The library was deserted, and a young man strolled through the aisles, relishing in the solitary peace. He sighed and pushed his thick glasses up his slender nose, while his violet eyes searched for a book to catch his attention.

Eridan Ampora was approaching the end of his university course; he had chosen to follow his passion for the arts, and had disobeyed his father by not choosing something from the pre-approved list of appropriate subjects he had been given. When he had been caught, he'd nearly been forced to give it up and bow to the demands of his father, until they had reached a compromise.
In return for being able to stay on his university course, Eridan had agreed to work full-time at his father's business after his graduation. Back then Eridan had felt like a master-manipulator, and thought that he had out-smarted his father on the deal of the decade because he had opted to take a part-time course with one of his dearest friends, and six years had seemed like a lifetime. But that was over five years ago, and Eridan was twenty-five years old, and was now feeling the overbearing weight of expectation looming over him as time marched him towards the steep precipice of a cemented future that he himself had foolishly agreed to.
It was an existential crisis, and Eridan held onto the childish hope that he would somehow find some inspiration for a way out of his predicament hidden amongst the pages of the many books that he held so much nostalgic affection for.
Or at the very least, some distraction from it all.

As he picked up an old canvas-bound book, Eridan heard the fwump of the heavy doors behind him.
He knew that other patrons were always a possibility, but that didn't stop him from begrudging the fact that his peaceful abode had been invaded; his head was filled with the sounds of a pair of feet plodding around, and he grit his teeth as the shoes scuffed and squeaked across the floor.

Any other day would have been fine, but the fact that the much-needed silence was being desecrated by some heavy-footed twat while he was trying to go about his soul-finding, life-altering mission was unforgiveable. Eridan closed his eyes and gently slid the book he was holding back onto the shelf. It couldn't be helped; he would just have to hope that the intruder would go find a corner to sit quietly in so that he might continue his search in peace.
This thought was dashed when Eridan heard them talking to the librarian at the front desk, but the final insult was when the despicable cretin had the audacity to whistle as he walked through the aisles towards him.

Eridan's eyes snapped open, and he finally spun around to face his new foe; this destroyer of solitude, this bringer of irritation, this harbinger of havoc, this—

Attractive young man who was stood right behind him looking at a rather large book.

Eridan raised an eyebrow at the skinny man; He had a short mess of dark hair, and the loose fitting clothing he was wearing only made him appear even ganglier than his height and scrawny frame already did, and was he wearing... Sunglasses? His lip pulled up on one side in a disbelieving sneer, but just as he started to ask himself what kind of tool wears a pair of sunglasses inside a library, the realisation suddenly hit him.

It wasn't just any tool, it was Sollux fucking Captor.

-.-.-

Intro: Because of Books was the first fanfiction I ever wrote, and I used to bang out a chapter in an evening after getting in from my second job. I have no idea what it was about Erisol that finally made me crack, and tempt me into dipping my toe into writing, but here I am so many years later thankful to this stupid story for helping me improve so much, artistically.
I was stuck in this suffocatingly stifling existence and wanted to prove to myself that I could create something worth being proud of. I poured so much of my own trauma into it, and I think I wanted to find some beautiful cathartic answer to my heartbreak, maybe to convince myself that I was going through so much shit for a reason.
Then when I dragged myself back from the precipice after finally getting away from a really shitty relationship, and grew as a person… I ended up falling out of the frying pan, and very much into the fire with my next relationship, and had all of my motivation and interest in any kind of art and every scrap of self-worth burned away to ash.

For the first time in my life since that incredibly destructive time for my mental and physical health, I feel like I'm on top of my own head and finally making sense of all the shit that happened, and dealing with it positively.

Anyway, I wanted to rewrite BoB to reflect the changes I've made, and because honestly, I think I've improved as an author while writing this, and I feel like I can convey what I had once tried to write so long ago so much better.
It's taken years, but I wanted to pay you all back for being with me during the worst and blurst of times, your comments and reviews have always meant so much to me, and are a genuine source of pride. So thank you all for your kindness and excitement.

I hope that I have improved enough to deserve a second read-through of this chunky tome! I'm so genuinely excited for it ( /)u(\ ) there's going to be TONNES of new stuff, and the old bits are going to be both trimmed down and fleshed out! (Things will be the same but different, for example, Eridan will have a different job, and there will be new dates and much more of the side characters relationships, but I'll leave that to be read)

Thank you for reading Because of Books! 3

-.-.-