A/N: This was just something cheesy I had to write for English class.

Jumping to Conclusions

He looked up from his textbook, watching expectantly as the door of the bus opened. She got on as usual, smiling and greeting the driver. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. She had not been here the past few days and he had been worried. He watched her walk down the aisle and sit in her usual seat, the window seat that faced away from the direction of movement, directly opposite his seat.

Suddenly she looked up and caught his eye. Anybody else might have looked hurriedly away, embarrassed at being caught staring; he merely looked at her for half a second longer, and then roved his gaze slowly over the other passengers. This tactic had been perfected over the last six months, two weeks and four days.

He looked back down at his textbook, reading but not absorbing a word. She could not be called pretty; her features lacked symmetry and her complexion was pale. But there was a certain character in the features that made up her face, a certain light in her smile. She was always the first to offer her seat to old ladies, to press the stop button for those who could not reach it.

He knew he should talk to her, get to know her. But he didn't know what to say, how to say it. Many times he had screwed up his courage and walked down the aisle towards her, only to quail when he had almost reached her, getting off at whatever stop they were approaching instead.

Some days she would read a novel, some days she would read notes and some days she would simply stare out of the window, her face a picture of serenity. Today however, she was rummaging in her bag, finally straightening, drawing out a box. She opened it - it was a box of chocolates. She got up, walking to the person nearest to her, a middle-aged woman reading her paper; he could not decipher the words being said, but it was obvious that she was offering the woman a chocolate. She continued to move through the bus, offering chocolates to the fellow passengers who shared her morning journey, most of whom she had never talked to in her life.

He almost stopped breathing. She was getting married.

An odd conclusion, to be sure. But it made perfect sense to his mind - how many times had he read something like this in some stupid chain email? The boy is in love with a girl on the bus, but can't get the courage to talk to her. Days, weeks, months pass, and still he does nothing. One day she starts distributing chocolates to the passengers, and he learns that it is to celebrate her approaching wedding to someone else. He is heartbroken, but cannot do anything except wordlessly accept a chocolate when his turn comes.

He blinked rapidly, turning his attention back to his book, trying to actually process some of it. Though he could have mechanically recited every word of the paragraph he was reading, his thoughts were elsewhere. What was he going to do? How was he going to keep his face impassive when she reached him? What other morning bus route could he take?

Before he had time to decide anything, he heard her voice as she stood before him. 'Happy Valentine's Day,' she said. He looked up slowly from his book, surprised at two things. The first being that she had not announced her wedding; the second being that she was not holding out the box of chocolates she had offered to everyone else - she was holding out a small, wrapped box apparently just for him. Her hand shook ever so slightly, and her smile flagged a little as she started to turn pink under his stare.

He finally took it, a slow, warm smile spreading over his features. She gave a shaky sigh of relief and he finally found the courage that had always been wanting. 'Would you like to sit with me?'

A/N: Please review!