Bianca didn’t know what to do to Clifford. She couldn’t believe that he just fell asleep too fast. And his face was even pressed on her round mounds.

Bianca tried to push him and lowered her shirt to cover her bare breast. She wanted to get up but Clifford’s hands were all over her.

It seemed that he was locking her in his arms, not allowing her to leave by his side. Bianca could only sigh in defeat. She just remained lying there, hugging Clifford.

Clifford smiled inwardly when Bianca didn’t try to struggle. She just allowed him to embrace her. She even pulled the comforter up to cover their bodies.

Clifford eventually drifted off to sleep while Bianca stayed wide awake just watching Clifford in his sleep.

“I wonder what will be his reaction tomorrow once he wakes up. I want to get away from him but he is clinging to me too tightly.”

Bianca lost count of how many times she took a deep sigh tonight. Clifford was making her so confused. For her, he was acting strangely lately.

She looked at him. She envied him for being able to sleep comfortably. But here she was wide awake as sleepiness didn’t even visit her.

She raised her hand, tracing her lips using her fingers. Clifford kissed her again and she liked it. They almost did it, going beyond the kiss. But fortunately, Clifford stopped when she asked him to.

But she couldn’t figure out if he was drunk or he stopped because she told him so. After a while, Bianca smacked her forehead. She felt like she regretted stopping him. But at the same time, she felt relieved. Well, that’s how she was confused about her feelings.

She fixed her eyes on his face once again, allowing them to observe and familiarize Clifford’s handsome features. She was dying to touch his face and stroke his hair.

Clifford was too good-looking, having long and thick dark eyelashes. Since Bianca couldn’t sleep, she just spent her time admiring Clifford’s beauty and masculinity.

She gave in to her desire as her fingers started to trace his lips, his nose, his eyes, and his eyebrows. Clifford frowned at the feel of her fingers touching his eyebrow. Bianca fought the urge to giggle as Clifford was still sound asleep. 

“I wonder if you are dreaming right now,” Bianca mumbled before caressing his cheeks.

When she got tired, Bianca eventually fell asleep, her head laying on Clifford’s arm and her face was buried on his chest.

At dawn, Clifford woke up and saw Bianca soundly sleeping in his arms. He was glad she didn’t leave the room and she stayed with him.

Now, it was Clifford’s turn to watch over Bianca while she’s asleep. He missed this. When they were in the hospital, he could always watch her in her sleep.

He reached out, touching her face. Clifford began to talk to sleeping Bianca.

“I don’t understand my feelings as well. I couldn’t name it as it’s different from what I feel for Olive and Lillie. But for some unknown reason, part of me is telling me to protect you.”

His eyes gleamed with different emotions. ‘I don’t know when it started but… I feel jealous whenever I see you talking to Brandon. I began to worry when your mom mentioned about setting you up with another guy.’

‘What’s wrong with me? Why do I feel like I am becoming possessive of you? I can’t even stop myself from kissing you. I can’t get you out of my mind. I began to miss you. Why am I doing this? For what reason?’

Clifford was also trying to figure out his motive for doing and acting like this. 

‘Perhaps, I already fell for you?!’ Clifford asked himself, pressing his hand on his chest as he assessed the beating of his heart.

‘Do I really have… feelings for you?’

******

The next morning, Bianca woke up at the beeping sound of her alarm clock. She immediately turned to reach for her bedside table when suddenly she felt something heavy, stopping her from moving.

She immediately snapped her eyes open as she recalled what transpired last night. 

Clifford got ‘drunk’ and her father brought him to her room. Then she took a quick shower. After that, she tried to remove his shirt to make him comfortable but she had no plan of sleeping on the same bed with him.

But unexpected things happened. Clifford pulled her into a tight embrace, not allowing her to leave the bed. Then, later on, he kissed her and they made out in her bed. She stopped him and Clifford went back to sleep. In the end, they both slept on her bed.

“Oh noh! I need to get up before he wakes up and sees me here!” Bianca mumbled, trying to remove Clifford’s arms that were wrapped around her waist.

To her surprise, Clifford was already awake, looking at her with a bright smile on his face. He was lying on his side, facing Bianca. His head was placed on his elbow.

“Good morning, Sweetheart! How’s your sleep?”

Bianca’s eyes widened, her mouth loose open. She was dumbstruck, staring at him foolishly.

‘Sweetheart? Again? Why is he looking at me like this? Did he remember what happened last night?’ Bianca’s cheeks blushed from embarrassment.

She immediately turned around as his gorgeous face was blinding her as early this morning. She also wanted to hide her face and messy morning appearance from him. She brought her hands to her face, checking if there was a ‘morning star’ in her eyes.

‘Damn! This is so embarrassing seeing me in this state!’ Bianca lamented to herself while biting her lips.

She was still lost in her own thoughts when suddenly she felt large arms pulling him closer to him. Clifford hugged her!

‘Oh, God. Is he still drunk?’ Bianca asked herself before turning around to face him.

“Are you still dreaming, sweetheart?” Clifford asked her again.

‘Oh shucks! Right! I might still be dreaming. This is just a dream.’

Bianca closed her eyes and smacked her cheeks. Eh?! She felt it. She was not dreaming. This was real.

“Hey, why did you smack your face? It will hurt you? See, your cheeks are now red!” Clifford slightly scolded her, caressing her cheeks.

Bianca chewed on her lower lip. ‘Fool. My cheeks are red because I’m blushing, not because I smack my face.’

Her face reddened further because of Clifford’s fingers touching her.

“Are you still drunk?” Bianca blurted out, asking him expectantly.

Clifford fell silent for a moment, just staring at her intently. He was contemplating whether to tell her the truth or not. He stayed up late at dawn just figuring out his feelings and how he would deal with it in the morning.

He thought it would be unfair to Bianca if he would just pretend that he couldn’t remember anything.

Clifford took a deep sigh before answering her truthfully. “Bianca… honestly… I was never drunk last night.”

“What?!!” Bianca blurted out exasperatedly. There was a hint of disbelief in her eyes.

“I remember everything. And… I knew what I was doing.”

Bianca’s jaw dropped. She was at a loss for words. She didn’t expect to hear this from him.

“I’m sorry, Bianca for pretending to be drunk. Your Dad also knew about it.”

Bianca squinted her eyes at the mention of her father. She knew it! No wonder her father and her mother were gazing at each other meaningfully last night. At that realization, she immediately hit Clifford’s shoulder.

“Why did you do it? Why did you lie again?”

Clifford caught her arms and looked straight into her eyes.

“Because I missed you.”

Those four words that came out of his mouth made Bianca speechless once again.

“Because I wanted to stay here for a night and be with you. I miss watching you as you sleep. I had to make an excuse for me to stay… and I asked for your father’s help last night. I also got his permission to stay here.”

Bianca was still trying to absorb and digest every word he said. Her heart began acting wild again inside her chest.

“But why?” She asked him again in a low voice.

“I think… I’ve already fallen for you. And I guess, I couldn’t hide my feelings anymore. Bianca… if you will allow me… I want to turn this fake relationship into a real one…”

Clifford cupped her face, not breaking their eye contact as he continued his words.

“Bianca, can you be my girlfriend? My real girlfriend?”

Bianca: “…”

She felt like her heart jumped out of her chest the moment she heard his last remarks. Clifford was asking her to be his real girlfriend!!! What happened to this world?!

“A-Are you sure… you are not drunk?” Bianca asked him again as she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“No. I’m not drunk. I know what I am saying. And I want you… I want you to be my girlfriend for real. Will you accept me?”

Bianca: “….”