Casey's smile dropped. "You're wrong about that. I'm sure I'll let you down sooner or later, no matter how hard I try not to. I'm a disappointment so it's inevitable."
"Why do you think you're a disappointment?" Vera demanded.
"Come on, Vera! Look at me! I can hardly string two words together. I freak out when I have to make a dentist appointment. I never went anywhere but school before I met you. And that's just the tip of the iceberg."
"You're talking fine right now. And it isn't a problem even when you aren't. Being anxious about things doesn't make you a bad person."
Casey sighed and ran a hand through his hair, momentarily brushing his bangs aside. "It makes me a pathetic one though. I'm not good with people. Never have been. It's safer for me to be alone so I shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place but I couldn't resist you. Now what am I supposed to do?"
Vera was vaguely insulted but tried thinking about it from his perspective. If he had been hurt before, he had absolutely no reason to trust that she wouldn't do the same thing, even if he did know her well.
She tried to approach this logically. It might make him see sense. She couldn't get emotional about it.
"Just keep doing what you've been doing. It's what made me like you in the first place. I guess being with me stresses you out but I find being with you relaxing. You're easy to talk to and it's nice knowing you always have my back. I'd like to have yours too but if you aren't ready for that, it's okay."
"It really isn't you, Vera," Casey tried to explain desperately. "It's just—"
"I know. You've been let down a lot so you have no reason to trust me. I get it. But I won't give up on you. You're my best friend. I like you and you like me so there's no reason we shouldn't be able to work things out. We've already been together for a long time in a different capacity. We'll be fine," Vera said reasonably.
"I do…I really do but I'm not good at this sort of thing."
"Neither am I. We can be not good at it together."
"You're a lot better with people than I am!"
Vera shrugged. "Not meaningful relationships though. All of mine are superficial except the ones I have with you and Tilly."
"I suppose you have me there. I don't have relationships period except for you and Kane," Casey admitted with a sigh. "Are you sure though? I don't want you to regret it."
"I could never regret choosing you."
"Okay then. I'll be your boyfriend. Just let me know if I'm doing anything wrong, okay? I don't want to upset you."
She smiled at him. "That works both ways, you know."
"You could never upset me! Confuse me, sure, but not upset me," Casey insisted.
"I guess we're good then. I'll go get our food."
Vera gave Casey another quick kiss and went next door to Heron's, relieved that she had gotten what she wanted even after being so ungraceful about it earlier. She knew he would be a good boyfriend. He had been a wonderful best friend already.
They already saw each other so much but that only increased once they were in an official relationship. He usually came with her to visit Tilly, unless he had something more pressing to do. Afterward, he would come over to Vera's house and they would usually watch a movie or read. Though watching movies usually led to making out.
She had originally planned to sell the house to help with Tilly's medical costs but with an extra person working at the shop, she was able to take on extra jobs. That sort of made up for it. The house was paid off anyway. The property taxes weren't too bad.
Vera wished Casey would stay the night but he said he had to get back to Kane so he wouldn't worry. Casey never wanted to get intimate either. He always pulled back when their making out got too heated.
She didn't want to embarrass him but after two weeks of this happening, she felt like she had to say something. "Is there a specific reason you don't want to do more than kiss me?"
He looked horribly embarrassed. "It's not you! I have a lot of shcars. I just…don't want you to see."
Oh. That wasn't the answer Vera was expecting at all.
"I'm sure they're not that bad—"
"Yes, they are. Maybe we could keep the lights off the whole time? Could we do that?"
"Sure."
Vera didn't want to do anything that would make Casey uncomfortable. So they went up to her room and she turned the light off like he wanted before kissing him. She could feel something strange about his skin as she rubbed his back but couldn't dwell on it for long. She was too happy to finally be doing this.
When they were done and she was blissfully curled up against him with her head on his chest, she couldn't hold back her true feelings. "I love you, Casey."
"What was that?" he asked faintly.
"I said I love you, Casey. It's okay if you can't say it back. I just wanted you to know, that's all. You're the most wonderful person in the world and I hope to convince you of that someday."
"I…I…" He was quiet for a very long time, hugging her almost desperately, before saying anything else. "I'm sorry."
He was apologizing? He had nothing to apologize for!
Vera needed to reassure Casey, even though hearing him so panicked hurt. She gently caressed his face. "Hey. There's nothing to be sorry about. Are you okay? Are you overwhelmed? Is there anything you need me to do?"
He held her tighter and mumbled into her hair. "Just be you. Just be you, Vera."
That was a strange request. It was easy to grant though. She sighed and began tracing circles on his arm, wishing he had given her something more concrete to work with.
"I don't know how to be anything else so I guess we're good."
Vera didn't quite know what to do with her boyfriend but she would figure it out eventually. He was too important to her to ever let him go.