I wake up, and Monika is still sleeping next to me. I usually move around lots in my sleep, but I'm still in the same position as when I went to sleep, with both of our arms wrapped around each other. I gently get out of bed, as so not to disturb her, and go to the kitchen. Breakfast is a meal I'm actually fairly skilled at, as it usually just includes frying things. I look through the fridge, trying to discern what Monika would like. I pick out some bacon, and begin preparing some bacon sandwiches. I'm nearly done, when Monika walks through, still wearing my pyjamas.

"Wait, Euan - what are you doing?"

"Hey, good morning Monika. Well, I was just making some stuff for breakfast."

"But… You're doing it all by yourself?"

"Well, I didn't want to wake you up, did I? Don't worry, It's not too much work."

"Okay. What are you making?"

"Well, I made some bacon sandwiches." As I say this, I begin taking the finished bacon out of the pan, and placing it on the bread.

"There we go. Enjoy. Hopefully."

I give one to Monika, and take the other for myself.

"Woah, these are amazing!" Monika seems surprised at how good they are.

"Well, I did try my hardest. For you, you know."

"I mean, I can tell that you tried really hard to make this… so of course It's gonna be good. Like I said last night, no matter how you prepared these, I can taste how much love and effort is in them. And that's all I need."

"Well, Thanks Monika. That means a lot coming from you."

After we're finished, we clean up all the dishes, including the ones from last night. Usually, I would just use the dishwasher, but it feels like a nice bonding experience, for us to be able to do this together, and there's not very many to do anyway.

"So, are you ready to meet my friends?"

"Uh… I think so..."

"Hey, don't worry, I'm gonna be behind you the whole time. I'll make sure that everything goes fine, alright? And then after a bit, we can go out and get some clothes for you, okay?"

"Thanks a lot Euan."

"It's fine. It's just what you deserve, after everything you've done for me."

"Well… shall we go then?"

We all planned to meet fairly early today, so that we could play together on LAN. On the way, I tell monika about my friends - Luke, who she already met, and was likely rather wary of due to his untrusting nature, Sam, who was always pretty laid back and not that talkative, And Matt, who was probably the friendliest of us, and had had a girlfriend before, due to being a year older than the rest of us. We walk to Luke's flat, where we normally convene, and I knock on the door. At this point, Monika seems to be really nervous. Her breathing is deep and fast, and she's almost hiding behind me. I reassure her once more, resting my hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, if you're not feeling up to it, we can do it some other time you know Monika."

"No, no, I'm alright lets… let's do this."

"Alright then, if you're sure?"

"Yeah I am. Just promise me that you'll stay beside me the entire time."

"Of course Monika. I'll always be beside you to support you."

And so, I knock on the door, and wait for it to be opened.

"Hey Euan! I… uh..."

"Hey Luke! Before you say anything, can we come in?"

"Um… yeah I… I suppose."

We walk into the centre of Luke's living room, with Luke closing the door behind us. Monika clutches my hand so tight it goes white.

"Hey guys."

The other two turn around, as Luke enters behind us. Matt looks fairly shocked by this development, whilst Sam seems more curious.

"So… I need to admit that… I've not been completely honest with you guys these past few days. So, I wanted to tell you why you haven't really seen me very much. And well… this is my girlfriend, Monika."

There's about a second of silence, where Monika's nervous breathing can be heard clearly. However, to my great surprise, Matt quickly gets up, and holds out his hand to Monika.

"It's very nice to meet you Monika. I'm Matthew, but everyone calls me Matt."

"Hi Matt. It's nice to meet you too."

Monika gingerly took Matt's hand, and gave him a short, small handshake, before letting go. Her voice is little more than a whisper.

"Okay, that's great and all, but how the hell is this possible?"

Sam shouts from his chair, with a look of confusion on his face.

"Well, uhhh..." He looked at Monika for confirmation, who gives the tiniest of nods.

