Song: Please Be Patient With Me- Wilco

I'm sorry for this chapter in advance

Also, so many people keep adding this story to their reading lists??? Thank you?!???? And please, keep commenting and voting. It really makes my day, even if it's just silly little comments or advice or ideas or whatever!!

Oh, and don't forget to comment drawing requests on my previous chapter:)

Hinata had been wrong.

Sure, Kuroo was incredibly good looking- and yes, Kenma meant incredibly- but Kenma didn't even know how to start a conversation with the boy.

Instead, he settled on staring at him from across the room as Tetsurou spoke to some gray and black haired boy that was too loud.

Kenma tried not to get terribly upset. He should've expected this. When was the last time he'd tried to make friends? The only time he was decent at conversation was when he was around Hinata, and even then, he still felt like something was incredibly lacking in his social performance.

Still, he couldn't help but let his shoulders slump a little in disappointment. At himself, that is.

"Kenma?"

Suddenly, a tall, blonde boy was looking over Kenma, who froze like a deer in headlights.

"Are you the roommate that that shrimp Hinata was talking about the other day?" Tsukkishima wasn't being sarcastic- he seemed genuinely interested under the normal layer of looking bored, and Kenma picked up on this fact (while still trying to brush off the fact that Hinata had been talking about him).

His eyes drifted over to Kuroo, talking across the room.

After their fateful meeting, that gray haired boy named Bokuto had arrived. They'd been introduced, chatted a little, and then other people began arriving and it was like Kuroo just forgot about Kenma.

He tried to ignore the stinging feeling as he looked back at Tsukki. "Yeah. Kenma."

His hopes drooped further as Kuroo's laughter rang out around the room, making Kozume feel even lamer than before. Why wasn't Kenma like Hinata? Why was it so hard for him to speak in these sorts of situations? He'd give anything to just be someone else for a night....

Tsukki followed Kenma's gaze to the bedheaded kid across the room. Then, "Why don't you talk to him?"

Kenma's eyes opened a little too wide. Hands brought to one another, he toyed with them nervously. "No, I, uh... I don't actually know him, he's just someone that-"

"Yo, Kur-ass! Get over here! Kenma wants to talk to you!"

By the time Kozume processed what Kei had said, it was too late. Kuroo excused himself from his conversation with Bokuto, the pair doing an intricate handshake before parting, and Kenma felt the worst sort of feeling settle into his gut-- the feeling of being out of place. Everyone here knew one another, they were all friends. But Kenma? He was just an outsider.

As the handshake continued, Kozume whispered frantically to Tsukki. "Stop! Don't ask him to come over--"

Kei silenced him with raised eyebrows and a smirk. With a start, Kenma noticed Kuroo walking this way, and he looked back to Tsukki for help-- but the boy was already engaged in another conversation with a boy that had lightning on the tip of his hair. However, while still talking to the boy, Tsukki glanced over and gave Kenma a cocky grin topped by a wink.

Great. Kozume was completely on his own.

And Kuroo was almost here-- shit. What should he say?! What sort of reason should he come up with for interrupting Kuroo and his friend? Shit. Shitshitshitshitshi-

"Wassup', newbie?" Kuroo grinned, hands placed casually in his sweatpants. Kenma tried not to let the word 'newbie' sting; it didn't work. It was yet another reminder of how out of place he felt, of how he assumed everyone else saw him. "Did you need something?"

Kenma was internally panicking. "I, uh... I..."

Kuroo leaned in a little closer, a look of polite concern on his face. "Are you okay? You look a little green."

Say something, you idiot. He tried to think: What would Hinata do?

But his mind was blank.

He'd never been this embarrassed before; here, in front of a very cute and nice boy that he thought he'd be able to come to like, he was void of any and all thought, and his cheeks burned with the strength of a thousand suns, and he just really wanted to be anywhere or anyone else.

But Kuroo was still looking at him with that expectant look.

Why did everyone expect things from him? He never met their expectations, no matter how hard he tried to be more upbeat, more sociable, more, more... Everything. He didn't expect people to want to be around him-- he understood if they didn't. Because if he was them, he wouldn't want to, either.

"Kenma?" Kuroo repeated, looking quite concerned now. "Seriously, are you okay? Because I can go get a trash can if you feel like you're going to throw u-"

"I'm fine. Thanks." Kenma tried to smile, but his face didn't cooperate. Now that Kuroo mentioned it, he was feeling a knot in his stomach...  "Sorry to waste your time, but I... just remembered that I have somewhere to be-..."

He trailed off, the knot growing tighter.

Kuroo's lips tugged into a worried line. "Oh. Well, I guess we'll see you at the next meeting then?"

Kenma didn't want to lie. He'd already messed everything up, already let himself down like usual, and yet he couldn't stop himself. With a smile that had to be forced onto his face, "Yeah. Sure, I'll be there."

He thought of a book he'd read as a child-- Pinocchio.

Could Kuroo see Kenma's nose growing?

And yet Kuroo was suddenly smiling, a force so warming that Kenma found it hard to even look at him. The guilt was too much.

Instead, he excused himself and headed for the door, sneaking along conversations happening all around him, using his social invisibility to his advantage.

Just before Kenma reached the door, a voice rang from behind him. "Kenma, wait up!"

Kuroo placed his hand on Kenma's shoulder, a warmth that spread through his dumb cat shirt that he regretted wearing because it was embarrassing even though it was his favorite shirt, and he felt so stupid wearing it now because who wears a cat shirt to meet a potential crush, even if it was his favorite shirt and it was a present from Hinata, and he hated the fact that he wore it to meet Kuroo because he was supposed to be moving on, and why was he so--

"Next Tuesday, okay?" Kuroo murmured, gently tearing Kenma away from his thoughts. "Make sure you come."

Kenma placed a hand on the doorknob. He didn't look back at Kuroo's face, because he knew the expectant look that would be waiting for him when he did. Instead, he settled on, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Liar.

And as he dragged himself out into the hall, he could've sworn that he felt his nose grow.

Ok I'm sorry, this wasn't supposed to turn into another angst-fest (because heavens knows how many of those I've already had in this fic) but the ball was rolling and I didn't dare stop it........

Should I post more Kuroo+Kenma chapters in the future as my apology?? Or do a spin off of their relationship in a mini fic?