As Blake went through his explanations and apologies, the five women in the room waited for him. There was some slight movement and shifting, a few glances at certain parts, but they stayed silent and respected his request. Julia nodded approvingly when he made his admission that he had been acting disrespectful towards them and acting like it was his duty to dictate their desires. Nuo had the most trouble waiting, when he mentioned Su she had to clench her teeth to keep herself from interrupting him. Su was still curled up on the couch, but she was at least looking at Blake now, rather than avoiding it the way she had been earlier. Jamie and Liz shared a confused look when he started talking about lying to them and himself. But when Blake announced that he was going to tell them the truth now, all five of his cousins leaned in a little closer in anticipation.
His confession drew a shocked response from everyone in the room. Julia gasped and brought her hands up to her mouth, Nuo's mouth simply dropped open, Liz snorted into her hand as she tried to stifle a shocked laugh, Jamie leaned into the back of the couch with her eyes wide at the ceiling. Su had the least exaggerated reaction out of them, her eyes simply going wide as she sat huddled in the corner of the couch. Every girl spent the rest of Blake's confession going over all the events that had happened recently, realizing what they really meant based on this new information. Liz actually broke out into a nervous giggle, falling back to cling to Jamie's side as she was overwhelmed by the realization, and the laugh soon spread to Jamie as well. Julia leaned forward in her chair until her face was nearly between her knees, still holding her hands over her mouth.
Nuo was furious though. Standing up, she quickly became the center of attention, Liz and Jamie's giggles fading as the look of rage on her face intimidated them. "You selfish fucking jackass. That's your excuse? You framed this as you being helpful and nice to us, but it was really just a cover for your sick little crushes? You hurt Su so much, you apparently fucked with Liz and Jamie's feelings too? And now you just walk in to say that you're in love with us, as if that makes up for all of it! Fuck off! I can't believe you! I-" she looked around at the other women as they stared at her in shock. Her face flushed red as she tried to catch her breath. This was the most intense reaction any of them had ever seen from her, and the first time any of them had heard her swear like this. "I don't forgive you. Not yet." She turned and started storming out of the room, pausing at the door. "If the rest of you want to forgive him, you're welcome to. But if this is how he acts, I don't think he's ready for it yet." She left.
The rest of the girls stared at the empty door frame, letting out a collectively held breath. There was a long, awkward pause as the other four tried to assemble their thoughts between Blake's confession and Nuo's explosion.
"Woooow," Jamie said, breaking the silence. "Damn. I've never seen Nuo lose her temper like that."
"That was... rough. Maybe deserved? But I can't be as mad at you as she was," Liz sighed as she shook her head. She and Jamie shared a look, both clearly thinking about the conversations from when they were younger, the childhood crushes on Blake that had reasserted themselves with the "practice" sessions that were apparently just a cover for deeper feelings on both sides. "I guess that does explain a whole lot. Why you were so eager, how far you were willing to take it, then how much you panicked when you did. And then-" She was suddenly interrupted.
"I love you too Blake." All eyes in the room locked onto Su as she said it. "I've loved you for a long time. When I said... that there was a boy I was interested in, but I was worried, it was you. It's always been you." She finally uncurled, leaning forward to look Blake in the eyes. "And I think Nuo will come back around soon. She's just angry, and can't swing back around that fast. None of the rest of us were really angry at you. Just hurt."
After a few moments, Liz started laughing again. "God damn, little Su's the one who can say it. You've really dragged her out of her shell Blake. Fuck." She rubs her hands over her face, groaning. "Fuck it. I love you too. It was a stupid crush when we were younger, but yeah. It is what it is." She looked at Jamie again, not outing her best friend but waiting for her to admit it herself.
Withering under Liz's gaze, Jamie flushed bright red and stammered, "me... me too. Liz and I talked about it when we were kids, but we both knew it was still the case when we decided to ask to join in on the practice. We just didn't want to say it to each other, because that made it more real I guess."
Julia was the only one left in the room who hadn't confessed any feelings, and so several pairs of eyes swung towards her. "Oh! Oh god. I don't... This is way too fast. I had no idea what I would be walking in to when I landed this morning. I need some time to think about this. Maybe after I've gotten some sleep, I'm way too jet-lagged to know how to feel about this." Her emotions were swinging wildly as sleep deprivation made her head spin. She'd always loved Blake, but she'd never thought of it in a romantic way, but now, with his confession, she was reevaluating it all. He'd always been her favorite, and she'd never dated anyone, even with the many times she'd been asked out. She'd always found some excuse to turn them down, but now she was having a hard time figuring out any excuses to turn Blake down now. Had she always been holding out for him?
"I think I need to go," Julia said as she quickly jumped to her feet. "I've got souvenirs for all of you that I didn't bring because I wasn't expecting to see you. I'll get them to you soon, I promise!" With that Julia also nearly fled the room, getting out of the house as quickly as possible so she could sort out her feelings without having to look Blake in the eyes.
With just the three girls left in the room with Blake, the tension was thick in the air. What happened next?