Moving on, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter for this week! Learning from my past mistake, I took Saturday to properly revise and edit the chapter to give you guys the most polished version. Thank you for your patience, comments and votes!

Also, LOOK AT THIS GUYS it's fanart from a wonderful artist referencing the chapter Progression: http://kagurachama.deviantart.com/art/Progression-Part-1-620391817

**so sorry everyone!! I thought I clicked publish on Sunday but I realized today that it was still a draft...

________

You would call today a sort of lazy day for yourself. It was raining hard outside, the water droplets knocking on your window as you snuggled up into your sheets with a hot mug of hot chocolate and one of your favorite movies playing on your laptop.

Today the movie served as extra background noise as your focus was not on the laptop but rather the phone you held with your other hand. It seems that Oikawa had also stayed home today, taking care of his nephew Takeru. You weren't sure how he was able to respond back so quickly to your texts if he was preoccupied with babysitting duty.

Ever since you asked for that photo a couple months back and he got your number, he had been taking full advantage of it. Luckily Oikawa was actually pretty useful in terms of taking really nice shots during his early morning runs or when he stops you to take a picture of the sunset before you guys head off to the train. However, there were still times when he would just spam you mercilessly, from just randomly stating what he had planned for the day to complaining about the genius setter 'Tobio-chan' and super ace 'Ushiwaka-chan'. He never actually corrected you when you misnamed that captain from Shiratorizawa as Ujikama, Oikawa saying that it was a better fitting name for such a guy. You didn't press it any further since you noticed Oikawa was quite pleased you misnamed him for some reason.

Recently, Oikawa had started a new habit of texting you early morning before he headed out for practice (to your dismay) and then sometime at night when he was headed off to bed. It would be something like:

♥ ✌

And...

☆ ♥

You weren't used to getting such texts every morning and late night but you had gradually grown fond of it, responding to his ridiculously early morning texts and late night texts without fail. Somewhere along the line, just like how Oikawa would naturally just sling his arm on your shoulder, you found yourself anticipating those little actions from him.

There were times when his texts would lack the usual energy it would hold (plus the lack of emojis and symbols was a definite red flag) where you would take the reins and send him ridiculous photos or cute animals just to get his mind off of whatever had upset him that day. If that didn't do the trick, you would give him a call and just chat about lighthearted topics—it usually perked him up right away.

But there were also those rare moments, usually around late at night when both of you guys had trouble sleeping, and would just share little tidbits of yourselves that the other didn't know about. Asking each other random questions like 'what's your favorite food?' or 'cat or dog person?'.

You found yourself treasuring each every one of those moments, glad to have found such a precious friend. That said precious friend also being able to motivate you in ways you couldn't and also able to support you when you had no strength to. You couldn't deny that Oikawa could get incredibly childish at times (even more so with Tadashi around for some reason) but you also couldn't deny times when he'd show moments of maturity, remembering that time he had comforted you so gently when you were distressed about Jun's yearly visit.

Feeling your phone buzz, you turn your attention to it after spacing out and upon seeing the text you let out an amused chuckle. You weren't even fazed about his selfies at this point and you found that he had his go-to selfie poses. Today it was a photo with his nephew, you chuckling at the contrasting amounts of energy where Oikawa was beaming, him and his nephew almost cheek to cheek as they grinned at the camera with their peace signs.

Placing your hot coco on your side table, you promptly replied to his text.

You grinned just knowing that Oikawa was pouting at your message.

☹

The playful banter continues on through the texts, your eyes glued onto your phone screen rather than the laptop that was playing movies. There was a never a dull moment when you texted with Oikawa—somehow both of you guys always had something to talk about.

He would mix up his texts with photos to give you some inspiration for future works (and those selfies you told him to stop sending) plus videos he found interesting (mostly relating to volleyball). Most of the time he would ask you if you thought a certain move the player made in the video was cool and when you'd say yes you'd find him practicing it when you came to his practices. He would say that he'd make it even cooler or something along those lines.

It was also nice to know that he seemed to respond to your texts right away as well.

You never doubted that Oikawa wasn't a hard worker and just seeing the efforts he put into your friendship made your heart burst into warmth. There was a lot of things he made you feel, too much to file through each and every one, but most of all he made sure that you felt loved and cared for. He was that little sunshine after a rainy day.

Your attention was pulled away when you heard a light knock on your door. You let out a soft hum, just loud enough to let whoever was outside the door know that it was okay to come inside.

When the door opens, you surprisingly see your dad who was stiff by the door. You give him a questioning look as you see him fiddling with what seems to be a wrinkled pamphlet in his hands. After an awkward second passes, your dad walks up to you and passes you the wrinkled pamphlet. You're uneasy about it until you actually get a good look at what it said. An art university?

