Lei's world seemed to go into slow motion for the seconds that followed her impromptu confession.

For one thing, her heart was hammering in her chest out of pure nervousness at what she just did. She could also feel the pulse of Otabek's wrist, where she was still holding on when she turned him towards her. Despite doing her best to keep a calm demeanor, even smiling by the end of her confession, a million thoughts were running in her head. A lot of which involved how cute Otabek looked when his face turned red and how he had to cover his mouth with his free hand. A few were dwelling on the thought that she might get rejected- but things went well enough that night that that outcome was close to impossible.

Otabek continued to just stare at her.

"Well, don't leave me hanging," Lei joked, finally releasing Otabek's wrist, the thumping of his heart still echoing in her ears. The nervousness in her was building up by the second.

It felt like forever before Otabek brought his hand down from his mouth. Lei watched Otabek's lips quirk up into a smile, before turning into a full-blown grin, those wide eyes of his crinkling as he laughed and met Lei's gaze.

"As if you don't know I like you," Otabek finally said, softly, but still loud enough for Lei to hear. He  immediately looked down afterwards, blush still in place, and the sight made Lei's heart skip a beat.

Lei may have let out a shout of a joy, and she also may have done a little fistpump of victory, but at that point she wasn't sure what she was doing. There was only one thing repeating in her mind, and that was that Otabek liked her back. She stopped whatever it is she was doing and turned her attention back to Otabek. The latter had that sparkle in his eyes as he stared back, a smile playing on his lips that showed a sense of amusement on his features. Lei realized she may have acted like a dork just then but then figured she didn't care.

This was the guy who called at 1AM and accidentally said I love you. They were at least equal now on the embarrassment scale.

Speaking of.

"Does this mean we're together now? Officially?" Lei asked innocently, because isn't that the way confessions usually worked?

However, Otabek smiled teasingly, "well, you didn't exactly ask me to be your boyfriend. You're gonna have to court me first. I've only known you for two days."

As he spoke, he inched closer and closer to Lei, leaving just a little bit of space between them. She grinned right back up at Otabek, nodding her head excitedly, enjoying the sudden closeness.

"Sure, I can live with that," Lei replied. "As long as we end up together."

Otabek laughed and it sounded as sweet as always to Lei. He finally stepped back.

"I have to go now," Otabek said, walking backwards slowly. "I'll see you around?"

"I'll text you for sure," Lei assured him, tempted again to reach out and grab Otabek, but knew that she had to let the night end.

Otabek flashed her one last smile before turning to walk away.

"Hey Otabek!"

He turned around, "what, Lei?"

"You've stolen a pizza my heart," Lei shouted after him, grinning when Otabek laughed again, which was exactly the reaction she was going for.

"Phichit already used that pun. Try again next time!"

And like that, Otabek was out of earshot. Lei's smile remained in place the whole time she watched the figure walk away, turning a corner and then disappearing from her sight. Lei may have stood at the same spot for a few seconds before she realized, and headed back to the direction they came from.

Everybody was waiting for her by the time she got back to Grand Prix Pizza.

Yuuri had finally arrived, and looked smug as ever the moment Lei entered the place. Shupp and Risu were still around, and they were all around the counter. It was getting late, and the last few customers the store had were beginning to leave, which meant they had some time to themselves since the possibility of customers coming in after 10PM was rare- deliveries were more of a thing.

"About time you returned!" Yuri exclaimed first, dragging Lei over to sit at the counter, where she was soon surrounded by the others.

"What happened?" Nour asked excitedly.

Lei giggled at the sight of her friends all looking so eager. Even Shupp looked amused by the situation.

"Ah, right," Lei started, focusing his attention on Shupp, and then Risu. She raised an eyebrow at them both, "really, guys? Pretending to be a waitress, and then suddenly showing up? Was that necessary?"

Risu nodded and grinned, answering for the both of them, "definitely! Now quit stalling and tell us what happened, you were gone for a while and I know the university dorms can't be that far from here."

Lei sighed in defeat under the intense stares her friends gave her. She took a deep breath and then gave a shorter version of what happened: that they held hands as they walked, that Otabek asked to be dropped off at the intersection, and finally, that she confessed and how Otabek mentioned liking her back. She also filled them in about how they're technically not together yet, which left Risu and Nour bewildered and Yuri pouting. Shupp on the other hand, nodded approvingly, clapping a hand on Lei's shoulder.

"Congrats for not messing up," Shupp said with a small smirk.

"Thanks," Lei replied sarcastically, but had to smile.

Nour was still shaking her head in disbelief, "the way you confessed was so cheesy, I still can't comprehend. Plus that last line, gross."

"If it worked then it worked," Yuuri piped up after a moment of silence. "Can you teach me some of those moves, Lei?"

Lei laughed at first- but soon realized that Yuuri, for once, looked absolutely serious.

"Is this regarding Viktor?"

The other boy nodded solemnly.

"Well," Lei grinned, turning to look at the others. "I guess we can help."