Her Smile

The first thing that his brain processed that morning, was a mouthful of long hair and he proceeded to spit rapidly to rid himself of the foreign object.

'Well that's one way to wake up in the morning!' he snorted, but as the morning bleariness wore off he beheld the sight before him. 'Whoa...'

Somehow, Monika had rolled herself on top of his torso with her top half and entangled her legs between his, blanketing him with her body heat. It was a feeling he was reveling in thoroughly. Her brown hair laid sprawled all over the king-sized bed, but with the early morning sunlight bouncing off it, it was if veins of gold flowed through the sheets.

His favorite part, however, was the tranquility her face expressed while asleep and the subtle curve upwards of her smooth lips. As the sun continued it's path upwards, Isaac continued to stare on at her beauty.

"Man, I'm really lucky…" he whispered softly to the room, grasping her hand and lacing their fingers together. Cheesy at it sounded in his head, he thought that the feeling of her hand in his felt amazingly right.

. Time passed the room slowly but all good things must end Isaac supposed. Monika scrunched her face up, since a rude ray of sunlight decided to yell at her to wake up.

"Morning sleeping beauty. You awake?" he smirked teasingly, deciding to get even with her after last night.

Unfortunately, Monika seemed to be quick on the riposte, "You know, she only wakes up from a kiss from her prince~"

Damn that half-lidded gaze of hers, Isaac didn't think she could look any more alluring, but she surprised him yet again.

'Fine, two can play this game Monika!' and he swiftly stole a swift kiss from the beautiful girl. It was the first kiss they shared and it lasted far shorter than both of them wanted it to be, since Isaac was too much of a nervous wreck to push it further.

But the eruption of red on her face was so worth to see, and Monika embarrassedly buried his face into his chest.

"Haha, if only I had a camera right now, the look on your face was legit gold!" he cackled evilly, trying to block the weak attacks from the girl on top of him. "Alright, let's go Monika, it's already 9. I gotta pee!"

She laughed lightly at his crassness , but did roll off his body to allow him to escape. "Mind making some coffee? I'm, uh, not the best early…" she mumbled shyly, covering her eyes in the crook of her arm.

"For sure, you can lay down some more, I'll bring it right to ya." He leapt out of bed and went out to answer the call of nature.

Once he was finished, Isaac pondered what coffee he should grab his girlfriend, but was unsure which roast she would like. Isaac being an amatuer coffee connoisseur himself, he thought that a lighter, more aromatic coffee is the best way to start the morning, so that left him with only one option really. So he lightly snatched the french press and grinder from the cupboards and got to work.

With mug in hand, Isaac paced over to his bed where Monika was in the same position she was in when he left the bed, and it seemed she fell back asleep judging from the light snore he could hear.

'She was incorrigible, that's for sure.' shaking his head lightly, Isaac sat beside her head. "Hey, wake up, coffee's ready."

Monika's drowsy eyes fluttered open, revealing those hypnotic green iris. She flashed him a lazy smile, "Oh, that smells good my love~ Is that my coffee?"

He almost dropped the coffee all over her after hearing the affectionate nickname, but managed to recover, "Hearing you say my love is a lot different from reading it in game, but in a good way! I wasn't saying I didn't like it or wanted you to stop, I just wanted to say that it feels really nice when you say that and I'll shut up now."

'Nice Job Isaac! You idiot! Way to speak like a human being!' Isaac wished he could melt through the floors right now. 'C'mon man you need to not mess this up, she'll think you're a freak! Just don't open your mou- hey what's going on?'

Isaac was so caught up in his internal rant that he hadn't realized that Monika had decided to sit up. He also was just realizing that her lips were on his, with her hands cupping his face gently. Once the initial surprise wore off, he decided to kiss her back, letting her lead. Unsurprisingly however, Monika had little experience with kissing and when their teeth clacked together loudly, she pulled back in embarrassment.

"Ehehe, I guess I'm not that good as I thought I was. You just look so cute when you're embarrassed and I couldn't resist~. Are you alright?" Monika then decided to sidle up next to him on the side of the bed and lean on his shoulder.

