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Augustine might have a crush on his roommate. His smart, blue-eyed roommate that he definitely didn’t try pushing down the stairs a year ago. Augustine might have a crush on Winnie. No, not even a might. It’s a definite, sure thing. It’s the reason why he took extra shifts to pay for an extra elaborate birthday gift for Winnie two months ago. The reason why he melts on the spot at the mere thought of being able to wake up and see Winnie just there, sleeping on the other side of the room.
It’s also the reason his psychology class passed by in 5 minutes. Again. Sometimes he wishes phones were taken away during class so he didn’t accidentally text Winnie the whole period. (He knows he can just reply to Winnie’s good morning message with “Morning. In class, talk soon” or something like that. Or even just respond later. But his heart is sending him signals that override his brain, and he just can’t help but give in.)
Luckily, Winnie’s classes don’t start until the next period, and he gets the period off due to a planned absence. So instead of texting, they can talk in person.
“Hey Auggie!!” Winnie finds him in their usual spot. He’s pulled up with donuts from the supermarket, handing one to Auggie before biting into the other.
“Woah, thanks!” idle chatter fills the space around them as they eat. Augustine uses this to build up the courage to ask the question that could change his life.
“Are you free on the 12th?” Winnie thinks it over in his head.
"What's today again?" Winnie asks sheepishly.
"Time for you to get a calendar," Winnie stared at him deadpanned. The joke didn't land. "...It's the 10th."
“Hm… Yep, I'm free! Unless my language arts professor decides to be mean and reschedule the test. What’s the date for?” Augustine forces himself not to focus on the date part.
“Wanted to make chocolates for Valentine's Day for this girl I might like. Wondered if you wanted to help me out, since you’re the better baker,” Winnie finishes his donuts and deflates a little. Augustine doesn’t know if it’s because he finished the donut or he’s disappointed about something else. It’s gone the next second, so he doesn’t mention it.
“Awesome!! Count me in,” he goes to give Augustine a high five before the bell rings.
“That’s earlier than usual…” Winnie points out.
“Well that’s because you went and got donuts instead of going straight from the dorm,” Augustine pokes him with his elbow teasingly. “Well, I’m off. Don’t want to make you late for class again,” he grins as Winnie fakes a pout on his face at the memory. They wave at each other before going to separate parts of campus.
…He’s not even three steps away from the bench and he already feels like exploding. He successfully got a chocolate-making date with Winnie (albeit under the excuse of a girl, but a win is a win). He almost runs into his classmate ‘cause he’s so happy. He gives them an apology before sitting down.
He needs to put himself together before his teacher shows up. He does not want a repeat of psychology. He can do his daydreaming later. He’s not susceptible to his own brain. (He ignores the memory that pops up of him being just that.)
His teacher walks in and starts talking about something he can't focus on. …If he lets himself indulge in thinking about the 12th, he'll finally get to focus, right? He draws squiggles on his papers as he thinks of the possible outcomes. Just for a little while…
…
…The bell rings to signify class has ended.
Shit.
He gets a summary of what happened from his classmate, grateful that he didn’t miss something super important. The incident sobers him up a little, getting him through his next classes without struggle. The real struggle starts now: lunch.
He can never anticipate where Winnie wants to sit, and usually, he’s fine sitting wherever. But there are days like these when he wants to sit with just Winnie just so he can get away with staring at him as he talks. Get away with sitting a little too close without any comments. Get away with the brushes of hands that linger a little too long and make his heart flutter. (Remember how he said he might have a crush? Augustine laughs at the might whenever he remembers it.)
He turns the corner to see Winnie already waiting for him by the entrance. Augustine runs up to him and leads him to a table in the corner near a window. Winnie sits to his left.
"So, how is she? The chocolates girl, I mean," Winnie asks. Uh oh. He didn't expect Winnie to ask about her. (He realizes how stupid that is, he always used to ask when he would bring crushes up).
…Lies are more believable when there's some truth mixed in, right?
"She has shoulder-length blonde hair, and I believe blue eyes? There's also this piercing she has on her eyebrow that compliments her well," he's basically just described female Winnie with the eyebrow piercing he wants. He's lucky Winnie is oblivious enough to let him get away with that description.
“I assume you don’t know each other well?” Winnie tilts his head and augh— he really doesn’t want to lie to Winnie anymore.
"We’ve said hi a few times,” he wants to look away. So bad.
