Chapter Twenty-One: A Better Time

I scratched away at the paperwork as Mei carefully massaged my shoulders. It had been several days since Mei and I had gotten together and I was still feeling drained from the excitement.

"You've been working really hard, Tomoya," she remarked as she carefully worked on my right shoulder with both hands. "Taking care of me, filling out this paperwork…" She grunted as she pushed into a knot. "I'm so glad we can work on this together again."

I grunted in response to the massage as I filled out Yohei's medical history for what seemed like the thousandth time. I felt Mei move from working on my shoulders to my upper back, and I made a mental note to thank her for it later. All of the stress from the last few days had really caused my back muscles to tighten up, so I really appreciated her work.

After several minutes of writing I put the pen down to rub at my right wrist. I moved it and rotated it this way and that, trying to work out the stiffness that had set in. My eyes fell closed as I leaned back in the chair, and I felt her hands slide down my chest and squeeze me like she was hugging me. I let myself relax and felt the back of my head gently settle into her chest…and sighed as she kissed the top of my head. "Thanks, Mei."

"For what?"

"For a lot of things. For helping with the paperwork. For being there to kick Yohei's ass when it needed it." I took hold of her hand and gently kissed the back of it. "For accepting someone like me."

"M-My pleasure," she said, her voice sounding a little husky. "I'm glad you're okay with someone like me."

I chuckled lightly. "Okay? I think you're the best thing that's ever happened to me." I turned my chair around, giving her enough time to step away before drawing her into my lap and wrapping my arms around her. "I'm really glad we met."

"Me too," she said, this time in a trembling voice as she rested her head on mine as she hugged it. "I'm so happy I could faint."

I chuckled again. "Listen to us, sounding all mushy."

"You don't like it?"

"It's not that. I guess…it's new." I felt my face heat up. "I've been having a hard time keeping up on the forms 'cause I've been looking forward to learning more about you. I like your energy."

"Tomoya…" She pulled away and looked into my eyes. She glanced down a couple of times before leaning in slowly…

"We'd…I'd…better get back to the forms," I said as I gently nudged her from my lap. As I turned back to my desk I kicked myself at the lost expression on her face. "Your brother is counting on us, and we can't let him down."

"T-Tomoya…"

She sounded like she was going to cry, so I turned to face her again. "Listen, um…" I rubbed my face to try to clear some tension. "I, uh think it's too soon for us to go that far."

"How come?"

"Well…" How was I supposed to explain something that I didn't feel like I understood? "We're too young. No, that's not it..." This was really hard! "I don't think it's right for me to take something like that from you. I mean, what if this doesn't work out? Your first kiss should be special."

"But kissing you is special!" she protested.

That brought a smile to my face. "Thanks, that means a lot to me." A light went on in my head. "And that's why I think we should wait on something that means so much!" I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees and my chin on my hands. "Mei, the truth is that…well, I really would like to kiss you that way, but…I think I'd be doing it for the wrong reason if I did it now."

She understandably looked alarmed. "What do you mean?"

"I…don't think it would be that special because I don't know you that well yet. I mean, we know each other of course, but…I want to know you better before kissing you…that way. So I could really be able to appreciate who I'm kissing." I slumped in my seat and let my gaze fall to the floor. "I'm really sorry; I don't know how to explain this very well. I've never had to before."

I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder and looked up to see Mei smiling softly at me. "You want me to be extra-special to you before we kiss like that?"

I pondered her words before nodding slowly. "I think that's a good way to put it."

Tears glistened in her eyes as her cheeks pinked. "It's going to be hard waiting for that."

"Sorry, Mei..."

She shook her head. "It's okay. I don't understand completely, but I understand that you're doing this because I mean a lot to you, so I accept that."

I sat up more fully in the chair. "There are a lot of other things we can do…if you're okay with them, of course," I finished with an awkward chuckle.

"Like kisses on the cheeks?"

"Sure. And on the forehead or the hands."

"And holding hands?" she asked as she matched actions to words.

"Yeah." I was starting to feel a little lightheaded; her skin was so soft.

"And snuggling?" she asked as she moved closer.

"Absolutely." I smiled as I drew her into my lap again, and we quietly enjoyed each other's company.

I didn't get much more done on the forms that day.