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Well, this was it, possibly the worst moment of Blocky’s life. Maybe to some, that sounded like an overreaction but it’s what he felt right now. He was currently stuck in this stupid closet with Taco only remaining a few inches away from him.
This sucked, this was absolutely the worst. Blocky couldn’t believe that he got roped into this. He didn’t even want to come to this dumb sleepover but Pen forced him to, saying that he needed to “expand his social circle,” or some other dumb crap like that.
And, of course, being a sleepover and all, they played Seven Minutes in Heaven and when it was Taco’s turn, it just so unfortunately happened to land on him.
Ugh, did fate hate him or something? Was this supposed to be some sort of cosmic justice? Why, out of all people, did he have to stay in this closet with possibly the most annoying person here?
Blocky could barely stand Taco. She was far too stuck up and obnoxious, acting as if he was somehow bad for playing pranks on people.
So what if Woody broke his arm that one time? He still had another working one and it would be healed soon enough! That was no reason to call him irresponsible and lacking in empathy!
Whatever, they didn’t have to make out or anything. Blocky could tell that the others were waiting at the door, listening carefully to see if anything would happen.
Well, the joke’s on them. Blocky would just wait it out until their time was up. Taco didn’t seem into it as well, her arms were crossed as her back leaned against the wall. She had a bit of a disappointed look on her face as the seconds ticked on.
As much as he hated being in this situation, Blocky also was not too pleased to simply be waiting here, doing nothing in this awkward silence.
Despite everything else in him screaming to just let it go, Blocky opened his mouth and spoke up.
“…Hey, you know how long it’s been?” He asked.
Taco didn’t reply. She was either purposely ignoring him or too lost in her own thoughts to hear what Blocky was saying. And if Blocky had to pick one of the two, it was probably the former.
“Hey,” Blocky barked, snapping his fingers in front of her face to bring her back to reality, “I’m talking to you.”
Taco blinked in confusion as she looked over at him and her frown became even more apparent. Her foot started to tap against the floor insistently as she spoke.
“What do you want from me?” She asked, fingers lightly drumming against her own thigh.
“Do you have crap up your ears or something? I said, "How much longer do we have to be here for?” Blocky snarled. Seriously, out of everyone, why did it have to be Taco? Any other person would have been so much more bearable.
Taco scoffed in response, “I don’t know. Why are you asking me?”
“Because, since we’re not making out, this is boring as hell,” Blocky replied, rolling his eyes.
“Well, too bad. Go ask the others.” Taco remarked as she went back to trying to space out so she wouldn’t have to deal with Blocky.
She honestly wasn’t too sure what she should do now. Taco hated to admit but Blocky wasn’t wrong in saying that this was boring. They both didn’t like each and the expectation of them to make out was starting to get to her slightly.
Of course, she would never actually do it because it was Blocky of all people. He was probably the last person who she would ever even think about doing something like that with him.
Blocky was essentially a stereotypical bully character you’d see in kid’s shows. It both amused and annoyed her to see how much self-awareness this guy lacked. He was always pulling his “pranks” which were rarely funny and just mean-spirited.
But, no! Taco was somehow wrong for calling him out on this behavior. That made her a “buzz kill” and a “party pooper” for disliking seeing her friends constantly eating shit because of this guy.
“Hey! How much time do we have left?” Blocky yelled through the door as he pounded on it.
The response came much quicker than he expected.
“About five minutes. Why are you asking? To see how much longer you can kiss your girlfriend~!” Pen’s voice replied in a teasing tone.
Blocky couldn’t believe the nerve of Pen. Thinking that he would even think about wanting to touch Taco. Was he stupid or something?
“Fuck off, Pen. Just tell me when I get out of here.” Blocky demanded, his voice raising slightly.
“Soon,” Pen replied, “But, I’m sure you’re more than happy to stay there.”
Blocky rolled his eyes and flipped him off even if he couldn’t see it.
“Yeah, like I’m having the time of my life with this bitch…” He muttered under his breath.
He wasn’t quiet enough as Taco overheard his comment and let out an offended gasp. He was having a hard time with her? It was more she was the one who was currently suffering.
“I heard that, you know. And, if anything, I’m having a way worse time in here with you than you are with me.” Taco grunted.
Blocky winced at her words. Damn it, she heard it and now she was gonna get on his ass about it. He was kinda getting used to all of the peace and quiet as their time was slowly coming to an end.
Well, if he was going to be stuck in here with her for another five minutes, he might as well have a little fun with her. At least it would mean that this wouldn’t be a completely awful experience.
“Oh, really now? Because I could have sworn you’ve been staring at me ever since we got in here.” Blocky smirked, his eyes glimmering with a mischievous expression.
As the king of pranks himself, it would only be fitting for him to try to annoy Taco. At least seeing her getting all up in arms at him would prove Blocky with some sort of entertainment.
“You’re delusional.” Taco calmly remarked, rolling her eyes. If Blocky really wanted to get under her skin, he was gonna need to try a lot harder than that, “Shut up so we can go back to waiting this out.”
“Aww, what’s wrong? Why are you being so mean, huh? You don’t wanna hear my voice?” He questioned.
“Umm, yeah? That’s the whole reason I’m trying to ignore you if you would stop being so obnoxious. I seriously think a literal pile of shit would have been ten times better to be stuck with than you.” Taco fired back.
Blocky let out a grunt of annoyance but quickly covered it up. He couldn’t let it show that Taco was starting to get to him.
“Aww, I don’t think you really mean that…” He laughed, “I think you like that I’m here more than you wanna admit.”
Taco raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. “What the hell are you getting at?”
Blocky’s smirk grew even more mischievous as he spoke, “Oh, I dunno… Just the fact that you have the most obvious crush on me ever.”
Taco stared at Blocky for a few moments before subconsciously letting out a noise of disgust at what he just said. Did he just imply that Taco liked him like that? Absolutely not!
Blocky was annoying, obnoxious, and a straight-up asshole. As if she would ever like a guy like that. Blocky was either stupid or purposefully trying to piss her off.
“Oh, piss off. You’re not funny.” She remarked, rolling her eyes.
“Who said I was joking? Hmm? There’s nothing wrong with falling for me, you know. I am pretty charming after all.” Blocky grinned, his voice turning sly and teasing.
“As if. I know you’re stupid but you can’t be this dumb.” Taco responded.
“Ouch, that really hurt my feelings.” Blocky sarcastically said. “What‘s wrong, Taco? Is someone embarrassed to admit she has a crush on me?” He teased, smirking slightly, which only made Taco even more fed up.
She wasn’t stupid by any means, she could tell what Blocky was trying to do. He was trying to annoy her so that he could get some sort of reaction out of her. Like she’d ever give into his demands.
“You’re not gonna annoy me, Blocky. You’re just wasting your time.” She replied as she lifted her foot and propped it against the wall, “But, if you like being a dumbass, then go right ahead.”
Blocky gasped as he pretended to be offended, “I would never do such a thing.” He said, putting his hand on his chest, “Why would you ever think I'd do something like that?”
“Hmm? I dunno.” Taco sarcastically said, pretending to be lost in thought, “Maybe it’s because you’re a jackass with no life and the only way you can cope with your insecurities is by being a jerk to everyone you meet.”
Blocky merely rolled his eyes. “Okay, well, thanks for getting literally every single aspect of my personality wrong.”
“You sure? I think I was pretty spot-on.” Taco said, smirking a little bit.
Blocky snarled, “Why do you always gotta assume I’m up to something? Maybe I just wanna talk to you. Is that so bad, Taco?”
“You’re only talking to me because you want to get some attention from me and you think if you annoy me, you’ll “win” the fight between us.” Taco stated, “I’m not stupid, Blocky.”
