Snippet #2618784

Aolani

Aolani suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, as Chiyo proclaimed, "Hey, it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong."

The blonde slowly raised her head up, cautiously looking back at her friend...deeply relieved to see that Chiyo didn't look disgusted, or anything like that. Just...surprised, it seemed.

"Y-you're sure?" Aolani carefully inquired, looking around nervously, her eyes darting back and forth between Chiyo, and the bed frame behind her. "I didn't...that didn't....um, g-gross you out, or anything...?"

Okay, okay....so far so good...m-maybe she could recover from this! Chiyo didn't seem to be reacting all that badly, so...m-maybe...she had a chance to fix this?

Aolani's mind was going into full damage-control mode now, wondering how she could recover from her momentary lapse in judgment. It really all depended on how Chiyo interpreted the kiss...did she think it was just a friendly peck, or....something more? Personally she'd wager the latter, given how she had...m-moaned, into the kiss. That was sort of a dead giveaway, after all. B-but, maybe Chiyo hadn't noticed it, or wouldn't put two and two together...?

....

She didn't....Aolani really hated lying, and people who lied. She hadn't been lying to Chiyo before, of course, it was just...an omission of truth. Chiyo never asked, and she never told. But now, with that kiss...whatever happened next, it would be wrong to try and deny things. She'd just had to accept what had happened, and....try to move on from there.

Aolani shifted around, moving herself so she was fully facing Chiyo, now. She looked away nervously, before gathering a sudden swell of courage...her eyes moving forward, gazing into Chiyo's own, staring straight at her.

"I...." Aolani bit her lip, fighting through her bout of nerves. Ugh, she'd never felt this...this nervous in years! W-what was wrong with her?! "That is, um..."

It was....h-hard, finding the words. She'd....she'd fantasized about this moment, mentally rehearsed what she'd say...usually it involved giving some overly flowery speech, about how much she loved Chiyo and how long she'd had a crush on her best friend. About how she cared about her, and how it hurt so badly, yet felt so good, to...to love her like this. How she wanted to spend the rest of her life with her, and do everything together, and...and....

But the words failed her now. Aolani was usually an articulate girl, always ready to speak her mind. But her voice completely failed her here; she just couldn't think of anything to say. None of her halfhearted preparations and daydreams helped her now.

....

Well then. If she...couldn't be so eloquent, then maybe she didn't need to be. Maybe all she needed were three very simple, but powerful words.

"I love you." the words flowed out of her, and they felt so...right. Liberating, even. She'd wanted to say this for a long, long time. "I love you, Chiyo Wakahisa."