Chapter 17

To say I wasn't nervous would be a big fat lie. Things had gone pretty well at my house, yet the thought of meeting his parents had me worried. Would it all go well? Oh I'm sure it would, but part of me still worried they might not like me. It was the first time I actually was meeting a lovers parents, and the idea that they might disapprove rattled me.

"Is everything okay? You don't seem as chatty as usual?" I turned to my boyfriend, putting on a smile. "Of course, just a little nervous. No biggie." Of course he would have sensed something was up, he always had a way of knowing. The time in the hospital showed me just how much he really paid attention to those subtle signs.

The warmth of his hand in mine made me melt as always, I wondered if it was the same for him. I never asked, feeling as though it was a silly question. I attempted to calm my nerves, focusing on the feeling of him. It worked, though how effective it would be once we got to his house was yet to be seen.

Despite my worries about meeting his parents, I was still excited about today. I had always wondered what his home life was like; how his room looked, how he was around his family. Despite all the time we had spent together, there was still so much I wanted to know about him.

We finally reached our destination, and my worries began to creep back in. Even as we entered the house, I could feel the inside my mouth begin to dry up. "Welcome back, who is this that you brought with?" The woman on the couch stood up, I could see where the boy I had fallen for had got some of his good looks.

"Hey mom, this is my girlfriend Sakura." I gave a polite bow, "thank you for having me over, it's a pleasure to be here." I managed to get my words out, though I'd need some water before long if I was to keep talking. His mother smiled, noticing how close we stood together. "It's a pleasure to meet you Sakura, I had assumed the two of you were close but he never admitted it."

Beside me, my boyfriend blushed. "It was a recent development." It was honestly so cute how flustered he got, some girls might find it annoying but to me it was endearing. We entered into the living room, taking a seat on the open chairs. Oh no, I can't hold your hand like this, what are you doing to me?

"Would you like something to drink?" I quickly nodded, "water please." His mom began to go fetch it, but he quickly got up from his chair. "I can get it mom, you can rest." A sweet smile passed over her face, and I was left alone for a moment with his mother.

"So how long have the two of you known each other? I can take a guess but he never tells me anything, I feel like I could get answers from you at least." Oh, so we're chatting right away then. "We met earlier in the Spring, at the hospital by chance." Just stay focused, I can do this.

"Ah yes, he did seem a bit different after that day. I'm assuming it was when he was getting his stitches pulled out?" Wow she was good, though she was probably used to noticing small changes in the son that kept his life private. Then I caught the first part of what she said. "I'm sorry, you noticed he was different on that day?"

His mother nodded. "He seemed a little off balance, but not in a bad way. Like something had happened outside of his usual routine. He seemed a little happier." I could feel the sensation of my jaw dropping, though I had enough sense to not actually do that.

From the start, he had been an enigma. Sure, no one really knew him. But the thought I had in those early days was that I was a bother to him. He never came out and said it, he was too polite to do that. But his mannerisms, the way he spoke, it all pointed to me being a nuisance.

I smiled, happy to out those memories to rest. "You're not telling embarrassing stories of me, are you?" He had finally returned, handing me a glass of water. His mother and I simply smiled at each other. "I would never embarrass my son like that, but she was telling me all sorts of interesting tales."

He looked over to me, but I simply gave him a smug smile with a wink, hoping he got the message. It seemed like he did, as he simply relaxed in his seat. "We were just talking about when the two of you met, but if you don't mind leaving the room I'm sure I could think of a few stories."

I wasn't sure who blushed more, though I gave the award to him this time around. Had the roles been reversed, I would have happily hid my face, or rather hid myself away in embarrassment. "That won't be necessary, I'd rather just tell her myself if someone had to talk about them."

"Well, another time then." His mother gave me a conspiring look, and I simply smiled. "I'm sorry, but my husband is busy and won't be able to meet you today. Though I'm sure he'd be very happy with you." Now it was my turn to blush, and I nearly did hide my face though stopping myself in time.

"That's a shame, I'm sure the two of them would get along well. Same sense of humor and all." His mother nodded. "Yes he does love his jokes, though you inherited my seriousness. Sorry about that dear." She looked over to me.

"I wanted to thank you, for coming today as well as being close to me son. As you probably know, he's kept a solitary life for a while. You don't know how happy I am that he has a friend, and a girlfriend on top of that." I could sense the utter sincerity of her words, and it was true. Before I had stumbled into his life, I had never seen him interact with anyone at school, well outside of G.B. trying to give him some gum.

"It's my pleasure, and thank you for having me here. I'm sure you think I've done a lot for him, but the same is true for me. He's been a pillar of support for me, and I treasure all the time we've spent together." Despite my earlier fears, I was actually pulling this off somehow. Maybe I was just being foolish earlier.

The smile I was awarded with proved me right. "You don't know how happy I am to hear that. I'll admit, I was surprised to hear that he was actually bringing someone over. To find out it was someone as sweet and caring as you is a delight."

