[Sorry for any grammar or spelling errors. (Or anything else that's inconsistent) I edited this myself and I actually never planned to post it. Try not to be too harsh in the comments section.][Posting this story has been the biggest hassle in my recent days. It's been like two weeks with straight problems; hopefully you guys like it or it wouldn't have even been worth it at this point.]
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I asked her to meet me in a public place. I didn't want her being upset with me for what I was about to say to her. Or better yet have her lash out at me in a fit of anger, why she would even do that was beyond me, in hindsight; but what I was about to tell her went against everything she grew up believing, or so I thought.
I walked into the mall, towards the food court with a thousand butterflies in my stomach. I was determined to do this though. I was panicking when I arrived at the food court as I looking around for her. I didn't see her anywhere. Looking harder my eyes were straining, with my breath caught in my throat, trying to catch any resemblance of her so that I didn't have to stand there by myself looking like a complete idiot.
This always seemed to happen- even before now. Fiona and I would plan to do something and I'd get there first feeling lost and not knowing what to do until she got there.
Preoccupied with looking around the crowd in front of me I was startled by a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see her, letting out the breath I was just holding but sucking it right back in as I took in her beauty. She had her dirty blonde locks tied into a loose pony tail, a single braid in the mix; which she picked up from me in grade ten a little after we met.
Of course she would notice me first I thought with a laugh.
"There you are." I said with a light smile.
"Yep." She said just above a whisper. She was never one to talk loud when she was around people she didn't know, and she was very shy around big groups of people; weather she knew them or not therefore being here in the mall she was fairly quiet, but I could still hear her.
I guess it wasn't cool to bring her here to talk about something so important, to me, but it was a defense mechanism. I really didn't want her to hurt me, physically or emotionally.
"Uh, let's sit, I'm not in a hurry but this is kind of important. Do you want to get anything to eat? I'll buy it. I mean, unless you want to pay for yourself. I wouldn't mind either way. It's up to you, I think I might get something to eat though." I spat out in a rush.
I'm sure she could tell I was nervous but she didn't say anything, she just smiled.
"I'll eat wherever you eat. But I'll pay for myself."
I shook my head and scouted the big area looking for any open places to sit. After I found one I took her hand and guided her, though the mass of people, to the table. Once we sat down I scanned the area, trying to decide on what I wanted to eat; but really I was stalling.
There were tons of good places around and I was having a hard time deciding but in the end I choose Taco Bell- like always. I told her that I would eat there and she laughed, probably knowing all along that I would go there, and gave me her money and order.
I took the walk to the line, it was long but not too long.
I had been standing in line for about five minutes; it making progress, as I was now two thirds of the way through it. I was contemplating avoidance, I'm sure I could avoid doing what I came here to do, but I didn't want to. There was no backing out, I thought to myself as I looked over to our table. Oddly enough my gaze caught Fiona's as it was already looking in my direction. I held eye contact with her for quite a while, my heart beat quickening and my breath slowing down as I got lost in my feelings flashing a smile in her direction. Before she had the chance to smile back someone cleared their throat, snapping me out of my trance, as they asked me to move forward.
I went through the rest of the line without another bump, ordering our food and making my way back to the table.
"So," she said taking a bite of her dollar burrito "What's up?"
"Uh," I hesitated, avoiding eye contact with her "Not yet; how was your day? Did you have any classes?" I asked, opening my crunchwrap, knowing the answer to the question already.
She looked at me for a moment, not saying anything, before telling me about her day and how, even though she told me before, she made sure not to have classes on Thursday and that I already knew that. Thursday was our recovery day therefore we tried to be free all Thursday every week; though I wasn't always able to, unlike Fiona who always was free.
We talked about random stuff as we ate. It was never uncomfortable for us; we'd known each other so long that even our silences were conversations unheard. After an uncharacteristically long pause on my end I took a deep breath; we both knew this was coming.
"Okay," here it goes I thought to myself. "so. Shit this is hard. Okay, Fiona. Hold on." I took a deep breath and sipped on my water. She looked at me the whole time, he expression was unreadable; almost emotionless. Well that doesn't help, I thought. "Fi how long have we known each other? Eight years?" I asked and she answered yes with a light shake of her head. "And in that time, we have gotten to know each other pretty well, right?" She shook her head yes again. "And... you care about me?" Another yes. "And you know I care about you?" The final yes.
I was scared. I wanted as much clarity that we would be okay after I said this. I was not saying anything at this point. Just looking into her eyes. And she was doing the same. My heart was growing hot and my feelings were getting caught in my throat. She had beautiful eyes, a dark brown even in the light. I gave her a light smile, which she returned, before looking away for a moment.
Sighing I began again. "And do you have any idea what I am about to say?"
She shook a no. I sighed, not expecting to blind side her like this, I was hoping she would have a slight idea.
"Well, after all this time; you see, I know that this isn't exactly what any friend would want to hear from her best friend. There is something that I want, I mean, I know I don't really talk about this kind of stuff so don't be shocked. I want to someday get married." I said, pausing for a moment; Fiona's eyes widening with I look I couldn't decipher.