(It’s still Lily’s POV)

“Where are we going?” I ask as we get on our bikes from a cycle hub a block away from our school.

“Lola’s cakes, of course!” he says, a smile growing on his face.

“...You’re obsessed with their desserts,” I state as we start cycling.

“I mean… I haven’t been there in a week and it’s not like I go there as frequently as before,” he points out, the wind blowing his hair up.

“Fair point,” I reply, tucking my flying hair behind my ear. “Then what are we gonna do after that?”

“...And what do you think my answer will be?” he questions, his eyebrows raised.

“...It would definitely be no, but I thought you’d be a bit generous since you’re taking me somewhere unknown to me,” I answer as we peddle a bit faster.

“There’s no way-” he stops when he watches the wind blow my hair upwards, blocking my vision. He lets out a belly laugh, trying to keep his bike steady as he holds his stomach. I swing my hair to my back, feeling my cheeks flush red. At least he’s in a good mood.

“Back to what I was saying,” he says, trying to hold his laughter with a dampened smile. “There’s no way I’m ruining the surprise,” Mason states with a mischievous grin. Yeah… he’s definitely thinking of something silly… or something fun.

“Wait… a surprise? I thought it was like a hangout.”

“...A hangout? I thought… Never mind. Just think of this as a gift from me to you. Maybe it’ll give you inspiration for your song.”

My song huh… Since when did ‘our’ disappear from the mix? I shove the thought in my head and my eyes lock with Mason, a confused look on his face. He’s… cute.

“And remember, I’m paying 10% of what we spend while you’re paying 90% of the rest,” he mentions as he speeds off, leaving me in the dust.

“Hey! That’s not what you said earlier! Wait!” I call after him, a smile forming on my face. I… can’t wait to see the surprise. Or like he said it, a gift from him to me.

*Mason’s POV*

We walk into Lola’s Cakes, the yeasty aroma hitting me as I look around the bakery, just as I did the first time I was here.

I was seven around the time and it was the first time more than one person had celebrated my birthday with me. The gifts given to me didn’t matter and I still remember how I was in disbelief the whole day, thinking it was all a long dream that would end. Fortunately, it wasn’t.

My hands trace the white counter that reminds me of a white dove as I take in the view of the familiar environment, a place where I share happy memories with the ones I care about. With the people I love.

“Welcome to- oh! It’s you two,” the owner, Miss Brittany, says as Lily comes to a stop next to me, her gaze on Miss Brittany.

“Yep! How are you doing?” I ask, placing my hand on the counter.

“Other than the fact that my sister is visiting our parents without me, I’ve been doing great!” she answers, a sweet smile growing on her face. Her smile reminds me of Bethany, my caretaker, probably because they’re twins. They have the same hairstyle, sound really alike, same brown eyes and even have the same number of wrinkles, but I can thankfully tell who is who.

“Would you like the usual?” she questions, her gaze on the menu placed neatly on the counter. My eyes meet Lily’s and we both reply with a nod, Miss Brittany’s smile growing.

“You two can go take a seat. I will have someone attend to you since I should probably be heading to check on the bakers,” she states as she leaves, her black ponytail swinging back and forth. “And Lily, try not to skip classes again with Mason. He’s been skipping more frequently but I hope he’ll come to his senses. See you two!”

I roll my eyes, a smile unknowingly growing on my face as Lily laughs, her smile reaching her eyes. Not gonna lie… she’s fucking gorgeous.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

I take her hand and lead her to ‘our table’ in the far corner of the store, somewhere we’ve always sat at ever since we started visiting this place as kids. Settling down, I can’t help but take a few glances at her, my heart racing. I wouldn’t have thought in a million years that I would’ve been able to persuade Lily to be here but here we are, and I can’t fucking believe I did that with a song. And gosh was she so cute when she was dancing and singing with me. Maybe I should’ve taken a picture for her to remember it. She seldom takes pictures.

After a few minutes of basically… staring at everything but at Lily, our order arrives. I pass her her black cherry ice cream as she scrolls through her phone, her gaze not leaving it. ‘What is she so distracted by?’ is the only thing I wonder as my finger traces the rim of my plate, ignoring the well-made donut on it. My head on my palm, I watch her eyebrows furrow and a frown appear on her face. She pouts a bit and my gaze moves to her lips as I silently chuckle to myself. She’s cute. Incredibly cute.

