No words are needed right now. The look on Ray's face speaks volumes. I was more than willing to hear what he had to say. If it was anyone else, I would've screamed and cried and told him to get out. But when you know you didn't do anything wrong, there is no need to do that. 

You just hear out what the other person has to say. No matter how badly they hurt you. But whatever comes out of his mouth can either hurt our relationship even further, or help seal the crack that he put in our relationship.

"Sophia," he starts. I cross my legs and rest my chin on my hand. "Go on. I'm waiting," I say. He smiles. "I shouldn't be smiling," he says. He rubs the back of his neck with his hand. He always does that when he's nervous. It's adorable. "I don't even know where to start," he says. 

"How about, 'I was a total asshole to you and you didn't deserve it?' Well?" I ask. He nods his head. "That's a good start," he says, and I smile. 

"I was a total asshole to you, Sophia. More than I can ever describe. I probably don't even deserve to be forgiven after treating you like that. I feel like pure crap for doing that to you. You didn't deserve it one bit. You were being so damn caring towards me. You were just making sure I wasn't dying or I wasn't going to. You even apologized for being clingy even though you were just having my back. I don't know how you had the self control not to yell at me and scream at me," he says. I stand up. 

"Believe me. I wanted to. But I reminded myself that you had feelings too. And deep down, I knew you didn't mean them. Why? Because one, the doctor said irritation is going to be pretty darn common. And two, you're Ray. You will apologize even if someone else stepped on your shoes. I knew you didn't mean any of them. But I was still hurt by the cheating accusations," I say. 

Ray's face falls. "I know. Gosh, I feel like an idiot. Especially with Matthew? I still mentally slap myself. I find it amazing how I didn't realize that you were his cousin. You guys look so alike," he says. 

"I told you so!" a voice says outside my door. Oh, come on. I already know who it is. "Sera, were you spying on us?" I say, annoyed. "Um, no. I dropped my pen here and I overheard that piece of conversation," she says. I shake my head. "Yeah, right," I say sarcastically, and we both laugh. 

Ray looks back at me to continue his apology. "Anyways, I feel so bad. I shouldn't have accused you of cheating. I should have at least asked you who Matthew was. I'm so sorry, Sophia. I'm so damn sorry," he says, hanging his head. I smile. 

"Alright, Ray. I'll admit this, too. I would have gotten jealous had I seen you kissing another woman and I didn't know who it was. But, I would have at least given you some kind of explanation as to who it was. You just cutting me off and assuming I was cheating was pretty low," I say. 

Ray hangs his head. I sigh. He's so cute when he's apologetic. "But since I get where you got the cheating allegations from, I'm willing to put this behind us," I say. Ray's head raises and his eyes widen. "Really?" he asks. His eyes light up. 

I nod. "Really," I say. He laughs a little. He hugs me, picks me up, and twirls me around. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Sophia," he says, and then he puts me down. I smile. "But, you have to let me do something," I say. "Anything, Sophia," he says. I smile. "Okay, arms at your sides," I say. I adjust his head so that it's straight. Then, I raise my hand and slap him across the face. 

He takes his hand and rubs the side of his face. "I guess I deserved that," he says, and we both laugh. "But seriously. That was the fourth time that I was slapped in the course of two days," he says. I raise my eyebrows. "I know Sonia slapped you once. Who did the other two?" I ask. "Pete and my mom slapped me the other two times," he says. 

"I get your mom slapping you. But I didn't expect Pete," I say. "I didn't expect you to slap me either. You slap hard for someone so tiny," he says. I look at him, offended. "5'4" isn't tiny, Raymond," I say. He smiles. "For a 5'9" guy, you're pretty short in my eyes," he says. I raise my hand. 

"Oh, you want another slap of sense? If you say so," I say. He grabs my wrist. "I was joking, Sophia. I'm sorry," he says. I smile. "You're forgiven," I say. He sighs. "Alright, I'm doing this," he says, and before I can respond, he presses his lips onto mine. Only this time, this kiss is so different. 

He's savouring me. He is kissing me like it's the last thing he's ever going to do. He's kissing me like he will never kiss me again. And I love it. Eventually, someone clears their throat really loudly. We break apart and look at the door frame. Anthony is standing there. He's leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. He's looking at us with one eyebrow raised. 

"Do I not get any credit for this? I mean, I did help you guys get back together," he says. His question immediately reminds me of something. "Speaking of which, what happened? Anthony said that he was going to do something, but he didn't specify. What was it?" I ask. Ray smiles nervously. 

"Do you want to tell the story? Or should I?" Ray asks. "We'll trade off. I went over to Ray's house, obviously angry because he accused you of cheating. I, of course, wanted to clear your name. So I went, and his mom answered the door. She, of course, looked very surprised. So I asked to see Ray, and he came out," he says. Ray then continues. 

