"Conner Bailey, will you go out with me?"

Conner gaped at Bree, a morph of surprise and delight on his face. It almost felt like a dream, because it was just so... so magical.

"Wait!" Conner yelped suddenly, shocking Bree. The poor girl looked confused, and a bit hurt.

"Yeah, I will go out with you Bree (a wave of relief washed over the girl's face), but..." Conner trailed off. Bree's worried expression instantly returned, unease in nervousness brown eyes. What does he want?

"Look, you just gave me a speech. I should say something to you too. You know, it's not fair if I don't have a confession scene of my own." Conner declared, his heart thumping with excitement. There was a determined glint in his bright eyes, and along with his blushing face, Bree found the whole thing very comical. She put a hand over her mouth, but she couldn't stifle her giggles.

"W-what?" Conner glanced at Bree, who failed to stop laughing. His face flushed red even more. "I-Bree, what's so funny?" he asked, mystified, yet mortified. Did he do something weird?

"Nothing." Bree managed to say through her giggles. "It's just, just sometimes you're too hilarious and cute for your own good."

Bree had thought Conner would say something serious, but it turned out to be a small matter. Only Conner could be so dramatic.

"Stop saying those things," Conner said, embarrassed but pleased by Bree's comments. "You're going to make me stammer throughout the whole thing."

"I won't mind." Bree smiled charmingly. Conner could see the cheeky look in her eyes, and couldn't stop the huge, mushy grin forming on his face. Damn, the girl was going to be the death of him.

Okay. He really needed to focus. Conner took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, before beginning to put his long-time feelings into words.

"So. Umm. Bree." His voice cracked, but Conner tried valiantly to ignore it. "You're the third coolest person I know- which is already high on my ranking!" he added swiftly as he saw Bree's eyebrows raise. "I mean, you're after my grandmom who slayed a dragon, and after my sister who's the Fairy Godmother!"

Bree found Conner's performance quite entertaining, not it the sense of making fun of him. From the way he talked and stuttered, Bree knew it were the real things Conner wanted to say. It was so raw, and even as he tried to smooth things over, some of his unique style remained. The style that Bree knew and loved.

"When I first saw you in school, I knew you were really pretty. You don't exactly look like one of those famous models with flawless skin, or I dunno, the girls they call "pretty" nowadays. But somehow I was drawn to you. You, with your beanie and bracelets and dyed bangs caught my attention. You're beautiful in your own way." Conner admitted bashfully, lowering his head a bit.

Bree was a bit flustered by the fact that Conner said he knew she was pretty, instead of saying he thought she was pretty. It was almost- almost like her being pretty was a fact. A fact to Conner.

"I admire how you are always so cool and calm. You're not like me. You don't ever mess up, or at least that was what I thought back then. You were smart, you rarely forgot your work, and you were never, ever, late for Ms. York's 7th Grade English classes. You were probably one of the reasons I looked forward to English lessons, and the other being obviously writing." Conner said in a rush, trying to say as much as he could before he screwed up at one point or another.

"You're good at remembering details," Bree joked lightly.

"Well, yeah, when it concerns you of course." Conner laughed, not afraid of showing his stalkerish tendencies. "I don't remember a thing about mathematics and history."

"You were so unlike me. I was so idiotic back then, I didn't even know I have a crush on you until you asked me about it. Y-you were totally out of my league." Conner muttered the last sentence shyly. "I think I totally idolized you back in those days."

"As we ran away together, you somehow became even cooler. To be honest, I don't think I would have gone even halfway through it if you, umm, weren't there. Uh, umm..." It was at that moment when Conner's nervousness got better of him. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He closed it abruptly, feeling rather stupid.

Dammit, he was terrible at this sort of thing! He was so anxious, he couldn't even improvise. Conner was very mortified, and the silence between them began to grow awkward.

"You don't have to force yourself," Bree said as gently as she could.

"But, I WANT to say something." Conner quickly said, hoping he wouldn't let his almost-girlfriend down. Technically they were together, since he agreed to go out with her, but Conner wasn't going to let it be until he had finished his confession. And he didn't want it to end in a half-assed way (like it was now).

"Okay." Bree stood there patiently, neither disappointed or bothered. In fact, she was just there, ready to listen. She gave him a small grin, and Conner knew he definitely saw that rosy tint on his cheeks, but it quickly disappeared.