I continue to stare at her lips, a few thoughts springing to mind. If I were to… kiss Lily, will she push me away? And if she allows me to and we kiss, what will she taste like? Black cherry ice cream? Honey? Pie? Or will her lips be soft and make me feel like I’m on cloud nine? At the end of the day, they were just questions I will never get an answer to. Despite knowing that, since when… were they so distracting?

Suddenly, her eyes meet mine, causing me to flush red and sit up straight, staring at my chocolate donut in embarrassment. What if she… caught me staring at her lips? I glance at Lily, looking away when I notice she still has her eyes on me, my heart pounding loudly in my chest. Okay… I guess it’s about time I immigrated to the dark abyss of no return! Good thing I didn’t book a ticket to Lala land where everything is nothing but a dream filled with unicorns and sunshine! I honestly would have been fucked up hard if I had.

“...I have no idea what to say about…” Lily states pointing to my red face, “...that.”

I clear my throat, motioning to her phone, “Either way, what are you looking at on your phone?”

“...Why were you blushing?”

“And what are you looking at on your phone?”

“...You’re clearly ignoring my question,” she points out, dropping her phone on the table.

I chuckle, folding my arms, “And you’re ignoring my question.”

Her eyebrows raise at my words and she rolls her eyes as she looks me dead in the eye. “Fine. I was looking at our song and it reminded me of you and… yeah.”

I can’t help but slouch in my chair, my gaze moving to her distant figure. Maybe I’m the problem. I promised her that I’ll help her write the song but… will she hate working with me? I never mentioned anything about the song because I thought she hated me with how she kept ignoring me… or was I just reading her wrongly? I let out a tired sigh, resting my head on my arms and muttering the words I want to say deep down, right now. “But I do want to help.”

“What?” Lily asks, a confused look on her face.

“I still want to help write the song. I might act like a piece of shit sometimes but I’m not gonna break my promise to my best friend,” I state. “Even though you may hate me, I still want to be your friend and fulfill my promise. Okay… fulfill is a strong word. It’s more like… I want to help finish the song and have fun with you during the process.”

She paused for a moment and dropped her phone on the table, biting her nails as I waited, my gaze moving to her fingers. When will she stop that terrible habit of hers? I reach from across the table and grab her hand, my sudden action causing her to flinch as I inspect it to see if she’s hurt. Luckily, she isn’t. When I look up, her gaze meets mine, butterflies erupting in my stomach. Okay… my heart might explode… and I’d die a happy death as a single teenager.

She bites her lips for a second before holding my hand that’s holding hers, “Do you want me to… tell you the truth?” Lily asks hesitantly and I nod, holding her gaze. “I… do and I’m not in the mood to make a speech right now but… I still do want to make our song with you,” Lily says, her tone sincere.

A smile grows on my face as I let go of her hand and flop down on my seat. “...Since you’ve said that, maybe we can work on the song in the future like we used to.”

She chuckles and I feel my smile grow as I continue to eat my donut a few seconds later, feeling a wave of relief. I guess overthinking and saying a whole ass monologue was unnecessary. But at least she’s eating now. Wait… now that I think about it, she didn’t correct me when I called her my best friend. Just knowing that makes me so happy that I could… I could give that bitch Brian a big bear hug! He’d probably think I’d gone crazy if I did that but who cares? At least I’m still friends with Lily.

“By the way, you still haven’t answered my question I asked earlier,” she says, causing me to almost choke on my donut. I… definitely forgot about that.

“Well… I was thinking about… you and how we’ve kinda grown apart because of me,” I explain as I nervously rub the back of my neck, my focus on my donut. “I was just flustered when you looked my way so… yeah.”

“…You don’t really have to overthink that. But… if you think we’ve grown apart, then you’re just overthinking it,” she says, stirring her ice cream.

I can’t help but smile brightly at her words, pointing at the time on her phone, “Should we… leave now?”

She nods and we gobble down our desserts. Before leaving, I remember to do my end of the deal and pay 90% of the bill. We say our goodbyes to Miss Brittany and jump on our bikes, cycling to the first place I have in mind. The winds blowing our hair, I look over at Lily, a soft smile planted on her face. How does she make my heart flutter without even trying?

I speed up, a feeling of happiness surging through me. I… really hope she enjoys the time we’re spending together. Honestly, with that smile on her face, I can definitely tell she doesn’t hate it and I’m glad. I’m fucking glad she’s happy and it somehow… makes me happy. If only these few minutes could last a little longer.