Her face turned more into a grin, "Aww. I do love to see Gunner, but you don't have to worry about it." For a split second she waited to make sure that he really was being sarcastic and joking before she smiled at him. "Obviously, he's your magic charmer," she agreed. She didn't really get to see dogs often. Surprisingly, she saw Gunner the most. She liked that Eric tried to make sure that they got to see each other. During moments like this it slightly amused her how serious they were about getting to see Gunner.

She smirked at him saying he couldn't wear yellow. Some people looked good in it. She might be able to wear a sundress, but she didn't want to go to prom in that color. She considered mint and turquoise. All those mixes of blue and green had gotten really popular. She wasn't sure what she would look good in. She looked at his eyes, and she realized that she could pull that color off. Her own eyes were a boring brown, but wouldn't it be fun to try to find a dress in his eye color?

She wasn't very good with clothing. She could make herself look decent each morning, but she was no fashionista. "Hey, what if we tried to use your eye color. I have no idea what color to wear, and your eyes are a really pretty color," she told him. She gave a smirk as she realized she found a way to drag him along on a shopping spree with her. However her mother might not agree to that, and she would think it odd that Kai wanted to wear a dress with Eric's eye color. She blushed a little, know that probably either said hard crush or desperate girl.

"If we do that, please let's not go telling everyone." Especially that it was her idea. "I may have to drag you shopping with me to make sure I a dress close to your eye color," she threw out there to see how he would react. The sun was in his eyes, and it lit them up. The different layers and colors were more obvious. She sat down with him, since he had her by the hand. Her parents knew she was at the park, and she realized that she needed to scurry along home.

They were normally pretty understanding about what time she was out, but they wouldn't want her out too late after dark unless she contacted them soon. Her eyes widened and then she began to smile widely. Mr. Godfrey was willingly letting Eric go to prom with her. "Yes, let's do something," she agreed quickly. "Other than the normal school stuff, I've got nothing planned," she told him. She wondered if her parents would think it was too late. Between that and eventually she would tell them that Eric was taking her to prom, they would start quizzing her.

It had been a while, since they had gotten to spend time together. She wondered if it was because they had both felt edgy and awkward around each other. They still had tutoring lessons when he needed it, but they were becoming less and less frequent. "Um....I'm not sure when you are okay with me telling my parents that we are going together to prom," she told him, "But I feel that I need to give you fair warning. If we tell them while you are there, we may get teased or they might ask a few awkward questions," she warned him.

"I'm not sure if you want to brave that coming over to my house, but you are welcome to come on," she told him. While she had no plans of hiding that they were going to prom together, she wasn't sure if he wanted her to wait until he was gone. If he seemed surprised about her telling her parents, she would think he was crazy. She certainly wasn't paying for a prom dress by herself. Even Eric had told his dad. "I don't think my parents will mind. We won't be rowdy, and we won't bug them. Especially, if they are busy," she added.

Her father was home this evening. She was nervous about them speaking to each other. They hadn't interacted much, but they needed to be introduced preferably before she was in a relationship with him, if things happened the way she wanted them to. If things became weird, she would carefully maneuver Eric out of an awkward situation or send him home early. Her mother had never said anything against Eric even though she had been surprised at how quickly her daughter had bonded to him.

Since the majority of the students in this town went to the same school, they had probably known each other for a while, but they had never been friends before. What had changed now? He seemed nice enough, and Kai's mother didn't like to stop her from making friends. Sometimes she was worried that her daughter only liked him for his looks, but Kai had never mentioned liking him romantically. She could easily see how Eric would be handsome to a young girl.

