Bliss.
It was pure, absolute bliss.
That was all I could think about, and all I could feel was the steady yet gentle pressure of Colby’s lips on my own, his hands that were cupping my face, and his body that was securely pressed against mine. It was a slow, sweet kiss, and when one of Colby’s hands went from my cheek to the back of my head, pushing underneath a blanket of hair in the most tender of touches, I felt explosions all throughout my body.
I reached up to grip his arm, and he smiled against my lips. We could’ve been standing there in each other’s arms for hours or minutes, but at that moment, I didn’t really care. Time wasn’t important as it faded away.
Colby pulled away and rested his forehead against mine. My heart was racing inside my chest, and my eyes stayed close as the boy I loved ran his thumb over my cheek. I wanted to protest, to tell him to kiss me more, but the kiss rendered my tongue inactive. Yes, I wanted to feel his lips again, but I felt very contended. Our breaths mixed together, both heavy, but we were happy, and a smile graced my lips.
When I opened my eyes, I was met with Colby’s goofy grin. His eyes were hazed in a mixture of satisfaction and happiness, with a hint of craving. A fresh round of blush colored my cheeks, but the sight of his face with that smile made my own one widen. His gaze roamed around my face, as if he was committing to memory every detail, and the love in my heart grew just a little bit more. When his eyes reached my lips, his eyes darkened a little. His thumb moved from my cheek and grazed my lower lip.
“Your lips are so soft,” he whispered, touching his nose to mine. He was suddenly really close again, I could feel the moisture from his mouth on my lips—I could almost taste him in my lips. I had never wanted to kiss anyone so badly. I let out a soft moan then immediately bit my lip, almost in an attempt to control myself.
I barely had time to register what was happening when Colby was kissing me again. This kiss felt different, more frantic, less tender, yet still controlled. His arm wrapped around my waist and I was flushed against him, his hand still cradling my head while I clung on to his shirt, trying not to faint. Thank goodness for Colby’s arm—it was doing a pretty good job at holding me up.
When my lower lip got caught between his lips, I knew that every time I would kiss this boy, I would turn into a pile of mush that would cease to function, and I would be very powerless. And know what? I was fine with that and I didn’t care.
His kisses were so worth it.
Our lips moved in sync, and through his shirt, I could feel his heart beating and relished in the fact that it was beating as fast as mine. From his chest, my hands slid up to his shoulders and I firmly wrapped them around his neck.
He sighed, deepening the kiss as his arm around my waist tightened.
Was it possible to faint from extreme pleasure? It sure felt like I was going to, soon.
Colby slowed the kiss, and he pulled away a few minutes later, placing quick, light kisses along my jaw. I sighed as I ran my fingers through his hair. My heart was racing so fast, and I was having a hard time catching my breath, and it felt incredible.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” Colby whispered in my ear. A shiver invaded my body as his warm breath caressed the side of my face and as his other arm circled my waist as well. I smiled, closed my eyes and stood on my tiptoes. My chin rested on Colby’s shoulder, and I pressed my lips on the nook where his neck met his shoulder. His familiar scent attacked my nose.
This was happiness.
“Me too,” I said, my voice muffled.
Colby’s chest rumbled against mine as he chuckled. “Those were the first words you have said.” He ran a hand down the length of my back.
“I love your voice,” he whispered. “And I love your hair, and your face, and your spirit. I love everything about you.”
I smiled, my arms tightening around his neck. That overwhelming feeling was yet to leave me, and I found myself having a hard time speaking again. Was this one of the effects of Colby’s kisses? Rendering one to speechlessness? Though, it wasn’t just his kisses. Just his touch, his breath, the look in his eyes, his mere presence, they were enough to turn my whole being into goo.
“I love you so much, it feels like my heart is going to explode,” Colby continued. “I’ve never felt like this before.”
