—you haven’t changed much. (sevika x reader)
synopsis: Sevika swore she’d never come back to that city, but after a boring contract with a really interesting and big pay in the end, she needs a drink and go to a familiar bar, and then runs into you: the anxious quiet girl she only ever talked to on her cigarette breaks.
cw: modern au, ‘friends’ to strangers to friends again, flirting soooo much around a beer and low music, swearing just a few times, teasing reader, flustered sevika!! tw: mention of weight gain ! slight mention of past ed ! chubby reader ! we love dialogues, fluff and so much tease and warmth, this one is so long, love you fairies 💐
The city hasn’t changed, which is exactly what pisses her off. Well, a lot of things piss her off, but being back here is the worst.
Same cracked sidewalks, same endless traffic because there’s always roadworks like the city can’t survive by itself a Monday morning.
In the said endless traffic, Sevika leans against her seat in her car. Her jaw tight, sunglasses sliding down her nose as she bitterly looks at the block where she used to take the bus to school. Her fingers drum against the steering wheel, too slow for impatience but also too fast for calm.
She shouldn’t have taken this contract. She knows that. But the firm needed her, her boss needed her, and the deal is good enough to make anyone accept to take care of this without a second thought.
Her father lives ten minutes away. She knows because nothing changed since she escaped that damn place. Funny, it’s like the city’s mocking her.
She’s here for two days, and there’s no scenario where she goes back to him. Even just to sleep in her teenage bed for a night and disappear once again.
Does he even still have her teenage room or did he get rid of it when she ran away? Anyway, who cares. She doesn’t need an answer.
Instead she booked a simple and tiny Airbnb at the edge of town. One night, just long enough to get the work done and get the hell out of here. It’s one of those renovated lofts with ridiculous fake plants, brick walls, and definitely too much personality for someone like her who’s only there to sleep and nothing else.
But it’s good as it is, and she can drink her deadly-strong coffee black. That’s all she needs.
When she drops her bag by the door, the tension in her shoulders doesn’t ease. It’s dark outside, she’s hit by exhaust and bitter nostalgia, and all she wants to do is to fall asleep and go back to her flat already. So she does, she falls asleep fast enough, being ready to face the next day simply because she has no other choice.
The meeting goes exactly how she expected. It’s boring, way too polite, so long she feels like it’ll never end. She usually likes her job: it’s satisfying, thrilling because she knows the reward in the end, she knows her power and her place. But not today, not here.
Sevika sits through it, nodding at the right times, shaking hands when she has to… not fake laughing at bad jokes like the other, though. And she’s almost mentally writing her resignation letter because damn that’s so boring.
By the time she’s out of there, she’s starving for something… not food, of course. The sunlight is punishing because it’s too harsh, her patience is nonexistent. Four in the afternoon feels like midnight in her head.
She doesn’t want caffeine or sugar or whatever pastel nonsense the new cafés are selling now. She wants a drink.
She drives to the old bar. The sign is still flickering, same dull neon yellow she remembers. The windows are cleaner than in her memory, there’s no loud music so early in the afternoon, it’s calm.
The smell of beer, smoke, and old wood hits her like a punch to the chest, some memories she didn’t ask for crowding in without permission. She used to spend so many nights there, no one asking for her ID, just letting her in to forget the life she shouldn’t have at a young age.
She takes a sit in the back corner, near the window. The beer is cold and sweating, the cigarette burns just right between her fingers, and her laptop is open on the table, just something to keep her hands busy so she doesn’t start brooding too obviously, choosing to type nonsense into a half-finished report because it feels better than staring at the wall and the faces of the people passing by the window.
The bell over the door jingles, faint and completely forgettable. She doesn’t look up, people come and go, the bar has always had that rhythm.
Then she can catch the sound of heels. Light, confident. The bar owner’s voice suddenly sounds warmer than usual as he’s greeting whoever just walked in.
Sevika keeps her eyes on the screen, keeps typing because she doesn’t care who comes in and out. But then the voice answers.
