Merry Christmas, guys! :D Honestly, starting Chapter 9; I already considered it as the Special Christmas 'chapter' only that it'll last until Chapter 11. Enjoy ;)
Chapter 10
"Huh?" That was the only word that came out of Paigee's lips. She blinked one more time as she continued to stare at the eyes directly gazing at hers. Suddenly, before Paigee could even speak, the street lamps lost their lights. The nearby lamp flickered each second; the glow getting weaker and weaker each blink. The last thing Luffy saw was Paigee's lips in motion, as if speaking, before the whole street was enveloped in darkness.
"L-Luffy?" Although Luffy currently cannot see, he knew it was Paigee; she was right below him after all. Reality slapped Luffy square on the face as his eyes widened and realized what position he was in. "Ah, Gomen gomen!" Luffy was about to sit up when his barefoot slipped on the icy floor. Paigee's breathing hitched as she felt a hot breath tickle her neck; what now?! "My foot slipped." Paigee pressed her back on the cold floor as she realized Luffy was closer than before; his voice became louder and clearer.
Paigee couldn't help but sigh, thanking the sudden black out for the blush on her cheeks are not visible. "Luffy," she said in a whisper. "What?" he plainly asked; Paigee still couldn't get over how close they were. "I'm going to roll to the side and you can fall to the ground when I say it's okay, alright? There's pretty much no other way." She could make out a 'hm' and considered it as an 'okay.' Paigee was about to roll any second now, before blinding lights showered them. Both of them shut their eyelids tightly, then blinking every now and then. Their eyes met once again; only that their noses are a measly centimeter apart, almost touching. A nerve of Paigee's finally snapped and her pale face instantaneously became a dark hue of red. "Kyaaaaaa!" she screamed, breaking the still night.
"I still don't get why I have to be smacked." Luffy sat cross legged and drew circles on the white snow, a pout on his face. Paigee's face still had a light shade of pink as she pouted as well, "S-sorry." She stared down the icy floor while hugging her knees close to her chest. Luffy was about to talk to Paigee when he was interrupted by a loud grumble of their stomachs. Luffy just grinned and a chuckle could be heard coming from his mouth. "We should go eat; we've missed 3 meals already!" Paigee smiled. "I missed 5 meals! No wonder I feel so thin." He patted his very flat stomach and making sure Paigee could see it, resulting into her just giggling. She then remembered the condition of her stiff and frozen hands. It might be a case of frostbite, so she quickly held it at eye level and inspected it. Luffy glanced at Paigee's unusual actions. "It's on the verge of getting frostbite." She blankly said. Paigee placed her frozen hands close to her chest as she tried hugging it. She failed to notice Luffy was walking closer to her and crouched right in front of her.
Paigee looked up and slowly processed in her mind what's currently happening. Luffy gently took hold of her hands; Paigee was still a bit shocked to protest. Paigee was about to protest when Luffy enclosed her hands in his hands and blew on it. Somehow, his cold breath warmed her frozen hands. A visible vapor was formed as Luffy continuously blew. "There!" he placed each of his arms on his sides and huffed. Luffy was already standing up as Paigee got out of the daze. "Oi Paigee! Come on, I'm hungry for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner!" he enthusiastically declared. Despite Paigee's efforts, she couldn't balance herself as she kept on slipping. Luffy got impatient and decided to see what's taking Paigee so long. When he saw the troubled girl, it was his turn to sigh. "…really." He shrugged with a smile on his face and held a hand in front of the girl. "Need any help?" he halfheartedly smirked. Once again, it didn't fail to cause a pink blush appearing on Paigee's face.
