My poor Violet, she just can’t get a break, can she?

Yesterday, after she arrived home, she had such a nice idea of us going to have lunch somewhere, but that seemed to be postponed at the moment.

“You came alone today?” the cashier asked as she took care of my groceries.

“Yeah, Violet isn’t feeling well today.”

Hopefully, after the medication and some rest, she was feeling better. It really got to her recently. That was why I was doing the shopping alone today. The list wasn’t long, I already knew what products she’d buy and the load wasn’t anything heavy. Also, extra girlfriend points. Not that I was her girlfriend yet.

Hmm, should I confess already?

It has been lots of fun, this middle ground we’ve been at, but I was kinda getting impatient about progressing and doing more stuff. You know, kissing and…

Although… maybe she wants to wait until eighteen for that?

I shook my head and chastised myself for having dirty thoughts so early in the morning and with the girl I liked rolling in bed alone and in pain.

Still, I was curious about her views on the matter. She did have a very religious grandmother after all.

On the other hand, if she gave much stock to what that woman taught her, she wouldn’t be all lovey-dovey with me, right?

Then again, maybe she still wanted to save that for after turning eighteen. Or marriage.

“Marriage… would that be ok?”

The idea of spending my whole life with her was amazing, but tying her up to me like that? Was it ok for me to do that?

You’re being super pessimistic again.

Good thing I caught myself doing that. It was still far too easy to let these intrusive thoughts win and drag me to a dark mindset. I had gotten better at avoiding and correcting them, but every now and them, one would slip by.

“Meow!” our kitten loudly greeted once I stepped inside her house.

“Hey Oliver, you silly cat. Did you miss me that much?”

He let out another loud meow and chased after me as I went to the kitchen to put away the groceries in their respective place.

“Oliver, I can’t walk like this,” I told him as he kept entangling himself around my ankles. He was so impatient when he decided it was time for one of us to pick him up and carry around. We were kindred spirits in that regard, much to Violet’s chagrin.

And speaking of her, it was time to see how she was doing.

I picked up the furball and went to our bedroom, him purring so loudly, it sounded like an engine.

“Hey babe, how are you…?”

It was then that I noticed what I called her now, and what I think I called her when I gave her back a massage. Babe. It came out so naturally, you’d think it was what I usually used to address her, but no. Not even in my thoughts. In them, Violet was always Violet. Maybe Miss Evergreen, but that only happened once or twice, as a joke.

I think I might have called her that in a few dreams now that I think about it.

She grunted and rolled on her back, extending a hand to invite me to sit by her. Oliver wiggled out of my arm and went to lay on her stomach. I was going to take him out of there, but she told me to leave him be. I thought his weight might have made her more uncomfortable, but apparently, it helped.

“He’s so spoiled,” I joked.

“Look who’s talking.”

I stuck my tongue out, prompting her to chuckle. She then invited me to join her, tapping the available space besides her body. I dove right in, of course.

“You still didn’t tell me how you’re feeling.”

“Better. I think I’ll be able to go out today after all.”

“I’d rather stay instead, if you’re not well.”

“…We can always go for diner.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

I told her to rest instead of worrying about us going out. If not today, we could always go another day when she didn’t feel like her body was trying to kill her.

“Mmh-haah,” I sighed, taking to enjoying her company, heartbeat, and gentle bobbing up and down of her chest as she breathed.

“…Hey, honey?”

I unshut my eyes and grinned from ear to ear, making my best to not starting to giggle and put her in a tougher spot than she already was by the simple fact she called me that.

“Yeah?”

“…Where were you a while ago?”

So, she hadn’t thought what she was going to say after calling me honey, huh?

“Pfft, hehe. Grocery shopping.”

I told her what I bought and got lots of caresses and smooches as a reward.

Yup, I did good.

Around lunchtime, she was feeling good enough physically for us to go out as planned. According to her, she was still feeling oversensitive emotionally. She was being a bit clingier than normal, that was undeniable. She made me sit on her lap and kept rubbing cheeks with me with lots of kisses in between all over my face and neck.

There were lots of choices, and after some back and forth, we decided to go to a sushi restaurant. I had to tell her it didn’t mean they only served uncooked fish and that there were other things on the menu. Curiosity and the fact I always wanted to go to one of those but couldn’t won her over, and when we got there, we both agreed it had been a good choice.

