Pairings: Gaius x F!Robin

Timeline: Modern AU

Warnings: Fluff ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem: Awakening

Authors Note: Wowza! Thanks for all the reviews! My blood has been burning to write this next chapter because this story is growing on me so much. I just want to write it forever! However I know this won't happen (ﾉ￣д￣)ﾉ because of the plot buuut do trust me, I adore this story and will not forget it!

"That awkward moment when you fall in love with your best friend."

~ myinstaquotes . com

Monday, 7: 35 AM

Okay, she didn't have a clue in the world how to use – no she didn't even know what half of this stuff was. Admittedly, it may have not been the smartest idea to let her friends dictate what she bought at the MAC store without really paying attention to what they covered her face in nor was it a brilliant idea to assure them she knew what she was doing.

Robin had the piles separated by what she guessed they did. The names helped somewhat however some of the products didn't even have a label! Powders and liquid foundation were the bases for the face – what the hell is contour? Robin popped off the lid and gazed at the odd, rounded tip.

She let out a sigh of annoyance, put the cap back on and all but swept the makeup into her backpack. She'd have to ask Olivia for help at school.

Perfect, she moped, now all that work yesterday would be for naught. She wore her typical uniform and the only difference about her appearance, you couldn't even see. (She may or may not have decided on whim to wear the bra Tharja forced on her along with the matching panties…)

Robin checked the time on her phone and frowned. Did she really sit on her bed for half an hour staring at makeup? Why was she taking so long? Oh.

Gaius drove her to school every morning. She chewed on her lip, her heart palpitating, and turned her phone over in her hands. There was no way she could get into a car with Gaius this morning. Maybe it was cowardice, but she would probably say something stupid and he'd end up thinking she was crazy.

So her only solution… was to lie. She sent him a brief text explaining she overslept and would be taking the bus. Robin didn't expect him to argue, which he didn't, but for some reason, her stomach plummeted.

She sent a pleading text to Chrom to drive her to school which he only agreed to if she bought him lunch. Robin laughed and rolled her eyes. Chrom never changed.

So roughly fifteen minutes later, Robin found herself sitting in the backseat of Chrom's car. Sumia twisted around and smiled at her.

"Good morning, Robin! I heard from Chrom that you weren't feeling good on Saturday; are you feeling any better today?" she asked, her elbows planted firmly on the sides of the center console.

Robin sunk in her seat, smiling faintly, "Yeah, I guess so." Sumia's smile grew and she kept the conversation going, ignorant of the slightly tense atmosphere between Chrom and Robin. He was more than likely still bothered by her behaviour on Saturday. Once she settled things with Gaius, she'd buy him ice cream and apologise.

Chrom made eye contact with Robin through the rear-view mirror. His dark eyes wavered uncertainly and she forced a happier smile. Chrom relaxed into his seat and returned his attention back to the road fully.

"Oh but Robin, you're just so pretty! I'm amazed you don't have a boyfriend," Sumia said, frowning a tad. She reached back and tugged on a strand of Robin's hair. Robin flushed, sank further in her seat and covered her face. She wanted to disappear at that moment.

Her best friend – if she could even call him that after this – snorted. "Sumia, any guy that tries to date Robin will have to go through me." What was he, her protective older brother? Robin pried her fingers away from her eyes long enough to glare at him.

Sumia punched him in the shoulder, "You're not her brother Chrom, jeez. What would you do anyways? What if… Gaius asked her out?" No, no, no! Sumia why did you bring him up?! Out of all their friends to mention, why did she pick Gaius?

Robin hid behind her backpack. If she blocked her rosy cheeks from view, they'd never know about her affection for Gaius, right? This conversation was just not turning out in Robin's favour. Especially considering before Chrom and Sumia began dating… she dated Gaius.

"I'd punch him in the face," Chrom answered, turning into the school parking lot.

Monday 11: 34 AM

Walking out of her AP English class, Robin really didn't think Olivia would be there to grab her arm and yank her into the girls' bathroom. Sooner or later, though, Robin did imagine Olivia would find her. Surprisingly, the bathroom was empty, save for Cordelia and Tharja.

