College Fund

//Am I A Matchmaker or What?//

After I let Eric into the house, I let him talk more while I shut up. He didn't say anything at first; just led the way into the living room and pulled me into his lap onto the couch. He stroked my hair while I sobbed into his shoulder, and I couldn't help but notice that he was sufficiently better at comforting people than I was.

He waited until my sobs quieted down and I was finally starting to feel calmer before saying anything. "Butterfly, you need to stop listening to what people tell you to do and think about yourself. What would make you happy?"

I looked up at him, his concerned face blurry through my tears. "Bu-but... last night Margaux told me I'm selfish all the time."

"Don't listen to her! Margaux can worry about herself, and you can worry about you. Is it really such a bad thing to do what's best for you?"

I thought about what he said for a second. He was right. At this point in my life, I needed to do what was best for me. It might seem selfish, and I suppose it was, but being selfish wasn't necessarily a bad thing. But there was still one major flaw in this plan. "But I don't know what's best for me, or what I want to do."

"Well..." Eric thought about it for a second. "You have a couple of options. You could stay here with Margaux's family, you could go to Italy..."

"Cut the last option," I cut him off. Eric looked at me, confused. "I'm broke," I whispered, and held my head down ashamed.

I could feel the disappointment in Eric's gaze even though I refused to meet it. "Okay, well, the last option is to go home."

As soon as he said it, I felt a tug in my heart. I think deep down I knew that going home was what I needed to do. As much as I didn't want to face everything I had left behind me I knew it was what I needed to do. There was no point in staying here with Margaux's family; Margaux would be going home to her dad's house in Mapletown soon and I didn't want to impose on Sage and her mom. "I think I need to go home." Admitting it out loud made it seem so much more final.

Eric smirked as if he knew all along that I would make that decision. "See? Doesn't it feel great doing what's best for you?"

I shook my head slowly, silent tears still tracing down my cheeks. I didn't know how to explain to Eric that I was still scared of what would meet me at home.

"Well," he continued, "that's no good. If it makes you feel any better, I booked my flight to go home for tomorrow, and I'll see if I can get you a ticket for the same flight."

I scooted off his lap in surprise. "You're leaving tomorrow? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to tell you after we visited the Eiffel Tower but with the way the night ended I figured it wasn't the best time," Eric defended.

I nodded. Fair enough, although I was still annoyed by the vast number of secrets that had been kept from me lately. "You think you can get me on that flight?"

"I'll see what I can do. I make no promises, but it's probably not too busy," he pointed out.

"Thank you Eric." I wrapped my arms around his neck. After everything that had been going on, both in my life and his, I was honestly surprised he had stuck with me.

"Anything for you, my Butterfly. But if it's not too much to ask..."

"After everything you've done for me? Nothing is too much to ask," I replied.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. Will you be my girlfriend?"

My heart skipped a couple beats. I spent longer than I probably should have staring into his eyes. "Yeah, of course I will, Eric. It should have happened like a million years ago."

Of course I said yes. After everything we had been through together would I honestly even consider saying no? Well, okay, maybe I led him on and then cut him off over a dozen times, but I wasn't about to waste time like that again. I had made mistakes, sure, we all had. But I was maturing. Or, at least, I liked to think I was.

I looked back up at him, his face lowering closer to meet mine. It was a real kiss this time, not the awkwardness that had occurred on the doorstep before. This time we both truly meant it.

Eric pulled away first. "I love you, Butterfly," he whispered as he caressed my cheek.

I gazed at him in complete and utter shock. It had been months since I had last heard someone tell me that they loved me. As Eric whispered the words, it had hit me how much I missed hearing them. I grabbed his hand and stood up, pulling him off the couch with me. "I love you too," I replied, and kissed him harder.

He pulled me close to him and we began to sway together, almost as if we were slow dancing. I could have stayed there forever, in that moment, not thinking about anything except for Eric being close to me.

But of course, all good things must come to an end.

"Cass is it true that-Oh my god!" Margaux screamed suddenly as she walked into her living room to find mine and Eric's lips locked on each other.

Eric and I pulled away, still holding each other and started to laugh. Margaux's cheeks went bright red, clearly more embarrassed than us.

"I'm so sorry," she stuttered. "I'll just, uh, come back later..."

Just to top it all off, Sage chose that moment to appear in the entrance way. She took one moment to look at mine and Eric's position and shook her head fondly. "Am I a matchmaker or what?"

I rolled my eyes. "Or what."

It didn't seem to bother Sage that I was clearly unimpressed with her, because she just continued right along with her self-praise. "And what did we learn from this? Sage is always right. Next time you try to knock me down, remember this moment." And with that, she disappeared down the hallway towards the kitchen. Who knows what she was going to do, probably make some home-made pasta sauce or something.

Margaux was still standing there awkwardly, half in the living room, half out. Eric and I were still holding each other just as awkwardly. Basically, nothing had changed. I decided I should be the first one to do something about it because clearly no one else was going to do anything.

I cleared my throat and (awkwardly) stepped away from Eric and put a respectable distance between us. "Sorry Margaux, what did you want?"

"I was just going to ask you if you heard about Bria but... you know what, it can wait. Excusez-moi," Margaux said quickly and then practically sprinted out of the room.

I turned back to Eric and we both burst into laughter. "Well, I guess that's my cue to leave," Eric chuckled.

"What do you mean? Can't you stay a little longer?" I begged. A little part of me was afraid that the second Eric left my good mood would leave with him, and I was terrified of sinking back into a depression again. Eric was the only person who could make me laugh so hard that my stomach hurt even when I still had tear tracks running down my cheeks.

Eric thought for a minute, and then shook his head. "I would, but it's getting dark and I still want to call the airline and see about getting you a ticket. I mean, unless if you need me."

I hesitated, not wanting to bother him, but I realized that if I wanted to start this relationship off on the right foot I needed to let Eric know how I felt. "I'm just... afraid that when you will leave I'll just go back to feeling sad and stuff again. It's like I need you with me to be happy."

"You don't need anyone to be happy." Eric stepped forward and tilted my chin so I was looking into his eyes instead of staring at my feet. "You are my beautiful Butterfly, and nothing will ever change that."

A huge smile broke across my face as I grabbed his hand and walked him to the door.