Part of me had expected this, she had teased the boyfriend role in past. But now, it didn't seem like a joke.

"Are you asking what I think you're asking?"

I finally responded, wanting to be sure that I was understanding her request.

She blushed, but didn't look away.

"Will you go out with me?"

Now it was my turn to blush, I wasn't sure who was more red.

"Are you… sure you want to go out with me? Like Kyoko said, there's better guys out there. Plus, it's me we're talking about."

She shook her head.

"If it was anyone else but you, I wouldn't be asking. Besides, that was Kyoko before you guys melted the ice between you two. I don't think she sees you that way anymore."

She was probably right on the second part, but the first part of her response tripped me up that I had almost missed the rest of her answer.

"You're really sure?"

She nodded.

I looked down, in her eyes I'm sure she thought I was thinking things over. But I had already made my decision.

I reached over and held her hand, looking back up to her.

"Sakura."

I could hear her breathing stop for a moment, whether it was from saying her name or holding her hand I wasn't sure.

"I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but I'm smart enough to know a good thing when I see it."

I let go of her hand, and put my arms around her in a hug. I dropped my voice to a whisper, a moment like this deserved some level of respect.

"Yes, nothing would make me happier in my life other than you."

Sometimes in life, you come across some moments that seem almost too good to be true. You think to yourself:

"Do I deserve this? This moment of pure joy?"

I can't say whether we always deserve it or not, but I can tell you that when those moments come, cherish them.

There are a few things I'll never forget. The first book I read, how it felt to read the words of someone else, the wonder and excitement that it filled me with.

The first time I had made a friend.

And now, the first time I had fallen for someone.

The subject of my affection was still wrapped in my arms, neither of us wanting to let go of the other first. It was almost a contest, an unspoken agreement to see who would loosen their grip first. We may have stayed in that moment forever, had there not been a knock at the door.

Suddenly, we were both aware of reality once again. Both of us blushing, we let go and quickly stood up, I'm not sure who would have been more embarrassed had whoever was at the door decided to barge in instead of knocking.

Sakura stood up to answer the door, I stayed seated and hoped the evidence wouldn't be all over my face by the time she opened the door.

"I wasn't sure if you guys would be hungry, so I brought up some snacks."

I peeked up, catching a knowing but approving look on the face of Sakura's mother. Now that I was anchored back in reality, I realized I was feeling a bit hungry now.

"Thanks mom, though it is almost lunch time."

Sakura had grabbed the plate from her mom, looking back to me.

"Have you thought about what you want?"

Her mother covered her ears jokingly, which only caused Sakura to blush even more.

"I'll leave you two to it then."

She gave me a small wave, with that same knowing look, and left the two of us alone again.

Sakura stayed rooted where she was, still holding the plate her mom had brought up.

"I hope you're planning on sharing some of those."

That seemed to snap her back to reality. She placed it on the bed, sitting on the other side of the plate.

"Sorry, I guess this is taking some time to get used to."

She reached over, placing her hand on mine.

At the hospital, I never quite understood what Sakura meant by wanting to feel someone else's warmth. But now, with her hand on mine, I started to understand.

"I get it, you never do things properly."

Sakura looked at me, a slight flush on her cheeks.

"Are we still talking about lunch?"

She laughed, her fingers now intertwined with mine.

"Lunch, life, us. Take your pick."

I thought it over.

"Today seems like a sweet day, how about we go to Paradise?"

Her eyes lit up in excitement.

"You sure you don't want to go there just to see all the cute girls?"

A mischievous smile plastered on her face, with a matching twinkle in her eyes.

"Why would I want to do that when I can see the cutest girl right now?"

It was almost amusing to see how fast she went from that smug look to being embarrassed.

"And few months ago, you said that I was the third cutest in our class. You're not just saying that to keep holding my hand, are you?"

Her response held a mixture of curiosity and embarrassment.

"Hmmm... I might have changed my ranking after the recent events a little while ago"

I teased her a little, and she responded by doing the same.

"Then I should’ve just asked you out much before to hear these words coming out from you.”

The smile she gave me was different from all the rest. It was like I was seeing her for the first time, the Sakura that had always been teasing but never truly revealing herself. I was forever grateful for the chance I had been given, deciding to make the most of this new journey together.

I looked down to the plate that sat between us, still untouched.

"It would be a waste to not eat these."

Sakura nodded.

"I suppose you're right."

She picked up one of the forks on the plate, grabbing a piece of one of the cake slices. I had figured she was just taking it for herself, so imagine my surprise when she held the fork up towards me.

"Say ahh…"

She was blushing slightly more than before, though I'm sure now I was in the lead. I hesitated a bit at first.

“Really? Don’t tell me you added this in your list of things just now…”

“Yep!”

I giggled and opened my mouth enough for her to feed me the piece of cake.

"How was it?"

She covered the bottom half of her face with her hands, as though the embarrassment had caught up to her too.

"It was really good, I'll have to thank your mom before we leave for the cake."

A mock look of anger came across her face.

“Don’t you think you’re forgetting something?”

I quickly added.

"Fine, I get it! Your turn now. Don’t just pout like a 5 year old."

I reached down, grabbing the other fork and grabbing a piece of the cake with it. I held it up to her, her eyes widening for a moment before dropping her hands and smiling.

"You have to say the words, otherwise it doesn't count."

I sighed, rolling my eyes.

“No way… its too embarrassing.”

“Say it!”

"Okay. Say ahh…"

Blushing madly, she took the bite of cake.

"We really need to get used to this."

I was treated with another smile from her, a smile I'm sure she only showed to her family and now me.

