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hero-deserves-to-be-happy · 11 months ago

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Some Things Are Meant To Be (HeroMari Fic)

"Just as he was taking what appeared to be a souffle out of the oven, he happened to turn at the exact moment she did. Their eyes met. Time stopped. Mari’s heart raced. He smiled, and her heart ached. All of her thoughts disappeared, except one: Oh… He was beautiful.

That was not in her tour script."

Though she would be too embarrassed to admit it, Mari is, without a doubt, completely and totally infatuated with an elusive culinary arts student at her university. Unfortunately, due to alternating schedules, their interactions have never gone beyond a few shared smiles or waves. When she takes a visiting Aubrey to her favorite restaurant in the city, however, Mari's luck just might start to change. Perhaps some things are meant to be after all...

Genre: HeroMari College AU, Slice of Life, Fluff, Dramatic Irony Used For Comedic Effect, a little Humor, Restaurants, Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies, and Lots of Mutual Pining.

Characters: Mari (POV Character), Hero, Aubrey, and Kel.

Relationships: HEROMARI CENTRIC. A little bit of Mari & Aubrey friendship, Mari & Kel's friendship, and Hero & Kel's Brotherly Love. The tiniest bit of Kel & Aubrey platonic friendship (but they're mostly just here to ship HeroMari).

Word Count: 10,385

No Warnings or Spoilers Only Fluff Here

Written for HeroMari Week Day 6: College AU

Link to work on AO3. Full text below the cut.💙💜

Thank you for reading!

“And this is the culinary arts building,” said Mari with a smile. The clip-clopping sound of her shoes stopped as she paused in front of one of the classrooms like she always did when she took prospective students on tours of her university. This particular classroom had a wall of glass windows looking out into the hallway so that passersby could see the rows of industrial cooking equipment and, depending on the time of day, the culinary arts students hard at work. Mari would always be too shy to admit it, but it was her favorite stop on the tour for several reasons—the main one was tall and handsome with a kind smile and warm, dark eyes.

Mari sighed. The truth was she was glad she had to stop at this point on the tour because she likely would have stopped anyway—too stunned by the swooning, swooping sensation in the pit of her stomach whenever a particular culinary arts student smiled. She had never spoken to him before—had never had the opportunity to properly introduce herself, but she supposed that might be for the best. She couldn’t help but wonder if she’d even be able to muddle her way through a coherent introduction if they did have the chance to meet. After all, on the few occasions he had met her eyes through the glass, staring at her with such gentleness that she could have sworn her heart had skipped a beat, her mind had completely emptied and she couldn’t even think of the tour script her roommate often, somewhat playfully, accused her of reciting in her sleep. Knowing herself, she’d probably forget her own name if he so much as said “hello” to her, so they’d both likely graduate before they got to share anything more than a few somewhat shy waves at each other whenever she passed by his class on her tours.

Halfway through her little speech about the state of the art kitchen equipment they had available to students, Mari reached the line she both adored and dreaded which prompted the tour group to look through the window to see the future chefs of the world cooking and baking. When Mari turned to glance into the classroom herself, she somehow always managed to find him immediately in the crowd. Today was no different.

Just as he was taking what appeared to be a souffle out of the oven, he happened to turn at the exact moment she did. Their eyes met. Time stopped. Mari’s heart raced. He smiled, and her heart ached. All of her thoughts disappeared, except one: Oh… He was beautiful.

That was not in her tour script.

Scrambling to regain her composure, she managed to smile back, gave a short wave, then cleared her throat and returned to the tour. She had it down to a science now, and while it was embarrassing and perhaps a little cliché, she had accepted it was unavoidable. The most she could hope for was that it wasn’t too obvious to her tour groups, other students, and especially to him that she was lovestruck every time she looked at him.

Unfortunately, it was seemingly very obvious to Aubrey who was visiting her for the weekend. Her deliberate cough brought Mari back to reality—reminding her to ask if there were any questions before moving on to another part of the tour, and Mari just knew it was only a matter of time before she called her out on it.

After their tour, Mari’s last of the day, had wrapped up, she helped Aubrey find the financial aid office and passed the time waiting for her by practicing how she would dodge, deflect, or otherwise avoid any of Aubrey’s questions about that incident in the culinary arts building. By the time Aubrey’s meeting had finished, however, Mari was sorry to say she had no concrete solutions or ideas—having been yet again distracted by thoughts of her infatuation. He had been making a souffle today. Did he like souffle? Did he like making souffle? What did he like—besides cooking? Mari didn’t know, but she desperately wanted to. Unfortunately, their schedules had never seemed to line up. She couldn’t talk to him while she was leading a tour. He couldn’t talk to her while he was in class, and all of Mari’s attempts to run into him outside of her tours and his classes had been complete failures. She sighed. This was just their destiny: to be so close and yet so far from each other forever. Some things just weren’t meant to be. Mari could accept that, but that didn’t mean she had to be happy about it.

“Mari?” called Aubrey, and Mari shook her head. She had gotten lost in thought again. She supposed that was something she and her brother had in common—though Sunny tended to get lost in his thoughts for much longer than she did.

“Sorry, I was zoning out a little.” She chuckled lightly, then changed the subject. “So how did it go? What do you think?”

Aubrey shrugged. “It was good. Honestly though, I think my favorite thing about it is that I’d get to go to school with you again.”

Mari smiled and patted Aubrey on the head. “I missed you too,” she said in a playful, sing-songy voice. Aubrey frowned, but as her cheeks flushed rose, her mouth twitched up in the corners. “Was there anything you wanted to see again? I can take you back to some of the buildings or maybe somewhere that wasn’t on the tour that you wanted to see?”

“How about the culinary arts building?” Her tone was dry and deadpan, but that quirk of her eyebrows wasn’t lost on Mari.

Still, she somehow managed to fumble her way through a semi-convincing, “Oh are you interested in becoming a chef?”

“You know I burn toast, right?” quipped Aubrey. “I just thought you might want to go back there to get another look at that guy you were gawking at.”

“I was not gawking at him,” Mari insisted—realizing only after she had said it that it wasn’t a complete denial. As her face turned a bright shade of red, she quickly added, “I mean…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Aubrey just blinked at her. Mari fidgeted.

“But uh…” she continued. “If you’re hungry, you might want to go back there. Sometimes they give out free samples.�� A fun fact Mari had learned during her attempts to meet up with her mystery chef, but she thought it best not to tell Aubrey that.

“I am kind of hungry…”

Mari could tell this was genuine—not just an attempt to get her back in that building. It was also her way out of having to confess her infatuation with a guy she hadn’t even talked to. “Are you ready for dinner? I really want to take you to one my favorite restaurants while you’re in town.”

Aubrey sighed, seemingly conceding, at least for now. “Well, I’m not going to say no to food.”

*-*-*

“It’s usually not this busy,” said Mari with an apologetic sigh when they were finally seated. During their nearly an hour wait, Mari, thankfully, had been distracted from the sorry state of her love life—or lack there of—by trying her best to console an increasingly hungry Aubrey with a granola bar from her purse and promises that Padilla’s was the best restaurant in the city and was absolutely worth it. Aubrey begrudgingly waited it out with her—though Mari suspected that had more to do with the fact that they had already paid to park and Mari didn’t know of any other good restaurants in this area. All Mari could do was cross her fingers and hope that Aubrey would fall in love with the place just like she had. Not only was it Mari’s favorite place she had ever eaten but the cozy, quaint feeling that could only come from a small, family-owned business had been such a comfort to her whenever she felt homesick for her own family and friends back in Faraway Town.

She had spent many an evening there, but she had never seen the restaurant so busy. Even though it was popular enough to stay open for fifty years and was always bustling with the cheerful prattling of satisfied customers, the clanking of silverware and dishes, and the lively melodies of mariachi music, Mari had never seen it packed to the brim with people like it was now. Mari supposed this was probably because she often treated herself to dinner here on Tuesday nights when all the menu items were half-price and had rarely been to the restaurant during dinner rush on a weekend. She wondered if they were always this much busier then.