Blocky growled as he could tell that this wasn’t working. He assumed that about a minute had passed now and he certainly wasn’t going to spend the next four minutes continuing this boring awkward silence.
He thought about what he could do to really get Taco riled up. Simply insulting her or teasing her were only going to be met with defiance and silence so he had to do something that went beyond words.
“You think of me too negatively, darling.” He said, taking a step closer to her, “Can’t we get along?”
Taco would have backed up but she was already leaning against the wall, giving her no space to retreat her as she cocked an eyebrow.
“Okay, first, don’t call me darling. And second of all, we could get along better if you actually started having a likable personality.” She stated.
Blocky only chuckled as he took another step forward. Taco could see him slowly starting to close in on her. What the hell was he planning?
“I think we already get along pretty well, Taco.” He said, taking even more steps forward and moving closer to Taco, “If I should be honest… you probably like my company a little more than you wanna admit.”
Taco hated that Blocky was starting to have his way; she was getting genuinely annoyed by what he was saying. “You wanna know what I think? I think your head is too far up your own ass. Blocky, I dunno what you’re trying to pull here but why don’t you just wait like a good little boy and-!”
Taco was cut off when the sound of Blocky putting his hand up against the wall next to her startled her and made her let out a squeak in surprise. He was essentially keeping her pinned with his body slightly pressing against hers all with that dumb smug grin on his face.
She stopped for a moment and looked directly into his eyes, blushing slightly as her breathing hitched. He was close, too close.
Blocky couldn’t stop himself from giggling a little from her reaction. Seeing her like this was definitely a much-needed improvement compared to before. It looks like she wasn’t completely immune to his teasing.
“What? Come on, finish your sentence. Or, are you just too in love with me to even remember what you were gonna say.” He teased, a grin on his face.
Taco said nothing, trying to come up with a reply but ultimately falling short. Her face was slightly flushed as she could feel Blocky’s hot breath on her face.
“Ooh, looks like someone is blushing. I get it, I’m so charming that you’re swooning right now.” He playfully suggested, which snapped Taco out of the daze she was in.
Okay, that was enough. If Blocky really wanted to act like a child and try to get her upset, then it would only be fair to play back. Taco would have to do a little teasing of her own.
“Hmm, you know, Blocky, what’s that old saying middle schoolers used to say,” Taco asked, intentionally playing dumb as she put a finger to her chin in fake contemplation, “Oh! Don’t they say that boys tend to pick on the girls they like to hide their feelings?”
Blocky gasped at the implication and Taco had a bit of a grin on her face too as she slowly watched Blocky’s cocky demeanor fade as he slightly blushed himself.
Taco felt a little satisfied at turning the tables on Blocky, seeing as it’s what he deserved anyway. She couldn’t stop now, this was way too good.
“I mean, I guess it makes sense for you. You’re probably way too shy to admit that you’re the one who likes me so the only way you can even try to get those feelings out is by picking on me, right? It’s probably why you’re so determined to say I have a crush on you; this is just your way of projecting.”
Of course, Taco didn’t actually believe any of what she was saying. It was a complete myth that the people who make fun of you do it because they secretly like you. In Blocky’s case, it was probably because he was nothing more than an immature asshole who got his kicks from pissing people off.
Well, two can play at that game.
Blocky frowned and slightly snarled. He was really starting to get annoyed that Taco was now using his own game against him! How unfair was that! His face continued to frown as Taco smirked more and affectionately rubbed his cheek.
“I get it. You like me so much that you feel the need to try to make me feel all mad. You’re far too shy to actually say anything about it so you spend all of the time trying to annoy me because it’s the only way you know how to get my attention.” She said, batting her eyelashes at him.
She continued, “Despite how tough you wanna seem, you’re just a sweet, softie with a crush on me, aren’t you, sweetie?” Taco said, her voice a sickeningly sweet tone as she leaned in and whispered that last part into Blocky’s ear. She was so close that she could hear a low growl coming from Blocky.
He knew that he couldn’t get angry though, since that would be allowing Taco to win this unspoken struggle for power and he sure as hell wasn’t about to throw in the towel this early. Blowing his lid would prove Taco right, that she could get underneath his skin and beat him at his own game.
It was clear that this was now a silent war between them; a competition to see who could get the other person to become flustered or lose their composure.
This was a little more than simply just waiting for the seven minutes to pass, this was now an unspoken war to see who could get the other to flip their shit first.
Fine, if Taco wanted to play like that, Blocky would happily accept. He laughed and played into her wildly incorrect assumptions about his character.
“Okay, you got me,” Blocky sarcastically said, “Maybe I am into you. What would you say to that?”
“I’d say how cute and annoying it is for you to go around harassing people just to get their attention. I know that no one likes you and you’re touch starved but it’s honestly kinda pathetic.” Taco mocked.
It was taking Blocky everything inside of him to not yell or blow up with anger. He knew that Taco was only saying this so she could see him lose it but Blocky still wasn’t going to take this loss.
“Ouch, harsh words. Don’t you care about my feelings? You like calling me someone who doesn’t care about others and here you are, insulting me.” Blocky shot back.
“Not insulting you, it’s just the truth.” She said with a smirk.
Blocky’s eyes twitched as he pressed his other hand against the wall as well, now really keeping her stuck and leaning in closer.
“Okay then, you wanna know what I think is the truth? I think that you…” Blocky started to say before realizing just how close he had gotten to Taco.
They were inches apart from each other, looking like they were on the verge of a kiss.
His breath mingled in with hers and he could feel his own heartbeat rise as his face flushed. They were mere inches away from each other and it was like only now was he noticing how sensual this looked.
Blocky was now noticing that he was actually pinning Taco to the wall, leaving only a few inches of space between them. Such a scene would look like something out of an erotic novel.
Throughout all of this unspoken tension, Blocky had never stopped to really look at Taco. Had she always looked this… cute? It was a weird thought but one he had nonetheless. Blocky must have had something wrong with him for thinking that Taco of all people was a little cute.
His gaze softened as he began to admire her. Taco was really pretty. Did she always look like this and he hadn’t noticed? Why was he only feeling this way now?
Taco must have also noticed their close proximity to each other as she stopped talking as well, merely staring at him in stunned silence.
Blocky wanted to say something, to give some sort of reply to Taco and taunt her once more but nothing came out. He couldn’t think of another insult or way to annoy her.
Instead, he was feeling embarrassed, really embarrassed. He had never been so close to someone before, let alone have that person to be Taco. Blocky had never… seen someone in this sort of light before.
More moments of tense silence passed them by as Blocky and Taco remained gazed at each other. Neither of the two knew what they should say to each other now. It seemed like all of their teasing and attempts at provoking each other ended up with them now in an awkward position and unsure of how to move forward.
Blocky gulped as his hands continued to press against the wall. He knew that this may have gone a little too far and that he should pull back and abandon ship. It was clear by the blush on both Taco’s and his own face that he had gotten the desired reaction and that their little rivalry back there was over but for some odd reason, he couldn’t move.
No, that wasn’t exactly true. Blocky didn’t really want to pull away. Despite knowing that he should, knowing that he should never be this close to someone like Taco, his body just didn’t seem to care. It was like there was some hidden force inside of him that wanted him to be this close to her.
“…Umm, hey,” Taco said, trying to diffuse the very obvious tension in the room. It was far bigger than it was before. At least back then, it was just them not liking each other or being together in this closet.
This was something far different. Ugh, why did she let Blocky get to her? She should have just realized that he was being immature and stayed quiet until he eventually gave up on teasing her. Maybe if she had just stayed quiet, none of this would be happening right now.
