Unconditionally Yours

CHAPTER 13

I stare at him for a second; he seems to be as nervous as I am, keeping his hands behind his back.

"Hey," he says, smiling brightly at me, his hands still behind his back as if he is hiding something.

Does he have something behind his back? What could he be hiding?

"Hey," I reply, shifting my head slightly to the side, hoping I can see what he is holding, but he takes a step back, not allowing me to see, chuckling faintly.

"How are you?" he asks, an amused expression on his face as he steps back to hide whatever he has behind his back.

I take a step toward him, trying to see what he is hiding, but he just backs away again, laughing like a kid.

"I'm great," I tell him, stepping even closer, but he just moves back again, starting to annoy me slightly.

"What do you have behind your back?" I exclaim a bit too loudly, trying to see what he is hiding, but he keeps turning and twisting so I can't see, all the while laughing like a little child who just arrived at Disneyland, making me burst out laughing and stop crossing my arms, giving him a questioning look.

He stops laughing and looks at me, his eyes shining in the sun as he smiles brightly.

"I have something for you," he says, blushing just a little, barely noticeable on his caramel skin.

He got me something? I can feel my cheeks warming as I blush, and it's probably much more noticeable on my pale skin than it is on Viktor. I didn't expect him to get me anything.

"Yeah?" I question, fidgeting with the sleeve of my shirt as I look at Viktor.

He doesn't say anything, simply cocks his head to the right, his curly hair swaying with the motion and making the image of a black cat appear in my head-the one I've dreamed about so many times since I met Viktor.

"Close your eyes," he says and winks at me, making me roll my eyes, but I do it, slowly closing my eyes as I hear Viktor shuffling something, the noise filling the air. A second passes as he sets up his surprise perfectly until the noise stops and I hear him take a deep breath.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now," he tells me, chuckling with nervousness in his voice.

I slowly open my eyes to see Viktor smiling nervously, holding a red rose and a box of chocolates shaped like a heart. My heart skips a beat at the sight.

I just stare at him for a second, trying to fully process the fact that Viktor just brought me chocolates and a rose for our first date-no, not just our first date; my first date ever! The idea makes me laugh for some reason. I didn't often imagine my first date, but when I did, it didn't quite look like this. Now that it has happened, I can't imagine it being any better than this.

Viktor looks at me, resembling a little puppy that someone just kicked, leading me to think I should probably say something or he might think I'm laughing at him.

"Thank you, Viktor," I tell him, taking the rose and chocolates from his hands and wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. He grabs my waist tightly and pulls me in closer, resting his head on my shoulder and kissing my cheek softly, making me chuckle.

I hear a camera click and quickly turn my head toward the house to see my mom standing in front of the house with her Polaroid camera in hand, smiling happily.

"Mom!" I yell, while Viktor just laughs, seeming unaffected by Mom's intrusion. I'm embarrassed beyond measure as I quickly move away from Viktor and go over to Mom.

"Please put this in my room," I say, handing her the rose and chocolates, then going back to Viktor and grabbing his hand, making Mom chuckle and me feel even more embarrassed.