Jeremy stopped at the entrance gate to The Hermitage, gasping and outta breath. Darn it, why do I have to cut Phys Ed every day? His breath finally caught up with him, so he quietly came to the house making sure she wouldn't see him from her window.
The door creaked as it opened, really slowly. He was surprised Aelita didn't hear hear him and bolt. He realized this was more of a physical challenge than he thought. The floor was covered in debris and old possessions of the Hopper family. As if that wasn't hard enough, he had to tiptoe to escape detection of Aelita.
He creeped up the stairs, holding his breath a bit. He wished he could stop his heart from beating so loudly-it would surely give him away. He stopped just outside her door and heard her crying. No, crying was an understatement. She was in hysterical tears. Did- did I really cause her this much pain? He felt so terrible, he'd really hurt her. Well, he had to end this sooner or later.
Without the faintest idea of what he was going to do, Jeremy walked into the small, broken room. Aelita heard his footsteps and looked up quickly. She stared up at him for a moment, then looked down at the floor fast as lightning. She had meant it to show her shame, but Jeremy mistook it for hatred. He sighed and sat next to her.
His voice was shaky as he spoke; "Um, h-hey, A-Aelita. A-A-Are yuo okay-y?". Ugh, I sound like I'm choking, he thought.
"Yeah. I...I think." She spoke, sobbing a bit in-between words.
"I'm sorry. You must really hate me. I was a jerk, and I should've cared a little more. Can you forgive me?"
He was apologising? Aelita was in shock. She had absolutely no idea of what to say. She decided, stupidly, to keep her mouth shut.
"I see. You don't have to forgive me. I understand," He said glumly, assuming that's what she wanted. He got up to leave, but she shouted;
"Wait!"
"Yes?"
"I should be apologising. I know I hurt you one way or another, so you shouldn't feel bad about it!"
"But you tried to apologise before, but I was arrogant and," he struggled on this word, "Jealous."
"Then, we're at fault, I guess." Especially me, she added without speaking.
"In some ways, yeah. But, let's stop tearing ourselves apart here. Friends?"
She didn't reply, but threw her arms around him, and that was all he really needed.
"And, we still have to figure out who broke into the factory!" He added, at the worst possible time.
Aelita's eyes bulged, and she realized she was still in a lot of trouble.
