#i'm not expecting everyone to know all of this obv but it is really baffling to me that people admit to not supporting books they want

[theghostofashton]

.

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

Imagine if reader was a big fan of this series/movie/show or smth, that they'd see and be an absolutely die hard fan about the whole thing about it whether the chars, plot, the story's style, you get the gist yknow

So ofc along with being die hard fan mode is obv indulging in its book, movie, musical, heck, even fanfics lmaoo

Andddd when there recently was play adaptation of the story showing, reader would absolutely go fan girl mode for the starring actor/s about them and their performance/portrayal of their favorite character/s

so I'm wondering how a certain actor would react to this..

Yandere! Theatre actor x gn! Technical team! reader

What if: Reader is an otaku?

Oh god. I don't know a show that well to be that obsessed. Videogames, sure, but shows or books? Uh... Have a manhwa, I guess? Beware of the Villainess go.

SINCE the ending of the main fic had darling kidnapped, we'll change this one to where Ignatius hasn't done that yet.

You were so intent on looking at your phone reading a chapter of your favorite manhwa, Beware of the Villainess. You heard it's going to have a play adaptation.

Sure, you don't know how that would work, but you know damn well you won't pass it for anything!

You don't really care for plays, but this is going to be an exception.

Especially as you pass by the panel where Nine, the male lead of the manhwa. You had a silly grin on your face as you looked at him.

A lot of people don't like the manhwa, cuz it's apparently boring, Melissa, the FL didn't have that much chemistry with Nine, etc.

You didn't care though. This is your comfort manhwa. So why would they care? You absolutely adore the characters, loved how strong Melissa is and is not a pushover, Yuri for breaking away from the stereotype of being a two faced bitch, and Nine for breaking away also from the stereotypical "cold and harsh" male lead.

This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's yours. And you're content.

As you read, your director painfully jabbed your side, making you sharply intake a breath.

"What the f... Oh." You flinched from your director's pointed look as he pointed at the stage where the actors are waiting for the lights to go out. "Sorry..."

The director rolled his eyes (unaware of somebody's gaze that was about to kill him on the spot) before berating you.

"Pay attention! We're literally on the last week of our rehearsals! You better keep your phone..." Your director grabbed your phone away from you, making you yelp in surprise. "... Away from you!"

You pouted, suddenly feeling sad before paying attention to the technicals in front of you, turning off the lights.

The scuttling of feet on the stage were heard as you put your chin on your hand, and your free hand on the lever to turn on the lights on a dim.

Hours later, when rehearsals are done, you stretched your body and snatched your phone away from the director.

Giddily hopping away, you got to one of the seats on the theater and snuggled up. For the next rehearsal set, you were not needed since all they had to practice was lines. So, more time for you to read.

As you scrolled down on a forum about the play for BOTV, you felt a presence beside you and you flinched again, not expecting company.

When you looked up, you were surprised to see the genius of the troupe.

"Oh, Ignatius." You were baffled. "Uh, hi."

Ignatius smiled calmly. His eyes didn't express that much, that's for sure. It was almost eerie how he's always so calculated. He's talented, and fools everyone with this main persona of his. But you know that he's more to it. That he's actually quite the--

"You got in trouble?" He asked in a light, amused tone. "That's new. What happened?"

You flushed red. "Ah, uh... Well, I was reading this."

You raised your phone, showing the forum you're reading.

"Well, there's this manhwa... I mean, like it's a webcomic? A Korean webcomic. It's named Beware of the Villainess and it's having like a play adaptation. It's like my favorite manhwa ever and it's so mindblowing that... Uh... Sorry."

You slowed down from babbling about BOTV when you realized you were rambling to Ignatius of all people.

But he looked like he didn't mind.

He really didn't. He knows all about your obsession with it after all. Even getting irrationally jealous of Nine.

"I know right! It's amazing. I've been reading it too! But it's kind of weird. I mean how are they going to do it? But it's quite nice to see such a cute manhwa getting a play adaptation of all things!" Ignatius started to ramble too, making you gasp in the sudden newfound camaraderie. "But it's in Broadway. It's really hard to get an audition..."

