Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sage was almost certain that Percy Tozaki was created and put on Earth solely to make them fall for him. It was actually really annoying to them, considering they didn’t have any intentions to fall for anyone. It was completely involuntary and somehow simultaneously inevitable from the second he literally crashed into their life. Sage almost hated it, which was insane because Sage was practically incapable of even almost hating anything. It was just kinda baffling how well he fit into the vague and undefined category that was ‘Sage’s type.’ So much so that when they told Cameron and Deja about the ‘meet-cute,’ both of them burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“No way , dude! They started hitting on you?” Cam grinned from ear to ear. “So, you got their number, or what?”

Sage shook their head, trying to hide the smile that was growing on their face. They weren’t surprised about the laughing, they were just as aware of how crazy of a coincidence the situation was. It was half the reason they even talked about it.

“Okay, then what about a name?” Deja raised an eyebrow, not even trying to hide the scheming look on her face. “Gotta research your future partner.”

Sage shook their head again as they watched Cam’s eyes widen in the rearview mirror.

“You didn’t get their-? SAGE!” They gripped the steering wheel, trying their best to keep their eyes on the road and not whip round in their seat from disbelief. “That was literally the moment you’ve been waiting for!”

“I haven’t been waiting for shit , Cameron.” Sage laughed, leaning back in their seat. “I’m not interested in dating, remember?”

“But, don’t you remember what you said? That was like the golden opportunity!”

Sage snorted out another laugh. How could they forget? How could anyone forget? Sage had a huge and unexpected love for cheesy pick-up lines. Hearing them, dishing them out, coming up with new ones (the more awful, the better); and once upon a time, they had admitted to their two best friends that, despite not being interested in dating in general, they’d probably fall head-over-heels if someone came up to them and dropped the cringiest pick-up line they’d ever heard. When it happened in person though, nothing more than a mild interest had sparked in their mind. The guy was cute and funny, but it wasn’t enough to have Sage tripping over themself to exchange socials. Just a campus crush, perhaps? A little extra motivation to go outside more often, but nothing more.

“Eh.” Sage shrugged. “If it was really fate, like they said, I’m sure we’ll bump into each other again.”

Truer words had never been spoken. Sage guessed fate really wasn’t playing around that day, because there they were, standing in front of their newly deigned campus crush only a few hours later.

“Hey, you.” A soft smirk.

If they weren’t mentally cursing themself for tempting fate, Sage would have shot back with some smart-mouthed reply (which would have been quite out of character for them, but could you blame them for trying to impress him?). Unfortunately, Deja managed to beat them to it.

“So, this is your scooter story, right?” She smiled, loving every second of the situation.

“ Your scooter story, huh?” The smirk widened. 

“You already know Percy!” Elio perked up, the usual beaming smile on his face.

“Yep, that’s me. He/him.” He tilted his head to the side, focusing his lopsided smile on the other two.“So… you heard the whole story?”

“Something about a rom-com?” Deja smiled in return, before leaning forward and whispering the last part for only her two friends to hear. “And fate , perhaps?”

“ Deja .” A warning tone, something that barely ever passed through Sage’s lips. Deja tried her best to stifle a wicked smile at the realisation that she was actually getting to them. She would definitely enjoy having more material to tease them with.

“In any case- I’m Deja, she/her.” She straightened back up to address Percy directly. “This is Cam, they/them; and you’ve already met Sage.”

“She/them/he, by the way.” They shot him one more pleasant smile and made to turn back to the wider conversation before Percy spoke up one last time.

“For real, though, uh- Sorry for earlier.”

Sage turned to give him a slightly confused look. “What do you mean?”

“I wouldn’t usually…” He trailed off, chewing on his bottom lip for a second (and Sage tried their best not to look) before seemingly deciding to change tactics. His smirk slipped into a more genuinely apologetic smile as he placed his hands together and leaned forwards slightly to get eye level with Sage.

They startled a little, but made a conscious effort not to step away from him. They felt their face heat up slightly as they dug their nails into their palms in order to try and distract themselves from the sudden proximity. 

“I was really joking around, and maybe you found it funny, but- even if you did, I still wanna apologise. I don’t usually go that far when I meet new people.” He hesitated, the corner of his lips tugging up slightly in awkward acquiescence. “Actually, maybe I do.”

“What?” Sage couldn’t help the light giggle that fell from their lips. “Well, which is it?”

He shrugged lightly. “I, uh, tend to lay it on really thick if I think I won’t meet someone again. It’s a bad habit, I admit.”

