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“Can you be serious with me for one minute? We’ve been back for two weeks and you can hardly look at me. I know, you don't want to date me, but can you maybe like, I dunno, treat me like a person?” Travis half shouted, exasperated.
It had been a long, awkward day of Travis tiptoeing around Katelyn at the mall with their friends today. They had been invited for a fun day out, but ever since they had returned from Love-Love Island, Katelyn had been… cold. KC was baking with Aphmau, so Travis offered to walk Katelyn home. After a silent walk, and an awkward few moments at her doorstep, he frustratingly gestured to her door, requesting entry. She nodded, and let him in. As soon as the door was closed behind them, he tore into her.
“Listen, Katelyn. If you never want to see me again, then fine. Just say that, and you'll never hear from me again. But I can't let you drag me along like this anymore. I actually can't take it.” He leaned on the back of her couch for support. “Can you please just… reject me already, so I can move on?” He said, despairingly.
“I… That's not what-” She fumbled for her words for a moment. She wrung her hands together, trying to formulate a reasonable response. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for anywhere to land that wasn’t Travis’ piercing gaze. “You know that's not what I want.” She spoke softly, staring pointedly at a fixture on the wall behind him.
“From here, it just looks like you just want to keep torturing me,” His head hung defeatedly, and he put a hand to his forehead.
“That's obviously the last thing I want!” She half shouted at him, before taking a minute to calm herself down again. “I just… It’s not that…”
“What, Katelyn? What is it that you want?” He frustratedly asked.
“You, dumbass!” At this, their eyes connected, and silence fell between them. It took a few moments for Katelyn to regain the courage to continue. “I’m terrified of hurting you, Travis.” she spoke with a breath. “I know how I used to be, and believe me, I’m changing- or at least, working on it. But I just…” she trailed off. A few beats later, Travis patted the back of the sofa next to him. She joined him leaning on the couch, and they stood next to each other, shoulders touching. “I know I haven’t been doing a good job of… not hurting you. I guess I just didn't know what to do. Maybe I was hoping you would come to your senses.” She spoke, as they both stared straight ahead.
“I’m not afraid of you, Katelyn. I know you don’t have bad intentions. But you need to think about how you make others feel when you do shit like that” He told her, “I felt… horrible, when you started icing me out like that. All I wanted was to be near you, hear you laugh, make sure you were okay. I was seriously worried.”
Silence fell between them once again. It took maybe a minute and a half before Katelyn turned to Travis, and took his hand in hers. “Can we try again? Will you be my boyfriend?” She asked.
Travis looked stunned for a moment, before a smile slipped onto his face, and he began to giggle a bit. “I thought you'd never ask,” he laughed.
She smiled and bit her lip. “I missed you. More than I knew, I think.” She paused. “Can I kiss you?” She spoke, at nearly a whisper. His smile grew, and he nodded. She leaned in, and their lips met. They kissed, and kissed, and nearly fell onto the couch. There was much left to discuss, but this was a start, at last.