warning for sexual themes!

*

Rhysand is gone when Andy opens her eyes.

Her head is throbbing, and her memories are fuzzy, but she remembers the crying and the ache in her chest. She remembers watching Rhysand turn around and leave.

Andy's knees buckled watching him walk away like that.

Slowly, she heads to the bathroom to wash up and quietly moves down the staircase once she looks presentable enough. Rhysand is cooking in the kitchen.

She takes a seat on the counter and croaks, "Hi."

Rhysand grabs a glass and a pill near the sink and puts it down in front of her. "To get rid of your headache," he says, then he turns back around to pay attention to the stove.

It smells like pancakes.

Andy takes the pill and drinks all the water. She fiddles with her fingers, not knowing what to say to him.

She remembers their fight, and how childish and humiliating she acted towards him. Rhysand was just—he was just looking out for her. And she hurt his feelings and he walked away.

But he waited in the Jeep and took you home, a small voice in her head whispers hopefully. And he cuddled with you.

Andy inhales a sharp breath and stares at his back. "Rhys. Can we talk?"

"Eat first," he answers, flipping the pancake. Andy can't decipher his tone, but it's making her anxious the more he doesn't look at her. "We can talk afterwards."

Andy hugs herself. "Okay," she whispers.

Rhysand does everything—he sets the table for the two of them and serves the pancakes, and he takes out a bottle of maple syrup and a glass for himself, and he pours the syrup on her pancakes and Andy watches him quietly.

Andy forces herself to eat. Her stomach still feels a little queasy, but the pancakes taste good. Rhysand keeps his eyes on his plate while he eats.

As soon as Andy finishes, Rhysand stands up to take her plate to the sink.

She sputters, "I can wash the—"

"I got it," Rhysand says gruffly, taking his own plate, too.

Andy doesn't know how to fix this. How many times has her heart felt so heavy with Rhysand?

She brings the glasses to the sink to at least lend a hand. She also puts the syrup back in the cupboard and—and there's nothing else to do except stand in the kitchen awkwardly and wait for Rhysand to finish.

So she mutters, "I'm going to brush my teeth. Um, come up when you're done."

She's not even sure if Rhysand heard her over the running water.

Andy takes the stairs two at a time and her fingers shake when she puts toothpaste on her toothbrush that she needs it to do it again. She can't bear to look at herself in the mirror, so she stares at the counter and wills herself not to cry.

Then Rhysand comes in, and he sidesteps her to reach for his own toothbrush. They use the same toothpaste. He brushes his teeth beside her, and it's awkward and silent and Andy ducks to spit in the sink first and rinse her mouth.

When she's done, she decides to wait in the bedroom, hugging her knees to chest, burning a hole through the bathroom's door as she waits for it to open. Her mind is blank, and she doesn't know what to say to Rhysand, but they need to—they need to work this out. No matter what.

The water shuts off, and then Rhysand is joining her on the bed, sitting on its edge.

He's looking at her. His black hair falls across his eyes and Andy wants to part them so she can see whatever's written on them. Finally, he says quietly, "Can you tell me what happened in class first?"

Andy shuts her eyes tightly. Her fingers playing with her nails and she wants to cut them. "I got an F," she decides to say. Honestly. Nothing but the truth. Doesn't matter anymore if Rhysand thinks she's stupid. "I missed a lot of what I was going to say, and I was stuttering the words. I had to pause for a long time to remember what's next." She laughs softly, staring at her toes. "And then Singh stopped me. He asked me if I made the presentation myself, and if I did, then I should know the material. And then he asked, 'how can you be a teacher if you forget the lesson? If you're stuttering like this?'. And then he said he didn't want to hear another word from me and made me sit down." She takes a deep breath. Doesn't want to see Rhysand's reaction. "I talked to him after class and asked if I can redo it or make up for it. But he doesn't do that—give second chances. So I get an F for this, and he said I need to do better next time."

He's quiet for a moment. Rhysand must be thinking how stupid the girl he's dating is.