Ignatius jolted, realizing he let that slip out. "I mean.. I wasn't thinking of auditioning..."

You, in your buzzed high, held his hands tightly with a sparkle on your eye. "Yes! Audition please! You would do an amazing Nine!" You were practically beaming from the news.

Ever since you heard Ignatius being interested in the same thing as you do, you forgot that he's fake, and all you could think about is that you found a shared interest with the troupe's star.

Ignatius heart almost stopped. You were so close to the point that he can smell your scent. It smelled heavenly, and his shocked face almost cracked and slipped. His resolve dissolving as fast as salt on hot water.

"Y-yeah? You think so?" His voice, breathy and light, felt so distant from your happy ones.

"Yeah! I know you could! You're really insanely talented!" You grinned, before standing up to gush more. "You're like really handsome too, and has this air the same as Nine, so yeah! You will pass it!"

Ignatius, for the first time, clammed up from the compliments. And it's coming from you too.

"I-I will audition then! Sure, why not." Ignatius smiled, heart pounding. "I'll do it."

Then maybe you'll idolize me like those others.

He watches you gush and excitedly bounce in place.

Put your attention on me. More. More of it.

He clenches his fist.

He has to land that role. No matter what.

[helloalycia]

the weird archer [one] // kate bishop

summary: you're not particularly fond of Kate Bishop, the girl who is in the same archery team as your best friend, but when circumstances keep bringing you together, you begin to realise she doesn't hate you like you thought.

warning/s: none.

author's note: this was requested by @theperfectlovestory back in January! so this is an au where the avengers don't exist, yelena and kate are at the same uni and besties so the bants is still there, and it takes place after the xmas holidays but obvs instead of kate becoming an avenger kinda like in the show, she just spent the holidays with clint and his family lol. but yeah, everything else is self explanatory. hope that makes sense!

Y/BF/N = your best friend's name

two / three / masterlist / wattpad

YOUR POV

"Seriously? First day back after the holidays and you're already in work mode?" my best friend, Y/BF/N asked with an amused smile.

I didn't spare her a glance from my laptop as I turned it on at my desk. "Indeed. This portfolio won't put itself together."

"Y/N," she whined childishly, before approaching my side and perching herself on the edge of my desk. "I'm heading out with the archery team in a bit to get some coffee. Why don't you join us? A last little bit of fun before the semester starts up again."

I scrunched my nose up with disinterest. "Nah. You go, it'll be fun for you."

"No, c'mon, it'll be good if you come, too. You get along with everyone, right? It'll be chill. Plus Yelena will be there, too."

I considered it momentarily, the thought of getting one last chill evening in before the semester started up again tomorrow sounding appealing. Plus, as Y/BF/N pointed out, Yelena would be there and she wasn't in the archery team like me, so it's not like I'd be the odd one out.

"Maybe," I decided, glancing at Y/BF/N before looking back to my laptop.

She groaned petulantly, shaking my shoulders. "C'mon!"

"Are you sure they won't mind?" I double checked, raising a brow. "Your team, I mean?"

She gave me a disapproving look, like I'd said such a silly thing. "Y/N, you're my plus one to basically everything. An attachment of me if you will. They expect you at this point."

I chuckled because she was right. Anywhere she went, I went, apart from their team training sessions.

"They all love you," she added knowingly.

"Kate Bishop doesn't," I reminded her, resisting the urge to roll my eyes before looking back to my work.

Kate Bishop was a member of the archery team, someone I dubbed 'The Weird Archer' because of, well, how weird she was. Despite knowing her for almost four years because of her and Y/BF/N's friendship, she never really liked me. Whenever I was around, she'd act strange, never look me in the eyes nor listen to me when I spoke. And on top of that, I was always a victim of her weirdness and I never knew why. She was also Yelena's best friend, which is probably why Yelena was attending the gathering, but she was nothing like her blonde friend whom I got along with easily.

"I still don't understand why you think that," Y/BF/N said with genuine confusion, baffling me.

I raised both eyebrows with disbelief as I looked up at her. "Seriously? She's always doing something to make me feel out of place."

