'And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways

Maybe just the touch of a hand

Oh me I fall in love with you every single day

And I just wanna tell you I am'

I needed some fresh air. I needed to get away from all the memories this room was bringing me. I needed–

"Fuck! Saturn, not again! Don't come clucking at me when you end up as a Thanksgiving feast for the foxes."

The sharp tone answered my silent wish before I could even look up for the stars, the tall silhouette on the other side of the backyard standing like an invitation to forget. Well, Blade hadn't noticed me, but as soon as my eyes adjusted to the darkness around, I was hypnotized, watching him trying to put the hen back in its house.

Every time he managed to get her inside, Saturn was finding a way to follow him before he could even close the pen, and the sight of the dangerous bad boy losing his cool in front of the feathered outlaw was something to see – as much as to hear actually, because he was using his gang leader tone, the one that would have scared the most fearless gangsters, and yet Saturn stayed unfazed, retorting 'clucks' to each of his curse words.

It was priceless and so improbable that it pulled me a giggle, calling his attention just when he'd been about to catch Saturn.

"That's not funny," he groaned as another giggle escaped me, and he was right; the quiet and hoarse sound didn't feel like laughter. It was just a spark of lightness, which opened slightly my ribcage until I breathed in a shaky breath when I joined him.

There was something so fragile in the intake of air, in the cold surroundings, in this instant. Though I didn't get to savor it – neither the oxygen, nor his gaze meeting mine – as Saturn flapped her wings between us, and we both jumped forward, almost bumping into each other.

Maybe, that was funny, especially as my feet slipped slightly on the wet ground, but I still managed to lead Saturn into the henhouse and close the fence, all of that under Blade's wide stare.

"How?! She kept following me!" He pointed at the henhouse as if it was sheltering a wild beast, and he actually looked like he'd fought one, as his cheeks were red and his quiff disheveled, one strand even falling in front of his eyes that I stood on my tiptoes to brush off.

"I guess it's what happens when you're attracting all the 'chicks'," I quipped, twisting the expression his 'non-friends' liked to use and hoping he didn't catch the waver, underlying in my voice like the truth in my words.

However, it was my waist that he captured firmly before I could fall back on my heels, and my breath as he replied in a low, raspy murmur,

"But I'm only interested in one chick."

From the penetrating look in his eyes, I was pretty sure he wasn't talking about Saturn, and although there was no hint of his bad-intentioned dimple tonight, the blood rushed faster than ever to my cheeks. He could probably see it, as his gaze danced all over my face, and not even the uneven puffs slipping from my parted lips in the cold dimness could prevent him from piercing through me... from my popping freckles to the redness of my eyelids.

"About that..." Before the question or murderous thoughts could cross his mind, I decided to go straight to the point, or more exactly, crash. "I... I've made my choice."

Like a domino effect, I could see the impact from the clumsy whisper falling out of my lips to the shock hitting his features and making my feet fall back on the ground as the blast wave annihilated the lightness in the air.

I definitely wasn't good at this. I'd tried to be smooth with Spencer, and it hadn't softened the news, and here, I seemed even too sharp for Blade, as he almost gasped, his eyebrows rising higher.

"Now?"

Even the timing wasn't good, and his wide eyes glanced between the henhouse and the dark shapes of the backyard like to make sure I was really talking about that right after chasing a hen on a cold November night.

Though the gloomy atmosphere and the heady smell of dropping could recall some memories of dark parking lots and trash cans, and it could have made sense if it hadn't been in the exact moment between my bitter tears and one of the most crucial parts of our plan, when I was in a state as unstable as my trembling hands – which his gaze pointed out before sliding to my belly and back to my face.

Yet in all of this, there was something strong and irresistible that made it the perfect moment: the beats of my heart as I breathed in the cold air and looked up at the night sky.

The infinite of dark blue was shining with more and more twinkles of light, and it resembled a lot to his eyes as a frown and brewing shadows were darkening the crystalline, but I was still captivated by that spark reflecting on the surface, the one that always seemed to ask if I was crazy, daring me to be.

"Yes, now."

It was what my heart was telling me, along with hundreds of different bangs that would be much harder to translate from crashing against my ribcage, soaring, falling, swelling, crumbling, skipping...