"Right, this isn't gonna make much sense, so buckle up guys. Basically, just over a week ago, Monika came to life on my computer. We're not sure why and we're not sure how, but it happened, but it did. Then, just yesterday, she came out of the computer into reality. Honestly, that's it. I know it doesn't make any sense but… there you go."

"Right. Okay then. And, so you've been... spending time together recently?"

"Well, that's what I wanted to tell you guys about. Monika is now my girlfriend, so I'm probably gonna be spending more time with her."

For the first time since we entered, Luke speaks up, with a slightly more aggressive tone than needed. Noticing this, Monika almost hides behind me, placing me inbetween her and Luke.

"You mean, at the detriment of us."

"Well, not exactly. Look, Monika is really important to me, but that doesn't mean that you guys are any less my friends, okay? Back me up here Matt, you've had a girlfriend before, right?"

"Yeah. Several, actually."

"And when you're together, she's the centre of your world, isn't she?"

"Well… yeah, basically. It's like, she's the most important thing to you."

"Right, So, that was what I was trying to tell you guys. I love Monika, and she's the most important person in the world to me. But you guys are still my best friends, and nothing will change that."

"Sounds good." I look round to see sam slumped down nonchalantly in his chair, his tone completely casual. In fact, he sounds like he doesn't even care.

Luke speaks up again. "So, are you gonna be with us today, or are you and Monika going out somewhere?"

"Well, uh, I planned to take Monika out shopping a bit later, but for now I can play with you guys. Sound fun?"

" 'K cool, let's get going."
Once again, I'm surprised by how, well, unsurprised Sam is by all of this. He's sitting, staring at his computer like it's any other day.

"Well… alright. Monika, you know how to get back, right?"

"Yeah. I'll be waiting for you." Monika takes my keys and leaves, whilst I set up my computer in my spot.

"I'm happy for you Euan." Matt says, causing me to turn.

"Uhh… Well thanks man."

"No, really. She seems really great, and you guys look happy together. So, I'm happy for you."

So, we play fairly normally for a few hours, until I have to go.

"Right, see you guys, I'm off."

"Have fun!"

I walk back into the flat, and knock on the door.

"Hey Monika, You there?"

After a few seconds, the door opens, and I see a beaming Monika.

"Hi Euan."

"Wow, you're pretty… upbeat."

"Well yeah, why wouldn't I be? It's gonna be fun! Plus, when I saw your friends earlier they were really… nice."

"Well yeah, I told you! I think Luke should… come round though. I think he's just a bit… surprised at how sudden it is."

"It's okay… Let's just get going."

We end up going to the centre of town, and wondering around for a while. Since neither of us have ever been shopping before, it takes a while till we find somewhere that looks nice.

"Okay, let's go."

Monika bounds into the shop, much faster than me, and immediately starts picking clothes off the rails like crazy.

"Remember, you're probably gonna want to try all of those on first, to make sure they fit really well, so you might not have time if you pick too many."

"I know, but I don't want to hold back, do I? It's my first time ever shopping, I'm gonna have fun. Oh but..." Monika's hand drop, and she looks sombreley at me.

"You're paying for this stuff right?"

I realise what she's thinking.

"Monika, that's not a reason to hold back! I have enough money to buy whatever you want, okay?"

"But, that doesn't mean that I should just fritter it away."

"Monika, spending money on you makes me happy okay? And you deserve it, one hundred percent."

I walk up to her and hug my arms round her shoulders.

"You're an absolutely amazing person Monika, and you deserve all the things I could possibly hope to give you."

She laughs a little

"Haha, okay Euan."

I'm entranced by each piece she puts on, and end up saying yes to everything she wears, whether it be shirts, jeans, dresses or skirts. However, when she starts moving on to summer clothes, I start to feel more awkward. Eventually, she comes out wearing a pastel-yellow dress, which covers surprisingly little.

"So? What do you think about this one?"

"Well, uh it's very… uh..." I go slightly pink at the idea of Monika wearing something so risque.

"What's the problem?"

"Well, I just don't like the idea of everyone… looking at you if you wear something so… revealing."

Monika is silent for a second, before she bursts out giggling for a few seconds.