She smiled glad that Eric was willing to brave all of that. "Ready to go?" She wondered if Eric had questioned why she would be worried that he didn't like her anymore. It wasn't like she was even saying that she was a tiny bit jealous. She had just been afraid that he didn't like her that way anymore. Kai could already feel herself becoming a little posessive of Eric, which she didn't like. They weren't even a couple. She wouldn't like it if other people started trying to lure him away from her, flirting with him etc. She would fight for him, if anyone started pressuring her. At the very least she would tell him her feelings. He had admitted his feelings about her twice, and she wouldn't lose him that easily.

~~~~~~~~~

After talking and chattering all the way to her house, they went on in. Her parents were in the kitchen, and she trooped past them on the way to the game room. They shouted a few greetings to them as they passed. When they were in the game room, she told Eric that she wanted to talk to her parents for a moment before they did something. After they dropped some of their stuff in there, she headed back to the kitchen. She wanted Eric to at least say hi to her parents, and she wanted to tell everyone without it being the first thing they had done.

She was planning to play a quick board game or possibly watch a movie before Eric had to go over to his house. Both of her parents were watching her as if she were something odd. She realized on a school night and she hadn't done her homework yet, she was cutting it close and a bit late. She hoped her mother would be understanding once she told her. She wasn't sure if she should say something when they were all there or wait until later.

After she felt that everyone was a little more comfortable, and it wasn't the first thing she said coming in the door, she decided she would tell them. Eric didn't mind, and she was excited and wanted to tell somebody. "Hey momma, daddy. I hope you don't mind Eric coming over for a little while," she looked at both of them. They both smiled at Eric and welcomed him to their home and said their greetings. If they did mind, they seemed to have decided to reserve all of their irritation for after he left.

"Eric, would you like something to drink?" she asked as she started grabbing glasses. She got a quick snack for herself and Eric. They sat down at the table, and she knew that she was starting to grin a little. Man. She could not hide her feelings at all. "I have something to say, and I hope you don't mind." She waited to see if she would get their full attention. She knew she was beginning to wiggle in her seat like an excited little child, "Eric asked me to prom, and I said yes," she looked at her parents. Her smile wasn't as prominent, because she was nervous that her parents wouldn't like it.

Her parents both looked at each other. She could tell that they were stunned, and they weren't sure how to react. Kai had never had any real romantic relationships with anybody. She realized that it might not have been the best timing. Her parents would want to talk about it, and they would want to talk about it with each other in private and with Kai. They couldn't do that when Eric was here. They managed to get their act together and smile, "That's great honey."

She knew they might worry, because she had plenty of guy friends whom she had known longer, yet she was going with Eric. They hadn't expected all of the time that she had spent with this guy to turn out to be a date to prom. Kai hadn't mentioned anything about dating, but they had a feeling that it would come at any moment. "Um....Well....Eric and I will be in the game room," she informed them, since it seemed that they weren't sure what to say. She grabbed the snacks and her water, as they headed toward the game room.

If Eric wanted his water, he could carry it. She had her hands full. Once they were there, she began to rummage through the games. "Anything in particular you want to play?" she questioned him. When she turned around, she gave a bashful smile. "Sorry. I don't think they were expecting that. Are you okay? Do we need to talk about it?" she asked him. She wasn't sure if there was anything reassuring she could say. She was sure they would be talking about it if they could manage to keep their voices low.

He shook his head, still smiling down at her. "No," he answered. "No, it's fine. It's okay." She said that he didn't have to worry about bringing Gunner, and then teased him back by saying that he was his magic charmer. He giggled a little. "Well duh, of course he is." he replied jokingly, purposely making his voice a bit more feminine than usual. "If I didn't have him you would have never looked my way." He gave her a grin, his eyes glimmering with orneriness.

She smirked at him, and he saw a studying look take over her expression for a moment. After looking over him she suggested using his eye color as a reference for a dress color, and he raised his brows. He wasn't sure how to take the compliment, no one had ever told him he had pretty eyes. "Well that's...flattering." he said, chuckling. He didn't know if he was imagining things or not because of the sun, but he thought he could see her blushing. What did this mean? Why were girls so confusing all the time? He felt like he was constantly getting mixed signals from her, and he didn't know what she wanted. Maybe she was confused about her feelings, and if that was the case then the mixed signals had a reason to be mixed. But it still confused him and left him almost completely blind.

The simple fact that she wanted a dress in his eye color seemed to say obsession or crush, but he didn't think she was that desperate, and he wasn't even sure if she had any sort of crush on him at all. But then again, she had said yes to him and had been waiting for him to ask her. She'd declined the request of another guy because she was waiting for him. What did that mean? Surely that meant she liked him to some degree past friends, right? He didn't know.

She told him that if that's what they were going to do, then they shouldn't tell anyone, and he agreed. She said that she may have to take him shopping with her, and he smiled, ducking his head a but shyly like he did so often. "Okay," he said quietly. He wasn't sure if that's for sure what he wanted to do. He knew that some couples liked the added factor of the guy not being able to see the dress beforehand, similar to a wedding. He knew that he and Kai were not dating, they weren't a couple, but part of him still wanted that. At the same time though, going shopping with her would be something different and fun they could do together, and he assumed that her mother would be along, so it would give him a chance to know her better as well.

Thinking about all these factors easily swayed his decision. "I'd like to go." he said. He couldn't help but smile at how quickly she agreed for him to come over, and yet again he felt a bit of confusion as to what her feelings were. He really tried not to dwell on those thoughts, and thankfully she broke them by talking some more. "Yeah I'm fine with you telling them." he said. She gave him a warning and he smiled at her, nudging her lightly with his shoulder.

"Oh it's okay," he said. "I think I can handle a bit of teasing. My bravery will be at it's PEAK tonight." he joked, standing. She asked him if he was ready to go, and he nodded, extending his hand to her to help her up. "Yeah I'm ready." he said.

As they walked, he talked and joked with her the entire way, but the whole time he felt that bit of confusion still dwelling in the back of his mind. He really needed to ask her about her feelings, it would take away so much added pressure and stress if he would just ask. But he was scared to, he was scared to risk it before prom. What if she said no? What if she didn't feel that way about him? His plans would be ruined and he was scared that things may not be the same after that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they got to her house, they walked in together. At first everything was fine and normal, and then Eric's eyes saw that both of Kai's parents were here. Her mother...and her father. Now, Eric had seen him around before, but only in passing. He'd never really spoken a word to him, nor her father to Eric. His heart gave a small nervous leap, but he kept his face normal. He greeted them as he followed Kai into the game room.

