Until July *COMPLETED*

Chapter XXVIII

A few days passed.

Their school bank holidays began and them, beginning school again was not too far away.

It was the 2nd of April. A very well known, annual, traditional day in Briella's and Ryan's city.

That evening was when the Cherry Blossom Fest was to have taken place.

Due to this festive celebration, Ryan invited Briella to go with him. The festival took place in the park, where Briella and Ryan went only a few days prior.

Both Briella and Ryan walked down the pathway, which was lit up by the streetlights.

Compared to a few days ago, the streets were thriving with people. They walked on and off the main path, in order to visit everything the festival had to offer.

With there being more people, there were many stalls present. Some of them were settled by the main sidewalk, beneath the cherry trees. But most were in the park centre.

The smell of sugary confectionery filled the cheerful air.

Kids ran around with cotton candy, caramel-coated or chocolate-coated apples, chasing each other.

Quite often, both Briella and Ryan found themselves apologising, asking for space to pass through. Only when they walked into a less crowded area did Briella allow herself to comment, "This really feels like you asked me out of a date or something...".

She looked around, only to eye a couple swallowing themselves, beneath a cherry blossom. Blushing with embarrassment, she looked away.

"Dare I remind you that we are not in THAT sort of a relationship...".

She was about to reply when she stumbled upon his words. Hearing such a thing from him... though she said that she didn't want anything to do with Ryan... for some reason, his words brought her pain. The fact that he said that brought her pain. 'N-not in that sort of a relationship?...'.

But what she didn't know was that Ryan's words left a negative effect on him too. They left a foul aftertaste in his mouth.

"Is that hesitation I sense?" Ryan's voice ejected her out of her thoughts.

"Hm? W-what?...". She crossed her brows at him. "Since when do you know what hesitation feels like???".

He turned his head and looked at her, a small smirk present on his lips. "Experience...".

'Right... let me guess... because he's an author?'.

From there, quiet ruled between Briella and Ryan. Their conversation was to be replaced with joyous screams of children and jolly laughter that came from everyone.

The closer they got to the park centre, the stronger the smell of the street food became.

Posters were hung up, they were notices for the firework display, and how they were to take place later on that night. The notice also included places from where the fireworks could be seen the best.

Near enough to the city centre was when Briella found herself alone.

"Ryan? R-Ryan?..." she called out her name.

'I swear he was right behind me not even a second ago. Where did he go!?' Briella thought to herself, whilst looking around. It didn't help for the fact that there were so many people present. She couldn't see him anywhere.

Then...

"Briella?" she felt a wave of relief when she heard a familiar voice call out her name. It was Ryan.