MA BEAUTÉ | J. BELLINGHAM

twenty-one | real life ; insta

when jude arrived to pick up xenoia, it took every fibre in his being to hold back the tumble of compliments that bubbled in his throat. the thing was that she didn't need to try, and she already looked breathtaking in the eyes of jude.

"you look," his eyes raked her figure, "wow."

xenoia softly chuckled, looking up at him, "i look 'wow'?" her fingers hooked the air to imitate quotation marks.

"i have no words to describe you."

she could feel her cheeks increase in temmperature, slapping the boy lightly on his forearm.

"friend, stop," she remarked warningly and jude grinned cheekily in reponse, ignoring how his stomach churned at her implication.

he had already received a pep talk from his friends, seeing as though the sermon mason gave him was weirdly insufficient. trent and bukayo had viscerally threatened him ("it's not a warning, it's a threat," the light-skinned man seethed, with bukayo making sounds of agreement. they've always tag-teamed against jude, much to his displeasure), and he couldn't imagine what he would have to endure if he came back without popping the question. why they didn't have mercy on him, he had no clue why; xenoia was his, to-be, first girlfriend and he was rightfully scared out of his mind.

"you ready to go?" jude asked. xenoia nodded affirmatively, "where are we going?"

they walked side by side, both eagerly praying internally that the other would interlock their hands. but much to their dismay, nerves ruled the verdict.

"i saw a small trail on the side of the resort through here."

instead of taking a left, jude ushered the girl towards the opposite direction, exiting through the side doors.

"i figured it would be better to have a chat out here, i don't think people come around here so we won't be interrupted."

xenoia cocked an eyebrow, "isn't that a sign that it's probably off limits?"

"would be, if only it actually had a sign saying so," he paused, pointing into the near distance, "and didn't have two makeshift swings."

he walked towards the contraption, taking a seat before patting the other one, signalling to xenoia to sit.

"how did you even know about this place?" she pondered, hands gripping the aged rope on either side of her. it slightly nipped into her skin, but it wasn't something she couldn't endure for the next half an hour or so.

"i tend to take walks a lot, hate being stuck in one place, especially if said place is riddled with men who quarrel every second."

jude's words made xenoia giggle and he turned to her, gazing at her fondly.

"totally understandable. don't know how you do it."

he shrugged, "meh, you get used to it."

they fell into a serence silence, one that held many questions, yet were locked away by hesitance. the gentle crashing of waves could be heard in the distance, with the gentle buzzing of crickets chorusing without end. it was reassuring, just by a sliver, for xenoia. she didn't want her thoughts to gnaw away her insides.

then his words were softly mumured, focus elsewhere and not on her. his nervous emanated into her skin and she felt giddy, to the point of drunkenness.

"i am taking too long, aren't i?"

xenoia exhaled, "i know it's fast, we've barely known each other for long, but i really want to see where this goes, you know? i will wait for as long as you need, don't let those people online get to you, okay?"