Okay, I'm seriously beginning to hate my organs rn. Especially my brain. I wonder if I can put it for an exchange offer. That retarded idiotic organ of mine suddenly decided to act like the dumb hobo it is and refused to think of a single word for the story. Anyways, I gave it a little electric shock and it finally started working! Yeah, so here it is. The next chapter.

Oh, before I begin, I want to give a HUGE shoutout to lizzyJ_. I can't thank you enough for this beautiful cover! Love you!❣❣

I turned my gaze to Adrian and found him already looking at me with an unreadable expression. He was searching my eyes again for something, like he'd done many times before in our interactions.

"What do you think?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. That action alone me want to cut off a point he'd gained by bringing me here. "I didn't know you were a kid by heart, Stone. I can't say I'm surprised, though." I said instead and turned back to the beautiful view in front of us. The sky had turned the beautiful shade of orange with a twinge of purple in it, the sun seemed to be slowly going down with a golden halo around it.

"'If anyone here's a kid, it's you, White. You even look like a kid in front of a candy store looking at the park right now." He pointed out but I ignored him and kept my gaze at the sun. They say surrounding yourself with beautiful things will help you get rid of idiocy in the world. Idiocy like Adrian Stone. Besides, I could look at this view forever.

"It's lovely." I said absently.

"Yes, it is... Very lovely." Came a husky reply from him.

I narrowed my eyes at his tone and swiftly turned my head his way, only to find him looking at... the scenery. Not to me. I can't believe why I even thought that he was talking about m-... never mind.

I didn't realise I was still staring at him when one side of his lips quirked up into a smirk. He didn't take his eyes off the park when he spoke, smugness dripping from his tone heavily like thick maple syrup from Allie's pancakes. That woman lived on maple syrups.

"You thought I was talking about you, didn't you?"

I started to flush from embarrassment and turned my head the other way as I scoffed at him. "What else can I expect from you? You're a walking, talking bag of all cliches of the world wrapped in a human body."

It was now his turn to scoff. "Oh, please! I'm nothing like those sickly annoying cliches the teenagers fawn about. Tell me one thing that's cliche about me, I dare you."

I smirked at him. "Hmm... let's see." I thought for a while and made a show of counting my fingers as I started listing out. "For one, you're that cliched youngest billionaire, the most eligible bachelor." I made finger quotation gesture at that. "And oh, how can I forget the arrogant, rude, ruthless, cold, stone-hearted, cru-"

"Alright, you can stop now. I got the idea." Adrian interrupted me grumpily, making me smirk wider. But before I could further aggravate him, he held up his hand and continued. "But that's what the rest of the people think, and that's how I behave with the rest of the people. I behave differently with you, though. I don't think I've made those impressions to you. "

"Oh, if I remember correctly, you've made a far worse impression on me not too long ago. So I can't say I disagree with them." I blurted without thinking and immediately regretted it when I saw him flinch at my words, the light in his eyes dimming suddenly, now replaced by pain and hurt.

Unable to take his pained expression any longer, I looked the other way, mentally berating myself for being so stupid. I wanted to apologize to him, but somehow my pride didn't let me utter those words.

I slowly walked away from him and sat on one of the twin swings, thinking about my words. I'd never been one to speak without thinking. I was always calm and collected. But being with Adrian made me lose my control, which irritated me. I'd worked so hard to gain control over myself and appear collected. I didn't want one person to destroy everything just by being present around me.

But at the same time I felt that Adrian was a good man inside all his cold persona. I don't know why but I felt some sort of familiarity with him, as if I've always known him. His words that day had hurt me but I could say that he was genuine when he'd apologized to me the other day. And he was right. He didn't have that ruthless, cruel persona with me. He was different around me. He was still arrogant and self centered like Zeus of Olympus himself but I'd also seen his playful and caring side. The side that told me that his care for me was genuine.

Which also made me wonder why. I didn't want to act oblivious and say that I never noticed his different behavior around me, but I couldn't understand the reason behind it. Did he have some feelings for me? If that was so then I had to tell him that it was not possible. I could never be with him. But I didn't want to sound conceited. What if I was wrong in my assumption? Then I'd be such a hypocrite. I'd be the one acting all mighty and self centered. And that was the definition of Adrian Stone. Not mine.

I groaned. Either way, I had to apologize. I saw that my words had hurt him and I didn't like that expression on him. I'd have to swallow my pride for once and apologize to the devil, just so I could sleep in peace. Then we'd just go on being this friends-but-not-really thing that we were. I nodded to myself. There. Problem solved.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I'd almost forgotten Adrian was still there until I felt him gently pushing my swing forward. Next, I felt his soft breath in my ear as he whispered. "I didn't mean anything that day, you know? I know it doesn't change anything but I'm sorry, Evelyn. I truly am."

I turned sideways and held his hand with both of mine, effectively stopping the swing. "I know that, Adrian... I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry." I confessed, looking into his eyes. I ignored my skin that betrayed me by giving tingling sensation at his touch.

