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Alette's POV

"I'm meeting Josephine campus soon, they're going to show me around so that I can make my final decision about switching over from online school," I told Dr. Esa, who sat in front of me, a smile on her face.

She nodded, "That's a great idea. It would be smart to look at the environment before making the decision to start going. You'll feel more secure and less anxious about your decision."

I hummed in agreement, twiddling my thumbs in my lap, and looking out the window. I thought about what I wanted to say next.

"I went to Reece's house a few days ago," I started, "Reece is Aresius, that's what I call him."

Her face morphed into understanding, and she waited for me to continue.

"We cooked together and watched a movie. I wasn't afraid of being alone with him in his house," I paused, "I mean I was scared at one point because there was a scary movie on, but I wasn't scared of him, I've never been scared of him."

She smiled kindly at me and I returned it, feeling proud of myself.

"I saw him again two days ago as well. He dropped me off to work, and then he was supposed to pick me up, but something came up so I went to see him in his office," I mumbled, reminding myself to not reveal any details about his work.

"We talked and um then we hugged and then he..." I turned red, fidgeting my hands faster. My lip wobbled, suddenly I felt overwhelmed. "I'm confused Dr. Esa."

"What about Faye?" she asked gently.

"I just...I don't know honestly. I've never been with anyone before like that so I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. But I think I..." I trailed off, taking a deep breath, and finally admitting it, "I like him."

She kept her face passé, waiting for me to clarify.

"I like him. But there's two problems: I don't know how to do this whole relationship thing and," I took a breath, "I don't know if he feels the same way."

There. I said it. What I was the most afraid of.

Dr. Esa looked at me for a few moments, checking to see if I was going to say anything else.

When I didn't, she took off her glasses and leaned forwards in her seat.

"That's a very valid fear that you're having Faye. We can hardly just look into someone else's mind and figure out how they're feeling, so it makes sense that you're apprehensive," she took a breath, carefully choosing her words.

"I think that there's a lot of bravery that goes into being vulnerable. With that being said, why don't you just rip off the proverbial Band-Aid and ask him?"

She must have seen my look of horror and hastily continued, "I know I have asked a lot of you recently, with all the self reflection and talk of going to school in person, but I truly believe that you are beyond capable of doing all that I have asked you. The fear that's holding you back will only hold you back as long as you let it."

She was right.

She cleared her throat, "There's no harm in letting him know how you feel. Life is fleeting, and if the outcome of your confession isn't something that you wanted, and hey, if anything, you can just ignore him for the rest of your life and never look back. But at least you'll know, you were honest about your feelings," she finished, her tone humorous.

A smile slowly made its way onto my face, and I nodded my head, "You're ri-"

The notification bell on my phone interrupted me. That's odd, who could that be.

I apologetically looked at Dr. Esa, who just smiled and gestured for me to check my phone in case it was an emergency. I unlocked my phone and my eyes widened.

I looked back up at Dr. Esa, who stared at me teasingly, "Well Faye, judging by the look on your face, that can only be one person."

My face turned red and I nodded sheepishly. Our session came to an end, and we said our goodbyes. There was a hop in my step and I made my way towards the elevator.

Dr. Esa was right, I could be brave, I could do this.

What's the worse that could happen? Aresius would laugh at me? I shook my head; he was too kind to do that.

I stepped into the elevator and my phone flashed again. I unlocked it to see another notification.

My stomach did a cartwheel and I smiled at the message. He wanted to come see me!

The elevator made its way down to the ground floor, and I hummed along to the music playing on the speakers. I tried looking at my reflection on the shiny gold material on the button panel, but my face came out looking distorted. Well that didn't work.

Deciding that the surfaces in the elevator probably weren't the best mirror, I just opted to smooth down my hair, which was in a French braid, and straighten out my clothes: loose white linen pants, a brown halter neck top and a matching brown cropped button up cardigan. I tried sucking in my tummy, but my face got red and it popped right back out.

Ah well, this is the best it's gonna get.

The elevator doors opened, and I walked out of the building. Mentally giving myself a motivational speech, I walked towards where he had parked the last time I saw him.

That's where he would be right?

I didn't see him so I continued walking, until I felt a hand on my bicep pull me slightly. I spun around my, feeling scared, but calming down the second I saw grey eyes.

"You're going the wrong way darling."

I think I'm going to faint.

I swallowed, my throat feeling like sandpaper.

"Hi Reece, how are you?" I waved at him, trying to act natural. He quirked his brow, staring at me intently.

"You're okay?"

