Around midnight, I heard something hit my window and realized that Emma was trying to get my attention.

Seeing her after all these years had brought back a lot of memories that I didn't even know I still had.

Wanting to make sure Emma was okay, I got out of bed and opened my window to find her sitting next to her own window.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. I just thought we could talk."

"Okay," I said hesitantly. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Us."

"Us?"

"Yeah."

"What about us?"

"Maybe I should come over there, and we can figure it out," She said without giving me the chance to answer. Before I knew it, she was climbing out of her room and into mine.

"What are you doing?" I asked once she was fully inside.

"This," She said before kissing me. I instantly pulled away from her.

"Wait, Emma, we can't," I said, holding her arms.

"Why?"

"Because of Alani," I said truthfully after hesitating.

"She told me you weren't sleeping together."

"She lied," I said as Emma's face fell.

"She doesn't have to know."

"Emma-"

"I'm serious," She said.

"Emma, the answer is no," I said.

"Because of Alani?" She said.

"Yes."

"Are you in love with her or something?"

"Yes," I said without thinking, and once it was out there, I realized how true it actually was. Suppressed feelings were coming back to the surface and exploding around me as I looked at Emma.

An intake of breath from the hallway pulled my focus away from Emma and landed on a shocked Alani.

I just said I was in love with her, and she heard. The situation was still processing in my head as Emma walked out of my room, rolling her eyes.

"Enjoy each other," She said, bumping Alani on the way out and leaving us alone.

"Did you mean that?" Alani asked, causing me to think. I had two options here. I could play it safe and tell her that I had only said that because I didn't want to hook up with Emma, or I could take a risk and tell her the truth. Even though the first option was more appealing, my heart ultimately led me to the second option.

"Yes," I said, walking toward her. She didn't say anything for a while as we stared at each other.

"What about not wanting to be in a relationship?"

"I'm ready," I said.

"Are you sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything," I said as Alani came up and kissed me slowly before pulling away.

"I'm in love with you too," She whispered, causing the corners of my lips to turn up into a smile. It was hard to kiss because we were both smiling so hard, so we eventually gave up and decided to hug instead. After a minute of hugging, we pulled away.

"So, you want to be official?" I asked.

"Yes, do you?"

"Of course," I said before looking into her eyes. "I never thought that I would be ready for a real relationship. I always thought that I would get bored too easily, but after these past few months, I realized I could never, ever, get bored of you."

"Are we really gonna try this?" She asked excitedly.

"We really are," I said, hugging her and knowing that I was never going to let her go.