In the street, you luckily avoided bumping into someone, almost got hit by a tall man’s elbow, passed right under the folded umbrella of an old woman, and kept on running away as quickly as you could.

“Wait!”

Why the was he following you? You took a peek behind you, and saw him run in your direction. You accelerated. And so did he. He was taller than you and faster, too. He caught up with you in no time and grabbed your arm. “Wait, I said!”

“I’m not waiting!” you pouted, trying to let him go, not looking at him. “I’m doing what I can for you, so let me alone for now!”

He pulled you, hurting you a bit, but you forgot about the pain when you ended up in his arms as he was hugging you tightly. You grabbed his jacket, unable to resist him, and calmed down slowly while he was brushing a hand in your hair. “I know you’re doing everything you can for me. In four months, you helped me a lot.”

“Not enough… you’re still not fully smiling yet…”

“Because I’m not used to it anymore. I tried to smile earlier, today, but…”

“You looked cute,” you cut him. “You look so cute when you smile. And so handsome, and y, at the same time. And those clothes suit you so well. Today, you’re hot. Just hot. You’re always so nice to me, and you let me kiss you, and hug you, and everything, but I know it’ll be over when you’ll have forgotten about her.”

“Wait, will you let me finish?”

“…”

“I tried to smile earlier today, but I couldn’t do it correctly. I’ll do it someday, when I’ll get used to it again. But, you know, there are things I didn’t tell you, up to now, and I need to tell you these things.”

“…”

“So, let’s go and eat. I told them to watch my sunglasses, and that we’d be right back. Let’s eat, and we’ll take a walk after that. I’ll tell you everything.”

Well, you had managed to make him more talkative during these four months. That was at least one achievement. You sighed, and followed him to the restaurant. Sitting in front of him, you let Henry write the order for the both of you, and didn’t move when his eyes caught yours.

“All right. Let’s talk.”

“Is there really anything to say?” you sighed.

“There is. As I said, I didn’t tell you everything. I’ll do it now.”

“Go ahead.”

“I love you.”

You stayed silent, staring at him, before you could finally utter a mediocre “eeeeeh?!” that made him have a shy smile. “Yeah… I would’ve liked to tell you before… but I was afraid you’d-”

“Waaaait. Just tell me stuff from the start. Chronological order.”

“Erm… okay. Well, let’s start from the day I met you. I started forgetting about her that day, when I saw you. You understood me, I felt it, so I knew you would help me, and I knew I would be able to forget her with your help. That I would be able to stop loving her.”

“In other words, you used me from the very beginning. Continue.”

“Eeeh, yeah. And then, on our first real meeting, when I cried in your arms, that helped me forget too. I needed someone’s support and love, and you gave it to me since the first time we spoke together. That time, I really felt that I’d be able to stop loving her for real, and not just try to, because you understood me like she did, helping me forget her. When you kissed me on the cheek, I was very happy, because it gave me new good memories to hold onto.”

“Okay…”

“And then, the more we saw each other, the more I fell for you, until I mostly forgot my love for her after a month of seeing you.”

“So you mean that-”

“That you could’ve left me after that one month. But then, I think you didn’t like me yet… so I pretended to still be hurt and needing, so you would stay with me.”

“But your voice… your voice was still sounding so sad when you were singing…”

“Because there was still a part of me that couldn’t let go of her. A tiny part, but a part anyway. I used this part of me to sing. I wanted you to stay with me. And you did.”

“You could’ve told me when I fell for you…”

“I wasn’t sure if you were… You were acting the same as before, just a bit less shy… The first time we kissed, I initiated the kiss, and only after that you started kissing me sometimes… so I thought that you were doing it just because you thought I wanted to… not because you also wanted to.”

“Okay, but what about-”

“Wait, let me finish. And so, I kept silent about that, and I didn’t tell you, afraid that you’d leave me. I didn’t want you to leave me… not after being abandoned once. Earlier, when you dressed in a special way because we were going on a date, I was very happy, because you erased the last part of me that couldn’t let go of my lost love. The part that hadn’t healed yet. And you told me I was handsome. That made me very happy too. And you told me that you like me. I was too happy to react. You ran away, so I snapped out of it and ran after you. And… and that’s it, I think.”

“What if I tell you I’ll leave you even if I love you, because I don’t like liars?”

“I’ll accept it, but it’ll make me extremely sad. I’ll cry a lot.”

“Haven’t you thought of that happening if you didn’t tell me the truth?”

“I did, but I thought you’d understand me, because you always did. And since we already act like we’re a couple, I thought being a real couple wouldn’t change from our usual meetings…”

You sighed and smiled. “You’re an idiot. But you thought well. I won’t leave you. I couldn’t. I love you too much for that…”

He smiled too. A real smile this time, though it still seemed a bit shy. “I love you too. A lot. Please don’t leave me.”

“As long as you don’t lie again.”

He took your hand, and pressed a soft kiss on it.

“Never again. Promise.”

“Don’t forget that.”

“You helped me forgetting my lost love. Unless you want me to forget, I will never forget this. Never ever. I love you.”

His voice resounded again before you could say anything, but this time, he was singing. A much happier song than everything else he had sung for you before.

“You dazzle like the sky, your face is sweet like lemonade

When you smile, you’re like an angel, ay yeah

Honestly confess to me, I like you, I’m attracted to you

You feel the same as me, yeah uh

One by one, I fill myself up with you

I smiled when I looked at your dazzling smile and I realized

I want to be everything in you and next to you

Because you already became my everything

Hey girl you’re my everything

I’mma give you everything, I shine on you

Hey girl you’re my everything

I’mma give you everything, I dream of you”