He backed off just enough to catch my eye and gazed softly into them, making my whole body tingle and my heart swelled with the knowledge that he was in fact feeling what I was feeling, too.
God, I loved this boy. So freaking much.
Then he smirked. “You didn’t put anything in your mom’s potato salad, did you?”
My eyes narrowed, but a small, playful smile was on my lips. “Are you saying I used some sort of love potion on you?”
The way his eyes crinkled as his smirk turned to a full-blown smile caused my heart to flutter. It felt so good being in his arms.
Colby shrugged, leaning in close again until our noses touched. It was the most adorable thing, and I was pretty sure my face was glowing with warmth, sunshine, rainbows, and everything good in this world because of this boy.
“Had to make sure,” he said. “Though, I think it’s all you, no potions involved.” He rubbed his nose against mine, and I blushed with delight, my eyes closing on their own.
We stayed like that for a while, caught up in our Eskimo kiss, with smiles so big our cheeks would probably be feeling strained for days. This was the best feeling ever, and the best place on earth. Right there, at a street illuminated by lamp posts, in the arms of a sweet, vain, gentle, annoying, incredibly amazing boy.
“I knew it!”
Startled, my head snapped back, breaking away from Colby as Cynthia’s high pitched squeal echoed through the night. I peeked above Colby’s shoulder, and there stood the three. Cynthia’s face was beaming, Tyler was smiling widely and Kyle had his arms crossed over his chest, but there was a small smile on his face as well.
Oh dear, how long had they been standing there? Did they see Colby and I kiss?
Mortification and embarrassment surged through me. Cynthia caught my eye and beamed even more, looking like a proud mommy. It made my face red hot and I almost buried my head against Colby’s chest. I averted my eyes instead, focusing on the collar of Colby’s jacket, not daring to look at Tyler or Kyle. Colby though, calmly looked over his shoulder, but I could sense he was a little irritated.
“A little privacy, please?” Colby demanded.
I heard Ty make a sound, a cross between a snort and a chuckle. “You’re in the middle of the road and you’re asking for privacy? You guys should get a room!”
I didn’t think it was possible for my face to get warmer, but it did. Tyler had a point, we were in the middle of the road, kissing just minutes ago. It was very possible that a lot of people had seen our little display of affection.
“You’re just jealous, bet you never did that with Maya,” Colby snapped back, and I heard Cynthia laugh. Even Kyle had to snort at that. I snuck a quick glance again over Colby’s shoulder just in time to see Tyler flashed the dirty finger. I glared at Tyler, but when he saw me looking, his face turned all goofy again and he wiggled his eyebrows. Closing my eyes, I did lean in against Colby’s shoulder this time.
Colby just shook his head and turned to me. He lowered his head until his mouth was against my hair and asked, “Why is he your friend again?”
“He’s entertaining?” I muttered in his shoulder. “Other than that I have no idea.”
He chuckled, the rumbles of his chest echoing through my body. They made me smile a little.
“Aw,” Cynthia suddenly cooed like she was talking to a two-year old. Colby and I both had to look at her at that. I had a feeling that whatever she was going to say next would embarrass me even more.
“You guys are just too cute! You two are perfect for each other,” Cynthia continued, clasping her hands in front of her chest. I heard Colby clear his throat, and I couldn’t tell if he was trying not to laugh, or not to lash out at Cynthia’s antics.
She then turned to Kyle and said, “No offense, Kyle, but Kayla and Colby look better together.”
I saw Kyle stiffen and he shot Cynthia a glare, to which the curly-haired beauty just shrugged. Groaning softly, I bumped my head against Colby’s shoulder. He squeezed me briefly and placed a soft kiss on the side of my head, before facing the three again.
“We’re cool,” Colby announced. “Right, Kyle?”
That made my eyes rise back up and they found Kyle. His stance relaxed a bit, and he even smiled faintly. He caught my eye and winked.
“Yeah, we’re cool.”
