Sapphire Stones

First Date Dilemma

"Don't look." Gally says for what must be the hundredth time.

"I feel like you're just gonna make me run into a tree or some shit like that." I reply with a laugh, one of my hands still covering my tightly closed eyes. Gally holds tightly to the other, leading me through what can only be the Deadheads to what he's calling the Ultimate First Date Spot.

"I won't! I swear!" He says, chuckling as we weave through trees and bushes.

"That's what someone says before making someone else run into a tree!" 

"You have trust issues." Gally grumbles, but I can practically hear the grin on his face.

"Believe me, I know, Galpal." About a minute of silence passes between us before Gally abruptly stops, causing me to run into him and stumble backwards a little. "I knew you were gonna sabotage me!" I shout as Gally walks forward to help me up, laughing uncontrollably. 

Once he regains his breath, he tells me to turn around. 

"What is it? There's nothing here." I say, looking all around me to see if I missed anything. He's led me to my special tree, but there's nothing around except for the usual wildlife.

"Look up." He replies with a chuckle. I look up slowly, my jaw dropping when I see the wooden platform wrapping around the trunk of the tree.

"You..." My voice gets caught in my throat as I stare up, my eyes darting from the tree to Gally and back again.

"Ladies first." He says, a smile plastered on his face. I excitedly scale the tree, climbing through the opening in the wooden platform. Gally climbs up shortly after me. "You like it?" He asks, nodding at the wood surrounding the tree.

"Do I like it?!" I shout, unable to contain my excitement. I run towards him, jumping into his arms. Gally lets out a grunt at the sudden impact, his arms wrapping tightly around me. I wrap my legs around his waist, pressing kisses all over his face, a grin plastered on mine.

I press a long, sweet kiss to his lips before pulling away, resting my forehead against his.

"I'll take that as a yes then." Gally chuckles, holding me close to him.

"You bet your ass I like it! It's incredible!" He gently sets me down, letting me slowly walk around the platform in awe. "When'd you build it?"

"I started it a few days ago. It didn't take too long though."

"Gal, you're amazing. You have no idea how really fucking nice you really are." I say, standing on my tip toes to kiss him again. A crooked, genuine smile is plastered on his face as he gazes down at me.

He presses a kiss to my forehead, brushing off the compliment, but there's no mistaking the redness creeping up his neck.

🪐🪐🪐

"I just don't understand why you hate him so much!" I say with a laugh, nudging Gally's shoulder. We're sitting at the edge of the platform, arms resting on the railing as we snack on the raspberries that Newt gave to Gally.

"I just can't believe that we're having this conversation again." Gally replies, rolling his eyes despite the smile on his face.

"Because I think that if you gave him a chance, you'd learn to love him."

"He's disgusting, Ven. He sheds, smells, and begs for food."

"He's precious, Wonder Boy. He's cuddly, sweet, and I bet that if you gave him a chance before just jumping to stupid conclusions, you two would become best friends." Gally shakes his head, his lips pursed in a thin line. "It's just such a shame that you won't even try

"Hm, I agree. Such a shame." He mutters with an eye roll.

"Y'know, he's not so bad once you get to know him."

"Are we still talking about Bark here, because if I'm remembering correctly, we had this same conversation about Minho a while ago."

"And if I'm remembering correctly, you never even tried to give Minho a chance. I think if you gave Bark a chance-"

"They're the exact same, Ven! If I don't like Minho, in what world would I ever like Bark? They have the same tendencies and personalities!"

"Oh my God, just give the poor dog a chance!" I plead, lacing my fingers together and poking out my bottom lip as I stare up at Gally, my eyes wide and watering. "Pleaseee?"

Gally groans, running a hand over his face and through his hair.

"Fine." He grunts. "But only for you. And he only gets one chance."

I grin, leaning my head against his shoulder happily. "You're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah." He mutters, kissing the top of my head lightly. A minute of silence passes between us before I break it, blurting out,

"So, are we gonna talk about it?"

"About what?" He asks, resting his head against mine.

"This whole, 'we make out but we're not dating' situation."

"Oh, that conversation." He mutters, running a hand through his hair again, his eyes falling to the grass quite a few feet below us.

"I mean, I just figured sooner rather than later would be better. It's just been a kind of unspoken dilemma for a while now. I thought we should probably talk about it."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right." He replies, sighing before looking over at me, meeting my eyes. 

"Are you ever gonna ask me?" 

"Ask you what?"

I roll my eyes. "To be your girlfriend, dumbass. I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not into the whole casual dating shit. I want to be with you, Gally. If that's not what you want, then-"

He cuts me off, pressing a passionate kiss to my lips. When we both pull away, he keeps his face close to mine, his gaze never leaving mine.

"I told you the morning after our first kiss that I wanted a relationship. I wanted to know everything about you, the good and the bad. Well, I didn't ever change my mind. Not even for a second. I don't want to just date you, okay? I want to be in a relationship with you. I guess the question is, do you want that too?" His face slowly moves away from mine until there's a small gap separating us. He's looking at me, his face pale, his eyes scared, but there's a glint of hope in them as he waits for my answer.

"Yes, Gal. I want to have a relationship with you." I say softly, his eyes still holding my gaze. He grins, pressing another kiss against my lips. I let my arms wrap around his neck as one of his hands rests on my waist, the other on the back of my neck, pulling me even closer to him. 

We're both smiling, the joy we're feeling radiating off of our bodies and warming the air around us.

"So, Venus? I guess the only other question I have for you is this." Gally says, slightly breathless when we both pull away. He takes a deep breath, taking my hands in his. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

I nod excitedly, my voice caught in my throat as the tears begin welling up in my eyes. Gally presses a kiss to each of my cheeks before landing once more on my lips.

When he leans back, he's staring at me, a grin plastered on his face as his eyes lock with mine. Butterflies swarm my stomach as he smiles at me.

His look alone causes an adrenaline rush to flow through my veins, almost as if I'm high on him. He's like a drug, drawing me to him. He's intoxicating, causing me to be infatuated with his every move. I inhale and exhale, trying to calm my impossibly fast heart rate as he grins down at me, but there's no mistaking the warmth that fills my body when his smile widens, showing his teeth. 

And the way he's staring at me makes me feel more than beautiful. He's not staring at me as if I'm his. He's staring at me as if he's mine. As if I'm the most stunning thing he's ever seen. Like nothing and no one could ever compare to me.

He doesn't even have to say anything.

I can see it in his eyes.

In his sapphire stone eyes.