"You…cheated…" Annie said in between pants, her hands on her knees.
"You're just a slowpoke."
Her head shot up. "I am not! You always start before we say 'go'!"
Iwa smirked. "Maybe."
She pushed him. "God why am I with you?"
He chuckled, "Because you love me."
"I hate you." She laughed, nudging his chest again. She inhaled deeply, trying to steady her rapidly beating heart. As she looked from the tree where they had begun their race, to the gate where they were now, she couldn't help but feel nostalgic. "Hey…" she said slowly. He looked at her, lowering his water bottle.
"Do you remember when we met?"
He blinked a few times. "Not really." He continued to drink his water.
She scoffed. "Well me neither."
Iwa smiled. She really made it too easy for him. But maybe after all this time, he just knew which buttons to push.
"You hit me that day too." He said.
Her eyes widened. "Yeah…I did."
…
"Oy."
Eight year old Iwa looked up from his desk to find a girl with black hair and even blacker eyes staring at him. "Yeah?"
"You're fast right? I wanna race you." She clung to her book.
He blinked at the girl. He didn't even know who she was. She was in his class but they had never talked until now. He pressed his lips together. "I don't race girls. They're slow."
She furrowed her brow. He expected her to cry or call him mean or something. But she stuck out her book and hit him flatly on the head. "Not all girls are the same." She said.
"Ow, geez, what was that for?" he rubbed his head. It throbbed slightly from the hit.
She bit her lip and held the book behind her back. "Sorry. My mom says I have a bad temper. I didn't hurt you did I?"
He quickly dropped his hand from his head. "Of course not. Girls don't hit hard."
She got that same look on her face and he noticed her start to raise the book again.
"Ok, ok! I'll race you."
Her lips broke into a grin. "Awesome! Afterschool?"
"Whatever." He grumbled.
…
"I beat you that day."
"Because you cheated back then too." she snapped.
He laughed, throwing his arms around her shoulders. Somehow they had become best friends. And somewhere along the way, he had realized he wanted her by his side. If it were up to him, their relationship wouldn't be a secret. But it was what she wanted, so he'd do it. He didn't fully understand her reasoning, but he didn't really understand girls to begin with, so he tried to let it go.
But the truth was they barely got to see each other as is. With his volleyball and her softball, they were both kept pretty busy. So on days like these, when it was just them, racing like they were still little kids…he was happy.
Annie couldn't help but smile when she looked at Iwa. He had a pretty goofy smile, the idiot. But it made her heart throb; not that she'd tell anyone of course.
Iwa had always had bad timing. And when he had finally asked her out, in an awkward spewage of emotions, it had been right after she had given a speech to her softball team about how independent she was and how she didn't plan on getting a boyfriend. So the first word she breathed out in reply to his confession was 'goddamnit', which won her quite the confused and angry response. When she thought back to it, it sort of made her laugh. Either way though, she was glad it finally happened.
She'd been waiting nearly eight years, after all.
A/N: So watcha think? Cute? I'm falling in love with their relationship lol!
Mish: Omg now I have to feverishly work to make sure the angst is angsty enough *sweats*