He followed her back into the kitchen, and they all talked for a bit. The entire time he was a tad bit on edge, shooting nervous glances to Kai's father, but nothing too obvious at all. He was still kind, and by this point in time he was comfortable enough around Kai's mother to speak without nerves. Kai asked him if he wanted anything to drink, and he said he was fine with water.

Finally, Kai addressed both of her parents, and the feeling in the room for Eric changed. Everyone fell silent, and Kai started to speak. They were all sitting at the table, and Eric's heart began thumping wildly. His gaze shifted to her parents, and then back at her. He noticed how excited she seemed to be, and that made him relax a little. She was just so cute. Everything she did made him smile.

After she told them, he saw that look of hesitation, as if they weren't sure what to think. That was confirmed by their response, and Eric felt his hopes drop a little. He still needed their permission to date their daughter, but now he was more nervous than ever before to talk to them about it. If they weren't happy about this, they surely weren't going to be happy about what he wanted for the future.

Kai said that they'd be in the game room, and she got up, grabbing her things and heading that way. He sat for a brief moment longer, sending a small glance towards her parents, especially towards her father. He dipped his head politely and grabbed his things. He didn't know what to say, so he just said,

"Thanks for letting me come." He turned and followed Kai into the game room. Once there, he set his glass down on the small table but kept himself standing. She started rumaging around and looking for games, and she turned, asking him what he wanted to play. He must have had a far away look on his face, because she apologized for her parents reaction. He snapped out of the dazed state he was in and looked at her, giving her a smile.

"It's okay," he said. He was so focused on this and their reaction that he didn't even realize that he hadn't answered the question about what game they should play. "I just...." He sighed, unsure of what to do. "Kailey, can I ask you a question? And if I do, will you be honest with me?" He knew it was a bit serious, but he kind of needed a real talk right now.

When she mentioned using Eric's eye color for her dress color, she began to think that she was a much bigger romantic than she had realized, or she had a much bigger crush on him than she was aware of. She knew that she tended to be a little transparent, because she wasn't good at hiding her feelings, but perhaps she had managed to hide the extent of her feelings from herself. She supposed absence did make the heart grow fonder or perhaps it was the threat of him not liking her anymore.

It had increased the strength of her feelings. The problem was those were only surface emotions and not real love. Wh would she not tell him what she was feeling and thinking? He had asked her to prom and admitted twice that he liked her. What more encouragement could she need or want? She realized that she needed to give him some hint or possibly tell him. It wasn't fair for her to say nothing, when he had told her twice, and still expect him to want to go out with her.

She felt that she had give him some pretty obvious hints that she liked him, but he wasn't a mind reader, and they had proven that they weren't the best communicators, especially, when they weren't communicating verbally. They were bad enough at telling each other stuff when they were spelling it out for each other. Even though they knew each other's moods well, it was astonishing how many misunderstandings that had popped up if they implied anything romantic.

Since Eric hadn't said anything, she didn't think he was aware that she liked him. She didn't want to tell people that she wanted her prom dress in his eye color. It would certainly raise her mother's brows and it was understandable if it got other people tongues wagging. They would think that Eric was normal and he merely liked her. Th eyes would think that Kai was smitten. While she didn't mind if other people knew she liked him, even though she hadn't told him yet, she didn't think she wanted everyone to know how much.

Since he didn't seem enthusiastic about going prom shopping, and her mother would tease and question why Eric was going, and she didn't want to have to explain everything about the color of her dress choice, quickly, she came up with a plan b. She smiled at him, "You should be flattered. I wouldn't want a dress in my eye color." She took a deep breath before she began to explain her plan B. "On second thought I have a back up plan. You and I can make a quick trip to a fabric store and find a cloth that is the correct color. I'll get a sample swatch, and we can go shopping or good around. We might do some shopping for prom or we can make fun of bad fashion. I'll come out on a different day with my mother and we can go dress shopping. That way it will be less weird. I think my mom would find it unusual for me to take a guy clothes shopping no matter the reason."

She left out that her mother would definitely tease her about holding blue dresses to Eric's eyes and wondering where her daughter got such an idea. "Besides I don't want to bore you. Clothes shopping is super tedious and energy sapping. Perhaps I'll even surprise you," she grinned at the last idea. She hoped that this second plan didn't hurt his feelings. He was welcome to come, but it seemed to be the better idea the more she considered it. "Of course you are welcome to come," she quickly opened back up the choice again.

She wondered how Daniel would react to her going with Eric. For some reason she doubted that he would be surprised. She had agreed to him coming over rather quickly. Was was she too eager? Would it make him feel more comfortable? It was amazing how bamboozled one person could become. After a while she realized that Eric was confused about something. Occasionally, he would push the thought and emotion away, but it was hovering around him quite often. She wasn't sure if she should ask about it or leave it alone.

It made her happy that he had no qualms with her telling her parents. It would have worried her, if he had, especially, since he had told his father. She laughed a little relieving her nerves. He was up for possible teasing and almost certain awkwardness. Kai asked him a few questions. When could they go search or prom shopping? How would they get to prom? She wasn't sure if they needed her parents or a parent to chauffeur them. As they were walking and talking, Kai realized that if she told him her feelings, she would want to date him.

She already did. She was scared he wouldn't want to or he couldn't or some other excuse. Even so she felt like she needed to tell him. She should at least try. It's what she had wanted Eric to do. Several times he had mentioned that he was afraid that he would mess things up. She knew that was a possibility, but she thought it was worth the risk. If things didn't work out, there was no reason why they couldn't be just friends again. If Eric didn't want to date, could they continue to have a friendship while he knew that she liked him?

She had been able to do that, but she had known from the beginning. Besides she had to get used to things like that. Because of her mind reading ability she learned many things that she shouldn't. Hoe would it work if they broke up? Should she be thinking that far in the future? If they began to date, would he ask her parents or would she?

