Part 8

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-Barbara's Pov-

" Okay," says Gus. " I was talking with Esther, and then she asked me this question out of nowhere. Did you guys ever have a friend who you hung out with all the time, and then like...something happened and you thought maybe they had a crush on you?"

This gets the group talking, and after awhile, they turn to Gus. " I ask because Esther was asking me about the moment when I started to realize that she liked me. And then she and I had a really good talk about it. So, I wanted to ask the people on this podcast when they had a moment of realizing their partner maybe returned their feelings?

The group goes on about it for awhile, before turning to me. " Okay, so it's weird," I say. " (y/n) and I grew up together. As far as I can tell, he showed no interest in me for years, although he told me that he had a crush on me for a really long time."

" Right," says Gus. " But I think every couple has this moment where they like see something. It's something potentially romantic, and from there they interpret every other action as romantic. Did you and (y/n) have that?"

I nod. " Okay, then yeah. It was one a podcast actually."

-Flashback ( style change)

We were on a podcast, and I had just gotten with Aaron. Burnie was talking about it, and I actually remember how that whole conversation started. He was just like, " So, we could go on. But, I also wanna tease Aaron and Barbara for getting together."

And then the podcast erupted into laughter. (y/n) was doing that thing he does when he starts picking at the wrapper of a bottle. " I mean, we've liked each other for awhile," says Aaron. " It just took me awhile before I asked her out."

" Do the puns every become too much for you," asks Gavin. He turns to me. " I mean, don't get me wrong. The occasional one is funny, but for the most part they kinda all suck."

Aaron laughed. " Nah, I love her puns. Not all of them. But the thing is Barbara is a wonderful girl. You don't get to pick and choose which ones you tolerate, and which ones you don't. It's a package deal."

The room erupts into saying ' awee,' and then asking other questions about me and Aaron. This goes on for some time, until (y/n) looks up for the first time since we started talking about my relationship with Aaron. He takes a shaky breath. " Can uh, can we talk about something else?"

" Jealous," asks Gavin. He means it as a joke, but (y/n) just sighs. He looks down, and keeps picking at the bottle again. Seeing this, the podcast quickly changes the subject. I'm confused by this, but just roll with it. Maybe he's having a bad day, or relationship problems.

But then after, I hear him talking to Burnie. " Thanks for being a good sport (y/n)," he says. " I know you have a crush on Barbara, so thanks for playing along when we talked about that. We should have dropped the question sooner."

-Present Day-

" So, from then on I kinda looked for more signs of romantic feelings he may have had for me," I say. " I also have a question. Did everyone except me know he had a crush on me?"

Burnie shrugs. " He never came out and told us. But, he wasn't as subtle about it as he probably thought."

(y/n) comes on to the podcast, and walks over to me. He hugs me. " I don't care it took you so long to realize. I'm glad you did."

( i didn't know what to call this one. i wanted to put in some more inklings of younger (y/n) and Barbara. short chapter. and i know I have used the set-up of (y/n) telling Barbara he's glad she realized it, no matter how long it took. i just like using it, and besides...it's cute. and it's something that would come up in any relationship that turned from platonic to romantic)

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