Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

You had finished preparing your works in the exhibit and was now currently waiting for the exhibition to start. There was a slight chatter in the open space, the other artists also putting the finishing touches on their displays. Looking at the clock every so often, you continue to take deep breaths to calm yourself. After a few more deep breaths, you tear your eyes away from the clock you've been eyeing for the millionth time and decide to go to the washroom to freshen up.

Since it was a special event, the dress code for the exhibit was formal wear. You fixed your hair that you had taken more time to do that day and smoothed out your dress. Glancing in the mirror, you let out a disgruntled sigh. Most of your lipstick had come off during your many water breaks of trying to calm yourself down. Pulling out your small make up bag from your purse, you take the time to touch up your make up, applying some more rouge on your lips.

You jump when you feel your phone buzz in your purse and then pull out your phone after putting your small make up bag back in your purse. As you check the text, your eyes widen a smidge at the message.

You text him back promptly to let him know you were on your way to meet up with him before stuffing your phone back in your purse. Checking the time, you let out a resigned sigh. There was still half an hour before the event started.

As you got to the entrance, you see Oikawa through the glass doors, looking around. He notices you when you get closer to the doors, him freezing up suddenly. You raise your brow at him. Did you come at the wrong time?

Opening the door, you shoot him a teasing smile. "You know, I could mistake you for a statue right now." You poke his side, making him jerk back from your finger. "Ah, there we go! There's Oikawa~"

His cheeks puff at you before he walks inside while you close the door and follow after him. "I can see why it was a formal event..." He lets out a whistle, nodding at the set up. After Oikawa gets a good look at his surroundings, he turns back to you. "That is a very good look for you Rudolph~" He winks at you before playfully saying, "I guess red doesn't only look good on your nose!"

Your eyes narrow slightly at his teasing, lips forming a small pout as Oikawa looks at you smugly while he waits for your retort. You rack your brain to throw back a witty retort but come up with nothing, biting the inside of your cheek in thought. When you turn to look back at Oikawa, you finally process his appearance. He had left his blazer open, his dress shirt firmly pressed and tucked into his fitted slacks as a black tie securely hung around his neck. Oikawa notices you eyeing his outfit, his smug smile widening further. "Pretty good look right?" His smile falters when you stare at him blankly, resulting in him starting to shift around awkwardly, looking seemingly unsure of himself as he waited for you to say something.

You blink up at him, surprised. Was he self-conscious?

Your eyes soften at his fidgeting form, lightly gripping the sleeve of his blazer so he could meet your eyes. "You know, you're a real work of art." You grin at your little at your pun as you catch him let out a snort, a pleased smile slowly forming on his face. You let go of his sleeve before you fully turn away from him, internally patting yourself on the back.

That's when you realized that out of all the facial expressions he made, you definitely liked his smiling one the best.

"C'mon, I'll sneak you some of the treats in the backroom before the exhibit opens~"

~~

As the doors finally opened, you instinctively held your breath when you saw your family and Ami look around before spotting you. Oikawa clasped his hand on your shoulder for a moment before squeezing it in reassurance and then letting go. Ami ran up to you first and gripped your hands in excitement, her eyes sparkling.

"This is really happening! Wow look at this, and look at you!" She looks over your overall appearance and lets out a hum of approval.

You let out laugh. "Yeah, it's really happening..." Ami lets go of your hands and you straighten yourself out when your parents and Jun make it over to you. Jun and your mom throw a smile your way to which you return before you see them looking expectantly at your dad.

Your dad clears his throat, fixing his tie out of habit. "...Which one is yours?"

A wide smile threatens to break your face as he looks around curiously. "Oh, um, yes, I'll show you right now! Come with me!" You urge everyone to follow you to the display you've taken ages to fix up to your satisfaction.

