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Honey Lemon yawned for the fourth time in about a minute, her eyes barely staying open despite a mug of her most energizing tea. She was sure she was the only one left working on a project, the rest of the lab dark and silent. That was until she heard a loud bang followed by a string of cursing. A tall student tumbled out of a lab, smoke following him. And though the smoke billowed around him, she had to wonder how she didn’t realize that Tadashi was still here. How she failed to notice that the big brother of her friend group and simultaneously her crush was still working on his health robot project. He brushed the soot off of his jacket and smiled at her, his baseball cap now sitting slightly crooked on his head.
“Burning the midnight oil too?” He asked, the smile on his face equally as crooked.
“Yeah, but it’s getting to me.” She yawned, taking another sip of her tea.
“Oh?” He chuckled at her. “You do look like you could fall asleep on me at any moment.”
“You seem far too awake for this.” She laughed.
“I’m running on pure caffeine.” He nodded at her and she felt her heart race at his undivided attention. She rarely got time alone with him without the rest of the group. Distracted, she dropped a vile that completely shattered at her feet, the contents sizzling as they hit the floor. Tadashi practically dove for her, his hands on her arms, looking her in the eye.
“Are you ok?”
She nodded.
“I’m going to get you home, you need sleep.”
“What about your robot?”
He glanced back at his lab, the smoke now dissipated.
“It can wait until tomorrow.” He smiled and helped her pick up the glass and clean the floor. Then he was whisking her away outside, the cool night breeze causing her to pull her sweater more securely around herself. He handed her a helmet that she gingerly clipped on before pulling away from the curb on his bike, she had to lunge forward and sling her arms around him immediately, which made her blush. The city seemed too quiet at this time of night, the bright lights reflecting off of abandoned streets. In no time he pulled in front of her apartment, and she gingerly stepped off his bike, unwilling for the moment to end. To her surprise he also stepped off, removing his helmet and replacing it once more with his signature cap.
“Would you like to come in for some tea?” She shyly asked. His face turned red, but he quickly recovered. Half asleep she went through the motions of making a honey vanilla chamomile brew, overly aware of the way he stared at her. When the two mugs were done he gratefully accepted one, but his eyes still seemed to be on her even as she sipped from her own mug.
“Trying to counteract the caffeine, huh?”
“If I have to go to sleep, so do you.” She laughed, pointing her tea spoon at him accusingly.
“Fair is fair.” He took a bigger sip of the chamomile and then was suddenly at her side when she swayed on her feet.
“Am I going to have to put you to bed myself?” He asked her, the charming smile of his making her melt all over again. As if her knees weren’t weak enough already.
“No, no I’m ok.”
“Honey, I can just leave and…”
“I don’t want to fall asleep just yet.” She said softly and suddenly the hand that was holding her up was stroking her side comfortingly.
“You can’t stay up talking to me forever.”
“I can still try.” She snorted and turned to see him looking at her curiously, as if something just clicked in his head. She could feel her face become very warm. “If you want to leave you can though.” She added very quickly.
“I don’t want to leave.” He said with another crooked grin.
“And I don’t want to go to sleep.” She returned back, though the chamomile was getting to her.
“We have to compromise somehow.” He said, his voice suddenly lower. She didn’t remember when he had taken a step forward, or if she was the one who had instead. But suddenly he had whipped his cap off, threw it on a nearby table, and was kissing her. Softly, slowly, as if he was savoring the moment. When he drew back the hair that she had meticulously put in a bun was now around her shoulders, falling in waves. He ran his hands through the strands.
“My bed is big enough for two if we squeeze.” She added helpfully. “For sleep.” Her face reddened once again.
“Sounds like a compromise to me.”
She woke up the next morning with his arms around her, both of them having well overslept their alarm. There would be explaining to do to the rest of the group. It took her all of two seconds to decide that it was definitely worth it.