Andy's mouth feels dry. "I guess," she mutters, inhaling shakily, "that was why I was being bratty and unreasonable, and I hurt your feelings. I loved the party. I loved that you talked to my friends," she admits, finally raising her head. "And I loved that you were there. And I know you were just looking out for me, but somehow, I couldn't—I couldn't think straight and then you were leaving and I—I don't know, do you want me to leave? Say something—"

"Will you let me apologize?" Rhysand asks abruptly, quiet and sincere. He looks pained and not—not cold. Like he was the whole morning.

Andy almost crumbles at his question and nods, covering her face with her hands.

Rhysand opens his legs and tugs Andy to him, enveloping her body in his arms and Andy doesn't—she doesn't know what to do without this. She doesn't want to be without this. She feels her eyes wet with tears she's been holding back and soaks Rhysand's shirt with them. She fists her hands in the cotton, clutching the planes of his back.

"Sunshine," Rhysand murmurs, caressing her hair gently. "I'm sorry I hurt you and left. I'm sorry I made you cry."

"Don't," Andy hiccups, "don't be so cold and distant with me. It hurts me so much that I don't know what to say to you and it shouldn't—we shouldn't—"

Rhysand winces. "I was thinking of a way to apologize. I didn't know what to say other than I'm sorry."

She gasps for breath and clutches his shirt tighter in her hands. "I'm sorry I was mean and childish," Andy whispers, sniffling. "I love you."

Rhysand cradles her and sighs. "You do know you're a brat, right?"

Andy laughs. She laughs through her tears and squeezes Rhysand's body and she loves his warmth and smell and the feeling of his arms around her and she wants to stay here forever.

"Your laugh," Rhysand murmurs in her ear, "is my favorite sound, sunshine."

She smacks his shoulder weakly. "Can we just watch Hercules and Tangled today? And visit the shelter and have dinner out?"

"Anything you want. But first." He pulls back, searching her face. "Will you let me apologize properly? Make it up to you?"

Andy blinks and tilts her head to the side. "H-how?"

Rhysand pushes up on his palms and hikes her up the bed, a squeal escaping her lips. His hands travel to her ankles, and he spreads them apart. Rhysand keeps his eyes on hers. "Color?" he asks quietly.

Andy sucks in a deep breath. "Green."

He bends down to kiss her first—softly, gently, and then quickly and intensely until Andy's gasping for breath. Rhysand kisses his way down her neck, slips his hand under her shirt and leaves her skin burning, and his finger trails along the waistband of her sweatpants.

"Color?" he asks again, checking in.

Andy's face is flushed. She swallows the lump in her throat and says, "Green."

Rhysand kisses her navel and stomach and slowly pulls her sweatpants and underwear down. "What do you say when you want to stop, baby?"

"Red," Andy breathes. "Red for stop. Yellow for slow down."

"Good girl," Rhysand murmurs, brushing his lips along her thighs and Andy grasps his hair with her fingers. It's not the first time they do something past the making out, but it's the first time Rhysand travels downward.

"Want to make you feel good," he rasps, lowering his face in between her thighs and Andy can hear her heart beating in her chest. "Want you to moan."

She does. Rhysand makes sure of it.

"Love being the first to make you feel like this," Rhysand murmurs once she's come down from her high. Kisses her head. "Good, sunshine?"

Andy, blissful, closes her eyes and hums.

Rhysand chuckles. "I'm going to clean you up, okay?"

Andy grabs his arm before he can leave, eyes wide. "Um, what about you?"

Rhysand smiles. "Another time. Was it good?"

Her face flames again. "Yeah."

Rhysand leans closer. "Am I forgiven, then?"

Andy pushes him away. "Just clean me up, please," she whines, covering her face with her hands.

"Fuck, you're so cute," Rhysand mutters fondly, finally standing up to head to the bathroom. "What am I going to do with you?"

"You're going to love me and take care of me for the rest of our lives," Andy answers matter-of-factly.

Rhysand comes back and kisses her knee before he cleans her up.

Andy calls Sabina before they play Hercules. Rhysand tangles his legs with hers and buries his face on her shoulder. Andy massages his scalp while waiting for Sabina to pick up.

"Finally," her roommate breathes. "We were waiting for you to call!"

"Andy," MJ's voice says, and she sounds worried. "Are you okay? Are you with Rhysand?"

Andy's on speaker. Of course she is. She smiles and answers, "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm with him and we're good. We worked it out."

