secure the handle.

She had once asked if he still had the sensation of touch in his hands, and then he had proven to her that he very much did.

She rushed to sit down again, avoiding a look that she really doubted he gave all of his friends. She cleared her throat, reaching for her mug. "So, you hired some new help at the restaurant?"

He puffed through his nose, the steam from his coffee bending from it. He gulped down the boiling hot liquid without so much as blinking. "Yeah--finally, I mean. It's nice to have the extra help, and they're actually pretty decent at things."

"Hm," she offered lightly. She also took a sip, mostly to occupy her hands and her mouth. Her tongue got terribly burned from the heat of it but she kept quiet. "Did you ever hear from the friends you abandoned the other night?"

When they had run into each other and spontaneously gotten a late night coffee and then kissed?

"Yeah, they gave me some shit for it, but whatever," he waved off easily, taking more sips steadily. "I mean I'm not a young, dumb twenty-something. I don't think I even like partying with those guys anymore, they're just the only ones my schedule could actually align with."

Because they were always up for going out and getting drunk, their own jobs be damned. They didn't have early morning prep, or classes, or papers to edit.

"Did you mention," Thena paused, wondering if even asking the question was really a good idea. She shifted in her seat somewhat. They were awfully close to that line between them. "Running into me?"

Gil also looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "No, I, uh, just said I ran into a friend."

"Hm," she nodded, trying to disguise her anxious habit of playing with her hair by looking back into the kitchen. "Maybe for the best."

"Yeah," he moved that final last bit. he was all but sitting on the crack between the cushions, now. "Uh, Thena..."

"Maybe-"

"Would you-"

They both blurted it out at the same time, again. She set her mug down, although it left her hands vulnerable. She clasped them together. "Sorry, you go."

He chuckled, reaching for her hand. "Look, I don't...really know what this is either."

Her heart hammered.

"But that's okay, right? We don't have to figure that out right away?" He asked her genuinely, looking hopeful, although she wasn't sure what answer he really wanted.

She wanted to be cynical and believe this was his way of not wanting to label things despite their complicated history. Perhaps that failed relationship of his hadn't been his last foray into dating. Meanwhile she hadn't managed to conjure a single warm feeling for anyone but the man in front of her.

But she also didn't know what this meant for them. And she wasn't ready for him to find out that he was still the greatest love of her life, and that she had been prepared to bear that knowledge for the rest of her single life.

"Right," she agreed, although she sounded breathless. He had a point, though. She also wouldn't know what to say about them seeing each other, no matter in what capacity. They weren't getting back together, but she wouldn't say they were denying that it could happen either. At least, she wasn't, but she also couldn't afford to let her hopes get too high.

"Okay then," he smiled. It was so warm, and he always spoke so softly with her. His hand laid over hers more heavily, squeezing her fingers. "Is this okay?"

She nodded, and tilted her head up into the gentle kiss. For people not getting back together, the number of times they had kissed was getting awfully high. But she couldn't help but savour them, seeing how she didn't have the power to resist them anyway.

#Thenamesh Breakup AU #thank you so much for the ask!!!#I hope you like it!#I'm so happy people wanted more of this one #I love the exes to lovers to almost kind of secret dating?#the drama!#I mean they won't call it that #they're figure it out and all #definitely they were over each other and are rediscovering that spark #they totally didn't spend an entire year and a half obsessing over their breakup #Thena didn't spend an entire month just lying around her new apartment #she totally didn't need a stronger prescription for sleep pills because not having Gil with her makes her night terrors worse #she totally doesn't keep coffee around just to remind herself of how he smelled #what that's insane anyway #Gil's just as guilty #he sorts his shoes neatly keeps his shelves clean #Thena keeps a container in the fridge for organic waste #only after parting they've picked up each other's little habits #because they were also right person at the wrong time #but maybe the time is now???#we'll just have to see #I say as if I'm not writing it and fully intend for there to be more

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