#im just gonna write a sequel but its not even reader and rich its just charlotte and joanne being cute with reader n rich in the bg

[pacman-tattoo]

countdown [rich g. x reader]

( can I request. rich. loke anything with rich. maybe when ur taller than him? possibly with a non gender specific reader, but I'll take everything. expecially written by u bc goals )

i love rich. so much.

also there arent enough fics for rich

aka if u see a rich fic then @ me babes

warnings: general swearing tbh uh rich is probably out of character and I Tried

     Four years. Four years, a hundred days, four hours, and thirty minutes. That’s what your wrist had said the last time you checked it - only days ago, so you only expected to have said days taken off and didn’t bother looking at your wrist the entire move, assuming everything would stay the same. Then at some point on the morning before your first day at Middleborough, you had managed to shove the sleeve of your hoodie down and caught a glimpse of the timer there - only expecting the seconds to be ticking down from years.

0 yrs 0 days 5 hrs 12 min 20 sec

     Your heart had stopped in your chest - four years and a hundred days had disappeared within... how long had it been like this? Since Friday? Fuck, you weren’t sure. Now you just stood in the bathroom, watching seconds pass by, counting down to the very moment you’d meet your soulmate. What if they weren’t a good person? What if you were doomed to be soulmates with an asshole? You pressed your back against the door, staring down at the seconds that kept ticking down, minutes wasting away before your eyes.

     You had to wonder how they were feeling. How they might have woken up and seen the timer at their wrist jumped - hell, they might have realized it when it first happened. You hoped that maybe they did realize when it first happened - that you were just dumb for a moment. Maybe their heart raced at the thought of meeting you, or maybe they didn’t notice.

     Oh god, what if they didn’t notice?

     The sudden pounding at the bathroom door was enough to offset your thoughts as you tore away from it, pulling it open only to be greeted with the sight of your younger sister, Sam, looking annoyed.

    “Mama said we need to go wait for the bus,” she said, arms crossed across her chest, “and mom said I couldn’t leave without you.”

     Well, at least someone’s looking out for you, if your sister isn’t. “‘Kay,” you said, shrugging off your current thoughts about time ticking past and soon to dash into your room, snatching your bag from the floor before making your way downstairs.

     In the kitchen sat your parents; Charlotte and Joanne, two lovely women who met in their twenties after their countdown ended right at a bus-stop where Joanne had been on her way to an interview and Charlotte had ended up taking the bus after her roommate borrowed her car. It was a cute story that you adored growing up and you still enjoyed from time to time - especially when you started thinking about your own soulmate.

     “Oh my god, [y/n], come on.” Sam brushed past you, shoving an apple into your hand, and dashing out of the house before your parents could say a word to her.

     “Have a nice day, honey,” Charlotte - or, well, mom to Sam and sometimes for you - called out. You forced a smile and left to catch up to your sister.

     For the most part, the bus was as you expected it - no one really paid attention to you and Sam as you slid into a seat. Sometimes you caught the glance of someone whispering - who are the new kids; have you seen them; the little sister’s kinda cute, i mean, shit- and you suppress a small smile at the last one and shot a glare in the direction of where it came from - fuck, her older- yeah i saw them glare at me, shut up, they’re looking-

     Sam elbowed you. “Stop.” 

     You chuckled. She smiled a little in return. At least Sam could calm you.

     Hours passed by quickly, a schedule shoved into your hands before you were guided to your first class. Classes went by quickly, your eye pinned to the disappearing seconds, minutes slipping away from you until the bell jerked you from your thoughts. Lunch. You were going to meet your soulmate at lunch. Maybe then it wouldn’t be so awkward.

0 yrs 0 days 0 hrs 3 min 10 sec

     You bit your bottom lip and made your ward toward the cafeteria. You got lost. You asked a nearby student. They pointed you in the right direction. You glanced at your wrist again.

0 yrs 0 days 0 hrs 1 min 4 sec

     Your heart was racing. Second by second went by as you slowly wandered down the hall.

0 yrs 0 days 0 hrs 0 min 20 sec

     This was fine. You were fine. Everything was fine.

 0 yrs 0 days 0 hrs 0 min 11 sec

     You held your breath. Ten.

     Nine.

    Eight.

    Seven.

    Six.

    Five. 

