Are you an angel?

Chapter 5: Narrated by Silver Spoon.

♡♡♡

I was doing everything I could not to completely break down in front of her.

After experiencing the feeling of my head on her shoulder and her arm wrapped around my waist, I ended up saying those words on impulse, especially after she asked me such a sudden question out of nowhere. It wasn’t like I didn’t mean what I said; honestly, I’d been doing everything I could to keep the words inside the whole time, but it was never my intention to bring her to my home just to tell her my secret, especially after having just met her so recently! Still, I couldn’t believe she thought the only reason I ever talked to her was because I felt sorry for her.

That was one of the things that had made me fall for her so easily, though: she always thought that everyone around her was so much better than she was, like she was lucky just to share two words with anyone who paid attention to her. Ever since the day I met her, she treated me like I was some sort of princess, some kind of angel that was so high on a pedestal that I was out of her reach. She made me feel so important, which was why this moment hurt more than probably anything I’d ever felt in my life.

“I love you.”

I said those words without thinking, but I guess that’s what most people do when they say those words for the first time. They just throw it out there and hope that the person on the other end feels the same way. With me, though, it was different. Even if she saw me as this princess who was leagues above her in social standing, I was still a kid, a little girl eight years younger than she was. I had made myself as vulnerable as humanly possible, telling her my deepest secret, putting my emotions on a silver platter and setting it on her lap, yet instead of answering back like I hoped she would, she just sat there with a confused look on her face.

‘Don’t cry,’ I told myself over and over. ‘Daddy taught you to always be strong in front of other people. Even if you want to fall to your knees and gush your eyes out, put on a brave face and it’ll all be over soon.’

Still, though, as I waited for her reply, keeping my trembling lips curled into a shaky smile that I tried desperately to control, her eyes only widened further, making my lungs practically cave in on themselves. What was I thinking? Why did I say something so stupid to a girl so much older than me? She probably thought I was some crazy, clingy weirdo, especially considering the fact that we were both girls!

“Silver Spoon, I--”

“I don’t think I need to say this, but you’d better not tell anyone!” I said before she could reply with anything else, placing my finger to her lips and making her eyebrows reach towards her hairline. “Especially not Cozy Glow! Could you imagine the kinds of things the kids at school would say? It’d get back to my parents in no time, and then I’d never be allowed to hang out with you again!”

Anon then quietly nodded her head, allowing my smile to gently relax for the first time since I’d made that stupid confession. My heart was still breaking on the inside, but at least if things could just stay the way they were, I couldn’t ask for anything else. She didn’t have to return the feelings I had for her. She just needed to stay the way she was, letting me love her from afar.

The moment my finger fell from her lips, however, she didn’t waste a second opening them back up, grabbing my hands as she inhaled a quick breath that made my nerves stand on edge. “Do you promise?!”

I tilted my head to the side in curiosity. “Huh? Promise what?”

“Do…” Suddenly, her eyes fell to her lap, her cheeks glowing a rosy pink. She was so dang cute, but I had to do everything I could not to let my own face blush, which was especially hard now that her fingers were intertwined with mine. “Do you promise that you’re not just teasing me again? You promise you actually meant what you said?”

Her question made me instinctively flinch, catching me off guard just like she always did. Was she just checking to see if I was some crazy stalker girl, or did she… actually feel the same way about me as I felt about her? The whole time I’d known her, I’d always thought that she was just humoring me because I was her younger sister’s friend, but was it possible that after all this time, she was really spending time with me because the feeling was mutual?

I shook my head in disbelief. After all that bragging I’d just done about how easily I could read people--herself in particular--I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what was going on inside her head.

“Well, duh it was true,” I replied, trying to sound confident despite the feeling of a hoard of butterflies setting themselves free in my stomach. “I mean, don’t get me wrong--I love teasing you--but I’m not about to lie about something that huge just to see your reaction. You gotta admit, though, the face you made after I said it was pretty funny.”

I then pulled my hand away from hers so I could giggle loudly into my palms, hoping that it would hide how nervous I was on the inside. My hope was that she would make another funny face and move the conversation onto something else, but she still looked into my eyes with that same burning urgency, making my heart beat at twice its normal speed. Had I really messed up that badly? Did I ruin everything?!

