CHRISTIAN'S P.O.V
“Look, I didn't want to be so charming. If you're listening to this because you think you might be one, my advice is: do not think so, because you’re not. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. Being charming like me is dangerous.”
Walter groaned, rolling her eyes, kicking my shin with the stabby heels of her boots. The metal of the bleacher rang with a low thud at the contact of her shoes. “I swear if you ever release this podcast, I will kill you. Boyfriend or not.”
I scowled, my mouth weighing down with a frown. I clicked close on the recorder and turned to my sweet nemesis, my worstie. The shouts of the football practice going on the field were the perfect background noise for my podcast setting. “Way to rain on my parade, Divagirl.”
“Well excuse me if I am trying to stop you from ruining the Percy Jackson series forever.” Walter drawled, her mouth puckering up annoyingly, and I swear if I weren’t so insulted by her remark, I’d have planted a kiss on her pretty mouth.
“Do not be a killjoy, Walter, and let people live their lives the way they want.”
“If I had let you live your life the way you wanted, you’d have been dead by now,” She deadpanned.
“You wound me, my love,” I murmured, taking her hand and gently guiding it over my heart. “Right here. You wounded me right here.”
“Argh,” Lucas groaned from the other side of me. “Watching you two so disgustingly in love is worse than watching you fight.”
“Stay. This is your punishment, Lucas, for all those years I had to watch Ava and you eat each other’s faces off on the couch. Just imagine how I’d have felt, mate.”
Lucas seemed to think for a moment, and then shuddered. “Oh, that must have sucked. I am sorry, bro.”
Walter smirked, and then leaned in to press a kiss to my lips.
"No!" Lucas jumped up, almost toppling over from the bleachers. "No! I am still here! No! Don't do this!"
"Yes, let's do this here," I murmured, smiling wickedly as I leaned in and pressed a kiss to the soft area where Walter's jaw met her neck. She let out a small sigh before pushing me off. "I want to scar Lucas with the memory of this and forever change the trajectory of his life."
"Oh God, I will throw up." Lucas pretended to gag. "Have you no mercy?"
"I am merciful enough," I said, letting go of Walter's waist as she hit me squarely in the chest — quite gentle for her standards — as she straightened up and shook her head. "Look, we even bought you a snake plushie for emotional support." At my statement, Lucas sidled up to his plushie even more, scowling at me. He had no regard for the fact that we were in public. Tsk.
Walter raised a brow. "You mean I bought a snake plushie. After spending thousands of pennies at the claw machine just because you insisted on this particular plushie as the perfect gift for Lucas."
I waved a hand. "You're too hung up on semantics, my darling."
"It's amazing," She paused, cocking her head at me. She had applied glitter eyeshadow today, and those shiny particles twinkled against her skin like stars, and her dark eyes looked like they too had celestial bodies trapped in them. A perfect juxtaposition. "How you retain your tendency to be so effortlessly annoying, no matter where or when. It's so consistent."
I flashed her a grin. "I assure you, it takes years of practice to be this annoying. The fact that it seems so consistent and effortless is simply a testament to the quality of my craft."
"You two are more entertaining than Netflix shows," Lucas commented simply. I gasped out loud.
"You guys are even more dramatic than I am," She replied. Lucas bellowed. Walter laughed too, and my world stopped around her. Clad in a gorgeous baby pink off-shoulder top with ruffled sleeves and a sinfully tempting neckline, I knew from when Walter walked in that she was intending to tease me. At her neck hung a simple gold pendant, and she paired the outfit with an off-white mini skirt that offered me a nice look at her legs. And just now, she was taking advantage of her beauty as she shrewdly trailed her heel against the shin of my leg, a move extremely tactfully casual because now I couldn’t seem to focus on anything other than her. I swallowed audibly, and that chalked out a coy smile on her face. My little coquette.
“I, uh, yeah,” I said unintelligibly, trying hard to think of a clever response to her comment but Walter knew that I was in the palm of her hand as she leaned forward and offered just a fleeting glimpse of her collarbone and the side of her neck before she shuffled comfortably against me again. My heart thumped. The smile on her face widened.
“He seems to agree,” Walter proclaimed with a naughty, proud smile on her face. She turned to face Lucas, with a careless shrug of her shoulder. “Record this time, Lucas. To the very T. Because not only is your best friend at a complete loss of words, but he also agreed to the fact that he was more dramatic than me.”
“Seduction.” Lucas sighed. “I remember when I had those days too.”