“It’s fine—looks like they have a lot of big groups tonight.” Aubrey quirked an eyebrow then tilted her head in the general direction of a large, somewhat chaotic group of loud and rowdy teenage boys smushed together around a long line of tables haphazardly pushed as close to each other as possible.

Mari chuckled thinking of what Sunny would do in a big group like that. If she knew her little brother, he’d probably zone out so much that he wouldn’t even notice he was getting squished or elbowed by his friends. “Wow. I’ve never seen it this packed before.”

“Me neither, and I’ve been running this place for 50 years,” chuckled an older woman with gray hair and kind but weary dark eyes. Mari recognized her, and she wanted to say her name was Alma but wasn’t entirely sure about that. Alma reached into the pocket of her apron, embroidered with orange marigolds, and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, then smiled at them. “I’m so sorry for your wait. My grandson brought his entire basketball team back here after they won a game tonight, and we were already busy to begin with.”

“That’s alright. We don’t mind the wait at all,” Mari gently reassured her, and Aubrey nodded in agreement.

“That’s very kind of you,” Alma replied, and as her smile reached her eyes, Mari was struck with a strange sense of déjà vu, as if she had seen those same dark eyes, that same bright but gentle smile, and that same expression somewhere before. She blushed, suddenly remembering back to that handsome young man in the culinary arts building, but she pushed the thought away mentally kicking herself for even thinking it. Was she really so lovesick that even little old ladies were going to remind her of him?

She sighed, reminding herself that she was a frequent patron of this restaurant so she was probably just remembering back to one of the other times she had seen this woman around. But still, having thought of that mysterious chef she found she couldn’t stop thinking of him and wondering if perhaps he worked in a restaurant somewhere? If he did, maybe they would one day meet there? Though, Mari supposed, she would have to branch out from her favorite place first, and she wasn’t sure she could pry herself away. This really was the best food she had ever had.

“Can I get you started with something to drink?” Mari half-heard Alma ask, and she was sorry to say it took a gentle kick from Aubrey under the table to completely pull her out of her thoughts.

After she had taken their order for beverages, Alma asked, “Do you know what you’d like to order or do you want a little more time to look at the menu? We do have a few specials running this weekend.” She pointed to a small paper displayed on a picture stand at the end of the table. “We’re testing some new recipes to see if we should permanently add them to the menu.”

“Ooh,” hummed Mari reaching for the picture stand. “That sounds exciting. Which do you recommend?”

Alma tilted her head thoughtfully, but an affectionate smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she pointed to one of the menu items. “It’s my grandson’s recipe. I think you’ll like it.”

“Well, I’ve loved everything I’ve ever ordered here so I’ll take it.”

“Me too,” said Aubrey with a smile—which faded into a pointed glare after Alma disappeared to get their beverages.

“You completely zoned out back there,” she sighed with an affectionate roll of her eyes. “Thinking about your Chef Prince?”

“What? No!” she insisted though the blush on her face certainly said otherwise. “And don’t call him that.”

“What do you want me to call him?”

“I…I dunno,” stumbled Mari. “His name…?” It sounded more like a question than she had been intending. Aubrey just blinked at her.

“Which is?”

“Uh…” Mari swallowed hard—her face growing hot. She tried wracking her brain for all the times she had been in the culinary arts building. Had anyone ever called out for that guy? She couldn’t remember, but thankfully she was saved by a voice calling out for her.

“Hey Mari!”

In both relief and confusion, Mari turned to find Kel, her favorite waiter, excitedly dashing over to her table from that group of rowdy teenagers. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while. I’ve been busy with midterms. How have you been?”

“Pretty good. I’ve missed seeing you around.” He paused, beaming at her and leaning against his elbows on the table; then, playfully whispered, “Don’t tell anyone but you’re my favorite customer.”

Mari laughed, but teased, “Is that why you always have me put in your section?”

Kel shrugged. “Maybe…but I also know it’s your favorite.”

Kel was right. It was her favorite section of the restaurant with banners of bright colorful papel picado hanging from the ceiling, facades of buildings carefully painted onto the walls, and all the tables positioned around a beautiful stone fountain. Kel had once told her that this part of the restaurant had been added onto the original restaurant building a decade ago and was designed to resemble the plaza of the city where his grandmother had lived as a young girl. It was his favorite section too—which was probably the reason he always waited tables there.

“Oh, I’m so rude,” chuckled Kel sheepishly rubbing his hand across the nape of his neck. “I completely forgot to introduce myself to your friend.” As he turned towards Aubrey, he held up his hand in a bit of a wave. “Hi, I’m Kel.”

As he shot her a bright beaming smile, Aubrey frowned or at least she tried to…but Mari caught that twitch in the corners of her mouth as she replied, “Aubrey.”

Kel’s smile widened. “I like your hair. It’s pink.”

Aubrey bristled, but Mari couldn’t help but giggle behind her hand as the slightest flush of pink filled her cheeks at the unexpected compliment. Aubrey never could take a compliment, even from someone as genuinely friendly and sincere as Kel. Mari supposed she should start complimenting her more but doubted she’d be receptive to it now given the way she was glaring at her.

Twisting her mouth to one side, Aubrey mumbled, “Thanks…” Her voice was curt but not unkind.

“Did you and Mari dye your hair together? She had purple highlights for a while.”

Mari chuckled. Kel was a lot more observant than she had given him credit for—though to be fair he had complimented her hair a couple of times when she had first started coming to the restaurant.

“Kind of,” Aubrey mumbled again before Mari chimed in.

“The summer before I left for college, we dyed our hair together, but that was a while ago. We both kept up with it, but it has never timed out for us to dye it together again.” Mari paused but smiled. “Aubrey lives in Faraway Town where I’m from. She’s thinking about coming to college here after she graduates though, so I’ve been showing her around.”

“Oh so you’re still in high school then? Me too! Not sure what I want to do after graduation though.”

Kel shrugged his shoulders, but Mari reassured him, “You still have time to figure it out. My brother Sunny is your age too, and he isn’t sure what he wants to do either. He’s thinking of coming to visit next month though—I’ll have to bring him by. This is the best restaurant in the city.”

“Eh, it’s okay,” bantered Kel before bursting into raucous laughter.

As Aubrey’s brow furrowed in confusion, Mari explained, “Kel’s family owns the restaurant.”

“Yeah, I was just kidding around,” laughed Kel. “I love this place, and the food is pretty awesome and I’m not just saying that because my brother’s making it. Well…he is tonight anyway. He only works part of the time because he’s still in school.”

“Your brother is a chef?” Aubrey chimed in, surprising Mari. Kel nodded.

“Yeah, I don’t think you’ve ever gotten to meet him before, Mari. He’s usually in the back cooking and he can be kind of shy sometimes, so he doesn’t get to meet the customers too often. But he’s really talented and super nice. Everybody likes him.”

“He sounds just like you, Kel,” teased Mari, and Kel let out a somewhat breathy smile as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Nah, he’s way cooler than me.” He paused, but a wide smile spread across his face. “I think he’s due for a break soon. I can go grab him and introduce you if you want.”

“Oh, that’s—” Mari began hoping she’d figure out her answer on the fly, but she was cut off by a yell from that group of teenagers.

“Kel, Squeaks is about to break a record for taco eating!”

“Be there in a second,” called Kel followed by a cacophony of several voices of teenage boys all yelling over each other. Mari caught several “Let’s Go!!!”s, multiple cheers and whoops, a very loud whistle, and she could have sworn a very impressed “He’s inhaling them!”

When she finally very clearly heard a, “You’re missing it!”, she turned to Kel with a kind, somewhat apologetic smile, but Kel just waved his hand at her.

“Sorry about that. They’re just riled up because we just beat Central.”

“Oh congratulations! I think your grandmother said something about that, but I wasn’t sure if that was your team or one of your cousin’s.”