~~~~~~~~~~~

Kai was disappointed by her parents' reaction. She wanted them to like and approve of Eric. Besides that, she wanted Eric to feel welcomed, wanted, accepted, and comfortable in her home. She didn't have control over his circumstances, his home, or his other friends homes either. She had enough control over her own home that she hoped it would become a safe place for her friend. She had been excited, but neither of her parents, including her mother, had reflected her emotions at all.

Because of their response, she was sure it would affect Eric's feelings. She supposed she should have gotten him to talk to them more. It would have helped put them more at ease. Kai hadn't considered her parents to say no, but she thought there were several reasons why they would say yes. They might say yes to Kai, because they wanted to be kept in the loop about her feelings and her relationship. At this age they both realize that, Kai could and probably would continue to see him.

She might not even go in public with him or outside of school with Eric, but they went to the same school, so they were sure that Kai would see him. They may say yes because they wanted to trust their daughter. They didn't like saying no to her. They might be afraid that forbidding her to go with him might encourage her to be rebellious. Several teenagers did that and then blamed their parents for their mistake. They could see she was excited.

If they said no, it might make her more susceptible to his advances. That reminded Kai of when her father began to preach about sex before marriage, since he wasn't sure if morals would be enough to stop her. He hoped telling about STDs would discourage her. One thing Kai found interesting was her parents had never forbidden her sex outside of marriage. They had highly discouraged for various reasons, but they have never made it an order.

She supposed it was because ultimately it was her choice. They couldn't stop her unless they used extreme measures. Personally, between a STDs, her own desire to wait for "the one," and all the stories she had heard about pregnancies, she wanted to wait. She had watched girls her age get pregnant, and she had heard disturbing stories about abortions. She didn't want that to happen, when she could have easily prevented it. She didn't watch or hear her parents politely say you are welcome to Eric, because she was already in the game room.

She decided to try to move on from her parents reaction, if possible. Their decision would take a while, and there was no reason why Eric should worry about something they couldn't help or change. Kai returned his smile glad to see him coming out of his thoughts, but he didn't answer her question about a game. She could see he was thinking, but she wasn't sure if there was anything else she could do. She turned her attention from games, when he asked if he could ask a question.

She rotated to look at him and give him her full attention. She was a little worried by how tense and serious the atmosphere had become. She smirked hoping to loosen some of the tension, "You already asked a question, but I'll let you ask a few more." She wondered why he had specified that he wanted an honest answer. She hadn't lied to him before. "Yes, I'll give you an honest answer," she told him. If necessary, she wouldn't answer the question

Eric listened to her other option for shopping, and he agreed to do it that way. It may be less weird and more fun, rather than going with her mother and possibly being uncomfortable. She asked him several questions about prom, regarding how they would get there and when they were planning on shopping. Eric knew prom dress shopping could take up at least a week, possibly more if the girl was picky with style and color.

He also knew he needed to make enough time for the people up at the flower shop to make the corsage and boutonniere. It wouldn't take more than a couple days, but still. He needed to be planning ahead. He wouldn't be able to order his tux until she picked out her dress, because he would need to match her. He suggested one of her parents possibly driving them to the school for prom, or he could take her himself. It was no big deal to drive.

There was a lot of planning that needed to be done, so he said as soon as it worked for her to go shopping, he would make time to go with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was playing subtly and nervously with his fingers as she turned to look at him, trying to break the tension with a slight tease. While it was amusing, he was still a bit too nervous to really even smile. She told him she'd give him an honest answer, and he nodded, swallowing.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, not wanting her parents to overhear him. "I don't mean to make things all serious, but it's something that I've been wondering for a few days now." He slowly sat down on the couch, reaching up and absent mindedly messing with the small chain necklace that almost always adorned his neck.

He glanced up at her, then nervously ran his other hand through his dark brown mess of hair. "When we were at the dance class, about a month ago...I told you that I liked you. Because I messed up and did something that I shouldn't have. But...I think you already knew that." he swallowed, looking up at her from his seated position. "You told me some things that day, and...for the most part I think I've respected them.You haven't told me otherwise." He paused, trying to figure out a way to say this. He knew that sometimes the way he thought was a lot different than the way she did, and when he tried to explain things they didn't always come out the way he wanted or needed them to.