"Yea, I'm alright, and don't worry about it, I would love to help you practice more." they both giggled at that "Anyway, here you go. Fresh cup of Hazelnut coffee, since I figured something with a good smell would help wake you up."

"Oh I dunno Isaac, a kiss from you definitely wakes me up~ But thank you, it does smell good." She took the mug from his hands and blew on it gently before taking a small sip. "It tastes great too! You're so good to me Isaac, I love you~"

"Heh, love you too." Pulling her close, they sat together silently, watching the morning sun rise through a window.

"So uh Monika?" They had moved to the dinning room after Monika had finished her drink, and currently she was showering Lily with affection. When he said her name she turned her head and hummed curiously at him, head tilting to the side cutely. " I was thinking that we should go shopping soon, after we grab breakfast at this diner that I wanna take you to, they got the best food and uh, I kinda sorta don't have any food right now, haha?" He laughed awkwardly, a little embarrassed to not have any food at home.

"Oh, a diner? Sure, sounds like it'll be fun Isaac! Though I have no idea what a diner is, ahaha. But I definitely know what shopping is, gosh I'm so excited!" Isaac could tell, her smile practically glowing.

"Wait, but I don't have money on me, and I would hate to be a burden on you…"

Isaac got whiplash seeing her mood swing 180, but he replied "Don't worry about it Monika, I got it covered, you're not a burden. Besides, it's not like you can wear my clothes 24/7 right? It wouldn't suit such a beautiful girl to limit herself to loose sweatpants and hoodies."

She grinned at the compliment but she held firm "Thank you Isaac, really. But I would just feel completely awful if I take advantage of you in anyway."

"Monika, trust me, I have roughly $3 million dollars in savings and about a half a million in stocks, I'm not exactly poor."

Her eyes widened in shock, not expecting him to have a staggering amount of money "How do you have so much money Isaac?! I knew you were pretty well off, but not that well off!"

"Well it's a pretty long story to be honest. When I was 14 i think-no 13, I was 13 when I started getting into this thing called coin,which is a decentralized cryptocurrency. You wanna think of coin similar to the US dollar, but instead of the money being printed through things like mints and transferred through bank,coin has no banks and is printed or 'mined' through encryption techniques on computers."

"So think of them as another form of currency like the Yen, correct?" Monika asked for clarification, which Isaac responded to with a nod.

"So when I was 13, I met a kid named David in class. We had similar interests and similar schedules, so me and him become friends pretty easily. Then one day, he invited me over to his house on a Saturday I think, which I readily agreed to, since I had nothing else to do. Anyways, when I got there, the first thing he wanted to show me was his PC that he 'mined' coins with, which was something David and his father had built together. He told me that one day he was going to get rich off this one day, and me being the greedy little son of a b that I was, wanted to hop on the coin train as well. So that summer I worked odd jobs for me neighbors, from cleaning bathrooms to landscaping, anything I could make money from I did."

"Eventually I had scraped up enough money to buy myself a PC with decent enough hardware to mine with. I remember the look of disappointment on my Dad's face when he was driving me when I told him I was buying a PC. But I was stubborn and still went through with it. I had set it up in the corner of my room and just let it do it's thing. When the coins started to pop up, I was so giddy, I couldn't stop smiling for days."

"So a trend built up over the next 6 years, I would work jobs in the summer to pay for repairs and upgrades to the mining PC and I would try to carefully time when to best sell the coins when they were at pretty high prices, to buy even more coins. Then last year, coin exploded in popularity, and it seemed like everyone wanted to be a part of the coin craze. This was probably due to the fact that the price of coin was steadily climbing. The craziest part of it all was that on December 17th, coin's price reached roughly $20,000 per coin. At that point I had about 250 coins mined and when I saw that number I knew that I had to take advantage!"

"I'll never forget the look on my parent's face when they saw I made around 4 million dollars at the push of a button…" Isaac suddenly felt silly for having talked so long "Ahh, sorry, I was rambling wasn't I?"

"Not at all my love~! In fact, it's an amazing story, not everyone gets to make millions of dollars of something right? Be proud Isaac, just as proud as I am of you!" she flashed him her signature smile.