"How did you…?" Robin let her question hang in the air. Cordelia awkwardly grabbed her arm and Tharja cackled.

"I threatened them," Tharja replied, stepping up to her. Robin inwardly backed away from just how close Tharja was. That black haired girl surveyed her and a spine-chilling grin surfaced on her face. "Are you wearing the bra I picked out?"

"H—how did you know that?" Robin asked, slightly terrified by the change in conversation. Tharja simply giggled and danced away when Robin shot a horrified glance at Olivia.

Olivia laughed and poked Robin's cheek. "I see the makeup went unused."

Robin sighed, "I don't know how to use it." She shrugged her bag off her shoulders. "I brought it for help."

"What are we going to do with you?" Cordelia inquired teasingly. Cordelia took the knapsack and with Tharja's aid, got to work on determining colour pallets and school appropriateness.

Before they got to work on Robin's makeup, Olivia handed her a bundle of clothes. Robin scrunched the fabric between her fingers. "What this?"

"One of my spare uniforms," Olivia smirked, "of course you'll have to go order your own, but I figured this would help the whole, they see you as a guy thing. It might be a bit small… but I guess we can't help it."

Olivia's uniform had the shorter skirt and tighter vest. When they were choosing their uniforms, Robin picked the skirt that went to her ankles and the frumpy vest. Robin pulled her lower lip between her teeth, mentally debating what she should do. Finally, after a moment, she gave in and went to a stall to change.

Robin removed her uniform and fingered the one in her hands. Heaving a sigh, she buttoned up the blouse and her eyes widened. She'd never realized before, but Robin's chest was larger than Olivia's. She couldn't button the top three buttons. Going red, she dressed herself in the rest of her best friend's clothes and stepped out.

Cordelia gasped. "Robin! You have a fantastic body!" Robin tried to cover her chest and pull the skirt down at the same time. She's not used to having so much of her body exposed. Tharja grasped Robin's wrist to jerk her towards the countertop and lifted her on it.

"You're going to want to cross your legs," Tharja sang and moved to let Cordelia take over.

Robin blushed and Cordelia endeavoured to calm Robin's face. "Now, now, I'll tell you what you have to do every morning." Cordelia explained everything she did while she applied foundation, contouring, and powder. "For your eyes, I thought a pretty copper colour would look nice with tones of gold… A navy liner on top… black liner on the lower lash line… mascara… and voilà! It's that easy." Cordelia mused Robin's wavy hair slightly to give it a better effect and stepped back to let Robin see.

She slid off the counter, only to gasp. She barely recognized herself. She looked gorgeous, sexy and most of all, like a girl. Robin scrunched her eyebrows, attempting to see some semblance of her past person. She saw herself in her eyes.

"If Gaius doesn't throw himself at your feet, I may just have to myself," Tharja whistled, a genuine smile on her face.

Once Olivia had stuffed Robin's old uniform in her bag along with the makeup, she grasped Robin's forearms. "You look stunning. I really think this will do the trick! I believe in you, Robin. Go get what you so deserve."

And for once, Robin couldn't help the smile that lit up her face. "I will." She turned to Cordelia and Tharja. "Thank you, guys, so much for the help."

"No problem!" They replied in time.

Robin felt confident. Today would be the day she would tell Gaius how she felt.

Monday 11: 50 AM

"You can't make me go in there!" Robin protested, her arm being all but dislocated out of its socket. Olivia only heaved harder.

"I don't know where this change suddenly came from, but you are going in there or else!" Olivia all but snarled. Astonished – and mildly terrified – Robin's resistance faltered just enough for Olivia to wrench her into the cafeteria. Despite Robin's clear terror at the situation, Olivia grinned and hauled her over to the table they generally occupied in the cafeteria with their friends.

The table mostly consisted of Chrom's football friends but it had a fair amount of Robin's friends there too. Everyone turned to look at who Olivia had dragged through the cafeteria and the general consensus was dropped jaws.

