(whenever I look at you, I fall in love over and over again.)

Our footsteps crunched against the gravel, the only sound breaking the quiet silence. It was already past midnight, and most of the shops leading up to the station were already closing.

Neither of us said anything, our eyes shyly darting away whenever we snuck glances at each other. I bit my lip, trying to think of something — anything — to break the silence.

I was about to ask him about the songs he did for his turns during night performances, when Red suddenly stopped walking. Curious, I looked up at him, only to notice him staring at one of the shops that were still open — an ice-cream parlor a few shops down our cafe.

"Hey Yellow," Red said, nodding towards the ice-cream parlor. "Since you hardly come to watch the night performances, I should probably treat you to something as a thanks for coming down today, right?"

I saw the twinkle in his eye, and pushed him playfully. "You just want to get ice-cream now, don't you?"

"Touché," he said, grinning. "But I'm not taking no for an answer."

I began to protest, complaining about how eating ice-cream would ruin our appetites after all the cocktails we had downed earlier, but didn't resist as Red gently steered me into the shop.

"Come on," he said with a wink. "It'll be my treat."

"Welcome!"

Two waitresses were standing behind the counter. They were both really pretty — one had short blonde hair and wore red and blue headphones around her neck, and the other had reddish brown hair, and a blue flower accessory clipped in her hair. I felt plain standing next to them with my blonde hair in its usual ponytail, and wearing a simple white blouse and dark blue skinny jeans.

"What would you like today?" The redhead asked. Her bright blue eyes sparkled as she saw me standing next to Red timidly. "We have a couple's sundae special, for sweet couples like the two of you!"

I felt myself turn a dark shade of red, and from the corner of my eye, I could see a slight blush on Red's face.

The blonde waitress sighed, and pushed her giggling partner away from the counter. Her grey eyes fell on Red and me, and gave us a small, apologetic smile.

"I'm so sorry," she said, casting a glare to her partner. "Skyla tends to get carried away sometimes."

After both of us had ordered our ice-creams (we both ordered strawberry, no surprise there), we exited the store, hoping to escape the awkward atmosphere. Skyla insisted on seeing us out though, and had winked at us before clasping her hands together and giggling.

"The next time you're here, we'll give you the couple sundae on the house!"

Her blonde partner then stomped outside to drag her back inside, and gave us another apologetic wave.

The two of us continued walking in silence towards the station. My cheeks were still red thanks to Skyla's earlier comment, and I continued to scoff down my ice-cream, hoping it would help cool my flushed face.

"Hey."

Red nudged me gently and I looked up at him. For a moment, I was struck by how handsome he looked in the dim street lamp. His red eyes were his best features — they shone with a confident light, yet, somehow they still showed a hidden, shy side. I tilted my head to the side, not wanting to tear my eyes away from his gaze.

"You have a little ice-cream on your cheek."

How. Embarrassing.

"Where?" I asked, flustered. I brushed my cheeks with my fingers, hoping to remove the smudge as quickly as possible. "Is it gone?"

"Nope," said Red. "Here."

He lifted my chin gently with his hand, and used his thumb to brush against my right cheek.

His fingers were calloused from playing the guitar, but they felt soft and warm against my cheek. Even though his attention was on wiping the smudge, his eyes shyly darted to mine occasionally.

Our faces were so close, our noses were almost touching. His eyes were really striking — a beautiful, dark red, that sparkled under the dim lights. They were different from Ruby's eyes, which were a slightly lighter red colour. Unlike the flamboyant waiter, Red's eyes were filled with boyish courage that hadn't seemed to vanish despite entering adulthood.

"There, it's gone."

His thumb gently brushed against my cheek again, before letting go slowly.

"Thank you."

My voice came out as squeak, and I looked away quickly to hide my blush. I wished that my long blonde hair wasn't in its usual ponytail today, because it could have hidden my red cheeks.

My heart fluttered uncontrollably, and I couldn't stop the growing smile on my face. I could still feel the lingering warmth from his fingers on my cheek, and fought temptation to reach out and touch my cheek.

I couldn't fight the butterflies in my stomach, though.

