~2.2K words

"Are you stalking me?"

No. Not yet, at least.

"I have more important stuff to do than stalk you, Gary," Serena replied nonchalantly and strode over to the aisles of breads and cakes, with the mahogany head following her, for she-did-not-know-what reason.

She wanted to ask him but then did not want to seem like she was interested in him or in anything that he did. From what she had come to learn about him after the miniscule conversations they had, Gary had the capacity to misunderstand anything as flirting. But that did not change the fact that Serena was getting annoyed by him following her around. It is an invasion of her personal space.

And that is what I told him.

"It is a store—for everyone. There is nothing personal here," he grinned as a reply.

She tried to ignore his presence and shun it out completely, like she had done with everyone for the entirety of her life. To have a peaceful life, one needs internal peace. She learnt it through good and bad ways over the years and it certainly became her key to happiness.

At least for me.

But right now, her mental peace was being disturbed by a guy whom she just met—probably half an hour ago.

Okay Serena. Just stay calm. If you are quiet, you are out of sight . . .

"What are you looking for?" His voice piped in from behind.

She sighed.

So much for trying to be out of sight.

She stopped and turned around, looking at Gary with the most annoyed look she could muster. "I am looking for," —some peace and quiet— "bread."

The mahogany haired boy nodded understandingly and Serena fist bumped the air triumphantly in her head. Finally he seemed to understand that he was annoying her and she wanted to shop in peace. Maybe on any other day she would have enjoyed some handsome male company. But not this time.

With Christmas just a few days away, she had a lot of chores and tasks to be done back at home. She had promised Grace to finish baking all batches of cookies before the day ended; tomorrow she has to start on her macarons for which she needed to buy the ingredients right now and then in the evening, she had to help Bonnie pack and wrap the cookies for every Vanivillian that would come on Christmas Eve to the grand Christmas showcase set at the orphanage.

Serena could not afford distractions at this time. There was a lot to be done and she had already idled for too long. If Mama knew what she were doing, she would be furio—

"What kind?" His voice pierced the quiet she temporarily had created for her mind to function.

Good lord.

The honey blonde sighed in disdain and started tearing up, sniffling slightly. She could not take this any longer and needed some space for herself.

The sudden shift in her mood felt like a punch to Gary's gut and his easiness dissipated into air, leading him to look alarmed. "Oh, wait wait wait—why are you crying suddenly? Are you okay? Does your stomach hurt? Are you on your period—"

"Shut up Gary."

Serena slapped her hands to her face and started shaking due to the sheer frustration and embarrassment that was building up inside her.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

"Um—s-should I, uhm, what can I do?" Gary started again, looking at the shaking girl in front of her.

He had no idea what he was doing to her. And he certainly had no clue that crying came as naturally to her as breathing whenever she was sad or extremely frustrated. She peeked at the boy in front of her through her fingers and sighed a shuddering breath, her tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

She hated that she cried. She hated that she cried in front of a stranger. She hated that she could not control her emotions at the right time. And she hated the concern that lined his handsomely sculpted face. His brows were scrunched up in genuine worry and, fortunately, he had stopped talking. Instead, he calmly stood there, waiting for her to calm down and a possible explanation to what happened.

What's wrong with me!?

The honey blonde could feel the intensity his look held. It almost felt like she was engulfed in his attention, trapped in a cage which she could not escape until she did not answer all the questions and confusions he harbored. The realization of this lashed onto her with a suffocating grip and she needed a way out from this situation.

The honey blonde took one last embarrassing sniff and removed her hands from her face. Keeping her eyes downcast and ignoring Gary's step towards her, she turned on her heel and scurried away from him and out of the shop. Her flushed face met the gray chill of the winter outside, immediately marking the absence of the cozy warmth of Miss Pete's which she found comfort in.

She stood in the winter chill for a couple of minutes, half expecting Gary to follow her outside and start asking her more questions. Her expectations slipped away with every passing minute and after what felt like an hour of simply standing in the freezing cold, Serena let out an exaggerated sigh. She wiped her face on her sleeves and started walking back towards the orphanage, with only one thought on her mind.

Mama will be so mad, but I am not going inside again.

Mama isn't home.

Serena sighed in relief and plopped down on a kitchen stool. She still had time to find a perfect excuse for why she came back from Miss Pete's without the groceries, knowing fully well that they were the need of the hour—literally. No matter how sensible of an excuse she could cook up, the honey blonde knew that that would not stop her mother from scolding her at least twice before the day ended. At least.

But, come what may, Serena would not go to Miss Pete's again or even set foot out of the house unless she was ready to face Gary and go through all bouts of embarrassment and apologies for the way she stormed out of the place. That too while bawling her eyes out, leaving the poor soul confused.

"First I act up when he saved my life, next I ignore him for the death of me, and then I run out like some crazy middle schooler who just got her periods! He must think I am such a crybaby. . . way to go Serena," she muttered to herself and tugged at her hair, silently screaming in her head. She kept her head on the kitchen table with a thud, and let out a muffled whimper mixed with a sob that she held back from before.

How can I be so embarrassing?

