Then (II)

Antonio was ecstatic.

He had feared that Alice would reject him, that she'd slap him and leave to never be seen again. As it turned out, however, she returned his feelings, and nothing could have made him happier.

"Are we a couple now?" he had asked her a few days after their first kiss.

She had rolled her eyes, hit him, and told him not to ask stupid questions. Then she had kissed him again and Antonio's heart began to beat so fast that he feared it would jump out of his chest.

The best part was that they didn't change their habits at all: they still met and strolled, read, talked, argued over the stupidest things… The only differences were that now they held hands while they strolled, they snuggled together when they read, and kissing had been added to the other activities they did daily. What hadn't changed, and none of them wanted for it to, was the friendly bullying between them —mostly directed towards Antonio, though—.

"Today's a special day," Alice informed.

"Is it?" Antonio frowned. He tried to understand what she meant, but he couldn't think of anything. "Why?"

"Come with me," she said, motioning for him to follow her.

Antonio complied, not knowing what was happening but trusting Alice nonetheless. Although, thinking about it, he knew it wasn't a sensible thing to do— she could be very twisted sometimes.

Alice guided him through the forest, past their reading spot and to the creek. When they arrived, Antonio quickly saw something new: a weird-shaped bulge stood right by the water, covered by a piece of fabric.

"What's that?"

"A tombstone," Alice replied calmly, as if it were obvious.

"A tombs—? Why the heck would there be a tombstone here?" After a few seconds, he asked the question that frightened him the most. "Whose is it?"

"Don't you know?"

"I— No, I don't know! Should I?"

"Yes, you should," she pouted.

Before Antonio could keep asking, she reached the tombstone in two quick strides and pulled the cloth that covered it. He had to move closer to read the epitaph; when he did, he felt like killing Alice. The badly-shaped rock read: In loving memory of Invencible ten years after it sank. Forever in our hearts. He stared blankly at the words for a while before gaining back the ability to speak:

"I hate you."

"No you don't," she snickered.

For some reason, Alice loved bringing back the topic of Invencible. Perhaps it had something to do with Antonio being unable to leave it behind and reacting hilariously every time she mentioned it. That wasn't the first time —and probably wouldn't be the last either— that she had poked fun at him for it.

"Yes I do. I hate you very, very much."

"You hate me because I remembered Invencible's death anniversary and you didn't."

"I hate you because you killed Invencible," he retorted. "There would be no need for that," he pointed at the rock, "if it weren't for you." He crossed his arms before his chest and pouted. "You're an evil, evil person."

"And you're such a sore loser."

"At least I don't cheat just to win."

"The end justifies the means, dear."

"Evil."

"And you love it."

Decided to turn the tables, Antonio suddenly leapt forwards and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing their bodies together. "Well, maybe I do love it," he purred.

Just as he expected, he took Alice completely by surprise, and enjoyed seeing her turn red, overwhelmed by the sudden proximity. He twisted his lips in a weird blend of a smirk and a loving smile. It hadn't taken long for him to notice that Alice didn't like physical contact as much as he did, and had decided to use it to his advantage. After all, it implied that he got to hug and annoy her at the same time. It was a win-win.

"Antonio, let go," she complained, squirming in his arms, vainly trying to break free but smiling nonetheless.

"How about no?"

"Antonio—" she whined.

It was then when he realized that, because of Alice trying to escape and him not letting her, they had slowly moved until they were practically on the creek. A wicked smile formed on his lips just as Alice, too, noticed where they were.

"Antonio, I don't know what you're thinking but— Oh, no, stop that right now, don't you— Antonio I swear I'll kill you," she yelled hysterically as Antonio leaned forwards, making her lean backwards and threatening to let her fall to the water.

"What was that you asked me before?" he asked, teasingly. "Was it… to let you go?"

Their eyes locked, Antonio's amused and Alice's upset, and for a moment the whole world seemed to stay still.

"You better don't fucking do it," she whispered menacingly, stressing every single word.

"Do what? This?"

Before Alice could react to those words, she found herself without the support of Antonio's arms; the next moment, she was lying in the middle of the creek. It wasn't deep, but there was enough water to completely soak her, and being sat as she was, the water kept splashing her face. She faintly heard the sound of Antonio's laughter, a sound she usually liked— but not when she was the cause of it.

"You're dead," she stated.

