A/N: I'm so sorry for missing the Friday update, I had a lot of studying to do these days, and I didn't have time to write.

Well, it's better late than never, right?

Enjoy this update!

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Twenty seven:

I reluctantly made my way inside the Sweet Sundae.

My heart thudded inside my chest as I slowly headed towards Michael and Marie's table.

I tried my best to avert my eyes from the image of Marie Elizabeth's arm pressed on Michael's shoulder. Or from the way-too-close gap between them. Or from her lips curving into a large smile as she watched him talk.

My steps creaked onto the hardwood floor as I got closer to their separate booth.

I could feel the pain cautiously unravelling inside me... The green eyed monster slowly coming to life, sharpening its claws before ripping my heart to shreds.

I bit my lip and readjusted the bag strap on my shoulder.

I watched Marie's smile grow onto her face, only to suddenly come to a vanishing point. Her smile died as Michael kept talking, her eyes growing wide with utter shock.

I was almost to their table now. I could only see their backs and a little bit of their profiles from where I was standing, but I could make out snippets of their conversation.

My feet instantly stopped into their tracks.

"Wow... O-okay," Marie eventually said, her eyes stuck to her lap. "I g-guess I'll just leave now." Her lips shook as she spoke. She reluctantly lifted her eyes back to Michael, her gaze lingering to him as she stood up from her seat.

I swallowed, my palms growing with sweat in anticipation of what would come next.

Marie turned around in her heels and started walking in my direction.

Her eyes caught mine, and her expression darkened almost instantly.

"Hey," I deadpaned, my voice as calm as possible.

She dropped her eyes to the ground in response, leaving me no time to catch her expression, and shoved my shoulder as she walked past me.

I watched her leave the room in quick motion, shutting the door behind her.

I let out a small sigh.

I didn't think I'd ever seen Marie like this before.

I could only wonder what Michael might have told her to make her this upset. For all I knew, it could be anything.

I reached the booth. My eyes trailed towards Michael, who didn't even seem to have noticed me coming.

His back was pressed against the chair, his gaze lowered to his lap as he tugged on the hem of his shirt absent-mindedly.

I licked my lips and cleared my throat. "Hi."

Michael flinched in his spot, his eyes darting in my direction. His face broke into a smile, the small frown on his face disappearing. "Oh, hey, Bree!"

"Hey... What was Marie Elizabeth doing here?" I demanded.

"Oh..." Michael frowned, as if he'd completely forgotten about her presence from two minutes before. "She - she..." he began, the frown deepening onto his face, but changed his mind midsentece. "It was nothing important, really."

"Oh, come on," I pushed, taking a seat next to him, and almost hit Michael's lemonade from the table in the process. "It couldn't be unimportant, either. I mean, you guys clearly had something interesting to talk about. She did come here before me, didn't she?"

He blinked. "Well, yeah, but -"

"So?" I placed my hand onto the table and propped my head on it, facing him completely. "What was the trouble, buddy?"

Michael averted my gaze, and took a quick sip off his half empty glass of lemonade. "Um, well..."

He paused and let the silence fall between us for one too many seconds.

However, that was enough time for the realization to sink into my brain. "She asked you out. Didn't she?"

He swallowed, and turned to look at me again. His cheeks were now slightly more pinkish than before. "Yes... Sherlock."

"You can call me Sherlock all you want, cause I actually like that nickname, but that girl still remains the most predictable person I've ever seen."

He blinked multiple times and looked away once again.

I searched his expression. It was blank. Blank of emotions. The only thing that managed to portray his current state of mind was the still visible pink colour into his cheek.

"So, what did you tell her?"

Michael turned his head toward me, an eyebrow raised. "You're kidding, right?"

I gave him a sideways look. "No, why?"

"Bree, I did ask you out tonight now, didn't I?"

I bit my lip, trying to hide my already forming smile. "Well, yeah. But I thought - "

"I've been down that road before, Bree," he cut me off. "I've had my strange share of moments with Marie Elizabeth before."

"Yeah, I remember," I pointed out, pursing my lips as I nodded. "Vividly."

His cheeks reddened even more. "Yeah... And it didn't work out."

"Then why was she here?"

"That's something only a bright detective like you would know."

Despite my previous serious state of mind, I still managed to let out a small chuckle. "Obviously, Watson," I played along, "I'd say Marie Elizabeth here has a major case of chronic crushing."

"Did you self medicate again, Sherlock?" He inquired.

I chuckled once again. "That's none of your business. But I'm serious. That girl totally wants to nail you."