Smoke was coming out of the red brick chimney attached on the snowy roof of a white summer house. Inside, a girl and boy could be seen bickering over the dining table. It was only the two of them, yet the atmosphere was so light and cheerful. Once done with eating, the two raced to the living room; ending up with stomach aches. After some time, the two were seated comfortably on the red velvet sofa; blankets enveloping the two of them. They both held a cup of hot steaming chocolate with a marshmallow on top of the cream. Laughter and joy filled the room as the two watched several shows; not aware what time it was. It was getting late, a cup of chocolate, no longer hot; was untouched and lying on the glass table. Paigee sat nearby the fireplace, sleeping calmly; hugging her knees close to her chest. Next to her was Luffy, secretly sipping her cup of chocolate and almost finishing it. A soft sound interrupted him and Luffy thought it was Paigee who had awoken and caught him red handed. It was Paigee indeed, but instead of seeing an ominous aura; she was shivering slightly, still asleep. This made Luffy pause for a moment; he separated his lips from the cup and thought for a second. He was reluctant, but he did it anyway.
Luffy slowly crept closer and closer to Paigee and sat right next to her. Hopefully, Paigee would get enough warmth by him sitting next close to her as her trembling weakened. He sat there, staring blankly at the fire; reminding him of the huge bonfire he was dancing around with his crew back at Skypeia. How he misses his crew! He continued gazing at the dancing flames as memories flooded his mind. He felt a nudge on his shoulder and he turned to look what it was, it was Paigee. She was sleeping so soundly, her head tilted and landed on Luffy's shoulder. Just this once, He thought and silently permitted Paigee's sudden contact. His eyelids started becoming heavy as his vision was getting blurry. For now, he let down his guard; he drifted into sleep, enjoying the warmth of the flame in front of him and unexplainable warmth inside of him.
Paigee could feel a warm breath on her left cheek; she was sure that can't be hers. Other than that, she felt very comfortable; she felt warm and secure. Her mind became more conscious though; she could feel her cheek against something solid. She remained clueless as to what or where was she sleeping, so she decided to finally open her eyes. Ever so slowly, she opened her eyes. In front of her was the fireplace with ashes and burnt coal remaining inside. She then realized that her vision wasn't straight, the fireplace was a bit tilted. Paigee tilted her head and could no longer feel the hard and bony surface she was leaning on. She turned her head; her eyes widened. Her mind processed quite slowly and same goes to how reality sank inside her mind. She gulped, still wide eyed. Paigee took deep breaths to calm herself and her heart down; which was beating quite rapidly. She didn't want to wake up the boy; he looks so peaceful, she thought absentmindedly. She breathed a deep breath one more time which was interrupted by Luffy's eyes suddenly snapping open. Paigee stopped her breath and released it accidentally into a form of shriek.
Luffy held his dear throbbing ear close to himself. "Why did you scream?!" he yelled with comical teary eyes. "I-it's because you were too close!" Paigee defended herself. He rubbed his ear pouting and responded, "Then what about what happened last night ou-" "Never speak about that to anyone." Paigee coldly cut him off. "O-okay." Luffy sweatdropped.
On the red couch, Luffy was lazily watching television. Footsteps were heard on the staircase, it was Paigee's. "Luffy!" she called out. "Get dressed!" she threw a bunch of clothes on top of Luffy who was lying on his side, his arm supporting his weight. Black eyes peeked from the sofa and followed Paigee's mobile body. "What's this?" he asked. Paigee wrapped her scarf on her neck as she fixed her hair. "Those are clearly clothes, Luffy." She said plainly; focused more on her entangled hair. Luffy just gazed at Paigee questioningly and she didn't fail to notice. Paigee sighed, "We're going out!" she wore a cheeky grin.
Were you guys disappointed? lol. Sorry! xD Some of you must've been expecting a 'kiss', but not on my watch B| Not yet, be patient :P We're currently in the 10th Chapter only! Haha and no, I'm not intentionally teasing you guys, am I? xD Also, this will be the last of my Speedy-Chapter-Uploadssooooo, sad to say. Before any of you protest, let me tell you this; I haven't touched my homework and projects yet! :P Let me remind you, my top priority is my studies. See how much I 'care'? xD Haha well, I'm still sorry~ O:) I might update for who knows when... probably when I finish all my school work? Yeaah~ P.S I've never wrote a chapter filled with romance until now. Honestly, I'm not a very big fan of writing too much romance scenes. I only like those cute and teasing ones =3=