They had their dinner at around 6:00 PM. Surprisingly, the food at the inn's small and exclusive restaurant was great. They had sweet and sour pork, bulalo and spicy buttered shrimp and then a slice each of the choco-mint cake that they served.
It was Alden's idea for them to try the cake because he thought it was a bit weird but looked really tasty. And sure enough, it tasted really great.
For a few hours they tried to forget that they were runaways unsure of what tomorrow was gonna bring, and just pretended to be on an actual vacation. They talked about things they wanted to know about each other and found that they actually had a lot in common.
As the darkness finally settled in, they were able to appreciate how much more amazing the garden inn looked at night. There were fairy lights hanging by the ceiling of the outside dining area they were having their dinner in, all the trees had round lanterns hanging from their branches, and each shrubs that were shaped like random things were decorated with blinking lights that were wrapped around them.
At this point, Maine's worries had completely vanished as she stared in awe at the surroundings. They walked over to the middle of the garden and she looked up, stunned to see the thousands of stars blinking down at them from the skies. They felt so near, and she had never seen that much stars before.
"It's beautiful!" she gushed.
"You're beautiful," Alden said as he stared at her, watching the reflection of the blinking lights on her face, and the rare twinkle in her eyes that he saw at that moment.
Maine blushed and ducked her head shyly.
"Let's go back to our room?" he asked after a while. "It's starting to get colder."
Maine was wearing a simple short sleeved dress and he noticed her starting to tremble a bit from the cool breeze.
She nodded.
The warmth inside the room was a nice welcome after the coolness of the evening breeze outside. Maine sat on the bed savoring the comfort as she closed her eyes.
"What are you thinking?" Alden asked as he stood, leaning against the wall, watching her with his hands in his pockets.
"That I've never been this happy in a while," Maine answered. "I almost don't wanna think about what's going to happen tomorrow anymore, or the following days, I just want to stay right here. Right in this moment."
Alden smiled and took out his phone, then walked over to the TV shelf to plug it to the small speakers connected to the system. He searched for his current favorite song and set it to play on repeat.
🎶 What if What if we run away What if What if we left today 🎶
"May I invite you for a dance?" he asked, holding out his hand at Maine.
Maine gave him a surprised smile but took his hand anyway.
🎶 What if We said goodbye to safe and sound What if What if we're hard to find What if What if we lost our minds What if We let them fall behind, and they're never found 🎶
Alden twirled her twice before finally placing his hand on the small of her back and pulling her closer to him as they swayed to the music.
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