Taco wondered why Blocky hadn’t pulled back yet or made another comment. He surely got what he wanted, considering that Taco could feel her cheeks heating up. He got a very obvious reaction out of her so why wasn’t he mocking her for it?
If anything, he looked just as flustered and embarrassed as she was. Taco could see his own growing blush and sweaty palms, as well as noticing him staring at her lips every now and then. She tried her best to not think about the implications of that.
“Hi.” Blocky eventually answered, catching Taco off guard.
Shit, now what was she supposed to say in response to that? Maybe she should tell him to back off, that he was far too close within her personal space bubble and needed to back up and get away but if she could be honest, she didn’t actually hate that he was close to her.
It gave her a chance to stare more at his stupidly handsome face. A feature of him that she had never really picked up on before but was now very much aware of it.
Why did such a cocky and annoyingly obnoxious guy like Blocky have to have such a charming face attached to his less-than-ideal personality?
Taco needed to say something, anything even. Just something to get away from all of this… weirdness. She was starting to miss when Blocky was trying to piss her off because it was at least understandable and she could deal with that.
How was she supposed to handle the jarring shift from mocking and taking the piss out of each other to feeling the intimate nature in the room and the realization that all of those teasing comments did kinda come off as flirty?
That was a weird thought she was having. Taco had to remind herself that Blocky was not flirting with her and she wasn’t flirting with him. They were just trying to annoy each other, nothing more and nothing less.
At least, that’s what she wanted to believe.
Ah, whatever! Taco’s brain was just being weird. She needed to get their conversation back on track. All she wanted was for them to go back to their usual banter and ignore how awkward this was.
“W-What’s wrong? Gone soft on m-me now, huh?” She taunted, trying to find some level of confidence but her shaky voice said otherwise.
Okay, that was good. Taco was going back to the conversation they were having before. Even though Blocky could see it for what it was; a piss poor attempt to try to keep things casual.
“Tssk. N-No way… I just… umm, I know you’ve been looking at me all funny like. Y-You wanna a kiss or something?” Blocky suggested, also trying to go back to his cocky demeanor despite the intimate atmosphere making that difficult.
Wait… did he just say kiss? Fuck! Blocky immediately mentally hit his head against the brick wall as those words left his mouth.
Why, out of everything that he could have said, that was what his brain picked!? If he had said this even a few minutes beforehand, it would have been okay since he was fucking around with Taco but not when he was literally pinning Taco to the wall and he was already dealing with some weird feelings.
Taco gasped in surprise but quickly tried to play it off. Why would Blocky ask her that? This had to be another way to mess with her, to get yet another reaction out of her and see her react emotionally.
Yeah, that’s definitely it! Blocky was just saying this to mess with her head! This entire thing was nothing more than an attempt to completely fluster Taco. That’s what was going on.
Taco was not gonna lose.
“S-Says the guy who’s been staring at my lips the entire time. A-Are you sure that y-you don’t wanna kiss me?” She teased, trying to sound as normal as she could.
In all honesty, Taco was regretting even playing into Blocky’s games. All it got her was a very awkward situation and conversation.
Blocky paused for a moment. Was Taco right? Had he really been staring at her lips the entire time or was she just messing around to make him look bad? And, even if he was, that didn’t mean anything… right?
“O-Oh, yeah? Well, maybe I do! What are you gonna do about it?” Blocky asked.
His mind screamed at him to abort whatever he was planning right now. This was starting to become less and less about trying to one-up each other and more about something else.
Taco’s mind was telling her something similar as she found herself speaking before she could stop the next words from coming out.
“I-I’d tell you to just do it already! N-Not like you would, seeing as you’re nothing more than a little chicken.” She mocked, internally yelling at herself for continuing down this path.
Ah, did she just ask him to kiss her? Was Taco being serious? Did she actually want Blocky to do that or was this just another-!
No, fuck it. He might as well. Despite this being Taco of all people, despite everything else telling him that he shouldn’t, Blocky couldn’t deny that he had been thinking about doing it ever since the game started.
“F-Fine! I will!” He declared as he grabbed her face and pulled her into him.
Blocky’s heart was racing as he pulled her closer to him. If Taco wanted to play this game, then he would have to be the winner! This was definitely not because Blocky wanted to do it or anything like that.
Taco felt a mix of anxiety and anticipation as she felt her body get even closer to Blocky’s. She hadn’t really expected him to take her dare seriously and yet he was just about to kiss her.
And the funny thing is, Taco didn’t do anything to stop him. She could have told him that she was merely kidding and only wanted to continue their back-and-forth banter but her mouth stayed shut as she closed her eyes.
Blocky’s eyes were squeezed tightly closed as well as he slowly kept drawing Taco nearer and nearer. He could do this, he knew that he could do it.
Their breaths mingled in together as the moment charged with an electrifying sense of anticipation. Their lips were only a mere few inches from each other as they brushed together and…
“Three. Two. One…” Eraser counted down, looking at the stopwatch as his mouth opened in surprise upon seeing his friends seemingly about to kiss, “What the hell!?”
Blocky and Taco both paused as they heard the sound of the closet door opening and light coming into the dimly lit small closet. Pen, Eraser, Ruby, Book, and a few of their other friends all stood in the doorway, watching them at possibly the worst possible time.
Both Blocky and Taco froze in their spots as eyes casted upon them. They both looked at each other for a moment, faces growing red, before their eyes fixated back on the unfortunate audience they gathered.
All eyes were on them. Fuck, both of them had completely forgotten that they were playing Seven Minutes in Heaven. They both were so wrapped up in their rivalry and the weird moment between them at the end that they had missed the reason why they were even in the closet in the first place.
The silence was broken by Pen doing an air fist pump and smiling, “See! I told you guys that they would do it! You all owe me ten bucks.”
Eraser groaned as he pulled out his wallet and handed the cash into Pen’s open palm, rolling his eyes before looking back at the pair.
Pen’s smirk never seemed to fade as he put his hands on his hips and looked at the two. A profound sense of smugness radiated from him as he spoke. Pen was feeling pretty proud of himself for being able to call and accurately bet on these two’s very obvious unspoken feelings for each other.
“T-This isn’t what it looks like!” Blocky exclaimed, backing up away from Taco as he stared wide-eyed at his friends. His brain was going into overdrive, trying to think of any possible excuse that would give him a good reason for what he was just about to do.
But there was nothing, he couldn’t think of an excuse. What could Blocky even say to them that would make his actions seem less like what he was actually about to do? Say that Taco tricked him? That he was buzzed and not thinking straight?
Nah, neither excuse would work. From an outsider’s point of view, it looked like Blocky wanted to kiss Taco and he hadn’t really been drinking all that much ever since he got to this party so he couldn’t lie and say that he was merely drunk.
If you looked at him, you could tell he was pretty sober and still was capable of producing rational thoughts and sentences, he wasn’t slurring his words or saying whatever was on his mind. Not enough alcohol was in his system for him to make the excuse of being drunk and saying that’s why he almost kissed Taco.
Sure, maybe he was a little tipsy at the moment but it wouldn’t work as an excuse. Even if he were to try to pretend he was extremely under the influence, it would be very obvious he was faking it since he was already reacting normally to these events as he typically would without being buzzed.
Not to mention, it didn’t help his case that they were in the middle of playing Seven Minutes in Heaven; a game that was literally about making out! Blocky had absolutely nothing to help him win this case.
“‘Not what it looks like?’” Eraser mocked, rolling his eyes, “We’re not stupid, Blocky, you were making out with Taco right in front of us.”
“No, I wasn’t!” He screeched, “You guys have no idea what you’re talking about. We weren’t kissing! We were just… fucking around.”
