Another beautiful cover made by the @Bookaholicscommunity 😊 What do you guys think? This hot bad boy could be Alex, couldn't he?

I stir myself from a peaceful sleep, floating back to consciousness under featherlike caresses on the bare skin of my lower back. A content smile immediately stretches my lips as I breathe in the sweet and spicy perfume I know by heart – and which will never leave my heart indifferent.

I flutter my eyes open, my view adjusting to the dim light of the morning sun passing through the closed shutters. But all I see is a mop of brown curls as devious lips leave a trail of butterfly kisses along my neck.

"Hi, Miss Clumsy Cookie."

My heart wakes up fully at the sound of the hoarse sleepy voice.

"Good morning, baby." I let out a pleased sigh.

I still can't believe this is real. Entangled legs, warm strong arms around me, smooth cuddles, and firefly kisses, I still can't fully grasp that this is my reality, and every morning I savor every second of it. No matter what the day ahead has in store for me, I know it's a beautiful day when I wake up like this.

"How long have you been awake?" I mumble, my eyes closed again under the delicious sensation of his lips right below my ear.

"Quite some time..." He leans away, and before I even open my eyes I know I will be met by his irresistible smirk. "You know you're cute when you sleep?"

"You know you're creepy when you watch me sleep?" I smile, biting my lip, unable to hide the flutters of my heart at the fact that he does this almost every day, and this means so much to me.

He takes my lip from between my teeth, nibbling ad sucking my bottom lip, before kissing me fully. I feel all my senses awaken as the kiss deepens, and in no time he is hovering over me, his feathery caresses becoming more demanding.

"Happy one year, baby," he murmurs on my lips.

"Happy anniversary." My lips extend in a wide smile, matching the contours of his breath-taking one.

Before I can add anything, he kisses me passionately again to celebrate, bringing with just one kiss all the confetti on my skin, balloons floating in my stomach, and fireworks in my heart. I return the same passion, creating our own little festivity for our love.

If someone had told me one year ago that a simple kiss would lead me to this... Though it has never been a 'simple' kiss, it has already been a swarm of butterfly that has made me strong and weak under the irresistible pull of the Law of attraction. Yet at the time, I haven't known what it's meant. I've been so confused and scared. I haven't known it's been love.

And now here we are today, exactly one year after our first kiss.

My eyes widen, and I quickly pull away. "Alex!"

But it doesn't stop him, his devious lips continue along my jaw and neck.

"What time is it?! You're gonna be late!"

"I don't wanna go..." he mumbles on the skin of my neck, creating a lovely trail of goosebumps and tickles.

"I don't want you to go either..." I smile wistfully. "But you have to. It's your researches presentation, and you've worked really hard for this!" I add, gathering all the pride I have for him and his work in my chest, and trying to hide the hint of disappointment weighing on my heart.

I must admit – even though I will never tell Alex – that I'm a little sad to not be able to spend this special day with him. After all, it's been the day that has really started our relationship.

It's not that I want any extraordinary celebration, but I would have loved to spend it with Alex, especially because we haven't really had time together recently between our courses, me working on my book, and him on his funded researches. He's put in a lot of extra hours this past month, and I kinda miss not seeing him as often. But that doesn't mean I'm not happy and super proud of him. I love hearing him talk about his work, the way his tenebrous eyes shine, and how his eyebrows furrow adorably when he explains it to me, even if I don't always understand everything because he is really good at teaching me, yet also distracting me.

He pulls away, letting me catch a glimpse of the dark and light brown shades dancing in his eyes before he looks down again.

"I feel bad for leaving you alone all day... I'm a bad boyfriend."

My heart cracks with his words. I grab his face between my hands, making him look at me. "No! You're a bad boy, not a bad boyfriend!" I smile, trying to erase the frown creasing his handsome face. "You're a perfect boyfriend. Perfect for me." I hold his gaze, showing him I mean every word.

"We can celebrate later!" I try to cheer him up.

"Don't forget that I'll have to work all weekend." He sighs.

"I remember." I offer him a sad smile. The perspective of this long weekend without classes has got me excited at first, thinking that everything has aligned to celebrate our anniversary, but since I know that Alex's presentation for his scholarship renewal has got scheduled for today and that he will have to work on the extra details all weekend, I'm only dreading the loneliness and emptiness.

I let my fingers wander in his soft messed curls. "Don't worry! It's not even really our one year anniversary, since we haven't been together the whole year." I try to shrug it off but immediately regret my words, wishing to swallow them back, as I see his tenebrous eyes clouding and finding back the scar on my jaw.

It's fully healed, only a thin lighter line remaining along my jaw, and this episode is in our past now, given that we haven't heard from Leo or his gang since the fire 'incident'. Yet for Alex, the wound is still fresh. He still feels bad for it, and every time his gaze falls on my scar, I see it take a darker shade that breaks my heart.

"I mean we have other anniversaries to celebrate... like when we got back together, or our first time..." I suggest, running my fingers down his strong, bare back to distract him with my obvious hint.

Another dark shade, which I by far prefer, surfaces in his eyes.

"And we can celebrate next year, because I plan on celebrating many more anniversaries with you..."

A big grin instantly illuminates his features. "I love you." He kisses me again, promising me all those years of celebration with his tender lips.

"I love you too," I whisper the words straight from my pounding heart. "But you're gonna be late!" I push him off of me playfully, and he lands with an 'oof' before bouncing back off the bed.

He turns around on his tracks, leaning back down to me as I'm sitting up. "But I plan on making it up for it tonight when I come home..." His mischievous, promising smirk makes my heart skip a beat.

