"This is so boring . . . and lame." Sun groaned, holding a stack of books that Blake was interested in reading. They were in the library, lucky for them it was unusually empty. "Where is everyone? I thought all the nerds would be here."

"Probably out watching the parade, the one you and I didn't want to go to with our friends."

"The parade is just an ego boost for that Ironwood guy. Besides, I'd rather be here with my girlfriend." He smirked when she froze at the word girlfriend. Another word that made her sort of panic was cute.

"Y-Yeah. . . . Just stop using that word. We're in the library. Someone could possibly hear you." She didn't look at him as she climbed up the ladder, searching for books. A light blush was on her cheeks.

"How many more books are you going to check out? This seems like enough already." They both knew that, it was just that Blake was just pretending to search for another good book to let her blush go away.

"Just one more." She said absent mindedly.

Sun sighed and set the stack of books down on a nearby table, then leaned against it and crossed his arms. "Careful, you're pretty high up. You could-"

"Whoa!" The rung where her left foot was placed collapsed, surprising Blake as she clung onto the ladder for balance. The ladder began to fall backwards at the imbalance of weight.

"I gotcha!" Sun leaped into action, catching Blake in her fall and turning his back toward the falling ladder. He grunted when it smacked against him and shoved it aside, landing on the floor. "Urgh . . . Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But are you okay?" Blake slithered out of his arms, removing his unbuttoned shirt to check his back.

"Blake, I'm alright-"

"Your back is red, Sun. I need to get you to the Infirmary. This might develop into a nasty bruise."

"Nah, it's fine. I get bruises all the-"

"I'm taking you there, whether you like it or not." She said with adamant determination.

This surprised Sun. Blake was genuinely worried about him. There were times where he would tease her, by asking her to kiss a boo-boo. Those times, she would tell him to suck it up and keep going. She didn't even care where he was the night Torchwick chased them in a giant mech on an overpass after he knocked him and Neptune over the edge. Now all of a sudden, she was worried. It was subtle, but he could see it on her expression and hear a hint of worry in her voice.

"Alright." He said, putting his shirt back on.

Eventually, the librarian came by to see what the ruckus was. Blake chewed him out for the library possessing a dangerous ladder and told him to get a new one, otherwise other students in the future will get injured. The librarian, obviously ticked, apologized to Blake and said he would get right on replacing the ladder.

Once Blake and Sun were out of sight, she surprised him once again by grabbing his hand in hers. While she guided (more like dragged) him to the Infirmary, he wondered what happened for her to change all of a sudden. Not that he'd mind. He liked this sudden change.

At the Infirmary, the nurse checked Sun's back that was now a darker shade of red. She gently prodded the area with a finger, causing him to grimace slightly.

"Looks like some deep tissue was damaged." The nurse concluded. "That ladder must have hit you pretty hard."

"It was made of metal." Sun remarked.

"Is he going to be okay?" Blake asked.

"Of course, dear. He just needs a few days of taking it easy and staying off his back."

Great, no more lounging in trees for a few days.

"An ice pack every other fifteen minutes will help speed up the healing process. After twenty-four hours, heat can also be applied." The nurse went to a drawer and took out a small notepad, writing something on it. "I recommend getting Ibuprofen to reduce the pain, head to this address. You'll find a friend of mine who specializes and sells medicine there." She tore the note off and gave it to Blake.

"Thank you, nurse." She said before leaving with Sun.

On their way to the docked airship at the edge of Beacon, Sun kept looking at her, making her slightly irritated that he wasn't saying anything.

"What?" She finally said, breaking the silence.

"Oh, nothing. Just wondering if anything happened that I should know about."

"Why? Nothing happened. Except you getting injured."

"You sure? I've never seen you that worried, especially about me . . . over a bruise, not an injury." He pointed out.

Silence filled the air for the next few minutes.

"Blake, did something happen that I should know about?" He asked.

"No, nothing happened. I just . . . " She stopped. "I was reading a book the other night, and I read something that caught my attention . . . "

He listened, not wanting to interrupt her.

"In the book, the main character and her best friend were talking about the main character's relationship with her boyfriend . . . And at one point the best friend told her this, 'You've been together for that long and you haven't even hugged?'" Blake took a moment to collect her thoughts. "And then she told her, 'No offense, but if you're going to keep stringing him along like that, you may as well cut him loose. He's obviously into you, but if you're going to keep dragging it out for this long, let him go. Let him find happiness somewhere else.'"

Sun didn't take his eyes off of her the entire time he listened, making her nervous.

"After reading that . . . I figured that maybe it was time I . . . " She cleared her throat for a moment. "Time I start being your girlfriend, instead of just another friend to hang out with. . . . "

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was so surreal. Blake Belladonna opened up to him about something as small as that. He tried his best to contain his excitement as he stood there, trying to act cool.

She looked around, expecting to see people, but no one was around. "Lean down a little." She said, suddenly.

"Huh? Um, alright. Why?"

"Just lean down."

He did so, and without a warning, she kissed him on the lips.

Whoa!

His eyes shot wide open, his hands were frozen in the air, probably twitching. And his tail was probably standing straight up. He could have sworn a burst of heat traveled throughout his body.

Blake's hands were on his shoulders, holding him in place. But he didn't want to move. Her lips were softer and warmer than he ever imagined it would be. He wanted more.

After a long moment, she broke the kiss, pulling away and letting go of his shoulders. She was a whole new shade of red and looked dazed.

"That was um . . . " Sun cleared his throat, trying to find the right words. "That was amazing."

"Yeah . . . it was." She smiled, surprising him. Smiles were rare from her and he learned to treasure each one.

They were silent again, holding hands, even when they got on the airship they were still silent. Probably trying to process in their minds what had happened. They stopped holding hands when other people started boarding the airship with them.

Halfway to town, Sun broke the silence.

"Blake?"

"What?"

"So what did you think of my body? I caught you checking me out at the Infirmary." He smirked when she looked away.

"Shut up."