"Oh Euan, you're so… wholesome, you know that?"

"Well… what are you talking about?"

"Look, I don't care about other guys looking at me, okay? And you shouldn't either. After all, it's a bit greedy to keep me all to yourself like that." She playfully pokes my chest as she says so.

"Um… alright then. If… if you're sure."

We end up leaving the shops with a large number of bags weighing us down, and my wallet considerably lighter. At the supermarket as we leave, we walk past a jewelry store, and I see a necklace with a flawless green emerald at it's centre, surrounded by obsidian. It's exactly the colour of Monika's eyes. It stops me in my tracks, stunned by its beauty.

"Euan what are you-" Monika sees me, stopped, and realises what I'm looking at.

"Euan, no."

"Monika I-"

"Euan. Listen to me. I really love what you've done for me today alright? But I'm not gonna let you spend a fortune on that, okay?"

"But-"

"No Euan. Alright? Let's just get back."

I finally bow to Monika's opinion, and leave the necklace behind.

Back home, I take out my keys to open the door. It takes me a while to place the key in, as I have a slight headache. Eventually, we walk back inside, closing it behind us. However, before I can go to my room, we're interrupted by a tall, long-haired figure.

"Oh Hey Euan, goo-"

Mai is stunned out of talking in the middle of her sentence, as she sees Monika standing beside me. Monika again clutches my hand.

"Hey Mai! This is Monika, my girlfriend. I was just gonna let her stay for a few days, if that's okay?"

To her credit, Mai is mostly unfazed by this development.

"Hey Monika! It's really great to meet you! If you want to stay here, you can stay as long as you need, it's no problem." Mai says enthusiastically, offering her hand for Monika to shake

"Okay. Thank you." Monika replies in a small, shy voice, as she lightly shakes Mai's outstretched hand.

"Just don't take any of Mai's food in the fridge and you'll be fine." I interject, grinning.

"Haha, yeah, he's right there. Euan's told me quite a bit about you, you know. I have to say, you've found a very good man there. Hang on to him, and you won't regret it."

I go a little red as Monika smiles, and her voice gains more confidence.

"I know he is. I'm gonna hold onto him for as long as I can." She wraps an arm around my shoulder, causing me to blush more profusely.

"Good on you. You two just try and keep it down tonight okay? Have fun!" Mai says, with a rather evil smile as she walks back into her room.

"Wait, Mai no, You don't understand, we..." I try to call after her, but she's already gone. "Oh well. Shall we go back into the room then?"

"Yeah, okay."

We walk back into my room, and we start putting Monika's clothes away in some drawers. With both of us working, it doesn't take long, and we place all of her new things away. As we continue, my headache gets steadily worse.

"So, do you want to go make dinner now?"

I'm about to agree, before I suddenly feel light-headed and sick, almost like I'm drunk. I stumble forward, and almost smack into the door before Monika catches me.

"Euan! What's wrong?"

"Woah… Ugh, actually, I think I'm gonna just go to bed, I'm feeling awful."

"Are you sure? You don't think you should have some food or something?"

"I'll just grab some water."

I try to walk out the door, but end up tripping over my own feet, and Monika catches me again.

"You stay right here, I'll get it."

I fall onto the bed, not bothering to take off my clothes, as Monika walks out to the kitchen. She comes back with a large glass of water, which I lightly sip.
"My god you're burning. I'll get something for it."
She leaves, and almost immediately comes back with a wet cloth, which she lays over my head as I lie down and try to go to sleep.

"You don't want anything else?"

"No but… could you stay here?"

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna leave your side."

Monika holds one of my hands in hers, and strokes the other through my hair, occasionally re-dampening the cloth. Very quickly, I fall asleep in her arms.

AN: SO I tried to make this one longer to justify how long it took. I have a job now, so I'm trying to write around it, but this fic is likely coming to an end soonish. It's had a much longer life than the ideas I originally head, but I'm going to run out at some point, and I'd rather few good(ish) chapters than a bunch of bad ones. Thanks for being patient!