"As long as I don't fall in Love..." // OxO // Romance // OPEN

"Fine. You?" He said, taking off his coat.

"I"m doing alright," she grinned at him. "Thank you for keeping your promise."

He nodded. "You're welcome."

"Aren't I much calmer?" she grinned to herself and twirled her hair around her index finger

He nodded. "I suppose, yes." He shrugged slightly.

"You want something to eat? I'll pay."

He shrugged. "Not really hungry."

(I almost called her Kana) Astra bit her tongue. Just be patient, girl. You got this. She smiled sweetly at him. "Well. Will you allow me to explain why I make a great friend?" She put her elbows on the table and did a Monika pose from DDLC and clasped her hands together.

(lol) he sighed. "Fine." He replied.

"Let me start off by saying that I am extremely helpful. I give great advice and I'm always ready to comfort others. IF you need some food? I got you. If you want to talk about stupid stuff? I got you. If you just want to yell at me? I got you." She grinned. "My friends always come to me for advice because I'm very honest. Which leads me to my next point," she stopped talking for a second and took a breath. "I'll always be honest and I'm very loyal. Once I'm friends with someone, I've always got their back." She was talking a mile per minute. "And I take great pictures of people. If you need a cool picture of yourself for Instagram, hit me up and I'll bend over backwards to take the perfect picture," she continued talking about why she made a great friend for the next 4 minutes.
"So, what do you think?"

Winter blinked, taking in what she had said. "Astra…I told you, I don't do friends. Agreed, you sound like a good one, but I don't do friends. For reasons I do not need to divulge." That, and he was worried he would fall for her. He was already feeling the tug of attraction, but knew he couldn't let it become anything more.

Her face fell. "Why won't you take a chance on it? You don't have anything to lose…" she trailed off.

I have everything to lose. He thought. "Yes, I do. I'm sorry, Astra." he said softly.

She put her hands in her lap and looked down at them. "Well…" She suddenly gasped, loudly, and looked up at him. "I could just stay by your side! Like a watchful guardian. All you need to do is acknowledge me when you see me." She realized that was a horrible idea after she said it. Oh well.

"No, I…" he sighed. "Please, Astra. I can't." he said softly.

Astra started to chew on the inside of her lip. "Then why even agree to meet me here?"

"I don't know! Because you wouldn't leave me alone, and I just wanted to go home to my cat!" he replied with a shrug.

Thus, giving me false hope. She sighed. "Listen, I don't know your life story. Clearly, you've been through some stuff if you're pushing me away so openly." She smirked at him. "But I want you to know that I won't back down."

Winter groaned. "Astra…" he shook his head slightly. "Please back down. You don't know what you're getting into."

"I don't care!" She retorted. "When I have a goal, I will achieve it."

"You don't know what you're getting into!" he snapped, standing. "You really don't!"

Her body jolted in both fear and surprise when he stood up. "So? I don't have much to do anyway! It's not like anyone is dependent on me! It's not like I have a life!" She defended herself with a panicky voice.

Winter shook his head. "Astra, I could lose everything!" he snapped. "Please leave me be!"

She stood up. "What do you have to lose?! You keep saying that, but I won't believe you unless if you give me a genuinely good reason!"

"My life!" he said, before he could think about his words. He inhaled sharply, eyes flickering. Shoot. Shoot shoot shoot. I shouldn't have said that.

She tilted her head. "How? How is that at risk?"

He shook his head, grabbing his coat and putting it on. "I can't…It's not…" he shook his head again.

"Oh, so you're leaving again?" She crossed her arms

"Yes!" he replied, heading towards the door.

She followed him. "Don't be such a coward!"