I'm going to start off by whole-heartedly saying that I am so sorry for the super long update, and for telling you all that I would update quicker when I didn't. I did not expect to be so caught up in school for the last months. On the bright side, I finally graduated high school! Years of hell finally paid off. But now that summer time is here, I'll try to be as consistent as I can with updates (despite that this is actually the last chapter of the story). Thank you to those who were patient with me. I hope you will enjoy this chapter!

I Love You, BF!

By iJutsu

Chapter 7

Kari idly stared at the note before her, trying to analyze everything that happened to her the past few hours. It was all too overwhelming. "What does he mean by 'the right way'…?" Kari thought nervously. She already figured what he wanted to say to her, it just all fell back to how she would react. It all happened before. This wasn't something new. It as was if Kari suddenly went back to the day TK asked her out the first time. The pressures, the doubts, the heartbreaks—she feared it would all just happen again. And it would be her fault, again. Kari sat down slowly on the chair to catch a breather. She stared at the small note in her hand and found herself half smiling. "He can never keep it simple, can he?" she thought to herself with a soft chuckle. Kari's smile began growing as she continued to stare at the note. Her best friend, the guy of her dreams, is going through all this trouble just to make up for his wrong doings and to make sure she gets better than what she deserves. She couldn't be more grateful to have TK as her best friend. What more, a guy who is just as in love with her as she is with him. Kari let out a small sigh and carefully folded the note and placed it into her pocket. "Perhaps that's why I'm scared. I already have something so great with TK. I can't afford to lose it…" Kari finally stood up and tried to shake off her negative vibes. She just realized she was holding up TK's time with whatever he was planning.

The note told her that she was to meet him at the bridge above the pond at Odaiba Park. Her heart already starting racing. The bridge was merely less than a mile walk from the café, and she was wasting seconds just standing there. Kari slowly made her way out of the café and intentionally took the longer way to the bridge. Intense butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Thoughts of how she should handle the situation kept on suffocating her mind. The memory of the first time he asked made her wince. Her fear and nervousness eventually turned into annoyance.

"How hard can it be just to say 'yes'," Kari whispered, annoyed with herself, "It's all different now, Kari. It's better and easier than ever. Don't let yourself down. Don't let him down."

"BOO!"

Kari jolted back in shock, just to see the bright, huge smile of her purple-headed friend. Kari pouted and smacked her on the arm childishly. Yolei just grinned.

"Yolei, you almost gave me a heart attack!" Kari whined.

"Somebody forgot to hit me up this morning!" Yolei pouted, smacking her back, "You just left my house without a word! Talk about appreciation, sheesh! You give a person hospitality, and they just leave. What's up with that?"

Kari sighed, "I'm sorry. I just needed to get some air and you were asleep when I went to say good bye."

"Excuses, excuses," Yolei splat, and jumped up before Kari was able to open up her mouth to defend herself, "Oh my gosh, Kari! You need to help me! I lost my favorite jacket, you know the one with the flowers, while I was jogging this morning at this park and now I can't find it!"

Kari examined her perky friend from head to toe, and raised a brow.

"You went jogging in a dress?" Kari asked suspiciously.

Yolei blinked, and looked down at her outfit as if she forgot what she was wearing. Her face turned a bright red before she looked back up at Kari with a sheepish look on her face. She then quickly recovered by placing her hands on her hips and sighing over dramatically.

"I just want to break into this new dress! It's a bit tight on me, which is WHY I decided to work on it! Duh, Kari, common sense! Plus there are cute boys at the park today, so I figured might as well!"

Kari glanced at her surroundings and saw no cute boys. In fact, all she saw was few adults and the elderly just walking around. Not really typical to see teens out so early on a Sunday morning. Kari again sighed, and decided to just believe her silly stories to prevent any further distractions that may keep her away from seeing TK. Kari's eyes suddenly widened. She almost forgot about meeting him over at the bridge! He is probably expecting her by now. But she couldn't just get rid of Yolei, nor can she really tell her what's going on because she wouldn't want her to get involved. Kari winced at the thought of what would happen if Yolei found out what just now happened between her and TK. Yolei probably wouldn't let Kari out of her sight. Realizing she was wasting more time, Kari nervously laughed and smiled awkwardly.