Then, just as my fake smile was about to collapse on itself, allowing the floodgates to open up and reveal my shattered heart, I saw her head literally pop, steam now sizzling from the top of her skull. My eyes squinted curiously, but before I could figure out what had happened, her body collapsed backwards onto my bed, drool pouring from her mouth as she laid there unconsciously.

“Huh?! Anon?! What happened? Wake up!”

“Uuuuugggghhhhh…” she responded, weakly lifting herself up again with her eyes still spinning. “Sorry. I think my brain exploded.”

My head tilted in curiosity again, and before I knew how to respond, I found myself laughing again, only this time it was real laughter, making my sides hurt from how hard they suddenly had to work. That was what I loved about Anon. No matter how sad, angry or scared I was before, I knew that as soon as I had the chance to talk with her, I would always end up smiling.

“You know, I’m sure my daddy could get you a good doctor if you think you need an MRI.”

“Ugh. How do you know what an MRI even is?”

“Medical dramas,” I replied with as joyous a tone as I could, bouncing on the soles of my feet with my hands behind my back. I couldn’t help but notice that even though I was still trying to give her a big smile to hide how self-conscious I was, I didn’t feel like I was acting anymore. Whenever I talked with her, she gave me the confidence I needed to keep smiling, and the more time we spent talking, the less I needed to fake my confidence.

Suddenly, Anon smiled with me, making my chest flutter from realizing again just how beautiful her happy face was. “Silver Spoon… You’re amazing, you know that?”

“Well, duh! I doubt you’d hang out with me if I wasn’t.”

“That’s not true!” Then, before I could react, Anon grabbed me by the arms and brought our faces closer together. My eyes suddenly went wide with my cheeks burning at the temperature of the sun, but despite how uncomfortable the situation was, she didn’t seem to realize how much my lips were quivering. “I can’t imagine there ever being a time when I wouldn’t want to hang out with you!”

My mouth hung open slightly, my eyebrow raised as I tried thinking of a way to respond. I tried to reason whether or not there was some way that I could just be misinterpreting things, but as far as I could tell, she could have really been saying what I thought she was saying… and suddenly... the tears started to break free.

“Dang it, Anon!” I shouted, pulling my arms out of her hands and looking away to try and hide my crying face. “Don’t you realize how embarrassing this is for me?!”

“H-huh? ACK! I’m sorry! I didn’t--I mean, I couldn’t--Gaaaaahh! I’m sorry, Silver Spoon! Please forgive me!”

Anon then dipped her eyes down towards her knees, pleading with her hands over her head for forgiveness, but that wasn’t what I was looking for. I didn’t want an apology! I just wanted to know how she felt about me!

“I’ll forgive you, but would you please just stop being awkward for a second and give me your answer?”

I could see out the corner of my eye Anon lifting her head up curiously towards me, but there was no way I could face her now. In fact, the pressure had built up so much that I immediately squeezed my eyes closed after asking the question, probably coming off as the biggest scaredy cat in Canterlot, but I just couldn’t look anymore. I just wanted this whole thing to be over and done with already!

Silence followed for an uncomfortably long time as I stood there with my eyes closed, holding my arms while trying to keep the tears behind my eyelids. I could hear Anon’s breath leaving her mouth like she was trying to speak, but other than a few quiet gasps, the room around us was completely silent. My head was swirling with all the different possibilities of why it could have been taking so long, continuing the spiral of anxiety that made it even harder to maintain my composure. Was she trying to find a way to turn me down without hurting my feelings… or was she really having this hard of a time saying the same thing that I told her?

“Silver Spoon…?”

Finally, my eyes opened as my body turned towards her. “Yes, Ano--?”

Before I could answer, though, my face was buried in her chest, making my eyes go wide as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, burying her face against her sleeves. The two of us then waited for several seconds in another agonizing silence, making my heart race anxiously again, but the sounds that came next didn’t do me any favors in slowing down my heartbeat. While I stood there with Anon’s arms gripping me with all of her strength, I suddenly felt something wet touch my cheek, and in the next moment, I heard the most heartbreaking wail of my life. Without thinking, I quickly wrapped my arms around her waist, holding onto her with as much force as she held me, making her sobs continue to grow louder.

“S-Silver Spoon...”

