"This movie sucks," Eloise groaned from her spot on the couch between Colin and Penelope.
Penelope snorted. "That's probably because you haven't paid attention to any of it. You've been glancing at your phone every five seconds waiting for your Mystery Woman to message back." Eloise blushed but didn't deny it.
"Desperate," Colin said with a fake cough, earning a glare and a hard punch on the arm.
"Shut up!" His sister growled. Just then, a number popped up on her phone, a series of flowers and plants as the contact name. Eloise bolted upright in her seat and scrambled to answer it. "Hey, hi, uh...what's up! I mean...hello," she stuttered. Penelope found it rather endearing that her usually fierce, impenetrable best friend was falling in love. Colin was cracking up at his sister's flustered state, earning yet another piercing glare. "Give me two seconds," she whispered into the phone, then bounded down the hall to her room and slammed the door.
Now they were alone, Colin and Penelope realized at the same time, a strange silence settling over them. Things had been awkward between them as of late. Ever since Colin told Penelope he was taking a break from his travels, it was like they didn't know how to be around each other anymore. Normally when he was home, they spent all their nights laughing and drinking and talking until the wee hours of the morning. Then he would leave and they would talk on the phone or text just about every day until he came back, and then it was as if he never left. It was the perfect routine. Or so Colin thought.
Lately, he sensed Penelope pulling away, which for some reason only made him want to be even closer to her. He had become more touchy, more flirty, more forward, pushing the bounds of their friendship at every turn. It was his way of saying without words that he had feelings for her. Very unfriendly feelings that he didn't know what to do with. He thought about Penelope constantly, even when she was two feet away from him. He hoped that maybe, now that Eloise had left, this was the moment. He just needed to be brave.
"What are you doing?" Penelope asked in a startled voice as he pulled her across the couch and tucked her into his side.
"We're cuddling," he said with a casual shrug, even though his insides were on fire and his brain was mush at the feel of her in his arms. "We always cuddle during movies," he continued, his voice somehow not wavering like Eloise's had. He turned to Penelope then, meeting her crystal blue eyes and his heart just about stopped. She was so impossibly beautiful. "You're so soft and warm." He brushed one hand along her arm and down her side, stopping to squeeze her hip. The other moved to her cheek to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. "You fit so perfectly in my arms, like you were made for me."
"Oh," Penelope squeaked, her face turning as bright as her hair.
That adorable blush of hers was one of the few reasons he held out hope that she felt it too. The electricity, the spark, the overwhelming sense of home whenever they were together. She'd been blushing for him since the day they met, and even before he realized what it meant, it filled him with a sense of pride. He wanted to make her blush like that forever.
"Pen," he whispered, reminding himself to be brave. She nodded ever so slightly. "Pen," he repeated reverently, trailing his thumb over the pale pink flesh of her cheeks. She stared back at him with wide, inquisitive eyes, and he knew without a second thought that she was his everything. He would move heaven and earth just so that he could drown in those ocean blue eyes. "When did I start to need you so much?" He asked idly, his thumb pulling gently at her bottom lip.
"You need me?" Penelope asked. "Colin, what are you-what is this?" She asked, seemingly pulling herself from a trance and removing herself from his arms.
"Don't go, Pen. Stay. Just stay with me like this. Please stay," he begged.
"Colin, what is going on with you lately? You've not been acting like yourself. Especially not with me," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I know," he murmured, hanging his head. This was not going as he'd hoped. Why could he not just say it? 'Tell her!' He screamed at himself. "Penelope, I...we've been friends for so long, and I don't want to lose you. You're my person, and I don't want anything I say to change the way you see me."
Penelope moved closer, closing the gap between them again. She took his face in her hands, dragging his eyes up to hers. "Colin, nothing you could say would change how I see you. You're my person too. You've seen all my dark bits and you're still here. Whatever it is, I'm not leaving. I'm here."
He nodded, leaning into her touch. "Pen, I love you. I'm in love with you. I don't know when things started to change for me, but I know that I have never felt this for anyone before, and I never will. You're it for me, Pen, and I'm sorry if that scares you. I just needed you to know." Penelope's hands fell from his face and into her lap. Her plump lips parted in shock and she stared blanking, trying to process his words. "Pen?" He asked nervously.
"I...you...what?" She blurted, and in any other circumstance, he might have laughed at the stricken look on her face.
"I love you."
"Like...like a friend, right?" She asked, clearly in denial.
"No, Pen, not a friend. Like the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Like the person who makes me happier than anyone else in the world. I love you. Do you...could you...?" He couldn't bring himself to ask.
Penelope stared him down, studying his features. "You're serious," she said. It wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway. "Colin," she began, her expression soft and lovely as ever.
"Please don't say it. It's okay if you don't feel that way right now, or ever. I just-I had to know."
"Colin."
He ignored her, panic fully taking over. "I'll be fine. It's fine."
"Colin."
"We can just watch the rest of...Sharknado 5, and go back to being friends. J-just friends. It's fine," he choked out, trying more to convince himself. "It's---"
"Colin!" Penelope yelled, finally managing to get his attention and stop his rambling by grabbing his face in her hands. "Colin, stop for two seconds. Breathe. Breathe," she said, demonstrating it for him until he started to calm down. "Are you okay?" She asked. He nodded, avoiding her gaze. She was always so good at calming him down. It was one of the reasons he loved her. She was his rock, his safehouse. He was so embarrassed. Of his failed confession, her rejection, his panic attack. "Colin, please tell me you're okay," her voice rang out, tethering him to the present. "I need to hear you."
"I'm okay, Pen," he said, forcing himself to look at her.
She was smiling brightly back at him, one of those megawatt smiles that could turn his whole day around. "Good," she hummed. Why was she still smiling? He just made a fool of himself. She should be shoving him out of her apartment and calling him a creep. "Colin, can I say something now?" He nodded. "Colin, I love you too. I've loved you for so long, I don't know any other way to feel about you. So don't ever think for a second that I don't think you are the most amazing person in the world. I don't want to have to hurt you for hurting the man I love," She warned, a teasing glint in her eye.
Colin's heart burst with hope. His Pen loved him too? She loved him too! He didn't waste another second, pulling Penelope into his lap and pressing his lips to hers, pouring every ounce of his love into their first kiss. And it was fucking glorious. It was everything he'd imagined their first kiss would be. She whimpered and melted at his touch, and when they finally ran out of air, they pulled away.
Penelope grinned down at him---a rare sight considering their height difference---and swirled her fingers through his hair. A very different kind of silence settled over them this time as they simply held each other. "Eloise was right, this movie sucks," Penelope said eventually, shutting off the TV.
"I don't know, I think this is the best movie I've ever seen," Colin replied, his vision never wavering from the voluptuous breasts that swayed just inches from his eager mouth.
"Colin!" She squealed when he dove right between them, burrowing into her skin. "Colin, let's go to my room," Penelope giggled joyously before kissing him again. He didn't think it was possible to love her any more, but every day, she proved him wrong.