“At least there’s no bad blood that you know of! That’s something,” he points his finger in the air and it brings him back to the snow-filled street—
I’m not thinking about that right now—
“Auggie, look!” He turns around and coincidentally, it’s snowing. He looks down at himself to make sure he still has his current clothes on.
“Can we go play in the snow later? Maybe you can bring this girl along! Wait, do you even know her name?” Yikes.
“Not yet…”
“Well, I think that’s the first step you should take before even thinking about giving her chocolates,” Since when was Winnie his relationship counselor?
“Thanks. Speaking of the winter season, how did ice skating go yesterday?” Augustine changes the subject, glad that Winnie goes along with it.
He had woken up the next morning dreading going to class, knowing Winnie would ask a bunch of questions at lunch. But besides the few half-hearted questions, she never really was the topic. He thinks that Winnie might not want to think about her too much.
Classes ended for him around 30 minutes ago, so he's been hanging out in his dorm waiting for Winnie to get back. He's also been debating on whether he should order fake flowers or try shopping locally to go with the chocolate for 30 minutes.
He really should be studying for his math test. Or maybe even review the worksheet for science. Better yet, learning how to make the damn chocolate. But he's stuck here debating over flowers.
He'd probably prefer real flowers since they're more romantic. He's also complained about not being able to find decorations for his room, so they could be nice. He hates how short-lived the flowers are though, never wanting them because of how quickly they wilt…
It's a very difficult decision he has to make here. And he still hasn't even thought of the flowers that would be in the bouquet! I really should be learning how to make chocolate before thinking about the flowers…
"Hey Auggie, wanna go ice skating in 30?" Winnie bursts through his thoughts, Augustine snapping to face him.
"What's spurred this on?" Winnie lights up, knowing the answer is yes.
"The skating rink was closed on Sunday, so I want to go today!"
“But you went skating Sunday? You told me about it yesterday. Also, there’s a bruise on the side of your knee to prove it.”
“And how do you know that?” Winnie’s trying to smirk but failing miserably with how wide his grin actually is and it’s probably one of the cutest things he’s done.
“Because you came home and whined about it and then made me kiss it better!” Winnie flushes at the reminder. (He probably flushed as well from the memory.)
“W-Well you did end up kissing it better so this point is irrelevant andI’llseeyouin30minutes-!” Winnie’s voice gradually grows in higher pitch before he rushes out of the room. He would be worried if he wasn’t in the same state.
Most of the time he’s seen Winnie was when they were in rink attire. He doesn’t think the blond has ever looked this good in the shitty lighting.
Augustine is just wearing his regular warm-up gear. It was in his closet and there was no reason for him to ruin his other warm clothes on the ice.
Winnie is probably wearing his warm-up gear as well, but it’s somehow making Augustine flustered. Somehow? He knows how. It’s form-fitting from the waist up and it's making him dizzy. Plus, the stars on the pants are cute.
( Alright Augustine, let's not think about your friend’s attractive figure before he pulls you onto the ice so there are no accidents .)
Winnie coincidentally skates over to him at that exact moment and holds his hands to pull him up. Usual stuff. But with his current thought process it's become a lot more romantic and he doesn't think his blush can be excused by the cold this time. Winnie, being the demon that he is, smirks and says:
"Are you sure it isn't a crush? You're blushing an awful amount."
"No, it's not, and I wasn't even thinking about her! I think the cold is getting to me today. Probably colder since it snowed yesterday."
"It's snowed like every other time we've gone here Auggie."
"I'll warm up when I get on the ice."
He in fact does not warm up. He falls face-first onto the ice instead. He hears Winnie laughing at him. He gets up as he rubs his cheek.
"Are," he laughs, "are you okay?" Winnie is too busy giggling to actually care if he's hurt. At least he knows the brunette is okay though; Augustine doesn't want a false first-aid incident.
"I'll be okay if you kiss it better," Winnie, who was standing on the ice next to him, turns bright red. The moment he tried to move he fell backwards. It's Augustine's turn to laugh at the incident.
He holds his hand out to the blond on the floor.
"I guess we're even then, huh? Might still need the kiss though," Winnie pushes his hand away teasingly at the comment.
The only reason Winnie’s invited him this time is to watch Winnie’s current ice skating choreography. It stuns him. (He hopes the blond was too distracted by catching his breath to notice the intense blush on his face.)