"Like what?"

I scoffed. "The time she almost killed me with a stray arrow in practice for one."

"Almost."

"How about the time she spat her water out on me when I joined you all for lunch that one time?"

"You scared her."

I narrowed my eyes. "I approached from the front."

Y/BF/N raised her hands in defeat. "What d'you want me to say?"

"Can't forget the time I thought I was having a whole arse conversation with her and she ignored every word I said."

"Look, are you gonna come along or are you gonna keep reminding me why you hate Kate?"

I rolled my eyes. "I don't hate her. She hates me. Keep up, Y/BF/N."

She gave me an impatient look, waiting for my response. Knowing I could manage to avoid Kate for one evening, I gave in with a sigh and nodded.

"Fine, I'll go. But let me at least make a start on my portfolio first."

She grinned and slapped me on the back. "Awesome. We don't head out for another hour anyway."

I hummed in response before getting back to my work. After managing to get a little bit done before heading out, I was finally able to enjoy my final evening before I was back to class in the morning.

Y/BF/N and I met up with her team and Yelena at the coffee shop near our campus, finding them occupying one corner of the store in their usual bundle.

"And Y/BF/N finally arrives!" one of them, Darla, said with a grin when she spotted us. "Only took you forever!"

Y/BF/N laughed as she approached them. "Good to see you lot, too."

"And you brought Y/N," Darla realised before smiling my way. "How are you doing?"

I returned her smile. "As great as one can be when they're back to university after the holidays."

She chuckled and pulled us in, making room for us at the chairs around the two tables they'd pushed together. We sat next to Yelena since she was the one I was most familiar with, but that also meant Kate was in the seat next to her.

"Y/N, you made it," Yelena said with a bright smile when I sat beside her. She pulled me in for a hug, adding, "I wasn't sure if you'd come. It was a bit last minute."

"It was, but y'know how Y/BF/N is," I said with a smile, before catching Kate's eyes staring at me over Yelena's shoulder. She looked away as soon as I met her gaze, making me internally roll my eyes before pulling back and looking to Yelena again. "How have you been?" I asked her. "How was your Christmas?"

"It was good, yeah." Yelena nudged Kate in the shoulder as she continued, "Kate and I spent it at my sister's friend's place. Big family get-together. It was fun!"

Kate nodded in agreement, eyes glued to the table.

"That sounds nice," I said, eyes lingering on the quiet raven-haired girl, before looking to Yelena. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"How was yours?" Yelena asked.

As we talked about our holidays, sharing what we both got up to, with a quiet Kate chiming in every now and then, barely, Y/BF/N generously ordered me my drink along with a few others. Everyone was stuck in their own conversations, but it was pretty nice since it meant I could catch up with Yelena meanwhile.

Eventually our order was ready at the counter, so Yelena and Kate offered to collect it for everyone so we all wouldn't have to get up. I was listening to one of the other archers telling everyone about a cool Christmas present they got when I noticed Yelena and Kate were taking forever to get our drinks. I glanced up at them across the store, seeing they were talking by the counter, drinks in hand but not making a move. Figuring they may need an extra hand, I got up to go and help.

As I approached them, I realised they were bickering amongst themselves about God knew what, and just when I thought to interrupt, Kate suddenly turned around and slammed right into me. It wouldn't have been so bad if she didn't have a tray of drinks in her hand, knocking them into me and spilling them all over my shirt before the glasses smashed on the floor.

Her mouth let out a gasp as her eyes widened, eyes following the smashed glass up to my dirty shirt and settling on my taken aback expression.

"Oh my God, Y/N... I am so sorry. I didn't– I– oh my God."

I swallowed hard, feeling my face heat up with embarrassment when the whole coffee shop fell silent, all eyes on me. All it took was for one person to snicker in the corner before chatter resumed, and though everybody else was over it, I was still mortified.

"I'm going to clean myself up," was all I could manage to say without snapping unnecessarily. I knew it was an accident, especially because she looked as shocked as I did, but it always seemed to be an accident with her. And yet again, I was the victim of her weirdness. 