"I'm really sorry to hear about your jacket, Yolei, but I'm pretty busy so…"

"Too busy to help a friend in need?" Yolei gasped, again dramatically, "C'mon Kari! You got to help me! I'm sure it won't take that long! I've looked everywhere and I'm probably going to catch a cold soon if I don't find it!"

"Yolei, I…"

"This is like the fifth jacket I lost this week!"

"But I have to…"

"I'm going to freeze to death!"

"Fine!" Kari groaned in defeat, "I'll help you find it! But I can't take very long because I…"

"Excellent! Let's start!" Yolei gleamed, again interrupting her.

Kari let out a deep breath and walked towards the nearest bushes to start looking. Seeing that Kari was fully turned, Yolei let out a quiet, relieved sigh. Before she was able to take a step, her phone vibrated twice, indicating she got a text message. She rummaged through her bag, and pulled out her phone and twitched by the time she read the message:

YOLEY PLS KEEP DISTRACTING KARI I LOST THE HEAD OF THE COSTUME :'( !1!11

She was irked not only because TK was ruining the plan, but mainly because he misspelled her name. "How the hell do you lose a giant bear head?" Yolei thought in annoyance, "And it's E-I, not E-Y! Not that hard!" Stuffing her phone back with an angry huff, she followed Kari and pretended to look around. Yolei's mind was still occupied on TK. "What if he doesn't find it soon enough?" thought Yolei in slight panic, "I can't stall Kari for very long! Wait, yes you can! I'm Yolei for Pete's sake! That boy's lucky Kari is gullible beyond belief." She found herself giggling, but wasn't able to stop herself before she caught Kari's attention. Kari again raised a brow, and Yolei just grinned stupidly.

"What? I laugh when I think of something funny!"

Kari rolled her eyes with a short chuckle, and glanced around the park. "Do you remember which path you ran? Perhaps your jacket fell while you were running? Although, I don't know how a jacket would fall if you're wearing it…"

"What jacket?" Yolei asked stupidly, tilting her head.

Kari gave her a strange look, "The jacket that you…"

"OH!" Yolei exclaimed loudly, immediately catching her mistake, "Right! The jacket! Sorry, lost my train of thought there. Uh…what did you ask?"

Kari huffed. Seconds were wasting, and the concern of TK waiting any longer continued to grow. It took a whole bunch of time just to have her change at the café after getting the water incident. Who knows how long TK's been waiting already? But of course, being the sweet heart that she is, she couldn't just bail on Yolei during her time of "need". And if she doesn't help Yolei, Yolei will most definitely end up following her the whole day with suspicion. After restating her question, Kari and Yolei continued looking for the imaginary jacket. Good news was that Yolei was able to get Kari further away from the bridge. Bad news was it only took them a little over 10 minutes to examine every place Yolei "jogged" at. Yolei's panic meter slowly started to rise. She had to keep distracting Kari, and quick! Her anger meter towards TK also started to slowly rise. She shuffled through her purse, grabbed her phone, and tried to slickly text TK:

TK WTF! WHERE R U? DID U FIND IT? I AM RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS TO DISTRACT KARI! HURRY UP N FIND IT YOU USELESS, STUPID, HARD-HEADED, IRRESONSIBLE, CLUMSY PIECE OF—

"Who are you texting?"

Yolei jumped in surprise and almost dropped her phone as she saw Kari's little head peep over her shoulder. She quickly sent the unfinished message while placing it back into her bag. She then gave Kari another sheepish look to save her almost blown cover. Kari stared confusingly at her startled friend, which made Yolei panic even more. It wasn't like her to run out of ideas so fast.

"M-my mother," Yolei said, trying to sound reassuring, "I had to tell her that I couldn't find my jacket! It's hopeless, we'll never find it. It's okay, Kari, we tried our best. N-now let's get something to drink over at the soda machine over there! All this hide-and-seek is making me thirsty!"

"Hide and seek?" Kari twitched, as she followed Yolei to the machines. Now she was getting really suspicious. She knows that Yolei was a bit ditzy here and there, but not this ditzy. Yolei skipped over to the soda machine, popped in some money and started humming while deciding what beverage she wanted. Kari couldn't help but just stare, and try to get her thoughts straight. Yolei was taking up the time she could of used to find TK, but then again, TK has not yet contacted her since he left the café. "He would of said something if I was taking too long, wouldn't he? I mean, he wouldn't just leave," Kari thought in slight concern. Kari then bit her lip softly. The thought of even seeing TK later in the day was making the butterflies come back again. The time she spent with Yolei almost made her forget.