Separating the entrance from the dining room was a wall of paper screen with a sliding door. Once we walked through that threshold, we picked a table. Those weren’t particularly noteworthy as they were very simple, a rectangle of wood with four metal legs and chairs of the same design and a bit of padding. It was the rest that was interesting to look at. Walls decorated to look like we were inside a traditional Japanese house and with some paintings following the same logic. There were also some bonsai around the checkout counter and two sakura trees in full bloom. The plants were fake, but it undeniably sold the mood they were going for. I particularly liked the interior lighting. It was all artificial, but since the lightbulbs were hidden behind the screens, it looked like natural light coming inside. I only noticed it after we left, it was that effective.

“It really puts it in perspective,” she hummed thoughtfully as she looked around.

“What does?”

“How this place can immerse you so well with such cheap stuff while not coming across as a try-hard. Unlike Le Perrot.”

In her household, going out to eat wasn’t a thing. Papa Stan worked a lot and, when none of them cooked for one reason or another, they’d order.

Well, not today. Today we were eating out, and at a place where we could eat to our hearts content while paying a flat fee, no drinks included.

“I’ll have some iced tea,” I told the waitress.

“What about you miss? Should I bring the wine chart?”

“Erm… I beg your pardon?” Violet asked, confused by being asked that.

I snickered, finding it very funny how the lady thought Violet was of legal age to be drinking. She didn’t take advantage, of course, but asked the same as me instead.

Now, quick question. Questions, actually. Who do you think knew how to use chopsticks, if any of us did, and if one didn’t know, who was the teacher?

To my surprise, she knew how to use them. Her dad had ordered chinese enough times for her to have learned how to use them. We were having a flirtatious moment of her holding my hand and our faces so close, her breath tickled me as she taught me how to hold them when my phone rang.

I thought it could be important, so I checked it.

“Tsk,” she clicked when I showed her the screen.

Mathilda had once gain sent a text asking if we were free this weekend to hangout.

“I’ll tell her we aren’t available then.”

“No, wait!” she urgently asked me. “With this, how many times would we have turned her down?”

Today would be the third time, I told her.

She hummed as she thought about it, picking up a piece of cod and putting it in her mouth. She only noticed it then, but her reluctance about raw fish didn’t stop her to start chewing. At first it was very slow, but after the third, she was eating like normal.

“Huh, it’s way tastier than I thought.”

“Should we have brought Oliver?”

“Pfft! I think he’s getting fat enough without that.”

“Not fat, extra fluffy.”

She laughed again, echoing my words as she picked a second slice.

“Ahh.” I hummed with my mouth open.

She turned a bit red, but she fed me the slice, making me turn a bit red too when I noticed a couple glancing at us.

“…I guess we should accept her invitation.”

“You sure?” I asked after swallowing the fish.

“Yeah… I don’t want to be rude to her.”

“Hehe, you sure are nice.”

“Haah, I wonder…”

I honestly thought she was. She didn’t like socializing, and yet, here she was, going out of her comfort zone because she was taking Mathilda’s feelings in consideration over hers.

We ate far too much, and I do mean “we”. I was to be expected to do that, but even Violet joined me in gorging herself. We had plans to go around the mall or park, but stuffed as we were and with how hot it was outside, we decided to go to my place for a good nap.

With the AC making the air cool without it being cold and our drowsiness, we laid in bed not having bothered to put on our PJs after taking out our clothes, our chokers being the exception. She likely forgot about hers while I consciously kept mine.

As usual, we laid like two peas in a pod, her shoulder being my pillow as I had half of my body on hers, her arms holding me close as her hands got a bit frisky, her lips caressing my forehead.

“Hehe, mind me doing the same?”

“…Don’t ask…”

I knew I didn’t have to ask for her consent, I just enjoyed her reaction. It always made a funny contrast with what she was doing.

“What should we do about dinner?” I asked as I nuzzled her neck.

“Hmm… dunno,” she answered in a drowsy voice. “Two pieces of toast…?”

I wouldn’t be surprised if that became our dinner. We ate enough for a whole day after all.

“Hey, Violet?”

“…Hmm?”

“Thanks for taking me to lunch. I really enjoyed it.”

“…Hmm, that’s… good…”

“…Violet?”

“…”

“…Babe?”

“…”

She was officially offline.

Humph. Right when I was about to confess...

It was after a nice date, with us cuddling in bed. There wasn’t better of a moment for a confession than this, right?

Not that there was a real need to say it out loud with how overt we were about how we felt for each other, but by doing so, it would give our progression some sort of extra specialness. It’d also put a day in the calendar for us to remember and commemorate.

Oh… we didn’t commemorate the one-year anniversary of us knowing each other…

Would she play along if I mentioned it? I’d ask her after we woke up, assuming I’d be able to remember.

“Haah, this sure is nice,” I hummed quietly before falling into a deep and peaceful sleep.