Afterward, they just skate around the rink together, wasting time.
“I haven’t been on the rink in a bit, so this is good practice,” Augustine says.
"Do you know her name yet?" Augustine almost drifts into the wall. That was out of left field.
"Uh, no. She was absent today," he shrugs. Winnie’s mouth forms a pout.
"Do you know why she wasn't here?"
"Why would I know that! That's an invasion of her privacy!" He throws his hands up in the air like a toddler.
"Yada yada, you've gotta get her name by Friday or else it'll be weird! Don't forget to give her your name as well," he points at the brunette.
"How would I forget to do that?"
"I dunno, just seems like it!" Winnie smiles at him all cheeky and it sends his heart thumping in his throat. He's trying to ignore how Winnie probably took the "dunno" from his vocabulary.
"Well, I think you should expect more from me. It's not like I never have a plan!"
"Hm, true," Winnie stakes across the rink to the exit. Augustine follows.
"Are we done for the day?" Augustine asks.
"Yep!" He pauses. "I kinda want a coffee."
"There aren't any good coffee places nearby Winnie, we know that."
"Well, I'll think about that later! I just want some coffee." Augustine shakes his head before taking his stakes off.
"You're lucky I bought those coffee cups you like the other day."
"Really? And you didn't tell me?" Winnie tilts his head at him. Augustine looks away in shame before Winnie pats him on the shoulder.
"Eh, as long as you haven't been using them I don't care!"
"Why would I even drink that flavor? It's so sweet my taste buds fall off."
"It's literally lemon-flavored. Now come on, let's go get coffee!" Winnie drags him out of the skating rink, uncaring of Augustine's stumbling behind him.
Augustine realizes two things the next day when he gets home:
- Winnie hasn’t asked about the girl at all since the rink. At this point, he thinks he’s just avoiding the topic, and he can’t complain about not having to lie.
- He hasn’t bought the supplies to make chocolate with. He hasn’t even found a recipe!
So he immediately launches back out of the house before sprinting back in to actually get a recipe. He’s permanently out of the house a few minutes later.
Recipe in hand, he goes to the supermarket. He doesn’t want to cheap out on the materials for Winnie’s sake (as he’ll be the one eating them hopefully), so he carefully looks at the packaging on the materials like he has any idea what any of it means.
Winnie would’ve known…
Maybe he should’ve just waited until he got home. Well he can’t turn back now (but he could always just call him over to the store to help him pick out ingredients).
He’s already dialing Winnie’s number just to get him on call to help. He hears a ring from someone’s pocket approach him. He turns and it’s—
Winnie. Right there.
“How do you just always know where I am?” Winnie laughs.
“Well, you weren’t in the dorm, plus it’s the 12th, so I just assumed you were here! And I was right!!” Winnie grins at him before looking at what he has in his hand.
“You’re thinking of buying that? To make chocolate? You’re going to send me into cardiac arrest!” Winnie looks at the selection of items and picks and chooses which ones to grab for Augustine. He’s internally grateful that Winnie knows what he’s doing. Wait—
“Have you made chocolate before?” Augustine turns to fully face the blond.
“Made it a few times before you got here for my home ec class. Even then, I still would’ve helped you out! Plus, I get to spend more time with you in our totally busy and separate lives. Win-win!” He pumps his fist in the air before moving to the next aisle.
He keeps looking over the selection of items throughout the store (as Augustine mindlessly follows), mumbling about things they already have. All Augustine is thinking of is how Winnie basically admitted to wanting to spend time with him. He doesn’t know why he’s so hung up about it this time, it’s all just casual platonic stuff! (There’s a part of him hoping it’s more, one of Winnie’s backward ways of reaching out. He hasn’t done that since the stairs dummy. What makes you think it’ll start up again now? )
“That should be everything! Unless you want fillings in the chocolate, which might make this a little more complicated…” Winnie puts his finger on his chin in thought. Augustine tells him what they have is good enough.
They make their way to the register, get confused for a couple (he stops himself from thinking about a world where the confusion is right), and walk back to the dorm. It’s when Augustine remembers fact 1 of his school day summary.
“You haven’t asked about her today,” Winnie stops in place on the sidewalk.
“Well, I know that you probably wimped out and didn’t ask anything, so what’s the point in being repetitive?”