I smiled at him, so very grateful of how wonderful Kyle was. I even felt a bit teary, knowing that I had somewhat hurt him, but I knew that whoever would catch his eye and heart next would be one very lucky girl. He nodded slightly, his smile widening.
Tyler clapped. “Well, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, and we know that you two are going to be all googly-eye and lovey dovey with each other, there’s still a couple more performances.”
He then gestured over his shoulder towards the café with his thumb. Colby looked at me and while his words were directed at Tyler, he kept his eyes on me as he spoke.
“You guys go ahead, I’d like to spend more time alone with my girlfriend.”
Cynthia let out another squeal as those words left Colby’s mouth, while I was redder than a ripe, plump tomato, but the smile on my face never waned and the warmth in my heart only intensified.
“Too. Cute!” Cynthia exclaimed. She then looped her arm around Kyle’s and smiled up at him, then began to pull him back to the café. “Let’s give them the privacy they need, boys.”
Cynthia was a lot stronger than she looked, because Kyle seemed surprise at her sudden movements, but his laughter was carried over by the wind as he allowed Cynthia to tug at his arm.
“Well, don’t wait for me,” Tyler shouted, and he shook his head at us before jogging inside the café, behind Kyle and Cynthia.
As I watched the display, I couldn’t help but think that Kyle and Cynthia actually looked cute together. I blinked. A small smile lifted my lips. Hmmm.
“You are cooking up something.”
I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Colby, his eyes shining as he looked down on me. I didn’t think I would ever get over of how he made me feel. That, and how amazing his arms felt around me.
Shrugging, I replied, “Maybe.”
He pulled me closer and touched our foreheads together again, and I closed my eyes and sighed in contentment.
“I could stay like this for a very, very long time,” he murmured.
“Me too,” I whispered.
“Do you want to go back inside, though?” He asked, placing a soft kiss on the top of my head.
“In a few minutes,” I said, resting my cheek on his shoulder. He hummed, and I took that as a sign of agreement.
Moments later I pulled away gently, and Colby stepped away for about two seconds before he grabbed my hand. We walked together towards the café slowly, our hands entwined. Looking back on the events that happened, I couldn’t help but feel happy. The day turned out horrible, but just look at how much could change in a few hours.
This was turning out to be the best day of my life.
We were halfway to the café when I suddenly had an idea. I turned to Colby, trying to control the twitching of my lips as I put on a deadpan expression. He looked at me expectantly.
“By the way, who told you I’m your girlfriend?” I asked, tilting my head. At my words, Colby’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He looked so shocked that I had to channel all of my will power not to laugh. Oh, I wished I had a camera to capture that face!
“Really, Kayla?” He barked, disbelief lacing his voice. “You’re really asking me that? After that kiss?”
I blushed, and now I couldn’t stop the smile from forming. “Well, we haven’t even been out on a date yet.”
Colby scrunched his nose up, looking perplexed, though there was a hint of a smile on his face as well. “Since when are you the guru of romantic relationships?”
“I’m not,” I retorted, rolling my eyes. “I thought you were the romantic one, and yet you assume I’m already your girlfriend without even asking me out on a date yet.”
“And yet you kissed me back like that,” he muttered. I turned redder, and I reached out to slap his arm. He had a point, but he was the one who initiated the kiss.
He did ask for permission, though, and I agreed to it…
I should stop contradicting myself.
Colby frowned as he rubbed his arm. He sighed dramatically, in a way that was suspiciously similar to Tyler’s, and grumbled, “Fine, will you go out with me?”
“Well, don’t sound so excited now,” I shot back sarcastically as I returned his frown.
He muttered something under his breath which I didn’t quite catch, but he then grabbed both of my hands in his, and put on a serious expression.
“Kayla Johnson,” he began, staring straight to my eyes. “Will you go out on a date with me?”
