Where’s your girlfriend?” Kaito rolled his eyes and turned to face his best frie

That’s unfortunate. Have you thought of moving somewhere else soon then?’’ sakhura questioned carefully. Haruki frowned, thinking hard.

‘’I don’t know. Maybe… I have thought about leaving, but now that I’ve met you I can’t bring myself to leave you behind’’ Haruki replied honestly, smiling shyly.

Sakhura giggled softly. ‘’Me neither’’ she answered. ‘’I can’t stand to be apart from you either.’’

A sudden pang of anxiety hit Haruki’s stomach and the butterflies he had felt earlier returned tenfold. He swallowed nervously.

‘’I’m sorry, I- I really do love you and I don’t deserve you’’ he said quietly.

Sakhura blinked owlishly. ‘’Huh? What do you mean?’’

‘’I’ve hurt you so much…’’ Haruki began, tears forming in his eyes. ‘’We aren’t meant to be together. You love someone else…’’That’s unfortunate. Have you thought of moving somewhere else soon then?’’ sakhura questioned carefully. Haruki frowned, thinking hard.

‘’I don’t know. Maybe… I have thought about leaving, but now that I’ve met you I can’t bring myself to leave you behind’’ Haruki replied honestly, smiling shyly.

Sakhura giggled softly. ‘’Me neither’’ she answered. ‘’I can’t stand to be apart from you either.’’

A sudden pang of anxiety hit Haruki’s stomach and the butterflies he had felt earlier returned tenfold. He swallowed nervously.

‘’I’m sorry, I- I really do love you and I don’t deserve you’’ he said quietly.

Sakhura blinked owlishly. ‘’Huh? What do you mean?’’

‘’I’ve hurt you so much…’’ Haruki began, tears forming in his eyes. ‘’We aren’t meant to be together. You love someone else…’’Sakhura shook her head vehemently, reaching for Haruki’s hand to try and calm him down. ‘’Of course I love you. Haru. I don’t understand. You have to stop blaming yourself. You’ve done nothing wrong.’’

Haruuki sniffles and wipes away the stray tear from his eye. ‘’I haven’t?’’ he asks in disbelief. ‘’You don’t know what I did to you. I’m the reason you can’t walk again! That’s horrible!’’

‘’That isn’t true, Haru. Don’t listen to them. I’m okay now. I’m not going anywhere. Please believe me.’’

Haruki shakes his head. ‘’I don’t know what to believe anymore. There’s a hole in my chest where my heart used to be. I’m scared that I won’t ever feel whole without you again’’ Haruki whispers.

‘’Shh…’’ sakhura whispered softly as she pulled Haruki closer and wrapped her arms around him tenderly.Shhh… you’ll feel better soon. Everything will be fine. Trust me. Everything is going to be fine.’’

They sat there holding each other for hours, until sakhura had to get back to her classes. Then Haruki waited until her class was over before approaching her, nervousness bubbling up inside him and threatening to overflow. He walked over to her, his pace slow and deliberate. When he reached Sakhura’s side she gave him a questioning glance.

‘’Can I talk to you?’’ Haruki asked hesitantly.

‘’Sure.’’ Sakhura replied, looking concerned. ‘’Is everything alright?’’

Haruki bit his lip nervously as he gathered the courage to speak. ‘’I… I want to confess to you. If you’d still have me.’’

‘’Oh…’’ sakhura says, her cheeks flushing slightly. ‘’Are you sure?’’

Haruki nods firmly. ‘’Yes. I want to be with you. I know we weren’t supposed to be together, but you… you make me happy.So please stay with me forever. Please marry me.’’ Haruki blurted out the words with a trembling voice, feeling like a nervous teenager asking his crush on a first date.

Sakhura stared at him blankly for a moment. She seemed lost, shocked, taken aback… and yet at the same time hopeful.

‘’Did you ask me because you were worried?’’ Sakhura asked tentatively.

‘’Uh… well I thought maybe since you’re dating someone else…’’ Haruki murmured softly, fidgeting uncomfortably.

‘’Haru…’’ Sakhura started gently, taking Haruki’s hands in hers and giving them a small squeeze. ‘’I love you more than anything in the world. I’d follow you to the ends of the earth if I could. But I have been trying so hard to be strong these past few months and keep myself together… because you made me feel safe. I wasn’t able to open up to anyone. Not even to my best friend. Because you made me feel loved. Because you cared about me enough to care when I was hurting and needed help. But you didn’t understand.And I thought if I could just be independent for a little while I could finally start being myself… I thought if I stopped hiding who I am I wouldn’t need to worry about being weak in front of everyone. And I realized I can’t do that without you. I can’t continue acting strong when you’re by my side.’’

Sakhura wiped away a stray tear that escaped from Haruki’s right eye. ‘’And, Haru, I’m not mad at you. Or disappointed in you. I know you did your best to protect me. I’m never angry at you.’’

‘’Are you sure?’’ Haruki breathed shakily.

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Will you marry me?’’ Haruki asked, squeezing her hand tighter.

‘’Yes.’’ Sakhura replied, her smile growing into a wide grin. ‘’I would love nothing more than to spend eternity with you.’’

Chapter 18

Rin had always hated parties. He was a people person (okay, most of the time)and enjoyed socializing immensely, but whenever he went to someone’s party he wanted to escape as quickly as possible. Parties were usually noisy and chaotic. It was too loud, the music was too loud, there were too many people, and too many drinks. Rin hated all those things about it and preferred his quiet home life.

Tonight, however, Rin had decided to attend. He had invited his boyfriend, Yuuka, along as well as Kaito and his friends. The party had been arranged weeks ago and they had been told beforehand that it would happen at midnight at the local beach. As long as he didn’t stay after midnight he would be fine.

He stood in line awkwardly, waiting impatiently. He could already see Kaito standing beside another girl. He sighed, wishing he had brought someone else along instead.

“Hey, Rin!” Yuuka greeted cheerfully. She looked extremely pretty tonight, clad in an elegant white dress and wearing red lipstick. Her blonde hair was twisted into a complicated updo. “How are you?”

Rin grinned. “Good. How about you? You look lovely, Yuuka.”

Yuuka blushed slightly. “Thanks, Ryou. You look pretty nice too,” she complimented. “Where’Where’s your girlfriend?”

Kaito rolled his eyes and turned to face his best friend, who was standing behind them, staring off into space with his usual bored expression. “Come on, Ryou. We’re here with her, not you. Stop being such a grump!”

Rin groaned. “Shut up, Kaito! You know I don’t enjoy these kinds of things. Besides, you’re the one who dragged me here. I didn’t agree to go with you.”

The raven-haired boy scoffed and elbowed his friend playfully in the ribs. “You’re such a chicken.”

Rin scowled. “I’m not a chicken. Just sayin’.”

Kaito chuckled. “Whatever you say, dude.”

Yuuka giggled. “So what brings you guys to this party anyway?”

“Just wanted to hang out,” Kaito lied easily.

‘’Yeah. We met up with some old friends after the last practice match and they invited us for a drink,” Rin added, not wanting to lie to Yuuka.

“Ah,” Yuuka said knowingly. “Where’s your girlfriend?”