“Yes, Anon?”

“I’m sorry if I made things awkward for you. I’m just so happy that I don’t know what to do! I… I…”

She paused momentarily, sniffling weakly before crying again. Then, looking into my eyes with the most beautiful crying face I’d ever seen, she finally said the one thing that would change both of our lives forever.

“I love you too, Silver Spoon! I love you so mu-hu-huuuuch!”

I stood there in silence for another few moments as I attempted to let the words sink in, but even though I had clearly heard what she said, the message wouldn’t register. There was no way that the girl I loved… actually liked me back, was there? But she said it! She said it back! For the first time in my life, I actually had requited love, and the entire idea was so foreign that when I could finally believe that it actually happened in real life… all I could do was hold her close and let out all the emotions that I’d been trying to hold in this whole time.

“Anon… I love you.”

I nestled my cheeks into her arm.

“I love you too.”

She ran her fingers through my hair.

“I love you.”

I smelled the delicate scent of her shampoo.

“I love you too.”

She wrapped her hand around my waist.

“I love you.”

I gripped my hand around her shoulder.

“I love you too.”

She placed my head into the crook of her neck.

Before I realized it, our tears had stopped, and the two of us were just sitting on my bed with stupid, girly grins while Anon combed her fingers through my hair, my head resting on her shoulder with my arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Then, when I finally had the strength to look up at her face again, I saw her peer down at me with poofy, red eyes, which I undoubtedly mirrored with my own. It was so silly, like this whole time I had been worrying about nothing all along, and once again, all the nerves came back rushing out, only this time in a different way than before.

It started out small, but before I could think to hold it in, I was suddenly cracking up from all the relieved stress, leaving the two of us laughing so hard that our eyes once again began to water down our cheeks. I knew that it was stupid, that there was nothing funny about this situation, but at least I knew that I was safe to let it all out, so long as I was with the girl beside me.

Anon, the girl I loved more than anything else in the whole world, and if I was right…

“Oh! By the way!” Anon’s smile suddenly shifted, tilting her head as she looked down at me with a curious expression on her face. “Does this mean I’m your girlfriend now?”

Again, her eyes went wide as she sat in silence, looking at my face while somehow appearing like she wasn’t thinking at all, a glob of saliva dripping down her lip. After waiting a few seconds for her response, though, I silently waved in front of her face, causing her to suddenly break from her trance and rub her head while groaning in discomfort.

“Sorry, Silver Spoon. I just felt this pressure in my head all of a sudden.”

“Please don’t tell me it’s going to pop again!!”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, but…” Once she stopped rubbing her scalp, however, she looked back down at her knees, bumping her index fingers together while her cheeks blushed a bright red. “Are… Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, you did tell me not to tell anyone about it.”

“Well, yeah, because I thought you were gonna reject me.”

Finally, she made eye contact again, but now her eyebrows were furrowed, giving me what I could only describe as the most astonished face in her arsenal. “Me? Reject you?! There’s no way I could ever do something like that! I mean, you’re so pretty and mature and thoughtful--”

“And nine years old… and a girl...” Now I was the one to look away, twiddling my thumbs as I tried to forget about how nervous I was confessing my feelings to her. “I was so scared that you’d start looking at me different after I told you. I know you see me as this super grown up girl that doesn’t get rattled by anything, but… I was trying so hard not to cry.”

Several seconds passed where neither of us said anything, neither of us moved. We just took the next minute to process everything that had happened while I tapped my foot anxiously on the floor, praying that I hadn’t made a mistake even when she’d told me that she liked me back. That anxiety, though, suddenly flew away like a leaf in the wind the moment she wrapped her arms around me again, making my whole face burn red.

“I know that you’re a girl, and I know you’re in elementary school,” she began, making me gulp in reflex, “but… maybe I even like that about you.”

I then turned my head to see her face to face, tilting my eyebrow in curiosity. “But what about when I grow up? It’s gonna happen someday you know.”

