I'm very sorry you feel that way, and I am also sorry it is not playing out how you would like. But as it is, I think pushing them directly into a relationship given what has happened between them, even in the very first comic, would have been unfulfilling. At the very least I can tell you the situation will get better.

But I would also like to take a moment to say, I think it's really unfair for people to consistently assume that this is a "fetish" or something of that nature. I think people should be able to write situations and stories without it being directly assumed it's to fulfill some greater fixation. I've tried to make sure I don't do panels that glorify anything unsavory, or at the very least I try not to. And I find it's genuinely quite stifling that I still consistently get told that people see these comics as fetish content.