Doyle: Unexpected Three Words

"Len? Are you up? We're here." a voice spoke as I felt my body being shaken lightly.

I groaned before blinking my eyes groggily. Who was it?

Honey gold hair and jade green eyes stared back at me as I leaned further into the seat. Oh yeah! I was in Doyle's car... Is it his car? Doesn't matter. We were in the car together.

"Y-yes... I'm up..." I said as Doyle grinned and ruffled my hair.

He then unbuckled my seatbelt before exiting the car, making his way around to my door. I touched my head where the warmth of his hand was before placing my hand down when I noticed his reflection in the side view mirror.

"Your hand, My lord?" Doyle teased as he opened the door and extended his hand.

I felt my face flush but I accepted his hand nonetheless. It gave me a warm feeling in my chest as well as a sense of loss when I thought about how Doyle's personality was because of a broken childhood.

"Doyle... are you... okay?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Doyle asked as he turned to look at me.

Curiosity was evident on his face as he tilted his head at me, seemingly invested in our conversation.

"Umm... Your ch--" my words were cut off when a group of women entered the elevator.

I was pushed aside to a corner of the elevator, losing the grip Doyle had on my hand. I glanced at him and noticed the women now crowding around him.

"O.M.G. HAWWTTT!♡♡♡ You alone, sugar?"

"Wow! What a hottie."

"Sir, are you with someone?"

"Would you like to join us?"

"Why don't we exchange contacts?"

I furrowed my brows and bit my lower lip as I lowered my eyes. They acted like they didn't see me. Right now, it was more than evident that Doyle was different from me. It's like he belonged to another planet. Just like Rayson.

"Sorry, I'm with someone. I don't really have time to spare on hostile women who would bombard me with questions the minute they meet me and push my date aside." Doyle said as he made his way towards me from amidst the annoyed gasps of the women and grabbed my hand.

The elevator door opened and he pulled me aside before he straightened his jacket and walked straight to a private room in the far back.

"W-was it alright?"

"What was?" Doyle asked as he shut the room door and pulled a seat for me.

I sat down and glanced at his nonchalant expression, wondering if he would regret his words. I mean, it's fine to use me as an excuse... Those women did seem to be throwing themselves on him. But... he made himself out as a homosexual just to get away from them?

"E-earlier... in the elevator... when you said I was your d-d--..."

"Date?"

"T-that..."

"Why? Are you embarrassed?" Doyle asked as he smirked at me.

"Eh?! B-but... that... uhm... I'm not a woman..."

"What does that have to do with anything? I brought you out for dinner with the assumption of this being a date. Did it not feel the same for you?" Doyle asked as his expression darkened.

"Eh? But... yesterday you... ..." I said before my voice grew softer. His words when he pointed out my preference stung. I don't think I could handle hearing it again today. Not after what Rayson insinuated...

"... ... It's fine to just take this as a dinner with your superior then. If it helps you take your mind off things." Doyle said as he glanced at the dishes aligned neatly on the lazy Susan.

He then picked a few of the dishes with a chopstick and placed them on a plate which he then placed on the lazy Susan. He spun it towards me before repeating his actions and picking some dishes for himself.

"I... I'm sorry if I've offended you..." I whispered without daring to look up. I didn't want to feel rejected... not again.

Silence filled the room as I squeezed my eyes shut. Why isn't he saying anything? I'm scared... Did I seriously offend him?

A warm pair of hands grabbed my face. I reluctantly opened my eyes to find Doyle in front of me with a conflicted expression on his face. He looked like he was about to cry.

"Why does every situation with you end up with me losing my cool?" Doyle muttered loud enough for me to hear. I stared back into his eyes as I felt his thumb caress my cheeks.

"Eh...? What do you... mean?"

"You haven't offended me. Well, maybe a little. But I guess I wasn't clear enough with my feelings."

"H-huh?"

"It's a little hard for me to say it... I mean... I haven't prepared myself mentally enough but... Uh... I... Uh... Erhm..."

"?" I looked at Doyle with confusion as his cheeks were getting redder by the second. Was he ill?

"Whoo... Deep breaths... Haa... Len... I... I love you."

"E-eh?!" my cheeks felt really hot as my heart felt like it was hammering a way out of my chest. My ears were ringing with the loud pounding of my heartbeat while my thoughts were spinning with the three words Doyle had said.

"Was it too sudden...? Maybe it was... Yesterday... was... uh... thoughtless of me... I guess I wasn't in the right state of mind as well but... Eh? Len?"

My head spun with the overwhelming weight of his words that I couldn't hear anything else that he was talking about. The last thing I saw before the world turned black, was the ceiling and a worried look on Doyle's face.