Three weeks had passed since Alfred had moved in to live with the Powell duo. Alfred had gotten used to his life there. On the weekdays, he’d go to school, which he told Melanie and Jacob that his parents had a payment plan set up so that even without them being there, he’d still go to school.

It wasn’t a lie, there was a payment plan, but it wasn’t exactly in effect yet as his parents were still alive.

After school, he’d go to the convenience store and sit in the back room while working on his studying and homework, and after he’d finished, he’d help Jacob unofficially by manning the cash register when both Melanie and he needed to do something else. He wasn’t getting paid, Alfred had insisted on no payment, and was doing it just to help out.

Then, after Melanie’s shift ended, Alfred and her would walk to the house and hang out until Jacob came home after closing the store, then they’d have dinner. Dinner was always exquisite, homemade recipes of so many different kinds of food from Jacob’s ancestors from so many different generations.

After dinner, the three would either go out to the back yard where there was a fire pit, start a bonfire and sit around it and talk, or if the bugs were bad or the temperature was too low, they’d sit in the living room and watch Netflix.

Jacob introduced Alfred to White Collar, a New York City FBI show, which Alfred quickly became invested in. He enjoyed the mysteries of the storyline and the unexpected twists in the plot always excited him.

“I still can’t believe Neil would try to steal that file. I mean, I get that he needs the info to find Kate, but that was risky as hell.” Alfred said to Melanie as they headed to her room after watching a few episodes of White Collar.

“Right? I know he loves Kate and just won’t move on, but that was pretty fucking stupid. He should’ve seen that Burkheart would find out.” Melanie said as they entered the room.

The sleeping situation had gotten less awkward as the days went on, and now Alfred didn’t even get nervous when he and Melanie would lay next to each other. It did get to him a bit when she’d fall asleep hugging his arm, as it made his heart race slightly every time she touched him.

Melanie went into the bathroom to change as Alfred grabbed his clothes so he could change next. There was a long silence, then Melanie spoke up.

“You know, now that I think about it, our situation is similar to a married couple. We live together, eat together, talk together, and sleep in the same bed.” She said, though she was in the bathroom, Alfred could hear her mischievous smile in her voice. Though he knew she was teasing him, he still turned red from the statement.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Well… I suppose you’re right. It’s k-kinda similar to… you know, that.” He stammered out as he dropped his pajama pants and fumbled to pick them up.

Melanie came out of the bathroom in her usual fuzzy blue pajamas and black slippers. “Every time I talk like this, you get so red and start tripping over your words.” She commented.

She walked up to Alfred and put a hand on his shoulder. “Do you get like this cause you’ve got a crush on me?”

“So direct! How am I supposed to answer that?! What am I supposed to do? This has to be some kind of test!” Alfred thought, screaming in his mind, then quietly answered with his mouth.

“Well… I mean… I don’t n-not like you. You’re p-pretty cool.” He said slowly, still stammering. Alfred could feel sweat dripping down his face. He sat down on the bed to keep his legs from giving out.

Melanie looked him dead in the eyes, sat down next to him, then said, “That’s not what I asked. I asked if you have a crush on me. And don’t bother lying, I’ve lived with you long enough to tell when you’re lying, like when you said you don’t have an opinion about my new perfume. I know you wanted to say you like it.”

That made Alfred turn as red as a beet and look down at his feet. “I… well… n-now, this isn’t fair. But, you know, y-yeah… yeah, I do have a crush on you.” He said quietly, finally recognizing and accepting the feelings he had when he was near Melanie. When he admitted it, it felt like his shoulders got a little lighter than before.

Melanie smiled and turned slightly red in the face. “Well, that’s nice to know. You wouldn’t believe how happy I am that you said that, especially since I was only guessing.”

That made Alfred suck in his breath. “You tricked me,” he said. “You tricked me into telling you that. That was cheap.”

Melanie laughed and leaned her head on his shoulder. She sat quietly for a moment, and Alfred could hear his heart thudding like a drum in his chest. Bang bang… bang bang… bang bang…

Melanie sighed quietly, then whispered in Alfred’s ear, “I think you’re pretty lucky, cause I might just share your feelings.” The whisper and brush of her breath sent shivers down Alfred’s spine.

“Wh-what? You… y-you mean that…” Alfred stuttered. His brain had gone completely blank as he tried and failed to process anything to say or do.

“Of course I mean that, silly. You like me, and I like you.” Melanie said, wrapping Alfred in her arms.

Alfred paused for a long moment. “So… what happens now?” There was another kind silence as Melanie kept him wrapped in her embrace.

“Well,” she said, “I suppose one of us will have to ask the question. So, how about I ask? Alfred, would you want to date someone who is always doing silly things and almost never takes anything serious, such as myself?”

Alfred shook his head. “Don’t say that. You’re wonderful, your constant humor is a form of art to me, and your funny personality is a breath of fresh air for when things get overly tense for me.”

Melanie looked down at the floor and her face went even more red. “Ah, thank you. And you, Alfred, are sweet, honest about everything when you aren’t too embarrassed to say it, and always know so much about interesting stuff.”

Now they both were looking at the floor, faces red as tomatoes. Then Melanie’s grab tightened slightly on Alfred’s shoulder, then she turned to him and looked at him with a determination shining in her eyes.

“I’ve been wanting to do this since the first day I met you.” She said, then leaned closer. And with a gentle smile, Melanie pushed herself against Alfred and kissed him.