Kel let out a breathy laugh. “Oh yeah, that was me. And thanks. We’re having a pretty good season so far, so I’m really hoping we’ll make it to the championship this year, but we’ll see.” He paused—seemingly distracted by something off to his left. “Hold on just a second,” he mumbled before taking off to meet his grandmother who was carrying a tray.

“¡Mamá Alma! No te preocupes”—he placed a gentle hand on his grandmother’s shoulder—“I’ve got this.”

Kel’s expression softened as he reached for the tray carrying it with one hand while he patted his grandmother on the back. Alma shook her head with a sigh, but there was an affectionate look in her eyes and a slight twitch in the corners of her mouth as Kel placed their drinks and complementary salsa and tortilla chips on their table.

“Water—classic choice,” he teased Aubrey who smiled slightly, seemingly in spite of herself. Mari stifled a chuckle. It seemed Aubrey’s tendency to be slow to warm up to new people was in a bit of a losing battle with Kel determination to make friends with everyone he met. “And the usual for you, Miss Mari: iced tea with lemon.”

He paused, but his smile widened. “You know that’s my brother’s favorite drink too. Did I ever tell you that? He loves tea—iced tea, hot tea, any kind of tea. You have a lot in common.”

“I think you may have mentioned it before,” Mari replied with a chuckle. Now that she was thinking about it, she realized that Kel had actually mentioned a lot of things about his brother to her. She knew he liked tea, classic rock records, old movies, spending time with his family, and helping others. Kel had once told her he was the kindest and most generous person he knew, and he was very accomplished but humble. What Kel had told her the most was that his brother was so smart that he could probably have chosen any field in the world to work in, but his passion was for cooking. It was all he had wanted to do his whole life.

Her mind drifted once again to that chef in the culinary arts building. She supposed she really was lovesick over him given the fact that she just couldn’t for the life of her seem to get him off her mind, but she couldn’t help but wonder about his story. Had he always wanted to be a chef just like Kel’s brother? How had he come to discover his passion for cooking? She didn’t know his story, but she knew cooking was his passion. She could feel it, palpable and infectious, every time she passed by his classroom—and maybe that was one of the things that attracted her to him: that passion for his craft.

She liked to think she had it too—that people would say the same thing about her whenever she played piano. Like Kel’s brother, Mari had always been academically gifted, and despite her parents encouraging her to choose a more lucrative STEM major, she loved music and wanted to teach. It took a lot of courage for her to choose the path she wanted, and she could admire Kel’s brother for following his dreams as well. Maybe Kel was right and they really did have a lot in common… She probably should try to meet him someday, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he would manage to live up to Kel’s glowing praise of him as essentially a “perfect man” if they actually were to meet.

That was always the fear, wasn’t it? That reality would shatter the fantasy of perfection. Mari certainly thought that way about her “Chef Prince,” as Aubrey called him. He was perfect too—at least in her imagination. She supposed her mental image of him was a bit like Kel’s description of his brother: kind, thoughtful, generous, genuinely likable, and an old soul with a passion for cooking. She could admit, however, that it was far more likely that Kel was accurately describing his brother as the perfect man than it was that Mari had managed to guess the entire personality of someone she had only admired from a distance. She wondered what he was really like, but she often felt she would never be given the opportunity to know. There are some things in life that just aren’t meant to be after all.

“I can’t believe you haven’t met already. I really should introduce you to him,” Kel’s voice pulled her out of her introspection. “I’ll try to bring him out here when I go back to pick up your food for you.”

“I can get it, Kel,” Alma interrupted. When she had his attention, she gave him a long, pointed stare. Kel fidgeted, but he sighed.

“Please let me take care of this table for you. Mari and Aubrey won’t mind”—he paused turning to them with a certain helplessness in his smile—“right?”

“Of course not. We don’t mind at all,” reassured Mari, and even Aubrey nodded in agreement.

Alma took a deep breath, but the lines of her face softened as she met Kel’s eyes. “You have been spending too much time with your brother…” An affectionate smile tugged at her mouth before she insisted, “I’m alright.” When she had Kel’s full attention, she motioned to the rowdy table he had just left before gently patting his cheek. “You have friends here, Conejito.”

“Mari’s my friend too—and Aubrey even though I just met her today.” He chuckled lightly, and Mari nearly snorted a laugh as Aubrey nearly choked on her water. Mari knew that for the sake of Kel’s grandmother she wouldn’t say anything to correct him, no matter how much she wanted to. She did seemingly allow herself an eyeroll at Mari, however, before twisting her mouth to one side, Mari could only imagine, to prevent herself from snapping back with a blunt quip about them being practically strangers not friends.

“Kelsey,” Alma cut him off in that firm but kind tone it seemed only a grandmother could manage.

Kel froze, seemingly unable to overcome the use of his full name and the weight of his grandmother’s pointed stare. “Alright,” he conceded. “Well…if you need anything just call me over.” He sighed, then turned to Mari and Aubrey. “I’ll try to check in with you once my friends head home, but if I don’t catch you, stop by and say goodbye on your way out, okay?”

Mari nodded. “Of course.”

“Good seeing you, Mari, and really nice to meet you, Aubrey.”

As Kel beamed at her, Aubrey mumbled, “Yeah. Nice to meet you too.”

When he had gone, she let out a long sigh but shrugged her shoulders with a slight smile. “Wow. This is some really personalized service. How often do you come in here? They know you by name and your regular drink order and everything.”

Mari hummed. “I guess I come here pretty regularly…and they really do such a great job of making their customers feel welcomed.” She paused—a smile tugged at her lips. “But I think a lot of that was just Kel. He’s very outgoing—could make friends anywhere.”

“I can see that,” quipped Aubrey.

“He’s a pretty nice guy, don’t you think?” When Aubrey finally shrugged and tilted her head in a half-hearted concession, Mari’s smile curved into a bright, teasing grin. “And kinda cute too, huh?”

Despite Mari’s breathy giggling, Aubrey merely blinked at her. “Of course, you would say that.”

“I meant for you, silly.” She playfully swatted her hand, and Aubrey rolled her eyes.

“I know what you meant,” she said, seemingly unamused.

“Then what do you mean, ‘of course I would—’”

“He just looks a lot like that guy you were swooning over earlier.”

Mari choked. Her face grew suddenly hot, but she shook her head and tried her best to laugh it off. “No, he doesn’t. They don’t look anything alike.”

“Seriously?” With a sigh, Aubrey pointedly tilted her head at her. “They look eerily similar to each other. They could be brothers.”

“No…”—Mari dismissively waved at her—“No, they couldn’t…You’re just saying that because Kel said his older brother is a chef, but…” She paused, stumbling over her words. “Do you know how many chefs there are in this city? There’s no way.”

“Oh come on,” huffed Aubrey. “You’re honestly going to tell me you’re not even a little bit curious or didn’t think this was any sort of coincidence?”

“This isn’t Faraway Town, Aubrey. It’s a big place filled with lots and lots of people. You just don’t bump into people you know everywhere you go.”

Aubrey huffed but shrugged her shoulders. “You know, you could always just ask him.”

“Kel?”

“No, the Chef Prince. I’m sure he’d tell you if he had a brother or if his family owned a restaurant. It would be good for you to actually talk to him anyway—instead of just pining after him from a distance.”

Mari’s face flushed again. “I am not pining after him. I just… just…” Her voice hitched, and she cleared her throat. “And we have…talked, before.”

“Really?” questioned Aubrey, twisting her mouth to one side. “Then what’s his name?”

Mari sighed. This again?

“I don’t see how that’s...” She paused, trying to think of the right word before deciding somewhat unsurely on “relevant.” From the way Aubrey was looking at her, however, she knew it wasn’t a very convincing response.

“If you’ve talked to each other, you had to introduce yourselves, right?”

Mari fidgeted under the weight of Aubrey’s stare and bit her lip growing increasingly interested in the wood grain of the table.

“This isn’t a trick question,” Aubrey insisted.

Mari sighed again. It certainly felt like a trick question.

