Surprises [ Prize ]

“Lavi? What are you doing here?”

_______ eyed the redhead carefully, unbuttoning the top button of her uniform. She sat down in the empty seat opposite the male, raising a brow at him in confusion. Her roommate flashed her a grin, bringing the cup of (favourite drink) up to his lips and taking a sip.

“Nothing. Just thought I’d pick you up from work for once,” he leaned back, tilting his head to the side as a lopsided grin settled itself on his face. _____ couldn’t help but smile, shaking her head slightly at his antic.

“Heh. I would say that this is a nice surprise but are you sure you’re not just here to flirt with my co-workers?” the (h/c) leaned forward, planting her elbows on the clean table and resting her chin on her interlaced fingers. A playful smile rested on her face and her (e/c) orbs glimmered with mischief, making Lavi painfully aware of the fast rhythm his heart was beating to.

“Aw come on! I walked all this way for you, you know that?” Lavi whined, resting his elbows on the table as he leaned forward, pouting. The (h/c) laughed, leaning back and dragging the cup of (drink) that Lavi ordered over to her side. She took a sip, sighing blissfully as the liquid made its way down her throat.

“Okay, fine. I guess I’ll excuse you this one time,” she smiled, eyes directed on the surface of the drink. She swiveled the cup around, making the liquid slosh against the walls of said cup.

“I thought you didn’t like (drink)...” the girl mumbled to herself, a small smile on her lips. Her downcast eyes moved upwards to meet with emerald ones; the owner turning his head away to hide the pink hue on his cheeks.

“I don’t... Just thought I’d try it,” he shrugged weakly, a small chuckled escaping his lips. What he said was part of a truth so it wasn’t wrong; he tried to drink it because it was her favourite drink, that was it.

______ grinned, standing up and ruffling his fiery red hair. Her (e/c) orbs twinkled with mirth and, even after working in the kitchen for six, probably seven, hours, she still looked beautiful to the male.

“I’m gonna go change, kay?” she walked away, but not before hearing Lavi’s respond.

“You want some help?” the redhead wiggled his brows, making the (h/c) scoff; a visible red colour was painted on her cheeks and she shook her head, telling him to stay put and to not do anything ridiculous while she was away.

The minutes that _____ was away was spent with Lavi looking at his phone, texting his friends as he waited for his roommate. He didn’t mind waiting for her even though it was already dark since the both of them had a day off tomorrow. Besides, he didn’t want her to walk home alone because there was one particular worker here that had taken an interest of the (h/c) and Lavi didn’t like it one bit.

Nope.

Everytime he saw the two of them talking in a manner that could only be described as ‘flirting’ he felt his heart clench painfully. He would be aware of him gritting his teeth and glaring at said worker before correcting himself.  He knew that the two of them weren’t anything special – nothing but roommates and friends since childhood – but he wanted _____ for himself.

When did he realize that he had feelings for the (h/c)? It was when she was hospitalized once during their last year of high school. It wasn’t anything bad; just a really really bad case of fever that got to the point where she couldn’t even stand. Her mother got worried and drove her to the hospital where she ended up staying for a few hours.

It worried Lavi greatly because no one called or texted him to tell that ______ was okay and, as she laid in bed recovering, the redhead spent his hours in school worrying; the unknown state of his friend distracting him from his ‘studies’.

The week spent without her was painful, he noticed, and lonely – which he told himself was unreasonable since Allen, Lenalee and, occasionally, Yu was there. When she got back, healthy and with rosy cheeks, Lavi couldn’t be anymore happier. He had been much more distracted during her leave then he would when she was sitting next to him, occasionally hissing at him to study.

Emerald eyes blinked when laughter interrupted his thinking. He looked up, only to find his roommate walking out from behind the counter with the other female workers. Her smile was bright, lighting up the whole room even though the sun was setting outside. Lavi couldn’t help but stare and he only got bits and pieced about what the girls were talking about.

“Is that the guy you were talking about? Oh my! _____! He’s adorable!” ______ laughed, turning her head away as she closed her eyes. Her cheeks had turned a rosy colour, Lavi noticed, ad her (e/c) eyes sparkled with mirth.

“Heh. Whatever you say, just don’t swing by my home announcing you’re his new girlfriend or anything,” the girl snickered causing her friend to blush a bright red.

“H-Hey!” _______ laughed some more, lightly shaking her head as she waved goodbye to her friends. She walked over to her roommate, a smile on her face. She readjusted the scarf around her neck, shrugging her bag higher onto her shoulder.

