My Beautiful Boy ✔️

48

I moved in with Ennis three weeks ago, and so far, it's going well. He's a pretty chilled out guy who spends most of his time revising or hanging out with his girlfriend, Willow. I'm already up to date about the turmoil of their relationship and with the amount of detail Ennis has given me, it feels like I'm the third party in their love story. It's crazy.

I do try to stay out of their way when the whole family is together by going over to Alayna's house and hanging out with her, but with her father looming over us, it's proving difficult to have some alone time.

So, I've arranged a day-trip for the both of us to go on so we can finally spend some much-needed alone time with her. Right now, I'm knocking on the front door of her house, my hands behind my back as I wait.

Her mother opens the door, a wide grin on her face at the sight of me. I smile at her as she pulls me in for a hug. "Oh my, hello, Dawson!" She says, and I press a quick kiss to her cheek.

"Good morning, Mrs. Banyamina." I say, greeting her. I've recently learnt that in Egyptian culture, the women don't tend to change their surnames after marriage, and Alayna's mother has stuck to that tradition.

"How many times have I told you to call me Frida?" She asks, squeezing my cheeks. "You're a little cutie, aren't you?" Yeah, It's fair to say that I've grown on Alayna's mother. She probably loves me more than Alayna does.

"Alright, mama, leave Dawson alone." I hear from behind her, and Frida turns around. I caught a glimpse of Alayna's purple dress that was held up with strings. A smile makes its way onto my face at the sight of her. The dress hung loosely off of her body and ended at her ankles.

"Wow, Alayna, you look amazing." Her mother compliments, and I've begun to believe that they speak English around me so that I understand what they're saying. I have started to learn Arabic, but it's a very difficult language to wrap my head around. But, for Alayna's sake, I'm putting myself through the lessons.

"Thank you." Alayna says, before her eyes land on me. Her mum walks away after pressing a kiss on her cheek and I can't help it when my gaze drags down her body, admiring every inch of her. "Do you like the dress?" Alayna asks, twirling around so that I can see her whole outfit. I blush.

"I... it's... You look beautiful." My tongue gets tangled in my mouth and I press my lips together as Alayna giggles before approaching me. She wraps her arms around my neck and I look around to make sure her dad isn't watching before I grip her waist lightly and press a gentle kiss to her lips. She sighs into the kiss, like she's missed me.

I smile against her lips. Alayna moves back, stroking her fingers down my cheek. Butterflies flutter in my stomach and goosebumps rise on my skin. "Whose car are we taking?" She asked, and I looked behind me at Ennis' car in the driveway.

"Ennis'." I answered, taking her hand and leading her out of the house. Alayna closes the front door behind her before we walk forward towards the car. "He let me borrow his car for the day." I shrug my shoulders, and Alayna grins up at me.

"I'm so excited." She squeals, and I notice the way there's a slight bounce to her step as she walks. The thought that going on a date with me makes Alayna excited makes my heart burst into a million pieces.

"We're going to..." I decided to test my extremely limited Arabic lingo to make Alayna proud. "The... sifari? Is that the right word?" I tilt my head to the side and Alayna grins up at me.

"It is." Her eyes gleam. "You're learning quickly, aren't you?" She questions, and I nod my head. "You know, it's really sweet that you're learning how to speak my language so you can communicate with me and my family." She tells me, messing with my fingers.

"For you, I'd learn a thousand languages. I'd do anything for you, Alayna." I tell her, lifting her chin up with my index finger, softly kissing her. "Absolutely anything."

***

We're on the road, and Alayna's head is poking out of the window as I drive to the safari park. Her hair is all over her face because of the wind, but she doesn't care. I grin when her eyes are wide with joy and a glimmer shines in them, and I bite my bottom lip in happiness.

"We're almost there." I say, and Alayna pulls her head back into the car. She grins at me and I place my hand on her thigh as I drive, turning into the safari park. It's the park where you don't leave your car, but you drive around and look at all the animals.

I pay the entry cost and then we're driving through. There's a giraffe near Alayna's side of the car and she squeals and she holds the food that she was given in her hand, holding it out for the giraffe. Her eyes snap shut when the giraffe licks her hand and her hand is on my thigh, holding onto it for dear life.

She's in awe when we drive past the sleeping lions and the baboons that jump onto the car and pull at the windscreen wipers, almost snapping them off. Alayna laughs loudly, waving at the baboon with glee.

Then, once we've seen all the animals and Alayna has wasted all her energy at laughing and screaming whenever an animal approaches her, we're at the theme park that's attached to the safari and we're finding a pitch of grass to sit on and eat the pizza that we ordered from the cafe and she's giggling as she tells me something.

I'm too busy admiring her beauty to really listen to what she was saying, but I'm sure it was a great story. She grins and laughs, her teeth practically blinding me. Her eyes squint with glee and contentment, and I find myself biting my lip as I smile at her.

Every moment I spend with her, I fall deeper into a love with her. It consumed me. All the breaths I take are for her. Even in silence, some hearts understand each other, and Alayna is my heart. She keeps it beating. When she smiles, I forget how to breathe and it's like being born all over again.

I could set fire to the whole world, and I'd never let a flame touch her. Alayna looks at me like there's something in me worth looking at, and whether we last forever, or not, I'll cherish these moments forever.

I lean forward and grip Alayna's chin, softly kissing her. Her body instantly relaxes and she strokes my jaw with her thumb. My heart flutters. I cup her cheek and the bright sun shines down on us and I couldn't be more happier and God, I hope me and Alayna spend the rest of our lives together.