She nodded slowly, eyes following me as I stepped over the mess on the floor and headed to the toilets at the back of the store. There was only so much I could do to clean the coffee stains from my shirt – soggy paper towels only went so far. The stains were still present and I definitely smelt strongly of coffee, but it was much better than what it looked like minutes before. So, once I'd done all I could, I returned to the others.

The mess had been cleaned, presumably by staff, and when I returned to my seat, I saw that a few drinks were there, so I could only assume they were remaking them.

"You okay?" Y/BF/N asked when I joined her side.

My eyes said it all and she knew I was referring to our conversation only an hour before this, about a particular archer who always seemed to be around when disaster struck. Y/BF/N smiled sheepishly before looking away.

"They're bringing our drinks out to us," Yelena said from my other side. "Y'know, to avoid that happening again."

She looked like she was hiding the urge to laugh and, honestly, I didn't blame her. If it wasn't me that had happened to, I would've found it funny, too. But it was. And I wasn't particularly amused right now. Especially when the blue-eyed girl beside her looked as embarrassed as I felt.

That little incident was soon forgotten once everyone's drinks came, along with a few baked goods on the house because the manager felt bad for my mishap. I was able to fall back into conversation with the others for a little while. Unfortunately, that lasted about twenty minutes before Y/BF/N paused mid-conversation, glancing at me with a stifled laugh.

"I'm sorry, Y/N, but all I can smell is coffee from you," she said, making me groan as everyone chuckled in agreement.

I didn't blame her for pointing it out – the smell was overpowering, clinging to my shirt and distracting me from thinking straight.

"I can't take the smell either," I decided, before shaking my head. "I'm gonna head back to my dorm and call it a night."

"Oh, c'mon, Y/N, we're only teasing," Yelena said, but her grin said otherwise.

"It's fine, I feel sticky anyway," I said defeatedly, before making a move to stand up and looking to Y/BF/N. "See you back at the dorm later?"

She nodded and I grabbed my bag, ready to leave as their conversation resumed.

"Y/N," Kate called before I could leave, and I looked to her, seeing the apologetic glance she sent me. Unlike the others, she wasn't amused. "I'm really sorry."

I exhaled through my nose, lips pressed together as I reminded myself that it was an accident. "It's okay, Kate, don't worry about it."

She frowned, nodding slightly, before looking back to her drink. I left the store after that, trying not to think about how Kate Bishop would someday be the death of me, I just knew it.

————————

First day back to class after the holidays wasn't so bad since it was just the formalities — going through the following semester, what we'd be learning and how everything would be structured. Plus, this was a class I shared with Yelena, so it made time fly by faster when we could chat between breaks.

Once the class ended, the only one of the day thankfully, Yelena and I were packing our backpacks away when she spoke up.

"You wanna come over to mine now if you're not busy?" she asked, throwing her books into her bag without caring for her unorganised, messy approach. "We got a new dog."

I cracked a smile, glancing at her as I put my things away neatly. "Your place allows pets?"

"Perks of getting a place off campus," she retorted knowingly.

"Hmm." Seeing her new dog sounded like a fun way to spend the rest of the afternoon. Why not? "Sure. I've not got anything to do right now."

She smiled. "Awesome, let's go."

Only when we actually arrived at her flat did I remember she shared it with Kate, a fact I may or may not have purposely omitted from memory. I'd visited their flat many times, short brief visits to meet with Yelena or study with her, but I never stayed for obvious reasons.

As soon as she opened the door and let me in first, I saw Kate kneeling by their new dog, stroking its fur as it drank from a bowl of water by the kitchen island. When she heard the door open, she glanced up before standing up instantly upon realising it was me.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Er, hi, Kate..."

She swallowed hard. "Hey... I didn't know you were coming."

"Oh, I invited her to come and meet Lucky," Yelena explained once she closed the door behind us, before a massive grin appeared on her lips and she looked to Lucky himself. "Hey, boy! Come say hello!"

Lucky's head flickered over to us, and I noticed he only had one eye, before he ran over to Yelena and let her ruffle his ears.

"C'mon," she said to me, looking up, and I smiled as I leaned down beside her, stroking Lucky's fur gently.

