gravity | r. suna ✓

seventeen

- Tuesday, 11:49pm -

Suna's apartment looks the same as that fateful day I went to meet his sister. When we enter his room, I'm reminded of what happened that day, of how I felt. I don't regret a thing.

"Are you sure your parents won't worry?" my boyfriend asks, but I already know what I want to tell him.

"Even if they do," I begin, "I don't care. I won't let them take the rest of my teenage years from me. I'm reclaiming my life."

Rintarou's eyes widen. He turns his face away, but not before I see his eyes, swimming with tears. Knowing his past, I can understand why what I said made him emotional.

Suna Rintarou is stronger than anyone I know, and his tears falling at my words proves this. His decision to move out was forced upon him; he didn't want to have to live his life separately from his biological family. However, now that this is his only option, he has accepted that and is working towards a way to live independently, without having to rely on his aunt for financial help.

He has had to live alone for a year as a teenager and hasn't shown how much this has destroyed him. He's never talked about how much he misses home. He's never cried, until now. He really is just a damaged child, but he is not broken. And for that, I admire him.

And I love him. So, so much.

"Suna, I've been thinking about our situations, and I have an idea, so please hear me out."

His body turns to me, his attention on my words, and he takes a seat on the end of his bed. My tone is serious yet hopeful.

I take a deep breath, trying to find the words to describe my plan perfectly.

"Firstly, I have money saved up. It's not a lot. Uh uh-" I stop him when he opens his mouth to say no, "I know you said no to a donation but this is different."

He sighs and folds his legs up on the bed, picking at a spot on his duvet. "Go on, then."

"Good. So, I have money saved up from the café and tutoring. It's not a lot, but I think it's at least a few months rent and living expenses. Now, if we both tutored and worked at the café, then it doubles, and suddenly it becomes enough for half a year of rent and living expenses. I can help you get hired, and I can connect you with some people to tutor in math and science."

The messy-haired boy sitting on the bed is looking at me now. His familiar yellow eyes, the same colour as the stone on the ring I wear, gleam at me, thinking.

Calculating.

"Secondly, there's a program I found online that can get you some qualifications in a couple of months, and when you have those qualifications, you're eligible to sign up for a call center job. It pays $42,000 per year."

Suna nods, following along with my words carefully.

I take a deep breath, the most difficult part of my idea approaching fast.

"Third, I..." My voice falters and I stumble over my words.

Suna raises his eyebrows at my sudden nerves. "Yes?"

Inhaling deeply, I blurt, "I'd like to live with you."

An awkward silence follows.

"Listen, I know it sounds dumb, but it would really save money because I want to move out NOW because my parents are suffocating me and I feel trapped and I don't want to get my own apartment because that's more stress and way too expensive for me to handle with just a cafe job and a couple of tutoring sessions a week so it's actually a really good idea in my opin-"