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Dorothea considered herself a good friend. A great friend, even. And what kind of friend would she be if she didn’t get two of her friends, who were clearly pining for each other, together?
So, she used Sylvain’s credit card to buy her two friends a very, very expensive dinner date, just to nudge them along a bit.
Unfortunately, one of her good friends did not think the same way she did.
“It’ll be fine,” Dorothea said, trying her best to make her tone soothing, “The worst that’s gonna happen is that he rejects you. And that’s okay! That’s how love works!”
“Love is stupid,” Bernie said, her voice muffled, “Take the gift card and go out with Sylvain or something. I’ll stay here and wallow.”
Dorothea sat beside her and patted her head in reassurance, “Bernie, if you go, I will get you coffee, whenever you want, for a whole year. You don’t even need to confess to him or anything. Just have a good time, okay? For me?”
Bernie lifted her head and glared right at Dorothea’s pouting face. “Is this bribery?”
Suddenly, Dorothea flashed a cheshire grin. “Maybe. But will you?”
On one hand, dinner with Raphael didn’t seem so bad. They always bonded over food, and there’s no way even Raphael could burn through a $300 Keg gift card. And the promise of free, on demand caffeine didn’t hurt either. But on the other hand, the idea of Bernadetta going to a fancy(-ish) place, dressed up, to go out with Raphael on a date? It was enough to make her head spin.
But then she thought of Raphael, in a pressed white dress shirt with a matching black tie and black dress pants and she surrendered.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
Dorothea squealed, “Okay! Let me know when you’re going and I can do your hair and makeup!”
As soon as Dorothea left; a brick of regret fell onto her. Oh gods, what was she going to do?
***
Raphael was excited. He had never gone to the Keg before; his lower-middle class family couldn’t afford the high prices that their menu asked for, so a free meal at a place he had wanted to go since he was a kid, with Bernie, was enough to lift his spirits for the whole day.
But when he picked up Bernie, he immediately became worried. He had complimented her – she looked stunning, how could he not? – but she didn’t really say anything back. The drive over was also uncharacteristically quiet and a looming aura of anxiety blanketed them both. What was she nervous about? He bit the inside of his mouth in worry and then released it. If she wanted to talk about it, she would. But right now, he had to be patient with her.
But as the night went on, Bernie’s odd behaviour continued. Normally, they loved eating food together and conversation would come with it, but Raphael found himself forcing conversation while Bernie gave half-hearted answers. At the end of the meal, Raphael decided to pry, just a bit.
“Are you feeling okay, Bernie?”
Bernadetta’s face immediately slacked, “A-am I not okay?”
“No! I mean,” Raphael blushed and looked away, “Kind of, yeah. You’ve just been really quiet, is all.”
“I-I’m so sorry!!” Bernadetta threw her hands up, waving them frantically in front of her face in embarrassment. Raphael couldn’t help but smile; she was so cute. But that seemed to fluster Bernie even more. “I-I-I-I-”
“Let’s get out of here,” Raphael touched Bernie’s hand – his worry only increased when she squeaked and pulled it back – before heading out to the car. Thankfully, Bernie trailed behind him, and soon they were together in a (relatively) safe space.
***
Bernie was going to die. She was going to die, right here, at the age of 23, because she couldn’t fucking handle going out on a date with her best friend. Sure, they had spent countless nights together hanging out, going to movies, eating dinner together, sleeping over at each other’s dorms, but somehow, this felt different.
The worst that’s going to happen is that he rejects you.
Even the suggestion that she should have – and maybe wanted to – confess her feelings to him made her want to lock herself in her room for the rest of eternity. It made every interaction with him feel like someone was dumping ice cold and boiling hot water on her at the same time. Every touch electrified her entire body, every word that came out of his mouth was a gift from the gods. And his chiselled body in a form fitting tux made her swoon.
It rendered her entirely useless and ruined their night out together and now she was here, sitting in his car, too terrified to even think of something to say to him.
“We don’t have to talk about it today,” he said. His voice was honey to her ears; it made her melt. “But I want you to know that I’m here for you when you need it.”
Here he was, providing an out. And here she was, ruining it for herself.
“Talk about what? How I’m in love with you?”
Bernie’s eyes widened. Oh gods. Oh gods. Oh Sothis. Please strike her down now.
“You’re in love with me?”
“No! No! I mean,” Gods, what was she doing? “Yes, yes, yes. I am. Always have been. I mean, not always , always. I wasn’t born in love with you, but yes, for quite some time. I guess. Yeah, oh my god. I can’t believe I said that out loud.” Bernie gasped for air; somehow, she had said that all in one breath. She looked at Raphael, who, instead of laughing at her, like she had feared, was instead bashful?
“I love you too, Bernadetta.” He had a slight blush to his cheeks, but unlike her, he was confident in her wordsSomehow, despite herself, despite everything that was happening right in front of her, she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.
“You, you do?”
“Yes. Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t noticed! I thought I was being obvious.”
“No, you weren’t at all! I mean, you’re nice to me, I guess, but you’re nice to everyone! And I didn’t want to assume, like, that’s not really fair to you, and besides, who would like someone like me?” Bernie’s voice grew quiet as her insecurities reared their head. “Who would like someone like me?”
As if to prove a point, Raphael took her face by the chin and made her look directly into his eyes. She could see every freckle on his face; she nearly fainted.
“You’re beautiful, Bernie. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Suddenly, he dropped her face and looked away, as if he was suddenly aware of his actions. And that’s when it really hit her. Raphael, the boy she’d been pining after for years, was in love with her. And that meant…
“Are we dating now?”
“If you’d like. If you’d allow me, I mean.”
For the first time that night, Bernadetta laughed, “Allow you? Are we in the 15th century, or something?”
Raphael chuckled, “Maybe another version of myself possessed me.”
“Well, I’m sure I’d love you, no matter what century we’re in.”
Raphael took Bernadetta’s hand up to his face and kissed it. “I love you too.”
***
“I’M SO PROUD OF YOU! SYLVAIN– KEEP IT TOGETHER.” Sylvain was audibly sobbing in the background while Dorothea beamed at her. “I mean, not to say I told you so, but I told you so.”
Bernadetta smiled and gave a half-hearted shrug, “Yeah, I guess you did.”
“Is that Dorothea on the phone?” Raphael shouted, from the other room. “Tell her I said thanks for the food! And for the girlfriend!”
Bernadetta was incredibly grateful that no one else was in the house right now; she was sure that the entire street heard Raphael. Regardless, she relayed the message to Dorothea, who took it in kind.
"Thanks, but I think I'd better let you two love birds have some alone time," Dorothea said.
"Oh, if you need any Sex Ed tips, I got you covered Bernie!" Sylvain shouted, from the background. Instantenously, Raphael appeared in front of her and took Bernie's phone from her.
"Thanks Sylvain, but we got it from here. Okay, bye!" Raphael hung up the phone and sat down next to Bernie.
"Now that they're gone, let's get this movie night started!" He handed her an insanely large bowl of popcorn and her laptop with Twilight already downloaded on it. Bernadetta smiled and kissed her boyfriend.
"I love you."
"I love you too."