When she glanced up at Aubrey, however, she caught sight of that flush in her cheeks despite the curt, rigidness of her voice as she added, “I’m really only trying to help” and Mari believed her. Still, she was a little too embarrassed to admit she was so lovesick over someone whose name she didn’t even know.

Pursing her lips together, she shut her eyes tightly—trying her best to think back to every time she had been in the culinary arts building. Had she ever heard anyone talk to him? Ever heard his name being called? She scrunched up her face in concentration. Truthfully, she had never even heard him speak before.

Wait.

That wasn’t entirely true.

“It’s okay…” She could hear his gentle reassurances echoing in her head. “These things happen.”

She saw his smile: so warm and so kind as it spread across his face. His tender hand reaching out to pat the shoulder of his classmate who was blinking back tears, standing over the tumbled layers of her crumbling cake.

“There’s still time. I’ll help you make a new one.”

The tone of his voice was so calm, so reassuring. His classmate must have thought so too because she started to dry her eyes. She sniffled and mumbled a tearful, “Thanks, Hero.”

“Hero.”

Mari hadn’t realized she had said that aloud until Aubrey confusedly asked, “Huh?”

“Oh…uh…” Her face flushed. “That’s his name.”

“Creative,” quipped Aubrey with a dry chuckle. “I probably would’ve gone with ‘Prince Charming.’”

Mari stifled a laugh, in spite of herself, but her blush deepened. “No, uh…I’m pretty sure that’s actually his name.”

“Pretty sure?”

Looking away from Aubrey’s questioning expression, Mari fidgeted. “Well um…” The words got caught in her throat, and as she met Aubrey’s eyes, she knew there was really no lying to her. It was just one of the consequences of having such a close friend, she supposed, but truthfully, she didn’t think that was a bad thing.

A smile twitched in the corners of her mouth. She should probably tell Aubrey the truth.

Taking a deep breath, Mari nervously twisted her hands, but she admitted albeit rather sheepishly, “Okay…so…I’m not 100% sure. I think I heard one of his classmates call him that once, but I haven’t actually talked to him myself…before... I mean, we wave at each other and say ‘Hi’ sometimes, but we haven’t gotten to actually meet yet since he’s always in class and I’m always giving tours and…any other times I’ve…um…happened to be in the culinary arts building, he wasn’t there.”

“But you would talk to him, if you had the chance right?” asked Aubrey, and Mari’s face grew warm.

“I’d certainly try,” she chuckled somewhat self-deprecatingly. “Though I can’t promise I’d be able to come up with anything coherent to say. Honestly, I take one look at him and it’s like I forget where I am. My mind just goes totally blank. I couldn’t think of two words to string together, even if I wanted to. I’d probably just make incoherent dolphin noises at him and scare him away.”

She laughed, and Aubrey joined in with a breathy chuckle of her own before Mari sighed, “I mean…have you ever seen someone so beautiful that it just…hurts?”

“Can’t say I relate,” quipped Aubrey, but her expression softened. “But you’re psyching yourself out. I don’t care how handsome or wonderful he is: he is just a guy, and you…” Aubrey paused—her face flushing. She turned away from her, stumbling over her words, “Honestly…if you’re feeling insecure, there really isn’t any hope for the rest of us because…you’re amazing.”

Mari smiled at her friend’s kind words, even as she felt her own cheeks grow warm—surely turning a bright shade of pink as well. She supposed she couldn’t always take a good compliment either.

Before she could offer Aubrey a compliment in return, however, she continued, “He’s gonna know that—if he doesn’t already. You just have to be brave and put yourself out there.”

“That’s all really sweet, Aubrey, and I think you’re really amazing too.”

“Yeah whatever…” she interrupted, shrugging it off though the slight flush in her cheeks wasn’t lost on Mari. “But this isn’t about me. You’re changing the subject. That guy…Hero…you’ve got to talk to him.”

Mari sighed. “I just don’t know when I’ll have the chance. I mean, I only see him when I’m giving tours of the culinary arts building, and I can’t just stop the tour and interrupt his class.” She paused, before admitting with a certain sheepishness, “And before you ask…yes, I have tried to go back there some other times, but I’ve just never been able to catch him. It’s just…not meant to be…” A bittersweet smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Maybe in another world…”

“People always say that, but you know that ‘other world’ would probably just be worse than this one,” huffed Aubrey with a dry but somewhat playful roll of her eyes.

Chuckling breathily, Mari shook her head with a sigh, but before she could say anything in response, Aubrey continued, “It’s better to just make the best of the world we have. And…maybe it’s not meant to be, but isn’t it better to know that than to have to wonder what might have been if you had taken your shot when you had it?”

As she looked into Aubrey’s eyes, Mari’s expression softened. When had she gotten so wise—so grown up? Her heart ached at the thought, but she couldn’t help but smile.

“Aubrey…” she began but stopped abruptly as she noticed the expression on Aubrey’s face change—her brow furrowing and eyes narrowing at something over Mari’s shoulder with a tense frown. “What…?”

“Yes? Do you need something?” Aubrey’s voice cut her off, and Mari was embarrassed to say, it took her far too long to realize that Aubrey hadn’t been talking to her. She turned around to find Kel standing off to the side of their table.

His face was uncharacteristically flushed, but he chuckled—scratching the back of his neck. “Sorry, I uh…Well…I was just walking by, and I couldn’t help but overhear—”

“You were eavesdropping?” huffed Aubrey, and Mari’s face grew hot.

“Not on purpose,” Kel insisted. “But uh…Mari, do you really give tours at school? In the building where they have cooking classes and stuff?”

Mari’s blush deepened, and she stared at her hands. “Yeah…I uh…I do. Why? Do you…want to go on a tour or something?”

“No.” He paused. “I mean, maybe. I dunno. I just…I didn’t know you did that. That’s really cool! And you said you see this guy there, right? Named Hero?”

Aubrey huffed again—even more loudly this time, but Mari was too busy burying her face in her hands in embarrassment to pay much attention. She was mortified that anyone had heard her say that. “I’m sorry you had to hear that, Kel. Honestly, it’s kind of embarrassing…just forget it.”

“No, I’m actually kind of glad that I heard because I think I can help. I—” He stopped abruptly as someone yelled out for him.

“Kel!”

“¡Ya voy!” he yelled back before he sighed with an apologetic smile, turning back to Mari and Aubrey. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.”

Mari and Aubrey exchanged confused looks but shrugged their shoulders—watching Kel dash across the restaurant so quickly that Mari had barely blinked by the time he had reached a middle-aged woman Mari vaguely recognized, struggling to balance some heavy trays of food. Kel’s aunt, perhaps? With a beaming grin, he balanced a tray in one hand—helping to serve the customers seated at that table, seemingly chattering away with them all the while. Once everyone was served, he seemingly said something to the lady—though Mari couldn’t hear over the hustle and bustle of the busy restaurant—then took off towards the doors into kitchen where he ran into his grandmother. He seemed to converse with her too—though once again Mari couldn’t hear anything they were saying—then took the tray of food she was carrying and practically sprinted back to their table.

It all happened so incredibly fast that Mari’s head spun. Even Aubrey looked a little impressed when he reappeared so quickly.

“Sorry about that,” he said with a bright smile—impressively, not even out of breath after all that dashing around. His words tumbled out of his mouth at an excitedly rapid speed, however, as if they hadn’t yet realized Kel had slowed down.

“My brother made this, you know?” he added swiftly placing their plates of food in front of them. “It’s all really good, but um…oh it looks like you don’t have enough Ranchero Sauce. I’ll go get you some more.”

Mari could only blink at him, struggling to keep up with the speed of his speech. “Oh uh that’s…” She didn’t get to finish that thought, however, as Kel turned seemingly to sprint off again, but he stopped as Alma, having finally caught up to him, wrapped her hand around his arm.

“Ah, Mamá Alma…” he chuckled lightly as she gave him a stern look. Mari’s brow furrowed as she watched them stare at each other—seemingly having a conversation without words as only a tightly-knit family could.

“Would you refill these ladies’ drinks please?” asked Alma at last, and Kel sighed but nodded.