“I know! I just… Aaaaggghh!” As my eyes blinked confusedly, Anon ruffled through her hair while groaning in aggravation. “It’s hard for me to explain it, but…” Again, she looked me in the eye. “I like you for you! As long as you’re the same kind, mature, brave, confident girl ten years in the future as you are now, I don’t think I’d be able not to love you! Yes, I like that you’re a girl, and also that you’re a grade schooler…” She took a second to try to shake away the redness in her cheeks. “B-but I only like those things because they make up who you are! I know other people might get the wrong idea about us, but…”

Suddenly, she squeezed her eyes shut, clenching her hands tight in her lap as she took a long, deep breath.

“Can we be girlfriends, please?!”

She was shaking so much that it was hard to believe we weren’t sitting on ice cubes, yet never in my life had I felt such a warmth as I did in that moment. I wanted to answer yes, of course, but there was no way for me to say it with words that conveyed just how much joy was fluttering in my heart. So instead of answering, I laid my head on her shoulder, making her jump in surprise with a sudden shriek while I let the butterflies calm down inside me. As expected, however, the butterflies only flapped harder the longer I stayed there, making the grin on my face grow so wide that my cheeks actually hurt from smiling.

I wished that Anon could just hear my answer telepathically, like she would know my answer without me having to break from this peaceful state of pure bliss, and to my genuine surprise, she answered by gently resting her head on top of mine and placing her hand on my palm, intertwining our fingers together. For minutes, neither one of us spoke. Instead, the two of us sat in silence, holding the hand of the girl who mattered more to us than anything in the whole world, and with our fingers locked tight together, we silently said to each other what we were both saying within our hearts.

“I’m so happy, and I love you so much.”

“Silver Spoon, we need to talk.”

I suddenly stopped running to turn around and face a girl with curly blue hair, her arms folded with an eyebrow lifted in confusion, an expression which I quickly mirrored. I thought that she would have been happy to play cops and robbers with Emerald Green, a girl that she’d asked me to introduce her to a few days ago, but as Emerald and I chased after each other while making exaggerated shooting noises, Cozy Glow was barely jogging, doing more observation than actually joining in on the fun.

“Sure,” I said hesitantly. “Sorry, Emerald Green. We’ll be right back.”

Our classmate with shiny green hair then nodded with a smile, giving Cozy Glow the permission she needed to grab me by the arm, leading me to a park bench where she forcefully sat me down. At first I thought that maybe she’d heard that her sister and I had started dating over the weekend, but if that were really the case, she would have called me out on it earlier rather than waiting until after school to talk with me about it. Plus, even considering how thin-skinned Anon was, I sincerely doubted that she’d spill the beans so quickly, especially to her younger sister.

“You know something?” the blue-haired girl asked. “You’ve been acting weird all day today.”

“I have? Like how?”

“I dunno! You’re just happy. Like suuuuper happy.”

I quickly breathed a sigh of relief, chuckling femininely to hide my self-consciousness. “Yeah, I had a good weekend is all. Is it really that surprising for you to see me this happy, though?”

Cozy Glow shrugged. “I guess so. You’re just usually so grown-up and serious all the time, but today you’ve been acting--I dunno--like a kid?”

The comment made me roll my eyes and shake my head with another soft giggle. “Maybe you’re just now starting to notice another side of me that you haven’t seen yet.”

“Wait! There are sides of you I haven’t seen yet?! What even happened over the weekend?”

I couldn’t help but smile, not only because the question reminded me of how much fun I’d had on Saturday, but also because I’d been waiting all day for this exact moment. “Oh, nothing. I just fell in love is all.”

Cozy Glow’s jaw suddenly dropped in the funniest way possible, making me squeeze my lips together to keep myself from inadvertently laughing in her face. Of course, I didn’t want to tease one of my best friends--let alone my girlfriend’s sister--but I’d been dying to tell somebody about my new relationship. I’d already told my friend Diamond Tiara about it over the phone earlier, but the experience was so much more fun when the person I was talking to actually knew the girl I fell in love with, even if I couldn’t tell her all the little details.

“What the jeepers?! With who?! I wanna hear!”

“Sorry, Cozy,” I replied, putting my finger over my lips. “That’s a secret.”

“WHAAAAAT?!?!?!” I immediately flinched, along with seemingly everyone at the park as they looked over with inquisitive expressions. Once Cozy Glow got the chance to look around and see everyone’s faces, though, she quickly coughed into her hand and completely flipped personalities. “I mean, golly Silver Spoon! That’s no fair. I just wanna hear more about my friend’s personal life is all.”