"Say, Kari?" Yolei said, interrupting Kari's thoughts. "Y-yes?" Kari stammered, snapping back to life.

"Did you see TK today? I haven't seen that fool since he dropped you off at my house."

Yolei almost grinned at how persuading she sounded. And luckily for her, seeing how red Kari's face was becoming indicated that she fell for it. Kari fidgeted a little with her shirt. She was clueless on what to say. Again, she couldn't just merely tell Yolei what happened. Remembering everything that happened at the café made Kari's face grow even redder. The diary, the confessions, the apologizes—it all just made those intense butterflies flutter back to Kari's stomach. The nervousness of how to approach TK came back to her as well. And Yolei, being the observant and manipulative one, took that to her advantage.

"You DID, didn't you?" Yolei snickered, twisting open her bottle of pop, "I mean, look at you! You're like a tomato! No point of trying to come up with excuses that you didn't see him today, since we both know you did. Right? Right? I'm right aren't I? Right, so spill."

Knowing she was no match for her, Kari let out a semi-frustrated sigh and leaned against the soda machine. She looked down at the ground to avoid eye contact with Yolei. She lost, she had to tell her what happened. There was no way out of it now.

"We had breakfast this morning, and I found out he had my diary the whole time."

Yolei gave in a fake gasp to the best of her ability, "What? No way!"

"Yes way!" Kari said stressfully, suddenly looking straight in Yolei's eyes in frustration, "And the worst part of it is was that he READ the darn thing! He read ALL of it! Yolei, everything in that stupid pink book was about him! Like literally, he read it ALL! He found out how I felt about everything! About us, those girls, my feelings and UGH!"

Yolei couldn't help but stare at her poor friend in slight pity. Yolei really didn't need to ask about what was in Kari's diary, considering everything she tells Yolei was basically what was in that book. That made Yolei completely understand how Kari must feel now that TK knows everything. Kari's feelings of embarrassment and frustration were understandable, but Yolei was more than certain that she shouldn't feel that way. She sighed, and rubbed Kari's arm in comfort.

"You really shouldn't feel so embarrassed, Kari," Yolei assured, and continued on before Kari was able to object, "I mean, it wasn't like he laughed at you for feeling that way, or that he got mad. What exactly did he say?"

Kari hesitated before responding, trying to come up with something summarized enough for Yolei, "He told me that he didn't regret reading my diary at all, because if he hadn't, then he wouldn't have known how much I've been hurting. He felt guilty, so he just ended up apologizing to me about everything he did to me unintentionally…"

"You see!" Yolei said, brightening up her tone of voice, "Then there's really nothing to be embarrassed of! At least he felt sad about hurting you, instead of being hurt at the fact that you kept those types of things from him! Nothing to worry about, Kari. You know TK. He would never think wrong of you. I actually think it's a darn miracle that TK finally knows how you feel, since the both of you guys are hopeless without me!"

Kari let out a small and relieved laugh, once again accepting defeat, "You're right, I'm sorry."

"So did he confess?" Yolei asked, ever so bluntly.

Kari's heart skipped a beat to the question, "…Pardon?"

"Did he confess?" Yolei repeated dully, taking a sip of her soda, "And you know exactly what I'm talking about."

A short remembrance of the moment TK attempting to confess to her shot back into her mind. His embarrassed, blushed face, his warm palms, his nervous voice; Kari couldn't help but smile, realizing how cute it was to her. Feeling Yolei's impatient aura, Kari shook her thoughts away and answered.

"Y-yeah. Well, no, no not really. He tried, but then water spilt on me and, ugh, it's a long story. But yeah, he tried to."

"Were you nervous?"

"Of course I was," Kari answered simply, "I didn't want it to end up like the first time he asked me out. I mean, that was my fault and I really didn't want it to happen again," Kari sighed sadly before continuing, "I don't know Yolei. Everything just got easier for me. TK understands how I feel, I know he loves me, he already knows I love him—yet, why do I feel so…"

"Scared?" Yolei finished for her.

Kari just sighed and nodded once again in defeat. Scared was the perfect word. Yolei already knew Kari's fear was simply not wanting to mess up the strong friendship she has with TK. Yolei just smiled and leaned back against the soda machine with her. Kari glanced over at her curiously.

