Ever since I started working my job as a waitress at my local Japanese restaurant, I've had a crush on this guy. His name is Mike, he's a twin and he's two years older than me, making him 21. He's super tall, probably 6'2, and such a sweet human being. Not only is Mike one of the sweetest guys I've ever met, he's also incredibly handsome. Not that looks should matter, but it's a bonus. 

Honestly, my crush on him developed two months into working here. The reason for that is because I hadn't really talked to him before that. When he and I both got more comfortable, we started talking. It started off with just jokes and laughs, but we actually started texting after that. We never hung out outside of work, because neither of us had time, but we did FaceTime every so often. We acted the same way in real life as we did on FaceTime or while texting. He was the same funny guy, the same sweet guy, everything. 

Neither of us ever dared to confess. Well, I didn't dare to confess. I don't know how he feels about me, at least not entirey. I am almost a 100% sure he's not a boy, because I have seen him outside of work, but he only hangs out with his mates. I never see girls and his behaviour isn't like that. He's super respectful and well-mannered. My boss and I have a close relationship, and even he tells me Mike is respectful. You can't fake respect for that long. I've been working at this restaurant for 1,5 years now and if he was faking it, he would occasionally slip. But he doesn't. He never does.

Anyways, back to the present now. I was walking home from a long day at work. It was around 11PM and I usually hate coming home around this time. I don't like the path I have to walk, because there are a lot of people hanging around the area. I don't like walking past group of guys, because it makes me uncomfortable. I don't like men on the streets that talk to themselves, because I immediately assume they're not in their right mind which makes the chance of them harrassing me even bigger. I just don't like roaming the streets by myself at night. It's not safe for me and I know that too. I usually avoid walking by myself, but sometimes I don't really have a choice. 

I was walking as fast as I could, but in a manner that seemed like I wasn't scared. I don't know how to explain it, but I was speedwalking at a speed that wouldn't make it obvious that I was scared. I usually call up my best friend to comfort me and keep me company on the phone, but I knew she was sleeping, because she has to be at work early tomorrow. 

There was a moment when I felt like someone was walking behind me. It seemed like the person was keeping up with my pace, because he didn't come closer and it didn't seem like he got further away. This creeped me out, so I walked slightly faster than before. However, I'm a 5'3 girl and I can't walk THAT fast. I can try, but it would most likely end up bad. 

I started to feel more and more uncomfortable, so I took out my phone and started messaging my mom. She's usually not asleep at this time, so it was okay for me to text her. 

Aurora: Mom! I'll be home in 5 minutes. Wait for me!!

I hit send and scrolled through my instagram feed. I needed something to distract me from being scared. 

Suddenly, the footsteps behind me sped up. I don't know if he was walking past me, going to the left, or the right, but I knew that he was speeding up, so I was speeding up too. It must have looked crazy. After a little bit, the footsteps slowly faded. I only had two more blocks to go, so I was almost there. I continued scrolling through Instagram, while keeping my ears open. 

"BOO!"

I jumped up and my reflexes just swung. My right arm punched the dude in his stomach. 

I opened my eyes and when I saw who it was, I felt so bad. 

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Why the hell would you scare me like that?" I yelled. The guy in front of me was crouched over, holding his stomach. I knelt in front of him and apologized again and again, hoping to console him.

"I didn't know you would react like that...." He said, still holding his stomach. 

"I'm sorry... let me help you up, stupid," I said. I helped him up and rubbed his stomach. He pouted and looked at me with the cutest expression ever. I felt bad at first, but his face just made me want to punch him again.

"Can I get a hug as an apology?" He said. 

"Stupid..." I mumbled, while hugging him. He chuckled and pulled away from the hug. 

"I heard that," he said, laughing. I shrugged and continued walking towards my house. He followed and we continued our conversation like that. I felt safer now.

"How was work? Must've been a long day, since you finished so late," he said. I nodded and sighed at the same time, showing my exhaustion. Working at a restaurant is so tiring, people don't even understand. You're walking so much every time, you have to deal with ty customers and you have to smile even when you don't feel like it.

"It wasn't great," I said, "No fun people during my shift, so I didn't have anyone to talk to either." I pouted.

"I'm sorry, Danny cancelled my shift, so I couldn't come even if I wanted to. I work tomorrow, though, so you'll have company again," he said, smiling the brightest smile. 

I chuckled, "As if that's any better," I joked. Of course it would make it better. Working with Mike doesn't feel like working. We always manage to talk and joke around without it affecting our work or that of others. As I've mentioned before, Mike is super respectful, so he wouldn't dare disobeying the boss or doing things that aren't allowed. Even when we're joking around, we know when to stop and when to keep it down. 