Of course she did. It’d kill me if I found out that Diamond Tiara fell in love with someone and wouldn’t tell me any of the details, but this wasn’t exactly something I could talk about so openly. I knew that I was being kind of a snob for bringing it up and leaving her out of the loop, but I felt like my chest was going to explode if I didn’t talk about it at least a little bit.

“I’ll tell you what!” I said, jumping off of the park bench. “I’ll walk home with you and your sister today, and we can talk about all the boys that you like.”

Cozy Glow made a gag sound as she began to stand up. “Sorry, Silver Spoon, but I don’t think I’m ready to start thinking about boys just yet. You can walk home with me and Anon if you want to, though. I think I see her coming up right now, actually.”

My cheeks suddenly turned a bright scarlet. I’d always been a little nervous about seeing her, but now that we were actually dating, seeing her brought with it completely new forms of stress and exhilaration.

At least… it did… but then I saw her peeking past the brick wall that bordered the park and immediately hiding the moment she saw us looking at her. Then, all of the nerves disappeared out of nowhere, not only because she was the biggest dork in the world, but also because at that moment, I remembered how easily she could shake away any of the nerves that I felt whenever she was around. I never had to impress her, act a certain way or worry about messing up. She did all that for me, which gave me the perfect opportunity just to be myself.

“Ugh. What is she doing now?” Cozy Glow grumbled with her hands on her hips. “Hang on a sec, Silver Spoon. I’ll go get her real quick.”

“Actually, no,” I replied, blocking her with my hand as a sadistic smile crept up on my lips. “I’ll go get her for us.”

Cozy Glow’s eyebrow tilted in confusion, but after giving me permission with a nod, I quietly started walking in the opposite direction, making Cozy Glow’s expression even more dumbfounded. She’d find out soon enough, though. As I made my way around the corner of the wall bordering the park, I stealthily sneaked my way closer to where Anon was standing, who was predictably still peeking around the other corner, unaware that I was right behind her. Then, taking the biggest, quietest steps I could, I closed the distance between the two of us, peering over her shoulder as she frantically began searching for where I had run off to.

“Whatcha looking for?”

“KYAAAHH!!”

By the time Anon’s feet had touched the ground after jumping probably six feet in the air, she turned around with her hand on her chest, heaving deep breaths while I fell onto my back, holding onto my sides and rolling around in hilarity. Once the initial shock wore off, though, she breathed out one last sigh and began to smile while I pulled myself off of the ground, getting out a few last chuckles before she inevitably got the chance to scold me.

“Are you trying to kill me?!” she asked, trying to force a serious expression despite her lips curling upwards into a smile.

“Hi, honey!” Before she could even process what I said, though, I stood up on my tippy toes and planted a soft kiss on her cheek, making her jaw drop and her body freeze. “Oh, by the way, your sister said we could walk home again today. I hope that’s OK with you.”

Anon, however, didn’t even look at me. She was probably suffering from shock right now and couldn’t comprehend anything other than the feeling of her hand pressed up against her cheek. Then, once she finally remembered how to blink again, she peered down at my smile and immediately began to shake nervously.

“Y-yeah! That’s fine! That’s more than fine! It’s great, actually! I, uh… Whew, I’m really out of breath for some reason.”

“Don’t worry. You’re always like that.”

“Huh?!”

Just as I was about to laugh again, though, Cozy Glow made her way over to where we were, giving the two of us a hardened glare while she stood menacingly with her hands on her hips. “How long were the two of you planning on keeping me waiting? C’mon, sis. I wanna go home and do something that’s actually fun.”

Anon quickly gulped and nodded her head, turning robotically towards the direction of her home and beginning to walk forward with stiffness in her legs. Cozy Glow then turned towards me like I could answer what was making Anon act so weird, but I just shrugged my shoulders with a smug grin. Sure, I may have known what was going on, but Cozy Glow should have known too. This was just Anon being Anon, and I loved that about her.

“So, did you get the chance to talk to that Emerald Green girl that you mentioned the other day?” Anon asked as Cozy Glow began to walk ahead of us.

“Yeah, she’s super nice, actually. She says that she’s gonna bring in makeup and some magazines to help me learn about fashion this week.”