Vaike eyes were the widest. "Dude, no one told Teach we were getting a new chick today." Miriel pinched his cheek.

Robin wanted to punch him. Has he seriously been this blind to Robin this whole time? Did anyone of her guy friends even realize her gender?

"Bubbles…?" Only one person would call her that, ever. Robin tentatively turned to face him. His green eyes were narrowed in an emotion Robin couldn't pinpoint and his lollipop had fallen from his mouth.

Mouth dry, Robin said, "Hi."

Of course, the table erupted in two different reactions. One, mostly headed by Vaike was 'holy shit, Robin's a girl' and the other was most catcalls about Robin's boobs. She wasn't sure which side offended her more…

Olivia slid into her spot next to Henry who had remained visibly neutral throughout this whole ordeal and gave Robin the thumbs up. Her overwhelming feeling was to run out of the cafeteria screaming but she swallowed that and twisted to Chrom.

"I owe you lunch, don't I?" Chrom nodded – his face remained thankfully impassive during Robin's reveal of being a woman – and followed Robin to the lunch line. Robin ignored Gaius' attempt at speaking to her again by stepping in front of Chrom.

Her heart pounded so hard in her chest she could hear it. They way Gaius gazed at her made her stomach flip and her insides to all but contract.

"What's with the getup?" Chrom inquired once they were safely in the line. Robin dropped his stare to chew on her lower lip. How could she answer him without lying? After all, didn't he say that morning that he would punch Gaius in the face if asked her out?

However, Robin didn't know if she had it in her to lie to her best friend anymore. Chrom deserved to know, regardless of his threat to hit Gaius, considering he would never lie to Robin even if he killed someone. That was just how their relationship functioned. So, her gathered her courage and inclined her chin up to look him in the eyes.

With conviction, she told him, "Because I realized I loved Gaius."

Chrom frowned, just a tad, "So you decided to dress like a hooker to get his attention?"

Pouting, she crossed her arms, "You know he's denser than iron…" The blue haired teen rolled his eyes at her weak comparison and sighed. He didn't say anything until after he'd ordered fifteen dollars' worth of cafeteria food and moved out of the line. Robin paid, still feeling like a terrible friend for lying to Chrom these past few days and bought herself an apple. She didn't think she could hold anything down without wanting to throw it up again.

"Listen, Robin," Chrom said, stopping Robin from returning to the table. He turned her around to gaze at him. "I know you think this is the way to go about getting Gaius to notice you but I honestly think he likes the real you more than this fake one you're trying to be. I'm not really sure this is how you should go about it but if you do, I support you. Don't forget again that you're my best friend and you can trust me with anything." He punched her forehead lightly and smiled.

Robin's lip trembled. She should have gone to Chrom first… yet she can't forget all the wonderful work Olivia did and how much time Cordelia and Tharja invested in her makeover. Chrom nodded, returning to the table to give Robin some time to collect her thoughts.

"What did ol' Blue have to say?" Gaius asked, sliding up behind her. Startled, Robin spun around, wielding her apple like a weapon. Her arm fell to her side immediately once she realized who she just about attacked with an apple.

"Umm… he likes the new look?" Oh Gods…

Gaius arched his eyebrow, "Really? Didn't take Blue for a creep…" They stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes. "I see you're wearing the bra from yesterday."

Robin's eyes widened. Her gaze shot down to her chest, mildly horrified to see he was indeed correct about seeing her bra. The criss-cross drew attention to her breasts and the fabric of the blouse was so tight over the cups, you could partially see the lacy design. Did Olivia, Cordelia and Tharja send her out here looking like a stripper on purpose?

She fumbled to do up the buttons, only finding that she couldn't stretch the fabric further. Dismayed, she planned to retreat to a hole and never come out. Gaius noted her discomfort and shrugged off his jacket.

"Here," he muttered, the tips of his ears pink. "And… don't have Blue drive you home… I'll do it." He shoved his jacket in her arms, leaving her alone to feel the heat fill her cheeks. The back of his neck was red.

