You walk up to your room after your last class, a nauseous dread lingering in the pit of your stomach as you run over what you will say in your head over and over. 'Hey William, you know that redhead that came to our door last week?' No, you can't say that in case William doesn't remember him. This is so difficult. You twirl your hair around your finger, a nervous habit you have when feeling intense foreboding. You sigh as you see your door, looking as normal as ever yet in your mind when you open the door it will become a gateway to hell, and the thrice-headed dog will devour you for even thinking that William will be okay with what you are about to ask him. You don't knock, just push the door open and sit on your bed as quickly as possible. You keep your head down and inwardly curse. If William was looking at you this would be easier, but since he is typing you need to call him, making it more difficult. You sigh.

"Um William?" You ask.

"Yes?" He doesn't turn to face you, just keeps typing. You are somewhat thankful for that.

"Are you seeing anyone?" You decide this to be the best course of action. Tread cautiously. Unfortunately you aren't very good at being blunt. At this question William visibly stiffens, clears his throat uncomfortably and slowly closes his laptop, walking over and sitting opposite you on his bed. You stiffen too, and are almost forced to look at him.

"You know I'm not seeing anyone," William observes, his eyebrows furrowed in thought as he scrutinises you. "What's going on?"

"I-It's just..." You begin, searching your head for the right words, but deciding that probably won't work. "I have a friend, who likes you but he doesn't want to tell you so he-"

William raises a hand to stop you. "Yes (y/n) I will go out with you,"

"W-What?!" you ask, stunned that William would even consider that... "No I didn't mean me I meant-"

He breaks your sentence off with a kiss. A chaste one; one that both parties are obviously nervous about. He is visibly shaking from agitation and nerves and so are you as you feel his lips press lightly against yours. This is your first kiss, and you know it's his too. It isn't unpleasant, nowhere near unpleasant. His lips are closed, soft but thin. This doesn't feel forced, and you don't pull away. You like it. You sit there for a long time with your lips locked; neither one of you needs to breathe. Eventually though, William straightens himself up, and you face each other. He sighs.

"Look, you're the most amazing person I've ever met," William compliments, and you find yourself shocked that he even has feelings let alone is willing to openly express them. "You are quiet and calms and you don't bully me or be nasty and you don't hurt anyone. You don't wasn't to hurt anyone. You are the least irritating person I have ever had the pleasure of talking with. I like you, (y/n),"

You feel your chest close and tightened at the compliment. You hate compliments. Now you need to say something nice back. But what? You find yourself taking far too long to form words in your head. Your cheeks feel a little hot too. All in all, you are not unhappy with your new development in the relationship between you and William. Even if he is a little...forward. William chuckles a little and rests his hand on your shoulder, but takes it back apologetically once you flinch.

"Don't worry, you don't need to say anything," William reassures, and you sigh in relieved guilt. You did want to say something back but you just couldn't.

"It's been a long day," William decides, standing up again. You silently agree as he goes onto his laptop and you go on yours to start writing up your new assignment, the silence between you more comfortable than ever before. But just as you start to get comfortable, you snap back to attention. What about Grell?

"Well I'm not getting any sleep tonight," you mutter to yourself.

^

Grell runs up to you with an excited expression on his face as you exit your dorm room. You wonder if he has been waiting down the corridor just for you to leave. Somehow, despite all your tossing and turning the previous night, you are okay with talking to him this morning. You probably were just overthinking again the night before, you imagine. Grell is your friend, right? He will understand. Grell grabs your hands excitedly, and you irk back at the touch, but don't say anything. He jumps up and down and spouts nonsense, before calming down just enough to look into your eyes and ask the question you have been dreading yet expecting.

"What did he say?!"

You open your mouth to speak, and wonder what exactly is going to come out. You haven't prepared for this as much as you would have liked to. Thankfully you are saved from telling him yourself by your roommate and now partner coming out of the dorm behind you and closing the door behind him. He looks at Grell and frowns.

"Good morning Sutcliff," he greets, like he would have greeted the 'infuriating redhead' every other morning. "Come on," he addresses you, loosely throwing his weight over your shoulders, not smiling. You can tell he is happy even when he doesn't smile, but when you look to Grell...you don't know whether to feel sympathetic or afraid. Grell has tears falling from his round, sad eyes, but his teeth are gritted, and he is almost snarling. The one word you can use to describe this, the one feeling that accounts for all of this, is betrayal. Grell feels betrayed, you realise. You don't blame him, but you wish he knew it was a misunderstanding. William raises an eyebrow.

"Are you alright Sutcliff?" he asks, although it is evident that he doesn't actually care. Grell runs off, burying his face in his arms until he turns at the end of the corridor. You wonder how someone can go form, being so upbeat and wilful, to being broken and betrayed in the space of a minute. William shrugs and leads you down the corridor.

^

In class, you sit beside that blond female again. You have seen others passing notes before, in your old reaper academy, but never before has one been passed to you. This is why you are startled when a piece of folded up paper lands on your desk. You glance awkwardly around, but nobody is looking at you impatiently or expectantly holding out their hand for the note. You open the note and sure enough, it is addressed to you.

(y/n)

Settle this is practical.

Grell. 

Oh fantastic. Grell just had to pick practical class to confront you. You've never been good at practical; the highest grade you've ever received has been a B. You gulp, and try to alleviate the increasing trepidation you are feeling. Grell is going to slaughter you, you know that. But maybe this is good that he chose practical. Close combat allows the reapers to talk if they shout a little, so therefore you wonder if you can make him understand that this is all a misunderstanding and that you didn't mean to hurt him. You hope so anyway.

^

In practical, you stand dumbly in the large hallway, listening to the safety lecture as you loosely swing your wooden trainee death scythe. The lecturer tells you to partner yourselves up, and you stay stick still as Grell makes his way over to you. He nods his head and narrows his eyes to distract you from his tear-streaked face. You sigh, and position yourself, as you had done in your old school with your scythe at your hip. Grell on the other hand, holds it in the air like a much heavier object using both hands. You assume that after the final exam he will get himself a baseball-bat type scythe or maybe even a chainsaw. The bell sounds and Grell swings at you ruthlessly, and his eyes gleam with bloodlust and a spiteful desire for vindication.

"Ready, (y/n)?" He asks in a growl.

"Look, Grell I'm sorry," You block his attack, spinning round and cutting him across the torso. If your scythe was metal, it would have cut him. You pull back just as he lunges forward, and slams the handle of his scythe into you, making you jolt as you feel your stomach and organs get crushed under the pressure. You stumble backwards, but Grell catches you again, this time with the 'blade' on your chest, making you slam back and hit the wall. You wonder how Grell got so good at this and make a mental note to ask him to tutor you, before you remember that he said something at the table at lunch about getting an A in his practical exam the previous year. So this was his best subject, then.

"Gonna have to do a lot better than that for stealing my man," he snarls, before making his body slacker. "I mean I thought we were friends,"

You don't swing at him this time, just sort of stand vey still and look to the other teams, who re practicing their moves. You sigh. "Grell, I did ask him about you. But he thought I was talking about me and...I'm just sorry,"

"C-Can I get a hug?" Grell asks, and you envelope him in your arms, noticing how small he is comparted to you. Youi laugh a little, letting go of him. "I get that it was a misunderstanding. I still don't know if I'm comfortable seeing you and Willy together,"

You fight the urge to laugh at the nickname before looking over to your partner/roommate as he swings his scythe. You notice that he isn't doing much better than you usually do.

"Don't worry about that," you reassure. "He's not the huggy-feely type,"

"Friends?" Grell asks, extending his hand.

"Friends," you nod, taking it.