Before anyone asks, the song that inspired and is featured in this oneshot is "Happily Ever After," by He is We. You might wanna go listen to the song before reading this ;) Enjoy!

The paper had been typed out. Knowing Jeremie and his horrible handwriting, Aelita could understand why. She had been waiting for this.

I have something that I want to tell you. Meet me at the bench in the park at 9 p.m.

He hadn't signed it, which was weird, because he usually did. He hadn't needed to sign it, though. Only Jeremie would specify whether he wanted to meet her in the a.m. or p.m. She could just imagine how he would voice the words.

Blushing, Aelita looked at the clock. 8:45. Just enough time to get dressed and sneak down to the park without getting caught. Maybe he wouldn't chicken out this time. It was okay if he did, though. She was patient.

But there were times when she wished he would just get on with it. Like now.

She went to her mirror and started brushing her hair, humming to her new favorite song: Happily Ever After. It seemed to sum up how she was feeling right now. She was more than ready to figure out whether she really would get her happily ever after with Jeremie.

He was sitting in the lowest branch of the tree next to the bench when she arrived and sat down, her back to him. One hand gripped the bark tightly as he ran the other through his blond hair.

Please don't see me, he begged in his mind. Please don't look up.

How he had gotten up here when he was so nervous was beyond him. He wasn't sure if he would be able to get down. What was he supposed to say? "Hi Aelita, I just wanted to say that I like you. Not just like you, but like-like you." Yeah, that sure sounded suave.

He stiffened when Aelita started singing along quietly to whatever song was in her head.

Oh, happily ever after, wouldn't you know, wouldn't you know.
Oh, skip to the ending, who'd like to know, I'd like to know.
Author of the moment, can you tell me, do I end up, do I end up happy?

Her voice was so beautiful. He had never heard it before, but now he was beginning to wonder why she didn't sing more often.

He waited a little longer, entranced by her voice and the way her hair glowed in the moonlight. God, she was beautiful.

We all have a story to tell.
Whether we whisper or yell.
We all have a story, of adolescence and all its glory.
We all have a story to tell.

It was already 9:15. He'd been sitting up here for quite a while, unable to move a muscle. She was still waiting for him. Any other girl would have left by now. He gulped, able to feel his heartbeat in his ears. Why did he have to be so scared? It was just Aelita. Part of him wanted to hit the other part of him for thinking that. Just Aelita? The most brilliant and beautiful girl in school? He took a silent, deep breath. Come on, you can do this... He was just about to let go of the branch he was clinging to when he froze.

A loud noise echoed across the courtyard.

Aelita stood up and took a few steps toward the sound, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Jeremie?" she asked.

The boy's stomach dropped the second she spoke. He gripped the branch so tight he thought his fingers would bleed. She turned around several heartbeats later, and he prayed that his clothes were dark enough to conceal him. They were.

She sat down, and for another five minutes, he kept himself glued to his branch. He felt as if his heart had frosted over. He felt numb.

There was no way he could do this. Not now.

She got up and headed back to her dorm at 9:25.

Five minutes later, he peeled his fingers away from the bark, scrambled out of the tree, and sunk down onto the bench. The rose in his hand looked far less beautiful than it had when he had bought it an hour ago.

He had wanted to know if maybe, just maybe, he had a chance. Now he knew without a doubt that he didn't. She had sat there waiting all this time, expecting no one else but him. If she wanted him so badly, why did he even think for a second that he could somehow measure up?

Odd looked up at the door to the girls' dorms. "I hope you get your happily ever after, Aelita," he whispered. "Even if it isn't with me."