Rachel's POV...
Alex and I are now in class as all the students are listening to the lecture. After what happened between me and Sebastian earlier, I couldn't consenstrate at all. My mind is lost. Alex notice how I had been spacing out during class.
"Rachel, are you ok?" Alex ask with his signature soft voice.
"Yeah, just spaced out," I say casually.
Alex gives me a concern look before holding my hand, making my heart skip a beat. Even the slightest touch from him always makes me feel better. When I'm around him, I always feel safe and comfortable.
"Don't stress too much," Alex says as he holds my hand firmly. "You're safe with me."
I smile as I turn my head to his direction. "You always know how to make me feel better," I say.
"Well, you're my favorite thing to learn about," says Alex as he forms a flirty smile at me.
"A thing?" I ask with a playful tone.
"And person. You are my favorite person to learn about." Alex starts carressing my hand softly, making me form a shy smile.
A few hours later....
At Retro Red Bar...
"Bye!" Rachel says before she gives Alex a kiss on the cheek.
"Bye, Rachel!" Alex says as he watches the young girl walks out of his car. He is excited for tonight's dinner party with the boys' since he already plans a special surprise for Rachel.
As Alex was about to drive off to the supermarket, his phone rings with the caller's name getting his attention. It was his dad.
"Hello, Dad!" Alex says through the phone.
"Alex, are you good? What are you doing?" his dad ask through the phone.
"I'll be going to the supermarket after this. Why?" Alex ask.
He starts to wonder what did his dad wanted to talk about, yet after hearing the answers from him, Alex could feel his facial expression slowly changing upon hearing what his dad had to say.
After the call ended, Alex sighs at the thought of what his dad just said, which was a pretty clear reminder why he don't always get along with his parents at times. Sometimes he wished his parents could try to see from his point of view.
A few minutes later....
At the supermarket...
Alex arrives at the supermarket and starts searching for everything needed for tonight's dinner party. He bought a lot of various vegetables, meats, snacks, and drinks for tonight's special occation.
"That's all," Alex says to himself before pushing the shopping cart to the cashier.
6:45 PM...
At Retro Red Bar...
Sebastian and Alfredo walks inside the retro style bar. They start to observe their surroundings as they notice some ladies giving them flirty glances, yet Sebastian didn't care. He only has one girl in his mind, which is why he finds himself here tonight.
"There she is, looking all pretty," Alfredo says with a sassy voice.
"Let's go!" Sebastian says.
The two brothers walks over to the bar counter to see Rachel taking orders from a man who happens to be flirting with her. They could see that she looked annoyed at the guy.
"How much would it be to take you out tonight?" the guy ask with a seductive look.
Rachel is surprised to hear the man said that. Her fury starts to boil up while she wanted to run away by his impolite question, at the same time she also wants to smack his face.
"Watch your mouth, Sir!" Sebastian says as he walks over to the counter, having his eyes on Rachel who looks surprised at the sight of him. "It's ashame to see how your mother raised you to be a trash talker to women. She's my girlfriend and you better stop messing with her," Sebastian says as he walks to the bar counter while looking at the man sharply in the eyes. Rage is starting to fill him as he was ready to punch the man at any time.
"Do you need us to do something about that mouth of yours?" Alfredo blurts out.
Rachel stood in silence as she was still surprised to hear that Sebastian told the man that she's his girlfriend. Not that she didn't like the idea. She was actually thankful that he came at the right time to rescue her from that freak.
"Oh, my apologies," says the man before he leaves the bar counter, looking all scared.
After the man left, Sebastian turns his head to face Rachel who stood in silence with a surprised look on her face.
"Are you ok?" Sebastian ask with a gentle tone.
"I'm fine. Thank you," Rachel says as she stares at Sebastian shyly. "Umm..what can I get you guys?"
"Ah, a glass of red wine would be nice," Alfredo says with a sassy smile.
"One glass of red wine. How about you, Sebastian?" Rachel ask.
"I wasn't planning to drink tonight, but I'll have a glass of vodka tonight just to see you under the lights," Sebastian says, before he gives Rachel his signature warm yet flirty smile, making her chuckle at his action.
"Ok, guys! I'll be back with your drinks soon," Rachel says, before she heads back to prepare the drinks.
Sebastian watches Rachel walks to the back to prepare the drinks as he gets mesmerize by her. He felt a bit funny after finding himself feeling furious about the man who tried to seduce her earlier. Though he wanted to make her fall for him at all cost, he didn't expect him to be furious about a man trying to flirt with her in an impolite way.
7:15 PM...
At the boys' house...
"Grilled salmon is in the house!" Alex says as he puts the big plate of grilled salmon on the table.
"I have a feeling this is gonna be an awesome dinner," Liam says with excitement.
"Of course it is. Alexander here is gonna confess to his crush," Nate says as he gives Alex a sassy wink, making him roll his eyes.
As Liam and Nate continue to tease Alex, Jack just stood in silence in the kitchen while as he continues to cook chicken soup. He knew tonight that Alex is gonna make it official with Rachel in front of them, and he couldn't deny that the thought of it already kills him inside. He isn't ready to see Rachel getting official with his best friend, Alex. Yet, literally everyone in the house knows that Alex and Rachel have mutual feelings for each other, and Jack didn't want to break that. No matter how much it hurts to see the girl he likes fall in love with his best friend, he could never destroy the happiness they have for each other by trying to steal her away from Alex. Love can't be stolen, and that's what Jack believes. By that, he could only wish for them to be happy.
"Oh, look at the time. I'll go pick up Rachel now," Alex says as he grabs his car keys from the small table near the couch.
