"...."
It took a while for Alice to comprehend what had just happened.
Her face flushed red as she stuttered: "W-w-what did you say?"
Rudy kissed Alice on the lips and said, "I love you."
Alice teared up after hearing that.
"Is this a dream?" she asked. She couldn't believe Rudy truly confessed to her. It was a dream come true situation for her.
Honestly, anyone would react the same way if their crush confessed to them.
"Do you want me to kiss you to prove it's not a dream?" Rudy asked with a soft scoff.
Alice nodded and muttered, "Give me a deep kiss so I can confirm it's not a dream."
Rudy gently brushed his thumb on her lips and said, "What would you do if this truly turns out to be a dream?"
Rudy wanted to know what Alice thought of all that since he wasn't sure if this was too early to make moves on Alice.
"I would be sad." Alice looked into Rudy's eyes and said, "My disappointment would be immeasurable, and my day… dreams would be ruined."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and continued, "Please… don't let this be a dream. And if it is a dream, then never let me wake up from this pleasant dream."
"Such deep words… you deserve much more. I will make your every dream come true."
After saying that, Rudy gently placed his lips on Alice's lips and kissed her. He started slow and steadily picked up the pace.
Alice started kissing him back with an alluring gaze in her eyes. It was almost as though she didn't want Rudy to stop. But Rudy didn't want to stop either.
Rudy was kissing his childhood friend he grew up with. She was almost like a sister to him. They did everything together and even shared clothes.
No, Rudy didn't wear girl's clothes. Alice wore Rudy's clothes.
Sometimes, Alice would stay over at Rudy's house and play a lot with him. She often said she wanted to marry Rudy when they grew up. But as they grew up, Rudy forgot all about that.
However, they were precious moments for Alice, and she remembered most of the things. Her crush on Rudy grew more and more, and it turned into like and later love.
However, she never got a chance to confess to him. Because of her shy nature, she hid her feelings and sarcastically directed them to Rudy, which he failed to pick up. But not anymore.
After the kiss, Alice sniffed with tears in her eyes and said, "This is not a dream."
"It's not," Rudy said in a calm voice and a gentle smile on his face.
"Everything is real…"
"It is," he said with the same expression.
"You are not lying, right?" Alice asked with a judging look on her face.
"Why would I lie about something so serious?" Rudy chuckled. He kissed her again and asked, "What about you? Do you love me?"
Alice didn't say anything but nodded a couple of times in response.
Rudy grabbed Alice's face in his hands and said, "That won't do. You have to say it with your mouth."
Alice gulped down in embarrassment and opened her mouth after gathering up her courage to say, "I… you…"
Rudy shook his head and said, "I want to hear it clearly."
Alice averted her gaze to avoid eye contact with Rudy and said, "I love… you."
"Alice…" Rudy uttered in a gentle voice. "Look me in the eyes and say it."
Alice looked into Rudy's eyes and uttered as her lips trembled: "I l-love…."
Alice stopped after saying that.
"Eli. I already confessed my love to you, right?" Rudy asked in a calm voice.
Alice noticed in return.
"So what are you afraid of? We kissed so many times, which is more embarrassing than confessing love, to be honest," Rudy scoffed.
Alice lowered her gaze but soon looked back into Rudy's eyes and uttered, "I love you, Rudy."
"That's my girl." Rudy grinned and kissed Alice.
Alice ALso kissed Rudy and said, "I love you."
"Yeah."
She hugged Rudy and uttered, "I love you."
"Yeah."
"I.. I love… you!" she said while crying.
"I know."
"I love you…" she sniffed.
"I know."
Rudy kept his voice calm and gently stroked Alice's back. He knew it was a precious moment for Alice.
But for Rudy, it was a life-changing moment. For the first time in his second life, he did something he didn't do in his past life.
Rudy had successfully branched a different story for Alice.
However, how many future events were affected by that?
At that time, Rudy had no idea, but his choice to confess to Alice ended up being one of the major and the best decisions of his life.
Alice kept hugging Rudy for a while, and they exchanged kisses for a while until the park got crowded.
Rudy walked Alice to her doorstep and said, "I will come tomorrow morning to pick you up."
"Yeah. See you tomorrow," Alice waved her hand at Rudy with a bright smile on her face.
Rudy turned around, and he was about to leave, but Alice called out to him.
"Rudy!"
Rudy turned around and asked, "Yes?"
Alice walked out to her house and rushed to Rudy. Then, she hugged him and said, "I love you."
"..." Rudy purposely didn't reply back.
Alice looked up and buried her chin on Rudy's chest.
"I love you," she said again, but this time is a little louder.
"..." However, Rudy still didn't reply.
Alice puffed her cheeks and glared at Rudy.
"I love you!" she yelled.
"You are supposed to kiss when you say 'I love you'," Rudy remarked.
Alice kissed Rudy and said, "I love you."
Rudy kissed her back and replied with a smile on his face: "I love you too."
They shared a few kisses before saying goodbye to each other.
Rudy wanted to teleport home, but he decided to walk since he didn't want his head to go crazy again.
Who knows, he might have ended up teleporting somewhere else?
===
Author's Note - Rate this chapter. I need your thoughts.
Thanks, @Ok_Two, and @DaoistVtSn8O, for the gift!