Sage could relate to that. In all honesty, they weren’t the type to flirt back with anyone in the way that they had with Percy. They could manage to be outgoing and friendly with Cam and Deja around but, on their own, they usually kept to themselves and offered nothing more than kind but distant pleasantries. However, Sage was no stranger to turning up their charm for specific reasons. Especially when they thought that they might have accidentally given a random student on campus a concussion. That, coupled with the pure relief that flooded their body when it turned out he wasn’t hurt, had Sage feeling way more loose-lipped than they usually would be with most strangers. Anything to avoid getting sued for damages, right?

“Don’t even worry about it.” Sage let out an awkward laugh. “It happens to the best of us.”

“Oh?” Percy raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but pushed on with his apology. “Well, I just wanted to say that, whatever impression you have of me, I’m not like that all the time.”

“Again, no worries! It was fun.” Sage shot him a genuine, playful grin that not many people besides their two best friends got to see often. 

“Never hurts to make sure.” He straightened back up, giving them a wide grin back. “Might not believe it, but sometimes people do get fed up with me.”

Hook, line and fucking sinker. Looking back at it, that was the moment they started falling for him. Sage thought he was cute and funny from the moment they met him, and he was probably well aware of that fact. He laid it on thick and made them laugh, but there was something about their second conversation that made Sage curious about him on a deeper level. Without all the bravado, he seemed like a genuinely sweet guy. Which was terrible for Sage, of course. They didn’t crush on people often, but when they did… 

Sitting on the bank of the river as the sun set and staring at the new group chat while the messages rolled in, Sage let out a sigh of defeat.

Yep. Totally fucked.

Chapter Text

Sage sat in their seat on the bus, staring out the window and wondering how exactly they got to where they were in that exact moment. They weren’t sure where to start though. They couldn’t help tracing it back to the beginning of summer two months ago, or maybe even the moment they decided to attend WMU two years ago. But they knew they were just being dramatic. Logically, they knew that the answer was probably asking Percy to hang out together that morning. That, along with the awkward conversation they had when the two of them bumped into Sage’s Korean language professor while at the grocery store a week ago, was probably the catalyst.

“ Sage, it’s been a while! ” Their professor had smiled. “ And who’s this you’re with?”

They smiled and responded in Korean, introducing Percy who promptly stuck his hand out for a handshake once he heard his name get mentioned.

“ Oh, you’re so polite! And handsome, too.” A twinkle of mischief sparked in the professor’s eyes as she waited for Sage to translate it to him. Sage recognised that look. She was messing with them. Despite knowing how to speak English perfectly well, she was going to make Sage translate her every word.

“ Do it. ” She continued. “ It’s good practice, after all. ”

They stifled a sigh and obliged, much to Percy’s delight, a bright smile spreading across his face as he turned to thank her.

“ You said he’s your friend? Not your boyfriend? ”

“ Oh, no, no! ” Sage sputtered out in between awkward, strangled laughter. “ Just friends, not dating! ”

“ Not yet? ” The spark in their professor’s eyes grew brighter. “ Well, that’s a shame. You’d make a great couple. I mean, you’re already grocery shopping together!”

Sage felt their face heat up and their grip on the shopping cart handles grow tighter. Out of the corner of their eye, they could also see Percy shoot them a confused glance at their reaction. They closed their eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain control of their heartbeat. She was just teasing them, and if they continued to give a reaction it would only get worse.

So after another strained laugh they replied, “ No, not yet. But, I’ll tell you when we are.” They knew playing along would set them up for a future of non stop poking and prodding about a potential romantic relationship that would probably never happen. At least, that’s what they thought at the time.

Percy had kind of lost interest in the conversation up until that point, instead absentmindedly examining the shelves for anything on his list (he had two mouths and an Elio to feed, after all), but his attention was brought back towards the conversation once the professor started speaking again.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Percy!” She smiled, finally deciding to speak to him directly. “I’ve got to go now, but I look forward to hearing more about you from Sage!”

Then with a sly smile and a wink, she disappeared around a corner to continue her own shopping.

“...What was that about?” He raised a confused eyebrow.

“Don’t worry about it.” Sage sighed and rolled their eyes. “She just enjoys messing with me.”

“No way, so do I!” He gasped in mock surprise. “What did she say? Cus, it seemed like it worked and I need some new material.”

They levelled him with an unamused look before turning away to continue looking for groceries. 

“Oh, you’re really not gonna tell me?” He continued, pushing his cart alongside Sage’s. They paused and turned to look at him for a second, considering whether or not they should actually tell him. Keeping it from him made it seem like a bigger deal than it was, as if it really meant something to them. Well, it did mean something to them but Percy didn’t have to know that. It was only a big deal if they made it a big deal. 