I could see where he got his romantic tendencies from, despite never dating he had a way with words. I'm sure some of it was from all the books he poured himself into, but some of it was definitely from his mother.

"I thought the embarrassing stuff was going to be when I wasn't in the room?" His mother and I laughed together. "Sorry, I'm just very happy dear. Well to save you from being embarrassed, are the two of you hungry?" I could always eat, so I nodded.

His mother stood up, and I stood up too. Sitting around idly just didn't feel right, even if I was a guest. "Oh you don't need to help, I can handle the cooking. Why don't you show her your room while I cook?" My sweetheart took me by the hand, and I followed him up the stairs. I could tell he was nervous, so I caressed his hand with my thumb.

I had expected to see a lot of books, but even then I was still taken aback. He had a small library in his room. Everything was very neat, and I felt a little disappointed that it wasn't even a little messy. I took a seat on the office chair at his desk, feeling a little uncomfortable sitting on his bed for some reason.

"I hope she wasn't too much for you, sorry for taking so long with the water." I shook my head, touched that he was concerned over something so trivial. "I was nervous about this whole thing at first, I'll admit. But she's so nice, that worry went away quick."

I spun around in the chair, stopping after a few rotations to look at him. "So did this live up to your expectations?" I raised an eyebrow at him, such an open ended question. "My room, I imagine you had your own thoughts of what it would look like." I nodded.

"I had expected a lot of books, but my estimate was a bit low. Have you read all of them?" The manga collection I had at home didn't come close to rivaling the amount of books he had here, and even among those I hadn't read all of them. He shook his head.

"Most of them, yes. But I'm constantly getting new books from shops and online, plus renting books from the school library. I could spend my whole life reading and still not come close to being satisfied." The conviction behind his words made me smile, and I finally found the courage to sit next to him.

"What, did I say something silly?" I shook my head, taking his hand. "Not at all, I think that's actually pretty cool. I just hope you won't mind taking time away from reading to spend time with me." For the time you still have with me at least. I suddenly felt a little sad, reminded once again of how cruel life could be. Why, why did it have to take this long to find you?

He had let go of my hand, and for a moment I was worried that he too had thought about the implication of my words. Yet he put his arm around me, holding me close. "If it's for you, I'd put everything to the side." One look at him showed how serious he was about it. Do I really mean that much to you?

I blushed, leaning my head on his shoulder. "To think it wasn't that long ago that you would have never said those words. It's funny how things can change, isn't it?" He laughed, my head rising and falling with each chuckle. "I suppose you're right. Now I just regret taking this long to say it."

I frowned, though he couldn't see it. "Don't say that, sure it took a while but every step had it's purpose. Whose to say we'd be here if we had skipped any of it?" I could sense him tensing up, a reminder of what he had gone through recently. "You know, you still never told me everything that happened recently."

I could feel him taking deep breaths, preparing himself. Is it really that bad? "Are you sure you want to know?" I lifted my head from his shoulder, looking into his eyes and nodding. One more deep breath, and then he began to tell me the whole story.

I'm so sorry, I wish you never had to see that. That was the first thing that came to mind when he spoke about being too late to save me. Yet I was so proud of him, I don't think I could have pulled myself together if I had to witness him dying.

I wiped away the tears that fell as he spoke, touched by all the work he had done just to save me. What did I do to deserve someone like you? You truly are such a good person, I wish everyone could see you how I do. As he finished, we simply sat in silence for a moment.

"I would have told you everything that day, but I was scared it would scare you off." I felt like there was more he wanted to say but he cut himself off. I didn't push him to say more, I could tell how much talking about it hurt him. "Dear?" He looked to me, a look of worry on his face.

I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. How could I ever run away from you? You saved me, not just that day but every single day. My life was missing an important piece until I met you. It only took this long to realize it.

"Words will never be enough to describe us; the struggles we've faced, the smiles we shared. Even now, when we say that I'm your girlfriend and you're my boyfriend, that doesn't begin to describe what we are. But for now, I hope these words are enough. I love you Haruki."

The Author's Desk

Okay so first things first. I thought it would be fun to switch up the perspective for this chapter, partly as a break/challenge for myself. Having written 16 chapters centered on our hero, it was a nice change of pace. Sure, he was probably nervous about having Sakura finally come over. But we never really get how she feels about things, her insights, until her goodbye letter at the end of the film.

Also, I decided to make another small change by having her thoughts be italicized, and that will probably continue for the rest of the story. It beats having to constantly put everything into parentheses lol.

Next chapter, we'll finish up the home visit arc. By now, the finish line has become clearer and clearer with each chapter I write. Part of me is dreading it, I've come to greatly enjoy being back in the world of IWTEYP. But all good things must come to end, just as the sakura blossoms.

I have decided that the post story will be part of this, as there are really only 2 more arcs to the story left in my mind. If I come up with more in the future, I will simply start a sequel.

Also, hey we finally got a name drop for our hero. I debated on whether to even include it, but it felt like the right moment. I hope you also feel the same.

As always, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter.