just posted chapter 6! here's a little excerpt of Grace realizing he has feelings for Simon after Rocky gave him a long, "heartfelt" talk <3
link to fic here
i update at 11 pm every day, 2k words a chapter!!! enjoy freaks
I take my glasses off to drag a hand over my eyes.
For a long time, I don’t answer. I don’t know why I can’t bring myself to deny it again. And, I mean, I’m not saying that Rocky’s right—of course he’s not. But if I’m being honest with myself, my face got hot when Simon smiled at me (although the greenhouse was already pretty warm). My pulse skipped a beat more than once since he got here (but that could be anything). I’ve been nervous, but that’s ‘cuz Simon nearly died. And of course I’ve been happier to talk to a non-Eridian.
So out of the things Rocky mentioned, I can safely say that it’s not… feelings.
What about the things I’ve been noticing? His smile, his eyes, his hair. How his nose is crooked, probably broken from a violent memory. His exposed eyebrow has a small slash through the middle, long-healed but unexplained.
And, even worse, I wonder about how I’ve failed to focus on anything else since his arrival. He’s a big deal, sure, but I’m not even thinking of the important things! Like:
How will the Eridians synthesize more human first-aid and medicine for him?
When will he let me organize some engineers to make a prosthetic arm?
Should we make a living space for him other than my house?
How did he get here?
Will he stay?
Does he want to?
When he infects my mind, it’s about all the stupid, small things. I want to know more about him, and I want him to know more about me. God, I just want to know him.
But like, in a bro way. Y’know?
Although, I don’t just like girls, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to like Simon.
“Grace, time for lesson.”
Rocky’s twittering snaps me out of my own head. He’s already heading back to the cliffs, where I can see some of the Pebbles taking their seats.
I rise to my feet, trying to dust the rust-colored sand off my pants. It gets stuck at the hem of my cardigan, but it’s not like any Eridian can see it.
And as for the only person who can—
Simon’s right; why would I care about how he feels? A blood-soaked stranger that I met only yesterday, cast into my universe by an eldritch being. Why would I give a crap about sand on my clothes or whether he’s out of pain medicine?
Finally, I think I have an answer:
Because I care about him.