Ding, dong.

I startled from where I was staring at the door, the shadow of a figure - Elias - a mere blur in the stained glass panelling. My mouth suddenly felt very dry as I stood up, bones creaking, and I sucked in a tight, arid breath.

'Come on, Lex. You've been thinking about what you're going to say for over a week now. You couldn't get your words out last time, but this time you've got to get your shit together! This is what all of those late nights talking to yourself in the mirror was for!'

Hand on the doorknob, I braced myself, opening my mouth.

Whoosh.

I swung the door open, eyes shut, blurting out the words I had kept bottled up for far too long.

"I am so sorry about what happened the other day, I messed up! Please don't hate me, because I love you too! Please go out with me!" I rushed out, one word tumbling into the next.

And then, there was silence, with only the thudding of my heart in my ears punctuating the air.

Steeling my nerves, I peeled my eyes open, only to find someone standing there that definitely was not Elias.

Because the guy was wearing a pizza shop's uniform and holding two large pizza boxes with loaves of garlic bread and a Coke balancing atop them. 

The guy just blinked at me with a raised brow, just as I got a text from Aubrey.

AuBrey not AuDrey - 5:02pm
Alex! I totally forgot to tell u
Amber ordered pizza for you and elias before
Said that a dinner date is wayyy more romantic than just sitting around outside!
It should be arriving any second now!
And good luck! We believe in u and ur love! 🥰💪

I smiled bitterly at her ill-timed message, apologising to the poor delivery man who just gave me a pitying look.

"You've got this, bro," he said, patting me on the shoulder consolingly.

Fuck! Don't look at me with pity in your eyes, dude! Everything is going to be fine, absolutely fine!

Still shell-shocked from the unexpected failure of my love confession, I stood there in a daze as the pizza man got back in his car, driving off while giving me another pitying look as he peeled off the sidewalk.

When the car with the obnoxious light-up pizza mascot on top of it pulled away, a lone figure was revealed across the road. The person, now no longer obscured by a giant neon pepperoni pizza, was wearing a crisp navy suit, the blazer unbuttoned to reveal the complimentary fitted lilac shirt and dark suspenders. The boy's tie was neatly done, with a silver tie bar nestled in the centre. The setting sun cast a warm glow across the boy's face. Dark, curly hair seemed to be freshly styled, accentuating the person's sharp features. Features that were etched into my waking thoughts and my brightest of dreams.

My green eyes met pools of dark umber, recognition followed by panic flashing in them, as Elias seemed to take a step back before freezing. The two of us were locked in a standstill on opposite sides of the same road, the expanse of sun-kissed asphalt seemingly insurmountable between us.

My mind found this moment to recall a line from 'Say No to Bad Boys' about how the ice around Xander's heart had melted away with the burning fire of his love for Aubrey. That line had made me scoff at its sheer cheesiness, but here, I couldn't help but resonate with it.

Because I froze the last time Elias had faced me, this boy who was so brave and kind and good, and I didn't want to freeze again. 

So, unlike last time, the fire of my love for Elias thawed the ice around my ankles, and I leapt across the road, pizza in hand.

Elias seemed to jump in his spot, eyes darting around like he was trying to decide whether to run or stay, but I grabbed onto his arm before he could decide. My breath seemed to rabbit in my chest, flighty and erratic, but I swallowed with an audible gulp to collect myself.

"Please, don't go," I said, voice quiet, like I was trying to soothe a cornered animal. I loosened my grip on his arm, not wanting him to feel forced, but instead just loosely brushed my fingers around his wrist. Elias stayed silent, the war inside his mind splashed across his face as he hesitated. My hand twitched on his wrist, my eyes looking at him pleadingly, voice dropping. "I-I mean, I'm not forcing you to stay but... Please, just... five minutes. Stay for five minutes. That's all I'm asking."

I mentally kicked myself at the way my voice trembled at the end, but that little twinge seemed to be what made Elias cave. His resistance collapsed, eyes dropping to my hand entwined around him, but it was enough that he didn't pull away. Instead, he nodded silently, letting me lead him back across the road.

As we walked around the sun began to dip, the blanket of the night's darkness pulling over the horizon. Leading Elias around the side of Aubrey's house, I kept glancing over at the boy trailing behind me with thinly veiled hesitation. The boy's shoulders were slumped yet tight, his eyes trained on his feet and free hand tightening and unclenching repeatedly at the fabric of his formal pants. His hand in mine was a little clammy, but mine was no better, and I could feel the nervous sweat begin to build at the back of my neck despite the cooler weather as the day waned away.

Just before turning the corner to venture into the backyard, I halted to a stop, Elias almost bumping into my broad back. Turning around, I let go of Elias's hand, only to take hold of both of his wrists and pull his hands up, the boy's face scrunching up in confusion and wariness.

"Cover your eyes," I said, Elias opening his mouth to retort, but his teeth clacking shut when he saw the seriousness and desperation in my eyes. "Please?"

Elias stared at my face then, before letting me guide his hands to cover his eyes, his head dropping down again. 

"Three minutes," Elias murmured, my hands faltering. "You told me to give you just five minutes. Now you've only got three left."

"You... H-hey, I'm already really nervous here, I don't need any more pressure!" I whined, Elias's lips twitching slightly at the way my voice cracked in panic. "O-okay, this will only take ten seconds. Don't move, Elias!"

I waited for one second just to make sure Elias wasn't going to cheat and move from where I left him, but when he stood still I quickly darted to the power socket on the wall, kicking the switch with my foot and watching all of the fairy lights flicker on. Chucking the pizzas onto a little crate inside the outdoor pillow fort, I looked up to the sky just as the sun completely disappeared. Night finally fell, the fairy lights a harmonic accompaniment to the speckle of stars in the sky. 

