Chapter 43: The Ice Cream

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'Cause a girl like you is impossible to find
Tonight will be the night
That I will fall for you over again
Don't make me change my mind

"Everyone, get to place!"

My friends scrambled around to get to their positions. Zoe, Jade, Logan, and Ivan held up the one-fourth illustration boards that spelled 'PROM?' while I hugged the illustration board with my terrible drawing of Zachary and I to my chest, waiting for him to arrive.

Ryder had just texted me that they were on the way to the roof top. I blew out a gust of air as I stared at the door expectantly, my heart beating erratically.

I had no idea why I was so nervous, it wasn't like he would say no. Well, we weren't official because he said he wanted to take things slow, but I was sure we'd go to prom together whether I asked him or not.

"Where are they?" Ivan asked. "My arms are getting tired."

Just as he complained, the door of the rooftop burst open, revealing an apologetic looking Ryder.

"We were on the way here when his phone rang," he explained in guilty tone even though he did nothing wrong. "Duty calls."

"So he just ditched his supposed punishment for being tardy to class?" Jade inquired, offended that Zachary disregarded the rules.

Ryder told Zachary that Mr. Florence asked the both of them to clean the roof because of their tardiness, which actually happened often.

"Duh, it's Zach we're talking about." Zoe shook her head in disappointment, dropping her board. "What do you mean by 'duty calls' though?"

Ryder, Logan, Ivan, and I shared looks. Lately, Zachary had been busy with his 'hitman' job. He had been coming to school all beaten up and often had no time to hang out with any of us, especially me, after school. I barely even see him nowadays, which was actually what propelled me to do this stupid cliché thing to him at the first place.

They tried to evade Zoe's question while I distanced myself from them, checking my phone. I sighed when I saw there were no messages from him. When he said that the reason why he was so beat up the night he confessed to me was because a relative of someone he beat up found him and called for backup to kick his ass, I asked him if he could text me before and after doing the deed just so I'd know he was safe.

At first he would, but after a while, he stopped.

And I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to act like a clingy girlfriend since I wasn't even his girlfriend.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Ryder asked, pulling me out of my train of thoughts.

"Nothing." I crumpled my drawing and surveyed rooftop. The place was cleared out with only Ryder and I left, as if no one was ever here.

He shot me a pointed look.

"I'm fine, Ryder," I waved off. "Don't worry about me."

"You know I can't do that," he tutted, raising an eyebrow at me. "Now, come on, spill the tea, sis."

I burst out laughing at how ridiculous he sounded. "No."

He smirked at me, nodding. "Yes."

As I was calming myself down, he sat on the floor, patting the space beside him. I followed after his suit, tinkering with the ball of paper.

"You're worried about him, aren't you?" he drawled, grabbing the paper from me and playing with it himself.

My eyes followed the ball as he tossed it up and down. "That sounds so damn cheesy, but yes. I think he's been pushing himself too hard, getting too beat up. It's not right."

"I know. I've known that for long time." Ryder sighed as he continued to fiddle with my trash. "I tried to tell him to stop before, but he won't listen to me. Said he needed it for college, but I bet if he talked to his dad, he won't need to do that."

I scoffed. "The guy has big daddy issues, of course he won't listen when his dad is involved."

He stopped tossing the crumpled art and turned to me. "He would if it came from you."

I opened my mouth to retort, but he wagged his finger in front of me. "Before you protest, know that your opinion really matters to him. He's low-key whipped for you, sweetheart, anyone can see that. He would never admit it, but whatever you say, he will follow."

He stood up and offered me a hand, which I took. "I just want the best for him, and I'm sure you do, too. Talk to him, will you?"

I nodded slowly even though I wasn't sure how I'd do it. How could I talk to him about someone he hates without receiving backlash?

Ryder and I walked back downstairs in silence until Zoe and Jade saw me. They ran towards me, excitement plastered on their faces.

"Look, we know you're disappointed he's not here," Jade began before nudging Zoe with her elbow.

"So how about we go shopping for a dress instead? Something to lift your mood?" Zoe suggested, waggling her eyebrows.

