Requital hope

Fifty-four

Zhan's Pov.

Yibo stood there, looking as if he wanted to say something, but nothing would come out. My heart rate increased the more I came to realize what I'd just done. I was hoping I didn't upset him. Maybe he wasn't ready?

"Sorry..... I just." I paused, trying to form words in my stirred mind.

"Is this a joke... or do you..." Yibo said, shifting his sight to the bridge below him.

"No! This wasn't... it wasn't a joke." I assured him. He looked up from the ground, directly into my eyes.

"S-s0, you do... like me?" He stuttered, making it easy to tell how nervous he was.

"More than you could ever imagine." His cheeks lit up and his eyes shifted to the right, breaking our gaze.

"Why? Why did you wait so long if you knew. If you knew I liked you back?" He hesitantly questioned.

"There were a lot of reasons I guess." I shrugged. "The biggest one being that I didn't think you were ready for me to drop all of my feelings out there while you were going through so much. Especially since I was one of the causes..." I didn't want to remind him about all of that, but it was the only way to give him an honest answer.

"That's the reason I acted the way I did when Cindy told me all of the things you supposedly did. I liked you a lot, and not only as a friend... so it broke my heart when I thought about all of the time we spent together was a lie." Yibo's eyes returned to mine wearing a look of surprise.

"Hanging out with you every day during the trip made me realize how much I actually liked you." I admitted as a half smile crossed my face. "I'm still sorry I didn't believe you though. I let my emotions get the better of me." Suddenly I felt a pair of small arms wrap around me.

"I forgive you." Yibo said, capturing me in a hug.

The ride back home was nothing but silence, other than the engine of the car and the tires on the road. I glanced over at Yibo a couple of times and noticed he was staring out the window with a smile on his face. By the time we arrived home, he'd fallen asleep. Can't blame him for using all of that energy throughout most of the day. It's getting pretty late anyway. Xichen called my phone earlier, telling me they were about to eat dinner and that I should hurry home if I wanted to make it on time. Yibo and I stayed out a little longer than expected though so I'm sure they've already finished up by now.

"Yo boo, wake up." I whispered, ruffling his hair. His eyes snapped open much quicker than I expected.

"We are home?" He asked in a sleepy voice,
rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, I can carry you in if you want?" I
chuckled.

He pouted at me. "No, I can walk." With that we both got out.

Yibo's Pov. (earlier in the day)

Hanging out at the arcade with Zhan was amazing! I had so much fun. The time I spent with Cindy didn't even compare to the time I had with Zhan. Despite all that's happened I was able to let myself be free around him. Knowing the time we spent together during the school trip meant something to him made it easier. These past couple of months have been hard on me but the Xiao family was so accepting and kind taking me in. When I thought there was no place left on earth for me, the Xiaos were that bright pillar of light that I was desperately in need of.

Most of my time at the arcade I spend goofing around. This made Zhan chase me around and tickle me senseless. Just like the time we had that pillow fight. We gained quite a bit of attention, but I didn't care, I was having fun.