“I’ll be back,” he promised as he took her and Aubrey’s empty cups.

“Please excuse my grandson,” said Alma with an affectionate shake of her head. “He has a lot of enthusiasm—takes after his grandfather.” She chuckled quietly to herself. “If you’d like more ranchero sauce. I would be happy to get you some.”

“Oh no, that’s alright,” Mari gently insisted, and Alma smiled.

“At least let me get you some sugar for your tea,” she said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Mari nodded, then turned to Aubrey who was humming as she chewed her food. “You have got to try this! It’s the best food I’ve ever had.”

“I told you,” chuckled Mari, but she stopped as soon as she took a bite of the dish she had ordered—unable to think of anything else beyond, “Oh my gosh! This is incredible!”

“I know right?” mumbled Aubrey between forkfuls almost frantically shoveled into her mouth.

Mari resisted the urge to do the same—instead trying her best to savor every delicious bite. She sighed, hummed, then practically swooned, “I could marry this food.”

Caught mid-bite, Aubrey nodded in agreement, but before she could say anything in response, Alma’s soft but good-natured laugh caught their attention. “How is everything?” she asked, setting a few packets of sugar on the table.

“Amazing!” sighed Aubrey with a dreamy expression Mari had not thought she would ever see Aubrey make. Alma chuckled again before turning to Mari who flushed a little, having been caught practically inhaling her dish.

“I’ve loved everything I’ve ever had here, but this is my favorite,” she said when she had finally finished that bite. “Honestly, I think this might be my favorite food I’ve ever had. It should definitely be on the menu. Please send my compliments to the chef.”

Alma’s smile widened. “Would you like to thank him yourself? Kel tells me that you haven’t gotten to meet yet, and he worked very hard on this recipe so I know it would mean a lot to him if he got to hear that you had enjoyed it so much.”

After a nod of reassurance from Aubrey, Mari answered on behalf of them, “Sure, but only if it’s not too much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble!” interjected Kel, returning with their drinks. “I’ll go get him right now.”

“Kel,” said his grandmother curtly as she placed a hand on his shoulder. She whispered something to him that Mari couldn’t quite make out, but he nodded, then took off towards the kitchen again.

When Kel returned with his elder brother following closely behind, Mari froze. Her eyes widened, but she could only blink in disbelief at those all-too-familiar dark eyes, that tousled hair, that gentle expression, and that smile—that bright, beautiful smile that made Mari’s heart jump into her throat.

As he stood next to Kel now, Mari realized Aubrey was right—they did look like brothers. They were brothers.

“You wanted to see me?” he asked Alma in that all-too-familiar kind, calm voice.

Mari’s fork dropped from her hand—clanging against her plate before it fell onto the floor.

It caught his attention, and for the first time since he had appeared, he turned towards her. Mari’s heart pounded, but time stood still. There was a flush of pink in his face as he met her eyes. His expression was so kind, so warm, but he turned away quickly with a slight smile in the corners of his mouth. “Here. Let me get you another one of those…”

“I’ll get it!” interjected Kel.

He dashed off in the opposite direction, leaving his brother blinking in confusion before Alma caught his attention, wiping a streak of floury paste off his cheek with her thumb. An endearing blush filled his face as his grandmother said, “Cocinerito, these young ladies have something they’d like to say to the chef.”

His blush deepened, but he turned to look at them with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “Yes, uh…what can I do for you?”

Mari blinked. Unable to think of what to say. Unable to think of anything. It was him—the one she had pined after from afar for so long. He had been right here the whole time. How had she never known?

“Um…is there something wrong with your meal?” he asked with an apologetic tilt of his head. “I’m sorry. That recipe is still pretty experimental, so if you’re unhappy with it, I’m happy to make you something else.”

He paused—twisting his hands nervously. “Or perhaps my grandmother can, if you’d rather I didn’t cook for you again…?”

Mari felt something jab at her from the under table. “Ow!”

“Are you alright?” he asked with genuine concern, as Kel returned with her replacement fork.

“Yes. Um…I’m fine,” stumbled Mari, her face flushing red as she averted her gaze from him—staring up at the beautiful, colorful banners hanging from the wall. Kel had told her once that he and his brother had helped make those. She mentally kicked herself for not making the connection before. How could she have been so stupid…

Her leg throbbed again as Aubrey kicked her in the shin, and she cleared her throat biting her lip and steeling her resolve to continue, “And um…everything is great…with the food too. It’s…actually really amazing—the best food I’ve ever had really. You’re really talented, and uh…I…just wanted to thank you.”

She sighed in relief at having managed something semi-coherent and even found it in herself to turn and smile at him again. His face was red, and he scratched the back of his neck with a shy smile. “Wow, that’s such an incredible compliment. Thank you so much! I’m…I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it.” He chuckled lightly, almost self-deprecatingly. “Honestly I really didn’t think it was that good so…”

“What are you talking about?” interrupted Kel—wrapping his arm around his brother’s shoulders. “You’re an amazing chef! Everything you make is great. You’re gonna take over this whole restaurant someday.”

A blush filled his cheeks as he mumbled, “Thanks, Kel, but that’s a while off. I haven’t even finished school yet.”

Humming, Kel’s brow furrowed, but his face lit up in a bright smile as he said, “Oh that reminds me! Mari goes to your school, and she gives tours of the building with all the cooking classes.”

Mari could have sworn that Kel’s brother’s face turned an even deeper shade of red, and as he turned towards her again, he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “That must be why you look so familiar. I think I’ve seen you around a few times.”

Mari’s cheeks grew hot, but her heart raced. Had he really noticed her? After she caught sight of a pointed look from Aubrey from the corner of her eye, she swallowed hard—hoping he hadn’t noticed her just for staring at him.

“Yeah…I…uh…I think I’ve seen you around too,” Mari paused—letting out a somewhat awkward laugh. “But um…we’ve never been properly introduced…I’m Mari.”

There it was—that smile again. So beautiful and this time—her stomach backflipped—directed at her. Her chest ached from the breath caught there, but she gasped in spite of herself as he replied, “Hero. Nice to meet you.”

“Hero…” she unintentionally repeated. Truthfully, she hadn’t even realized she had said it aloud until the slightest confusion passed over his face and he nodded, as if to reassure her that that was in fact his name. Her heart pounded in her ears as her palms grew sweaty and she added an awkward, “That’s your name.”

Aubrey audibly sighed, and Mari could almost feel her second-hand embarrassment.

Hero, however, didn’t seem to notice or at least didn’t seem to mind it much as he gently explained, “Well, uh…It’s actually a nickname. My real name is Henry…Henry Padilla.”

“Like the restaurant?”

“Yes. It’s my family’s restaurant so…that’s our name…”

As Hero chuckled lightly, Mari resisted the urge to press her palm to her forehead. She bit her lip—mentally kicking herself for what may have been the dumbest question she had ever asked. She sighed. At least it wasn’t dolphin noises.

“Of course. I’m sorry that was…” she stumbled, but he gently cut her off.

“It’s okay. I can understand why you could be confused. It actually comes from a word for frying pan or saucepan, so it’s a good restaurant name on its own…but…uh…yeah it’s actually our family name too so…” His voice trailed, and his face flushed again. When he turned away from her, he seemingly noticed Aubrey and frantically continued, “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry. I haven’t introduced myself to your friend either. Hello. I’m Hero.”

“Aubrey,” she answered with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you I’ve heard a lot about you.” She paused, and Mari sighed in relief as she added, “from Kel.”

“Aubrey is visiting from out of town,” Kel interjected. “Mari was giving her a tour of your college earlier.”

“Oh that’s great,” said Hero. “Do you know what you might want to major in?”

Aubrey shrugged. “I’m not sure yet, but Mari made sure I got to see all the different buildings for the different departments.” Aubrey stopped and shot her a knowing smile. “Mari is a double major—music and education.”

Mari inhaled sharply as Hero turned his attention back to her. She hoped her face wasn’t as red as she feared.

