"What?" Was all you could manage to say as you stared at him baffled.
He took a deep breath and wiped his palms against his pants; was he nervous?
"I'm so sorry for all the misunderstandings over the years." He said and you narrowed your eyes at him.
"Misunderstandings? I don't think I misunderstood the fact you made me the laughing stock of the entire school even two whole years after you graduated. I don't think I misunderstood you never showing up to a date you asked me on. I sure as shit didn't misunderstand the way Hina looked at me while she walked by me every day holding your hand as if to remind me of my place. Not to mention all the years after once you and Kento worked together; you made sure my life was a living hell. Please enlighten me on where I misunderstood anything." You said trying to hold on to the anger you knew he deserved to see.
"You don't think I've beat myself up over that this entire time? I wanted to reach out to you the next day and explain what really happened. For years I wanted to reach out to you and apologize. But after all that time it got to the point that, as fucked up as it was, I still wanted to be able to talk to you even if you hated me then loose you all together." He said as he averted his eyes to his lap.
"You let me sit there that night and every night for ten fucking years Satoru wondering what I could've done to get ridiculed just for having a harmless crush on you." You hissed trying to fight the urge to cry in the middle of the packed restaurant.
Before Satoru could respond the waitress returned with a smile on her face and your meals in hand. You managed to smile up at her and thank her as she placed your plates on the table. Satoru kept his eyes in his lap and the waitress picked up on the tension between you because she walked away quickly after.
"I remember talking with my friends one minute and the next Hina and her friends were joining us. We had just broken up a week before because I found out she went behind my back at a party with a childhood friend. It was hard to find that out and I much as I tried it ruined our friendship in the end. I eventually cut ties with him and I tried to do the same with her. But we've known each other our whole lives at that point so when she'd come around it was hard to tell her no." Satoru said almost defeated.
"No wonder she's so entitled." You muttered and he nodded his head.
"I was talking with my friend and suddenly she told me she needed to tell me something. She told me that some first year had been staring at me and when I looked up to find it was you I was relieved."
Relieved? What could be reliving about a girl you barely knew getting caught staring at you across a courtyard. The voice nagged but you silenced it because you deserved this exploration after a decade.
"Before she could say anything else my friend heard what was going on and hyped me up to go talk to you. When I got up I heard Hina starting to bicker with my friend but I was out of ear shot to hear it. I watched you look away and say something to Kento the closer I got; I remember thinking about how cute you looked," he said and he finally had the confidence to look at you. "To my surprise I overheard you mention something about a rumor and when Kento confirmed it was about me and Hina I was pleased to tell you it was true."
"So if you actually wanted to hang out why didn't you show up? Do you know how misleading that is." You say as you look down at your food suddenly loosing you appetite.
"My friend told me later on the Hina couldn't believe I'd flirt with a girl right in front of her and she'd be waiting to talk to me after school. There was nothing for me to discuss with her so I stayed after with a teacher who's class I was struggling in trying to figure out a way to get my grade up. I was never the best at geography so I could kill more than enough time talking to the teacher for Hina to give up and leave." He says as his phone buzzes on the table. He glances at it only to flip it over so it was facing down.
"I know. Kento told me he wondered how you even knew how to get to and from school." You said as if Kento didn't ask for your help in that subject too. You watched Satoru's eyes soften at how well your memory was.
"Right as I was about to leave I got a text from Hina and against my better judgement I read it. She had told me you had left and when I asked how she even knew that she sent me a picture of what looked like you leaving with everyone else and said she caught site of you as she was leaving the school herself."
You could feel the anger bubble up inside you again at those memories that came in the form of nightmares. The sinister smile Hina gave you as she walked out of the school that day. How she was the reason Satoru never showed up that day. However, you knew not everything was entirely her fault.
"Then why didn't you say anything to her when she spread the rumor about me harassing you for a date and you only said yes so I'd stop. She even took pictures and videos and showed everyone how desperate I was because I waited for you for hours. It was humiliating yet you stayed silent the whole time." You said gripping onto the material of your sundress.