I knew we were just kidding around, but the action melted my heart, nonetheless. I couldn’t help it, I giggled. Like a dork.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Colby said, smirking. He slung an arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple. “Now let’s go get to our first date.”
I was smiling when he kissed the side of my head, but it turned into a confused frown. “Huh?”
He glanced down at me, his smirk turning to a full-blown smile and I felt a little weak in the knees. He then gestured towards the café with his chin.
“Let’s start out first date now.”
“Here?” I asked, my eyebrows raised, a little amused but actually looking forward to starting our date right that instant.
Colby nodded. He began to steer me towards the café again, and before we reached the door, he paused, consequently making me pause as well. I turned to him expectantly but then he blurted out, “I did buy you coffee.”
I stared at him, not blinking. He shrugged as two pinkish spots appeared on his cheeks.
“I did,” he mumbled, taking his arm off my shoulders. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his shoes. He looked like a little kid who just gotten scolded.
It was absolutely endearing.
I almost let out a laugh. Rolling my lips inside my mouth, I reached over and patted Colby’s head. He snuck a glance at me through his lashes, and I felt all giddy inside. He was so handsome.
And he was my Colby.
“Hey,” I said, crouching so I could catch his eye. Colby raised his head, and I smiled as I tapped the side of his cheek gently. One corner of his mouth started to lift up, and I was overcame with the need to kiss him.
So I did.
I leaned forward, catching his lips. It was a soft kiss, yet we were both breathing pretty heavily when we parted. I opened my eyes and was greeted by the sight of Colby, his eyes still closed, and warm, satisfied smile on his lips.
Smiling myself, I inched closer to him again until our faces were almost touching. Colby, upon sensing my movements, opened his eyes and looked at me, an almost dreamy expression on his face. I giggled as slung my arms around his neck, prompting him to wrap his arms loosely around my waist. He leaned in, and I knew he was about to kiss me once more.
Before our lips touched, my smiled widened and I spoke, my lips grazing his in the process.
“I want cake, too.”
*****
“Are you serious?”
Colby nodded, grinning happily. I raised an eyebrow, shooting him a frown. It was late afternoon on a Sunday, and we were standing in front of the ice skating rink, our supposed second date.
“You do know that I still don’t know how to skate, right?” I pressed, eyeing the rink warily. A little girl zoomed by, and my frown deepened.
“Yup,” Colby replied, sounding a little too cheerful. “All the more reason for me to hold you, and for you to grab onto me.”
I did blush at that, but still, I wasn’t very enthusiastic about it. Colby looked like he was about to burst into a song from excitement, though, so I decided that for him, I’d endure the stares and laughter that would be aimed at me soon. After all, I was still riding on a high from yesterday’s events.
I am in love with you.
My body automatically responded whenever I had thought about those words. The warmth spread like wildfire, making my heart dance inside my ribcage. A smile was inevitable, too.
“You look excited.”
Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked up at Colby. He was smirking down at me, not helping with the fast beating of my heart. I rolled my eyes at him nonetheless.
“I’m just jumping up and down with joy.”
Colby laughed and stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He then crouched down until his chin was resting on my shoulder. I turned my head and met his face, his lips forming a small pout. I couldn’t help a small smile, but it was filled with glee. How cute was this boy?
“I won’t let you fall,” he promised, and then he planted a quick kiss on my nose.
I looked him in the eye, the small smile still on my face and I nodded. “Okay.”
He smiled back and then his eyebrows scrunched. “I mean, I won’t let you fall on the ice, but I’ll let you fall for me even more.”
He smirked. “Don’t hold back falling in love with me, I know I’m that irresistible.”
That merited a blush, but I shot him a look. “That is the corniest thing, followed by the most self-indulgent thing I have ever heard.”
He just grinned back widely at me, causing me to giggle, and he pecked me on the lips before dragging me to the skates rental.
