Eli(Ellie) was getting more irritated by the second. Why? Prompto was teasing her about her crush... Again.
"Noct and Eli sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G~" the freckled blonde sang smugly into her ear.
"Ugh, Prompto, stop it! What if someone hears you?" Eli shouted as she pushed him away.
"But, you want that to happen, don't you?" Eli's face flushed in red and turned away. "Ha! I was right!"
"What are you guys bickering about this time?"
The girl stiffened at the voice. Noctis. The prince of Lucis. Him and Eli had grown up together and she was appointed to be his personal bodyguard, along with Gladiolus. But... there was something more to that.
Eli had a crush on Noctis. And only Prompto(out of all people) knew about it.
"N-Nothing," Eli replied as she nudged Prompto.
"Yeah, nothing~" he said teasingly. Noctis raised a brow.
"Okay, seriously. What is it?" he asked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Noct, it's really nothing," Eli stated with a smile. Her water-coloured blush went unnoticed by the prince, but not his friend. Prompto snickered frantically, barely able to hold back the hysterical laughter buried within. Noctis stared at his two friends in disbelief.
"You guys are really horrible liars, you know that?" he asked.
"I'm not the one who's lying," Prompto replied, clearly hinting to Eli's feelings. She gave him a playful glare and nudged him again.
"Anyway~ Why are you here? Is there something you need?" Eli asked Noctis.
"Oh, yeah. Dad told me to tell you guys that you're invited to dinner tonight."
"Whoa, really?! That's great!" Prompto exclaimed.
"But, why does he want us there?" Eli asked
"I dunno. He didn't really say."
"Oh, okay. Well, I can't wait," the girl said in a cheerful voice.
-
It was dusk. The sky was covered in grey-orange clouds as tiny drops of water fell from them. Eli watched the sight in pure wonder. She always liked the rain. It amazed her how water can just fall out of the sky as if it was actually crying. She got so caught up in rain-gazing that she unknowingly wasted all of her prep time for dinner.
Then, there was a knock at her door.
"Yes?"
A maid had come in.
'Pardon me Miss, but King Regis is asking for you," she said. Eli looked at her watch. Her jaw fell as she realized the time.
"Oh, shoot! Thank you for reminding me!" Eli exclaimed as she dashed to her closet. The maid left the room as the girl frantically dug into the cabinets. As she didn't have enough time to dress into anything special, she decided to wear what she could find: a tank-top, a hoodie, skinny jeans, and lace-up boots, all of which were black. Then, she speedily combed her waist-length brown, blue-streaked hair. She scolded herself for losing track of time.
-
"You're late," Prompto teased as Eli came walking towards him in the grand hallway.
"Sorry, I just got caught up in some stuff," she replied.
"Oh, yeah? Like what?"
Eli's jaw tightened and her cheeks started to flush. She hated being embarrassed.
"A-About..."
Prompto raised a brow.
"Let me guess. It has something to do with Prince Charming himself~?"
Eli let out a breath of defeat.
"I-I want... to tell him," she stated nervously.
"Really!?" Prompto asked, "It's about time you did. I mean come on, how long has it been? Ten years since you started crushing on him?"
"Sush!" Eli spat as she covered the blonde's mouth with her hand. "Please stop shouting those things out loud!" Prompto pried off her hand.
"Okay, okay, I won't."
"But... What if he rejects me?" the brunette asked nervously.
"Reject? No, he wouldn't. He likes you, too," Prompto stated. Eli scoffed.
"Yeah, right."
"You don't believe me? Tell him and find out yourself."
"Hey, guys!" Noctis called out from the other end of the hall. "Come on, the food's getting cold!"
***
Eli walked nervously towards the garden. Knowing that Noctis liked to go there after dinner, it would be the ideal place to look first. And sure enough, there the prince was, sitting on the bench, staring at the stars. He seemed to be deep in thought as there was a distant gaze in his eyes.
"N-Noct?" Eli quietly asked. At that instant, the raven-haired boy's head snapped to the girl's direction and his blue eyes found her brown ones.
"Oh, hey Eli. What's up?" he asked.
"Nothing much," she replied as she slowly sat beside him. A long, heavy silence loomed over the two for a lengthy amount of time. Unbeknownst to Noctis, Eli was an internal mess, frantically arguing with herself if she should just be straightforward and confess or do something else. After sorting out all the scrambling thoughts, Eli finally made her choice. "Um... Noctis?"
"Yeah?"
"I-uh... I..."
The prince gazed down from the sky to the girl beside him. She was never this nervous. She was always a bubbly person... Was something bothering her?
"You...?" Noctis urged on. With a speedy burst of energy and anxiety, Eli turned to face the prince.
"I like you."
Silence.
Noctis blinked rapidly, processing what his friend had just said. Then, a pink blush appeared on his pale cheeks, but not enough to match Eli's cherry-red one.
"Y-You do?" he asked shyly. The brunette bit her lip and faintly shook her head to confirm, gazing away from the blushing prince.
Suddenly, Eli felt fingers slip across her burning cheek and lift her head up. Before she saw anything, she felt a pair of soft, warm lips touch her own. Her brown eyes widened, almost to the point of them popping out. It felt like fireworks went off in her stomach at the gentleness of Noctis's kiss. However, before Eli could kiss back, Noctis withdrew. Now, his blush was cherry-red as well.
"I like you, too."
END