Here I am with another chapter. Since this one is even, it's from Sora's POV. Reviews are appreciated.
Chapter 6: The Proposal
I walked back home feeling very confused about everything that happened when I went to wish Yamato a happy birthday and give him his present. I tried to get inside as quietly as I could, but my mother has really good ears and she would obviously hear me.
"Sora?" She asked me when she walked into the living room. "I thought you… what happened?"
"Mom, I'm so confused!" I ran towards her and threw my arms around her as tears fell from my eyes.
"Did something happen between you and Yamato? Is that why you're upset?" She held both my forearms and forced me to look at her. "Didn't he like his necklace?"
"He did. He loved it." I nodded affirmatively. "But that's not why I'm freaking out."
"Then why?"
"We kissed… and I liked it."
"You and Yamato kissed?" She asked me again and could barely hold her smile. "How was it?"
"Mom, it doesn't matter." I said nervously. "It can't happen again."
"Why not?"
"Because we're like brother and sister! We grew up together."
"Yeah, so?"
"So?!" I nearly screamed now. "Isn't that enough of a reason not to want to be with him?"
"Honestly, it isn't. I know both me and Natsuko would be very happy if you and Yamato started dating each other."
"You two have this fantasy idea that we have to be together because we've known each other since we were friends. Life isn't a fairytale, mom."
"Of course it isn't. It's far from that. What I'm saying is that the fact that you've known one another since early childhood, you already know everything about each other."
"Yamato doesn't know everything about me." I replied defensively.
"I don't understand why you're so nervous about this, Sora. If you don't like Yamato as more than a friend and don't want to be with him at all, then you shouldn't be this angry."
"Because you keep pressuring me!" I shouted before I even realized what I was saying. "I really don't want to talk or think about this right now."
I turned around and started walking towards my room, closing and locking the door right after.
"Sora, come back here. Sora!"
.
I didn't even have time to sit down in my bed. As soon as I walked in, the computer screen was glowing in a light blue tone. Even though I always enjoyed talking to Piyomon, it was the last thing I wanted to do right now.
"Sora? Is everything okay?"
"Hey, Piyomon." I said slowly. "I really don't know."
"Yamato didn't like the present you gave him, is that it?"
"No, he loved it a lot."
"Then why are you this upset?"
"Because…" I sighed deeply. "Something happened there and I don't know what to think about it."
"What happened?" Her tone was worried, but also oddly hopeful, like she was waiting for me to tell her something she was sure was going to happen. And I knew exactly what it was. "Will it make you feel better if you open up to me?"
"Maybe." I sat down on my bed and crossed my legs. "So when I was almost about to come back home, Yamato grabbed my arm and kissed me."
"He kissed you?!" Piyomon tried her best to hold her excitement for me. I knew her first reaction was to scream and squeal in happiness. "How? How was it like? Did you enjoy it?"
"I'm not sure. It wasn't… bad. Don't tell anyone, but yes, I liked it. Especially because I kissed him later."
A smile appeared on my lips before I could even control it as I remembered the events that happened a couple of hours ago.
"Wait, you kissed him later? As in a second kiss?"
"That's right."
"Sora!"
"I know, I know." I buried my head in my hands. "It was bigger than me, so you can lecture me on this."
"I didn't mean to lecture you. I was shocked in a positive way. I never thought you'd be the kind of person who'd take the initiative for a kiss."
"I know, I'm surprised and shocked with myself too."
"So what happens now?"
"Honestly, I have no idea." I bit my lower lip before going on. "I don't think we can go back to being just friends and he probably doesn't want to anymore, so I think we're no longer friends."
"Would you mind if I give you my opinion?"
"No, of course not. Go ahead."
"Well, I think it's clear you like him, but the idea of you two growing up together and being childhood friends is so strong in your head that it keeps you from fighting for your happiness. You refuse to accept it with everything you have. I don't think there is anything as beautiful as falling in love with a childhood friend."
"Sometimes I think you live in a fairytale."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, but it doesn't work like that in real life. Some people might not even find someone to love and be loved by them."
"That's so sad. But that's not your case, so why are you throwing your happiness away?