A few minutes later, we were standing on the ice. Well, I was more like slipping around the ice, while Colby patiently guided me. I could tell that he was dying to laugh when I almost did a split, but he held his laughter in and instead helped me to a normal standing position again. We must’ve stayed in the ice for just one hour, but it felt like a lifetime.
“I guess you’re hopeless,” Colby commented as he led me to the side of the rink where the hand bars were. I frowned, but I knew that he was right.
“This is turning out to be a disastrous second date,” I muttered, grabbing the hand bar as if it was my lifeline. The ice did not like me at all. Nevertheless, I enjoyed having to hold on to Colby very, very much.
“Oh come on, don’t say that,” Colby said, pouting again. I found myself staring at his face, even momentarily forgetting that I was on unstable ground, or in this case, ice.
Damn that pout.
Clearing my throat, I gestured around with my head. “I’m not exactly liking this activity.”
Colby settled his chin on the bar, and I both marveled and loathed how he managed to stay upright despite his position. He then turned to look at me, slight regret and uncertainty on his face, and I immediately felt like poop. I didn’t want him to feel bad, and I especially didn’t want for me to be the reason he did so, but if we were going to do this, I needed to be fully honest. Right now, I was hating the ice, and I wasn’t enjoying the date.
Except for the fact that I got to hold on to Colby really tightly.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I guess this was a step down from yesterday, huh?”
I bit my lip, and I wobbled a little, making me grip the hand bar more tightly. “Yeah, kind of.”
Colby straightened and grabbed my arm to help steady me, and I shot him a grateful smile. He let out an audible breath in response.
“Okay,” he said, looking a little disappointed. “Let’s get out of here, then.”
He grabbed my hand, then carefully led me out of the rink. My heart felt heavier with every slide of my skates on the ice, and I couldn’t help but feel guilty. At that moment, I considered staying and giving it one more shot, but then again I knew that it wouldn’t be of any help.
Colby kept quiet until we got our skates off and changed our shoes. For some strange reason, I wanted to cry. The feeling that I caused Colby’s disappointment sucked.
I snuck a glance at the boy beside me. Colby was just finishing tying up his laces, his face set on a neutral expression. I couldn’t read what he was thinking. I was getting stressed. When he grabbed both his and my skates and just stood up to return them without a word, I felt like I was going to burst into flames.
I was going to curse ice for the rest of my life.
“You ready?”
Startled, my head snapped up. Colby was standing in front of me, looking right at me. Still, I couldn’t read what was behind that deadpan look on his face. Licking my lips, I nodded and stood up, and together, we left the rink.
We walked side by side, and I suddenly had no idea what to do with my hands. I put them in my pockets, then took them out, clasping them in front of me, all the while chewing my lip. I was still stressing, and I didn’t sense Colby watching me all that time, not until I felt his hand grab my clasped ones, entangling them in the process. He then entwined his fingers with mine.
He kept holding my hand as we walked, and my heart was a whole lot lighter.
Feeling the need to break the silence, I asked, “So, where to now?”
Colby raised his eyebrows at me and shrugged. “Home.”
“Oh,” I said, slightly dumbfounded.
“Do you want to go somewhere?” He asked, a bit hesitance in his voice. “I really got not much planned, just the ice skating thing.”
I just shook my head. Now I was the one feeling a little disappointed. I sort of expected that we were going to do something else. Something that didn’t involve me slipping on ice.
“Let’s just go home,” I said, and Colby just shrugged again and led me to the parking lot. The weight in my hear returned and it felt like it weighed a ton by the time we got to my truck. Colby held out his hand, signaling that he would drive. I wordlessly handed him the keys and got inside the truck, absentmindedly putting my seatbelt on.
I knew I might be overreacting, since this was only the second date and all, but wasn’t the first date usually the hardest and most awkward? Didn’t it usually get easier and better?
Why did it feel like we were already moving backwards?
