Mischievous Function

Afterglow

Her eyes flew open.

Her breath left her lungs.

The clipboard slipped through her fingers and clattered to the ground.

And she was suddenly, wholeheartedly, unmistakably, the happiest girl in the world.

She melted into his warm hands that gently caressed the sides of her face. Chills ran up her spine as she felt him lean even closer to her. Her eyes slowly and peacefully closed shut as her hands drifted up to the back of his head and softly ran through his hair, and she couldn't help the beaming wide smile that persisted even through the kiss—which, although it had certainly surprised her initially, was now decidedly the most unforgettable moment of her life. Sparks zipped through her veins and fireworks went off in her mind as she felt her heart about to burst right out of her chest. Feeling like she could fly didn't cut it—if it wasn't for Fan's warm embrace holding her tightly to him, she swore that she'd shoot up into the air and streak across the night sky, out of control, even into space and beyond.

The kiss lasted for eternity. And yet, it was over all too soon.

Once their lungs could take no more and begged for sweet oxygen, they reluctantly pulled away from each other, still feeling the other's sweeter taste on their lips and smiling almost impossibly widely at each other. Neither of them wanted to say a word or even move, for fear that this precious moment would somehow slip through their fingertips and cease to exist. They gazed at each other with breathless smiles for several seconds and felt content to do so for several more.

"...Wow," Test Tube finally breathed.

Fan nodded and let out a light chuckle. "Wow," he agreed.

Test Tube gazed back at him for several more seconds before she finally spoke again. "Am I dreaming?" she whispered in a half-longing, half-fearful voice. "Is...is this real?"

"I...think it is," he offered in a soft voice, just as unsure as she was. "I mean...if it's not, then keep me asleep forever and never wake me up."

She let out another breathless laugh and unwrapped her arms from around his neck to hold his hands. Their hands fell down to suspend between them with their fingers intertwined. "So...y-you're actually...this is real?" she asked, her voice growing louder. "I...I can say it now?"

"Say...what?"

"...I love you?"

She didn't really mean to ask it like a question, but that was how it came out. Fortunately for her, he didn't really care and simply chuckled in response. "I...I love you, too," he replied, a bright red blush starting to show on his face.

Test Tube let out one more soft laugh, and then another. "I...I love you," she repeated. "I love you. I-I love you, Fan!"

"I love you, too, Test Tube," he smiled. "I—"

"OH, MY GOD! I-I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!"

The floodgates suddenly flung wide open, and Test Tube's bright and cheery laughs bordered on insane. She took a step back as she clutched her head, her smile feeling wider than her entire face. "I LOVE YOU!" she screamed once more before screaming in joy and laughing. "OH, MY GOD! I-I—I'm sorry, Fan, I just—I-I can't say anything else, I can't think of anything else—"

But she was cut off by a suddenly crazed Fan rushing toward her, wrapping his arms tightly around her, and raising her into the air in a tight embrace while spinning around, laughing uncontrollably. "I LOVE YOU, TOO!" he yelled, beaming and laughing. "I—I CAN'T STOP MYSELF! I JUST—I LOVE YOU!"

"OH, MY—AAAAAHHHHH! GOD, I LOVE YOU!"

She squealed and hugged him back tightly as they continued to spin around on the rooftop. They gazed into each other's bright, happy eyes, wanting to say everything and nothing at the same time. Instead, they merely laughed with each other and relished the warm feeling of the other pressed against them.