OH MY GOSH!!!!!!
Eric finally came over to my house. To make it happen, I had pleaded with my parents and brother to spend the evening at my grandparents' place and have dinner there. It took some convincing, but I managed to get them out of the house for the night.
But it was all worth it. His father—or should I say, my future father-in-law—dropped us off. Hehe. It's kind of embarrassing to think of it that way. Once we were inside, I went straight to the kitchen to fix us a drink.
As we were chatting, Eric suddenly sneaked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, embracing me from behind.
At that exact moment, my mind went blank. First, I was in shock, and then my thoughts scattered in every direction.
"Do I smell from our PE activities?"
"Could he feel my tummy fat against his forearms?"
"Are we going to have sex in the living room or the bedroom?" and other questions like that.
He answered my question with his usual calm and nonchalant tone, while I was blushing furiously. At this point, I thought he could probably hear my heart pounding.
He simply went back to the sofa as if nothing had happened. But I was certain it did—my pounding heart and the dampness at my bottom were undeniable proof.
Another train of thought surged into my mind.
"What about his girlfriend?"
"Did they break up?"
"Is he cheating on her?"
I wanted to ask him all these questions, but I stayed silent. Deep down, I knew I was okay with him cheating or whatever, as long as he chose me.
I also knew my obsession with him was bordering on unhealthy, probably because he was my first love. Yet, there was nothing I could do about it. I was so wrapped up in him that I didn't think I could go an hour without thinking about him.
With these thoughts racing through my mind, I carried two drinks into the sitting room. To boost my chances, I unbuttoned two buttons on my shirt.
_______
"I made some lemon juice," Akari said as she walked into the room, trying to act normal, though the red highlights in her cheeks were still visible.
"Thank you," Eric replied, taking a cup from her tray.
Akari sat on the sofa across from Eric. If it hadn't been for Eric's unexpected action, she would have sat beside him, trying to make more progress. However, she was too shy at the moment to do so.
"Were you troubled by those thugs again after the incident?" Eric asked, trying to keep the conversation from becoming awkward.
"Huh? Oh, um, no, no, I haven't," Akari replied, sounding as if she'd just snapped out of a daze.
Hmm, maybe the thugs around here aren't inherently bad but just acted out because of the original plot.
Eric asked a few more questions, but Akari, still in a state of shock and embarrassment, answered briefly, making it difficult to sustain the conversation.
"It seems my previous actions have offended you, so I'll be leaving early," Eric said as he stood up. "Thank you for having me, and I apologize for any inconvenience."
Although I knew Akari wasn't actually offended—given her progress—I had to use it as an excuse. She seemed too shocked by my move; perhaps it was still too soon for that kind of thing.
"Huh, wait, wait, wait! What do you mean you're leaving? We haven't even done anything yet—I mean, learned anything yet," Akari said, standing up. Free from her earlier embarrassment, she positioned herself in front of Eric with her arms and legs spread out, clearly panicking and trying to block his way.
"Oh, so you weren't upset by my earlier move?" Eric asked, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"I mean," Akari said, looking down as her red cheeks returned, "I wouldn't say I hated it."
"There's no need to lie about it," Eric replied, deciding to tease her a bit more. "What I did was definitely out of the box. It's okay if you're upset, but I hope we can still keep things the same at school." He continued, picking up his bag and acting as if he was about to leave anyway.
"But—I'm really not upset! Please believe me," Akari exclaimed, clinging to him tightly to stop him from leaving. In full panic mode now, tears began to form in her eyes.
Not getting the reaction he expected and seeing her starting to cry, Eric quickly set down his bag and took her by the shoulders.
"Hey, don't cry, don't cry," Eric said, trying to comfort her. "I was just kidding—I'm not really leaving." He spoke gently, holding her shoulders and trying his best to calm her down.
"But—but *sniffle* you said—" Akari replied, clearly struggling to hold back her tears, but she was cut off mid-sentence.
"I was just joking," Eric said soothingly, pulling her closer and wrapping her in a comforting embrace.
Caught in the soothing embrace, Akari let her guard down completely, and the dam of her tears broke, causing her to cry out loud.
Not expecting such a reaction, Eric felt a pang of responsibility. He simply stood there, holding her gently and waiting for her to cry herself out.
"I still have a lot to learn about women," Eric thought to himself.
. . .
After a few moments, her crying began to subside.
"Have you calmed down?" Eric asked, looking down at Akari, who was still clinging to him with her face buried in his chest.
She nodded silently, her face still buried in his chest, not uttering a single word.
"Should we start cooking?" Eric asked again, gently breaking the silence.
Akari shook her head, still not lifting her face from his chest.
"Okay then, let's just sit down and stay like this for a while longer," Eric said, moving backward toward the couch. Akari followed his every step, still clinging to him.
Eric sat on the couch, and Akari sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his chest.
'Let's hope the system counts this as making a move,' Eric thought to himself.
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Hi, author here
I have a question for you
Why is it called 'rush hour' when traffic moves the slowest?
Also thanks for reading it ^∆^