“ Fiiiine .” They relented with a sigh. “It wasn’t a big deal, she was just teasing me about you. Said we’d make a cute couple.”

Sage expected him to shoot them a grin and a stupid comment agreeing with the statement, but instead he just kind of… looked at them. Then he tilted his head slightly and asked a question they would have never expected him to.

“Do you think we’d make a cute couple?”

It wasn’t really the words he said that caught them off guard, it was the way he said them. Completely and totally sincere, as if he was asking for the time or something similarly inconsequential. Maybe to him it was.

“I’m… not gonna answer that.” Is what Sage finally settled on before turning away and continuing down the aisle. When Percy didn’t reply, they turned around to find him still staring after them, a contemplative look on his face.

Yes, that had definitely been it. The catalyst, the important event that had precipitated this situation. At the time, Sage never thought it possible that they’d be appreciative of their professor’s meddling, but now they couldn’t be more thankful.

After a week had passed, Sage asked him to hangout again. They honestly thought he’d turn them down, considering that their communication had dropped from texting everyday to basically nothing over the past couple days. To be fair, their daily texts mostly consisted of links to stupid tiktoks, but Sage still felt a little disappointed when he stopped sending them.

They were surprised he agreed, but excited nonetheless, so a couple hours later they were standing by the bus stop on campus waiting for him to show up.

“Boo.” Percy had leaned over to whisper it into their ear from behind and Sage nearly jumped half a foot in the air in response.

“I told you to stop doing that!” Sage groaned, the wide smile on their face betraying their words. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He grinned, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Nice outfit, by the way.”

“...Thanks.” Sage raised an eyebrow in suspicion. They hadn’t dressed any differently than they usually would, so no matter how nice it was to hear, they were still a bit skeptical. Percy was usually always up to something, after all. “Are you doing okay?”

“Just peachy.” He smiled. “Why do you ask?”

Before Sage could continue their questioning, they spotted the bus approaching from down the street and decided to drop it. The two of them got on the bus and sat next to each other. Sage by the window and Percy by the aisle, which brings us right back to where we started.

Sage managed to tear their eyes away from the passing scenery outside the window and down to where their hand was holding onto Percy’s.

About five minutes into the bus ride, Sage had looked down at Percy’s hand and made some kind of comment about how many rings he wears. Then they absentmindedly reached down to fiddle with one of them before pulling away slightly.

“Sorry, I should probably have asked.” They smiled apologetically. “I have terrible impulse control.”

“It’s okay.” He replied, before flipping his hand over suddenly and intertwining the fingers of their hands together. “Mine’s probably worse.”

Sage laughed lightly and waited for him to let go once he was done with his joke, but he held on tightly instead. And when they realised he wasn’t letting go, they looked back up at him to find his face turned away completely, as if whatever was on the other side of the window across the aisle was too captivating to even look away for a second. All Sage could see of him was the slightly redding tips of his ears.

So, they leaned back in their chair and turned away as well, examining the passing scenery as diligently as Percy was. He squeezed their hand slightly and they squeezed back, their heartbeat speeding up in a way they’d never felt before. They didn’t think that they’d ever want to let it go.

Chapter Text

“Okay, what about this?” Wren stumbled into the living room, spinning in a circle to show off their fourth outfit of the day.

Cameron clapped their hands, a huge smile on their face. “You look great!”

Wren groaned. “Thanks Cam, but you also said that the last three times.”

“Yeah, well it’s true!” Their wide smile faltered. “Also, I don’t really get the vibe you’re going for, so… I’m kinda confused.”

“What isn’t there to get, Cameron?” Deja joined in, an obvious sarcastic tone lacing her words. “She needs an outfit that shows that she cares, but not too much. And it has to have the usual ‘Wren’ charm, but also be fresh, new and nothing he’s ever seen before.”

“Yup. Not too hard, right?” They gave a strained smile. “It just has to be perfect.”

Cam stuffed a couple chips into their mouth, thinking carefully while chewing. “...But does it really? I mean, knowing Elio, he wouldn’t care that much, right?”

“Well, I know but…” Wren pouted, shifting their weight from foot to foot before lowering themselves down to sit on the floor. “I don’t know, man. I just like him so much.”

“Yeah, that much is pretty obvious.” Deja muttered to herself and Wren shot her a dirty look.

“I’ve never felt this way about anyone! You guys know that!” She whined, petulantly shaking her shoulders like a spoiled child. “I’ve been basically chasing after him since the day we met. It took me six months to finally grow some balls and ask him out, I can’t fuck it up now !”

