This is bad. Kaori thought while pushing her sweaty bangs out of her eyes. She had been gawking at her phone screen for almost 10 minutes, unable to formulate a response to the text she had received. Her leg bounced erratically as her heart pounded in her chest. Nothing could've prepared her for a message like this.

"Hey Kai, wanna go out on a date sometime? Just the two of us?"

What did Mercy mean date? Like…dressing fancy and going out to eat at an expensive restaurant? As friends? Or as like…girlfriends? Did Mercy like LIKE her like that? How could she just casually drop a bombshell of a text like that out of the blue?! Was this one of Mercy's jokes to get Kaori all wound up? If so, it worked. Her face was beet red and she felt as if she was going to puke and shit herself simultaneously.

Kaori placed her phone on her bedside table and began to message her clammy temples. This topic was her kryptonite, for romance had never her strong suit. Recalling the time when Bennett had a crush on his now girlfriend, he would ask for advice about girls. The best thing she ever came up with was "just go ask her already and get over it." which, in retrospect, seemed douchey.

Was Mercy actually serious about this? What did she want to do after the date? Did she want to like, hold hands? Or kiss…or…does that mean they're doing THAT? Does that happen first date??? Oh god…she wasn't ready for that…

As Kaori moaned loudly into her hands to release some of her built up tension, her and Ben's guinea pigs began to squeak loudly in anticipation. They had interpreted Kaori's call for help as dinner time.

"Ugh shut up ya stupid FREAKS." She snarled as a joke. The stupid freaks simply went back to sniffing the air for their awaited treat. "Greedy assholes."

Deciding that she couldn't leave them hanging, she slowly got up and made her way to the kitchen. They would both keep squeaking anyway if she didn't give them something. Leaving her bedroom she went past Addysons room and went downstairs, trying to air out her mind while doing so.

Her stomach twisted into a knot when she remembered she never did respond to Mercy's text. A quick and quiet "fuck."escaped her lips as she opened the fridge.

In her defense, she STILL could not think of an appropriate response. In fact, she was still thinking about the implications of said text. If Mercy was serious, what if Kaori wasn't? She didn't know what a crush felt like. Sure, there were times where she felt odd being around her. Like the one time Kaori had fallen asleep during a movie and woken up to her head resting on Mercy's shoulder. Or the time they hugged after she had been crying all day because of her period cramps.

However, one memory stuck out more prominently than the rest: the time when they all went to a haunted house together. Although It was Addyson's idea, he chickened out at the beginning because of "medical reasons". Kaori and Mercy spent the entire time arms and hands interlocked. Mercy said she wasn't that scared but she could feel her body tense at every scare. Kaori, on the other hand, knew it was all fake and was unfazed by everything thrown at her.

Upon finally exiting the house was when they realized that their hands were interlocked. Mercy then teased her for how red her face turned, noting that she looked cute flustered, which made it even worse.

Just as they were about to go home, Bennett let out a wild screech that sounded akin to a fox's cry and pushed Addyson as hard as he could. Kaori didn't know what was happening until she saw a giant real spider crawling on Addyson's shoulder. Due to her extreme arachnophobia, immediately upon locking eyes with it she had fainted. Eventually, she came back to the real world to find herself being cradled in Mercy's arms.

Although the memory was hazy, she remembered that feeling fondly (whether she wanted to admit it or not). The warmth of Mercy's skin on hers, her scent enveloping her, securing her and letting her know everything was ok. It felt so damn good. Recalling that feeling caused shivers to race up her spine. It pained Kaori to admit that sometimes she longed for that feeling again.

Was this what Mercy felt? That fluttery feeling that left you aching for more once it disappeared all too quickly? She could feel her face burn once again while she aimlessly looked for a snack for the pigs. I mean, she wouldn't mind being that close to Mercy…now that she took time to think it through. She could imagine late nights, sitting on the couch together…letting Mercy play with her hair…or…maybe one time they could have dinner together and…they could feed each other…or…

Kaori slammed the fridge door shut as she grabbed a bag of carrots in attempt to cut off her rambling mind. She was beginning to feel sick. No. It was wrong to think of Mercy like that. She didn't consent to be some gross fantasy for Kaori.

