*This is a direct continuation of Tangent 4*

 

The friends sit in silence for a few more minutes just soaking in what Love had just revealed.

 

Love looks down at the ground not wanting to look at her friends. She was mostly doing this because she was afraid of how they were going to react.

 

Violet taps Ash and Takeru on their shoulders.

 

“...I think we should leave…Let’s give them some privacy so that they can talk…”

 

Ash and Takeru nod and the three of them leave the room.

 

Now it was just Love, Maka, and Candi who were all awkwardly sitting in silence. None of them knew what they wanted to say.

 

A wave of guilt just washed over Love and she started crying.

 

“...I’m sorry…” Love managed to say between sobs. “...I’m sorry for ruining your podcast Candi…I didn’t mean to…”

 

Candi quickly sits next to Love and puts her hand on her back.

 

“...No, Love…you didn’t ruin it…If anything I messed up by asking such an invasive question.”

 

“...You…” Love wipes her tears with her sleeve. “...You’re not mad at me?”

 

“...Why would I be mad at you?” Candi cocks her head to the side in confusion.

 

“...I…I don’t know…” Love was still crying, but not as intensely as she was before. “...I’m…used to people being mad at me…I guess…”

 

Candi wraps Love in a big hug.

 

“There is no reason why I would ever be mad at one of my friends…” A small smile appears on Candi's face. “...You know…unless one of you becomes a villain and tries to take over the world, but what are the odds of that happening?”

 

Love giggled in response to Candi’s question.

 

“...I am sorry for asking you such a personal question…” Candi deflates a bit.

 

“...No…it’s fine…” Love tries to reassure her friend.

 

“...No, it’s not though…” Candi was starting to tear up now. “...One of the main reasons why I set up this interview with you guys was to figure out who you had a crush on…”

 

Love starts to blush a bit and hugs her knees against her chest.

 

“...I’m not completely clueless, you know…” Candi’s cry was now turning into a sob. “...I noticed each and every time that you blushed at either me, or Maka, or Violet and I got nosy and wanted to know which one of us you were into…”

 

“...Well, I can tell you that it isn’t Violet…” Love says with a sad expression. “...I told her that I like her a few weeks ago…and that is when I figured out that she was straight…”

 

“...I am sorry, Love…” Candi goes to hug her friend again. She was mostly done crying now as well. “...I didn’t know…”

 

“...It’s okay…” Love meekly responds.

 

They sit in silence for another moment before they both turn their heads towards Maka.

 

“...I’ve noticed that you haven’t really said anything yet…” Candi states.

 

“...Oh…” Maka responds while rubbing the back of her neck. “...I just didn’t want to interrupt your moment…”

 

The room is silent for a bit again until Maka speaks again.

 

“...So…Love, do you wanna…talk about what you said?”

 

Love gives a small nod.

 

“...Yeah…We probably should…”

 

“...Okay…” Maka thinks for a moment before she continues to speak. “...So…how long have you had a crush on…all three of us?”

 

“...Honestly…” Love thinks for a moment as well. “...For a couple of months now…before I met you guys I didn’t really…have many friends…and you guys were all so kind to me and supported me through everything…you are all just so nice and talented and funny…and pretty…” Love says that last part more quietly than the rest of the sentence.

 

Love starts to tear up a little bit again.

 

“...Everything that I…am not…”

 

“...What?” Maka walks over and sits on the other side of Love. “...You are one of the kindest people I have ever met…”

 

Maka wipes a tear from Love’s cheek.

 

“...You’re just saying that…to make me feel better…”

 

“...Why would I lie to you?” Maka says with genuine concern.

 

Love doesn’t have an answer to this specifically, so she pivots the conversation a bit.

 

“...I want you both to be honest with me…” Love puts her head down and stares at the floor. “...Do…do I still…look like a…man?”

 

“Of course not…What makes you say that?” Maka responded with a concerned look on her face.

 

“...Be…because…when I look in the mirror…all I can see is how masculine I still look…” Love is sobbing again. “...I FUCKING HATE MYSELF!”