"Thanks. So yeah, don't worry about being a burden Monika, it won't break the bank. Since I live alone my expenses are pretty minimal, and honestly I spend more money in feeding Lily than I spend on myself. "

"You know you're going to have to change that now that I'm here right? I don't want you being malnourished at all, especially if you have the means Isaac!" she chastised while crossing her arms in a disapproving manner.

He held his arms up in surrender "I will I promise! But in exchange, treat yourself to a good shopping trip with your boyfriend, deal?"

She just shook her head, giggling, "Okay my love~ It's a deal!" Then a loud roar echoed throughout the dining room. The source, Monika's stomach. "Ehehe, can we go to the diner now? I guess I'm kinda hungry~"

"Of course, but before you go, you might wanna change into something that suits you more. I washed and dried your uniform, which I put in the bathroom. Lemme get the car ready for us while you change all right?" he said while pulling his keys out of his pocket.

"When did you have time to wash and dry my clothes?" Monika questioned, a slim eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Oh, I woke up late last night and did some late cleaning. Can't let a lady live in a garbage heap amiright?" He asked

"Well I just hope you didn't do anything weird with them Isaac~. But I'll let it slide this once if you did since you are so thoughtful, thank you very much~!" she then disappeared upstairs, leaving before Isaac could get a retort in. He just shook his head and laughed, opening the door outside.

The warmth that drifted down from the sun surprised him, not expecting it to be this balmy this late in September. The sky was clear and there was a light breeze rustling the bare branches of the trees. Isaac thought it to be a perfect day for a run, but as they always say having a girlfriend truly does ruin everything.

He laughed a little at the bold lie and proceeded to open up his garage. Once the door was raised he unlocked and entered his 2012 BMW coupe. He had bought the thing around the same time he bought the black vehicle around the same time he purchased his house. The greatest thing about it was it had low mileage and was only 3 grand at the time. He had never urged his parent's harder to drive him than that day, like a little kid begging to go to the toy store.

He backed out carefully out of his garage and stopped right next to the exit of his house. He didn't have to wait very long, as the door swung out to reveal Monika.

She was in her school uniform but had decided to forego the fishscale vest and jacket, leaving her in the white button up and blue skirt. As she walked to the passenger side of the car, Isaac couldn't help but think that she was very attractive. This feeling only increased when Monika entered car, because Isaac was immediately drawn to her black stockings, which accentuated her tone legs.

"Ready to go Isaac?" she was seemingly oblivious to his gawking, but judging from the smirk he can see forming on her lips, he knew that he wasn't anywhere near subtle.

"Uhh, yeah, lets go." Jesus, he doubted he could keep his eyes on the road.

Fortunately, they made it to the diner's parking lot without any mishaps, arriving at around eleven hundred. A little late to be having breakfast Isaac thought, but honestly didn't mind, since he firmly believed that breakfast food could be eaten at anytime. They got out of the coupe and headed towards the entrance.

"Alright, so this place is kinda famous, since a movie was filmed hear a couple years back. It was a romance film and the main couple had decided to eat at this diner. Luckily, this didn't jack up the prices or anything, but it just adds a little something special to this place."

Isaac explained as they were walking across the lot.

When they got near the door, Isaac opened it and waved for Monika to go first "M'lady" tipping an invisible hat downwards as he said it.

"Gosh, what a gentleman" her light laughter was lovely to hear.

After she stepped through the doorway, Isaac followed and grasped her hand, leading her to a table.

"And this is the very table where the couple dined at." Isaac motioned for her to sit down opposite of him. "They don't charge extra for this booth, which I found a little weird."

"I guess they think that people wouldn't pay extra for something like that." Monika countered.

"You're probs right, but still I would've done it" As he was saying this, their waitress came over.

"Hello, welcome to our diner! My name is Michelle and I'll be your waitress today. Here is our menu and if your ready, I can get you guys something to drink?" Michelle was certainly energetic, possessing an enthusiastic aura.

'Now how much of that is just due to it being her job, it's not like it would be good for her to be depressed and shit.' Isaac cynically thought, but dismissed the notion. In his short experience in life, people generally weren't as fake as he believed them to be.

