How it Began

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There's a bird chirping outside his window as he stirs from his slumber. There's something tickling his chin and a heavy feeling on his chest.

He opens his eyes and his heart nearly stops at the sight of Alice fast asleep beside him, her head on his chest and her blonde hair tickling his chin.

Holy shit. Alice Smith in his bed. IN HIS BED.

They're both fully clothed so he at least knows they didn't have sex, he would've remembered that.

He strokes her shoulder to wake her and she hums softly.

Footsteps can be heard coming up the stairs and he panics.

"Shit. Alice, get up." He shakes her awake and she looks at him in utter confusion.

"Hal?"

"Yeah, yeah you fell asleep here, no time to explain. Get up, hide in the closet."

He practically pushes her out of his bed and she stumbles over to the closet, hiding inside. Just in time too as his mom opens the bedroom door. "Harold? I heard some noises as I was coming up, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, mom, everything's fine I was just about to get up and get ready."

She nods. "Breakfast will be ready shortly."

When she closes the bedroom door Hal stands up and locks it. Alice pushes open his closet door and glares at him. "What the hell was that about?"

"You must have fallen asleep here last night, mom would've killed me if she found you in my bed."

"So you shoved me in your closet?"

"I needed to hide you." He shrugs.

"Whatever, I need to get home." She walks over to the window and pushes it open before pausing. "Thanks, Hal... for last night, listening to me."

"Of course, any time."

She gives him a small smile before slipping out his window.

He smiles as he watches her leave, giving her a wave from the window before closing the curtains.

He sits on his bed and smiles like a fool as he thinks about the events of the night before; Alice showing up at his window to give him his textbook, coming in and sitting with him, trusting him enough to tell him about her family problems, falling asleep nuzzled against his side.

He gets ready for the day with an extra pep in his step thanks to the blonde girl lingering on his mind.

____________

She feels arms wrap around her waist and feels a kiss being placed against her neck. "Hey, baby." FP speaks, planting kisses all over her cheek.

She giggles and turns around in his arms to kiss him properly. "Hey."

"Where were you last night? I called your place but got no answer."

She can feel the heat rise in her cheeks and struggles to come up with an excuse. "Oh, I fell asleep while studying last night."

"Alice Smith studying? Never thought I'd see the day." He teases and she smiles, shoving at his chest.

"Very funny. Let's get to class." She kisses him once more before taking his hand and leading him down the hall to their class.

She doesn't know why she lied, it's not like anything happened between her and Hal and FP trusts her, so it's not like he would be mad about it. But there's a pang in her chest that she can't quite understand.

But when she sees Hal in the hallway and he flashes that pearly white smile at her she can't help but feel butterflies in her stomach.