"You were different when we were running across Europe." Conner began again. "I mean, maybe it's because I've gotten to know you better, but you were more... open. We cracked silly jokes, and we planned how to go to different places, and thought about the mystery we were told. I think we were both a lot more relaxed than when we were at school. I mean, as relaxed as we can get when we're trying to warn a place of an upcoming army that had been sleeping for two centuries." he joked, effectively easing his nerves. He always felt better when something funny happened. "I felt closer to you, and you weren't just an untouchable, perfect girl. You were a friend, a human with quirks and weaknesses and strengths."

"For some people, noticing a flaw of their crush might as well literally crush their dreams. But it wasn't for me. You became a lot more approachable, and I liked that, because, I mean, I do want to get close to you after all." Conner chuckled lightly.

"It's also cool to talk with another writer." Conner grinned. "I mean, my sister is really awesome and I love her, but sometimes she doesn't really understand the joy of writing. So," he cleared his throat. "Even if we don't... go any further, I'll still be grateful for you as my friend."

"Mmhmm." Bree nodded, agreeing. Conner suddenly realized something felt wrong with his phrasing.

"It's not like I want to be just friends!" he cried. "I mean, well yeah if you haven't said all that, I would be moderately okay with being friendzoned, since I would respect your decision and yeah." He said in one breath, face flushed from embarrassment.

"Well, what you said was right." Bree smiled, the sunlight bouncing off her hair as she shifted slightly. "Even without romantic feelings, we're still good together."

"Except... being friends isn't really enough for me." Conner admitted, and for once, he didn't shy away. His crystal blue eyes gazed steadily at Bree.

Bree could feel herself going warm under Conner's stare. She swallowed and fidgeted a bit, but she didn't blush despite the deliciously pleasant feeling that washed all over her.

Conner remembered what he had promised himself on the first day of the week. He had wanted to make Bree blush. She was very, very close to it, but not yet. Just a tiny act could top her over the edge.

"So... now we're together?" Bree asked in an uncharacteristically small voice.

"Yep." Conner emphasized the "p" sound.

Silence.

"Well, that was sure very dramatic." Conner said sarcastically a moment later.

"Would you want pink rose petals to scatter over us? Bree asked in a similar sarcastic manner.

Conner wrinkled his nose. "That's just going to be creepy, because we know for sure that someone's spying on us."

There was a long pause thought about what they had just said, and what they had heard. Conner's face and ears were still red, and he shoved his hands in his pockets. Bree was staring at a fixed point in front of her, biting her lip.

Conner gazed at her and a sudden idea popped into his mind. Conner felt a bit sick with his nerves, but then he thought that they had came this far already. Besides, they really did not have much time left. Alex would be waking up the world soon after she did a few final touches, and they had to return to their normal lives.

"I, umm," That attracted Bree's attention. Conner inhaled through his nose. "So, uh, may I, I mean may we, kiss?" He ended his fragmented question with a hopeful tone.

Bree's eyes looked down as pink sprinkled her cheeks. "I guess we can," she answered softly. She too understood their time crunch, and she didn't want to return to school like nothing had happened between her and Conner.

Their eyes met, trying silently to convey the emotions they held inside of them. They moved closer, closer, until their lips were centimeters apart...

She could feel his warm breath on her.

He could smell the sweet perfume she wore.

Just a little bit more...

CRASH!

The two jolted apart, broken out of their little bubble. They nervously looked at the origin of the sound, and a loud yell quickly followed the crash.

Conner sighed, frustrated that something just had to ruin the moment. "Looks like somebody just broke something."

Bree was unhappy that their almost-kiss was interrupted. It wouldn't feel right to try to reenact the scene again. It would be fake and devoid of true emotion.

"I'm going to check it out." Conner said.

"Oh," Bree said, and a wild thought came into her head. "No goodbye kiss?" she teased before she could actually think.

Conner spun around, the corners of his mouth quirked up in a tiny smirk. "Well that can be easily arranged."

The boy acted before he had any time to contemplate what he was about do. Leaning forward, he quickly gave Bree a peck on the lips.

Bree's face immediately flushed up as she felt his warm lips on hers. She had been joking when she made the "goodbye kiss" comment, but her boyfriend took it seriously. His assertiveness was surprising, but also kind of attractive.

He's the only one to make me feel this way, Bree thought to herself, and the more she thought about it, the redder her face began.

When they parted, they both had faces as red as a tomato. Bree was obviously embarrassed about her blushing, because she rarely let anything affect her too much. Conner was satisfied to see that rosy flush on Bree's face. Remembering what he had vowed to do, he gave Bree a cheeky grin. The girl's cheeks were brilliant red, and even redder when Conner moved towards her, tucked a strand of hair away, and whispered a single word.

"Gotcha."