week three | dates

[showhost]

You worked up your courage and asked someone out on a date! Good job!





Now you have to hope the producers are kind re: where they send you.

Comments

[hgeegh]

[He nods—slow to dip his head, but quick to snap upright.]

Ah, that's right. If you're going to be proposed to, it should be romantic in every way possible!

[makeine]

Exactly! I would've--

[ ... said yes, but she shakes her head. ]

Thanks for trying to cheer me up, though. Pretty nice fantasy. I probably would've gotten swept up in the moment if that was how it was, but Will-kun isn't a romantic like that anyway.

[ lol ]

[hgeegh]

[This still doesn't sit right with him. He has the feeling that there's more to it from Will's end, but baseless conjecture will only harm Anna in the long run, so he refrains from saying more.]

. . . So what now? Are the two of you still on speaking terms?

[makeine]

... We say hello when we see each other.

[ ...

so, um. technically. she isn't ignoring him. he can't ignore her. cordial at best, avoidant at worst. ]

But we haven't, like... talked-talked since then. I don't really know how to. Since he was a lot of firsts for me and all.

[hgeegh]

[That's so awkward. Sanji has never been involved with anyone, so he can only imagine how much the distance must ache.]

You still care about him. It's not going to be easy . . . but you can lean on us until you figure it out.

[She has friends here—Asa, most of all.]

[makeine]

[ she does still care about him. of course she does. it isn't like she wanted to break up with him -- she wanted to be with him, to lay against him on the couch and make him food, to talk about stupid things and serious things and kiss him when and wherever. to keep living in the same fantasy she had been the past two weeks, where it felt so unreal that someone would light up just by seeing her, would be eager to be at her side, to hold her hand and simply be with her.

anna presses hes lips tightly together and ducks her head, wishing she didn't care about him so much. stargazing seemed like a far off dream now. ]

... These past two weeks felt like a dream come true, you know. Being with him. Everything felt so natural -- even when I was nervous, it wasn't bad. It was exciting and... and... [ a sigh. ] I... really wish I could've kept dreaming too, instead of waking up. Even if it didn't start off with-- with any kind of romance, I...

[ a shaky inhale. ]

I really did fall for him. And somehow, I forgot just how much that fall can hurt.

[hgeegh]

[He remembers. It was only two weeks ago that he'd learned about that very fear of being hurt all over again. As someone who loves freely, Sanji has never experienced that kind of romantic fall before; however, the pain is plain on Anna's face and through her strained words. If he imagines how big her heart is, the ache she's suffering now must be unbearably great. On the whole, rejection is never easy to stomach.

Tentatively, he takes a step toward her.]

You didn't forget. By letting yourself dream, you set your heart free. Regardless of what happened, that was brave.

[makeine]

[ brave, brave, brave.

it's a word she's heard a lot lately relative to herself, and she doesn't know

still

if it's really true or not.

she was cowardly back home. simply content to pretend sosuke would never find someone else. never brave enough to push that boundary further, to see if he really felt the same as he had all those years ago. just because everyone else knew their place and didn't bother to try with either of them -- her, him. because they seemed an obvious match.

but anna doesn't move away from sanji when he steps towards her, even as she see his feet shift. no, she'll take one of her own and lean against him for a little much needed comfort. ]

... I don't feel very brave. But I keep being told I am, so I guess I'll take everyone's word for it. Thanks, Sanji-kun.