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The stress of the situation hadn't left him yet. He was still tense, still wary, still looking over his shoulder, thinking through every word he heard as if it might have ten different meanings he'd never thought of before. He was still scared. "Gods Angel, you scared the fuck out of me. I'm so happy you're alright I could kiss you." Paige hugged Jono back just as tightly. He clearly needed it and the pressure helped with some of the residual overstimulation from being iron for so long. “Hey, it’s ok! I’m here and we’re safe and- wait…say that last part again?” She couldn’t possibly have heard him correctly. Paige pulled back slightly to look him in the eye. Jono stiffened a bit. Oh....he hadn't realized he'd thought that out loud. Well.....between this and having accidentally sent her the wrong playlist...he couldn't exactly hide from it anymore. "...I said I could kiss you. Which is stupid because it's not physically possible and obviously not something you want." Paige frowned and almost shook Jono out of frustration. “What do you mean obviously? I’ve been into you for a while! Of course you could kiss me!” How dare "I'm sorry, what?" Jono asked, trying to keep his mind quiet and still. How embarrassing would it be to project things on accident right now. "I don't even have a mouth! How could I kiss you? It's stupid." “I don’t know, we’ll figure something out!” Paige moved her hands up to cup Jono’s face. “Maybe I can kiss you instead?” "No go back. What do you mean you've been into me for a while?" Jono thought. It was probably a good thing he didn't have a heart anymore, it would have beat out of his chest by now otherwise. “You're hot, Jono. Of course I’m into you!” It had been obvious to apparently everyone else, she thought Jono just wasn’t acknowledging it. “…Did you really not notice??” "I thought- you weren't responding to when I was flirting with you and then I thought you were a lesbian because of the carabiner thing and so then I wasn't flirting with you and then I found out you were bi and by that point I knew how guys in your hometown treated you like some sort of fucking Barbie doll and then I felt bad for liking you when you wanted a friend and- no....I didn't." He was thinking too fast. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He used to be better at this. It used to be so easy to know when girls thought he was hot, but of course that was back when he was hot. Wait...no, that felt wrong, like he was insulting Paige's tastes. Paige could feel the nervous energy radiating off of Jono, so she took a step back and dropped her hands. “Ok, hold on. You flirted with me? When?? Also you thought I was a lesbian because I own a carabiner? It’s just a clip to hold stuff? And…ok, you’re not wrong about home, but you don’t need to feel guilty because you like me. You’re not acting like an entitled jerk, you’re fine.” "Paige....I made you a mixtape. I gave you a ring off my hand, tried to give you my jacket. I call you 'angel'. I made you a bracelet with my guitar strings. I made you meals for an entire week when you were tired....also we've already covered that I thought you were flagging, we don't have to bring up me being an idiot again." Jono's brow furrowed when she stepped away and took her hands in his, squeezing gently. "I...just thought you didn't feel the same." Paige turned bright red and covered her face. “I... am a fucking idiot, oh my god.” Her siblings were never going to let her live it down. Or her cohort. Or her friends at the mansion. Fuck, how was she this stupid?? "You are not an idiot." Jono said firmly. "Don't ever say that again." |
