A/N: Just a short and sweet fic that was begging to be written. Let me know what you think!
Going Public
Tyson was waiting for her when she came down the stairs. Hilary chuckled at the role-reversal: she was always the one itching to get them all to school on time, yet here he stood as if he was excited. She beamed at him; his cheeks flushed in response. A drugged haze fell over his eyes making her heart lift in her chest.
If Hilary was asked as a 14-year-old, if, in three years, she thought she would be receiver of looks that weren't seething and hostile from Tyson, she wouldn't believe it.
'No one would ever guess you're not a morning person,' she told him with a grin as she gathered her things.
He yawned. 'I'm not. But I'm a boyfriend now, so I have to make the effort.'
'So mature, Tyson. I thought this day would never come.'
Tyson responded to that with a light smack on her behind, grinning mischievously.
They exited her family home.
How did this all come to be? How did the impossible happen and Tyson had torn his attention from his beloved Beyblade? Tyson had a metaphorical blow to the head and recognised that, apart from Kenny, she had never left his side. She stuck by him through his rages, his lows, his ego, and she still welcomed him back when the real Tyson returned. He also hated to admit just how smart she was and how much G-Revolutions relied on her when the rest of the world was going crazy.
Puberty also helped.
As they began to stroll in the direction of their school, the two of them stole glances at each other. Tyson drank in her long eyelashes, her dewy skin reflecting morning's light, the way that her shoulder-length hair complemented her face. Tyson was now a head taller, with Hilary coming just under his armpit; the right height for cuddling. His chest was firm enough to rest her head and his athletic arms provided comfort and protection when they closed in around her. Even powerful, intimidating (and slightly unhinged) girls liked to feel safe.
His hand sliding into hers broke her thoughts; when he pressed his palm into hers and curled their fingers together, Hilary felt like she might die on the spot. His hand was slightly calloused by excessive blade launcher clutching, but it still felt nice. She imagined his hands running up and down her thighs and her neck burned.
When she remembered where they were going, she stiffened.
'What's wrong?' he quizzed.
'When people at school see us holding hands they're gonna flip. We'll be the subject of gossip.'
'Let them. We might as well get it over with now, because they'll figure it out eventually.'
'I know,' Hilary conceded. 'It's just . . . '
'What?'
She sighed. 'You're a World Champion, the local celebrity. And I'm . . . '
'-you're the class president and predicted Valedictorian. We make quite the power couple, don't we?'
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Their eyes met and she smiled at him appreciatively.
Kenny almost fell into the ground when he caught sight of them as he waited outside his own home. 'I KNEW something was going on. We've known for a while that something funny was going on between the two of you.' Finally.
Tyson rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. 'We're sorry, Kenny. We really wanted to tell you, but sneaking around was the only way: we weren't ready to tell anyone yet.'
'I'm not that surprised,' Kenny admitted. 'We were all wondering when it would happen.'
'We?' Hilary asked.
'Yeah. The Bladebreakers. The All Starz. The White Tigers. All of us. The only people who couldn't see it were you two.'
Cue a simultaneous eye roll from the new couple.
'You know,' Kenny continued, 'Daichi won't ever let you hear the end of it.'
'Hilary and I can take him,' Tyson declared confidently.
'Does this mean you two have called a truce on your bickering?'
The pair turned their heads together, communicating silently before Hilary replied 'I can't guarantee we'll not go head to head sometimes. Besides, I have a feeling the fire will come when Daichi annoys us – because he will.'
The three of them joined the crowds of their fellow school kids and Hilary grew uneasy again. Luckily, they were all too busy poking at the buttons on their phones or teasing each other to notice that the two hot-headed friends were melded in romantic bliss.
It was a different story when they reached the front gate. Hilary felt the inferno of Hell as people stopped to stare and whisper to their companions.
Oh no.
She was used to being on the receiving end of a lot of attention during her tenure as class president, but even this she couldn't handle. She was ready to run. Feeling the gap between them widen, Tyson used their joined hands to lock her down and draw her back in.
'Tyson and Hilary?'
'Is this a joke?'
'Didn't they used to hate each other?'
Hate and love were always separated by a fine line.
Tyson was undeterred, striding proudly across the entrance like he was showing off a brand new sports car that he was enamoured with. (Not that a car could compare to Hilary but you get the gist). Hilary noticed some of the Tyson fangirls whine in protest, no doubt hating her and complaining that their chances were dashed. She braced herself for future trouble.
The door to their classroom slid open. The entire class careered to a stop, only leaving slack jaws and silence. When the stunned silence began to die down, someone yelled 'FINALLY!' causing Hilary and Tyson to sweat drop.
Together they dealt with the endless outpouring of questions until they were saved by the teacher surfacing. Occasionally, Tyson would nudge Hilary to check if she was ok. It seemed they survived going public.
She enjoyed their walk home even better now that the suspense was complete. Saying goodbye to Kenny, the two of them swayed into each other as they took slow and measured steps in a bid to slow down time. At one point, Tyson even yanked her into an alleyway so that they could embrace and kiss in private.
Hilary clung to his firm chest while he went from chaste to suggestive pecks down her neck. She hoped that this – they – would last forever.
Re-entering the street, Tyson asked her 'Can you help me with my history homework?'.
'Ugh, fine.'