"I tried. I tried for days for her to let up on it but she refused. Then she asked me why I even cared it's not like I had a crush on you and when I didn't respond she went crazy. She taunted me and even got her friends involved. Eventually I pulled back. I figured it would die down after a few days knowing the more I got involved the worse it was going to be for you. Had I known what I know now I would've tried harder."
Silence fell between the two of you despite the roar of laughter and conversations between other families and couples around you. You tried soaking in all the information you had craved to hear all these years. Part of you wanted to throw your plate in his face and tell him to shove the apology up his ass because you didn't believe him for a second. Another part of you realized that you knew what kind of person Hina was and you never stopped to consider that Satoru had been a victim too. You hated how confusing all this was back then and realizing it wouldn't be any easier ten years later.
"The worst part to the story is I got back together with her a few months later. She told me she'd apologize to you even though I knew it was bullshit. I should've gone and done it myself but I was too much of a coward. I couldn't face you knowing I hadn't helped you the way I wanted to. I thought I deserved to be punished for causing you so much hurt and what better way to do that than to be with someone who was just as shitty as I was for allowing that to happen." He said firmly.
"You even married her." You softly said.
"And I was miserable a majority of the time," He said as he looked out at the sun that had finally set. Dusk starting to paint the sky with its cool colors. "What I'm trying to say is what I did back then wasn't okay and what I've done up until now isn't okay. It might be too late but I still wanted to tell you. I am truly and deeply sorry for all the pain I've caused you over the years."
"Part of me will never forgive you for what you've done," You start and Satoru looks at you. Sadness filling his eyes. "But obviously another part of me still, as embarrassing as it is, yearns for you."
You pause for a moment waiting for any sign to tell you to go back on your decision but nothing signaled to you so you keep going.
"I'm not forgetting what you did but I'd be willing to start over. I offer an official peace treaty. No going back to hating one another but instead becoming the friend we should've been in high school. What do you say?" You softly say as you extend your hand for him to shake.
He looks at your hand then back at your face and smiles at you. He then raises his hand and runs his long slender fingers through yours till they are interlocked. He leans over and looks at you as he brings your hand up to his lips; placing as gentle kiss to your knuckles.
"I don't want to be friends peach but I'll agree to your terms for now. In time I hope you'll come to see me as something else."
"Other than insufferable? Not possible." You tease and you gasp as you feel him bite your knuckle softly before letting go.
"Violating the peace treaty already I see. Shame on you peach." He says as he picks up his silverware and starts eating a meal that had patiently been waiting to be eaten for almost thirty minutes.
The rest of the dinner went by without anymore tension other than when you both finished your meal and Satoru payed for the meal despite you insisting you'd pay. You made your way outside and walked over to his car. You both stood by the trunk of the car as he dug in his pockets for his keys.
"I'll take you back home. I know you have to work tomorrow so I don't want to keep you any longer. It's already past nine." He said as he finally dug them out of his pocket.
"You don't have to leave after you drop me off you know. You could hang out for a little bit," you said as you watched him look at you with a questioning look. "I've enjoyed your company." You say sheepishly.
He turns to face you, raising up his left hand to stroke your cheek.
"Are you sure?" He responded and you nodded your head.
"Only if you're up for it." You say as you lean into his touch.
You swore your heart stopped with the way he stared at you. Those blue eyes that you admired for so long, then hated for even longer, only to realize you never really hated them all along. There was a droplet of water that landed on your arm then another and another. Soon you both stood in silence gazing at one another at a light drizzle cascaded down on you.
"Can I am kiss you peach?" Satoru asked and you took no time to respond.
"Please." You say breathlessly.
He leaned down and pressed his lips to yours and you wrapped your arms around his neck. Your fingertips grazing the hairs at the nape of his neck causing him to groan softly into the kiss. You felt his hands coming down on either side of you and bunching up you sundress in his palms only to let go a few moments later. He pulled away first and both your chests heaved.
"C'mon peach. Let's get home." Satoru softly said as he unlocked his car.
I don't want to be friends peach repeated over and over again in your head. You didn't want to be just friends either.