Chapter XXXI

The morning came around. Clouds were dispersed across the early, light blue sky.

They looked like pieces of cotton candy that drifted from one side of the atmosphere to the other, powered by the strong winds.

The warmth so far was shown by the overall attire of all the residents who were out and about. Some wore shorts and t-shirts, while the rest dressed up into something more covering.

Briella was in her apartment, asleep. Today was Thursday. The time just ticked past 10:13 AM.

With some minor movements, Briella gently opened her eyes. At first, she stretched before she sat up.

It took Briella a second or two for her to wake fully up.

And once she did, she couldn't help but think back to what happened last night. A smile developed on her lips as all the memories from only hours ago flooded back to her.

She reminded herself of how she confessed back to Ryan, and how he reacted.

With that, she also allowed her mind to rewind back to last night...

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"I..." she began but dropped her gaze in diffidence. "I thought over everything too. Over everything that has happened...". A pause. "And I couldn't help but think about our fight. Out of everything, it was the fight that I thought about it the most".

From her feet, Briella looked up at Ryan only to see him looking into her eyes. For some reason quite unknown to her, it was that, that action of his, that caused a smile to grow on Briella's lips.

"Despite not talking for a while, you still wanted to make things work out.". It was these words that caused her smile to shrink ever so slightly. Tears accumulated in her eyes. 'He really is a one in a million... rarely any other guy would have done what he did. Would have had the patience that he had...'.

Ryan noticed this sudden, melancholic change. "Well..." he began. "That's because I am not a dick...".

His words caused Briella to let out a giggle or two. A small smirk returned to her lips. Ryan smiled alongside her.

"I knew it'd work...". he added seconds later.

Then a moment of sheer silence was shared between them both. They both looked at each other as they let nature and her soothing melodies fill the late-night, April air.

Then, Ryan began, "You know the way you confessed?". He observed Briella only to note that he had her full attention on him. "You are such a cliché, you know that?".

Briella rose her brow, which only caused the smile, already present on Ryan's lips, to grow even bigger.

"But I like it. I like it a lot..." he added, breaking another short-lived moment of silence. "Actually... I love it.".

Ryan smiled at Briella as she did the same to him.

A deep inhale caused Ryan to look down at his wristwatch. He widened his eyes ever so slightly. "Crap, it's so late! I am so sorry for keeping you out here for so long.".

"Hey, no worries at all!" She began. Then, she cleared her throat. "And once again... thank you. Thank you so much for today. It really was amazing.".

Ryan replied by nodding along to her words. "I am very glad to hear that you enjoyed your time with me. I really have to say, I enjoyed my time with you too. I really did.".

Then a short pause followed and it was spent by them both looking at each other.

Suddenly, Ryan took a step towards Briella, still managing to keep his eyes on her. He took in a deep breath.

"Before I go... can I kiss you for a good night?".

Briella looked at him, surprised and blushing at the boldness of his question. But nevertheless, it managed to evoke a smile on her lips.

She nodded. "Yes. Yes, I'd really love that.".

Ryan grinned ever so slightly at her words before gently taking her cheeks into his hands. From there, he lowered his head until their lips touched...

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Briella busied herself by cleaning up her place a little.

She had some breakfast before washing the dishes. From there, she vacuumed whatever needed to be vacuumed and scrubbed clean whatever needed to be scrubbed clean.

She was just about to sit down and turn on the television when her phone rang.

She picked it up and checked the Caller's ID. Ryan.

Quickly, she answered it. "H-hello? Ryan? Is everything okay?".

She heard him chuckle on the other end of the line. "Yes, yes, everything is okay... You are so caring, I'll never get over that side of you... nor do I want to.".

His words caused a light blush the spread across Briella's cheeks.

"But I am calling to ask you... now I kinda wish I did this in person, but... are you free this afternoon?".

"Free this afternoon?". She looked at her legs, trying to regurgitate her schedule of the day. "N-no... no. I'm free. Why do you ask?".

"Well, if you are up for it, would you like to go on a date with me?" Ryan asked.

"A date?".

"Yeah... I mean, I wanted to actually ask you today if you wanted to go out with me tomorrow, but the restaurant, which I want to take you to, has tomorrow fully booked. And the day after, they are not working. The only day where they had free space was today. So, if you are up for it, I'd like to take you out on a date with me for dinner or something tonight.".

The blush on Briella's cheeks only intensified. She felt her heart flutter with joy, her eyes twinkled with happiness.

She took in a deep breath before responding. "I-I'd love to!".

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Briella got herself ready, she put on a pair of bleached out jeans. While the top of her body was covered by a nice black, grey and white checkered shirt. With that, she had a thin, olive coloured coat which stretched halfway down her thighs.

She sprayed her perfume on herself. And then looking herself in her bathroom mirror, she adjusted her hair before applying some final touches to her make-up.

Then...

Knock, knock, knock.

"Crap!!" Briella muttered under her breath, holding her mascara in her right hand. "Coming!!" she shouted.

Quickly cleaning everything up and putting the make-up back to where it belonged, she hurried to the door. Upon opening it, she was greeted by Ryan, dressed up in a fancy suit.

They both looked at each other, confused.

"A-a suit?...".

To which Ryan replied, "You look so casually dressed!". But his words were muffled by a rose that he held in his mouth.

"Well, we are going out on a date. I don't really see the need for such elegant attire. Also, do you need any help? Here, let me take that rose from you-".

Ryan shook his head. "Mmmm, you must get it from my mouth... BUT, it has to be with your mouth and your mouth only.". From there, Ryan gave her a quick wink.

"I have to get the rose from your mouth with mine?".

He nodded.

She couldn't help but let a small smile grow on her lips. "I'll give it to you, this is a smart way to get me to kiss you... tell me, did your characters do something similar to this?".

She saw the sides of Ryan's lips tilt upwards. "Are you going to take the rose or not?".

Quiet... she let her actions give him the reply he was looking for.

Briella stepped closer to him before going on her tippy-toes. From there, they both closed their eyes as their lips met.

With that, she took the flower from him.

Returning down from the tips of her feet, she smiled at him before taking the thornless rose into her right hand.

Ryan's face straightened before he advanced towards Briella. From there, she cupped her cheeks and continued from where the rose, that was in his mouth, stopped them.

His kiss felt magical, it felt like something Briella thought could have over been felt in a book. A sensation that could have only been conveyed through words.

A few seconds passed when Ryan lifted his lips from hers. From there, they both looked into each other's eyes.

"Shall we get going?" Ryan asked.

Briella responded with a nod. "Yes, please.".

With a smile, Ryan wrapped his hand around hers.

Still managing to hold onto Ryan and he held onto her, Briella locked the door of her apartment.

With that, still, hand in hand, they began their way outside.