Forever and Always: A Fairytale

7

I woke up to the sight of sunlight seeping into my room through the window, the birds singing outside, and Lily making noise downstairs.

I crawled out of bed and lumbered my way down the stairs. "What's with the yelling?" I ask groggily as soon as I reach the kitchen.

"It's about time you got up!" Lily ringed.

"It's almost noon," Ismael pointed out, sipping his tea at the dining table.

"I would have been up earlier if a certain someone didn't barge into my room in the middle of the night." I glared at Lilly, pouring a cup of tea for myself. Lily rolled her eyes and took a seat next to Ismael.

"Uh, I think I'll leave you two alone for a while," Ismael said, getting up from where he sat. "Holler if you two need anything," And with that, he was gone.

I walked over to the fridge in search of food, but only found raw bacon and eggs. "Is there any cooked bacon and eggs?" I asked, not looking at Lily.

"You would have been able to have some if you were up earlier," she snapped at me.

I let out a sigh. "A simple no would have sufficed."

I grabbed the carton of eggs and package of raw bacon and walked over to the stove, closing the refrigerator door behind me. As soon as my breakfast was cooked, I sat at the dining room table across from Lily.

"So, how was your dinner with Ismael?" Lily asked, breaking the deafening silence that had fallen for a few minutes.

"As good as it could have been, considering you forced us into it," I told her. "But then again, we did want to make sure you were safe at your date since you didn't know the guy."

"How awkward was the date?" Lily asked.

"It wasn't a date," I corrected her, "It was just two friends going out for dinner to support a mutual friend. And to answer your question, it was nice, but extremely awkward because I just met him last week."

"Right...." she said, "Well, he's going to be working at the bakery for a while until he can find another job."

"W-What?" I asked in shock.

"Mom didn't tell you?" She asked.

"No."

"Oh, well he is. I hope you don't mind," She said.

"As long as he stays in the kitchen and limits the number of times I see him, I'm okay with it," I told her.

Lily narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "If you guys are just friends and the dinner last night was just dinner, then why should it matter if he's in the same room as you or not?" She asked.

"No reason," I replied.

"Uh-huh," she said before she stood up and started leaving the room.

"It's not what you think!" I protested.

"You'll thank me later, trust me!" She chuckled and walked upstairs.

I let out a sigh. I'm not even sure if I have feelings for him in that way. For all I know, I could be mistaking them for something else. I got up, washed and dried my dishes, and grabbed some parchment paper that I was writing a story on. After a while, I get the feeling that I'm being watched, but when I would look behind me no one was there. So, I just continued writing.

Ismael quietly walked downstairs and into the bathroom. When he was finished, he couldn't help but overhear the girls' conversation. He chuckled to himself when he saw how flustered Elianna was when Lily was interrogating her. Poor girl. He thought. Before he knew it, Lily was getting ready to leave the kitchen, so he hid in the bathroom until she was upstairs.

When she was upstairs, he then made his way up the stairs, but not before glancing over at the beautiful elf before him as she took out some parchment paper that was covered with words. Is she a writer? He wondered. He saw her starting to turn to look behind her and quickly darted up the stairs to avoid getting caught.

I didn't realize how long I had been writing until I heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. I looked behind me and saw Ismael entering the kitchen.

"What are you working on?" He asked.

"Oh, it's just a story that I'm working on," I answered.

"Oh yeah?" He asked, "What is it about?" I told him what it was about and received a grin in return.

"Let me know when it's done," he said, "I'd love to read it." I nodded and put the stack of papers back where it belonged.

"Hey, do you have any plans tonight?" Ismael asked.

"Yeah," I lied, "Lily and I are going dress shopping."

"We are?" Lily asked from behind me.

"Yes, we are," I told her before dragging her out of the house. I glanced behind me and saw disappointment on Ismael's eyes before closing the door.

"Uh, what was that all about?" Lily asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, acting clueless.

"The poor guy looked heartbroken," Lily pointed out.

"No, he didn't," I denied, walking into the dress shop.

"Yes, he did," Lily said, following me, "And you're going to fix it when we get back."