Nervous around you.....

Eric's P. O.V

I told my mom I was going to meet a friend and she told me to be careful with the rain. It had started raining again but I couldn't wait to talk to Simon. Since the moment I found out he was bullied, I've been wanting to see him immediately. Something in me tells me that I should go talk to him.

I grabbed my car keys and rushed out unlocking the car. I drove carefully being cautious of the rain. Within a few minutes, I was in front of his house.

I stood in front of the door, my leg shaking continuously. Something that happens when I'm nervous.

After taking a deep breath I pressed the doorbell and took a step back staring at the floor.

Simon's P.O.V

Here he is, standing like a complete novel character.

"h-hey, please come in." I moved aside letting him in. he still did not say anything as he followed me to the living room and stood there.

"hey, Simon" he sounded dull.

"Eric, are you okay?" I said softly and he finally raised his head to look at me.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

I felt my heart drop to my stomach when he said this. So he found out. And now he's sad. Because who would want a gay kid who always-

"Why didn't you tell me about cai?"

Wait. What?

Oh. OH. I felt relieved when I realized that it was not about my crush but, I was still sad that he found out his friends bullied me. I mean, it's not something I'd want to talk about.

I remained silent for a few seconds before sitting on the sofa.

"i- I don't know. It's not something I like to talk about" I said quietly.

He was silent for a few seconds before speaking up.

"Simon, I'm so sorry."

I was surprised to hear him apologize.

"I'm so sorry that my dickhead friend did that to you. I'm sorry for all the pain he has caused you."

I felt tears well up in my eyes as he spoke.

"I promise, cai will never bother you again." He said sincerely and I looked at the floor not being able to meet his eyes.

"Simon, please look at me" I didn't want to look at him. I didn't want him to see my tears.

"Please look at me, strawberry," he said softly and that was all it took for my tears to fall.

I wiped my tears with my sleeves before looking up at him and giving him a small smile.

"It's okay. It's not your fault. You don't have to apologize" I said and he pulled me into a hug.

I was startled but I needed it. And that was all it took for my tears to fall one by one.

He stroked my back as my tears kept falling but he didn't budge from his position. If this was any other situation I would scream my lungs out. But now, I feel like someone put a warm blanket over a boy who has been shivering for a long time.

Eric's P.O.V

I pulled him into a hug the moment I saw his tears. It hurt to see such an adorable and happy person cry.

*How did cai even have the heart to bully you?*

I could feel his tears on my skin when I hugged him. I let us be like that for a few minutes while I stroked his back in a comforting manner.

He is warm like a teddy bear.

I pulled away from the hug wiping his tears with my sleeve.

He leaned back sniffling from time to time.

"How did you find out?" he asked quietly and I moved closer to him holding his hand.

I didn't want him to know about the whole drama so I told him that I found out through laro.

His lightened up a little when I took Laro's name.

"Laro. The nice guy in your group"

"what about me? Am I not nice?"

He looked up with his eyes wide frantically shaking his head.

"no no no I didn't mean it like that, it's just that I've known laro for a long time now You're nice too." He said and I chuckled at his actions.

He blushed when he realized I was just messing with him.

"so, since how long have you known laro?"

*jeez. Chill with the jealousy eric*

"s-since first year. He was the one who found me when cai was bullying me"

"I thought he would be mean like the rest of them too. But he turned out to be very sweet" he said and I was confused.

Rest of them?

There's more?

"wait. What do you mean by the rest of them? There's someone else besides cai?"

He looked like he made a mistake before trying to change the topic.

"Simon. Tell me, please. is it, someone, I know?"

He took a deep breath before looking straight into my eyes.

"Yeah. I can't name everyone. Basically your group of friends. I don't know why they hate me." He spoke calmly and I felt anger and sadness rush through me.

"where the hell was I when all this was happening?" I asked and he shrugged.

"maybe, you were busy with something."

