William squinted his eyes from the glare of the epileptic lights. Being an ex-celebrity, he had seen his fair share of parties, both social and formal, but this was an odd one. Only half of the dining hall was cleared for a dancing space while the other half remained untouched, as though the residents had simply given up shifting the tables and chairs. Electronic music played quietly over the PA speakers while the lighting massively over-compensated for the sounds department. After all, the residents did not want to risk attracting every zombie within a hundred metre radius. Still, music was music. And it drove the people crazy, having not heard any for almost a year.

“So much for not being in the mood eh?”

He glanced sideways at the woman approaching him, and his jaw dropped. Marianne walked shyly, avoiding the stares in her direction. She was wearing a soft looking blouse that ended neatly just above her knees. Its shade of black contrasted perfectly with her fair skin and transitioned gradually to a light blue hue, matching the colour of her eyes. The dress clung tightly to her toned body, accentuating her figure.

“H- how do I look?” Marianne stuttered, looking timidly at William. There was a slight blush on her cheeks.

“Which Oscar award category are you running for, my lady?” William grinned naughtily.

“Hey, I dressed up for y- Uhm I mean, aren’t we supposed to dress up for parties?” Marianne pouted. “Why are you wearing your usual attire?”

“So that I don’t steal the spotlight from the absolutely beautiful belle of the ball.”

Marianne’s face flushed crimson this time. She fanned herself with her hands rapidly, pacing about to cool off. “Hey, need a hand?” William teased her, holding up a ball of water. “Don’t activate your powers now, lady.”

She flipped him off, still covering her face with another hand. The lights dimmed quickly and the music faded away almost instantaneously as Victor walked up to the makeshift stage to give his speech.

“Psst, where’s your sister?” William whispered.

“Hiding in her room, obviously. She’s too shy to come, so she helped me design this dress instead. Apparently, she’s a huge fan of Korean history and based it off some historical celebrities called ‘K-pop idols’ or something.”

“I didn’t know she was that talented.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Marianne mumbled to herself, fidgeting with the frills on her dress.

“Is- is that jealousy I hear in your voice?”

Marianne’s heart skipped a beat. She looked away silently, finding the concrete wall extremely interesting all of a sudden. William reached out a hand to say something, but retracted it quickly. No. There’s a better way to do this.

“- And we must not forget our brave superheroes, who put their lives on their line so that all of us can be standing here alive today.”

“Oh that’s our cue! C’mon!” William piped. He jumped up and levitated himself towards the stage. Water shot out from the bottles by his side, dispersing into droplets and floated down slowly as soft snow. The audience wowed and cheered as the hydrokinetic man landed onto the stage gracefully. William smiled widely and waved his hands as though there were cameras on him. Marianne walked awkwardly onto the stage in stark contrast to his sheer showmanship.

“Why’d you gotta set the bar so high? You know I can’t use my abilities here.” She grumbled. The crowd quietened down as William walked to the front of the stage.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Thank you, thank you. I’ll keep this short. I’ll speak on behalf of Masako as well, who was injured while fighting off our aggressors,” William said, projecting his voice across the hall. “Though this is the first time we’ve used our abilities to protect this place, it will not be our last. You can count on us to fight for your safety and in return, I only ask one thing. Lend us your support when that time comes, and we shall keep this place the safest place in the world together.”

He walked towards Victor, pulling Marianne along. “Have a great evening everyone, and don’t forget to lik- I mean, don’t forget to enjoy yourselves!”

Cheers and applause erupted as the enhanced gave a deep bow. The music picked up in volume, cueing the frenzy of bodies on the dance floor yet again.

“Hey, hold on tight.” William nudged Marianne.

“Wha- Oh my god AH!” Marianne squealed as William scooped her up in his arms and soared out of view through a window. Gasps of amazement quickly went out of earshot as the starry night sky greeted them. They landed on the empty roof soon enough, and William set her down gently. He quickly began looking around while Marianne stood gingerly, using the ledge to support herself.

“Mind giving me a longer heads up next time before you do that?” she huffed. “I’m not particularly fond of flying.”

“I… I’ll keep that in mind,” William mumbled distractedly, still looking around the roof. “Now that there’s no one here, we can speak freely.”

“Marianne, d- do you… have something you want to say to me?”

“Wha- What do you mean?” Marianne breathed, feeling her face flush yet again.

“It’s… erm… I’ve just been noticing stuff… Uh…” William stuttered, fidgeting nervously. “You’ve been… acting differently and… and I…”

“Marianne, do you like me?” he blurted out, his face flushing red this time. Marianne gasped audibly and backtracked as the temperature around her began rising. Oh god, how did he know? I never told anyone…

“Why… why does it matter?” she said quietly, looking away with a bitter look. “It’s not like I stood a chance anyway. You were married, and you met Vivian right after your wife died.”

“Marianne…” William moved closer to her. “Why would you say that-”

“Because my sister’s just better than me, okay?” Marianne cried out as William stepped back from her outburst. “She was always the prettier, the more talented one. And she’s always hanging around you too! Isn’t she the better choice?”

Tears welled up in her eyes. “So what if I do have feelings for you; what chance do I have? It’s not meant to be; I missed my shot!” She wiped her tears away forcefully. “I’ll be fine! I never got to keep what I want anyway-”

A muffled mmph escaped her throat as William interrupted her with a kiss. Marianne’s mind went blank, her heart feeling as though it would jump out of her chest at any moment. She found her arms wrapping around him instinctively as her lips responded with equally fiery passion. Marianne closed her eyes, never wanting to let go of him. Please don’t let this be just another dream…

William pulled his mouth away gently but kept his arms around her. “I… I like you too, Marianne. Ever since I moved on, it was always you that I wanted.” His voice was cracking with emotion, but it sounded exceptionally gentle to her.

“And after all those times we spent together; after all you have done for me… Who else would I want to be with?”

Marianne stared at him silently, still trembling in disbelief. She gasped softly as he slowly pulled her closer.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” William whispered softly, kissing her on her forehead. “Will you… be my life partner?”

The love-struck girl burst into tears as she buried her face in his neck, nodding vigorously. “I’m so happy…” she choked, embracing her requited crush. This isn’t a dream… This really isn’t a dream…

The couple locked lips once again, swaying slowly in the pale moonlight.

~~~ End of Season 2 ~~~