    Four.

     Three.

     Two.

     One-

    “Fucking - watch it!”

     For a split second there were hands on you, shoving you roughly toward the lockers as you tore your eyes away from your wrist. The clang of metal and the pain that spread through your back was enough to get the attention of other students - most of which only glanced over at you, hesitating to look away until you stood back up and took that as a sign you’d be alright before continuing on their way. You fought back any tears - if not from being snapped at and shoved aside, from the pain that lingered in your back. How hard did he push you?

    “Woah, hey, are you okay?”

     You looked up to see some kid with headphones standing in front of you, his hands shoved into the pockets of a red hoodie. He stared at you, only for you to slowly nod, taking a deep breath as you pushed away from the cold metal behind you.

     “Could be better,” you said with a shrug, before staring at the boy for a moment - wasn’t he in one of your classes? 

     “You’re the new kid, right?” He said after a brief pause. You nodded. “I’m Michael.”

     “[y/n]. So, uh,” you glanced back in the direction that boy had gone in, before looking back to Michael, “is... everyone like that? Because, I mean, a little heads up would be nice.”

     Michael shook his head, “just the assholes.” There’s a pause before he speaks again. “What were you staring at?”

     You frowned slightly - staring...? - before it clicked. Your timer. You shoved your sleeve down your arm as you gazed at the flashing numbers: 0 yrs 0 days 0 hrs 0 min 0 sec.

      “Michael?” You looked back up to him. He shook his head, pulling down his own sleeve - his timer still counting down. Then who...?

     Oh no.

     Oh no no no

     This wasn’t happening

     This was not happening

     “Michael?” You managed to croak, voice shaking, “who just pushed me?”

      He stared at you for a moment. “... Rich?” You nodded frantically, and you swore you must have been shaking because Michael stepped back, giving you a little space. “Hey, are you alright?”

      You shook your head, jutting your wrist out to Michael. He looked form your face to the timer, before scanning over the line of zeroes. “Wait. You’re not saying that Rich-”

     “... I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

      It turns out things at Middleborough had changed before you arrived. Aside from what you heard - Jeremy Heere used to be a nerd, didn’t he? But... he’s actually pretty cool... Rich is friends with him, at least. And Jake seems to be friends with him! Didn’t he have some stupid shit with some sort of sheets... - you had Sam to report shit to you since, apparently, word traveled fast.

     “Some dude in your grade,” she had said, cutting away from a story about this one dork in band, “pushed his fucking soulmate earlier.”

     “Hm.”

     “Yeah. Rich something.”

     “How do you know it was his soulmate?”

     “Well...” She began, “I heard it from Matthew... who heard it from this guy, Nathan, who’s friends with this other guy. Dustin, I think. Apparently Dustin knows shit."

     “Did they say who he pushed?”

     “Nah,” she said, “at least, no one seemed to know them.” She paused, looking to you, “why are you so interested?”

      You shrugged. “Soulmate shit. I think about it sometimes.”

      She didn’t believe you. But she dropped it, “what kind of an asshole pushes anyone around?”

     You only shrugged again. You didn’t know - nor did you want to know, honestly.

      Too bad you’d have to find out eventually.

     One week later and somehow word had spread. New kid’s soulmate timer is at zero. They met their soulmate? Lucky. I wish I could meet my soulmate. Wait, was it zero when they first got here though? Rich Goranski’s timer is at zero too. What if they’re soulmates?

      No. That’s stupid. They wouldn’t be soulmates. 

      But what if they were?

     “He-ey, new kid!”

      You winced at the sound of a chair scraping along the floor as it was turned Some guy with frosted tips and a smile that could win over anyone’s heart instantly was sitting in front of you, leaning over the back of the chair. You’d only heard of this guy and even then you didn’t remember his name. Something like Jason or James or-

      He awkwardly introduced himself when you didn’t respond. “I’m Jake. We have math together?”

      Close enough. But you forced a smile. “[y/n].”

     “So. Where are you from?”

      This was weird. Since when did Jake - popular kid/prince charming Jake, apparently - talk to you? You rattled off your hometown anyway. “It’s nothing special.”

      He only smiled again. “So... I was thinking... maybe you’d like to come to this Halloween party I’ve been planning. You’re new and-”

     “I don’t do parties.” That was... a lie, kind of. You could go to a party - when you knew people there. Parties weren’t always your thing, but they could be fun.

