All I Need

Part 7

He was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and letting his thoughts wander. He'd been putting off calling Sasha all afternoon. He knew she knew. Sasha knew him too well, and if he was obvious enough that Seth could see it, then more than likely the whole school knew, but he was still dreading  calling her.

He felt guilty, like he wanted to steal her toy or something, and he knew it was dumb, but he couldn't shake the feeling. At the same time, he really wanted to talk to Bayley again, and he didn't want to wait until tomorrow, but he needed her number. He also knew if he called Seth and asked him for it, that Seth would ask if he'd talked to Sasha yet, then refuse once he found out he hadn't.

He finally reached over and hit the send button on his phone, it only rang twice before she answered,

"I was wondering when I was going to hear from you."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"Well if you know why I'm calling I don't have to tell you do I."

"Sorry, bud, no can do. You know I'm not going to ignore an opportunity to torture you."

"Come on Sasha," he whined sounding like a petulant child.

"Finnnnny," She drew out the horrible nickname just to be annoying.

"Ugh, you know I hate when you call me that."

"Well stop being such a baby and admit it."

"You can't just give me her number and threaten to castrate me if I hurt her and leave it at that?"

"So now we get to the real reason you called, you don't have her number."

"Well yeah, that and to make sure you weren't mad at me for wanting to steal your new best friend from you."

"Aw Finn, of course I'm not mad at you, and you're not stealing her from me. I'm pretty sure she's not going to want to talk about make-up with you or how hot Jeff Hardy was back in the day. As long as the two of you don't disappear and forget Seth and I exist then how could I be upset when I see what the two of you are like when you are in the same room."

"So you think she likes me?"

"Finn, seriously?"

"What? I'm not used to this. I don't remember the last time I liked someone this much, hell I don't think I've ever liked someone this much."

"I know, it's just weird to see you insecure about something. Sweet, but weird."

"Me feeling like an idiot is sweet?"

"It is. Watching a boy fall in love, seeing how you really care and how unsure you are. It just gives me hope that someday I'll get to be on the other end of that."

"I didn't say anything about the L word."

"You didn't need to, and don't get all freaked out over it. I didn't say you were in love, but you don't really think you can feel like that and not realize that's where it's leading to."

"One step at a time. I'd like to kiss her first before we start talking about scary words." Sasha made some sort of half-laugh, half-choking sound.

"What?"

"You know she's not like the other girls right."

"Of course I do, why do you think I'm turning into an idiot over her?"

"I know, but, well just keep that in mind. Those feather-brained dimwits would think you were in love with them if you were nice enough to hold a door open, she's not like that."

"Are you trying to tell me something specific?"

"I'm not going to tell you more than that, I'm not breaking a confidence. I'm just saying don't assume she knows how you feel. You're gonna have to use actual words."

"Okay. I can work with that."

"Good. I really want you both to be happy, you know that right? You're both my best friends.

"I know, and I really do appreciate that too Sasha. You know I want you to be happy as well."

"I know, and I am."

"So have I passed the test? Can I have her number?"

"Maybe. First though--I really will castrate you if you hurt her."

"Believe me I know you can be a savage bi...um...person when the situation calls for it."

"Nice save there buddy, and yeah I know you wouldn't be so careless now, but remember when I met you you were a lot more like Seth, sleeping around and not really caring if the girl was too stupid to realize you weren't serious."

"I haven't felt that way for a long time."

"If you did, I'd tell you to stay the hell away from her. You're a good guy Finn, but she's one of the purest, most genuine people I've ever met. Just take care alright?"

"I will."

"Good. I'll text you her number as soon as I get her permission to give it to you okay."

"Aw man, you're gonna ask her first?"

"Well yeah. You're just gonna have to be patient. It won't be a bad thing for her to realize that you went to the trouble to get her number."

"Fine, if you're sure that's the best way, but do me a favor, don't keep me hanging."

"It's not like she's gonna say no."

"You don't know that."

"Dear God, you're both going to be the death of me before this is over with. Of course she's not going to say no Finn. Regardless of whether she likes you or not, she definitely thinks of you as friend, she's not going to refuse to talk to you on the phone. Now hang up so I can see myself out of the middle of this. Hopefully the two of you won't screw it up from here."

"Thanks Sash," he said half-sarcastically.

"Hush, I have valid reasons to doubt you both and I'm doing you a favor. Now, goodbye Finn."

"Bye."

Despite Sasha's reassurance he still didn't move from his bed, anxiously waiting on her response, feeling his stomach churn in anticipation and dread. It felt like an eternity before he felt it vibrate signalling a text and he practically jumped out of his skin.

Nothing but a phone number and a winking emoji. He rolled his eyes at the same time he was grinning as he saved the number to his phone. Once it was saved, he continued to stare at it and her name where he'd typed it in, suddenly anxious for a whole new reason.

Except he really couldn't procrastinate long, not since Sasha had forced his hand by deliberately asking her if it was okay. He had to call her soon or he'd look like an ass. He got up and paced across his room for a moment then stopped, took a deep breath and hit send.