He smiled and shook his head. Then, placing his hand on my left cheek, he whispered. "I'll make up for it, Eve." Somehow, I didn't feel like commenting on his use of my name and let it go. Another reason was, my brain had joined my skin in its betrayal. Stupid organs.

Adrian sat on the swing next to mine and my thoughts went to him, and how we'd always sit on the twin swings like this, together. I smiled sadly at the memory and wondered if I'd ever get to see him again. Maybe he doesn't remember me at all.

"What's wrong, Evelyn? Are you okay?" Adrian cast a worried gaze at me and I couldn't help but laugh a little at his concern.

"I'm fine. It's just... you sitting here in the swing like that... it reminded me of someone. We would always share the twin swings like this, you know? I've never been on the swing like this with anyone else and... I just... I miss him." The words kept flowing and I was amazed at how I shared these things with him so easily when I'd never told anyone about little things like this. Not even to Allie or Eva. And those two were the only ones who knew about him.

Adrian turned his swing my way. I looked at him to find him looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face, just like before. "Is this the best friend you'd told me about that day?" He asked softly and I remembered that day when I'd told Adrian about him while we were eating in Maggs' place.

I smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah. That's him. I wonder where he is now. God, I miss him so much!" I felt tears prickling in the corner of my eyes and blinked them away. Adrian looked as if he was about to say something. For a moment, he just sat there, looking at me like he was having an internal conflict. But just when I thought he was about to say something, he shook his head and sighed, his words remained unsaid.

He got up from the swing and held his hand out to me. "Come on, it's getting dark. Let's go to our next destination." He was once again back to his smiling self.

I looked at the sky and true enough, it had turned dark and the lovely sun was nowhere to be seen. It was then that my brain registered his words. I looked at his hand which was still stretched towards me. "There's another destination?" I asked him.

He rolled his eyes. "Since you've labeled me as a cliche, I decided to go all the way." He said dryly. I suppressed a laugh at his expression and put my hand on his, mentally reminding myself to threaten to disown my organs as soon I reach home.

"So you admit that you're a cliche, huh?" I teased him, wiggling my eyebrows at him, to which he rolled his eyes again with a small smile on his face.

We got in the car and not even then minutes later, we came to stop in front of... his office.

I pursed my lips. "Did you bring me here to work for the Fall in Love project?" I asked, eyeing him in annoyance. It was our new project for the coming falls and was going be the first big project after the partnership of The Stones Inc. and Eva's and Co. and we all had big expectations with it.

He rolled his eyes yet again. I guess I'm rubbing off on him. I thought with an evil smirk. He took my hand in his and entered the building, nodding to the guards. The entire place was empty and as he pulled me into the elevator, I couldn't help but voice out my opinions.

"Not to add this on the top of all the cliche you're sporting, but, did you bring here so you could kill me? I'm warning you, Stone. If I end up dead today, I'm never gonna let you breathe in peace. They say ghosts have superpowers. I'll use all of mine to summon all the vile, creepy creatures and deposit them in your cute body. Permanently. And you know what I'd put the most on your body? Giant, creepy spiders. The hairy, eight legged ones. In fact, I think I would be able to find some ten-legged ones as well. So be aware, Stone."

He smirked at me. "So you think my body is cute, huh? Just so you know, cute is not the right word. Insanely hot, devilishly sexy, mouthwatering, sizzling. Take your pick."

I scoffed. "God, you're insane! A devil in disguise! I can't believe that's the only thing you picked from my threat. And what's with mouthwatering and sizzling? Are you reciting food menus? Did you work as a waiter in some restaurant before?"

He rolled his eyes again and I was actually worried with the amount of eye rolling he'd been doing lately. I mean, it did feel good to know that he was copying my gestures, after all I did possess the charm that people couldn't not copy it but copying it to this extent, I didn't want to take any blame if his eyeballs stuck inside his head someday.

The ding of the elevator eliminated my concern for Adrian's eyeball and I realised that we were on the topmost floor of the building. And there was a table on the centre with two chairs across each other. Thank God he didn't go to that level of cliche and put flowers there. I thought with a smirk.

I sat on one of the chairs while he sat across me and started typing something on his phone. Just a few moments later, a guy walked in with dinner and placed it on our tables.

"So no Maggs' dinner today?" I asked curiously. He shook his head with a smile. "No. This will have to suffice for tonight. Since you oh so generously advertised her restaurant to your lovely fans, the place has been growing full to the point of bursting. And the woman has been nagging to bring you there. I can't deal with two crazy women on a single day." He shuddered.

I gasped. "Did you just call me crazy? Watch your tone, Stone." I bit out angrily, harshly stabbing the pasta with my fork.

He shrugged in response. "You implied that yourself, White." I glared daggers at him and resumed my eating. There was no way in hell that I'd let go of my food for his stupid accusation. Let him call me crazy all he wanted. I didn't care. And besides, crazy people are awesome people. I thought, stuffing more pasta into my mouth.