And their friends did know. Despite the innate popularity Wren had throughout their entire life, despite the countless dates she’d been asked out on, none of their relationships had lasted more than three weeks. They’d always been nice enough to give anyone who asked a chance, but she'd never once felt even an inkling of romantic attraction to them, so they made sure to break every relationship off the second they realised their feelings weren’t going to change. Well, until Elio.

It was weird and unusual for her. A feeling she’d never even thought that she would ever experience. Or rather, something she had barely given any thought too. In the story of her life she had mapped out, she quite startlingly realised that she’d never once factored dating or finding a life partner into it. The thought of being the maid-of-honour at their twin sibling’s wedding more prominent in their mind than being a bride at their own. So much so, that when she called her twin to inform them about her upcoming date, all she got in response was a long pause followed by a bewildered, “Wait… You’re not aroace?”

They had never even considered that they could be aroace, but at that moment all they could muster was a lackluster shrug and a quiet, “I don’t know… Maybe I am. But he’s different.”

Deja stood up and reached across the coffee table to ruffle Wren’s hair, bringing them back to the present. “You’ll be fine , Wren. I promise, okay?”

The rare sincerity from Deja brought a slight wetness to their eyes and they sprung up to hop over the table and pull their best friends into a tight bear on the couch, much to Deja’s chagrin.

“You guys are the best!” She announced, and after a beat of silence and a deep sigh, they continued, “I think it’s more than just how much I like him, y’know?”

“What do you mean?” Cam’s muffled voice came from where their face was still buried in Wren’s shoulder.

“It’s my first crush.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “This is what it’s like, right? I’m just about a decade late to the club.”

“Don’t ask me .” Cam wriggled out of their grasp and shrugged. “I’m only a part-time member.”

At that, they both turned to look at Deja.

She sighed deeply. “Are you asking me to recall my first ever crush right now?”

They nodded in unison.

“Fine.” She relented, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms as she thought. “I’d say I’ve always had my head more securely on my shoulders than most people my age, so maybe I’m not the best to ask, but… Seems pretty accurate. You’re acting like the average ten-year old girl, in my opinion.”

“Oh, I- I don’t know how to feel about that.” Wren frowned slightly.

“Hey, you said it first.” Deja shot back.

“But that makes sense, right?” Cam added, trying to encourage her. “It is still your first crush! Of course you’d act this way!”

Wren wrinkled their nose. “You’d think I’d have more control over my emotions than a ten-year old , though.”

And she probably would have, if it really was just the run-of-the-mill first crush. But it wasn’t. Falling for Elio had opened up a whole new can of worms for Wren. It wasn’t just that they liked him, they also liked liking him. Before they met, Wren hadn’t cared much for romance. It wasn’t something they gave much thought to, but now… She didn’t know if she could go back to thinking that way. If she fucked this up, would she ever have another chance like this? Would she ever get to feel those warm, fluttery feelings again with someone else? It had taken her twenty odd years to experience it for the first time (almost a quarter of the average human lifespan), so how could she be sure she’d get to feel them again?

Now, Wren wasn’t the most self aware person to walk across the Earth, but even they knew that that train of thought probably wasn’t the most healthy. She took a deep breath, slapped herself lightly on the cheeks and filed them away in the back of her brain to be addressed at another time. Right now, she had a job to do.

She stood up from the couch and turned to face her friends, hands on her hips. “You’re right guys. It will be fine.”

Deja’s eyes widened in response. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. Because I say so, and I’m always right.”

Cam’s face split into a grin. “ There she is!”

Wren felt their chest puff up with pride. “Right you are, Cameron. My confidence is unparalleled, and that’s my most attractive quality. It doesn’t matter what I wear, cus I’ll make him like me regardless.”

Deja clapped her hands together, eyes rolling up towards the ceiling dramatically. “Thank you, God. Seeing you so painfully insecure was terrifying.”

Wren huffed, a small smile playing on her lips. “Thanks, Dee. And you too, Cam.”

“I didn’t do much, but I’ll take it!” They shrugged in response.

Wren collapsed back into the couch, pulling her two best friends back into another all encompassing hug. “Just being here with me is enough.”

“Okay, two hugs in such a short amount of time is pushing it, bestie.” Deja grumbled.

“Oh, yeah?” A devious smile spread across their face. “Then you’re gonna really hate this.”

They tightened their grip on their friends, making sure they couldn’t escape before raining down a barrage of loud, deliberately annoying kisses on the tops of their heads and cheeks. Cameron laughed loudly, indulging their best friend for a couple seconds before trying to get away. Deja on the other hand, was already out and across the room in a half second, pointing a manicured, accusatory finger at Wren.

