"Not this one, right?" she asked Daisy, holding up a lavender gown.

"That's stunning but I don't know. I don't like the full-sleeved thing. I think you should wear strapless."

"I don't like strapless," she mumbled under her breath, putting the dress back.

"Oh, by the way, are you matching your dress with Callum's tie?" she asked.

Clara shrugged, "We haven't talked about—"

"Yes." They both looked behind her where Wyatt and I were walking over with our new suits in two bags. "It'll match my tie," I grinned, not telling her about the eavesdropping.

"You know the guy is supposed to match the tie to the dress, right?" she smiled.

"But I already picked a tie. And you're the one having trouble deciding. Here." I dug into the box and pulled out the box. I opened it, showing her the tie.

"It's baby blue," She smiled widely.

"See, I know you like baby blue. I'll help you, come on."

Wyatt and Daisy split up from us and then she headed into the changing rooms with all the dresses I had picked for her. "Show me all of them," I smiled, sitting on the sofa in front of the changing rooms. I think I'm more excited than her now.

She went inside and came out showing me each and every dress.

I mostly said, "You look pretty" for almost all of them. But I haven't had the 'oh my god, I just fell in love' kind of reaction. So, I hope this last one is the one.

She tried it on and then pushed the door open, stepping. I blinked, surprised. I didn't know she could look so... stunning. She was short, but she didn't look like it. The dress hugged her torso with its corset nicely and made her look leaner. It flowed right along her legs making them look longer through the slit. And the sequins looked beautiful, the thin straps making the dress look delicately elegant.

I think this one might be the one.

She threw her hair up in a low bun. "What do you think?" She looked up from the dress, searching my reaction.

My eyes went down and then slowly came back up.

"What?" she chuckled, brushing the dress lightly. "How do I look?" She walked over, standing a little closer to me.

"Spin," I mumbled.

She spun around slowly once, giving me a 360 view.

"Oh fuck," I sighed, my hand resting on my chest.

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "I didn't ask you to be dramatic, just tell me what you think," she laughed.

"Clara Desmond," I sighed again, staring at her.

"I'll take that as a yes?"

I nodded quickly. "A thousand yeses. You look breathtaking," I chuckled, standing up and walking over.

"What kind of breathtaking?" she asked while I grabbed either side of her face, tilting her head up.

"You make me want to commit a sin right here kind of breathtaking," I smirked.

"And which sin is that?"

I laughed. I kissed her, my hand slowly finding the zipper. I know that she knows what I'm doing. "Oh, and it's not hard to take off," I grinned.

"I'm going to change back into my clothes." She rolled my eyes while smiling before turning around and going back into the room, changing out of the dress and into her clothes. We took all the dresses out, left them where we were told to, and took the one we chose to the counter. She pulled her wallet out of her pocket but I snatched it away and put it back in her pocket while using my other hand to take out my own. "What are you doing?" she asked, looking between my face and hand that was now taking out my card.

"Paying for your dress," I smiled, handing the cashier the card.

"Why? I brought the money, I could have paid myself," she said as the card beeped and then the cashier handed it back to me with the machine so I could enter the pin.

"I'm trying to treat my girlfriend out." I turned to look at her. "What's your problem with it?"

"My problem is, I'm the girlfriend. And you're wasting money on me," she chuckled dryly.

"I'm buying you the dress. Think of it as a gift, okay? And as an early 'I love you.'"

Her eyes widened and she froze. "W-what?"

I chuckled, pecking her lips while taking the bag and her hand, pulling her out of the store. "I'm not saying I love you. I don't. Not yet," I smirked. "But it's a present because you mean a lot to me. I really like you. A lot. I feel for you. I want to make you happy and buy you something. All signs point to love, don't they?"

She nodded numbly.

"And when I do love you, I'll tell you."

"We've been together for two weeks," she stated.

"Two weeks and five days," I corrected. "Let's see..." I sighed, locking my fingers with hers. "When is it appropriate to drop the L-word. Two months into the relationship? That's not too soon, is it? I don't think so. So, two months."

She stared at me.

"When we have our two months anniversary, I'll tell you then, hmm?"

Is this what falling in love feels like?

I looked at her in amusement.

"Don't say anything. If you read that thought, act like you didn't. I don't want you to know that I'm falling in love with you," she mumbled, staring at her feet and we strolled to the exit of the mall.

"Okay," I chuckled, kissing the side of her head. "Then you pretend like I didn't just tell you that I'm falling in love too."

"We'll wait the two months until it's appropriate," she agreed, looking at me.

I nodded in agreement and then we left, walking all the way back to school.

"How much time do we have before we have to start getting ready?" she asked, unlocking her door.

I followed her inside and set our shopping bags down by the door before grabbing her hand. I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her closer so she was standing between my legs. "Plenty of time," I sighed, beckoning her to get lower with one finger. In response, she leaned down, pressing her lips to mine. I physically felt my body relax. My shoulders, my legs, every muscle in my body breathed out a sigh of relief when I had her that close to me. When I had her lips on mine. When she kissed me.

She pulled back, smiling down at me.

"How do you feel about committing some sins before we start getting ready?" I asked, pulling her to sit beside me.

"I think we should wait until after the party," she whispered, narrowing her eyes at me. "Even better," she chuckled. "We should sneak back out before everyone else so no one hears anything."

"Oh?" I smirked, raising my eyebrows at her. "And just how loud do you plan to get?"

"I don't know, that's up to you, isn't it?" she smiled.

I sighed, "Do we really have to go? I have a horrible feeling, Clara."

She stared at me for a minute in silence. "Do you really not want to go?"

"I do. But I don't want you to be in any kind of danger. I can only do so much to keep you safe."

"I trust you," she said softly, keeping her hand on my cheek, her thumb gently stroking my skin. "You've always taken care of me. I trust that you'll do it tonight too. We take care of each other, remember?"

"I promise I'll take care of you," I nodded, holding up my pinky.

She smiled, her cheeks turning crimson as she locked her finger with mine. "Now, we can't commit a sin, but we can kiss for a little while," she said, diverting the topic to a lighter one.

I chuckled, leaning forward and capturing her lips in another kiss.

☆*･ﾟ✫ ✫*･ﾟ☆ ✫*･ﾟ☆ ✫*･ﾟ☆

I kept my hand on my heart as she walked out of her room, holding her dress in one hand so she wouldn't step on it. She turned to me, grinning. "What?"

I patted my heart twice. "Boom!" I whispered.

She giggled walking over and standing on her toes, even in her heels to kiss me. I put my arms around her waist and even after breaking the kiss, we just stood like that for a few minutes, ignoring everybody that walked past. "You look stunning," she smiled, straightening my tie.

I looked down at my black coat and black silk shirt with the tie from earlier. "You look like you own my heart," I replied.

"Stop," she laughed, looking away from me, fidgeting with her fingers nervously. She's looking anywhere but at me right now.

"Come on." I took her hand and started leading her to the staircase, where of course, we would teleport from. "Now, I listened to you and we're going to this party, but you have to promise me that you'll stay by my side, okay? No matter where you are, who you're with, tell me and don't go without me. And please, Clara, if I feel like something is off and ask to come back to our rooms, please listen to me. This once, it's really important."

We stopped at the staircase, facing each other. "Okay, I promise," she nodded.

Then I had us teleport to the gym.

God, please keep her safe tonight.

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