He tried to calm his shaky voice but his words came out unconvincingly as his eyebrows furrowed in on themselves.
“More like you were about to fuck.” Eraser snickered, only to receive a quick punch to his shoulder by Blocky, “Ow, you’re a bitch, Blocky!”
“Yeah… fuck you too…” He muttered, still trying to think of a way to justify his actions. This should be the last thing ever happening to someone like him. Blocky was a prankster, the type of guy who made fun of others, not the one getting teased by others.
Although, it was a bit more bearable and not half as bad when it was Taco doing the flirting… teasing! He meant teasing! It was fine when Taco was teasing him… that’s what he meant to say.
On the other side, Taco was having an internal meltdown as she pondered over what just happened. She was about to kiss Blocky. It was all meant to be a joke, wasn’t it? Just a little prank that went too far and ended up being awkward.
That’s what she wanted to believe anyway. But, it didn’t feel like a joke. None of that felt like they were just messing around with each other but rather it was all… genuine. The thing that scared her the most was that when Blocky was just about to kiss her, she didn’t feel sad… she felt… excited.
Taco was excited that Blocky was about to kiss her. At that moment, she wanted him to kiss her. It was stupid. Blocky? Out of all people, she wanted her first kiss to be with Blocky!? Wasn’t she arguing with him just a few minutes ago?
And yet, she desired the feeling of his lips on hers more than she expected. Perhaps he felt that desire as well, that subtle feeling of connection with each other and the urge to just give in.
No! What was she saying? This was Blocky she was speaking about! They had absolutely no connection and she was glad that they didn’t kiss. As if she’d ever want someone like that to touch her.
Yeah, that’s… definitely what she felt.
Blocky and Taco both wanted to say something, to give some type of excuse or explanation for what just happened but they couldn’t. They couldn’t as neither of them knew how to explain what just happened.
How could they possibly explain that to their friends? To themselves? As much as both of them wanted to deny it and say that it didn’t mean anything, the truth would always remain; they were about to kiss each other.
“Oh, relax, Blocky… there’s no need to be in denial about it any longer.” Pen grinned, “You can tell us that you were about to make out with your girlfriend.”
Girlfriend!? Taco was not his girlfriend! She was the furthest thing from his girlfriend. Taco was stupid, and ugly and… gah! She was pretty much every negative thing that Blocky could think of. They were not and would never be a “thing.”
“S-Shut the fuck up, Pen! Taco is not my girlfriend!” He stammered, trying to mask his true feelings of embarrassment by burying them deep down inside and getting angry.
It didn’t seem to help as he was clearly blushing hard and Pen didn’t seem deterred as he kept staring at them with a grin still plastered on his face.
“Taco, can you get your boyfriend to calm down?” He teased, causing Taco to glare at him.
“Pen. Don’t. Try. It.” She sternly said, silently warning him to stop talking. If she could be honest, she was doing the exact same thing as Blocky; trying to get angry so her true feelings of embarrassment didn’t show through.
Honestly? Taco, more or less, just wanted to curl into a ball and let the world swallow her, at least then she wouldn’t have to live with this embarrassment or all of these strange feelings swirling around inside of her.
Pen didn’t seem all that concerned with their anger directed at him. This opportunity was golden, how could he not tease them about this a little bit? He would be a bad friend if they didn’t poke fun at the situation just a little bit.
“Guys, it’s fine, no need to be so embarrassed,” He commented, before smirking once more, “I just gotta know when the wedding is. Are you gonna let me be your best man?”
Blocky snarled, “I swear to god, if you don’t shut up, I’m gonna fucking beat your ass.”
He wasn’t actually gonna do it, of course. Pen was still his friend and he still cared for the guy but goddamn if he didn’t want him to shut up right now. Blocky knew Pen was only saying this because he thought it was funny to mock and tease him, as friends normally do.
Maybe this was a taste of his own medicine, as he likely would have been doing the exact same thing as Pen was doing now had the roles been reversed and Pen was found almost kissing someone in a closet.
Not to mention, beating up Pen would likely not be a good look in front of his girl-! Taco! It wouldn’t look good in front of Taco. But it’s not like he cared about what she thought about him anyway.
Although, he still would like not to be seen in such a negative light in her eyes. If he could help it, then he’d want her to not absolutely despise him. Blocky didn’t care about her opinion of him but he still wanted her to like him. Not like him, that was the wrong phrasing. He wanted her to not hate him.
Yeah, that was it. That wasn’t weird or an indication of any deeper feelings. Why would you want someone to hate you? It was completely normal to want someone else to like you and be with you… as a rival, of course.
A slight bit of emotional investment in someone and your relationship with them was normal, right? Even if it wasn’t a positive relationship. And, Taco had to like him a little bit, considering she seemed okay with him kissing her.
…Like as in… liking him as her rival, of course. Nothing more than that. Gosh, what was wrong with his brain? Maybe Pen’s teasing had gotten up to him and now he was subconsciously starting to refer to Taco as his girlfriend.
That was probably it. It was just Pen’s teasing that was making him act a little funny.
Blocky would have loved to believe that, more than anything but something kept sticking with him; if his feelings were as normal as he said they were, then why was he even questioning them?
“Ooh, I’m so scared,” Pen mocked, pretending to be shaking with fear before laughing, “Alright, time for you two lovebirds to get out of the closet.”
The two shared a look at each other before Blocky grumbled and they reluctantly headed out of the closet. The eyes of everyone else were fixated on them as they walked out, making them feel even more self-conscious, as if that were even possible at this point.
As they started to head back to their friends, nearly out of the closet, Pen’s smirk only got wider as he suppressed a chuckle, causing Blocky to glare at him.
“What’s so funny?” He questioned, to which Pen said nothing and instead pointed down at their hands, taking notice that they had begun holding hands.
Both Blocky and Taco looked down to see that they were in fact holding hands before quickly letting go of each other and making a noise of surprise. Neither of them had even noticed that small gesture of affection.
Pen snorted while laughing at their reaction, “Well, it’s official, you two are in love,” he joked, drawing out the word “love” to emphasize his point, “Can’t deny it now.”
Both Blocky and Taco remained silent as their faces burned from Pen’s teasing. Never once in their lives had they ever wanted to be buried alive and have the earth swallow them whole as much as they wanted it right now.
The embarrassment was practically unbearable and yet, the sensation of holding hands felt so good. Their hands essentially fit perfectly together; as if they were a perfect match.
Subconsciously grabbing each other’s hands again, they both walked out of the closet with an embarrassed looks on their faces.
Blocky looked down at their hands, as well as Taco but neither of them said anything against it. Blocky gripped her hand even tighter as he watched Taco do the same for him.
Neither of them wanted to talk about why they weren’t saying anything about this intimate gesture, both silently deciding that it felt good, they both wanted to do it and didn’t feel the need to try to explain it further than that.
If it wasn’t obvious already, the amount of comfort and content they got from holding hands spoke the words that they refused to say themselves. Blocky liked Taco and Taco liked Blocky; it was as plain and simple as that.
Pen just snickered at Blocky's dumbfounded expression and Taco turned her gaze towards the floor.
Pen snorted in his attempt to stifle his laughter. "See, I told you! You two should really see your faces!" Pen spoke in between giggles.
Blocky snapped back in response. "PEN."
"Okay, okay, I'm going, I'll leave you two lovebirds be!" Pen turned on his heel and scurried back to the rest of the party, leaving Blocky and Taco in tense silence. Neither of them wanted to be the one to address what happened, but it felt wrong to just pretend it didn't mean anything. To do so would be like leaving a letter unopened, or like denying long-harbored feelings, flying too close to the sun and falling short after finally getting the chance to...
