PHAINON143—masterlist
“You don’t fall in love like you fall in a hole. You fall like falling through space. [...] And the falling was really the big jump that you had to make to be with someone you don't want to be without. That's it. PS You have to be brave.” Jeanette Winterson in Big Questions from Little People: And Simple Answers by Great Minds by Gemma Elwin Harris.
❥ synopsis. What it’s like to date someone who is ignorant of how you feel about them for four years. Or, the three times you try to confess to Phainon and the one time you succeed (by accident).
❥ pairing. phainon x gn!reader
❥ tags. uni!au, modern Amphoreus, fake dating, strangers (kinda) to lovers, slow burn, idiots in love (keyword: idiots), getting together, 3+1 format (ignore the prelude).
❥ note. Dedicated to my beloved Ais (@sunphais) who was my first follower and supporter on the fic that started this blog; thank you for being my friend!
PRELUDE.
You're more responsible than this. Disciplined. Focused. Yet you make one mistake in entertaining Cyrene and meet someone you’ll eventually develop feelings for in the second semester of sophomore year.
STEP 1. He confesses to you first.
Although it sounds like a cliché romcom or a fanfiction Castorice would share with you, you can't seem to listen to anything but your heart. So, you say yes, and Phainon becomes your boyfriend in a way you don’t quite imagine. ⤷ The spring of sophomore year.
STEP 2. Get stuck in the pouring rain.
You have no reason to entertain this for any longer; Phainon is popular and you’re sure he can manage this all on his own. Still, it’s difficult to want for anything else, especially when you have nowhere to go during terrible weather that feels a little less like chance and more like it was meant to be. ⤷ The summer of junior year.
STEP 3. Ask him out on a date.
If you do this, he has to realize that your affections were never make-believe. But your mind is already running a mile minute, muddied and disorganized. Whether it’s the pressure from your last year of university or the fact that you’ve been lying to not only Aglaea but Phainon for three years straight, you’re only certain of one thing: you’re scared to lose him. ⤷ The fall of senior year.
STEP 4. Wait for the clock to strike midnight.
Cyrene has always believed in fate, and maybe all your failed attempts is exactly that: no matter what you do, there’s no alternate universe where a real relationship would have worked out. On the cusp of the new year, you decide on a fresh start. We all have to move on at some point, right? ⤷ The winter that follows graduation.