"So good to meet you, Lucky," I said, unable to stop my smile widening at the way his little tongue hung out. "I'm Y/N. And you're very cute, so I think we'll get along."

Yelena chuckled and stood up, leaving me to get cosy with Lucky as she tossed her backpack on the counter.

"Y'know, I don't think I'll ever be over how cool your flat is," I said, glancing around at the large space.

It was much bigger than what an average student could afford, and definitely much bigger than Y/BF/N and I's university dorm. Despite having seen it dozens of times, I was still amazed at how big and well-furnished it was.

"What can I say? Perks of having a rich friend," Yelena said with a shrug, before Kate shoved her in the shoulder.

"Yelena!"

Yelena chuckled at her own joke as Kate rolled her eyes.

"Must be nice," I mumbled with amusement before giving Lucky my attention again. "C'mon, boy, let's go take a seat, yeah?"

He barked in response and I ruffled his head once more before leading him to the couch. Yelena jumped on the couch first and I took a seat beside her, letting Lucky jump onto my lap comfortably.

"Y/N, would you like a drink or anything?" Kate asked, and I glanced up to see her lingering by the kitchen counter still. "Tea? Coffee? Water?"

In an attempt to make things less awkward between us, I joked, "A coffee would be great. Just try not to spill it on me."

She began to laugh uncomfortably, scratching the back of her head and avoiding my eyes. "Right... I'll go get you a coffee."

I watched her turn around and go to the kitchen, wondering why she could possibly hate me to the point that even a joke made her uncomfortable, before deciding to not bother figuring her out and looking back to Lucky. Yelena was flicking through Netflix before she began asking some questions about the lecture we just had. This resulted in me explaining the whole thing to her again because she hadn't actually been listening.

Once I'd finished, summarising of course, Kate returned with my coffee and took a seat on the recliner next to us, pulling her legs up.

"Hey, Kate, when do you have class?" Yelena asked her, lowering the TV remote and looking to the raven-haired girl.

"Not until five," Kate answered, pulling out her phone.

Yelena nodded before standing up. "Great. Can you keep Y/N here company whilst I go pick up a parcel from the post office? I knew I forgot to do something."

I raised my eyebrows slightly, probably thinking the same thing as Kate.

"What? Can't you just do that tomorrow? Or later?" Kate asked her calmly, but I detected the pleading tone in her voice as if to say don't leave me with her.

"I've already left it a week," Yelena said with a shrug, going back to the kitchen counter to grab her bag. She was pulling her books out to lighten the load as she looked over at me. "That okay, Y/N?"

I blinked. "I mean, I can just leave. It's not a big deal."

Yelena waved her hand dismissively, half a laugh coming from her lips. "Please. I'll be back in a little while and we can hang out properly. You'll live without me for a bit, right?"

I forced a smile, glancing at Kate. "Yeah. Of course. See you soon."

"Bye, dorks," Yelena said with a wave before leaving the flat with a slam of the front door.

An uncomfortable silence took over the room as Kate and I avoided each other's eyes, neither of us knowing what to say. Finally though, she spoke.

"So, er, how was class?" she asked in an attempt to make conversation.

My fingers brushed through Lucky's fur as a distraction. "It was good, yeah. Just the usual first class back. Going through everything, admin stuff... are you ready for your class later?"

She was chewing on her lip, fingers playing with the pop socket on the back of her phone. "I guess, yeah. It'll probably be the same as yours..."

I nodded, unsure what to say next. This was probably the first time we'd ever been alone together and I wasn't so sure why Yelena would do that. Though I'd never told her how I was sure her best friend hated me, I thought it was pretty obvious.

"Your, er, your holidays sounded nice," she suddenly said, pointing to me halfheartedly. "Yesterday, when you talked about it."

Could God reach down and snatch me up right now, please?

I smiled awkwardly, nodding. "Yeah, it was, it was good. How about yours? Good?"

She nodded. "Alright. I was lucky I got to spend some of it with Yelena. I was kind of grounded because of the whole clock tower thing."

