Yesterday, Elric had texted that he wants to see me Wednesday after school. So naturally me and Remi made plans that she and I are going to allegedly look around at the last preparations for the festival. She had her camping classes, but hey who knew except me.

I dressed up in a beautiful white sweater and my favorite black jeans and curled my hair. Remi cheered me on texting me during class.

Classes were almost over so I was getting nervous as always. We had just started seeing each other more frequently and I wonder if this means we are getting serious.

Once the bell rang, me and Remi met up and she dropped me off near the place I had agreed on with Elric.

"Don't get too wild now." She smiled. "Or maybe do."

I took my bag. "If I do, there'll be great stories to tell."

I got out of the car and headed towards the benches.

"Francy.." I heard my name being called out and turned around. I saw Elric standing there in a hoodie and a pair of jeans with a backpack on his back. Seems like he came from school.

I instantly thought wow maybe I shouldn't have over dress, but I was so used to him being well dressed that his casual wear might have thrown me off.

But he still looked good. That wasn't fair. Why does he always look this good?

"Hey there." I walked over to him and he instantly hugged me.

Why is this hug so sweet yet something feels very off about it?

Ugh damn it Francy. Stop overthinking stuff.

Once he pulled away from the hug he took my hand and walked down the street. I held his hand tight and kept glancing at him. He was worried about something. Should I say something about it?

But maybe he didn't want to talk about it.

We entered this small cafe. There was no one there but the man at the bar and he was minding his own business wiping glasses.

"Two hot chocolates please." Elric spoke louder and chose a corner table next to the window for us to sit.

It was so quiet, that the music in the background playing so low in the background was easy to hear at normal volume.

There were large dimmed windows, and black leather chairs. It had a jazzy vibe, with the tall counter and red bar chairs. But even with the new interesting aesthetic, I couldn't turn my focus away from Elric.

My leg was restless under the table. This felt a bit awkward. He was silent more than usual while we were waiting for the hot chocolate.

The barista showed up ten minutes later placing our drinks next to us in silence and walked away.

"So.. was everything okay today? At home..at school." I asked smiling, hoping it didn't sound like too much of a serious question.

"Yeah..yess." He cleared his throat and warmed his hands on the hot chocolate. "You..your home.. I mean your family is okay?"

"They are fine." I smiled.

Okaaay..something was definitely up. This was way too awkward. I sat there in silence hoping he would start the conversation first.

He suddenly took a deep breath ready to say something but gave up.

Okay that's it. I have to say at least something.

"What's wrong?" I asked looking at him. I was sure I had the most pleading eyes because I was dying to break this awkward silence.

He scratched his chin and then reached forward on the table taking my hand. He played with my fingers gently.

"I need to tell you something else first. Something I might have hid unintentionally first, but very intentionally later."

"You're worrying me." Oh my god. He has a girlfriend. He's sick. Is he sick? He doesn't like me. No..He is moving away. He actually doesn't like cats..

He leaned forward. "I know your brother Ace."

Phew. Oh .. wait.. what..but that was a good thing.

"How do you know Ace?" I asked excitedly.

"From the Devil's den."

"Of course." I smiled. I was so silly. "I thought you might have met once or twice but since you never said anything I assumed you weren't close."

"We weren't.." He cleared this throat again. "We are a bit closer now. I think. I mean he seems to think we are close. I guess we are close. I trust him."

I smiled. "Ace is a good brother and a good friend I'm sure. I vouch for him."

"Yes but um.." He continued. "You see he works for me and I never really paid attention to who works for me, not care about making friends um but he is a really good worker and he kind of became my business partner recently..argh..am i doing this right?" He said bit annoyed with himself and leaned even closer to hold my hand over the table. " I'll just say it. Francy...I'm Lucy."

I tried to process what he just said. Lucy? Ace's Lucy? Devil's den Lucy? My Elric was Lucy?

"Lucy?" I asked. "You are the hacker everyone fears?"

"I'm not a hacker. It's just rumors I kind of allowed going around." He stared at me. "You're not pulling your hands away. That's a good sign."

I looked down at the table. He still held my hands in his, probably desperate, waiting for me to move, but I kind of only felt the warmth and his gentle touch.

If he is Lucy...

I sighed. "I'm not fond of Lucy. I actually have a very biased opinion about Lucy. That he is an evil hacker that let's Ace and the others do his dirty business getting them involved in illegal things and he pryes into people's private affairs."

"It's partly true. They do run errands for me, but I never made them do anything illegal. And I don't care about other people enough to go through their web history." He rubbed his thumb over my wrist. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I only found out recently, when Ace got a bloody nose and I was in shock as well."

"And what was that fight about? You got my brother in trouble?" I asked, remembering how angry I was about that.

"It's a long story."

I raised my brow. "Well we are here to talk now anyway."

