Act One: Fatherly

"Terr, please tell me you two haven't..." Ambrosia's father, Andrew, sighed, fingers gently massaging his temples trying to relieve the stress that coursed through his system.

The noise from below the bedroom, sourcing from the living room, was subtle but the prodigy could tell it'd be a while before anyone would head upstairs and interrupt the extremely stiff atmosphere in Rose's bedroom.

He prayed to all the gods that someone would, but the thought of Rose's other dad joining in on the conversation was enough to silence his thoughts. There was no way he was risking his life to escape awkwardness of all things.

So instead, he was left to face his senior's more merciful father on his own, his critical stare extremely disheartening.

It was a reasonable response. Terrance had just gotten caught sneaking around his senior's most intimate lair and at a rather compromising time, as well. Of course her father would be suspicious of his intentions.

He was surprised he hadn't gotten wacked to death yet.

Only processing the older Decker's words after two minutes of imagining his demise, Terrance was quick to jolt up from his seat, shame reflecting on his face. "Oh no! It's nothing like that, tito!"

Andrew's spine straightened, curious about Terrance's manner of referring to him, knowing he wasn't, in any way, Filipino. "Tito? Where did you learn that?"

"Ah well, Ambrosia said it was a way to show respect..." The flustered student could only mumble his answer, fidgeting with his fingers like he was seconds away from being thrown out the window.

Ambrosia's papa let the moment sink in, realization allowing a soft smile to blossom from his lips. When Terrance looked up from where his eyes were glued onto the ground, he saw the satisfied look on the adult man's age, his own anxiety starting to mellow down.

"See, this is why I like you, Terr. You're very respectful and sincere. I'm only slightly tolerant of the fact that you sneaked in here at such a late hour because Rosia's dad and I used to do that around your age as well. However, I trust that you know that there's a correct way these things are done." Andrew explained with his arms crossed, his firm expression returning to cover up his fondness for the Hunton.

"Of course, but I genuinely mean it when I say nothing happened. Me and Ambrosia are just friends—"

"Oh, Terr. I know, but it's hard to miss the way you look at my daughter." The older man interrupted. "It's quite endearing how much you admire her with your eyes."

"I..." The prodigy paused, utterly speechless. He'd never hold back in terms of praising his beloved, a nightly vision to his shrine of her a must-do in his routine. He just didn't think spectators would be able to notice it. If anything, he thought his stone cold facade would be able to hide his feelings from the light of the sun.

But that was the power of Rose's father, he supposed.

"Rose doesn't view me that way," He admitted, more to himself. It was a painful reminder, but it was necessary for him to know so he would be kept in line, until eventually Ambrosia would consider him.

But strangely enough, the Decker's response was, "And what makes you say that?"

Terrance blinked. Once. Twice. That was unexpected coming from a man who was perceptive when it came to infatuation and such.

"She likes someone else." He explained, but even his certainty faltered, hope starting to bubble up from his stomach and clog his throat. Had Ambrosia's father been implying a chance? That perhaps she had grown to like him in that manner as well?

Andrew pursed his lips, "Hm. I'm sure it'll pass."

The implications, the sheer meaning of his words almost had the gray-eyed male choking on his spit. Looking behind the surface, looking beyond the fantasy that Rose would eventually get over Hugh, the prodigy was left in a dilemma. If Ambrosia's father said that to refute his claims of unreturned feelings, then did that imply that once Rose tossed Hugh Windsor into a bin, she'd eventually come running to him?

That's what he hoped would happen, but to have the possibility of it be reaffirmed like that was something else—it was entirely overwhelming. He felt fuzzy, tingly, happy all over.

"Whoever it is. I'm rooting for you, not them."

Andrew's words set off tiny explosions in Terrance's sensors. To have gained the approval of Ambrosia's parents there and then was something he didn't anticipate, but he'd dreamt about for so many nights beforehand.