“Really? That’s wonderful,” he said. “What instruments do you play?”

Mari took a long deep breath. The look Aubrey was giving her said, ‘you’re welcome,’ and Mari was certainly grateful she had steered the conversation to her music—her passion. She could talk about it forever and could feel her face lighting up as she answered, “I’m best at the piano, but I’ve played around with a few others. I also sing a little, but I’d say I’m mostly a pianist.”

The expression on his face softened, and his eyes smiled at her. “I love the piano.”

“Do you play?”

He shook his head. “I never learned. I…I just enjoy listening to it. I—I actually can’t play any instruments,” he admitted with a certain sheepishness.

Before Mari could reassure him that that was perfectly alright, Kel chimed in with a, “He’s just being modest. He can play the tambourine, the triangle, and the castanets.”

Hero’s face flushed again. “I—I really can’t…” he explained, stifling a chuckle as the corners of his mouth twitched. “When we were little, our parents got us one of those boxes of musical instruments for kids and we used to play with them, but I…I wouldn’t say that I could actually play any of those.”

Mari laughed—giggling behind her hand, and the expression on Hero’s face brightened. “Well…I still think that counts,” she reassured playfully.

“I think you’d be disappointed.” His tone was sincere and somewhat dry, but his mouth twitched in the corners so she liked to think he was bantering with her. “But…oh…I’m so sorry. Here I am rambling on and your food is probably getting cold. If it is, please just let me know, and I’ll make you another dish.”

“Oh no,” Mari insisted. “I’m sure it’s great and…I’m the one who should be sorry. You’re probably so busy, and we’re keeping you from the kitchen.”

“That’s alright,” reassured Alma, who Mari was sorry to say she had briefly forgotten about. She turned to her grandson with a gentle smile which looked so much like his. “Things are starting to slow down around here, so why don’t you stay with your friends? I can take over in the kitchen.”

“Mamá Alma…” he began to protest but paused. His face flushed. “We just met. I…I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“You’re not intruding at all,” interrupted Aubrey. “You can sit right here. Maybe you can tell us about how you made this delicious food.”

As Aubrey motioned to the seat next to her, Mari could only hope her expression conveyed her gratitude despite the embarrassed flush of pink in her face. Hero thoughtfully pursed his lips together, and Mari chimed in with a playful, “I’d like to hear too—but only if it’s not a secret.”

Hero smiled but nodded. “Okay.”

“Awesome! Can I sit too?” exclaimed Kel, though it seemed he hadn’t waited for an answer as he took a seat beside Mari at the table. Mari glanced over at Aubrey, somewhat pleadingly, and she sighed with a look that said, ‘if we have to…’

Mari chuckled, but she turned to Kel with a smile. “Sure, Kel, but what about your basketball team?”

“Oh they left a while ago. They’re all headed out to a party, but honestly, I’d rather stay here with you guys.” He beamed at them. “So it’s really perfect timing.”

Mari chuckled, and as she caught sight of Hero, sitting across from her with that kind smile on his face, she sighed. Kel was right. It really was perfect.

“So are you gonna tell us your secret ingredient or what?” teased Kel poking at his brother from across the table, and all of them, even Aubrey, laughed.

Even though Hero swore he didn’t actually have a secret ingredient, he did tell them all about his dishes and about cooking in general. Somehow that turned into a discussion of their favorite foods, then their favorite movies and books, their favorite vacation spots and favorite childhood memories. Kel and Hero recommended all sorts of places they could visit in the city while Aubrey was visiting or if she ever visited again. Mari shared about all the shenanigans she and her friends had gotten up to every summer in Faraway Town—about her favorite spot by the lake, about making flower crowns, eating popsicles, having picnics, and burying her little brother in the sand at the beach. Even Aubrey chimed in with a story about how they had all helped Basil rescue his vegetable garden from an infestation of caterpillars. As was to be expected, Kel talked the most though he mostly prattled on about his brother who, Mari could tell, preferred to quietly listen. Hero did ask her several questions about herself, however, and told her a few things about himself when she asked him questions back.

In no time at all, they were talking and laughing as if they had known each other their whole lives. It was so cozy and so comfortable that Mari never wanted it to end, and she hadn’t even realized how much time had passed until Alma reappeared with two pieces of cake.

“Tres leches cake? Awesome!” exclaimed Kel, but as he reached for one of the plates, his grandmother gave him a stern but somewhat affectionate look.

“Those are for the young ladies, Kel.”

“Oh right. Of course.” He chuckled grabbing a piece of cake and handing it to Aubrey. “This cake is amazing! You’re gonna love it.”

“Did you make this too?” Mari asked Hero who shyly nodded. “Then, I’m sure it’s wonderful.”

“We should have some coffee too,” said Kel, rising from his seat, but Alma shook her head.

“Not at a quarter ‘til eleven. You’ll be up all night.”

Mari gasped. Was it really so late? She glanced around the restaurant and found it had somehow emptied in the time they had been talking. How had she managed to lose track of the time like this? Her face flushed, and she turned to Alma with her apologies. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea it was so late. I’m sure you’d like to close up. If you’d just get my check, I can pay and we can—”

She stopped as Alma patted her gently on the shoulder. “It’s on the house.”

“Oh no, we couldn’t…” she began to protest, but Alma cut her off with a gentle chuckle.

“You managed to get Hero out of the kitchen, and you’ve kept Kel out of trouble. One meal is barely enough.”

“Besides all that means is that you’ll have to come back again,” said Kel with a triumphant smile.

Mari smiled slightly as she met Hero’s gaze. Her cheeks grew warm as he nodded at her. He looked hopeful.

She averted her eyes from him, but answered determinedly, “I definitely will. Thank you so much.”

“Did you have to park far away?” asked Alma with a concerned tilt of her head. “When you’ve finished your cake, perhaps the boys can walk you out so you’re not walking alone in the dark.”

“Oh we couldn’t ask them to…”

“We’d be happy to,” Hero gently interrupted, and Mari smiled. “But please, take all the time you need to finish your cake.”

Finishing the cake took very little time at all. Aubrey practically inhaled it in three bites which seemed to impress Kel who clapped as she rolled her eyes at him. Mari tried to be a bit more refined and dainty with hers, but even she could admit she practically devoured it. Within about fifteen minutes, they had said their thank yous and goodbyes to Alma and headed out the door.

The sidewalks in the city were tight and narrow, with barely enough room for two people to walk side by side. Aubrey and Kel who took off ahead of them were constantly, inadvertently elbowing and bumping into each other which Mari was sure Aubrey was less than thrilled about. She would have to thank her later, perhaps send her another piece of that delicious cake, but she found she couldn’t think of that much now. She couldn’t think of much of anything now besides how incredibly close Hero was to her—their shoulders almost touching. As he walked, the knuckles of his hand brushed against hers, and he pulled his hand away with quick apologies. Mari almost wished he hadn’t.

“Thank you so much again for the food and for the great conversation,” she managed at last after a long but not uncomfortable pause.

“Thank you for inviting me to sit with you. I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that. We’re practically strangers after all.” He chuckled lightly but somewhat awkwardly. “Kel means well, but…he can be a little…um…”—he paused—“Well what I mean is…”

Mari could see the redness of his face illuminated by the dim light of the streetlamps. There was a concerned look in his eyes—something stormy, apologetic, perhaps even guilty. Mari’s chest ached. It pained her to see it.

She reached out her hand to give Hero a reassuring, encouraging pat on the shoulder. He took a deep breath.

“There’s something I probably should tell you…I…I had actually told Kel about you before…” he confessed. “Not in a weird way, but just…that there was this tour guide who came through my building sometimes who was so cheerful that every time she walked in, it was like a ray of sunshine came with her. I had been hoping we could meet and become friends. Kel knew that so…I think that’s why he was so…” Hero’s voice trailed. “I’m sorry.”

Mari froze. Could she have really understood him correctly? He had actually noticed her…and wanted to meet her too?

