Snow went out of her way in her pastel orange sweatshirt with an orange sunflower print and black and white gingham pajama pants with her hair slightly a mess as she sat next to the driver's seat with Malloy behind the wheel in his car. It was 7:24 p.m., and it's late, but the time was trivial. She had the intention of just doing it now and hoped it works out for the best.

Honestly, the way things were unsettled between her and Casey was bothering her. Needless to say, she couldn't just leave silence stretching out more between them.

After three days of dreaming and walking on clouds about how sweet and lovely her first date was, the effect wore off, and she recollected her thoughts about Casey. She told Kyle and Malloy all about how the date went, but not Casey. She wanted to give him the necessary space and thought it would be too much for him to bear.

Just one day to cool her thoughts and look back on everything they did, she knew she needed him in her life. They had been through so much, and she didn't like to let go of whatever the connection they had.

"So I still don't understand why I need to drive you to Casey's house. You said it's something important but won't cue me in on the details," Malloy said.

"It's a private matter between me and him. I'll tell you eventually." Snow couldn't tell him that things got awkward between them. He would have many questions, and she would have to answer him. It was better that Casey and Snow reconcile first and come up with an explanation later.

He looked at her with a suspicious sideways glance. She showed him an awkward smile with her teeth displayed, but she knew better that it didn't work on him. Still, what else could she do? He would have to trust her on this.

Malloy sighed. "Fine, leave me clueless for days."

She looked at him gratefully. "You're awesome."

"Yeah, yeah."

Once they reached the front of his house, Snow unbuckled her seatbelt, seeing the house was directly in front of her. It was a small house painted in a bland gray, and it matched the roof that was also gray but two shades darker. A white garage, a black door, two large windows appeared nearby, and the front lawn was just all grass. She could spot what you could hardly call a bush in a gangly appearance lining against the wall. There was nothing special about this house.

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" Malloy asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just Casey."

He unlocked the door for her with the sound automatically shifting the door lock. "Okay. If you need anything, just text or call me."

"Thank you, I will," Snow said, opening the door and hopping out of the car. After several seconds, she saw him driving off, and she knew she had to face the music just up ahead.

She turned around to the front of the house, and she willed her feet to the driveway and then to the door. The door seemed like the scary part because what's behind the door was the person who's inside there, and he's unaware that in a little bit, he would see her standing here. All she had to do now was to make her presence known.

Snow took a deep breath, mentally not ready for this, but it was now or never. Her hands felt heated as she pressed the doorbell quickly. Here goes, I don't know what I'm going to expect. 

She waited a moment as she put her hands behind her back. She looked off to the side, thinking about what could be the first words she could say to him. Hi Casey, how are you? No, that sounds too casual. Have you been outside today? No, that wouldn't be it either. Should I mention he should put some decorations on his lawn?

The door opened up, and her eyes veered to the boy she had been waiting. After not talking to him for days, it felt so strange, and she needed to hear his voice again. Casey stood there tall with his loose black t-shirt, and for the first time, she wasn't seeing him wearing long sleeves so she got a good view of his muscles. They looked naturally fit, and she trailed her gaze down to his arms. For sure they were a guy's arms. And good enough to hold a petite person or a person her size.

Her attention quickly looked back to the center; he gave off a blank expression to her with no emotions traced whatsoever.

"Hi Casey," Snow began.

"What are you doing here?" Casey asked apathetically.

His tone made her tense slightly. That wasn't a warm welcome. Maybe she could start friendly for him. "It's a lovely evening, right?"

He looked with no reaction, not even a blink or the usual shrug he did when he didn't know what else to add on or when he's nonchalant. He was just silently staring at her, and she felt already drained from making herself open up the social interaction.

"Did you want something?"

"Yeah... I was hoping we could talk," she noted.

"About?" His brow rose confusedly.

Her mouth opened, planning to say what she had come here for, and then the words spilled out completely different. "Um... you should really consider decorating your front lawn. It looks so plain on the outside." She pointed to the plain-featured bushes to her right. "At least try growing a fuller bush to have flowers. They would make the appearance much better."

Casey definitely was questioning her with judging eyes. "Are you done insulting my undecorated lawn?"

She held her lips together in a straight line for a few seconds. "No, I'm not here for that."

"Then get to the point," he said firmly.

She breathed quickly. "Where we stand."

"I'm not in the mood. Maybe another time."

Her eyes looked at him pleadingly. "Come on, please. It's been days enough. I think we should talk about it."

"No," he said simply and shut the door on her.

Did he just shut the door on me? Snow widened her eyes with her mouth open. She couldn't believe he would do this to her. She thought he could be better than this. She knows that he's better than this. "Casey." Her fist pounded against the door. "Please open up the door. I really want to just talk."

No response was given, and she found herself refusing how this would go. "Come on, we need to talk this out."