They both let out a sigh of relief. Sabina mutters, "That's good, then."

"Thank you for last night," Andy says, closing her eyes. Rhysand's arms tighten around her. "Thank you for taking care of me and for the party. I love you both."

"We love you, bub!" MJ exclaims. "We're glad you had fun...somewhat. Um, we're sorry about the shots. We shouldn't have pushed you."

"No," Sabina interjects, and Andy can hear her rolling her eyes, "no, Rhysand shouldn't have been a controlling piece of shit—"

"Sab," MJ warns.

Andy bites her lip. "He's not like that, Sab."

The eldest scoffs. "I'm pretty sure he was exactly that—"

"Anyway!" MJ cuts in. "We're glad you're okay, bub. Call us if you need anything, okay? Have fun with Rhysand! Bye!"

"Bye," Andy says, smiling. She hangs up.

Rhysand raises his head and looks at her with bleary eyes. "Okay?"

Andy smiles at him and nods. She reaches out to part the hair covering his eyes. "Let's watch."

Rhysand presses play, and they go about their day just as Andy wanted.

*

Andy focuses on making up for her F as midterms come along.

It's not so often that she stresses like this for her classes, but when she does, she forgets anything and everything that can make her take a breather. Rhysand is one of them.

It's been more than a week since they've last seen each other. Rhysand texts when he can—these days, he seems to have more time than Andy does. Sunshine, what are you doing?

Andy peeks at her phone when it buzzes, and it's a strain to look away from her laptop. She quickly types her reply and tosses it on the desk again, focusing on her paper. studying

Andy has midterms next week. She can't afford anything lower than an A. She needs to redeem herself and show Singh she's not stupid.

Piper comes back and sets a large coffee in front of Andy. She mutters her thanks and Piper hums in acknowledgement, and then goes back to her own work.

Her phone buzzes again. Are you staying at Baked til later?

Andy can't find the will to look away from her screen and accidentally leaves the message on read.

And forgets to reply altogether. Piper packed up her stuff a little over an hour ago to nap for a bit at home, and it's nearing midnight and her coffee is half-empty and long cold, and Andy is far from done.

She still has a lot to study for, she has exams next week, but this paper for Singh's class is important. She wants an A for this paper—no, a B is enough.

When the seat beside her is scraped back, she doesn't even look up.

Rhysand lays his head on his arm on the table and stares at her. "Have you eaten?"

Andy spares him a glance and smiles. He's pouting and he's sulking and he looks like a big baby, but Andy's heart warms because he's here. The bakeshop and the campus are out of his way from Sterling to his apartment, but he went to see her anyway. Even though he's exhausted. "Hi, baby."

"Fellow associate," he grumbles, glaring at her. "You've been ignoring me."

"I'm sorry, I was working on my paper," Andy murmurs, amused. She returns her attention to her laptop. "You're supposed to be at home already."

"And you're supposed to be resting," Rhysand counters quietly, slipping one arm around her waist. "It's a school night."

"I'll finish this section," Andy says distractedly, blinking her eyes open. "Then I'll go to sleep. You don't have to wait."

Rhysand stands up. "I'll drive you to your dorm. I'm going to get coffee and some cheese tarts, want anything else?"

Andy shakes her head. "Thank you," she mutters, catching his hand and squeezing it quickly before he leaves for the counter.

Rhysand stays with her. He falls asleep on the table, head facing Andy, after finishing his coffee and cheese tarts and he looks so tired. His eyebrows are drawn together and Andy wants to reach out to touch the little crease between them. She feels a little guilty for making him wait like this, but she doesn't wake him up until she's done with her work for the night.

It's nearing two in the morning when she does. She shuts her laptop, stretches quickly, and gently shakes her boyfriend. "Babe," she murmurs. "Let's go home. I'll drive."

"Home?" Rhysand rasps, sitting up. He rubs his eyes. "No, I can drive you back to your dorm."

"You're too tired," Andy says, packing her stuff. "I'll come home with you and I'll drive, okay?"

Rhysand doesn't argue. He's too exhausted to do so.

As soon as they arrive at the apartment, they're heading to the bathroom to quickly brush their teeth and dress and then Rhysand is tucking her to him in bed, spooning her in his arms. "When do midterms end?" he asks sleepily, and his lips brush her forehead.