     “Rich will be there,” he said, “and you can meet people.”

     “I don’t know Rich.”

     “Oh. Yeah. Right, sorry,” he said, “just... think about it. Here,” he picked up a stray pen off of your desk, scribbling a string of numbers onto the corner of a piece of paper, “you can text me if you wanna come.”

     So you did. After you talked to Michael about it and somehow managed to convince him to give you a ride there and back - something he seemed a little to glad to give you, for some reason. So you donned some Harry Potter costume you found after a quick trip to the store, not giving half a shit whether people complimented or made fun of you because Harry Potter was fucking great and they could deny it if they wanted.

       Rich hadn’t seen you. He didn’t see you when you arrived, he didn’t see you while you wandered the party with red solo cup you hadn’t sipped, and he didn’t see you when you finally ended up sinking into a spot on the couch. But at some point during the night he felt a shock travel down his spine, steering him in another direction, and had words constantly whispered to him to guide his every movement. Eventually it got to him.

       It wasn’t until he finally drank something - even the smallest sip - that he saw you, sitting alone. New kid. The one with a timer set to zero. The one he shoved only seconds before his own timer had zeroed out. So he crossed the room and threw himself into the seat next to you, catching your attention as the sudden shift nearly made you spill your drink. He didn’t speak first, and after a moment of silence from you, he assumed he’d have to.

       “You’re the new kid?” He said. Smart move, Rich.

       You only nodded. How many times had you heard that? But you spoke after a second, “[y/n].”

      “I’m Rich.” He smiled a little. The words were simple, but at least he didn’t force them - usually he had to throw on some aura, some mask that made him look cooler and careless and a bit of an asshole at times, but something about it just... he liked it.

      “I know.”

        Of course you did - he fucking shoved you in the hallway- fuck he wished he knew what to say to you. Where was-

       He winced slightly at the sudden Japanese that was thrust into his head - what the hell? You were staring at him. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck- Maybe if he gave you a-

       More Japanese. What the fuck was up with-

       He stopped. No. No, you were his soulmate for a reason, right? That meant you’d love him, right? No no no you were a stranger and-

       Suddenly there was more Japanese. Was that the reason why the fucking thing never let him drink?

      Well. It’d be a pretty fucking weird coincidence if you weren’t his soulmate. But why hadn’t he seen you after that moment? It was like you were just... gone. Invisible. Like someone had just erased you from his sight-

      “Rich?”

       He stood abruptly, muttering something under his breath. Fuck fuck he didn’t to fix this, he just had to find-

       You watched him leave.

       Fuck, you should have said something else to him. Maybe you could just find Michael and leave and maybe buy discount Halloween candy tomorrow with him. Maybe play that video game he kept talking about - the game he played with Jeremy. Pretend that maybe you could put off talking to Rich for another day.

       When you found Michael, he was dead silent and visibly distraught. Fuck discount Halloween candy, you’d buy whatever you could from Walmart and the two of you could game until you passed out. Michael deserved that. He deserved a distraction - and maybe he’d open up to you if he wanted to about whatever bothered him. So you showered him with stupid jokes and soon found yourself in his basement playing Hey You, Pikachu! -  which led to a conversation that consisted of “dude, you have a Nintendo 64?” and “yeah” - and making more stupid jokes that actually managed to make Michael smile.

       ... You might have told Pikachu to fuck off once or twice after it didn’t listen to either of you.

       You didn’t remember falling asleep on the couch, and honestly, who did? But the last thing you remembered was Michael playing Paper Mario or something and mumbling something. But you did wake up to a worried Michael, and the sound of a phone buzzing endlessly on a nearby table 

      “[y/n]?” Michael had whispered, “fuck, they said that-” he caught himself, “someone set Jake’s house on fire.”

      “Someone?” You mumbled, sitting forward slowly. Your phone buzzed again. You reached out and managed to snag it.

      He hesitated. Oh no. But then he spoke, softly, “...Rich.”

       You felt your blood run cold. Rich? Rich set Jake’s house on fire? Another buzz. Sam. Sam’s endless messages plagued you, pestering you about every detail and asking if you were alright and then the messages became more frantic. You managed to text her back a ‘I’m okay,’ which disrupted the rhythm of her panic-filled texts.