Still, nothing as she stood there waiting. She wanted him to come out. Was this talk going to be harder than she imagined? There had to be something to make him open up the door. She wouldn't just give up right away, not without reasoning him first.

But so far her head was empty of ideas or words that could trick him. She thought of things she could do but she didn't know what would be good. Had he gone back to his room? Was he still on the other side of the door?

She went through a minute of contemplation and thought she would try something spontaneous even though it could look make her look funny. 

Snow cleared her throat. "I'm outside the door, invite me in. So we can go back and play pretend. I'm on deck, I'm up next. Tonight I'm high as a private jet, cause I don't know where you're going, but do you got room for one more troubled soul?" she sang soulfully.

She continued as the seconds grew quieter. "I don't know where I'm going, but I don't think I'm coming home. And I said, 'I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead.' This is the road to ruin and we're starting at the end."

Could he hear me? She thought, but then the door opened, and Casey looked at her astounded. "I can't believe you're singing a Fall Out Boy song."

Ridiculous as she felt, she looked relieved it worked. "Yeah, I took my time to listen to some of their songs and a few of the other bands you like. They sound pretty neat."

He gave her a quick nod. "Nice."

"Now can we please talk? I won't go home until we at least come to some sort of agreement." She was adamant as her expression became serious.

He leaned against the door frame, sighing tiredly. "What is there to talk about?"

"Us," Snow said. "I want to talk about where we are and stay on the same page."

"Why?" Casey questioned.

"Because you have feelings for me. It would be weird for me to ignore that."

"Didn't I tell you to forget it?"

"Yes, but I can't."

Casey looked at her with a piercing gaze. "Well, I could. Don't have any sympathy for me."

"You know I don't. I'm saying that it's just...," she said, pausing as her words faltered on her.

"Just what?" He cocked his brow, waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"It's just... it feels strange."

"Me having feelings for you is strange?"

She realized what impact it had when she said her words out loud, seeing her mistake. "No, no. That's not what I meant."

"It sure looks like it," he accused.

Something conflicted in her chest. "Please don't take me the wrong way. I would never mean to hurt you purposely. I just mean it feels strange because I never thought this could happen. I always thought that when our relationship series was over, we would just stick with being each other's friends. I liked thinking that you and I can get along well. Just staying happy and cool between you and me."

"We can remain friends, okay? It's what you want, and I'm fine with that." She looked right through him, and all she could see was his soul felt detached right now.

"Casey..." What was she supposed to say next when he acted like that, and she's here conscious of what he felt for her. "You don't get it."

"What's not to get? You don't like me like that and don't want to hurt my feelings. Things happen like that. I won't bother to push you further with it."

"But it won't feel the same."

"You're making this feel complicated than needed. Just give it a few weeks, and it'll blow over. I'll go back to the person you needed."

How could he dismiss her easily like this? Shouldn't he think how consequential everything was now? Why was he uncaring about this? He looked like he wanted to escape this conversation as quickly he could. On the other hand, she couldn't shake off this uninviting feeling like she knew there's more to say about it. Snow stared at him while he avoided her stare, looking hollow as a Hematite crystal. It pained her to see that they were well before any of this ever happened.

Her anxiety surged up, and she tried to keep her toes steady. "It's not easy to hide your feelings like that."

"Can we just not talk anymore about this? It's making me uncomfortable now," Casey said harshly.

She blinked, freezing up as her chest began to feel constricting on her. How could a boy act so cruel when she's the girl he liked currently? Was that possible to talk to someone like that? She couldn't imagine talking to any of the boys she liked this way. His eyes that she looked at so many times were quiet but soft now facing her with coldness and difficulty. What happened to the boy that was honest with his feelings?

She thought about him so much. She looked back from the contract she wrote up, the days they planned out with some of the dates never happening and crossing out to rewrite new ones as they go along, and the fonder sides of him that she came to like along the way. They had thirty days of their planned relationship and other days that weren't included were just them hanging out as normal people together.

She was afraid of this happening and risking their relationship further than a friendship. She loved giving him support as a friend so of course, she cared about his feelings. They worked out so well as individuals together, and the last thing she wanted to do was to turn away from him.

With Casey looking like he didn't want to waste any more seconds with her and how she felt like she had no control nor confidence in how they would look, small tears left her eyes without her permitting them to. They were rolling down her cheeks, and Snow tried wiping them away, but newly fresh tears emerged after that. What's happening? Why am I crying like this?

She couldn't even stop them, and now she started sobbing softly. "I'm so confused."

"I don't know what's going to happen, and you're okay with just leaving it like this?" Snow said, then turned her back against him, afraid of him looking at her like this. Why does she look so weak right now?

She started to break down and lowered herself to the ground, holding her knees close to her. "You don't get it. You just don't." She sniffled, pausing to give herself a little time to say what she needed clearly. "You may be okay with forgetting it ever happened, but I can't. Why do you want me to forget what you said? Do you want to know something?"