A grin slowly made its way to my face. "Let's go shopping!"

Ryder shook his head at us with a smile as we squealed. He ruffled my hair and told me to have fun before walking away from us. I pouted at the mess he made, but when Zoe started squealing again, I squealed along with her.

When we arrived at the mall, Zoe wrapped her arms around Jade and I. As she laughed about something that happened at school while Jade reprimanded her about how she should focus more, I smiled.

"I missed you guys." I blurted out, cutting off their bicker.

They stopped walking, their expressions softening. Suddenly, Zoe pulled us in a hug in the middle of the mall, but we didn't care—Jade and I hugged her back.

"I hope that even though we have our separate love lives, we'll still be as close as we are now." Zoe sniffed.

I nodded in agreement. "I can't imagine us not being close, we're like a trio of trouble."

"Bros before hoes forever!" Jade exclaimed loudly, causing Zoe and I to burst out laughing.

"You—you just said hoe." Zoe chortled in disbelief.

"I know," she said proudly. "And it felt good."

We cracked up once again and continued our new adventure if finding our dresses as we chanted, "Bros before hoes!"

*~*~*~*~*

After I hung my dress in my closet, I let myself fall on my bed, sighing when I felt the softness I had been craving beneath me.

It took us four hours of thorough, hardcore searching to find our dresses. Zoe and I even had a mental breakdown when we though we wouldn't find anything. Fortunately, when we were on the verge of giving up, Jade pushed through and found us our dresses.

A kaleidoscope of loud colors like dark magenta, purple, and a hint of black brought my dress alive. It had a heart neckline that emphasized my chest, especially since it was tight around my torso. The latter part of the dress flowed just right after my waist, and I loved how it looked like a collateral mess down there. It was ruffled to the edges, as if an explosion happened.

I whipped out my phone to look at the picture Zoe took of me when I was trying mine on, and smiled to see how well my dress complemented my personality.

Just as I was looking through my photos, I received a text from Zachary.

I'm omw home.

I texted him back a 'take care' before turning to my side and sighing, putting my phone down. I immediately drifted off to dreamland once I closed my eyes.

I was half-asleep when I felt my bed sink further, an arm snaking around my waist and a head burying itself at the crook of my neck. I didn't need to open my eyes to know that it was Zachary.

My heart did somersaults when I realized what he meant about being on his way home.

"Hey, stranger," I smiled softly, turning around to see him. He was obviously worn out, but at least he didn't look that beaten up. He shot me a tired smile and pulled me closer, placing a kiss on my forehead. "What are you doing here and who let you in?"

"Karl did. Said your parents weren't going home tonight." He explained before cocking an eyebrow. "Why? You don't want me here?"

"What if I told you I don't?" I challenged, but my actions said otherwise. I was grinning cheekily at him, happy that he was home.

He smirked. "I'd kiss you to convince you otherwise."

"Well then, I don't want you here." I teased, but he didn't seem like he was joking.

His eyes darkened as they flickered from my eyes to my lips. "Then you leave me no choice."

He closed the distance between us, kissing me as if we hadn't seen each other for a long time. My lips fell open at the brush of his tongue as he kissed me passionately, his warmth engulfing me in a tight embrace. He hovered over me while I knotted my fingers in his hair, pulling it slightly when he deepened the kiss. I whispered his name when his lips traveled down to my jaw then to my neck, causing his grip on my waist tighten.

He went back to my face to give me a kiss on my lips before smirking at my breathless self. "Have I convinced you?"

I gawked at him, unable to utter a word. I don't think he ever kissed me like that—full of yearning and eagerness.

"Where did that come from?" I asked as he fell back to his side of my bed.

He wrapped an arm around me and snuggled his head at the crook of my neck. "I just missed you," he murmured, his breath tickling my neck.

I twisted my head slightly to catch a glimpse of him. His eyes was closed and he was breathing steadily, looking very exhausted. I checked my clock to see it was 11 p.m.