She freezes mid-keystroke.
That voice… she recognizes it from somewhere. She blinks, slow, as her head lifts, almost against her will.
There you are. Different, softer. Your smile is wider than what she remembers, and she thinks your hair falls longer around your face.
There’s a fullness to you that wasn’t there before: curves that weren’t there at all before, a confidence that glows like good sunlight.
And Sevika, despite herself, can’t look away. She accidentally thinks,
She sweeps the thought away as fast as it came, dragging her gaze back to the laptop screen. Stupid. It’s been years. You’re just someone from her high school. You weren’t even friends. Nothing more.
But funny enough, she’s not even pretending to work anymore as she hears your voice and actually listen.
The screen is a black and white blur of text she stopped reading five minutes ago, Arial font and size 11 letters frozen in neat lines like they’re waiting for her to keep writing. Whatever report she opened… it’s gone, because her brain has been unplugged.
You’re talking to the bar owner, animated. It’s strange, Sevika doesn’t remember your voice being… that bright. Maybe she just forgot how warmth sounds.
She looks, she can’t not look. She tells herself she’s just being observant, but she’s lying, and she knows it.
You have changed, and it’s not subtle, not hidden. You’ve gained weight: soft, beautiful weight that looks so right on you. Thick thighs, a rounder stomach, softer arms, and that—
oh, no. Nope, not going down there. Come on, what did you think ? She’s not a perv.
Okay, fine. Maybe she’s a perv... But not that much. She swears.
She taps at her keyboard again with one hand, the other holding her her cig, just for the sound, fingers moving over nonsense letters. Just empty words to make it look like she’s busy and totally not staring at you like she’s a teenager with hormones and bad decisions again.
You turn casually, mid-laugh, mid-conversation. No reason at all, mindlessly really, until your eyes catch hers.
For a second, neither of you moves. Sevika is half ready to drop her gaze, pretend she didn’t see, play it cool. But then your smile widens, actually widens, like you just found something funny in the middle of the day.
And then you wave. And then you start walking toward her.
Sevika doesn’t know what to do. Her brain’s lagging. By the time she processes the fact that you’re actually walking toward her, your heels already click halfway across the bar floor.
Too fast. Or maybe just normal, but to her, right now, it’s too damn fast.
Her fingers twitch in something that’s supposed to be a wave, but it comes out more like a half-glitch, a sort of a weird little flex of nerves of her hand that she immediately regrets because it’s ridiculous.
You don’t make it weird though, not sure if you even acknowledge it, you just smile, easy and open and stop beside her table. “Hey,” you say, voice light. “How’ve you been?”
She blinks slow as the cigarette still hangs between her fingers, forgotten. “I, uh…” Her voice comes out rougher than she meant. “Yeah, good. You?”
You laugh, low and bright, shaking your head. “Better than ever.”
It hits her like a blurry déjà vu from the last seat of a classroom. The way your smile scrunches your nose a little, the casual way you lean a hip against the table. It’s too easy to remember you like this, even though she shouldn’t. She doesn’t even know why she does.
Because back in high school she barely knew you. A few short talks, five minutes here, ten there… outside the back doors where she would sneak a smoke and you would sneak air in the middle of class, too much anxiety in your body to bear. You weren’t supposed to be out there, and she wasn’t supposed to be either. But somehow, you talked. Small things: weather, teachers, dumb people.
You looked at her like she wasn’t someone to be avoided, and she thought you were cute. That was all. A hello in the hallway, a few curious looks that never went anywhere.
And now… here you are again.
“Yeah,” she murmurs, the corner of her mouth tugging up. “It shows.”
You look older, sure, you both do: but it’s more than that. You feel older, your shoulders set differently, your smile sits easier on your face. There’s peace where there used to be so much tension and anxiety, from what you would tell her at that time. There’s confidence in the way you shift your weight from heel to heel, even as your fingers fidget just slightly.
