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With how late at night it was, Sunny really wasn’t expecting to hear a knock on his door. He wasn’t entirely sure as he hadn’t been actively looking at the clock, but there was even a bit of a chance that it was after twelve in the a.m., which was clearly quite the unusual time for someone to be visiting him.
Who in the world could it even be? It wasn’t like any sales people worked these hours. Perhaps it was a bit irrational, but it almost made him nervous. However, he still knew that it would certainly be in his best interest to at the very least go and see who was there waiting for him. Once he got to the door, he looked through the peephole, only to see someone he really wasn’t expecting. Kel…what on earth was Kel doing here at this hour? Was he alright? Sunny quickly opened the door. “Kel?” His friend was at his door at one in the morning. The friend that he had a crush on was at his door for a reason he didn’t know, and if he said that didn’t make him at least a little bit nervous, it would be a complete and total lie.
“Hey, Sunny,” Kel replied with a small wave. He looked a bit exasperated, as if he had just run a marathon or perhaps even a sprint. “Sorry for coming so late,” he breathed, and quickly, he seemed to be able to tell that Sunny was rather concerned about his well being. “I, uh, just ran here from the—” a heavy breath interrupted his speech, “the bus stop.” The bus stop was typically a twenty minute walk away at an average pace…he shivered at the thought. That sounded excruciating. He wasn’t sure if it actually was, though, seeing as he was not one to ever participate in heavy exercise. Or any exercise, outside of walking.
“What’s wrong?” Sunny asked the disheveled boy. It seemed obvious that he must have had some sort of reason to rush here the way that he did at this time of night. Was something going on? It was easy for him to worry, but he was able to keep himself calm for the moment. “Did something happen?”
“Well, uh…” Kel began to explain, having trouble finding the words. Was it that bad, or..? Sunny frowned before he began to continue. “Nothing, really. Well, there, uh, kinda is, I guess. I don’t know if it’s important. Well, it is to me, but I don’t know…whatever,” He seemed to give up on whatever he was trying to explain, which Sunny hadn’t really managed to understand. That was okay. Hopefully Kel would be able to collect his thoughts properly. “I just…wanted to see you.”
Sunny raised a single eyebrow, looking at him intently. Was that really the case? Surely there had to be more to it then that, he thought, and that was proven right the moment Kel began to speak again.
“Can I, uh, talk to you? Like, inside?” Kel asked, his nervousness still prevalent even as his tiredness from running seemed to die down. “We could, uh, maybe sit on the couch or something, I don’t know…”
“...Sure,” Sunny said, opening the door more so he could walk inside, which Kel gratefully did. The two of them headed over to the couch to sit, and Sunny was really trying to figure out what was going on in his head but he really wasn’t quite sure of it. He said nothing was really wrong, but what if that wasn’t the case? What if that wasn’t what he had meant to say? Maybe it was irrational to even wonder about that, but he was sure it wasn’t entirely out of the question, seeing as Kel had really been struggling to figure out what he was trying to articulate. There was a chance that it wasn’t something that he had meant to say in the first place. “What’s going on?” Sunny asked, wanting to get some sort of answer out of him.
Kel was fidgeting with his hands, not looking directly into Sunny’s eye. “I…I don’t know. I was just thinking, I guess?” He tried to explain. He really was stalling whatever point he was trying to make, and that didn’t make Sunny feel any better about whatever could possibly be wrong. “I don’t want you to hate me for this…” Kel said. “You wouldn’t hate me right?”
Sunny looked at him with a worrisome expression, placing a hand on Kel’s shoulder, which almost seemed to make him flinch. “I won’t hate you,” Sunny said matter-of-factly. Whatever Kel possibly had to say, he knew that that would remain true no matter what.
“Alright…” Kel acknowledged, taking a deep breath. His hands still weren’t still, and it seemed he was really having to make an effort to keep his confidence up, which wasn’t an issue he seemed to have often, especially not around Sunny. And, uh, maybe Sunny was imagining it…but did his face look redder than usual? Gah! Don’t stare, Sunny! He looked away. “There’s…something I want to tell you.”
“...Yeah?” Sunny prompted. He had already assumed that, and the longer it took Kel to just spit it out the more nervous he was getting, too. He looked back at Kel again, hoping that maybe if he knew that he was listening without judgment, he’d be more likely to finally tell him just what exactly was going on.
“I was…thinking about everything while I was trying to fall asleep. I was, uh, mostly thinking about you…” Sunny almost tried to ignore that, not wanting his face to end up flushed red. Jeez, why would he say something like that? He was trying not to think about the fact that he had a crush on him right now. “About you and me, you know? Maybe not, actually, you probably don’t know. That’s why I’m talking! And I realized, uh…I realized that I like you. Obviously I like you, you know that..! I mean, I have feelings for you, Sunny…like the romantic kind…” Finally, his rambling came to a stop.
It really seemed like some sort of weight had lifted off of Kel’s shoulders, as he sighed a relaxed exhale and waited for a response, but Sunny was really still trying to process what he had just heard. He definitely knew that he had heard correctly, seeing as Kel had had to go every which way with his words in order to come to the conclusion he was hoping Sunny would understand. But…how in the world could that be right? Kel liked him, too?! And…and he was only just now telling him this?!
When Sunny didn’t respond, his mind doing twists and turns, Kel instead began to speak again. “If you don’t feel the same way, that’s fine..! Really, dude, I get it. I know. I just don’t want us to lose touch or anything like that…”
Sunny blurted out, “Kel, no, I feel the same way.” His words were quick and a bit rushed, something that wasn’t usual of him. His mind seemed to just panic at the thought of Kel thinking he didn’t want to talk to him anymore or something like that. He understood, though, as his expression originally had been just widened eyes and a still stance.
“Wait, you do?” Kel somehow seemed even more shocked than he was. “Really?”
Sunny nodded slowly. “...Yeah.”
It took a few moments, but Kel’s face went from a look of surprise to an absolute ray of joy in seconds, before he unexpectedly tackled Sunny in a hug. “I can’t believe it, Sunny!” He exclaimed, his voice sounding the happiest Sunny had heard it in a while, and that was saying a lot. “This is the best day ever! I really didn’t think you would!”
Sunny did his best to hug back, patting Kel on his back. He began to smile, too, as it finally fully set into his mind what had just gone down. Kel really liked him. Like, really really. He wasn’t sure if he had ever felt better.
Eventually they separated, and suddenly, Kel gave a nervous chuckle. “Uh, by the way, Sunny…I didn’t really think this through, I don’t think there’s a bus that goes back to Faraway at this time…or anywhere, really…”
Sunny hadn’t really thought about that. He was quite a bit tired. “If you need to stay here, you’re free to.”
“Heh, thanks, ‘Sun.”