Your head snaps up from the pamphlet in disbelief as your jaw slacks from the unexpected event. Eyes unblinking, you waited for your dad to elaborate.

"It's by Jun's workplace and he has already informed us that you can stay there if you decide to apply." His voice is gruff and he's not looking you in the eye, feeling rather vulnerable about not being in his element. "It looks like a good school but you can do further research to see if this is the kind of uh...styles...you want to study." You had to hold in a chuckle at how he tried to throw in some terms that he probably read from Jun's book.

Your eyes softened at your dad, it wasn't unknown in the family that he had the most trouble expressing himself with words and for him to continue to try was more than enough. Gripping tightly to the pamphlet, you give him a bright smile. "Thanks dad."

He nods stiffly and makes a move to leave your room. "Good luck." He quickly shuffles out of the room, forgetting to close your door.

You just sit on your bed for a moment longer at what your dad just told you. Being it that he was a man of few words, those words meant the world to you. He thought you could do it. That thought alone made your day brighten even further, even if it was so gloomy and rainy outside.

Your mom pops into your room with a grin when she sees what you're holding in your hands. "I see he finally got to give it to you!" She walks over to you and sits on the side of your bed, smiling gently at you. "We took some time to research the school and I think it did have some of the...elements...you had in your paintings?" She smiles sheepishly at you, when she notices you have yet to say anything.

Glancing at the pamphlet in your hands, you quickly skim through it and nod. "Actually, it is similar to what I'm doing right now." You lift your head to face your mom again with a smile. "Sorry, I'm just a little overwhelmed right now..." you trail off. "...I mean the good kind!" You quickly add.

Your mom lets out a little laugh before softly patting your cheek. "Keep it up." As she stands from your bed, she turns to you with her hands on her hips. "Anyway, I have to start dinner. But can you pick up some ingredients? We might run out."

You nod and shuffle out of your sheets. "Yeah, that's fine by me." Grinning you add, "would this be considered a thank you from me?"

"No reason to thank us for anything!" She chuckles as she leaves your room. "But I do hope you thanked that Oikawa boy~"

Before you could tell her to elaborate as to why she said that, she's out of your room, only leaving behind a list of things to buy that was subtly on your bed. You let out a sigh. This family always seemed to have something up their sleeve.

It also reminded you to text Jun as soon as possible, finally figuring out what he meant by you finding out soon. He had left a couple days ago after your art exhibition and it made you realize why the parents were always so thrilled when he visited. Jun was pretty great, you agreed.

After giving yourself that reminder, you grab the list off your bed and walk to your closet to quickly get dressed before grabbing your umbrella off the hook.

As you were headed out the door, you glanced out the window to see that it had stopped raining even though the sky remained gloomy. You hang the umbrella back, not wanting to hold extra things if you would bring back groceries.

~~

"Haah~" You sigh out, your voice drowned out by the rain hitting harshly against the pavement. Your arms ached as you switched the bag of groceries back and forth from each arm, not willing to place them on the ground and potentially get some of the items wet.

To your dismay, you realized you forgot your phone at home while you were in a rush to get the groceries before it got too dark. To add onto that, it had unfortunately gotten pretty dark, your only source of light being a dull light from the convenience store close by your place.

You stiffened when you saw a shadow overlap with yours as you stared hard at the ground, only hearing the sound of the rain hitting against an umbrella. You held your breath when the shadow continued to stay overlapped with yours, your eyes drilling itself on the ground to not make eye contact.

"...What are you staring at Rudolph?"

The nickname snaps your head up to face Oikawa's questionable gaze before turning your attention to another person standing beside him with his own umbrella. You quickly identified him as Oikawa's nephew Takeru given that Oikawa had been sending you photos of both him and Takeru earlier today.

"Spotty, you scared me." You held up your hand to your heart to steady your racing heartbeat. You give him a tired stare, the pain in your arms turning into a dull one. "By the way, what were you guys doing here anyway?"

"Uncle Tōru took me to a park close by here!" Takeru piped up.

Oikawa cuts in. "I figured that he would like a park like that!" He takes in your situation after he finishes speaking and without another word, Oikawa takes the bags from your hands and slips his arm around your shoulders. You're cramped under the umbrella with him considering that his umbrella was only meant for one.

His arm pulled you tightly against his side as he urged you to start walking. Literally pressed against him, you tried your best to walk at a steady pace. You almost trip when you hear a little voice cut through the rain shower.

"...Are you guys dating?" Takeru walks up to your side and gives you a look over.

The hand on your shoulder drops as Oikawa quickly moves between you two, one of his hands still holding the umbrella over your head with the groceries and the other pressing rather hard on his nephew's head. "Ah~ You're too young to know such things!"

You pop your head around Oikawa to respond to Takeru. "If anything, this guy is too young to know such things." You point at Oikawa discreetly, making Takeru giggle at your antics.

