Welcome to my one shots book... its all gonna be shit whoops
"Well. That sure was something." Jeremy mutters, kicking a stone. I nod, not even knowing what to say at this point. We walk in silence for a minute, and then Jeremy turns to me. "Michael. Thank you." I shrug. "For what?"
"For saving me. And everyone else." He smiles that smile. That smile that I've loved for years.
I know that I can't stay mad at him for long.
I smile back.
"It was no problem, dude. Really. Anyway, I wasn't just gonna let you be controlled by a robot... uh, computer thing forever."
He laughs. "Fair enough."
Another moment of silence. A fly lands on Jeremy and he swats at it. "But... like... that-that thing made me do terrible shit. Stuff that I didn't mean. Stuff that I didn't want to do."
By now we're at my house. I stick the key in my door and open it, going inside, with Jeremy following behind me. I flip on the light switch and throw my bag on the floor.
"It just.. completely took control over me." We go down to the basement, and sit on our beanbags like usual. He pulls his beanbag a little closer to mine.
"But like... about the other night..." He says, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
"I am a loser, so why does it matter?" I ask, trying to play it off as a joke.
He sees right through it, because he knows me. "Michael. I'm being serious. You're not a loser. And I'm really sorry that I said that. Like I said, the Squip forced me to do these things."
He moves even a little closer. My cheeks are red and hot. My heart beats quickly.
"Yeah." I say quietly.
"It also stopped me from feeling stuff... ya know?" I shake my head. "What do you mean?"
"It convinced me that I didn't have some feelings... even though I did. And then it stuck some other feelings in their place."
"What?" I ask, completely confused.
"The thing is... agh. I can't believe I'm doing this."
"What?" I ask again, so quietly I can hardly hear it. I can feel my heart speed up even more. My hands are shaking and sweaty, but I try to ignore it.
"So..." He takes a deep breath. "The Squip made my....uh... thing for Christine a lot bigger than it really was. But it also took away feelings I had for... someone else." He coughs.
I can hardly breathe.
"Listen, Michael." He moves his beanbag even closer. How is that possible?
"I knew that I loved this person. I really did. I didn't know that the Squip would... take that away. Convince me that I didn't have feelings for this person. Even though I had been in love with them... for..." He blushes. "A long time."
"I thought it would help me. You know, get up my courage to, like, confess or whatever. But instead it just tried to convince me that I didn't love the person."
I try to keep my voice steady as I ask, "Who is it?"
"Well... Listen, promise you won't judge me, okay?"
"Of course, dude. You're my best friend." I don't know why he isn't just telling me. We tell each other everything.
"I'm in love with you, Michael." He finally says, almost too quiet for me to hear.
I don't even know how to put into words what I'm feeling. This is what I've wanted for so long.
"For real?" I say, starting to laugh. He nods, smiling. "For real."
I start to cry, not even knowing exactly the reason why.
"Michael? Are you okay?" He asks, lightly touching my shoulder. "I'm better than okay." I practically yell. "Jeremy, I've been in love with you for... like five years. Five fucking years."
I take a deep breath, trying to calm my crazy mix of laughing and crying.
"Fuck." I mutter, smiling so much my cheeks hurt.
His beautiful smile grows even bigger. And then he does the thing that I've wanted for so long. He leans in and kisses me.
It feels just like I imagined it. But even better.
They always tell you in romance novels how when you kiss the love of your life or whatever, you feel sparks or shit. I never believed that. Until now. I swear there are sparks.