"Liar, you love working with me," Mike said, ruffling my head. I rolled my eyes and smiled. I honestly do love working with him. There's a small group of people that make my shift better when I work with them, and Mike is one of them. His twin, who's also one of my colleagus, is really funny and nice too. Working with the two of them is double the trouble, but also so much fun.

"I do, but whatever. What are you doing in my neighbourhood, anyway? Your house is like 30 minutes away," I said, questioning him. It's already creepy enough that he was walking behind me for a good 5 minutes, but why is he even in my neighbourhood. He doesn't usually hang out here. He usually hangs out in his own neighbourhood with his whole group of friends (consisting of 5-10 guys).

Mike shrugged, "I missed you and I knew you were finishing your shift soon, so I just waited. My friends are somewhere too, but I told them I was going to hang out with you and they were totally fine with it."

"Are you going to hang out with me, though? I'm on my way home," I said, looking up at the 6'2 guy. He swung his arm around my shoulder and gave me a kiss on my head. "If you wanna go home, I'll walk you home, and if you wanna hang out, I'll still walk you home so you can freshen up," he simply stated.

I thought about it for a second. Although I really like Mike, I also really like my bed and the warmth of my blankets. I also really like taking a shower after work and I also love sleeping. However, I missed Mike after not seeing him for a few days. "I can hang out with you, it's just cold. Can we hang out indoors?" I asked.

"Sure, we can either go to my place or we can ask my friends what they're gonna do and follow them around," Mike said, "But I'd rather have you for myself. I do have to get my scooter, though, so let's get it and we'll see from there. It's a Friday night, so there has to be something fun."

I agreed, so we made a left turn and looked for his scooter, most likely near where his friends were. I know all of his friends, so it's not awkward for me. They're all really nice too, so if his scooter happens to be where they are, it's not a big deal.

"Give me your hand?" Mike stated. I chuckled and gave him my hand. Our fingers intertwined and we walked like that to get his scooter. From afar, I could see his friends. There were 5 guys, all whom I've met before. When we approached them, they looked up and greeted me with smiles. Some of them looked down at our hands and started making teasing noises. Mike told them to shut up, so they did, funny enough.

"Where are you guys going?" One of his friends asked.

"Not sure, we were just going to look around and see if there's anything interesting going on in town, why?" Mike asked his friend.

His friend looked at the other guys, "Mind if we join you? We don't wanna be party poopers to your date, but we honestly don't have anything else to do. If you guys don't want us to tag along, that's okay too. We'll find something else," he said.

"I honestly don't mind," I told them. 

"Well, if Aurora doesn't mind, I don't mind either. Any of you guys know if there's a party?" Mike asked. 

Another guy spoke up, "Yeah, you know the old warehouse near uni? There's a party going on there. Heard it was pretty lit." They came to a collective agreement to go there. 

"How about we go home and freshen up before meeting up again?" Mike suggested. They all agreed and one by one drove off to get ready. "I'll give you a ride home so you can shower and change too," Mike said, "I don't have to shower or change, so I'll just wait for you." 

"You sure?" 

"Yeah, I showered at home and my clothes came freshly out of the dryer," he grinned. He then drove me home on his scooter. My mom knows him, so it's not a problem if he comes in. My mom also knows I have a crush on him, so she's not going to ask why he would be there.

I unlocked the front door and looked back at Mike, who was still standing behind his scooter. "Stupid, you can come in," I said. He took the keys out of his scooter and entered the house. 

"I didn't know."

I smiled at his politeness. We took off our shoes, hung up our coats and made our way upstairs. I told Mike to stay in my room while I took a shower, so that's what he did. While I was undressing in the bathroom, I heard footsteps, followed by; "Hey miss Lee." 

"Mike, you know you can address me by my first name, right? I thought we were past that," Mom said, followed by a chuckle. This is what I meant by the fact that Mike is super polite and respectful. He's met my Mom multiple times and my Mom has told him multiple times that he doesn't have to call her miss. Still, he never fails to call her miss. It's kinda cute, to be honest. 

After eavesdropping, I took a quick shower. I didn't bring my clothes into the bathroom, because I hadn't picked them out yet, so I wrapped a bathrobe around me. When I entered my bedroom, Mike was on his phone, probably scrolling through instragram.

"Sorry.. I didn't bring any clothes," I said. Mike looked up, and in a matter of seconds he changed from wide-eyed to not fazed. He continued scrolling through whatever he was scrolling through, while I went into my closet to pick out something to wear. Because it's almost winter, meaning it's pretty cold, I went for some Mom jeans and a cute top. It was a red top with spaghetti straps and an open back, which was then tucked into my jeans. Underneath the top, I was wearing a bralette. To change into the earlier mentioned clothes, I went back to the bathroom. When I came back, Mike was still lying on my bed. 

