Last summer it had just been her and Mob at the festival.
It had been a good time. Fried food, catching goldfish, watching the fireworks, all of the usual summer festival fair. That was last year. This year was different. Mob had friends, and a boyfriend, so of course she wouldn't want to spend it with Reigen. That was fine. Reigen was not going get all upset over that. Not again. Mob had a life now and Reigen was not going to keep her from it. Of course Mob would rather have gone to the festival with her friends and her boyfriend. That was fine.
Really, it was.
Besides, it wasn't like Reigen was going to be all alone. No. That would have been truly tragic. Reigen had someone to spend this festival with. She hadn't spent a summer festival with someone who wasn't Mob in years. Reigen wasn't bothered. Mob had someone and she had someone and that was just how these things went. Yes, that was just how these things went.
She stood a little closer to Serizawa.
He was nervous. She didn't blame him for being nervous. This was his first summer festival period. He said, before, that he hadn't been to one of these since he was a kid. He had only gone with his mom, too, and even back then large crowds had been overwhelming for him. Maybe she shouldn't have dragged him to this thing. He had been the one to suggest that they go, the kids had been talking about it nonstop, and he had asked her later on if she was planning on going. The kids had asked her too but she, as much as she wanted to go with them, did not want to stick around Mob and the others while they tried of have middle/high school fun.
"Um….do you want to…um…." Said Serizawa. He was a little nervous. It was just….a lot of people. A lot of people but she was there and usually she made him feel better, and she did, but also she was there and she looked so pretty then and maybe he should have dressed a little nicer too and she probably thought that he looked terrible and she wanted to be with someone who dressed nicer and didn't get scared by crowds and-
"Yes?" asked Reigen
"D-Do you want to…to…" said Serizawa. He had done his research. Well not so much research as watching all of the summer festival episodes of the shows that Miss Kurosaki recommended. Mob let him borrow some manga. Miss Kurata just told him to wing it. He was nervous enough even with all the prep work he had done. It wasn't like he hadn't ever been to a summer festival before….he had just never gone to a summer festival before with someone other than his mother. He had never gone with someone he liked before…with a girlfriend before. He was nervous. He was somehow even more nervous than Sho…and Sho had woken him up at one in the morning to tell him how nervous he was. Maybe he should have just taken Sho up on his double date idea…or not because the only thing worse than being this nervous about going on a date with his girlfriend was going on a double date with two middle schoolers because he was too nervous to go on a date on his own with his girlfriend.
"I'm up for anything!" said Reigen maybe a little too enthusiastically. She was getting looks, now, and not just because this was a new yukata. She blushed and looked down at their feet. She was in wooden sandals. He was in his usual shoes. He hadn't gotten all dressed up for this. Maybe she was overdressed. Maybe she should have just dressed normal, she wasn't one of the kids to get all dressed up…maybe she was over dressed…or something. Maybe she was just nervous. She didn't know why she was nervous. She'd gone on dates with him before. They were grown adults on a date. This was normal. There was nothing about this that was even a little bit abnormal.
"Me too! I mean I'll do whatever you want to do! I mean…not to put everything on you, of course, I just know that you've been to more of these than me. I mean I've been to summer festivals before. I know what to do…and I've been watching a lot of TV and reading a lot of manga….not that I expect this to be like that! I mean I know that there's a difference between anime and reality and-" said Serizawa
"Serizawa?" asked Reigen. She took his hand. She knew how he got sometimes. He was running himself in circles. He was so…him…sometimes. So nervous. So adorably nervous. She decided to save him.
"Yes?" asked Serizawa. She was holding his hand. He was almost thirty years old and holding her hand still….this was still so nice. He'd kissed her before but this was still nice. Her hand was so soft even though she threw salt around every day. Her hand was so soft and she was so…so pretty…and he held her hand back. She grounded him. She grounded him like his umbrella only without the connection to Suzuki…and also she was alive…and she liked him….
"Wanna get something deep fried and bad for us?" asked Reigen. She could smell it, takoyaki, and it called to her. They couldn't just lurk here all night, anyway, so why not just go and get something delicious and non-nutritious?
"S-Sure!" said Serizawa. She was good at that, snapping him out of it, and grounding him. She always knew just what to say and just what to do. She still held his hand. She held his hand as they made their way to the takoyaki stand. She made a beeline for it. She was good at that, finding food, she always seemed to know just where her favorites were. She once led him three blocks out of their way when they were out on a job because there had been a takoyaki stand.