"How about you do this," Yolei started, tapping her chin, "When the time comes, just close your eyes or clear your mind or something. And just think about all the good times you've had with TK, and all the not so good times. As best friends. Then, think about how different things might be if you both get together. See if you can find any possibly differences. And from there, you'll know exactly what to do."

Kari just stared at Yolei more dumbfounded than ever, "What do you mean?"

"Sh! Sh!" Yolei said, placing a finger on Kari's lips to hush her, "Do not question my brilliance."

Suddenly, Yolei felt her phone vibrate once again in her bag. With her finger still upon Kari's lips, she used her free hand and pulled out her phone. It was another text message. Yolei opened the message, read it, and slowly her finger slid off Kari's lips. A smile formed on Yolei's face as she closed her phone and patted Kari on the head.

"I have to go now!" Yolei said, as if she was trying hard to stop herself from smiling, "My mom wants me home A-S-A-P! And you know how mother's get when they text you in capital letters. It's hell! Thanks again for all your help today! I'll talk to you later!"

Without giving Kari anytime to think, Yolei dashed off, waving good bye to her utterly confused friend. "What in the world was she talking about?" Kari thought, "She is so strange sometimes, I swear." Standing there alone made her suddenly remember about TK. Her eyes widened. "Oh shoot! Who knows how much time I killed since I left café!" Fearing that TK may have waited longer than supposed to, she started walking quickly back towards the direction of the bridge. She didn't risk running, for she didn't want to look like a mess when she sees TK. However, she kept finding her pace slow down every second she got closer. The nervousness was building up in her again. She's been waiting for the second chance to come to her, and now that it came back, she feels, just as Yolei said, scared. Scared of how she might feel or how she might react. Scared of having the wrong words slip out. Kari started feeling annoyed with herself. "I can't chicken out now," Kari thought, trying to stay positive, "This is what I want. This is what I've ALWAYS wanted. I can't let this go. Not again."

Taking a deep breath, she hurried up her pace and soon enough found herself just a few feet away from the bridge. She could see the bridge from a distance. Oddly, she didn't see anyone around from where she was standing. A bit confused, she walked a bit faster towards the bridge, and expected to see the tip of a blond headed boy, but instead saw nobody. There was actually no one near the area of the bridge. A mysterious, yet peaceful and cool breeze swept passed her. It seemed to be the only noise around, besides her rapid heartbeats. Even the water below the bridge was silent and still. There was absolutely no sound besides the cool wind blowing through, causing Kari's panic level to increase. She was no longer starting to feel nervous about seeing TK. Instead, she was starting to feel afraid and paranoid. If there was anyone who had a weak, fragile heart when it comes to being scared or paranoid, it would be Kari. Kari started to feel nauseated with the panic that filled her body, but she figured just standing there wouldn't do much justice. Thoughts about just leaving got into her mind. "B-but TK…!" Kari thought, counterattacking her previous thoughts, "I can't leave. TK told me to meet him here! A-and he wouldn't just bail on me…right?"

Deciding not to lose her dignity for once, she slowly made her way closer to the bridge. So far, so food. She glanced around every now and then to see if locals were passing by, but none. Letting out a shaky breath, she continued her way up. Finally, she was at the start of the bridge with one foot upon the wood. She gulped and slowly walked onto the bridge. The air suddenly seemed thicker. Her heartbeat started beating faster. Abruptly, she found herself breathing a bit heavily from her mouth to prevent her heart from pounding it's way out of her chest. It wasn't working. She heard a swift noise from the side, and with a yelp, jumped in surprise. She turned swiftly to the direction of the noise with wide eyes and saw that it was just the leaves rustling along with the wind. "Calm down, Kari. It's just the wind. And it's morning time! N-nothing happens in the morning!" Taking in even more deep breaths, she started once again. Before she knew it, she finally made it to the middle of the bridge, where the pond looked the most beautiful. Feeling a huge wave of relief hit her, she leaned towards the awkwardly short rail of the bridge and looked down at the water. Clear blue water, cute lily pads, the glistening from the sun—the beauty was successfully able to slowly, but progressively, calm Kari down.