I'd almost forgotten about that and raised my eyebrows when she mentioned it. Just before we'd broken up for the holidays, Kate had apparently partaken in a dare that involved her ringing the bells of our very old and very expensive clock tower on campus. Though her marksmanship and archery abilities were mighty impressive because she must have made the precise hit from a fair distance away, she also knocked the bell out of the tower and destroyed it in the process. It was all anybody could talk about at first, but as with everything, it became an old story.

"How did you even get away with that?" I asked with mild disbelief and amazement. "I'm surprised they didn't kick you out or something."

She smiled with embarrassment. "Well, the situation kind of got resolved when my mum paid for the damages and donated something extra to the school."

If it wasn't obvious enough already, Kate Bishop had money. Well, her family did, but that basically meant she did, too. I didn't know the ins and outs of what her family did, but it was enough for her to revel in its fortunes without realising.

"Wow," I said. "That's it? And you're off the hook?"

"Well, like I said, I got grounded, too," she pointed out, completely missing the whole point of her privilege.

I snickered dryly, looking back down to Lucky. "Right. Of course."

Another awkward silence filled the air, apart from the occasional movement of me grabbing my coffee to take a few sips. Yelena couldn't come sooner.

"Do you wanna help me teach Lucky some tricks?" she asked suddenly, and I had nothing better to do, so I nodded in agreement.

I patted Lucky, watching as he scrambled off me and to the floor, and kneeled down beside him alongside Kate.

It was a strange next fifteen minutes, attempting to teach Lucky how to sit on command and to roll over. And whereas I thought it would be completely and utterly uncomfortable with Kate, she was surprisingly more alert than usual, not tuning me out or somehow endangering my livelihood with her clumsiness. I figured it was because of Lucky's presence, since dogs made everything better. Whatever it was, it was surprisingly nice.

Once we were sure Lucky was as fed up with learning tricks as we were teaching them, he barked in succession before padding towards me and tucking his head into my shoulder. I swooned, realising he was giving me a hug, and wrapped my arms around him.

"Aww, oh my God, he's so cute," I gushed with a smile, glancing at Kate before petting Lucky.

She smiled, watching the interaction. "Yeah. He likes you, clearly."

I kept Lucky in my arms as I nodded slightly, acknowledging Kate's comment. And because we'd had a kind of alright time together just now, I figured it was the best chance I'd get at trying to figure out why she hated me.

"But you don't," I said quietly, smile fading.

She tilted her head with confusion. "What?"

No going back now.

I met her confused gaze. "You don't like me, do you?"

She raised her brows, surprised. "I– erm– what makes you think that?"

I refrained from scoffing because I thought it was very obvious. "You always act weird around me, Kate. We've known each other for a few years now, obviously through Yelena and Y/BF/N, but still. And we've never really spent time together, have we?"

She pursed her lips, looking down to her hands closed over one another on her lap. No response came from her and I frowned, knowing I'd ruined whatever good time we'd momentarily shared.

"Sorry," I blurted, sucking up a breath. "I made it awkward. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, no," she finally answered, lifting her head but not looking me in the eye. "I'm sorry I made you think that. I..." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I do like you. Obviously. Or we wouldn't be sat here together playing with Lucky."

I snickered, nodding. "Right."

She chewed her lip thoughtfully and I paid my attention to Lucky, unsure what else to do or say. So, she liked me? She didn't hate me?

"I really like your photography," she said, to my surprise, and it took me a moment to realise what she said. "I wanted to tell you, but I– yeah."

My degree was in photojournalism, so that meant photographing a variety of things for news purposes. My work showed up in the university's papers and websites, as well as on my own social media, but I hadn't realised that Kate had been paying attention.

A dumb smile formed on my lips as I glanced at her. She was pink in the face, jaw tensed as she avoided my gaze.

"Thank you," I said genuinely.

Her eyes flickered across to me, dark blue and mildly alarmed before looking away instantly.

So, she didn't hate me. This whole time, she was just an awkward person in general. Honestly... that made a lot of sense.

————————

THIRD PERSON POV

"See you tomorrow, Y/N!" Yelena called out down the hall.