Robin quickly traded Olivia's blazer for Gaius' and endeavoured to inconspicuously pull the collar closer to her nose. He really did smell like candy…

Curiously, she checked the pockets and found them empty. Maybe she would never find out where he kept his candies. A smile crossed her lips, one which remained until the last bell of the day rang.

Monday, 3: 30 PM

"You ordered your new uniform in your size, right?" Olivia queried, glancing at Robin out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, they said they should have it ready by tomorrow for me to pick up." Robin shoved her Chemistry textbook in her bag and slammed her locker shut. "Gaius is driving me home."

Olivia winked, "Good luck!" Closing her own locker, she waved to Robin and ran off to Henry's side. Henry hugged her, lifting her off the ground in the process and kissed her. A huge part of Robin wished she could do that with Gaius.

Shaking her head, she left the school and scanned the parking lot for Gaius' truck. She spotted Gaius leaning against his truck, picking between four different flavoured lollipops. She chuckled.

Hurrying over to him, she slowed and ducked behind a car. He was talking to Cherche.

"I'm flattered and all, but I'm kinda hung up over another girl right now," Gaius said, having pocketed his lollipops. "Besides, I heard you already had a guy."

Cherche laughed bitterly, "Yes, well he seems to have been ignoring me lately."

"It's what's-his name, isn't it?" Robin wanted to smack herself and him. How could he know who Cherche was talking about if he didn't even know his name?

The dark pink haired girl sighed and gave him a despondent wave, "Kellam… I'm sorry; I don't know what came over me. I should go." Cherche left, leaving Gaius alone once again.

Robin gnawed on her thumb nail. Did Gaius say he was hung up on someone? But… who?

"You can come out now," Gaius said dryly, popping a lollipop in his mouth. Robin's heart leapt into her throat. She moved from her hiding position and grinned weakly at him. Amused, Gaius smirked and gestured her over.

"Um, so how about this weather?" Robin internally slapped herself. Gaius rolled his eyes yet the smirk never left his lips.

"So you heard my little confession, huh, Bubbles?" he teased, well-aware she was there the whole time. "If you're curious, I've recently become more aware of my feelings and the girl is too stupid to realize it. I liked her a long time ago and it seems I might lose my chance now that I know she's the only one for me. A lot of guys have a thing for her and she just might go for it…"

Robin swallowed the awkward lump in her throat. "Well, uh, good luck with that." She twisted her hands together and all but ran to the opposite side of the truck to get in. Her insides sank. So Gaius did have someone he liked…

Peaking up at him out of the corner of her eye, she wondered who it was…

Gaius was so handsome; she figured the girl Gaius was referring to would be stupid not to date him. Robin just wanted him to be happy, so if that meant she had to bow out, she would… oh who was she kidding? She would never give up on their potential together.

They didn't speak the whole ride home. When he pulled up in front of her house, Robin snatched her backpack off the floor of his truck and opened the door.

"Robin." She froze. With eyes the size of saucers, she tilted her head back flabbergasted. She couldn't remember the last time he called her by her name… "Did you know you're probably the stupidest person I've ever met?"

She opened her mouth to retort except nothing came out because Gaius had reached over and touched her cheek. His name evaporated on her lips when he moved over to kiss her. It wasn't anything to really brag about, just a simple kiss on the lips that last no more than two seconds, but it threw everything Robin thought she knew out the window and ran over it with a semi-truck.

Gaius pulled back, his smile awkward, "Robin…"

Robin, like a deer caught between the headlights, bolted from his truck into her house. She stumbled over the porch stairs but nonetheless made it into her house alive. She sank against the door, covering her lips with her hands. He kissed her… if her heart beat any faster the thought it would fly out of her chest. The sound of her name on his lips wouldn't leave her head.

Did… did this mean Robin had Gaius this whole time and she didn't even realize it?

Annnnnd that's where I end it for now, lovely readers! Hehe I'll leave you all with this and look forward to the next update! (If you're wondering, Cherche only asked out Gaius to make Kellam jealous…)

~Emerald~