"Then Ray, I think I love you."
Ray felt the world slowed down, something which he normally would think it must be due to him being too tired that he's hallucinating or the world has finally gone crazy.
But his mind was too frozen to even enable him to think.
"W-what?" he felt foreign of his own voice.
'Did I really just stutter?'
Ray was watching the girl on his screen fully focused. She was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt with small flower patterns on it, the V line of her shirt and her black hair which was tied in ponytail accentuate her fair and slender neck. She was still taking small gasps, must be because she ran away from the aquarium.
The way she said 'I love you' was resolute yet filled with shyness which was reflected by her blushing cheeks and a bit shaky voice.
'God, she's beautiful.'
Ray felt his heart squeezed and was dumbfounded at the sight, until he realized Althea looked restless with a frown on her face, probably rebuking herself for confessing in such a place which caused Ray's lack of response.
Noticing her nervousness, Ray mentally slapped himself, "Do you really--?"
"Yes." Althea cut his sentence and Ray felt his heart was filled with something strange, a ticklish and overflowing content feeling which made him wanna shout out.
"That's amazing." was all that Ray could say. The reality just hadn't quite dawned on him as it's something he has been wanting to hear for so long.
Okay, technically just a few months but it felt like years to him.
"Y-yeah..." Ray heard Althea mumbled. The two then fell into silence, both thinking of what just happened.
Ray recovered first, just like the decisive man he is, then look straight at Althea.
"Then, Althea Kristoff. Would you give me the honor to be your boyfriend?" Ray regulated his racing heart without showing it on his face as he hoped his sentence was not too stiff or strange for Althea.
'I should've researched it.' Ray scolded himself for not knowing much about how to build a relationship or asking one to be your lover, especially with their distance and situation.
Fortunately, Althea too was ignorant about it.
She blushed a shade deeper but still look at him back with the same resoluteness in her eyes then nodded her head, "Yes."
Ray wanted to jump from the happiness flooding his heart but as he wasn't used to showing his feelings, all he could manage was the biggest and most genuine smile Althea had ever seen coming from him, "Thank you, Thea. I promise I'll love and care for you my whole life." He heard himself saying.
The girl who had been shy since her sudden confession giggled cheerily, her black hair swaying by the wind as she said, "Yes, me too."
Ray felt his chest tighten and the urge to hug her then and there resonated strongly all over his body.
But of course the damned distance would get in the way.
"Then, can we seal our promise with a kiss?" Ray's mouth moved on its own.
'Wait, did I just say that?'
Ray was still questioning himself when he saw the face of the girl who just became his turned beet red again, a little bit of disbelief in her eyes as she looked around her to make sure no one heard that.
And Ray wishes nothing more than everyone hearing how she is now *his*.
Althea slouching on a nearby bench and covering her face away from the camera was the last thing he saw before it switched to a blue, beautiful sky. She must've put her phone away from her body.
Ray noticed her reaction was a bit too much for a virtual kiss until it hit him hard that this girl was someone so reserved that he wouldn't wonder if she has the idea that kissing is only for married couples-or such similar thoughts.
Thinking to this point, he called her softly, or as soft as his rough voice can get him,
"Thea, look at me." Ray persuaded and Althea moved her phone slowly to show her covered face which only gave away her hair and eyes before shaking her head.
"Thea, you don't need to really kiss me, just typing it is enough."
'Like hell it's enough.' his heart protested but he pushed it down.
'Slowly, Ray.'
The girl finally showed her whole face, her embarrassment and hesitation clear.
"It's okay, Thea. It's just a message." He persuaded her again, partly because he wanted to own all of her one by one and the other because it was cute to see her so flustered about the simplest thing for a couple. At least in Ray's culture.
"Okay," she mumbled softly. Minutes later Ray finally got a message with the word 'kiss' and smiled.
"Good girl." Ray tapped his camera, wishing nothing more than teleporting himself to caress her head for real. He bet to himself that her hair must feel as smooth as it seems.
"Okay! I think I should go back." Althea seemed like she couldn't handle any more nerve-wracking moments with Ray and jumped on her feet.
'Eager to leave, huh?' Ray smiled and nodded, understanding he shouldn't push his girl further, "Sure, it's a rare chance for you after all. Have fun."
Althea nodded mutely but firmly, her eyes reflecting how much she wanna run away from whatever it is that Ray did which made her flustered.
'Maybe just a little bit further,'
"Then take care, dear." Ray smirked as Althea's face turned into one of shock and cut the call before she could call him shameless.
Taking a deep breath, Ray's smile blossomed in his face. The bursting force in his chest compelled him to do something. Anything.
Ray soon changed into one of his workout clothes and ran outside to have a jog-- or what was meant to be a jog.
In reality, he had too much in his mind that he needs to spend it by running his hardest in his usual track.
Clutching his chest as he gasped for breath, he pledged to himself to make the girl who made him feel so complete, his for life.