#weeeeeee now i only have two neos left

LIVE

summer is supposed to be a time of happiness, of adventure and goofing around under the constant sunlight
and so when you start summer, you are all smiles and big dreams! unfiltered energy to do whatever you want!
and whatever you want is definitely
NOT spending even a day (actually three) in the hospital after you end up falling off your bike and breaking your ankle like the absolute unlucky person that you are
“that is so gnarly dude, my condolences”
chenle mutters, skateboard under hand and shaking his head
jisung nods in agreement beside him - still wearing his helmet even after your nurse gives him a look about it
“hey, at least you’re getting all this free candy?”
jaemin motions, picking up a ‘get better soon’ box filled with chocolates from your uncle
he pops one in his mouth and haechan swats his hand away before he can steal any more
mark sighs and gives you a sad smile, renjun puts the flowers they all bought together in a vase by your bed
it’s all a littletoo much - and you tell them it’s fine, it’s just an ankle and you’ll be out of here in no time
they all agree, except for jeno who is sitting at the foot of your bed with his volleyball uniform still on and his duffel bag between his legs on the floor
you keep throwing glances his way because you have never seen jeno so quiet in your life
mark - who is the brains of your friend group (oddly enough) - catches the looks of worry
so he does what any good friend would do, he tells all the remaining members he saw a machine with snacks out in the hall and they all excuse themselves with 'see you soon!’s’ out of your hospital room
jeno doesn’t move a muscle
“how was practice? jaemin looks happy so im guessing you guys are going to be in great shape when school starts again?”
there isn’t any response and jeno is almost hidden with the way his head is hanging low and his hands are clasped on his knees
“jeno-”
“it’s my fault you’re in here.”
you puff your cheeks and cross your legs
“oh please! it’s my own fault! is that why you’re acting all sad?”
he doesn’t answer and the lack of communication is making you nervous more than it is making you angry
jeno and you are close, to the point of knowing each other’s parents by their first names and who your first kisses were back in middle school
he has never been one to lack the words for a conversation - at least not with you
you wish you could scoot closer and pinch his cheek or poke his forehead
but your cast is restricting movement and these days touching jeno feels……different
“i should have stopped you before you went down that hill, i was there and i couldn’t save you-”
“jeno, im not made of glass and plus im not even that hurt!”
he finally shifts so he can look at your leg, propped up on the pillow and covered in its cast that has been brightly decorated with signatures and doodles
the way his gaze travels up your hospital gown and to you, you know he isn’t registering anything you’re saying
you sit up a little and hide the wince behind another set of promises to jeno that you are ok and you don’t need him to blame himself when he has so much more going on on his plate
“you and jaemin are going to graduate after the upcoming semester and that means it’s your last year with the volleyball team. you should focus on practice and being the best you can be - when i can get myself up on those crutches ill come visit to see how you guys are doing!”
he seems to soften, the sharp angles of his face that have just gotten more handsome as he ages still somehow manage to look sweet and youthful
he picks his duffel bag up off the floor and leans toward you like he’s going to push some hair from your face or kiss your forehead
he’s done both before - but this is the first time the gesture has made the blood in your veins stop and something imaginary clog in the back of your throat
instead of doing either jeno seems to buffer as he hovers above you, reaching out to fluff the edge of your pillow
“ok, but also you have to be serious about your recovery.”
he pulls back and the same concern as before washes over him, his vocal tone lowers
“don’t go doing anything dangerous.”
you point to your cast with a half-smile
“i don’t think that’s going to be possible.”
you get discharged from the hospital the next day, not that it brightens your summer any further, you basically just end up trading the hospital bed for the four walls of your own room
the group chat explodes with more well wishes
but you change the subject, all the pity makes you cringe
'how was volleyball practice?’
several people start typing - except for jeno
jaemin’s reply comes first, 'it was good!’
followed by jisung’s, 'but…..jeno didn’t show up…’
renjun adds 'he said he wasn’t feeling well - don’t worry!’
you furrow your eyebrows
'has anyone visited him? does he need medicine?’
haechan texts something before anyone can really stop him, 'im pretty sure he’s just being sad - if he had the stomach flu we all be sick. we eat together everyday.’
'haechan!’ mark replies as jaemin sends a shaking his head emoji
'wait. jeno is sad?’
it goes silent and then suddenly jeno is typing
'im not sad, im fine. ill be at practice tomorrow.’
you let out a sigh you didn’t know you were holding in
it’s only natural that you, as jeno’s friend, would be worried about him. at least, that’s what you tell yourself.
to be honest - now that you’re not out enjoying summer - you’re more than ever stuck with your own thoughts and the most recent string of them is: what changed between you and jeno?
for years it had been easy going fun, the simple enjoyment of each others company
but ever since it started getting warm enough for t-shirts - there has been a shift in the central point of you and jeno’s friendship
you are suddenly hyper-aware of how strong the outline of his arms looks.
you notice when he wears different cologne.
you see the way other people turn their heads to look at him when he walks by, the way they pick up on the handsome features that make up your best friend