Antonio, who was about to choke because he was laughing too hard, tried to run away; however, Alice moved faster than expected and caught him almost immediately. He yelped when her drenched clothes and hair came in contact with him.

"It's not so funny now, is it?" she smirked, dragging Antonio back to the creek. He didn't put up much of a fight, since he was still laughing breathlessly, and Alice could easily drop him in the water. "I must admit that, from this perspective, it is rather amusing," she chuckled.

"I know, right?" he managed to say.

"You're an idiot."

"I know," he smiled brightly at her.

"Get out of there, you wanker," she ordered, looking away as she felt her cheeks blushing, "before you catch a cold."

"Yes, ma'am!"

They left the creek and walked for a while until they reached a small clearing in which they could let the sun dry them. Antonio sat on the ground and tried to drag Alice with him, but she pushed him away.

"What?" she said when he looked at her with a sad pout. "Last time you hugged me, you dropped me in a river. Who knows what you'll do next."

"Come on, you can't deny that we had fun," he argued, stretching his arms towards her and trying to put his best kicked-puppy face. "Pretty please?"

Alice sighed. Those big, bright, green eyes were her biggest weakness. She gave up and moved to Antonio's side; immediately, his arms hugged her and pulled until she sat on his lap.

"Should I make it up to you?" he whispered in her ear, making a shiver travel down her spine.

"I don't know. How do you plan to do that?"

He smiled and moved his head forwards until their foreheads touched. Then he just stood there, looking intently into her eyes, her doing the same, until Antonio broke the silence with a simple question:

"Can I kiss you?"

"I don't recall you asking for permission the first time," she pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"That was a special occasion," he chuckled. His fingers reached for her face and gently caressed her lips. "May I?"

"I thought I told you to stop asking stupid questions," she replied before closing the gap between them and kissing him.

They kissed for a while until Alice decided that she had had enough human contact for the day and pulled away. Antonio pouted and complained, although he knew she wouldn't change her mind, and then he laid down, closing his eyes and enjoying the feel of the warm sunrays on his skin. He heard Alice laying down with him; by pure instinct, his hand reached for hers and held it tightly. To his surprise, she didn't pull away this time.

"We should do this more often," he mumbled, already half-asleep.

"The napping or the pushing each other to the creek?"

He laughed.

"Both."

~{§}~

"Pick a card."

Antonio's hand moved from left to right, ghosting over the cards displayed in front of him, until he decided and grabbed one.

"Look at it carefully and remember it."

"Okay."

"Done?"

"Yes."

"Great. Don't forget it! Here, put it somewhere in the deck and shuffle it."

He did as he was told, frowning, dead set on cracking Alice's magic trick. He shuffled the deck for a long time; he even turned his back to his girlfriend so she couldn't see the cards. Once he deemed it enough, he gave the deck back to her, who took it unimpressed and separated it in three smaller decks.

"Now I want you to focus on your card. I want your card to be the only thought in your thick skull," she commanded, ignoring the indignant scream her words provoked. "Are you focusing?"

"Yes," he grunted.

"Alright, then…" She began to move her hand over the three decks, her eyes looking steadily at Antonio's. "Your card is not in this one." She discarded one, taking it and moving it aside. "Hmm— it's not in this one either. So it's in this one here."

"How could you possibly know that?" he complained. It was like the tenth time she had made the trick and he was only getting more and more confused each time.

"Magic," she winked. "So your card is in this deck…" she mumbled, displaying all the cards between them, facing the ground. "And your card is… this one."

She had picked one at random, at least from Antonio's perspective, but when she turned the card, he recognized it as the once he had picked at first.

"Am I right?" she asked with a smirk that clearly said that she already knew the answer.

"Yes!" he yelled, frustrated. "How do you do it?"

"Do you want to know? Are you sure?"

"Yes! Tell me!"

Alice pretended to consider it for a while. "Hmm— oh, alright. Come closer…"

Antonio quickly obeyed, leaning forwards as she did until their faces almost touched.

"So, the secret of this trick, huh? You want the secret, right? The secret of the magic trick, the trick's secret—"

"Alice!"

"Okay, I'll tell you…" She left a few seconds of suspense before whispering: "The faeries tell me everything."

Antonio's face instantly morphed into a mad pout. He frowned and pushed Alice away as she laughed.

"Don't joke with those things," he complained.

