What If They Don't Like Me?

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"Tanaka, are you in here?" you asked, knocking on the door of the clubroom. "You can't keep hiding from me you jerk!"

You leaned against the railing across from the clubroom door, waiting for it to open. You and Tanaka had been dating for almost four months, and all of a sudden, he had started to avoid you.

Any time you tried to talk he would disappear, or brushed by you, spewing some excuse that made zero sense, even for Tanaka.

You heard voices from inside, and laughed when you heard Ennoshita. So he was just as done with Tanaka as he ever was.

"She's pissed, what did you do?"

Tanaka muttered something back and Ennoshita sighed loudly.

"She's your girlfriend," Ennoshita stated, then the door opened and Tanaka was tossed outside.

You were moving automatically to catch him, to keep him upright. He was dressed, thankfully, but he was bright red and was avoiding eye contact.

"Care to explain why you're avoiding me?" you asked coolly, despite the dread rising in your throat and the nerves roiling around in your stomach making it ache.

You crossed your arms and leaned against the railing again as Tanaka scratched at his head.

He was breaking up with you, wasn't he? That's why he was so nervous, he didn't want to upset you.

You waited a few minutes.

Sometimes it took Tanaka a while to get the words from his brain to his mouth.

"Look," you said after a while, when it was clear he wasn't talking, "if you want to break up with me, just say so. Stop avoiding me."

"B-Break up with you?" he sputtered. "Is . . . is that what you thought I was doing?"

He honestly looked a little hurt by the thought.

"It wouldn't have been the first time a guy did it to me," you admitted slowly. "Are you? Breaking up with me, I mean."

"No!" he exclaimed, then lowered his voice. "I don't want to break up with you." He reached out, tucking some of your hair behind your ear. "It's . . . it's just that . . . well, you asked me to meet your parents."

"Is that was this is all about?" you asked, brows furrowed. "Why is that so terrifying that you avoid me for a week? Is . . . is this about the commitment? I thought we agreed that this was a serious relationship."

"It is!" he told you, reaching for your hand, almost absentmindedly. "This is the most serious relationship I've ever wanted, but . . . what if they don't like me?"

"Oh, baby, is that what you were worried about?" you asked, wrapping your arms around his neck.

"I mean, have you seen me? I don't really look like someone you want your daughter to bring home," Tanaka said, wrapping his arms around your waist, burying his face in your neck.

"They're gonna love you," you promised, running a hand down his back soothingly. "After all I've told them, I doubt they're gonna have any doubts about you."

"You . . . You talked about me to your parents?" he asked, pulling his head away to look at you.

"I gushed about you to my mom, who then told my dad, who didn't really care. But yes, I talked about you. At first, it was how annoyingly loud you were, how you didn't pay attention in class, the usual. But then I got to know you, and I started to hang out with your friends, I saw how you acted with the little kids that got hurt on the playground, the way you held your ground in the games. I saw you, the real you."

You gave him a wide smile, then kissed his cheek.

"Tanaka, my parents are going to love you. And even if they don't, which I doubt, then it won't change anything. I'm stubborn too you know, I won't let them take this away from either of us, I promise."

"I was an idiot, wasn't I?" Tanaka asked when he had processed what you had said.

"Just a little bit," you teased, smiling at him. "But that's okay."

He nodded, tightening his grip on your waist a little bit, hugging you just a little bit tighter.

"Tanaka, you need to tell me about these things though, alright? I can't help if I don't know what's wrong in the first place. Communication in a relationship is key," you told him.

"I know, I know, but . . . I was afraid that you would laugh at me."

"Baby, I would never laugh at something like this," you assured him. "You don't think I don't have thoughts like this? I thought you were breaking up with me."

"I know," Tanaka murmured. "I know. And I'm sorry I made you feel like that. I should've handled it better."

"It's okay, now you know for next time."

"You think there's going to be a next time?" he asked.

"All I'm saying is that miscommunications happen, especially in our day and age. I mean, my parents almost got divorced because my dad kept not buying milk when my mom asked him to."

Tanaka laughed. "You need to tell me that story."

"I will," you assured him. "Just promise that you'll talk to me if you ever start to think about things like this, alright?"

"I promise."

"Thank you," you told him, kissing his cheek again. "Now go practice, I'll call you later."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

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