After helping Declan's mother with the dishes, I took a long bubble bath, making the entire bathroom into a sauna. It was soothing to wash away all the stress and dirt from the day I had. Declan's entire speech left me speechless. Yet, my mind was buzzing with thoughts and endless possibilities.

I'm pretty sure I got deeply rooted in my thoughts, that I rubbed my skin too harshly with the sponge. By the time I've finished everything, it was way past ten o'clock, and I still had a five-page assignment calling my name.

Should I be bold and ask Declan if he wanted to work on it together? His mother did mention Sam was sleeping over at a friend's house after dinner. Maybe this would be a perfect time to have private time with Declan. Shaking my head, I realized how ridiculous I was being, but now I implanted the thought in my brain, I had to go through with it.

After putting on my zebra slippers, I bravely knocked on his door, sucking in a deep breath. The silence was killing me; at this point, he must be sleeping. My eyes widened when the door opened, instantly regretting my new found confidence I gained in my bubble bath.

Note to Lana-- Don't take bubble baths.

"Yeah," he said, opening the door enough to view the way his blue shirt hung on his muscular body.

Awkwardly, I clasped my arms behind my back. "I was just wondering, would you like to work on the assignment together?" I asked, subconsciously chewing on my bottom lip.

"Assignment?" He furrowed his brows but quickly shifted to a realization. "Oh, I finished that already. Don't tell me you haven't even started it yet."

"Um... I haven't," I muttered, my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"For someone like you, it will take two weeks." Declan flashed a half-smile, causing my heart to do somersaults. I'll never get over his beautiful smile, even when it's only a tease of one. "Good luck," he stated, closing the door.

My head dropped in defeat, sighing as I shuffled back to my room; crying internally. When I stared at the first page, my mind was as clear as the Sarna desert. The knowledge was water; I needed to find it to complete this page. About ten seconds passed until I gave up and flipped over to the next page.

But it wasn't long till the packet met my buddy, the wall. All the studying I did a week prior was useless. The only benefit was spending quality time with Declan, which I totally craved to admire the way his chest raised when he was sleeping. What's the point of learning when nothing remains in my head, anyway?

After banging my head on the desk for five minutes an intriguing idea popped into my brain. Maybe if I sneak into Declan's room, I could steal his assignment and copy all the answers. Why didn't I think of this before?

Quietly, I slipped on my slippers and slowly opened the door, not wanting it to screech. Thankfully, the universe was on my side today, and not a sound came from the door. Staring at his door brought the realization of what I was about to attempt.

I took a sharp breath. "Here we go," I whispered, leisurely fully opening the door, seizing a glance at his sleeping figure.

The covers were loosely strung across his waist, exposing the naked, muscular, tan skin of his back. I watched his back rise and fall, hopefully indicating he was deep in sleep. Suddenly, he started shifting in his sleep in a different position. His long-toned arms were wrapped around his bunny; he was hugging it right under his neck.

His long eyelashes rested over his cheek, obscuring his intoxicating chocolate eyes from view. He always looked different when sleeping. Why was he so cute? His features were softer and his mouth was relaxed instead of its usual scowl. This drew my eyes to his lips, imagining the softness of them.

Realizing I was getting sidetracked, I ripped my eyes away in embarrassment. Think about the assignment, Lana!  Carefully, I tiptoed dramatically, opening my legs wide and almost losing my balance in the process.

"I'm just going to borrow your work okay," I breathed, traveling towards his desk stacked with books.

Accidentally, I jammed my foot into his rolling chair, causing not only intense pain to shoot up my leg but a loud ruckus from it. Gasping, I turned quicker than someone could say I and watched as he groped his bunny tighter.

"Safe," I muttered, smiling to myself.

Proceeding, I reached his desk and skimmed through his books to find the packet. The only school-related items on the desk were his school textbooks. Where would he put his assignment? Maybe his backpack? Gratefully, his bag was under his desk, I inspected it, praying to find the packet and get the heck out of here.

Got it! Yes! Mission halfway complete. Thank you, Declan, for being so smart and making my life easier.

Suddenly, while I was tiptoeing back, a hand latched onto my arm, whirling me towards Declan's burning gaze. My heart plummeted to my stomach as my eyes stared at him with fright. I was almost out of the clear.

"What are you doing?" he asked, "Making noise in my room in the middle of the night. Don't you know how rude that is?"

"Huh? It's late. I'm gonna go," I rambled, trying to go on my merry way only to be held in my spot by his grip.

"That's not going to happen."

I gripped the packet in front of my chest to show him the intentions of my little visit. "Huh? I just I wanted t-,"

"I know," his gaze burned into mine, sending my mind into overdrive. "You came in here to make love to me, right?"