Now that she thought about it. maybe she didn't even mean date as in going out as a couple. Maybe she just wanted to hang out? Yeah that sounded more like it…there was no way she would want to go out in a date with someone as crude as she was.

When returning to her room, she was greeted with a chorus of squeaks from the large cage in the corner. They knew she came back with something.

"Alright alright alright…shut up will ya?" She cooed while gently giving her guinea pig, Eugene, a large carrot. Before she could give Caterpillar, Ben's guinea pig, a carrot, she sprinted over to Eugene and attempted to steal her treat. "Hey! Be patient yous fuckin'-"

Suddenly her desk began to produce an ungodly sound as her phone vibrated against it. This generated an embarrassing squeak from Kaori. The surprise caused her to drop the other carrot, which send both of the guinea pigs scurrying back into their igloos. Who the hell was calling her? Before she could check, an unwanted thought crept into the back of her mind.

What if that was Mercy calling…? Oh shit…she STILL hasn't responded to her text….did she? Shes probably waiting for that response…

What if she thinks Kaori is ignoring her on purpose? Kaori would never do that…she just needed time to think…but it didn't seem that way to Mercy now, did it? All that she saw was Kaori leaving her on read for 20 minutes. That was…not a good look.

Kaori thickly swallowed back the excess saliva forming in her mouth all while a cold sweat broke out all over her body. Hurting Mercy was the last thing Kaori ever wanted to do. She had already been through so much…and she was so brave for sending a text like that, knowing it could cost their entire friendship. And Kaori just left her on read. This was bad. This was really really bad.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not look at her phone. The guilt combined with the nerves began to make her guts revolt. She was about to be sick. All over her damn bedroom carpet. AGAIN. All because she couldn't respond to one measly text to save her life. She was a terrible TERRIBLE person.

No!

Snap out of it! She still had time to salvage their relationship! She just had to grow a pair and answer the phone. That's it. Yeah! Nothing even happened yet! It was just a phone call!

Time seemed to move in slow motion as she trudged over to the still vibrating phone. When she picked it up, she was met with her front facing camera reflecting a rather frazzled looking Kaori back at her. A displeased expression quickly washed over her face.

Facetime call from Addyson.

"Hey bitch." A rather intoxicated Addyson greeted, his phone camera a little too close to his face. "Say hi Layne."

"Hey Kai!" The camera moved over to her brunette friend, a large smile spread across his face. He was wearing sunglasses indoors. Again.

Sitting down on her bed, Kaori responded with a deadpan "What do you want.", being too exhausted to try and figure out why he was drunk at 5pm.

"Ew. Why do you look like that."

"Look like what- I always look like this."

"No your face, what's up with it."

Kaori didnt respond. He was drunk and she couldn't be bothered to deal with someone whose intelligence was reduced to that of a 4 year old. "Where's Bennett. Let me talk to him. She felt bad asking to Ben while he was out but she was desperate. "Where the hell are you guys anyway?"

"We're bowling- or we were until someone showed up with her pet boyfriend."

"Wha- who are ya talking about.."

"Oh come on Addyson we weren't really doing anything. Bennett showed up with Ariel and he made her sit away from us because she's shy." Layne interjected, grabbing the phone out of Addysons hands.

"Oh. Could I talk to him for a second."

"Yeah! I'll go get him."

Kaori quickly turned her phone camera off, for she didn't want Bennett, who was most likely sober since he was around his girlfriend, to see her face. From the last time she saw herself in the camera, she was still rather red and sweaty. Mercy was the one who told her her entire face would turn red when she was flustered, including her ears. It was only a little embarrassing.

