This is a request I got on from AliasUnknown.
Things are slowly returning to normal, or as normal as it will ever be. But Adrian realizes that with all the commotion he's barely had any time for Nova. Even with everything that's happening he finds time to ask her on a date after being prompted by Max to "Stop stalling and just ask her already!"
Thanks for the idea!
"I guess it's weird, Max. Like, I've kissed Nova, but we haven't even been on a real date yet."
"Wait… What?!" Max exclaimed. "You haven't been on a real date? Adrian, she lives in our house! How hard is it to ask her on a date?"
"I guess I'm giving her time. The battle has been hard for her."
"Ok, true, but it was nine months ago. I'm sure she's healed a little bit by now. At least enough to be able to handle a date."
"I don't know, Max. What if she says no?"
"Then she says no. It probably doesn't mean she doesn't love you, she's just not ready." Max said.
Adrian closed his sketch book. "I don't want to push her or anything…"
"Adrian, Nova is a strong person. She knows her limits. If she thinks she needs time for a little more healing, she will tell you. At this point, you're making up excuses. It's not that deep." Max said.
Adrian stared at his brother. He was out of his quarantine, ever since the Last Battle. He seemed to enjoy being able to be a kid again. Bur Adrian still knew that the time he spent in Quarantine made him wise beyond his years. If he had to ask anybody for advice, it would be Max.
"Do you…"
"Stop stalling and just ask her already!" Max exclaimed.
Nova has been staying in Adrian's house with his dads and Max, after all the anarchists died and she switched sides to be a true renegade. She still felt bad, that even after all the terrible things she did, everyone forgave her like it was nothing.
She still felt bad, but her and Adrian's budding relationship was making her happy.
Well, if you could call it budding. They had kissed before. And he brought her to the dance. But it wasn't really a date, because she wasn't there for long, and she left to do her part of the plan.
Since then, as the city was healing, Adrian and her hadn't had much time together. They saw each other in passing, and they ate dinner together with Simon, Hugh, and Max. Sometimes, if she felt lonely, she snuck into Adrian's bed and slept beside him, because even though she didn't need sleep, sleeping beside him was so… so easy. Other than those instances, they just didn't interact much. Nova was starting to wonder if he was even still interested.
Nova sat in her room. One of the only rooms in the house where someone wasn't murdered. She was fiddling with on her inventions. It was mostly to keep her mind from wandering.
The house was quiet. It was nighttime. She was fully aware that Simon, Hugh, and Max were asleep in their rooms.
She wondered what Adrian was doing.
And she decided that maybe she should get some sleep. She didn't need it, but she always felt a little more refreshed after she got some shut eye.
So, quietly, she crept down the stairs and was on the first level of the mansion. She walked through the halls and got to the staircase leading to the basement.
Then, she quietly opened the door and crept down.
She was surprised to see a light on. Adrian was sitting on the couch, drawing something.
Nova accidentally stepped on a creaky spot on the floor.
Adrian heard, and turned around.
He saw her, and quickly closed his sketchbook and threw it behind him.
Nova gave him a shocked look.
"I, uh, wasn't expecting you to come down here."
"I was expecting you to be asleep," She said, as Adrian moved over to let her sit on the couch with him.
"Oh, really?" He asked. "then why did you come down?"
"I thought maybe I could fall asleep with you. Like how I sometimes do," She said.
Adrian, of course, knew she did that sometimes. It becomes quite obvious when he wakes up beside her on multiple occasions.
"Oh," Adrian said. He felt like maybe he should apologize for not sleeping.
"I'm sorry," He said.
Nova smiled. "What for?" She questioned.
"Not being asleep," He said.
She laughed.
"That's a weird thing to apologize for," She said. "So, what were you drawing?"
Adrian was drawing something that he was going to present to her when he formally asked her out. But he didn't want to tell her that, so it could remain a surprise. "A portrait of my dads. I'm going to give it to them on their anniversary," Adrian said.
This was true. But what Nova didn't know is that Adrian finished that portrait a few days ago.
"Aww, that's sweet," Nova said.
"Why don't we get some sleep?" Adrian asked, yawning.
"That sounds good," Nova said.
"Stop stalling and just ask her already!" Max's words echoed in his mind.
"Soon," He said.
"Huh?" Nova asked.
"Oh, um, talking to myself," He replied as he and Nova got into bed.
He fell asleep holding on to her, and in his arms, she felt safe, and she soon fell asleep, too.
Nova woke up before Adrian. She looked at his clock and saw that it was nine in the morning. It was Sunday, so she knew that Hugh and Simon were upstairs making breakfast.
She also realized that tomorrow was their anniversary.
She remembered Adrian's sweet gift idea and she slipped out of Adrian's arms and went to look at it. She wasn't sure why she felt like she should do that. She thought that maybe she wanted to see how far into it he was, since he didn't have much time left.
But deep down, Nova knew that Adrian was hiding something, and perhaps his sketchbook had some answers.
She made sure Adrian was sound asleep, and then retrieved his sketchbook from where it landed last night when he threw it.
She flipped through it, seeing pages among pages of sketches.
She stopped on the second to last page. She hadn't seen a portrait of her dads.
But she did see a beautiful necklace.
Nova gasped as she realized it matched her bracelet. Adrian had even colored it on so that when he pulled it out and made it real, it would come out in color.
Nova wasn't sure how long she sat there, staring at it.
But soon she heard Adrian yell "Nova, what are you doing?!"
She jumped.
Whoops.
"Oh, um, I wanted to see the portrait of your dads." Nova said.
Adrian massaged his temples.
"You didn't ask me first?" He asked.
Nova was shocked. She's never seen him this mad.
"Nova, an artist's sketchbook is like a diary. You need to ask permission before you go through it," Adrian exclaimed, still a little angry.
"And now you've ruined the surprise," He said.
"What surprise?" Nova asked, As Adrian moved towards her.
He gently took the sketchbook from her hands and pulled the necklace out.
"Nova Jean Artino," He asked solemnly. "Will you do me the honor of going out on a date with me?"
Adrian was on one knee, and Nova laughed.
"Of course, Adrian," She said. He smiled, stood up, and put the necklace around her neck.
"You know, I was beginning to wonder if you still liked me," Nova said.
Adrian looked shocked. "Nova, there is nothing in this world that would ever make me not like you anymore," He said.
With that, the couple kissed.
"Stop stalling and just ask her already!" He heard Ma say once again.
Well, I just did. Adrian thought as he and Nova headed upstairs to eat breakfast.
Oh my gosh.
I love this one.
I know, I say this a lot. I understand that. But I do!
This was so fun to write.
It stumped me a little, as starting out, I wasn't sure how Adrian should ask her out, if he should give her a gift, and if so, what he should give her, but it all came together in the end.
I want to thank AliasUnknown for the request. I also want to give a shoutout to Livvyanne. They left a very simple, yet sweet comment on .
I don't think you guys know the full extent of how much I enjoy and look forward to reading your comments.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I love and appreciate you all!
Until next time,
Keep reading!
