Warmth: An Optional Bias Scenario
You glanced at your phone. 5 missed calls. Your heart sank and you quickly walked out of the restaurant to find a quiet place to call your mom and reassure her you were done meeting your friends and would be on the way soon.
As you ended your call you noticed that he had walked out too, probably to get some air. When you saw him you waved to get his attention. He waved back sheepishly and walked over to you.
‘Mind if I sit?’ He asked, motioning to the empty spot next to you on the bench.
‘Sure!’ You moved over to make space for him. As soon as he sat next to you, you could feel the mood change. He sat awkwardly, looking straight ahead in the most unnatural way and fidgeting.
A gust of wind blew in your direction. ‘It’s kind of cold, right?’ You asked. The way he was acting had started to make you feel awkward too. ‘I think I’m going back inside.’ You got up.
You turned around, ‘why what’s wrong?’
‘I need to ask you something.’ He stole a glance you at you before looking away. ‘Can you sit?’
‘Right now? It’s so cold though.’ You frowned
He sighed and started to unwind the scarf around his neck, eventually pulling it off, ‘that’s why I was giving you my scarf earlier, but you didn’t listen. Come here.’ He pulled you gently closer to him. He wrapped it around your neck, and carefully moved your hair out of the way. You pushed away his hand.
‘it won’t take too long right?’ You plopped down onto the bench again, turning to face him, swinging your legs on the bench. ‘What do you want to ask?’
He sighed deeply, before pausing a little.
‘What do you think of me?’ He said finally in a low voice
‘Hm?’ You moved your ear closer to him
‘I said, what kind of person am I? To you.’
‘To me? uhhhhh’ your teeth chattered in the cold as you thought about what to say, ‘You’re a really kind and caring person, a good listener, a good friend’
He nodded, ‘right and so do you like spending time with me?’
You narrowed your eyes at him, ‘did someone say something to you? Or tell you that they didn’t like spending time with you? Are they from our friends?’
He sighed, ‘just listen first, so you like spending time with me?’ He asked again
He swallowed, ‘I like it too. I... would like to spend more time with you.’
You sighed, ‘yeah that’s what we’ve all been trying to do, it’s hard to get everyone together-‘
‘No not everyone.’ He said insistently, his eyes glued to the ground now, ‘I mean just us... if that’s okay with you’
‘Would that even be fun-‘ you paused. Your eyes widened in slow realization ‘do you mean as a friend or....’ you mumbled out loud, immediately covering your mouth with your hand when you realized.
‘I can be more.’ He whispered quietly, his eyes flitting from one of your eyes to the other, seemingly seeking permission.
‘Like what?’ You found yourself asking, hoping to get him distracted by the question so he would at least stop looking into your eyes so earnestly
‘I can keep you warm, when it’s cold like today.’
He tightened the scarf cozily around you and covered your frozen ears with his warm hands that had been in his pocket. He moved close, you swallowed. He gently hit his forehead with yours, and then shyly moved back a little.
You could feel all the blood rush to your face. Your cheeks were burning
‘What do you think?’ He asked, his face still centimeters from yours.
‘I-Its’s warm.’ You said quietly, pulling up the scarf he had just wrapped around you so that it covered your nose. So you could hide from him.
He had been the nervous one before, but somehow, seeing you get all shy in front of him all of a sudden gave him some kind of confidence.
He smiled fondly at you, ‘no silly, I meant me~ what do you think about me... about what I said.’
You peeked over the scarf and looked somewhere else to avoid his kind and expectant eyes.
‘I want you to think about it, okay? Can you do that?’
You, who were normally full of words, could not find a single word to say and simply nodded, still avoiding his eyes.
‘So next time tell me if you’re cold’ he started to say sheepishly, ‘I can make you warm again like just now’
When you thought of how close he had been to you when your foreheads touched, your senses were blurred by all the blood rushing to your head. You were beet red for sure.
He noticed and giggled. ‘Maybe it’ll help you decide.’