“I didn’t wimp out!” Winnie gives him a look (raised eyebrow and everything. doesn’t want to think about how it would look if he got that eyebrow piercing). Augustine looks away, giving Winnie the confirmation he needs.
“Do you at least know her fashion sense? Aesthetics are always important to know so you can buy her a gift that she’ll like later down the line!” He does his little finger point and it almost sends his mind racing all over again.
“She dresses in your color palette but in a light academia style.”
“Ooh, you remembered the name!! I’m so proud of you,” Winnie holds the door to the building open for him, happy to go first and escape his gaze from the praise (he’s never taken compliments easily).
“Why is that such a big deal again?” Augustine stays turned away, even after he hears the door close. (He needs to keep his fucking cool before his plan is ruined by his own gayness.)
“It means you’re actually listening to my rants! One step further in plan: getting you a better fashion sense!” He can hear the blond giggling at his own comment.
“Hey! My fashion sense is perfectly fine, thank you very much!!” Augustine defends, opening the door to their dorm. Winnie gives him a dramatic thank you, Augustine rolls his eyes, and they get to work.
If they were younger, they might’ve made the mistake of throwing ingredients at each other. But they’re older and haven’t learned from any of the times they spilled the flower everywhere or cleaned up the eggshells from the floor. He gets reminded of this fact when he feels cacao butter hit the side of his head.
He picks it up from where it (somehow) landed on the counter and gets an idea. The grin on his face gives him away as Winnie dawns a horrified expression.
“Do NOT put that in the mixture. I will not be responsible for the hair on that, whether from your head or the counter.”
“But we just cleaned the counter a few minutes ago?”
“Just— my point still stands! Don’t put it in the mixture!!” The cacao butter gets taken away from him and baking goes on.
After the cacao butter is melted, Winnie asks him to take a step back.
“But why? I’m making chocolates too!”
“I don’t want to clean up any of the cacao powder off the floor.”
“But you threw the butter at me!” Augustine points at him.
“I’ll let you stir the ingredients in…?” Augustine let him put the ingredients in at that arrangement.
“Now it’s time to wait for a bit,” Winnie says after Augustine finished stirring the ingredients. He claps his shoulder and rubs it slightly as he says it.
“Y-Yeah,” The action throws Augustine off and he doesn’t think he’ll recover if his hand stays there any longer. Luckily it doesn’t, instead moving to an upper cabinet and grabbing—
“Why do we own that?” Augustine stares at it.
“We’ll use the mortar and pestle to grind the chocolate smoother. It’s fun!” Winnie’s pained eyes make him believe that it is not a fun process.
“I’ll believe it when I see it, I think.”
“I should probably do it first anyway since I’ve done it before. Well, make sure to pay attention!” He thinks the finger points are subconscious at this point with how frequently they’ve been occurring recently.
Winnie soon gets to work (after making Augustine do quick arm stretches with him. He’s more worried about how difficult smoothing the chocolate will be than his glances at the man’s arms). Back and forth, back and forth. It seems simple enough, and with nothing new to learn from Winnie’s actions, his eyes move up to his arms.
He knows Winnie doesn’t work out his arms as much since switching to ice skating, but the muscle from it is still there. It’s making Augustine wonder how easily the blond could pick him up.
Really? Picking me up? Why would he pick me up in the first place? I have less frequent leg sores than him, so there’s no point!
He’s pulled away by Winnie’s sigh and the sound of wood hitting the counter.
“Welp, it’s your turn! I tried getting all the super chunky parts out, so just a spin-through should be good. You might still encounter some clusters though,” he looks away and awkwardly laughs.
“There’s no reason to be embarrassed about it? Thanks for the warning though,” Warning is probably not the best word for it, but he doesn’t say anything about it so Augustine lets it go.
It’s surprisingly smooth when he goes through it briefly before deciding it’s good enough to be eaten in two days.
“Alright, in the mold it goes!” He grabs the mold and lets Augustine pour the chocolate in and move it to the freezer. They give each other a high five.
“Woohoo!!”
“We did it!”
“Now it’s time to sit back and wait for her reaction!” Oh. He completely forgot about her.
“Right, haha,” he half-heartedly answers.
“Everything alright?”
“Yeah, just remembered I have a quiz tomorrow,” he lies.
“How did that— oh my god, I have a quiz tomorrow too! See you for dinner!” Winnie jogs into their room. Augustine decides to watch TV on the couch as he waits for dinner.
