After kissing his lips, Lily then started kissing him all over his face, then started squishing his cheeks.
"You're so cute, Zero, you know that?" Lily said breathlessly, smiling happily.
Zero had no answer to that other than giving a small smile. He was just happy that she was happy.
Taking a deep breath, Lily got down from the bike and said, "Okay, I have recharged. I can handle you going off for a while."
Zero looked at her worriedly, "Are you sure?"
"Of course," Lily replied, nodding, "When will you be back?"
"How long can you last?"
Lily thought hard and said, "I … guess I will be okay at home. It's just when it's time to go to bed. So perhaps, 30 minutes? For me to bathe and all that."
Zero nodded, calculating the distance to go back and get some stuff when Lily said, "I have an attached bathroom, so you don't have to worry about meeting anyone."
Being the only girl, naturally, she got a better room as compared to her brother. He would have to use the common bathroom (with the guest) while she had her own.
Lily was even more glad about that right now.
It took some time for Zero to truly process what she was saying, for he had only been thinking of grabbing a change of clothes for the next day.
Attached bathroom?
Why did she have to bring that up?
Wait.
She was going to bathe?
Did this mean that she wanted him to bathe as well?
In her house?
Zero sniffed his shirt.
Did he need to bathe?
Lily had already turned towards her house, so had missed seeing Zero taking a whiff of himself.
As Zero walked her to the door, Lily turned to face him and gave him one final kiss before going in. She closed the door, leaned on it with a sigh and only then realised … her family staring at her.
She gave a little squeak and patted her chest, "Don't do that!"
Lilith, Lily's mother, put out her palm towards Justin and he groaned. Taking out his wallet, he placed a fiver on it.
"Why did you have to kiss him again at the door?" Justin grumbled.
He and his mother had bet the number of times Lily would kiss Zero, and Justin was sure Lily would not initiate another one so soon. Zero, maybe, but not Lily.
How was he to know that his sister was such a … but when he remembered what he had seen of Zero before, he wanted to slap himself on the forehead.
His sister had already been all goo-goo ga ga over Zero when they went out on their first date, and she managed to snatch him on their second?
Either his sister was that good … or that aggressive.
Seeing how she was the one that kept doing all the moves, Justin suspected that Lily was the one that was in control of this relationship and Zero just followed.
Considering how fierce Zero appeared to be, Justin wondered if Lily was a beast tamer in her previous life.
Whatever it was, he lost the bet.
He won't next time.
Lily rolled her eyes at the both of them and shook her head, "You guys are hopeless. This is my love life you're betting on."
They both grinned.
"That's why it's fun," Justin said.
"And we both agree Zero is a keeper, so hang on tightly to him, my dear," Lilith said, patting Lily on the shoulder.
Justin nodded, "Yeah, and his overall packaging is …"
He gave a low whistle, wriggled his eyebrows, and said, "Hope you can handle it."
"JUSTIN!" Lily shouted, rushing at him to hit him but he just laughed and ran into his room.
She huffed at the closed door and kicked it, before going to her bedroom.
Once she was inside, though, she patted her chest and shook her head.
Now that Justin put the thought in her head, she was going to need to cool herself down.
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Lily was waiting frantically for Zero, wringing her hands while she was sitting on the bed.
She had said 30 minutes, and there were still 10 minutes to go but she was already all ready and waiting.
She felt like she was a teenage girl, sneaking in her boyfriend … well, other than the fact that she wasn't a teenager, she certainly was sneaking in her boyfriend.
Lily couldn't wait anymore so she decided to look out the window and wait for him.
When she went to the window and opened it, she was greeted with the sight of Zero already there.
"Zero!" she hissed under her breath, "How long have you been here?"
"Not long," he replied, slipping into her room.
"Why didn't you come in earlier?"
"It wasn't time yet," was his simple reply.
"You didn't need to wait until it was time, you know," Lily told him as she closed the window.
Zero placed his backpack on the floor, taking in the decoration of her room.
Unexpectedly, it was all … pink.
Why he found that unexpected was because she hardly wore pink when she was out, and her cafe wasn't pink either.
Yet, her entire bedroom was.
Different shades of pink, but still … generally pink.
The curtains were a dark shade of pink, her bed had light pink with ruffles at the side, her dressing table was wood, but the frame was painted pink as well as the knobs of the dressing table drawers.
Despite the 'pinkness' of the room, it somehow matched Lily.
"Here's a towel for you," Lily said, handing him a huge fluffy pink towel.
"Oh, I've bathed," Zero replied.
"Doesn't matter," Lily told him, "It's still for you to use."
"Okay," Zero said, taking it.
He opened the backpack and fished out his pajama bottoms, then walked into the bathroom. He looked around, found a place to put his towel and he placed it there as he shut the door.
Zero took off his jacket and just washed his hands and face before heading back out. Flinging the jacket onto the backpack that was on the floor, Lily tsked at him and took his jacket.
She went to her closet and took out an empty hanger, placed the jacket over it and put it in her closet.
"There," she said, "We don't want it all wrinkled now, right?"
Zero nodded.
Then, the whole situation became a bit awkward.
Lily suddenly felt a bit self-conscious
Zero was just in a singlet and cotton pants, looking like he was a perfect sculpture in her room. This was the first time she had a guy in her bedroom and it felt both strange, and exciting.
Zero, seeing her hesitation, just tilted his head before coming over to her and lifted her up in his arms in a princess carry.
"Zero!" she hissed, nearly shrieking out.
"Sleep," Zero commanded, putting her on the bed gently. He tucked her in and then slid onto the bed next to her but was above the blanket.
"I am here," he said to her as he faced her, and started to stroke her back.
Lily looked at him, then came closer, snuggling to him. He sighed, and let her place her head at the crook of his shoulder.
"Thank you, Zero," Lily mumbled as she slowly fell asleep.
"Silly girl," Zero replied, "Why must you always thank me?"
Lily didn't answer, as she was already fast asleep.
Zero just watched her sleep, her steady breathing making him feel satisfied for some reason. He gently stroked her hair, then kissed her forehead before settling down to sleep.
Despite this being his first time being in bed with a woman, it didn't feel awkward at all. He also had no thoughts other than sleeping, so he fell asleep soon enough.
Yes, the innocent Zero is still innocent in that sense.