Chapter Five:
When Jenni pulled away from him, Willy looked at her in what she thought was a frightened matter, but then realized that it was only shock. He looked away, staring off with a look of thoughtfulness in his eyes.
"Your debt's been repaid," she said softly.
Willy's heart began to race. She had just kissed him. Kissed him. And it wasn't a kiss on the cheek, it was one on the lips. The now familiar feeling of foolishness began to surface, and his mind became dazed. Oh no, oh no, oh no, what do I do now!
Jenni seemed to sense his uneasiness, because she looked at him meaningfully. "Willy? You alright?"
"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine," he said, a definite note of panic in his voice. Jenni suddenly felt guilty; she had been so caught up in the moment that she was only just now realizing what she had done.
"Willy... I'm sorry..." she said, blushing. "I... I don't know why I did that... you just... you looked so cute... and..."
"It's okay," he mumbled, looking away from her. It seemed like she felt the same away about him that he felt about her. But what was he going to do about it? He really never had a girlfriend, and he was horrible with people, especially women. And now, a girl liked him, and he had no clue what to do. He wasn't confident enough to talk to her openly about his feelings for her; in fact, he wasn't even confident at all.
"Willy, really, I should apologize, she said hastily. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
Willy looked back at her, and her eyes were filled with deep regret. It was now or never. "It's... it's okay... you don't have to apologize. I... I like you, too." Oh my God, I can't believe I just said that out loud...
Her eyebrows raised. "I don't like you, Willy," she said, and for one horrifying moment, Willy thought he had made a horrible decision. But then she grinned. "I love you."
His heart almost stopped; he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. After she had said that, all of the moments they had spent together that day flashed before his eyes. Her loving embrace as he cried, taking him home, making him food, kissing him. Unable to respond, he sat there in complete shock. No one had ever told him they loved him before. Not even his father. Jenni was looking at him expectantly, as if waiting to see his reaction. He stared at her for a moment, and he tried to speak, but only a small noise like a cough emitted from his throat. Mortified, his body became rigid, and before he knew it, he had passed, falling back onto the pillow.
"Willy... Willy... wake up... please..."
Willy felt a soft tapping on his shoulder as a voice spoke right into his ear. He sat up with a gasp, panting slightly. Jenni was staring at him with concerned eyes, and reality hit him with full force; he remembered what she said to him.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I don't know why I keep doing that..."
She laughed. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I shouldn't have shocked you like that." She hesitated, then put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't wince this time.
He felt extremely awkward; he had no idea what to say to her without sounding like an idiot. Despite trying to breathe in deeply to relax, he felt the equally familiar wave of panic wash over him, and he started to feel sick; he always felt sick when he was nervous. Thanks, Dad. It's because of you that I always feel this way. That seemed like a harsh thought, even though his father had been much more harsh to him.
Jenni was looking at him curiously, as she had noticed him become more tense. "Willy?"
"What?" he said quickly.
"You look like you're in pain... Is it your hand? Or is it your ankle?"
"No, I'm fine," he said shakily. He suddenly felt that he wanted to be alone again; he loved Jenni's company, but being alone was more familiar to him than anything else, and he felt that he was becoming a burden to her. "Um, I think I'll go home now," he said, moving to get up but moaning in pain when his left foot touched the floor; his ankle was still sore.
"Oh," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "Okay..." She saw a look of regret in his eyes now, and understood what he was thinking; he didn't want to impose on her, and he felt that he was being rude. "Willy, you don't have to leave if you don't want to. You're not in the way or anything. I seriously didn't have anything else to do today, honest."
He hesitated, then he pulled his leg back up and onto the bed again. "Are... are you sure?"
She nodded, then smiled. "You're always welcome here, you know." Her smile lifted his heart, but his stomach did a backflip, and he felt like he was going to throw up. He sputtered, coughing.
"Are you okay?" Jenni had no idea how many times she had asked him that question now, but she was concerned with his well-being, so she didn't really care.
He nodded, but she could see the slightest shade of green showing on his pale face. She sighed. He could be so stubborn.
Jenni glanced at her clock, and realized that it was almost six o' clock. "Well... I'd better get dinner ready. Do you want anything?" He shook his head, and she rubbed his back softly. "Okay... well, I'll be back up here in a little while to check on you. If you need anything, just call me."
She got up and left the room, leaving Willy to sit alone and ponder over things. She had been so nice to him... It was hard for him to believe, but she really did like him. He decided to rest a bit more though; there wasn't much else he could do, he didn't want to try and hop down the stairs on one foot, and as for the sick feeling, he felt that he could just sleep it off. On the other hand, he had spent most of the day sleeping anyway, but he grew bored quickly, so he laid his head back down and was soon fast asleep.
About an hour later (at least Willy thought so), he stirred, and when he opened his eyes, Jenni was once again by his bedside, but she wasn't the only one; Dennis and Joe were there as well.
Jenni smiled when she saw that he was awake. "How are you feeling now, Willy?" she asked.
"Better than earlier," he said, failing to suppress a large yawn. He did feel marginally better than before he had fallen asleep.
"We were hoping you were alright after... you know... earlier," said Dennis uneasily. "But don't worry, we were able to get a few people to come in so we wouldn't have to close down today."
Joe nodded. "And it's more important that you're okay. Jenni wouldn't tell us why you were acting so strange, though."
Willy glanced at Jenni, and she winked. It made him feel a whole lot better knowing that she had kept his secret. He would tell the others... eventually.
"Did you like the chocolate she brought you?" asked Dennis, grinning. "It was Jenni's idea."
Jenni blushed. "But Joe did most of the work..."
"You helped a lot too, if I remember correctly," said Joe.
"Well... I guess..." she said, laughing.
"Man, you guys are making me feel like I'm in the way," said Willy, smiling. "I'm sorry that I had to interrupt your work day, and that you've done so much for me."
"It's no problem, Willy. Sure, you're our boss, and we want to be friendly with you, but more importantly, we're your friends. We care about you," said Dennis.
"Plus, we were no more or less busier than we would have been if you had been there," assured Joe.
"Well... I may have to give everyone a raise for this," said Willy, and everyone laughed.
Jenni set a plate in front of him. "I made dinner, so here you go. And I don't care if you're not hungry, you need to eat." He eyed the plate. It had a rather large piece of chicken on it. It smelled delicious, and his feeling of nausea had long since faded away, so he ate ravenously.
Joe raised an eyebrow. "Gosh, you look like you haven't eaten for days!" Willy did not respond, not only because he didn't want them to know that he hadn't, but because his mouth was stuffed full of food. Jenni winked at him again.
After they finished eating (everyone had brought their food upstairs), Joe and Dennis decided to leave, and Willy and Jenni waved goodbye to them. "So, Willy... I know this is a strange request," she began, "but do you want to stay here for the night?"
He reacted the way she had expected; he turned red again. "Urm... if it's not any trouble... I mean..." he mumbled.
She poked his shoulder. "I'll take that as a yes. It's no trouble, really. I have a spare bedroom that I can sleep in."
"Are you sure you don't want your bed?"
"I'm sure, plus, you look pretty comfortable already," she laughed, and Willy couldn't help but smile, and he did feel comfortable in her bed. She got up to leave, but before she left the room, she told him "goodnight", then she kissed him softly on the cheek.