Alice was well aware that Antonio was rather superstitious, just as much as he was when they were kids, and often poked fun at him for that. She enjoyed randomly talking about mystical creatures and naming all the awful things they could do to humans. Once, many years ago, she had told him the story of a winged, mint-coloured bunny that would slither in houses inhabited by green-eyed or brunet people and kidnap them. Antonio had left crying and it had taken her a few months to convince him that she had made it up. Now that he was much older, Antonio could put up with Alice's horrifying stories, although that didn't mean that he was no longer scared by the unknown. He still looked around nervously every time Alice mentioned the faeries, as if he expected that a whole army of winged, tiny creatures would fall on them at any minute.

"Well, sorry, I'm not telling you the trick. It wouldn't be fun if you knew it."

"Whatever. I'm sure it's pure luck."

"Luck, really? Ten times in a row?"

"Otherwise, there's no way you could have guessed it."

"That's what you want to believe."

Antonio sighed and gave up. He was stubborn, but he knew Alice was it even more: if she didn't want to tell him the trick, he wasn't going to get it, no matter how much he insisted.

"Fine," he mumbled. "It's not like I want to know the stupid trick anyway," he said, although both of them knew it was a lie.

He fell silent and Alice couldn't help but feel a bit bad. She loved teasing Antonio, but she hated seeing him sad: it was as if the sun suddenly turned off.

"Hey, come on, don't be mad," she said, moving towards him and pecking his cheek.

"I'm not mad."

"And I'm a man."

"Really?"

"Yes, every full moon I grow a penis." She rolled her eyes and hit his head, but smiled when she heard him laugh quietly. "Are you mad at me?"

"No. Really, I'm not."

"Then what's with the sad face?"

"Harvest time is soon," he sighed. "I have to help my dad on the fields, so we won't be able to meet that often."

"Oh."

"Are you okay with that?"

"Yes, of course. It'd be so unfair for me not to be."

Antonio smiled and hugged her; for once, Alice didn't try to pry free. They remained like that for a while, silent, until they noticed that the sunlight was beginning to fade.

"I should go back," Antonio muttered, yet not showing any signs of wanting to get up.

"I'll walk you home."

"If you didn't, then is when I'd be mad at you."

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind."

They still remained sat a few more minutes, none of them wanting to go. It was Antonio who finally stood up, mumbling something about not wanting his parents to scold him for being home too late, and Alice followed. They made some small talk while they walked, and they got so distracted that they barely noticed when they arrived to the edge of the forest, where they always parted. Antonio hated that part of the day.

"Is it just me or the walk here was shorter than usual?" Alice asked, looking around as if to verify that they were at the right place.

"So it looked like to me," Antonio chuckled.

"It's good to know I'm not crazy."

"Oh, you are crazy. Maybe I am too."

She snorted and told him to stop saying stupid things; he replied that it was his true nature and that she couldn't try to change him. She snorted again, but didn't deny it. Then they decided when they would be meeting next, and Antonio kissed her before she could flee.

"I'm going to miss you," he whispered.

"Idiot," she replied.

"I know."

When Antonio crossed his home's door, he found his mother waiting for him with a not very friendly face.

"Do you think this is an appropriate hour to arrive?"

"Mum—" he whined. "I'm already eighteen!"

"As if you were thirty! As long as you live with us, you play by our rules!"

He groaned. It was always the same. Why couldn't his parents give him a bit of freedom? He was a grown-up, he could take care of himself!

"Where were you anyway?"

"In the woods with Alice," he answered as if it were obvious.

His mother sighed. Neither her nor his father were very fond of Alice: they had only seen her once from the distance, but had never even spoken to her, and hadn't been very glad when Antonio had informed them that they were more than just friends. They did nothing, though, because they had long ago accepted that there was nothing they could do about it. Antonio's stubbornness was something to be feared —not to mention that he always got so defensive when they even mentioned the idea of him moving away from Alice—.

"There's some bread and cheese for you to dine," his mother informed. "Eat it quickly and go to bed— you need to be well-rested to be useful during harvest."

"I know that," he grunted, already making is way towards the kitchen. "I know that very well."

~{§}~

Antonio ran to their meeting point, a bright smile in his face. Harvest time was over, and he couldn't wait to see Alice again. It had been tougher than he expected, not seeing her for a relatively long time, and he didn't think he could stand it any longer. That's why he was so disappointed when he arrived and saw that she wasn't there. He started to nervously pace around, and then suddenly something caught his eye: a piece of paper was nailed to a tree. He recognized Alice's handwriting and quickly read it.