The calmness ended too soon. All of a sudden, she started hearing footsteps. Slow, heavy footsteps. Footsteps that couldn't possibly be from TK; he knows her well enough not to mess with her this way. She dared not move. She started to shake in fear. The paranoia was killing her. Her shivering hands stayed fixed upon the railings as she tried to remain calm. Her body wouldn't move. Her palms were getting sweaty as her breathing became more troubled. The footsteps were getting closer. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I'm going to die. It's a rapist! No, a murderer! No, a rapist murderer!" Her heart was beating uncontrollably. She couldn't take it anymore. Suddenly the footsteps seemed to be getting louder and louder towards her. Before she could even think twice about making a run for it, she felt a fuzzy hand touch her shoulder. Kari screamed. She turned around and her eyes widened in even more fear. It was a bear! She screamed again. "A rapist murderer bear!" Her panic level has reached it's limits.

"GET AWAY PERVERT!" Kari screamed, pushing it away from her, "GET! AWAY!"

"K-kari, no it's m…!"

"H-how do you know my name?" Kari yelled fearfully, "Stay away! I'm warning you! I'll call the cops!"

"N-no, Kari, please calm down," the bear said, making it's way back to Kari, "Listen to me, I'm…!"

"Stay away!" Kari begged, getting teary eyed from all the fear and panic she was experiencing in just one standing, "Please! Don't get any closer! I'm begging you!"

"Kari! Just hear me out!" the bear, placing his paw once again on Kari's shoulder.

She screamed once again in panic and started smacking and pushing the bear towards the railing of the bridge, "S-stop! Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Stop! No! No! No!"

The bear didn't seem to stop. His paw again reached to touch her, but Kari wasn't going to let it happen again. With one swift movement, Kari raised her hand and powerfully slapped the lights out of the bear. The bear grunted in pain and lost his balance. He stumbled backwards and accidentally grabbed onto Kari's hand as support. Big mistake. The moment he pulled, they both fell off the rail of the bridge and fell into the pond below. Once they hit the pond, Kari splurted out the water and started having even more panic attacks.

"I'm drowning! I'm drowning!" Kari cried, splashing the water and then slowed down as she realized the water was just a foot deep, "I'm…drowning…?"

She then heard a groan from beside her. A shaky hand touched her arm for support. Kari gasped. The pervert! Kari swiftly tried to pull away and escape his grasp, but then stopped when she realized the head off the bear fell off and that there was actually a person in a bear suit in pain. Her eyes widened in complete shock.

"TK?"

It was TK! Eyes still fixed wide on her best friend, he shakily sat up with only the support of Kari's frozen arm. There they were, sitting in the middle of the pond under the Odaiba Park, both soaking wet, and one wearing a bear suit. Kari's head pounded in confusion and frustration.

"Wwhat the hell is going on?" Kari yelled, smacking TK on the arm, "Y-you scared the living daylights out of me!"

"W-what did you think I was?" TK moaned, rubbing the back of his head.

Kari blushed and tensed down a bit before answering, "….A rapist murderer bear."

TK turned his head to finally stare at Kari. He blinked at her, caught off guard with her answer. He was giving Kari the most confused, yet innocent, look on his face that made it harder for Kari to bear. She felt so embarrassed; the increasing redness on her face proved it. A small curve formed onto his lips, catching Kari's attention. She raised a brow. His smile started to grow, and his body started to once again shake. Out of nowhere, and if it wasn't enough to scare Kari, TK burst out into laughter.

"A rapist murderer bear?" laughed TK, "Really, Kari? Oh my god, I'm such a fail!"

Kari's face turned hot in both embarrassment and anger, "Stop laughing you jerk! That was not funny at all! S-stop! You almost killed me!"

She splashed water on him to make him shut up, but it only made it worse. Still laughing, he splashed water back at her. Gasping, since the water was so cold, she continuously started splashing water towards TK. Unexpectedly, she eventually found herself laughing along with him. Feelings of being a child came over her. She was splashing water in a pond with her best friend. Just like old times. These were the moments that make everything worth it. The moment she spends with her best friend, the love of her life—nothing but happiness started to fill her heart. This is why they are best friends.

The laughter started to die off, and she found herself on the grass, sitting side by side with TK with their feet in the water. His bear suit was finally off, but his clothing also got drenched. Kari stared at TK as she squeezed the water from her hair. His face seemed content, but at the same time, a bit disappointed. TK patted the bear head that rested on his lap and let out a huff.

"So much for the plan," TK said quietly, staring at the bear head dully.

"What plan?" Kari asked, bewildered.

TK sighed and placed the bear head aside. He lifted up on knee and rested his arm and head upon it before locking his eyes with Kari. A sudden flutter was felt in her heart as she stared into his cool, blue eyes. He truly was a handsome one. A soft, gentle smile formed upon his lips as he continued to stare.

