“What on EARTH was that for?” She asked, her voice high-pitched as she stepped away from him.

Aaron heaved a huge sigh and held his hands out to her in an apologetic gesture. “I don’t know?”

“Aaron. Don’t bullshit me.”

“I don’t know why the hell I kissed you. I’m sorry.”

Katie blinked a couple of times and opened her mouth to yell at him some more, but he took a step toward her and started speaking before she had the chance.

“No, I’m not sorry. I’ve wanted to kiss you a thousand times before and I never had the guts. And I just needed to see. I needed to know if maybe what I felt for you was just a crush. Or maybe just friendly type love feelings. But it’s not. Katie, I’m in love with you. And it’s not going to go away. I don’t know what to do about it. I’m fine when I’m swimming ‘cause I’m concentrating on that, but every other moment of every other day, I’m thinking about you and what it would be like to be with you. And what it would be like to kiss you.”

Katie opened and closed her mouth several times, resembling a goldfish Aaron had once had (that he and Katie had named Goldie and thought they were being creative).

“I don’t know what you want from me,” Katie whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” Aaron stated evenly, looking upset and tired. “But I can’t hold it in any longer. I just want you. That’s it.”

Tears started running down her cheeks at an alarming rate and he took another step toward her and gently wiped them away with his thumb.

“You know what I’ve been doing since I moved here?” Katie asked, her voice so low that Aaron took another step closer so he could hear her; they were standing so close now that their noses would have been touching if Aaron wasn’t so much taller than her.

Without waiting for him to respond, she continued, “I’ve been sitting in this apartment. Aside from when I got to classes, I never go out. I hardly hang out with what few friends I’ve made here and all I think about is how good it was when we were little and used to hang out all the time.”

Aaron’s mouth twitched and he brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. “We used to have a lot of fun.”

“Yeah,” Katie replied, swallowing hard as it seemed something was getting lodged in her throat. “You’ve always been my favorite person in the whole world. Even when you drive me crazy, and we fight, it’s never changed the fact that I love you.” She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then opened them again; Aaron was watching her expectantly. “But I don’t think I love you like you want me to.”

He didn’t say anything right away; he watched as she continued to cry and try to hide that fact from him. “I’m so sorry,” she choked out, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

“Don’t be sorry,” Aaron stated, his voice thick. “You can’t change how you feel anymore than I can.”

It took Katie six seconds to do what she did next, which was close her eyes tight and press her lips to his. At first he was so surprised that he stumbled back a bit, but she held on to him, steadying him, and soon he had wrapped his arms around her and was kissing her back like there was no tomorrow.

Katie pulled away and realized they’d relocated themselves to the couch, which was odd as she didn’t remember moving, or becoming horizontal.

Gasping for breath, she pushed herself off Aaron and stood over him, looking perplexed. “I’m not sure what just happened.”

Aaron raised himself up on his elbows and smiled at her. “I think we made out a little.”

Katie laughed. “Um, yeah, I got that much.”

She reached down and hauled him to a sitting position; thinking he was going to get some more making out action, he allowed her to do this. Instead of making out, however, she pushed him to the door.

“Haven’t we done this before? ‘This’ being me getting pushed out your door?”

“I’m really, really, really, really, really sorry.”

Aaron stood on the threshold of the door and turned to look at her. “Five really’s. You must be serious, then.”

“I need to think about some things. And I can’t do that with you here looking all cute and disheveled.”

“I can put myself together, or maybe put a mask on, and stay.”

Katie shook her head, ignoring his teasing tones. “No. I need to be in an apartment that is guy-less. This is very intense thinking and it has to be done properly.”

“Are you high?”

She gave him an annoyed look before pushing him gently out into the hall. “I’ll call you later,” she promised.

Aaron raised an eyebrow in doubt. “Can’t we just talk about this? I mean, obviously you’re freaking out because you’re feeling something for me and I can help you there because I’ve been freaking out for---Okay, then.”

The door had been shut on his face, and it was lucky he was standing far from the door or else his nose would have been squished.

“I’m sorry!” She called through the door, and he could tell he meant it. But that didn’t stop him yelling an obscenity about her for being a baby, and stalking off down the hall.