The Casanova's Class Clown

Chap. 57: Fireworks

FIREWORKS...

His face lit up at the sight of the sky igniting in bursts of colors, firework after firework exploding into the clear night one after the other.

"Okay, I have to admit that the fireworks part was something I planned only today." Emma confessed, mostly admiring him rather than the pyrotechnics.

They were silent for a while as the sky continued to be a rainbow of disappearing sprinkles.

"Is this how the heroine in the anime feel after the guy serenades her and everything?" Oliver asked just as the fireworks died down for a break. Usually, he was the one doing the serenading, so it felt nice to be the one being pampered for a change. Better yet, Emma was the one pampering him.

Emma looked at him, but was unable to ask him to repeat the question when he suddenly closed the gap between them in the gondola and took her in his arms. The hug was so unexpected, she hadn't the time nor the space to react right. But the way he held her, how it felt like he didn't want to let go yet keep her safe like she was more precious than any china, was what made her head go warm and fuzzy and stopped her from really thinking straight enough to move her body.

"Emma."

She got herself back, but still she didn't move. His hug tightened though, but it didn't hurt. Her face was warm too, but so was his so quits. "Yeah?"

"This is the best advanced birthday gift ever."

She breathed. "So you remembered tomorrow was your birthday after all?"

He chuckled, resting his face at the crook of her neck. "I'm not like some people around here, FYI."

She hit him in the back hard enough for him to grunt. He still didn't let go though. "Did you know? I've liked you even before we met at Troffer's Brook." She felt him flinch, so she wrapped her arms around him so he wouldn't go anywhere. The fireworks were starting up again though, so she had to make sure her words were getting into his ear so she wouldn't have to repeat herself. "It was just a crush though, the type any normal kid would have on the popular dude. But then we got together, became friends, and our time together, the time you spend only with me because I asked for it... It was special to me, because at those times, you were with me and only me."

She found herself hugging him tighter, clinging on the back of his blazer jacket.

"So when I found out I liked you more than a friend, I got scared of anyone finding out we were friends, because then they'd find out you were giving me special attention. If anyone asked you for the same privilege, society-wise, I wouldn't have the right to stop you from accepting, because no matter what we say, deep down, we both know the troll romance we branded ourselves with isn't really a thing, right?"

He wanted to see her face. He tried to lean back and reassure her she wasn't the only one, but she kept him still, burying her face at the crook of his neck.

They stayed like that, silent for a while as the outside continued to boom, him kneeling on the floor and her leaning forward from her seat, both in each other's arms.

"So, no matter what, I didn't want anyone else to have the same relationship I have with you." She continued, her face burning warmer with each sentence she confessed. "Even if we weren't real, I wanted to have something for us, something only the two of us had. I could've just kept telling myself that, that in some alternate universe out there, we were a real couple, but in the end, whenever we'd start getting so close, I'd start realizing how much I hated having to separate. Until... Finally, you asked me that."

"Asked you what?" He couldn't help question.

"You asked me to join you here. After that, all I could think about was coming here with you. Then I started thinking of going around the whole city. Then farther. And farther... and farther. Just the two of us."