She was so…so….
He didn't even have words for it. The way she made him feel. Cute. That was a word he could apply to her. The way she kept on dropping her takoyaki. He caught them for her and spun them so they cooled down. He'd seen Mob do this for her. She couldn't wait long enough for them to cool down. That was cute. She got sauce on her face. That was cute, too, even though he knew that he shouldn't have liked it, how messy she was.
He didn't care.
He liked her. He liked her even though she was messy. Hell, he liked her BECAUSE she was messy. She was just so…free….in so many ways. He always turned himself upside-down and inside out trying to fit in, to be like everyone else…and she was just herself. She was just so perfectly, confidently, herself. She always knew just what to say and just what to do…and he didn't. He wondered if that ever got tiring or her. He wondered if she ever wanted to be with someone who didn't stutter or knew how to make a good cup of tea or who didn't get nervous at the store when he couldn't bag his groceries fast enough….not that they had been to the store together. Not that he even should have been thinking about going to the store. Why did his mind go there? What as with him?
"Um…is it good?" asked Serizawa. Takoyaki. She liked takoyaki…and she was eating it…so of course it was good. Why was he saying such stupid stuff? She probably thought that he was…negative self-talk. He needed to knock off all the negative self-talk. She was there with him and she wanted to be with him. She would not have been with him if she hadn't wanted to be there with him…she could have easily been there with someone else…and that was more negative self-talk.
"It's pretty good. I could have gotten us, though, you didn't have to…not that I don't appreciate it! I do. Thank you, I love it." Said Reigen. She ate quickly. God, why couldn't she just shut up?
"I'm glad. Um…are you-" said Serizawa
"Are you going to eat that?" asked Reigen. She had maybe been way too enthusiastic about this. She just really liked takoyaki…and she was such a kid sometimes. Maybe she should have just hung out with Mob and the others. Heh. She would have fit right in with those three. She was such a kid…interrupting people….
"Here, you can have it." Said Serizawa. He handed her what was left of his takoyaki. He couldn't eat anymore. He was too nervous. It was too crowded, which was a lot, and also he was out with her…which made him nervous at the best of times. He knew she liked him, he knew that she would tell him if she ever stopped liking him, and he just…couldn't stop with all the negative self-talk.
"Thanks." Said Reigen. She ate when she was nervous. She fidgeted when she was nervous. She fidgeted and ate at the same time…and fidgeted too much…
"Careful!" said Serizawa. She had been balancing her food on her knees and then it had tipped over…and he hadn't even had time to think. He just caught it with his powers….as best as he could. She still ended up with a glob of takoayki sauce right on her yukata…
"Shit!" said Reigen as she stood up. Why did she have to get a pink one? She could have gone with a darker color but no…and now she had to walk around like this and he probably thought that she was…and now for some reason she could hear her mother's voice in her head telling her that she was messy and sloppy and would die alone…and that was probably something she needed to speak to a professional about….
"Sorry! If I hadn't given you mine then-" said Serizawa
"It's not your fault, it's mine. Don't worry, it's just a little stain. I'll just…go to the bathroom and take care of it." Said Reigen. She knew that it would be futile but she just needed a moment to…collect herself. Collect herself and not run away…and she didn't know why she even thought about doing that. Sometimes you had to run away, true, but this was not one of those times. She was fine. This was fine.
She was fine.
She just….needed space. She needed some space to…to think. This was…this was not a lot. This was just a date. This was just a date and she had gone on more dates than she could even remember. Hell, she had gone on plenty of dates with him before this! Not that…not that their dates had always been so very….date-like. They went out after work but that was…convenient. This was…dates were dates!
She was fine.
She was not hiding in the bathroom. She had gone to the bathroom to fix her yukata. She was not hiding. She was just…cleaning off her yukata with lukewarm tap water and cheap foaming hand soap. She was not hiding. She was not hiding or…or anything like that. She was just…busy. That was all. Legitimacy busy!
"What are you doing!?" Reigen jumped back and almost tripped over her own feet as the bathroom door was kicked opened.
"I'm not hiding! You can't prove anything!" shouted Reigen reflexively. She reachedinto her pockets for salt…and found neither pockets nor salt. Because she was wearing a yukata. She did, however, succeed in hitting herself over the head with her bag and in scattering the contents across the bathroom floor. Great.