"Se-re-naaa!" Bonnie's sing-song voice chimed in from behind and she skipped over to the honey blonde, inspecting the kitchen with the hope of finding the grocery that Serena had not brought.

"Where is the stuff you were bringing?" She chimed and twirled around the kitchen, singing Jingle Bell Rock and searching for the non-existent grocery bags.

Serena let out another pained whimper before squealing out loud, "I didn't bring anything!"

"What, why? Mama is going to murder you!" Bonnie freaked out and looked over at the panicking teenager. "And—why are you crying? Is everything okay?" She shuffled over to Serena and sat down on the stool next to her, patting her head softly to calm her down. "Did something happen?"

"No! Nothing is okay . . . and a lot happened!" The honey blonde muttered shakily and wiped her tears with her sleeves, sniffling loudly.

Bonnie plucked a tissue from the box kept on the counter and handed it over to Serena and soon enough realized that she needed more than just one tissue to cry into. Plucking a couple more, she pressed further, "okay but what exactly happened?"

Serena's face heated up and turned red as she slowly narrated her encounter with Gary, how he saved her and how she ran out crying from Miss Pete's for absolutely no good reason. The thirteen year old listened quietly, her interest and excitement increasing with every word that the honey blonde narrated. When the story was over, the younger teen giggled, making Serena cower in embarrassment and mumble a small "don't laugh at me."

"It isn't as bad as you make it sound Serena," Bonnie said, her laughter growing as the honey blonde whined about how embarrassing it really was.

"B-but I made a complete fool out of myself! I literally ran for dear life. He must hate me!"

"I think you just left him confused. He won't hate you for that," she explained and added, "maybe you can explain it to him when you meet him next tim—"

"I am definitely not meeting him again Bonnie," Serena declared in a flat tone, making the thirteen-year old chuckle.

"Meeting whom?" Clemont asked as his curiosity dragged him into the kitchen after overhearing the girls' conversation from the other room.

"Oh Serena met this guy at Miss Pete's and now she doesn't want to meet him because she thinks he hates her." Bonnie summarized knowingly.

"Who is this guy?" Clemont asked, taking a seat across the two girls and giving them their full attention. "Do we know him?"

Serena shook her head a no. "He is not from here, I think. I have never seen him here before and he was asking for directions."

"Someone recently shifted here? During winter?"

"I don't think so, maybe a relative of someone here."

"Huh, could be. What's his name?"

The honey blonde flushed at the question and cleared her throat, earning her a smirk from Bonnie and leaving Clemont confused at the shift in mood.

"G-Gary . . ." Serena answered and blushed profusely as the younger teen erupted into another round of giggles, earning another "stop laughing Bonnie!" from the older teen.

"O–kay . . . and what's with you Bonnie?" The bespectacled boy asked, feeling as left out and confused as ever.

"You are so dense, brother!" She answered, still unable to calm down from her giggling.

"Stop laughing Bonnie! Please!" The honey blonde whined as she kept her head back on the table, shying away from the siblings.

Clemont looked between the two girls and having had enough of being left out of the loop, he glared at them and grumbled, "Bonnie— explain, right now."

"Oh Serena has a crush on Gary," she teasingly sang to her own melody and smiled widely.

"What?!" Clemont snapped and looked at Serena aghast. She didn't dare to look up at him and shook her head vigorously, implying a no, but failing miserably to convince anyone otherwise.

"You have a crush on a guy you just met? How—" Before Clemont could go ahead with his Big Brother Lecture on Boys, the doorbell rang, pulling his attention away from the seventeen year old and giving an air of relief to Serena.

As he got up and left to attend the door, the honey blonde jerked up and grabbed Bonnie by her waist, pulling her to herself and tickling her at all her weak spots.

"Ahh! Stop S-Serena," the younger girl complained while laughing and trying to wiggle out of the older teen's grasp.

"You and your big mouth had a lot to say, didn't they? So deal with it." Serena retorted, continuing her assault of tickles on Bonnie.

As the girls bantered back and forth, they did not realize that Clemont was back and a small "Jesus!" escaped his mouth before he shook his head and smacked both girls' heads.

"I leave you two alone for two minutes and another war strikes," he muttered and sighed. "Anyways Serena, there is someone for you at the door."

The honey blonde looked at him with confusion plastered across her face to which Clemont just shrugged. Bonnie seized this as the perfect opportunity to tease Serena once more with an "ooh! Is it Gary?", which earned her a playful push and glare from the honey blonde before she got up and made her way to the door.

Bonnie's comment flustered Serena a bit, adding a hint of anxiety to her movements. She took a couple of deep breaths as she reached the door and chanted "please don't let it be Gary" to herself before she gripped the door handle.

I swear if it is him, I will die.

Doing a small countdown to three, she plastered a sincere smile on her face and opened the door. But her smile faltered as soon as the person came into focus. Her breath hitched in the back of her throat, and goosebumps erupted all over her body but not due to the cold. Her face was drained of all its colors as her brain tried to process him standing in front of her.

Huh.

Did I really die?

A small puff of air visibly escaped the boy's mouth as he faintly breathed out something, barely audible but crystal clear for her to hear.

"Serena."

why.

A/N: Pain motivates me to write :)

Excuse me for any and all errors made here.