" Prom, I mean, really? I'll go if you want to..." Archer scrunched his nose looking at the ceiling wondering about the beautiful and intimate moment they had shared a few minutes ago.
" I want to go, it'll be fun. We can dress like some kind of characters again." Elara laughed turning to Archer, he was already gazing at her. His gaze was intense and in a moment her lips were on his climbing on top of him. He made the kiss softer and pulled her beside him, her head lay on his muscular arm.
" You're sore." He muttered stroking her hair lightly and kissing them. " You are so beautiful Sunflower, I can't get enough of you." He smiled as she nuzzled her face in his neck.
" We should get up, those brownies won't bake themselves.", Archer said pulling her up and they both dressed up. Elara had pulled on Archer's coat for more warmth, while she sat on her dressing table, Archer took out his phone and snapped a picture of her as quietly as he could, or else he would be a dead man walking.
Elara combed through her nesty hair and took out a scrunchie to tie it around, only to be stopped by a strong arm and whisper tickling on her neck," Keep them down"
" Yes sir." She replied smiling to herself and leaning into him as she steadied her breath.
They came down, back to the kitchen to find the mess they had created, the flour carpeted the floor and the whipped cream covered the whole counter. Elara would surely be homeless if her dad was here to see the kitchen.
" Okay, I got the floor, you take care of the counter?" Archer quickly asked and she nodded agreeing. They both pulled their sleeves up and Elara took off his coat and placed it on the sofa. Elara salvaged all the ingredients which were half covered in flour. Archer being the neat freak he was, made her rub off every single atom of flour with paper napkins before keeping them in their respective places. Elara continued to rub a tough spot on the counter, biting her lips enough to make them bleed. Archer was wiping the floor clean with a mop after dry brooming it.
" By the way you are not getting back your coat." Elara declared to him, looking satisfied with having cleaned the tough spot. Archer raised his eyebrow at her, rotating her words in his head and making some sense out of them," Okay, but I'll have to need something too. That!" He had stopped mopping and turned completely towards her and raised his long and slender finger, pointing to her chest. Her lips parted and she let out a breath and redness faded in onto her cheek.
" My top?" She asked heavily, remembering the things they had done.
" No" He paused and strode elegantly, standing right in front of her. " I want what's underneath." He breathed out as his eyes roamed around her chest. Certainly had forgotten his everyday-gentlemen behavior.
Elara's hands skimmed on the hem of her top and played with it," What are you going to do with it?"
" Keep it, frame it in my room exactly in front" of my bed."
" Are you sure, your paren-"
" I don't care" He whispered. Her hands skimmed inside her top unclasping her bra and struggling with the straps and ripping the whole lacy thing off her thing and handing it to him, not even breaking the eye contact for a nanosecond.
He too did not stop gazing at her, he put her bra inside his pocket and then held her cheek,"I know Sunflower, what it meant to you. You cannot imagine how lucky I am to have you, to get to hold you. I'll never break your heart." He held her face in his hands like he held her heart. She smiled from ear-to-ear before standing on her toes and kissing him on his cheek. He closed his eyes lightly and opened them to see her standing on her feet and blushing hard.
" Your lips on mine, it's heaven but when your soft lips touch my cheek, it's a whole new world and whole new feeling. My hormones go mad. That's what you do to me. Here feel it." He whispered, his breath fanning her neck as he took his hand, gently keeping her hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat.
" You have hijacked it." He said and she chuckled and gazed into his eyes. It was serenity for her. Staring into his eyes, the person she loved the most. They were having their moment only to be broken by the ringing of the phone, Archer's. He looked at Elara, asking permission and she nodded at him, going off and completing the rest of the cleaning. Her phone had pinged multiple times but she decided not to check them now. She sighed disposing off the dirty paper napkins. She really wanted to go to the prom, not because of how it's a once-in-a-lifetime night of glory. She wished to spend some more time with Archer before going to New York. Yes, she was leaving early, before graduation, she had to do some paperwork before the app could be made available outside the workplace. Sebastian had already talked to the principal and he had granted his permission. Elara would give the tests online while staying in New York. She had not yet told Archer because she was scared to do so. How would he react?
