Zarine tiptoed across Cristiano's room, closing the door quietly behind her. She winced at her sore feet (thanks to her high heels and dancing all night) and stopped on her journey to Cristiano's bathroom.

He looks so gentle and vulnerable, asleep like that. His hair is all ruffled and his eyelids look so tired. Awww, he's dreaming. Like he's frowning and all. Walk away, Zarine, walk away. It's really stalkerish like this. What if he wakes up and sees you hovering over him like Edward Cullen? That would suck.

A sliver of light peeped past his grey curtains and fell across his hair, lighting it up in shades of dark and auburn. Sigh, he's just too beautiful. A girl can't even go brush her teeth without falling in love with him AGAIN.

And just like that she was smiling, smiling hugely at the thought that this "love" thing she had with him was no longer one sided. Heck, if she went by his conversations last night, it hadn't been one sided for quite a long time. He loved her. It was as simple as that and yet it gave her the most excited, tingly feeling in the world.

"Uh-Zarine, you're staring," he said, voice slightly hoarse, peeking an eye open.

Zarine blushed to the colour of beetroot, "I was? Huh, not at all. I was just, you know-"

He smirked, sleepily, "I don't. Enlighten me, please."

"Fine, I was staring," she admitted grudgingly and then laughed evilly, "but only because you look really funny when you sleep."

He reached for her hand and, catching her unawares, pulled her towards himself, "Ah your thinly veiled compliments."

With a catch of breath, Zarine fell into his arms. He's dead. I fell on his sexy body and now he's crushed under my weight. Oh shit, we're really close, like really, really close. Is he naked under the sheets? ZARINE! Don't think about under the sheets. But is he? Naked? Oh no, my face is burning and he's looking at me with his warm, hazel eyes. Zarine is a goner, fellas.

Cristiano wrapped his arms around her and snuggled into her, still half-asleep, "I love you, babe."

She relaxed and hugged him back, smiling against his shoulder. Well, he's definitely shirtless. "You're really warm..." she mumbled.

His morning stubble prickled against her ear as he laughed, "Thanks for the I love you too. Nothing like a confidence boost early in the morning."

"Warm is a synonym for hot so you should be happy and for the record, I have always loved you and always will," she said and kissed his neck. "Besides, it's not that early in the morning. It's going to be twelve in half an hour or so."

That woke him up, "Wait, WHAT? Twelve? Oh nooo. There's a practice at twelve thirty. I don't wanna goooo."

"Aww if that's the case, before you hog the bathroom, I'm going to go and do what I came here for-brushing my teeth, washing my face, etc." she ran towards the bathroom.

He climbed out of bed and stretched.

Oh he's wearing boxers. Not naked. But nearly naked. And OMG he looks absolutely fab. He should be shirtless more often hehe.

"It's a big bathroom, we can share," he pointed out.

And that was how Zarine ended up brushing with Cristiano. They goofed around of course, each trying to hog more of the mirror space and directing water at the other. By the time they were done, Zarine had shaving cream on her hair and Cristiano had what looked like a whole tube of Colgate across his chest.

"And now, you must leave because I have to shower and go to practice. Unless, of course, you want to share my shower too," he joked.

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?

Conceal, don't feel.

"Haha, you wish," she stuck out her tongue. "Adios, amigos."

He laughed, "It's amigo."

"Whatever," she closed the bathroom door behind her, all sassy.

I might as well tell him about the job now. Because I swear, looking for the perfect moment is next to impossible. He'll be so surprised. Yasss.

"Oh Cristiano," she barged in.

He yelped and quickly covered himself with a towel, "God, Zarine!"

"Omg, I'm sorryyy," she closed her eye and turned away. "I swear, I didn't see anything. Not even a buttcheek."

"Umm, why did you come back?" he finally asked, still clutching his towel.

She grinned nervously, still looking away, "Remember, I said I had something to tell you? Well, I thought I'd find the perfect moment and this is far from it, but I can't control the urge to blurt it so here goes. I got a freaking job as a professor at DU! Can you believe that? Like I'm still in shock and maybe even denial, but a happy kind of denial. I'm rambling and you're naked. Holy shit, you must think I'm totally crazy. I'll just go." She ran out.

The door opened behind her and Cristiano's head appeared, "Zarine, that is so freaking amazing. I'm so proud of you. Congratulations, babe. You deserve it. Let's go out and celebrate today? I know this really good salad place."

She was so over the moon at his happy reaction that she even overlooked the salad bit, "Thank you, OMG and seriously? Wow, thanks. I love you, Cris."

"And you're really warm," he stuck his tongue out cheekily using her earlier response and disappeared into the bathroom.

Not long after, the bell rang and without even somebody opening the door, James made full use of his spare key rights and burst in, "If you guys are making out or, I don't know, doing something more...don't let me interrupt. Go on. I'll help myself to the Xbox while Grumpy Gareth stares over me like a disappointed parent."

"James, Gareth!" Zarine greeted them. "Cristiano's in the shower. He'll probably be out in a minute."

"Hey, Zarry, lovely to see you. Did you and Cristiano do anything special last night?" he smiled knowingly.

She spluttered, blushing, "What? No. We slept. In our individual rooms."

Gareth sighed, "James, stop making her uncomfortable and go play Mario or whatever it is you play on the Xbox."

"You're such a sourpuss, Pineapple tree," the Colombian made a face and went back to playing Call of Duty.

"Hey," Gareth smiled at Zarine. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"I got something for you," he said, patting his jacket pockets.

Omg present! Gareth is such a sweetie. Is it chocolate? I could do with some chocolate.

He handed her a thick envelope, "Jese was printing out for the team. I thought I'd get some printed for you."

She opened the envelope and a bunch of pictures slipped out. She gulped, overcome by emotion, "Gareth, these are beautiful. Thank you. You're just pure gold."

He smiled, "You're an amazing person. You make Cris happy. It's a pleasure to do anything for you."

James called out, "Why is he so goody-goody, ugh, Garry."

They ignored him and Zarine looked through the pictures, stopping at a particular one. She smiled at the memory. The photographer had clicked them mid-dance, except they weren't really dancing. He was holding her hand and she was gripping his shoulder, apologising for having stepped on his toes once again. They had laughed. This sliver of time, caught forever, was a memoir of their laughter, their comfort in each other and their love which wasn't separate from a deep friendship.

"Umm, Gareth, can I ask another favour?"

"Sure."

"Could you get me a framed copy of this? One of the type that Cristiano has in his room?" Thank God, Gareth is a great guy. Like you can ask anything of him. This could be a good moment to ask if Cristale was ever real.

He frowned, confused, "Uh sure?"

"Thank you, Garry," she hugged him.

He groaned, "Not you too, please."

[ omg guys the first half of this chapter was so feels-y and fluffy, did you enjoy it? we totally did.

#zariano is sailing but do you think there life might be getting complicated? stay tuned to find out.

vote and comment to tell us what you liked, next update soon x]