But none of them wanted to open that can of worms, did they?
Blocky was the one to release his grip on Taco's hand first, noticing out of the corner of his eye how she hesitated to let it drop back to her side. He immediately missed the feeling of warmth, and couldn't help but wonder if she missed it too. He glanced over at her, trying to read her facial expression. Taco could feel his gaze on her, but didn't return it. Why was he staring at her? She tried to swallow the lump growing in her throat as she felt her cheeks heat up once more. But she tried to pull her thoughts back to the present and calm her racing heart. The two of them couldn't stand in front of the closet forever, that was a fact.
Taco inhaled sharply and broke the silence, snapping them both back to the unwelcome present.
"Soooo, uh... I'll… catch you later then?" Taco shot some finger-guns at him before mentally screaming at herself for making such a stupid gesture. She just hoped her intense embarrassment wasn't visible on her face.
It most certainly was.
Blocky blinked at the sound of Taco's voice, as if drawn out of a trance, staring for a while at her awkward and... as much as he hated to admit it, adorable grin before responding. "Sure, whatever."
Taco exhaled quietly in relief as her muscles relaxed. She didn't even notice how tense she was up until then. "Okay, cool, I'll uh, yeah. I'll go now." She turned to avoid letting Blocky see her red face and went to rejoin the rest of the guests, leaving him behind as she resisted the urge to look back over her shoulder at him.
Blocky was left alone with his thoughts. New, unfamiliar thoughts. And he didn't know if he liked them or not.
...What just happened?
His mind was currently racing with uncertainties over what just occurred. As much as Blocky wanted to shrug off what just happened, he couldn’t.
He was going to kiss Taco, that couldn’t be denied. But… why? He hated Taco, she was annoying, constantly was nagging him, and yet… yet… he was really just moments away from kissing her?!
Almost every part of him was saying that it was nothing more than a weird moment, that the teasing and attempting to one-up each other just went a little too far and that was all but… there was still that one part left of him that acknowledged it wasn’t a weird moment, or rather, it didn’t feel weird. It felt normal, right, as if it was supposed to happen and that Blocky wanted something like this to happen for a while now.
That part of him also acknowledged that he felt a little upset about being interrupted when he was so close, as if his only chance was violently ripped away from him.
Oh god, what the hell was wrong with him? Was he seriously talking about wanting to kiss Taco? Why did he want to kiss Taco? Is this insanity felt like? Was Blocky now officially crazy?
That had to be it, there was no other explanation. Blocky must have been completely delusional to want to kiss his rival. This was stupid, idiotic even!
Blocky’s face burned as he couldn’t help himself from replaying the memories of what happened. Pinning Taco like that, having her so close to him, feeling her lips brushing against his.
A sweaty and shaky hand went to touch his chest, feeling his own heartbeat. A flushed face, quickening heartbeat, sweaty palms?
No. Oh no. Oh fuck no. Please, let this be anything but what Blocky thought it was. Please, for the love of whatever was out there, don’t be what the one thing that Blocky desperately hoped it wasn’t.
“Please don’t tell me I have a crush on Taco…” He muttered to himself, as if asking himself would change the truth of his newfound feelings.
His mind forced him to replay every single moment of their time together in that closet. Blocky’s heartbeat continued to rise as he couldn’t stop his brain from imagining himself kissing Taco, feeling how she tasted. His foot stomped rapidly against the wooden floor as his face scrunched up upon realizing how badly he wanted that fantasy to have been a reality.
“Stupid Pen… Stupid time limit…” Blocky mumbled under his breath, crossing his arms as his eyebrows furrowed into themselves, “Ruining my chances…”
He hated that he was saying any of this but it was the true depth of his feelings. Blocky was frustrated that he could have kissed Taco but of course, something had to get in the way at the very end.
This is ridiculous. Taco?! Out of all people, he liked Taco?! Seriously!? It was an uncomfortable truth, one that he wished had an alternative explanation but it didn’t.
The truth was that Blocky had a crush on Taco.
He wondered if he always felt this way, that maybe he always did like Taco but suppressed and denied those feelings to keep up with their rivalry. Or maybe he only now liked her because of what happened between them.
She did mention that he might have picked on her because he likes her but Blocky knew that she was merely trying to mess with his head at the time. But, was she somehow right? That he did like her and subconsciously liked messing with her because it gave him a chance to be around her, even if it meant she didn’t like him for it.
Well, whatever was the case, one thing was clear; Taco would never have to know about this. Blocky would never be able to live with the fact that after all of his teasing and jokes about her liking him, it turned out that the opposite was true.
He would just deny and suppress these feelings as well! If he did it before and it worked up until now, then he could do it again. All he would have to do was trick his brain into believing that he didn’t like Taco and that she was nothing more than a rival.
“I don’t like Taco. I don’t like Taco. I don’t like Taco.” Blocky said to him, even if each time he did, it sounded more and more fake and forced.
“I don’t like Taco. I don’t like Taco. I don’t like Taco. I like Taco. I really like Taco.” He muttered to himself before letting out a surprise gasp and shaking his head.
No! Stupid feelings! He didn’t like Taco! Whatever, that was nothing more than a bad slip-up that wouldn’t happen again.
“…I like Taco. I like Taco. I like Taco. I really like Taco. I like her so much…” were the words that were circling around his mind even if he didn’t want them to.
It was like his conscious mind was denying the truth while his subconscious mind wouldn’t let his feelings go.
His brain was being stupid! There were no signs that he even liked Taco! Besides… noticing how cute she was, and how much he liked her eyes and she also smelled nice.
Blocky’s face was turning red as he thought more about Taco. She had a nice-looking face and a very beautiful smile. He subconsciously began to smile before shaking his head and declaring to himself once again that he did not have a crush on Taco.
He groaned, this was undoubtedly a pointless effort. Blocky knew that he couldn’t change his attraction to Taco but he wished that he could. This absolutely sucked! Why did it have to be Taco? Out of literally any of his other friends, it just had to be the one that he was supposed to hate that managed to capture his heart.
Whatever.
Blocky opened the door and stepped out of the room and back to the party. The loud music blared in the background as he walked down the stairs where everyone else was hanging out.
Of course, the first thing his eyes landed upon was Taco, who looked awkward as she downed a cup of beer. A very cute type of awkward, one that just made him like her even more.
He wondered if this was considered weird, seeing as he very clearly was only focused on her. His mind filled with different possibilities over what he could do to swoon her over to his side.
Should he go talk to her and ask her to dance? No, that was stupid and cringy. Not to mention, after the closet incident, would she even be in any mood to talk to him?
Blocky ended up doing nothing and just gazing at her while trying to look like he was enjoying himself even though he was far from it.
“Ooh, staring at your girlfriend, huh?” A familiar voice called out to him, causing Blocky’s face to sour as he looked beside him to see Pen, holding a cup of punch.
“Pen! Don’t you have anything better to do?!” Blocky hissed, glaring at him.
“Nope!” Pen remarked, “But, I am here to help you with Taco. If you like her so much, then go make a move, put on that good ol’ Blocky charm and she’ll be all over you.”
Blocky blushed slightly, “Pen! Would you stop that already? I don’t like Taco and I’m not gonna… make a move.”
“And why not? She’s right there, you know… go talk to her!” Pen encouraged, pointing towards Taco.
Blocky grumbled internally. Did Pen seriously ask him why he shouldn’t go talk to her? Blocky could think of a million different reasons why that was an awful idea.
What if he said something stupid? Now that he knew he liked her and the facade had dropped, there was nothing stopping his brain from completely melting and shutting down if he talked to her. Blocky didn’t want to look like a dork in front of Taco and start stammering a bunch of nonsense.
