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RICKY'S POV

I waited patiently in the silent waiting room listening to the sonorous, almost hypnotic noise of the air conditioner for around 45 minutes before the nurse called me back to Y/N's room.

"Did you guys give her the gas n' air?" I inquired as I obediently followed her through the bleak hallway. The nurse nodded and and gave me a tight lipped smile.

I cracked a smile at the thought of Y/N on laughing gas or anesthesia, but it slowly faded away when I heard my best friend's loud voice through the wall.

"Here she is! I'm going to just grab her appointment summary and you two should be good to go!" She exclaimed opening the door for me. I thanked her kindly and stepped in.

"Ricky!" She shouted and threw her hands up, dropping her ice pack in her lap. Her cheeks were a but swollen and her lips were chapped. When she yelled my name, I noticed the reddish pink bits of gauze she had on the insides of her mouth.

"Hey, how ya feeling?" I questioned. She threw her hands back in her lap and looked up at me, "I feel great." She started to lean off the chair so I shifted her over so she was laying down.

"Here, put this on your cheek." I passed her the ice pack that was slowly defrosting on her leg. She placed it on her cheek and her eyes went wide out of nowhere. "Hello?"

I stifled a laugh as Y/N misunderstood the icepack for her phone and had a little conversation with no one. I couldn't blame her though, the icepack they'd given her was almost the exact same size as her phone. "Yes, one pepperoni and one extra cheese."

"Who called?" Ricky inquired, pulling out his phone to save this moment. "Dave." She uttered simply, closing her eyes and tilting her head back.

"Who's Dave?" She peeped an eye open and stared at him blankly, "the pizza man." I let out a hearty laugh and shoved my phone back into my pocket.

We both turned our heads towards the door, where the dentist stood with her appointment information. "Well Y/N, you were very good! How are you feeling?" He said and handed me the packet.

"I feel like... a badass!" She exclaimed loudly, throwing her ice pack on the floor. The dentist gave a bitter laugh and handed Y/N back her ice pack, "You two should be able to head out now." The dentist sent me a smile, but as he exited I could hear him mutter "I don't get paid enough for this."

"Hold on to me, okay?" I reminded her as we made our way to the car. She seemed focused on the cracks in the pavement, so I squeezed her waist with my left hand to grab her attention. "Can you do that for me, angel?"

She nodded lazily and moved her hand that was draped over my shoulder into my hair. "Have I told you how much I love your hair?" She inquired, her eyes now glued to my messy, untouched curls as she ran her hand through them and slightly tugged on them for support as we approached the side of the car. "You're so cute."

Before I could respond, Y/N let out a loud gasp. Afraid that I had hurt her, I inspected her whole face worriedly and loosened my grip on her waist slightly. "Y/N/N, are you okay? Was I holding you-"

"You stepped on a worm!" She shouted, using her hand that wasn't entangled in my hair to point at my shoe. I slowly lifted my foot off of the concrete to view what she was talking about. I did in fact step on a worm. She watched me in pure horror as I wiped the bottoms of my vans against the pavement.

"Why would you kill him like that?!" She hissed, as I tried holding a straight face. "Don't worry, he's in worm heaven now. He can be with all his friends."
It took her a moment, but Y/N seemed ultimately convinced, her only response being a giant yawn that almost made the gauze fall out of her mouth.

Y/N entered the car with no problem, which surprised me because the dentist had said that it would be troublesome to get her strapped in, but she was too distracted and dazed to seem to comprehend what was happening.

I hopped inside the car and turned to her, prepared to tend to her every need. She brought the pads of her fingers up to her numb lips slowly and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Feels funny?" I inquired, watching her with endearment. She nodded, "I need chapstick." I reached over her legs to open the glove compartment and pulled out her cherry chapstick.

"Help, please?" She murmured softly, pouting her lips and I nodded, pulling the plastic cap open and leaning in to apply it correctly. I could feel a blush appear on my face at our close proximity.

