Author's Note: Hey everyone! So sorry it took this long to update, but I kept on re-writing this chapter. I hope everyone enjoys it and thanks for all your wonderful reviews on my last chapter! This is mostly Kris/Alec goodness, showing them all happy before serious stuff happens later on. Please review, that would mean so much!

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"Hey, come here," Alec said softly afterwards, extending his arms.

"I thought you said snuggling is stupid," Kris teased.

"Well, I can be proven wrong, you know," he replied, wrapping his arms around her bare body.

"I see," she said, resting her head on his shoulder and hugging him around his chest.

They were quiet for a while. "So, what happens now?" Alec asked.

"What do you mean?"

"With the whole snuggling thing. What do people do?"

She smiled. "Well, people talk or kiss or fall asleep, it doesn't matter," she said.

"Hmm," Alec said, kissing her cheek.

It was still surreal to him, being with her like this. He had fantasized about it enough times, sure, but actually living the fantasy was a totally different thing. How did he get this lucky? Part of him really didn't think it was luck at all, maybe, maybe this was just how his life was supposed to go.

He was completely inexperienced at making love, but Kris treasured him at his completely vulnerable moments, which gave him such an indescribable feeling inside. It was a mixture of trust and exposure wrapped up in contentment, if that made any sense.

Kris stroked his chest gently. She loved touching him, reassuring herself that this all was in fact a reality. It was such a strange feeling, to be this happy, this fulfilled. In retrospect, she was happy with Sean as well, but this was very different. This time, she knew there was no deception.

After minutes of silence, Alec said uncomfortably, "Kris, I wanna tell you something, but I dunno how..."

Silence.

He looked down at the woman by his side, asleep. He sighed, "Some other time then."

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Her mouth twitched as the warm sun seeped through the window shade and hit her face. Alec smiled as he watched the steady rise and fall of her chest. This was too real to be one of his dreams. He felt so...content. She snuggled against his chest as she slept. Snuggled. Yeah, he would have to admit that it was rather comforting. He laughed a little with happiness.

Kris stirred and opened her eyes. She looked confused for a moment, like she didn't know where she was, but smiled wide once she remembered the events of the previous night.

"Morning," Alec said, stroking her exposed back.

She ran gentle kisses up his chest. "I'm so relieved this wasn't a dream," she said.

"Oh yeah?" Alec asked, relishing her kisses.

"I think I would have exploded with frustration if it was all a dream," she explained.

Alec laughed. "I was thinking the exact same thing earlier."

Her eyes dazzled with life. It was like part of her that was dormant for over a year was finally awake. She had this undeniably confident aurora around her, like she had known all along that this was where she wanted to end up. Right here, next to Alec.

Alec looked at her in awe. He wanted to tell her what he couldn't the previous night, but something nameless stopped him. He didn't know why, but he had an inhibition. It had nothing to do with Kris or what happened between them, it was something inside himself that held him back from pouring out his soul to her. Perhaps the last defense mechanism Manticore inserted into his psyche, he wasn't sure.

"Did you sleep?" she asked him, breaking his trance over her.

"No," he replied. "I don't need sleep."

She smirked. "So you just watched me sleep?"

Alec blushed slightly. "Yeah, when you sleep you look...I can't describe it..." he trailed off, embarrassed at his ineloquence.

She kissed his forehead lightly. It was weird seeing this unconfident side of Alec but, at the same time, completely wonderful. She knew talking about mushy things was awkward for him, so she didn't press him.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Ten o'clock," Alec answered.

"Oh, crap!" she exclaimed, sitting up.

"What?"

"We have work!" she said, getting out of bed.

Alec thought about it momentarily. "Wait," he said. "It's Sunday."

Kris paused and sighed. "You're right. Thank goodness," she replied, collapsing back on the bed.

"Yup," Alec said, moving over to kiss her.

But she evaded his kiss by getting up once again.

"Hey, that's not fair..." Alec complained.

"I'm borrowing your blue T-shirt," she said, going over to the chest of drawers, taking it out, and putting it on.

"That's fine, but I'm not very satisfied..." Alec said grumpily from the bed. All he wanted to do was stay in bed with her.

"Brush your teeth, then we'll work on that satisfying thing," she said rather coyly, but smiling at the same time. She went to brush her own.

Alec grinned happily, put on a shirt, and followed her to the bathroom.

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"I have to do grocery shopping, wanna come?" Kris asked as they snuggled on the couch a few hours later.

"Aw, can't we stay in the entire day?" Alec replied.

Kris laughed. "Not unless you want to starve," she said. "You have no food here and I'm running low at my place too."

"I was trained so that I could go a week without food and still function," Alec replied, playfully tugging at her shirt.