We reached the station soon enough, and Red insisted on seeing me right to my doorstep. I was too tired to argue, so I didn't protest when he followed me into the same train.

"It's what Boss have always stressed on," Red said, grinning as we plonked down on two empty seats. "A man must always escort a lady home safely."

I thought about the other girls working alongside Red in the night shift and instantly felt jealous of any of them who had been walked home by Red. Red caught my expression and laughed.

"Don't look so surprised, Yellow," he said, smiling. "You're actually the first waitress I'm walking home tonight."

We kept up a steady conversation throughout the train ride, asking generally about our work shifts and the customers that frequented our cafe, as well as our colleagues. Our conversation never had any pauses, and I wished that I could freeze time so that I could go on talking to him forever.

Unfortunately, I lived close to the station, and it wasn't long before we were walking towards the apartment block that I lived in. I was reluctant for our walk to end, and I dragged my feet, trying to delay the walk so I wouldn't have to say goodbye.

Eventually, we reached my home, and I turned to Red, who was smiling gently at me.

"Thanks for walking me home, Red," I stuttered, cursing myself for stammering. "Ahh... Just give me a moment while I get your jacket."

I stepped into my home for a minute, tossing my small shoulder bag onto my sofa, while reaching for the dark green garment folded on my coffee table. Hugging the jacket to my body, I stepped outside, closing the door behind me.

His back was facing me when I stepped back outside, his eyes lit up as he gazed at the stars. The wind ruffled his black hair lightly, and I longed to run my hands through it and to smooth out his messy hair. I blushed at the thought and slapped myself mentally for having such thoughts for my fellow coworker. I wasn't supposed to think such thoughts about him!

At the sound of the door clicking shut, Red turned to me, and I shyly handed the jacket back to him. Just as I was about to thank him once again for the night, he looked thoughtful.

"Yellow, it's your day off tomorrow, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," I said tilting my head to one side. Tomorrow was Wednesday, and usually I spent my days off in front of the television, eating a bowl of instant noodles and flicking through cheesy chick flick movies.

"I don't have anything on tomorrow... Except work, I guess," Red said slowly, his face turning the same color as his name. "Would you... would you like to spend the day with me?"

The last part came out as a rush, and Red blushed an even darker shade of red and pushed his bangs away from his eyes, avoiding my gaze as he kicked at the ground, scuffing up his sneakers.

"That sounds nice," I stammered, my voice returning to its high squeak. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Red said, scratching the back of his head and smiling back shyly. "I'll be going now."

"Good night!" I called, as he turned to leave.

"Good night," he called back, as he walked towards the elevator. "Sweet dreams."

As I entered back into my apartment, I realized I was wearing a goofy smile, and I could barely focus on anything else. I actually walked into the door twice, before falling into my bed in a fit of giggles.

It had been a long time since I had accepted a date. It had almost been years, because I was always so busy with work to find a boyfriend.

Boyfriend... It was too much to hope for. I slapped my hands over my cheeks, which were still hot and flushed despite having said goodnight to Red at least a few minutes ago.

A smile lit up on my face as I hugged a pillow tight to my chest, looking forward to tomorrow.

I got ready for bed, and as I lay my head on my pillow and drifted off to sleep, a thought occurred to me. I couldn't recall ever smearing my cheek with ice-cream when I was with Red. Sure it was on my lips when I was eating it, but never on my cheek. Remembering the sweet, gentle flutter my heart felt when his fingers brushed against my cheek, I blushed in the darkness. Deciding not to put so much thought into it, I closed my eyes and let my mind give in to slumber.

There was no doubt about it. I was falling in love with Red.

AN

Hello everyone! Don't worry, despite the lack of updates, I haven't given up on this story just yet! I apologise that the wait for this chapter was so long, and that the chapter ended up to be so short :( And look, Skyla and Elsa appeared in the story! I was wondering who would be ideal waitresses for an ice-cream shop, and these two jumped to mind XD

Thanks for reading! :) I'm so sorry for the wait. And thank you for all your lovely reviews. They inspire me to keep on writing stories :)