*****
The truck came to a stop in front of my house. Colby killed the engine, but neither of us made a move. The whole ride had been quiet, saved from a few honks of the horn and of Colby’s occasional whistle. He looked like he wasn’t too affected by what happened just a few minutes ago, while I, on the other hand, was acting like a basket case.
Colby’s hands released the steering wheel and his head bumped on the headrest. I knew he was looking at me. I always got the tingles when he did.
“I’ll walk you to your door,” he said quietly.
Who said anything about walking to my door right now? I wanted to stay in the truck for a few more minutes, but I guess the silence was a bit suffocating. Looking at him briefly, with one corner of my mouth quirked up, I nodded and climbed out of the truck.
We walked quietly up my front yard, but before we reached the door, Colby grabbed my hand and pulled me to the direction of the back yard. I raised my eyebrows slightly, and he shrugged.
“Want to hang out with me for a while?”
“At the back yard?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed, giving my hand a soft squeeze.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “But we can always hang out inside. Matty’s not here right now—,“
“I don’t—,” Colby paused, sighing. “I’m not worried about your brother being inside the house, okay?” He rubbed the side of his face with his free hand and I just stood there, once again feeling like poop. I just assumed that he didn’t want a run-in with Matty, so I told him that my brother wasn’t there at the moment. He had a date with Lily. I sure hoped it was going better than this one.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “Let’s just go.”
Colby pulled me to the backyard.
He was sorry. Why was he sorry? I should be the one to say sorry. Perhaps he said sorry because of the horrible ice skating idea he had. Yeah, he should be sorry for that one.
I was trying to make myself feel better, and it wasn’t working.
My feet dragged along the stone pathway to the back yard, and I let Colby tug me along. He was gentle enough, but I could just feel stress and anxiety coming out of his pores. Or maybe those feelings were being transported through his fingers. However they were communicated, it felt incredibly depressing, worrying, and just like yesterday, when Colby said he would ask that blonde out, I almost went to full-on panic mode.
That was until I heard Colby say my name, right on my ear.
“Kayla.”
Despite the glum, warmth spread inside my chest. It was a lukewarm warmth, but warmth nevertheless. I raised my eyes, which were trained to my Chucks, and they widened to the size of saucers as I took in what was in front of me, right there in my back yard.
He wrapped his arms around me from behind, just like what he did earlier at the skating rink. His breath tickled my ear. I shivered, and my jaw dropped. When he spoke, there was an unmistakable smile on his voice.
“Surprise.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but what only came out sounded like gibberish gargles of some unknown language.
“I’ll take it that you are surprised.”
“Huh,” I croaked out. Colby kissed my temple softly.
A huge tent. A table. Two chairs. Candles. Flowers. Under the starry night. Right there, in my back yard.
It was beautiful.
He released me then stood in front of me, looking a bit embarrassed all of a sudden.
“I’m sorry I had to do the whole ice skating thing, it wasn’t part of my plan to make you feel bad or anything,” Colby said somberly. “But I guess it worked pretty well.”
“How?” I asked, my voice sounded like someone just strangled me. My tongue was just relearning how to spit words out. One at a time.
Colby smiled softly as he traced a finger down my cheek. More shivers.
“I told your mom what I wanted to do, and she was more than willing to help,” he said with a chuckle. “She arranged the flowers and the candles, all that romantic stuff.”
“The tent?”
Two words. Woohoo an improvement!
“Tyler,” he answered. “He got a couple of his archery buddies to help, too.”
Like an ice cream on a cone, I was slowly melting. Of course it was Ty. This was just one of the many, many reasons why he was my friend.
“Come on,” Colby said, tugging on my hand. Once again I let him lead me to where the table was. He grabbed a big bouquet of every flower in the world imaginable from the table and handed it to me. The only word I could think of to describe it was exquisite. He then held out my chair for me, and I smiled as I took my seat, and I watched as he sat down across from me.