Once you make it to one of your first works, you slowly turn around, anxiously anticipating their thoughts on it. As you do so, you see your parents carefully look at your work, like they were taking note of every stroke and dab of color your paintbrush left behind. To see them take interest made your heart swell. You were glad you worked up the courage to tell them about your interests properly.

Jun gives you a light pat on your shoulder, you turning your attention to him. He lifts one of his index fingers discreetly to his lips as he then points it towards your parents. You look at where he was pointing with a confused expression until you notice what your mom was holding in her hands discreetly. It looked like a thin book? You turn back to Jun for clarification to what he just pointed out to you. He chuckles and says in a low voice, "it's a glossary of art terms and techniques. They were studying hard on it during the week to give them more background on the paintings."

Your head snapped back up towards your parents in disbelief before looking back at Jun with the same expression. He catches your questioning gaze and lets out what he thinks to be an innocent hum. "Keep up the good work little sis!" He pats your shoulder one last time before he takes a place beside the parents.

You narrow your eyes at Jun's retreating back; he was leaving you with a lot of unanswered questions. After a moment, you let out resigned sigh. Whatever he was doing helped bridge the gap between you and your parents, little by little.

Your ears perk up at the sound of someone calling your name. When you look up, you see Tadashi walking over to you with a pleasant smile on his face.

"Ah, I see everyone came!" He smiles as he looks over the guests you had brought. "I'm glad." His eyes lock onto something behind you, his face now wearing a smile you weren't familiar with, or rather, couldn't decipher. "Nice to see you here Oikawa."

You jump a little at the sudden pressure on your shoulders, Oikawa pulling your back flush against his chest. You stiffened at his actions. "Off!" You squirm under his grip.

Oikawa doesn't answer you, his eyes still locked on Tadashi.

Tadashi blinks in surprise before he laughs lightly. He turns his attention back to you, ignoring Oikawa's sudden actions. You decide to do the same for now. "I take it this one is yours?" Tadashi gestures towards the painting your parents were still looking at and nods at it admiringly. "Beautiful. You never cease to amaze me on how you capture things."

You beam at his comment. "Same to you! I heard Sunset Muse got a lot of attention!" Tadashi stiffens for a moment before he smiles again, his eyes holding a faraway look.

He laughs quietly to himself. "...Yeah, I'm glad. It's one of my favorites." The look he throws your way surprises you and soon after you feel the arms around your shoulders tighten.

About to tell Oikawa to get off you once more, Ami bounds over to you guys before you could. "Tadashi-kun! There you are!" She plants herself by Tadashi. "I have a question about one of the works over...there." The work Ami points at is on the other side of the room. You quirk your brow at Ami but she ignores it and hums happily once Tadashi gives you an apologetic look, walking off with Ami.

Once they walk off, Oikawa's arms loosen up on your shoulders, making it easier to shrug off his arms. As you do so, you couldn't help but note at how compliant Oikawa was now. He was just all over the place. "Just what am I going to do with you..." you mutter to yourself as you gain your personal space back.

Oikawa catches it anyway and responds accordingly. "Well you keep me around of course~"

You let out a huff at his response, your arms stretching out forwards between you two when you notice Oikawa start to step closer. "Not another step!" You narrow your eyes at his confused expression. "You have to respect my personal space. So until you do, you can only be this close." You gesture to the length of your arm separating you two.

He whines at your proposition as he tried to get closer to you but you kept backing away. He stops walking and pouts, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "...Fine." When you see that Oikawa begrudgingly agrees to your condition, only then do you step towards him, leaving a comfortable gap between you two.

"C'mon, I still have to show you some other works Spotty!"

~~

As you were excitedly showing Oikawa your other works, you couldn't help but feel elated at how he thoughtfully looked at each work and then gave you a soft smile every time he looked back at you.

Oikawa couldn't get enough of you. The way the corners of your eyes would crinkle from smiling so wide, or how you tugged his sleeve to show him other pieces that grabbed your interest, effectively breaking your own personal space rule—not that he had much of a problem with it. He liked being around you, showing him the things that you loved to do. He wondered if you felt just as thrilled as he did when you said you'd continue to watch each of his games after that day he held your hand for the first time. He was just so glad he could finally do the same for you.

