A/N - Howdy again! Hope y'all are enjoying the tiny changes here and there. To no one's surprise, writing at thirteen means cringe dialogue, so I'm having a fun time rewriting all that. I can't wait to take a crack at the Rogue x Reader story because there are so many things I want to add and rewrite. Haha, maybe I'll add a plot—who knows?

Awkward Company

"Good morning (Y/N)!" 

You jumped at the sound of Yukino and Minerva entering the classroom, greeting you for the morning and settling in for the day.

"Oh, uh, good morning," you replied from the edge of your seat.

You'd gotten to school early that morning after spending the entire night wide awake, staring at the picture of your supposed fiance. An acquaintance at best—a stranger to say the least.

"You're here early," Yukino stated as she pulled out her books.

Fidgetting with your pencils and paper, you squeaked, "Yeah." On top of almost being a child bride, you weren't sure how to act toward Yukino, whose boyfriend you snuggled on accident.

In the next ten minutes, students filtered into the classroom and settled in their seats, exchanging morning greetings and swapping study notes.

The last two not in the room yet were Sting and Rogue.

"Hey Yukino, where's your boy toy?" Minerva asked, filing her dark purple nails atop her textbook.

"I don't know," she sighed, "I haven't heard from him all night and this morning."

Until your wrist cramped, you sped through a writing assignment and glued your nose to the paper. If you ignored the world, maybe you'd be able to get through class, go home, and forget the whole thing happened.

"Good morning!" Yukino beamed.

Your writing hand froze. Through the locks of hair hiding your face, you spotted the rowdy blonde heading straight for Yukino. 

"Good morning, beautiful." He shined brighter than usual, bending down to give her a peck on the cheek. 

Without warning, your heart dropped like an amusement park ride. You attempted one more time to block it all out. Much to your dismay, it wasn't working.

"Hey, (Y/N)." 

Instead of freezing, your body jerked at the sound of him standing over your desk—his dark aura taking over any sun rays coming from Sting Eucliffe.

How were you supposed to form a life with this new acquaintance of yours? How were you supposed to go through school knowing you had to one day marry and have kids with him?

"...Rogue."

Distracted and exhausted, Rogue leaned down to whisper words you alone could hear in the mess of student chatter. "Can we talk at lunch?"

Keeping contact with the one eye not hidden from his bangs, you nodded and tried to smile past the strange energy sitting between you two.

"Thanks," he said and took his seat.

In a short glance, you caught Sting's eyes watching.

"Sting?" Yukino tried. "Weren't you listening?"

Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

"What's the agenda for our date tonight?"

Just block out the world.

' .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. '

Lunch arrived too soon.

You weren't ready for this discussion. You expected a forced meeting over coffee, or a marriage interview in a few months, not this. There was no preparation, no security. What were you supposed to say?

"Hey (Y/N), you change your mind about eating with us yet?" Sting asked you to eat with them every day without fail. It eased your mind to think he hadn't heard the news from Rogue. Though they were best friends, surely Rogue would keep something like this to himself?

"No thank you." You answered the same every day.

"Okay then." Sting gave up easily today and moved his pestering to Rogue. "You coming up?"

"Not this time," Rogue told him, pulling out a bottle of water from his bag to start sipping. "You go ahead."

Sting's eye traveled between you two before he was forced out of the door by Yukino and the rest of the class.

The entire class ate outside that day, leaving the two of you alone in the messy classroom with thrown-around bags and jackets. Thanks to the propped open windows, you heard the singing birds, saw the blossoming trees, and felt the swaying breeze sneak its way inside. If you didn't need to have that conversation, you might've said yes and joined them on the roof for lunch.

"I guess you know now, huh?" Rogue spoke without turning around in his seat.

You clasped your hands in your lap and stared at the back of his neck. "Mhm. I got sent your information last night."

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner—my father asked me to wait until your family told you." He said, peeking behind to check your reaction. "Are you mad?"

You shook your head. "More confused than anything," you admitted.

"My father suggested dinner, to start. Or a date." Rogue said.

"To start," you repeated, tone saddened by reality shoving itself in your face. "But we're first-years, Rogue. How are we supposed to do this for the long haul?"

"The long haul..." he murmured. "I don't know, (Y/N), but we have to start somewhere, right?"

Your body shook with either anger or fear—it was difficult to tell this early in the game. If you were committed to this, you had to prepare yourself for a long life ahead of you. But if you backed out, it would mean the end of any relationship you'd have with your father.

Both options weren't ideal, no matter how horrible your father had been; you still strived to find the love your mother knew he had in him.

"It's just you two in here?" Yukino's voice broke through the room. 

The shuffling of students piling back into the classroom interrupted you two. Lunch went by so fast, you hadn't realized how long you sat between long silences.