"Next Wednesday," Andy answers, closing her eyes.

"Fuck," Rhysand mutters.

Andy laughs, and then they fall asleep.

*

After her midterms, Andy makes it up to Rhysand and returns the favor at the night of Just Jupiter's concert.

She'd been so down about Singh and busy with midterms that she wasn't able to thank him properly for the gifts. And she was excited, so so excited, to hear Just Jupiter's music live and up front and that she was going to be with Rhysand.

He kept his arms around her waist and his chin on her shoulder, and they swayed and Andy sang the lyrics to him. Their ears were ringing with noise and cheers and music when they get home, and Andy thinks he looks so hot in his skinny jeans and denim jacket and his piercings and sweat on his neck. Andy climbs on his lap and they kiss, and Rhysand's hand is curling around her nape, fingers playing with the necklace he gave her, and Andy slips her hand under his shirt along his back.

Rhysand stiffens, gasps into her mouth and pulls back. He catches her wrist and gives her a warning look. "No touching," he mutters, placing her hand on his shoulder. Then he kisses her again.

Andy doesn't listen. She lets him kiss her harder, then lowers her hands along his chest and stomach, and runs her finger along the tattoo on his spine and Rhysand outright groans.

The sound goes straight to Andy's lower belly and she squirms on his lap.

"Fuck, stop that," he growls lowly, catching her wrist again and tightening his hold on it. He narrows his eyes at her, and Andy grins, breathless.

Then, nervous and excited, she tells him, "I want to return the favor."

Rhysand's eyebrow raises. "What favor?"

Andy, nerves bubbling in her chest and throat, gathers up all the courage she has and snakes her hand down his jeans.

Rhysand catches that, too. "Sunshine," he warns, eyes darkening. "You don't have to."

Andy shakes her head. She's nervous as hell, and it's her first time doing this, but she wants to. She's been wanting to and she wants to make him feel good—wants to hear him say she's making him feel good. She kisses him softly. "Guide me?" she asks quietly, already fumbling with the button of his jeans. Rhysand's hold on her wrist goes slack.

He searches her face, but it's obvious he's already given in. "Are you sure?"

Andy smiles and moves back on the bed to get on her knees. It helps that her hair is already tied. "This is a thank you for the concert and the album," she mutters, fingers teasing along his waistband. Rhysand inhales shakily. "And an apology for neglecting you during midterms."

"Jesus Christ," Rhysand groans, watching her with hooded eyes, lifting his hips up when Andy pulls his jeans down first, and then his underwear. "Fuck, okay, go slow."

He watches her earnestly, threads his fingers in her hair and guides her, and Andy loves all the little grunts and breathless praises escaping his lips, and the way his breath catches and his fingers tighten in her hair, and the sudden rock of his hips and he pushes her off him, a warning, but Andy stays where she is and he groans low in his throat when he finishes in her mouth.

Rhysand pulls her to him to kiss her. "You're a dream," he rasps.

"I try," she whispers, kissing him again. "Sorry, I know it was my first time—"

"The best," he says, squeezing her bottom through her shorts. Andy flushes. "Fast learner," he muses, eyes twinkling. "So eager to please..."

"Don't tease me," Andy whines, burying her head on his shoulder. Then, she freezes and looks at him. "Do you think Jenner—"

"I'll kill him if he says a word," Rhysand assures her. Then, he leans back and says, "You know, getting those tickets was the best fuckin' idea I ever had."

Andy laughs in his shirt. "You're so annoying. I'm going to shower first."

Rhysand lets her go and smacks her butt when she turns around.

*

Andy gets her paper back. It's a B+.

The sigh of relief she heaves takes a huge weight out of her shoulders, and Singh looks at her with a barely-there tip of his mouth—a smile. Andy smiles back, widely, and whips her phone out to let Rhysand know. Baby i got a B+ for my midterm paper im gonna cry

Rhysand knew she was going to get her results back today. His reply comes instantly. Congratulations, sunshine :) you deserve it. will reward you with food and lots of kisses tonight

Andy can't stop grinning. She types her response. Can't wait :D A bunch of emojis follow after that.

Rhysand follows through with his promise. They do more than just kissing, and the food he cooked tastes good.