The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 146: Reflections on your way to school. (Patreon)

You walk to school with your headphones on and something of an upset stomach. You’re nervous about what the girls will say when you tell them of the new trait available. After all, the topic of marriage has come up a few times, but it’s always brushed aside. No wonder it has, though. Not only is it weird to talk about it when your oldest relationship is a little under 4 months old and your most recent only a couple of weeks, but you all knew you could only marry one at most.

Now though, marrying them all is a real possibility, and honestly that makes you low-key panic. It’s MARRIAGE for god’s sake! It’s fun to think about it when you know it’s far away, but when the possibility is right there in front of you, it makes you think of everything that comes with it.

How will your household even work? Will everyone have their own job? Who will stay at the house? Where will you live? You’ll need a huge house. What about the ceremony? Or is it ceremonies? Will the girls each want a separate one or will they want to have one together? The frugal side of you hopes it’s the latter one.

You feel as though someone just grabbed your stomach and squeezed it with all their strength the moment the thought of children passes through your head.

CHILDREN! It’d already be five if each of them wants one, but what if they want more!?

Okay. Okay. Calm down, Walker. Remember to breathe.

Before all that, you need to purchase the trait. It’s the most expensive thing in there for sure. Nothing else even comes close. You’ll need time for that, and even when you do, it’s not like you need to get married immediately.

As it stands, your points now are:

Available points: 280 Friendship points / 50 Love points / 200 Lust points

You automatically were awarded with 50 Friendship points when you met your brother. His score even went up to 77 by the time you were done talking.

Something that sucks is that the recent notification and the bump in 50 love points mean you now know Sophia’s love score, even though she asked you not to look.

You need so many points, and you’d have to save them all. You promised the girls you’d get them traits, though… God, what are they going to say? 

Dammit. Thinking about this is making your heartbeat faster and your stomachache even worse.

What’s more, the very sudden feeling of someone’s lips on your cheek before they hold onto your arms sends a huge shock through your body that makes you jump.

You look to your right and see Sophia looking at you with a pouty expression as she takes off your headphones and sets them on your neck.

“That’s not how I want you to look at me first thing in the morning.” She comments on your upset expression.

You take a deep breath to calm down before answering.

“Then don’t appear out of nowhere. You almost gave me a heart attack.”

Still, looking at her beautiful face slowly calms your upset stomach and sets your heart at ease. You smile, hold her by the waist and kiss her lips, taking her by surprise.

“Don’t do that this early in the morning either.” She giggles. “You’re gonna make me start feeling things.”

“It has been a while, hasn’t it?” You tell her, brushing her bangs aside. “I miss you.”

“I do too.” You smiles wryly. “I know it’s selfish, but when your brother showed up yesterday and we had to leave I was really disappointed. I really wanted us to… you know.”

“Yeah, I was looking forward to that, too.” You mirror her smile. “I want to take you out on a date. Would you like that?”

“Of course, I’d love to.” She groans. “But… we have finals next week. We have to study. And after that…”

You feel your chest sting when she reminds you. 

“I’m sorry.”

“I know it’s not your fault, but I was really looking forward to spending our break together.” God, her disappointment is clear in her voice and it’s killing you.

“I’ve been a terrible boyfriend, haven’t I?”

“You have. So just keep piling up debts so I can collect them all in one go when you get back, okay?” She says with a beautiful smile and playfully tapping your nose.

You chuckle, shaking your head. “I don’t deserve you.”

You lean in, holding your girlfriend tightly against you and kissing her again. Your tongue probes her lips and she welcomes it eagerly. It’s like your lips belong together. The pain in your stomach is replaced by warmth in your chest.

“Wow, get a room, you two!” A third voice wakes you both from your loving trance. You turn in the direction of it and see two of your classmates giggling as they walk past you and Sophia. “Hurry up, or you’re gonna be late, David! If you’re late for class, Ms. Campbell might frown at you!”

“Oh no, the horror!” The other one jokes, and they both keep walking towards the school, laughing heartily.

“K-Kinda forgot we were in the middle of the street.” Sophia giggles nervously.

“Y-Yeah…” You smile sheepishly. Even so, you offer your hand to Sophia. You don’t care about the looks or comments from people around, and neither does your girlfriend, because she doesn’t hesitate in interlacing her fingers with yours.

And it’s at this moment that a revolutionary idea strikes you.

What if… you didn’t tell them about the trait? What if you kept it a secret until you had enough points to buy it? Would you be breaking the rules even if it’s for a surprise? You want to believe they’d appreciate it, but you can see them getting mad at you for hiding it.

Not to mention your promise of getting them traits. You already gave Emma and Mia two traits each, so it’d be unfair not to give the other some. Should you use the points you have left to get something for them and start saving from there? Points are getting harder to get though, love and lust points even more so since you’re slowing down the harem plan.

“Speaking of finals, I was thinking that we should get together with Megan and Emily to study.”

Sophia’s voice beside you snaps you out of your thoughts.

“I-I agree.” You nod a little too hastily. “I’m a little worried for them since math and biology are looking tougher this time.” You say, trying to shift your focus.

“I was also thinking… that we could have Katherine join us.”

You raise your eyebrows in surprise. “That’s… a really good idea. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it.”

“Oh, so you’re the only one allowed to have good ideas?” Sophia jokingly scoffs.

“Of course not. I’ll always admit you’re the ones with the best ideas. Especially those written in that notebook of yours.” You watch her face immediately getting red at the mention of her stories. “And speaking of which, when do I get to read more of it?”

“…” She looks away from you shyly. “You just have to ask.”

You chuckle, but let it go. Instead, you decide to Sophia a completely hypothetical question.

“Hey… Sophia?” You start, noticing that your tone is a little hesitant. Of course, you lover notices too and eyes you curiously. “If, hypothetically, I wanted to keep something a secret from you all so it was a surprise, would that count as breaking the rules?”

The black-haired girl raises an eyebrow, her curiosity deepened. “What are you keeping from us?”

“Oh, no! Like I said, it’s just hypothetical.” You tell her, giving her the best fake honest smile you can muster.

Of course, it fails.

“No, it’s not. You already gave yourself away. What’s the secret?”

You groan. “You don’t want the surprise, then?”

“If it’s related to the app, I think you should tell us.” She tells you with a regretful smile, knowing she just screwed over any plans you might’ve had.

…

“How on earth do you girls do it?” You lower you head in defeat.

“You’re honest, so it’s easy to read you.” She squeezes your hand lovingly. “Sorry.”

“Is there no way I can convince you to keep it a secret with me?”

“If you want me to, I will, but I don’t think it’d be healthy for our relationship.” She tells you honestly.

“Yeah… you’re right. Let’s ask the rest, okay?”

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Do you manage to get everyone together?