My Teddy Bear

5

As we walked into the arcade, Matt suddenly appeared out of nowhere and approached us with a concerned look on his face. "There you guys are, we were looking everywhere for you guys," he said, relieved to see us. Maya, who was standing next to Matt, immediately rushed over and gave me a warm hug. "You had me worried," she said with a relieved smile. Feeling guilty for causing them to worry, I quickly apologized for our sudden disappearance. "Sorry, guys, we went out for a walk," I explained, hoping to ease their concerns.

Nelson's stomach rumbled loudly, interrupting our conversation. "Anyway, can we go eat? I'm starving," he said. Chris nodded in agreement but added, "We can, but unfortunately, it's too late to go to the restaurant we wanted to. Do you have any other places in mind or should we try finding something nearby?" Nelson rubbed his stomach and said, "I'm fine with anything, I just need food."

Max showed us his phone as we searched for a place to eat nearby. He had found a pizza place with a rating of four and a half stars, which he suggested we should go to. The rest of us agreed, and we headed out to the pizza place. On our way there, I received a text message from Maya.

Wifey 💍
Soo, what were you
and Nelson doing?

Wifey 💍(Me)
Nothing, we just went for a walk.

Wifey 💍
REALLY, that's it? Come on, you like this man, and you won't make a move on him.

Wifey 💍(Me)
Well, I don't know if he likes me, and it's the first day, calm down.

Wifey 💍
You didn't do anything.

Wifey 💍(Me)
Well, we were holding hands, that's it.

Wifey 💍
HOLDING HANDS.

Wifey 💍(Me)
He started holding my hand, and it was comforting to walk with him.

Wifey 💍
😮.

Wifey 💍(Me)
Shut up!

As I sit here, thoughts of telling Nelson how I feel are racing through my mind. I'm not sure if I should tell him how I feel about him or not. On the one hand, I don't want to miss this opportunity, but on the other hand, I don't want to risk losing him as a friend. I still have a few days to decide, but I know that if I'm going to do it, this is the time.

When we arrived at the pizza place, Maya, Max, Jaime, and I quickly headed to find a table while the others went to order food. As we were settling in, Max asked us what we had planned for the following day, and we started discussing our options. "Food's here," Jaren said with food in his hand, passing it out to us. After they passed out all of the food, we started throwing out ideas of what we wanted to do tomorrow.

After we finished eating, we decided to walk back to the hotel because it wasn't that far away. While walking, Nelson grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the others.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked with a confused expression.

"You'll see," Nelson said, grinning.

I followed Nelson for a couple of streets till he stopped in front of a bar. "Why are we at a bar?" I whispered.

He didn't say anything and took my hand, leading us inside. When we got in, I was in utter shock. The bar looked like it was straight out of Beauty and the Beast. "Do you like it?" he said with a grin.

"Of course, I love it! You remember that Beauty and the Beast is my favorite movie," I said with a smile on my face. Butterflies erupted in my stomach at the thought of him remembering my favorite Disney movie.

"How could I forget? On stream you would play the music and sing the lyrics. You knew every word to all of the song," he said, taking my hand and leading us to a table. While we were in the bar, Nelson and I talked and tried the themed drinks.

Nelson and I were having a great time at the bar, chatting and catching up. We ordered a round of drinks, and before we knew it, we had a few too many. As responsible adults, we decided it would be best to call an Uber to take us back to the hotel.

While waiting for the Uber, I turned to Nelson and thanked him for bringing me to this bar. He smiled down at me and said, "It's no problem, I'm just happy you like it." I couldn't help but feel grateful for his company throughout the night.

As we continued to wait, I see Nelson looking at me with a smile. I began to fidget with my face, wondering if there was something on it. "Why are you smiling? Is there something on my face?" I asked Nelson.

He chuckled and replied, "No, there's nothing on your face. I just wanted to tell you something."

Before Nelson could share what was on his mind, we were interrupted by the sound of the Uber driver pulling up. We quickly got into the car, and I remember feeling a wave of exhaustion hit me. The combination of alcohol and a late night was catching up to me, and before I knew it, I had dozed off.

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