after making your way towards childe's car, you flashed him a distressed look. "what took you so long."

"childe got himself lost trying to find where the hall was," lumine answered for him. to be fairly honest, this didn't surprise you one bit. "of course he did..."

"i wouldn't say lost but rather being temporarily misplaced," childe responded with no shame.

both you and lumine deadpanned at him, before you shifted your attention to the blonde.

"i don't think we've ever met," you mentioned. lumine nodded at you, "i'm an old friend of childe's. you can call me lumine."

"nice to meet you lumine. i'm y/n," you extended your hand.

she shook it with a bright smile. "nice to meet you as well, y/n."

"can i have some attention too." the ginger rolled his eyes dramatically. "also, did you like my amazing entrance y/n?"

"sure, it was such an amazing idea to play mcr on blast while trying to convince my mom," you said to him sarcastically.

"i know right!"

lumine laughed, before patting childe's shoulder. "it's getting dark, i think ima head home now."

"i can drop you off," childe offered her, to which she refused. "it's fine, i can take the bus."

you decided to intercept. "let childe drop you off, it's safer."

"but i don't want to third wheel."

the three of you stood there for an awkward minute, which was soon interrupted by childe clearing his throat. "i'll drop you off."

as you allowed another awkward moment to pass, lumine eventually agreed. you all made your way inside his car.

he chose to drop lumine off first. the car ride was enjoyable, with you all talking to one another. lumine made fun of childe's past experiences while childe could only be embarrassed.

after some time, lumine's home had arrived. she opened the car door and walked out, "bye guys. see you some other time."

the two of you said your goodbyes to her while waving as she turned around and left.

the sky had gotten much darker now, nearly welcoming the night.

you took in a deep breath, one that you felt like you were holding in for ages. "what a weird day."

childe lightly chuckled, "you sound tired as hell."

"i am tired as hell."

"you still look good though," he proudly winked. you sighed. "shut up."

while setting the car gear to "drive," the male had a sudden idea, prompting a grin out of him. "hey wanna go for a ride?"

"i'm in a wedding dress and it's nearly 9pm, what do you think."

"i think yes," he answered with zero hesitation, earning a glare from you. "c'monn. it'll be fun."

after giving it a brief thought, you decided to go along with it. if he wanted it this badly. "alright sure."

his grin grew wider as he hit the accelerator, making the car go forth. you shook your head at him, but secretly found his child-like behavior kind of cute.

but those feelings washed off very quickly as you noticed the car going faster. you immediately turned to him, "slow the hell down."

"relax, i've done this a million times."

you narrowed your eyes. "you're being irresponsible, slow down." but he only chuckled at your worry, patting your shoulder. "look ahead, this is a one way road. and it's often empty so don't worry."

his words didn't comfort you in the slightest. after all, you didn't know how much of a good driver he was to trust him this much.

but regardless. you couldn't do anything to stop him so you decided to not bother trying. even if your heart was racing.

you noticed the streetlights moving past you faster and faster, it all felt like an incredibly strange dream.

bright colors kept flashing in your eyes as the car went storming through the road. in all honesty, it felt like the car was flying.

and before you knew it, the fear slowly began fading away and you started to enjoy it. while closing your eyes, you let yourself forget about everything and got absorbed into the moment.

as you placed your hand over your chest, you could feel your heartbeat relax a little. small laughs escaped your mouth as you realized how free you felt at this moment.

how happy you felt to be next to childe. and how much solace he brought to you by simply just existing. you truly did love him.

however, speeding at night was still irresponsible, so you faced him once more. "alright that's enough, slow down now."

childe nodded, he didn't want to push it either. he eventually eased off the accelerator and began slowing the car down. "wasn't that fun?" he glanced at you with an enthusiastic smile.

"is everything dangerous to you fun?"

"yes!"

you rolled your eyes at him as a small smile was tugging at your lips. "you're such a child."

the car went back to its normal pace and the stars were now sparkling brightly as they permeated the entire night sky. 

you looked out the window, leaning your head against it. "cigarettes after sex" had been playing on the car's speakers and it made it incredibly tempting for you to fall asleep.

neither you or childe spoke anymore, you were both lost in your own thoughts. you slowly began closing your eyes.

after a few minutes had passed, childe looked over at you and saw you supposedly sleeping.

he smiled while averting his gaze back to the road. he allowed a few more seconds to pass, before mumbling something very quietly. "i love you, y/n."

what he didn't know was that you were still awake.

now usually, you'd let this go because you didn't want to embarrass the poor guy since he thought you were asleep by now and wouldn't hear him.

except, you didn't care about him getting embarrassed at all. it was the sadistic part of you.

you opened your eyes as you slowly turned your head towards him. "what was that?"

the audible gasp that left childe's mouth forced you to burst out laughing as he almost slammed the car's brake from the sudden shock that just hit him.

"you're awake??" his entire face turned stark red and he could hardly focus on the road anymore.

"yeah. i am awake dumbass," you said in between your stifled laughs.

he had to quickly park the car at the nearest spot available. childe wiped his forehead even if there was no sweat, then faced you. "you scared the shit out of me."

you laughed even more, adding onto his flustered state. "wh- i almost crashed the car!"

"you were fine with speeding at night but are freaking out just by a little surprise?" you pointed out, raising a brow at him.

he deadpanned, his face still blooming red. "i am not freaking out."

"your entire face is red. you look so dumb," you teased him further.

"that's not funny, y/n. what you did was very dangerous."

"i thought you liked danger?"

the ginger simply couldn't believe you. he pouted while averting his gaze. "nevermind, forget it. i'll take you home now."

you smiled smugly, being completely satisfied by his reaction. however, you weren't going to let him go this easily.

"i love you too, by the way."

childe's eyes widened as he felt his heart skip a beat. "what."

"did you really think i'd actually forget that?" you jested. 

but you couldn't enjoy embarrassed childe for much longer once he composed himself again. the man shifted his gaze back to you as a cocky grin gradually made its way onto his face.

"i knew i'd get you to fall madly in love with me," he uttered with pride as he used his arms to support the back of his head.

you playfully rolled your eyes. "yeah whatever. can you drive me home now."

"yes of course."

the rest of the car ride was tranquil while the two of you allowed yourselves to enjoy the music in peace.

you had never been as happy as you were right now.

in fact, a few months ago, you wouldn't have ever even believed that your future self would fall for someone. especially someone like childe.

your past self would laugh at the mere thought. but now, you were more than glad to have met him. surely your life would've remained dull if you hadn't.

you internally thanked beidou for urging you to get that dating app.

and you thanked the universe for letting you meet childe.

because childe was the only one who made you feel this way. the only one who made you feel so unconfined. as if you had nothing else in the world to worry about.

you smiled whole heartedly at this thought.

childe truly was your perfect match.