What if Taco didn’t want to talk to him? That was a pretty emotionally charged moment back there in the closet so what if she just wanted some alone time? Maybe Taco was taking her own time to process what had happened between them.
Or what if she just didn’t like him? They were rivals for so long and feelings couldn’t change overnight so she probably didn’t even want to date him.
Overall, it was a stupid idea with absolutely no shot of working out.
“Dude, I’d fuck up and say something stupid. Not worth it.” Blocky replied, no longer even bothering to deny the fact that he had a crush on Taco.
“Don’t be shy, Blockster. You just need a little confidence, that’s all!” Pen cheerfully stated, “I’m sure you can woo Taco to your side if you go up and say something to her.”
Blocky rolled his eyes, “Okay, first of all, don’t say the word “woo,” it sounds corny as hell. And second, I dunno how to do that. I can’t talk to girls and I don’t know anything about flirting.”
Pen opened his mouth to say something but Blocky quickly shut him up, “And don’t pretend to be some know-it-all since I know you can’t talk to girls either. You’ve never had a girl talk to you, let alone have a girlfriend.”
Pen blushed slightly as he pouted, “Okay, well, thanks for ruining what I was about to say…”
“Probably was gonna be something stupid anyway,” Blocky remarked, rolling his eyes.
Pen groaned as he gave his friend an annoyed look. He knew he was trying to be stubborn when he was really just a softie who didn’t know how to deal with his newfound crush on Taco.
So, he did what any good friend would do to help their buddy out and gave him a push towards confessing. And by a push, he didn’t mean a metaphorical push but rather a physical one, shoving Blocky over to where Taco was.
Blocky yelped out in surprise as he felt his body get launched forward towards the girl he liked. He looked back to see Pen smirking as he gave him a thumbs-up and walked off.
“…Goddamnit…” Blocky mumbled to himself, before turning around and coming face to face with Taco, who was slightly blushing at his arrival.
“Oh, umm, hey… Blocky? Uh, how are you doing?” Taco stammered, trying to play it off and act like they hadn’t just almost kissed a few minutes ago.
“I’m, umm, I’m cool… You cool too?” He awkwardly replied, mentally chastising himself for not being able to seem more confident.
Taco gave a hum of agreement as she took another sip from the red cup she was holding in her hand. The music blared loudly as the two more or less were just fumbling awkwardly around each other.
“So, umm, whatcha doing over here, huh? You, uhh, need something?” Taco questioned, filling down another swing.
“No, no… I’m just… chilling.” Blocky externally said, while inside he was struggling with the fact that he was thinking about saying something along the lines of, “I want you to kiss me,” or, “I want you to be my girlfriend.”
Fuck Pen for putting him in this situation. It was clear from how they were talking to each other that they were both aware of how tense things had gotten between them but they both kept up a facade like none of it ever happened.
“Cool. That’s… That’s really nice, Blocky…” Taco mumbled, nodding her head as she took yet another drink to calm her nerves.
Blocky took notice of this as he raised an eyebrow, “Umm, are you sure you’re gonna be able to handle all of that? You’re drinking a lot.”
Taco scoffed, “Oh, please, I know my limits, Blocky. Besides, it’d be stupid to get drunk here.”
Blocky nodded, “Right, someone would probably take a video of you doing something stupid and use it against you. That or post it online for everyone to see.”
She laughed, “Sounds like a nightmare. Could you imagine the embarrassment?”
“Dude, I’d probably want to kill myself if that happened.” He joked along.
The pair laughed together, a moment of connection between them overcoming the awkwardness and tension that had seemed to dominate their conversation so far.
But, it didn’t help their conversation from feeling fake and forced. They were both tiptoeing around the real issue they knew they had to talk about; the almost-kiss.
It did happen and they couldn’t sit here and chat while knowing that something clicked back then. Some sort of spark or connection was there for a moment and flickered for a moment.
Maybe that’s what scared them the most; that there was something between them. That small little “what if,” of them kissing. What would that have been like? What would it have felt like? What would it make them feel like? How would it have changed their relationship?
Perhaps it was the fact that Taco was starting to get a little tipsy but she felt the sudden urge to talk about it. Why couldn’t they just acknowledge that it happened? They almost kissed and that’s something they both needed to have a real conversation about.
“Blooocky…” Taco mumbled, her words starting to slur, “What are we doing?”
Blocky looked a bit confused, “Umm, talking?”
Taco shifted closely to him as she groaned, “No… I mean… Why are we just talking like it didn’t happen… You wanted to kiss me, didn’t you?”
Blocky gasped as his face flushed slightly. He watched Taco take another sip of her beer as his mind raced with thoughts. What was Taco saying? He wanted to kiss her? Well, it was true, Blocky really wanted to but why was she pointing it out?
“I-I, uhh, I…” Blocky stammered, unsure of what to say in response to her bold statement, “I-I mean… I was… Uhh…”
As Taco drank more alcohol, her inhibitions lowered more and more. She felt more… confident in a way. More free to talk about anything she wanted. And that anything was about Blocky and her feelings for him. Why couldn’t they talk about it anyway? It was so clear that they did have some sort of chemistry, some sort of connection that they were both trying to repress and deny when they really should be embracing it and their feelings for each other.
“Why don’t we just… get it over with already? We should just… kiss, don’t you think?” Taco muttered, yet another taking another sip.
Blocky’s face got even hotter as he gasped. He had to remind himself that Taco was merely drunk and not thinking straight. She wasn’t exactly in the right state of mind and he had to be wary of that.
“Taco, you’re drunk. Stop… saying all of this weird stuff.” Blocky replied, trying to keep calm.
“That’s just a… bullshit excuse and you know it.” Taco commented, causing Blocky to flinch slightly from the bold statement, “You like me, don’t you? And I like you so… why can’t we?”
His heart skipped a beat from her admission. Taco… liked him? Like, she actually had feelings for him? And she wasn’t wrong in what she was saying either. If they did both have feelings for each other and they clearly had some chemistry, then there was no reason why they shouldn’t just explore their relationship further.
If they kissed, then they would know for certain if there was something or if it was just a weird moment between them. If they felt something was there, then they could go further. Likewise, if it was just an off moment between them and they realized their feelings weren’t genuine, then everything could go back to normal.
Blocky had been wondering that for a little while now. Did he really like Taco or was it just because of the intense moment in the closet? Was his feelings right now genuine and would they even last until today? Hell, would they even last the rest of the night?
Did he really like Taco or was his brain just attracted to that moment between them and not her as a person? Maybe he was just caught up on the thrill of the moment and nothing more. Maybe this was nothing more than a stupid infatuation that would only last for a little bit until he stopped feeling like this.
People always said they found the love of their life only to move on within weeks. What if this was one of those moments? Blocky wanted to know if there really was something there or if they simply thought it was.
With all of those things considered, it seemed like a good choice.
No, he couldn’t think like that. It didn’t matter what she was saying since she was intoxicated right now. People say all sorts of crazy shit when they’re drunk, don’t they? You don’t act like you usually do and everything that comes out of your mouth has to be taken with a grain of salt.
With that said, wasn’t there something about a drunk person’s words being their thoughts they would never say while sober? Could it be possible that even if Taco was inebriated, her words held some sense of honesty to them?
Even if that was the case, Blocky couldn’t actually kiss her. At least, not under these sorts of circumstances. That would fall under taking advantage of someone who clearly wasn’t capable of making the best decisions right now. Blocky knew he wasn’t the best person around but he wasn’t mean-spirited enough to use Taco like this.