“Yeah, I don’t really wanna hear about it,” Walter said scrunching up her face. “Anyway, what are your plans for prom, Lucas? Who are you going with?”
“I am thinking of going with Estelle,” Lucas said, nodding his head.
“Why?” I inquired. “Estelle thinking of changing teams or something?”
That earned me a snicker from Lucas and an elbow in the ribs from Walter. I pretended to be gravely hurt by her attack, and she was smiling - her smile as beautiful as reading Neruda’s poetry by the windowsill on a sunny day - and I wanted to stay right here in this moment, with a smiling Walter in my arms and my best friend, unscathed and whole, beside me. To keep that smile on her face forever, I’d take a lifetime of elbows in my ribs without any regrets. Lucas gave me an eye roll before returning to thumb through his Instagram feed.
I caught Walter looking at me fondly, a smile on her face as pretty as the shade of wine staining her mouth. I brushed against the corner of her mouth with my thumb, my hand holding the side of her face. I stroked her cheek absent-mindedly. “A penny for your thoughts, Walter?”
“Only a penny?” She smirked into my palm. Somewhere out on the field, the coach screamed at a poor player. Lucas cursed under his breath, his gaze set longingly and intently on the field out there. “My thoughts are worth millions, if not billions of dollars.”
“Okay, a billion dollars for your thoughts then,” I said, and she laughed. “What’s got you so occupied?”
“No, just thinking,” Walter mused. I fished out a piece of blue paper from my breast pocket and folded it. “I forgot to tell you, but I have an important soiree to attend tomorrow. A family friend thing.” She stretched her arms forward, the smooth skin and taut muscles glistening in the sun. “But ugh, believe it or not, despite all the perfectly done mocktails, it’s always so incredibly boring.”
I folded it in half, quietly working on it until I had made it into a little paper flower. “Then, here’s a crazy idea.” I gently threaded my index finger through her bangs to make way for my paper flower, and in one swift motion, it was there, the pale blue paper flower tucked behind Walter’s eyes, bringing out the obsidian of her hair. God, she was pretty. “Don’t go.”
“Ha ha,” She enunciated dryly, stifling a grin as I slid my finger down the side of her neck, right over the area where I knew she was ticklish. She smelled of jasmine and sandalwood like always, a scent that’d always continue to remind me of her, no matter where I went. The dimple on her right cheek popped up and my thumb instinctually followed its path, gently poking it. “Here’s a crazier idea, you accompany me.”
Suddenly all the humour from the world seemed to dry up. Me, at a soiree, stuffed up in a suit with Walter by my side? That part was tolerable. What wasn’t tolerable were the hundreds of stares that would be on Walter and the bounds of my jealousy. The rich trust fund kids with sandy blonde hair would throw themselves at Walter’s feet in front of me and I’d have to watch - and fuck no, I wasn’t the strongest solider for that. And what would Walter’s world think of me? The parties I attended, and the parties she attended were vastly, incredibly different. I swallowed, and for a split second was smug about the fact that Walter’s gaze not-so-imperceptibly followed the bob of my throat.
“No,” I croaked out.
“Well,” Walter frowned, and my heart dropped. “I was thinking of wearing a red dress tomorrow and would have appreciated it if you could accompany me, but oh well.” I was already regretting my decision. And then, she decided to make me feel worse as she turned towards Lucas, flashing him a million-watt smile, the type of smile you’d find a model flashing on the cover of a magazine. “Lucas, are you free tomorrow? Would you like to accompany me?”
“No, he won’t,” I cut in before Lucas could answer, and his mischievous gaze instantly slid down to me, and I knew I wasn’t going to hear the end of it anytime soon. But screw that. I was her boyfriend, and I wasn’t about to be an asshole and make her go to a boring, stuffy soiree with my best friend just because I am too nervous to accompany her. I was a wuss, but I wasn’t foolish enough to treat my girl any less than she deserved. “Because I will go. I am accompanying you to that soiree.” I bit out. “I was just kidding. Of course, I’ll go with you, I’d follow you to the ends of the Earth, Walter, and even to bloody Mars if Elon ever makes it.”
“A literal damn confession, and that too because you asked me to go with you after he said no,” Lucas said, letting out a low whistle. “Woah, Jannat, you’ve got him whipped.”
Walter turned to me, a colossal smile on her face, and a promise of something exciting glinting in her gaze. “I will send you the details.” She leaned in to press a soft peck on my lips. “Can’t wait to see you tomorrow, babe.”
I tried to stop myself from blushing. “You’re picking out my outfit, right?”