"Ricky?" She laying in her seat that was slightly reclined and looked up at me as we began to pull out of the parking lot. "Yeah?"

"Would you date me if I was a worm?"

My cheeks suddenly began to heat up again and my mouth opened slightly at her silly, yet bold question. I tilted my head, keeping my eyes on the road. I could feel her now energetic eyes burning into my side.

"I... why do you ask?"

"Answer the question!" She demanded. I thought about it for a moment. "No, I don't think I would."

The atmosphere was filled with a deafening silence and I assumed she fell asleep, but then I heard her begin to silently sob at my words.

"No no no don't cry!" I begged, keeping an eye glued to the road as I tried to comfort her. "You'll never turn into a worm!" She ignored me and stared out the window tiredly, tears still rolling down her cheeks slowly.

The dentist had warned me beforehand about mood swings that occurred because of the anesthesia, but he never told me how to handle it. "If you stay human, I'd date you." She sniffled and looked at me hopefully, yet not 100% satisfied with my answer. She sat up straight and brought her chair up. 

"You would step on me if I was a worm." She mumbled groggily, and remained silent during the rest of the drive to her house.

"It hurts!" Y/N complained, clutching her cheek. I sent her a sympathetic look and passed her the painkillers the dentist had prescribed with a glass of water. She gulped the water quickly, finishing the glass and setting it in the sink. She turned back to me making grabby hands.

"Can you carry me upstairs?" She asked and I nodded making sure to grab the cup of applesauce and a spoon before picking up her delicate body and taking her to her room.

I placed her in her medium sized bed carefully, elevating her pillows and tucking her in as I sat beside her with the mushy snack in my hands, prepared to spoon feed her.

"Did you like it?" I inquired curiously as she opened her mouth and ate the last spoon of applesauce quietly. I assumed the medicine was beginning to kick in based off of her lack of energy and change in demeanor to what it was just 10 minutes ago.

Y/N's eyes met mine and she nodded, sending me a grateful smile, "thank you, angel." I smiled warmly at the pet name. I'd always call her angel, but she'd rarely use any nicknames for me.

She lifted her blanket up just a tad and softly whispered, "cuddles?" My heart melted and I nodded almost too eagerly. I placed the empty applesauce cup on her nightstand next to her phone and kicked off my shoes before laying down on her bed.

More often than not, whenever I stayed at Y/N's house to hang out, study, or have a movie marathon the day would end with us cuddling, but she'd always ask to cuddle so shyly, as if she was afraid that my answer would change the next time. How could they?

She turned on her side and I wrapped my arms around her frame to spoon her. We stayed like that, silent and peaceful for a few minutes until Y/N spoke up.

"Ricky." She whispered, not moving an inch. My head perked up but my arms stayed around her. I hummed out a response, looking down at her.

"Can I tell you something?" She said in a hushed tone, as if she was about to tell me a secret. I played along and nodded, expecting a joke or a witty remark.

"I like you," she whispered, "in a more than friends kind of way." My eyes widened and my jaw went slack for a moment, trying to process the few words she said and figure out how I would respond.

"You do?" I whispered back. I could feel her head move up and down lazily. "Mm. I dream about you every once in a while." She paused before speaking up again, "I hate it when the dream ends." She added with a tired smile, playing with my fingers that were wrapped around her waist.

"I wish that we could be together." It's like my whole body froze and I had no idea how to move or reply.

Would she even remember this in the morning?

Does she even know what she's saying?

I figured that the medicine that she took earlier and the pain she was feeling was making her loopy and confused, but when I heard her soft snore I realised I had run out of time to confess my undying love for her. This just left me alone with my thoughts, that were coming at me at 100 miles per hour.

I have to wait until tomorrow to tell her. Should I  tell her?

I snuggled my head closer to her and placed a chaste kiss to the back of her head, sleep taking over me gradually.

I will tell her.

N O T E !
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