It had been a few weeks since I was Klaus' plus one at his cousin's wedding, and every day seemed to just get better and better. We saw each other at school of course, but we also made sure to meet up a lot. Sometimes we just hung out at his house, Violet tagging along as well, and sometimes we went out and tried new cafes or just went for walks. Something I was learning pretty quickly was that no matter what we were doing, as long as we did it together it was fun.

Of course Quigley and Duncan would have a field day every time I came home after seeing Klaus, teasing and making jokes as usual, but I didn't mind it as much now, knowing that as soon as they got partners it would be my turn to be nosy and annoying. So I smiled through it and let them have their fun.

One thing that was on my mind though, was the fact that Klaus still hadn't met my parents. I had met and hung out with his family plenty of times but, although my parents obviously knew of him and had seen him around, they had still never spoken or met properly face to face. It had just kind of become a given that we would always go to his house instead of mine. But, since my mother was starting to be more positive towards the Baudelaires and our bond was slowly becoming what it used to be, I got more and more optimistic that the meeting between my boyfriend and my family would go smoothly. Klaus and I just had to plan the perfect time. 

So as the weather got colder, we brainstormed different scenarios and in doing so, completely forgot about something that happened around this time every year. And it wasn't until Lily brought it up that it all came flooding back.

"Isadora!" she exclaimed, completely disregarding the fact we were sat in the library. The librarian was used to her antics by now though so, other than a stern look over her thick-rimmed glasses, Lily got off scot free. "Look, I just found the perfect dress!"

She turned her phone towards me so I could see the lime number that adorned her screen. 

It wasn't my style but it had Lily written all over it so I nodded in approval. "It's nice," I said, "But what's it for?"

Her eyes widened and she stared at me with a look of pure horror. "Are you joking?" she said in disbelief, and when she realised I was serious she shook her head at me. "I can't believe you. How could you forget about the winter dance?"

As soon as Lily said it, it was like a light bulb went on in my head. Of course, I thought to myself, how could I forget about that?

It was a night organised by the school, that usually revolved around wearing something fancy and enjoying some music and food that was slightly upgraded from the usual stuff they served in the canteen. I always tried to get out of going but Lily, every year without a doubt, convinced me to come at the last minute. It was never a bad night, it just always felt like it was more for the couples, and when the slow songs would come on, Lily and I would just sit and feel lonely for a few minutes before they put the upbeat songs back on. 

"Has Klaus asked you?"

"No?" I said, much to Lily's surprise.

"Wow, what a slacker."

"He doesn't have to ask me, he's already my boyfriend."

Lily scoffed. "He absolutely does have to ask you. That's like having a wedding without him even making the effort to propose."

I rolled my eyes at her logic. "We probably won't even go."

"Don't start. We always go."

"Yeah but if we do, it'll be different this year," I said, "Obviously we'll go together but Klaus will be there as well and..." I trailed off, wanting to avoid implicating that she would be a third wheel. It wouldn't be awkward on Klaus and I's part (Lily would frequently tag along with us to places anyway) but I couldn't help but think that Lily might feel put out being dateless and surrounded by couples.

But Lily didn't share my apprehension. Instead she pushed herself back on her chair and smirked at me. "Oh don't worry about that. I've already been date hunting."

"Oh god."

"I think Jeremy and I will be the perfect match. We have maths together and I just feel like we've been gelling recently, you know?" I just nodded as Lily continued. "So I've put the perfect plan into action. Speaking of which," she said, glancing at the time on her phone, "I better be off, see you tomorrow!"

And at that, she scurried off. I frowned slightly and just hoped Jeremy from maths was thoroughly prepared for what would happen next.

I finished up some research I was doing for a project and then, perfectly on time, Klaus came in and met me. He had got a detention for oversleeping and coming in late, something I was actively trying to get him to stop doing, but at least it meant I had someone to walk home with when I stayed behind to use the school library. Part of me wondered if he was doing it on purpose but I didn't have time to think about it too much as Klaus swept me into a hug and started chatting away. 

Something I noticed was that Klaus was actually really talkative when he got going, which was something I never would've guessed when we first started interacting and he was cold and curt. These days though, he was a bit of a chatterbox, always rambling about things he had read about before he catching himself and apologising. I didn't mind though, I enjoyed hearing him be so passionate about things. So I just listened as I packed away my things and followed him out of the library, starting our walk home.

"Are you going to be at home tonight?" he asked all of a sudden, as we turned onto our street and got closer to our destination.

I nodded. "Of course. Why?"

But Klaus just smiled and shook his head. "No reason," he said, and then kissed me quickly on the cheek before heading to his house, only turning back to wave to me as he usually did.

I couldn't help but smile, even despite his suspicious behavior, and waved back to him before walking the short distance to my own house, wondering what the hell he could be planning. 

A/N:

Um.. hi! Sorry for not updating in a while. I won't bore you with the details hahah (I did an announcement if you're interested in a better explanation) but I just wanted to say sorry. This story is so close to the end that I should've just pushed through and got the last few chapters out instead of leaving you guys on an annoying cliffhanger. So yeah, sorry about that!

Also, a few chapters ago (maybe like 10 or something idk) I mentioned there being a surprise and um... I feel bad because it's literally not exciting at all hahah but yeah the surprise was the dance! Just because I feel like you can't have a cheeky romance without some sort of high note to end things on. So yeah... sorry if you were expecting something more extravagant! 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it felt really nice to write this again! Thank you for all the continued support, even when I took such a long break. I hope you're all staying safe and well!

See you next time! ❤