Y/N waved goodbye as she left for the stairs, and Yelena closed the door to her flat before spinning around to meet Kate's disapproving stare and crossed arms.

A childish, knowing grin spread across the blonde's face, only increasing Kate's agitation for her friend and making her shove her in the arm.

"I can't believe you left me alone with her!" Kate snapped, hoping her anger hid her unexplainable flustered self.

Yelena chuckled, heading to the kitchen for a snack. "It wasn't intentional. I actually needed to collect a parcel."

"For half an hour?" Kate asked with a quirked brow.

Yelena shrugged, filling a bowl with some Doritos and dip. "There was traffic." When she felt Kate's glare on her, she looked to her with all the seriousness she could muster. "Look, it worked, didn't it? You're both friends now. You're welcome."

Kate scoffed, feeling her face flush with warmth. "I don't even know what you mean by that. We were always friends."

Yelena groaned, grabbing her bowl and walking past Kate. "I can't be bothered pretending you don't like Y/N, okay? We've done this bit a million times. Just don't screw this up with her, yeah? I can only set you up as friends so many times."

Kate was red in the face now, from anger or embarrassment, she wasn't sure. But Yelena was used to her friend's shyness and denial when it came to liking Y/N, so she jumped on the couch with her food and turned on the TV. Kate would thank her one day.

"I have to get ready for class," Kate relented, knowing she couldn't be bothered berating Yelena for getting involved in her business.

But she knew she would always be glad that Yelena had given her a chance to speak to Y/N properly. Friends was much better than Y/N thinking she hated her. Kate could barely believe she'd been so flustered and awkward that Y/N could think that. Crushing on someone for almost four years was the complete opposite of that.

At least they were friends now. Better than watching Y/N from afar and Kate wishing she could muster the courage to say more than two words without stuttering.

————————

YOUR POV

I wiggled my pen between my fingers as I read the paragraph I'd just written over and over again in my head. The worst part about studying photojournalism was definitely the essays, but I'd committed to spending a few hours in the library to try and get some work done, hopefully without the distractions.

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice said, making their presence known, and I looked up from my laptop to see a smiling Yelena with Kate at her tail. "Look who we have here."

A smile formed on my face as I said, "Hey, Yelena." I looked to Kate with a nod. "Kate."

"What brings you here?" Kate asked politely, and it was probably mean of me to tease, especially now that we'd resolved our differences, but she was just too easy.

"My degree?" I answered questioningly, and she looked away awkwardly, cheeks already turning pink.

Yelena rolled her eyes, clearly fed up with Kate, and I chuckled at the two of them, finding the whole thing amusing.

"Mind if we join you?" Yelena asked, but she was already tossing her bag on the plush bench opposite me, making herself comfortable.

"Sure, but no distractions please," I pointed out, glad that at least Kate waited until I answered before sitting on the third bench. "I have an essay to write."

"Is it the one from the PR module?" Yelena asked, pulling out her laptop.

"Uh-huh. It's taking the piss."

Yelena groaned. "Well if you're struggling, there's no way I'm gonna be able to do it."

I rolled my eyes at her dramatic self and focused my attention back on my laptop. The three of us got to work, surprisingly not distracting one another as much as I thought. Kate mainly stuck to her own work since she was doing something different to Yelena and I, and Yelena and I would occasionally help each other out because it was work for the same class.

At one point, Yelena decided she couldn't keep going without some form of caffeine, so offered to get some coffees for the three of us whilst promising we could have a break when she returned. When she did, leaving Kate and I alone, I glanced up at the archer and saw she was scowling with frustration at her laptop.

"What's up?" I asked her, already feeling myself slip away from my work.

She shook her head, eyes not leaving her screen. "Nothing... the words just aren't making any sense right now."

I smiled with amusement. "Give it here. Let me have a look." 

Barely looking up, she shook her head, forefinger and thumb playing with her lip. "No, no, it's fine... you've got your own work to do."

Sighing, I rolled my eyes and put my laptop to the side to stand up. She suddenly paid attention, looking up at me with wide eyes as I jumped on the plush bench beside her and leaned in close to see her screen. She wasn't moving, so I grabbed it from her hands easily and leaned it on my lap.

