That was the best night's sleep I had ever had, but I was saddened when I woke up alone. I put on Larissa's dressing gown, which was hanging up on the door, and headed downstairs to find her.

As I got closer to the bottom step, I heard music playing quietly. I followed the sound, and found Larissa dancing in the kitchen. I smiled at how content she was. She was only wearing panties and my red check shirt which I was wearing yesterday.

I realised she was cooking something, which explained why she looked so happy. She loved cooking. I walked over to her, and put my hands on her hips. She was startled, but quickly pushed herself back against me, and turned her head to kiss me.

"Good morning," she grinned.

"It is, isn't it?" I beamed back at her.

She turned around and wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, and kissed me again. I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her tightly, while my tongue explored her mouth.

After a few seconds, she pulled her lips away from mine, but I kept my arms in place and held her warm body against mine.

"I'm making pancakes. Are you hungry?"

"Pancakes sound great," I replied. "Can I help?"

"Nah, I'm almost done," she smiled. "Your phone rang about ten minutes ago, but I didn't check who called."

I went to the living room and picked up my phone from the coffee table. Rob had called me three times this morning. I quickly called him back.

"Dude, what the fuck? Where are you?" He said when he picked up the phone.

"I'm at Larissa's. Why? What's- oh shit, I'm supposed to be at work!"

"Yeah, how about you get your ass down here soon and save me," he suggested. "There's some fucking festival on in town, and there's loads of customers."

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can," I said, hanging up the phone.

"Who was it?" Larissa asked, when I got back to the kitchen.

"It was Rob, I need to go to work," I sighed.

"Okay. Well, go get dressed and I'll make your pancakes to go," she said.

"Umm... yeah, just one problem," I said, looking at my shirt, which she was wearing.

She realised what I was talking about, and walked over to the window to close the blinds. Then, she unbuttoned the shirt and pulled it off, revealing her naked upper body. I had never not wanted to go to work so much in my life.

"I mean, we've probably got five minutes to spare," I said, gently running my fingers from her neck, between her breasts, and down the middle of her stomach, to the top of her panties.

"Rob needs you," she laughed, and kissed me on the cheek. "Go get ready, and then come and stay here again tonight, if you want."

"I can't," I groaned. "Liam's coming today and staying for a few nights."

"So then, I'll come to you," she smiled.

"Okay, fine," I said, pulling her into a kiss. I let my hands travel down her naked back and to her ass, before she pushed me off, shaking her head, and got back to the pancakes.

I took off Larissa's dressing down, and draped it over her shoulders, then ran upstairs and got changed into yesterday's clothes, and tried to make myself look slightly presentable, before going back downstairs.

Larissa handed me a box with my pancakes in, so I could eat them on the way to work. She kissed me softly, and told me to call her later. After stealing another quick kiss, I went to my car and drove to work.

"Oh, your majesty!" Rob shouted as I walked through the door of the crowded coffee shop. All the customers looked at me, confused. "How nice of you to visit."

"I'm sorry," I said, quickly putting on an apron and getting straight into serving customers.

We worked our way through the queue of people, before Rob and I had five minutes to talk.

"So, was it really good enough to be missing four hours of work?" He joked, knowing that the answer was obvious.

"Rob... I'm screwed," I replied, and he looked baffled. "She's got me, like one hundred percent. I've never been here before, but I would literally jump off a fucking bridge if she asked me to."

"Is she likely to do that? Should I keep an eye on you?"

I rolled my eyes at his terrible attempt at humour, but I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. He saw this, and smiled along with me. Evidently, he was no longer pissed about me showing up late for work.

"So, is she your girlfriend now?" He asked.

"I don't know, and I don't care," I laughed.

"Ivy, did she drug you? I haven't seen you so happy since we used to get high."

I ignored him and made myself a drink of coffee. I was already so excited to see Larissa later, and couldn't wait for her to spend some time with Liam too.

"I forgot to tell you, I'm going away with Alice tomorrow," he said, making himself a coffee.

"What? Since when? What about this place?" I questioned.

"My dad's back tonight so he'll be here tomorrow, and I booked us a short break in Berlin. It was a last minute thing, but that's where I'm gonna ask her to marry me," he said.

"That's awesome!"

Rob told me a little more about his proposal ideas while we worked, and I told him all about my date with Larissa, without giving too many details about what happened after the picnic.

When we had closed up the shop, Rob went home to pack for Berlin, and I went to pick up Liam. I called Larissa on the way to let her know I would pick her up after I had picked up Liam.

My little brother was waiting for me in the reception area with Tracy when I arrived, and hugged me tightly as soon as I walked through the door. We said a quick goodbye to Tracy, and got in my car.

"So, is she your girlfriend now?" Liam asked, when I told him Larissa was coming over.

"I don't know," I laughed. "I'm working on it."

When we got to Larissa's house, she had been waiting for us to arrive, and got straight into the car.

"It's good to see you again, Liam," she said politely, climbing into the back seat.

"You too," he smiled. "I'm glad you're hanging out with us tonight."

She and I both grinned at Liam's words. I was so happy that he liked her.

When we got back to my apartment, we put a movie on and ordered a pizza. Larissa lay on the couch with her legs resting on mine, and Liam sat on the armchair, ignoring the movie while he texted who I assumed was Dana.

"So, are you gonna be hanging out with Alice's sister more, when you move here?" Larissa asked him, as if she read my mind.

"Umm... yeah, I think so," he said, blushing.

"Don't forget to invite her for dinner one day," I reminded him.

"I won't forget," he laughed. "Will you join us too, Larissa?"

"Sure, it'll be a double date," she replied.

Shortly after we ate pizza, Liam went to bed as he had to go to school tomorrow, leaving Larissa and I alone.

"A double date, huh?" I laughed. "Does that mean we're officially dating now?"

She pulled her legs off me, and sat up on the sofa, crossing her legs.

"Ivy, I love you."

"What?" I asked, my eyes widening. I was hoping that I had heard her correctly, but I was surprised by her sudden confession.

She just laughed at my reaction.

"You've told me you love me on multiple occasions, Ivy. Why are you so surprised that I finally said it back to you?"

"I... I don't know. It just came from nowhere. I mean, when did you- how do you- what?" I stuttered, earning another laugh from the beautiful woman in front of me.

"I've known that I love you for ages, I just couldn't bring myself to say it. Remember at my party, when you were making out with Jade and I got jealous? That was when I knew I liked you. But I knew I loved you the next day, when we kissed for the first time. I was so fucking confused about everything, and I tried to convince myself that I was just doing it to get at Brandon for being an asshole. But I've been lying to myself since that day, and I don't wanna lie anymore. I love you."

"I love you too," I grinned.

For the rest of the night, Larissa and I just talked and cuddled on the sofa. I was so excited to be able to fall asleep with her again, and tell her I love her and actually get a reply. I knew that I would never get bored of saying those three words.