School had been over for probably three hours now. I had come over to Theo's house so that he could help me with some homework, but it had been hours and we had done no work whatsoever. We just laid there on his bed in silence, listening to the sound of each other's breathing. My head was resting on his chest while my fingers traced small shapes on the fabric of his shirt.
For the first time in a long while, I sat up, my elbow supporting my weight. I looked at Theo. His eyes were closed, but because of my sudden change of position, I must have caught his attention. His lips slowly curved into a small smile as he looked at me. My heart was so full of love for this boy, I thought my chest was going to explode at any moment.
I leaned over and pressed a small kiss on his lips. "I love you so much." I told him, for the first time. I didn't feel anxious about telling him, because we had been together for quite a long time and I had no doubt that I did love him.
The small smile faded from his lips. "Uh, yeah." He simply said, averting his eyes away from me almost immediately.
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "Uh, yeah?" I imitated him. What the heck did that mean? I sat up completely, my eyes glued on Theo and the confused expression never leaving my face.
"What?" He sat up, still avoiding eye contact.
"That's not something you say after somebody tells you they love you, that's what." I actually snapped. The thought that Theo maybe didn't reciprocate my feelings made my heart sting a little.
"I'm sorry, I-" He started speaking, but I cut him off.
"Wait," I stood up from his bed, "wait, I'm such an idiot."
"No, no! You're not an idiot Y/N!" At this point he was up from the bed too.
"Yes I am," I glanced at him then back at the ground, "I'm so stupid for thinking that you actually love me- that you actually would love me- I-"
"Y/N don't say that." Theo's expression made it obvious that he regretted not saying anything in the first place.
"But it's true, isn't it?" My vision started to blur. I looked down and blinked the tears away before Theo could notice them.
"No it's not true." He stated.
I just stared at him in confusion. I almost didn't realize the silent tear that rolled down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away with my sleeve.
"Then- Then why won't you say it back?" I asked him.
He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. Then he said, "B-Because I'm scared, okay!"
"Scared? Scared of what?"
"Of love! Of feeling things! Of getting close!" He raised his voice, causing me to flinch a little. It didn't go unnoticed and he took a deep breath to calm himself down, "Everybody that I care about ends up leaving. I'm scared." He admitted.
"Theo I'm not gonna leave you." I told him. He looked at me, his facial expression changing into a sadder one; like every single memory of his loved ones leaving was flooding his mind. It hurt me to see him like this.
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I made my way over to him. He allowed a few tears to fall from his eyes which I wiped away with the tips of my fingers.
"Theo, I'm never gonna leave you... You make me so happy, and I don't even know what I'd do without you." I said. I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly.
I didn't need him to say the words right away. He needed some time, and that's what I was going to give him.