"Hi, nice to meet you Michelle. I would like a cup of coffee please." Isaac then turned to Monika "How about you Monika?"

"I think I'll just get a water please. Thank you very much Michelle." She flashed the waitress a smile, which Michelle reciprocated.

"Of course, I'll get your drink ready and then take your guys's orders okay? Be right back!" With that Michelle pivoted and headed straight towards the kitchen to fetch their drinks.

"So Isaac, mind helping me order? I have no idea what's good." Monika peered over her menu, her glimmering eyes peeking above the laminated sheet.

"Well," he rolled the l's a bit, "Their pancakes are the best around by a long shot, fluffy and as big as a plate, what more can you ask for? You can also toss some fruit and chocolate chips into them to basically triple the taste factor, but it's up to you. But since I remember you telling me you're a vegetarian, their salads are decent, but I would suggest eating something else since we're at a diner after all. Do you eat eggs by the way?" He was trying to secretly file away what he could cook at home for the two of them, once he stocked up his fridge,

"Yep, I let myself eat eggs, and fish since we're on the topic. I…" she trailed off, Isaac seeing her struggling with some thoughts, a frown marring her face."I barely remember finding out that the consequence of being a true vegetarian lead to some protein deficiencies, so I balanced the diet out with fish and eggs."

"Is everything alright?" he was concerned, Monika wasn't usually like this.

She sighed, "It's awful feeling incomplete, like there are things that I should know, like what exactly do I like to eat. But there are just blank spaces, like a poem that had all it's adjectives scratched out, leaving it's subject to shamble around. It's frustrating Isaac."

"Hey, I see where you're coming from, and you have every right to be frustrated. But I'm confident that those things about you that you can't remember will pop up as time goes on, they're not gone, they just haven't shown up. You're still you, even if you just don't see it okay?"

Isaac was totally unsure if his words were comforting at all and in his mind he felt like he messed it up even worse.

She replied,"Thanks my love, I think that I love you even more after hearing those words. I'm feeling a lot better now~" her grin was a signal that everything was right in the world and that he had said the right thing for once.

Their drinks and Michelle came back shortly after their talk and Monika decided to order chocolate chip pancakes with fresh strawberries slices on the side. He chose the diner special which consisted of two eggs, two slices of bacon, and a pancake. Needless to say, Isaac was hungry.

They filled the waiting time with 'date banter' as Isaac mentally dubbed it. Small talk that was used to get to know one another on a superficial level, but still interesting stuff in his opinion.

The topic of pet peeves was brought up by him and apparently Monika's biggest peeve was being interrupted and spoken over. She said that back in her Debate club days, many of the people would begin to shout and interrupt when she had started to put them on the back foot, as if that made their stance anymore valid. She told him about this one time where someone was so upset that she had countered their opinion that he started screaming at her, calling her a bitch and everything in between. She was so shocked, angry even, but she just wasn't able to do anything, like the time when Yuri and Natsuki fought. She told him that was also a major reason why she left the debate club, people were just unable to see different viewpoints.

"Geez, people right?" he joked "Especially in today's political climate, arguing is like defusing a bomb, you never really know which topic/wire is going to set off an explosion. People today just don't understand the concept of having conflicting opinions, and they see disagreement as a form of aggression and immediately victimize themselves. Like, no, I just see it a different way and how are we ever going to reach some sort of compromise or solution if one side paints the other as an aggressor? It's insane! Like grow the hell up and learn how to interact with people, Jesus!"

She giggled at his outburst "Oh wow Isaac, I didn't know you had such a strong opinion about politics~! I'm really tempted to argue a few points with you, but I think it'd be in bad taste to do it in public don't you think?"

"That's probs true, so we'll take more later, I see our food coming."

Michelle was walking over, arms laden with their food and the same cheery smile on her face. "Alright guys I gotcha food right here, two chocolate pancakes for the lovely lady over here" she placed the order in front of Monika gently " And for the fellow over here, the diner special! Now, if y'all need anything else, wave me over please. Enjoy the food you two!"