"You're really beautiful, Kari."

Kari's heart jumped. What a sudden change of topic! He still stayed in the position, staring deeply into her eyes. Her face grew redder every second that their eyes remained locked. She looked away embarrassingly and ruffled her hair.

"D-don't change the subject!" Kari stammered, trying to get her heart to calm down, "What is this plan you are talking about? D-dressing up like a bear and scaring me to death?"

TK chuckled at the sight of his best friend. He then laid down on his back, face towards the blue sky. He stretched his arms behind his head and took a deep breathe. Kari still didn't look over at him, but she could feel the negative vibes coming off from him. He was starting to feel a bit down, not because of the plan failing, but because of realizing how much his best friend went through all this time just for him to get a girl. He felt so ashamed. TK let out another sigh and covered his eyes with one arm.

"I don't understand how you were able to do all this," TK said a bit sadly, "Buy flowers, make notes, dress up as a bear for crying out loud—just for me to get a girl and be happy. If only I had known you were going through so much trouble…!" TK's let out a shaky sigh to relieve his frustration, "I-I'm sorry. I feel so bad."

Kari winced at the feeling of his guilt, "Bad? Why would you feel that way?"

"You know why," TK said in a cute, little whine, "All these years, you've done things like this for me and selfish ol' me didn't realize how much it must have hurt you. And for you to go through all this trouble just for me, I don't know. I feel like I've failed on my part as a best friend."

"N-no!" Kari exclaimed in her defense, finally looking over at her friend laying beside her, "Never, EVER feel that way! TK, you are the most amazing person ever. E-especially to me! A-and even though I never understood how someone as ditzy and lame as me got so lucky to even be given a chance to get so close to a guy like you, I am so blessed that you are my best friend! You've…never failed me."

Kari suddenly found her throat dry from the rush of emotions that just came crashing down on her, but she continued, "You've done so much for me. You protect me, take care of me, and sometimes you treat me like a baby and I-I know I always throw a fit about that b-but I really do love it. And you probably don't even realize it, but just your smiles, your dumb laugh, those good morning calls, those days where you decide to spend the whole day with me to do nothing, our Odiaba Café tradition, it all makes me so happy. I wake up every morning excited because I know you'll be a part of my day. H-happy is an understatement when I'm with you."

Kari took a deep breathe as an attempt to settle down and continued, "That's why I keep doing this to myself. B-because I'm afraid of losing something so great. W-which is why I always want to make sure you are happy with me as I am with you. I'm happy when you're happy, TK. A-and t-that's why I did all those things! Y-you don't know how scared I was when you asked me out. I got so afraid that after the rejection, things would be so different between us and t-that you wouldn't like me the way you did before. I hurt you. A-and I tried harder to make you happy again by doing all those things for you. You deserve to be happy. I didn't want to lose you. I…I didn't want to lose my best friend."

Unexpected tears started falling from her eyes, and she couldn't find enough will-power to try to stop. Her feelings were finally pouring out, and she had no intentions on making it stop now, "M-maybe that's why I'm refuse to let my true feelings show around you. I've always loved you. I would always beat myself up for not saying yes because I waited for that moment for so long. But seeing how our friendship stayed strong even after the rejection, I d-didn't want to risk losing that. Losing our friendship. It's already so strong, s-so great. I…I don't want things to change between us, and I-I'm scared, okay? I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared."

Kari stopped for a breather, and began wiping her eyes boyishly. She couldn't believe everything she just said to him. Everything just poured out, and she wasn't able to stop herself. She realized she went way off topic after her first response, and she couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Knowing that staying quiet wasn't going to make things any less awkward, she wiped her face, looked away and gave in another sigh, "J-just, never feel that way, okay?"

There was no response. Kari waited a few seconds. Still, no response. The silence between them was both suffocating and irritating, considering Kari just poured her heart out to him. She slowly peeked back at her best friend, who was still laying down with one arm covering his eyes. She twitched angrily. Kari turned back around and roughly poked him.

"Oi!" Kari said, annoyed, "Y-you better not be asleep, or else I'll…!"

"I love you."

