//------------------------------//
// Taking It Slow (Only Begun) 
// Story: Worth The Wait 
// by TLC 
//------------------------------//

                      






"Wait..." I told her, she walked towards me with her nearly exposed figure. "Rarity, wait."

"What is it?" Rarity said to me, her voice hushed to a near whisper. I stood in front of her, my knees shook and my claws twitched at the mere sight of her. I couldn't think, my breathing was still. 

"R-Rarity..." I tried, my voice shaking. "Don't you thing w-we're moving a little t-too..." 

She stared, her hooves sliding from her chest down to the floor with. She then leaned away from the door and walked. "Oh, I see." She said, I could feel the cold sting of disappointment hanging in her voice.

"It's just..." I tried speaking again, but she stopped me. She stood before me, a hoof placed on my shoulder.

"It's okay, Spikey." She chuckled. "I understand." She then swept me up into a hug, resting her head on my shoulders as I returned the gesture. 

We stayed like that, standing in the center of her bedroom in each others arms. As we hugged, my mind and heart were at each others' throats. My brain kicked me, my nerves screaming for Rarity's body. My heart, although wanting her in the same way, felt that we were moving all too quick. I thought back to the restaurant, my intentions were leaning towards me simply walking away before she confessed her feelings to me.

I was to decide who won the battle, and my heart took home the belt. 

After a while, we walked to the living room and sat on one of her strangely many couches. I sat while she laid over my lap, her hooves wrapped around my shoulders. It was peaceful, the only thing I could hear was her breathing. The only feeling was her heart beat. I then stared over at a lone clock sitting upon the counter, it reading ten to eight.

"I think I should start heading home." I said with a sigh. She stood away from me, giving me the most powerful of pouts.

"Aw, is it eight already?" She asked, turning over to the same clock. 

"Yeah." I said, scratching the back of my head. "So, um...would you like to...uh-"

"Of course, Spike." She said, walking with me to the front door. "I have nothing planned tomorrow after five. We can have a nice dinner here."

"S-Sure!" I found my nervousness return, accepting the date with increasing heart beat. "I'd love to."

Rarity smiled and nuzzled my cheek, a gesture I gladly returned. The feeling of her soft fur against my scales cause my face to burn with every hair. With that, we departed from the boutique and began our walk to the library.

I was sure Twilight would want to hear all about our little display from earlier.




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"Am I being selfish?"

"No, no."

"C'mon, Sugarcube. You're overreacting!"

"I can't be! I've never thought like this before now! I...I want to take it back..." She said, covering her face with her hooves. "I wish I could have said something else! Instead I pretty much threw him in to someone else's hooves."

"Did you mean it?" Fluttershy asked, placing her tea cup down on the table. Twilight sat beside her, and also beside Applejack. She had invited Fluttershy and Applejack over for some tea and a talk, but the visit had somehow taken form of a therapy session. Her mouth had been a grimace, a broken shell of the once perky smile of the bookworm.

"I...I did." She told her pegasus friend, wrapping her hooves around her sides to hug herself. "I did. I wanted to help him, the way he sounded so defeated. He cried, Fluttershy. I couldn't stand seeing him so sad, I just wanted to help..." She exhaled, letting a breath leave her lungs and her words with it. "What am I even trying to do?"

"I think you were just being there for him, Twilight." Fluttershy comforted. "You did the right thing, what you might be feeling right now is just the guilt of not telling him how you feel."

"But that's it!" Twilight shouted in frustration, startling the pegasus. "Sorry, but that's just it. He needed to go confront her, and if it works out, then she deserves him. He's been like that for weeks now, and I couldn't take another day of him mindlessly doing tasks. I miss my happy assistant, the one who would whistle as he swept, who'd keep me from driving myself crazy with studying, who would keep me company on nights where I couldn't sleep." She sulked, staring down at her saddened reflection in the long since cooled cup of tea. "Where did it all go wrong?"