Colby clasped his hands on top of the table and looked at me, but I could sense that he was a little anxious. He chewed on his bottom lip, as he shot me an unsure little smile. It was adorable. I felt my cheeks grow hot.
“So,” Colby began, dragging the word. He cleared his throat before continuing. “I thought I’d be smooth and I won’t be nervous, but now I am. I’ve never done anything like this before, and I want to apologize in advance for all the stupid things I will say and or do.”
I was floored. He was nervous about this, yet he already sang for me in front of an audience, kissed me in the middle of a street, and called me his girlfriend in front of three of our friends. He was so weird sometimes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“You made me concerned there for a bit,” I said, my hand grazing the flowers. Hooray for my speaking ability was back!
“I know, I’m sorry,” he said, and there was sincerity in his tone. “I didn’t think your reaction to the ice skating date would be like that, but it helped. Plus, you gotta admit I was pretty convincing.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, but I smiled as I laid my bouquet on the side of the table. “You were. That was mean, I was so close to having a panic attack.”
“I hated seeing you all anxious and worried,” Colby declared. “You know I’ll never do anything on purpose that will worry you, right?”
Smiling softly, I nodded. “Yes.”
And I believed him with all my heart.
He smiled back. “Good.” Then he clapped his hands once and wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“Let’s get to dinner, then?”
“Okay,” I replied, leaning my elbows on the table. “What are we having?”
Considering the somewhat formal ambiance, I thought that maybe we were having steak or something. Oh, maybe even caviar, or something really fancy.
Colby’s smile widened despite the obvious pinking of his cheeks. He then reached down and retrieved a plastic bag from underneath the table. He set the bag on his lap and I leaned forward a little bit more, trying to get a peek of what was in the bag. He pushed it further down his lap, effectively hiding it from view, and I jutted my lower lip out.
The next thing I knew, two red, very familiar cartons appeared on the table. Min Hao Restaurant, they read. I burst out laughing.
“You r-remember?” I asked between giggles.
Colby’s shoulders were already shaking in silent laughter as he nodded. “Yep.”
I laughed harder, but I was also very touched that he remembered.
There was a time before when we were both babysitting Cameron, and he took home a bag with Chinese takeaway, and another bag filled with sweets. He must’ve noticed how much I loved Chinese takeaway. And he remembered.
“You wolfed down that carton in less than two minutes,” he said, shaking his head. I stuck my tongue out at him, but he was most probably right. I reached for my carton and opened it, my mouth watering at the smell. Colby handed me the chopsticks, and I gratefully accepted.
I was about to dug in to my rice topping, but I paused when I heard him speaking.
“Then we tucked Cam to bed, watched The Lion King, and you cried when Mufasa got killed,” he continued. “Oh, you even thought I was going to push you down the stairs.” He chuckled a little at that.
“I asked if I could be your friend that night, and you said yes. You have no idea how happy I was that you said yes,” he said, looking straight to my eyes. And yes, I was turning to mush. I couldn’t believe he even remembered that I thought he was going to push me down the stairs.
“You have no idea how important you are to me,” he continued. He titled his head and smiled.
“You’re everything.”
About a gazillion butterflies erupted inside my stomach, and my heart felt so, so full. I set my carton to the side. The rice topping could wait.
I tilted my head too, matching his stance.
“I love you.”
He grinned. “I know. How could you not?”
I raised an eyebrow at him and shot him a look. He laughed. It was music to my ears.
Colby started eating his food and I followed suit. It was delicious, but my happiness didn’t stem from the pork siomai on top of my equally yummy rice. It came from the boy sitting across from me, with all his surprises and peculiarity and adorableness.
“Hey.”
I looked up, chopsticks in midair. “Yeah?”
“I love you.”
I grinned. “I know.”
Then I tilted my head, making him lean against the back of his seat, shake his head and smile amusedly.
“How could you not?”
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Just finished this today! At the airport! I'm off to a business trip in a few minutes! :D
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MUCHO LOVE!