"I need to tell you something first," he cut me off before I could even open my lips, and just like that, with another skip, as sharp as his contrasts, my heart became even more erratic.

It was this ever-changing rhythm that was only his, and I knew it would be impossible to regulate it as he led me to the wooden bench.

What was it with him making me sit down every time he had 'something to tell me'? Well, the last time, his confession had actually been shattering, and my legs were already growing weaker as he grabbed both of my hands, and I wasn't sure what to make out of the tight grip. It felt like it was as much to hold himself as me, yet his sharp features as he faced me were still unwavering.

"I know it won't change your choice, but I just want to say it at least once in my life." He shrugged, one of those casual lifts of his shoulders that looked so easy, though his breath had trouble coming out of his chest, ending in a faint sigh that made his steadfast tone falter, and between all these mixed signals, my head was spinning, almost as much as my heart.

I couldn't even try to process his words. But all I knew, all I felt, was that whatever he had to say could change the course of the world more than the greatest mysteries of the universe. That was how he was gazing at me, tracing my freckles like an enigma. Yet this time, the answer lit up in the depths of crystalline as he dived his eyes into mine and took a deep breath.

"I... I love you."

Indeed, this changed the course of the universe, or at least, the course of my universe, as my heart was propelled to another galaxy, soaring through stardust somewhere, while the rest of my body was left there, stricken by those three little words.

'I love you...' These three little words were already some of the most powerful on this earth, but through those devious and magical lips, there were taking another dimension.

Maybe it was because it was only 'once', as he'd said. I was the first person he'd ever told that, the first person to hear the rolling syllables through the rasps of emotions in his voice, the first person to see the shine of vulnerability in his eyes, and it made me feel rarer than a fragment of dust catching fire through the atmosphere.

Or maybe it was simply because he was my evil genie. He'd always managed to leave me speechless with his innuendos, though it was the first time there was no hint of his dimple, and the underlying meaning was in another indent, between his eyebrows as his gaze was glued to my face, still as if it was holding all the answers of the universe.

I had no idea how long we stayed like that, but it felt like an eternity, where he didn't blink, and I didn't breathe. There was not a sound, not even a cluck, an hooting, or a faint breeze in the woods, not a movement, only the echo of his words, each of his words.

I love you... once in my life... won't change your choice...

My choice, what I'd come here for. I'd almost forgotten about it as I searched for a reply, but eventually, it was the same. I had to listen to my heart and speak, translating the strong beats into an uneven whisper.

"I'm sorry..." I barely paused, not even for a breath, just a split second to find my voice through the dryness of my throat. Yet his gaze was already drawing farther away, as much figuratively as literally, looking down at my hands, which he was letting go of when I added,

"Once won't be enough. I want to hear it every day for the rest of my life."

It could have been funny – if I had been breathing – how it took a too long second for the words to reach him, and twice as much for him to process them. But then, it was like a switch, making his head snap up, his gaze light up with so much hope and uncertainty, and my heart skip another beat.

"Yes, I choose you." I smiled as his gaze flickered between my face and my hands clasping his, and he was unusually quiet. "Well, if you still want me?"

After all, he had every reason not to. I wasn't even good at declarations as I continued my messy monologue,

"But anyway, it doesn't change anything. It's you. It'll always be you, and it's been you since..."

Spencer's words flashed through my mind at this instant. 'If I'd fought harder and sooner for you', would it have changed something? If he'd stopped me at the prom? At church when I'd run away on that bike? Before Blade and I's first date? Through the school hallways? The night of my birthday when I'd been grounded to my room?

Yes, maybe I wouldn't be a wanted murderer; maybe I wouldn't be pregnant. Yet it wouldn't have changed this trail of sparks that had started...

"Since you put that automatic gun in my hand."

From the moment we'd met, the first spark had arisen, every bad intention sprinkling powder on their way, where the feelings had grown, and every touch had imprinted it deeper. When he'd brought me back home that day, he'd already made his course toward my heart, and like a lighted fuse, it had been too intense and dangerous to stop it.

