Better

part 26

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I pulled back to say with a giant smile on my face.

He gave me a huge smile back and said, "it's all worth it to see you this happy."

Suddenly, my expression fell. Worth .

Oh, fuck.

His face fell after he noticed my expression.

"What's wrong?" He quickly questioned, his eyebrows drawing together in concern.

"I can't accept this!" I suddenly panicked.

"What? Why not?"

"This car costs a fortune! I already live off of you anyway. It's just you don't need to spend this much on me,"

Then, the corners of his lips tilted up. "How many times have I told you I like spoiling you? You deserve to have all your dreams come true,"

A smile appeared on my face again. "You're going to make me cry,"

"Aww, don't cry. Try out your new car and put a smile on that face, instead."

"How did I ever find a man like you?" I mumbled before pressing a kiss to his lips.

He kissed me back with such love that if I currently wasn't being held up by him, I would have fallen.

Once we broke the kiss, he spoke, "how did I ever find a woman like

you ? One who will put up with me and my lifestyle, one who will secretly train with my best friend to ease my worries?"

Oh no .

My body went rigid and my heart started to patter.

"I'm sorry—" I began.

"Don't worry about it. You had good intentions, but I do have to say I was a bit worried at first,"

"Why?" My brows drew together in confusion.

"Well, I came home to hear panting coming from the basement, and then I heard Dahyun's voice yell your name. Deep down, I knew you two wouldn't do that to lily and me, but I was still almost had a heart attack. I went down stairs and saw you two were just training together, so I decided to leave you to it. I asked Dahyun about it and he came clean. All that was left was you."

"I'm sorry didn't tell you," I softly said.

"It's okay. Just tell me next time," he pecked my forehead.

"I will,"

Suddenly a smile spread across his face. "How about," He held up the keys, "we go for a little ride?"

"You read my mind," I said as I stood on my tippy toes to press my lips to his and snatch the keys from his hand, pulling back with a slight smirk.

"Don't crash it on day one," he teased, smacking my butt as I made my way around him.

"Don't tempt me," I turned around and winked.

~*~

I drove fast.

I honestly didn't know what the speed limit was on this road, but I must have been going at least 30 over. Luckily, there was no traffic since it was around one in the morning, so I probably wouldn't crash into anyone.

As the music changed from something upbeat to a slow song, I let out a yawn.

Tzuyu, noticing this, said, "do you want me to drive us back?"

"It's okay. I could." I actually didn't want to because of two main reasons, which were both a little embarrassing. One, I was about to fall asleep at the wheel. Two, I have no idea where we are.

I noticed an intersection coming up so I slowed down and turned right. Right after I finished the turn, I heard a chuckle from him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small grin on his face as he shook his head.

"You know, the city was left, right?" He teased.

"Yeah, totally. I just wanted to take another lap around the block,"

He only laughed. "This road goes straight for the next thirty minutes. It's in the middle of a national park," he explained.

"Okay," I surrendered, "I have no idea where I'm going and I just want to sleep," I admitted.

"Pull over," he commanded. I slowly pulled over and turned off the car. "Get up, I'm driving us back,"

"My hero," I sighed in relief.

I quickly stepped out of the car and basically sprinted to the other side because it felt like jumping into a lake in the winter. "Fuck, it's cold out," I commented as I buckled my seat belt.

"Don't worry, I'll always keep you warm," he added with a wink.

"Well, you're really good at that,"

"Don't tempt me. I might pull the car over again,"

~*~

I was so tired that I quickly brushed my teeth, took off my makeup, and changed just so I could get in bed faster. The warm silk sheet comforted me as I low key waited for Tzuyu to get in. Honestly, at this point I could barley sleep without him. I just needed his warm, comforting embrace to reassure me that he's here with me and we're safe.

I heard the shower turn off and waited for him to get in bed while pretending to sleep.

~*~

Tzuyu's POV

I quickly rubbed a towel through my hair to dry it at least a little. Tonight was a ton of fun with her and it was completely worth the extra hours I had to stay up. Knowing she's tired, I reminded myself to let her sleep in and cook breakfast myself tomorrow.

I made my way out of the bathroom and into the warm sheet, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her back to my chest. I gently stroked my fingers through her hair, admiring her beautiful face. Looking at her like this, peacefully sleeping in my arms, just reminds me of how important it is to protect her. If I can't protect her, then what was all the training for? Why workout and practice if it's useless when it comes to protecting your loved ones? Why take all these risks in this business to earn a lot of money if I can't share it with someone? Everything I do now is for her, for us.

So as I gently pushed some strands of hair behind her ear, the words I have been wanting to say to her for so long came tumbling out of my mouth.

"I love you," I whispered.

But what I wasn't expecting, was her eyes slowly blinking open after I said those words.