"Kelvin, are you okay?" I asked anxiously.

"Yea, purr- fect," he answered in a preternatural vocal with a twitch of the hand.

"Bullets couldn't do anything, what can this wine probably do to me?"

Jonas giggled along as I heaved a sigh. Well, how much bizarre could it be if he started purring like one of Mrs. Arabella's cats because of the champagne? I mean I wouldn't mind if he does.

Putting one of our selected songs on play, Jonas passed us the platter of pizza. Bruno romped in exhilaration at the music, probably wanting to be a part of our party too. The first bite of the pizza blessed my taste buds with a lip-smacking savour. Mrs. Arabella's pizza was definitely better than any other that we would have ordered online.

There was an extra slice left after three of us had finished our equal parts, so I stealthily made an attempt to snaffle it, but Jonas was too fast.

After gulping it down in two bites, he squawked, "What now?"

"Let's play," I suggested, still miffed on not getting the last slice.

"Play what? The childish stuff that you and June enjoy messing around with?" Kelvin commented.

Well, I took that as a compliment and continued, "Let's play Truth and Dare."

The two guys stared at each other for a while, as if exchanging eye-to-eye talks.

Maybe it was indeed too childish. But who cares?

"What? Scared?" I derided.

"Let's start," Kelvin announced, grabbing an empty bottle from the corner.

We decided that whoever the capped end points towards would answer, while the person on the other end would be the one questioning. We three repositioned in a circle as Jonas spun the bottle for the first time.

The bottle whirled, and there it halted. Interestingly enough, it stopped at the same place where it started, so the capped end was pointing towards Jonas. I was supposed to question him.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," he chose.

"So, how many girlfriends did you have?" I asked, spilling the first question that popped in my head.

"Ummm," he paused as he began counting using his fingers.

"Like, even his fingers will fall short for the count," Kelvin ridiculed.

"Eh, it's seven," Jonas replied after he was done with his calculations.

"When you realize it's high time to stop chasing after people who intend to leave you anyways," Kelvin pointed out.

That was deep.

Jonas spun the bottle again without giving any reaction, or probably avoiding to give any. It was now Kelvin's turn to answer.

"Truth," Kelvin chose.

I wanted to ask him the same thing that I had asked Jonas, but Jonas had already dropped a question.

"If you had to choose one person to share all your secrets with, who would it be?"

Kelvin took a while to consider.

"This moron here?" I suggested, pointing towards Jonas.

"Angel," he answered out of nowhere.

"Who's Angel?" I asked in surprise.

"It's-" Jonas was about to give the game away when Kelvin shushed him down.

"No telling."

"Who's it? Say it, please. I wanna know too!" I insisted.

"I'll tell you one day," Kelvin promised, his hand clutched over June's mouth to prevent him from spilling it out.

I really wonder who Angel was...

The bottle revolved again and drew to a stand to declare that it was my turn.

"Truth or dare?" Jonas asked.

"Hmmm," I pondered.

Let's bring in some twist.

"Dare," I replied.

"Phew, someone is brave," Kelvin remarked on my decision.

"Let's go with an easy one," Jonas said, scanning around to find something.

"Lick Bruno's paws."

"Properly," he added.

I instantly regretted choosing dare. I glanced at Bruno who was now peacefully snoozing on top of the cushions.

I hoped Mrs. Arabella had given him a bath today.

"Hurry up, you don't have all night," Kelvin coerced.

I crawled towards my pet and licked the underneath of his right paw with a yuck factor. Bruno stirred at the action as it disrupted his nap. That had probably sent a tickling sensation through his body, and the puppy started licking my face in return. Jonas and Kelvin broke out in hilarity at the scene and wouldn't even let me go to the washroom for gurgling with some water.

Not finding a second option, I sipped some water from a bottle nearby as the game continued. It was now June's turn.

"Dare," I forced, not intending to let him get away that easily.

"Fine, time for some bravery," Jonas agreed, flexing his biceps with an epic fail.

Kelvin was supposed to give him the dare.

"You have to drink half a pint of something that Amy and I prepare," Kelvin smirked.

Jonas buried his face in his hands while muttering, "RIP my stomach."

I grabbed a glass instantly, ready to take my revenge.

"I'll be back from the kitchen," Kelvin grinned.

In the meantime, I mixed some Hershey's chocolate syrup with Coca Cola in the glass. Jonas was begging me for mercy with puppy eyes, but I wasn't going to fall for it in any possible way.

