A few months had passed since Amalia was first added to the group chat. The boys could not go a day without talking to Amalia and it was the same for Amalia too. Amalia realised that the silly boys in the group chat had become some of the closest people to her, even if she had never met them or knew what they looked like. The messages they would send to each other would be a mix of them talking about their football games, or Amalia talking about what's she baked for the day. Talking on the group chat began to be everyone's favourite thing to do, they cherished every moment of it.

In the months that had passed, Christian and Amalia had grown unbelievably close to each other. Each night, before they both went to bed, they would play a few games of Ludo. It helped Christian fall asleep and Amalia deal with her insomnia. Christian had soon realised that his painful nightmares were appearing less frequently, however, Amalia's insomnia hadn't disappeared. Due to that, Christian would make sure that Amalia felt tired before he went to sleep. He could not sleep without knowing she was asleep too, their friendship felt like they were living in movies they had watched. Some what unreal and a kind of fantasy one would dream of having.

Charles and Angel were aware that Amalia's whole demeanour had changed, she seemed so much happier. They had an inkling to who had caused this sudden change in behaviour for Amalia, the two friends were completely in joy that their friend had met someone who she could confide to. They knew she struggled with expressing her feelings, and with all the years they've known her, they noticed that she didn't find it easy to make friends. Amalia always thought that she would mess it up or she would distance herself and run away if they got too close. Which is why Charles and Angel always gave Amalia the distance she needed and would always make sure they weren't crossing any boundaries. Knowing that Amalia had found someone who she could talk to so easily, couldn't help but make them smile, they just hoped everything would go well. Amalia needed this and in a way, Amalia herself knew too.

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It was a Friday evening, the stars had began to shine, seeping through the dark sky. The constellations were clear and a full moon had risen, the nightlights were on. The streets were quiet and you could hear the faint breeze of wind blowing towards the café. It was winter which meant that the weather was the right temperature for snow. With the snow gently falling and the wind howling, making those outside shiver, Amalia couldn't help but feel peaceful. Nature had always seemed so beautiful to Amalia, she believed that humans took it for granted and without nature, the world would be utterly dull.

Amalia had just finished setting everything up for Angel's birthday which was the next day. With the help of Charles, they had managed to do everything in less than four hours. It was a record breaker to Amalia, the last time she was setting up a party was for charles. It had taken Angel and Amalia over seven hours to set everything up, it wasn't necessarily their fault, with Charles being stuck in Monaco, they decided to set up the party there. As of that, they were clueless on where everything was, making them run back and forth in circles. Eventually, they had managed to do everything and luckily, the party went extremely well.

Charles had just dropped Amalia back home and had began to make his own way home. As soon as she entered, Phoebe began to jump onto her, it was funny to think that just a few months ago Amalia despised her. Now, Amalia would kill anyone who hurt Phoebe, Phoebe was so comforting to Amalia. After a few minutes of cuddling with Phoebe, Amalia had gotten changed into her pyjamas. Making sure all the windows and doors were locked, Amalia and Phoebe made their way to Amalia's bedroom. It had transformed into a nightly routine for them, with only one more thing for them to do.

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☆彡

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𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 🧸

𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 🐻
omg did you just win your first game of ludo???

𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 🧸
WOAH I THINK I DID

𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 🐻
i'm so so proud!!!
this calls for a celebration

𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 🧸
i agree! what do you have in mind?

𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 🐻
hmm... how about you finally teach me how to play chess? 🤔

𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 🧸
that's your idea of a celebration???

𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 🐻
well there's not a lot we can do 😭😭

𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 🧸
touché
how about we... call?

𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 🐻
seriously? i mean i hate calling but if u want to the sure!! you did win after all

𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 🧸
i did, didn't i??? 😋
yeah, let's call! if that's okay with you, of course?

𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 🐻
of course it is! :)

𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 🧸 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

"Hey!"

"Hi, Christian!"

"So what do you think of my celebration idea?"

"Surprisingly, I love it, I don't normally like calling but it's different with you I guess"

"In a good way, I hope?"

"Of course"

"You sound different to what I had expected."

"What did you think I would sound like, Mr Christian?"

"Beautiful"

"Oh" Amalia spoke, she was hurt by what Christian had said, she never would've thought he could say something so hurtful.

"Shit no! What I meant was that you sound even better to what I had anticipated, you sound better than beautiful, your voice is so soothing." Christian was distraught, he had hoped Amalia wasn't mad at him, his words had jumbled up with each other. He was so mesmerised by Amalia's voice, he had forgotten how to talk.

"I- I don't know what to say, that's honestly one of the sweetest things anyone's ever said to me. I hope you aren't just saying that because you feel guilty."