"Does this look okay?" I asked him.

"You're as beautiful as you were when you had a full face of make up on," he commented, making my heart melt. I sat down next to him, with my feet off the bed, so I could blowdry my hair. Meanwhile, he was still lying on the bed. While I was blowdrying my hair, Mike was lying behind me, tracing his fingers along my back. Once I finished blowdrying my hair, I grabbed a small mirror and started doing my make up. I did my brows, put on some eyeliner, mascara, highlighter and lipbalm. All this time, Mike was lying behind me with his head by my side, just staring at me. 

"I'm done," I said, looking down at him. 

"As beautiful as ever," he said. 

"Thank you," I smiled. Suddenly, Mike sat up and faced me. 

"Okay, now that you're done and we have some spare time, I have a really really important question for you," he said, "Are you ready?" 

"I guess so, yeah." 

Mike took a hold of my hand and looked me in the eyes. He sighed, "Do you want to eat something?"

I rolled my eyes, took my hands back and laughed, "Don't be stupid, your friends are waiting for us, let's gooooo~"

Just when I wanted to stand up, Mike reached out and held my hand again, "I was joking. Now sit down and let me continue," he laughed. I complied and sat in front of him again. He held my hands and looked me deeply in the eyes, "I just felt like it was time to address the elephant in the room.. I know this thing we've been having has been going on for a while now, over a year actually. I've liked you almost the moment I saw you and once I started talking to you my feelings were confirmed. I love talking to you, I love spending time with you and I love laughing with you. I hope you share the same feelings. Anyways, what I really wanted to ask is if you wanted to be my girlfriend. I don't know why I postponed this for so long, but I feel like now is the right time. I feel like we're on the same wavelength now. We're both at good places; You're loving yourself more than ever and I am so secure about myself at this point. I don't think I can go any longer without telling you this. It's been bottled up inside of me for over a year now. I just really like you and I hope you feel the same way." 

"Took you long enough. No I'm kidding, I wasn't even expecting this to happen. In the past year, I've been mainly focusing on becoming comfortable in my own skin. I know I'm not anywhere near perfect, but who is nowadays? It's in the fact that you can accept your flaws and still love yourself. I've always been a strong believer of the quote 'You can't love anyone else until you learn to love yourself" and I still stand by it. Had we gotten into a relationship a year ago, a lot of fights would've broken out just because of insecurities. Now that I'm so comfortable in my own skin, I can honestly say that I'm ready. I really love spending time with you and talking to you and I guess I got so used to it that I forgot we could go any further. But, yes, I would love to be your girlfriend." Mike and I both smiled at each other and leaned in for a kiss at the same time. We've been keeping this so PG that we haven't even kissed before. Mike has been super respectful the whole way through, so I guess he didn't want to push me into doing anything I wasn't ready for. Maybe he wanted to be sure of the fact that I liked him too. I don't know. 

"I'm so happy," Mike smiled, "I've been wanting to do this for a while now, but I haven't felt like it was the right time, until just now. I like you too much and seeing you being so happy with yourself pushed me even more. I don't think I can go on longer without confessing my feelings to you. Even if we ever fight, it's gonna be okay and we're gonna solve our problems like two adults. Promise me to communicate everything, okay?"

I nodded and leaned in for another kiss. We spent another 30 minutes cuddling and not doing anything else but being one of those couples you would usually roll your eyes at. When we received a call from Mike's twin brother, Twain, we decided it was time for us to leave. I got up, put on my shoes and grabbed a thick coat. Meanwhile, Mike had done that already and was sitting on the floor looking at me. Once I finished, I stood up and looked at him. "What?"

He shrugged and got up, "Nothing, just looking at you," he said, "Ready to go out?" I nodded and we headed for the front door. We headed to the meeting point on the scooter and it took about 5 minutes. From afar, I could see his friends, standing there and smoking. When we neared them, they greeted us with smiles. Mike and I didn't get off the scooter, instead we waited for everyone else to get theirs so we could head over to the warehouse together. 

The ride to the warehouse took about 20 minutes. As mentioned before, the warehouse was next to our uni, so everyone was familiar with it. It used to be the place we all went to on Friday nights, because it was 'Student Night', which meant a 50% discount on entrance and drinks. However, they stopped doing that, because it often led to drunk students puking in the surrounding neighbourhoods. No neighbourhood would be happy with that, so I understand why they put an end to it. 