The only way would have been if it had never lit, if Spencer had stopped me at the park, if I had taken just a wrong turn through my blurry rush, if a ray of sun hadn't drawn my attention to the shooting range. I would have probably ended in a dead end and turned back.

But then, would Blade still have found his way into my maze of white fences and ordinary routine?

I wanted to believe it was fate, and we were meant to be anyway. Yet we were coming from two different worlds, no matter the red or dark threads linking them, and just the thought was tearing me apart.

I couldn't imagine my life without his magical grin, his bad intentions, all of him, and I didn't have to, as his lips were slowly stretching into that Cheshire cat smile right in front of my eyes.

"Dorothea... you should really be more careful about the words you choose..."

Apparently, he'd found back his voice and all his bad intentions, and there was no more flicker of doubt in his eyes, just dazzling twinkles under the hood of his eyelids as his gaze trailed down my face in what I'd learned to recognize as a first warning.

The second would be when he would lean closer.

"The rest of your life is a long time... Are you sure?"

Oh right, I'd said that. I'd talked about the rest of my life and forever to a man who 'didn't plan or date', instead of simply saying 'I choose you', like normal people would have done.

That was exactly what I'd been dreading since the moment I'd taken my decision, and even before: crashing at full speed, while a small voice in the back of my head was telling me he wasn't on the same wavelength, and he would get tired and turn around at some point.

But whenever he was close, he always silenced any voice inside me, and although I should have been terrified at this instant, all I could hear were the hammering of my heart and his devilish whisper above my ear.

"'Cause there's no turning back after."

It echoed like a warning, the gravelly edge of his voice making it sound like he would pull out his knife at any second. Though the most dangerous might have been his killer tone vibrating from the brush of his lips to my heart like a promise.

No turning back... We were both at full speed, soaring together, crashing together.

"Yes, I'm sure," I replied with no hesitation.

I was sure I was completely and utterly crazy as he pulled back, just enough to let me see his Cheshire grin wider than ever.

He looked like a kid getting the gift he'd always dreamed of on Christmas day, the twinkle in his eyes as pure and innocent. Well, for an instant, because if his smile stayed as large, the darkness fell over his features, making everything from the sparkle in his eyes to his dimples go back to mischievousness and sin, as sharp as his contrasts.

"So it means I can kiss you..." His voice trailed off as he hovered over my lips, the words hanging in the inch separating me from his smile... right now and for the rest of my life...

Who would have thought the dangerous stranger who never dated would ask me this, even if implicitly? Who would have thought his gaze would linger on my lips like to plan to see and taste the smile tickling them every day for the rest of our lives?

It was hard to believe it was less than six months ago. Though some things hadn't changed. The crystalline shades were still full of bad intentions, where I could easily drown. I still looked like a crashing mess, after crying too many tears, which only he could turn into a streak of sparks. My heart was still thumping with the same anticipation, and... that was all; I realized as I raised both of my empty hands.

"Well, I don't have any gun to stop you."

"Baby, not even a gun could stop me," he growled on my lips, the raw sound pulling me a gasp, so that I was already breathless when the next milli-second, he cupped my face and crashed his mouth fully on mine in a breathtaking kiss.

Though it didn't stop me from returning the passion instantly, our lips clashing, melting, sucking, and parting to let our tongues mix, while my hands reached for his jacket, his hair, anything to pull him closer.

Everything was messy, raw, and passionate, nothing like the romantic kisses in the happy endings of the fairytales. No, it was the fervor of two outlaws on the run, finding themselves again, when tomorrow wasn't assured.

It was all the emotions of the past months, the good and the bad, the best and the worst, heated caresses and possessive nips, desperate lips and fierce tongues, all sparking fire on our lips and sending explosive in our veins with the bangs of our hearts.

It was us, a shooting star and her evil genie, soaring and crashing together, and I couldn't have wished for anything better, even if too soon, we had to pull away, as the strength of this kiss, of our feelings, of us, had knocked the oxygen out of our lungs.

The flames and electricity were still there though, in every exhale tickling our swollen smiles, in the soft brushes of his thumbs tracing the underside of my eyes, in his intoxicating taste on the tip of my tongue, and in the darkening blue expanse as soon as I reopened my eyes.