So, she had decided to wait till prom and then disclose it to Archer. She was so in love with him that she had firmly believed, they could pull off this long-distance relationship, and at least once in a year, they would meet. He would be in London.
She shook off her thoughts after she had heard Archer get off his phone. She wore his coat near to her and sat on the couch waiting for him.
" Hey, I'm so sorry but I have to leave right now. An issue has come up regarding the scholarship. Are you going to be fine?" He asked her sweetly and she looked up from her phone and nodded, slightly disappointed, having even less time to spend with Archer.
Shrugging out of her thoughts, she got up and moved to her bedroom. The finals were over their head and she knew she wouldn't get a lot of time with the work in New York, so she decided to finish the portion left.
" Okay... Three more chapters to go." She mumbled to herself and sighed stretching on her chair when the bell rang. A part of her lit up with glee when she thought it was Archer. Quickly descending down the stairs, she opened the door to find a mailman.
" Good afternoon, I have a delivery for Elara N. Curtis, would that be you?" He spoke in his kind lilt, His salty-pepper danced as he lifted his head up.
" Yes, that would be me, do I need to sign that?" She asked pointing at the sheet clipped to his bag and a pen handing from the side pocket.
" Oh, yes. Here." He handed her the parcel and the paper along with the pen. She quickly signed it before thanking him and closing the door. She kept rather large on the sofa before the bell rang again, this time with more fury. She opened the door and a pair of arms engulfed her and her shoulder felt wet. She hugged the body back and ran her hand on the back to pacify her.
" Rommy, Rom-Romalda, are yo- What happened?" Elara asked in worry, but Romalda did not let go and sobbed violently and hugged her tighter.
" Did Skylar do something? I will chop her ali-"
" He did it." Romalda finally spoke after eternities. Her voice was barely heard as a whisper.
" Who did what?" Elara asked and pulled away from her, scanning her from the top of her head to the bottom.
" Jasper proposed to me to be his girlfriend." Elara's expression lightened from worry to sheer glee when she heard her and engulfed her again, only for a fraction of a second," Oh my god! That's so- I am so happy for you two! I shipped you both so much! Wait, why are you crying?"
" Because I ran away?" She stated but it came out as a question. Elara scrunched her nose processing her words carefully in her head.
" I was so overwhelmed! I just nodded my head at him and came running to you." Rommy explained and Elara rushed into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water.
" What's in that box?" She asked after gulping down the water. Elara shrugged and shook her head.
" Well, apparently, it's from your father." Romalda looked over the parcel and told in a matter-of-fact tone and Elara sprung around in surprise.
" What, my father?" She aksed as she opened the box. A sight of black and white crepe paper came into sight along with a note. She picked up the note, " My loveliest girl, to make up for my absence on your prom night. I would kill to be there and snap a picture of you and your boyfriend, to warn him to bring you home before 12, but duty calls, my dear. Your mom and I would be delighted if you wore this dress, wow!" The note left Elara amused beyond words and Romalda ripped open the crepe paper and revealed a dress, it was baby blue princess gown with off-shoulder and blue-and-white flowers adoring the off-shoulder sleeves and front and flowing down to the waist.
" That's a legit Cinderella dress! It's so beautiful! Did your mom design it?" Romalda exclaimed, clearly excited to see the dress along with a bottle of Channel perfume and a pair of white heels.
" Yes, my mom designed it for me,. Elara said clearly dazed seeing the tag, it was indeed designed by her mother.
" Yeah, it is beautiful! But, I need the details!" Elara jumped on Romalda for details and she told all the things that had happened. How Jasper had come rushing to her house and how she rushed over to hers, leaving a shocked Skylar on the porch with her mouth touching the floor.
Meanwhile, Archer sat in his room adorning the pieces of paper, well these were not just pieces of paper for him
" Man you are so whipped! You have kept the notes she passed you in the class." Jasper said and Archer gave him a deathly glare.
" Like seriously, these aren't even cheesy. This one says, third assignment for history pending." Jasper laughed and Archer snatched the note from him in irritation.
" You have even stolen her handkerchief!"
" Because it smells like her!" Archer explained and Jasper shook his head. He sighed and finally decided to tell him what he was here for.
" Listen, Archer, I did something today.."
" What did you do?" Archer turned away smelling the handkerchief.
" Romalda, I-i. I proposed to her."