Even though I wanted to get mad at him and tell him he didn't text me before doing something dangerous anymore, I stayed quiet. I continuously ran a hand through his hair and let him rest.

After about thirty minutes, his eyes fluttered open. I softened when he smiled at me sleepily, his blue eyes solely trained on me.

"You should go head back to your place," I told him. "It's getting late."

He sighed and sat up. "Fine."

As he walked to my door, I made myself comfortable on my bed, snuggling in my comforter.

"Aren't you going to walk me out?"

"Nope." I said, nuzzling my head on my pillow. "You know your way out anyway."

"You're not going to kiss me goodnight before I go?" he asked again.

I opened my eyes to roll them at him. I lazily threw him a flying kiss. "There. You can go now. I'm sleepy."

"Walk me to the front door, blondie," he whined. "That's what you always do anyway."

"You used to text me before doing your hitman shit too, but who's counting?" I sassed, still not moving a muscle.

I thought for sure he would leave after that, yet I didn't hear any sound of the door opening. I opened my eyes to see he was already in front of me and before I could say anything, he pulled the comforter away from my body and yanked me up, throwing me over his shoulder.

"Why are you being so clingy?" I growled, squirming on his back. Even so, he continued walking out of my room with me on him.

He put me down once we reached the staircase. I scrunched my eyebrows at him, crossing my arms. He kept glancing at something behind me, but I continued to glare at him.

"What do you think you're—"

Letting out a sigh, he placed his hands on my shoulders, twisting me around and cutting me off. It took me a while to process the whole scenario in front of me but once I did, I melted.

Sunflower petals were sprinkled on the staircase and on the floor after it, as well as lit candles that led to the front door. I glanced back at Zachary and narrowed my eyes at him, in which he replied with a sheepish shrug. I walked downstairs and slowly passed by the candles.

"Why are you walking so slow?" he asked.

"Because I might knock the candles over and accidentally burn the house down," I retorted. "Not my fault you made the pathway so narrow."

"Here I am trying to make a grand gesture for you and you just keep complaining," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head me.

I smiled at him cheekily. "You love me anyway."

"Unfortunately," he sighed as he opened the door for me.

My eyes widened when I saw Ryder standing in the middle of my front yard, holding up a tub of ice cream that had WILL spray-painted on the bottom.

Ryder walked to the side and revealed Logan, who was also holding up a tub of ice cream but now it had YOU spray-painted on it instead.

I realized what was happening when he stepped aside and Ivan came to view, a spoon in his mouth as he struggled to close the ice cream tub. Once he managed to do it, he showed me the BE on the bottom.

"You ate the ice cream?" Zachary exclaimed, shooting Ivan a look of disbelief.

"What? There are like five ice creams. I'm sure she won't mind if I get a little piece." Ivan defended himself before stepping aside, now revealing Zoe.

She was holding up the MY lazily. "Let's get this over with, I'm sleepy."

I shook my head at her but when she moved over and revealed Jade with the sign GIRLFRIEND, my jaw dropped. I thought he was only going to ask me to prom, not be his girlfriend!

WILL YOU BE MY GIRLFRIEND? the ice cream tubs spelled altogether.

Suddenly, Zachary walked up to the middle, holding a bouquet of sunflowers in one hand and an enormous canvas of a painting of us in the other. In the painting, I was wearing the dress I bought for prom (I rose my eyebrow at Zoe, who giggled at me) and he was wearing a suit and a tie that matched the color of my dress, and we were dancing under the moonlight, the stars shining evidently even though we could barely see them in real life. He didn't really draw our faces, more of only our silhouettes and my hair that looked extraordinarily golden.

"I know I told you we were going to take things slow," he began, shifting his weight around uncomfortably, his eyes glued to the ground. Finally, he glanced up, his determined eyes captivating me. "But I realized how dumb that sounded because what are we waiting for? You taught me that life's too short for us to be waiting around for something to happen, so I'm done waiting."

"If I said no, will I still get to keep the ice cream?" I teased, making him roll his eyes at me.