He wanted to kiss her but he would have to hold off on his feelings for now and do something like that later, when Taco was herself again.
“Taco… we can’t.” Blocky spat out, trying to keep up a composed demeanor.
“But, I want to.” She stated, now putting her arms around his shoulders and clinging onto him. She gave him a pitiful look as she got closer to him, “That makes it a little bit better, right?”
Blocky’s lips trembled as his body shook. His mind whirled as he got a whiff of Taco’s scent, which made his stomach do flips. Gosh, she was irresistible, it was becoming harder and harder to resist the urge to kiss her, just like in the closet. They were so close to each other, with Taco leaning in closer to him.
Sweat dripped down his forehead as he gulped. He couldn’t give in to his feelings. He had to resist. It didn’t matter what Taco said right now; it would only matter if she said the same thing hours later when she was back to normal.
“Taco…” Blocky started to say, taking her hands off of him but it only seemed to spur her on, making her cling to him even tighter.
“Cooome on. You know you wanna…” Taco mumbled, as she tried her best to sound flirtatious but her drunken stance made her seem more like she was awkwardly fumbling around. Even Blocky was getting second-hand embarrassment at her attempt.
“Taco.” Blocky remarked, now putting his hands on her shoulders to keep her steady, “Stop.”
Taco huffed as she pouted and crossed her arms. She groaned before she laid her head on his chest, mumbling something into it.
“I’m sleepy…” She managed to say, her eyes becoming droopy as she groaned again, “I wanna go to bed…”
Blocky didn’t know how to respond so he just ended up awkwardly patting Taco’s head as she nuzzled herself into his chest, seemingly trying to make herself comfortable and fall asleep on him. He watched her as her body relaxed into his and her eyes closed.
Shit. What was he supposed to do now? This wasn’t his house and he wasn’t sure where to take her. Should he just try to take her home? Maybe he should bring her to bed. Or would that be considered weird and creepy?
His nerves were starting to get the better of him as he overthought this small little gesture. He just needed to take her to bed, nothing more and nothing less. Blocky’s eyes scanned across the room as Pen, for better or worse, walked up near the two. He coughed to get his friend’s attention and Pen’s focus immediately snapped towards him and his eyes slightly widened.
“Woah, Blockster, uh, what’s going on with Taco over there? This isn’t exactly what I meant when I said she’d be all over you.” Pen remarked, pointing over to Taco, who was still resting her head on Blocky’s chest.
Blocky rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Shut up. Do you know where a bedroom is?”
Pen gave Blocky a look mixed with confusion and a slight hint of disgust as he shuffled around awkwardly, “Uhh, what? Blocky, you do realize she’s drunk… right?”
Blocky looked bemused for a moment, trying to figure out what was making Pen look at him like that. It’s not like he said anything, did he? All he asked was to find a bedroom for Taco to sleep. A completely understandable motivation.
Wait, Pen didn’t know about that, now did he? Right, from his eyes, Blocky’s question seemed… off at best and downright horrible at worst. Well, goddamnit! How could Pen think he’d do something like that?! Blocky didn’t even let Taco try to kiss him because she was drunk! Plus, they were best friends, he had to have known Blocky wouldn’t try something like that.
“Dude, it’s not like that! She’s drunk and about to pass out.” Blocky explained, still feeling a bit annoyed with the assumption and shooting Pen a dirty look.
“...Oh. My bad.” Pen said, awkwardly taking a sip from his drink, “Uhh, I dunno… I think there’s one upstairs if I remember.”
“Yeah, thanks…” Blocky sarcastically remarked as he looked down at the woman still trying to fall asleep on him. He lightly shook her to wake her up but she still seemed pretty out of her. Blocky began to peel her off of him. Her grip on him got tighter, as if she was subconsciously asking him to not make her leave.
He sighed as he forcefully peeled off of him, holding onto her hand to keep her steady. Warm. Her hand felt warm. Blocky’s face flushed as he started to head upstairs, taking Taco with him.
As they walked, he could hear the voices of all of the other partygoers, all looking at him and Taco with confusion shining through their eyes which only helped to make Blocky even more embarrassed.
Great. Was this night going amazingly? Not only did he almost kiss Taco, realize he had feelings for her, and was now trying to navigate this situation while she was drunk, but now he also had the fun problem of having everyone looking at him like he was doing something wrong, even if all he wanted was to get her to bed.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. All of this was so stupid. He’d figured out what to do with Taco tomorrow morning. Or some other time. Or maybe never. Yeah never sounded nice. This was dumb anyway, Blocky should have never come to this party.
He stomped his way upstairs, past all of the stares his way, and to the top of the stairs. Blocky opened the door to the bedroom and looked inside. Quiet. Empty. Dark. Good, nothing was going to bother them here. He couldn’t hear anything from the party downstairs, which meant no one would be able to hear anything coming from this room either.
Okay, now Blocky was starting to sound a little creepy.
Blocky walked over to the bed, still holding Taco’s hand. He looked over at her and then gestured towards the bed with his eyes.
“Okay, if you’re still all sleepy and stuff, then go ahead and sleep here. I’ll, uhh, I’ll be nearby and then I’ll take you back to your place in the morning, m’kay?” Blocky explained.
For a moment, Blocky saw Taco’s face drop and become more downcast. The look of intoxication left her eyes as she frowned and looked disappointed. She glanced off of the side and let out a soft, “Oh,” as if she was trying to be quiet enough to where Blocky couldn’t hear her.
That was weird. It seemed like Taco didn’t want to go to sleep. In fact, if you asked him, Blocky would say that Taco seemed a bit too coherent right now to be drunk. It felt like something was just a bit off about her demeanor.
Thinking back on it, Taco didn’t even have all that much to drink, did she? Blocky only saw her take a few sips and now she was acting like she was stumbling around and couldn’t take care of herself. Was it possible that…
“Taco… Are you even drunk right now?” Blocky asked, wanting to confirm his suspicions. He felt like this was a bit dumb to ask but he wanted to know regardless. Perhaps he was being a little silly asking this question but something about Taco was really ticking him off right now.
Taco winced, groaning slightly as she rubbed her arm. She clicked her tongue as she sighed and looked down at the floor. Her feet awkwardly shuffled against the wall as she took a deep breath before speaking.
“That obvious, huh?”
Blocky’s eyes widened as he stared at her. Taco… lied? She lied to him about being drunk?! What the hell? Why would she do that? What would she gain from pretending to be inebriated?
Was this some kind of joke to her? Did she like looking stupid? And did that mean that everything she said to him wasn’t the result of some drunken rambling but her genuine feelings? When she told him that she liked him, she was being serious about that.
Blocky stammered out a few attempts at forming words before he finally managed to find his words, “Why would you-!”
“I want to finish it.” Taco said, cutting Blocky off from his question, “That… moment in the closet. We both felt something, didn’t we? I… I guess I just wanted an excuse to get close to you again. You’re making my brain turn to rot and my heart feels like it’s gonna explode, you know? I hated when we were talking about dumb things and not about what really matters; us.”
Vulnerable. That’s how Taco sounded. No more pretense. No more confident demeanor. No more trying to tease each other. It was just Taco as herself. It reminded Blocky of how she acted when they were about to kiss.
“I know it was stupid to pretend to be drunk and I’m sorry for lying but I just… I don’t think I can move on from this if we don’t at least give it a shot.” She admitted, “If we do this and nothing happens… we can go back to how things were before and pretend like it never happened, okay? I just… I need to know for sure.”
Blocky winced, not sure of how to reply. Taco was essentially begging Blocky to kiss her. Had this been him twenty minutes ago, he would be making fun of her for being so desperate for his affection. But now, he was debating with himself whether he should go through with it.
