ALBEDO "the way i loved you"

chapter thirty-four

"happy birthday, love."

y/n tip-toed to kiss his cheek, before she could even go back, albedo was already hugging her. he rested his chin on the top of her head, hands caressing her back.

he smelled so good.

his action alone was enough to make her knees weak and his addicting smell isn't helping at all.

"thank you." he finally pulled out, smiling at her with gentleness. "i'm glad that i get to celebrate this day with you."

she chuckled, "and so am i!" y/n pulled something from her tote bag. "winter's coming and i thought it's a great idea to knit some scarf for you."

she presented a scarf, just the same as the color of his eyes. albedo stared at it in awe, admiring every part of his girlfriend's hard work.

"do you like it?"

albedo humbly accepted her gift, "i love it, y/n! thank you so much, babe."

"make sure to wear that every first day of winter, yeah?"

"absolutely."

"now, where shall we go?" y/n questioned. they both walked off the campus after enrolling themselves for the next school year. "can i meet aunt alice now?"

albedo nodded, "she's waiting for you."

"oh!" suddenly she felt nervous. albedo already assured her a million times that alice would like — no — love her and yet something within her was causing her heart to drop continuously out of nowhere and she felt like throwing up. "i'm nervous.."

his hand held hers, the way he caressed it gently solely calmed her down. "it'll be fine. she's gonna love you."

"i hope so."

when they reached albedo's house, she was welcomed with the warmest, loudest, and kindest mother she'd ever met. alice quickly pulled her into a heart-warming hug as soon as she spotted her while klee hugged y/n's legs.

stunned to speak, she wasn't able to process anything at all that until albedo pulled his mother and klee slightly away from y/n. "she won't be able to breathe properly if you'd hug her like that, mom."

he knelt, "same for you little klee. my girlfriend won't be able to move."

"s-shorry, brother..." her tiny voice whispered cutely.

"ah, i've finally met you!" alice wiped her hands on the apron and placed them on the sides of y/n's cheeks, "you're so pretty like he always told me."

her cheeks turned red, "t-thank you..."

"i heard a lot about you! come inside, let's have fun." alice invited, pulling the girl through the living room while albedo followed them with klee in his arms. "sit there while i prepare the plate."

"oh, please let me help you out." y/n said politely.

"no, no. it's fine, i can manage."

"please? i really insist."

alice chuckled in amusement, finally giving in. "alright, here put it on the table, y/n."

y/n

god, she mumbled y/n's name like it came out from a love song. as soon as her name left alice's lips, the nervousness was gone completely. it's like alice casted some sort of magic and y/n isn't complaining at all.

after preparing, the family finally started to eat.

"i heard your mother owns a coffee shop?"

"yes, it's located downtown." y/n answered truthfully, "ah, i almost forgot." she showed a paper bag containing the pastries, "these are my mother's specialty, she's hoping that you'd like it."

"your mother is sweet!" alice cried, "thank you, i'm glad that i'll have an in-law who's a great cook!"

y/n blushed at her statement and felt validated even after albedo held her hand under the table.

"i heard you're going to sumeru with albedo, am i right?"

"yes, i'll be taking environmental science as my degree."

"you both surely have an interest in anything science-related." alice chuckled.

"anything about science is amazing," y/n said, eyes twinkling with passion. "it's really interesting to say the least and i'm lucky that albedo also likes it too."

"ah, if only you knew!" alice put another carrot cake on y/n's plate, the girl murmured a small 'thank you'. "he was obsessed with astrology when he was young! early teenage him was more like a dinosaur stage and now... human life."

"ooh, he's a certified nerd right from the start."

"exactly!" alice remarked proudly, "i taught science when i was still a new teacher up until now i teach them — it runs in the blood and i'm glad he found another half who's as interested as him."

albedo cleared his throat, "enough about science and me, mom."

"oh dear, but it's your day."

"your mother's right, 'bedo." smiled y/n who's still interested to learn more about her boyfriend. she turned to alice once again. "he also likes to draw, right?"

"oh that! he's a great artist. i could show you his sketches of the galaxy, dinosaur, and those little weird monsters he was obsessed with!"

"i would love to see them!"

albedo shook his head, amused with how his mother and girlfriend got along really well. he felt proud to y/n because she was dead nervous earlier and now, she didn't even realize it, but she's already gotten closer to alice.

albedo glanced at klee who was eating in silence, "little klee, what do you think of y/n?"

"i love y/n!" klee exclaimed, "is she finally... finally a family member?"

"yes," he glanced at y/n who was happily talking with his mother. his heart melted at the view. "she's finally part of the family, klee."

"like you've always dreamed about?"

he nodded, "just like what i've always dreamed about."