Communication Required

Kaveh knew that he did not handle rejection well. However, he felt that he could perhaps endure being let down gently. So, he did his best to obviously hint that he had a crush on Yuna without outright saying so to her face. He knew that she had a reputation for being kind and honest, and he would commit to being content with whichever way her answer leaned. He considered it a perfect plan.

Unfortunately, she neither accepted his advances nor politely declined them, leaving him in a lingering state of limbo. Kaveh did not know how to react to this, and paced around the apartment anxiously when he was home, much to the deep annoyance of his roommate. “Al, she would have realized by now, wouldn’t she?” His roommate obnoxiously refused to be a part of the conversation, and did not pause in reading his book. Kaveh persisted in getting some level of confirmation, and yelled, “Al, I made it obvious enough, right?” in his roommate’s face.

Alasdair witheringly acknowledged Kaveh’s presence, and finally replied, “I cannot imagine you figuring out how to act with even a moderate level of control around her based on the data I have observed and collected during our acquaintance.”

Kaveh rolled his eyes. “You could have just said ‘yes,’ Al.” He slumped down on a chair. “Why won’t she indicate what she wants?”

“The refusal to make a choice is in itself also a choice,” Alasdair commented, then returned his attention to his book.

Kaveh groaned dramatically, slouching down further. Alasdair turned on the noise cancelling on his earpieces as he began to deliberate out loud about his next course of action. Should he keep acting normally, further try his chances, or completely distance himself before he got hurt? Alasdair’s impassive expression provided no suggestions, and Kaveh eventually settled on his decision based on the twisted knot in his stomach. His feelings were in such turmoil that he felt that he needed to avoid any interactions with Yuna before they exploded out disasterously.

That next week was torturous. It took a surprising amount of concentration to be where Yuna wasn’t, or think of excuses to leave whenever she showed up somewhere. She always made it even more difficult by flashing her friendly smile when she caught sight of him, and it was like throwing knives thudding into the bullseye of his heart each time.

The day that Alasdair deliberately sought him out within the Academy’s library, Yuna in tow, shocked him. His roommate always did his best to avoid him at home, let alone out in public. Kaveh set down his pen with concerned confusion. “You have been avoiding Yuna. She demands to know why. You two, please start communicating,” Alasdair ordered in a deadpan tone.

“I did not phrase it like that!” Yuna retorted, but Alasdair was already striding away. She slowly turned back to Kaveh, quietly explaining, “I merely asked him if he could explain your sudden change in behaviour. And Kav, please don’t try to deny it, because I am not blind.”

“Perhaps not… just oblivious,” Kaveh mumbled before he caught himself, a wince mostly obscured by his face having been angled down to avoid eye contact.

“Oblivi…?” Yuna gasped instead of fully repeating the word, offended disbelief plain across her face. The silence stretched between them for a long moment before she stated, “Kaveh, you are one of the most confusing people I have ever met.”

“I am?” he asked in a small voice.

“You tell me to meet you in the Rathzyn Garden, on the night of a full moon, and send a bouquet of red roses to my apartment that afternoon, and I, well I made an assumption about what your feelings were. Out loud. To my roommate. With excitement.”

Kaveh didn’t say anything, but his eyes were wide and staring at her blankly as he processed that information.

“But then all you did was talk about homework, and I went home, still single, and my roommate had waited up to hear everything about the evening, and all that I got to tell her was that you were writing a paper about the architecture of domed ceilings, and I can only conclude that I must have misinterpreted your feelings, and I’m feeling like a total idiot, and crying, and I consider running out in the rain to confess my feelings to you regardless of what didn’t happen, and…” Yuna finally paused to breath. “And then, to add further awkwardness to embarrassment, you completely avoid me for a week!”

“Oh.”

Yuna collapsed into the chair beside Kaveh, sighing. “If I was oblivious to you wanting distance from me because you don’t want to be anything more than friends, and I, with my stupid puppy eyes watching your every move when we interacted, couldn’t understand that, then just tell me now, and then I’ll leave you alone.”

“Yuna… I…” Kaveh cleared his throat. “I was scared to say anything directly out loud, and make you answer me plainly, because my heart couldn’t handle it if you said no. I was the coward who wanted you to make the next move.”

They both sat still for a long moment, eyes locked on each other, processing, before both bursting out, “I really like you!” Once their shared giggling subsided, Kaveh gently reached out to hold her hand, and with new found confidence asked, “Yuna, will you be my girlfriend?”

She replied by planting a kiss on his lips.

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