[Music Recommendation: "Scenery" by Kim Taehyung (BTS - V) available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

[Please note: We're back to Senara's POV - after she finally held hands with Kaiden

Badump! Badump! Badump!

Wrapped tight in Kaiden's embrace, my heart went wild inside me. He could probably feel my heartbeat by now—either that, or he could hear it since it was so loud, especially in this bedroom which was dead quiet.

Feeling his warmth like this… being this close… I like it. My mind, body, heart and soul all agree. There was no denying it. I really like Kaiden. Not just for the sweet things he had been doing—well, it might be part of it but… there's more. I'm not sure how to explain it or how it came to be, but he had become someone so special to me.

Seeing him try his best to touch me, I felt happy and nervous at the same time. Happy because it was all I could wish for aside from being closer to him and getting to know him more. Nervous because… what if I make a mistake? What if I trigger something bad or what we were doing was forcing him too much? What if instead of it helping, I'm making it worse?

I just want to help him with his condition. And I just want him to be happy. As happy as he could ever be.

"Are you really okay?" I asked him, worried if he was just trying to be tough. "You don't feel weird or anything? You're not disgusted?"

"Uhm," Kaiden shook his head and smiled, his eyes locked onto mine. "I'm perfectly fine. In fact, I like it. Holding your hands… it's warm and comforting."

"Really?" I couldn't believe what he said. Holding my hands was comforting for him? Like for real real? "You're not saying that just to be kind, are you?"

"I'm serious." Then he smiled again. Such a warm smile… I guess he was telling the truth, right? If that's the case, then I'm happy.

Kaiden stared at our hands. I didn't notice how long it had been since I never cared about the time when I was with him. Later on, he moved his fingers and surveyed my hand with his. He traced every corner, which tickled me again, and wrapped his fingers unto mine, holding my hand tightly.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

As he did that, my heart continued to beat loudly in my chest, sending a ringing in my ears. Anticipating his every move, and carving every bit of it into my memory, everything just felt so blissful.

'Haaahh… I think I'm going crazy. If holding his hands is already making me this crazy, what more of the other things? Will I even survive being his girlfriend? Especially when we become a real couple? Well, if we will ever be a real couple. I sure hope we do. And I sure hope I survive it.'

"Kaiden," I whispered his name with a warm smile on my face, "me, too. I feel comfortable and happy holding your hand like this."

He looked surprised with what I said. And I'm not sure if it was just me or… his face seemed to be blushing? Did I say something embarrassing?

Kaiden didn't reply to me but instead, he hugged me again, still holding my hand. Bummer. I couldn't see his face anymore, my face was buried on his chest once again. But it was fine, I liked hugging him, too. Just a few more of this and I might get addicted to hugging him.

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

Another silence covered the surroundings. Only the ticking of the clock was audible. Because of that, I didn't notice that I dozed off again. Truly, Kaiden's embrace was dangerous. It's the first step for me to doze off, for real!

By the time I regained my consciousness, the beautiful dusk a moment ago, became the velvet dark night. Only the luminous lights from the garden served as light in the rather dark bedroom.

I turned to my side and Kaiden was there, sleeping beside me. He was still hugging me and holding my hand. Wow! We fell asleep like that? Another thing I noticed that shocked my entire being was…

'W-We're sleeping on his bed! Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!!! W-w-when did we transfer from the sofa to his bed? And w-w-what happened?'

My body trembled in nervousness and I quickly checked my body if I was still dressed and if something felt wrong or anything.

But then again, I realized, we barely managed to hold hands, there's no way Kaiden would do "that" to me. I mean, he wouldn't be able to. Thinking that, I sighed in relief and laid back down beside him. I stared at his sleeping face some more since it was cute. He looked so angelic when sleeping but so mischievous and naughty when awake.

'Oh, I should preserve this! Now, where's my phone?'

I searched my pocket and there it was, lucky! After making sure the shutter sound was off, I took a picture of his sleeping face. He-he-he-he… I should make this my wallpaper at night. Then, his smiling face at day. He wouldn't be able to check my phone anyway so it's fine.

Happy with my new collection of Kaiden's sleeping face, I scooched into his arms again, wanting to feel his hug a bit more but then I fell asleep. Yup. I just woke up but I fell asleep again. Haaah… I'm hopeless.

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[PS. This part is a mini Kaiden POV - after Senara fell asleep again]

"Ugh…" I groaned as I suddenly woke up. "What time is it?"

Surveying my surroundings, I tried to look for my phone to check the time. It was too dark for me to see the time on the wall clock.

'Where's my phone?'

I surveyed the bed with my hand. Since Senara was still peacefully sleeping beside me, I made sure to be careful with my movements so as not to wake her. Then, my hand stumbled on some metal—there it was, my phone.

I pressed the button on the side and the screen lit up.

"8:15 p.m." was what the time said.

But what caught my attention more was not the time. Instead, it was my picture? I was sleeping and that clothes… it's the one I was wearing right now. I realized right away that it wasn't my phone.

"Pft!" I tried to stop my laughter. Did she wake up earlier and take a picture of me while sleeping and made it into her wallpaper? Ha-ha-ha! That's so adorable.

My smile didn't leave my face until I found my real phone which was on the other side of the bed. Feeling mischievous again, a sudden idea came to mind.

'Ah, I should do the same, right?'

And so, I took her picture as well… secretly, and made it into my phone's wallpaper. Seeing her cute sleeping face on my phone, I couldn't help but smile and be happy.

'It's already a habit of mine to check my phone often… but it seems that I'll end up checking it more often from now on.'