“But… What about all the times when I volunteered to teach you about makeup?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. No offense, sis, but I’m not so sure you’re as cut out for that kind of stuff as she is.”

Anon’s jaw dropped in offense, but Cozy Glow was too far ahead of us to notice, an opportunity that I wasn’t about to let slip.

“Come on, Cozy Glow! At least let me teach you a little--EEP!”

Suddenly, Anon clasped her hand to her mouth, silencing as much of her sudden outburst as she could. While her left hand covered her lips, though, I had already subtly grabbed hold of her right hand, interlocking our fingers together and causing half of her body to freeze up altogether. Fortunately, Cozy Glow didn’t seem to notice as she continued to walk forward without even glancing backwards in our direction.

Once the initial shock had ended, though, Anon quietly leaned down to my ear and whispered, “S-Silver Spoon! Don’t you think now is a bad time?”

“What’s the matter?” I responded with an arrogant smirk. “Afraid your palms will get sweaty?”

“That… wasn’t on my mind until this moment, but yes, that too.”

“Just a little longer.” Before she could say anything else to ruin the mood, though, I wrapped my other hand around her arm and pulled myself as close to her side as I could, nuzzling my face into the warmth of her school uniform. “I’ve missed you.”

Anon’s face remained hesitant at first, but after taking a few seconds to cool down from the initial shock, her expression gradually softened into a small smile. “You know, it’s only been two days since we saw each other, and we’ve spent the past two nights talking over the phone.”

“I know, but it’s not enough.” I hated myself for being as clingy as I was, but at the same time, being with Anon made me happier than anything else I could think of. I couldn’t just pretend like being with her wasn’t a big deal for me when it really was the highlight of my day. “Just give me until we get to the next street and I’ll let go.”

I had to admit, I was at least expecting her to act a little more embarrassed, but to my surprise, she reached across her body and patted me gently on the head, once again releasing the butterflies in my chest. It was weird how Cozy Glow didn’t turn around once, especially since we were all so abnormally quiet. If it meant that Anon and I could stay how we were, though, I was going to appreciate every last second of it for as long as I could.

Yet all good things must come to an end.

“You know something?” the girl in front of us asked, causing us to break from each other’s bodies aside from our hands. “I just realized that Anon has been acting especially weird lately.”

This time, our hands jolted back to our sides as fast as they could, just in time for when Cozy Glow turned around with a curious stare. “W-w-w-w-weird?” Anon said, making me slap my hand to my face in embarrassment. “W-what do you mean weird?”

“That! Like that! I mean, you’re always weird--don’t get me wrong--but ever since Saturday, you’ve barely said two words to me! You’ve basically been locked up in your room all weekend, and you’ve been extra jumpy since this morning.”

Oh, crud. That was when I sent her that “Good morning, girlfriend!” message with a picture of me kissing the camera. Looks like that came back to bite me, and it probably meant that I would have to calm down on how much I teased her. As much as I wanted the two of us to be a happy, lovey-dovey couple, we weren’t exactly ready to publicize it to the world quite yet, especially on Anon’s end.

“I… er…”

“Anon’s in her last year of high school, right?” I asked before Anon could say something stupid and embarras the both of us. “Honestly, I’d be surprised if she wasn’t cooped up in her room all day.”

The girl at my side quietly mouthed a silent thank you, but Cozy Glow immediately started cracking up. “You know what, Silver Spoon? You’re a good friend. You always say so many good things about my sister, even though we both know that she’s not studying.”

I could hear Anon growl in frustration, but at the same time, it wasn’t like Cozy Glow was wrong. I would know.

“Are…” I began, not sure whether or not the question I wanted to ask was particularly appropriate. “Are you two not very close?”

Suddenly, the two of them turned away from each other, both of their faces grimacing and making me immediately regret bringing it up.

“It’s not like we’re not close,” Cozy Glow said hesitantly. “It’s just…”

“No, Silver Spoon’s right. We haven’t gotten along recently, and I think that’s mostly my fault.” Suddenly, Cozy Glow looked up at her older sister, who in turn stared down at her feet. “I’ve been giving you too much grief because of your past, so I can understand why you wouldn’t want to talk to me about your life. I know you’ve changed, now though, so… Would it be OK if the two of us start over again? As sisters?”