       Then she was calling you.

       You looked to Michael before answering, standing and stretching your limps as you walked away from the couch.

      “-Holy fuck, [y/n], what the fuck? I’ve been texting you for - never mind. Did you hear about-” She paused for barely half a second, “are you okay? Where are you-”

      When you interrupted her, you heard her take the smallest breath, “I’m fine, Sam. I’m with Michael.”

    “... Are you okay, though?”

    For a moment, you thought Sam somehow knew about Rich, about your timer, about everything you’d been hiding. You’d be lying if you said that you weren’t conflicted, though. Just - almost everything you saw of Rich just confused you. But just the way he crashed next to you, the way he gave you the smallest of smiles after he introduced himself - something just seemed... off.

    “[y/n]?” Her voice is soft. It’s nice.

    “Yeah."

    “When are you coming home?”

    You looked over to Michael, then pulled your phone away long enough to catch a glimpse of 9:43 a.m. “In a few hours. Before lunch, at the latest.”

    “... Alright. Mom and mama were freaking out - but-”

    Suddenly Sam was gone and you were met with the frantic shrill of Joanne, “[y/n]? Are you alright? Baby, you aren’t hurt, are you?”

    “I’m fine, mama, I left before anything happened-”

    “Where are you? Text me the address, I’ll come get you-”

    And she did. You thought that maybe you could get a few hours to yourself, just to think, but eventually you were in the backseat and you had Charlotte’s hand reached around the seat in one hand and Sam’s in the other and the dull silence between the four of you. It was the sort of silence you only heard about, the silence that came from an almost and the silence that came from the silent thanks that it was only an almost. Sam squeezed your hand. You squeezed back.

       When you got home, neither Charlotte nor Joanne asked any questions. The buzz of your phone brought you back to reality. First an unknown number introducing themselves as Jeremy - who, from your experience, you had no intention of talking to. How he got your number, you weren’t sure, but he asked how you were considering Rich (as if he somehow fucking knew, you had thought before shoving it away into the back of your mind) and you told him you wanted to be left alone. He pushed you slightly. You told him to fuck off. He didn’t text back.

       Then there was Michael. And then another unknown number - Dustin. You told Michael you’d talk to him later. Dustin you told to fuck off. You needed to think.

       Alone.

       Thursday morning, weeks later, you decided to skip school.  It turns out that Beth Israel - where Rich was currently - was a city away. Not that it was a problem - with enough research you found the easiest way was to hop on a train, make it there and find the hospital and way until visiting hours started, and then talk to Rich - who would hopefully be awake now. You managed to hook Michael into your plan - somehow convince him to drive you to the train station and pick you up - and were able to convince Sam to cover for you (and supply you some money she’d been stashing away with a few promises that you’d have to repay her later). So you met Michael and shoved your bag into the backseat of his PT Cruiser, and swung into the passenger seat. Halfway to the station, Michael had spoken to you.

      “What are you gonna do?”

       “Talk to him. About... this,” you said, motioning to your wrist.

       He nodded. “And?”

       You shrugged at this point, “find out what the fuck we’re gonna do. Look, if... he’s an asshole, I don’t want to be associated with him.” You paused. “Does that sound bad? Yeah, that sounds bad, fuck, I just don’t know what I’m gonna do, I just... I just want to talk to him.”

       Michael didn’t speak for the rest of the trip. Not until you had gotten out with your bag, saying he’d be there as soon as he could and just to watch out for yourself and the usual warnings you probably only ever heard from Joanne. You nodded and finally left him to go buy a ticket and find a place to wait. Almost twelve dollars later, you wished you could still count as a child.

       Oh well. Time to go see Rich and pray you don’t get in trouble.

       By some stroke of luck, you did manage to get through the hour ride and the walk to the hospital unscathed. You looked like some lost kid wandering into the hospital, asking a older lady behind the front desk where you could find the intensive care unit, before wandering and managing to find an elevator from her vague directions, punching the number for the floor. After a few seconds, the elevator jerked to life just after the dread began to build, but then it shuddered to a stop before the doors slid open and you were quickly out of the metal deathtrap.