“Don’t you ever do that again.” She squinted at her giggling friends on the couch, a hint of a smile playing on her lips despite her serious tone.

Wren snorted, falling back to take up the space Deja had vacated as Cam successfully escaped from her grasp. They smiled softly, a warm realisation settling into her heart as they watched their two best friends.

It wouldn’t matter. Even if she did fuck up the date and never fell for someone else for the rest of her life, it wouldn't matter . Because Wren would feel those warm, fluttery feelings in her chest again. She’d feel them every time she heard the laughter of her friends and family ringing throughout any room.

“Yup.” Wren pursed their lips, eyes twinkling with affection as they stared up at the ceiling of their living room. “I’ll be just fine.”

Chapter Text

Wren was popular. Well, to a certain extent. Of course, she wasn’t anywhere near the levels of popularity that the campus boyfriend Jamie Porter was, but she was still pretty well known of her own accord. She was attractive, charismatic and had a naturally outgoing personality. Unlike Jamie, she was popular because she knew a lot of people, not because a lot of people knew her. Regardless, their popularity did skyrocket when they started hanging out with the boys more. 

“Hey, Percy.” Wren grumbled, not waiting for a response before ducking underneath his arm and kicking off their shoes in the entrance.

“Make yourself comfortable, why don’t you?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry. Long day.” She heaved in response, shrugging off her jacket and dropping her bag by the door. “Where are we set up today?”

He motioned towards the living room and watched as Wren trudged towards it before collapsing on to one of the many, many bean bags littering the apartment. 

“...You good?” Percy asked, hopping onto the couch and picking up his game controller and looking around for something else.

“Just… Way too many people today, you know?” She waved a hand vaguely in the air. 

“But you like people.” He found what he was looking for and tossed the second controller at Wren.

“Oof-” They grunted as it landed on their stomach and sat up. “Yeah, but- They just keep-”

They cut themself off with a deep frown and Percy prompted them to keep going. “They keep…?”

She huffed, eyes darting everywhere but Percy. “My friends keep asking for your numbers.”

“No fucking way.” He didn’t even try to hide his laughter as it rang out brightly across the room. “Well? Did you give it to ‘em?”

“Not yet, but who knows what’ll happen if you piss me off too bad.” She shot him a sharp-edged smile. They fiddled with the buttons on the controller as Percy finished setting up their co-op game and Wren’s frown deepened. She was only ever half-annoyed about their friends’ insistence, considering she could tell they were mostly joking. But lately, it wasn’t just her friends joking around, random classmates had been asking too and that was what pissed her off.

“I mean, does it really happen that much? Or was today just especially bad?” He muttered distractedly, trying to solve the puzzle on screen with the little help Wren was offering.

“Ugh, both?” She wrinkled her nose. “With the amount of phone numbers written on paper scraps I’m told to pass off to you guys in a day, I could probably start the most successful telemarketing company on American soil.”

“Wait, seriously? That bad?” He chuckled quietly, his eyes only darting away from the screen for a few seconds. “Is it really that often?”

Without skipping a beat, Wren shoved her hand into her skirt pocket and pulled out five folded up pieces of paper. “The rest are in my coat pockets.” She deadpanned.

“No way, dude…” Percy turned, his eyes widening as he looked at the palm of her hand. He paused the game and scooted closer towards Wren. “I thought you were just being dramatic again.”

“Again?” She scoffed, placing a hand on her chest in offense. “When have I ever ?”

He blinked at them. “Case in point.”

“Fair enough.” She shrugged. “But seriously, If I actually passed these over, you’d have a different girl for every day of the week. And a couple extra guys on the weekends, too.”

Percy’s face morphed into something halfway between amused and pained. “I’m not sure how to feel about that…”

“Well, imagine what it’s like for me.” She sighed and then paused, abruptly sitting up. “But do you know what’s mega weird?”

“What could possibly be weirder than this?” He chuckled in disbelief. “I’m not sure my ego can handle being inflated any more.”

“Barely anyone asks me for Jamie’s informa-”

“Stop.” Percy stuck his hand out dramatically, then slowly placed it on their shoulder. “If my head gets any bigger, I won’t be able to fit through the front door.”

“...Right.” They gave him a tight-lipped smile and shrugged his arm off. “You know, I get the most asks for Elio, right?”

“Oh.” He shrugged. “I’ll take a solid second place then.”

“Well, they don't really ask me to pass on their numbers to him, though.” Wren smoothly moved on, ignoring his last statement. “They ask me to set them up on dates with him! As if I'd fucking ever !”

“Wait- Doesn't that still make me first, then? Like on a technicality or something?”