"It's you since I first saw you shoot," he breathed out, the confession so incredibly soft in his thick and hoarse murmur that it sent another frenzy of emotions in my chest.

He was basically saying that he'd chosen me since the second he'd glimpsed me with a gun in my hand, and strangely, it was romantic and wicked too. I didn't know what to reply except...

"I love you, my evil genie."

Love, it was the word for all these erratic and indefinable bangs inside my ribcage, this exact same rhythm that had taken over the moment my sister had asked me this simple question: what if you only had 12 hours left to live or see the light...

I'd had no doubt then, and as under my palm, I could feel the same strong thuds that not even the thick fabric of his sweater could dim, I knew I would never ever have a doubt.

"I love you more, Shooting star."

Oh no, he wasn't getting there already? Considering where our bets usually led, it was dangerous, and between his sly tricks, which were slowly appearing at the corner of his smirk, and my competitive spirit, it could last for the rest of our lives.

Still, I never backed away from a challenge – I loved the thrill, and I loved him too much. So I was already leaning in towards his teasing smile to even the scores, and prove that my love was stronger, when I felt two eyes observing us, and a glare that froze all my movements...

"Cluck."

"No?! Don't tell me she got out!" Blade threw his head back, closing his eyes to not see the hen waddling towards us.

"I think she's jealous!" I burst out laughing when Saturn started to peck at his boots like to catch his attention, and Blade threw her his killer look before grinning at me again.

"Too bad for her and all the other chicks 'cause now I have a girlfriend."

Months ago, I'd asked him what was his favorite sound through my lips. Well, through his magical smile, if 'I love you' and 'Shooting star' were my favorites, this sentence might have been the third one.

I was his girlfriend. It was made official by the rolling syllables and the trail of warmth they sparked on my cheeks, and as if it wasn't clear enough, he pulled me to straddle him, claiming to Saturn and all the other chicks who was his girlfriend.

Okay, we were alone, in the middle of the woods, and I wasn't sure Saturn understood as she kept clucking, but I felt acutely the meaningful touch as his hands slid down my body, one resting gently, almost innocently, on my belly, and the other... well, I couldn't say the same as it snaked towards my butt, pushing me closer.

Always his contrasts, making it impossible to regulate my heart rate. Though I didn't want to.

If I had 12 hours left to live or see the light, I would have wanted it to be night, watching the starry sky reflecting on the clear crystalline ripples and in the darkening depths of Blade's eyes.

If I could relive just one kiss, it would be this one as he leaned in, as leisurely as that day he'd exhaled smoke on my lips, except this time, our mouths met with a bang as strong as our first kiss.

The caresses of our lips were as instinctive as the second one we'd shared on the edge of a cliff, and when his teeth nipped at my lower lip, they were as savoring and languid as on our first date, before his tongue glided in, battling with mine until the sparks turned more ardent and dangerous, burning down the oxygen in our lungs.

Yet we still didn't pull away, and I tried to take deep breaths through my nose, a scent of wood invading my senses, along with his addictive taste, like that night he'd shown me the deepest parts of him and his secret place. And I let him invade every part of me too as our hands followed the rush in our veins, exploring as avidly as all these first touches he'd made me experience.

There was a little bit of every kiss we'd ever shared actually: the raw emotions of our growing feelings, the fireworks of our first night together, the dangerous sparks of an evil genie and a shooting star colliding... and so much more.

Each kiss had caught a part of my heart, and this one had it all. No other kiss could live up to this, well, except the next one, and the one after, and after... for the rest of our lives.

For the rest of our lives... 😍 I'm sharing tissues again 🤧🤧 though I hope this time, it's happy tears!

The Dlade ship has risen! Who's happy? (Not Saturn apparently 😂)

And Blade finally said his first I love you! He who didn't know how to care... Our baby has evolved so much 🥺

I hope you liked this chapter! Tell me all your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget to vote ⭐!

And don't worry, it isn't the end yet! We'll see more of our now official couple, and Spencer too for his special mission 😉🤫

In the meantime, as Blade would say: I LOVE YOU SHOOTING STARS!! 🌠😘💕🥰✨