"Well, I need at least two meals a day and I haven't eaten yet," she replied, prying her shirt from his grasp. It didn't matter though because Alec encircled his arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.

"Please..." he begged, massaging her shoulders.

Kris sighed with pleasure. It was very hard saying no to him; she really didn't mind stay right there the entire day, but she knew they would need food later.

"The sooner we go, the sooner we can come back. And we'll have food too," she said, trying to cajole him.

He sighed. "Fine," he said, releasing her.

She got up and gave him a quick kiss. "C'mon, Golden Boy."

Alec smirked. "You know, I need to find a nickname for you."

"Hmm...something along the lines of Goddess would work," she said facetiously, taking his hand in hers to lead them out of the apartment.

It felt weird holding hands with her as they walked to the open-air market a few blocks away. Not in a bad way, but this was something couples did, and Alec...well, he was always a single.

"If you, um, don't want to hold hands, it's alright," Kris said, noticing Alec's uneasiness. "I mean, if PDA isn't your thing and all..."

"No, it's just a little weird," Alec said. Kris lessened her grip on his hand. "In the good way, though," he added quickly. God, he was so embarrassed about his tactlessness.

She nodded her head in understanding and Alec squeezed her hand to reassure her.

"Wait, what's PDA?" Alec asked sheepishly.

"Public Displays of Affection," Kris explained.

"Huh." He never learned that acronym at Manticore.

No, it wasn't the public he had a problem with, it was himself. It was as though he was fighting an internal battle. Part of him wanted to share everything with her. The other part wanted to hold back, to not let her in completely. He feared that the deepest, darkest crevices of his mind and heart were truly evil and ruthless, like Manticore intended them to be.

"Alec, you okay?" she asked him. He seemed incredibly pensive.

"Yeah," he said, pulling her closer to him.

He let go of her hand and led her arm around his waist, placing his own arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him and he bent down to kiss her.

"How's that for PDA?" he jested.

She laughed and kissed him back.

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"Food is good," Alec commented while eating an apple in front of the television.

Kris laughed, grabbing the apple from Alec and taking a bite.

"Hey! Get your own!" he said.

Kris looked at him mischievously and took another bite before handing it back to him.

Alec sighed with mock frustration before taking the apple back.

"Aren't you glad we got food?" she teased, leaning on his shoulder as they watched the movie. They were watching The Lion King, of all movies, because Alec especially liked the idea of being king.

"Yes, Goddess of Apple Stealing," he teased back.

Kris laughed. "You're not getting any action now, mister," she said.

"Oh, yeah?" Alec asked, snaking his arm down her side to tickle her.

She writhed playfully under his tickling spell, spurts of laughter escaping her lips. She finally got out of his grasp and ran around the couch, Alec close behind her.

"I will catch you, you know," he said, chasing her.

"Yeah, and what will you do then?" she taunted as she ran. She knew Alec was holding back, only matching her pace instead of overtaking her with his super speed. She ran around the kitchenette.

"Well, for one," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to him tightly. "Kiss you," he finished, kissing her.

"Mm, okay, I don't mind that..." she said, returning the kiss.

"And second..." he said, holding her with only one arm so his other one could continue tickling her.

"Ah, no fair, it was a trap!" she cried out while giggling foolishly. She tried to escape his arm and when she finally did, she ran to the bedroom.

"You see, my plan worked!" he said, following her there. "And you said I wasn't gonna get any action?"

"I'm not the Goddess of Apple Stealing," she claimed, kneeling on the bed.

"No, you're the Goddess of Squealing," he teased.

She weighed her options. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll be the Goddess of Apple Stealing," she relented.

"Haha, I win," Alec replied.

Kris smiled. "For now, Golden Boy, for now," she replied, pulling him onto the bed.

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"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, deedaleedee, there they are standing in a row..."

"Bum, bum, bum..."

"Big ones, small ones, some the size of..."

"What the hell is going on?" Normal asked, deeply disturbed by Kris' singing and Alec's accompaniment. Although early, they waltzed into work like they had not a care in the world, singing a ridiculous song about coconuts.

"Sorry, sir, didn't mean disrespect," Kris said quickly.

"I'm just wondering what would possess you to sing that..." Normal commented. "Then again, I take that back. I don't want to know."

"It's called watching The Lion King, drinking lots of coffee and..." Alec trailed off, whispering something flirtingly into her ear that made her flush a deep red and nudge him in the gut. Alec smiled innocently at Normal as they headed over to their lockers.

"Yeah, I definitely don't want to know..." Normal mumbled.

"Hey, O.C.," Kris greeted.