Oikawa just grumbles after that before resuming his position with his arm wrapped around your shoulder, pulling you tightly against his side again. When you finally get a good look at Oikawa, you notice that one side of his arm is soaked. He takes notice of where your attention was at before giving you a grin. His hand squeezes your shoulder lightly when he notices the look you're giving him.

"Don't say anything, you're going to ruin the moment."

"I think you did that just fine without my help."

He lets out a resigned sigh. "You can't even last a minute without being snarky with me."

"Just like you can't last a minute being flirty with me?" You retort, raising your brow at him.

His cheeks puff up a little as he mumbles out, "...I'm not like that with everyone."

"Sure, sure." You reply dismissively, finding it hard to believe.

Oikawa lets out a disgruntled sigh when he catches the tone of your response, pouting slightly.

The rest of the walk to your house is idle talk, just getting to know Takeru and seeing a different side of Oikawa with his nephew around. Little by little, both your paths continued to intertwine and twist together as the both of you guys got more involved in each other's lives in and out of school.

Soon after, you finally reach home, Oikawa handing back your groceries and giving you a light pat on the head. "You're lucky you have me around aren't you?"

You couldn't help roll your eyes at his surge of confidence but nonetheless agree with him, taking delight in seeing his smug smile turn into what would be similar to an expression a dog would make when it's been praised by its owner. He starts to raise his arms for a hug before you left to which you just gave a light poke on his chest to counteract it, rolling your eyes at him.

"Good night Tōru-kun." You hold in a snicker at his apparent pout on his face before you turn to his nephew. "Good night to you too, Takeru-kun."

The two boys said their goodbyes to you and then you finally got to your front door to open it. As you do so, you jump when you see your mom at the door with an umbrella in her hand. She also jumps, surprised that you were there and not as soaked as she thought you'd be.

Before she could ask the obvious question, you just explained that you had run into Oikawa when you were taking shelter under the convenience store. The corners of her lips twitch up into a smile, like she knew something that you didn't.

"Hm, he's such a good friend, isn't he?"

You let out a hum as you nod, passing her the groceries and taking off your shoes as you do so. "He lets me know for the both of us, to be honest."

Your mom chuckles at your response. "Well he certainly let your father and I know that you were such a good friend to him that day he came over for dinner." Her eyes twinkled and you could tell she was withholding information from you. It was beginning to be a pattern that you weren't particularly fond of.

She only grins at your exasperated expression and lightly nudges your back. "Go and get cleaned up, I'll get dinner finished soon!"

You begrudgingly do as told and make your way to your room, thinking over the little bits of information you received. You couldn't help but smile. It was funny to know that the first thing he would say in front of your parents is how good of a friend you were.

You couldn't help but feel a little guilty about teasing him too much today. You'd make sure to make it up to him as soon as possible.

~~

Meanwhile, the moment you stepped inside your home, Takeru turns to Oikawa with a mischievous glint in his eye. "So that's why you wanted to take me to this particular park..."

Oikawa just huffs at his nephew and pushes his back to walk back to the train station. He flushes slightly when his nephew continues to press him with questions.

"You know, this is the first time I saw one of your girlfriends!"

"...[Name]-chan isn't my girlfriend or anything..." Oikawa grumbles, begrudgingly accepting the unfortunately true fact.

Takeru hums in response before voicing out, "maybe you should ask her out or something." He grins up at Oikawa. "That's usually what you do when you like someone, right?"

Oikawa was so used to having girls confess to him and then date them after that the idea of asking you out before he even knew if you were interested made him anxious. You weren't just someone he was romantically interested in either. You managed to become such a precious friend to him as well. He wouldn't know how to take it if you distanced yourself from him if he impulsively told you—not that you'd take him seriously anyway.

But he was a hard worker. He always worked hard to reach his goals.

Nodding to himself, he reminds himself that he'd work hard to make sure you understood each and every bit of his feelings.

Oikawa lets out a soft chuckle, giving Takeru a light pat on the head. "Maybe I should."

~~

Right before you headed to bed, prepared to snuggle in your sheets, you hear your phone vibrate on your side table.

Reaching out for your phone, you sit at the side of your bed and look down to see what the message was about. To your surprise, it wasn't the usual good night text.

You stare at the text for a while until you reasoned that this would be a good way to make it up to him.

Placing the phone back on the side table while you waited for his response, you snuggle into your covers before reaching out to grab your phone.

You roll your eyes at his text.

You could almost hear him scoff as you imagined he was furiously typing down a response.

Sighing to yourself, you agree with his somewhat suspicious way of asking you to hang out. Glancing at the clock, you tell Oikawa that you two should probably sleep if you guys would have energy tomorrow. He agrees and ends his text off with his usual.

♥

You snuggle in your sheets and close your eyes as you settled in bed, also finding yourself looking forward to tomorrow.