26

Dual Point of View

Missy’s Point of View

I don’t know if it was the way the blue dress hugged me just right or the nerves dancing in my chest like butterflies on caffeine, but I felt alive. For the first time in forever, I felt like something good was coming.

My hair was down, flowing freely past my shoulders, and the lip gloss I wore shimmered under the soft hallway light. I was nervous more nervous than I ever was with Alexander.

Because tonight wasn’t just a date.

Tonight was with Nico.

A knock on the door.

Sienna beat me to it and opened it halfway.

“Don’t do anything bad, kids,” she said in her best mom voice before stepping aside dramatically like she just handed me over to my soulmate or something.

And there he was.

Nico.

All black. Rolled sleeves. Tattoos peeking out.

The cleanest his hair’s ever been. But none of that mattered more than the way he looked at me like I had just punched all the air out of his lungs.

“You look…” he breathed, “insane.”

I blushed. “You clean up good too.”

He handed me flowers  actual flowers a mix of sunflowers and soft white roses. I didn’t even tell him those were my favorites. He just knew.

He held my hand the whole way down the stairs and to the car.

He even opened the passenger door. What the hell? Was I dreaming?

The restaurant was perfect  fairy lights, soft jazz, the city skyline behind us. Private but cozy. Just the two of us.

And somewhere between appetizers and dessert, I realized I hadn’t thought about anything else but him.

Dessert came, and I saw the words written on the plate in chocolate drizzle:

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

My heart stopped.

I looked up. He wasn’t even nervous.

He just waited quietly, surely like he already knew the answer.

And he did.

“I’ve been yours since day one,” I whispered, and when he reached across the table to take my hand, I knew I’d never be alone again.

---

Nico’s Point of View

I’ve seen her before.

In sweatpants. In oversized hoodies. In tears. In silence.

But nothing nothing  prepared me for how she looked tonight.

That blue dress?

It wasn’t just pretty.

It was her.

Soft. Elegant. Wild underneath.

And for some twisted reason, she was walking toward me.

When she opened the door, I forgot how to speak.

“Missy,” I said like a prayer.

She smiled, all soft lips and shining eyes, and I swear, if Sienna hadn’t been standing there acting like a proud auntie, I might’ve kissed her right then and there.

The drive to the rooftop was quiet, calm  the kind of silence that meant everything was okay.

She kept looking at her phone, probably wondering why I hadn’t texted back.

I wanted this night to be different.

And it was.

Dinner was smooth. Easy. I didn’t even notice how much I smiled until my jaw started to hurt.

When the dessert plate came, she froze.

Her lips parted. Then she looked at me.

“I’ve been yours since day one,” she said.

I stood up, walked to her side, and kissed her like I meant it.

Because I did.

Because I loved her this girl with the soft heart and the fire beneath it.

My girlfriend.

My peace.

My chaos.

My little angel.

And I was never letting her go.