He smiled fondly at you, occasionally nodding at your animated chatter as you explained what was going on in the work you two were currently looking at. Apparently, he had nodded a bit too much, causing you to pause midway and rub the back of your neck in embarrassment as you looked away from him. "...Ah, sorry, I'm talking too much aren't I?"

Oikawa reaches out to touch your shoulder but halts, letting it drop back to his side. He reminded himself of your personal space, not wanting you to get mad at him again. Instead, Oikawa let out a chuckle, just loud enough for you to turn your head back to face him. Once you did so, he grins. "I may have been getting distracted by another wonderful work of art in front of me~" He feels pride well up in him when you giggle at his words.

"I already used that pun!"

The playful banter continues as you guys look through each work in the exhibit. As you walked around the exhibit with Oikawa, you took notice on how nice it was having him by your side. Not even just today, but whatever you guys ended up doing, it was just so enjoyable.

Unknown to you, his thoughts were the same.

~~

You break away from Oikawa for the moment as your parents and Jun walk up to you. The expressions on their faces were all different but they all seemed to hold the same thoughts. You slowly understood that that your parents weren't very good at expressing themselves with words all that well so when your mom came up to you and brushed your hair so gently away from your face and your dad gave a miniscule nod, you knew that even if it was just today, they had enjoyed themselves.

Jun gave you a light pat on the shoulder, smiling down at you. "Thank you for inviting us today, will you be heading home with us?"

You shook your head. "I still have to some cleaning up to do after the exhibit closes, I'll come home a little later." You turn to your parents with a beaming smile. "Thank you for coming today, I really appreciate it."

Your dad just grunts and turns his head, rubbing the back of his neck as your mom giggles at his response. She turns to you and winks lightly. "Just make sure we can come to any future ones alright?"

You nodded your head eagerly at her words as she shoots you a smile you weren't accustomed to be at the receiving end of. Approval. She waves you goodbye as her arm links onto your dads as they walk away.

Jun stays behind for a moment, handing you a business card. "Oh, here's my number. Call me if something comes up."

Your head tilts slightly in confusion. "Hm? Like what?"

He gives you a look, letting you know you'd hear about it soon. "Don't worry, you'll know when it happens." He smiles at you softly. "You've been looking through art schools right?"

You let out a disgruntled noise. "I guess. But there's none in the area. I'd have to live in a dorm but that'll be pushing it with the funds."

His lighthearted laugh makes you raise your brow at him, wondering what was so amusing about the situation. "Where there's a will, there's a way!" He gives you a little wink and chuckles, "a little luck is good too."

With that, he says his goodbyes and walks off to catch up with the parents. Your eyes blink slowly, trying to process what he was trying to tell you. Something big was going to happen soon, but what would it be?

Oikawa stops beside you soon after. "Need any help cleaning up?"

Your head tilts at his sudden offer but the next few words that follow after make you understand why he offered in the first place.

"In exchange for a free meal of course~ I'm so hungry!"

"Was the snacks in the back not enough?"

"Well I wouldn't be asking if they were!"

~~

After you had finished cleaning up, you had invited Ami and Tadashi to join you two, to which they agreed. Ami clung onto your arm, much to Oikawa's displeasure since he wasn't able to do the same. She grinned up at Oikawa and teased him, saying that he couldn't hog you all the time and that you needed to celebrate with everyone. He just huffs at her words, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking away—a little peeved that he couldn't disagree.

Like the financially stable teens you were, you all ended up grabbing some food at the convenience store and decided to have a spontaneous picnic at the park. It was somewhat amusing, everyone still dressed up and buying a little snack to eat. Being true to your word, you asked Oikawa what he wanted to eat so you could get it for him. He grins and unsurprisingly chooses milk bread.