“Let’s go?” she spoke, (e/c) eyes glimmering in the low light of the café. The red light of the evening reflected off of her skin, making Lavi stare much longer than necessary before responding. He nodded, finishing his drink in one go and standing up, brushing his pants of imaginary dusts.

“Also, what happened to your hair?” _____ asked, standing on her tiptoes to ruffle his usually spiked hair. His hair was surprisingly soft and, in her opinion, it was better when he didn’t style it. Lavi liked feeling her fingers run through his hair; it made him feel nice and, at times, sleepy.

“Why? Do you like it?” he smirked, inching closer to her unconsciously. ______ stopped, red painting her cheeks. She slipped her hand out of his hair - an action that saddened him but it was redeemed with the adorable colour on her cheeks – and scoffed, averting her eyes from the male.

“Hah! You wish! Let’s just go!” she grabbed his hand and walked out of the café in a hurry, embarrassed at his earlier remark. Lavi grinned behind her, squeezing her smaller hand in his as he sped up slightly so that the two could walk side by side. ______ kept her eyes trained on the sidewalk, not caring that their hands were intertwined or the fact that Lavi was actually talking to her right now.

“_____? _____! You’re not listening!” the redhead whined, tugging at the girl’s hand and making her turn her head to look at him. She blinked owlishly, making it clear to her friend that she was in her own little world before he pulled her out.

“Huh? What’d you say?” Lavi pouted, giving her an unsatisfied look.

“You weren’t listening to me… We need to stop by a grocery store because we ran out of food again,”

“Wait what are you kidding?!” ______ asked, a look of bewilderment on her face. The two of them just bought grocery yesterday! Unless Allen stopped by while she was at work, it was impossible for the food to run out so quickly. _____ huffed when she noticed the edges of Lavi’s lips curl in a smile.

“Lavi!” she hit his arm, pouting at him as she looked away. He attention was then driven by the jewelry store they were conveniently in front of. She stared at the items on display, the necklace in front of her heavily laced with diamond. She averted her eyes quickly, shaking her head and turning ti back to look at Lavi.

“What are you staring at?”

“Hm? Nothing…” Lavi smiled and, though ______ thought it was because of the jewelry behind her, the reason he was smiling shook her head, pulling him along as they headed towards their home.

--

“Woah, hey! The place looks neat,” _____ gaped, looking around the usually messy apartment. She walked to the kitchen, peeking her head inside to find that even the counters were sparkling. She entered the living room, dropping down onto the sofa and sighing blissfully. Her closed eyes suddenly revealed the orbs underneath and it was directed towards her roommate.

“Hey…” she whispered, nudging him with her foot. Lavi tilted his head to look at her curiously and she gave a small smile.

“What got you to clean the place?” she asked, snickering lightly after finishing her sentence. Lavi walked over to her, digging his knee into the spot near her waist as he leaned over her. His smirk never left his face even when hers turned red.

“What? I can’t do anything to the place I live in?” his smirk grew as he leaned closer, their faces inches apart. _____’s eyes were half-lidded at this point, making her look all the more alluring to the male. She scoffed, her eyes closing and a smile on her face. Half-lidded emeralds turned wide as the male let out a shaky, unnoticeable breath.

He took in all her features, engraving them to memory before leaning forward, gingerly placing his lips on hers. Even though he was dubbed a ‘playboy’ during high school, Lavi had never actually kissed anyone so he was slightly worried that _____ would think he was a horrible kisser.

The only reconciliation he had was that ______ had never kissed anyone too.

Lavi was about to pull away from the lack of reciprocation but imagine his surprise when he felt her kissing back. It lasted for a couple of seconds before ____ pulled away, a red colour painting her entire face. It was hilarious but Lavi found it endearing.

“What…. What was that about…?” she breathed, (e/c) orbs searching for something in his eyes that would and could explain what he had just done. No. Much more than that. She wanted to know why he was full of surprises today; picking her up at work, trying her favourite drink, etc. There were a lot of things that he had done to surprise her but this was like the cherry on top of the cake.

“I love you…” Lavi whispered, his heart hammering in his chest but, oddly enough, he felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. (e/c) eyes stared for a long, long while before they were replaced with (h/c) hair that blocked his vision. Arms were wound around him and _______ had her face hidden in the crook of his neck.

“I love you too…” she sighed, shoulders relaxing as she registered the reality of her situation.

Lavi was a guy full of surprises, _______ knew that even before they became roommates, but she certainly didn’t expect him to confess to her out of the blue.