Afraid of love

After a while, Ben put the pen down and showed me what he had written.

He wrote about this day, how he'd been thinking about it and how exciting it was.

"Hey, you know this is my diary," I said, laughing.

"Yeah, but you were the one who said you didn't want to write in it," Ben pointed out.

"Alright... I'll write something too," I finally gave in and picked up the pen.

I wrote the first sentence... then another, and another. I thought it would be hard to just write down what I did today, but it was actually easier than I expected. I ended up writing around 300 words. When I looked up, Ben was just smiling at me.

"What's so funny?" I asked, looking at him.

"Nothing..." Ben said, hiding his smile.

I smiled back and kept writing. After a while, I'd finally gotten everything off my mind.

"You see? It's not that hard, you even wrote more than I did," Ben said encouragingly.

"Yeah, maybe I'll actually give this a try," I said, putting the diary back into my backpack.

"We still have some coins left. How about we go back to playing?" Ben suggested, picking up the arcade tokens.

"Alright, let's go!" I shouted.

We spent another three hours just talking, playing games, and snacking.

"Ahhhhh, I'm so tired," I said, flopping onto a bench.

"Yeah, me too. Let's head home," Ben said, sitting beside me.

"How much would it cost to carry me home?" I joked.

"Hmm... I think nothing?" Ben mused.

"So it would be for free?" I said, smirking.

"No! It would cost one hug," Ben replied.

I didn't hesitate and hugged him.

"Whoa," Ben blurted out, a little flustered. "I didn't think you'd actually hug me."

"You should have. I told you I want to go home," I said, laughing.

"Alright, alright, let's get going," Ben said as we left the arcade.

"Ugh, now I have to walk to the parking lot. My mum's probably waiting for me," I remembered.

"I'll go with you," Ben offered.

"No, you're tired too, you should just go home," I pointed out.

"That's true... but I still want to be with you until the end. You were sick for a week, so you deserve it," he said and started walking slowly toward the parking lot.

We walked together through a small park. I noticed Ben glancing at me now and then. I think he wanted to say something. Honestly, I did too. But we were both unsure how the other would react.

So we stayed quiet for the rest of the walk.

After a few minutes, I saw my mum waiting in the car.

I turned to say goodbye, but Ben suddenly hugged me.

"Thank you for this evening. I'll never forget it," he whispered in my ear before slowly walking away.

Did he just hug me? What is going on? I feel so many emotions-

"Michael! Get in the car! I'm not waiting here forever!" my mum shouted from the window.

I turned around and got in.

Ben's POV:

"I'm home!" I shouted, still excited from the trip.

"Hi honey. Did you enjoy the arcade?" my mum asked as she motioned for me to sit at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, it was beautiful. All the colors, the music, the games... It was the best day of my life!" I beamed.

"That's nice to hear. Did you go with Mike?" she asked.

"Yeah... we both had a great time," I said. A huge smile formed on my face, and I felt a warm sensation inside.

My mum noticed and after a short pause, she asked:

"Do you like him?"

"W-what?! Of course not, how-" I paused, realizing I didn't need to hide anything. "Yeah... I like him."

"What's so special about him?" she asked gently.

"Well, everything. Every time I'm with him, I feel free, like I can describe and talk about every emotion I have. He acts like a real friend, and he's always there for me. He... looks good too, of course, but there are so many things I like about him," I said, blushing.

"Are you two going out?" she asked.

I looked at her a bit sadly and replied, "No... we're not. But I do have feelings for him. I know I do! I just don't know how to show them, or how to talk about them. I don't even know why, it's like something's blocking me from saying it."

"I get that. Talking about your feelings can be hard. But you could try expressing them in a different way," she suggested.

"What do you mean, 'a different way'?" I asked curiously.

"You could maybe hug him more. Or just be close to him, show him that you feel safe around him. Try holding his hand in public, yeah, it's risky, but you'll see how he reacts."

I paused. I kept thinking about everything my mum just said. And then I realized, she's a genius.

"Mum? Can I invite Mike over sometime?" I asked nervously.

"Why are you asking so suddenly?" she smiled.

"Mike likes calm, friendly environments, and our house is perfect for that. If he feels safe here, maybe I'll finally be able to tell him how I feel," I explained.

My mum smiled again and said,

"You really are my little genius."