He shook his head. "They are just idiots. They want to steal my clients out of a grudge. Ruin my business."

"And what do you do?" I asked.

Yes finally Francy. You should have obviously asked this first when he told you he works. No wonder they say love is blind. I did not ask one relevant question. I just wanted to kiss and hug. Well can I really be blamed when he looks like that?

He took a deep breath. "I'm a game developer and I run a game testing company for other companies. A bit of an unstable business until your brother got his hands on it. We will probably work a bit more seriously now..."

I pulled my hands away and he held my hand. "Let me explain please.."

"Um...I just wanted to have some of the hot chocolate. I need sugar after hearing this." I told him.

"Oh.."

He let go of my hands and I reached for the hot chocolate.

I took a sip. Mmm..damn. This was a very delicious beverage. Focus Francy. Focus.

"This is really good." I said smiling. "Did you bring me here on purpose?"

"They have the best hot chocolate I have ever tried. It's kind of a hidden gem since not a lot of people come here for hot chocolate." He smiled teasingly.

Ah that tricky handsome boy. He really had me wrapped around his finger.

"So these seniors gathering at the devil's den was for..." I asked.

"They paid me to play on the expensive computers and in exchange I used that money to fund my business."

I nodded. I see.

"Do you want to be a game developer?" I asked.

I could tell that question threw him off.

"Yes. I like the creative side of it. I've worked previously on some heavy encrypting stuff for other companies, but game developing is just more fun."

I nodded and took another sip. I kept glancing at him then back at the mug.

I could finally get some insight on him. That little distance I felt was starting to disappear. I finally got to know him better.

This actually kind of made me happy.

"So I've been kissing a hacker." I smiled.

"I'm not a hacker." He said irritated.

I laughed. "Okay okay. Not a hacker. A game developer."

Suddenly his face changed back to worried again.

"But...Here is the next problem. Ace invited me to dinner at your house and I said yes."

That's when it dawned on me. Right right.. This weekend.

"Ace doesn't know I'm umm.." He started. "He doesn't know I'm seeing anyone. Nor that I know you."

I pressed my lips together. Fuck fuck fuck. "He doesn't know I've been seeing anyone either. No one at home knows."

He nervously tapped his fingers on the table. "So...um. I really like Ace. He um.. he did something for me,that no one has really done before and.." Elric leaned back on the leather chair. "And he takes my business seriously. I don't want to insult him or hurt him by dating his sister."

My heart clenched in pain. But I knew exactly what he meant by it.

"I know. I.. um.. My brother really likes you. He's been trying to befriend you for a while now. He always defended you when I would say you're an evil hacker. He never said anything bad about you no matter how many times I tried to convince him otherwise." I crossed my arms. It was getting colder. "I don't want to hurt my brother either. He has always been there for me too and this.. I don't know how he will react."

I clenched my fists underneath the table.

Should we hide it? Should we come forward? Should we break up whatever this was between us before it got any more serious?

"This might be like a betrayal." Elric said.

"I know." I replied back a bit hurt and irritated. "I don't want to hurt him either. Should we hide it?"

"No, I don't think that's the right thing to do. And I don't want to hide it." He said.

"Okay...Should we just tell him? I don't know how he will react though."

Elric rubbed his eyes. " No.. I don't think we should do that either. I don't want to get into a fight with him."

I could feel my feet and palms get colder by the second. "He is my older brother. Of course I don't want to go against him." I explained. "He always put me first. That's why I said we should tell him."

Elric crossed his arms too. "He and I just became business partners..if this doesn't sit right with him...I mean.."

Yes I know. I know. So stop saying that.

"And I finally found someone to trust ." Elric continued.

Just stop it. I get it.

"I'm just worried that this might..."

That's it!

"Then we stop this." I said it. I actually said it. "It might be the best before it gets anything serious that we just pretend this never happened."

Shit. I shouldn't have said that.Don't cry Francy. He will say that is such a stupid thing to say. I mean he likes you and you're just saying nonsense. He will suggest anything else but this..

But he stayed silent.

"I think..." He started. "If you think that's ..the best.. but I ..ah...You might be right. This is the only way to deal with this."

Oh.

I clenched my teeth.

"If that's what you feel it's best then..." I gave him a slight nod. "We pretend we don't know each other."

"We'll be strangers." He added.

"Yep." I pushed the mug away.

"Well then. " I got up.. "I will go then."

"You can stay a bit more." He said and reached forward.

No, because if I stay I will cry.

"No. I'll go.."

I buttoned up my coat and took my bag. I turned towards him. He was staring at his half empty mug.

"Elric.."

He immediately looked up.

"For what is worth. I was the happiest I've been these few weeks. Thank you for the amazing dates and um.." I clenched my teeth and tried to breathe. " um..for taking good care of me...."

Before I could get the chance to sound any more stupid, I rushed out.