"I don't know why, and...I may be just going slightly crazy, but..." He glanced up, giving her a small smile. "For the past week or so I've just been getting a lot of mixed signals from you." He hoped that didn't come out rudely. He hadn't meant it to. "I mean, in dance class you told me that you didn't want to kiss any of your guy friends, and...I respect that. We both kind of stopped for awhile. We didn't really...speak to each other the same way." He shrugged. "I don't know, but now... now things are weird because you know I still like you. But I don't know how you're feeling." He looked down at the floor again, letting out a breath before looking back up into her face.

"Sometimes you treat me like you always have. A good buddy, a great friend, someone to talk to. Someone to tease." he said. "But other times...like today....I don't know, it just kind of seems like you're flirting?" He kind of ended in a question so it wouldn't sound so straight forward. He wanted to reach out and gently grab her hands, but he didn't for fear of what her answer might be and how awkward it would be if she pulled away.

"I asked you to be my date to prom, but...we're going as friends." He knew it sounded like he didn't want to be anything more with her, and he hoped that if she didn't feell the same way about him as he did her, that sounding like this would put her more at ease. But if it somehow ended up being the opposite...it wouldn't matter. Because then he'd have his answer, and prom could go exactly how he was hoping for it to.

"You yourself said a month ago that we were friends, even though you know I like you." he swallowed again, setting his hands in his lap. His posture was a bit submissive in all honesty, and judging by his expression it was easy to see that he was trying to be careful with how he worded things. "But since then...it seems like possibly things have changed. I guess I'm just curious." He looked her in the eyes, his heart pounding and trying to climb its way up his throat.

"Kailey, do you think of me as more than a friend?"