"Because…"
"Why are you so afraid, Sora?"
"I'm not afraid." I bit her lower lip again and looked down. I wasn't brave enough to face her partner. Deep down I knew she was absolutely right. I was afraid and I was throwing her happiness away. "Yamato and I are best friends." I said at last. "We grew up together, that should be enough of a reason."
"Who do you want to convince, Sora? Yourself or us? That should be the question you should ask yourself."
"I…I…"
"Deep down you already know the answer, you just need to admit it to yourself and then act on it. If you don't, another girl will. We both know Yamato draws a lot of attention from girls and it won't take him long to find a girlfriend. Don't let this opportunity pass, Sora. You will regret it for the rest of your life. You're afraid of losing his friendship, but I truly believe it will only get better."
"Piyomon."
"I just want to see you happy. I love you! I know you're a brave girl and will have the courage needed to be honest with him. And most importantly, honest to yourself."
"Thank you for believing in me. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"I love you, Sora. I can see you genuinely love him, so it's not just something other people say. You truly feel it. And I have no doubt so does him."
"It won't hurt to try it, I guess."
"Not at all." Piyomon smiled. "That's the spirit. Go fight for your happiness."
"Thank you, Piyomon." I smiled back at my partner. "I have to go now, but hopefully we can talk again soon."
"Of course. I want to know all about it."
"I'll let you know. I'll see you soon."
"Sure, bye."
.
I went to school a little earlier to avoid any possible encounter with Yamato before school. I still needed to clear my thoughts before doing anything else. When he arrived, he came right into my direction and I started freaking out. I closed my locker and quickly started heading to class when I felt a hand on my shoulder. My whole body froze and I slowly turned around, sighing with relief when I saw Mimi.
"Thank God it's you."
"Of course it's me. Why? Were you expecting it to be someone else?"
"No, but you have to help me." I grabbed her arm quite strongly.
"Why? What happened Sora?"
"I don't want to talk to Yamato until I figure out exactly how I feel about him."
"Wait, what did I miss?" Mimi couldn't really understand what was going on. "You finally admitted you had feelings for him?"
"I didn't admit anything. I need to think clearly before talking to him. Can you help me?"
"Sure, but only for some time. You will have to face him soon, since you're in the same classroom."
"Yeah, you have a point. I will have to deal with him anyway." I took a deep breath, feeling less nervous now. "Thank you, though."
"You're welcome." She smiled. "Oh and Sora?"
"What?"
"He's desperate to talk to you."
"You think so?"
"Just a guess from what I can see." Mimi talked it off. "Well, I have to go to class. I'll see you later. Good luck."
"See you later. Thanks."
.
I was sitting beside Taichi in classroom, but I couldn't bring myself to pay attention to the subject and the teacher. I couldn't keep my eyes off Yamato even if I wanted to. All I kept thinking about our kisses and it wasn't helping my situation at all.
"Sora? Hey Sora?" Taichi waved his hand in front of my face, making me jump in my seat.
"What?" I shook my head and looked at him. "Did you say something?"
"No, but you were spacing out again. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, everything's fine. I didn't say anything out loud, did I?"
"Don't worry, you didn't. But I would pay attention to this class. This subject will be in our next test."
"Will there be a test?"
"Well, maybe by the end of this month. Geez, you were really spaced out. What were you thinking about?"
"Nothing." I said in a low tone and looked down at my notepad.
"Right." I could tell he didn't believe me at all, and I was right. "That nothing is blonde with blue eyes, isn't it?"
I simply pressed my lips together and looked at Yamato again, with a sad expression.
"Sora, if you're missing him that much, you should just go talk to him."
"I wish I could, but it's not that simple."
"Did you two fight?"
"No, we didn't fight. It's just…" I shook my head again. "At this point I'm not even sure we are friends."
The teacher made a 'shhh' sound and we both immediately were quiet.
.
I was making my way out of school in the middle of the afternoon and saw a group of girls around Yamato again. This time, however, I didn't seem to mind it, so I just pretended I didn't see and walked past them.
"Hey, Sora!" He made his way through the group of girls and came running towards me.