We finished the cake slices, alternating between feeding each other and ourselves.

"Are you sure you want to go to Paradise? Too much sweets in one day isn't good for you, you know."

I was surprised, this coming from the girl who dragged me to all sorts of restaurants, talking about eating whatever she wanted when she wanted it.

"Well, I thought you'd like it. Is the cake we just had was the deciding factor? It wasn't that big."

She shook her head, smiling.

"No it wasn’t, but that wasn't the sweetness I was referring to you silly."

She reached over and held my hand, the sudden warmth making me realize I had missed this while we were eating.

"If that's the case, we might never end up going back to Paradise."

I could feel her grip tighten slightly, and I responded by doing the same.

"Even if we don't, this is already paradise enough for me."

I could feel some part of me inside melting when she said that, and I'm sure the same thing was happening to her.

Before either of us could say anything else, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out, seeing that I had a new message.

"Sorry, do you mind?"

She shook her head, moving the plate from between us so she could rest her head on my shoulder again.

I flipped open my phone, seeing it was a message from Sakuta.

"That sounds good, glad to hear you're doing okay."

I nudged Sakura, and she looked up to me. I was suddenly aware of how close together our faces were.

"So uhm… I had some people I wanted you to meet along with Sakuta."

"Oh! That sounds nice."

"Do you want to meet them?"

"Well, we certainly could."

Our faces grew ever closer to each other, our voices dropping to a mere whisper. This close to her, I could see the small changes of color in her eyes, and if I imagined it the shape of our exhales coming together in an endless dance.

"Should we stop?"

My voice barely audible, as I was lost in this perfect moment.

"O-Ok… what do you want?”

Her reply was soft as mine, as we gazed into what felt like each others’ soul.

"You, forever and always."

No words came back, only the feeling of her lips softly pressing against mine.

If what I had felt before was how heaven must be, then this was uncharted territory. I had no words for the feelings I felt in that moment, simply melting away as the kiss lingered. I felt a strange urge to cry, as though all the joy and ecstasy I felt from that kiss threatened to overwhelm me.

I thought that I had actually started to cry, as I felt a moisture on my cheek. But when the kiss ended, I could see that Sakura was the one crying. I started to worry.

Was I a bad kisser? Had I done something wrong?

She must have noticed, quickly wiping the tears away.

"That was perfect."

Her smile spoke all the words that she left unsaid.

"But you shouldn't keep your friend waiting for an answer."

I had completely forgotten the text, slowly dragging myself back to reality.

"Y-Yeah. What should I tell him?"

She thought it over, placing her head back on my shoulder. No matter how many times she did it, I never quite got used to how perfect that felt, like it was meant to be.

"I'm fine with whatever you decide."

In the past, I would have gotten annoyed by her leaving things up to me. But now, I cherished it. I quickly typed out a message, letting Sakuta know we were ready whenever he was. A few minutes later, his reply came back.

"Come by around 4, everyone is excited."

Everyone?

I suppose he must have relayed the news to Rio and Mai. I showed Sakura the text, and she gave a subtle nod. I checked the time, seeing we had some time to kill until then. I was still hungry, and I wasn't sure what Sakuta and the others had planned.

"We should still go get something to eat, are you still hungry?"

Sakura nodded again, though not saying anything.

"You want me to pick, don't you?"

Again, another nod. I thought over what places we would pass by along the way, then remembering the place I had visited with Rio and Sakuta.

"I'm ready when you are Sakura."

Her hand felt slightly warmer when I said her name, though maybe it was just my imagination. I started to stand up, though Sakura didn't move.

"Is something wrong?"

She shook her head.

"I just really enjoyed sitting here with you, I wasn't ready to stop just yet."

I smiled, standing up from the bed. Sakura looked at me, almost disappointed. But I got on one knee in front of her, taking her hands in mine.

"This is a little fast, don't you think?"

We were both equally embarrassed when she said that, though mine came from not realizing how it would look to her.

"You sure do say some dumb things from time to time."

She gave me a mock look of outrage, but only for a few moments before she started laughing. I gave her time to finish, needing the time to recollect myself.

"I really enjoy sitting here like this too. I wish I could stay here in this moment forever."

I could see tears forming in her eyes again, and I started to feel some regret.

"You really mean that?"

I nodded, not taking my eyes off of her.

"I really do."

Sakura stood up, pulling me up from my kneeling position into a hug.

"That means the world to me."

Her voice, soft and quiet once again, melted yet another part of me. No matter how many times she asked me, my answer would always be the same.

After an eternity of bliss, our hug ended. Grabbing the plate, I started to head towards the door. I turned to see Sakura placing The Little Prince back onto her shelf, so I waited for her. Flashing me another one of her heartwarming smiles, she grabbed my hand and we headed downstairs.

Her mom was in the kitchen when we made our way downstairs. She didn't say anything when she saw the two of us holding hands, simply smiling.

She reached out for the plate in my hand, and I quickly handed it over.

"The cake was very good, thank you."

She gave me a smile similar to the one Sakura gave me, as though she was giving her appreciation for my words as well as her approval of us at the same time.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, please come back again soon. As I mentioned, you're always welcome here."

Setting the plate down, she turned back to us.

"So you two are going to eat now?"

Sakura nodded for the two of us.

"I'll be back later, we're going to meet some friends of his after we eat."

Her mother simply raised an eyebrow but smiled.

"Be safe, and have fun."

I managed to sheepishly say a farewell, as Sakura went over and gave her mom a hug before returning to me. We waved goodbye to her mom and headed outside, hand in hand.