All topics were ceased between them, instead they were focused on digging into the wonderful food the diner provided, with heavy praise to the cook from Monika when she took her first bite.

After they wrapped up eating, Isaac left a generous tip and paid the bill, joking it was the gentlemanly thing to do. Monika lightly jabbed him in the shoulder for the remark, to which Isaac responded with exaggerated pain.

The next thing wanted to do was get her the quintessential item of a young teen living in the 21st century, a smartphone. So he drove them to a T-Mobile and lead a curious Monika inside.

"So you can't go in this day and age without a phone, so pick anyone that you like and let me know okay? Oh and a reminder, price is not an issue, so don't let it be a criteria for your choice. " Isaac was firm on the idea of letting her get what she want, wanting to put his wealth to use for somebody else for a change.

"Oh-oh alright, now let's see…" Monika took a cursory glance around the room and was immediately drawn to the iPhone section of the shop. "These seem really amazing! It's hard to describe but they just scream sophistication. Does that sound crazy?" she turned to face him

"No, it's what the company wants people to think. Apple has always advocated to be the creative person's best friend and they wanted their products to speak to those people." He explained "I have an iPhone as well, their products are the best in the business and that's why I like them."

"Seems like I made a good choice then~! Alright I'll take an iPhone Isaac! You really are spoiling me aren't you?" Monika gave him a coy grin and a warm hug "Thank you~"

Blushing due to the contact in a public space, Isaac stuttered out " Yeah no problem, let just get the phone now..." This girl is going to be the death of him, of that Isaac was sure.

After purchasing a brand new iPhone X, Monika was fascinated with the thing. She was in awe of the facial recognition and commented that she was floored at how advanced technology was. She also loved the camera, asking Isaac to pose for a lot of photos, saying she wanted to 'test how it works'. Isaac was a good sport about it, even making silly faces and acting crazy, both of these acts making his girl laugh every time.

Isaac's inner thoughts taunted him,'Oh she's my girl now huh? Aren't you moving fast Isaac. One date and now you own her- Jesus man' but he squelched them instantly, not wanting Monika to think something was wrong.

After their silly, photo-op shenanigans, Isaac then drove them JCPenney, saying that they had a wide variety of good brands in there and great deals to boot as well. The latter part seemed to appease Monika's distaste for spending his money and allowed her to just shop freely. He also remembered to give her his number, just in case she wanted to wander off a bit. Under his rather short contact list, Isaac put her number as just 'Monika', he never was a fan of calling a girlfriend cutesy shit.

As they walked in Monika's was quite visibly blown away at the array of clothes, from the basics tees and underwear, to the more sophisticated look of suits and blazers. , and she took full advantage of it. Isaac was made acutely aware that Monika knew what looked good on her, her style a attractive fusion of chic and preppy. Plenty of sweaters, skirts and tights were tried on and needless to say Isaac was an approving audience.

While waiting for her outside the dressing room, a piece of clothing caught his eye "Hey Monika, come out here, I think I got something that'll look."

"Alright,coming. It better not be some lingerie Isaac, save that for the bedroom sweetheart~!" Her teasing voice drifting through the empty dressing room.

"...Just get out here."

When she got out she was back in her original outfit, brushing her long hair away from her face " So lemme see, I'm curious on what you picked out."

He held up a black ruffle dress out in front of him. The dress was also shoulderless and Isaac estimated that it would go to Monika's knees if she were to put it on. The fabric was similar to leggings, so Isaac figured that she'd be pretty disposed to the thing. He sheepishly grinned at her, awkwardly shuffling a bit as Monika appraised the dress.

"Wow Isaac, I'm impressed! That dress is pretty cute~. Lemme try this on." she snatched the piece of clothing and swiftly pivoted back to the dressing room.

"Uhh…" he gaped like a beached fish "Okieee then. Back to sitting on my ass for a while…"

As he was planning what to buy for groceries, Isaac's phone vibrated, alerting him that he had received a text message. Pulling out his iPhone 8 he was surprised when he saw that Monika was the one who sent a text, especially with the fact that they were in ear shot.'