I nodded slowly, giving him a small smile. It seemed as though he could see through my slightly fake smile because he looked quizzically at me for a few more seconds until he finally let go of my arm and gestured towards his car.

We started walking, with me behind him. I looked at my feet while we walked, trying to think of why I was suddenly so afraid of being brave. Looking down whilst walking wasn't the best idea because of course, I got slightly shoved and tripped forwards, right onto his back. I placed my hands out in front of me, on his back, to catch myself.

How does he have muscles on his back? Why can I feel them through his shirt? What kind of magic is this?

He turned around, and looked down at me. His fault for being so darn tall.

"Sorry, there was um a....a rock that tripped me," I told him sheepishly.

He just looked at me. Then his eyes trailed up and down my body, presumably checking to see if I had any injuries, and once he was sure, he turned back around and started walking.

We finally made it to his car and he unlocked it, opening the door for me. I stood, not getting inside the car because I was too busy trying to figure out what to say and how to say what I wanted to say.

He looked at me, his eyes slightly narrowed in confusion.

"I have to tell you something!" I blurted out, scaring a pigeon with my loud voice. It squawked and flew away.

His eyes narrowed further in questioning.

"Uh...um I have to tell you that..." I like you.

"I like your shirt." Cool. Great job. Gold star for Faye.

My face turned bright red and I sheepishly looked away as I sat down in the car. There was a cute look of confusion on his face, and I would've have audibly awed but I was too busy being embarrassed at myself.

He shook his head slightly, and shut my door, walking around to the other side of the car.

We drove in silence for a couple of minutes until I couldn't take the quiet anymore.

"Re-"

My words were immediately cut off by a loud growling noise. It was so unexpected that it scared me, and I jumped slightly.

Where did that come from?

Another growl came and I instantly put my hands on my stomach.

Talk about déjà vu.

Aresius looked over at me, my face tinged pink.

"Sorry I forgot to eat today, I'm not like getting possessed or something," I said hurriedly.

He glanced over at me again, his jaw clenched this time.

I shrunk back into myself, he hated me didn't he?

I looked out the window, trying not to think too hard or be any more of a bother to him than I already was. But after a few minutes of going in a direction that didn't look like the way to my house I knew I had to ask.

"Um A-Aresius, where are w-we going?" I hated how small my voice sounded.

"To eat," he looked straight ahead as he answered me.

My eyes widened, "Oh no no! There's no need for that, I'll eat when I get home! Unless...you mean you were going to get something for yourself to eat, then that's fine but you don't have to go just because of m-"

"Alette," he cut me off, "We're both going to eat."

There was no room for argument in his tone so I just stayed quiet.

He parked outside of a pizza place that looked moderately busy, and got out of the car. I opened my door, but before I could swing it open wider to get out, he grabbed it from the outside, and opened it the rest of the way for me. I got out, softly thanking him, and we walked side-by-side, into the restaurant.

The smell of tomato sauce and garlic wafted into my nose, and my stomach growled again, quieter this time.

He led me to a booth closer to the back of the restaurant, and we sat down in front of each other. I twiddled with my thumbs, looking down at my lap, feeling unsure.

The sounds of footsteps stopping at our table reached my ears.

"Hi! I'm Maura, here's your menu!"

I looked up to see a pretty girl with straight blonde hair and green eyes. She was tall and stood confidently. She was beautiful. I was probably the exact opposite of her physically, in every way, but that didn't make me any less pretty.

I knew there was no reason to compare the two of us, because we could both be beautiful, but at this moment in time, all I could think about what whether or not Aresius preferred someone like her, more than someone like me.

She looked through her fluttery lashes at Reece, biting her lip, but he just looked at his phone.

She cleared her throat, "I'll be back to take your order!" She didn't make any moves to leave, and he didn't look up at her.

"Thank you," I finally said softly, because Reece clearly didn't look as though he was going to say something; I honestly didn't even know if he knew that she was there.

Her head whipped over to look at me, as if she finally realized that I was there. He also looked up at me. She gave me a calculating look; it wasn't an entirely mean look, it just seemed as though she was trying to figure something out.

She nodded once, and gave Reece another look before strutting away.

He stared intently at me, pushing the menu towards me. I picked it up and rifled through it.

"Is there something you'd like on the pizza? Or maybe you want something else?" I asked him, reading through options, and progressively getting hungrier.

Cheesy garlic bread would hit the spot right now.

"Whatever you want," he said, his elbows on the table, his chin resting light on his hands. His demeanour and the manner in which he stared at me intensely gave me Goosebumps.

I nodded, my throat dry. I looked away from him and back to the menu, effectively covering my face from his piercing gaze.

