Trouble with love

Part 25 What was missing

The two had left the roller rink and were now walking around the town, taking in the various sights. "It's nice to be able to get out and just go for a walk, wouldn't you agree?" Takagi-san asked.

"Y-yeah, sure, it's nice." Nishikata replied nervously. 'If only I knew why I can't ask her to be my girlfriend, it would be a lot nicer.'

They continued walking, until they passed a clothing store, which had a dress on display that caught Takagi's eye. "On my gosh! Look at that!" She exclaimed as she rushed over to the window.

Nishikata followed her and looked at the dress in question; it looked kinda nice, but it was way too big for Takagi-san. "I guess it looks nice, but isn't it for people who are older?"

"We'll be fully grown sooner than you think." Takagi-san said as she continued to stare at the dress. "Before you know it, we'll be out of school, looking for jobs, and quite possibly a place to stay." She glanced down and began to rub her arm. "You know ... we're going to have to pick our highschool soon."

"Yeah, I know."

"And we probably won't see a number of our friends from our current school."

"I know."

"But that's okay, right?" She asked as she turned to him and tried to smile. "Because we'll make new friends in highschool! And we'll have all these fond memories to look back on."

As Nishikata looked at her, he felt like something was off, and he had a good idea what it was. "But that's all it'll be, right?"

"Yeah." She turned around and grabbed her hands behind her back. "I love making lasting memories, and having as much fun as possible, but ... we'll only be able to live through this time in our lives once ... then it's over."

"Well ... why not just look forward?"

"Hm?"

"I mean, yeah, all those times have passed, but if you keep looking back forever, then you won't be able to look forward to all of the good memories that are still to come."

Takagi-san smiled as she took Nishikata's hand. "You know ... you're right, there's still a lot left for us ... and I'm excited to see what will happen."

They began walking again as Nishikata felt a sense of satisfaction. 'I'm glad I was able to make her happy ... but ... why can't I just confess to her already?'

They continued until they reached a bridge, and Takagi-san stopped to look out over the river. "Isn't this beautiful?" She asked.

"I ... yeah." Nishikata said, looking at Takagi-san instead of the river. 'She's so pretty ... why does she want to be with me of all people?' Something clicked in his mind as he felt like he was beginning to remember something. 'Wait ...'

"You know what?" She began as she continued to look out over the river. "I'm happy."

"Happy?"

"Yeah, with how everything turned out. We're closer than we used to be, and that's more than enough for now." She turned to him and gave him a closed eyed smile. "I was scared for a while that I may have teased you just a little too much, and that it negatively affected our relationship."

It finally clicked in Nishikata's head what was holding him back for so long. 'I never ... apologize.' He dropped to his hands and knees, causing Takagi-san to look at him a little confused. 'How could I have forgotten something so important!' "Hey, Takagi?"

"Hm?"

He began scratching the back of his head as he blushed. "You see ... I'm ... sorry."

"Sorry?"

Nishikata continued as he began to shake ever so slightly. "You ... I should have never called you a liar when you told me you liked me. I know that you never lie to me, and I wanted it to be true as well, but I still didn't believe you, and ... I can't apologize enough."

"Nishikata."

"I really, REALLY messed up, yet you didn't give up on me, which is way more than I deserve." He shook his head. "What's worse, you thought you had teased me too much ... and ... that's just not true. You can never tease me too much and I ..." He took a deep breath. "I don't mind being teased by you for the rest of my life! Will you let me continue being your boyfriend?"

Takagi-san was in shock at Nishikata's reaction, but soon closed her eyes, and clenched her fists. "Nishikata?" He looked up at her, eager to hear her response. "Could you ... please stand."

He slowly stood up, but before he knew what was happening, Takagi-san grabbed him and began rubbing her head against his chest while letting out a few tears. "I don't care about what happened anymore, I just want to be with you!" She said as she held him tight.

"Takagi." He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes as he simply enjoyed the moment. "So ... can I assume that this means your answer is a yes?"

"Definitely." She looked up at him with her teary eyed smile. "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear this from you."

"I ... take it that it's been longer than I thought?"

"Since the day we met." She said as she dug her head back into his chest. "I mean I've grown more in love with you since then, but ... yeah, I'm ... happy."

"Since ..."

"Don't." She interrupted. "You're not allowed to feel guilty anymore about things that have already happened, You're already my boyfriend and now there's no getting out of it."

"I ... don't want to get out of it.

"Good." She glanced up at him and smiled. "So that's all you wanted to do? Apologize?"

"Yeah, well ... I wanted to for some time, but I never found the chance to." He began scratching the back of his head. "Actually ... it's been driving me crazy since before we started this whole dating thing."

"Well it doesn't matter anymore." She said as she began rubbing her face into his chest. "We're finally officially together, and that makes me happy."