Time stopped. Everything just seemed to freeze. Once again, the only sound filling the air was her heartbeats and the now gentle breeze that blew around them. Kari stared at TK in awe. TK, who was oddly since in the same position, finally confessed to her. Countless of times she heard TK tell her he loves her, but this time was different. This time, it wasn't the love shared between friends. This time, it wasn't the 'best friend love' that would be expressed out of habit. No. This time, it was the hidden love that finally found it's way out of denial, doubts, and heartache. This time, it was real.

Kari's body refused to move. Her eyes stayed fixed upon the boy who finally confessed his love to her. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Both her mind and heart was racing. Feelings of both relief and happiness came to her, but she at a loss to express it. TK, much to Kari's surprise, let out a small laugh.

"I am so nervous right now, Kari, you have no idea," TK laughed, feeling embarrassed, "All this time, I was trying to find a way to ask you out. Like, the right way. The café, the bridge, this bear costume—I really messed up. The whole thing was my plan to finally man up and confess. But since I dug myself deeper into this hole, I might as well save myself now before I mess up again."

A gentle smile found it's way to his lips, "I think I'm the lucky one. I'm lucky to have such an amazing girl in my life that I can call my best friend. It's sort of impossible for me to tell you how much I love you, because there's just not enough time in the world for me to express it. Which is why I took the risk, because I knew it would be worth it. I never stopped loving you, even after you rejected me. I was stupid for trying to seek love from all those other girls—they were all just shallow excuses for me to find a way to heal. I mean, yeah. I was hurt. But I never had the intention to give up on you. And I'm sorry it came off that way. I really am sorry."

TK's smile then lightened up, and Kari felt his optimism, despite that his eyes were still covered, "Ha, I really am lucky. My best friend is more than amazing. She's beautiful, smart, fun to be with, and she has a heart the size of the moon. There isn't a day I don't think about her. I feel as if my life has become so much worthwhile ever since I've met her. Every moment we spend together, I become more than happy. Honestly, if there's anyone I would want to fall in love with, it would be with my best friend."

Finally, he removed his arm from his eyes and stared lovingly at his best friend with the most breath-taking smile, "And I'm glad it's you."

Kari was dazed. Her body felt warm, and her heart felt like it was going to beat it's way out of her body—but this time, it was good kind of beating. Her eyes started watering, but they were tears that revealed nothing but pure happiness. A real smile finally found it's ways to Kari's lips as she stared at TK, who was laying there with the same loving look in his eyes. TK noticed her smile, and found himself feeling the same exact happiness she was. He reached out his hand towards her face, and softly wiped away her tears.

"I love you, Kari. Always have, always will."

Kari sniffled cutely and softly rested her cheek upon his hand. She stroked his hand, and smiled. She was still at a loss of words. She was happy, but she had to tell him something soon before it just ends up becoming incredibly embarrassing for him. TK looked at her expression and blushed. "W-was she expecting something more?" TK thought nervously, "Did I mess up again?" TK let out a silly groan and once again covered his eyes, but this time with both his arms resting upon his face. Kari blinked.

"I-I'm sorry if it didn't come off as romantic, I'm really not the best at th…"

His sentence was cut short once Kari slowly bent over and placed her lips softly upon his own. A sudden sensation traveled through both the teens as Kari removed her lips and straightened up. TK removed his arms from his eyes and looked at Kari in awe, who was as blushing madly. She stared at TK with wide eyes and soon covered them with both her hands to hide her embarrassment.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know what came over me! I—mmph!"

TK silenced her with yet another kiss, while gently removing her hands from her eyes. He kissed her delicately, and soon enough, Kari found herself kissing him back with an equal force. She closed her eyes and remembered what Yolei's instructed her to do. She thought of her and TK's friendship, their bond, and their love. Right then and there, finally understood what Yolei was trying to say.

Nothing was ever going to change. If they can overcome this—the drama, the heartbreak, the doubts— then they can overcome anything else that gets thrown at them. The fluttering in their hearts, the gentleness from their touch, the constant smiles that came in between the kiss—everything was perfect. The fear of losing her best friend vanished from her mind. No more hidden feelings, no more pain, and no more forced happiness. Kari was no longer scared.

Everything was finally where it was supposed to be.

FIN

It is 5 AM. Oh my goodness, how time flies when you're so caught up in something. Well, here's to an end of I Love You, BF! I really hope you all enjoyed the story. And much gratitude again to those who sticked along and continue to read and support my work. I'll do my hardest to come up with more stories to write, because I honestly do miss this.

Thank you all, again! Much love!

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