 

Both Candi and Maka quickly wrap Love in a tight hug while she continues to sob.

 

“...You are a wonderful person…Why do you hate yourself?” Maka asks.

 

“...Sometimes when I look in the mirror…it makes me feel so terrible that all I want to do is crawl into bed and wish that I was never born…” She was crying so hard that she started to hiccup. “...WHY DID I HAVE TO BE BORN AS A MAN?”

 

Candi cuts into the conversation for the first time in a while.

 

“HEY!” She raises her voice. “You weren’t born as a man! You were always a girl!”

 

“...Then why do I look so ugly?”

 

“YOU AREN’T UGLY!” Candi yells in response. “YOU ARE ADORABLE!”

 

Love suddenly turns towards Candi in shock.

 

“...You…you think…I am adorable?”

 

“OF COURSE I DO!” Candi was crying again. “I CAN’T UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE COULD LOOK AT YOU AND NOT SEE ONE OF THE CUTEST PEOPLE THEY HAVE EVER MET!”

 

Love is taken aback by this. She didn’t know what to say.

 

Candi wiped tears from her eyes.

 

“...Please…” Candi said between pained sniffles. “...Please stop saying those things about yourself…because they aren’t true…”

 

“...But…but what about my jawline…and my wide shoulders…and my Adam’s apple?”

 

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT! THINGS LIKE THAT SHOULDN'T BE GENDERED!” Candi grabs Love by the shoulders. “The most important thing to me is that you are trying! It is true that you can only do so much, but the effort matters to me more than anything else…”

 

Candi looks at Love with a heartbroken expression.

 

“...So please…please stop insulting my friend…”

 

At first Love didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t used to compliments and she didn’t know what the standard response was for these kinds of things.

 

Eventually she sighs as she finds the right words.

 

“...Okay…” Love looks back at Candi. “...I can’t promise anything…but I will try to take your words to heart…”

 

Candi hugs her again. Love couldn’t tell you how long the hug lasted, but it probably felt a lot longer than how long it actually lasted.

 

“...So…” Maka brings up the elephant in the room. “...Can we talk about that other thing?”

 

Love nods.

 

“...I think the main reason I have a crush on you guys…is just because you were all so nice to me…and maybe my brain couldn’t rationalize this positive attention in any other way…”

 

Maka leans back on the couch and stares up at the ceiling.

 

“...You know…I am actually glad that you told us this…Better to have everything out in the open then for this to possibly cause trouble down the line…”

 

“...Yeah…” Love says while pressing her pointer fingers together with a blush on her face.

 

“...With that being said…” Maka sits back up and stares at the other two girls. “...What are we going to do about this?”

 

“...We don’t have to do anything if you guys don’t want to…” Love immediately says. “...I could just…bottle this back up and try to forget about it…”

 

“I don’t like that idea.” Candi responds. “You have been bottling way too much for way too long. I don’t want you to have to do that with anything else.”

 

“...What do you mean by that?” Love asks with a confused expression.

 

“...Well…” Candi stands up and turns towards the other two. “I already told you guys I was open to a poly relationship right? Also, we are all attracted to women here…so…”

 

Candi shrugs before continuing.

 

“...I don’t want to force anything, but I am just putting that out into the universe.”

 

Love blushes and hugs her knees again.

 

She and Candi look over at Maka to gauge her reaction.

 

The rebel was crossing her arms and looking away with a huge blush on her face.

 

“...Hey, Maka…” Love says with a soft voice. “...This is a safe space…if you have anything to share you can tell us…we won’t judge you no matter what you tell us…”

 

Maka sighs before she turns towards the others.

 

“...Is it okay…if I take some time to…you know…think about all of this…”

 

Candi and Love look at each other before turning back towards Maka.

 

“...Yeah…that’s fine…Take all the time you need…” Love responds.

 

Candi nods in agreement.

 

“...Thanks…” Maka rubs the back of her neck. “...I think I am going to head back to my dorm…”

 

She gets up to leave, but looks back at the other two one more time before doing so.

 

Candi and Love both give her a small wave.

 

Maka gives a small smirk and leaves the room.