Can I Stay Here Tonight?

After they left the pastry shop, Jackie was mindful and said her goodbyes. Even though Kane offered to walk her to the station, she rejected them and said she would be fine since it was still light out.

It was only mid-afternoon. The sun was a little warmer even though the air was still cold. Winter would soon be setting in, which would make walking around like this unbearable. “Shall we head back?”

“Mm… You were going to work on your song, right?” Stacey asked as she slipped her hand into Kane’s. 

“Yeah, I planned to work on it until later tonight. I know it will be boring for you.” Kane felt bad. He knew just sitting around was no fun for Stacey.

Stacey shook her head and smiled. “No, just being with others during the day and not worrying about the what-ifs is already good enough. You are working towards your dreams. And I will stand beside you the whole way. Seeing you work hard towards what you love makes me happy.”

Kane rubbed his head. He felt slightly embarrassed. They were not even going out, although they might as well be. But he did not want to rush things. Their current state was fine. He tightened his grip on Stacey’s hand and nodded as he said: “I am lucky to have such a cute little sister supporting me.”

“Hehe!” Stacey was all smiles. Being told she was cute made her happy. She leaned her head on Kane’s shoulder as they walked back to his apartment.

When they got there, Kane excused himself to go to the bathroom. He had Stacey return to his room. He did not actually need to go, but he did wish to up his music composition. If he was going to write, he would need to be able to write it well. But he did not want to look like a freak while pressing on air in front of someone who could not see his menu.

{Star System}
[Name]: Kane Woods
[Age]: 18
[Star Rating]: 0
[Current Mission]: N/A

[Status Points]: 0

[Strength]: 20
[Stamina]: 10
[Intellect]: 22
[Agility]: 10
[Dexterity]: 10
[Charisma]: 16

[Skill Points]: 0

[Skills]
{Singing (Lvl 2)} {Acting (Lvl 1)} {Martial Arts (Lvl 1)} {Cooking (Lvl 2)} 
{Music Composition (Lvl 2)} {Screen Writing (Lvl 1)} {Dishwashing (Lvl 2)} 
{House Cleaning (Lvl 2)} {Guitar (Lvl 1)}

In the end, he used all his points. The two skill points were enough to up his music composition from level 1 to level 2. He then added 2 of his 3 status points to intellect and the last one to charisma. Why he picked charisma, was mainly because he knew charisma was important when in the entertainment industry. He did not know how high he needed it to go, but he decided he would slowly up all his skills. Intellect, he wanted to get it to at least 30 as quickly as possible. After that, he would concentrate on strength and then stamina. He did not know how many points per mission he would get, but he figured he could slowly up each stat to 30 before starting back over with intellect.

After he finished upping his skills, he washed his hands and went back to the bathroom. Stacey was lying on his bed, tucked under the blankets. She did not hold back at all in his room. She would make herself right at home. She was not sleeping but lying there looking at him with a smile. Normally any boy his age would take this as an invite, but he was used to Stacey’s teasing, so he did not think too much about it.

“If you want to rest, I will try to be quiet,” Kane said as he sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at the girl whose small face was sticking out, staring at him. 

“No fun. A cute girl is in your bed, and this is all you say.” Stacey pursed her lips and put the covers down a little. 

“This isn’t the first time you have done this,” Kane replied with a chuckle as he reached over and pinched her nose.

“Humph!” Stacey stuck her tongue out before pulling the blanket back up. Kane was about to grab his notebook, which had all his lyrics in it, when he heard Stacey ask: “Can I stay here tonight?”

“Hmmm?” Kane turned and looked at Stacey in confusion. “You know your mother would never allow that.”

“No, she might, She just called me and said she would be working overnight tonight. Someone quit, and she was asked if she could cover. And my mom being my mom, she agreed.” Stacey sighed. She was really worried about her mother.

Kane also frowned at this. Working since early in the morning and then working overnight, is she trying to kill herself? “Is she allowed to take a rest?”

 “Ah yeah. Don’t worry, she is at home now since she is covering. But from the sounds of it, overnight gives double the pay, so she might end up trying to snatch the spot for herself, which means….” Stacey hated the idea of being home alone at night.

Kane thought for a moment before nodding. “If your mother says it is okay, you are free to stay here. I can sleep on the couch.” 

Stacey pursed her lips before shaking her head. “We can just share the bed.”

Kane, who had just gotten up to get a pen, froze. He turned and looked at the blushing girl and sighed. “Stacey, that might not be such a good idea. I am a guy, after all, and you are a girl.”

“So what? We spend all day together in this room as it is. Do you plan to jump me in my sleep?” Stacey asked. She knew she was being forward, but she wanted to snuggle with Kane. She did not want to do anything more, but she did not think she would mind if they did. She could tell that Kane had been holding back and not making any advances. She liked the status quo, but she also wished to get closer as well.

Kane sighed and sat on the bed. He moved closer to Stacey and put an arm on the other side over her as he leaned in closely, his eyes staring into hers. She could feel his breath on her face as he got closer and closer to the point that their noses were almost touching. She instinctively closed her eyes and was waiting for her first kiss, but all she got was…. “Ow!” Her eyes shot open, and looked at Kane, who was smugly smiling, staring back at her. “Why did you flick me!?”

“Because you needed to be flicked,” Kane replied with a sigh. He reached out and ran his hand through her hair as he said: “You shouldn’t tempt me. We should take things one step at a time.”

Stacey pursed her lips. She was trying to tempt him! But she also understood. If they rushed, what they had now might slip away. But his words gave her some comfort. “Alright. But at least sleep on the floor or something. I don’t want to chase you to the couch. I know you have small futons….”

Kane thought for a moment and nodded. He felt that would not be a problem. “Alright, then we will do that. But call your mother and get permission first.” 

Kana slipped off the bed and onto the floor before he opened his notebook to the song he was writing before. After looking at the lyrics, he sighed and decided to start over. It was just not coming along. It did not even sound good. He could hear Stacey behind him talking to her mother. 

“She wants to speak to you.” Stacey suddenly handed Kane the phone. 

Kane sighed and took it. He felt funny talking to Stacey’s mother about her staying in his house. “Hello, Miss Norland?” 

“Kane, I leave Stacey in your care. I might need to rely on you a lot more. If I end up working overnights from now on, I would not feel secure leaving Stacey at home alone at night. So if….” Stacey’s mother hated doing this, but she had no other choice. Kane had been treating her daughter very well. She really liked the young man. He was respectful and never did anything to make her daughter unhappy. She had also been in contact with Kane’s grandparents as well. So she knew he was a responsible young man. As a mother, she felt like she was a failure. She was always leaving her daughter in other’s care….

“It’s fine, Miss Norland. Stacey can stay here on nights you are working. You can call my grandparents to work things out with them. No, we do not need money. Yes, I am sure. But…. If you are making more money on overnights. You should think about quitting one of your jobs. Stacey and I are both worried about your health.” Kane had to bring this up. He was truly worried about her well-being.

“You are really kind, Kane. I will think about it.” She could not make promises, but she also knew that her body was not going to be able to keep up if things continued as they were.

“Alright. I will work things out here.” Kane hung up and handed the phone back to Stacey. “You can stay. She will call my grandparents later. But you really need to start bugging her during the day to quit one of her jobs.”

“I know. I have been trying for a while now.” Stacey sighed as she sat up and crawled across the bed, and hugged Kane’s neck. “Sorry, because of me, you were delayed from writing.”

“It’s fine. I have to start from scratch anyway.”