"What the—?"

It seemed to be some sort of rules for a game he had never played before. He turned it around and saw there was more written, this time an explanation— more or less.

Hello, Antonio! I hope you're in shape. There should be a bucket right next to this tree covered with a cloth. That one's yours; I have another one. Read the rules carefully, for I won't go easy on you. Good luck, loser, and let the game begin.

He checked and saw the bucket. It was big, wooden, and a bit heavy. He pulled the cloth and looked inside; as he expected, he saw it was filled up to the brink with a paste that was clearly mashed berries. Everything was so clear now.

There was a perimeter, two buckets and two players.

There was no mercy.

Oh, this is going to be good, he thought, folding the paper and sliding it into his pocket. This is going to be sooooo good.

He slid his hand into the bucket, testing the consistence of the paste, as he began to walk from tree to tree, paying attention to his surroundings, flinching every time he heard a sound. Geez, the game had barely started and he was already enjoying himself. He felt like one of those explorers he and Alice usually read about, ready to fight everything that stood in his way. He smirked. Oh, Alice was so going to regret having started that game. He was going to make sure of it.

To his utter disappointment, it was her who found him first. He had let his guard down after having been wandering around for a while without finding any trace of his friend, so he was shocked when she suddenly appeared from behind a tree, a wild smirk in her lips.

He yelped and moved to dodge the handful of paste Alice threw at him; unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough and it hit his leg, staining his trousers.

"You'll pay for that!" he screamed, hiding behind a tree and filling his hand with berry pulp from his own bucket.

"We'll see about that!"

He moved quickly and threw the paste with a precision that surprised even him. Alice saw it coming, but she barely had time to move and it hit her side. She recovered fast, however, and before Antonio could rejoice in his small victory, she counterattacked.

None of them knew for how long they ran one after the other, throwing mashed berries, laughing and taunting, and basically forgetting about anything else. By the time their buckets finally emptied, they both were covered in pulp, panting, and smiling.

"Well, who won?" Antonio asked, still recovering his breath.

"Me, of course," was Alice's smug reply.

Antonio rolled his eyes. From his point of view, Alice was much more stained than he was, but he knew there was no point in arguing over it. So instead he opted for running to her, hugging her waist and spinning her in the air. She let out a yelp of surprise and yelled at him to put her back on the ground. He complied, without loosening the hug, and kissed her forehead.

"That was a fun game," he said, smiling brightly. He then leaned to kiss her again, this time on the lips, and when he pulled apart, the words simply escaped his mouth: "You're great— I love you."

Alice's green eyes widened and looked at him in shock. She opened and closed her mouth, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know what, and only then did Antonio realize what he had just said. He, too, opened his eyes wide in shock, although he soon realized that he didn't regret having said it; Alice, on the other hand, didn't seem to know how to react or what to say. Softly, Antonio hugged her even more tightly than before, letting her bury her face in his chest.

"It's okay," he whispered against her hair. "It's okay, you don't have to say anything."

He felt her nod slowly, and soon her arms were around his waist. Antonio carefully caressed her hair, from time to time removing small pieces of berries from her golden locks, and only stopped when he felt Alice trembling in his arms. At first he thought that she was crying, but he quickly realized that no, she was actually laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked, clearly confused.

Alice looked up at him, smiling playfully. "You smell like blueberries."

"Ah—!" He threw her an indignant look. "And whose fault is that?"

"Certainly not mine."

He laughed and kissed her again. "I think I'd better go clean myself a little, huh?"

"Yeah, I could use a bath too," she agreed.

Before she could escape, Antonio leaned and kissed her yet another time. When he pointed out that she tasted like blackberries, she smirked and said that it was his fault too; and Antonio, who was so stupidly happy, could only laugh at that.

The rest of the day passed normally, and when they parted at the evening, both could agree that it had been one of their best days together —and that was saying a lot—. As usual, Antonio tried to postpone his leaving; and as usual, Alice had to remind him that his parents would get madder at him with every minute.

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving already…" he finally accepted, yet still hugging her.

"Come on, dumbass," she chuckled, breaking free from his embrace.

Antonio pouted, but obeyed and turned around, walking towards the village. Alice watched him go, doubtful, until she made up her mind.

