-Crypto-

I was nervous.

Well, no. That was an understatement.

Come on, Tae Joon. It's just one girl!

It was one girl, but she was also extremely pretty, intelligent, and funny!

Love was a complicated concept. You can't see it, or touch it. It's just there.

I never bothered with love. Mila had always teased me about it, and I knew that when she joined, she would come back to it. After I had gotten framed, I saw love as useless. I felt as if it didn't matter, since everyone would turn on you anyways. Yet here I was, thinking about Natalie in a way that showed that I loved her. 어리석었다.

Oh well. That wasn't important right now. What was important, was not upsetting Natalie by showing up late. So I got ready with a red and gold outfit which I was sure every other legend was wearing. Then, I texted her, asking if I could come.

There wasn't a reply. Oh well, I thought. She will see it and then reply. In the meantime, I switched my phone from silent to sound. (A/N Honestly, I feel like Crypto is like me, who literally puts their phone on silent for the purpose of no one finding it.)

It was three minutes before my phone made a sound. It startled me a little, since I was not used to hearing it. I looked at it and it was a message from Natalie, saying it was fine to come over. I went out the door.

I walked through the hallway, leading to Nat's door. A few legends passed me, most likely going down for breakfast. They were, as I thought, wearing red and gold.

I finally made it to Nat's door, after an excruciatingly long conversation with Elliot. I finally told him to shut up, and that I was going to Nat's room right now. However, that made him even more annoying. I then pushed past him. He followed me a little, until he got bored.

"Remember! Matches are cancelled today so you can spend the whole day, noon, evening, and night at your girlfriend's house without being intre-interp-irtrupt-stopped! You can spend all your time there without being stopped! Bye Cryppie!"

That was the last thing he said to me. I wanted to punch him, but that wouldn't really go well on our deal. I technically agreed to it, so I had to let him help me without stopping him.

I pushed open the door.

"Hello Nat, sorry I'm late. I was-" I stopped talking.

Natalie wasn't in my line of sight. I looked around for a bit. Then, I saw her.

She was crying, with the back of her chair turned against the door. I could hear her sobs, although they were muffled.

"Natalie? What wrong?!"

"N-nothing," she replied shakily. "I was just thi-thinking."

"Nat, You were crying. I'm know something's wrong. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but please don't try to hide your emotions," I pleaded, concern flooding my voice. I knew from experience that it doesn't end well, and I didn't want Nat to go through the same thing.

It was because I cared. Something odd for me to do.

"O-okay," she said sniffling. "I-I have- w-well-" she sighed "I can't do this."

"It's fine if you don't want to say," I said calmly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Remember, it's your decision. You're in control."

"N-no," she said. "I-I want to say it, It's j-just hard to t-tell someone."

"It's fine. Say it when you're ready."

She paused for a little bit. Tears were still running down her face, and she lifted her arm up to wipe them away. When she put it back down, I took her hand in my own. We looked at each other, and I smiled. She tried to smile back, but her emotions were keeping her from doing so.

"Okay,* she said a little more steadily after us staying like that for a bit. "I think I'm ready."

"Take your time," I said. I was used to comforting Mila, so this was the same thing, except I was more nervous about saying the wrong thing and losing Nat.

"O-okay." The stutter returned, and she took a few deep breaths. "So, I-I have f-feelings for O-Octavio."

Immediately, my heart shattered. I could feel it. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I had to tend to Natalie.

"Why's that a bad thing?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice even. I hated every second of it.

"H-he d-doesn't like me back!"

"I'm sure he does," I said. "You're extremely lovable. You're kind, smart, funny, you're the equivalent of Pathfinder!" Oh god. That was all the reason I liked her.

She muttered something. I couldn't hear it, but I could make out the words "not," and "smart."

"Come on," I said, trying to distract her. "Why don't we bake, carry out our original plans?"

"Sure," she said, wiping away her tears, seeming to have forgotten the past events, and now continuing in a cheery tone. "Why not?"

Throughout the day however, I was thinking.

Why did is seem impossible to be loved?

I could be liked, but I wanted to be loved. I had never felt what it was like, and I felt like it was impossible.

I wondered why.

Could I be the problem? Was it me that made it impossible?

Was I the reason I could never be loved?