Summary: Nathanael is an art teacher in a high school, sees a student of his struggling with unrequited love. Feeling empathy for his student, he tells a moment of his past, and how he hasn't fully moved on.

Rinku: Honestly have no idea where this came from, other than speculating how Nathanael would be as an adult. My personal headcanon is that he would be a famous artist, known around the world, but I honestly just love the idea of him being a humble teacher, willing to help a student. Soooo I'm kind of torn.

Honest question, how do you think he would be as an adult?

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16 year-old Nathanael had always dreamed of becoming famous, being known and well respected for his art.

But 26 year-old Nathanael would love nothing more than to smack his 16 year-old self. To knock into his younger self that fame was nothing compared to seeing a student improve their art, to be the person they relied on.

And he was fortunate to have so many students passionate about art. So many of his students had many different styles. Several of his students had very cartoonish styles, ranging from a style similar to Butch Hartman to just creating landscapes. One of his students had a style great for political cartoons. Two of his students were capable of drawing in many manga styles.

There were all very artistic in their own right. But the one student that stood out was 15-year-old Mary Frazer, a freshmen. She had an art style very fit for fashion design.

A lovely student. Very kind, very willing to help out her peers. She was the embodiment of the perfect student for many teachers, despite being new to the school.

Mary had spent time helping him organize supplies after her class multiple times, as the next class was lunch for freshmen, so, many just ran out of the room, leaving a mess behind.

While she was shy, she still helped many whenever asked. But when they were alone, she was very outgoing, which struck him as odd, at first. But eventually he found out why.

Mary had been homeschooled, since pre-k, so she had never really spent time around people her age.  She spent her days with her parents, her uncles and aunts, who were all well educated, most of which didn't have kids her age. So, she was more used to being surrounded by people older than her. Due to her upbringing, she wasn't naive, instead, she was very mature.

But her shyness made her appear to be a target for bullies, something she had spoken to him about. He had talked to the principal, and they were currently dealing with those bullies.

Nathanael's concern for his student hasn't faded however. For the past week, he has noticed that her attention span in some of his lessons had been elsewhere. He had noticed the erased sketches of hearts on some of her worksheets. It wasn't until he saw her red rimmed eyes, that implied that she had been crying, that he finally decided to speak to her.

Unfortunately, it appeared to be a week that Mary decided to eat in the lunchroom.

Every time he was to call her to stay in his classroom so they could talk, she bolted from the room.

He never wanted to call her name in front of the whole class, to ask that she stay for a while, but she left him no choice. Thankfully, his students weren't the type to gossip about each other.

Once the rest of the students left, Nathanael called to Mary.

"Mary, come here and take a seat, please." He gestured to one of the seats near him.

Mary just sighed and walked over, shoulders slumped, and sat down.

Nathanael quickly grabbed one of his containers of food.

It was still lunch time after all.

He then sat on the chair opposite of Mary, after opening and placing the container at the center of the table.

It was filled with a lot a fruit, due to Rose pressuring him about eating healthier, and practically lecturing him how Takis wasn't a suitable lunch. Rose had filled the container to the brim with fruit.

Nathanael gestured for her to take some, after picking up a slice of apple for himself.

Mary picked up a grape.

"How have you been lately, Mary?" Nathanael asked curiously. He didn't want to just outright demand to know what's wrong. He didn't want to pressure her.

"I've been...fine." Mary muttered, placing the grape in her mouth.

A few seconds passed.

"Anything new happening? Make any new friends?" Nathanael asked, taking a bite out of the apple slice.

"Nah, just been by myself." Mary picked up another grape.

"I see." Nathanael finished his apple slice, then picked up an orange slice.

The hearts on her worksheets made him think that she had a crush on someone. Perhaps it was a student of his?

"Have you designed anything new? I loved that tux you designed a week ago. Believe me, I would wear it if it existed." Nathanael complimented.

Mary's design of a suit had been very interesting to say the least. The color had been very dark, a very deep purple, almost black. Yet the way Mary had colored it, the tux would be very vibrant. Mary had even written the type of fabric that could be used to make it. So much like her.

"Thanks." A small grin was given in his direction.

It warmed his heart.

He knew that she was insecure about her art, that because of her family, she didn't take much pride in what she could create. After all, her family, the Frazers, were invested in business.

What kind of business? He wasn't entirely sure, but after meeting Felix, Mary's father, for the first time, during a parent teacher conference, he could tell that Felix was the type to pressure.

Nathanael just smiled back.

They continued to eat fruit for a few more seconds, before Mary spoke up.

"Have you ever liked someone? Like have a crush on someone?" Mary's voice was so shy.

"Yeah, I have." Nathanael said honestly. And it hurt to remember the crush he had had on her.

"...Did you tell her?" Mary's voice was still so shy. He could tell that she didn't want to pry, but she wanted to feel a connection with him, so she could feel more comfortable telling him about her crush.

"I did tell her, but she got with someone else. To her, I was just a classmate." Nathanael sighed. It still stung, even after so many years.

"Oh." Empathy was evident in Mary's  eyes. "Yeah, I understand. I really like this guy in one of my classes, but turns he already has a girlfriend. It hurts, which is reallystupidformeto sayinthefirstplaceIshouldn'tevenbethinkingabout-"

"-Hey, it's alright, take a deep breath." Nathanael said calmly, seeing her face become increasingly red. He could see the hurt in her eyes.

Mary must really like the guy.

"Sorry." Mary said, after taking a few deep breaths.

There was silence for a few seconds.

"...Would you like to hear the story?" Nathanael asked.

"I do, but I don't want you to-"

"-Hey now, I'm offering." Nathanael said teasingly.

"O-ok." Mary's eyes were full of interest.

"Well, her name, was Marinette..."

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The next part for this will be a rather painful flashback for Nathanael. When will it go up? I'm not sure.

Until the next update!