"Of course not, seriously, Amalia, everything I've said is true."

"Thank you Christian, you're so sweet." Amalia was blushing uncontrollably, the tingling feeling had once again appeared inside her stomach whenever she was talking to Christian. Amalia still had no idea what the feeling was, she had never felt it before and unbeknownst to her, Christian was feeling the exact same thing.

"I love playing Ludo with you."

"Me too, it's one of my favourite things to do."

"Really?"

"Yes!" Responded Amalia, who was quietly giggling.

"I love your laugh, it's so cute."

"Stop it! You're making me blush and I hate it."

"Hmm... now that's just making me want to compliment you more."

"Well, aren't you the gentleman."

"I guess you could say I am."

"Amalia, could I ask you something?"

"Of course!" Amalia was quite worried with what Christian wanted to ask her, Christian was very hesitant with what he wanted to say which made Amalia even more anxious. Her friendship with Christian was so special to her and she truly hoped nothing would ruin it.

"Could I call you Lia?"

"Oh, of course you can! I would ask if I could call you Chris but I like Christian more." Amalia responded, whilst finding it particularly hard to keep her laughter in.

"I like that you call me Christian, you're really the only person who does. It's sweet, I also really like you saying my name, Lia."

"Your name kind of just slides out of my mouth, it's like my mouth is used to it, it's easy saying your name. Oh god, what I'm saying is so stupid."

"No, it's not, I get what you mean. Like I've only said your nickname once and it came out so easily, it fits, it's like I'm meant to say it... I guess."

"Christian?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone else."

"Oh god, that's hard."

"It could be anything, it doesn't even have to be major, just whatever you're comfortable with."

"Okay"

"When I was twelve..."

Thirty minutes had passed, Christian hadn't finished his story yet due to the fact that every five minutes, Amalia would comment and say something along the words of "that's so cute" or "baby you sounds adorable". Amalia began to feel her eyes closing, her melatonin levels were rising and for once she found it easy to fall asleep without worrying about anything. Despite being able to fall asleep, she wanted to stay up and hear the rest of Christian's story. Hearing him talk about his childhood made Amalia really ecstatic, she was smiling the entire time and Christian was too.

It was strange that Christian felt at ease telling Amalia about his childhood. Christian had always struggled with expressing himself, he had trust issues and who wouldn't, with what he went through. Talking to Amalia was like writing in your journal, she never invalidated your feelings, she was always there to listen to you, never looking at you differently or being disgusted. Christian thought that whoever had the chance to have Amalia in their lives was extremely lucky and they should never let her go. Amalia was special, she was everything to Christian, Christian believed that people who had a best friend were classed as lucky, he thought he was even luckier, he had an Amalia.

Another ten minutes had passed and Christian had finally finished his story. Amalia had tried her hardest to stay awake, however, her tiredness was much more overpowering and she ended up falling asleep. Her phone was to her chest and she still had a huge smile stuck on her face, even when unconscious. Christian was not aware that Amalia had fallen asleep, so when he kept repeating a question because Amalia wasn't answering, he was completely confused.

"Lia?"

"Amalia, sweetheart, did you hear me, are you okay?"

"Lia, did you fall asleep?"

Shortly after Christian had asked that question, he could hear the faint snores coming from Amalia. That had answered Christian's question and a giant smile started to form on his face. Hearing Amalia's steady breathing was weirdly calming to Christian, he had also found himself falling quickly asleep. He at first, thought it was just because he was tired, but in reality it was because Amalia's breathing made him feel safe. It made him feel secure, Amalia had begun to feel like home.

"Amalia, here's another thing that I haven't told anyone... I think I like you, a lot more than a friend should like a friend. I'm scared to tell you because I'm anxious that you'll be weirded out simply because we haven't met yet. But, I really like you and I know you probably don't like me back and that's okay. As long as I get to talk to you everyday, then I don't mind just being your friend. Good night, Lia, sweet dreams."

Just like that, both of them managed to fall asleep with no nightmares waking them up, or any worries burdening them in their sleep. They were in nothing but sweet bliss.

𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒!
hello, my lovelies! apologies for not updating in MONTHS, i've had major writers block and i'm in my last year of high school which means i'm sitting my gcses soon, so i've been completely busy with school work and revising. as i've been so busy, i've had no time to actually write anything, but i'm back (hopefully) and i've already gotten a whole plan set out for the next three chapters so let's hope they'll be published soon. again, i'm so incredibly sorry for not updating. i hope everyone is doing fine, thank you for the kind messages some of you guys have sent me, i appreciate them so much! this chapter is filled with christian and amalia fluff, so i hope you all enjoyed it, you deserved it. make sure to vote + comment and eat + drink something. love u! <3