“And you know what?” Wren added, picking up steam as they went. “ That's what pisses me off the most!”

“...When people ask for you to set them up with Elio?”

“Yeah! And you know why? It’s cus- !”

“You have a big, fat, stupid crush on him?” Percy interrupted, answering for her.

“What? No !” She stomped a foot petulantly before hesitating and slumping further into the bean bag. “Okay, that too, but it's also because they can just ask him themselves .”

Wren pouted, crossing their arms over their chest and letting out an indignant huff in frustration. “He's like the nicest guy ever. Even if he turns some poor girl down, he'd be super kind about it!” They mumbled the last part of the sentence in reluctant admission. “Probably even offer to become friends or something.”

“Ooh, someone sounds jealous.” Percy's grin stretched across his face, practically lighting the entire room up with the sheer joy he got from teasing Wren. “Why don't you get the jump on ‘em and ask him out first?”

“Wha-?” Wren's expression shifted into a helpless pout. “I can’t do that ! What if he says no?”

Percy blinked in silent disbelief. “What happened to ‘ he’d be super kind about it ,’ huh?”

“That doesn’t matter! It’d still break my heart into a million, tiny, unrepairable pieces!” They groaned dramatically, sinking further down the beanbag until they slipped off of it and onto the floor. “I can’t ask until I know for sure that he’d say yes.”

“Uh-huh…” Percy’s eyes distractedly slipped back towards the television. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, he had just heard the same rhetoric over and over for the past couple months. For someone as confident and self-assured as Wren seemed to be, it sure could take a long time for her to build up the courage to do something everyone knew she was going to do regardless . Wren always got what they wanted, it was only a matter of time.

“Wait!” Wren shot back up into an upright position, eyes gleaming. “You and Elio are best friends!”

“Yeah, no shit- Can we play the game now, please?” He huffed, annoyedly shaking his controller in Wren’s general direction. “What does that even have to do with anything?”

Wren was practically shaking in anticipation and Percy watched as their eyes widened in preparation to beg him for whatever they wanted this time. “Does he… say anything about me?”

“Oh, God .” He groaned, shooting her a mortified look. “We are not doing this right now.”

“But, why not?” She crawled over to him, grabbing his arm and giving the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. “It’s just a yes or no question, I won’t ask for specifics, I swear!”

She was lying and they both knew it, but Wren always got what they wanted in the end and Percy had quickly learned that there was no point in fighting them.

So he let out a long-suffering sigh and conceded. “No. He doesn’t.”

He could practically see their heart breaking in real time. “But… why?”

“Cause we don’t really talk about that kinda shit? I don’t know?”

“So… he could like me back? You just wouldn’t know?”

Percy hesitated. “Well, I didn’t say that… He is my best friend, just cause he wouldn’t say it out loud doesn’t mean I wouldn’t know.”

“Then what do you-”

“But I’d never tell you.” He interrupted before they could even finish their question. “Or anyone else, to be honest. It’s a breach of trust.”

Wren desperately wanted to push him on it, but they knew he was right. If it was something she wouldn’t do in regards to Cam or Dee, then she couldn’t ask the same thing of Percy. She relented with a sigh and moved to pick up her controller again.

“Fine. That was wholly unhelpful, by the way.” She huffed as she unpaused the game.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I don’t think you need my help anyways.” He reached over to pat them on the top of their head and Wren wrinkled their nose in response, but didn’t shake him off. “When you’re not being annoying on purpose you can be quite nice to be around, so…”

“Awww, Percy !” They laughed, eyes sparkling in delight. “You do love me!”

“What can I say? Your charm is irresistible.” He deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

“Thanks.” Wren smiled, this one more genuine than the last. “...So, do you like anybody?”

“Get out of my house.”

Chapter Text

Sage was what some people (Deja) liked to call naive. They didn’t really see it that way though, and prided themselves on being able to give most people the benefit of the doubt. Do most of the people they give it to deserve it? Probably not, but honestly they didn’t mind all that much. When their group members on a class project flaked on meetings or tried their best to take on as little work as possible, Sage never batted an eye. They insisted that they actually preferred doing it all on their own, stating that it was just more convenient that way. And when the University’s administrative office made a clerical error and sent a letter that said they owed thousands in missing school fees, all they did was let out a soft sigh and a weary smile before picking up their phone to embark on an hours long endeavour to get it sorted out, all while locked up in their bedroom the entire time to prevent their roommate from finding out and dragging them all the way to the office to break down the door with the fury of a thousand suns burning in her brown eyes.