       The waiting room was quiet, littered with few people, some softly chatting as they waited for someone to join their little party, few just reclined back with their heads against the wall - except for one teenage boy who decided to slump down and rest against the shiny plastic back cushion of the couch. It didn’t look comfortable, but he didn’t budge of shift in any way, so you could only assume he was fine. 

      While wandering aimlessly trying to find Rich’s room, you nearly ran into two men. One reeked of a mix of beer, cigarettes, and cheap cologne - and you only assumed he was trying to mask the other two scents. He looked nervous, hunched over slightly and his hands jammed into his pockets, only glowering at you for a second before stepping around. His friend - or younger brother or son, you weren’t sure - only mumbled an apology as he looked at you with eyes too familiar.

       But he and the other was gone before you could say anything.

       The scent lingered. Rich didn’t fucking know how he got in there, but he was glad he was alone once again. Well - at least Gabe was a nice sight. He rarely saw his brother sometimes so, even if his dad was there, there was at least something. And now he had balloons that Gabe probably bought from the gift shop - GET WELL SOON stretched across one in bright letters and the other one of those yellow balloons with the smiley face on it, both tied off and set on a table that’d be out of his reach even if he wasn’t in a cast.

       He looked to the ceiling, breathing deeply and shutting his eyes. Everything felt too quiet. Now he didn’t have a fucking Muppet telling him what to do - not that Rich didn’t still like the Muppets, but having Constantine hanging over his shoulder all the time wasn’t exactly making him love the Muppets.

       The door opened. Was it time for a nurse already? Fuck if he knew - he was just waiting for whenever he could get out and get home.

      “... Rich?”

       Wait.

       “... Are you awake?”

       He looked over to the door, and for a moment he swore he was dreaming. You wouldn’t be standing there - but you were.

       You kind of forced a smile as you shut the door behind you, walking over to his bed. “Hey.” 

       “Hey.”

       He stared at you. You reached to the straps at your shoulders, gently squeezing at them - a habit he swore he saw Jeremy do in the past. It was... weird, seeing you do it. “How are you?”

       “Fine.”

      “That’s... good, I guess.”

      “Why are you here?” He asked... rather bluntly, honestly - but he definitely didn’t expect you.

      “I wanted to talk. About... us.” You drew the sleeve back, holding out your wrist to him, “I think we’re-”

      “Soulmates. Yeah... I’m sorry.”

       Holy shit, he had a lisp.

      “[y/n]?”

      “Did you know?” You asked, “after you pushed me, I mean.” He shook his head. Well, at least there’s that out of the way.

      “Sorry,” he said again. You went to speak, but stopped, “look - I’m sorry I’ve been an asshole. But...” He paused, “we’re soulmates and...” Another pause. “I’m different now.”

       “Are you?” You asked. You’d heard of this shit before. “Rich, I just - I don’t want to get involved in something if things are going to be like they were before-”

      “They won’t be. Look-” he began, only to pause as he gathered his thoughts, “there was this... pill.” Drugs? “Like... a computer a-and it implants in your brain - and it tells you what to do. It’s called a SQUIP and-” He paused. “Jeremy Heere has one.”

      “Jeremy?” Then something came to mind - Jeremy Heere used to be a nerd. Jeremy used to be Michael’s friend. ... Then... maybe it was Jeremy who hurt Michael at the party- “Why?”

      “Mine told me to.”

      “Why did you have one?”

      “I... didn’t want to be a loser and someone said it could help me change into someone that my soulmate - you would like.”

      “Rich-”

      “Look, I’m sorry - but I want a chance. We’re supposed to work somehow, right?”

       You nodded. “Then... maybe after you get out? We can talk. We can be friends and shit.”

       He smiled. He had freckles. He’s adorable.

      “I didn’t tell my moms about you,” you admitted, slowly sitting down on a clear spot on the bed.

      “Moms?” He said slowly.

      “Yeah. Uh. Moms. And my sister - Sam, she’s younger than me,” you said a bit too quickly, “but I think I might tell them - if that’s fine with you, I mean.”

      “Uh. Yeah, go ahead.” He paused, “wait- he glanced over to the calendar, days  written on fully up until today, where only little writing was - “it’s... Thursday? Why aren’t you at school?”

      “I needed to talk to you,” you said, “and... today worked, I guess.”

      “Go to school,” he said.

