Asking her out

Nick's heart pounded in his chest as he got out of his car. He had been thinking about tonight for weeks, planning and re-planning and re-planning again, trying to decide how he wanted to go about asking Michelle out. He had had a crush on her since they went to elementary school together, but he didn't understand what that meant at the time. As they grew up, and they learned about the opposite gender, they had sometimes talked about what kind of people they might like to go out with. Nick was always uncomfortable in those discussions, not wanting to give away that he had eyes only for her, while she went on about the kinds of guys she was into. They seemed to change every year. Michelle was a much more outgoing person than Nick was. She had been in a dozen relationships, but she always came back to him as her best friend. More than one guy had been dumped for saying the wrong thing about her lifelong friend.

Nick had never been sure of what to say when she was dating. He was jealous, there was no denying that, but somewhere inside him, he knew that he cared more about her being happy than whether or not she was dating him. He only ever spoke out against her boyfriends if he could see that they were bad for her. It had only happened a couple of times, and he always seemed to have to go through more pain because of it than she did. Physical pain. They would beat him up when they found out he was the cause of their break up.

That was a good sign that he had been right.

They had graduated from high school together only a few days prior. He had long ago decided that the summer before college he would own up to his feelings for her. She had left her previous boyfriend about a week before graduation, and she was prone to waiting some time before moving on to the next guy. Plus he was always the first to know about it. The timing was good. They would have the summer together and, even though they were going to different colleges, he thought that their long standing friendship would give him an edge. They had already agreed to keep in contact regardless. It was kind of a no brainer.

His only hope was that asking her out wouldn't somehow ruin their friendship. He valued her in his life too much. Not just because he liked her, but because she had always been there for him. She was his strength when he had none. His wall to steady himself upon when he thought that he might fall. He liked to think he was the same for her, and it seemed that way. He was always there for her when she asked him to be. Even sometimes when she didn't. He didn't want that to go away.

The door opened as soon as he went to knock. He could feel his palms sweating, and his heart leapt into his chest. He should have known she would see him walking up. "Hey Nick!" she said happily. Her smile. The way her hair framed her face. Her bright eyes, the relaxed way she stood as if inviting him in for a hug. He could feel himself freezing. "You wanna come in?"

"I... No, I... I mean..." His words caught in his throat. Michelle looked at him, her head tilted to one side, clearly confused. He never turned down an invitation into the house. "I mean, I do, but I didn't come here for..." Nick felt as though he could barely breath.

"Are you ok, Nick?" Michelle's voice quickly became concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I... I just... I love you!" Nick's eyes flew open wide and his hands slapped over his mouth. He couldn't believe the words that had come out of his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that. Had never even thought the words before. They just happened.

Michelle stood there, stunned, not knowing what to say in return. They stood in silence for a long moment before she stepped outside and closed the door behind her. Without a word, she motioned for him to follow her, and he did so. She lead him to a spot behind her house they had found years before where they couldn't be seen from the house or the road. They squeezes into their safe space and sat down, facing each other. Nick could feel his face burning with embarrassment. This was going even worse than he had anticipated.

"You love me?" she finally asked.

For a moment, Nick didn't know what to say. He could only nod, dumbfounded by his own actions.

"Not, like, a sisterly love. Like, love love."

Nick nodded again.

Michelle leaned back against the wall on her side, thinking. "How long?"

Nick grasped wildly for an answer, but he couldn't say. It was as if the love had always been there. It had simply grown slowly over the years.

Michelle seemed to understand, despite his silence. "And how long were you going to wait before you told me?"

Nick was so confused. He didn't know what was happening anymore. Everything had become so wildly out of hand. Every plan he had attempted to make had fallen apart.

Her hand hit his face before he could even react. The slap burned, although he couldn't tell if it was that or the blush that burned more. "That's for hiding from me," Michelle said stubbornly. And again, before he could react, her hand was on his face, in the same spot. But gentle now, caressing. Suddenly her lips were pressed against his, and a mixture of cool serenity and hot joy rushed through his body as they kissed for a brief, fleeting moment.

"And that's for finally telling me," she whispered.