She wanted to get that sample swatch as soon as possible. She didn't want Eric having to rush around last minute, because it had taken her an eternity to find a dress. She wouldn't mind if Eric drove them, but she had a feeling that her parents might not be enthusiastic about that arrangement. Kai tried not to be picky, but she would care about how the dress fit on her. It was bad enough trying to dance in that much fabric without being further uncomfortable. She wondered if Eric was one of those boys that disliked dressing up. She wasn't sure, because there had never been an occassion for him to get dressed up.

~~~~~~~~~

She noticed that he was nervous, so she became more antsy. Luckily, she had good practice staying still even though she didn't feel like it. He normally laughed, when she tried to make him laugh. Either she had been really lame, or it could very well possibly be, that her jokes were always snooze worthy, and he was too anxious to be polite. She wasn't sure if she was actually funny or if he was nice. She reminded herself to not worry about it. She needed to focus on what Eric was saying, because it seemed pretty important.

He apologized, and she was relieved that he was keeping his voice down. She wasn't sure what he was going to say. When he said it was something that he had been wondering about for a while, she began to feel anxious. It was similar to whenever her parents called her in to talk to her. She was afraid that she had done something wrong, and she was getting in trouble. She began to feel that same sense of dread. He sat down now, and she decided to move to sit beside him, the games were forgotten. He was messing with the chain and it came into view.

She was staring at him intently obviously listening. When he mentioned the dance class, she wasn't sure where this conversation was going. "Yeah," she agreed, "You have tried to respect my wishes." He was correct that she had already known, but she didn't feel like she needed to say anything about that. He hesitated, and she could easily see that he was thinking. She could feel the knot of anxiety turn to a little bit of embarassment, as he mentioned being slightly crazy and getting mixed signals. She had flirted with him a few times, and it had been spread out.

It hadn't been anything sustained, but a passing comment was still flirting. She didn't want to kiss her guy friends, because it would be weird. Especially, since guy friend implied platonic relationship. When he said that he didn't know how she was feeling, she realized where this was going. Simultaneously, her eyes widened and she blushed. She knew that her blush would only get more pronounced with what she would have to say. She knew that she had flirted with him before, which she shouldn't if he was only a platonic friend, but she couldn't quite remember purposefully flirting today. It at least implied that she had a crush on him. She supposed she was glad that he had asked, because she understood why it would be weird for him. When he said that he had asked her as his date to prom as friends, she felt her heart drop a little.

What was that supposed to mean? He did remind her that he liked her though. When he mentioned her saying that she had said they were friends, she wondered if that was why he hadn't done anything. She hadn't meant it like that. They were both a little tense. and nervous. He was asking if things had changed, and he asked her the question. Her face heated up even more. Most of the time if anyone asked if she had a crush she either didn't have one or she would lie straight to their face. She didn't like telling people about who she liked, because she normally wasn't serious about it.

Most people who asked were being nosy busy bodies, who wanted to tease her. However she believed she might have a chance with Eric. She was actually old enough to date, and he liked her back. Besides that she had told him she would be honest. "Wow," she smiled a little, "You asked one of the most lied to questions," she snorted a little. "No wonder you wanted an honest answer." She waited a moment trying to gather her thoughts. "I am glad that we try to talk to each other, because obviously we aren't natural non vocal communicators. I understand why you would be confused before now, but I thought I was being pretty transparent, when I started crying, because you asked me to prom." she shook her head a little amused.

"I guess I have been confused. I don't know. I guess I hadn't really given any serious thought to liking you more than friends. I haven't really done that before, and you hadn't said anything. I did know, so I gave a little thought, but it never seemed like it would happen. But....I guess your kiss, it made it seem more real. It was different than the game one, because you weren't pressured into it." She could see it now. Him teasing her that his kisses were so powerful, that she had started crushing on him. It seemed that perhaps there was some truth to that. The thing that she found sort of funny was he hadn't even given her a passionate or much of a kiss either. What kind of mess would she be after a more intimate kiss?

"I'm sorry I haven't said anything. I guess I was scared. I know it's ridiculous. You had already told me that you liked me, and I was still scared to say anything. I guess that kiss gave me a solid action to know that you did like me. I'm confused with how my mind works." She wasn't sure if she made any sense, so she decided to start summarizing. She blushed even more, but she continued, "I guess I was afraid that you would change your mind. I was scared that it was a temporary crush," she could feel herself tearing up. She was tired of crying, and she didn't need to be putting that on Eric. "I didn't want to say anything unless I knew it was something that would last. Boy I fell hard," she laughed through her tears. She hated that she was crying again, but she supposed it was because it was another thing that shee worried about verey strenuously. She told herself in her head, and now I've been worrying about how to tell you and if you still liked me. "I guess if I tell you the truth, I don't think of you more than a friend. I haven't ever gotten that feeling even though you did kiss me that once. I do like you more than a friend, and..." she cut herself off.

She didn't want to pressure him. He might guess the end to that sentence, but it wasn't a good time to say anything. Her parents weren't sure about him. She might obsess about him, and crush on him like crazy, but she knew they were just friends. Sometimes her behavior didn't reflect that. She tried to smile at him, but she knew it just looked nervous, "You couldn't tell? I wanted a dress in your eye color, and I only wanted to go to prom with you," she laughed a little. She added in her head that she had almost kissed him.

She wanted to add that she hadn't told him, because if they both liked each other she would want to date him. Was he ready for that? She felt bad for not saying anything. What if nothing had been said and that's why nothing happened. Kai believed that if Eric even got another girl friend, that she would speak up. She wasn't going to risk losing him, because she had not tried. She kept on throwing out her rules for him or barely remembering them. She realized another reason she wanted to date, was so that she would be more certain that he wouldn't change his mind about liking her. Right now she was scared that it was a crush that would blow away.

He was so nervous and wrapped up in his thoughts that he'd barely noticed that she'd taken the liberty to sit down next to him as he spoke. She confirmed that he did try and do what she had told him, and that made him feel better knowing that. She waited until he was completely done, and it seemed for a moment that she was kind of shocked that he'd asked that. Because she took a moment to respond, probably thinking over how she could.

