Evelyn's conundrum

You get up off of the couch and go down the hallway towards Evelyn's room. As you're walking, you take the opportunity to refresh yourself on her scores.

Pearson, Evelyn

Affection Score: 28 - I'd give my homework answers to you

Lust Score: 16 - I've fantasized about you once or twice

Recent Interaction - ???

Those three question marks at the bottom were a bit worrying, almost as if she didn't even know how to feel about the recent interaction.

You rapped your knuckles on her door, and she gave a very curt "Go away, Amy! I'm fine!"

"It's not Amy, it's me, Cody," you clarified.

There was no response after that, but you heard the doorknob click and saw the door slowly open slightly from the other side.

Affection Score: 35 (+7)

"I'm fine," Evelyn said. "But I appreciate you coming to check on me."

Through the cracked-open door, you could see her eyes were red, as well as what looked like a few tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Evelyn, you don't look fine," you said, sounding as respectful and sympathetic as possible.

"I-fine, come in, I'll explain it all," she relented, opening the door wide enough to let you in. After you were out of the doorway, she closed the door again, but didn't lock it. That was progress, you thought. She sat down on her bed, and you sat beside her.

"I know you and Amy must see me as the annoying younger sibling, always poking fun at the two of you..." she began.

"I'm going to cut you off right there," you interrupt, but you had a good reason for it. "Neither her nor I see you as the annoying younger sibling. I came in here to check on you, and Amy was even in favor of that too."

"Just...I know I'm not exactly the person you want to be around the two of you, especially now that you have the house to yourselves most of the time. That's part of the reason why I left last night, I didn't want to get in the way of the two of you. I'm not going to ask what the two of you did, and I really don't want to think about it, but I'm just trying to be out of the house so you two don't have to deal with me."

"Evelyn, I-"

"And it's not just that," she interrupted. "Sorry, I just need to finish my spiel. I-I don't know why I'm admitting this to you, my sister's boyfriend, but as you probably know, I've always gone to all-girls schools for my life. I...I get really jealous of the relationship you and Amy have. I want something like that. I know I must seem like a total asshole for that, talking to you about how I want to take you from Amy, but...I...I just can't help it."

Hoo boy, you definitely knew something like this may've come up eventually, but Evelyn was definitely not who you expected it to come from, especially when there were people like Summer and Heidi.

"I'm not going to say that I can fix this all," you start, treading carefully. "But I can say that I don't see you like that. I don't see you as a hurdle or a burden at all. I enjoy spending time with you. I know I didn't talk to you much or spend time with you much at all before this, but whenever I was over and you would make one of your quips, I genuinely found it funny. You have this sort of contagious spontaneity around you that's enamoring, and you're just fun to be around."

Evelyn didn't respond to that, and when you looked over at her, she was lightly sobbing. This must've been overwhelming for the young girl. You put your arm around her to console her.

"Thank you," she said, her voice almost a whisper. She clung onto your side, as if letting go of you would've undone everything.

You sat there, holding her small frame close to you as she cried it out. It could've been seconds, minutes, probably not hours, but still a significant amount of time that she took to regain her composure.

"I...I don't know how to put this," she said somewhat suddenly, looking up at you, "But can you just forget about everything I babbled about earlier?"

"I don't know about forget about it," you said. "However, I won't bring it up if you don't want to."

She continued to lean into your side, and the thought popped into your head: Did she see you as a brotherly figure or was this something more?

"How do you come up with these things to say?" she rhetorically asked. "It seems like you always know the right words, whether it's me, Amy, or even our parents, for the situation."

"I just tell the truth, Evelyn," you say.

"There's no way that all of what you said earlier was the truth," she said, still beating herself down.

"Evelyn, don't devalue yourself," you said, still with a sympathetic tone. "I tried that in high school too, and it didn't end up well. You're clever, you're spontaneous and fun, and you're a joy to be around."

"That's just it though," she said, still burying her face in your shirt. "I can't possibly be fun to be around when I'm a mess like this."

"I won't say it's my favorite thing in the world," you said honestly, "but you admitting your emotions and feelings is something that's important to do, and if you being like this is what's needed to cheer you up again, I'll definitely take it."

"You damn Casanova," she said, and you could imagine her face right now; a mix of mock disappointment and a smile. "Whatever, you can go back to Amy now, I'm all better."

"What are you going to do?" you asked with genuine interest.

"I'll get a head start on my work, I have a project due in a few weeks," she explained as she sat up again.

"Nonsense, come out to the living room," you said. "I only have a few days to spend with you until I go back to Georgia."

"You're such a bad influence on me," she said sarcastically. "Convincing me to procrastinate my work?"

"Oh, c'mon, you can't possibly tell me that you were actually going to do much work," you teased.

"Yeah, you're right," she admitted. "I was probably just going to open the document and then browse social media until suppertime."

The two of you stood up for the bed to go back into the living room. Evelyn wrapped her arms around your upper back as she pulled you in for a tight hug.

"Thank you again, for all of that," she said.

"Anytime, Evelyn. If you need me to remind you of how great you are ever again, I'll always be a phone call away," you assured.

Evelyn took that opportunity to stand up on her tip-toes and gave you a quick peck on the lips.

While you sat there, stunned at what she did, her face turned red and she said, "Sorry, I got caught up in the moment. Can we pretend that didn't happen?"

Pearson, Evelyn

Affection Score: 76 (+41) - I genuinely care about your well-being

Love Score: 32 (+32) - Sure, I'd go on a date with you

Lust Score: 35 (+19) - If I was drunk...

Evelyn's recent spike in scores is due to you caring for her in a time of vulnerability. Evelyn feels confident and comfortable around you.