"Hey Kai. What's up." A familiar monotone voice came from her phones speakers. There stood Bennett with his bleached hair tied back wearing a signature button up shirt. He purposely aimed the camera so his massive shoulder was concealing Ariel's face, only her legs and small hands which were cradled in her lap were visible. They were sitting at the bowling alleys bar, yet they both had cups of water.

"Um…Ben could we talk for a second." She softly said, cutting right to the chase.

"Yeah sure. Do you want me to go outside or is right here fine?"

"I don't care if Ariel hears, if thats what you're askin'." Maybe she could help actually since she was a girl and all…and dating Bennett… Kaori though.

"Ok. But I'm turnin' the camera off."

"That's fine."

Kaori allowed Bennett to get situated before she began to dump all of her problems on him. As of recently, Kaori had been going to Bennett for advice more often. His advice wasn't always the best. However, Bennett wasn't one to sugarcoat the truth and lie. That was a trait she greatly appreciated.

"Alright. What's up."

"Mercy…texted me like…god…30 minutes ago now…asking if I wanted to go on a date with her."

"What did you say?"

"…nothin'. I got too nervous. She probably thinks I'm ignorin' her now."

"Ah." Bennett paused, as if he was thinking of the right thing to respond with. "Well…how do you feel about it?"

"Feel about what? Goin' on a date? Or like…datin' her…" Once again, Kaoris poor heart picked up it's pace and soon was hammering against her ribcage. "I mean…I don't think I would mind…I don't see a problem. I just don't know."

"What are you unsure about?"

"Like…what do you do on a date?"

"Well…when me and Ari go out we just kinda…chill? I don't think there's a right way of going on a date you just hang out with someone you really like. That's just me though. Like, right now we're technically on a date."

Even though she knew he couldn't see, she nodded in response, soaking in all this new information. She had never thought about it that way, for she had been under the impression that you had to dress fancy and go out to eat somewhere expensive. That did make sense though, it was more of the thought that would count, right?

"Also," Bennett continued "Mercy seems like the type of person who would rather stay home than go out. Just my observation."

He was right, Mercy is extremely introverted. That was actually the reason for her cold and quiet personality, she was just too timid to talk. Although, she seemed to open up more if you were to talk about something that interested her.

"Yeah…you're right. I'm just…still worried about the whole date thing…I don't know if I could commit. I've never been in a relationship before Ben…I'm really really scared I'll mess somethin' up…and ruin what we have…"

"That's a valid concern. When me and Ari first started datin' I was scared I would say the wrong thing all the time…but…ya know there ain't a right way to that either. You're gonna make mistakes. It's just somethin' you'll have to learn and grow from."

Silence filled the room, the only sounds being the chatter of people from the bowling ally and chewing from the guinea pigs. Kaori mulled over her thoughts and feelings up to this point.

Was she willing to go through with this? She still wasn't sure if she liked her back, but the idea of being able to be so close to someone made her chest feel warm. And Mercy was possibly one of the only girls she had ever trusted. They both have been through a lot. From Mercy's past suicide attempts to her quitting her job and not to mention the time Kaori's appendix early exploded and she was bed-ridden for awhile. Both of them have seen the worst sides of each other so it really could not get any worse.

Maybe…she should go for it. Mercy had been brave in putting the idea out there in the first place, Kaori would have to be brave too.

"You still there?" Bennett's voice cut through the silence like a knife.

"…yeah. I made my mind up Ben."

"That quickly?"

"Yeah."

She swore she could hear this motherfucker smiling.

"Wipe that goofy ass smile off yer face while you're at it estrogen boy.

"So that's my thanks?" She swore she could hear quiet laughter in the background.

"Yeah. Thanks big fat meanie. Really. I uh…probably should respond to her text now…before she thinks I'm ghosting her."

"Alright. See you later. Tell me how it goes."

"'Kay."

When the call ended, Kaori was greeted with Mercy's message once again. She drew in a long breath as she read it once more.

"Sure! Sounds awesome. Where do you want to go?"

ERM FAGGOT ALERT