n

n

n

"Better than fine,

" Alyssa told him with a smile. Her eyes fell to his lips, and she found herself leaning forward to gently kiss him again.

nShe felt her heart flutter when she felt him kiss her back. That was all she wanted to feel.

n

"I want to do something special with you,

" Elias suddenly said as he pulled back from her.

n

"What's that?

" Alyssa asked him as she tilted her head. She was a mixture of excited and nervous to find out.

n

"Go on a date,

" Elias replied. His eyes seemed to search hers, waiting for her reaction.

nAlyssa's eyes widened. She definitely wanted to go on a date with him.

nSpending any time with him was fun, and now they got to add a little romance into the mix.

nShe couldn't think of anything better, and she wished they could go now.

n

"I'd love that,

" she told him.

"Where would we go?

"

nElias thought for a second before a wicked smile crossed his lips.

n

"It's a surprise,

" he replied as he crossed his arms. He wasn't going to budge at all either.

n

"Can I have a hint?

" Alyssa asked with a hopeful look.

nShe only knew so many things they could do around town, so maybe she could guess based off of a hint.

nElias shook his head.

n

"That'll ruin the surprise,

" he replied.

nAlyssa playfully huffed. She wished that she could at least have a clue, but she would let him have his surprise. She bet it would be a great one.

n

"You're lucky I actually like surprises,

" she told him.

nAs impatient as she could get, she still liked the concept of surprises, even if she didn't get good ones a lot.

nShe usually got bad ones, and she didn't care at all for those. If something awful was going to happen, she would rather have some sort of warning.

n

"You'll love mine,

" Elias replied with a confident smile.

"You won't expect it at all.

"

nIt sounded like he was going to show her incredible things and give her amazing experiences.

nHe was exactly the type of person that she wanted to be with, and she couldn't wait to have him wow her. He already had plenty of times.

n

"I can't wait,

" she said. She wondered if it would be exciting or romantic. Maybe it would be both.

nShe honestly didn't know what to expect from him date-wise, but she knew that he knew her enough to plan something extraordinary.

n

"Friday?

" Elias asked her.

n

"Perfect,

" she replied. It would be a perfect way to end her week. She was so glad that they were close again. It felt like the world was back in rotation.

nThings were how they were supposed to be. For a moment there, she was worried that things would never get back to normal. She had liked their form of normal.

nElias pressed a kiss against her forehead.

n

"I promise that I'll make you the happiest girl on the planet,

" he told her.

nAlyssa wished he knew how happy he already made her. He somehow made her heart feel happy, and that didn't even make any sense to her. It just felt that way, and she treasured that feeling.

n

"You already have,

" she assured him. He didn't have to change to make her happy because he already made her feel warm through and through with how sweet and charming he was now.

n

"Well, since we skipped out, we have some time to kill. Tea?

" he suggested as he held his arm out to her.

nAlyssa felt a light blush cross her cheeks as she nodded. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to skip class. She could catch herself up by reading the textbook, and she taught herself most of the time anyway.

nMissing one class to reconnect with Elias wouldn't be the end of the world. Zoe skipped all the time and was fine.

n

"Sounds good,

" she said as she took his arm. She had class in a few hours, and she almost wanted to skip that one too.

nHowever, she knew that she couldn't put her schoolwork aside for anyone. She still needed to focus.

"A quick one.

"

n

"A quick one,

" Elias promised as he smiled at her. He then led her down the hallway toward the exit of the building. He pressed a kiss to her temple, and she felt warm all over.

nAlyssa didn't know what their future together would look like, but she liked their present. She liked how they were now, and she hoped that they continued to bloom.

nThere was so much left to learn, so much left to experience, and she wanted to do it all with him and no one else.

n

n**************

nThe rest of the week, the only thing that Alyssa could think about was the date that Elias promised to take her on.

nShe tried not to bring it up, but it was so hard to refrain from doing so because she looked forward to it so much.

nWhen she did conjure up the courage to mention it, Elias refused to give her any hints as to when and what the date would be. It drove her crazy.

nThen, she finally received a text around noon on Friday. She paused near the fountain on campus, cutting into her lunch break, but she didn't care.

nElias; Free around 5?

nAlyssa stared at the text for a few moments, feeling her heart race when she realized that this was finally it.

nThe date was happening tonight. He didn't give her much notice, but she knew that he wanted it to be a complete surprise.

nAlyssa; Yes, where are we going?

nAlyssa sent the text, seeing the message bubbles pop up almost immediately. She waited impatiently for him to text back.

nWhen he did, she brought the phone screen up even closer to her face to read what he said.

nElias; It's a surprise. Pick you up in the dorm parking lot at 5

nA grumble left Alyssa as she texted her confirmation back. She wondered what he was up to. It had to be something cool since it took him so long to plan it.

nNow, she had to get through the rest of her day before finally being freed at 4:00. That would give her an hour to get ready for their date.

n