The younger sister switched confused looks between me and Anon, her jaw trying to figure out whether it should say something or just hang down in shock. After a few seconds of letting her words sink in, though, she turned her face back towards the street in front of us, folding her arms with a pout. “I guess… it was a little mean for me to kick you out of my room the other day. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I let you come in and talk with me every once in a while.”

Anon’s face suddenly lit up into the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen, but that expression quickly changed once Cozy Glow turned around and spoke again.

“Oh, speaking of which! What did you need when you came into my room on Saturday, anyway?”

“GACK! I, uh…” Anon then turned towards me again with her hands pleading for me to save her, but I just shrugged my shoulders. She would have to save herself on this one. “I was going to ask you… Oh! I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me to the swimming pool!”

I immediately slapped my hand to my face and shook my head with embarrassment while Cozy Glow tilted her head to the side. “The swimming pool? In autumn?”

“...I really wanted to swim, heheh… heh…”

“...Uh… Then I’m glad you got to swim? Silver Spoon, you don’t need to listen to my sister being weird anymore. You live over that way, don’t you?”

I quickly turned my head, realizing that we’d arrived at the fork in the road that separated the directions to our homes. I then turned my face towards Anon’s to show her my disappointed frown, but she looked like she just had her heart broken, practically to the point of tears as her lips quivered uncontrollably. I was probably going to end up calling unnecessary attention to us by doing this, but at the same time, it was our first time walking home together as a couple! I wanted to at least get the chance to give her a proper goodbye!

“Hey, Cozy Glow?” I said. “Do you mind if I talk with Anon alone for one quick second?”

Cozy Glow, as expected, raised a curious eyebrow, but relented nonetheless. “Sure, if you want. I’m just gonna keep walking if that’s OK with you guys. I’ll see you at school tomorrow?”

“Yep! Bye, Cozyyy!”

My friend then waved goodbye and turned towards the direction of her home again, walking away and giving Anon and me a minute just to ourselves. The moment she was out of sight, though, I immediately wrapped my arms around my girlfriend’s stomach, pulling her into the tightest hug I could give her and causing her to jump in surprise.

“Wah!”

“Hey, Anon?” The girl in my arms then looked down at my face, giving me the opportunity to stare into her beautiful eyes. “I’m not doing anything to make you uncomfortable, am I?”

“What?! Of course not! I--”

“Anoooooooon?”

“I, er…” She took a second to think before changing her expression to give me a sympathetic smile, which basically told me everything I needed to know. “It’s not that it makes me uncomfortable, exactly, but I feel like we might be moving a little fast? Urk. I don’t know.”

Her answer made my smile disappear slightly, even despite how happy I was that she could at least be honest with me. I couldn’t deny that I saw something like this coming, but I was still glad that I was able to get it all out of my system early on. I would still have plenty of time to tease her, after all, but I’d probably have to start rotating between days where I could call her by pet names and send her embarrassing text messages.

“That’s fine,” I mumbled, “but only on one condition!”

“Hmm? What is it?”

A devilish grin emerged on my face. “I want one kiss right now to last me until you’re ready.”

Suddenly, all the color drained from her face, her eyes going into the back of her head to the point where I was afraid she might fall over and die. Luckily, though, she quickly snapped back to life with her normal skin tone back to normal, albeit now with her whole body shaking nervously.

“A k-k-kiss?! You know I can’t do that! I mean, do you really think it’s a good idea to--”

Before she could continue getting any more flustered, however, I pressed my finger to her lips, making her eyes go wide as her mouth went silent. Then, once her body had stopped shivering, I slowly pulled my finger off of her mouth, closed my eyes, and gently brought it to my own lips, kissing it gently for as long as I could. Even if it wasn’t the same, it would be enough to last me for as long as I needed.

“There!” I said happily, opening my eyes and giving her a smile. “I’ll take our relationship as slow as you need, but just remember…” Before I finished my sentence, though, I quickly skipped down the road to my house, giggling loudly as I went. Then, right before I was out of earshot, I turned around and loudly shouted, “One day, I’ll kiss you for real!”

Again, Anon’s face turned that familiar shade of pink, which was all I needed to see before turning towards my house again and skipping home with a smile on my face.