"Yes you are but I don't have time to worry about that now. Rei! I know you're in here! Just come out already! It's not that bad!" said Tome. Yeah, Reigen was there, that was fine. She'd go digging around into Reigen's business later. Right now she had to knock some sense into Rei!
"What's going on?" asked Reigen as she collected the various bits and bobs she carried around with her. As she crawled across the bathroom floor on her hands and knees, and she knew that she would probably catch some terrible public bathroom disease, when she saw someone sitting on the floor of the handicapped stall. Presumably Rei.
This was great!
Well, no, not really. First of all Rei should not have been sitting on the floor of a public bathroom like that and second of all something must have really been bothering her. She had been raving about the festival last Reigen had heard. She had a detailed itinerary on a Google doc that Reigen had been added to for reasons she could not understand. Something must have gone wrong….poor kid…
This looked like a job for Reigen!
"Nothing. Rei's just being dramatic." Said Tome with a wave of her hand.
"I am not! I am not being dramatic! My life is over! My life is over and I have to live in this bathroom!" said Rei. She could see the future and it was bleak. It was bleak and there was nothing in it for her.
"Uh-huh. What are you going to eat?" asked Tome
"Um….snacks from my bg." Said Rei
"Ok, sure…and what are you going to drink?" asked Tome
"There's water in a bathroom! That's the point of a bathroom." Said Rei
"You're seriously going to drink from the taps at a public bathroom?" asked Tome
"…..if I have to." Said Rei
"Rei, no, don't drink the water." Said Reigen with a groan. She got off her hands and knees and sat down. She stretched her legs out so they were parallel to Rei's. Heh. She pulled her legs up to her chest. Reigen wondered who designed public bathrooms. She knew that the gap between the door and the floor was there in case someone passed out or something but this seemed like an excessively large gap. Maybe the shrine could use the money from this festival to get new bathroom doors…and better locks for the front bathroom door. Then maybe this bathroom would have been easier to hide in…not that she had been hiding or anything like that.
"Why not? It's clean water. It's not like I'm drinking toilet water or anything." Said Rei
"Will you just come out of the bathroom already?!" said Tome
"Why should I?!" said Rei
"Because you're talking about drinking toilet water!" said Tome
"Guys-" said Reigen. She could feel a headache coming on…but that was ok. Helping weird and over dramatic kids was ninety percent of her job. She was helping them out of the goodness of her heart and not out of any desire to avoid her boyfriend because this was a lot and she couldn't think or breathe or…nope. This had nothing to do with that.
"No! I said that I wasn't going to drink it! And I am not coming out anyway! There's nothing out there for me anymore!" shouted Rei
"Rei, come on. There's plenty out there for you." Said Reigen
"Like what?" asked Rei with a sniffle
"Hanazawa's catching pretty much all the goldfish. You wanna see how many he catches before Mob tells him to stop?" asked Tome
"No…I don't want to see Mob and Teru being happy together…that's the past thing I want to see!" said Rei. That was the last thing she wanted. They were supposed to go together the three of them. It would have been four but Reigen was on a date…and also an adult even though it was hard to remember that sometimes…and now it was two because Mob was going to go off with her boyfriend…and then it would be one because Tome was going to probably go and hang out with her boyfriend…and she had no one! And it wasn't fair!
"You sure? He was up to ten before Suzuki came over to tell him that keeping goldfish was cruel or something." Said Tome
"It kind of is. You know they need-" said Reigen
"Yeah yeah, yeah…they can't live in plastic. I heard Suzuki's speech." Said Tome
"There's nothing out there for me!" shouted Rei
"Hey Rei, you want to come out of there and talk about this life ending cataclysm?" said Reigen. She was still on the floor. She really wanted to get up off the floor. She couldn't, though, until Rei did…which she showed no sign of getting anywhere near the point of.
"No! I don't want to talk about it!" shouted Rei. Why couldn't people just let her hide in the bathroom in peace! You weren't supposed to bother people in the bathroom! What happened to basic privacy!?
"Her plan to avoid Mob's little brother for the rest of her life isn't going so well." Said Tome with a shrug. She didn't get it. Middle schoolers were so weird sometimes. She couldn't believe that she was ever that young.
