"Are you sure this is okay?" Annalise asks.
Michelangelo looks at her over his shoulder, his large orange hoodie carving a shaded line across his face. He flashes a dazzling smile and Annalise can't help but return it. When he smiles, the result is infectious and for a moment, she forgets about everything that's less than ideal.
"Nah, humans aren't very active in the morning. We're all cool," he assures her.
Michelangelo sets her down on the rooftop and stretches his arms to the steadily brightening sky, basking in the presence of fading stars and chirping birds. The only evidence of the rising sun is its rays peeking over the horizon, the wind still laced with the chill of night. Annalise observes him for a moment before setting down their picnic blanket.
The movement brings him back to Earth and he turns, dashing over to help her. They lay down their choice of a blanket and their food and when they're done, Michelangelo gestures to the space with the grand aura of a prince.
"After you, mon cherry," he offers.
She arches an eyebrow. "Mon cherry?"
He blinks a few times. "That's the right word, right? Casey told me it was something about cherries..."
She giggles, nodding her head. "I think it's ma chérie," she says with a small, confused frown. "But whatever, thank you anyway."
He exhales, stepping back and waiting for her to sit down before he does. Nervous excitement courses through him and he has to remind himself not to fidget and tap his fingers. But, it's his first date, and it's very hard to stay still through the nerves.
He reaches for the food when he notices her shiver out of the corner of his eye. He hardly wastes a second before taking off his hoodie and giving it to her, eyes bright and hopeful. She murmurs a soft thank you before tugging it over her head. She waves her arms around in the oversized sleeves, a cute smile on her face as the hood slips over her forehead. He has to stop himself from staring.
He returns to setting out the food and they take little time for conversation, focused entirely on stuffing their faces. Crumbs decorate Annalise's chin and line her lips, her face alight with glee at finally filling her empty stomach, and Michelangelo counts himself lucky that she isn't stuffy about manners.
"This...is so good," Annalise mutters around a mouthful of food, eyes rolling upwards as she lets out a happy groan. She lifts up a golden ball of dough. "You made these? Like, they weren't bought or anything?"
"I call them pizza puffs since they're fluffy bite-sized pizza buns," Michelangelo says with pride. "You like them?"
"Love them!" She nearly drops her puff, squeaking as she scrambles to catch it. She blushes hard and wipes crumbs from her face. "Well...I just like food in general." She takes another bite, some pizza sauce and cheese escaping the puff and spilling onto her fingers. She turns redder. "Aw, geez, sorry, I'm so messy."
She braces herself as he looks at her, a little bit of pizza sauce dotting his freckled cheeks. He shrugs and pops another pizza puff into his mouth, chewing like a wood-chipper grinding a log, and hands her a napkin.
"I like a girl who isn't afraid to eat," he comments.
A stupid grin spreads across her face and she hides behind her hair as she wipes the sauce from her hands. He crams another puff into his mouth, snatching up some other items spread across their blanket, and she giggles at the sheer amount of crumbs accumulating on his face.
He notices her gaze and stops. "What?" he asks around the food, an innocent twinkle in his eyes.
"You're all messy," she snickers.
YOU ARE READING
Digital Mutation (Book Five)
FanfictionShe's a YouTuber with a small fanbase and big dreams, but the path she's taken has made her stop and look back. She misses the privacy. She misses the simplicity that being a "nobody" brought. She misses the girl she used to be, but she can't go bac...