"If you say no, then I won't go to prom with you," he retorted. He put the painting down and rested it on his leg before pulling a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket. He smoothened it out and showed me the terrible drawing I made. "I know you were going to ask me earlier. Sorry I wasn't able to show up."

I immediately shot Ryder a glare for exposing me, in which he replied with a guilty shrug.

"Okay, fine, since you're asking nicely," I acted as if I was just forced. Nevertheless, he grinned, making me smile as well. "I'll be your girlfriend."

I took the sunflowers from him and carefully laid the painting on the ground, pulling him into a kiss with his collar. He gently cupped my face, his lips spreading into a smile against mine. I put my hand on his chest, feeling the way his heart thumped erratically even though he didn't show it.

"Didn't know you can be cheesy, Mr. Bad Boy." I teased when I pulled away, admiring his artwork.

He crinkled his nose. "Don't call me that."

"What?" I chuckled, waggling my eyebrows. "You told me yourself you're a bad boy, I'm just following you."

"If you guys are done claiming each other like werewolves," Zoe butted in, yawning. She dropped her ice cream tub on Logan's, who struggled to balance both. "I'm leaving. Congratulations, you two. And goodnight."

Everyone else casted her a weird glance as she walked to her house.

"Hey, Zoe, wait for me!" Jade called out before smiling at all of us. She put her tub on top of Zoe's, which was on top of Logan's. "I gotta go too, Wyatt's going to fetch me in Zoe's house and will bring me home. I told my parents I was just doing a group project, so yeah, bye! Congratulations!"

She jogged towards Zoe and looked breathless when she finally caught up. We watched as they entered Zoe's house before looking at each other.

"Don't you guys have somewhere to be?" Zachary asked, eyeing his friends.

Logan's head popped out of the mountain of ice cream tubs he was holding. "Nope."

"Yeah, we thought we can stay here and eat ice cream with the newly made couple." Ivan said, already eating the ice cream meant for me.

"Oooh, good idea," Ryder agreed as he marched to my front door. "Let's go inside, it's getting a bit chilly."

The three of them went inside my house, leaving only Zachary and I outside. He shook his head at his friends. "Those dumbasses really can't take a hint, can they?"

"Well then, you're also a dumbass because you can't take the hint that I'm still mad at you," I tutted. "You're lucky you took my breath away earlier, otherwise, I would have sent you out."

He gave me a sheepish smile, taking a step towards me. "I can take your breath away again and you can forget about being mad at me."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Your lips are going nowhere near mine with the boys around."

With that, he ran inside my house and yelled at the three boys to get out. Logan, Ivan, and Ryder trudged out of my house, sulking.

"Don't make him kick us out," Ivan whined, hugging my arm and shaking it like a child. "We wanna hang."

Ryder pouted in agreement. "Can't we eat ice cream with you guys?"

"Just because you guys are a couple doesn't mean Zach keeps you all to himself," Logan huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the aforementioned boy, who was looking smug. "That's unfair."

I laughed, pulling the three of them down to my level so I could put my arms over them. "I promise I'll hang out with you guys tomorrow. You guys can have me for the whole day."

They cheered and simultaneously flipped Zachary off.

He rolled his eyes at them. "Whatever. Just take your filthy hands off my girlfriend and leave."

Zachary pulled me towards him and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, walking the both of us back to my house. They were still whining at us even when he closed the door, making me snicker at them.

I plopped down on the couch after putting the sunflowers in a vase. I brought a tub of cookie dough ice cream with me and began devouring it as Zachary cleaned up after the petals and candles. I watched as he blew out the candles one by one, carrying them all in his arms, which were covered with different colored bruises, after causing his muscles to flex slightly. Once again, even though he wasn't doing anything special, I wondered if I saved the world in my past life for me to be generously awarded with someone as gorgeous as him in this life.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked once he was done cleaning up, sitting beside closely beside me. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders as I leaned on his chest, looking up at him so I could continue admiring his face.

"'Cause you're hot," I blurted out, making him to smirk. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know you hear that a lot, but I hate that it's true."

"I do hear that a lot," he confirmed smugly, causing

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