Gentle Love

Oneshot

At least that terrifying night was a nice one. It was warm, with a cool breeze that smelled like freshly bloomed flowers, dampened by the rain. But, no matter how nice the weather was, nothing seemed to stop Vien’s palms from sweating like crazy as he stood at Jade’s door. He was supposed to knock a solid 10 minutes ago, but what if his hair looked weird or his breath smelled bad? Fck it, he couldn’t just stand there all night. Vien knew something bad was lurking on the horizon, and he didn't want to waste any time. He wanted Jade for as long as he could have him.

Knock

Knock

Knock

The 15 seconds it took for Jade to answer felt like an eternity.

“Vien? What are you doing here?” Jade asked, rubbing his tired eyes. s**t, what if I woke him up? I didn’t even think about that.

“I–uh–can I come in?” Vien replied.

“Oh! Uhm, sure.”

Vien hadn’t planned this far ahead, to be honest. As he stepped into Jade’s room, the weight of this whole ordeal settled on his shoulders. It was a deep, guttural dread that he hated, but somehow Jade’s room felt so safe. There were a few posters on the wall and his soft brown hair rustled slightly as the air from his open window sifted through it. It just felt like Jade. The–

“So, what’d you need Vien?” Jade asked, breaking him out of his trance.

“Oh, uhm, I had something to tell you.”

“Then come sit down!” Jade replied as he sat on his bed flashing one of those blinding smiles. He was not making this any easier.

“What did you need?”

“Well, it’s quite selfish.”

“I don’t mind, you deserve to pay yourself a bit of attention.” The tension in the air could be cut with a spoon.

Vien was so scared, but could you blame him? He had accumulated a collection of people that made him happy, and it was so embarrassingly small. He couldn’t afford to lose even one of them. Especially not one of the most important pieces.

“I like you, Jade. Like, really like you,” He blurted in a fast spew of word vomit. Fck, that was way less romantic than it was supposed to be. He’s probably just screwed all of this up, and now Jade was just sitting there, staring at him. Those deep brown eyes that said absolutely nothing. Completely unreadable. “I-I’m sorry. That was dumb, and stupid, and selfish. Fck, I’m sorry. You just mean a lot to me and I don’t want to mess that up, but I know we don't have long together so I needed to tell you.”

“Vien…” Jade hesitated breathlessly, “I-I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s alright. I just couldn’t keep it to myself anymore. I’m sorry.” That was stupid. He couldn’t believe in himself. However, just as Vien tried to get up, he felt a hand pulling him back down,

“No! Please don’t leave. I, uhm, you mean a lot to me too. I–I really like you Vien.”

“W-what?”

“I think I really like you, Vien. I’m just scared. You’re already so dear to me, and I’m afraid if I let you get any closer, I’ll lose you.” Vien could read his eyes now. They were full of a sense of dread and yearning that made him feel even worse.

“I’m sorry, Jade. I didn’t–”

“Stop apologizing. I want to be with you. I mean, we don’t know how long we’ll live, and I don’t want to regret this like I have almost everything else.” His jaw seemed to go slack, and he honestly couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The selfless, kind, beautiful Jade Accari liked him? It seemed ridiculous. But, at the same time, it felt so right. Something about the way their eyes locked on a hot summer evening, or the way their breaths intertwined on a cold winter afternoon, felt intentional. It felt like him and Jade were always meant to meet on that fateful night.

“Uhm, Vien?”

“Oh, sorry what did you say?”

Jade chuckled, and oh was it such a sweet noise. “Do you actually want to date me?”

“I mean, uh, yeah. I think we should.” And that garnered Vien another one of those blinding, bright smiles from Jade, and what more could he want.

____________________

That night, Vien stayed over at Jade’s dorm. The bed was small and Vien found it hard to sleep in unfamiliar environments, but that was nice. Jade was still a little shaken, but he found comfort in holding Vien, so he let him. And, maybe Vien found comfort in feeling those big calloused hands wrapped around him.

They talked for a few hours that night, but it was all so bittersweet to find out the time crunch they were working on. However, wasn’t it nice to think that maybe they could defy all the odds and he and Jade could live a long life and love each other throughout it. Love, he realized. He didn’t just like Jade. He loved him. It was a strange type of love though. It wasn’t like Vien just suddenly fell in love with Jade. It felt like he had always loved him. Not just in this life, but in some previous life that may not even be in this timeline. Loving Jade Accari was something Vien Marianni would ultimately choose every time, but they weren’t soulmates, they were something more.

Even if they were doomed in every single universe, if it had to pry the two of them apart with its gaunt, bloody hands to keep them separated, it felt like Vien would always choose Jade. Not because he had to, but because there was nobody else who would ever look at him the same. Because there was nobody else, Vien could imagine saving less than 40 minutes after their first meeting. And maybe they. Maybe they don’t defy the odds in this universe or any won't. Maybe they will always be thrown into some cruel broken world like this one, but that doesn’t matter. Because right here, right now, in Jade’s dorm room, it’s just the two of them. They might not get another year, month, week, or even day together. But tonight, their bodies fit together so perfectly. More perfectly than the universe fits within itself.