Antihero // Freminet FF

4: Freminet

"You hugged her?!"

Lynette stared at me for a few seconds, then tilted her head.
"Why would you hug a stranger?"

I blushed hardly, I could feel it on my cheeks, and looked away in embarrassment. That was the question I was afraid of the most. And it was definitely not the reason I asked Lynette for help. Now, I wasn't going to mention that I sobbed my eyes out in Alex's arms and leave that behind as an "unimportant minor detail". A minor detail that was actually not so "minor". I'd never cried in front of other people before.
"I-it felt right...! A-... a-and I needed comfort-..."

Lynette let out a small huff.
"But you don't even know her. What if she's trouble?"
My eyes widened a little. Alex? Trouble? That didn't make sense to me. She was just an overly grateful, shy girl. Right?
"I don't think so... she seems so nice..."
My sister just stood up from my bed and crossed her arms.
"It's not my duty to help you with your love life when it comes to general interaction. I think that if you're interested in her, you should find out more about her before developing any feelings."

Ah, thanks. That came a little late. I was already head over heels for that woman.

I'd never been in love before, so there was no way I could understand these strange feelings on my own. But I wanted to at least acknowledge them and accept them. But... was it too early for a confession?

I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to be her boyfriend. I'd just never been in a relationship before and had no idea how it worked. At all. I knew that there were love languages and that relationships were connected to trust and love and stuff. All the things I wanted to give her so badly.

But I couldn't because I was a coward who wasn't going to confess to her. At least not very soon.

And yet, my mind kept wandering back to how soothing her touch was and how she told me that it was okay to cry. To Lynette, she was a stranger and a possible danger, but to me, it seemed like she was the last missing piece of me I'd been searching for my entire life.

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It took me almost a week to really accept my feelings.

And even then, I was still in denial.

Lyney had always told me that people tend to fall for others very easily because of their charm. He said that they oversee someone's flaws and bad traits because they want to pay attention to the good things about a person. And if anyone knows that, then it's gotta be him. A literal magician.

That's why it felt extremely weird to see Alex when I suddenly saw her on the streets of the Court of Fontaine, talking to Chiori, the owner of Chioriya Boutique. I was actually just passing by because I had some free time, but I couldn't resist her. Damnit.
As soon as she was done talking to Chiori, I walked up to her and waved to get her attention.

Alex looked at me, and her face lit up in a smile immediately. That stunning smile. She put a hand on her hip and gave me a playful salute.
"Hey, Freminet. Whatcha doing here?"

I returned the salute and just stood there, my hands shaking a little. Why was I so goddamn nervous? Was it the "crush"? Was my reaction to her even a crush? I had no idea what all those strange words meant and had to ask Lynette about each one of them, but my feelings for Alex sounded like something Lyney would call a "crush". Or that "simp" thing. I had no idea.

"H-hello, Alex. I was just passing by. What business do you have with Chiori?"

She glanced at the boutique, then back at me, and chuckled, obviously excited.
"I ordered a dress for the huge party at the Palais Memoria next week. You know, it's the Iudex's birthday."

My eyes widened. I'd completely forgotten about that party, even though the entire house was invited, too. Damnit, that was absolutely not good.
"O-oh. Right, that party..."

"Will you bring a friend there? Or a girlfriend?"
Alex tilted her head curiously.

I quickly looked away. I was absolutely not wishing that I could bring HER to that party, just to see what she'd look like in one of the beautiful dresses from Chioriya Boutique.
"Uhm, no. Neither of those."

That's all I said. I was definitely not going to admit that I had no friends.

She just looked at me for a moment. Then, a wide grin spread across her face.
"Heh, that's great! I mean, it's actually bad for you, but it's great for me, because I don't have anyone to bring, either! You know what that means...?"

"Huh? You don't have any friends either?"
I quickly clamped a hand over my mouth. Think before you speak, Freminet! Of course she had friends, she just had nobody who'd go to the party with her! Damnit!

She chuckled. That chuckle was so damn cute. I was completely smitten by this woman.
"Heh, no, I don't. But I actually wanted to ask you if we could be friends anyway."

Friends? She had no friends either?
AND she wanted to be friends with a boring, emotionless loser like me? That was a new one. Especially for someone who'd never had any real friends before.
"Friends? Hm... I don't mind. But are you sure you'd want to be friends with me?"

"...yes. What's wrong about that?"

"There's nothing wrong about that! At all! Let's just... be friends."

"Great! We both have a friend now!"

I couldn't help but smile. Not only did I have a friend, but I also had a really nice and attractive girl as a friend. "Father" had always told me to not have any female friends because I could develop feelings for them. Developing feelings for a female friend without knowing if they love you back and potentially risking the entire friendship? That was dangerous.
But I couldn't resist. I had to get to know her somehow and find out if she was just as nice as she seemed to be.

"So... if we're friends now... does that mean we'll do the stuff friends do? Like hanging out?" My voice was extremely hesitant when I spoke. I'd never experienced a friendship before, let alone with a girl. And definitely not the girl I had romantic feelings for.

Alex nodded. "Yeah, sure. When do you have time?"
Damn. I didn't want to admit that I didn't have any hobbies or missions at all. So I had plenty free time.
"Uh... well... right... now?"

She let out a small chuckle. I couldn't tell if she was laughing at me or just amused by the situation in general.
"Sure! Where can we go? I just threw my last mora into the outfit, so we can't grab food or-..."

"No! It's fine! I'll... I'll pay." I clamped a hand over my mouth and I'm pretty sure my ears turned red. That sounded so desperate! Why did I have to be so embarrassing?!

She looked at me, her eyes a little wider than before. I could already tell that she wasn't expecting that offer. And from what I'd seen, she'd thank me for it at least four times. Oh no. I made her feel the urge to thank me. That was bad. So I took my hand away from my mouth and averted my eyes.
"Sorry."

She just let out a small huff.
"Sorry for what? For being nice? Aw, come on. But, damn, thanks. Where do you wanna go?"

That was easier than I thought. I didn't understand the "sorry for what" part, but that didn't matter at the moment. I just wanted to spend time with her. So I tried my best to impress her and chose one of the most expensive restaurants I knew. And I didn't even care about spending all the mora I'd saved for more diving gears. All I cared about was to make her happy and show her that I liked her.

Lyney was right.

I was such a massive simp.