Trouble in paradise (official)

Chapter 48 "I love you in so many words."

The stage was beautiful. The atmosphere stained a magnificent shade of deep sapphire. A gorgeous sky wrapped in a velvet ocean of violet and midnight blue. The stars speckled between the clouds like a diamond salt spray, embellishing the sky.

The moon hangs brilliantly. Gleaming like the most beautiful ornament dazzling in the embrace of a loving sky. A breathtaking luminary, lighting their path. The sound of the crackling of pebbles beneath their feet harmonized with the croaking of frogs. The chirping of crickets grew louder as they strolled hand and hand towards the lake.

Fireflies illuminated the sea of grass, shimmering in the reflection of the ebony pool. Lani and Sanzu walked quietly, soaking in the peace of the cool summer evening. They leaned into each other. Two mismatched arches heeding the voice of the night whispering its secrets. Lani drew her eyes from the floor to the beautiful pale-haired man next to her.

"What are you thinking about?" Lani asked. He answered her voice with a pleasant glint in his eyes. They glimmered in the pale moonlight drawing away her breath like she'd dunked her head underwater.

A soft smile gleaned from beneath his lips.  "You," he whispered; his lips disappearing beneath her curls. He answered quickly, clearly, and crisply. Like he'd practiced it. As if he'd been waiting for her to ask. A little smirk drew across his lips, skewing the diamond-shaped scar on his cheek.

She shuddered, running her eyes down his neck to glowing skin peeking out from his unbuttoned shirt. Lani ran a finger up his collar and flicked away a nonexistent piece of lint. When he looked down at her hand she grabbed his chin and pulled his face towards hers as if to intimidate him. Her eyes ran down his features but he held his gaze, smiling softly at her. He wet his lips, anticipating they'd be on hers soon. An impish breeze played tricks on her mind. It carried his scent to her, shattering her nerve.

Just as their lips were about to touch an uncomfortable feeling welled up between her lungs. Like a diluted acid was slowly eating its way through her back from the inside. A sort of uneasy feeling that tainted her saliva. It was sour on her tongue. She looked back up at him in the cool twilight and tossed his head away and started walking again. She pulled him towards the lake, yanking him with both hands. She tried to ignore the feelings. To push them down like she always had but he spoke again, interrupting her thoughts.

"I'm always thinking about you." His voice rang like church bells in her ears. The words shot through her chest like a throwing needle. It went through clean, almost as if it was never there, but it interrupted her heartbeat. Her stomach flipped and its contents sloshed like a churning sea. She stopped again and tried to use her hand to calm herself.

"Be serious. You're always trying to be funny." She exhaled and chewed her lip. She tried to force her heart to stop beating so fast but it was set on embarrassing her. He'd caught her off guard again, knocking her off balance. Her face twisted with embarrassment.

She couldn't look at him. He looked so perfect in the glamor of the blue mist of night. As if the moon itself had cast a spell on him. He looked as if he had been carved with the sharpest of knives. Perfect and precise, but his features were still as smooth as a baby's. The softness always made him look kind despite the usual tightness of his lips. She knew if she looked at him, she'd break.

"That's——." She tried to force the knot in her throat down but it wouldn't move.

"Way too fucking much. It's annoying. It gets on my damn nerves."

"What the fuck?" She hissed through gritted teeth. Her eyes widened as the corner of her lips started to twist with rage. Heat crept up her neck as her fingernails dug into Sanzu's skin. There was an ache in her stomach now, like the bile traded itself for lava.