Walter leaned in, brushing hair out from my eyes, her gaze so soft and fond and beautiful that I felt my heart take pirouettes in my chest like a bloody ballerina. “Of course, I will, dummy. How could you even ask me that question?” She clicked her tongue. “It’s like you don’t even think of me as your girlfriend.”
The coach finally yelled for a break on the field. Lucas stood up, and I knew he was itching to look at the game plan formation charts that the coach had prepared for the next big game. He grabbed his crutch and hopped off of the bleachers in one smooth motion with only one unharmed leg, while I, the one with two unharmed legs, stumbled forward and would have crashed right on my face if Walter hadn’t grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. After shooting her a silly grin, I quickly scurried to Lucas’s side and took his free arm, swinging it around my neck for support. I turned towards Walter again. “Can’t wait to see you tomorrow in red.”
Her smirk was truly devious, and I should’ve known. “Can’t wait to show it to you.”
• • •
I WAS BLINDFOLDED.
“While I like to think that I have developed my fair share of kinks, I never thought you’d be into blindfolding,” I commented swiftly as Walter guided me over what felt like cobblestones - her leading the way, her hand in mine - warm and soft and fit like a puzzle piece - and I heard her snicker. “What’s next? A little bondage, perhaps?”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Her sly voice fluttered in. “Want me to grab some ropes?”
I could hardly keep the smug smile off of my face. “While I am indeed a man of many talents. I, unfortunately, do not make a very good submissive. But if you were to remove the blindfold,” I said, gesturing at the knot. “I could always fetch the ropes.”
“And exactly what gave away the impression that you’d be the one in charge?”
A smirk crept up my face, and I felt Walter’s gaze on me. Even without seeing her, I could feel her scorching gaze on me - burning its way on me. “Oh, come on love, we both know how much you like me in charge.” I grabbed hold of her wrist gently, taking the opportunity to slowly trail a lone index finger up the length of her arm, not stopping until my finger skated the slope of her collarbone and up her neck. I felt her breath catch in her throat, and I knew I was doing it right. “Or are you forgetting it already?” I said, leaning forward a little, lowering my voice. “I think I might have to remind you, Jannat.”
I heard her gulp. "Stop being so utterly debilitating, Sinclair. I am the only one leading both of us forward. We both might go tumbling down, and my hair is just too good today to be graced with dirt and dust!"
"Why?" I said with a shit-eating grin on my face. "Not enough confidence in yourself, sweetheart?"
"Shut up," She grumbled finally, and while I couldn't see the expression on her face, she clutched my hand a little too tight. "I am always confident. You're just distracting, and terribly annoying." A pause. "Confidence just suits me so well."
“It does,” I hummed in agreement, reaching up to touch her face. She let me, and when I found her cheek, I trailed my index finger down the side of her face. “Just like chicanery suits you. Pray tell, Walter, was being partial to deception also merely innate?”
"It was innate," She answered in a jiffy. "I have just always had invaluable business acumen."
"Business?" I snickered a little. "Are we doing a negotiation here or something?"
"Something like that," She said, and then we came to a half. She circled around me and untied the cloth around my eyes. "I lied. There's no soiree." A pause. She stepped away from me. "Surprise." Her whisper was like a little murmur of the wind.
I shrugged the cloth off, and then, right there, my eyes popped off. Figuratively. I wouldn't have doubted if it had happened literally as well. We were in the backyard of the Roy-Walter manor (yes, I had finally given their 'farmhouse' a name) and in front of me stood the manor lake - which currently had a little boat on it, and a hundred thousand floating candles around it. I looked around and the entire backyard was lit up - and it looked like a fairytale. I was shaken to my core, and holy hell was it in a good way — but when I turned around to look at Walter, she stood there with a smile, an unlit floating lantern in her hand.
"What— This is crazy, Walter, what was the reason—"
She handed me the lantern without answering. Fishing a lighter out of her purse, she lit the lantern. I watched quietly, with knitted brows as the words — "Will you go to prom with me?" materialised on the paper. I barked out a laugh. My girlfriend had the ideas of a middle school boy but had the execution levels of some kingdom's queen. She had recreated the most romantic scene ever from the most romantic film — Tangled — and god I was so in love with her. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She was goddamn smart and romantic and looked absolutely ravishing in a little red dress that inched only till her thighs, and I knew she was gonna hog over my coat, but I really didn't care. Walter was maddeningly mine, and hypothermia stood not a zilch of chance of winning in front of her.