"Okay, you can do this, Lex," I whispered under my breath while slapping my cheeks, jogging back over to Elias, who was whispering to himself quietly.

"Three... two..."

"Are you... seriously timing me?" stumbled out of my mouth, Elias dropping his hands from his eyes a second later. His mouth was unable to hide its lopsided curl. My heart stuttered in my chest at that shadow of a smile, the innocuous thing grabbing hold of my courage and shoving it into my mouth.

Damn it, I'm weak for that smile.

"Ugh, alright, just... here," I said helplessly, stepping behind Elias and gently tapping him forwards around the corner. 

When Elias let out a breathless gasp, I knew he had seen the scenery before him, and all I could do was wait. 

I knotted my fingers together as I stood just behind Elias, staring at the back of his head in a frozen panic as his hands slowly rose to cover his mouth. His chest stopped moving, the boy not breathing, before he slowly turned around with glossy eyes that reflected the man-made stars I had painstakingly organised earlier today. 

Uh oh. His eyes are sparkling, I repeat, his eyes are sparkling. As the protagonist, I am genetically unable to withstand the power of sparkling eyes. Author of 'Say No to Bad Boys', did you have to describe Elias as having 'brown orbs as rich as dark chocolate, but with all the sweetness of honey'? Do you not realise the power of those eyes you created?

As my mind was combusting because of the power of Elias's main-lead gaze, the boy had dropped his hands from his mouth, though his fingers were shaking with the most subtle of tremors.

"Alex...  This... What is..." Elias whispered, his voice almost carried away by the wind, but loud enough that it snapped me out of my descent into the heavenly hell of his eyes. Bloody heck, have I been infected by Aubrey's protagonist internal monologue now? Have I always described things so cheesily? Just because this is a love confession scene doesn't mean I need to start smelling roses on his breath and seeing rainbows pour out of his pores! Get a grip, Lex! You have an important job to do!

I cleared my throat, tapping Elias's arm to usher him to follow me as I stepped closer to the pillow fort. I took one slow step at a time until we were standing in front of the sheets of floating fabric and under the cocoon of twinkling lights.

"How many minutes do I have left?" I asked, voice scratchy with nerves as Elias managed to choke out a laugh.

"I lost count," he admitted, unable to look into my eyes, instead dropping his own down.

"Okay, this will only take a minute, anyway. Less, actually. When I timed it, it only took thirty seconds. Well, it did when I practised in the mirror how I'd confess my feelings to you and..." I said, my tongue flapping around as uselessly as ever, the nerves taking over. When I realised what I was saying, Elias had already looked up, a swirl of emotions rising to the surface of his eyes. My words caught up with me and my face lit up with heat.

I sunk to the ground in embarrassment, squatting with a drawn out groan, now the one hiding their face in their hands. I heard Elias inhale, about to speak, and I raised my hand without looking at him. 

"Don't say anything! I'm embarrassed enough! The ground can swallow me up any time! Satan, Hades, whoever is down there, I'm ready and willing," I cried, only stopping my lament of self-pity when the hand I had raised to halt Elias from speaking was enveloped in a familiar warmth. Elias's fingers threaded mine, our palms pressed flush together.

The grass beneath Elias's feet rustled as he shifted his weight, squatting down in front of me to match my height, pausing before nudging my face up with his fingers, eyes alight.

"You've got thirty seconds," Elias murmured, and I swore I could feel his pulse thundering where our palms and wrists were squeezed tight. I pressed my lips tightly together, staring at Elias with a slight pout, thoroughly embarrassed now. When Elias saw that I was too flustered to speak with this traitorous mouth of mine, he couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle, squeezing my hand tightly. "Twenty-five... Twenty-four... Twenty-three..."

"Okay, okay! I get it, I get," I said, slapping my free hand over Elias's mouth. I could feel him smiling behind my hand, the action warming me to the core.

Taking a deep breath, I counted to three, before opening my eyes again.

"I'm sorry, Elias. For a lot of things. I'm sorry for not saying anything when you confessed your feelings to me the other day. I'm sorry for not reading the signs you were giving me. I'm sorry for thinking that you were in love with Aubrey. I'm sorry for playing with your feelings because I didn't recognise my own. And I'm really, really sorry, for being such a stupid, dense, dumb, idiotic, blind fool this whole time and taking so long to realise that I really, really love you too. Because I love everything I know about you, and everything that I will find out about you. I love the way your smile is lopsided, the way your eyes crinkle when you laugh, the way your hair looks lighter in the sun. I love the way you look at me like I'm worthy, the way you stand up for me when people knock me down, the way you ignore all of the rumours about me and see the real me. And I love you for being the fucking nicest person I've ever known. So, I hope that I'm not too late and that you can forgive me for being so freaking stupid, because I really, truly love y- ah!"

My rambling was interrupted when Elias sprung forward, tackling me in a hug that sent the two of us falling ungracefully into the pile of pillows and rugs inside the fort. Elias's weight pressed down on me, heavy and warm but everything I've ever wishes for. His lips hovered near my ear as he let out something between a laugh and a relieved sob, before saying words that made me laugh through my elated tears.

"That was more than thirty seconds, Alex. And... no, you're not too late. You'd never be too late, because if it's you, I'd wait forever."

Author of 'Say No to Bad Boys'... I forgive you for all the cheesy shit you wrote before, because this moment, right here?

A literary masterpiece.

A/N: *cackles in romance* And the moment you've all been patiently waiting for has finally come to pass! Hope you enjoyed it, because Lex and Elias certainly did! I also had a lot of fun writing it, because fluff is what sustains my soul, honestly~

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next chapter, folks!