Things were moving too fast, he could barely breathe—

"But if you want to be with Ambrosia, you do it properly, okay? In our culture, courtship is an incredibly important step before the actual relationship. I know kids these days don't really practice it anymore, but I trust that you can be classy about this. Write her letters, give her a bouquet of her favorite flowers, walk her to the doorsteps. And I swear to the lord, if I catch you here past 8pm again, I'll actually kick you out myself."

"I.." Terrance couldn't respond, only then realizing how he'd been acting like an unsophisticated buffoon.

"Make her feel special, Terr. Her dad and I haven't been doing such a great job at that and it'd be nice getting some extra help. Rosia deserves a lot of love, I'm sure you know that."

His heart finally settled, finding peace in the fact that Rose's father trusted him to value her. And he did, more than anyone, more than anything.

He'd just forgotten that he was allowed to be romantic at that point, his feelings already known by Ambrosia herself and the people around them. And although he was being strung along in that aspect, he still wanted to give it his all, make her forget Hugh ever existed.

So he nodded with an eager smile on his face, thoughts of daisy bouquets and adorable plushies clear on his mind.

"Yeah. Thank you for telling me, sir. I promise to take your words to heart."

"Sir? What happened to tito?" Andrew laughed, the sound lighthearted. And even then, Terrance was embarrassed. The boy's eyes flicked from the other's hand to his face, deliberating whether he should do what he was considering at that moment.

"Oh! Yes, sorry, I forgot, tito..."

"Good. Now head home after saying goodbye to Rosia, okay?"

Terrance nodded once again, like a fervent, overeager puppy.

"Alright!" He cheered himself on, finally gaining the courage to reach for Andrew's hand. He tried to recall as much of Ambrosia's words as he could, a brief explanation of what "bless" was in Filipino culture going through his database like quick coding. He couldn't remember the specifics fast enough for his mind to catch up to his movements, but he knew it was a show of respect so it was enough reason for him to do it.

Placing Ambrosia's papa's hand against his forehead, the prodigy stayed there, waiting for something to happen.

A burst of laughter fillled the room.

"WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED?" Rose came rushing into the room, looking like she had just gotten caught keeping a bunch of contraband under her bed.

The sight of Terrance bowing, his forehead still against Andrew's hand, without a single clue of whether to move or not sent the girl rolling on the room, her laughter joining her father's.

After a while, Ambrosia's dad joined them in her bedroom as well to check on the commotion. That was when Terrance was truly sent out to the front door, a brief exchange of glances between the two husbands enough to save Rose from a scolding.

The prodigy looked at his senior, her features gently illuminated in the golden hues of their outdoor lights. She looked beautiful.

"What are you looking at, Terr?" She asked, her smile still playfully rising every now and then at the memory of Terrance's awkward mistake.

It took him a while to make out the words, the thoughts he wanted to convey but a jumbling mess at the weight of her gaze.

"You're beautiful." He finally gained the courage to say.

Ambrosia's eyes widened in shock, a sharp inhale cutting through the serene evening silence.

"Don't do this..." She reprimanded him, looking at the side as if to hide the reds growing on her face. "I have feelings for someone else."

"And yet you haven't told me that you don't have feelings for me."

Rose stared at his features, searching for the source of his foolishness, of his utter blindness to how he was being played. He seemed to know and yet there was sincerity in his smile, sincerity in the love in his eyes.

"Does it matter? You're still being used, aren't you? And what if I told you you're just a placeholder? A distraction? Why don't you just give up?"

"Do you like me?" He leaned in closer without thinking too much of his actions. From the way the girl's eyes flicked from his lips to his eyes, brown eyes nearly eclipsed by the darkness of her pupils, her answer was clear—

"I care about you enough to warn you. If you keep taking this path, it isn't going to end well for you."

"Hey. Don't avoid my question." Terrance uttered, voice low. His hands found hers, not a hint of resistance coming from either of them.

"I—"

"Rosia! Don't take too long out there! You might catch a cold."

She looked back at her house, then to him again. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"And I'll wait until then."