Taco was right. He did feel something between them during that moment and he was wondering what would have happened if they kissed instead of getting interrupted. Not to mention, since she wasn’t drunk, then he wouldn’t have to worry about feeling creepy or like he was taking advantage of her.
The real reason he was hesitant was because he was scared. Blocky was scared that if they did kiss and if it meant nothing, then he would be proving himself right; that he didn’t have feelings for her and only was attracted to her at that moment and nothing more. It made him feel bad to think that all he was feeling was a momentary infatuation rather than anything serious or that could turn into a relationship.
If it meant nothing and they felt nothing, then everything would go back to normal. They would be rivals again and go back to making fun of each other and getting into dumb arguments. Blocky didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want his feelings to be temporary. For some reason, he wanted his feelings for Taco to mean more than just thinking she was cute in the closet.
But then again, if he does kiss Taco, then he would know for sure, right? Rejection was a bitch, it undoubtedly would suck hard if it happened but the only thing that would be worse is not knowing at all. Missed chances, those what-if scenarios floating around in his head. If he didn’t take this chance, then he would be forever wondering if it could lead to something more.
Besides, they couldn’t stay in this awkward tension for the rest of time. Something needed to be done so they could move forward.
“…Okay,” Blocky said, before he could even stop himself from agreeing. A subconscious urge was pushing him towards trying this. He wanted to see. Blocky wanted to make sure that he knew exactly what he was feeling.
Taco nodded her head as the two stood there in that deafening silence. A buzzing sound could be heard as the two just awkwardly stood around each other. They both knew they should make a move but both were hoping the other one would begin.
The pair spent a moment simply admiring each other internally. They wanted to do something, for something to happen but neither of them could muster up the courage to make the first move.
“So, uhh, do you want me to…?” Blocky hesitatingly questioned, rolling on his heels as he gulped.
“Oh, right, uhh, you think we should get back into position?” Taco suggested.
Blocky nodded in agreement and Taco walked back to lean against a wall, just as she had done before. Flashes of that moment played in Blocky’s mind as he walked towards her. Each step felt like cement was glued to his feet until he eventually reached her.
He put his hands against the wall, pinning Taco, just like he had done before. The room felt like it was charged with even more tension than it had been during the encounter in the closet.
This moment would decide it all, their relationship and how it would develop. Blocky’s nerves were starting to get to him as his arms noticeably shook, threatening to make him lose his grip.
Just one kiss. It would be easy. Just press their lips against the other’s and see what they felt. Blocky’s breath hitched as Taco’s did as well, mingling together in some sort of sense of anticipation.
“Just do it. Just do it. You got this. You got this.” Blocky reminded himself, urging his body to just do it and get it over with already. Goddamnit, why was this so hard?
Taco was feeling the same amount of anxiety that Blocky was. Her heart couldn’t stop beating harshly, as if someone was smacking a drum as hard as they could.
She was scared but she knew she had to. Living in uncertainty wasn’t going to do anything for either of them.
Blocky began to lean in closer to her, albeit very slowly and still trying to encourage himself to do so. Fuck, this was so much easier before in the closet. Back then, he wasn’t even thinking about anything but now his mind was all over the place.
Taco waited as Blocky kept closing into her, her lips trembling with anticipation and anxiety. Her legs bucked, feeling as if they were about to give out.
Closer and closer, only inches away from sharing this intimate moment. Silently waiting for the moment that would decide what was to become of them. They had to do this.
Blocky kissed Taco. With one gentle moment, Blocky’s lips met Taco’s with a sweet embrace. And… he felt nothing. No intense feeling of affection washed over him as he kissed her.
For about two seconds. And then, almost immediately he was met with a rush of emotions as he kissed her more ravenously. Hungry. Blocky wanted more affection, he didn’t want this moment to end.
He pulled away only to immediately kiss her again. His body was overrun with a comforting sense of warmth as he kissed her again and again, to which Taco happily reciprocated. Any regrets were quickly forgotten about as the pair had now found themselves making out.
One kiss quickly turned into two, which turned into three, and so on and so on. They couldn’t pull away from the magnetic grip that seemed to hold them together. They couldn’t stop themselves from the strong lust they were feeling.
A sense of shared bliss. A long-standing desire now being fulfilled. Blocky and Taco both felt loved.
Once they pulled away, their breaths mingled into one another’s as they rested their foreheads against their partner. Taco hadn’t even realized her arms were wrapped around Blocky, as his arms were snaked around her body.
Taco couldn’t stop herself from smiling, “So… uh, I guess we have a lot of chemistry, huh?”
Blocky felt a smile tugging at his lips as well, “Yeah, uhh… We should have done that ages ago.”
It was strange, seeing that someone who he used to hate and see as an annoyance now seemed like the most charming person he’d ever met. In a way, Blocky was actually thankful he was dragged to this party, as without it, he wouldn’t be here at this moment.
Taco laughed again, holding him tightly, “Agreed. So, uh, since we now know that we really like each other, does this mean we’re now… a thing?”
“Well, no shit.” Blocky scoffed, playfully rolling his eyes. He would have to be crazy if he said he didn’t want to date Taco. And as far as he was aware, he hadn’t lost his mind yet.
“Language.” Taco scolded.
Blocky laughed and rolled his eyes, giving her a playful annoyed looked, “Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Shit. Asshole. Asshole. You gonna arrest me for that?”
She shoved him lightly so she could move around, “Oh, piss off. Don’t be a jerk.”
Blocky could feel his teasing nature start to return as he smirked. It was like he was finally getting back to the swing of things and couldn’t wait to poke some fun at Taco.
“Well, that’s a pretty rude thing to say to your new boyfriend, Taco~!” Blocky grinned, “Probably wanna be nicer if you want me to stick around.”
Taco could see what Blocky was doing and she loved it. Finally, with their mutual feelings now out in the open, they could go back to how things were like before but with a twist.
Instead of making fun of each other to showcase their perceived superiority, they could do it as a way of showing affection for each other. And Taco had a lot of affection to show.
“Sure… if you stop pretending to be this cocky hotshot when we all know you’re just a love-struck little boy inside. I mean, did you see the way you stumbled around me back then? Pen had to push you to get you to talk to me!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, is this coming from the same person who just admitted to pretending to be drunk so she could have some alone time with me? You’re so into me that it’s almost pathetic how much you want my attention.” Blocky smirked, “Guess I was right all along, you’re so in love with me.”
Taco huffed, “Not in love. Sure, I like you and stuff but I’m not in love with you. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“Not yet. I’m sure it won’t take too long until you’re down on your knees, begging for me to stay with you.”
“Is that what you think love is? Explains why you’re so messed up,” Taco stated, “Also, cool it with the ego. Your head might actually get bigger and explode… Not that it would be a bad thing.”
Blocky gasped and pretended to be offended, “Well, that’s so rude of you to say. You’re saying that you would be okay if I died? I don’t know how my girlfriend could say something like that. Maybe we should just break up.”
Taco groaned as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, “Okay, fine. I’m sorry for hurting your nonexistent feelings… and ruining our chances to have the world’s fastest breakup.”
Blocky giggled and so did Taco. The pair smiled at each other as Blocky leaned in and kissed Taco’s forehead, holding her close to him. She snuggled him tightly as Blocky spoke.
“So, you ready to head back out?”
Taco smiled as she held Blocky’s hand, feeling him shiver in delight. Her head rested on his body as they gazed lovingly at each other. The newfound couple looked at each other once more before walking through the door and back out to the party.
What a strange night it was. They went from hating each other to discovering they had mutual feelings and now dating. A relationship that wasn’t perfect but they would figure it out.
Together.