How Green Becomes Wood

When she came back into the bedroom, Sloan couldn't help but grin as she saw her friend, "You look like a princess locked in her tower."

"I feel kind of silly. I've literally never felt this boy crazy before," Claire pouted, tipping her head back against the wall, "It's embarrassing."

"It is a bit, but it's okay," Sloan promised, sitting down on her bed and stretching out.

"Do you know what I keep imagining?" Claire asked, then shook her head and looked away, "No, never mind, it's so cringe."

"Now I have to know," Sloan replied, picking up one of her stuffed animals."

"You're going to laugh."

"I won't."

"You will."

"Pinky promise," Sloan said, extending her hand. It only took a moment of looking at it before Claire smiled and shyly locked fingers with her friend. Afterwards, Sloan asked, "Alright, what is it?"

"I keep hoping he'll sneak out and throw rocks up at the window, like they do in movies, and I'll sneak out to see him. That's why I've not changed out of this dress, because if he does, I don't want to be in my pajamas." Claire explained, playing with the ends of her hair. Then she looked back out the window, "I don't think he will, though, because it's late and it's not even my house."

Listening, Sloan propped herself up on her elbows, "You're right, he probably won't... but you could."

"What?"

"I know it's mostly boys in movies who pull that move, but like..." Sloan sat up, "And since I'm here, I could keep watch to make sure you don't get caught. And you waited so long for him to make a move, you've got to learn to act first eventually."

Staring wide-eyed at her friend, Claire asked, "Wouldn't it be annoying for you, though? I mean we're meant to be hanging out."

"We've been hanging out all day," Sloan assured her, "Anyway, girl, you know how desperate I am to rebel against my mom's rules, and curfew technically applies to you too. Helping you sneak out to your boyfriend---"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Claire blushed.

"Helping you sneak out to your totally-not-but-basically-is-boyfriend would be so fun for me because then I get to rebel but it's totally safe because if I hear my mom is up, I can use my flashlight to flash a signal out the window, then pretend to be asleep. It'd be fun, and it'd actually make prom night feel like prom night!"

Nervously spinning her bracelet around her wrist, Claire tried to think of a reason why that didn't make sense. Not coming up with anything, she instead asked, "What if he doesn't like it, and he thinks it's too much and gets upset?"

"Girl, we're talking about Alec," Sloan said flatly, "I can't think of any other boy more likely to swoon over a romantic gesture like that."

"Are you sure?"

Getting out of bed, Sloan went into her closet and grabbed a light jacket since it was so late and tossed it at her, "Go! The worst thing that can happen is he doesn't go to the window and you come back inside, then we'll just laugh about it later!"

"You're a really good friend," Claire said, slipping the jacket on.

"I know I am, now go! Just, don't wear your heels, you'll wake everyone up."
 
Alec had no idea he was the topic of conversation as he sat in his own Hello Kitty pajama pants (he'd never seen anything other than the merch for Hello Kitty, but these were warm and comfy) and a loose, baby blue shirt. He sat at his desk near the window scribbling away quietly.
 
As Claire snuck downstairs, wearing sneakers under her prom dress and Sloan's green jacket, Sloan closed her bedroom curtain all but a crack so she could peer out without it being obvious to Alec that she was watching. She kept her flashlight at the ready, in case she needed to use it as a warning system.

Once outside, Claire collected a few pebbles from one of Blair's outdoor pots and crossed the street. Her heart was bounding inside of her chest, and she wasn't sure if this was the scariest, most embarrassing, or most thrilling moment of her young life. Positioning herself below the window, she tossed the first of the pebbles and missed completely. It wasn't until the third pebble that she actually succeeded in getting the stone to clink off of the window glass.
 
Alec looked up and around. What was that? It sounded like something had hit his window. He almost didn't look, but then he decided to lift the blind and look around, expecting some sort of night bird or a bat on his windowsill. Instead, he saw a person. He looked twice to make sure it wasn't his imagination. No, there was a person standing on the lawn, barely visible because of the glare of the lights behind him. He opened the window, leaned out a little, and squinted.

"Claire? Is that you?" he called down as quietly as he could, his eyes widening in surprise.
 
When Alec looked outside, Claire was half leaning against the wrought-iron fence. The imposing, black, vampiric slats contrasted against her pale pink dress and made her look almost like Lucy Westenra. When the window opened, her face lit up and she halted her intended toss of another pebble.

"Come down!" She called back, as loudly as she dared, hoping he could hear her.
 
"Come down?" Alec looked down at himself and his Hello Kitty pants. He leaned back out the window to call, "One sec! Wait for me!"