Applejack let out a small sigh, sitting besides the crestfallen unicorn. "Twi, ya gotta stop beatin' yer-self up. If anything, maybe Rare will just play it off like she always does or-"

"Don't say that!" Twilight snapped, causing both mares to jump back. "Why would you say that? Why wouldn't Rarity accept him? That would be the cruelest thing, Spike would never bounce back from that easily." She rose from her spot at the table and began to pace the kitchen, her friends watching her with worrisome eyes. "But...what if it didn't go well? It would be bad...it would be my fault!"

Fluttershy dipped her head just as Applejack slapped a hoof to her forehead. "No. Twi, Ah don't think-"

Ignoring her friend's words, Twilight dug deeper into her now growing paranoia of the worst possibilities. "It would be my fault, guys! I put the idea in his head, I told him to pretty much lay their entire friendship on the table. Would...would he blame me if it didn't go well? Oh..." She slumped down onto the tiled floor, sitting back on her haunches and staring off into the living room whilst fighting the losing battle in her psyche.

Applejack craned her neck, hearing a satisfying pop. She rose from the table and walked over to her fallen friend, wrapping a comforting hoof around her neck and pulling her into a hug. "Look, Twi. Ah need to get back to the farm and put Applebloom to bed." She pulled away from the unicorn. "What Ah need ya to do is relax, okay? Ah'm sure every bad thing yer thinking right now is just you over thinkin' again."

Fluttershy walked over and stood beside the farmer mare, nodding in agreement. "You...you do have a habit of that."

Twilight looked back between her friends, eventually letting out her head fall and rising up from the floor. "Okay. I'll try. Thanks, Applejack."

"No problem, Sugarcube!" Applejack grinned, turning and hugging Fluttershy. "Ah'll talk to y'all tomorrow!" She called back, walking towards the front door, opening it and disappearing behind it. 

Twilight and Fluttershy stood in the middle of the kitchen corridor. The unicorn found herself then being walked back to the kitchen table, where she will be comforted by her friend as she holds back the waves of doubtful thoughts and negativity. 




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It was late into the evening by the time Rarity and I made it to the library, the night air was mildly cold. We walked close to each other, letting the other's heat protect us from the evening's nippy atmosphere. 

As we reached the front door, we turned to each other. Her face was barely visible in the darkness of the night, though I still felt our eyes connected. 

"Well." I began. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

To this Rarity smiled. "Of course, My little Spikey Wikey." With that, we shared our final kiss of the night and she turned to make her way back home. I watched her figure fade off into the pitch background of the sleeping town, letting out a deep breathe leaving me in a lucid state.  

I opened the front door with a click, closing it behind me. I fell back against it in a daze, my lips frozen with a smile. The warmth of the library caused me to shiver, and the small of tea filled my nostrils. Just as I walked from the door and past the kitchen, I glanced inside to see non-other than Twilight, but I was put off by Fluttershy sitting at the kitchen table with her.

"Hi, Spike!" Twilight said, levitating a cup to her lips and taking a sip. "How did things go with Rarity?"

"Well..." I began, but paused. My mouth closed and I laughed. "It went okay."

Twilight stared. "Just okay?"

"It was alright." I said, waving a claw dismissively.

"Is...okay." She deadpanned. "Me and Fluttershy were just talking about how you and Rarity, so naturally...I would think you would..." 

Spike turned to Twilight, an eyebrow raised. "Would what?"

Twilight sat their staring at her assistant, feeling all eyes on her as she began to shake her head quickly. "N-Nothing, nothing! Just...nothing." 

I walked past them towards the stairs, stretching his arms above his head and yawing. "Uh, I'll tell you guys tomorrow, I'm a little...beat."

"Well, okay." Twilight said, her words a little shaky. "Goodnight!"

"Hmm." I mumbled, walking up the seven steps up the stairs. I didn't take much notice to Twilight's behavior, maybe because I was still exhausted from earlier. I opened the door to my room and fell onto my bed. After a few minutes I crawled underneath my covers and laid my head onto my pillow, facing the ceiling. The moon's light shown through my window and glared a thick line across my ceiling.

Just by habit I already began to think about Rarity. I wonder if she's sleeping well, or if I should have stayed. Her touch still burned my scales, I stared down at my claws and let out a sigh. As I drifted off to sleep, the last thing I saw was Rarity laying beside me, and my vision faded to black.