Really, really

Most seventeen year olds would find themselves put off by just how intelligent a one Beowulf Henrick Bennet was.  Most seventeen year olds would consider themselves idiots compared to the fourteen year olds intelligence.

But not Barney.

She liked the fact that he was smarter than she was.

His natural intelligence made him easy to talk to.  She never worried that she would say something and he would find it stupid.  He was smart, but he wasn't "In Your Face" smart.  When she first took the advanced class never had she expected to find a little fourteen year old sat in the seat next to her designated seat.  The intitial awkwardness she had felt though quickly melted away when she striked up a conversation with Henrick.  The friendship developed quickly and smoothly.

Late afternoon (heading into the evening) Barney was sat in the library opposite him, making notes from one of the many books they had piled up on the table.  They had paired up for a class project (although there were few actually in their class.  Henrick mentioned that a certain student by the name of Felix Almassy was enrolled in the class, but the male had never actually bothered to show up for any of the lessons, claiming that he didn't need to learn latin because it was "a dead and pointless language".  What Henrick hadn't told Barney, however, was that Felix then proceeded to demonstrate the fact that his symbiont made him a polyglot by speaking in at least three dead languages - one of which was latin.) and were now busy working away in the library, but Barney found herself unable to fully concentrate.

With a sigh, she dropped her pen and then her head, letting out a frustrated groan as she buried her head in the dip between the pages.

"What's wrong?" Henrick asked, looking up and over the stacks of books laid out between them both.

Lifting her head, Barney focused her blue eyes over at her young friend.  Searching his face, she tried to form the right way to ask what was bothering her.  Henrick was only fourteen.  He didn't need to be bothered with tedious teenage problems.  But then again, he had mentioned he was seeing someone.  He had never expanded on that and Barney had never asked for more than what he shared.  When they weren't together, Barney had noted that Henrick was very close to that one particular student that rarely ever went to any classes - let alone the extra, after-school advanced latin classes.

She licked her lips before speaking.  "Have you ever liked someone but didn't know if they liked you back?"

"Oh yes, very much so." Henrick barely even paused to think about his response.

"Was this the person you're seeing?"

Henrick nodded.  "I liked them, even admitted to liking them, and they still didn't give away that they liked me back.  Just grinned lazilly and playfully nudged my shoulder."  Lifting the book he had before him, he hid his face from her, obviously hiding the blush that was creeping up over his face.  "I can't believe I'm telling you this, it's so embarassing."

She chuckled, shaking her head.  "It's okay, I know how you get all flustered when you talk about your partner - it's one of the reasons I don't pry."  She tucked a few loose strands of strawberry blonde behind her ear and resumed the conversation.  "So how did you offically get together?  Who asked who out?"

Still hidden behind his book, Henrick mumbled something that Barney couldn't quite catch.  Parting her hands and parting the books like an ancient religious figure parted a large body of water before reaching over and pulling down the book Henrick was hiding behind away from his face.  "N-Neither of us did," he muttered.

"So how did you know?"

"W-Well....We kind of just...kissed and then...uhm...kissed some more..." Henrick was turning a beet red and to offer him some comfort she released her hold on his book and he instantly pulled it back up to his face.

"Well, who initiated the kiss?"  Seeing how Henrick just blushed even more, Barney knew it wasn't him.  Grinning and gasping, she shook her head.  "Henrick, you let them kiss you?"

"It was my first kiss and...and I didn't really know what to do and he...." With a heavy groan, Henrick dropped the book onto the table and then - copying Barney's earlier action - dropped his head onto the pages.  "He just leaned over and kissed me and I really wanted it and kissed him back and it just kept going," he told her, voice slightly muffled by the book.

Propping her chin on her linked fingers, Barney leaned forwards on her elbows, looking over at her friend.  "You two haven't confirmed it at all, have you?"

"No," Henrick groaned, pulling his hands up over his head.  "We're just...Something in the middle."

"But it's pretty obvious now that they like you, even if neither of you have labelled your relationship you still both know that you're into each other."  She sat back in her chair, dropping her hands to her lap.  "And that's my problem.  I really like someone but I don't know if they like me back.  We do that whole 'playful flirting' thing in class, but I don't know if it's just on my part or his too.  We don't really hang out outside of classes either - except for that one time I found him naked in the girl's dorm stairwell..."

Henrick looked up, eyes wide.  "You...found him naked?"

Barney nodded.  "I'm not going to gossip about it, but basically he was drunk, there was a puddle involved.  I rescued him and left him in my room while I went to class.  I may have gotten in trouble for harbouring a boy in my room but I wasn't going to get in trouble for missing my classes; no matter how much I like him."  She smiled sweetly and leaned in again, lowering her voice as she leaned over the table.  "He's really nice naked too."

Henrick gasped at her.  "You peeked!?"

She grinned back.  "Of course I peeked.  What kind of person wouldn't sneak a look at what their crush looks like under their clothes?  Just because I'm saving myself for marriage doesn't mean I can't look.  It's only like seeing a piece of jewelry you really like but can't afford without saving up.  You look and admire, but until you're able to buy it then you can't touch it."

"I admire your integrity, I really do."

"Thanks." She smiled.  "But it doesn't help when I don't know whether or not he likes me back.  Do you think I should tell him that I like him?"

Henrick sat up and looked over at her, taking a few moments to obviously think about his reply.  "If just being around Felix has taught me anything it's that sometimes you have to stop thinking and just do without worrying too much over what could happen.  Sometimes you've just got to stop looking at things in an intellectual way and experience life first hand."

"You know, you've never actually said it was Felix you were seeing until now," she pointed out, including pointing her finger at him.  "I figures it was him though, you can see that he really likes you.  Even if you two haven't labelled your relationship, from what I can see you're obviously a couple."  Just as she was about to continue, the phone in her pocket buzzed.  Pulling it out, she looked at the screen and smiled.  "And once again he goes and confuses me."

"What's he said?"

"That he really likes me," she replied, still smiling as she sent her reply back to him.  "I think he's drunk again.  Last time he sent me a text like this I helped him back to his room and built him a pillow fort to keep him safe on his bed incase he did anything drunkenly stupid like falling.  He said I'm really good at building pillow forts."

"Maybe he does like you?"

"We're just friends.  I'm just some geek with telekinetic powers.  I'm just the girl who helps him with his homework and sits with him in class.  He'd never liked someone like me as more than just a friend.  Boys like him don't like smart girls."

It was Henrick's turn to reach over the table, placing his hand over her free hand.  "Tell him you like him."

"I did," and her phone buzzed again.  "And yeah, he doesn't get it."  She held up the phone to show the reply she had recieved as she sighed.  "I guess you're right though - I should stop thinking about it and just go for it.  Do you think I should kiss him?"

He nodded his reply and Barney made up her mind.  When she next saw him outside of class (and sober) she was going to let her crush know that she liked him.  Hopefully a peck on the cheek would be enough to let him know that she liked him.  Sitting back in the chair, her homework forgotten, she stared down at the inital text message.

He really, really liked her.

Did that really, really mean what she hoped it meant?