" I feel so angry right now"

"don't be, please. let's forget it. Plus no one hurts me anymore. Laro shut everyone up" he said smiling again.

I felt jealous of how Simon smiled every time he spoke of laro. Like he was some hero or shit.

"uhhhhhh do you like Laro?"

*ERIC!!!!!*

He chuckled before shaking his head no and taking out his phone.

This feels like déjà vu.

"laro is a great friend. And a very sweet guy. That's all" he said before showing me a pic of him and laro again.

This pic was different from what laro had shown.

In this picture, Simon was resting his head on laro's shoulder while he looked down at Simon with a smile.

Okay, he didn't smile like that with me.

" it's a cute picture," I said smiling (fakely).

Simon's P. O. V

His stomach rumbled making him smiled sheepishly before muttering a sorry.

"it's okay. I'm hungry too. I'll make something for us." I said before getting up.

"you don't have to. It's okay" eric said trying to stop me but I told him it's okay and that I had not eaten lunch too.

I took a look at all the ingredients before deciding on what to make for us.

"um- are you okay with a chicken sandwich?"

"yeah, anything is fine," he said and I grabbed the ingredients I needed. He sat on a stool near the counter looking at me.

I was looking for pepper midway through the recipe when I realized it was placed on the very first shelf of the cabinet.

On realizing that I'm too short to reach it, I grabbed a stool near the counter. When I climbed the stool, I was still short to reach it. I felt embarrassed when I heard eric chuckling.

Why did I have to be so short?

Eric's P.O.V

I kept staring at him in awe when he was making lunch for us. He was looking for something and realized that it was placed at the top.

He tried to reach it by jumping. He also placed a stool to reach it but, still couldn't because of his height.

He is tiny. Much shorter compared to me.

I chuckled when I saw him trying to jump to reach for the ingredient.

I got up walking towards him to help him. I set the stool aside and stood in front of him.

"May I ?" I asked. My voice just above a whisper and he looked confused. He still nodded moving back and I held his hand to bring him closer to me. I could feel his breath get faster when I did.

I held my breath before releasing it when I lifted him up. He squeaked a little and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"grab it," I said my voice gentle and he turned beet red as each second passed by.

"huh?"

"the ingredient you were reaching for, grab it," I said as he nodded leaning up.

His shirt rode up a little, exposing his stomach and I felt my hormones mess with me.

*I love the view*

My mind and heart were giving me a hard time trying to control myself. the fact that he smelled like heaven did not help either.

*kiss it*

Shut the fuck up.

Simon grabbed whatever he wanted and patted my shoulder signaling me to put him down.

I settled him down and he backed up to the counter not making eye contact.

You could cut the tension in here with a knife.

He was beet red from head to toe. He was breathing heavily holding the counter with one hand.

"i- uh-um i- I'll just finish cooking this s-soon" he fumbled as he turned around without looking at me.

"Okay," I said in a whisper as I went back to the stool, this time not looking up to Simon.

Jesus. This boy is going to be the death of me.

Simon's P. O. V

I could feel his breath on my stomach when he hoisted me up. It took all the strength in me to not let out the sound I was holding in.

when he offered help I thought he would climb the stool and grab the pepper himself. But when he hoisted me up, I was beyond surprised.

The atmosphere had changed the moment he came close to me. When he put me down I could feel something different in the air.

*stop imagining stuff*

Right. What am I thinking? He's just being kind. I shouldn't create my own bullshit story. It's not like he likes me anyway. He's wayyyyyyyy out of my league.

I shook off my thoughts and finished making the sandwich.

Eric smiled when I turned around and I smiled in return handing him the sandwich.

"I'm not that good at cooking, so please bear with it," I said before placing my own sandwich on the counter and taking a bite.

"Are you freaking kidding me? This is amazing!!!" he said as he took another big bite of his sandwich.