"Hey, Boo Numba Two, how goes it?" O.C. greeted.

"Um," Kris tried hard to suppress a grin, "very good, actually."

O.C. raised her eyebrows with curiosity.

"Where's Max?" Alec asked, looking around Jam Pony.

O.C. snorted. "She said to tell Normal she ain't feelin well. She's still at Logan's."

Kris laughed slightly. She had actually forgotten about the whole no-virus thing. After all the emotional revelations these past one and a half days regarding Alec, she just...well, Alec was the only thing on her mind.

"Hey, that's a good idea, we should have done that," Alec said to Kris, half-serious.

Kris rolled her eyes and shook her head, smiling nonetheless.

O.C. looked at them both strangely. Something was definitely different about them. "Okay you two, what's up?" she asked.

Alec and Kris seemed to have a conversation with their eyes which finished with Alec nodding.

"Kris and I are together," he explained, unable to contain the happiness in his voice.

O.C.'s eyes bulged slightly. "Since when?" she asked.

"Saturday, 11:27 at night," he answered. The two girls looked at him oddly. "I have a good memory," he said defensively.

"Well, this is...weird," O.C. commented.

"What do you mean?" Kris asked.

"It's just that you guys were always so buddy-buddy but we all thought you wouldn't fall to his wannabe-charming ways," she explained.

"What can I say? He wore me down," Kris jested as she closed her locker.

"I do have that affect on people," Alec commented.

O.C. laughed but soon turned serious. "Listen, Soldier Boy, cuz I ain't gonna say this twice. If you hurt my girl here, you know you'll be getting one hell of a beating from me. I don't care how much super DNA you got, you will get yo ass kicked to Philly, ya hear? She ain't gonna be one of yo little toys cuz you sure as hell know she deserves betta than that."

Alec nodded seriously. "Got it," he replied.

O.C. glared at Alec warningly for a few seconds before returning to her normal self. "So, later, Crash?"

Kris nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm down for that."

"You sure you just don't wanna go back home after work?" Alec asked playfully, kissing her neck from behind.

"Oh, puhleez," O.C. said, unable to watch the display of affection.

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"So, decided to grace us with your presence?" Alec teased as Max and Logan sat down at the table, holding hands. O.C., Sketchy, Kris and Alec were already at the Crash when they arrived.

Both had that undeniable glow in their faces, like nothing could hurt them. Alec wondered if he and Kris were like that too. Probably.

"Be nice," Kris said from beside him.

"I wouldn't dream of being anything but," he replied, kissing her forehead.

Max and Logan looked at each other curiously.

"So, you two..." Logan started.

"Yes," Kris replied.

Max and Logan nodded slowly. O.C. and Max looked at each other.

"Alec, O.C. already gave you that if you hurt her speech, right?" Max asked.

"Yup, if I hurt Kris, I will get turned inside out alive," he replied.

Max nodded. "Good."

"Well, it's about time," Logan mumbled.

"What?" Kris asked.

"Well, Kris, I mean, you had Alec whipped from day one," he explained.

Kris laughed.

"No, she didn't," Alec retorted.

"Gimme a break," Max commented.

"Hey, I mean it, I'm not the whipped type," Alec insisted.

"Boy, you are so in denial," O.C. said.

"Seriously man, we all saw it for months," Sketchy added. "Why do you think I backed down and stopped hitting on her?"

Everyone but Alec laughed.

"Forget about then. Are you saying that you aren't whipped now?" Max asked him.

Alec couldn't lie. He was, now, but that didn't mean he was then. But he liked being with Kris. It made him happy, and he knew that she was happy too, which made him even happier.

"So, beautiful weather we're having now, huh? Rainstorm finally cleared away," he said, clearly changing the subject.

Everyone laughed at Alec's obvious avoidance of the question.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm whipped too," Kris whispered in his ear.

He couldn't help but smile.

The six friends socialized for hours, happiness filling their table. Kris would see Logan stroking Max's fingers gently as they all laughed together while Max would occasionally stroke the back of Logan's neck. Seeing this filled Kris with an indescribable feeling of accomplishment. She had helped make her friends happy. Meanwhile Max would catch Alec playing with Kris' hair as she leaned against him or see Kris smile at Alec affectionately. Some was subtle, some was not, but no one really seemed to care. What mattered was that they were all very content.

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Author's Note: This isn't the end, no worries. Too many unresolved issues I wanna address before I am gonna end this story. Anyway, I know there wasn't much plot in this chapter, but that was sorta the point, like the calm before the storm. I know where the story is going in my head, it's just a matter of writing it down. SO, it might take a while specially with school, but I'll try my best! Okay, hopefully you will let me know what you think! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!