He waited patiently, dreading what words would come next. Had he made a fool of himself? Did he just risk it all only to be shot down? Were things going to be awkward between them now? He found that his body was extremely tense as she opened her mouth to speak again, starting to try and explain. But the more she talked, the more relaxed he felt as he listened to her. She said that his kiss at dance class had made everything more real for her, and he felt a slight blush across his cheeks. It hadn't really even been a real kiss! He'd just kissed her on the cheek, and it had been short, sweet, and simple. But he could understand how that still would have made things click, especially when she said that it had been different because he hadn't been pressured into it. He'd done it on his own accord, and he supposed that's wht it had been so powerful, even if it hadn't been a full on kiss.

She apologized for not saying anything, and his heart nervously started pounding again. He saw the blush on her cheeks, and to reassure her he gave her a small smile. He knew they were both blushing like a couple of lovesick idiots, but this conversation needed to happen at one point or another, and they were alone now. It seemed like a good time to get it over with, if not the best time. But at least it was happening and they were both getting some answers and insight.

She said she was scared that his crush on her was only temporary, and tears began to form in her eyes. She said she'd fallen hard, and those few words meant so much in that moment. She liked him back. Now he could ask her after prom without fear of getting shot down. There would still be the nerves of whether or not she was ready to date, but that would come later. At least now he had an answer, and at least now he could start planning ahead. He needed to find a time to talk to her parents.

She started laughing through her tears, and he gave her a small and gentle smile. She trailed off on one of her sentences, leaving an important question hanging in the air for him.

What was she going to say?

But he would worry about that some other time. Perhaps it would have been about dating, and maybe it was too soon to be having that conversation. She asked, astonished, that he couldn't tell, and promptly gave reasons as to why she thought it had been so obvious. He chuckled, which is when he realized that he had tears in his own eyes, because one escaped and fell onto his hand. He hadn't even realized that he'd been tearing up too. Seeing her cry always made him cry too, and he found himself wondering how that would play out if they ever got into a relationship. Because if they did, what if they had a fight? Or an argument? If she started crying then he would too! He supposed it was kind of good that way. Because he was so heavily emotional, if they ever got into a fight or argument they could work it out because of his willingness to open himself up. He wasn't arrogant or stubborn, and he usually always recognized when he'd made a mistake.

"I mean I'm pretty clueless sometimes." he joked quietly, raising the bottom of his shirt up briefly to kind of rub away the remaining tears. "But yeah, I kind of suspected. Which is why I had to ask you." He started giggling, reality kind of hitting him. "We are both a couple of emotional babies, you know that? Look at us, over here crying." He scoffed quietly at himself and shook his head, unable to stop a smile from creeping across his face. He felt like they should talk about this more, but maybe some other time.

He didn't know if her parents would come in to check what was going on, but if they happened to peek in now and see their daughter crying, they would be highly suspicious of him then and what he'd done to make her cry. "But anyway," he said, starting to veer the conversation elsewhere. "Thank you for talking to me about it. It'll clear my head and I won't be worrying about it so much." He lowered his voice again, almost to a whisper, and took the chance of gently grabbing her hands.

"And you don't have to worry about this crush of mine being temporary." he said to her. "It's lasted for at least four years, and now that I actually know you as a person and have so many good reasons to like you like I do...it won't be going away any time soon." He hoped that his words implied some sort of hint to her that he would be thinking about making their relationship something more. That way it wouldn't come as such a huge shock to her in a few weeks when he asked her. That is, if he got permission from her parents to do so.

He slowly let go of her hands, and then reached up to fiddle with his necklace. "Anyway," he said, breaking the moment and talking in normal volume. "Do you maybe just want to watch a movie or something? Or play a card game?"

Eric smiled as she scooted over to give him a side hug. Since his hands were in his lap, he simply rested the side of his head on her own to show that he appreciated it and that he would reciprocate any affection she gave him. He was proud how far he'd come when it came to physical touch. For so long he'd been used to most touch being harsh or painful, and he remembered at the beginning, he'd flinched a little at her touch, even though it was gentle. But he was glad to know that she'd proven herself to be the caring and sweet, amazing, beautiful person she was, and he had complete trust in her.

She looked up into his eyes after he admitted that he'd liked her for four years. She hadn't known that, and he felt a little bad for not telling her before. But he hadn't wanted her to think that he was obsessive over her. He grinned at her teasing smirk, and took a chance, putting one arm slightly around her while still holding her hand with his other.

"I don't think I could ever not like you." he said softly as she leaned her head against his shoulder. Once again he rested his head on hers, sinking a little lower on the couch as his muscles relaxed. This is all he wanted. He wanted to be able to love her and have her love him. He wanted to be able to show her that he did, he wanted to protect her, he wanted to be with her. He felt the urge to kiss her again, but he refrained from doing so. It was too soon and it would probably be overstepping. Besides, even if it somehow did work and she reciprocated, what if it turned into something more? And what if her parents walked in? That was something he did NOT want happening.

She claimed she was tired, and he agreed. He let her lean against him for a moment longer, and his thumb ran gently over her hand as he held it. He wanted this moment to last forever, he wanted to hold her in his arms like she was nobody else's, to kiss her, to have her. But all of that couldn't be done. Not yet. And he knew that he truly loved her, because...he was willing to wait.

A relationship for him wasn't all about sex, or physical touch. He needed support, emotion, actual love, understanding of the person he was with. Sure, physical intimacy was something he wanted, and he was looking forward to having it....someday. But he in no way was going to force it on her, and he didn't want to risk all the things that came with it when it happened too early. Possible diseases, pregnancy, addiction, risk of reputation.

He was clean from all of that, and he planned on staying clean until marriage. If by any chance a mistake was made though, and a child would be involved, he wouldn't leave the woman's side. He would be willing to deal with the outcome of his actions, and being a loyal soul at heart he would never abandon someone he loved. He hoped in a strange way that if he ever did make a mistake, that it would be with Kai. Not that he wanted to make that mistake, but he sure didn't want to do it with anyone else currently.