"Bye, lover boy!" Nate says with a playful tone.
"Yeah right," Alex says with a sarcastic tone as he walks out of the front door of the house.
7:55 PM...
At Retro Red Bar...
"My shift is almost done. Do you need anything else?" Rachel ask.
"No, thanks. I had enough glasses for tonight to make me think about you." Sebastian gives Rachel a sassy wink, making her roll her eyes with a smile.
"Great pick up lines you got there," Rachel says with a sarcastic tone.
"Hahaha, I only say that to the girl that got my interest," Sebastian says, making Rachel giggle this time.
"Good one, Sebastian. By the way, where's Alfredo?" Rachel ask.
"Lost in the dance floor again," Sebastian says, making Rachel let out a small chuckle.
A few minutes later, Rachel's shift comes to an end and she walks out of the bar. She saw that Alex's car is already waiting for her, and by that she just enters the car.
"Hello, Alexander!" Rachel smiles at the young boy.
"Hey, Beautiful! It's only been a few hours and I already miss you," says Alex with a flirty tone.
"Please...I am here now," says Rachel as she roll her eyes.
Alex lets out a chuckle before he drives off to the boys' house.
At the boys' house...
Alex and Rachel walks inside the house. The boys are already waiting for them in the living room with enthusiasm.
"Hey, it's our favorite couple," Nate says as he greets Alex and Rachel, making both of them blush.
"We have everything prepared. Shall we start dinner now?" Liam ask.
"Sure. Let's go!" Alex says.
The boys walk to the dining room with Alex dragging Rachel to follow them.
Rachel's POV...
I pull out a chair to sit next to Alex in the dining room. Nate starts pouring the wine to our glass, before sitting down next to Liam. I saw Jack walking over to take a seat next to me, making me sitting in the middle between two guys. It feels a little awkward, but I'll just try to chill with situation and not think much. Besides, Alex and I are getting closer than ever, while Jack and I are in pretty good terms now. I should be pretty happy that my relationships with my favorite boys are getting better.
"Ok, so before we start tonight's dinner, I have a little announcement to make on this beautiful night," Alex says, trying to get everyone's attention.
"Ok, what do you want to say, Man?" Nate ask with a curious and excited tone.
Alex gently grabs my hand, making me blush. "Regarding the various accidents that happened since weeks ago, I've come to realize that this situation is getting much more dangerous," Alex says as he turns his head to look at my direction. "Rachel, your life is on the line. The stalkers are still after you, and I don't want anything to happen to you. At first, I was only suppose to be your guardian, and little did I expected to be drawn to you with time."
I start to feel butterflies dancing in my chest as I stare into his eyes, having no idea why he is saying all these things suddenly in front of the boys, including Jack who had sit in silence since the beginning.
"Though I won't deny that I did found you cute when we first met, but that wasn't really the reasons why I keep finding myself drawn to you more and more everytime," Alex smiles at me. "You brought my heart back to life. I am forever grateful for that. I want to bring life into your heart everyday, forever, and always."
My heart almost stop after hearing all those things Alex said. I couldn't believe what I heard as I try my best to hold back the tears of happiness that are slowly forming in my eyes. I turn my head down to avoid eye contact with him, since I didn't want him to notice that I was struggling in holding back my tears.
"Rachel Spencer, I love you," Alex says as he gently holds both of my hands.
I couldn't hold my tears any longer as it starts running on my face. I couldn't believe I was hearing this from him, my best friend who I thought could never fall for me. Being a popular student in college and also smooth with his words, never have I imagine that Alex would say all these things tonight, to me.
I calm myself down as I turn my head slowly to face him. "Alex....I love you too," I finally said the words I've been scared to think about, just because I never expected us to have mutual feelings.
Alex gives me a bright smile as we stare into each other's eyes with sparkling eyes. We broke our eye contact at the sound of all the boys starting to cheer for us, including Jack, who gives me a small smile as he claps his hands.
We eventually start dinner with everyone trying out various dishes from different cultures that everyone cooked. Liam, Nate, and Jack made grilled salmon, chicken soup, and pasta. As for Alex, he went with his grandma's old recipe and made neopolitan pizza. All the dishes tasted amazing. After dinner, Nate insisted we all play a drinking game, which everyone agreed.
"I win!" Nate says in a drunk tone as he puts down his 7th glass of whisky, before walking over to the couch to lie down. Even I was impressed how he manage to drink that much tonight.
"The boy looks drunk," Jack says in a tipsy tone.
"Tell me about it." Liam tries to get up and walks over to get a glass of water.
"How about if we go outside and leave them alone?" Alex whispers as we notice how everyone was getting more worse.
"Sure," I say.
Alex gets up and drags me to the back garden. It's a good thing both of us are not drunk, since we didn't go crazy with the game. We decided to drink slowly and not too much back there.
Alex and I walks outside to the garden. He grabs my hand gently as both of us starts admiring the stars in the sky. I take a glance at him for a second with a smile.
"It's been a beautiful night," I say as I slowly lay my head on his shoulder. "Thank you for tonight, Alex."
Alex glance at me and smiles at the sight of my head on his shoulder. He puts his arm around my waist. "Thank you for everything, Rachel," Alex says.
I slowly form a small smile on my face upon hearing his words. For a moment, I feel safe knowing that I have him, the person I love, beside me. Tonight is indeed a beautiful night.
"Rachel," Alex calls my name.
I slowly turn my head to face him with a curious look. "What?"
"The situation is getting more dangerous than before. It worries me too much knowing that the stalkers are still out there to get you," Alex says. "Rachel, I want you to join our team. By that, I can always protect you anytime, and we will always be together."
To be continue....