The doorbell rang, and Eva went to open the door. Jonas was standing outside, waiting.
"Hi." He said.
"Hi." She said.
He smiled at her and came inside. He took off his coat and hat at the entrance. They stood there in silence for a moment.
"Tea?" Eva asked, trying to break the awkward silence between them.
"Yeah." He said, and followed her into the kitchen.
Eva served them tea, and kept looking up across the room at Jonas as they drank it. He was sitting at the counter, playing with his tea bag, pulling it in and out of the mug. He took a sip and burnt himself.
"That was warm." He said, making a face.
Eva smiled at him, twisting the string of her tea bag around her finger.
They both played with their tea bag strings and mugs, Eva looking over at Jonas from time to time.
They eventually went over to the window, Jonas standing right beside it, and Eva looking at him from farther away.
"Do you remember the first time we kissed?" She asked him.
He looked down at his mug and smiled.
"What? Why are you laughing?" She had come closer to the window, right across from him, and was now laughing too.
"Of course I remember that." He said, rubbing his eye.
"Yeah? What do you remember?" She asked, leaning against the window. "Yeah. What is it?"
He was looking out the window, remembering. "It's a bit embarrassing." He looked down and laughed, then looked back up at her.
"No. Say it." She smiled at him, wanting to know what he was thinking.
He looked down at his tea and bit his lip. "Um, the thing is that I didn't know if you were feeling the same as I was, right?" He looked up at her, then back down at his mug. "And since you were best friends with my girlfriend, it was a pretty big risk to take. If it hadn't worked out, it would have been really embarrassing. So I just... waited for a sign." He finally said.
"What kind of sign?" She asked, leaning forward ever so slightly.
"Um, a sigh that I should kiss you." He raised his eyebrows and smiled, seeming a bit shy. Eva smiled back.
"And... you know that song "Take Me To Church", that was playing all the time?"he asked.
"Yes." She answered.
"I figured that if that was the next song that came on, then I'll go for it." He said.
"So did it come on?" Eva asked, intrigued.
"No, it didn't." They both laughed. "They played this Kygo crap..." he looked down and laughed. "But then it was you who kissed me." He looked at her and took a sip of his tea.
"It was me who kissed you." She said, sounding like she had just realized it. "What you didn't know, was that I was thinking the exact same thing." She said.
"Oh yeah?" He raised his eyebrows.
"I was thinking... I need a sign." She said, pretending to think back.
"Yeah?" He asked, playing along to her little game.
"So if the next song was Kygo, then I would kiss you." She said.
"So funny." He said, laughing. "But that wasn't really why you kissed me, was it?" He asked, not really looking at her.
"No." She said, looking at the floor. "That wasn't why." She looked out the window, then at Jonas. "I kissed you because I couldn't help myself. It wasn't like I got together with you because it seemed cool." She said, sounding a little sad.
"No?" He asked.
"No." She shook her head. "And you accusing me of that, actually made me pretty angry. Because it felt like I had to give up everything, just to be with you. I ditched my best friends. So you telling me that I'm just doing what others think is cool... and that I don't have my own opinions, that's so damn unfair. Because it's not true. Because I chose you. And it was... a choice. And I didn't do it to be popular." She was starting to sound angry now. Angry and determined.
"A choice...?" He echoed.
"Yes. A choice. A choice that I made on my own, without anyone else's opinion." She said, looking straight at him.
He looked at her for a moment, unsure of where this conversation was going.
"When we got together, and you had just been with Ingrid, I was a really shy and insecure person, and it didn't help that my best friends just left me after that. You were the only person who was there for me, and I valued that more than anything. And then I started meeting your friends, like Isak, and we all just got along so well, that I didn't want to do anything to mess it up."
A single tear slid down her cheek. "So yeah, I guess I understand why you think I can't decide anything on my own, or don't have opinions. But, well, that's just the way it is..." She looked away, wiping her face.
"Hey, look at me..." Jonas reached out his hand and touched her face. "I know you've had a hard couple of years. I just want you to know what you want, and what you think is important. That's all." He smiled at her.
She nodded, holding his hand against her face. Jonas smiled and leaned in closer to Eva, almost so that their lips were touching.
"You're the only girl I want to be with, okay?" He looked deep into her eyes. She nodded.
He touched his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. "I love you."
"I love you too." She said, and kissed him softly.
They stayed there for a moment, holding each other.
"Come on." Jonas said after a while, pulling Eva by the hand.
"Where are we going?" She asked, confused bit with a smile on her face.
"Out. We're going to go celebrate our newly founded relationship." He smiled that brilliant smile of his at her.
She gave a little laugh, but she was happy they were going out. "Okay, let's go."
They put on their coats, hats, gloves, and scarves, and were out the door; two lovers, hand in hand.