Five Times I Wanted To Say "I Love You"

Fretful Thoughts (Rewritten)

📱

CONN 🏑

Hey
Can I come over?

Now?

Yes

Ok

Great!
Can you open the door?

📱

Startled, Bay poked his head out the living room window to see whether Conn was actual— who was Bay kidding? Of course, Conn was actually there.

The brunette was already grinning at him; Max barked out her own greeting.

A smile tugged at Bay's lips when Conn waved at him and gestured to the front door. Bay made his fingers into the 'okay' sign and hurried downstairs.

* * * * *

Bay had only just opened the door when he got tackled. Not by Conn, by Max. Were collies supposed to weigh this much?

"Woah! Okay— Wait! Sit, Max! Sit!"

Max did sit down (eventually). But whether it was because Max had figured out that she had already slobbered all over Bay's face or because it was Conn that asked her to sit, Bay wasn't sure.

Bay groaned. "Did she get heavier?"

"No." Conn looked down at him. "You just don't work out."

Bay accepted the hand that Conn offered him and pulled himself up. "What are you doing here?"

Conn locked the door behind him. "I came to see you. Duh. Where's your family?"

"My parents went to a wedding. Cove's on an outing," Bay explained as they walked to the living room.

"Great," Conn nodded, "I came to ask something."

"You came here to ask something." Bay stared at Conn in disbelief. "You could've just texted me, you know?"

"What's wrong?" Conn sat himself down on the couch; Max jumped up to drape herself across his lap.

Bay flinched. "H— what do you mean? I'm fine. Really."

Conn looked pointedly at Bay as he began scratching Max. "That's not true."

"How do you know?"

"I know because I noticed Jan was texting about how she finished playing 'Lost Legacy'. And you—" Conn raised his eyebrows— "didn't say a single word about it."

"You figured it out just from that? Maybe I just had my phone on mute."

"The fact that you didn't reply to me at all is also kind of suspicious. That and I overheard our mums talking when they bumped into each other at the grocer's."

'Oh, no.'

"What'd she say?"

"That it's July and you still haven't made a decision."

"Right." Bay dropped onto the couch, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "You're doing biochem, right?"

"Don't change the subject. What about- Ah, damn, what is it called? IT?" Conn nodded to himself. "Yeah. You took programming classes, right?"

"Conn, I—" Bay leaned back suddenly. His head bumped against the couch cushions. "I just don't know."

"Don't know what?" Max whined when Conn stopped scratching her.

"If that's what I want to do." Bay turned his head to look at Conn.

"Why? Don't tell me you taking extra classes was just a hobby all this time," Conn joked, smiling slightly. "Though—"