You blink, then laugh again, small and genuine. “So… what are you doing in town?” you ask after a beat, hesitant. “Haven’t seen you in years— oh but you look busy, sorry, I should—”
“No.” She cuts you off. “I’m not.” She glances at her laptop like it should help her when it doesn’t even try. “Don’t even know what I’m writing anyway.”
You grin, and it’s ridiculous how warm her chest feels at that.
“I work for a comms firm now,” she adds, leaning back, cigarette still burning lazily between her fingers. “Came back for a contract. A good one.”
“Sounds important,” you tease.
Sevika snorts softly. “borin’ as hell.”
You laugh again, and somehow she doesn’t feel like she needs an other drink.
It hits her mid-sentence that she haven’t even asked you what you’ve been up to. You just asked her right away so naturally like you were actually interested and she just gave her stupid corporate answer. The realization makes her frown, more at herself than anything else.
She clears her throat. “So. What about you?”
You blink, surprised by the sudden question. “Me?”
“Yeah,” she says, “What are you doin’ here? In town.”
You light up. “Oh! After we graduated I went to college about an hour away. Hated the city, though. Too big, too loud. Missed this old place.” You shrug, grinning. “So I came back after my degree. I work at Zaun’s hospital now.”
That makes her look up. “Hospital?”
“Mhm.” You nod, proud in a quiet way. “I’m a nurse. Psych department. It’s… intense sometimes, but I love it.”
There’s a pause, not awkward but full. Sevika studies you again, because again, it’s miles from the anxious girl who used to sneak outside for air.
“Sounds like something that fits you,” she says finally. She takes a drag from her cigarette, exhales through her nose.
That earns her another smile for you, warm and genuine.
You shift on your feet again, making her understand that you’re clearly not planning to stay long, but Sevika doesn’t like the way that possibly feels so before she can think better of it, she jerks her chin toward the empty chair across from her.
“Sit.” She says, trying to not make it sound like a command but also hoping you’re going to listen.
You blink. “Are you sure? I can—”
“Yeah,” she says, voice firmer this time. “Sit.”
You do. Carefully at first, like you’re not sure if you’re intruding even if she told you it was fine, but you sit in front of her.
Then, trying to play it off Sevika points her chin toward your empty hands. “Can I get you something?”
You tilt your head. “You’re offering to buy me a drink?”
“Seems fair,” she says, lazy half-smile tugging at her lips. “You did all the talking.”
You look at her for a few seconds, long enough before that soft smile returns. “I did not. But… Okay,” you say finally, light, easy. “Sure.”
The drink comes, a beer that matches hers, just colder and both sweating on the table. You tilt your head, that familiar spark lighting up behind your eyes.
“Can I just say,” you start, “it’s kinda surprising you ended up in communication.”
Sevika hums, side-eyeing you over her bottle. “Why’s that?”
You grin. “Because if I remember correctly… you used to communicate mostly with your fists.”
Sevika snorts, the sound rough and amused all at once. “Didn’t change much,” she admits. “Just have to keep it quiet now or they’ll fire me.”
That makes you laugh again. It’s so unguarded and alive, so peaceful. You were never like that before. She remembers you small, hunched over your anxiety, words hesitant and smiles rare.
“guess some things change right?” she says, quieter this time.
You lean on your elbows, chin propped on your hand. “You haven’t, though.”
Sevika’s brows lift, a dry little smile tugging at her mouth. “Neither have you.”
That earns her a knowing look and a raised brow, the corners of your lips curling with mock disbelief. “Liar.”
“What—” She groans, realizing exactly where that went. “No, I didn’t—shit.” She drags the heel of her hand, the one holding her cigarette, across her forehead. “That’s not what I meant.”
You chuckle, a low and warm sound that makes her shoulders ease despite herself like a warm blanket on her back. “Relax. I’m teasing you.”
She exhales through her nose, muttering, “Yeah, well. You’re cruel.”
“I’m funny,” you correct, smirking.
