9

                                    

                                          
A lot can happen in a month and a half. In just that time, school ended and your relationship with Grace had progressed. You were having your usual weekly date with her, when she asked you to be her girlfriend. You agreed and sealed the promise with a kiss.
                          
It was late and the two of you were watching The Promised Neverland. She had introduced it to you over call the day before. After the first few episodes, you were hooked and began to binge it together. The two of you were on the couch huddled in blankets as you watched the gorey anime.
                          
Grace's eyes pealed away from the screen of the TV, instead looking at your face. She smiled as she scanned every crease, every blemish, every depression in the skin of your face. She loved how beautiful she found you, her heart fluttered every time she looked at you. The societal flaws are what made you beautiful. Grace liked you and she needed to tell you, and ask you to be hers.
                          
Her hand softly went to the side of your face bringing your attention to hers instead of watching a bunch of cartoon eleven year olds figure out how to escape an orphanage. "Huh?" You mumbled softly.
                          
"Hi." Grace said softly with a giggle. You smiled up at her, slightly confused. This was the most she had ever touched you other than holding hands.
                          
"What are you...?" You trailed off as she began to lean in, shutting yourself up when you realized what she was doing.
                          
"Can I kiss you?" Grace asked, with a small smile across her lips as she glanced at yours.
                          
"Ye-ah." You stuttered. After softly laughing at you choking on your words, she leaned in and pressed her lips against yours. Your heart swelled. It wasnt quite overwhelming but it was a nice fluttering and warm feeling in the center of your chest.
                          
Her hand that was on your cheek slid down to the nape of your neck, the tips of her fingers brushed the back of your hair softly. You flinched from the goosebumps you got from her touch, the callous on her fingers were rough on your skin but you kind of liked it.
                          
She softly laughed into the kiss at your sudden reaction. You smiled and pulled her closer within the fuzzy blankets that cocooned the two of you.
                          
You pulled apart and looked at each other, adrenaline filled your veins. Suddenly Grace blurted out the inevitable question.
                          
"Wanna be my girlfriend?" Grace asked with a smile.
                          
"Yeah." You breathed out. Grace sighed in relief, holding you close again. In the back of your mind you thought of Karl. You felt selfish, you felt like you were betraying him. You had it in your mind that you were still waiting for him to say something. Although you knew it would be better to just take this chance. You did like this girl but deep down you knew you liked Karl in a way you could never like Grace - a deeper love that you hadn't realized yet.
                          
Now fast forward to current time, you were face timing with Karl. You were laying down your bed on your stomach, your elbows propping yourself up as you watched him ramble about streaming. Apparently he was not only friends with Mr. Beast, but also well known in the gaming community.
                          
"So what do you, like, do? Like just play games?" You asked.
                          
"What? You gonna tell me to get a real job?" Karl teased.
                          
"No! I'm completely supportive of your career! Envious even." You admitted to him with a soft laugh.
                          
"Well, I do this little thing called Tales of the SMP. I'm kind of a time traveler in the whole Dream SMP lore." Karl told you.
                          
"Oh, are you now?" You teased, Karl's face went a bit pink, but it went away after a bit.
                          
"Are you makin' fun of me, (Y/n/n)?" He joked, regaining his composure.
                          
"What would you do if I was, hmm?" You asked. Karl's face was flushed with blood as he sighed. The composure he had just gathered was lost again.
                          
"You're killing me, (Y/n)." He said in a lower voice. Your own face began to feel hot, you quickly tried to change the subject. What he said felt weirdly flirty, now that you had a significant other, it made you feel bad.
                          
"Um, so, anyways." You chuckled out nervously. "Uh, you're kinda busy now. I bet there's girls who would kill to be with you." You said. Karl laughed.
                          
"I mean, I've seen a few. But look at you. You've really grown into yourself, you look veryconfident. Beautiful. I bet there's guys drooling all over for you." Karl said. There he is again, being flirty. But there was an opportunity to tell him you were taken, maybe that would get him to cut it out.
                          
"Well, girls actually. There's this girl. Her name's Grace." You began, Karl's face went from scarlet to paler than normal. "She asked me to be her girlfriend a few weeks ago."
                          
"You're... well, what'd you say?" Karl asked, all of this was news to him. As much as he knew about you, he was completely unaware you were into women at all.
                          
"If you knew her, you would say yes too, wouldn't you?" You joked. "But she really is gorgeous. Cool too."
                          
"I had no idea, I'm sorry-"
                          
"It's alright." You mumbled. You were thinking about telling him you liked him back in the day, but you decided not to. You didn't want to do anything that would cause you to be disloyal to your girl. Sure, you still kind of liked Karl, but you aren't a bad person.
                          
"Um, so when did this all start?" Karl asked.
                          
"We met a little before school ended, bumped into her in the hall. She's really tall, that stuck out to me." You laughed a bit.
                          
"Not taller than me, right?" Karl asked, joking. You laughed.
                          
"Honestly, I think she's taller than you. I haven't asked, but she's probably like six feet." You said. Karl let out a low whistle, causing you to laugh at him. He always did silly things like that, nice to know that part about him stuck around.
                          
"I hope you two are happy." Karl said with a soft genuine smile. Or at least that's how you interpreted it.
                          
"Yeah." You replied softly, smiling with him. "We are."