and you can’t help but feel something cruel and cold fester in the pit of your stomach when you think jeno might one day look back at that stranger ….. and notice their features too
you sit up, which is a mistake because you shift your foot and it makes you yelp, but you look at your phone again
the gc has moved onto topics of video games so you message jeno outside of it
'hey, if something is wrong you can tell me’
he reads the message and doesn’t reply. you tell yourself that’s totally fine.
a couple of weeks pass before anyone lets you limp out of the house by yourself
you’ve mastered crutches and when you really need something, one of your friends delivers it
although recently, it seems to be everyone but jeno
everything otherwise seems normal
no one really talks about volleyball - which is fine, you just assume they’re busy practicing
and so you hobble down to the school gym that’s still open for the student-athletes during the break and are secretly happy to bump into mark who helps you with the stairs
“by the way, don’t be upset with him ok.”
mark says before you enter the gym - you look at him with a raised eyebrow
“upset with who?”
mark swallows - just tilts his head and when you go inside you look everywhere, you see everyone, but you don’t see jeno
“im guessing he isn’t in the locker rooms?”
you ask mark with a deflated tone of voice, mark shakes his head
“he hasn’t been to practice at all.”
you can understand why no one had told you.
like mark said, they knew you’d get on his case about it - which is what you plan on doing when you end up on his front porch
jeno comes down with messy hair and basketball shorts on. he’s not wearing a shirt and immediately you think you lose the ability to speak
“you shouldn’t be walking around just yet.”
he says and you frown
“it’s been a while now, plus im not here about me. im here to ask what you think you’re doing.”
jeno crosses his arms and you hate the involuntary flex of his muscles.
actually, you don’t hate it, you hate that you stare when you don’t mean to.
he ushers you into the backyard and motions for you to sit on one of the patio chairs
he’s still being the same thoughtful guy you grew up with but you’re beyond confused
“are you quitting volleyball - why aren’t you going to practice?”
“im not quitting. i just don’t feel like it - i don’t feel like doing anything.”
you reach out with one of your crutches to poke him, he makes a face
“im the one with a broken ankle - im the one who gets to be depressed. c'mon, tell me what’s really wrong.”
jeno falls silent, you notice that he hasn’t completely shaved and there’s a bit of a shadow on his jawline
you swallow the sudden dryness in your throat
this is your best friend since you were kids. you are literally not going to think anything but pure thoughts from now on. ok. stop. don’t you dare.
“that’s the thing. you have a broken ankle, you can’t even go to the beach and im supposed to do what - enjoy the summer without my best friend?”
he throws his hands up and you see an expression you barely ever get from jeno form on his face
“i could have stopped you from being reckless, i could have made sure you weren’t in that stupid cast and that you could-”
“jeno!”
you cut him off and he looks at you, the momentary distraction of your newfound attraction to him dissipates as you grind your teeth
“i told you that it’s no way your fault i got hurt - plus it’s not like you personally broke my ankle and im not suffering torturous pain. things happen like this in life - don’t beat yourself up about it!”
you wish you could get up to make your point, but the best you manage is a shaky lift grabbing onto your chair
jeno gets up to help you but you shoo him away
“it hurts me more to see you moping around on my behalf! did you think about that, how it would make me feel to hear that my injury is making you slack on the things you like?!”
he blinks and you suddenly feel a rush of different things
one is that you hate how he seems to be so full of pity for you, another is that you hate how he’s kind of right about this summer being pointless now that you can barely move, but the last is that because of all these things happening you can’t even properly wrap your head around the fact that you think you like him
and not in the platonic way you’d been beating on liking him your whole life
so to add this to the pile - you take your crutches and give him a stern look
“just start going to practice. i told you when i was in the hospital, i’ll always come to cheer you on when i can. that doesn’t change for me, broken ankle or not because you’re my best friend and i want to see you succeed.”
and i love you
you don’t say the last part, you bite your lip back and although you can’t storm off in your usual fiery passion, you make it out of his backyard and let a heaviness fall off your chest as you somehow manage to get back home
the sound of messages incoming on your phone are drowned away by your tiredness
i just want to be a source of happiness for you, i never wanted to be your burden jeno.
the next day there’s a knock on your bedroom door - you tell them to come in and go wide-eyed when you see jeno there
he’s in his volleyball uniform and he’s holding something in his hands
“jen-”
“im sorry. you were right, i can’t use you as an excuse to be lazy anymore. i brought these.”
he hands you the tupperware of cookies and you are about to ask him if he made these when jeno’s familiar, warm laughter fills your room
“i didn’t make them, they’re chipsahoy but i thought the gesture could count.”
you look down at them - he’s so silly.
you look back up at jeno’s smile - i really love him.
“good. now go have fun at practice, ill visit you guys later in the week.”
he comes closer to you and suddenly the air in the room stills, he leans over and you think you can feel the temperature of your skin rise to an unsafe level when he hooks his pinkie with yours
“promise?”
you nod and he disappears with a wave. you sit in your bed and hold the cookies.
maybe breaking my ankle and not spending every minute around him might actually have been a good thing.
as you promised, you show up to practice at the end of the week.