"Wait!" she called, running towards him. Antonio turned, surprised, just in time for Alice to hold his face and kiss him passionately. "Me too," she whispered when the kiss ended.

He frowned, confused, but it didn't take him long to realize what she meant, and soon his expression turned both surprised and blissful. Before he could say anything, however, Alice pulled apart, turned around, and quickly walked away.

Antonio's eyes never left her until she disappeared in the forest, a stupid smile on his lips and a dizzy fluttering in his chest.

~{§}~

"Don't open your eyes."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Really, really, really promise?"

"Antonio," she sighed, "I'm wearing a blindfold and your hands are over it. Even if I opened my eyes, I wouldn't see a thing."

"I just want to make sure— oops, sorry."

"Dammit, Antonio! If you force me to go blind, at least guide me properly!"

"Hey, I caught you before you fell."

"It would have been way better if you hadn't let me stumble in the first place."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry."

"You better be."

"Here we are!" He removed his hands and the blindfold. "Happy birthday!"

Alice blinked, trying to get her eyes to get used to the sudden brightness, and it took her a moment to take in what was in front of her. When she did, her jaw dropped: they were in the place where they had first met; only that it was no longer just one more clearing. No, it had been decorated and taken care of to the point where there didn't seem to be a single strand of grass out of place. There were colourful pennants hanging from the trees, and on the ground a wide tablecloth was spread out. On it, there were a few baskets that, by the looks of it, were filled with food.

"Wow," she managed to say after a while.

"Do you like it?" Antonio asked happily.

"Yes, of course! Did you do this all by yourself?"

"Yup. You don't turn twenty-one every day," he replied, winking playfully.

Astounded, Alice let herself be guided to the tablecloth, and as soon as they sat, Antonio began to open the baskets. Just as she had guessed, there was food in them.

"Did you cook too?"

He nodded, more focused in displaying everything he had brought than in answering, and Alice felt she was about to start drooling. She liked to consider herself much better than Antonio in many, many ways; however, if there was one aspect in which Antonio widely outshined her, that was definitely cooking.

"And the final touch— tadaaa!"

To her surprise, Antonio opened the last basket to reveal a couple of wine bottles and a pair of glasses, which he placed between them.

"Where did you get that from?"

"I may or may not have stolen them from my dad's cellar," he answered, quickly winking at her while he filled the glasses.

"Uh, such a bad boy," she mocked, earning an innocent smile from Antonio.

"Me? Please, I'm such an angel."

She laughed; his smile widened.

They enjoyed together all the food Antonio had brought, which Alice had to admit was delicious, and none of them seemed to notice —nor care about— the hours ticking by. They had a lot of time to spend, after all.

The first bottle of wine was only half empty after they finished eating, and they both agreed that it would be such a shame to leave it unfinished. By the time the bottle was finally emptied, they had already decided that they wanted to open the other one. As time passed and wine was drunk, they got closer and closer, not entirely consciously, craving the other's presence. The kissing had begun way before; the touching began after the second bottle was opened. There were only a few drops left in it when Antonio found himself lying on his back, his hair tousled, his shirt open, and Alice on top of him, laying kisses all over his jaw and neck.

He huskily whispered her name and she pulled apart a little, just so they could look into each other's eyes. Her cheeks were red, both from arousal and the wine, and her lips, parted so they could let a hard breath escape, were so inviting that Antonio immediately pulled her down for a deep, intense kiss.

They acted more by instinct than out of experience. Antonio let his hands explore her body, tangle in her hair, worship her; Alice focused on kissing, sucking and biting all over his neck and chest. They were lost in each other, no longer aware of their surroundings: their whole world had been reduced to just two people.

Antonio was about to completely lose his mind when Alice suddenly pulled apart. He looked at her, confused.

"What is it?" he breathed out.

"Do you want to continue?" she asked quietly.

He furrowed while his numbed brain processed the question. Once he did, he sat up so he could look better at her face; and instead of answering, he asked another question:

"Do you?"

Taken aback, Alice looked nervously around until her eyes met Antonio's. Then she nodded, slowly.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Me too, then."

Their lips searched for the other's at the same time. When they met again, the small interruption was left behind as if it had never happened; with the small difference that now both of them knew what they wanted. This time it was Alice who ended up on her back, and she allowed it for a while until she fought to take control again. Although he put up a bit of a fight just for fun, Antonio ended up letting her; soon, he was once again the one pinned down against the ground.