Okay so maybe they were a bit naive, but Sage really saw no harm in it. At least they weren’t getting scammed left and right or getting dragged back into toxic relationships by believing half-hearted apologies and empty promises. If they had a problem with someone, they usually quietly but firmly distanced themself and peacefully moved on with their life. “The patience of a saint,” as Cameron would say.

“Or a rock.” Deja would helpfully add. “Lord knows a saint probably couldn’t deal with half the shit they do with a smile on their face.”

Then Sage would laugh and remind their friends that they were only human. Even they had lost their temper on a couple of occasions. Mostly with their twin sister, but apparently that wasn’t considered valid since “everyone with siblings has gone a bit postal on them once or twice, right?”

That observation was offered up by Percy, of course, who could offer nothing more than a shrug when questioned about how on Earth he, one of the two only children in the friend group, would know that for a fact.

“Well…” Sage shifted around on the warm grass, considering whether or not they should confess their secret. “There are a couple of people I hate.”

“You’re talking about real people you know personally, right?” Jamie added smoothly. “No anime villains or politicians, please.”

“Wha-?” Sage’s jaw dropped in incredulity as the rest of their friends nodded and murmured their agreement. “Seriously, guys? For the thousandth time, I’m a human being capable of feeling negative emotions past annoyance towards other people.”

Percy squinted at them in mock suspicion. “Are you sure about that, though?”

“Do you wanna hear about it or not?” Sage deadpanned, soaking in the silence as their group of friends sheepishly quietened down for the story. They shrugged one shoulder before starting up again, “It’s nothing crazy. Just this one teacher from my highschool who kept getting on my ass about stupid shit. Gave me a bunch of in-school suspensions too, luckily they weren’t put on my record, though.”

“You got suspended ?” Cameron yelped, springing almost six feet into the air. “Dude, what did you do?”

“Nothing.” Sage insisted, the corner of their lip twitching into a frown. “Which is why I hated her. Why I still hate her.”

“Okay, but what did she write you up for?” Elio asked, genuine curiosity sparkling in his eyes like no man’s business. “She had to have a reason to write down, right?”

Sage huffed and looked out across the green, the admittance leaving their mouth reluctantly. “...Continuous dress-code violations.”

A beat.

“What?” Deja sputtered out. “You? Violated the dress-code?”

“Are you sure she wasn’t mixing you up with someone else?” Cameron chimed in, increasingly skeptical. “I mean, if she was, that would explain why you hate her so much.”

“Hey!” Sage reared their head back a little, weirdly offended by the implication that they weren’t rebellious enough to break a high-school dress code. They could be plenty rebellious when they wanted to be! They just… rarely ever wanted to be. “What makes you think I wouldn’t?”

Elio gave them a soft, gentle look, much to their chagrin, before attempting to gently explain. “Well, it’s not that you wouldn’t, it’s just that…”

He trailed off trying to find the right way to phrase it, but Percy finished off the sentence for him. “You can’t.”

“Yes, I can!” Sage frowned, growing more indignant with each passing moment. “I totally could!”

“You wear layers in seventy degree weather, because you’d get too cold otherwise.” Deja stated plainly. “There is no way your constantly freezing cold ass was wearing anything that could have gotten you consistently dress-coded.”

“Well, yes-” Sage paused, a little confused as to what side they were arguing on. “It was totally unfounded, but we’ll get back to that conversation later.”

“Oh give it up, Frosty the Snowman.” Percy chimed in, poking them in the arm with one finger before reeling back with a dramatic shiver. “Even being in your general vicinity lowers my body temperature by like, ten degrees.”

“If I recall correctly, you also told us that you were known for wearing sweaters all year round at your highschool in California.” Jamie mused, hiding a small smile behind his fist as he continued. “The AC’s being on full blast during the 120-degree summers was too much for you, yes?”

Sage scoffed. “Oh, I’m not gonna take that shit from you , Jamie. We’re practically wearing a couple’s outfit.” They motioned swiftly between themself and Jamie, referencing that they were the only two of the group still wearing cardigans out and about, despite the relatively warm temperatures of the young summer. Jamie’s smile only grew wider at the commentary on his hypocrisy, instead turning his gaze elsewhere with a flippant shrug.

“Can we get back to the topic at hand, now?” Deja reached over to tap their leg and bring Sage back to the original topic. “You didn’t break dress-code but she wrote you up anyway. Why?”

“Oh, you know.” They shrugged once more. “She didn’t like my sense of style. Thought I was a devil worshipper for wearing MCR merch and whatnot.”

Cam paused. “But, you don’t even listen to MCR much.”

“I know, it was a gift from my uncle and I just wanted to wear it cause of that, you know?”