“No way,” she stumbled with a disbelieving laugh, but as she watched his face fall, she quickly added, “I…I mean. I’ve been thinking the exact same thing about you.” Her face grew hot at her confession. She hadn’t been intending on telling him that, possibly ever, but given the circumstances she didn’t feel she had any other choice. “You seemed so nice and had such a passion for cooking, I just…I’ve been really wanting to meet you, and now I have. I’m glad.”

Hero’s expression softened, and as he met her eyes, Mari could have sworn her heart could melt. “Me too.”

“We’ll have to see each other again,” she suggested, staring down at her feet shuffling across the sidewalk. “Maybe we can have a concert?” she teased. “I’ll play piano and you can play the castanets or…the tambourine or…the triangle or…all of them, if you can figure out how to play them all at once like a one man band.”

She giggled, and Hero laughed. “I’ll try my best, but it might take me a while to figure out how to do that.”

“Well, you’ll have to call me when you do because I really want to see that,” she bantered.

Hero nodded. “Of course. But um…I don’t think I have your phone number.”

With shaking hands, Mari started digging through her purse for a pen and something to write on—trying her best not to drop it in all the excitement. “Oh, I’ll give it to you, but um…I don’t think I have anything to write on.”

“Write it on his hand,” interjected Kel turning around. “Or my hand or something.”

With a sigh, Hero disentangled his twisting hands and held one out to her. “Sure. Uh here…”

Mari’s breath caught in her throat as she took his hand. His fingers were callused, a mark of a hard worker, but his touch was gentle. She could tell his palms had been sweating—probably because he had been nervous. Mari chuckled lightly to herself. If she had to guess her hands would probably have been the same way. She tried her best to steady herself though her fingers trembled as she carefully scrawled the numbers across his palm.

“You will call, won’t you?” she asked half-playfully, half-nervous as she put the pen back into her purse.

He nodded. “Definitely.”

As he met her eyes, Mari bit her lip and fidgeted. He smiled at her, and once again she was wonderstruck. Her mind emptied again, and her heart ached. Oh…he was beautiful. And she couldn’t believe he was smiling at her.

With blushing cheeks, she shoved her hands into the pocket of her jacket so he, hopefully, wouldn’t see them trembling. As they bumped into her keys, the headlights of her car blinked with a loud beeping sound.

“Well…uh…this is me,” she stumbled before she said her goodbyes to both Hero and Kel with promises to meet again soon.

Mari dashed into the driver’s seat of her car with Aubrey following close behind after her own ‘goodbyes’ and ‘good nights.’ She could only hope it wasn’t too awkward. She was never good at goodbyes and, honestly, was very afraid that if she spent one moment more with him, she was actually going to explode…or at least was going to embarrass herself more than she already had. She had made it through the night without any incoherent dolphin noises, and she wasn’t about to start now. She was determined to leave with her dignity.

As she started the car, Aubrey gave her a knowing look from the passenger’s side. Mari turned away—focusing instead on pulling out of the parking lot. She knew she’d never hear the end of this from Aubrey and her friendly teasing and triumphant ‘I told you so’s would start as soon as they were out of sight from Hero and Kel.

And sure enough as soon as they were stopped at a traffic light a couple of streets over, Aubrey let out a long sigh before teasing, “I’m only going to say this once…” She paused, seemingly for dramatic effect. “You have to date this guy so we can eat his food again.”

Mari laughed. That wasn’t what she had been expecting. She playfully swatted at her arm. “Aubrey!”

“I’m only sort of joking. That food was amazing. I’m going to have dreams about that cake,” she chuckled dryly. “But seriously, he’s super nice and super into you—he was hanging on every word you said.”

Mari scoffed, though her face flushed. “No…he…”

“Don’t even,” Aubrey interrupted. “He totally was, and when we were walking back to the car Kel told me that he won’t stop talking about this pretty, bubbly tour guide at his school. He’s definitely been pining after you, too.”

Mari shifted in her seat—twisting her hands around the steering wheel as her face grew hot again. “I don’t know if he’s pining…but um…he did say he noticed me…and had been wanting to meet me.”

Aubrey laughed. “It’s funny how things work out sometimes, huh?”

Mari nodded, but she couldn’t hold back the bright smile that tugged at her lips as she said, “I guess some things are meant to be after all.”

#heromari #omori heromari #heromari fic #heromari week 2024 #heromari college au #heromari 💙💜#i love them sm your honor #hero fic #our content #thanks for reading

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hero-deserves-to-be-happy · 11 months ago

Text

More Than Words (HeroMari Fic)

"What Hero couldn’t say in words he practically screamed with offers to help with Mari's chores or errands, with late night study sessions for the exams she stressed over or with hours spent cooking her favorite foods for her and carefully packing them into a basket for a picnic that, Hero was sorry to say, had just gotten rained out."

When Hero's elaborate plans for Mari's birthday are thwarted by inclement weather, he learns that she doesn't need grand gestures to know how much he cares about her.

Tooth-Rotting HeroMari Fluff. Pre-Canon, Age-Appropriate Romance. First Kiss. Slice of Life. No Spoilers and No Warnings Only Fluff Here.

Written for HeroMari Week Day 4: Picnic & Love Language

Link to work on AO3. Full text below the cut.💙💜

Thank you for reading!

“Looks like rain.” Months of planning, several days of preparation, and an entire weekend of cooking all thwarted by these three words from Kel and ruined by a little water.

With a heavy sigh, Hero stared down at his checklist and the small square boxes he had been excitedly crossing off for the past week. There was no box for “weather.” There was no box for a more reasonable “check the weather forecast” either, which he supposed was an oversight on his part. Of course he knew that good weather was very important for a picnic and he should have factored it into his plans, but he supposed he had filled his checklist with things he had control over: shopping, cooking, packing the picnic basket and making sure his brother, who couldn’t keep a secret to save his life, wouldn’t spoil the surprise.

Hero sighed again. Mari would certainly be surprised this time—if only by the fact his elaborate plans for her birthday had been rained out.

Hero’s brow furrowed. He couldn’t help but wonder if Mari might actually find some amusement in that. It would be the first time he had managed to surprise her in any capacity, after all. Mari loved surprises. Unfortunately for her, she was also nearly impossible to surprise or, Hero supposed, more accurately nearly impossible for him to surprise. After she had predicted the surprise party he had tried to organize for her birthday last year, she had reassured him that it was actually a good thing that he couldn’t surprise her. To Mari, it meant that she just knew him so well and that he was so earnest. Plus, she had somewhat teasingly admitted, he and their friends had left her a lot of hints. Despite Mari’s kind reassurances, Hero suspected that she was so intuitive, intelligent, and perceptive that she probably would have figured it out regardless. It was probably just one of her many superpowers. She always seemed to have everything figured out—even surprises.

This year, however, he was determined, and he was not taking any chances. He had planned her surprise for the Sunday before her birthday; then, practically disappeared for their three day weekend, courtesy of parent-teacher conferences, telling Mari that he had to work on a huge English project and wouldn’t be around much. It was a weak excuse seeing as Mari was also in that class, but she knew he had always been somewhat stressed about his grades so she didn’t seem to question it much, beyond to ask if he was doing okay and to remind him to be kind to himself. In actuality, Hero had finished his English project the previous week and instead spent this weekend sequestered in the kitchen preparing the most elaborate feast of Mari’s all-time favorite foods and providing no opportunities for him to accidentally spoil the surprise he had planned for her birthday.

Strangely enough, it was probably the longest he had gone without talking to Mari in over a year. Even when she had had the flu last December, he had still communicated with her by leaving notes, letters, and get well soon cards in her mailbox. This weekend, however, he had been so caught up in cooking for her and so worried about accidentally spoiling his carefully planned birthday picnic that he hadn’t even called her.