My eyes bulged from their sockets, wondering how he came to this recognition. Without warning, he dragged my body into his bed and hovered himself over me. My heart started hammering so quickly within my chest, I was surprised he couldn't hear it.

"No! It's n-not l-like t-h-at," I stammered, feeling the blood rush up to my cheeks.

"It's not like that?" He taunted, his voice huskier than usual, and his eyes blazed with intrigue. "There is no other reason for a girl to come into a guy's room in the middle of the night."

Clearly, the wiring between my mouth and brain was short-circuited; of course, it picked the wrong moment. I shivered, and he pressed me firmly against his muscular naked body. It's like I'm living my dream.

"Don't worry, I won't embarrass you." His expression darkened as he reached up and cupped my chin with his hand. His thumb grazed my bottom lip while he licked his, leaving me lost for words.

"Ahh... Are you talking about 'that'?" I swallowed the lump in my throat, my breathing becoming shallow.

"If only no one was here," he murmured, swiping the displaced hair strand from my cheek to behind my ear, causing goosebumps to emerge on my skin.

"I-i-i," I sputtered, my mind officially over-fried.

"Even someone like me can turn wild sometimes," he smirked, leaning in going straight for my lips.

Trembling, I turned my head leading to his lips highly grazing against my cheek. "Please wait! I do like you, Declan, like a lot, but this is way too fast. I think we should be in a long-term relationship before performing this act," I ranted a little too loud for the middle of the night.

From deep inside his chest came a great shaking motion and his face muscles grew tight. My cheeks burned as I watched him hysterically laugh as soon as my little declaration ended.

He raised his eyebrow at me. "A long-term relationship?" he snickered, a huge amused smile on his lips. "Mmm, I knew you still had a massive crush on me."

Immediately, I jolted forward, shifting myself to the side of his bed.

"Were you teasing me?" I sincerely asked.

I don't know what's more embarrassing, getting rejected in front of the whole school or stupidly confessing my feelings in his bed. Only I would fall for this.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of pursuing a relationship with you," he responded, making my blood pump with fury.

"You know what! I'm going to tell everyone that you tried to touch me! I will tell everyone at school," I protested, banging my fist onto his comforter with passion. 

"Go ahead." he laughed, "There are already rumors of us, anyway. I'm sure people have imagined this much already."

Narrowing my eyes, I huffed in defeat. "I give up."

He loudly cleared his throat, capturing my attention to the white packet in his hands. Darn, how did I forget about it already?

"I think you forgot something," he wickedly smirked.

"Whatever," I muttered, rolling my eyes and exiting his room.

Suddenly, there was a soft knock on my door and before I could reach it, Declan barged in.

"Are you here to torment me again?" I asked, placing my hand on my hip.

"No, ignoring my better judgment, I'm going to help you," he sighed, the dark circles slowly making an appearance. Wow, even Declan has those.

"If you're tired, you could just let me copy," I suggested, yawning myself.

"What's the point of copying if you won't learn anything," he countered.

"Touche," I answered, clasping my arms in front of me and swaying them back and forth.

"Hurry, let's start," he said, closing the door behind.

Yawning, we walked downstairs to the peaceful living room, and I threw my body into the soft fabric couch. There was still an hour before the rest of the family woke up, letting Declan and I have another hour of alone time. I'm extremely grateful for it.

"We ended staying up all night." Declan yawned, using his hand to cover his breath.

"As a token of my gratitude, I would like to make you breakfast," I proposed. A shy smile crept on my lips.

"And end up with food poisoning? No, thank you," Declan replied.

Ouch, that hurt. Pouting, I grabbed the pillow beside me and suffocated it with my strength. It's not my fault I didn't inherit my father's cooking skills or my mother's knowledgeability. God has favorites and I've been proven to not be one of them, especially not after these endless awkward situations I get sucked into.

"I am thirsty," Declan said, staring off into the distance.

"Oh."

"Can you make coffee for me?" he asked, causing my heart to flourish inside my chest.

We sat together at the dining table with our two mugs of coffee in silence like a week before. I loved these quiet moments, with him especially because his rotten mouth was shut. Though no matter what leaves his lips, I'm still stuck on him.

"Oh, good morning, by the way." I smiled, taking a sip of my sugared coffee.

"Did you forget we have been up all night?"

Touche.

All I knew was the best morning was drinking coffee with Declan right by my side.

I hope you guys enjoyed the second-hand embarrassment streaming off Lana today! Lmao writing this chapter was so much fun and I hoped you guys loved it!

Love you guys!! Can't wait to read your comments!