"That's why you're hiding in the bathroom? Because you ran into Mob's little brother?" asked Reigen. She shook her head. Kids. Everything was always such a big deal to them. You didn't catch Reigen acting like this. Nope. Not at all.
"No…" said Rei
"She is. I don't know what's with her and that guy. I mean he's cute but he's also a jerk. Also he's gay so, you know, there's that." Said Tome
"I know he is! He made that perfectly clear…and…and…" said Rei
"So you're hiding in this bathroom because you're still embarrassed about confessing to him? Rei, that was months ago-" said Reigen
"I don't want to talk about it!" shouted Rei. She really didn't want to talk about the worst day of her life. She liked him, she had really liked him, and she still liked him to this day. Not just because he was smart and cute and knew the impotance of good grooming but there was also the whole life saving thing, too. She had almost gotten kidnapped and he had saved her and she had almost died, too, back when
"Well you're hiding in here too." Said Rei
"No I'm not!" said Reigen.
"What is it about this bathroom that everyone has to hide in it!?" shouted Tome
"I am not hiding! I just had to get this stain out of my yukata-" said Rei
"You're wearing a yukata?" said Rei with a sniffle.
"Yeah, a new one. I'm not sure if it's working for me though." said Reigen slyly. Some shuffling could be heard as Rei stood up. Reigen stood up too. Maybe a bit more slowly than she should have at her age. Well now she had two things to worry about.
"For the love of….please, beam me up now…" said Tome. Rei had such a one track mind sometimes. Honestly. She hoped that no higher beings from beyond their star were listening to this. Rei could not be the best example of humanity that they heard. She needed to get back on her roof when she got home to counteract this.
"It's too summery and the hem is too long." Said Rei
"You sure you got a good enough look from in there?" asked Reigen. There was more shuffling before the stall door opened. Rei stood there rubbing her eyes with her yukata sleeve. She looked so adorable. So did Tome and Mob too, probably….not that she would ever call them adorable to their faces. Well Mob, maybe, because nothing pissed Mob off….most nothing pissed Mob off.
"You're not a summer. Even if it is a summer festival your clothes are too summery. Also there's a stain on the front of your yukata and I don't think that you can rise that out with just water." Said Rei
"Thanks-" said Reigen. Right. She still had to do something about this…not that there was anything that she could do now. Maybe she should have just given up and gone home…no. She was not going to do that to Serizawa. He had been really looking forward to this. Well it seemed like he had. He always liked going out with her…and he had a lot of going out to catch up on…and she was just being selfish. She was just being all weird, this trapped sort of feeling she had been getting. That was just her being….her.
"Ok, good, now come on before Mob goes off with Hanazawa." Said Tome. She grabbed Rei by the hand but she pulled away and shook her head.
"I don't want to go out there." said Rei
"Well you can't stay in here. It's disgusting." Said Tome
"I-I know that I can't live here but…but I don't want to go out there." said Rei softly. She held her hands close to herself. Her bag was slung over her arm. She was maybe trying to hide behind it…maybe. She didn't know. All she knew was that she could not go out there.
"Why not? Come on, I know that what happened was awkward but-" said Reigen
"No, it's not about that. Well it is. It's just…I like him a lot but he'll never like me back…and I know that I should just move on and like someone else but…but I don't know if I can. He's so smart and nice, even with how I was he's still nice to me, and he saved my life…twice…and…" said Rei
"It's hard. It's hard because you're thirteen and it's hard because you've been through some stuff, some really messed up stuff, that no thirteen year old should have to go through. You went through it with him and, yeah, that made a lot of feelings that you already had pretty intense. It's hard, nobody's going to tell you otherwise, and you should kick anyone's ass who tries to tell you otherwise." Said Reigen
"So then…it's ok for me to stay in here forever?" asked Rei
"No way! This is a public bathroom!" said Tome. She wondered if she could just drag Rei out. She was strong…strong-ish. She could maybe pick Rei up and carry her away…maybe….probably not.