"really strawberry? This is the best thing ever!" I was flattered by his compliments and dipped my head down trying to hide my smile.

We finished eating and I put the plates in the sink for washing them later.

"um- do you w-want to watch a movie?" I asked as he nodded hesitantly.

"Are you sure?"

*just say you hate me and go*

"y-yeah. Um you d-don't have to if you don't want to"

"n- no. Simon. It's just that I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"why would you?"

" I don't know, ever since I found out about cai-

Here he goes again. It's not his fault. He doesn't need to worry about it.

"stop worrying about it. As I said, it's not your fault" I spoke gently and he smiled a little.

"come on, let's watch a movie," I said holding him by his arm and dragging him to the couch.

*bold move, Simon*

We settled down on the sofa as I was browsing through the movies.

"do you want to watch Lizzie McGuire the movie?" I asked and he remained silent before saying yes.

Eric's P. O. V

Lizzie Mcguire the movie? What an absolute baby. me and my sister usually watched comedy and horror movies. Simon's choice is like my sister's when she was little. Nonetheless, it was cute.

"you like Disney movies?" I asked and he nodded eagerly. His eyes lit up when the movie started and I wanted to look at him more than the screen.

"my poor Gordo" Simon sobbed a little and I sat awkwardly trying to hold my smile.

This boy is simply adorable.

"come to me my poor baby, I'll kiss you," he said and I chuckled lightly.

Simon is very involved in everything he does. From dancing to watching movies. This boy gives 100% in everything.

"it's okay strawberry. It's just a movie" I said patting his shoulder and he sobbed more the moment I touched him.

"you don't understand his pain," he said sniffling a little and I tried to hold in a smile in case he would start sobbing more.

"I do, one-sided love must be hard," I said and he calmed down a little. Wiping his tears with his hands.

A total baby. Confirmed.

"I'm sorry, but Gordo is just…. So Gordo. I love him" he sighed and I nodded in understanding.

Okay, Gordo. You got strawberry here in tears.

"uh- I think we should skip practice today.. you know after all the crying you have done today," I said after the movie ended.

"it's alright. I can still teach you."

"you don't have to. Seriously, let's take a break- and uh…

Simon looked at me as if gesturing me to continue.

"i-um.. you know…

Just say it eric you dumbass.

"I was wondering if you would like to hang out with me?"

ASK HIM ON A DATE!!!

Simon opened his mouth and closed it like a fish trying to answer my question

I guess I'll have to change my user id to eric_therejectedboy"

"o-oh. Okay" he said and I looked at him in surprise.

Really???????

"huh?"

"yes. I'll hang out with you" he said and I felt like dancing right there.

I grinned so hard I felt my jaw ache.

"Thanks, strawberry," I said and he smiled too.

Simon's P. O. V

Oh my god!

Did eric just ask me to hang out with him????

This was like a daydream to me!!

"Alright, I'll pick you up by 7 tomorrow strawberry," he said before leaving and I'm lying in bed ever since thinking about his cute smile.

I called Steffy and told her to come over. I needed her help to function properly.

"I'll be there ASAP," she said before hanging up and I sat in the middle of my bed thinking what to wear.

*An hour later*

"help me stef"

"on it Babyboy!"

Stef made me sit in front of the mirror as she started wiping my face with some liquid and cotton. She pulled out a plain white t-shirt with black pants and a black leather jacket to go with it.

"he's gonna faint when he sees you," she said winking and I rolled my eyes.

"I don't think so stef.. maybe he's doing this because he feels sorry for me"

I didn't want to keep my hopes up and get heartbroken in the end.

"trust me si, he's gonna love you," Steffy said before kissing the side of my head.

I sighed before putting on a pair of black shoes and pulling my phone to click a selfie.

"alright. Smile" I said and stef fixed her hair and smiled for the camera.

We were taking funny selfies when I heard a horn outside.

"try not to make babies in the car… best of luck," she said pushing me into the living room.