He’s sitting with Winnie in the cafeteria to eat dinner. He’s feeling a lot better after Winnie reminded him that his favorite food was available on the menu.
“Is that her?” he taps Augustine’s shoulder to move his attention to her. She does look a lot like the woman Winnie he’s been describing. The hair, blue eyes, and color palette. But Winnie wanted the piercing on his left eyebrow, while she has it on her right.
“No, the piercing is on the wrong eyebrow. Also, she looks more like a senior than a freshman,” Winnie pouts at being wrong. (Augustine locks and hides away the bolder thought of kissing it off his face.)
“I guess that is true… I do assume I’m going to meet her if this plan goes well, right?”
“Is that even a question?” he smiles. Winnie smiles back.
“Speaking of questions, why did you put in a Michaels order for fake flowers? You’re not planning on adding those to the chocolate offering, are you? Because that’s a lot and it might not persuade her to be friends with you.”
“The flowers aren’t for her, they’re for the dorm.”
“Since when have you been interested in decorating our dorm with fake flowers?” He’s got him there.
“Uh, since you started complaining about it, I guess?”
“Wait, so they’re technically for me?” Winnie leans in, eyes wider than normal. It’s cute, and Augustine blushes.
“Awe, thank you!! Now I don't feel so crazy getting something for you," now both of their eyes are wide, and Winnie moves away. "I wasn't supposed to say that."
Augustine starts laughing at the coincidence of it. Winnie found out about him giving him flowers, and he can only imagine what Winnie got him. The whole situation they've gotten themselves into is so ridiculous that if he doesn't laugh he'll cry the truth out. So he laughs, bringing Winnie with him. It doesn't really matter how long he's laughing as long as he gets to hear Winnie's. It always makes him feel better, even if he's irate after a hockey game.
Then it really clicks: Winnie got him something for Valentine's Day. He's about to leap out of his seat and jump for joy. (He doesn't know why it makes him so happy, they would get each other a gift every year.) If he's blushing, it'll be blamed on all the laughter.
Winnie tries to get the flower types out of him, but his hours of research for a surprise will not go to waste at dinner two days before Valentine's Day. He somehow gets Winnie to talk about the song he's skating to, effectively switching the topic for now.
He's in his 1st period and he already wants to leave.
He can tell most of his classmates are feeling the same way with how he can catch them doodling on their papers or hiding using their phones. Especially since it's Valentine's Day, everything is multiplied by ten. At least it is for Augustine. Just thinking about his plan for later gives him the same body heat as someone with a fever. Well probably not, but it feels like it.
He probably won't be able to look Winnie in the eye at lunch, but that's for later Augustine to deal with. Right now he has to deal with his classes. And the texts from Winnie he's struggling to ignore.
Winnifred
Auggie
I need help with pouring this bowl of cereal
What type of flowers should I put in?
You
dude what
why would you put flowers in
your cereal
Winnifred
I’ve heard you have good advice on
flower types and wanted your
suggestion!
You
just eat your breakfast
good morning to you too btw
Winnifred
:D
He’s been getting questions on the flowers since dinner and it’s been driving him a little crazy. Only for the reason that if Winnie knows what the flowers are he’ll be able to pick them up and that’ll ruin his whole plan. He also doesn’t want to see Winnie disappointed at any of his choices just yet.
He tries to focus on the lesson and not thoughts of Winnie disliking the flowers.
He’s sitting with some of Winnie’s friends today who’ve brought their partners to the table. Conversation flows between Winnie and them easier between Augustine and them, so he allows himself some noise to back up his thoughts. Also, he gets to stare at Winnie and not be noticed since the rest are too flustered from all the stories being thrown around.
So he does. His grin is frequent on his face whenever he’s around other people, but it’s never this smug. Taking a quick glance at the person he’s looking at shows a woman with a flush on her face next to another woman named Sabrina, laughing along with Winnie. Sabrina kisses her partner’s cheek before talking with other people at the table. He wishes he could do that. (He fails to convince himself otherwise.)
“So, did you see her response?” Winnie turns to him suddenly.
“Huh?”
“You know, when you put the chocolates on her desk. What was her reaction?”
“Oh, I didn’t get to see it. The teacher walked in and I got too busy taking notes.”
“You’re no fun Auggie! I would’ve been eying her desk like a hawk.”
“This is probably why I was your only friend until middle school.”