"Fuck yeah I'll go to prom with you," I said, let go of the lantern, and grabbed Walter by the waist, pulling her into me as I captured her mouth in a hungry kiss, hoping to pour out all my desire and gratitude for her. "Fuck," I whispered. "If you continue pulling stunts like this, I am going to end up marrying you."
"Thinking about marriage already?" She drawled, laughing. "Goddamn I am good."
"You're the best," I corrected and then kissed her. Again. And again. And again. I could never get enough of her. "Divagirl, I literally never in my wildest dreams would've thought that I would be going to prom with you. But here we are, and here you've pulled the world's greatest promposal ever. And fuck yeah, I'm offering you my arm for that entire night. And possibly forever. Might have to go to the gym to gain muscle definition for that, but I would be willing to go to great lengths for you."
"Woah there, smarty-pants," She said, sliding her index over my lips to stop me from talking. "We haven't even gotten to the best part yet." She said, and then, she led me towards the boat - and I was the happiest man on earth at that moment. Once we were safely nestled inside the boat — Walter spoke up.
"So…" She started. "We have a little complication."
"What is it?" I cocked an eyebrow. Or at least tried to. One day, one day I will be better at it than Walter already was.
"I kind of forgot to factor in the fact that none of us know how to use oars," She said, and then she pointed at the oars. "So we're doing stone, paper, scissors — best of three. Loser mans the boat. Capiche?"
"Got it, my little mafia boss," I smiled. And then willingly lost to her all three times — she had tells when it came to the game that she wasn't even aware of. She smiled triumphantly as she handed me the oars, and I bent down to press a kiss to her knuckles. She blushed, and even though I couldn't see it in the dim lights of the lanterns and the fairy lights and the candles — I knew her by touch alone. I could be blind but I could trace the lines of her faces, sculpt it on rocks better than Michelangelo did David — and no, it's not about the artist, it's about the muse. I knew her so well, have always known her so well — she could be laughing and I'd pick the distinct tone of hers in a full crowd.
I was looking around, finally being able to avert my gaze from her face when we came to the middle of the lake — and everything around me was lit up so beautifully that for a moment, I thought this was all a dream. But then Walter hugged me from backwards, her arms wrapping around me like petals of a closing bud — and I almost melted, right then and there. Her face was burrowed into my back, and the heat emanating from her body felt like the only salvation I'd ever need in my life again. I turned around and let her nestle into my chest - which she did with a satisfying sigh, and I wrapped my arms around her, covering her with my coat so that her stupidity didn't make her catch a cold. I breathed in the crisp air — lost in the tranquil bliss of the moment.
"I am so in love with you, it's funny."
I whispered, like an instinct — so slow, so slow — and I was almost sure she didn't hear it. I had been scared that her love confession had just been a fluke — an out of pressure thing. But I didn't want to force it out of her just to soothe my overthinking. I had been scared, so scared, and I was still — of being in love with her more than she was with me — but honestly, even if that was the case, I wouldn't mind. Being in love with her was just so easy, once you looked past the facade of violence and occasional hubris. I cradled her further, because that moment was too pretty to break. It seemed like in that bubble of time, there was no one else but us — two young lovers in each other's embrace, fire shrouding us, the water running underneath our feet. Sometimes it reminded me of us — fire and water, Jannat and I — and oh, what a lovely paradox we were.
"You know," I said, louder this time — and she hummed in response. "This might end up finally being that one school dance event where you don't beat me up."
She laughed, a slow little laugh that I wanted to bottle up and keep inside my coat for the rest of my life — a cure for all my troubles. "Don't be so sure, bookworm. The night hasn't come yet."
I laughed and hugged her closer, and a cold wind whistled through the leaves that sent her scrambling into me to borrow my body warmth. I invitingly gave her all of it. She put her head over my chest, and we stayed there, quiet in the night — until she finally spoke up, and my heart almost stopped running. It wasn't a fluke, or a one-time confession. It was a slap-you-in-the-face truth.
"I am so in love with you, it's also pretty fucking funny."
A/N : so... hi. yes, i do give you guys the permission to ✨unalive✨ me for disappearing for soooo long, but i promise i have a valid excuse. your girl got into her dream college, got her dream course, and moved to an entirely new city and lives all on her own now! it's been hard, scary, and adapting to college has been one hell of a ride — but safe to say that i have gotten things under control, and have finally gotten my creative abilities back (i was in a majooooor writers block!!) but i am back and i am thriving amigosss. but on another note — only one more chapter until the epilogue comes! how are we feeling about that?