"Hey. I'm in a hurry, I promised to help my mother with something."
"I see. It's okay, though. We can walk home together."
I pressed my lips together tight and it didn't go unnoticed by him.
"I mean, if that's okay with you."
"That's fine." I said eventually. "But I won't be able to talk much when we get there."
"It's cool, don't worry about it." He smiled. "So how are you?"
"I'm good. What about you?"
"I'm good too. Have you been talking to Piyomon lately?"
"Yeah, I talked to her a few days ago."
"That's nice. So…" Yamato paused for a moment. "So I tried to talk to you this morning, but I got the feeling you were avoiding me."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset or anything. I also hope you don't think I don't want to be friends with you anymore. I just… need some time to think."
"I was a little upset, I won't deny. But I'm happy that you told me why. If you don't mind me asking, what do you need to think about?"
"Oh, just… some things. It's nothing important, really. But I'm alright now."
"You know you can count on me for anything you need, don't you?"
"I do." I smiled weakly in his direction. "But I don't think I can rely on you for this one."
"Right." He said and bit his lower lip. I could tell exactly he already knew what it was about and it was just a matter of time until he mentioned it. "I miss the times where we used to tell each other everything."
"I miss it too. You know, before it all started getting messed up."
"Before feelings got in the way." Yamato nodded, a little upset.
"When you put it like that, yeah."
"So I can assume it's safe to say you were thinking about our kisses, right?"
There was no point in lying about it anymore. He knew me so well it was literally impossible to hide anything from him. I looked at him and shook my head.
"Anything I say here you won't believe, so… yes, I was."
I felt a stab in my heart when a large smile appeared on his lips and I knew right away that he had already come to terms about he felt about me. I still couldn't figure out what or if I was feeling something about him and it just killed me to see his hopes high like that.
"Did you come to any conclusions?"
"I don't want to disappoint you, but not yet. There's just too much on the game, which I'm sure you know."
"I do." He shook his head affirmatively and looked up towards my building before returning his attention back to me. "But I also know we can deal with it together."
"Yamato."
"That's just how I feel." He stopped in front of me and looked straight in my eyes. "I'm not going to apologize for that."
"You don't have to apologize about how you feel."
"And neither do you."
"I wish I knew how I felt." I covered my mouth and my eyes widened when I realized what I had just said. It wasn't like I could convince him otherwise, he could read my eyes really well due to us being friends since babies.
"So you avoiding me earlier makes sense now. You're trying to figure out how you feel about me."
I bit my lower lip and looked down, feeling a little annoyed he caught things fast. I was startled when he took my hand and I looked up at him with confusion and fear. I feared admitting how I truly felt and things actually work out with us.
"I can see right through your eyes."
"I hate this fact sometimes." I tried to sound serious and firm, but my heart was pounding strongly on my chest. Before I was even able to control my actions, my left hand was resting on his right cheek and started stroking it slowly and softly.
I felt his arm gradually wrap around my waist and my arms slid up his shoulder, wrapping around his neck as I got closer to him. One of my hands slid to the back of his head and pushed it down in my direction. Seconds later, our lips met in a sweet and passionate kiss and we held on tight on each other, not wanting to let go. We hugged each other as tight as we could after we broke away and I just felt so safe with his arms embracing my body. I immediately realized there was no turning back from it now. Not that I wanted to anymore, but I still felt afraid of what was going to happen from now on.
"I'm sorry." I said after I moved away from him, but still kept my arms around his neck.
"You shouldn't apologize for doing what you wanted to do."
"Right." I couldn't help but smile.
"I have a proposal to make to you."
"A proposal?"
"Yeah." His right hand moved to my left cheek and he looked at me tenderly. I felt like my body was going to collapse into his because of lack of balance. "I want to take you on a date."
"A date?" I blinked in surprise as I looked at him the same way.
"That's right." He began to stroke my cheek and looked at me with a determination I've never seen on him before. "What do you say?"
"I would love to." A smile appeared on my lips and I felt so relieved after such a long time. I rested my head on his chest and his arm returned to its previous position, around my waist.