“Hey! You were the best option, why would I have settled for second best?” That sends Augustine into a flush and attracts some ooos from the other students at the table.
“I didn’t know Winnie could flirt!” One of them says, taking Winnie’s attention off of him. He’s not brought back into conversation, so he allows himself to stare at Winnie a little more.
Augustine doesn’t think he’s rushed out of his last period so fast. Especially not to go to a Michaels. He’s lucky they were prepaid since he forgot to stop at the dorm to drop his stuff off.
He doesn’t get asked by the cashier about who he’s buying them for (he shudders at the memory of getting chocolates for Winnie last year) and rushes back to the dorm. He’s lucky it’s so close to the school so he has more time to prepare once he gets there.
He rushes into their shared room, speed-running putting on the suit he wore for a New Year's party (long story). He checks the time, 25 minutes before Winnie gets out of class. Ok, ok, he can work with that.
He grabs the chocolate out of the freezer and puts it in the “peace offering box” (Winnie insisted on at least shopping for that with him, so they went yesterday). It’s a simple blue box with space to write a message via a sticker Winnie put on it. Instead of writing the planned message, he has a more embarrassing idea. He picks up the pen.
Will you be my Valentine, not just for this year, but for the rest?
To: Winnie
From: Augustine
He’s about to tug on his hair due to how corny it is. He’s fighting the urge to just smudge the message to illegibility and pretend “she” was weirded out by the chocolate. I’ve been planning this for days, I have to push through .
He brings the chocolate into their shared room and hides in it. The flowers are sitting on the bed next to him as he anxiously rubs at his leg. He opens his laptop and plays solitaire to pass the time. (He can honestly care less about the game, but Winnie likes it and he's been trying to share more interests with him since the crash. It doesn’t take that much time out of his day anyway, so he doesn’t care that much.)
He’s about to clear the deck when he hears talking outside the front door and keys shuffling together. He closes his laptop and grabs the important items next to him. It’s game time.
“–Have a great one!” There’s silence as he enters and closes the door. “So, where are my flowers, Auggie~?” he teasingly calls out. Augustine steps out of their room.
“Right here,” he stumbles out, holding flowers in his right hand and chocolate in his left. He doesn’t see Winnie’s face, but he can hear his gasp.
“A-Augustine… weren’t you supposed to give those to her?” This causes Augustine to look up at Winnie’s shocked face.
“I’m dressed in a suit, holding chocolates and flowers out to you, on Valentine’s Day, and you’re still thinking it’s about her?”
“Wait, was she even real?!” Augustine’s chuckle gives the truth away.
“Why did you make up a person just to make chocolates with me? You could’ve just asked?” Augustine looks away as he holds out the chocolate, text facing the floor.
“Because then I wouldn’t have been able to surprise you like this,” Winnie walks up to him to take the chocolate. He watches as Winnie reads the text on the box and watches the tip of his nose turn red.
“You,” he sniffles, “you really mean this, r-right? I’m not reading too far into it?”
“Winnie, I’ve loved you for probably years without realizing it, and it took me living with you to realize I want to spend the rest of my life like this. The rest of my life with you, through thick and thin, tough and easy. Will you say yes?”
Augustine watches the first tear fall and goes to wipe it away. It’s a little awkward with the tear on the right side of his face, but they’ve always been a little awkward anyway. He feels Winnie take the fake flowers out of his hand before hugging him tight.
“God– yes, of course! Wait— let me,” Winnie abruptly lets go, putting the flowers and the chocolates on the counter before rushing back over.
“Before, before I start crying like crazy, can I kiss you?” Augustine answers by leaning in.
He doesn’t think either of them have kissed people romantically before (at least Augustine hasn’t. He’s not sure about Winnie though), so it’s more of a press of their lips before Winnie pulls away to sob into his shoulder. The blond is mumbling things into his shoulder that he can only make out once in a while. Some of the things he could hear were “I’ve always wanted to do that” and many I love you’s. He’s probably grinning like a fool if his cheeks hurting give any indication.
“Have you had any of the chocolate yet,” Winnie says into his shoulder, tears dying down.
“No, I was waiting for you. Why would I have eaten the chocolate?” he chuckles.
“Well good. ‘Cause I’m having all of it,” Winnie pulls away to get the chocolate from the counter, leaving Augustine as he gasps and follows.