She looked out to the sky, taking in the effect of the dark dusk blue with a hint of orange. "I never had anyone told me they like me before. You are the first guy. Do you know how that feels to wish it happens to you when you never thought it would happen? But then it was you, and now I feel so responsible, and I don't know how to handle it."

Silence ensued between them for a long moment, and nothing could be heard except her quiet sobs. She didn't know how to face him with her face ugly like this, wiping away her tears more with the sleeve of her sweatshirt that was slightly soaked. She heard the door shut again, and she cried even harder. Casey must have not cared about this to put up with her longer; this was the first time she broke down in front of him, and it must be too much for him to bear.

A moment later, the door opened up again, but she was too busy crying to notice until a voice broke in. 

"Tissue?"

Snow glanced over her shoulder to see Casey's hand holding out a tissue. She took it from him and used it to wipe her eyes messily that must be a little red and puffy now. Probably her whole face.

"Water?" The hand again held up a plastic water bottle for her.

She grasped the water bottle from him as well and quickly hydrated herself with water. It felt replenishing after her physical effort to dry out her tears.

Casey sat down by her, but he was facing the opposite direction. So he couldn't see her tears. He let out a sigh. "You shouldn't have cared so much about what I said."

She hung her head low. "I shouldn't, but I did anyway. It makes me a fool."

He chuckled lowly. "A caring fool."

She couldn't even crack a smile as much as she wanted to. Her spirits were too low to do anything. 

"Are you not interested in how it went with Harry?"

"No, but I have a feeling you want to tell me anyway."

She nodded truthfully. "I actually have a wonderful time with him. He's a gentleman through it all. I kinda want to go on more of them with him."

"And you will?"

"I would, but there's one thing stopping me from finding out more..."

She could feel him cocking his eyebrow curiously. "And that is?"

"I want to check in with you first. You are important after all."

"You don't need my approval." Of course it didn't matter to him, but what he thought of her did. And for some reason, she would put him first over another guy.

"No, but I value you a lot. I told him that I'm going to need some time to think. If it wasn't for your confession, I would've said yes right away to a second date. No doubt. Then again, I wouldn't get where I am without you."

She sniffled, her warm tears drying up a little. When she touched her face, she could feel the heat of it. It's been kind of long since she cried over a boy. It was usually internally crying, but the reality would hit different when she actually cried. And she sometimes would cry for a long period when she knew she couldn't have anyone or that her loneliness would be the end for her.

Casey thoughtfully input his thought. "I would rather you think about yourself. It's who you want to spend time with and learn if you might spend the rest of the time with that person."

When he says things like this, it makes me want to cry more for him. Just how considerate was he deep down?

"Casey," she said softly. "I care about you a lot and want the best for you. I want to hold you as someone dear to me. Being friends with you was more than enough for me, and I don't like to break what we have. I wish you didn't like me because this was all too much for me, more than I thought it would. You're still hurting inside, and I feel like I won't be enough for you. I actually didn't think you would like me, but I can see that feelings aren't easy to manage as much as we want power over them. So it's complicated to know what should we do with it half of the times."

Snow shut her eyes, finding a hopeless cause to have the right words when there aren't any. She gulped water to calm herself. Shaking her head, she continued, "I'm sorry, but I don't know how to make this right. I like you, but it may not be the right type of like? I do have strong feelings for you, and that's pretty real. For right now... could we just stay as we are? Give me time to consider this more carefully."

Would I give him false hope by saying this? It would hurt me more knowing if I know the answer later and don't give him an answer he wants to hear. This is all so new to me.

He rubbed her head tenderly. She wondered what kind of expression he was making at this moment. "You can do what you want. You... don't owe me anything. You don't have to like me just because I like you. I'm still coping, but learning with you is something enjoyable I like along the way. Whatever you decide, I'll think more about the times that we shared than stupid feelings that come and go. It's fine to not have a solid answer."

Whenever he spoke, he sounded so philosophical and deep, like he knew about a lot of things and have so much more to say, and she could hear them sometimes from him.

"Do you mean that?" she asked.

"Yeah." He sounded so sure.

Her heart lifted up marginally. Casey was absolutely the best addition to her life. That much, she knew.

▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓

Hello, how are you feeling now after reading this? I thought I was going to write a cute little story, but here I am breaking my own heart sometimes.

Put a crying emoji (😭) if it makes you feel emotional in any type of way. Let's see how many hearts are devastated beside mine.

The song Snow sang is Alone Together by Fall Out Boy. I really love that song and just thought it fits in this scenario when she wants him to open the door and talk things out. And the playing pretend part is basically their whole relationship, omg.

We have one last chapter, and it's going to be a cute chapter. It'll be nice and lighthearted. It'll pick you up again. 

Please vote and comment as it means the world to me.