"This is where you first saw me," Alec said, pointing at the willow tree with a huge smile on his face.
Lilia looked over and smiled as well. She had acted so awkward that day, looking over to Alec every two seconds. She just couldn't keep her eyes away from him. "I remember."
Then, after a second, something he said clicked in her head. "Wait, don't you mean where we first saw each other?"
Letting out a silent laugh, Alec shook his head and replied. "Nope. I saw you the day before before that at the mall. You were with Samantha, waiting for Rosalie."
Lilia recalled that day. The both had been mad at Rosa for being extremely late. "But how did you know that we'd been waiting for her?"
Smirking, Alec sped up, leaving Lilia behind. "You weren't the only one stalking, you know."
Lilia caught up with him quickly, a frown latching up on her face as she did so. "You mean you watched me before?"
Alec kept his eyes on the willow tree he'd headed for and replied, "why, yes, Lilia. You're hard to look away from."
She blushed so deep at that, it made Alec chuckle and wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. He placed a small kiss on the top of her head that rested on his collarbone, before saying, "I'd wanted to gather up the courage to talk to you that day, but I was terribly nervous. So, I did what I thought I should - stare at you like a creep."
"You're so weird."
"Hey! Who told you that?"
"My first date experience did."
"Well," as they kept walking, Alec leaned his head on top of hers, while his hand made slow circles on her back, shooting shivers down Lilia's spine, "you love me."
Lilia closed her eyes, then took a deep breathe. "Yeah. Maybe I do."
Alec didn't react at the beginning, but a second or two later, when the words had settled in, he froze, halting on his steps. They were already under the tree, shaded from the glistening moonlight and unaware of what expression they held on their faces.
Lilia gulped nervously and turned back at Alec, only to be unable to decipher his emotions. She had been an idiot to open her mouth in the first place.
"Alec, I-"
Before she could get the rest of the words out of her mouth, his lips slammed onto hers.
It was Lilia's turn to freeze. She had expected him to do everything else other than that. That had been their first kiss. And the both of them had been unprepared.
But that didn't mean she hadn't already been losing herself in the kiss.
When her body slowly relaxed and her lips started responding to the rhythm Alec had set for the both of them, her hands started wandering up Alec's arms, which were clutching Lilia close to him for dear life. Through her own chest, Lilia could feel Alec's heart beating loudly, matching the beat of her own.
She smiled inwardly, happy that she had the same effect on him as he did on her.
Ever so slowly, Alec pushed her up against the tree trunk, the hard and rough edges brushing against her back. Lilia hooked her arms around Alec's neck, pulling him closer to herself as she leaned back into the tree.
Millions of stars shined on top of their head, making it look like a scene from a brilliantly choreographed movie. But that was reality, and Lilia couldn't believe that this was her life. It was everything she had ever dreamed of, and even more.
She blissfully drowned in euphoria, and Alec was somehow her only hold to reality, as well as her reason for drowning. Alec's hands started wandering down Lilia's figure, stopping only when they reached on top of her jeans. His steady fingers lingered there, before they skimmed over the exposed part of her stomach, right under her top.
His touch sent an unusual kind of warmth throughout Lilia's body, and when she shivered, an arrogant chuckle rumbled from Alec's chest. Just because of that, Lilia nibbled on his bottom lip, drawing out a grown from him.
Soon, they were out of breath and had to stop the kiss to come up for oxygen. Alec pulled away softly, as if he was savoring every single second of their moment. He rested his forehead against Lilia's, taking in a sharp breathe alongside her.
Lilia kept her eyes closed and tried to memorize each and every detail of all the feeling a she had felt. Her lips tingled from Alec's kiss, craving the warmth of his touch even more. She let out a shaky, yet satisfied sigh.
She was beyond her cloud nine. She as in her personal heaven.
When Lilia opened her eyes, she found a pair of baby blue eyes staring at her, as if he was seeing right through her soul. She couldn't help the shy smile that glossed her lips.
Alec tilted his head up to place an affectionate kiss on her forehead, before whispering breathlessly, "you've got me so deep, Lils."
*****
Wiping the sheen of sweat off her brow, Lilia resumed dusting all the medals that were showcased in her living room. A few of them belonged to her, and the rest were Alec's - a symbol of everything he had achieved after joining the navy.
Resting next to the medals was a photo frame, brightly glowing with the picture of Lilia, Alec, Samantha and Rosalie. The picture had been taken on their graduation day. All of them were grinning widely, with Alec's arm wrapped around Lilia's shoulder and another rested on top of Samantha's.
Rosalie had been next to Lilia, and that was a month before she had cut off all the ties with her friends and disappeared somewhere. They looked so happy in the picture, not caring a least bit about whatever the future had in store for them.
Staring at her eighteen year old self, Lilia couldn't help but let out a shaky breathe. Could she ever guess that she'd lose her best friend within a month?
Did she have any idea that the love of her life would fall into the cruelty of the world and be snatched away from her?
Wiping the dust off from the frame with the cloth, Lilia kept the photograph down with a heavy heart and moved on to the next showpiece.
When Alec as still there, the both of them would clean those things on every Friday, reminiscing about their moments together and all those embarrassing things they remembered about each other.
Friday used to be the best day of the week. Her house used to be so lively and full of joy. Lilia missed those tiny moments she had spent with Alec, always taking them for granted.
Even Alec's presence had been a big thing in her life. Lilia never got a proper chance to appreciate that, which she regretted the most. She loved him so much, but she felt like she had never showed it enough to wash away the guilt.
Like always, Lilia gave an expectant glance to her left, hoping to see the scene she had grown accustomed to. Hoping to see, even if that was a glimpse, of Alec next to her, like he had promised to be.
But he was never there.
