A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...
Song for this chapter: Dreaming of you - Seleena
Chapter 10: Trying hard to make it through the night
After Tezuka's awkward questions about being 'datable'; Ayame's time at the Tezuka residence had been extremely fun. They had studied the English language for a long while afterwards; and she had made sure he knew how to say 'I am datable', before they had finished. Afterwards, they were called down by Kunimitsu's mother, who quizzed her all the way through dinner; whilst her father, and husband, berated, and laughed at her. Ayame didn't mind a bit though; she found her questions rather amusing. Her short stay in the Tezuka household had told her that the Tezuka family was full of wonderful, welcoming people. She hoped she would get the chance to visit more often in the future. Kunimitsu had even made the studying part fun.
Being the kind man he was, Tezuka's father; who had asked her to call him Katsuro, rather than Tezuka san, had even driven her home afterwards. Something she was somewhat grateful for; seeing as she would rather not ask Nanjiro to drive her home – he might have wanted to come in and introduce himself – that would be quite embarrassing, to say the least.
Still putting on a bit of a show for his mother – who had insisted on 'coming along for the ride', Kunimitsu had even walked her to her door, giving her a hug goodnight, before wishing her sweet dreams, and telling her the obvious – that he'd see her tomorrow. It had made her feel good though, like the time before, when she had wondered if he had, in fact, had a secret girlfriend. After the, interesting, question he had asked her earlier; she realised this was not, and probably never had been the case. His mother's reaction to her had also given her this hint.
He wasn't un-datable at all; she knew for certain. Once she had got in, and fought of her uncle's questions about the 'tall bloke' she had been spending time with, she lay on her bed and thought the whole issue over. Something she'd never done before; she'd never really thought about Tezuka so deeply; ever.
The most obvious fact was that he was handsome. So handsome, in fact, that many girls at school had dubbed him the 'king'. Fuji, of course, was the 'prince'. But she supposed that made him desirable, not datable, as such.
Other things that made him desirable were the fact that he was very intelligent, well off, and, amongst other things; very, very good at tennis; something that had made him a bit of a local celebrity. Which was also, apparently, something desirable.
The thing that made him datable, she thought to herself, foremost, was his great personality. Although, she supposed, most of the female species hasn't come across this great attribute; having been subjected to 'stoic' Tezuka Kunumitsu. She sighed; she'd have to work on this.
Other reasons were of course, his ability to compromise – which would definitely come in handy when deciding on dates; his obvious loyalty, and determination; which would see a relationship through to the end. Lastly, there was the fact that he was very loving, kind, and caring.
Sometimes she wondered if whether she should date him. Other times she realised that he'd never be interested in her, even if she did see him that way. She still, in all honesty, wasn't sure if she did or didn't. He was, she knew, all of the above, and more. Desirable and datable, for different reasons; but he was also her best friend, and friendship and love, from her experience, were very hard to distinguish between. For example; she loved Ryoma; but only a little more than she loved people like Momoshiro. She also loved her other cousin, Nanako, but only a little more than she loved her closest 'girlfriends', such as Sakura.
She sighed. She supposed she would have to figure it out sometime, now however, she was too tired, it would, and could, wait.
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As soon as they had returned home, after dropping Ayame off at her house, Tezuka had retreated to his room, and most importantly, to his bed. He had yanked off his clothes tiredly, and gone to bed in just his boxers. He couldn't even be bothered to change. He was too tired. Emotionally, not physically.
He lay there for hours, just thinking. He'd gone to bed very early, but he was still awake when his parents came upstairs to bed, and he heard them turn out the lights outside.
Even in the complete darkness, he just sat there and thought in the silence. He had realised today that he was in love with Echizen Ayame. He had never been in love before, and now he had managed to fall in love with one of, or maybe even his best friend. He wasn't truly sure how he felt about this. On the one hand, he felt relived. He had realised what his feelings in the past had been for; he realised he had felt jealous of the boys that got to be near her; and he did feel rejected earlier that day when she'd said they'd be nothing more.
Then he felt terrible; awful, scared, worried. She'd said nothing more. Was that true; could they really be nothing more than good friends; or was she just saying that because he was there; now he knew, that she knew, that he was eavesdropping; it threw everything out of proportion. Perhaps she was just saying that because that's what she thought he'd want to hear? Or maybe it was true; and she thought he knew it. Of course; he knew she didn't know how he felt about her. Or did she? Was that her subtle way of telling him that they would never be anything more to her. Nothing more. It sounded worse now, now he knew that he loved her.
He rolled over onto his back, as she had done earlier; with his head resting on his hands, staring at the blank ceiling. He wondered what she had thought while she was lying here. Did she think about him the way he was thinking about her? Doubtful. Truly doubtful.
He rolled onto his side; not realising how he was mirroring her earlier actions; he was too lost in thought. 'Do I tell her?' he asked himself. 'No', he thought, 'she'll just reject me the way she rejected Akio'.
Somehow he was beginning to pity that guy. Sympathise with him even. Now he knew what the guy had thought of before he had gathered the courage to tell Ayame how he felt about her. Although Tezuka was sure that he cared for Ayame far more than Akio ever could have. He didn't even know they were friends; he couldn't know her anywhere near as well as Tezuka did. She was undoubtedly not Akio's best friend – he didn't have anything to lose by asking her. Tezuka could lose a best friend.
Hours later, after thousands of thoughts had passed through Tezuka's head, he somehow managed to fall into a deep slumber. All of his dreams were filled with Ayame.
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Reviews? xx Short chapter...the next bit 'needs it's own box' as it were ;) xx