Wait, hold on a minute. Skye Long likes me??? Skye Long wants to date me???? Am I even awake?????

I thought this was just a simple meeting to make amends. Never in my life I was expecting a confession from my ex-bully turned friend, especially not Skye Long. I thought I was already getting ahead of myself for thinking this was a date. As it turned out, my gut instincts were right, and this was indeed a potential date. 

Skye must have seen my shocked face and realised that they dropped yet another bombshell on me. 

“Lee, you don’t have to say yes. I am the one with feelings towards you. I just wanted to make sure that I got this across. Even if you’re not interested in me, I still want to be your friend again. Nothing changes if you say no.”

Nothing changes if I say no. Surely that was wishful thinking on their side. However, as I looked at Skye again, they didn’t seem to be joking. They must be taking this seriously and really wanted my friendship more than a romantic relationship with them. I was also curious as to the reason why they wanted to date me, so instead of giving them an answer directly, I asked this.

“Skye, I must admit that I’m very surprised by this confession. Can I ask why you like me?”

Skye’s face changed from being serious to a more embarrassed look. I could tell that they were shy in telling me the reason, but at the same time, it was probably now or never for them, so it was better for them to just tell me.

“I like you, Lee, because you are you. I can’t really explain why, but every time I see your face, my heart just flutters. If I have to go into specifics, I like you because of how you treat everyone with kindness. You are always helpful towards people, and you always wear that smile on your face. I know I’m the person who ruined that smile, but I can’t help but feel attracted to you. I promise if we do date, I will never hurt you again, because I want to see that smile on your face every time I see you.”

If I wasn’t blushing after that confession earlier, I sure was blushing by this revelation of a reason. However, I still wasn’t sure if I liked Skye romantically. I may be blushing because of all the nice words they said, but I didn’t feel anything different towards them. Perhaps I needed more time to process this confession and give them an answer at a later time. Yeah, I think I would be doing that instead, while also explaining my labels.

“Thank you, Skye, for all the kind words. Truthfully, I’m not sure if I have any romantic feelings for you as of now. You see, I’m in the aroace spectrum, where I don’t feel romantic or sexual attraction towards most people. Specifically, I’m only attracted to a person after a strong emotional bond, so I’m both demiromantic and demisexual. Before you say anything else, I also identify as pan though, so the gender of my partner is irrelevant to me. You being genderfluid isn’t the issue here, I just need some time to think about this, and I’ll give you an answer within the next few days.”

Skye seemed to not be too disappointed by what I had to say. I figured they would understand since I knew they were also pan, based on their previous relationships in school. 

“I understand, let me know when you have an answer. Just know that I do mean it by saying nothing changes if we don’t date. I still want to be a good friend for you, and whatever you say doesn’t change that fact.”

I thanked them for that, and soon after we left the café with our drinks as we had nothing else to say. Before we parted ways though, I felt the need to give them another hug, so I did. They were startled at first, but soon leaned in and returned the hug. I also wanted them to know something before we meet again. 

“Skye, I really enjoyed today’s meeting. I promise I will give you an answer sooner than later. I’ll text you when I have the answer, and if you want, we can meet up at this café again. I figure you prefer a face-to-face answer, right?”

Skye looked at me and immediately nodded. 

“Yes, it would be nice to get an answer from you directly in person. I’ll be waiting for your answer when you’re ready.”

After we parted ways, I went back home and instead of watching a movie on Netflix like I intended to do after the meeting, I took my notebook and started listing the pros and cons of dating Skye. I had zero experiences in dating at that time, and I wasn’t even sure if I liked them romantically, so I wanted to make a list. I thought of reaching out to Jess, my best friend, but she was busy with a weekend date with her boyfriend, so I didn’t want to be the third wheel. 

The biggest question remained though: Do I like Skye Long romantically, or rather, do I want to date Skye Long?