"Tome's right, you can't stay in here. Sometimes you have to run away but…but this is not one of those times. Feelings suck sometimes, they really suck, but you can't just hide from them." Said Reigen
"You were hiding." Said Rei
"No….I was cleaning off my yukata…and like you said there's no way to get this stain out with just water so I'll just be heading out now…and I hope you'll head out with me." Said Reigen
"I…I don't…know…." said Rei
"Whatever's happening out there has got to be more fun thank hanging out in here." Said Tome
"Come on, before all the goldfish are gone. Who knew Haystack had skills like that. Well I guess psychic powers make it easier." Said Reigen
"That little cheater…." Muttered Tome
"I don't think he's using his powers. Mob would have told him not to. She's pretty happy actually…she gets kind of weird when she's with him…kind of like how you get when you're with Serizawa." Said Rei. Reigen was about to tell her that she did not get weird when she was with Serizawa…but that was a blatant lie and she was done lying to kids who looked up to her. No lies were told, but steps were had, out of the bathroom and back to the festival.
The walk from the bathroom was not a long one. Finding Serizawa again was easy, too, she just had to follow the sound of shouting. Not him shouting, no, if anything he looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die as he was trapped between two shouting teenagers. Mob waved as Reigen approached.
"Master! Hi! Um…do you want a goldfish? Or two? Also is keeping a goldfish a pet cruel? Sho says-" said Mob. Thank God, Master Reigen was there. She could solve this. She didn't want to disagree with Teru or Sho…and she also didn't want all of these goldfish. She didn't know why Teru kept on winning them for her. She assumed that he was just going to put them back. That was what she and Master Reigen did after what happened the one and only time they had tried to keep a fish in the office….that poor little fish….
"Mob…why do you have so many fish?" asked Reigen. That was…a lot of fish. A lot of fish for one kid…so many that she was holding them with her powers. So many that they almost distracted from her yukata. Mob used to have a pink one…but she had outgrown that…or maybe she just wanted a cheddar orange and steel grey one…like Haystack's….and that was just too cute. She had to take a picture.
"Teru won them." Said Mob simply
"And he's got to let them go in the ocean! Fish can't live in plastic!" shouted Sho. He saw Ritsu shaking his head out of the corner of his eye. It would have been nice to have had a little back up. Those poor little fish were suffering for no reason!
"Sho…let it go. Just let it go." Said Ritsu. He would have sided with Sho if he weren't being so ridiculous. Those were just goldfish…and also they ate fish…and also he was not in the mood to fight with anyone. He had done enough fighting, before, to last him a lifetime.
"I will as soon as he lets them go in the ocean." Said Sho
"B-But we're nowhere near the ocean…" said Serizawa. This had gone downhill fast. All he had done was say hi to Sho and Ritsu…and then Mob and her boyfriend passed by looking for Miss Kurosaki…and then somehow it had turned into a shouting match over fish. Thank God Miss Reigen came back from the bathroom in time. She could settle this. The kids always listened….mostly listened to her.
"We'll fly then." Said Sho
"These are freshwater fish! And they're mine…my girlfriend's. They're my girlfriend's fish and if my girlfriend wants fifteen goldfish then my girlfriend can have fifteen goldfish." Said Teru
"Don' say girlfriend so much, you'll give Mob's little brother a heart attack." Said Tome
"I'm fine…" said Ritsu through gritted teeth. He told himself over and over again in his mind that Hanazawa was a good guy. He was a good guy and Shigeko liked him and she wouldn't have liked him if he were still the jerk that beat her up when they met…and if he ever were to turn back into that jerk then Ritsu was strong enough to get rid of him…if it came to that which it probably would not have.
"Nobody needs fifteen fish!" said Sho
"What if you were planning on eating them….not that you're supposed to eat goldfish…but you are getting kind of worked up…and they are just fish. You eat fish all the time, Sho, I saw you eating fish yesterday. What's the difference between the fish you eat and the ones you win at a festival?" asked Serizawa…though based on the glare that he was getting he may have said the wrong thing. He took a step back and bumped into Miss Reigen. She took his hand in hers.
"Hey! Serizawa, whose side are you on anyway?" asked Sho
"There are no sides." Said Reigen. She was about to take the fish and set them free in the pond at the park herself…but that would have been a bad idea since carp ate a lot and reproduced quickly. They'd overrun the ecosystem of the pond quickly. She knew. She had tried the same thing when she had been young.