The place they end up after Augustine chases Winnie around the room is their small couch. Winnie is failing at keeping the chocolate in the air and away from Augustine as he tries to grab it from the taller one.
“Aha!” Augustine cheers as he quickly opens the box and snaps the chocolate in half for the both of them. Winnie lights up as he’s handed a piece. They both take a bite at the same time with similar pleased reactions.
Winnie asks if he wants to watch a movie and the brunette agrees. He doesn’t think either of them is paying attention to what Winnie puts on by the time he’s put the remote down. It’s only a few minutes in when they start giving each other little kisses.
“It’s kinda pointless to put on the movie if we’re not gonna watch it,” Augustine says lightheartedly, giving Winnie a kiss on the cheek.
“It’s there for background noise and that’s enough,” Winnie plants his own kiss on the tip of Augustine’s nose.
Their attention is drawn back when one of the characters scream and they realize they’ve picked a scary movie instead of a rom-com. They nitpick the jumpscares per usual, but Augustine doesn’t forget how they both go to cuddle closer during the buildups.
He’s realizing how little of a difference this really made in their relationship in the long run, and he’s wondering why he didn’t ask sooner. (Though it did make for a good Valentine’s surprise, he’ll give himself that.)
“We’re not going to both fit on my twin-sized bed Winnie,” Augustine sighs.
They’ve found themselves in their room after some dinner and more movies. Winnie wants to share Augustine’s bed. As much as he wants to, it might not be a good idea.
“Your bed is pushed up against the wall! I can basically lean on the wall-“
“You’re not leaning on the wall, how is that comfortable?!” Augustine interrupts.
“It’s a sacrifice I will make,” Winnie attempts to salute but Augustine stops him by taking that hand in his.
“We can just sleep separately today and move the beds together tomorrow or something,” Augustine yawns.
“But I don’t wanna… Wait! I’ve just got the greatest idea!” He tries to point but realizes that his hand is occupied.
“What if you sleep on your back and then I get on top of you? That way neither of us has to worry about rolling off!” Winnie continues.
“It might make more sense if you are the one on the bed since you’re taller.”
“But I weigh less.”
“We probably weigh about the same,” Winnie sticks his tongue out at him.
“So do you like my idea?” Winnie leans in with those wide eyes, like he did at dinner the other day, and he really can’t say no to that face.
“Yippee!!” he must’ve said it out loud. He’s brought over to his bed.
“We’re not even changed Winnie,” he points out.
“Oh! Right,” Winnie grabs his pajamas and moves to the bathroom.
Once he’s changed into his pajamas he lays on the bed in wait. He doesn’t really know what to think of today, other than holy shit Winnie loves me and we’re dating and this is the greatest day of my life.
Winnie walks into the room wearing–
"Why are you wearing truck-themed pajamas?"
"I've had these since freshman year Augustine; haven't you seen me wear them?"
"I don't watch you sleep?!" Winnie bursts into laughter, Augustine following along. He doesn't remember Winnie approaching him, but he does remember Winnie flopping on him.
"GAH-" Augustine yelps. Winnie plants a little kiss on his nose before burying his head near his neck, wrapping his arms around his waist. He doesn't think he can ever be annoyed with the other man when they're like this.
"This reminds me of when we were kids, when there wasn't anything to worry about and we didn't know what being romantic really meant," Winnie mumbles into the mattress. Augustine didn't realize he hadn't fallen asleep yet.
"Well we do now, and we're still here," I love you he wants to say, scream from the dorm roof.
"Can I flaunt you to all my friends?" Winnie suddenly says, lifting his head up.
"Don't you do that already?" Augustine chuckles, startled by the sudden transition.
"No, that's me telling them how amazing you are. I want to, like, kiss you in public and stuff. Can I?"
"I don't mind as long as I can do the same thing," he's ignoring the blush on his face from Winnie calling him amazing.
"Yippee!!" he grins before flopping back down to the crook of his neck. Augustine's hand goes to blond hair.
“You should get that eyebrow piercing, it would look good on you,” Augustine says. Winnie nods, not awake enough to really think. Augustine lets himself play with Winnie’s hair as the seconds go by.
"I love you," Augustine blurts out. He can feel Winnie's sleepy smile on his neck.
"I love you too Auggie."
Augustine closes his eyes, preparing for a future with Winnie in it. As more than just a friend. (He never got his gift from Winnie, he realizes. He thinks that this is a good enough gift, intentional or not.)