As you watched his face, you both slowly grew red. Before that kiss, you had never even talked about romance between you. You had never even flirted as a joke. While you always wanted to, you restrained yourself.
Everything started to make sense though.
The way you would catch him staring at you during class, the way he brought you food, the way he smiled while you talked, the way he did, well, everything around you. If he was telling the truth about wanting more, then it was all for one reason. The same reason you had.
"Hitoshi, I-I love you," you tried. It sounded odd on your tongue. "I love you," you repeated. You never thought you would say that out loud. Now seemed like the right time, though.
"I love you too," he said back quietly. You kept staring at each other, considering what the next step would be.
Do I tell him how I've always felt? Do I ask him out? Do I kiss him again?
Your fingertips graced the rims of his glasses, then floated down to his jaw. Surely touching him romantically like this was wrong, right? It had never seemed like a possibility before this point. All you knew is that you wanted to do it more. You wanted to feel all of him if possible.
You blushed at the thought of touching all of him, your mind wandering to lustful places. You stopped yourself; just because he said he loved you didn't mean he wanted that with you. You didn't have any sort of permission.
Still, you wanted to indulge yourself just a little more. You wanted just a little bit more of him before it ended.
You held firmly to his face, bringing him towards you again. Your thinking was still pure, all you wanted was another kiss.
Your lips met with his, slowly moving in motion with him. He wasn't sure what to do in order to please you. The last time he had kissed someone, he was 15 and locking braces with a girl behind the bleachers. This was much, much different. There was so much possibility with this kiss. There was promise that more would come, which terrified him and excited him at the same time.
Truthfully, he wasn't sure he ever liked someone until you became friends with him freshman year. Before that, it was little crushes and a girlfriend or two. He fell in love for the first time when you shared your textbook with him during class because he forgot his. At that moment, he felt the strange emotion for the first time. It never wavered, and now he was able to finally put everything into action.
He reminisced on all of your experiences together, almost tearing up as he did so.
He loved you.
He was absolutely sure of it. There was no doubt in his mind that you were the person who would be there for him when he needed it. His emotions welled up in an unusual way for him, flowing down his cheeks as you innocently kissed him.
You felt this, parting your lips from his. "Hi-Hitoshi...Why are you crying? Here," you worried, wiping his tears desperately. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. It's happiness. I love you," he reassured. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you onto his lap. His embrace was tight and sure, further proving that he had been waiting to hold you as more than a friend for years now.
The shock you felt as he held you like that was great, but you had no other way of responding besides holding him back. His chin rested in the crook of your neck, strongly reminding you of his presence.
You thought he would never let you go, but eventually he did. You leaned back a bit so you could look at him. You were crying too, now, and he dried your tears just as you had dried his. This was the most vulnerable you had ever been with a person. It was the best person to be vulnerable with, because you knew he would never hold that against you.
