Lance couldn't sit still. His palms were sweaty despite the cold air inside the room. He kept fiddling with the beer bottle in front of him, as if he were pouring all his nervousness into it. With every spin of the bottle, he could hear the faint swish of liquid inside, like the sound itself was answering the question in his mind—"Is this really the right thing to do?"
"Ugh, this is taking forever!" Gel complained, taking a sip from her glass of red wine. She put it down and turned her gaze back to Lance, who was visibly full of tension. She noticed his trembling hand gripping the beer bottle tightly.
"Come on, bro. Want me to help you out?" Darius offered with a grin, patting his cousin on the shoulder. But before Lance could recover from his nerves, he punched Darius in the arm.
"Ow, that hurt! But go ahead, hit me again—maybe it'll help shake off your nerves!" Darius joked, laughing despite the sting in his arm.
Lance took a deep breath. He swallowed hard, trying to steady his voice. Deep inside, he had rehearsed this moment countless times in front of a mirror, but now, the simple words felt impossibly heavy to say.
"You," he said in a low voice.
In an instant, the room fell silent. It was as if a wave of silence had exploded between them. Even the sound of crickets outside suddenly seemed louder than the quiet that now surrounded them.
"Come on, be serious. Who's 'you'?" Gel teased, though it was obvious she already knew the answer.
"Me or Kitty? Be clear about it! Otherwise, you'll be in trouble if I misunderstand!" she added jokingly, running her fingers through her hair.
Lance didn't say a word. Instead, he finally lifted his gaze and looked directly at Kitty. In that moment, it was as if all the noise, all the people around them, faded away. It was just the two of them left in that world.
"You, Catherine 'Kitty' Torres, you're the one I've liked for a long time," Lance said quietly, but every word rang loud and clear to everyone in the room.
Kitty's eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape. She froze in her seat, unable to move, unable to speak. Time seemed to stop. But before she could even respond, a long squeal filled the air.
"Oh my G!!!" Gel practically jumped in excitement, shaking Darius, who now winced from her death grip on his arm.
"Love, calm down," said Darius, trying to pull away from her enthusiastic shaking. "If I throw up, it's your fault."
Gel immediately let go but kept her teasing grin. "Wait! Seriously? How? Since when?!" she bombarded Lance with questions, eager to hear the full story straight from him.
Lance fell silent for a moment, like he still couldn't believe he had actually done it. He picked up a new bottle of beer, took a swig, and finally spoke.
"Since that night we helped you—me and Mom," he began, his gaze still fixed on Kitty. "The night we saw you outside a convenience store. We were on our way home, but we stopped so I could buy ice cream. That's when Mom saw you—you were sitting outside, holding a bottle of water you hadn't even opened. Your eyes were swollen."
Kitty turned to her wine glass, trying to recall the night Lance was talking about. A piece of memory slowly resurfaced, and with it came a sting in her chest.
"I was busy on my phone, talking to Darius. I didn't notice right away. But Mom did. She went straight to you. She recognized you—said you were our classmate. She was already talking to you before I even approached."
Lance continued telling the story, and no one dared interrupt. He wasn't the type to talk about his feelings, so they took the chance to really listen.
"After I finished shopping, I realized Mom wasn't following me. When I stepped outside, I saw her holding your hand while you stared silently at the ground. She motioned for me to get in the front seat—you two sat in the back."
Kitty clenched her fists in her lap. She knew that night. It was one of the most painful memories of her life.
That was the night she found out her late mother's family wanted to take her in. Her grandmother and uncle were urging her to study in Australia, now that they learned her father had a new family. They didn't want her to be alone—they wanted to take care of her. But her father refused and insisted she stay with him. In a burst of anger and hurt, she talked back to him—something she had never done before. That was the night she received her first slap from him.
That night, she didn't know where to go. She ended up at the convenience store, her only company a bottle of water she couldn't even open. She didn't know that she and her classmate Lance lived in neighboring subdivisions. And that store sat right between them.
And apparently, that was also the night Lance started to fall for her.
"I didn't do anything at first," Lance went on. "I was quiet during the ride. But I couldn't forget your face, the sadness. And the way Mom held your hand—it was like she knew you needed a mother that night. I haven't stopped thinking about you since."
Kitty bit her lip. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to respond to the truth that had just been laid bare. Something soft and warm suddenly stirred inside her chest—not pain, but a kind of shock mixed with warmth.
She remembered again how Lance, despite being mischievous and a bit of a tease, was always there when she least expected it. The small favors, the jokes she secretly enjoyed, the times she caught him looking at her.
And now, she finally understood why.
What she didn't expect was how one ordinary night had sparked feelings he had hidden for so long—and now, finally, he had found the courage to express them.
She looked at Lance. He was quiet, but his eyes revealed his nerves, the fear that she might reject him. She wasn't used to seeing him like this—vulnerable. Real. And for a brief moment, all the teasing and jokes disappeared.
"Lance…" she whispered, but before she could finish, Gel jumped in, clearly unable to hold back.
"Wait, Kitty! Before you answer, I just wanna record this—kidding!" she laughed, trying to lighten the tension in the room.
Darius chuckled, "Let them be, love. This is their moment."
And even as laughter echoed around them, Kitty and Lance remained locked in each other's gaze.
And that night, even though the answer wasn't fully formed yet, something had begun—a heart that had long waited for its moment.
And this… was it.