She looks at you for a beat longer than she should, smoke curling from her cigarette as the seconds stretch between you.
Then, before she can talk herself out of it, she says, “You look good.” It slips out easy, honest.
You blink, lips parting slightly, surprise softening your features. Then you smile again, slower this time. “Thanks, Sev.”
Neither of you is rushing, the rhythm is lazy and strangely familiar considering you barely knew each other in highschool. The reason why she remembers you and is so affected is still a mystery.
Sevika leans back in her chair. “So, why nursing?” she asks after a while through the conversation. “I could’ve sworn you applied for… architecture or something.”
You glance up, a spark of surprise flickering before your mouth curves into a grin. “Oh, yeah,” you say lightly, “because I was a patient.”
Sevika freezes, mid-drag. She blinks once, twice, and her entire brain short-circuits. Then her hand comes up, pressing against her face as she exhales, voice low. “Janna—I don’t even know if im supposed to laugh or not.”
Your laugh bursts out instantly, bright and mischievous. “You can laugh! That’s why I said it, Sev.”
She lowers her hand, still watching you cautiously like you’re a monster about to attack her. Seriously, what’s your problem. “You sure?”
“I’m sure,” you say, grinning. “I’m good now.”
You take another sip, set your bottle down carefully and you lean a bit closer across the table, arms crossed in front of you on the table, not guarded but in a more comfortable position.
“After graduation I spent the summer in Zaun’s psych ward,” you say. No drama, no tension. Just facts, softened by time. “I hid an eating disorder for years. Thought I was good at it.” A wry smile flickers on your face. “My parents found out, and, well. Let’s just say it took longer than a summer break.”
You shrug, eyes flicking toward the window, “But I got help. Gained weight I needed, then more than I needed. And… I just never lost it.”
There’s a pause but it’s not heavy with something sad underneath. You smile again, easy and sure. “I’m happier now. Healthier. It’s nice to be able to eat cake without having a meltdown.”
Sevika’s watching you quietly. Not staring, but seeing you in a way she hasn’t before because she never knew. The words hit her like a gentle punch, something… proud and tender all at once. You say it so simply, without shame.
She huffs softly, more like an exhale than a laugh. “You sound at peace.”
You tilt your head, smile stretching your lips faintly. “Yeah. I am.”
You’re twirling what’s left of your drink instead of drinking it, tracing the rim or the bottle with one finger without realizing, when your gaze flicks back to her. There’s a kind mischief there now, something playful.
“Dare I say,” you start, tone light but eyes steady, “you look good too. Jokes aside.”
Sevika raises a brow, mouth twitching. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” You nod, slow, deliberate, your gaze drifting down before you even realize it. “And… Way more muscular, actually.”
Your eyes linger on her shoulders, broad and solid under her suit jacket, polite enough to not linger on the very center of her upper chest. There’s a quiet kind of awe in the way you look at her, like you didn’t mean to notice but did anyway.
Sevika snorts, lifting her beer. “Never stopped fighting,” she says simply. “Didn’t stop the gym either.”
You hum, your eyes flicking down toward the cold cigarette left forgotten in the ashtray now. “Didn’t stop smoking, either,”
“Please,” she says, voice dry but amused. “I smoke like a dragon. Probably breath fire in my sleep.”
You laugh, soft and real, and she finds herself laughing too. It feels good and:.. effortless. Like the two of you have shaken off the ghosts of high school without even trying. She’s not the angry kid hiding from authority because she has too much problems at home and you’re not the anxious girl hiding from yourself. You’re both just two adults sharing a table.
She lifts her bottle again, and as she tips it back, gravity pulls her sleeve up a little, just enough to flash a glimpse of silver on her wrist.
“You’re kidding me,” you gasp, eyes wide, pointing without shame.
“What?” Sevika blinks mid-sip, half-frowning.
“The watch,” you say, scandalized. “Can I see it?”
