1. “Please don’t say it again.”
Tags: pining!niki x reader, rejection
For most people, crushes were somewhat magical. The light, fluttery feeling in their stomach. The lovesick giggles, the longing glances. Niki wasn’t like most people though.
Niki’s stomach always felt like like it was going to spill right out of his mouth at times. His giggles weren’t really giggles, more like asphyxiated laughs. At least he got the normalcy of the longing glances.
Over the past year, he’d grown both in height and courage. He’d finally managed to convince himself that maybe, just maybe, you liked him back. That every time you’d accidentally brushed your hand against his, you were possibly leaving him hints. That each time he’d caught you looking over at him, you were giving him the same glance he was giving you.
With these small reassurances he told himself, he came up with a plan. He casually asked if you’d like to walk home together, to which you gladly agreed to. When he saw the smile on your face, his stomach churned anxiously.
Would you say you liked him back? Of course you would, you were best friends, maybe even more. You had to say yes, you had to… Right?
As the two of you walked, he tried his hardest to keep his nerves at bay. Remembering the rest of his rough plan, he slowly began to drift closer to you. And here was the truly daring piece; to casually reach for your hand.
“So,” his voice cracked ever so slightly, throat tight with anxiety, “I really needed to tell you something.”
“Oh?” There it was. The voice that somehow soothed him and induced such a sick feeling at the same time. “You’re not moving, are you? I don’t what I’ll do in chemistry if you move away, it’ll be so boring.”
As if he’d run into a wall, Niki stopped in his tracks and turned to face you. Was this really a good idea? Were his feelings really reciprocated like his mind hoped for? He slowly reached for your hand, his own fingers trembling.
“I like you. I have for a while and I just can’t keep going to school with you and hanging out without telling you.”
Needless to say, you were stunned. It wasn’t like you hadn’t noticed at all, you were aware of the small things he would do around you. Sit up a bit more straight when you were around, the small, kind gestures of buying you snacks. You had just hoped that for the first time in your life, you were just being vain.
“You what?” Your hands began to shake as well, ever so slightly trying to pull your hand away from his.
“I, well I have feelings for you. I really, really like you. I even--” he pulled a small keychain out of his pocket--your favorite flower nonetheless--and held it out for you to take-- “I even got you this.”
“Do you have feelings for me?”
For a moment, you considered his inquiry. Did you have feelings for him? Sure, you liked spending time with him. He was funny, energetic, handsome obviously. But did you get the fluttery feeling in your stomach?
And in those few moments you stood silent, you came to a conclusion; no. You didn’t have feelings for him. As much as you enjoyed being friends with Niki, you just didn’t feel anything romantic for him.
“___?” The tension between the two of you was practically unbearable for Niki. “Do you…”
“Please don’t say it again.” You slipped your hand out of his and hugged your body, letting your eyes fall to the ground. “I’m sorry, Niki. I just, I don’t have those kind of feelings for you.”
There they were. The words he was so afraid of hearing. And of course, he couldn’t take back his confession. He couldn’t play it off as not caring much. Not with his chest feeling as though there were a snake constricting him. Not with tears brimming so obviously in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry.” You shook your head and turned away from him quickly. “I should, I should go. I’ll see you on Monday.”
So there he stood, watching you walk away from him, the small flower key chain in hand. It wasn’t even the rejection that hurt the most. It was the fear that he was going to lose your friendship.
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