“You should listen to MCR more, by the way, they're really good.” Elio offered seriously, before adding more point-focused commentary. “So that’s what she put you down for?”

“Yup.” They let out an exasperated sigh. “Not gonna lie, my whole grunge look didn’t really help my case much. It started out with the ‘inappropriate content’ on my shirts but quickly moved on to my ripped jeans and fishnets?” Sage shook their head in disbelief, not quite understanding how the logic of that reasoning worked.

“Weren’t gonna sacrifice your sense of style for the authority figures, huh?” Percy reached out for a fistbump that was gladly reciprocated. “Respect. Stick it to the man and so on and so forth.”

“Worst part is, she wasn’t even one of my teachers. Just a random lady who decided to pick on me while I was walking down the hall.”

“No way!” Cam gasped.

“Yeah way!” Sage started picking up steam as they went. “And when I started avoiding all the places I bumped into her, she somehow found out my schedule and would wait for me outside the class I had after lunch.”

Elio cringed slightly. “That… can’t be legal. Can it?”

“Honestly, I hope not.” Sage scoffed, adding the last part of their sentence under their breath. “That way I can hit the bitch with a car and call it self-defense against my stalker.”

Jamie let out a snort of laughter before he could fully reel himself in. “Might be a tad bit of an overreaction, I must admit.”

“If you can get me to want to hit you with a car, then I think you might deserve it.”

The rest of the friends cracked up in a chorus of light laughter at the revelation that Sage was a lot more aware of how overly forgiving they could be than they presented themself as.

“So that’s the one person that got Sage to hate them, huh?” Percy mused, half to himself.

They raised an eyebrow in response. “No, I said there were a couple people, remember?”

“What does a couple mean? Would you mind sharing with us an exact figure?” Cameron asked, holding an imaginary microphone to Sage’s lips.

They leaned forward and spoke into their fist. “Two. Including the weirdo teacher, so just one I haven’t mentioned right now.”

“Of course.” Percy sighed dramatically. “Within twenty whole years, you can count on Sage Aubade to be the one person on planet Earth who has only managed to make an enemy per decade lived.”

“If it helps, I hate them both to an extreme degree.” They blinked, trying to do the imaginary math in their head. “It’s like… the normal amount of hate everyone has, mine is just directed at fewer people so it’s, like, stronger?”

He squinted at them. “Are you trying to justify your potent lack of enemies to me, right now? That’s even worse. Who are you? The Dalai Lama?”
“Probably.” They shrugged in response.

“Well, may I ask who this second person is?” Jamie tilted his head to look at Sage as he talked. “I’m curious.”

“Oh.” Sage straightened up, face morphing into one of exaggerated haughty disappointment. “You wouldn’t know him.”

“Well, we didn’t know your weird highschool teacher, either.” Elio reasoned. “Give us an explanation.”

Sage tossed a quick glance over at Deja and Cameron before answering. “His name’s Jorge.”

At the mention of what was seemingly a random man’s name, Deja threw her hands up in the air in exasperation and Cameron let out a long-suffering groan.

“Of course it is.” Deja didn’t even sound surprised, just disappointed that she didn’t see the revelation coming. “You really need to let that go.”

Sage crossed their arms and turned their face away dramatically, deigning to give the boys an explanation instead. “He was a guy running for SGB presidency as well last year, and he said some really mean things about Deja and Reynah during his campaign.”

“He apologised and the girls both accepted it!” Cameron practically begged. “It’s been months.”

Sage harrumphed. “Shouldn’t have done it in the first place, in my opinion.”

“Oh, wait!” Elio snapped his fingers in sudden recognition. “I know him! Isn’t he still on the SGB leadership committee?”

“Yes.” Deja almost laughed in incredulity, turning to address Sage once more. “Which is why you need to let it go. He can tell you don’t like him, you know?”

“That’s the point? I hold my few grudges til death, you know that.” They pointed an accusatory finger at Deja as if blaming her for not remembering their policy on never forgiving people who hurt their friends.

“Evidently.” Percy laughed softly, eyes wide in shock. “Remind me to never cross them, okay?”

The friends dissolved into light laughter that petered out into a comfortable silence, as they enjoyed each other's company on a warm, sunny afternoon.

Sage gave a contented sounding sigh, their eyes trained on the passing clouds above before they let out a preemptive snort at the private joke they had yet to share. “He has that stupid, fuckass haircut too.”

“Sage! ” The five of them called out, in tones ranging from lightly scolding to barely concealed amusement, as the aforementioned person collapsed onto their back in the grass and let out a cackling laugh, unrestrained and slightly louder than they’d usually allow themselves to be.