"Uh..." Sohinki said, his mouth hung open. Joven and Lasercorn looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Ian and Anthony didn't know either, "Uh..." he said again.
"We...should go," Ian suggested, and the four got up, leaving Mari and Sohinki alone in the hotel room. Mari looked at him.
"You like me?" she asked again, crossing her arms. Sohinki swallowed, and took a deep breath.
"Yes," he admitted, "I do."
"How come you never told me?" she asked, sitting down on the couch.
"Well, I'm not really good with words around you," Sohinki explained, "I try to say something, but my brain thinks something else, and then they get mixed up. I get nervous around you a lot," Sohinki ran his hand through his hair, "I mean, you're great. You're cute, and you love video games, which is awesome, but I feel like I'd never be good enough for you," he admitted. Mari didn't say anything for a while, just taking in everything Sohinki had said. Finally she spoke.
"Matt," she said softly, "Why would ever think you're not good enough for me? You treat me like me. We play video games together, we make fun of each other, and we really good friends, and I like that about us," Sohinki slowly nodded, unsure of where this conversation was going, "And..well, to be honest, I like you too," she admitted, "I've liked you for a while, but...I never knew how to tell you. I mean, I had feeling when you offered me part of your hotel room, but when I saw the restaurant done up like it was, I knew," she said, smiling.
"Uh, yeah. The restaurant," Sohinki said, and made a mental note to thank his friends for that later.
Mari got up and walked over to Sohinki, and sat down next to him. She reached over and took his hand, squeezing it, "You're a great guy, and I'm lucky to have you in my life," she said softly, and leaned over to kiss his cheek. Sohinki turned bright red.
"Thanks," he mumbled, and Mari giggled.
"You're cute when you're nervous."
The next day, as soon as Sohinki and Mari went downstairs for breakfast, everyone knew. They all had big goofy grins on their faces, and had once again, forced them to sit next to each other, but this time, Sohinki didn't mind. They sat down, and his mom reached over and patted his shoulder, smiling. His dad nodded with approval, while each of his friends just grinned.
Lasercorn's grin looked creepy, as usual, while Joven looked deranged, Ian and Anthony looked like creepers, and Wes and Flitz looked normal. Max was busy on Twitter. Sohinki rolled his eyes, and began helping himself to the breakfast buffet.
After breakfast, Mari and Sohinki decided to go for a walk, leaving the others behind to do their own thing, "You know, this trip turned out to be better than I expected, even if there was some slight issues," Sohinki said, as they walked along a bridge over the river Sienne. Mari nodded, and they stopped to look out over the horizon.
"It's sad that we have to go back to our normal lives," Mari said, smiling.
"Our lives are anything but normal," Sohinki pointed out, and Mari punched him in the arm. She looked down, and saw a bunch of locks on the bridge.
"What are these doing here?" she asked, examining one.
"Well, I read online that if couples lock their locks on the bridge, then their relationship lasts forever," he explained, and Mari looked at him, "That's what I read anyways. You knows if it's true," Mari smiled, and reached into her purse. She pulled out a lock, "Where did you get that?" he asked.
"Marzia made me buy it," she explained, "She can be very persuasive," Sohinki nodded. Mari knelt down, and placed the lock on the bridge, "There. We'll see how well this love bridge works," she said, and stood up. Sohinki placed an arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
The two stood in silence, just listening to the sounds of Paris, until Sohinki's stomach growled. His face went red, and Mari chuckled.
"Let's go find a café and get a snack, then we can go to the Eiffel tower," Mari suggested, and kissed him on the cheek. Sohinki nodded, and smiled.
Everything was falling into place.