Maura, made her way back to our table, a notepad in her hand; she looked solely at Aresius and paid me no attention.

Well that's rude. Do I look mean?

"So, what can I get for you?" she asked, her voice huskier than it was before.

Reece looked straight at me, as if he couldn't even see her eyes staring holes into the side of his head.

He didn't answer, just faintly quirked his brow.

I cleared my throat, trying to make sure my voice was loud and clear.

"Can we please get a medium cheese pizza and an order of garlic bread," I said, and then added, "With cheese! Oh and can I get a pink lemonade and..." I looked at Aresius, "Make that two pink lemonades."

He said whatever I wanted so I really hoped he liked lemonade.

She finally looked at me. Glancing at Reece again, she said, "I'm sure your brother doesn't want a lemonade," she giggled.

Brother?

"Can I get you something else?" she asked Reece again, this time placing her hand on his bicep lightly.

A burning sensation coursed through me, and I felt as though I had been punched in the gut. She was flirting with him.

And I was jealous.

I tried to keep from making it obvious that I was upset by this, and watched as he finally looked up at her. His eyes were flashing, and his jaw was clenched. He shook her hand off with a shrug of shoulder.

"Get us whatever my girl asked for."

If I wasn't so shocked, I most likely would have jumped out of my seat and cheered.

"Wh-" she whipped her head back at me, "I didn't realize th-"

"That's all we want to o-order, thank you," I said, feeling bad for cutting her off but not wanting to drag this out any further.

She walked away, giving me one last look.

I watched her walk away, and turned my head back to look at Reece who was already looking at me.

"Sorry," I mumbled, looking down.

"Look at me."

I slowly looked up.

"Don't apologize. You did nothing wrong. You're fine." His tone was strict, and his reassuring words made me feel better.

I gave him a faint smile, and we waited in a comfortable silence. He leaned back, his hands out in front of him, resting on the table. I impulsively reached forwards and grabbed his fingers, dragging his hand closer to me. When it was in front of me, I let go, and began tracing the lines of his hand, and the metal of his rings. He wore two rings: one was a broad silver band that was engraved with line drawings, and the other was a thick dark grey and black ring that matched his watch. I could also see a thick silver chain peeking out from under his chest.

He definitely liked to accessorize.

Should I make him a friendship bracelet?

Our food was placed on our table, a different waiter this time, and I retracted my hand from his.

My mouth watered at the sight in front of me, and I picked up a piece quickly, taking a big bite. Letting out a sigh of contentment at the taste, I looked up to see him staring fiercely at me.

I turned red, swallowing I said, "Eat?"

He stared some more.

He sure had a staring problem.

Okay you hypocrite, all you do is stare at him, I reminded myself.

"I'm not hungry."

Oh.

My brows furrowed in confusion, but before I could ask, he said, "Eat Alette, I'm fine."

Suit yourself.

I ended up eating three slices of pizza, and two slices of garlic bread, washing everything down with my pink lemonade.

I leaned back into the booth, feeling full; I rested my hand on my stomach, patting it.

I saw his gaze fall to my stomach, a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

True to his word, he didn't eat a thing, but he did finish the entirety of his lemonade, after scrutinizing it for the first ten minutes. Success.

A waiter brought us the bill and packed up the rest of our food. He grabbed the bill and paid, and I grabbed our bag, thanking the waiter softly.

I handed my bag of leftovers to the homeless man sitting a few feet away from the restaurant. Looking sheepishly at Aresius, crossing my fingers he didn't want to save the leftovers to eat for later. He did pay after all.

He paid!

I tugged at his hand to get his attention. He looked at me, noticing my downturned lips.

"You said I could pay next time Reece," reminding him of when he bought me ice cream.

A look of amusement flashed on his face, "I meant the next time we go for ice cream."

He tricked me!

I frowned deeper, which made him smile slightly.

My frown turned into a look of astonishment. He had the most beautiful smile. He grabbed my hand tighter, his thumb stroking the back of my hand, and we walked towards the car. My feelings for him hit me like tonne of bricks at that moment.

The sun had almost completely disappeared, creating the most beautiful hue of pink and orange in the sky. The faint clouds of white swirled within the sunset, much like the thoughts in my brain.

Be brave.

We reached the car, and he led me to the passenger side door. Before he could open the door for me, I turned around and faced him. My back was against the car, and his body caged me in even though he stood with his hands to his sides. His face bore a look of confusion and I took a deep breath, sifting through my thoughts, figuring out what to say.

Blurting the first thing that came to mind, I said:

"Will you go on a date with me?"

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