Once everyone had bought their food, you guys all decided to find a quiet space in a park, the very same one that you have come to more often in this past month. Everyone agreed upon a more secluded area so there wouldn't be as much questioning looks at the four of you being dressed as you were—well mostly everyone. Oikawa was having a blast seeing people double take at his appearance, him following up with a wink at each person that did so.

You roll your eyes at his antics and trudge forward, leaving Oikawa to his own devices. It doesn't take long for him to return by your side, leaving a gap between you two as you guys walked. You were surprised when you found yourself anticipating his arm slung on your shoulder or for him to just be clung onto your side, even though it made it more difficult to move. Giving him a side glance, he immediately takes notice and shoots you a smile. You blinked up at him until it finally clicked.

He was actually listening to your complaints from earlier. He was giving you your personal space like you asked.

As much as that made you grateful, you didn't want the gap between you two to continue to stay there. Subtly, you bump your shoulder to his arm lightly. You weren't sure what to say to him but you wanted him to act like he usually did.

He blinks at you in confusion and your nose scrunches at the fact that you actually had to say something. "...Thanks for respecting my personal space." You mumble out, a little embarrassed at what you had just implied.

Oikawa takes in your words before his face brightens into a broad smile, his arm slinging onto your shoulder not even a second later. He hums happily as you two walk on with Ami and Tadashi.

It seems that in the end, you've let Oikawa know you got used to him anyway. You snuck a side glance at his sunny expression. At least you knew that if he did abuse the information you gave him, he would respect and listen to what you had to say.

~~

Finally arriving at a suitable area to eat snacks and hang out, everyone settled onto the soft grass and started opening up their packages. Ami lifts up her drink and shoots you a wink. "Cheers to [Name]'s first art exhibition!"

Oikawa and Tadashi follow suit as you shift in your spot, embarrassed at the sudden attention. You take a small sip from your drink and look towards your three close friends before giving them a beaming smile. You lift your drink soon after. "Cheers!"

Everyone gives a light hearted laugh at the sunny atmosphere and begins to dig into their snacks after the cheers were out of the way. A little while later, Tadashi offers you some of his chips, tilting the bag of chips in your direction.

"Hey [Surname], do you want some?" He gives you a gentle smile and you nod your head at his offer, reaching your hand over and opening your mouth to say yes. As you do so, another hand cuts off your attempts to get some chips and your eyes trail from the hand to Oikawa's hard expression directed at Tadashi. You open your mouth once more to complain when the said chip you wanted to take was popped into your mouth, a finger pressing your lips shut.

You blink in surprise but you instinctively chew as your eyes dart from Tadashi's stunned expression to Ami's excited ones. When you look to Oikawa, you quirk your brow at the mischievous look on his face before looking down at the finger still pressed on your lips.

He takes his finger off your lips gently as soon as you swallow the chip he fed you before giving you a smug smile. "And that is how you feed someone~"

Ami is clung to your side the moment Oikawa utters those words and you're bombarded with questions as you give Oikawa a narrow glare when he hums nonchalantly, his head turned away from you.

You let out a huff as you grabbed the roll of milk bread away from his side so he wouldn't be able to have anymore, took a slice and roughly bit into it, shooting Oikawa a smug smile of your own at his now crestfallen expression.

Two could play that game.

~~

As the sun started to set, everyone started packing their things and parting in different directions to head home. Tadashi left first, getting a text from his dad about some things he had to organize for another exhibit the following day and Ami left next when her little brother called to tell her to come home for dinner soon.

This left you with Oikawa again who now made it a habit to walk you home most of the time after that day you invited him over for dinner. The walk home with Oikawa was a quiet and peaceful one which was surprising considering the antics you two had pulled against each other today. You two walked side by side, his arm slung around your shoulder along with his light hums which filled up the silence between you two, giving it that slight Oikawa charm that you had grown used to.