It didn't take long for clothes to be discarded, for gasps and moans to become louder, for unquiet hands to grow bolder. It was a new experience for both of them, and they were certain of one thing, and one thing only: they were glad they were sharing it with the other.

Once it was over, they laid together on the tablecloth. Antonio briefly thought that he should clean it before going home or he may have to face some really awkward questions from his mother, but he quickly forgot about it when he felt Alice's body against his. As she rested her head on his chest, he hugged her tightly and began to caress her back, loving the touch of her skin under his fingertips.

"I love you," he whispered.

She didn't answer, but Antonio didn't mind— he wasn't expecting a reply anyway. After a while, however, Alice did speak:

"Did you have this in mind from the start?"

"No," he laughed. "Would you be mad at me if I had?"

"Right now, I couldn't even if I wanted to."

Antonio laughed again and pressed his lips against her forehead in a long kiss. He hadn't been happier in his entire life, and his mind still hadn't fully processed what had just happened. At the moment, he felt like he could achieve anything he tried; he felt unbeatable. That is, until the thought suddenly popped in his mind.

"What's the matter?" Alice asked, worried, when she felt Antonio's body going rigid and looked up to see a pale face.

"You— You're not going to get pregnant, are you?" he stuttered.

"Don't worry about that," she laughed lightly, relieved that it was only that. "I have my methods," she added, laying a kiss on his chest.

"Okay," he sighed.

They remained silent for a few minutes. Then Alice spoke again:

"Would it be that bad?"

"Hmm—?"

"If I got pregnant," she elaborated, realizing that Antonio had lost track of the conversation. "Would it be that bad?"

"Well— No, it wouldn't," he answered. To her surprise, he didn't sound unsure or scared. "It's just— Don't you think it's too early for that?"

"Yes, I guess it is," she agreed.

"Besides…" he trailed off.

Alice waited, but he didn't finish. She looked up to his face and saw the expression. It was Antonio's thinking face, the one he put whenever he was pondering about something very important —in his opinion—: lost gaze, lips slightly parted, occasionally narrowing his eyes or mumbling something under his breath. She usually didn't interrupt him, but she was way too curious.

"Besides—?" she pressed.

Antonio got out of his stupor and turned to look at her so abruptly that it startled her; but before she could complain, a finger was pressed to her lips. She glared at him, immediately softening her gaze when her eyes met Antonio's: he was looking at her so lovingly, so intensely, that she felt her stomach twist.

Then he said something, and she thought that she must have misheard, so she asked: "What?" He repeated and Alice realized that no, she had heard perfectly what he had said.

"Will you marry me?"

Her jaw dropped. A part of her wanted to believe that Antonio was kidding, that he was about to laugh and hug her and mock her for having fallen for it so easily. Another part knew that he was dead serious.

"Do you even know what you're saying?" she managed to say.

"Yes, I'm very aware of what I'm saying." His hand moved and softly caressed her cheek, his eyes never leaving hers. "I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I'm happier with you than I am with anyone else, and I really can't imagine living without you by my side. So, Alice— will you marry me?"

Her face was on fire— she doubted she had ever blushed that much before. Stupid Antonio and his stupid proposal. Her head was spinning and her heart was beating madly; and Antonio's intense stare never leaving hers wasn't helping.

"Bloody hell," she muttered, closing her eyes, trying to calm down and gather up all the rationality she might still have left.

Antonio looked at her, avidly waiting for her answer. He didn't know how he had managed to speak so fluently; one may think that he had brought it prepared from home. It had all come out naturally, though, and he meant every single word of it. Now he could only wait and hope that Alice felt the same. When she finally opened her eyes, he swallowed and waited for her to speak.

"You're one of a kind," she smiled. "You ask me out by kissing me and you ask me for marriage by having sex with me."

He blinked slowly, not knowing how to react to that.

"That's different," she continued. "I like different. And I like crazy."

"Is that a yes?" he blurted out, fully believing that he would die if he was kept with the intrigue just one more second.

Alice smiled brightly and pecked his lips.

"Yes."

AN: I dare you to say that Antonio isn't the most adorable dork ever. I double dare you! Friendly reminder that drama strikes again on next chapter~
Reviews are widely appreciated! Thanks for reading ;)