...Closing her eyes, Iris had been expecting only one thing: a kiss.

Could it be? Had Chelsea finally noticed her feelings? Was her long-awaited dream about to come true? Just thinking about it made Iris's heart pound wildly in her chest, and her lips tremble ever so slightly with anticipation. And then...

"Good night, Iris." Chelsea whispered gently before removing her hand from Iris's side and pulling back slightly.

"..."

That's it...? The thought flashed through Iris's mind. Did Chelsea seriously ask her to close her eyes just for that? No way. She had to make sure.

After waiting a few seconds, Iris carefully cracked open one eye, only to find that her friend was already fast asleep.

"You've gotta be kidding me..."

She couldn't believe this was happening. That had been the perfect moment for a kiss. Why ruin it like that?

Unless... unless the moment had only seemed perfect to Iris. She shouldn't forget that Chelsea was notoriously bad at understanding other people's feelings and reading the room.

"Ugh... What a bummer."

Still, there was one small upside: Iris now had the perfect opportunity to admire her sleeping crush up close. Her long, silky hair, her delicate features, her elegant, swan-like neck, her slender collarbones, the little dip between her— Okay, stop! That's enough!

Blushing furiously, Iris quickly rolled onto her other side, turning her back to Chelsea. It was one thing to admire her and quite another to openly check her out. That was crossing a line, at least as far as Iris was concerned, so she decided to stop tempting herself.

But then something happened that she hadn't expected at all. Chelsea moved closer and wrapped her arms around Iris from behind, hugging her like a body pillow.

Sure, it wasn't a kiss... but it was something, at least. Now all she had to do was figure out how to sneak out of there without getting caught by the Witch. That, however, was a problem for tomorrow morning.

For now... Iris could simply enjoy the cuddles.