***

'I knew it! What did I tell you this morning?'

I immediately reply to Alex's text asking me to go pick up his blue folder. Like I've predicted when I've told him to get ready and stop getting distracted, he's forgotten it in his rush this morning, his precious blue folder that contains his final work.

'It's not my fault if you're too distracting ;)'

I shake my head at his answer, with the same big silly smile that Alex always manages to bring on my face.

I quickly put on his denim jacket – well, Alex always repeats it is mine now, but let's say it is ours because we share it. I gather my notebooks and pens, and I shove it all in my bag before leaving the library. I haven't managed to write much anyway, my lonely brain only portraying a dark knight in shining armor. I know I sound a little hopeless, but whenever I'm not with Alex, I miss him. He is always in my thoughts and in my heart.

The cool autumn breeze hits me as soon as I step outside. Even the sky is dull and gray, though the red, orange and yellow leaves are swirling and dancing around, cheering me up a little. I snuggle the jacket a little tighter, the rough fabric protecting me from the cold and the intoxicating scent of Alex warming up my heart. I hurry through the empty lanes of the campus. It's a long weekend, so most students have come home to their family, and those who have stayed probably don't want to spend time outside on a cloudy day.

As I arrive in the alley of our neighborhood, I rummage through my bag for my keys. I don't want to waste too much time; I know Alex really needs his folder, and the eagerness to see him again, even just for a few minutes, makes me go even faster. I know I'm helplessly lovesick, yet I don't care, and I don't think I will ever heal.

I finally pull out victoriously my keys just as I reach our off-white front door. I hear steps behind me and someone catches me off guard, wrapping their arms around me. In less than a second, I apply Alex's lessons, and I stomp on my attacker's foot. Then, I elbow the person in the stomach and swiftly turn around to be met by...

"Oh my god! Baby! I'm sorry!" My hands fly to my open mouth before going to brush Alex's arm holding his stomach. "Are you okay?"

"Ouch! Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. But I don't know who taught you how to fight like this?!" He straightens up and finds back his sly smirk, so I know he is really fine.

"I learned with the best!" I grin.

"And who is your teacher?" His piercing eyes twinkle at me.

"The hottest..." I playfully offer him a flirty gaze, though it is totally honest.

"Oh, really?" I let him finally wrap his arms around my waist.

He leans closer, his hot breath teasing my lips, and I let out a content sigh, enjoying to feel his warmth.

"But why are you here by the way?" My foggy brain, which has been distracted by Alex's devious smirk, suddenly realizes, and I frown slightly.

"Surprise!" He smiles widely. "Happy anniversary, Miss Badass!" He pecks my lips and then pulls away to grab a flower pot on the floor in front of the door – that I'm just noticing now.

I look at the small shrub in his hands, a few red flowers and buds standing out through the glossy see-through wrapping paper.

"I always give you roses, so I thought why not offer you a rose bush? Because it's long-lasting and we can make it grow together." He looks apprehensively between my eyes and the wrapped plant while my heart is melting.

"Like our love?" I ask in a small voice, biting the bottom of what might be one of the widest smiles that have ever broken on my face. I wouldn't be surprised if there were flashing hearts in place of my eyes right now because I'm beaming with so much love, all for the man in front of me.

"Like our love." He smiles, his magnetizing eyes diving in mine straight to my soul.

"This is perfect," I whisper right before he captures my lips in a dazzling kiss, and just in that moment, I feel my love for him grow bigger and bigger.

Every time I think I can't possibly love him more, he does something, smoothly and naturally, to prove me wrong.

"Now let's go! This is just the first part of the surprise."

He drags me by the hand as I'm still dazed, and like I've just said, my heart grows with even more love.

"We're going on a romantic weekend, just you and I," he explains when we stop by his mustang.

"But your presentation?" I ask, still stunned.

"I lied. It was yesterday." He offers me a sheepish grin. "I wanted to surprise you!"

"What... But?" I'm left speechless between his adorable smile and the mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

"That's why I've worked extra hours this past month," he explains in front of my frozen, wide stare.

I get out of my daze. "How did it go? Are they renewing the scholarship?"

"Yes, they were so satisfied that they've even increased the budget for developing the researches."

"This is amazing! My genius bad boy, congrats!" I throw myself into his arms.

He shakes his head humbly, but the shine of his tenebrous eyes is eloquent enough. 

"We gotta celebrate!" I exclaim, my chest filled with pride.

"We will, and we will also celebrate the success of your book," he remarks, tilting his head. "But today we celebrate something else, and we should get going! We have a long road ahead!"

"Where are we going?" I ask, my arms still wrapped around his neck.

"This is a surprise... Our little road trip just you and I..." His devious smirk creates butterflies in all my body.

"But–"

"Remember that curiosity killed the cat." He lifts an eyebrow, and his dark gaze tickles my curiosity.

"I know." I laugh softly. "But, I don't have anything ready. I need to pack some things," I point out.

"It's already in the back seat." He opens the door for me.

"You planned everything?" I go into raptures, overwhelmed with love.

"Anything for you, baby." He smiles as if all he's done was nothing. "Now, do I have to kidnap you to make you get in this damn car?" he adds, half playful, half serious, and I quickly get in.

"Thank you. This is perfect. You didn't have to do this much." I look him in his eyes when he sits behind the wheel.

"Don't thank me yet! You don't even know where we're going."

"This is already perfect. All the efforts you put in, everything. I know this will be perfect." I kiss him again, expressing with my lips on his everything that I can't even put words on.

There will be another part to this little surprise coming in 2 days. You'll understand why on Friday ;)