Belle exhaled and shook her head. "It's not that. If I really loved him like that, I'd want to date him, walk everywhere holding hands with him, go on those romantic drives to the beach and cuddle while watching the sunset and all that stuff you've told me you wanted for yourself."

I frowned and looked over at her and asked, a little confused, "'If' you loved me like that?"

Belle gave me a warm smile and cradled my cheek. "I'll love you for the rest of my life. And maybe one day we might get married. But even if we don't and ultimately end up marrying other people, I'll still love you forever.”

I frowned. "I smell a ‘but’ coming on."

“But... Belle began with a sigh.

“I don‘t want to date you now. Dating you and becoming romantic and all that jazz would... I mean... I'm afraid it would end up in heartache for both of us."

“why?”

“What we have right now is great, isn't it? All of the intimacy. Lots of fun sex. I get to watch you banging all my hot friends."

"It's great, yes," I confirmed with a nod, slipping my palms over

Belle's tits again and going honka-honka with my fingers

“Then why mess with success?"

I thought about that. "I suppose I'm not saying I wanna mess with it

If everything could stay the status quo for the rest of the year, with the whole BTC getting along great and me getting to have lots of crazy sex with all of you... yeah, I'd love it."

“So we're in agreement."

“At the same time, I HAVE been wondering why you've never wanted to become my actual girlfriend. Not saying we should; just want to understand why."

Belle sighed.

“It's the same conversation I already had with my dad.

Boyfriends and girlfriends break up; I couldn't take that happening to you and me. It's better this way: siblings with benefits. This way we can be eternal."

“For now.”

Belle shrugged.

“Until the end of high school, at least. We still don't know what colleges we're gonna get into or where we might be living next year. What if you get into some Ivy League university on the other side of the country and I end up living at home with my dad? What then?"

I nodded.

“I suppose.”

“But..." Naimh began thoughtfully while letting her free hand wander down between her legs, "what if you're missing out on something that could be REALLY special? What if you're avoiding the greatest love of your life out of fear? What if you go your separate ways after high school, meet other people and get married to them out of convenience, and have to live the rest of your lives regretting the one that got away?"

Belle narrowed her eyes and gave Naimh a little smirk. "Are we still talking about me?"