He ducked back into his room and frantically scrambled into the first decent clothing to come to hand, which happened to be a pair of shockingly ordinary jeans and a blue sweatshirt. He took the time to quickly run a brush through his hair and dashed barefoot down the stairs to the front door, pausing only long enough to shove his bare feet into his shoes. It felt terrible, but he wasn't going to waste time on socks. Then, making sure he didn't lock himself out, he stepped outside. It was only once he was out that he wondered if he should have flicked on the porch light. Too late now. He stepped down awkwardly.
 
"Okay," Claire said back, then waited anxiously down on the sidewalk, waiting for him. The whole time, she tried to figure out what on earth they do next, because she hadn't planned that far ahead. By the time Alec came outside, she felt like she had thought up the right thing to say, but the moment she walked up to him she forgot every word of it and instead, with a nervous giggle, she only said, "Hi."
 
Alec blushed as he approached her. Her giggle was so cute! Then he saw what she was wearing, and his breath caught a little. He'd seen her from a distance, but being here, right here, so close to her... "Wow," he whispered. "You are beautiful!"
 
"Thank you," She whispered back, wondering if he could hear how loud her heart was beating from. Although her face flushed softly, for once she found the courage to actually hold his gaze. "I really wanted to see you, I..." Biting her lower lip, she stuck her hands in the pockets of Sloan's jacket, and then switched whatever it was she was going to say, "Did I wake you?"
 
Alec shook his head. "No, I was still up. I was drawing. Never mind." He stepped closer, brows furrowed with concern. "You wanted to see me? Is everything okay?" He reached out instinctively with one hand, but he didn't touch her, so his hand hovered awkwardly in the air.
 
"Everything's fine," She said quickly, moving closer to him since his hand was out anyway, "I don't know. It's stupid. I just," She shrugged, the jacket slipping slightly off her shoulder, and looked up at him, "I was in Sloan's room, and I was looking over at your house, and I just wanted to see you. I like seeing you."
 
"I like seeing you, too," Alec admitted. His hand closed the distance to gently rest on Claire's arm. He would have loved to slip his arm around her and pull her in for a gentle hug, but he didn't want to rush her or, worse, wrinkle her dress. "I'm glad you came over. I don't think it's stupid at all." He smiled at her shyly, his heart fluttering with how close they were.
 
When Alec's hand rested on her arm, she instinctively took a step closer still and took her hand from her pocket and instead reached out to hold his other hand, "I'm glad you don't think it's stupid. I thought of you tonight, at prom. There was a song and it made me think of you, it made me wish you were there with me."
 
"Yeah?" Alec's face lit up. She thought of him! At prom! An incredibly busy, entertaining, distracting time! (At least, that's what he thought prom was like, based on the movies.) "What song was it?
 
"I don't remember the name, but it had a lyric about green, green grass, and about," she flushed glanced upwards, "the sparkling moon." There were other lyrics she remembered, too, but was too shy to mention them. But she looked back into his eyes and wished desperately for the courage. "The theme was night sky, so I figure that's why they played it. It was an old song." Really, she just hoped he wouldn't look away from her, she wanted to keep seeing his beautiful eyes.
 
"That sounds like a really good song." Alec looked down at her, appreciating the skill and the time that had gone into her hair and makeup. She was naturally a very cute and pretty girl, and her choice in makeup just accentuated that. This was, he thought, the most he'd ever seen her done up. He reached up briefly with one hand and tucked a stray strand behind her ear before returning his hand to her arm. "The night sky? That's a fabulous choice of themes." He looked up briefly at their own night sky before looking down at her. "I don't know if the moon is sparkling, but it's definitely glowing right now, and we have some lovely stars."
 
A gentle breeze carried with them the scent of Daizi's flowers and gently tossed Claire's hair before Alec tucked it back. As he did, she lightly rested her head against his palm, and thought she could die right there and be happy. "It is a beautiful sky," she agreed, but didn't move to look at it. But she was quiet for a little while, enjoying the moment before she admitted, "I've liked for a long time, so I'm really glad you like me too."
 
Alec blushed and looked away briefly, but he couldn't keep his eyes off Claire for long. She was like a fairy tale come to life. Soft, delicate, beautiful... yet with a certain strength and power under her vulnerability. She shouldn't exist, and yet, here she was. Standing here telling him she'd like him for a long time. "I've liked you, too," Alec admitted. "I'm sorry I didn't act on it sooner. I was just so certain... Never mind. It doesn't matter. We're together now, and... if it's not too presumptuous, I'd like to stay together for a long time," he admitted shyly. "I hope it doesn't scare you that I think that way."
 
"It doesn't scare me," Claire replied, her eyes widening a little bit, "I like you, and I don't really think..." She swallowed hard, her emotions so high she thought she might faint. He was practically holding her, with his hand on her arm like that, and they were standing so close to each other, "I don't know, right now... I can't imagine not liking you. I mean you're... kind of the coolest boy I know. I never feel dumb with you. And you're really handsome, too."
 
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