"Oh shit!" he whispered under his breath, fumbling with his phone while desperately trying to pull it to his chest. "Monika!" that he shouted out loud, and could only flush red even further when he heard her gleeful chuckling at his expense.

'Monika REALLY knows how good she looks in black lace…' Isaac mushed both palms into his face 'I'm so fucked.'

After that admittedly sexy episode, Monika soon stepped out of the dressing room, and lead him to the cashier, wearing the black dress he had given her to try. She purposefully didn't acknowledge his stuttering protests at what she had done, grinning happily while pulling him along.. The cashier was a high school teenager who clearly destested the job, his black shaggy hair covering most of his pale face. He didn't even seem to care about the large amount of clothes Monika had picked out and instead wordlessly scanned each item and mechanically put them into plastic bags.

Isaac ended up having to carry 7 bags back to his car, which were double wrapped to ensure that they didn't rip en route to his trunk. Monika tried to carry at least one bag, but Isaac joked that he wanted to 'flex' in front of her so he took all of them. She was confused at what flex meant, so he explained to her that flexing meant showing off essentially, wanting to prove that you're strong.

"Gosh Isaac, you're funny ahaha~." she just rolled his eyes at his antics though the grin negated the rude gesture.

"I do try. Anywho, we're about done, now alls I gotta do is buy some food for us and we can head home." Isaac noticed that the clock in his car said it was nearly 8PM "Wowsa! Can't believe that we've been shopping for so long!"

"Well, you know what they say, 'Time flies when you're with a lover!~'"

"I'm not so sure they say that at all Monika..." came his teasing response.

They continued the playful banter up until they reached the grocery store, which a comfortable silence filled in the space between the couple. Isaac bought his usual fare of food, but he also grabbed a lot of vegetables and fruits that he thought would be universal in a lot of vegetarian recipes. He wasn't a big fan of the healthiest food groups, but he figured he could tolerate a couple salads, if not for Monika's sake then for the sake of not having to prepare two meals.

They purchased the food, packed the food cautiously into the rather crowded coupe, and drove back home.

Isaac was mentally exhausted, not being used to being out in public for that long. Once he unlocked the door to his house, he heaved out a relieved sigh. His fatigue was alleviated slightly when Lily stepped eagerly towards them, tail wagging, as if asking them 'How was the trip you guys? I missed you!'

Isaac was glad that he trained Lily to go outside in the backyard and relieve herself when he wasn't there to walk her. He felt bad though, so he mentally scheduled a longer walk with her tomorrow morning.

He wordlessly took the groceries and began to organize the items in the fridge. As he was packing the food in, Monika tapped lightly on his shoulder.

"Anything I can do Isaac?" she helpfully offered and he took accepted the aid, he found this shit so tedious.

Isaac directed her softly on where he wanted the items to go and both of them made short work of the task. With a thunk he placed the gallon of milk into the largest compartment of the fridge and closed the door.

"Thanks Monika. Let's get ready for bed, I'm beat." he still managed a genuine smile however, though it was small.

Monika just nodded in reply, a pensive look on her face. This made Isaac a little nervous, but he kept his thoughts bottled up, not wanting to make the situation worse. As they approached his bedroom, abruptly spun him around, making him face her.

She had her hands clasped by her stomach and even in the dim light of the hallway Isaac could see how white her knuckles were. She looked to be conflicted about something, which was something he wasn't used to seeing. Monika is almost always fearless in her thoughts and actions, so seeing her this hesitant must mean she really was afraid of something.

Isaac opened his mouth to respond but she beat him to the punch.

She had swiftly stepped in front of him and then slowly brought her lips to his, throwing her arms around his neck.

Isaac, I love you.

The meeting of their mouths was quite awkward at first, but once the shock disappeared Isaac slowly wrapped his arms across her lower back and deepened the kiss. The feeling of her firm body on his, the fabric of her dress, and the taste of her mouth. That's what his whole world was at that moment, and he desperately wanted to remember every detail. The message that she wanted to convey without words was received and he wouldn't let her go without a proper response.

I love you too Monika.

AN: TY for reading, R&R