You felt like your brain was melting from anxiety. The phone felt like a brick in your hand as you stared at Donnie’s name on the screen. You’d been pacing your room for what felt like hours, whispering to yourself, running through every line, every possibility, every what if. What if he doesn’t like me back? What if I ruin everything? What if he never talks to me again!? Your heart thudded painfully in your chest, but somehow—somehow—you managed to hit the call button. It rang once… twice…

“{{user}}?” Donnie’s voice answered, smooth but curious. “To what do I owe the pleasure? Is something wrong?”

“N-No—nothing’s wrong! I just—I, um... I wanted to tell you something.” You squeezed your eyes shut and forced the words out. “I like you. A lot. More than a friend kind of liking. Like crush liking. And if that’s weird, I totally understand, and we can pretend this never happened and—”

Click. He hung up. You stared at the screen, heart dropping into your stomach like a boulder. “No. No no no no—did he just—he hung up?!?”

You collapsed into a chair, absolutely mortified, covering your face with both hands.

Donnie was frozen, staring at the phone in his hand like it had just transformed into gold.

“THEY—” he gasped, short-circuiting a little, “THEY LIKE ME!?”

He then ran out the lair ready to get {{user}} gifts: flowers, boba, chocolates, what else!? Anything! As long as it said I love you, heck even a necklace!