"Why didn't you join us for lunch? It was beautiful outside!" Yukino wandered.

"W-Well— um," you stuttered and prayed Rogue would give them the better answer.

"It gets crowded up there on days like this," Rogue covered.

"Please," Minerva scoffed, "It sounds like you two were up to some nefarious shit in here. What? New relationship?" 

Sting's head whipped to the two of you, awaiting an answer like the rest.

"Of course not! I studied and he slept."

"Stop pulling shit out of the air Minerva. No one likes a gossip," Rogue said and set his head down on his desk to sleep.

"As if you have gossip to share," Minerva sneered and took her seat.

You followed Sting's movements—watching as he sat and readied himself for the next class, mouth closed and eyes avoidant. Perhaps... that was for the best.

' .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. '

Dobengal stood by your shoe locker at the end of the day, holding your favorite flavor and offering it to you upon your arrival.

"Hi?" You took the box and pocketed it so you could seamlessly change your shoes.

"Hey, sorry to bother you, but do you mind walking together?"

"Like, home? I live pretty close so it'll be a short walk."

"That's fine."

You started for the door. He kept his hands in his pockets; you sipped on your juice box. In all honesty, you wanted to go home and sleep. Your feet dragged behind and a few steps felt like an eternity of pain on your back.

"(Y/N)! Let's walk home," Sting shouted from the lockers inside, catching you right at the school entrance. At the sight of Dobengal, he took a step forward. "What's going on?"

Dobengal stood in front of you, forcing you to the side, to your annoyance. "I'm taking (Y/N) home," he said. 

"Oh?" Sting frowned.

"Uh-huh," Dobengal said, "There's something I'd like to ask her in private. Besides, I'm pretty sure I heard Yukino calling for you earlier—as her boyfriend, shouldn't you be with her the most?"

"Y-Yeah..." Sting rubbed his fingers together, turning away to leave you two to yourselves. "I guess I'll see you around (Y/N)?"

You stepped from behind Dobengal to offer an apologetic smile. "See you."

Dobengal led you away, offering to toss your empty juice box and making odd conversations the further away from school you got. To distract from the odd interaction with Sting, he chatted about the weather, the news, and anything else you cared next to nothing about.

"Dobengal," you said, "Wasn't there something you wanted to ask me?"

He paused. The two of you made it to the city, a block away from your apartment. To draw out the talk, Dobengal took a seat on a sidewalk bench, making room for you to sit and join him in watching the birds swing down and pick up crumbs.

"This is going to sound out of place, considering the fact that we've met barely a week ago."

"Well, now you're scaring me."

He chuckled under his scarf. "It's about Sting Eucliffe."

Your eyes widened. "Why?"

"I've been hearing rumors that you stole him from Yukino, or that he's cheating on her with you."

"No way!" You blurted, scaring away the birds. "Sting's being nice, not flirting. Why do people assume we're in a relationship because of that? I mean, look at how nice he is with everyone else."

"I don't know, I can kind of see what they mean. Sting and Yukino were kind of known for being inseperable in junior high. Now look at them."

"Then you believe a ridiculous rumor like that? That I'm a boyfriend-stealer?"

"Of course not. I'm moreso warning you of the trouble he can get you in—trouble that he's already getting you in because he's a reckless kind of guy."

"What do you mean? What's wrong with Sting?"

"Nothing that I have first-hand experience with, but I've seen this happen to a few other girls. You seem nice and I enjoyed our talk at the vending machines, so I wanted to give you a fair warning."

"A fair warning," you huffed. "Look, Dobengal, I appreciate it. And I'm thankful for the juice; that was pretty nice too."

"You're welcome."

"But you should know, Sting's an amazing person. His friends are nice to me, he checks to see if I've eaten... he's been so kind to me when all I've done is snap at him. What kind of person does that?"

"I know I don't know him nearly as much as you do, and that you're not as manipulative as the rumors say, but be careful, (Y/N)."

' .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. '

You got a call later that night from your soon-to-be-possible-fiance.

"H-Hey Rogue. Um... where did you get my number?" Puzzled, you clicked and set down your mechanical pencil, deciding to start a load of laundry with him on speakerphone instead of forcing yourself to study.

"My dad. Your dad gave it to him, I think."

"That tracks," you groaned and dumped all the clothes from your dirty laundry basket into the  washer. "Did they mention anything about the merger?"

"No, but they want us to get together and talk. I'm calling to see if you'd like to grab a coffee tomorrow morning?" He sounded tired. You wondered if he'd gotten any sleep since finding out the news himself. Rogue knew what you were going through, and happened to be experiencing the exact same thing, so it wouldn't hurt to sit down and talk it out.

"Sure, that sounds really nice."

"Great... I'll see you then."