"I'm on Mob's side. If she wants fifteen fish then she can have fifteen fish. It's a free country." Said Tome
"There. See, you're being ridiculous. If my girlfriend wants fifteen goldfish-" said Teru
"But I don't want fifteen goldfish. I didn't want to say anything because you were having so much fun winning them but…but I don't even think that I can take care of fifteen fish. Me and Master Reigen tried taking care of a fish once…and it didn't end well…" said Mob
"Rest in peace Mr. Swimmy. We hardly knew ye." Said Reigen as she mimed taking off a hat. She eyed Mob's fish…and they did not look like they were long for this world.
"There, she doesn't even want them. How about I just let then go in the ocean-" said Sho. He took a step forward but was stopped by Ritsu. He held his hand tight and shook his head.
"Those are freshwater fish, Sho, they'll die. We can let them go at the pond in the park. How about that?" asked Ritsu. He knew that there was no changing Sho's mind when he got like this. That was something he both loved and didn't love about him. No that he didn't love him, of course he did, but sometimes he could be a little much. Sometimes they could both be a little much. That was why he was going to let fifteen fish go in the pond at the park even though he knew that it would mess up the ecosystem. The things he did for love.
"That's a good plan, brother, here you go. Please make sure that they have a good home." Said Mob as she passed Ritsu the fish with her powers. Winning the fish was the fun part, really, and she felt bad because Teru had worked hard to win them for her…but he had also won her a lot of other stuff. He was always getting her stuff, that was just his love language according to an article she'd read online, and her love language was telling him how much she loved him. Though she might have miscalculated based on the weird, kind of upset, sound that Teru was making.
"Well you guys have fun with that. Come on, Serizawa, let's go watch some fireworks or something. See you guys later! Have fun! But not too much fun." Said Reigen. She waved as she walked away. Rei, who had been hiding behind her, practically ran to Mob's side. Reigen laughed a little as she led Serizawa to the patch of grass that provided the best view for fireworks.
"Thank you for saving me….I mean them….I mean-" said Serizawa as they sat down on the grass. She leaned into him and it took him a moment to put his arm around her. He froze, sometimes, and he just did not know why. He liked her a lot. He had no reason to be like that….but there he was…frozen beside her. His girlfriend who had done nothing but he wonderful to him…
"I know what you mean, and no thanks necessary." Said Reigen. She sighed as she leaned into him. This was better. Easier. Fewer people around…and she had no idea what it meant that she could only relax when they were alone. Maybe she was just still afraid of the whole relationship thing. Maybe she just had commitment issues. Or maybe she had just been so in her element, before, that she could finally relax. What did it say about her that she could only relax when she was involved in other people's problems? She didn't know. She didn't want to think about this. She only wanted to think about him.
"O-Ok." Said Serizawa. She was resting against him…and she was so warm. He was so warm. This whole…this whole thing was so warm. Because it was summer. It was warm and sticky…or maybe that was just him. She was so close. She was close enough that he could have kissed her if he wanted to…which he did…
So he did.
He kissed the top of her head. She giggled, the most wonderful sound in the world, and then she leaned up and kissed him properly. Fireworks went off…wait, those were real fireworks….well it felt like they were going off inside of him, too. That was how he always felt when they kissed. There was nothing better than kissing her….
"Hey Serizawa?" asked Reigen. She broke apart from him and rested her head in the space between his head and his shoulder. She closed her eyes and breathed deep. The world was him and her, in that moment, and that was just how she wanted it. Him and her together. The world around them exploding away in a shower of color that she could not see. She didn't care. She'd spent she didn't even know how long watching fireworks over the course of her lifetime but she had spent precious few minutes this close to him.
"Y-Yes?" asked Serizawa, his voice hitting an octave that he hadn't even known that he was capable of. He closed his eyes and just…felt. Her. There. Beside him. He hadn't seen that many fireworks in his life but being near her…that was better than any fireworks he had ever seen.
"You're great, you know that? You're just…great." Said Reigen softly. She could feel his stubble against her head. One of his hands was resting against her back, now, and the other held hers. This was perfect. If they weren't in public…but they were in public….and even if they were alone she would not have done anything that was on her mind…
He wasn't ready….and neither was she, to be honest. Not with him. Not yet.
"So are you." Said Serizawa. He regrets closing his eyes. With his eyes closed he could only picture…things that he should not have been thinking about. Not then, out in public, with her so near. He cared so much about her…and he wanted….so much with her….but she had no idea if it was a good idea to even ask.
That was a lot.
So was this…but he was ready for this.