      “Dude, I’m already here. Besides, the train I need doesn’t arrive until almost one. So... you’re stuck with me, Rich. Deal with it.”

       You and Rich talked until the hospital kicked you out of the room. You had refused to go to the actual hospital cafeteria for any sort of food, but Rich managed to convince you to stop by somewhere - a vending machine, food truck, anywhere - to get something to eat. It was kind of cute how he worried about you, telling you to be careful on the way home. So you promised you’d take care of yourself and set off from the hospital.

       You made it home in one piece, waiting on a bench for Michael to drive up - and after that, it was a nice ride home. Your mothers didn’t know, and Sam didn’t say anything about it to you. You weren’t sure how to break the news to your family, so you sat around for hours before dinner, googling and reading through countless guides and how to articles. Your heart nearly stopped when you heard the sharp knock before Sam called out that dinner was ready.

      Alright. You were just going to tell them that you met your soulmate over a month ago. No big deal.

      ... Very big deal.

       Big enough that you didn’t speak for half of dinner and didn’t realize the conversation fell silent. So you looked up and did the smartest thing.

      “I met my soulmate.”

       And by smartest thing, you literally just blurted it out without a second thought. That’s one way to break the news. Sam stared at you, Joanne kept looking from you to Charlotte, and Charlotte... was smiling like crazy.

      “Sweetie, that’s wonderful! Who are they?”

      “His name is Rich-”

      “Wait,” Sam immediately interjected, “you’re...”

       You nodded a little. “Yeah. I’ve... known for a little over a month-”

      “[y/n], what the hell?”

      “Language, Sam,” Joanne warned gently, “why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

       You shrugged. “I guess... I was scared?” You lied.

       They bought it. Charlotte gushed over the idea of you and this Rich boy, before immediately swatting away the thoughts of an actual relationship so soon because you were young and you had time to figure out what you and Rich were, only to be interrupted by Joanne - who shot you a wink as she nudged Charlotte to recount the story of when they first met. Then you brought up the idea of going back up to the hospital on Saturday - and then that was another round of questions. So you lied again, coming up with some bullshit excuse to why he’d be in Beth Israel. And while they didn’t buy it as easily as they did with your other lie, you had permission and money and planned to go visit Rich again.

      Eventually Rich got out of the hospital. The two of you began talking, and by extend - you and his friends began talking. You hadn’t gone to the play, but apparently one way or another the rest of the cast ended up with those... supercomputer pill things. They were nice, for the most part, even if you felt a little out of place. But at least there was Michael - who had his best friend back and definitely seemed much more chipper due to it - who was at the incident, but didn’t end up with a... SQUIP? You weren’t sure what it was - but Rich was different now and... he was actually kinda cute, when you really thought about it. He had a habit of saving a seat next to him for you, sometimes scooting closer and glancing to you to make sure this was okay, right? you were fine with this, right? no? alright - back i go, which eventually stopped happening as you grew used to having Rich next to you.

       Sometimes he’d send you dumb memes at three in the morning when he couldn’t sleep. You’d smile and offer to talk if he wanted - and usually he’d reject the offer, insisting he’d be fine. The first time he opened up to you was during winter break, when he ended up spending the weeks almost entirely at your house. Maybe that had been the turning point. Where Rich would open up to you, making vague comments about regrets turn into him reaching out, even the smallest bit, and letting you in. Where Rich would sometimes find your hand as intertwine his fingers with your own, not saying a word because you were an anchor when thoughts of what he did and who he was started to bother him. Where Rich would stand next to you, inches shorter but quietly resting a hand at your hip, or the way he’d rest a hand on your arm as he pulled up something on his phone to show you, or maybe how he’d oh-so-casually rest an arm around you.

       The group noticed. Sometimes there’d be a movie night and Rich would preserve the spot next to him - whether it be on the floor or couch - just for you. You left the room once to grab another drink, only to hear the sound of Jeremy crying out seconds later and the sound of the group immediately either laughing or giving Jeremy shit because “dude, that’s [y/n]’s spot, rich isn’t gonna let you sit there, why’d you even try” and you fumbled with the can of soda at the thought of Rich actually keeping your spot. The group noticed how the two of you were constantly touching in some way, whether it be you slipping your hand into Rich’s, or the fact that Rich would rest a hand at your hip and you didn’t bat an eye at that, or the fact that sometimes you’d kind of just snuggle into Rich whenever he’d wrap an arm around you.

