Disclaimer: I don't own The Middle or any of its characters.
The Letter
"Is this yours?"
Sue gulped when she saw the letter. "Yeah, I gave it to you years ago."
Sean arched an eyebrow at her explanation. "Well, I never got it. You had a crush on me?"
He never received the letter!
Butterflies crawled into her stomach; she didn't understand why she was so skittish. Five years ago, hesitation wasn't in her book, it just didn't add to her personality. However, college had changed her. Standing next to the boy - now man - she had a crush on made her feel anxious.
Where was a hole when you needed one?
Discovery
The air carried a whiff of caffeine, it relaxed him after his odd discovery.
He always suspected that Sue had a crush on him, the variables were always there. Her style in clothing took a different twist. She tried various attempts at gaining his attention, he recalled, and crowded around him when he was around. Yet, Sean ignored the signs because she was just a teenage girl with uncontrollable hormones. Besides, Sue Heck was not the type of girl he was attracted to. She was too quirky. Very.
Stealing a glance at her, he wondered if he made a mistake.
Beauty
Beauty, after all, came from within. When he was a teen, that statement was frowned upon by his friends and him. Girls were judged only on their looks and admiration for them. Scoring a hot chick was easy for him during those years. But can you blame a teen for perceiving girls like that? No, it was just how the world operated.
Looking at Sue, he realized he was rash to treat her like his best friend's dorky sister. He was always nice to her, but his thoughts of her weren't so wonderful. She didn't possessed absolute beauty on the outside, or had a great body like that of a model. But she carried grace in her movements, had a good heart, and best of all, was not afraid to speak her mind.
Two beautiful misty blue eyes peeked at his plain chocolate covered eyes. Those eyes fascinated him, for what reasons, he wasn't certain. Why hadn't he noticed the beauty behind them before? Was he really that clueless?
Silence
She felt chills as he kept on staring at her. What was he thinking of her? Why was he suddenly so quiet? Axl was right to get rid of that letter; it was immature of her to pour her feelings in a letter, and hoped for Sean to return them. There was no chance of that happening. Moments ago, her brother confessed that Sean never received the letter when she left it in the car. Until recently, Axl said that he gave Sean the letter just to witness his reaction. She trusted him, she wasn't immune to his foolish lies.
She didn't hate Axl, but sometimes, he irked her. Like when she started dating Darrin, he didn't like the idea at all because his dorky sister was seeing one of his best buds. Well, that was what she gathered from his feelings, but Axl was known to veil his true feelings in his uninterested self. For that, she loved him and forgave him for his childish remarks and attitude.
Still, she was puzzled at Sean's reaction.
Reaction
Why was his gaze locked on her? It was as if his vision was latched and locked on her face like those wicked eyes of an owl. Digesting these unexpected feelings, she supposed, must have taken a toll on him. His face remained the same shade of light peach as always. Warm, Comfortable and nice to look at as well. His expression was blankness, it was like analyzing a rock. She never considered that it would affect him this deeply, not after all these years. And he didn't have any feelings for her, did he? No, of course not.
Strange, indeed.
Thoughts
Beautiful. Smart. Kind.
She was all of those, plus more. The words that others spoke of her appalled him. Words or actions had no effect on her - she used to be the school's laughing-stock, but that didn't trouble her.
Sue Heck was an optimistic girl, and envisioned the world as a magical fairy tale where dreams came true. Others failed to understand her vision, and because of that, they took turns making fun of her. She woke up every day wishing for the best, and face the challenges ahead as if they were a light breeze.
Even, he wasn't as intrepid as she. The things she encountered on a daily base, and how she handled them, rendered him an admiration for her. If he were in her shoes, he didn't know how he would have acted. Frankly, he would win the crowd over with his witty comments, and his dashing good looks. It came back to this - he can't picture high school with him as an unpopular guy.
Sean laughed at the thought, then realized that he had stared at Sue for more than X minutes. God, he must have freaked her out already. What was he doing? Quickly, he adverted his gaze from her, and lowered his eyes on the TV screen.
Axl Returns
"Dork, you're still here!"
The turn of the knob had Sue gazing upwards to the possessor of the voice. It was none other than Axl. He dropped his bag on the floor, picked up the remote, and switch on the TV.
Axl turned around and saw Sean. "Hey, dude, has the dork been bothering you?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Shouldn't you be asking why I'm here?" Sean asked.
"It's cool, dude. Mom and dad let you in."
Sean remained still.
"Sue, can you bring us some snacks?"
She scoffed at his demands. "No." She crossed her hands around her waist.
"God, why can't you do anything?" He browsed through the channels. "Mom, Sue wouldn't get me snacks," he cried, his voice reverberated through the room.
"Mom isn't at home."
"Fine, I'll get it myself," he grumbled under his breath.
He vacated the room.
Confirmation
"Sue, look, I'm sorry for ignoring you." Sean ran a hand through his thick coarse brown hair. "I... I guess I overreacted. It was just a minor crush." He laughed uneasily.
"It's okay, really. You don't have to worry about it." She plastered a smile on her face.
He sighed. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Of course not. Everything's fine."
"Are you sure? Because if I did say something, or react a certain way. I'm sorry."
"You didn't do anything wrong," she stated, "Really, I mean it."
"I suppose you're right," he let out. "So, are you still dating Darrin?" Why did he say that?
"No, we broke up."
He lowered his gaze to the floor and swallowed. "Oh, I didn't know. I guess Darrin isn't ready to tell us."
She licked her chapped lips. "Actually, we decided to keep quiet about it. We were tired of the constant smothering," she said. "Don't tell Darrin that I let you in."
He laughed. "Yeah, I won't." He winked at her. "I'm going to join Axl in the kitchen. Can I fetch you anything?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm all right. Thanks for the offer."
He exited the room, and Sue couldn't help but grin.
End