Kelvin returned with a handful of interesting ingredients before I could show any mercy.

"And there goes tomato ketchup, some pepper sprinkles, a pinch of chili flakes, and finally salt to taste," Kelvin declared as he poured all of the mentioned elements into the mixture.

June's reaction was worth it. His pupils bulged out of his eyeballs seeing our creation. He was almost on his way to fleeing the battle ground, but Kelvin caught him just right on time.

"Fine, just one sip June," I reassured, forcing the glass towards his mouth as Kelvin kept him steadfast from the back.

Helplessly, he supped a little of the drink as we both waited for his reaction.

"It's not that bad," he muttered after judging the taste.

"Then another swig is must," Kelvin encouraged.

Jonas spurted out the liquid as soon as he took the next sip.

"I take my words back, it's too bad. I might as well puke."

We chortled before getting back to our positions, sparing Jonas from some more tasteful torture by our divine drink. The bottle gyrated again and came to rest, this time the capped end pointing somewhere between me and Kelvin.

"Re-spin it," I suggested.

"No, wait," Jonas interrupted.

"How about I give a dare to both of you?" he contemplated with enthusiasm. "Best opportunity to take my revenge."

"Ready, spill it," Kelvin agreed, completely flabbergasting me.

"So, Amy and Xav Bro," Jonas chuckled, "you two are going to perform a couple dance on a song I select."

I was baffled by the dare. I wasn't prepared for something like that, although I would love it. Nevertheless, I was pretty sure Kelvin would be objecting to it.

To my utter surprise, Kelvin rose and stretched a hand towards me, taking my breath away.

No doubt he was drunk, or else he would have never agreed.

He flitted his eyes towards his hand, gesturing for me to join. I took his hand and got up, trying my best to calm my whimsical heart which was now racing erratically.

Jonas squealed in zeal as I placed my other hand on Kelvin's shoulder. Kelvin gently placed a hand around my waist, the other hand still in mine. Jonas decided to play the most romantic song he could find.

This guy was planning on making me die out of nervousness.

The lyrics filled the air - "I would never fall in love, unless it's you I fall into".

We danced to the rhythms with fairly smooth steps, slipping only occasionally. Thankfully I wasn't wearing heels that day. I was always bad with the twirling part, but Kelvin managed to initiate it well.

"Trust me, you both make the perfect couple!" I heard Jonas whooping in the midst.

Although I was sure my cheeks were flushed red at that statement, I didn't turn around to look at him; I was looking at Kelvin. The song was over, so was our dance. We were just swaying slightly with the flow now. The green eyes met the blue, while the whole world around went still. A zephyr swished through the night air, driving some of the free strands of hair over my face. Kelvin shifted back the locks of hair with his fingers.

"Did I ever tell you," he whispered, "that you have beautiful eyes?"

"No," I breathed. "You didn't."

I wished time paused right there.

"Never mind, I'm bad at complimenting," he chuckled, looking at his feet.

I could clearly see his face turning scarlet in the dim light emitted by the luminescent fairy lights.

"Now I feel like a third wheel already," Jonas sighed from the back.

I was so lost staring at Kelvin that I had completely forgotten that he was still there. I glanced over to find him sitting with his hands hilariously cupped around his face.

"Thinking I should have let you both enjoy some quality time alone, eh?" he jested.

"I wouldn't mind if we were alone, you know," Kelvin whispered in my ears underneath his breath.

Would he have said it even if he was sober?

Heart crept up to my cheeks, and I couldn't control myself from blushing profusely.

I was definitely falling for Mr. Angry Young Man.

"June," I mumbled after a while, ignoring the arbitrary beating of my heart.

"Tickle," Kelvin whispered, and I don't know how, but I somehow knew what to do right away.

Almost instantly, Kelvin and I parted, springing towards Jonas, and started tickling him simultaneously from both sides. Jonas had to hold his stomach to control the outbreak of cackle.

"Stop you two, please!" he requested between his hoots.

We terminated the tickles, but the laughter persisted as we rested our heads against the pillows. Bruno hopped in and joined us, settling comfortably amidst the warmth of my arms. The veranda didn't have a roof, so the wide night sky was in clear view, stars twinkling above our heads.

I wish I could frame the reminiscences of that night and keep them with me forever.

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- Love,
Your dear author <3