       And apparently, Rich had this whole love-struck look whenever he looked at you, according to Christine. He’d just sometimes watch you as you wrote or doodled or focused on anything, sometimes forgetting about what he was doing before smiling a little. He just stared at your lips, drumming his fingers impatiently against his leg.

       And then one day, he just kissed you. You’d slipped your hand into his after your last class, rambling on about some homework or something, and when you turned around he just went for it - smashing his lips against yours awkwardly, cutting off your thoughts before pulling away. For a few moments, the two of you stood there, before you gently squeezed his hand and stumbled over your words, trying to resume what you’d been saying only to end up asking if he wanted to go out sometime.

       He did. So you went to the mall and ended up making out behind a clothing rack.

       Honestly, it was pretty great.

       Even if someone (i.e. a certain Jakey D) saw and got a shitty picture form afar, and somehow said picture ended up in the group chat barely five minutes later, and there was no mercy in teasing you and Rich.

       It was still worth it.

      “Babe,” Rich complained, sitting on your bed as he watched you pack. “Why do you have to leave?”

       Apparently, your mothers made the plan to go visit family on prom weekend. You tried to get out of it at first, saying you were responsible and you could drive them to the airport and stay home - but that idea was shot down since they knew about you and Rich and you haven’t seen your aunt or your cousins in a while. The timing was terrible, but you frowned and stopped complaining. You told Rich, who was disappointed because you two could have fucking wrecked prom - his words, not yours - but shrugged. You jokingly said he could take Michael, and next thing you knew you had a text from Michael asking why Rich asked him to prom and not you.

      “Family thing.”

      “Why?” He asked.

       You shrugged. “Couldn’t wait? I dunno. Have fun at prom, alright? We have next year. Or you could hide in my luggage - you’d fit.”

       “Shut up,” he mumbled through a badly suppressed smile.

      “Make me.”

       So he kissed you. His hands were cupping your face at first, and you kind of stumbled into your bed, awkward at first before sort of melting into the kiss. 

      “Rich-” kiss “I still-” kiss “need to pack-”

      He frowned as he pulled away.

      “Just let me finish, then... we can pick back up where we left off.”

       You never thought you’d have the whole pull away from each other and act like you weren’t just making out moment that you saw on TV, but... you could check that off of your bucket list. Thankfully, it had only been Sam. Which didn’t mean you didn’t get shit for it, but it was better than anyone else walking in on you.

       Rich looked cute in a tux. Michael looked cute in a tux. All your friends looked cute in prom attire and you were sitting in your aunt’s living room in shorts and a t-shirt as you cursed Florida. One of your cousins was leaning against you, curiously peeking over your arm at the stream of hearts you were sending Rich.

      “Is that your boyfriend?” She teased, smiling up at you.

       ... Were you and Rich technically dating? You shoved the thought back. “Yeah.”

      “Is he your soulmate?”

      “Yeah.”

       She gasped softly, “wait, really? You met your soulmate?” She was grinning ear to ear.

      “Yeah, Bee.”

      “Do you love him?”

      Did you? How do you answer a kid like this? You kind of smiled as you sent him a text to have fun and b safe after adding on another heart. “I think so.”

      rich: love you

     “Does he love you?”

      [y/n]: love u too 💗

     “Yeah. I think he does.”

      She looked at you with that childhood innocence. The sort of look - as if you were a fairy tale to her. “Are you two gonna get married?”

      God, that was a thought. “I don’t know.”

      You were tempted to text him again - asking him what you two were. Were you two officially dating? But you decided against it. It was prom night and the two of you could talk later.

      You still sent him a text later - two in the morning later, but still later. It was simple and short, but it was still something.

      [y/n]: i love you. i’m glad it’s you.❤️

      You put your phone on the table nearby, shifting uncomfortable on the couch - where you had volunteered to sleep after letting Sam take the guest room, since sneaking into the kitchen to steal a cookie that your uncle made was a thousand times easier when you didn’t have to sneak down stairs that creaked no matter where you stepped.

      Your phone buzzed to life after a few minutes of near silence. You moved, picking up your phone and clicking it on.

      rich: i love you too