Does Pops Approve?

Soon the light from the campfire was gone, concluding the festival. The students were told to go home, the students bid farewell, and some were even emotional. "Why are you still following me?" Alice grunted as they walked home.

"You gave me more reason to walk you home," Mark simply smirked. Alice rolled her eyes and stomped away from him. While walking past a convenience store, both stopped when they saw a very familiar someone.

"Hi dad, what are you doing here?" Alice asked nervously.

"Well your mom went to work and your brother is at his friend's house. I brought dinner since I'm in no mood to cook," her father calmly answered. Suddenly her father's eyes moved around and they landed on Mark. "Why are you with my daughter?!" he exploded.

"Dad, Mark is staying over for dinner," Alice said.

"He's what?"

"I am?" Mark asked as well.

"I'll go buy more food, and dad, don't do anything crazy while I'm in the store. If anything happens I'll scratch the paint off your car," she warned, then she eyed Mark. "You too, don't annoy my father." she said before she walked inside the store.

Alice's father glared at Mark who was beginning to get more and more anxious. "Do you like Alice?" the man narrowed his eyes at him.

"Yup, for a long time." Mark casually answered.

"Don't go too casual on me pretty boy, you're not even approved yet." Alice's father scoffed.

"But pops, Alice kind of confessed to me a while ago, I'm certain that she loves me, is it okay if I'd court her?" Mark asked with a smile.

The man's face twitched in annoyance, he marched towards Mark and gave him an intimidating gaze. "There's no way in hell that I'll let you." he growled.

Mark thought for a while, "But still, she loves me. You can't do anything to stop those feelings." Mark grinned smugly.

"You'll stay away from her or not?" Alice's father asked once again. Mark flinched but he still kept a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry pops, but I really am in love with your daughter, you can't make me stay away from her." Alice's father replied with a hum.

"You're different," he chuckled. "You really have feelings for Alice, don't you?" he asked as he placed his hands on the back of his head. Mark nodded. "You remind me of myself when I was still wooing Alice's mother, back then my father-in-law would always use his cane to shove me away." Alice's father narrated as he laughed.

"That doesn't mean that you can do it to me as well, what's this? A family tradition?" Mark inwardly groaned.

Suddenly Alice's father faced him and gave him a thumbs up. "Take care of my daughter."

Mark's face lit up with happiness. "But if Alice gets hurt, I'll tear you limb from limb." he said with a smile but the aura around him was menacing. Mark gulped, at least he now knows where Alice got most of her personality from.

When Alice stepped out of the store she immediately eyed both of them. She mentioned that the store owner told her that she saw an older man threatening another guy and once again she threatened that she'd destroy his precious car if he ever does something like that again. In the end, Mark was able to explain that everything is fine and that they were in good terms now.

Once they arrived at the Alice's residence, they ate dinner, and Mr. Villanueva himself, invited Mark to spend the night there. "Alice, where is the pretty boy sleeping?" he asked.

"My room," Alice answered matter-of-factly. Before the man could object, Alice assured him "Don't worry dad, he slept in there before." then she went to her room together with Mark.

"She's as clueless as ever, does she even know how wild and raging teenage hormones are nowadays?"

"Do you think it's okay for me to stay here? What about your mom and dad, especially your dad." Mark said nervously.

"Mom will arrive around tomorrow afternoon and I thought you and dad are okay?" Alice asked.

"We are, it's just that… I don't know." he scratched his head.

"Don't mind it. Anyway, here are some clothes, those are my brother's you should change." Alice said as she handed him the clothes.

"Can I take a shower?" he asked. Alice told him where the bathroom was and once Mark left she immediately changed into her sleeping attire and she wiped the make-up off her face. Afterward she went out to have a short talk with her dad and after that, she immediately returned to her room.

Minutes later, Mark entered the room. "Did you see the towe—" Alice was in a loss for words. Mark was wearing sweatpants and he had no shirt on, the clothes he changed from and his shirt was slung on his shoulder and he was currently using the towel to dry his still dripping hair.

"Is something wrong?" he asked once he saw Alice's flustered face. Alice only shook her head and pointed the shirt that was on his shoulder. "I have to dry the shirt before I wear it, I dropped it in the shower." Mark said as he continued drying his hair. Alice took the shirt from him and placed it near the window.

"I think my brother has other shirts, should I get them? You might get cold." Mark shook his head in reply. "Are you sure?" Alice asked, hoping that he'd say yes but once again Mark said no.

"By the way, you're staying on the sofa bed, my dad brought it here," Alice said as she avoided looking at him.

"Well that sucks," Mark scoffed. "I wanted to sleep on your bed," he said with a low chuckle.

"Should I turn on the air conditioner?" Alice asked. Mark frowned at Alice for changing the subject. How did she get into this situation? She's in a room with a guy who's half-naked and to put it all worse, he confessed to her a while ago. She can't invite him to sleep like this.

"Erhm… Mark, if you want to sleep on my bed it's fine, I'll just use the sofa bed." Alice said.

"Idiot," he chuckled deeply again. "I meant, sleep on the bed with you." he continued. Alice's face turned red.

"That won't be necessary," she shot him a glare.

"Chill, I was teasing you." Mark laughed.

Alice clears her throat. Now that she actually put more thought into it, Mark is very attractive. "I can't believe I'm starting to think that this guy is hot!" she screamed in her thoughts. She buried her face in a pillow and yelled out muffled screams.

"You're so weird Alice," he rested his chin on his palm.

Alice sat up. "S-sorry," she stuttered, she was covering her cheeks to hide her blush.

"Do you have a fever?" Mark placed his hand on Alice's forehead. Alice winced at how cold Mark's hand was, she backed away until her back hit the headboard. "Is something wrong?" he asked again. Alice hugged her knees to her chest. She looked away from him.

"Your voice is deep, it's scaring me a bit." she murmured. Mark was about to reply when Alice signaled him to stop. "A-and please wear a shirt, I'm still a girl you know? Besides, you might think I'm a pervert if I'd keep on staring." Mark smirked at this. "Also about a while ago, during the festival…" she used one hand to cover her face in embarrassment. "I'm trying my best to keep everything not awkward, but I want our friendship to stay but at the same time, I want to take a step forward. I don't want to rush things, and I l-love you… I think," she said with embarrassment, her cheeks got redder, if possible.

"Sorry, I didn't know you felt that way." Mark chuckled as he wore his now slightly damp shirt. "I'll admit, I was disappointed when you added I think." He said sheepishly. "And I'll be honest, my voice gets a bit deep cause I was trying to gain your full attention, which I did successfully by the way. Also, being in your room after all that happened made me think of dirty thoughts of you." he smiled.

More heat rose to Alice's cheeks and she kicked Mark off her bed. "Pervert, and here I am feeling guilty for just staring at you." she glowered. Mark pulled the sofa bed beside Alice's and he lied down. He placed his arms behind his head and Alice lied down as well on her own bed.

"But you know," Mark began. Alice rolled to the side and leaned out from the edge of the bed to listen. "Now that I know that you love me and it's obvious that I love you, we can take things slow. I want you to be comfortable as much as possible." He finished. Then he leaned forward and gave Alice a peck on the forehead. "Good night," he said.

Alice was stunned. She lied back down to her bed. "Good night," she wasn't aware that she was smiling like an idiot before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.