His eyes widened, and he fake-gasped. "Did you seriously just say that?"

"Have a problem with that?"

"Well, it's just that your poetry sometimes really does amaze me."

"Aw, thank you," I cooed, passing Michael a smile.

He shook his head at my antics, but the smile on his face didn't fade. He cleared his throat and locked his gaze with mine. "Okay, all kidding aside... You know I like you, right?"

It was my turn to widen my eyes. "What?"

"Come on, you can't possibly tell me you never saw this coming. Even Matt let you know that with his incredibly subtle hints."

I laughed. "True. But if you do like me, then why did Marie Elizabeth come here?"

He shook his head. "I genuinely don't know. I just ran into her here. She saw me, waved at me, and came to my table. Basically, I had no other escape from that point."

I arched an eyebrow, giving him a suspicious look. "Seriously?"

"Bree, I spilled half of my lemonade on the table when I saw her coming," he pointed out, "If that doesn't say something to you, then I don't know what does."

My eyes widened as I laughed once again. "Okay, you pretty much convinced me with this." He nodded, smiling. "But wait. Then why did you two kiss in the park?"

"So you did see that, didn't you?"

"As I recall, my eyes were placed on my face then, too, so yeah," I nodded.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Okay, got it." He locked his eyes with me as he spoke, "I'm sorry about that... I didn't even know she was going to do that. I swear to God. I'm not good with reading signs, Bree."

I swallowed and kept my gaze locked within his. "Well... Can you read this sign?" With that, I leaned in towards him and placed a small kiss onto his cheek. "I like you too, by the way," I admitted, feeling my stomach dance with adrenaline.

His eyes flickered towards me, a strange glint sparking within their dark depths.

His lips tugged into a smile, one painful smile that looked incredibly contagious.

The song playing in the background was the only thing I could hear at that point. That, and my heart thumping inside my chest.

I recognized the tune almost immediately. It was Shape of You, from Ed Sheeran.

Michael seemed to be hearing it, too. Something flashed before his eyes, his face lighting up. "Bree, I gotta tell you something."

I knit my eyebrows. "What?"

He turned around in his spot, and so did I, only to form two parallel lines facing each other.

He waited for a couple of seconds, listening to the song, as his gaze shifted to the ceiling where the speakers were placed.

Every day discovering something brand new,

I'm in love with the shape of you.

Michael's gaze fell on me once again. A smile was formed on the base of his lips. "Come on, be my baby... Come on."

I let out a small chuckle. "Didn't know you knew this song, Mister Blink-182 is my favourite band."

He laughed in response. "Not my fault this song stuck on my brain like worms... But, just so you know, I wasn't singing. I was making a demand."

"... What?"

"Yeah," he nodded, the smile growing onto his face, "Come on, Bree. Come on... Be my baby."

"Wh-what?" I breathed, confusion clouding over my mind. I could feel the small wrinkles appearing on my face as I frowned.

Michael was either being sarcastic, or just being sarcastic.

There was no way he was not joking.

"I'm serious, Bree," he nodded. "For once in my life, I'm actually being deadly serious about something. I want you to be my girlfriend."

I blinked, my cheeks basically burning the sides of my face. "Oh my God... I can't believe you're actually being serious, I mean - "

"Well, it's one hundred percent real. The honest, real Michael is asking you this. The Michael who has Wattpad is asking you this."

I laughed.

I could feel something warm spread within my insides. The butterflies flew inside me with thousands of miles per hour, but I didn't care anymore. "Dang it. How could I say no to the Michael who has Wattpad?"

He grinned. "Well, you can't. So, you're pretty much stuck with being my girlfriend for now."

"Sounds like a plan, Langwood," I smiled.

"Cool. Finally," Michael chuckled, placing his hand on top of mine, and leaned in towards me. He planted a small kiss onto my lips, one that still managed to wreck with my pulse. "Now that we got this amazing plan settled, let's go get some ice cream."

As we slowly got up from our seats and went to choose our ice cream flavours, I knew this was one moment I wouldn't forget soon.

The moment all the scenarios I'd ever played inside my head morphed into reality. When I was finally feeling something. Something else... New. Different.

It was genuinely the most strange, beautiful feeling a romantic daydreamer can experience.

And this time, I knew no one would ever take it away from me.

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Another emotional ending :3

I seriously love writing stuff like this... I think I have a problem lol. I'm one emotional potato 😂

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Thank you, and if you want to see how everything ends, stay tuned for the last chapter :')

See ya to the next (and probably last) update!

Cheers ✌