Thinking of it now, Hero’s chest ached. He missed her. If Hero was being honest, it was probably silly to miss someone after such a short time, but he and Mari had been practically inseparable for so long that he couldn’t even remember his life before he had known her. She was his best friend, but even that title wasn’t enough for everything she meant to him. She was someone he could always rely on—someone he could talk to for hours until he completely lost track of the time. Someone he could share anything with—who he wanted to share everything with. She knew him better than anyone else—knew he wasn’t as perfect as everyone seemed to think and knew how hard he tried to be, but she still believed in him—saw something in him that he couldn’t even see in himself.

She was the kindest person he had ever known and so beautiful that his soul ached whenever he looked at her. He cared for her more than he had the words in his young and inexperienced fifteen-year-old mind to express or really to even fully understand. All he knew was that he had never been happier than when she smiled at him—so bright and warm that he would have sworn the sun shined brighter. He couldn’t imagine a world without her in it, and he would give her the world in an instant if he could—would give anything to make her happy, to protect her, to care for her, and to in some small way repay her for being part of his life. But all she ever asked for was his friendship which he readily offered with as much loyalty and devotion as he could manage.

Somehow even after all this time, she had never asked for his heart. Hero sometimes wondered if it was because they were still so young and she knew she had all the time in the world to ask for it. Perhaps she was waiting for the day he would be older and wouldn’t get so sheepish or tongue-tied whenever he tried to express his feelings. If Hero was being honest, he was looking forward to that day too…but he supposed it was more likely that Mari had never asked him for his heart because she knew she didn’t need to ask. It had always belonged to her.

He knew Mari knew that. She had to know that. What he couldn’t say in words he practically screamed with offers to help with her chores or errands, with late night study sessions for the exams she stressed over or with hours spent cooking her favorite foods for her and carefully packing them into a basket for a picnic that, Hero was sorry to say, had just gotten rained out.

A knock at the door pulled Hero out of his introspection. With a somewhat panicked glance at the clock on the oven, he realized he had completely lost track of time.

“Hey, I bet that’s Mari,” exclaimed Kel bounding off towards their front door. Hero quickly ran a hand through his hair and took off after him. As he turned the corner into their living room, he stopped.

Mari.

There she was—wiping her purple rainboots on their doormat and shaking the water off her matching umbrella. Pushing a long piece of dark hair out of her face she laughed at Kel’s quick “Hi Mari. Bye Mari” as he rushed out of the door with one arm still out of his raincoat to jump in puddles with Sunny. Hero’s laugh at his younger brother’s enthusiasm must have caught Mari’s attention because she quickly turned to face him.

“Hi, Hero.” Her mouth curved into a somewhat lopsided, teasing grin. “Long time no see.”

Sheepishly scratching the back of his neck, Hero could feel the warm blush in his cheeks. “Yeah…uh…sorry about that.”

Mari shrugged before playfully poking him in the arm. “So what is it? You’ve got a big surprise for me, don’t you?”

Hero’s blush deepened, and he grew suddenly interested in his feet shuffling across the floorboards. “Wh—what? What makes you think…?”

Mari’s laugh cut him off. “Well…it’s either that or you’re really mad at me, and I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Of course not,” he reassured her with a shake of his head. “I’m not mad at all. But um…that doesn’t mean that I…I mean…” As Hero’s voice trailed, he realized he was fighting a losing battle. Mari knew him too well to be fooled by anything he could possibly say at the moment, and he knew her well enough to know she was definitely onto him regardless of what he said. He sighed, but his mouth curved into a conceding smile. “How did you know?”

Mari’s brow furrowed thoughtfully, and she curved her mouth to the side in a look of concentration Hero had always found endearing. “I think this is the longest we’ve gone without talking—at least for a while.”

Hero sighed again. He should’ve known she’d pick up on that. “So you didn’t buy my excuse about the English project?”

“At first, but when you didn’t call at all I knew something was up. We pretty much talk every day.”

“Well…I dunno if we talk every—” Hero began, but he was once again cut off by Mari’s bantering laughter.

“You once called when you had laryngitis,” she insisted with a tilt of her head. “We had to communicate in morse code.”

“Sorry…” mumbled Hero—that blush swiftly returning to his face. “I…I was out of school for a week. I just…” He paused—turning away from her “missed…talking to you…”

“Awww…you’re really sweet.” When Hero finally mustered the courage to look up at her again, he found Mari beaming at him. “I missed you too, you know? I almost called you yesterday, but I figured you had your reasons for the radio silence.”

“I...was planning a surprise for you,” Hero admitted, but his face fell with a bittersweet smile. “But it’s all ruined now.”

“Ruined? How so?”

“Well…I planned this whole picnic for you. I’ve been cooking for days and made all of your favorite foods, and I packed them all in the picnic basket so we could take them out to our secret hangout spot by the lake in Faraway Park. I know we’re going to have the big party and really celebrate your birthday later this week, but I…I wanted to do something special too, and I know how much you love picnics and surprises so…” He paused. With a breathy chuckle, he shrugged his shoulders, then shook his head. “But I couldn’t surprise you and now it’s raining so…” He swallowed hard—pursing his lips together as he thought of his big plans, of how much he wanted to surprise her, of how desperately he wanted to show her that he cared…ruined by the weather. “I’m sorry, Mari.”

“Hero…” Mari cut him off—pressing her palm to his cheek. “You don’t have to be sorry. The fact that you planned all this for me—it’s really amazing. You know, you didn’t have to do any of this.”

“I know, but I wanted to. I…I…” His voice hitched over the words he so desperately wanted to say. “I’d do anything for you, Mari.”

Before he could stumble over his words any more than he already had, Mari saved him by throwing her arms around his shoulders and pulling him into a tight hug that made his face flush red. “I’d do anything for you, too,” she said. “But Hero…you know you don’t have to do any of this. You’re always so thoughtful and generous, and it means a lot to me—but I don’t need all these grand gestures. I mean, if you’ve been cooking for days, I’m not even sure how I’m going to eat all that food. I’ll just have to take one bite of everything—otherwise I’ll be stuffed.”

She giggled, but her expression softened. “You know…all I really want is to spend time with you. As long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter to me what we do or what we eat or what the weather’s like. A little rain doesn’t have to ruin anything. We can just have the picnic inside or save it for the next sunny day. The rain won’t last forever you know, and I have a feeling there’ll be lots of leftovers unless we invite some of our friends along. Unless…you wanted it to be just the two of us,” she teased, winking at him with a playful giggle.

Despite the rosy tint of his cheeks, Hero laughed sheepishly. “Maybe we can invite them in after they’re done splashing in the puddles...”

Mari laughed but nodded—taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Sounds like a plan. We should get everything set up, huh?”

With a nod, Hero led her towards the kitchen where his picnic supplies were waiting, and in no time at all, the picnic he had once thought ruined was set up in the living room. As he turned to call their brothers and friends in from playing in the rain, however, Mari reached out and grabbed his hand again.

Hero’s heart raced, and he swallowed hard—hoping he wouldn’t start blushing again as she whispered, “Just a minute.”

She gently tugged on his arm motioning for him to take a seat beside her on the picnic blanket. As he nodded, Mari giggled—intertwining their fingers and beaming at him with the brightest smile. Hero’s breath caught in his throat, and for just moment, he could have sworn he saw the sun shine through the rain.

When she leaned her head on his shoulder, butterflies erupted in his stomach. His face flushed, but he gently ran his hand through her hair.

“You wanna know what I want for my birthday?” she asked with a playful laugh. Hero hummed and nodded, but Mari pulled away from him so she could turn and look squarely into his face before she whispered, “A kiss.”

“Ma—Mari…” he choked as his hands began to tremble, but he couldn’t finish that thought—could barely even breathe as he met her eyes.

Her expression said what words couldn’t—or wouldn’t, at least not yet, and Hero was sure his said the same. Maybe someday at another picnic or on another of Mari’s birthdays perhaps they’d finally confess what had always been so obvious but so hard to say, but now, as Mari’s eyes fluttered closed and she leaned forward, shyly brushing her lips against his, Hero knew they didn’t need words.

#heromari #omori heromari #heromari week 2024 #heromari fic #heromari 💙💜#i love them sm your honor #hero fic #our content #thanks for reading

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