She’s caught off guard for a second, your genuine interest and excitement disarming her. She could say no, she definitely could lean back and keep that little distance, but she doesn’t.
Instead she sets her beer down and extends her arm across the table.
Her skin brushes the wood as her hand reaches toward you, wrist exposed, sleeve pulled back just enough.
You lean in, closer than before, fingers careful as you take her wrist, tilting it toward the light. The metal catches the glow, cool, sleek, expensive.
“Wow,” you murmur. “I don’t even wanna know the price of this thing. These contracts must be good good.”
Sevika huffs out a low chuckle, the sound barely more than a rumble in her chest. “Yeah,” she admits. “They’re good.”
She’s not looking at the watch, she’s looking at you: at your face tilted down toward her wrist, hair around your cheeks, eyes soft with admiration and a focus that makes her feel at peace.
“It’s insane,” you go on, tracing the edge of the watch, your fingertip brushing her skin with every movement. “Looks heavy and so cool. Looks good on you. Would probably look like a cinder block on me, though.”
You laugh under your breath, and she can’t even manage a smirk because she’s too busy trying not to think about how warm your touch feels and how close her wrist is to your body.
Then she sees the ring. Simple, gold with a little stone gleaming under the light. And for a second, something inside her shifts. It’s not jealousy, just a small stupid ache she didn’t see coming, like disappointment. Definitely a little disappointment.
“Nice ring,” she says before she can stop herself. It comes out flater than she meant, clearly closer to annoyed than curious.
You blink, startled, head snapping up. “Oh! No, I’m not—I mean, I don’t—” You hold up your hand quickly, flustered. “That’s just a ring.”
Sevika frowns, smirking a short beat later, lazy and faintly amused. “Why’re you clarifyin’?”
“I just said it was a nice ring,” she says, leaning back, voice smooth and teasing now, the tension in her jaw melting into a grin. “That’s all.”
You blink again, then laugh. A quick and surprised sound that slips out of you like a reflex. “Oh. I mean… just didn’t want you to think anything.”
She tilts her head, watching you with a look that’s all quiet mischief and sharp amusement. “Didn’t think you were into girls,” she murmurs.
You stare at her for a second, eyes flicking down, a smile twitching at your lips that you try to hide but fail. Then your eyes flick up again.
“Because you’re into boys, right?” you say, casual as a knife. “Always have been.”
Sevika snorts so hard she almost chokes. “Love boys,” she says, tone flat, eyes deadpan, lips curling in disgust. “They’re my favorite.”
That makes you burst into laughter, the sound spilling out light and bright and echoing just enough in the dim corner of the bar. You rest your chin in your hand, smiling at her.
You lean in slightly, voice lowering. “Since we’re both adults now:.. years later, can I ask you something?”
Sevika groans, already anticipating it. “Go ahead.”
Your grin turns sly. “That Friday night. The rugby match.”
Oh no. “You’re not starting with that.” She immediately says.
“I am.” You’re grinning wider now, delighted by her reaction. “Was it true? The thing with the cheerleader in the changing room?”
Sevika stares at you, then lets out a low disbelieving laugh, rubbing a hand over her face. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not! You shake your head, eyes sparkling with genuine curiosity. “I remember hearing people talk about it for weeks. I mean, come on, years later, I have to know.”
Sevika leans back in her chair, half smirking, half trying to keep a straight face. “Can’t believe that rumor survived.”
“So it was true?” you push, smiling like you already know the answer but want to hear it from her.
Sevika pauses, thinking about it: about that stupid night, the sweat and adrenaline of a win, the crowd yelling outside, the blur of too many teenage mistakes she doesn’t usually revisit. Years later, it’s almost funny.
“Let’s just say,” she says finally, that low gravelly humor you can hear through her voice, “it wasn’t as crazy as people made it sound.”
You gasp dramatically, grinning. “That’s not a no.”
“Yeah, well,” she mutters, picking up her beer again, “I was seventeen, don’t blame me.”