"I'll just proof read it," I told her with a small smile. "It's not like I understand any of it anyway."

When she didn't confirm nor deny me, I glanced at her to see if she would protest, but she was still frozen, looking ahead and not moving a muscle.

"Weirdo," I mumbled jokingly before looking to her laptop to start reading.

As I began reading through her essay, I noticed a few grammatical errors and couldn't resist from editing them.

"Do you mind if I make some grammatical amendments?" I asked, looking over at her. "Nothing to change the content, don't worry."

Avoiding my eyes and as stiff as a plank of wood, she nodded slightly, humming in response. Getting used to her weirdness by now, I looked back to her screen and began to make a few corrections. Just little things like getting rid of repetitive sentences, adding a few commas, stuff like that.

"Honestly, this is really good, Kate," I complimented her when I was done, pushing the laptop back to her with an impressed smile. "I think, maybe, you just need to take a little break and then get back to it."

She swallowed hard. "Uh-huh."

I shook my head at her, trying not to laugh, and patted her lap. "Maybe the coffee will help."

She nodded as I got up to return to my seat. Her attention was back on her laptop, so I pulled out my phone and scrolled through Instagram until Yelena returned with three coffees.

"One mocha for you," Yelena said, handing me my drink, before passing the next to Kate and adding, "one cappuccino with one sugar for you, and black coffee for me."

"Yes, thanks, Yelena," I said gratefully, before pulling my legs up onto the bench to get comfortable. "Next coffee is on me."

She flashed me a smile before mirroring my position on her own bench. As promised, we took a little break and caught up on a bunch of random stuff about our personal lives. Yelena talked about how annoying her sister, Natasha, was being because Yelena had apparently taken some of her clothes over Christmas, and Kate talked about archery – no surprise there – and the competitions she had coming up. It was nice to shift the focus from our work for a while.

Our conversation was interrupted after a short while, when a guy from my photojournalism module, Jamal, approached me with a smile.

"Y/N, hey," he said, stopping by where I was sat. He glanced at the others, offering a friendly smile before looking back to me. "Sorry to bother you. I just saw you and hoped to ask for a favour?"

I looked up at him with a smile. "No worries, Jamal. What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you had the notes from the last seminar?" he asked. "I missed it and Jake's taking forever to send across the slides."

I rolled my eyes at the mention of Jake, our module leader. He was a great lecturer, but was never efficient with emails or help in general.

"Sure thing, I can send them to you now," I said, before patting the spot next to me. "Just give me your email."

He nodded and took a seat beside me, watching as I dug the notes out of my documents before emailing them to him. As I did, we talked a little about the past few classes we had and gossiped about the teachers before I realised I'd sent the notes a few minutes ago and he could go.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to keep you," I said with a short chuckle. "Hope those are okay for you."

He shook his head, smiling. "No complaints here, Y/N. You're a lifesaver. Thanks again."

As he stood up, he nodded towards Yelena and Kate who were watching us both, I noticed, and left us alone. I didn't think much of it until Yelena's gaze wouldn't leave mine.

"Okay, what is it?" I asked with a quirked brow.

Yelena smirked. "Do you like him?"

I was confused. "Jamal?" She nodded and I pretended to throw up. "That's disgusting, Yelena. He's just someone in my class."

Yelena snorted. "Well, I hate to break it to you, darling, but he likes you."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, ignoring her. That made zero sense. Jamal was literally just a friend. A classmate at most to be honest.

"Kate?" Yelena called for back up, tilting her head to look at the quiet raven-haired archer. "A little help here?"

Kate blinked, looking between Yelena and I. "Huh? What?"

I tried not to laugh at Yelena's knowing expression, and looked to Kate. "Kate, can you please tell Yelena here that he doesn't like me and she's insane?"

Kate was still confused, as if coming out of her own daze, and looked to me. "Huh?"

I sighed, closing my eyes briefly before leaning back in my seat. "Never mind. I'm gonna keep working now."

Yelena giggled to herself as if she'd won whatever this was, and I did my best to ignore her.

She was just pulling my leg.