Chapter 2: Hopelessy in Love

Hope stood in front of the full length mirror that had been placed in the corner of her room for the last twelve months. She must have flattened her little light blue dress fifty times before she heard Elena tut at her from the doorway. The young woman tossed her loose dark hair around before walking up behind her roommate.

"He'll love you Hope," Elena said quietly as she fixed Hope's sandy hair so that the woman's curls fell behind her and smiled before ushering her out to the main living space so that Nichole could see Hope twirl as the dress' skirt flew around her making the beautiful girl look like a real fairy princess.

The sharp three knocks at their wooden door signalled Lyall's arrival and sparked a whole new level of Hope's nervousness. Nichole and Elena fought to open the door and greet him but Hope got there first, opening the front door to a grinning Lyall Lupin. Looking her up and down the grin widened and widened his eyes as he met her dark hazel set, saying in a quiet and soft voice, "You look incredible."

Hope grinned as she took his arm and was lead out of the apartment, not before throwing an excited smile to her best friends.

"So you know where I live, are you going to tell me where you reside?" Hope asked as she smiled up at the man whose hand was currently swinging hers after a successful date.

Lyall returned the smile. "I'm just here for the next week, then it's back up to Scotland with me," He said as he give her hand a gentle squeeze, "But I'm sure I'll have time to come down here again soon, not a very busy man."

Hope nodded in agreement and almost gasped under her breath, "I'd like that." After a bit of an awkward silence, Hope broke it by clearing her throat and speaking louder than before to ask another question, "Why are you down in Scotland? More importantly, why were you in that forest?"

Biting his lip, Lyall thought about his answer through and an excuse for what he was doing there. He had definitely not known her long enough for her to learn the truth. "I'm done here writing my next textbook, it's all very boring stuff really," it wasn't exactly a lie, "Looking for a bit of danger I suppose. What were you doing in the forest?"

"If you must know I work in an insurance office and was doing a follow up on a hiking accident," she explained with a small chuckle at his accusing tone, "Books? What's your field?"

"Economics," Lyall answered fluently, praying to every God he knew that she wouldn't ask anymore about a subject that he had no idea about.

"Oh well that must be…ummm…interesting?" Hope said in a struggled voice before the couple burst into a synchronised laugh. After a short while they finish and Lyall looked at his date with the glint of happiness still in his eyes before nodding his head towards the empty ice cream palour that would still be open for ten more minutes.

"Would you like some dessert?"

As they walked home with their ice cream cones that contained chocolate and honeycomb. Hope smiled as she came to a halt outside her building.

"Well you know that this is me," she said with a smile and gave him another small kiss on the cheek. But as she turned Lyall pulled her hand back and gave her a soft kiss.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I should have asked your permission before I did anything like that," he said as any gentleman would but was soon stopped by his date's small giggle and asked insidiously, "What?"

Hope just continued to giggle and shrugged slightly before explaining, "I was just think that you tasted like chocolate ice cream and how much I wish I'd gotten the same." Leaning in to the confused man she pecked his lips quickly before muttering, "Goodnight Lyall."

"Goodnight Hope," the shocked Lyall almost whispered, not that she would have been able to hear him anyway as he had no doubt she was already making her way up her metal stairs. But that was when Lyall Thomas Lupin came to a great realization that he knew had been in the back of his mind since her lovely hazel eyes had looked into his in the forest. He was hopelessly in love with this weird Welsh woman.