jeno is there and he lights up when he sees you, helps you with your crutches and everyone gathers around to tell you how thankful they are that you went and got jeno to comeback
jisung randomly sputters a, “the only person who can control him is you. it’s like he’s your boyfriend.”
mark catches the look on your face before jeno does and flicks jisung on the head, “what do you know about dating - c'mon lets go get water for everyone.”
the comment swims around your head for the entire time you’re there - and you don’t know it, but it swims around jeno’s as well
when practice is over, jaemin offers to drive everyone home - no one agrees because they’re probably terrified of his driving
and jeno says he’ll be the one to walk you home
it’s nothing unusual, you’ve been with jeno throughout your whole childhood, but there seems to be a weird pause among your group when he announces it
when you and him set off toward your house, mark does something weird - he winks at you and you take a second before
oh - he knows i like jeno doesn’t he?
you can only go at the of the equivalent of snail’s pace, and jeno matches it without complaint
you don’t say anything and it makes it that much harder to distract the chanting about how good he looks and how you can’t believe you’re that person who fell in love with their best friend and how this summer is so confusing its almost vomit-inducing and-
“hey, would it be weird if i liked you?”
it feels like the earth itself has been dropped from the shoulders of atlas, you think suddenly all the gravity has gone and disappeared
you stop and look at jeno who sets his bag down on the asphalt
the boy you met when you were young is suddenly not a boy anymore, his shadow is tall and mature against the setting summer sun
“liked me?”
he scratches the back of his neck and then nods
“i had said i can’t use your injury as my excuse to be lazy. i actually wasn’t being lazy, i was just going through a hard time because i thought i had hurt the person most important to me in the world.”
your heart thumps against your chest so hard it kind of hurts
“me?”
“yeah, and i realized your friend can be the most important person in the world - but i think it’s different the way i feel about now……i like you.”
“i love you.”
you blurt it out before you can even really stop yourself, jeno looks shocked for about a second before it breaks into a big smile on his face
the one you haven’t seen in what seems like forever, the one that feels genuine and right
“oh cool, i actually love you too - i just didn’t know if i should say it-”
“can you come over here and kiss me, these crutches are kind of making it hard for me.”
no one is surprised when you and jeno announce in the gc that you’re going on your first date
mark tries to act it, but literally everyone is like finally - you do ask mark if he knew all along about how you felt and he goes i knew how you felt and how jeno felt. you two are open books.
the date isn’t as thrilling as you both might have wanted, the broken ankle is still kind of getting in the way, so jeno takes you out to the lake and does all the rowing himself
you offer, since it’s your hands, but he insists he can do it himself and he does. seriously, he’s way stronger than you remember him being a year ago.
you guys eat on the grass when you get back and he effortlessly picks you back up onto your feet, you swoon everytime but try not to show it
and when jeno drops you off - he kisses you again, and this time he doesn’t have to have you tell him to - he picks the perfect moment
being his best friend and dating him doesn’t change too much, it’s just you’re now holding hands everytime you hangout and you’re kissing in the back of jaemin’s car much to his disappointment and well
it’s just made everything easier - you’re not wrapped in your head about what’s different, because nothing is, you just are honest with how you both feel
jeno and jaemin even get visited by scouts for volleyball and when jeno tells you about it you try to jump up to hug him and he’s like bABE CAST but too late you’re like OW and he’s like oh god oh god let me hold you
you’re like jeno let’s learn to bake cookies for real so we don’t have to buy chipsahoy to give each other and he’s down for it but then you both almost set the kitchen on fire and call renjun like ten times to ask about the recipe and basically you are both banned from baking again
your cast gets filled in with hearts from jeno…you let him lay his head on you when he’s playing games on his phone and you’re like watching him play and when you get bored you’re like let’s kiss instead
jeno leaves all his hoodies 'accidentally’ over at your house because he knows you like wearing them but won’t admit it outloud
the summer continues on until suddenly it’s colder outside and the reality of school coming back dawns on everyone
and also, you get the date for when your cast will be removed
jeno asks if you’re going to keep it once it gets cracked - you say you might, you woulnd’t want to lose all those cute hearts he scribbled on them and he just smiles and kisses your forehead
“i’d scribble all the hearts everywhere for you.”
“that’s cute, we should save that for when we get married.”
and you do save it for then - years later when you’re showing jeno the design on your invitations
beside both your names is a cluster of different hearts, all doodled by jeno himself
“how’d you get these?”
“kept a part of my broken cast.”
he stares at you with wide eyes
“im joking, i got them off a napkin you doodled on when we were at dinner.”
jeno pokes his tongue out at you and you giggle as he wraps his arms around your waist as to not let you get away
the softness of your love and silliness of your friendship is still there
it’ll always be there - through all the broken ankles, casts, and doodled hearts to come.

#weeeeeee now i only have two neos left #nct dream au #jeno au #nct dream scenarios #jeno scenarios #nct dream imagines #jeno imagines #lee jeno #nct dream #nostalgia au #nct dream x reader #jeno x reader

@warmau

Sun, 15 Aug 2021 03:19:03