But then, belatedly, I caught the other part of his sentence, the more important part and grinned cheekily at him. "I know I'm an awesome human being. One little chat with me and people follow me around like crazy. I can't really help that I'm so enchanting, you know? Those reporters were bound to be smitten by my incredible charm anyway. And Maggs, she truly knows how to run the best restaurant in the world and how to recognize the real gem. I wish she gave some of her skills to you. But alas, some people remain dumb their entire life, no matter how many times you teach them." I shook my head dramatically and flipped my hair.

"And she calls me arrogant." He mumbled under his breath and I raised my eyebrows at him, effectively shutting him up. I smiled in satisfaction and happily resumed my dinner again.

We finished our dinner with light, playful banters with each other and soon it was time to leave. I looked up at the night sky filled with countless bright stars and for a moment, wondered if what people said about people being stars after death were true. Adrian started walking and knowing him, I knew he would be waiting inside the elevator.

I shook my head and sent a smile to the stars. In case the saying was true, I'd want them to see me smiling. I looked at the stars for one last time before walking towards the elevator where, indeed, the almighty Stone was standing with his hands inside his pockets.

I rolled my eyes but thought better than making fun of him. I think he's had enough of that today, I mused. We walked towards the parking lot where he literally ran a few steps before me and opened the passenger door for me, ignoring my narrowed eyes. He then coolly sat on the driver's seat, looking as if he'd won the freaking Nobel prize.

The car ride was mostly filled with comfortable silence when a thought came to my head. I turned my head to Adrian and smiled slyly at him. He narrowed his eyes at my smile before focusing back onto the road.

"I don't like that smile of yours. Tell me what you're thinking. Although, with that expression, I can say that it's not good for my wellbeing." He said, eyeing my smile warily as it got wider when I flashed my innocent look at him.

"You want to be my friend, right?" He alternated his focus between me and the road. Squinting his eyes at me, he nodded slowly. "Yes...?" The way he spoke, it came out like a question and my grin got wider if that was even possible.

"I know something you can do that will make you my friend in an instant. Wanna know what?"

He looked at me for a second before turning back to the road and swerving to the right. "Okayyy..." He said hesitantly.

"That's great then!" I chirped, clapping my hands in enthusiasm. "You'll let me drive your car for one whole day and we're friends." I said cheekily.

He suddenly gripped his steering wheel tightly and actually leaned a little forward to it, like a mother bear protecting her baby. I would've found his reaction cute if only it wasn't a reaction to my statement.

He scowled. "Not happening. I'd rather be a cliche idiot to gain your friendship." He was still gripping the wheel tightly as if afraid that I would actually jump across the driver's seat and take the steering out of the car. I was not that desperate!

"Gosh! You're acting as if I asked to burn your car to the pits of hell." I scoffed, casting an unimpressed gaze at him. A sudden thought occured to me and I gasped dramatically. "Don't tell me it's your baby now. Oh, wait! Stone, don't tell me you've named your car, too!"

"Of course not! That's... that's insanely stupid! Who even names their cars?" He grunted, as if the idea alone was outrageous. I would have believed him, really, if not for a light shade of pink on the tip of his ears. I controlled the urge to laugh out loud at this.

"Fine, fine! Mr. Possessive. I won't touch your Regina. Or Melissa. Or wait! Maybe it's Ursula? Anyways, don't worry. I won't touch her. For now." I added, enjoying Adrian's scowling face. What can I say? Even when he was grumpy, he still looked hands-. I mean hand-dicapped. Yep. Handicapped. That's the word. He looked severely handicapped scowling like that.

We finally reached my apartment and he parked his car, quickly coming to open the passenger door. I raised my eyebrows at him. "I really need a long break from all these cliches you've rained on me today." I commented, and he smirked in return.

He slowly leaned close to me and whispered in my ears. "Since today was full of cliches, why don't we add one more to it by you giving me a goodbye kiss?" He raised an eyebrow, his eyes holding a teasing glint, making them shine like freaking crystals on sparkling water.

I rolled my eyes, still perturbed by his closeness and before I could think, my hand suddenly flew up, flicking his ear. He jerked away from me as if burnt, yelping a sudden 'ow'. Although it was not intended, I couldn't help but be proud of my impulse for once. I decided to out off the disowning my organs thing for now.

"Don't dream of it, Stoney-boy! Go back to your Ursula." I called out over my shoulder and walked into the elevator, leaving him rubbing his ear.

It was when I'd showered, changed and was reviewing the presentation for tomorrow's meeting that my phone pinged with a message.

Although it might've been slightly cliche, don't deny that you're impressed with my skills. Be ready for bribe #2. Goodnight, sweetheart.

I ignored my heart which was jumping like a child on a trampoline at the last word and instead chuckled at the contact name.

Damn you, Stone!

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