Author's Notes: While I'm working on Lucky Lady, I want to post more WIPs and random one-shots, so here you go! Random DJWifi drabble for the soul.
Alya slowly blinked herself into consciousness, opening her eyes to see two beaming, hazel-eyed faces coming into view, familiar but a bit blurry until she reached over to her nightstand and put on her glasses.
"Morning, Alya!" Ella and Etta shouted in unison, the latter bouncing slightly as she jumped up onto her big sister's bed.
Grinning, Alya sat up, ignoring the limbs pressing uncomfortably into her legs and stomach. "Good morning to you goofballs, too. Did Mom and Dad leave already?" The twins nodded furiously in response, loose brown curls falling into their faces.
"Okay." Alya clapped her hands together. "You two go get dressed, I'll fix your hair while you eat breakfast, then we'll take care of that morning breath of yours." They giggled at that, not moving from their spots. "Come on," she urged. "Hop to it! If you're not ready when it's time to go, I'll have to call Dad or Nora to come home and get you, because I'm not gonna be late today."
The twins scrambled out the door and back down the hall to their room, and Alya stretched out her legs, grateful for the silence. Trading her tank top and shorts for a plaid shirt and jeans, she yanked a brush through her rat's nest of a bedhead, the tangles only moving to different parts of her hair. She yawned, pulling her ombre mop back into a low ponytail so she could get breakfast for her little sisters.
In the kitchen, Alya found a box of pain au chocolat on the counter with the Dupain-Cheng patisserie logo, smiling to herself. Although her mother worked at Le Grand Paris as their top chef, she always preferred the Dupain-Cheng's home cooking to the fancy restaurant food. Alya grabbed three glasses from a cabinet and filled them with orange juice, retrieving some berries from the fridge that had yet to be cut.
Hearing her twin sisters laughing from their room, she sighed, adjusting her glasses as she walked through the apartment, stopping just outside the door heavily adorned with drawings and finger paintings. She knocked three times, the giggles immediately stopping.
"Breakfast is ready when you are. Remember, we're not going to be late today."
"Okay!" The simultaneous reply came and Alya nodded, satisfied, and returned to the kitchen.
Breakfast passed and dishes were thrown into the sink to be washed at a later date. Hair was brushed and styled, bags packed and faces washed. The twins were brushing their teeth as Alya slipped on her shoes, only managing to get one on before the phone in her pocket chimed. Retrieving it, she saw a message from Nino.
Nino: good morning 3
Alya tried and failed to hide her smile, quickly typing a response and sliding her phone back into the jeans pocket it was in before. She put her other shoe on and reached for her school bag as her phone chimed again.
Nino: i'm outside ur house
She dropped the strap of her bag and ran to the front door, peering through the peephole to confirm that Nino was in fact standing on her front porch, phone in hand. She threw the door open and watched as he immediately put his phone away and smiled up at her.
"Hey," he greeted, shifting the strap of his bag on his shoulder.
Alya crossed her arms, leaning against the doorframe. "Hey yourself. What are you doing here?"
"Well," he began awkwardly. "Last night after you got home, you were complaining about having to walk your sisters to school alone every day and that you wished I would do it with you."
She shook her head, trying to suppress a big, dopey grin. "I was joking, you know. I wasn't expecting you to just show up on my doorstep at eight in the morning."
Nino smiled shyly, fidgeting with his hands. "Yeah, I kinda figured you were, but I came anyway 'cause I wanted to see you."
Alya felt a sudden wave of heat creep up her cheeks. He just wanted to see me? After a moment of stunned silence, she stepped to the side. "Well, why don't you...come inside? The twins are almost ready." Nino walked into the Césaire apartment and set down his bag, adopting a more relaxed stance, though the tension was still there.
"Have you eaten anything?" she asked, tentatively reaching out to interlock her fingers with his. His breath hitched, and he looked at their hands, momentarily forgetting the question.
Nino tore his gaze from her hands to look at her face, hazel eyes worried but slightly amused as he fumbled for an answer. "Huh? Oh...no. I had to get up like, an hour ago to make sure I got here on time."
Alya gave his hand a slight squeeze before letting go, already missing its warmth. "Go sit down. I'll get you some breakfast."
"No, that's okay," he assured, knowing his efforts were futile.
She fixed him with a stern gaze and a pout. "Nino Lahiffe, I won't let you go to school hungry on my account. Sit." He threw his hands up in surrender, smirking as he took a seat at the familiar kitchen table. He knew right then that he wouldn't mind doing the same thing every day, watching his sort-of girlfriend furiously cut strawberries as she hummed a happy tune to herself. He would get up at seven every morning and skip breakfast to walk a kilometer to her house in the pouring rain if he had to. Well, as long as it was fine with her, of course.