"So I went outside because my mom said I had a visitor. When I did , I saw Anthony there. And let me tell you this. If looks could kill, I would have been dead instantly. He was standing there, with his arms crossed, with a glare that could kill dementors," he says. I raise an eyebrow. "You can't kill dementors," I say. Ray nods. 

"Exactly," he says. Anthony then continues. 

"Basically I told Ray that you would never cheat, ever. He, of course, didn't buy it. I explained that Matthew was our cousin and that he was visiting us for the first time in years. He still didn't buy it. I remembered that you had brought Ray over one time and Uncle Rafa was visiting us at the time. He had brought Matthew with him for vacation since he really needed one. You introduced Ray to Matthew, and such. I reminded Ray of the incident, and he remembered immediately. I also then asked him, 'why else would you and Matthew look so alike?' You've got the same brown eyes and the same smile. Honestly, you have to be nearly blind to not see the resemblance," Anthony says. 

"So then, Anthony offered to drive me to your house to sort this whole mess out. Basically, I told my mom where I was going and then he gave me a ride. And here I am," Ray says. I walk over to Anthony and give him a hug. "Thanks, Anthony," I say. He hugs me back. 

"Of course, Sophia," he says. As we're hugging, I can hear another knock. Anthony releases me, and I look over. Matthew is there, with a nervous look on his face. "Hey, Sophia. Can I come in? Am I intruding?" he asks. I shake my head. "No, of course not. Come in," I say, and he steps inside my room. 

"Ray, I think you've already met Matthew," I say. Matthew holds out his hand. "It's nice to meet you again, Ray," he says. Ray takes Matthew's hand and he shakes it. "Likewise. I'm really sorry about dragging you into this whole mess. Really," he says. Matthew smiles. "It's cool. I would have probably done the same thing," he says. They stop shaking hands. 

"Nah, you wouldn't have. What I did was plain out stupid. I don't think you're that dumb," Ray says. "I'll take that as a compliment," Matthew says, and they both laugh. "Well, no one is going to introduce me? Wow," a voice says. The next thing you know, Sera is walking in my room. 

"I almost forgot. Ray, I don't think you've met Serafina. Well, at least until now," I say. Sera shakes Ray's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Ray. First of all, you can call me Sera. And second of all, Sophia, you got really lucky. He's hot," Sera says. I step on her foot. 

"Ow! Why did you do that?," Sera asks. "First of all, he's taken. And second of all, you're basically flirting, Sera. Not cool," I say. Sera sighs. "Fine. I'm sorry," she says. I smile. "We should let them talk a little bit more and sort things out a tad bit. We'll leave you guys alone," Anthony says, and everyone leaves. Ray sits on my bed. I sit down, and I rest my head on his shoulder.

 He puts his arm around me and moves in closer. I sigh. "Sophia, can I ask you something?" Ray asks. I nod. "Duh. I'm an open book," I say. "I've been thinking lately, and I realized something. I haven't taken you out on a date. I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask you. And I don't think right now can be any more perfect," he says. 

My eyes widen and I lift my head off of his shoulder. "Ray, I don't want you to think that this is the way to earn my full forgiveness. I already said I had completely forgiven you. I don't want you to feel guilty," I say. He smiles and shakes his head. 

"Nonsense. I actually couldn't be even more sure. I was actually thinking of asking you this week. So, the timing isn't more perfect. What do you say?" he says. "I say, 'Hell yes. I'll go on a date with you,"' I say. Ray's eyes light up. 

"That's the best news I've heard all week. How does next Friday at 5:30 sound?" he asks. I nod. "That's perfect," I say. He scoots in closer to me and cups my face. "I guess I'll see you next Friday then. And we'll go on our first date," he says. By this time, I'm redder than a tomato. 

He lets go of my face. "I have to go. I promised my mom I wouldn't stay too long. See you tomorrow," he says, getting up. "See you, Ray," I say, and he walks out of the door. Now, at this point, all I have to do is wait. Because the perfect day is about to come next Friday. 

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The perfect day is about to come, Sophia. Do you think Sophia should have forgiven Ray? Let me know in the comments.

Hey everyone! Hope you all started your New Year great! I hope this chapter made it better. Yes, I decided to be nice and to start off the year on a good note. I feel good doing this. 

On an unrelated note, I am really excited for next week's chapter. It's going to be awesome, and I think you guys are going to really like it. 

That's pretty much it. Hope you guys liked this chapter! 

Please vote/comment/share/message/follow if you guys like my work! See you all next Sunday with another chapter of I Never Imagined! 

Love you guys, 

S.V.T.S.