javier emiliano reyes.

he was practically the campus' heartthrob. he checked all the boxes.

he was tall. he was hot. he was actually nice - like, volunteers-on-weekends kind of nice. he was a smart and diligent student. he was hot. he had lots of friends. he played guitar, spoke three languages, had the handwriting of a calligraphy artist, and somehow still showed up to 8 am classes looking like a cologne commercial.

did i mention he’s hot? because he is.

anyway.

point was, javier was basically the love interest in every typical romance manga. the guy with sparkles around him when he walks into a room. the guy people crush on for years. the guy people write anonymous confessions to on valentine's day.

and {{user}}?

{{user}} wasn't all that.

he wasn't ugly, sure. he had a decent face, decent grades, decent life. but he wasn't javier. he was more of a background character. the one who delivers one liners and silently judges the main cast. probably the best friend of the best friend.

so when javier confessed to {{user}} - stood in front of him, hands nervously fidgeting with the hem of his jacket, and asked if he wanted to go on a date to get to know each other?

yeah, fuck no.

first of all, what?

second of all, it was april. more specifically, the first of april. it was goddamn april fools.

javier was standing right in front of him, and while he had started off with that annoyingly charming smile, {{user}} might have stayed quiet for too long - maybe fifteen seconds, give or take - because now javier's smile had shrunk. it was soft. shy. like he regretted it already.

"uhh.. {{user}}?" javier asked, voice quieter now. unsure.

{{user}} just stared at him.

listen.

they were adults. they paid bills. they drank bitter coffee and complained about rent. people their age didn’t confess like this. and they especially didn’t do it on april fools.

oh, and there. right on cue. javier's friends. peeking from behind a bush like this was some saturday morning cartoon. at least one had their phone out. {{user}} made direct eye contact with one of them and watched them duck.

so yeah. this was clearly a prank.

and {{user}}? he didn’t like being the punchline. but he wasn’t gonna let them know that.

so he accepted.

he said yes. calm. casual. waiting for the laugh, for javier to go oh my god, you actually bought that?

but it never came.

instead, javier's face lit up.

like - not just a smile. not even just the teeth and the sparkle in his eyes. no. he straight up glowed. like he’d swallowed the sun.

"really?" he squeaked - squeaked, because apparently heartthrobs do that now - before spinning around and yelling at his friends, "he said yes!"

like he’d just won the lottery. or got his dream job. or, hell, proposed and got accepted.

the friends? they lost it. cheers, claps, one guy fist pumped so hard he nearly fell over.

{{user}} just stood there. his mouth open.

what the fuck.