The truth. It bothers him.

If the last few days had taught me anything, it was that allowing feelings to fester would only cause trouble. After all, this was how Amy and I had gotten into our blow-out fight, and I didn't want that to happen with anyone else. I wasn't sure how she'd take it, but Corrine deserved to know.

"I can't go on lying anymore, Corrine. I can't keep acting like everything's fine. The fact of the matter is, I don't like it."

She stared at back at me, a sad pout on her face, as though I had confirmed something she had both known and been fearful of. Since I had already gotten the ball rolling, there was no point in stopping now, so I continued.

"There was a time when I found you... intimidating. You were so unbelievably hot, and I was just... me. Just some hopeless virgin..."

"Ian..."

"No, it's true. Amy was right... I was an AV club loser, and maybe that's why it hurt so much when she said it. I though I'd changed, I thought I'd grown, and I was afraid that I'd been wrong... but I wasn't. I'm not the same guy I've been for the past three years. I'm no longer intimidated by you. I don't feel like some loser who has no shot with you. That's what all of you have done for me: you've helped turn me into the kind of man that has confidence in himself.

"I... there was a time where your teasing was the highlight of my day. I'd go home at night and think about how absolutely incredible you looked, every inch of you body burned into my memory... But now it feels different. Now it's like you're flaunting something I can't have, and it just bothers me, because the honest truth is that... I want you. I want you in every sense of the word. I want to pick you up, take you over to the bed and drive you wild as I fuck you senseless. I've always wanted to, but now I can't help but feel like it isn't such a hopeless fantasy.

"I've never said anything because of how much I value our friendship. I mean... you're the reason I'm here today. You're the reason I've changed so much for the better... but I can't help these feelings. I mean, look at you," I said with a smile, holding my arms out toward her. "You know how hot you look right now. There isn't a man alive that wouldn't want you, and I do. I want you.

"So... if I have no shot with you, if I'll never be more than just a friend; which is totally perfectly fine, by the way... I'd like you to stop with the over-the-top teasing. This way, I can accept it and move on and not let it become an issue between us. I've already fucked up my friendship with Amy. I don't want the same thing to happen with you."

A silence hung in the room, neither of us speaking for several moments. My knees felt like jelly, though I did feel a certain sense of relief having let all of that out into the open. Even still, there was the matter of her response, which I now nervously awaited.

"What... what's stopping you?" she asked softly, almost in a whisper, her eyes down at our feet.

"What?"

She seemed to be having trouble catching her breath as she lifted her gaze to meet mine, replying in the same whispering tone, "What's stopping you... from picking me up... t... taking me to the bed, and...?"