The moment we approached the warehouse, we could hear music blaring. Their was a long line in front of it and so many scooters parked all over the place. The warehouse was surrounded by a parking lot where you could park your car/scooter/bike. We looked around for a safe place to park our scooters, because it just might not be that safe everywhere. Once we found a good spot, the guys locked their scooters and we headed for the line. I overheard some guys at the front of the line, which we had to pass to get to the back of the line, and they were talking about how they had been standing in line for about 30 minutes. Thirty minutes doesn't sound like a lot, honestly, but when you're standing in the cold for 30 minutes, it usually feels like forever. 

*15 minutes later*

"ID please," the security guard said. I showed him my ID, he glanced over it and let me through. After that, I waited for Mike to get in as well, before moving forward. The rest of his friends went in before us, so they were probably putting their stuff away in the lockers. 

"Let's get a locker," Mike said, grabbing my hand and leading us to the lockers. Still, there were so many people, despite the fact that we were one of the last people to get in.

After putting away our stuff, we looked for everyone else and headed to the bar. Instead of taking it easy at first, we started off with shots immediately. I wasn't specifically planning to get drunk, but if it happens, it happens. The only worry I had was the fact that these guys had to drive back home. I don't want any of them driving with alcohol in their system. However, I don't feel like I have the right to tell them what to do and what not. Plus, I just know these guys as Mike's friends. Not MY friends. 

Once we each had 2 shots, everyone decided it was time to join the dance floor. I'm a bit of a light weight, so 2 shots had me tipsy already. Especially when I take 'em back to back.

The music they were playing was the kind of music girls would usually shake their asses off to. Me, being a lover of music and dancing, couldn't resist doing so. 

Suddenly, I was stopped by someone. I turned around and saw Mike standing there, trying to stop me from getting down. I gave him a confused look and he came closer to whisper something.

"Other guys are looking," he said. In my head I thought "So what?" but I decided not to argue and follow him, as he was pulling me somewhere. He was walking towards the smoking area, which is on the terrace outside. Once we sat down, Mike lit up a cigarette. He didn't look angry, nor annoyed. He just looked neutral. 

"What's up?" I asked, still looking at him. 

"Nothing, it was just getting really hot inside," he said. I grabbed the pack of cigarettes next to him and lit one up for myself. Mike looked at me for a second and frowned. 

"What?"

"You don't smoke," he said. 

"Only when I go out," I answered. He chuckled and shook his head, "Don't make it a habit."

"You're one to talk," I said. 

"I know, but it's not good for your health. I don't want smoking affecting your health," he said. I rested my head on his shoulder. 

"I won't make it a habit, don't worry," I said. Mike gave me a kiss on top of my head, "Wanna go back inside?" I nodded and followed him inside, hands intertwined. Once inside, we went to the bar and coincidentally bumped into his friends. We decided to take some shots and go dancing, again. 

This time, I was just having a lot of fun with everyone. We were standing in a circle, taking up so much space but we didn't care. Some of his friends were jumping, others were grinding against girls they had just met, while Mike and I were in our own world. We were dancing against each other, hugging each other and everything else you could say the word "ew" to. We didn't care, though. 

The night continued with a lot of drinking, dancing and smiling. Eventually, we left around 4am. Everyone was tired and if we stayed any longer, one of us would end up puking all over the place. We were pretty far gone. I don't think anyone was sober. 

Because we were pretty drunk, we didn't want to take the scooters. We were still responsible despite all the alcohol in our system. Instead of going home, we all walked a few blocks to get to the student hotel. I've been to the student hotel before, a few times even. Back in the day, when I used to drink every weekend, my friends and I would go to this hotel to spend the night. Going home isn't really an option when your parents are there. 

"Can we have 4 rooms?" Twain (Mike's twin brother) asked the reception. The woman did something on her computer, then handed us four keys. It was gonna be Mike and I, Twain and Blake, Trevor and Jake, and Chris & Isaac & Liam. We were all on the same floor, so we pushed ourselves into the elevator, up to the 6th floor. I handed out all the keys and we proceeded to our own rooms. I was slowly starting to sober up, because of that long walk. I made sure the other guys got in their rooms safely before Mike and I went into ours. Mike was still drunk as , so I led him to the bed. He kicked off his shoes, took off his shirt and his jeans and pulled the sheets up to cover himself. I smiled and carefully took off my shoes. I tied my hair up in a bun and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Once I did that, I brushed my teeth. At that moment, I was so thankful that hotels provide free toothbrushes. 

I removed my make up with water and a towel, washed my face and put on the lotion I coincidentally had in my bag. 

Once done, I took my jeans off and jumped in bed. I left my shirt on, because I'm not about to sleep in just some underwear and a bralette. First of all, I'm not THAT comfortable with Mike yet; and second, I get cold easily so it wasn't an option.

I pulled up the sheets so it was covering both Mike and I. I then turned around and fell asleep with my face facing the opposite way.