You laugh again, shaking your head. “you sound like an old lady already.”
“Feel like one too,” she says, deadpan.
You catch your bottom lip between your teeth, the faintest ghost of a grin tugging at your mouth as the memory resurfaces. “I remember no one even knew which cheerleader it was, they had theories on each of them.” you say, amusement sparkling at every word. “Everyone had a different theory. I thought it was impossible anyway. All of them looked way too straight.”
Sevika exhales a laugh through her nose, slow and low. “Come on. You look straight.”
You blink. One heartbeat, two. “Okay,” you say, tone flat and mock-offended, “I’m sorry for bringing up high school rumors, but there’s no need to insult me.”
Her smirk shifts into a laugh that reaches her eyes, head dropping a little as she mutters, “My bad. Took it too personally.”
You tilt your head, still smiling, still looking at her like you’re trying to see whether she’ll keep pretending this isn’t what it’s becoming. “We don’t all look like what we like,” you say lightly, voice so teasing and meaning no one can mistake her for a straight woman.
That gets her because she knows what you mean, and Sevika’s mouth twitches, the cigarette still in the ashtray and untouched. “Yeah,” she says, “some people do. Some don’t.”
She leans back, arm slung across the back of her chair. The sleeve of her suit tugs just enough to reveal the line of muscle beneath the cuff. “‘think people knew better than to ask me back then,” she adds after a long beat. “Rumors are fine until someone’s dumb enough to repeat them to your face.”
You laugh, shaking your head. “I get why no one bothered you, you were terrifying.”
You hum, unconvinced. “No. You’re too soft-spoken now.”
It’s teasing, but the way her eyes drag over your face isn’t. It lingers, and you both start to realize and accept that’s not just a beer around a table and kind conversations. It’s more than that.
You take another sip, finishing it completely, the beer catching the light on your lip. “You never corrected any of the rumors though.”
Sevika’s voice dips, rough and amused. “Why would I ruin everyone’s fun?”
You laugh quietly. “You’re right, that’s funnier that way. I know the truth now though.”
You toy with your sleeve for a second before asking, voice careful, “So… are you staying in town or”
Sevika’s mouth opens before her brain catches up. She hesitates. “No,” she says finally, and she sounds more reluctant than she means to. “Booked an Airbnb for the night. I’m heading back home tonight.”
You nod, looking down, thumb tracing the rim of your bottle. “Right. Of course. Work trip. You told me that already.”
She watches you for a long second, her jaw tight and there it is: disappointment again. Funny enough ,for someone who’s been counting the hours to leave this city, she really doesn’t like the idea of actually leaving now.
“Shit,” she mutters under her breath, checking her phone and grimacing at the time. “I really have to go. Two-hour drive and I’ve got to be up early tomorrow.”
You smile, small but real. “Always responsible, huh?”
“Don’t think I’m professional or anything,” she says dryly, collecting her things.
You laugh quietly, reaching for your bag too. Before she can say something, anything, you’re already saying it for her.
“Hey, so…,” you start, voice lighter now, eyes searching hers, “we should… stay in touch. If you want.”
Sevika stares at you for a second, the faintest smile tugging at her mouth. “Yeah,” she says, feigning being casual. “Yeah, I want.”
You grin as you’re slipping your phone from your pocket, the glow from the screen lighting your face. “Good.” You swap numbers, fingers brushing again as you hand the phone to her.
When she finally stands, she doesn’t want to. You both linger at the door, neither quite ready to end it.
“Drive safe,” you say, you’re voice kind and softer.
You tilt your head, skeptical. “Liar.”
“You going back home too?”
“Yeah, I live down the street, I’m not driving crazy like you.”
Sevika chuckles, stepping back with a lazy confidence of hers “Guess you’ll have to text me and make sure I made it home then.”
You roll your eyes but you’re smiling wide. “Yeah, I guess I will.”
In her car, ready to go because she has no choice, Sevika realizes something she hasn’t in a long time… she actually wants to come back.