He let go of her hand, and she sat up straight again. He hadn't meant for the moment to end, but he knew it should. Her parents were home and as of now they seemed to trust him and Kai pretty well. They weren't dating, and he didn't want to do anything that would break their trust. She asked him what he wanted to watch, and he shrugged. She got up and he followed, the two of them searching through the movies until they both finally agreed on one.

They walked back over to the couch and sat down, but he made sure not to touch her in any way other than the normal. No holding hands, no leaning against each other, and definitely no kissing. He did shoot her the occasional glance and a small smile, affection glinting in his eyes, but he never said anything or did anything to further that. He personally loved the movie, and there were some funny parts that they both could laugh at and joke about.

He hadn't heard Kai's mother come in and check midway through either. Once the movie was over, Kai stretched, looking over and smiling at him. He was about to respond to her when Lisa came in, telling her that it was time for her to get ready and go to bed. It was getting late, and Eric knew his father was probably in bed passed out by now. He gave Kai a smile as she said told him her goodbyes.

"Goodbye," he said. "Thanks again for having me over. Sleep well, I'll see you tomorrow." He stood up as she did, and watched her go. After a brief moment, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket, but he didn't take it out and look at it. Instead he looked at Lisa, his demeanor and posture changing ever so slightly. Normally he was comfortable around Mrs. Adair, but tonight was different. Kai wasn't here with him, he was alone, and he was getting ready to speak to her about something she may not exactly want to talk about.

"Mrs. Adair?" Eric said softly to her, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry if I've overstayed my welcome. But, I've been meaning to talk to you about something, and...if you don't mind, could I now?" He swallowed, unsure of how she was going to react, and once he did tell her, if she would bring Mr. Adair in on it too. If she did he thought he may as well just faint and be done with it. He was already working himself into an anxiety attack, and he was internally trying to frantically push it back and down so he could actually speak like a functioning human being.

"It's kind of important, and I feel like I should talk to you about it."

Eric knew what the answer to her question should be. Yes. Yes, Kai's father should probably be here to listen and hear. But he was way too scared for that to happen right now, not to mention he had bad experiences with fathers.

"Um," he started, genuine fear in his eyes as he thought about it. "Do you mind if we keep it between us? Just for tonight?" he asked quietly. He could feel himself trembling a little, and his heart was really starting to hammer. He hoped she didn't take offense to that, and that she would understand the reasoning behind it. Even though he knew Kai's father wasn't abusive, and wouldn't do anything to hurt Eric physically, it was still a very real fear for him, because it was something that he faced almost every day.

She asked him where he would like to talk, and he looked around for a second before gesturing behind him at the couch. "Is it okay if we just talk in here?" After they sat down, he took a moment to think. This was a big step for him, something that he'd never done before, and if her parents ended up giving permission...he would be taking an even bigger step in the next coming weeks. He cleared his throat quietly, running a hand through his hair again to push it out of his eyes. He hadn't gotten a haircut in a little while, and it was starting to get long. He had to be sure to get it cut before prom, yet another thing to add to the list.

"So for awhile now, Kai has been asking me about prom, and if I was going to go or not. I knew she wanted to go, but I also knew that she's an underclassman, so a junior or senior would have to ask her." He paused, deciding to just be up front and honest from the very start. No sense in slowly working around to it. "I've...had a crush on Kailey for a really long time. Ever since my eighth grade year I believe. My mom passed away around that time, and...my father never had really talked to me about anything like this. I always was able to talk with my mom." If Lisa hadn't gotten the hint before about not wanting Kai's father to be in the room, surely she would understand now. "But...after she was gone...I felt like I had no one to ask questions to, or talk to. I really felt alone, and I didn't know how to act or how to really even speak to a girl I thought was even remotely pretty." He kind of smiled, remembering how awkward he was in middle school, and still how awkward he was now when it came to serious things. Although he liked to think he had matured at least some.

"So I didn't. I never even spoke a word to her. For four years I just knew her name and the basics of who she was based on word of mouth." He ran a hand through his hair again. "But...I actually got up the nerve to speak to her one day and....we started to become friends. I realized she was so much more than just a pretty face, and that I have so many valid reasons to like her." He knew that was kind of a lie, but her parents didn't know about her mind reading ability, and technically he had spoken to her first. Just not directly. He looked over at her mother, finding that his nerves were actually fading the more he thought about Kai and spoke about her in such a way. He was finally getting this out and off of his chest, he was speaking to her mother.

He was speaking to a mother. Without fear of being hit, beaten, or ridiculed. The warm and familiar feeling that only a mother seemed to give off for him. Even though she wasn't his own, he still somehow could feel the protectiveness that radiated off of her. She loved her daughter, perhaps more than anything else in the entire world. She wanted to protect her, to love her, she wanted her to be loved. By a good person. She wasn't going to stand by and let her daughter date just anyone. Which was why Eric was determined to get to know her better. So she could see that he wasn't some guy just trying to get into her daughters pants, that he wasn't shallow or fake.

"After a long time of debating on whether or not I actually wanted to go to prom...I decided to ask her." he said honestly. "I knew that at one point she had really wanted to go, and I thought it would be fun to go together." This is where he paused, and where he started to get anxious again. "I'm telling you all of this because...my affection for Kailey has really only gotten stronger. She's my best friend, and I love her for that. She's been there for me when no one else really ever has been, and I feel like I can talk to her about almost anything."

He looked at her, his foot tapping a bit restlessly on the floor as his nerves piled on top of one another. This was it.

"I wanted to talk to you about this because...while she is my best friend, and hopefully always will be...I'm thinking about asking her to be my girlfriend." He paused, allowing it to sink into her head. "The night of prom." He paused again, giving her a small amount of time to think before he continued. "I guess I just wanted to ask if you would be willing for that to happen at all." His foot stopped tapping, and his heart, although still hammering, was slowing down a little. The worst part was over.

"If you or her father dissaprove, I won't. I'll respect your decision." he told her. "But I really do like your daughter, Mrs. Adair."