Content warnings: yandere!alhaitham x gn!reader, manipulation, first fic
Look on the bright side.
It was an old mantra of yours, something you told yourself whenever things went awry: look on the bright side. All your trauma had led to you being yourself, a being so afraid of failure and rejection that you tried your best to make everyone happy; and voila— now people liked you, didn’t they? So in the Akademiya, you tried the same trick.
“My textbook…” you mumbled, rummaging stressfully through your bag. “No, no, I put it here… where is it?” Your heart raced as you knew this lecture would be tough to retain if you couldn’t mark your texts. Coming up empty-handed, you turned back and sat, feeling cold dread in your seat. Until your seat-mate quietly pushed his own textbook towards your part of the wooden table, without even looking up at you. “Thank you,” your gratefulness is a soft murmur that travels gently to the silver-haired student, barely gracing his ears. Your heart continues to race, but for a different reason now and an acquiescent warmth spreads through the air between you two, almost blooming like a delicate flower in spring. You were easy, you know, and it was really that simple to change your mood. It was something he took note of that day.
“May I return it to you tomorrow?” You ask the scholar named Alhaitham after class, and you only get a mumble of “As you wish,” for a reticent yet distinct reply. You smile to yourself, satisfied. See? You watch his back as the students leave for their next class. I forgot my textbook, but I made a friend. Maybe. You grip the textbook to your chest. Bright side.
But the trick to this mantra is perhaps persistence, and things just keep going wrong. You wonder if you are strong enough to even look at the bright side when you are left embarrassed amongst your friends during lunch, for when you opened your lunch bag, a putrid stench fills the air. It didn’t make sense, because you had cooked your lunch yourself this morning, it couldn’t have gone bad, it shouldn’t have been possible. And yet, it had happened and you excused yourself from the group, laughing awkwardly, making an excuse about taking the wrong bag, which you discarded immediately. It was a favourite of yours, but you couldn’t keep it now.
Your feet hurry you away from all the busyness of the bee-hive like Akademiya corridors, to a quiet and lonesome place that now feels like a safe refuge, a sweet haven. Taking a few steps into one of the idyllic gazebos, your lips quiver as you breathe in. You won’t cry so easily, no, but still a sadness plagues your chest. Oh the smell… you still remembered the expression of disgust on the face of the person sitting right next to you. You were a hindrance to them, and an embarrassment to yourself. But before you could fall into a downward spiral of negativity, you are brought out of your thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching you, and a sudden warmth beside your person.
When your gaze trails up, Alhaitham’s green-cyan eyes are locked onto you. You blink in surprise and he quietly holds out his own lunch bag. “I am here to eat lunch,” his voice is the same as always; words spoken in what seems to be an unchanging wavelength. “Would you like to share?” He was offering, you realized and are a bit taken aback by the suddenness of his invitation.
“I… oh…” you quickly give him a smile and shake your head. “N-no, thanks… it is very kind of you.” I look around and soften my eyes apologetically. “This must be where you usually eat, I am sorry for intruding-“
“You didn’t intrude.”
His comfort is swiftly spoken, surprisingly you yet again. He begins to unpack his lunch, and holds out side dishes to you to carry. “Let’s eat.”
…And just how would one reject his kindness now?
A few months later, as you take shelter by a street verandah from the pouring rain, you realized your old mantra had changed unawares. The umbrella you remembered packing into your bag in the morning is nowhere to be seen, as you seem to be much more forgetful the past few months, with many things going so wrong. A few minutes go by, and a man you had grown to know very well appears right by your side with a single umbrella. You smile shyly at him. “What would I do without you?” you murmur as you lean closer to his side. He smiles back at you these days, a soft and sweet little curve of his shaped lips that one might easily miss, but you always seem to be standing close enough to notice. Yes, your old mantra… You no longer need to search for the bright side… as whenever you look for light, there seems to be the silver-haired scholar, standing ready to help you always.
Yet you never realize how the very reason things go wrong, is your bright side.




